Five days.
For Five days, King had treated the ruins of Z-City as his personal, monster-infested gym. The initial terror had been sanded down into a sharp, focused edge. He moved with a purpose that would have been unthinkable a week ago. His body, now a well-oiled machine of peak human conditioning, carried him through the rubble with an efficiency that was becoming second nature.
The King's Armor was no longer a novel trick but an extension of his will. He could flash it over a limb in an instant, using it to parry a claw or deliver a shattering blow. He'd taken down two more Tiger-level threats—a brutish rock-golem and a venomous fly-creature—by using his environment and his growing combat sense to create openings for his armored fist.
Now, standing in the shadow of a collapsed highway overpass, he finally allowed himself to check the fruits of his labor. He pulled up the system screen, the blue light a familiar comfort in the gloom.
[Total BP: 32,740]
A low whistle escaped his lips. "Not bad," he muttered, wiping a streak of sweat and grime from his forehead with the back of his hand. "Not bad at all."
For days, he'd been ignoring the obvious next purchase, pouring his points into nothing but relentless combat. He'd told himself it was to get a better feel for the rush of battle, to make the King's Armor as natural as breathing. And it had worked. But now, with a small fortune burning a hole in his digital pocket, it was time.
He navigated to the shop and scrolled directly to the entry he'd been eyeing for days.
◙ King's Aura - Lv. 3
- COST: 15,000 BP
- The King Engine becomes a weapon of mass intimidation. Tiger-level threats can now be cowed as easily as Wolf-level. Demon-level threats will experience noticeable disorientation and hesitation. At the user's discretion, by focusing the aura's output, it is possible to induce fatal psychic trauma in Wolf-level and weaker entities.
King's eyes widened. He had to read the last line twice.
"Induce fatal psychic trauma..."
He could... kill them. Just by looking at them. Just by letting his heart beat at them. The very concept was absurd, terrifying, and utterly intoxicating. This wasn't just an upgrade; it was an evolution. His greatest weapon, his reputation given form, had just been sharpened into a scalpel.
"Fifteen thousand..." he murmured. It was a huge chunk of his savings. But the description promised a return on investment that was too great to ignore. Intimidating Tiger-level monsters easily would make farming them safer and faster. Stunning Demon-level ones... that was a survival tool he couldn't afford to pass up.
"Alright," he said, his voice firm with decision. "Let's see what this can do." He confirmed the purchase.
[BP: 32,740 -> 17,740]
[Ability Upgraded: King's Aura - Lv. 3]
The change was immediate and internal. It felt like a dam had been removed from behind his eyes. The "pressure" he could generate felt deeper, vaster, like an ocean compared to the lake it was before. He felt more... present. As if his very existence now took up more space in the world.
He needed to test this. Now.
He set off, his senses sharpened by the new upgrade. It didn't take long. A pack of four wolf-level monsters—jagged, canine creatures made of living rock—lumbered out from a side street, gnashing their stone teeth.
The old King would have flared his aura, charged, and taken them out one by one with armored punches.
The new King simply stopped. He looked at them. He didn't just activate his aura; he focused it. He envisioned the pressure not as a blanket, but as a concentrated wave, and he pushed it outward, channeled by the deafening, deliberate THUMP of the King Engine.
The effect was instantaneous.
The lead rock-hound simply... stopped. Its eyes, little glowing embers, widened in a silent scream. A web of cracks appeared across its body, not from physical impact, but from the sheer, crushing weight of terror being poured directly into its mind. Then, with a sound like shattering granite, it exploded into a cloud of dust and pebbles.
The other three froze in their tracks, whining in utter, soul-crushing fear. They weren't just scared; they were broken.
[Wolf-level Threat: Pack of Stone Hounds - Status: 1 Terminated, 3 Psychically Broken]
[BP Generated: +1,800]
[Total BP: 19,540]
King stood in the settling dust, his heart thundering in his chest, but his body perfectly still. He looked at the pile of rubble that was once a monster, then at the three cowering creatures who were now no more threat than startled puppies.
A slow, deep breath filled his lungs. The power was... immense. And terrifying. He had just killed something without moving a muscle.
He looked at his remaining points, then back towards the deeper, more dangerous parts of Z-City. A Demon-level threat was out there somewhere. And for the first time, the thought didn't fill him with pure dread. It filled him with a calculated, burning curiosity.
but.
The thought of pushing deeper into Z-City, of actively seeking a Demon-level threat, was a spark of madness that King quickly extinguished. He shook his head, the gamer's caution overriding the fledgling hero's bravado.
"That's how you get a game over screen," he muttered to himself, the memory of the intelligent, talking Porcelain Stitcher still fresh. "You don't run into the high-level zone just because you got a new piece of gear. You grind. You optimize your build."
His eyes drifted back to the shimmering [LEGEND SHOP]. With over 19,000 BP, he had options. He scrolled past the flashy, expensive ultimate techniques and focused on the foundational upgrades, the ones that would make his existing tools more effective.
Two entries side-by-side caught his attention:
◙ Low Super Human Condition (Passive)
- COST: 10,000 BP
- Permanently elevates the user's physical capabilities beyond the natural human limit. Strength, speed, and durability are boosted to the lower spectrum of superhuman capability, comparable to a low-tier Wolf-level threat. A fundamental upgrade to your vessel.
◙ King's Eyes (Trainable)
- COST: 10,000 BP
- Grants a limited form of pre-cognitive sense, allowing the user to perceive the intent of incoming attacks moments before they land. Effectiveness and range scale with user's focus, King's Aura level, and combat experience. A cornerstone of true high-level combat.
King's breath hitched. The first was a straight stat boost, moving him from "peak human" to officially "superhuman." The second... the second was a game-changer. To see attacks before they happened? It was the ultimate defensive tool.
"The foundation," he reasoned aloud. "A stronger body to hit harder and take hits... that's the priority. The eyes can wait."
He selected Low Super Human Condition and confirmed the purchase.
[BP: 19,540 -> 9,540]
[Ability Acquired: Low Super Human Condition]
The sensation was far more intense than Peak Human Conditioning. It wasn't a feeling of tightness, but of expansion. His muscles didn't just firm up; they felt like coiled steel cables. His bones hummed with a new density. He felt a surge of raw, untapped power flood his limbs, so potent it was almost dizzying. He clenched his fist, and the sound of his knuckles cracking was like a small-caliber gunshot.
Immediately, his stat screen flickered and updated, the numbers climbing before his eyes.
STRENGTH: 35 -> 65
AGILITY: 30 -> 55
VITALITY: 40 -> 75
[Combat Assessment Updated.]
[Threat Level: Wolf-level Human (Base Form)]
[Note: User's physical parameters have officially surpassed natural human limits. A significant milestone.]
"Wolf-level... in base form," King whispered, a grin spreading across his face. Without his armor, without any active skill, he was now as strong as the monsters he'd been cautiously hunting just days ago. The sheer, tangible progress was intoxicating.
He took an experimental step and nearly launched himself into a pile of rubble, his new strength making his movements jarringly powerful. "Whoa! Okay... need to get used to that."
His gaze then fell back on the shop, on the tantalizing King's Eyes. The cost: 10,000 BP. His balance: 9,540.
He was 460 points short.
A flicker of frustration rose in him, the impulsive gamer wanting to complete the set now. He could probably find one more weak monster, just one more...
He looked at the fading daylight. He remembered his own rule about pushing his luck. "No. That's how mistakes happen. The shop isn't going anywhere. The points will come."
The rational part of his brain, the part that had kept him alive through sheer luck for so long, reasserted itself. He had just made a massive leap in power. He needed to consolidate his gains, to get used to this new body before adding another complex ability on top of it.
"Right," he said, nodding to himself. "One thing at a time. Let's... let's see what this new strength can do. Carefully."
He closed the shop interface. The goal was set. The next objective was clear: earn 10,000 BP and acquire King's Eyes. But for the remainder of the day, the mission was simpler: test his new limits without getting himself killed.
Cracking his neck, the King Engine giving a low, powerful thrum that seemed to vibrate in his newly reinforced bones, King set off to find a suitable training dummy. The grind was familiar, but the potential had just expanded exponentially.
---
The new strength thrumming within King's veins was both exhilarating and disorienting. His walk through the skeletal remains of Z-City was no longer a cautious trek but a powerful, ground-eating stride. He had to consciously hold himself back from leaping over small piles of rubble, the enhanced power in his legs making it feel as easy as stepping over a puddle. The rusted husks of cars looked less like immovable obstacles and more like potential projectiles.
Need to get a feel for this, he thought, his eyes scanning the familiar, broken landscape. Can't just go swinging wildly. Gotta control it.
But the usual faint red blips on his map seemed scarce. It was as if his recent farming had genuinely thinned the local population. He was about to consider venturing a little deeper when a new sound reached his ears—not a growl or a screech, but a low, grumbling monologue, punctuated by the clatter of metal.
"...useless, all of it. Poor fuel efficiency, substandard chassis integrity. A disgrace to the form. Where is a proper V8 heart? A worthy frame to integrate..."
Curious, King peered around the corner of a collapsed parking garage. In a clearing littered with the scorched and twisted remains of dozens of cars, stood a monster. It was a Tiger-level threat, as confirmed by the system's immediate alert. It had the general shape of a hulking humanoid, but its body was a patchwork of taxi cab parts—a yellow door for a shoulder, a shattered windshield for a chest, and a grille full of jagged, headlight-teeth for a face. It was sifting through a pile of scrap, tossing aside components with disgust.
The monster—the Taxi-Crusher—suddenly stopped. It slowly turned its grille-face, the broken glass of its "chest" reflecting the dim light.
"A spectator?" its voice was a distorted, engine-like growl. "You should not have sneaked up on me, little flesh-bag. I am contemplating automotive perfection. Your interruption is... inefficient." It took a step forward, its heavy, tire-less feet crunching on debris. "I will crush you like the obsolete model you are. You will be scrap, just like the rest of this junk."
This was it. A perfect test subject. King didn't reply. Instead, he took a slow, deliberate breath and reached for the power that now felt as natural as his own heartbeat.
THUMP.
The King Engine ignited, but it was different now. Deeper, more resonant. It wasn't just a sound; it was a physical pressure that rolled out from him in a visible wave, distorting the air. The King's Aura - Lv. 3 was in full effect.
The Taxi-Crusher's monologue cut off with a staticky gasp. It stumbled back a step, its grille-face twitching. "W-what is this? This pressure... this noise! My systems are... alert! High threat! High threat!"
[Tiger-level Threat: Taxi-Crusher - Status: Terrified]
[BP Generated: +800]
King felt the monster's terror flood his system, but he didn't stop there. He wanted to test his true new strength. He focused, and the King's Armor responded. With a thought, the golden aura didn't just cover his fist; it surged up to his elbow and shoulder on his right arm, and flickered into a solid plate over his left pectoral. The glow was brighter, the hum more intense. The upgrade to his physical vessel and the enhanced Aura had directly amplified the technique.
It's stronger. I can feel it. It's not just a shell anymore; it's like a second skin of solid energy.
"Enough talk," King said, his voice a low, commanding rumble that cut through the monster's panic.
He didn't just run; he exploded forward. The world became a blur. His new Agility, combined with the raw power of his Super Human Condition, turned his charge into a teleportation. One moment he was twenty feet away, the next he was right in front of the stunned monster.
The Taxi-Crusher barely had time to raise a clawed, door-panel arm in a pathetic block.
King didn't aim for the block. He aimed for the center of the grille-face. He put all of his new Strength, all of the enhanced power of the King's Armor, into a single, straight punch.
The impact was not a crack, but a deafening, catastrophic KER-RUNCH!
His fist didn't just hit the monster; it entered it. The grille, the headlights, the engine block behind it—everything disintegrated. A geyser of black oil, sparks, and shredded metal erupted from the monster's back. The force of the blow lifted the Taxi-Crusher off its feet and sent it crashing backward into a stack of cars, its upper torso a smoldering, gaping hole.
It twitched once, then lay still, already beginning to dissolve.
[Tiger-level Threat: Taxi-Crusher - DEFEATED]
[Bonus BP for Overwhelming Dominance: +2,200]
[Total BP: 12,540]
Silence returned, heavier than before. King stood panting slightly, not from exertion, but from sheer shock. He looked at his right arm, the golden armor fading away. His knuckles weren't even red. He had just one-punched a Tiger-level threat. Not through trickery, not through a desperate struggle, but through pure, overwhelming power.
A new, familiar notification appeared.
[Combat Assessment Updated.]
[Threat Level: Tiger-level Human (Active - King's Armor Engaged)]
[Note: Synergy between User's enhanced physical vessel and amplified King's Aura has significantly boosted the output of all Aura-based techniques. Threat level projection has increased accordingly.]
Tiger-level Plus... King thought, a slow, triumphant smile spreading across his face. So that's how it works. It's not just one thing. The body, the aura, the techniques... they all feed into each other.
He looked at his BP total. 12,540. More than enough for King's Eyes. The path was clear now. With his body honed and his offensive power proven, the final piece of his foundational build was within reach. The defensive, predictive ability of the Eyes would make him not just powerful, but untouchable by anything at this level.
He turned away from the dissolving monster, the scent of ozone and burnt oil hanging in the air. The ruins didn't feel threatening anymore. They felt like his personal training ground. And he was just getting warmed up.
"Next stop," King murmured, his voice filled with a purpose that was entirely his own. "The Eyes."
A giddy, almost childlike excitement bubbled up in King's chest, a feeling so foreign and powerful it momentarily overshadowed the ever-present hum of the system. He didn't even need to think. With a flick of his will, the [LEGEND SHOP] materialized before him, and his eyes went straight to the prize.
◙ King's Eyes (Trainable) - COST: 10,000 BP
"Finally," he breathed, the word full of anticipation. There was no hesitation, no second-guessing. This was the final piece. He selected it and confirmed the purchase.
[BP: 12,540 -> 2,540]
[Ability Acquired: King's Eyes (Lv. 1)]
The world dissolved.
It wasn't a painful sensation, but it was overwhelming. For a single, dizzying moment, his vision shattered into a kaleidoscope of information. He wasn't just seeing the ruined street before him; he was seeing the minute shifts of dust particles in the air, the almost imperceptible sag of a broken beam under its own weight, the trajectory of a lone fly buzzing fifty feet away. It was like his brain had been hooked up to a high-resolution data stream of reality itself.
Then, just as suddenly, it snapped into focus.
The world wasn't just clearer; it was understandable. He could see the weak points in the structures around him, the paths of least resistance. He could track the fly's erratic flight with effortless precision, predicting its next zig or zag before it even happened. It was more than sight; it was a profound, instinctual comprehension of his environment and everything moving within it.
"Whoa..." he whispered, his voice full of awe. He turned his head slowly, watching as the world parsed itself into a tapestry of stability and motion. He could feel the potential of it, the way this perception would mesh with his Combat Instincts and his King's Armor. An enemy's attack wouldn't just be something to block or dodge; it would be a line of data he could read, counter, and exploit before it even began.
He deactivated the ability, and the world returned to normal—though "normal" now felt disappointingly flat and blurry. The contrast was staggering.
A deep, profound satisfaction settled over him, warmer than any victory against a monster. He had done it. In a matter of days, he had transformed from a trembling fraud into... this. A superhuman with an armored fist, a terrifying aura, and now, eyes that could see the future of a fight.
The fatigue from the day's exertions, both physical and mental, finally crashed down on him. The thought of firing up a video game, which would have been his automatic retreat just a week ago, held no appeal. His mind was too full, too saturated with the real thing.
No games tonight, he thought, a weary but content smile on his face as he began the walk home. Just sleep.
But as he walked, another thought surfaced, bringing a different kind of warmth. A simple, normal thought.
Tomorrow... tomorrow I'll go to Saitama's. We can play games then.
The idea was a comforting anchor. No matter how much he changed, no matter how many systems and abilities he unlocked, there would always be a tomorrow where he could just be King, the guy who plays fighting games with his friend. And for the man who was slowly, surely, becoming the legend he was meant to be, that was the most powerful upgrade of all.