I'm Turning Into Gacha Characters?!

Chapter 530: Turned Into Gacha?! - 530

A-City. This wasn’t Alice’s first time here. In fact, she had been here quite a few times already, whether by standard transit or hitchhiking with Tatsumaki.

Having received a special invitation from the Association, the four of them had traveled together via helicopter to the Hero Association headquarters.

As for Saitama, the staff didn’t show any signs of pushing him aside or looking down on him.

Setting his actual strength aside for a moment, this was a man who maintained good terms with two S-Class heroes at the same time. He wasn’t someone they could just casually gossip about.

Besides, even Mr. King hadn’t said anything.

In reality, King was the one most scratching his head among the four.

He really hadn’t expected that while he was simply looking forward to playing games and checking out the events at the gaming festival, he would be whisked away directly to the Hero Association to participate in what clearly looked like some grand, ominous affair.

Sitting in the helicopter, he couldn’t help but steal glances at the other three relaxed faces.

I guess this is just how heroes with real strength act... By the way, what’s the deal with that B-Class bald guy...?

Not only did he lack even a shred of respect or fear toward King, but he also acted completely casual around the other two S-Class heroes...

It wasn’t that King enjoyed using his status to intimidate people; rather, he was acutely aware of his own terrifying appearance. This was a fact proven by countless ’real battles.’

Traveling at helicopter speeds, the four of them quickly reached the Association’s rooftop. Led by a staff member, they made their way down, eventually arriving at the Hero Association’s underground base.

The entire place was forged from high-strength alloy, so dense that even Atomic Samurai would have to put real effort into his swing just to cut through it.

An underground base constructed from such metal naturally wasn’t very large, but it was more than enough.

The elevator doors slid open before them. After passing through a long, narrow corridor, the four entered a pitch-black room together.

"It feels just like a Demon King’s castle!" Alice couldn’t help but comment as she took in the atmosphere. "It’s like where the dark executives hold their evil meetings!"

The room was far from empty, of course.

Lining both sides of the long rectangular table at the center of the room, fifteen heroes had already gathered, not counting the three S-Class members from Alice’s group.

For most of the heroes present, this was their very first time meeting Alice. Naturally, the same went for Genos.

After all, the two of them had risen to S-Class one right after the other, and because their promotions were so close, neither had actually attended an S-Class meeting yet.

"Hmph."

At the sight of Alice, Tatsumaki, who had been resting her head on her hand, wore a brief, unnatural expression before turning her head away.

The four newcomers noticed that most of the heroes in the room had fixed their eyes squarely on Alice.

"Please, have a seat over here." A staff member guided Alice to her chair, while the other three followed her lead, finding their respective seats further down the line.

"Hello, everyone! I am Tendou Alice, and my hero codename is Hero!"

The heavy, silent atmosphere didn’t dampen Alice’s spirits in the slightest. Facing a crowd of heroes who all seemed absorbed in their own worlds, she took the initiative to break the speechless deadlock.

Innocent, lively, and brimming with enthusiasm—the others more or less knew what the young girl was like.

But seeing her in person, looking just as she did, a wave of guilt and heavy oppression still spread through everyone’s hearts.

Is that her...? Just thinking about what’s about to happen... Ugh... I really want to just go back to school.

Looking at the smiling girl, Child Emperor felt a sudden pang of stomach pain as he sucked on his lollipop. He glanced toward Metal Knight, who was sitting not far away.

She defeated that Deep Sea King in J-City, and she protected everyone... Puri-Puri Prisoner uncharacteristically showed a look of melancholy, and then simply closed his eyes.

The power of the tank top isn’t meant to be used for something like this... but...

Tanktop Master stared down at the table. No matter how much he tried to awaken the spirit of the tank top, the only response he received was his hands and feet growing colder.

Beside them, Genos swept his eyes across each of the heroes.

He kept sensing a strange friction in the room. Although as a cyborg he felt a bit awkward calling himself human, he could feel an inexplicable vibe coiling around Alice.

Was it an illusion?

It was no illusion.

Anyone with a sufficiently refined martial arts mindset, or simply a sharp enough instinct, could tell the atmosphere was entirely wrong. Right now, the collective ’aura’ of most of the heroes was subtly locking onto Alice, like predators wound tight and poised to strike.

"Who introduces themselves at a time like this?"

Tatsumaki suddenly spoke up. "An S-Class hero meeting is no place to play house. Skip the introductions! How irritating. Go sit somewhere else! The further away from me, the better!"

Her words drew the attention of the other heroes.

This targeted hostility and harsh phrasing left Alice a bit puzzled. This attitude made it feel like they had regressed right back to their very first meeting. Something was off here, wasn’t it?

Was it because she hadn’t found time to hang out with her lately? Surely that wasn’t it.

"Tornado of Terror, this is not the place for you to throw a tantrum." Metal Knight’s unfeeling, mechanical voice carried absolutely no emotion.

Tatsumaki frowned and glared at him, then looked back at Alice, her brow furrowed with... conflict?

No matter how off-guard she usually was, even Alice could see something was wrong now.

"What is going on here? Care to give me an explanation?" Alice could see it, so naturally, Genos had noticed it too. His cold, hostile gaze locked onto Metal Knight, the ’good Samaritan’ who had just scolded Tatsumaki.

"Genos?"

Saitama, who had been spacing out because of the quiet tension, looked at Genos’s unusually aggressive tone, and then followed his line of sight to the robot opposite them.

He really hadn’t grasped the situation, but he knew Genos wasn’t the type to pick fights for no reason.

"An S-Class hero should possess adequate moral fiber. Is that such a difficult concept to grasp?"

Metal Knight’s tone remained exactly the same. From a featureless iron chassis, reading any kind of emotion was next to impossible.

But Genos only grew more certain of his instincts.

"What is this S-Class meeting actually about? What exactly are you all planning?" Genos’s eyes scanned the expressions of everyone within view, beginning a real-time analysis to ensure he didn’t miss a single detail.

"..."

The room plunged back into silence. But soon, a sigh escaped the lips of Silver Fang, Bang.

"How sharp."

Beside him, Atomic Samurai smirked. "Couldn’t hold it in anymore, Silver Fang?"

"Huh!?" Child Emperor looked at the two of them in disbelief. Were they actually...?

"I’m sorry, I can’t keep going either." Puri-Puri Prisoner, who had his hands tightly clasped together, opened his eyes.

The moment he spoke those words, his heart felt significantly lighter. "This plan targeting little Alice... I can’t be a part of it anymore."

--+--

T/N: If you want advance Chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL