After leaving the office, Glasses tucked the photo away securely. He returned to his tent and began packing his things, pondering how to manage his budget.
"First, I need to rent a room near the target's residence. Second, I'll need high-powered binoculars for observation. I should also prepare a notebook to jot down thoughts anytime..."
Just as he finished organizing his thoughts, Mumen Rider returned to the tent.
"Senpai, welcome back. Did Chairman Aomori arrange for you to—"
Glasses stopped mid-sentence as he noticed Mumen Rider's hands were incredibly swollen and red. His knuckles were raw and bleeding.
"Senpai, what happened?"
Glasses quickly helped Mumen Rider sit on a cushion and went to find medicine for the bleeding and swelling.
"It's nothing. It just looks scary; it's not actually a big deal," Mumen Rider said with a smile.
"How can you say it's nothing when you're in this state?" Glasses found the medicine and gently applied it to Mumen Rider's hands.
"Hiss—ow, ow, ow!" Mumen Rider's face scrunched up in pain.
"I can't help it, senpai. Just bear with it."
After a while, Glasses finished applying the medicine and wrapped the hands in bandages.
"There. Be careful not to get them wet."
"Your bandaging technique is pretty good." Mumen Rider smiled. "I didn't expect the first aid knowledge you learned in class would be used on me first."
"Senpai, that's not funny at all. Now tell me, what happened to your hands? Was it because of the assessment?" Glasses said seriously.
Mumen Rider's smile faded as he nodded. "Yeah."
After he explained his task, Glasses was shocked. "Shattering a rock bigger than Instructor Darkshine? That's just asking the impossible! We aren't monsters like the S-Class heroes."
"I thought so too," Mumen Rider said helplessly. "Maybe Chairman Aomori has some intention we haven't thought of."
"Very likely. But senpai, you were too reckless, going head-to-head with a boulder right away. You should have come back to discuss it with me first. Don't you have fifteen days for the assessment?"
"Ah, haha, sorry." Mumen Rider reflexively went to scratch the back of his head, but halfway there he remembered his injuries and quickly put his hand down. "I was a bit inspired by Chairman Aomori and got a little impulsive."
"Honestly..."
Glasses rubbed his chin, thinking about Mumen Rider's assessment.
"Senpai, do you remember a sentence Chairman Aomori said to us?" Glasses thought for a moment and repeated it: "What I value isn't your strength, but your spirit, or rather, your will."
"Hmm, yeah, I think he did."
"So, it's highly probable that Chairman Aomori doesn't want to test your strength, but your spirit and will."
"Spirit and will?"
"In other words, as long as you show a positive attitude and never give up during the assessment, demonstrating your resilient will, you might pass."
"Is... is it really that simple?" Mumen Rider looked at his mummy-like hands, feeling like crying but having no tears.
"No, it's not simple. You can only fool others if you fool yourself first." Glasses slightly regretted saying his guess out loud.
Even if he hadn't said anything, Mumen Rider wouldn't have given up easily. Now that he had, it might just cause unnecessary complications.
"Glasses, lying is wrong. I won't deceive Chairman Aomori. I will show my true will and pass this assessment fair and square," Mumen Rider said with burning passion.
"Heh, as expected of you, senpai." Glasses chuckled, secretly relieved.
"Still, that was just my guess. You should still work hard to shatter that boulder as a backup plan."
"Yeah, true."
"In the next few days, you should visit Instructors Bang, Darkshine, and Flash. Ask them for methods to break the boulder; they might give you some effective advice."
"Eh? Can I ask the instructors?"
"Probably. The rules didn't explicitly say we couldn't."
"Alright! I'll go ask the instructors tomorrow." Mumen Rider nodded and sighed. "Glasses, you're so smart. I'm just too slow; why didn't I think of that?"
"If you took the time to think before acting, senpai, you'd think of it too."
"Ah, haha..."
"By the way, we've been talking about my mission, but what about yours? It sounded so strange when I heard it," Mumen Rider said worriedly.
"I'm not sure yet. I'll see once I meet the target. Don't worry, I'll find a way to handle it," Glasses said confidently.
"Right, you're so smart, you'll definitely figure it out. Where are you headed for your mission?"
"Z-City."
"Z-City? That's quite far."
"Glasses." Mumen Rider suddenly became very serious.
"Yeah?"
"Let's make a promise. We both have to pass this assessment!"
"Yeah!" Glasses nodded firmly.
…
Early the next morning, Glasses packed his bags and took the shuttle back to the Hero Association Headquarters in A-City.
After completing the paperwork and receiving his mission funds from the Logistics Department, Glasses walked outside, feeling a bit dizzy.
"This budget... is a bit much."
Glasses felt his hands trembling as he gripped his backpack. Every stranger on the street looked like a mugger to him.
Clutching the bag tightly, some dark thoughts even flickered through his mind.
"Calm down, calm down. This might be part of the test. If I'm too greedy, I might be disqualified." After reciting this a few times, Glasses finally returned to normal.
"The more I think about it, the more it seems like a test. I need to use every penny reasonably and keep receipts for every expense."
Keeping the backpack full of money within his sight at all times, Glasses took a taxi to his destination.
…
Z-City.
Near a commercial street, Glasses circled through two alleys and found a dilapidated two-story apartment building.
"That's the place."
After double-checking the address from memory and confirming it was correct, Glasses began surveying the area.
"Staying too close to the target won't work; it might alert him. It's best to find a place nearby where I can observe the building."
After careful consideration and comparing prices, Glasses rented a cheaper apartment. Though it was basic, it was quiet and convenient for his work.
After paying a month's rent in advance, he successfully moved in.
Setting down his luggage, Glasses went to the living room window. Peeling back a corner of the curtain, he saw the old apartment building as expected.
Nodding to himself, he cleaned the room and put away his clothes. Then he went back out; he still needed to buy equipment.
There was a supermarket nearby, which was very convenient. He went there and bought a small astronomical telescope with adjustable magnification.
Passing through the fresh produce section, Glasses stopped.
"I should buy some groceries to cook at home."
Thinking back, he had been eating at the camp canteen for so long; he hadn't cooked for himself in ages.
"Wait... the place I just rented has a kitchen, but no pots or pans. I'd have to buy all of those to cook. And I'd have to buy the food, wash it, cut it, cook it, wash the dishes..."
At that thought, his desire to cook withered. Glasses muttered to himself, "Forget it. The mission is more important. No need to waste time on this."
Just as he turned to leave, Glasses saw a familiar figure walking toward him.
"It's him?!" Glasses suppressed the urge to run. He pretended to be casual, picking up a cucumber and examining it while keeping a close eye on the man's every move from the corner of his vision.
The man was about the same height as him, with thick, jet-black hair and regular features. However, he looked a bit disheveled right now, as if he had been rolling in the mud. His blue tracksuit was covered in dirt.
"No mistake. He's the target. I have to observe him for the next 14 days." Glasses thought. "Come to think of it, I don't know his name yet. For convenience, I'll just call him 'Tracksuit Man' for now."
"I finally found you! Hehehe." The newly nicknamed Tracksuit Man's eyes suddenly lit up. He charged toward Glasses... and then began walking stiffly in a strange posture.
'Was I spotted?!'
Just as he was panicking, Tracksuit Man passed him by and arrived with difficulty at a shelf, picking up a bundle of vegetables.
"Ow, ow, ow... but it was worth it. Sale vegetables! I'm so lucky today. I'll go buy some bananas later."
As Tracksuit Man headed toward the fruit section with his discounted vegetables, Glasses breathed a sigh of relief.
"That scared me. I thought my cover was blown."
Still, Tracksuit Man didn't look very bright. Glasses had some theories about his identity.
One: A heinous criminal in hiding, and Chairman Aomori wanted him to find evidence. Two: A hidden master of the world, and Chairman Aomori wanted him to learn from him. Three: Someone Chairman Aomori knew personally and couldn't visit himself, so he sent Glasses to watch over him.
Looking at him now, options one and two seemed unlikely.
No, he shouldn't jump to conclusions. What if this was all a deliberate disguise?
More observation was needed.
Nodding, Glasses quietly followed him.
He watched Tracksuit Man pick up the sale vegetables and bananas, linger in the raw meat section for a long time before leaving empty-handed, and then head straight to the checkout.
Glasses applied the tracking skills he learned at the camp, tailing him closely. Fortunately, Tracksuit Man walked slowly; otherwise, with his amateur tracking skills, he would have lost him long ago.
Leaving the supermarket, Tracksuit Man carried two bags and turned into an alley.
'Is he going home?' Glasses followed behind, carrying several large bags of his own.
Sure enough, Tracksuit Man reached the old apartment, went to the second floor, pulled out a key, and entered his room. Glasses saw the whole thing.
'Second floor, third room.'
After mentally noting the room's location, Glasses returned to his own room. He set up the telescope by the window, aimed it at Tracksuit Man's room, and adjusted the magnification until the interior was clearly visible.
"Wait... isn't peeping like this a crime?" Glasses thought, feeling a bit ashamed.
If not for the mission, he would never do such a thing in his life.
"Right, this is for Chairman Aomori's mission. Sometimes, to achieve ultimate justice, unconventional methods are acceptable."
Unlike the purely white Mumen Rider, Glasses had some gray areas in his heart, so he quickly convinced himself.
Closing his left eye and pressing his right eye to the lens, he saw Tracksuit Man lying on a tatami mat in the opposite room.
The man seemed to have already showered. His dirty tracksuit was hanging damply by the window. He had changed into striped pajamas and was lying there, constantly stretching his limbs with an expression of pain.
"Hmm?" Glasses didn't understand. To avoid missing any deep meaning, he recorded every movement in plain prose.
After a while, Tracksuit Man cooked some vegetables, paired them with white rice, and began his lunch. Glasses ordered a meat-heavy takeout and ate happily as well.
After lunch, Tracksuit Man fell asleep on the tatami. Fearing he might miss important information, Glasses didn't nap; he dutifully recorded every unusual sleeping position.
Around 4:00 PM, Tracksuit Man woke up. After stretching his limbs for a bit longer, he picked up a manga and began reading. Before long, he was immersed, laughing out loud occasionally.
Dinner was again vegetables and rice. Looking at the braised pork in his own bowl, Glasses felt quite fortunate.
Then came more manga reading until nearly 10:00 PM, when the curtains were drawn and the lights went out.
"Finally over."
Glasses, who had been behind the telescope the entire time, stretched. After thinking for a moment, he wrote a line in his notebook: "The target is unemployed, lives in poor conditions, and enjoys manga. However, the possibility of this being a complete disguise cannot be ruled out. Further observation is required."
…
The next day, Glasses woke up early. He silenced his preset alarm, got up, and looked through the telescope. He relaxed when he saw the curtains were still drawn.
It wasn't until nearly 9:00 AM that Glasses saw Tracksuit Man yawn and open the curtains. The man stretched his back in the sunlight and moved his mouth as if saying something. Since Glasses hadn't learned lip-reading, he couldn't tell what it was.
Then, after apparently brushing his teeth and washing up, Tracksuit Man returned to the room and wolfed down a few bananas. He then changed into his now-dry blue tracksuit and began exercising with a grimace of pain.
"Push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. Just ordinary exercise. It seems Class D's mission is to do these as well." Watching Tracksuit Man's poor performance, Glasses shook his head. "Looks like he just started training. No wonder he was walking strangely yesterday; it was muscle soreness."
Glasses had gone through a similar period when he first started the morning training for his job. That feeling was... intense.
Fortunately, he was much better now.
"I haven't exercised in two days; I'm starting to feel a bit out of it."
Glasses planned to exercise while Tracksuit Man napped. His physical fitness wasn't great, and he couldn't afford to slack off just because of the mission.
After the squats were finished, it seemed Tracksuit Man was exhausted. Just as Glasses thought he was done, the man struggled to his feet and opened the door to go out.
Glasses also hurried out and followed Tracksuit Man, who was jogging slowly.
'This is too much! He's still going to run in that state?'
Seeing him look like he might collapse at any moment, Glasses felt nervous for him.
He followed Tracksuit Man to a path along the canal when Glasses suddenly heard a scream.
Immediately looking toward the source of the sound, he saw a mud-like creature about two or three meters tall. it was blocking a pedestrian, who was the source of the scream.
"Oh no, a monster!"
Just as he was about to rush forward, he thought of his ongoing assessment and his feet felt as if they were glued to the spot.
'If I rush in, won't I blow my cover? Besides, I'm no match for a monster of that size alone. Should I call the Association hotline from the side? But by the time another hero arrives, that person might be in danger.'
Amidst his dilemma, the figure of Mumen Rider surfaced in his mind. Glasses gave a self-deprecating laugh. "If it were senpai, he would have rushed in already. What am I hesitating for? If I don't go now, what kind of hero am I?!"
The confusion in his eyes vanished, replaced by firm conviction.
With a sprint, Glasses stepped between the mud monster and the pedestrian. "Stop your evil deeds! I am the hero Glasses! I will protect the safety of the people!"
"A hero! I'm saved!" The pedestrian wept with joy.
"A hero?" A large mouth opened in the mud, laughing. "I am a mud monster born from a polluted river! You trash who don't care about the environment will all be swallowed by me! It won't matter if a hero comes, I say so!"
As soon as it finished speaking, the mud monster spat two globs of mud at Glasses.
Glasses nimbly dodged. While shifting his position to draw the mud monster's attacks, he shouted to the pedestrian, "Now! Run!"
"Oh! Right!" The pedestrian scrambled away.
Seeing the person escape safely, Glasses breathed a sigh of relief, only to find himself engulfed in a shadow.
"Where are you looking?!"
"Oh no!"
The mud monster's soft body pounced, pressing Glasses entirely into its murky form.
"Hahaha! Slowly dissolve inside my muddy body!"
Covered in mud, Glasses suddenly found it impossible to breathe. The foul stench around him made his head spin, and he couldn't muster any strength.
"Am I... going to die?"
He was so unwilling. There were still so many things he hadn't finished; his path as a hero had only just begun.
Chairman Aomori, I should count as a true hero, right?
Senpai, I'm sorry. I couldn't keep our promise. I couldn't fight by your side.
I'm sorry...
As his consciousness blurred, he seemed to hear a few words.
"Hmph, another one that wants to die."
"I'm not here to die. I'm here to save people. You just swallowed someone, didn't you? Spit him out right now. Didn't your mother teach you not to eat random things?"
"What the...? Take my mud ball attack!"
"Playing with mud? Please, I just washed these clothes. You're going to pay for that!"
Glasses couldn't hear the rest clearly. After what felt like an eternity, he suddenly saw light again. He spat out a pool of black liquid and gasped for air, greedily inhaling the fresh breeze.
"Hey, are you okay?"
'I think... I just got my life back.' Glasses lay on the ground. Under the bright sunlight, he saw a dirty blue tracksuit. He froze for a moment and asked, "Who... who are you?"
"Me? I'm Saitama. I'm a hero for fun!"