Heroes.
What defines a hero?
According to definitions, there are three types.
Firstly, those with extraordinary martial prowess.
Secondly, individuals possessing qualities of bravery.
Lastly, those who selflessly strive for the benefit of the people, admirable in their actions.
In this world, however, there's a new interpretation of heroes.
It's become a profession.
Their duties range from maintaining law and order, combating crime, to rescuing and protecting civilians, handling disasters caused by monsters or natural phenomena, and they are compensated based on their contributions to society.
Yet, Roy himself didn't harbor many thoughts about this profession.
Despite its uniqueness, Roy didn't fancy trying it out.
It was only a proposal from Dr. Yumemi Okazaki a short while ago that led him into several days of serious contemplation.
Firstly, he wasn't short of money.
With the ability to create any tangible substance, the Dark Matter, naturally, could be used to produce precious metals that could serve as hard currency.
However, Roy didn't often do this.
Because there were things more valuable than precious metals, such as californium, platinum, palladium, and even subprime adamantium, which, upon Dr. Okazaki's recommendation, many labs were waving money to acquire.
So, Roy didn't need to feel any financial pressure, and naturally wouldn't become a professional hero for money.
Secondly, Roy didn't see himself as someone who harbored deep hatred for evil.
Now endowed with a certain level of ability, Roy would only do what he could. If someone was attacked by a monster in front of him or a weaker person was unreasonably bullied, he would never stand idly by.
But to classify himself as a righteous partner would be too superficial.
After all, it could only be considered as small favors to others when it didn't involve his own interests.
If the person was someone Roy couldn't defeat, then he would choose to protect himself without any guilt. If the action harmed his own interests, then needless to say, he wouldn't do it.
To live happily and safely, such cruelty and rationality were essential.
Lastly, Roy wasn't like Saitama. He neither aspired to be a hero nor had any interest in becoming one or engaging in hero activities.
He had followed Saitama, driven by curiosity, and experienced it for a while. Basically, it was all about defeating monsters, stopping crimes, and after it was done, there wasn't any special feeling... although there was a bit of excitement.
In short, there was no reason for him to become a professional hero.
"But what Yumemi said... trying to entertain myself, or rather, not letting myself be so aimless and idle?"
While he come to this world.
His future had completely deviated from the normal path, so naturally, he couldn't face his life ahead with the mindset of living for just a hundred years.
For Roy, the future was something both foreseeable and difficult to confirm.
After knowing that he would indeed become an existence that continuously traversed through various worlds, if he continued to maintain this slacker attitude, it wouldn't be very good.
His system had given him too much freedom.
Wasn't it said that systems would issue tasks for the host to complete? After all the beginner benefits were given out, his system just went idle.
So, in the end, he still had to find something to do himself.
"So, should I try becoming a professional hero?"
It might be interesting to try it out, to have some activity, at least?
While pondering this issue, Roy went for a walk.
"By the way, why are there so few people on the street? Even though it's not near my apartment, this street should be quite crowded. "
After walking for a while, not only were there few pedestrians on the street, but there were also very few cars. However, this wasn't a deserted city, one could sense the presence of people in the nearby residences, but they all seemed to have their doors and windows tightly shut, as if guarding against something.
"Is there a disaster warning?"
Roy took out his phone and checked, and sure enough.
It said that a large group of mosquitoes was advancing toward City Z, but these weren't ordinary mosquitoes; they were extremely vicious. Livestock and people attacked by them would have all their blood sucked dry in an extremely short time. If encountered, it would undoubtedly be fatal.
The disaster level was categorized as Demon.
It could potentially cause a town's functions to collapse or even be destroyed.
"It's terrifying. I better hurry back and lock the doors and windows." Muttering to himself, Roy quickened his pace.
There was a convenience store not far away.
Just as he heard the sound of glass breaking, a delinquent with a crowbar took advantage of the situation and rushed out with a large bag of items.
"What's happening?"
Looking up, he saw a black mass of clouds rushing in like a storm.
No, those weren't clouds.
It was a swarm of mosquitoes made up of a large number of them! They were acting in a highly organized and cooperative manner. The delinquent not far from Roy might be swallowed up by the mosquito swarm before he even realized it, turning into a dried corpse in the next second.
After sucking the blood of one person, the swarm of mosquitoes was still not satisfied.
Sensing Roy nearby, the mosquito swarm quickly attacked towards him.
"It's so difficult to be an ordinary person in this world, isn't it?"
Encountering such terrifying events from time to time.
Roy, who could increase the hardness of his skin to that of steel, wasn't afraid of mosquito bites. However, it was still a very disgusting thing to have insects touch his skin.
With this thought in mind, a metallic substance, like liquid, rapidly enveloped Roy's entire body, eventually forming a suit of armor dominated by red, with some gold trimmings.
Mark L Iron Man Armor.
Iron Man Nanotechnology Armor is one of the applications of his Dark Matter ability.
He extruded the Dark Matter from his body in the form of nanomaterials and assembled it on the surface. In fact, Roy's clothes were also made of nanomachines produced from Dark Matter, which could directly interface with the Dark Matter inside his body.
After putting on the nanosuit, mosquitoes naturally couldn't touch him at all.
However, the unintelligent mosquitoes still foolishly clung to his body, turning him into a mosquito man.
[Sir, the analysis is complete. This swarm of mosquitoes is controlled by a signal emitter, continuously transmitting signals for command and control. And now, the signal source is behind you at 11 o'clock, 20 meters above the ground. In addition, besides you, there is another person 110 meters away from you participating in the fight against the monster.]
The artificial intelligence responsible for the ship's electronic system inside the armor completed the battlefield scan and intelligence analysis, and reported to Roy.
"Are there others? But anyone who can participate must be powerful, right? Could it be a professional hero from the Hero Association? Anyway, let's deal with this Demon-level disaster first."
The arc reactor on his chest emitted a dazzling light, and then, several positions on the nanosuit opened up, releasing high-temperature shockwaves, instantly burning all the mosquitoes on him and within a radius of several meters.
Looking up, he immediately locked onto the mosquito female monster in midair.
It seemed that her expression was somewhat puzzled and uncertain, probably because Roy had unexpectedly intervened.
"There's still another one?!"
Really?
After a moment of hesitation, did she just slow down?
Taking a quick glance, Roy realized that the other person was not an ordinary individual. If they were a professional hero, it seemed that his contribution would be diluted if he joined in. In that case, it was better to step back.
He had intended to fire a railgun shot.
But it was better not to cut off someone else's financial path.
Most importantly, he was still just an ordinary person in need of protection.