Early morning.
Aomori woke up early, went through his routine morning exercise, and then came back to wash up.
Finished washing, he stood in front of the mirror, meticulously shaving his face.
"Like sunshine piercing the darkness~"
His cell phone rang, and Aomori immediately put it on speakerphone.
"Hello."
"Good morning, Aomori-kun."
"Oh, it's Fujiwara-san. Is something the matter?" Aomori asked, drying his hair with a towel.
"That's so mean, Aomori-kun! Why so cold? Can I only call you when I need something?"
"Please be normal."
"Alright!" Seeing he wouldn't get a reaction, Ms. Fujiwara dropped the act and got straight to the point: "Aomori, aren't you participating in the Martial Arts Tournament today?"
"Yes, I told you about it a month ago."
"Exactly. So, here's the deal. The movie you starred in is premiering in seven days. The studio requires you to promote it frequently during the Martial Arts Tournament and especially when you win an award. We've also arranged a post-match interview to generate buzz for you."
"Understood."
"I knew you wouldn't refuse, Aomori. By the way, you can win the championship, right? Otherwise, the promotional effect won't be as good."
"Don't worry. The champion title is already mine."
"Awesome! I'll be at the competition venue to cheer you on!"
Beep!
Aomori ended the call, changed into a white short-sleeved shirt and black trousers, put on his sneakers, packed his martial arts uniform into his backpack, and picked up his bag, preparing to leave.
Absol and the others had already been recalled to the system, and Kayaba Akihiko had also been transferred into the system backpack along with the Laptop. Aomori still wasn't comfortable letting them move on their own yet.
Z-City and C-City, where the tournament was held, were separated by B-City, making the distance quite far. He was setting off very early.
Opening the front door, he saw a finger-length centipede crawling on the steps. Just as he was about to stomp on it, Aomori suddenly stopped.
He stared at the small centipede, thought for a moment, and then grabbed a garbage bag and some duct tape. He taped the centipede, which was trying to escape, into a tight ball, sealing it. He held it in his hand.
Mounting his beloved Motorcycle and putting on his helmet, the engine roared, and Aomori departed for C-City.
As he sped onto the highway between Z-City and B-City, he casually tossed the sealed small centipede onto the roadside.
Seeing the small centipede had reminded Aomori of the centipede family he had killed, and he felt an ominous premonition, worrying that it was a centipede offspring or relative sent to seek revenge.
His cautious nature led him to make the aforementioned arrangements.
He hoped it was just his misconception; Aomori really didn't want to miss the grand stage of the Martial Arts Tournament.
However, Murphy-sama's Law decided this matter was under his jurisdiction, and even the author couldn't stop it.
As he was about to pass B-City, accompanied by an intense seismic tremor, the asphalt road in front of Aomori completely collapsed, cracking open to reveal a massive fissure. Out of the ground crawled a colossal centipede.
Aomori had already put away his Motorcycle the moment he felt the tremor, quickly summoned Pidgeot, and took flight into the air.
The ultra-giant centipede fully emerged from the ground. It possessed an impossibly long body, spanning thousands of meters. Its exoskeleton was deep purple, and the center of its head bore the wrinkled face of an old man, wrapped in layers of old skin.
"Foolish human who murdered my younger brother, die!"
"Just as I thought, kill the small one and the big one comes calling." Aomori recognized this enormous centipede Monster as Elder Centipede, who appeared in the original work. It was immensely powerful, having once defeated the combined efforts of Bang and Bomb. In the early stages, it was only defeated by the strongest hero, Blast, before later being instantly killed by Saitama's single punch.
After killing Grandfather Centipede, Aomori had anticipated Elder Centipede would seek revenge, but he hadn't expected it to appear so quickly.
He was currently helpless against Elder Centipede. Should he run away immediately?
No, immediate retreat was the worst option.
Escape was not difficult, but if he didn't defeat it this time, it might simply tear down Aomori's home next time, resulting in a greater loss. There was no need to flee until the very last moment.
He decided to struggle a bit and see if he could call for powerful reinforcements.
Elder Centipede's attack methods were simple, relying only on charging and poison. The fast and flexible Pidgeot could easily dodge its attacks.
He immediately urged Pidgeot to fly towards the sparsely populated wilderness. Standing on its back, Aomori held on tightly while releasing Darkrai and Ditto.
They were startled to find themselves in mid-air upon emerging, but Darkrai could fly naturally, and Ditto quickly transformed into a small bird, helping them calm down.
Gazing at the ultra-giant centipede chasing behind them, they immediately understood the situation and absorbed the tense atmosphere.
Aomori then took out the Laptop and the Portable Camcorder and handed them to Darkrai, instructing it to hold them.
He simultaneously opened the computer and asked Akihiko, "Is there wireless internet here?"
"Yes, but the signal isn't very strong. There will be some latency," Akihiko answered concisely.
"As long as it works." Aomori breathed a sigh of relief. He pointed to Elder Centipede behind them: "Live streaming a boss fight, you know what to do, right?"
…
C-City, Super Arena.
This was the venue for the 16th Martial Arts Tournament. The enormous arena, capable of holding tens of thousands of people, was already packed. Many more people stood outside in front of large screens, waiting for the tournament to begin.
A large portion of the crowd consisted of young women. They were wearing shirts printed with Aomori's name or picture, waving glow sticks, their faces beaming with fanatic smiles as they loudly chanted Aomori's name.
"So many spectators! That's three times more than the last tournament. The number of contestants is also nearly 40, a two-fold increase." Inside the VIP box, Mr. Oomoto, the head organizer of the Martial Arts Tournament, looked overjoyed. "It's all thanks to the fame of both Bang-san and Aomori-san. On behalf of the Martial Arts Association, I express my heartfelt gratitude."
"Not at all. It is my honor to be able to contribute to the promotion of martial arts," Bang was attending this tournament as a special guest and head referee.
"Haha, you are too modest."
While the two were conversing, a staff member came to report: "The entry time is almost over, but Aomori-san has not appeared yet."
"Ah?" Mr. Oomoto was stunned and asked, "Have you tried contacting him?"
"Yes, but the call connects and goes unanswered."
"Have you asked his agent?"
"Yes, but his agent also says she cannot get in touch with Aomori-san."
Bang, sitting nearby, frowned. In his recollection, Aomori was not the type of person to make such a major oversight.
"This, this..." Mr. Oomoto pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat. "Aomori-san is a busy man; he might be momentarily tied up with something else. Let's wait a little longer."
"Yes!"
After the staff member left, Mr. Oomoto looked at Bang pleadingly: "Bang-san, more than half of the audience here came for Aomori-san. He wouldn't stand us up, would he?"
"He would not," Bang added silently in his heart, unless he's run into some major trouble. He had a bad feeling.
————
You can read the ahead chapter on Patr-eon if you're interested: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]