Fubuki knew this voice all too well. It was one of her most loyal subordinates, Eyelashes, ranked 2nd in B-Class.
'Eyelashes? What is he doing here?'
Fubuki paused, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart.
Eyelashes's voice continued, carrying an exaggerated, almost salesman-like enthusiasm:
"Things are tough for us Heroes these days. Those people outside keep calling us useless, and the association executives are scrambling."
"But if you join our [Fubuki Group], under our leader, Lady Blizzard of Hell, all those difficulties become nothing!"
"Fubuki-sama will definitely defeat that damned No.17 and save all of humanity!"
Listening outside, Fubuki felt a wave of second-hand embarrassment, wishing the ground would swallow her whole.
But the next moment, another voice from inside the room froze all her embarrassment and anger, turning it into bone-chilling cold.
It was a gentle, slightly amused male voice: "Oh? Is that so? That sounds impressive."
"But I heard that No.17 is incredibly strong. Even S-Class Heroes working together couldn't defeat him."
'That voice!'
Fubuki's heart seized. Her blood seemed to stop flowing.
'The leader of No.17. The true mastermind behind the apocalypse.'
Crippling fear, like icy vines, coiled around her limbs, rendering her immobile.
Yet inside the room, the oblivious Eyelashes continued his deadly sales pitch:
"No.17? Hah! Who cares about him? Fubuki-sama simply hasn't deigned to act yet!"
"Fubuki-sama is the strongest B-Class Hero! No, her strength has long surpassed the limits of B-Class!"
"She just... just doesn't want to upset her sister, Tatsumaki-sama, so she deliberately suppresses her power and stays at B-Class Rank 1."
"It's a form of great humility, you understand?"
"Once Fubuki-sama gets serious, killing that No.17 would be as easy as squashing a bug!"
A mental scream echoed in Fubuki's mind like a frantic groundhog: 'Stop! Please stop, Eyelashes! You're going to get us killed! We're all going to die!'
Bam!
The metal door of the testing room was slammed open. Fubuki practically stumbled in.
"Eyelashes! Stop!"
At the sound of the crashing door and Fubuki's scream, both people inside turned their heads.
Seeing who was sitting across from Eyelashes, Fubuki's last shred of hope vanished. It was indeed No.17's leader.
Eyelashes saw Fubuki, froze for a moment, then exclaimed joyfully: "Fubuki-sama! You're here! Great!"
He immediately stood up and said to the man across from him, "See? This is the leader of our Fubuki Group, Lady Blizzard of Hell herself!"
"What did I tell you? Isn't Fubuki-sama both powerful and beautiful?"
Fubuki: "..."
She felt as if she had just heard her own death knell.
"Fubuki-sama? What's wrong? You don't look well?" Eyelashes finally noticed Fubuki's strange state and asked with concern.
Fubuki gritted her teeth, using all her strength to force the words out: "Eyelashes, leave. I need to talk to him alone."
Though confused, seeing Fubuki's unusually pale face and almost crumbling expression, Eyelashes dared not question further and quickly nodded.
"Oh... okay, sure. Fubuki-sama, I'll be outside."
He nodded hastily at Setsuna, then exited the room, carefully closing the door behind him.
Click.
The sound of the door latching was unusually clear in the silent room.
After a few seconds of deathly silence.
"I-I'm sorry." Fubuki's voice was choked with tears, her head bowed so low it almost touched her chest. "Eyelashes, he... he didn't mean it. He's just... just admires me so much he said a lot of stupid things."
"Please don't blame him. If he offended you, I'm willing to bear any punishment in his place."
Watching this scene, as if it would soon lead to a 'corruption arc', Setsuna chuckled. "It's fine. He's quite amusing. I almost wanted to ask him to get me a bowl of Beef Noodles." (T/N: From what I know, I don't eat beef can also means I can do whatever I wanted. It's a meme in China for those people who suddenly got overpowered ability and do whatever they wanted.)
Fubuki: "...?"
She looked up blankly, wondering if fear had made her hallucinate.
'Beef noodles? What did that mean? Was he hinting me should serve him noodles?'
After a moment of stunned silence, she couldn't help but ask, "Why... why are you here?"
Setsuna smiled. "I wanted to see if I could catch a big fish called 'God' in this little 'fish pond'."
"Although monsters seem more likely to attract that God's attention, I don't want to become something neither human nor monster. So I thought I'd try being a Hero for fun."
Fubuki's eyes were filled with confusion, 'Fish pond? God?'
She understood each word individually but couldn't grasp the meaning when they were put together.
Setsuna's tone was light. "You don't need to understand. Just think of it as me passing the time out of boredom."
He walked up to Fubuki, leaning slightly closer. "But don't interfere with my fun. If I get unhappy, I might just destroy this world a little earlier."
Fubuki was so terrified she could only nod repeatedly, unable to utter a word.
She didn't even know how she left that room, only coming to when the receptionist girl stopped her in the hall.
"Fubuki-sama! Are... are you alright? What happened in there? Did Hades-sama not pass the test?"
Fubuki snapped back to reality, looking at the girl. "Test? What test?"
"Your interview evaluation for Hades," The girl said, pulling out her notepad. "HR needs it for the records..."
"One hundred!" Fubuki shrieked. "Absolutely one hundred! No, one thousand, ten thousand! He can have whatever score he wants!"
Receptionist: "???"
Fubuki said no more, turning and quickly walking away. She needed to find Genos immediately. Only Genos could understand the pressure she was under.
After Fubuki haltingly told Genos everything that had happened in the testing room, Genos's expression grew serious.
"So, he joined the Hero Association and rapidly resolved incidents to raise his rank, all to attract the attention of some unknown entity?"
"I'm afraid so." Fubuki's face was pale. "And he said if we interfere with his fun, he might destroy the world early."
Genos was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Fubuki-san, aside from your [Fubuki Group] recruiting B-Class Heroes, are there any other factions in the Hero Association that like to suppress newcomers or ostracize those who don't fit in?"
Fubuki froze, then her expression changed dramatically.
She understood Genos's implication.
What if, while Hades was climbing the ranks, he encountered the kind of troublemakers who liked to cause problems?
What if those blind fools used their usual tactics to harass and threaten him?
Fubuki almost dared not continue the thought.
"Yes!" Fubuki's voice tightened. "The most famous is the [Tank Topper Army], led by the S-Class Hero, Tanktop Master."
"They recruit Heroes who idolize muscle power and often suppress newcomers who refuse to join them or have different styles!"