"I thought I was fighting a hero, so who's this bald guy?" Garou snarled. "You can't be a hero too. Who are you?!"
Saitama's reply, casual, almost bored, shattered what remained of Garou's spirit.
"You keep talking about becoming the ultimate evil monster," Saitama said with a faint grin, "but deep down, you wanted to be a hero."
Garou stiffened.
"You just figured it'd be easier to smash heroes as a monster than to protect peace as one. Heroes have to think about civilians, consequences, tomorrow. Monsters just beat heroes. Simple job." Saitama shrugged. "Perfect for someone with no confidence."
Garou's breath caught.
"But you still can't beat me."
"You settled for 'strongest monster' because you couldn't be a perfect hero," Saitama continued. "Me? I'm serious about being a hero as a hobby. Your shortcut?" He tilted his head. "It's actually the harder path."
The words hit harder than any punch.
Yulin sat frozen.
Both of them… kind of had a point.
Was the season finale really going this philosophical?
The story didn't linger. Reality crashed back in.
Bleeding heroes dragged themselves from the rubble, shouting for Saitama to finish Garou off. Garou, his spirit completely broken, didn't even try to resist.
Bang finally woke. The old master looked at his fallen disciple and punched him, not in anger, but hard enough to draw blame, soft enough to spare Garou from worse.
Both sides braced for the end.
Kill Garou… or let him live?
A child answered.
Caught between heroes and monsters, he ran forward sobbing. He clutched Sweet Mask's leg and screamed:
"Garou saved me! Twice! He's my hero!"
"Run, Garou! Run!"
Yulin's throat tightened. Tears welled before she could stop them.
"That kid just told the world who you really are," Saitama murmured, looking down at the kneeling Garou.
'You're not a monster, you're a hero.'
The words were never spoken, yet Garou heard them. Yulin heard them. Everyone did.
Save even one person, and you're a hero. You don't need to save the world.
Tears shimmered in Garou's eyes. Then he bolted, head down, running with everything he had, as the kid cheered him on. Nearby heroes groaned, furious that the monster had escaped.
Yulin didn't realize she was crying until her vision blurred.
Laughing one moment. Crying the next.
Then dawn light speared through the ruined city.
Saitama stood alone, surveying the destruction.
For once, he said nothing.
The narrator spoke softly:
"The endless night… is finally over."
Saitama stared at the spot where his apartment used to be.
Nothing remained but rubble.
"My home," he said flatly. "It's gone."
Yulin snorted despite herself, clutching her stomach as laughter mixed with tears.
Of course.
Saitama had always been broke, squatting in a condemned building in a city already half-destroyed by monsters.
Now even that dump was gone.
"Poor Saitama…" she laughed, wiping her nose.
She waited for the ending song.
Two minutes later, the screen changed.
Darkness, an undercity steeped in shadow.
Above it, a glittering skyline.
A black-haired girl with a gun.
A red-haired girl throwing punches.
A black kid surfing a hovering disc.
A cheerful pretty boy swinging a massive hammer.
And finally, a blue-haired pixie with long twin braids.
Barely fifteen seconds, yet it opened a dazzling new world for Yulin.
"From the genius creator Shirogane: Arcane. Sundays at 8:00 PM on Capital Television. Premieres January 7."
An Arcane trailer?
Yulin blinked.
'That actually looked interesting.'
But she closed her eyes, took a breath, opened her phone, and, without a second's hesitation, gave this episode of one-punch man a perfect score on every major review site.
She had no emotional bandwidth left for Arcane tonight.
Right now, there was only one-punch man.
Arcane could wait until tomorrow.
She wasn't alone.
Everyone had expected the finale to be good.
When it finally aired, it obliterated every expectation.
"First anime that made me cry this year!"
"Garou feels like us ordinary people. Idealists like Saitama only exist in fiction, Garou thinks like a real human."
"Tears the whole episode, except the ending gag!"
"That apartment reveal was savage."
"World-saving bald man comes home to no home. Absolute comedy gold."
"I retract every 'padding' complaint about Garou. Sorry, Shirogane-sensei, you sold me."
"Third best-written character after Saitama and King."
"Still think Boros is stronger."
"Power-wise, maybe. Character depth? Garou wins, no contest."
"I need Season Five now."
"Season Five's far off, but Arcane drops in three months. That'll hold me over."
"Art style's weird. If it weren't Shirogane, I'd skip."
"Style doesn't matter, story does. I'm in."
"Man jumps genres every series. Western fantasy this time?"
"Four years in, trust him. Genre never caps Shirogane's ceiling. Day-one watch."
The end of Season Four detonated online.
Fueled by cross-promotion, Arcane shot straight to the top of Japan's most-anticipated anime rankings.
That night, "one-punch man finale" and "Arcane" locked down two of the top three trending slots across every major platform.
Below them, tags for Garou and Sweet Mask surged.
It was the loudest buzz the franchise had ever generated.
And many in Japan sensed it immediately.
Something big was coming.
The next day, the numbers confirmed it.
The finale pulled 7.18% viewership, breaking the 7% barrier again and setting a brand-new series record.
For one-punch man, it was the perfect curtain call.
...
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