Chapter 29 – Garou's Recovery Log
On the rooftop of a tall building in City R, Zenin Kyūjō stood alone, his silver hair fluttering under the night breeze. His gaze was fixed far into the distance—toward a battle raging tens of kilometers away.
It was a fight between Garou, the man who called himself the Human Monster and Hero Hunter, and Iaian, the second-ranked A-Class hero under the Hero Association.
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Garou, as a child, had once dreamed of being the protagonist.
But he despised the heroes on TV—those "righteous" men who always preached justice while crushing their opponents with smug smiles.
Every time he played with the other kids, they forced him to play the villain. He'd get beaten up, again and again, until resentment took root deep in his soul.
To him, the fact that villains were destined to lose was unfair. It made no sense.
When he grew up, Garou joined Bang's dojo to learn martial arts. He hid his true intentions, waiting patiently for the right moment.
With his natural talent and instinct, he quickly became Bang's best disciple. But when Bang decided to cooperate with the Hero Association, Garou's belief that "justice is a lie" only grew stronger.
One day, while Bang was away, Garou snapped. He went on a rampage—defeating every other student in the dojo single-handedly.
When Bang returned, he stopped Garou with a single blow, condemning him as someone who lacked true spirit.
Cast out and abandoned, Garou finally understood—heroes and their system of justice would never be fair.
From that day on, he made a vow.
He would become a monster.
He would tear down the false hierarchy of "heroes vs villains," and build a world where evil and good stood on equal ground—a world where the villain could win.
Thus began his crusade as the Hero Hunter.
And today, Iaian was his twenty-seventh victim in just a single month.
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As the prime disciple of Atomic Samurai, Iaian was no pushover. If not for Sweet Mask holding the top A-Class rank, Iaian would've long advanced to S-Class.
But unfortunately for him, today he met Garou.
Even without using Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, Garou overpowered him purely with instinct and speed.
Though Iaian's sword had carved a deep gash across his abdomen, Garou's counterattacks left the samurai unconscious in the middle of City R's chaos.
And, as always, Garou didn't kill him.
He simply left—limping into the shadows to lick his wounds and wait for his next hunt.
— — —
High above, Kyūjō's eyes glimmered faintly. In the next instant, he vanished—reappearing beside Garou, who lay asleep in an abandoned construction site.
The massive wound he'd taken that morning had nearly vanished.
That was… strange.
Garou had no regenerative abilities. His body shouldn't have been able to heal like that.
Yet Kyūjō had been watching him for weeks, and he'd noticed a clear pattern—Garou's recovery rate was rising each time he fought.
He's evolving, Kyūjō thought. Just like Saitama once did.
Without making a sound, Kyūjō reached down, plucked a single strand of Garou's hair, and disappeared into thin air.
— — —
By the next morning, Garou's wounds had completely healed.
He wasted no time. His next target was in City Q—a true test of his strength.
His first attempt at hunting an S-Class hero: Watchdog Man.
That night, Garou fought like a demon. He unleashed every technique he had—Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist included—but Watchdog Man toyed with him like a chew toy, battering him within an inch of his life.
Still, Garou survived.
Bruised, bleeding, but alive—and with something new.
He had learned from Watchdog Man. During the battle, he'd unconsciously copied the beast's feral agility and unpredictability. His fighting style evolved again.
— — —
Three days later, when his body had barely begun to recover, Garou headed for City W.
His next hunt: three A-Class heroes—Tank-Top Black Hole, Blue Fire, and Magic Trick Man.
Even though his body was still wrecked, Garou defeated all three after a long, brutal fight.
But he paid the price. His energy was spent. His body was barely holding together.
He couldn't run anymore.
He collapsed into the attic of an old woman's house in City W, hiding among the dust and cobwebs as he tried to recover.
That night, the Hero Association launched a full-scale manhunt. Dozens of A-Class and B-Class heroes flooded into City W.
At 3:00 a.m., he was discovered—by Smell Master, a B-Class hero ranked #36, known for his superhuman sense of smell.
But instead of calling for backup, Smell Master got greedy.
He wanted the glory of taking down the Hero Hunter alone.
A fatal mistake.
Even half-dead, Garou turned the tables. One strike was all it took to render Smell Master unconscious.
Dragging his broken body, Garou fled once again into the darkness.
— — —
By dawn, he had fought—and defeated—
six A-Class heroes and twelve from B-Class.
The six A-Class victims were:
Rank 9: Tank-Top Vegetarian
Rank 10: Stinger
Rank 13: Great Philosopher
Rank 17: Lightning Genji
Rank 20: Lightning Max
Rank 22: Critical Hit
(The names of the B-Class heroes were not worth recording.)
Garou escaped the city, battered beyond recognition but still alive.
— — —
By sheer coincidence, his wandering brought him to City Z.
In a narrow alleyway, exhausted and half-conscious, he ran into a man standing with a plastic bag of groceries—King, the "Strongest Man on Earth."
Both froze.
Silence stretched between them.
Then came that familiar, ominous rumble.
The King Engine.
Garou's entire body tensed.
For the first time in his life, he stepped back. He didn't fight.
He turned around—
and ran.
— — —
He hid on the outskirts of City Z for a week, nursing his wounds.
But as soon as he recovered, humiliation hit him like a punch to the gut.
He had fled. From a fight.
That shame burned hotter than any wound.
So the moment he healed, Garou returned to City Z to find King—determined to redeem himself.
Unfortunately… fate had other plans.
That very day, Saitama happened to be visiting King's apartment.
The two were in the middle of an intense gaming session—
and Saitama had just lost three matches in a row.
Frustrated beyond reason, the bald man clenched his fist.
And right then—Garou appeared at the door.
Without a word, without a thought, Saitama turned around—
and punched.
Garou was blasted out of King's 22nd-floor window like a missile.
He flew across several districts and crashed into the outskirts of City Z.
Ninety percent of his bones shattered. His vision blurred. His consciousness slipped away.
If Garou's life had been a video game, his HP bar would have been locked at 1.
And in that fragile moment, on the brink of death—
Garou met a young boy.
A boy who, in the days to come, would become the only person…
worth risking his life to protect.
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