Chapter 519: Turned Into Gacha?! - 519
[Demonic-Level Crisis Strikes J-City! Several Heroes Step Up! Two S-Class Heroes Fall in Succession! The One Who Saved J-City Is Actually—!]
[Defeating a Powerful Foe to Save the City! An In-Depth Look into the S-Class Hero, ’The Hero’ Alice!]
[The Hero Association declares Alice an outstanding hero with a profound sense of justice. In response to public demand, discussions regarding her official merchandise have already begun!]
[The heroes injured in this incident have been transferred to the hospital for treatment.]
"What’s wrong? Are you that concerned about the new S-Class?"
Inside the dressing room on the studio set, an assistant looked with confusion at Sweet Mask, who was sitting in his chair, holding up a newspaper.
It was rare to see him wear such an intensely focused expression... No, focus was actually common for him.
As a top celebrity, Sweet Mask always maintained strict standards for himself, and taking everything seriously was just his way of doing things.
Rather than calling his current expression focused, it was more accurate to say it looked somewhat grim.
But didn’t he seem quite pleased at the very beginning?
"How unsightly..."
"Huh?"
"No, sorry. I’m fine. I just didn’t get enough rest last night." Realizing that his mood was affecting his assistant, Sweet Mask immediately flashed a flawless smile and offered a reassuring word.
"Ah, I see."
The assistant nodded understandingly, then thought back to the report in the newspaper and asked tentatively, "Is it because of that ’Hero’?"
They were both powerful heroes, and both possessed exceptionally striking, beautiful appearances. On top of that, the newcomer was a young child—a demographic that was incredibly easy for the general public to fall in love with, holding an extremely broad appeal.
Energetic, lively, and always eager to help; no matter how you looked at her, a hero like that was bound to become a massive cash cow the Hero Association could trot out at a moment’s notice.
The assistant knew the Hero Association’s playbook inside and out. In fact, his talent manager had even been on the phone with the Association recently, hoping to get Alice assigned under his management as well.
So, was Sweet Mask feeling a sense of rivalry? It wouldn’t be surprising. Because of Sweet Mask’s ever-growing influence and unique status, his manager actually had very little control over him now.
It was only natural to worry about a similar type of hero being brought in to compete against him.
However, contrary to what the assistant thought, Sweet Mask had never cared about things like that.
A hero’s duty wasn’t just limited to physical rescue. Sweet Mask understood this perfectly, which was why he engaged in idol activities in the first place—to keep ’heroes’ from degenerating into a mundane profession driven purely by profit.
That was why he constantly used various shows to emphasize the nobility of a hero, and to hammer home a hero’s true mission.
With a star like him—someone who could dictate public opinion—acting as the gold standard, they could maximize their chances of keeping the absolute bottom-feeders from muddying the definition of what a hero should be.
If Alice wanted to walk this path as well, Sweet Mask wouldn’t object. After all, Alice truly was a hero capable of guiding the public image of heroism in a positive direction.
He had naturally watched the video recorded and uploaded by the people from the shelter.
Her act of disregarding accolades, sharing the credit with all the other heroes, and boosting the overall reputation of heroes was, in his eyes, incredibly noble.
Sweet Mask loathed weak heroes. The ones who fell before the Deep Sea King were exactly the kind of people he detested, but he didn’t dislike Alice’s approach.
Furthermore, Alice’s sheer strength perfectly embodied the labels a hero must have: ’invincible’ and ’the ultimate vanquisher of evil.’
Up until this point, Sweet Mask had been quite pleased, but...
Looking at the photos of Genos and Puri-Puri Prisoner in the newspaper, a cold, deep fury welled up in the man’s eyes.
As S-Class heroes, they shouldn’t possess a single blemish. They should stand at the absolute peak as symbols of utter invincibility, capable of wiping out all evil.
That was the entire purpose of an S-Class hero’s existence. If they couldn’t achieve that, then they were nothing more than a bunch of fakes.
His gaze pierced into Genos’s photo as if trying to bore a hole straight through it.
I hope you won’t disappoint me again, Genos.
After dialing back the emotions that shouldn’t belong to a hero, Sweet Mask picked up his phone, pulled up the contact labeled ’Alice,’ and sent a message.
Sweet Mask: [You did a wonderful job. Once again, you have shown everyone what a true hero should look like.]
Sweet Mask: [As I mentioned before, if the Association asks you to participate in promotional work, you can contact me. Let me correct that now: if they make any unreasonable demands of you, you can tell me directly. As long as you stay the way you are, this promise remains valid indefinitely.]
Sweet Mask: [Lately, Tornado of Terror seems to be acting a bit erratically. If necessary, you can let me know about that as well.]
Thinking of Genos’s crushing defeat, Sweet Mask’s eyes darkened, and by some strange twist of impulse, he tacked on one last line.
Sweet Mask: [Don’t disappoint me.]
The moment he sent it, he realized he was paying a bit too much attention to her.
This wasn’t a good thing; he needed to mind his social boundaries moving forward... And... Thinking of the hero ranked second in the S-Class, Sweet Mask narrowed his eyes.
Her recent movements had been a bit too extreme, yet the Hero Association was completely indifferent to it... Was it because of the pressure Tatsumaki put on them, or did they have some other motive...
Sweet Mask knew exactly how terrible Tatsumaki’s personality was, but at least in the eyes of the public, she was still a hero of excellent character and standing. Even though he didn’t particularly like her, he knew how important she was.
The thought that the Association’s indulgence was likely an attempt to use Tatsumaki as a pawn to test the waters with Alice’s creator instantly soured Sweet Mask’s mood.
And Tatsumaki, completely unaware that she was being viewed as a pawn, wasn’t in a great mood either.
"Hmph!"
Inside an unremarkable, ordinary house, Tatsumaki sat in a chair with a thoroughly displeased look on her face, staring at the newspaper in her hands with a deep frown.
"Those guys are supposed to be S-Class just like me, yet they put on such a pathetic show. They might as well just go back to the B-Class and practice some more!"
She delivered her harsh critique bluntly.
"If everyone else hadn’t been there, Alice wouldn’t have been able to guarantee everyone’s safety by the time she arrived." Sitting across from her, Alice held a teacup in both hands, curiously swallowing the floating flower petals along with the tea.
It was sweet, but also a little bitter.
Still, this floral tea was really delicious.
"If they were even remotely useful, they should have solved the problem themselves instead of needing you, rather than just protecting citizens until you showed up!" Tatsumaki did not agree with Alice’s leniency at all.
"Constantly wiping their asses like this will only ensure they never amount to anything in their lives!"
’No one is going to save you when you’re in danger.’ Tatsumaki held this phrase as an absolute truth and lived strictly by it.
Seeing that Alice still didn’t grasp the severity of the matter, she couldn’t help but feel that the girl was incredibly dense, completely failing to learn no matter how much she was taught.
However, the only response she got was a beaming smile from Alice as she sipped her tea.
To put it bluntly, it was a silly grin.
Tatsumaki scoffed, tossing the newspaper aside. Just as she was about to quickly finish her breakfast and head out for patrol, she heard the girl across from her suddenly speak up:
"Auntie Herta is coming back today, you know."
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T/N: If you want advance Chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL
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