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Chapter 2 - "Superman, The Manga Artist"

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Lying on his bed, Ethan let out a long sigh.

What a ridiculous world. Out of nowhere, weirdos popped up every other day — either trying to destroy the city or the whole damn planet. It was exhausting.But the real problem? Somehow, he'd ended up with a body that seemed to attract trouble like a magnet.

Monsters, freaks, and all kinds of weird incidents just kept coming his way. A year barely went by with even a few peaceful days.

Luckily, ever since he came to this world, he'd somehow been given the powers of Superman. Not quite at Silver Age Superman levels, but still way overpowered by any normal standard.

Super strength — punches weighing three million tons.Super speed — fast enough to break the light barrier.Super senses, heat vision, near-invincible defense, enhanced intelligence, solar energy absorption — basically, a full Superman package straight out of the movies.

Of course, he also inherited Superman's famous weakness: Kryptonite.Thankfully, this world didn't seem to have any. So, at least he didn't have to worry about suddenly dropping dead.

Even so, having Superman's powers didn't make his life easy. His "trouble magnet" body ensured he was constantly attacked by monsters or dragged into nonsense. It drove him nuts.

Then one day, he met someone even crazier — a ridiculously strong human.

A bald guy named Saitama.

Well… "human" was up for debate. Ethan wasn't entirely convinced. That guy's strength, speed, and defense were absurd. They'd never fought seriously, but Ethan had a feeling that even with all his power, he might not actually win. Saitama's strength felt… infinite.

Saitama's dream was to be a hero, and Ethan was more than happy to help with that — by moving into the house next door. Since Ethan naturally attracted monsters, Saitama had an endless supply of enemies to punch. Problem solved.

Of course, Saitama's strength came with some downsides. The most obvious one: that shiny bald head.Apparently, he used to have a full head of black hair before he got so strong that even his follicles gave up.And then there was his brain — or rather, the lack of one. He wasn't dumb, exactly, but it was like his brain had downgraded for efficiency. When talking to him, you had to keep your sentences under twenty words, or he'd look like his head might explode.

"Wait, today's the deadline already?" Ethan muttered, glancing at the calendar. He scratched his head, sat up, grabbed a pencil, and stared at the blank pages stacked beside him.

Then his hands started moving at super speed, forming a blur of motion. The pile of blank paper shrank fast while the stack of finished pages grew higher and higher. Within seconds, he tossed the pencil aside.

"Done."

Ethan was a manga artist.Even in this world, you needed food, clothes, a roof over your head — all of which cost money. Especially when you had a habit of getting your house blown up by random monsters. Repairs weren't cheap.

So, he'd decided to make a living the same way he had before — by drawing manga.

Back in his old world, he'd been a low-tier, third-rate artist barely scraping by. But here? The entertainment scene was kinda dull, maybe because everyone was too busy dealing with monsters. And with his skills — plus, you know, a little "inspiration" borrowed from an entire other world — he skyrocketed to fame. Before long, he'd become one of the top manga artists on the planet.

Thanks to his superhuman speed, drawing was ridiculously easy. No need for assistants, no studio, no deadlines. Pure efficiency.

He slipped the finished manuscript into a folder, grabbed it, and headed out. It was delivery day, after all.

Technically, a top-tier artist like him should've had his editor come pick up the work. But his situation was… complicated.

He lived in Z City — officially labeled a "monster disaster zone."In truth, it was only that way because of him. His trouble-magnet aura turned the place into ground zero for weird attacks.

After a few editors got caught up in monster ambushes trying to visit, the publishing house decided it was safer if Ethan just delivered his manuscripts himself.

Z City had long since become deserted. Especially around the area where he and Saitama lived — it was just the two of them. Everyone else had moved away. Those who still lived in the city stayed far, far from their neighborhood.

It was quiet. Empty. The only sounds were the wind whistling through broken buildings — and Ethan's footsteps echoing down the empty street.

He'd long since gotten used to it.

"Found you…"

The ground suddenly trembled as something massive burst out of the earth — a monster shaped like a giant worm. Its huge, grotesque mouth was lined with sharp teeth, dripping saliva as it lunged straight at him.

"What a pain…" Ethan muttered lazily. He didn't even slow down. His eyes glowed red, and a thin beam of light shot from his pupils, slicing the monster in half like a laser cutter.

But worms were hard to kill — even chopped to pieces, they could survive. So Ethan dialed up the heat. The air shimmered, and within seconds, the creature was roasted into a shriveled husk.

"Troublesome," he sighed again, stepping over the crispy remains and continuing down the street as if nothing happened.

"If only Saitama was here, I wouldn't even have to bother…" His tone was listless, completely drained of energy.

He kept walking, and sure enough, more monsters popped up along the way — one or two every so often, all meeting the same fate.

The word "trouble" left his mouth so often it might as well have been his catchphrase.

"..."

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