I have become stronger, but also shorter [comprehensive]

Without making an appointment in advance, Eric stepped on the slightly loose rubble and found his good friend Saitama very easily.

The strongest man (one of them) did not go to work in a convenience store today, and played the image of a lazy employee very deeply.

Because the sun is rarely seen during the day, the rainy days of the previous few days have been swept away.

This kind of weather is most suitable for lying on the roof where no one will go, stretching lazily, as if resting on the warm sunshine, and after a while, you can sleep comfortably...

"What did you sleep on? Woke up and drank."

Eric didn't kick up the sleeping man like he did to his younger brothers.

But he took a more extreme approach.

"Crench!"

The empty mineral water bottle thrown on the tiles didn't roll to the eaves before it was trampled flat by the silver-haired boy.

This position was determined quite precisely, just next to the snoring Saitama's ear, and the actual distance was less than five centimeters.

"Crench!"

"........."

"Crunch crunch crunch!"

"Hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!!!"

Saitama woke up reluctantly.

Eric, a guy who has become extremely naive after shrinking, actually stomped on the empty bottle on purpose!

The noise is like a chainsaw, drilled from the ears to the brain, and then began to saw non-stop.

"I know, Eric, you're jealous of me."

"What do you have that I'm jealous of?"

"I'm jealous that I can bask in the sun leisurely, and I can also take a nap in the sun without being harassed by the children, and I can clean up the mess for the children."

The man who was awakened bluntly told the truth, and successfully saw his friend's face darken suddenly, and he became almost as upset as himself.

well.

That's fair.

Saitama immediately regained his balance.

If you take your friend's unhappiness as your own happiness, you can't say that he is not kind, you should think this way: This shows that their friendship has grown to a deeper level by leaps and bounds!

"It's just an excuse for you."

Erik unmasked him without hesitation, jolting the crushed bottle upside down and kicking it seemingly at random.

Only the sound of "bang!" came from a distance.

The empty bottle did not fall into other places, but fell into the trash can half a street away without any mistakes, which did not cause trouble to pedestrians.

So, he sat down at the seat originally occupied by the empty bottle, and sat side by side with the bald man who was rubbing his head and yawning.

"It's the best place to bask in the sun, isn't it?"

"It's okay. It's you, be careful that your bones are rusted by laziness."

"Rust if you don't bask in the sun, Eric, you really don't know how to bask in the sun."

Saitama finished yawning slowly, but he didn't seem much energetic.

It's like this, this man seems to maintain the same expression 24 hours a day, listless and dull-eyed.

Of course, it's not surprising, after all, no matter how terrifying the enemy he meets, he can be dealt with with one punch, and he is completely far away from fierce battles, living a life that is unremarkable and unremarkable, and his heart naturally follows without any fluctuations.

Before meeting Eric, Saitama didn't have the habit of lying on the roof and basking in the sun. It was simply spoiled by a friend who really liked to lie on a high place and bask in the sun.

As a result, the guy who developed a hobby halfway through was actually overthinking his own abilities, and turned it around to bring it down... Ah no, how could the "senior" who influenced him not understand.

Eric tilted his head and glanced at him, almost opening his mouth to continue to refute, but after thinking about it, he endured it.

"……as long as you are happy."

The boy is quite tolerant towards his friends.

He raised his hand again and threw the bag he brought to the man beside him.Saitama took it and took out two cans of beer from inside: "Huh? Did you buy it?"

The implication is: Aren't minors (at least on the outside) unable to buy alcohol?

To this, Eric only replied a few words coldly: "Just drink, stop talking nonsense."

Saitama: "...Oh, okay."

Between friends, people who choke to death have to go back and forth.

Skip the follow-up unimportant content. After 10 minutes, the two people sitting side by side hooked the ring of the can and broke it hard.

"Crash-"

The white foam gushes out from the narrow leak all at once, almost falling on the back of the hand, and the smell of wine is even more tangy.

The two of them raised their hands and clinked glasses tacitly, regardless of whether their hands would get foam or not.

At this time, the beer foam that hadn't settled before was bumped, and it really splashed and flew down, wet the sleeves of the two people who drank a bottle of beer with their heads up in one gulp.

"Huh! Have fun."

"There is no better wine, so we can only make do with it."

"Oh, you." Saitama shook his head: "I haven't seen you not being picky, just make do with it."

Eric was dissatisfied: "Hey, what is picky, I'm just telling the truth!"

The two who had just finished drinking seemed to be arguing again - but they didn't.

Because in the next second, they looked at each other with serious expressions.

Then, at the same time.

"Pfft."

The obstructive white foam smeared around the corners of their mouths, as if they had grown beards decades earlier. They looked extremely happy. No wonder the two couldn't help laughing when they saw each other's appearance Voice.

At first, it was just a puff that was still concealed.

But soon, Xu Ye's appearance was really funny enough, and thinking about it, he was almost the same at this time, not only did not restrain his smile, but it expanded uncontrollably by several points.

"Pfft—hahahahaha!"

"Why did you laugh so silly all of a sudden... Hahaha, hahahaha!"

It's okay for Saitama to smile so happily. The most important thing is that Eric still questioned calmly in the first half of the sentence, but he couldn't hold back the next moment.

Laughter is something that affects people as expected, and its appeal is extremely strong.

When Eric deeply felt that he was laughing too stupidly, and forcibly cut off the laughter, his heart was already free, and the gloom, whether it existed or not, was swept away.

Looking back again.

Eric: "..."

No way, the laughter that was just stopped was about to burst out again, thanks to the fact that he is a cold and heartless man, he was able to hold back resolutely at this time: "Saitama, what's wrong with your jaw!"

"I'm sorry." Holding his face with his hands, the man with dead eyes was ashamed of his heart: "The smile is too exaggerated, it's an excuse (the smile is too exaggerated, it's dislocated)."

Eric: "..."

"hahahahahahahahaha!!!"

Crackling, Saitama quickly straightened his chin, angrily said, "Don't be so arrogant in front of me even if you gloat!"

OK, that's it.

This is the end of the joke full of the atmosphere of hurting friends.

Looking around, the top floors of uneven buildings are all illuminated by the sun, as if being painted with soft colors one by one by colorful brushes.

The building they were in was no exception.

And, for example, it's quieter.

"Speak up."

The silver-haired boy's eyes were far away, and he was looking straight ahead, but there seemed to be nothing there that could attract him.

Just like the tone when talking about daily trivial matters, Eric said casually at this moment: "Aren't you going to talk about your affairs?"

"What, what about me?"

Saitama was confused at first.

After a pause, before Eric directly called the roll, he remembered it himself, with a frank face: "Oh, you mean that."

"I didn't hide it from you, I was just thinking, if it's your words, I can definitely notice it without me saying it."

"Of course." Eric was not humble either.

What he wanted to ask today was actually the matter that he hadn't seriously mentioned until now.

"It's so obvious that you can think of it with a little attention. However, if you don't realize it in advance, it will make people feel strange."

"Is this your own ability? No, if you knew it yourself, you would have told me from the beginning."

Talking to himself, Eric finally came to a realization, and when he looked at Saitama in a blink of an eye, he couldn't hide his surprise in his eyes: "Could it be that after you came to this world, you suddenly appeared out of nowhere?"

"It's all guessed by you, what else can I say."

Although Saitama was complaining, his expression was not like that.

Shaking his head, he still said indifferently: "Before I came to this world, I really didn't. It's true that I'm usually very low-key, but I'm not so low-key that my sense of existence completely disappears."

Using this topic, Saitama began to tell Eric a secret that was not a secret in him.

When staying in his own world, as the strongest in the hidden world, Saitama doesn't have any fancy skills.If I have to say it, his skills are only punches with different levels of seriousness.

However, after inexplicably running to another world, he inexplicably acquired new skills.

——An ultra-low sense of presence that can be perfectly ignored no matter what you do.

This ability... um...

To be honest, Saitama really doesn't want it, who would want to be ignored, or 100% of the sense of existence that can't be detected by people and various modern machines.

However, this is another thick-skinned skill, it sticks to the body and cannot be lost.Saitama had no choice but to let nature take its course.

Although, he discovered later that this ability, which is considered half an active skill, is actually quite useful.

As a visitor from another world, Saitama doesn't have an ID card, so it doesn't matter, he can walk into the office openly and get one for himself in front of the staff.

It is also quite effective when bringing the hobby of being a hero here.Anyway, he easily dealt with the enemy, even if the camera is right above his head, there will be no impact of his appearance afterwards, and the secrecy is top-notch.

Most of the troubles were saved by this sudden ability. Saitama, who was still a little troubled, thought about it, and felt that he didn't need to worry.

It's not like he has zero sense of existence all the time. When he has the idea of ​​contacting people, others can leave an impression on him, but whether the impression is deep or not can't be accurately determined. It depends on the specific situation.

"..."

"Hey, Eric, do you want to laugh at me again? I can see it, I definitely! You just want to laugh out loud when you find out!"

"No such thing!"

Eric didn't admit it, you know, he was very serious, and he didn't change the subject: "This ability fits your personality quite well... Well, are you aware of the reason?"

"Probably there is only one possibility." Saitama guessed, "After arriving in this world, I did as the Romans do, and I also developed the 'personality' that most people here have."

To sum up, it means "assimilation".

Visitors from another world are influenced by the world they live in, showing a slight tendency to blend in with it.However, it seems that there is no bad effect, it is just an extra convenient ability, and it is not a big deal.

Just at this point, Saitama asked Eric: "Aren't you like this? Suddenly there is an ability that you didn't have before. I thought, your ability is ice and teleportation. One thing is that there are more abilities in the back. from."

He remembered that Eric also said that although he couldn't remember his previous experiences, he was definitely not from this world, and he could be sure without restoring his memory.

Eric also found it a bit strange, but his answer to this question was still firm: "No. The abilities I have now are all what I originally had."

Nothing more, nothing less...

wrong.

He lost almost all his memory.

Is this a side effect?Or, there is a deeper reason hidden in it that he has not noticed yet.

Frowning lines could not help appearing between the brows, the silver-haired boy didn't speak again for a moment, Saitama noticed that he probably didn't want to speak for the time being, so he didn't interrupt his train of thought.

After a while, Qiyu, who seemed to be talking to himself, said: "Oh, it doesn't matter if you don't, it means that you are a man who can do everything by himself, much better than me."

"This consolation is too fake—no, I don't need consolation at all!"

"Hahaha, just listen and be happy."

In fact, there is nowhere to feel happy.

However, Eric pondered for a moment, and suddenly said, "Have you thought about leaving this world and going to other places?"

Saitama didn't understand why at first, but then he realized: "I'm actually the same everywhere. It's just—well, it's okay, if you also plan to leave, the only friend I have now is you."

Having said that, Saitama still found it unbelievable to hear the meaning of Eric's words: "Eric, you are willing to leave those children behind and run away by yourself? No way, it's completely unimaginable."

"It's impossible for me to be their bodyguard for the rest of their lives. It's better to leave early than late, and save trouble."

Eric said angrily, but he didn't try to hide his true thoughts.

In front of Saitama, he can relax a little more. These emotions must not be discovered by those disobedient brats, because after they know it, they will definitely get carried away, thinking that their big brother really cares about them-thinking too much, how is it possible? !

It's just a little more than a few threads between the nails.

It's good to have, don't get carried away.

Well, Eric is not only a strong man, but also a gentle man who doesn't match his heart-this idea just appeared in Saitama's heart, and he has not had time to sigh in the future.

"Huh? Your apprentice is here?"

He sharply saw the familiar young man walking slowly from the street on the right below. At first, he thought it was Eric who called his apprentice over.

The result does not seem to be.

Eric didn't expect that Hong Jiaodong would appear at this time.

The two "adults" who were openly basking in the sun on the roof turned their heads, and saw Hong Jiaodong approaching, stopped at a place downstairs where they could just see clearly, and raised the dangling bag in his hand: "I brought Dessert over here."

Saitama: "!"

Eric (eyes brighten): "Very good! Come up!"

So, Hong Jiaodong also stepped on the bricks of the roof and sat between the teacher and his friends.

The reason why the boy came here was just a whim in the beginning.

As one of the top students in the class, Hong Jiaodong also participated in the after-school tutoring sprint activity, and accompanied the students with poor grades to cram for a while.

This kind of day lasted for a week, and it seemed that it would continue until the next exam came, and all the tortured students were relieved whether they were dead or alive.

Hong Jiaodong was supposed to be like everyone else, because he was busy and had no time to pay attention to the little details that were already invisible.

It was unexpectedly a few words from his family that reminded him that "something seems wrong".

Since he was a child, his relationship with his father Andeva was quite bad, which is known to many people.

Therefore, in comparison, the relationship between Hong Jiaodong and his sister at home is much better than that with his father.

After returning home yesterday, his sister came to his room to deliver biscuits, taking the opportunity to jokingly mention an unexpected person to him.

Maybe it can't be said to be an accident.

It's just that he didn't think that he would hear the name of his nominal teacher again from the family members.

It was still extremely excited and curious—and also mixed with emotions that Hong Jiaodong didn't understand—in his tone.

"Jiao Dong, do you have a good relationship with Eric?"

"……Um."

Hong Jiaodong thought for a while, and felt that his relationship with Eric should be able to reach a "very good" level, so he gave an affirmative answer.

Then, he heard his sister's high-pitched voice several times: "Wow! It's actually true! That's great, Jiao Dong finally has a good friend! Hmm, wait for him to come over after a while, please help me Get a thread and ask him for an autographed photo~"

"What autographed photo?" Hong Jiaodong was stunned, and suddenly grasped the key point of this passage: "After a while—what do you mean?"

"...It happened!"

His sister covered her mouth belatedly: "So you don't know Jiao Dong?"

Hong Jiaodong was even more confused for a while, and felt that something was wrong, so he asked questions for the first time.

The elder sister had an expression on her face that something bad happened, and she was forced to have no choice, so she quietly told him that she accidentally heard her father's call.

It is said that if Xiongying does not stop him, and Eric himself does not object, soon, the amazingly talented boy will graduate from Xiongying High School ahead of schedule, join Andeva's Hero Office, and become the youngest professional hero in history. !

"Of course, it's if, if, oh, it's not confirmed yet... But, with such a good thing, Eric will definitely agree to it?"

"..."

For some reason, Hong Jiaodong had an impulse, and almost blurted out: Eric would not agree, if it was him, he would definitely not.

But there is no evidence, words based on intuition and impulse are too pale, and there is no need to tell others to know.

That night, Hong Jiaodong thought for a long time alone.

During the day on the second day, he went to class as usual without any abnormality.But after school, he apologized to the classmates who had made an appointment for tutoring, and went to another place temporarily.

"Don't tell me, you ran over there and bought it yourself?"

Eric received another signature cake from his favorite (crossed out) internet celebrity dessert shop. Needless to say, it is impossible to buy it without queuing for an hour.

"Yes."

In the eyes of the teacher, the idiot apprentice who had already been labeled as a foolish boy really admitted it.

"I took the tram to the city next door, bought the cake, and immediately came back by tram..."

Then, he rushed here with the cake without stopping, without stopping for a breath on the way.

Hong Jiaodong said truthfully: "Maybe it's because I was too anxious and forgot that I can take a rest, it's okay—"

Snapped!

The silly boy was slapped violently on the back of the head.

"I got you!"

Eric didn't expect that the apprentice he accepted on a whim seemed upright, and sometimes he would choke to death when speaking, but sometimes, he had such a delicate mind.

He was in a complicated mood for a while, he didn't know whether it was obscure, or his cold heart was slightly touched.

Assuming that he was really touched a little bit—well, he was just a little moved—the silver-haired boy still had the stern attitude on the surface, and when he discovered the flaws of his disciple, he would teach him a lesson mercilessly:

"Stop doing such labor-intensive and time-consuming things in the future, and I won't die if I eat a piece of cake—well, I mean, I don't like cake! Just because you bought it so hard, kid, It’s hard to accept it, so as not to waste it.”

Hong Jiaodong accepted the instruction seriously and finally satisfied the teacher.

And Saitama nodded again and again, saying yes Eric was right, you are the one who dislikes cake the most.

"So, Jiao Dong only bought two cakes."

"One piece for Eric, one piece for Mr. Saitama, that's enough."

"Fool!"

With a snap, Hong Jiaodong was knocked again.

"I've never met someone who I can forget. You, a disciple, are too worried. Tsk, forget it, I'll give you my share."

"Wait a minute, I have extra plates and chopsticks here... Come on, like this, divide each piece out a bit, and just make up the third portion."

Saitama made a move, and distributed the third cake to the tortoise jelly who forgot about himself. The portion-well, it was slightly more than the elders, but no one would care.

"Eat quickly, and go home immediately after eating."

The teacher said fiercely.

"Jiao Dong, just listen to your teacher's words backwards, it happens every time, I have to sum up the rules."

The man who had nothing to do with himself added on the side.

"Fuck you!"

"My God! How can a man like you swear, I misread you, Eric!"

"I misunderstood you too, Saitama! Don't spoil my apprentice! Oh, wait, Hong Jiaodong, do you always call me by my name instead of Teacher?"

The fire finally burned to the innocent boy.

It's okay for Hong Jiaodong to deal with it calmly, without showing any panic.

Because Mr. Saitama has already recognized the cold and severe essence of a certain man that Mr. Saitama can discover, so there is no need to be afraid at all.

"I really appreciate you very much, Eric, teacher."

"The kid who has no teacher must be cleaned up—huh? Uh? Cough, cough, cough, cough!"

I was stuck coughing, and soon, the forcedly reversed words appeared again: "Just know that you have to respect the teacher, don't be an example!"

Hong Jiaodong inexplicably wanted to smile.

However, he was worried that the smile would be misunderstood as a smug smile in the eyes of the teacher, so he had to look tense: "Yes, teacher!"

"……Humph."

After eating the cake side by side on the high roof, Eric really didn't let Hong Jiaodong stay any longer, and drove him away directly.

When Hong Jiaodong returned home, it was already quite late.

As soon as he entered the door, he just ran into his father Andeva.

"Jiao Dong, are you with Eric again this afternoon?"

Andrew asked him a question.

Hong Jiaodong hummed lightly, then walked past Andeva, intending to go back to his room directly.

Originally, the blunt dialogue between father and son could have ended here, and there was no need to extend any follow-up.

but……

Before he took a few steps, Hong Jiaodong heard it—a sentence that made his expression change instantly, almost distorted into a strange appearance.

Andeva (groaning): "It's a pity, that boy's personality, if it's a girl..."

Hong Jiaodong: "......?????"

In an instant, countless images with a huge amount of information (note: it is Hong Jiaodong's own imagination) all came to mind, forming a huge four words of "one! Sex! Marriage! Marriage!".

too frightening.

so horrible!

There was a bang, it was the boy who stopped suddenly and almost crushed the floor with a loud noise.

Hong Jiaodong had no time to control his expression.

He swished his head back, and returned this extremely weird expression to Andeva.

Hong Jiaodong: "Do you want me to die?"

Andrew: "..."

Andrew: "Huh???"

The author has something to say: Boom: I'm still young, I don't want to die yet