This is a side story, the story takes place in Saitama's original world.
—
"Two baked sweet potatoes, please."
The snow was falling heavily. Saitama, wearing a thick winter coat, hat and scarf, stood in front of a stall selling roasted sweet potatoes. As he spoke, hot mist came out of his mouth.
Today is Christmas.
KING invited Saitama and Genos to his home.
Genos will be late because he has to deal with the disaster, so Saitama is now alone walking in the snow.
Although I don’t really care too much about festivals, since I received the invitation, I might as well bring some gifts with me...
Saitama thought so.
Then he took the two baked sweet potatoes wrapped by the boss and was ready to pay.
But…
"…scared?"
Touching his empty pocket, Saitama's mouth twitched: "... My wallet... seems to have been lost. I clearly remembered to take it with me when I went out."
Having said this, Saitama looked around habitually.
After confirming that Fubuki was not found, Saitama's face was filled with visible regret.
"Um...please wait a moment, I'll go back and look for it."
Saitama gave the baked sweet potato to the boss, put his hands in his pockets, and walked back along the footsteps he came from. He looked carefully, but unfortunately he didn't find anything after walking two blocks.
Fortunately, it snowed a bit heavily today.
There was almost no one on the road.
So you don’t have to worry about being picked up by others...
“I found my wallet again!!!”
well!
Saitama was still looking with his head down when he suddenly heard an excited voice not far in front of him. When he raised his head and looked up, he found a middle-aged man with red eyes and a smile on his face. He was holding something that he accidentally held in his hand. Lost wallet.
"Thank you Buddha, thank you Buddha..."
As soon as Saitama walked over, he heard the middle-aged man talking non-stop, then he put it in his pocket and left.
"...Hey, that's mine, don't just stuff it into your own pocket."
Hearing Saitama's voice, the middle-aged man turned around very vigilantly, clutching his pocket and the wallet inside, looking at Saitama up and down several times, and then sneered: "Don't think I will be fooled, this is a gift from the Buddha. The thing you gave me, I said you... have an honest face, lying casually is not a good thing, you will get retribution!"
"What are you talking about?"
Saitama looked confused: "I want to buy baked sweet potatoes, please return my wallet to me quickly."
"Ahem..."
The middle-aged man's eyes were not only a little red, but his face was also unhealthy and pale. After coughing twice, he looked a little irritable: "You guy, stop pestering me! I said this is what the Buddha gave me. Get out of the way! Don’t waste my time! I’m going to buy tributes!”
At this point, Saitama was no longer eager to get his wallet back.
Instead, I became interested in the "Buddha" that this person mentioned repeatedly.
"Buddha? What is that?"
Saitama blinked: "And you're sick, so it would be better if you don't go out, right?"
"Humph, what do you know..."
The middle-aged man turned around and walked towards the distance despite the wind and snow: "This kind of minor illness, with the blessing of Buddha, will be cured soon... No matter it is injury or disease, nothing can harm me..."
Saitama glanced at him: "Oh."
"...You seem to not believe it at all."
The middle-aged man was unhappy when his faith was questioned: "You don't understand anything at all. There is a statue of a god enshrined in Tennoji Temple. As long as you worship it, you can get good luck, whether it is a weirdo, an earthquake, or any disaster." will not come to us, He is the true God..."
"That's it."
Saitama nodded in understanding, and asked seriously with open salty eyes: "So did he show you his ID card?"
…
"You stupid!"
The middle-aged man slapped his face suddenly, feeling like an idiot: "Talking to you is a waste of my time! It is because of the existence of Buddha that the temple has not been attacked by weirdos. By the way, Since worshiping Buddha, I often pick up wallets..."
Saitama's head was full of black lines: "Hey, in front of the owner, how dare you say that..."
…
that's all.
Because of this middle-aged man's stubbornness and Saitama's slight curiosity about "Buddha", Saitama followed the middle-aged man for a long time in the snowy day. Finally, he found an open convenience store and bought a lot of fresh fruits. He held her in his arms and walked back through the wind and snow.
Rare tranquility.
In this kind of weather, even weirdos wouldn’t want to go out...
Went away for a long time.
Saitama followed the middle-aged man to a temple in a wild mountain.
Although it was snowing heavily outside and even the streets of the city were deserted, there were surprisingly many people lining up on the steps in front of the temple religiously.
A middle-aged man also lined up behind him.
Saitama walked directly to the door and looked inside. Then he saw all kinds of people and heard such prayers...
"Please bless me to win the first prize in the next lottery!"
"Buddha, please let Tatsumaki, the second-ranked S-ranker, fall in love with me, please!"
"Me! Me! I want to marry Sweetheart Mask!"
"I donated a lot of money, Lord Buddha, please let the president of my rival company be hit by a car and die!"
"Buddha, let me become the grandson of the rich man Algni!"
…
The Buddha statue standing in the temple clasped his hands together, listening to such words in his ears, neither happy nor sad.
The snow outside is getting heavier and heavier, but the queue is getting longer and longer.
finally…
"Boom!!!"
In the mountains, a snowman so huge that it seemed to cover the sky condensed into shape. His eyes were scarlet and he even had fangs!
"I am Grandpa Snowman!"
The extremely huge snowman roared towards the sky: "Because it was too huge and it was close to the sun, I had to endure the heavy snow for a week before I could show up. My dear snowman son and snowman grandson are dead. I want to take revenge on mankind!!!" "
The sound was deafening and resounded throughout the valley!
Although the people in front of the temple were panicked, they were not at a loss. They still gathered around the temple tightly, holding on to the pillars, believing that this Buddha statue could help them eliminate disasters.
pity…
"call!!!"
A blizzard is roaring by!
Grandpa Snowman just blew a breath and uprooted the entire temple and blew it into the sky!
Cold and weightless!
It wasn’t until I clearly faced the most direct terror that I experienced the trembling that penetrated deep into my soul!
"ah!!!"
There was a mixture of screams and cries.
People were desperate, collapsed, and even cursed at the Buddha statues that they had devoutly believed in just a second ago. They were full of ugliness!
Then.
At this most desperate moment!
Suddenly, a figure jumped up, braved the blizzard, grabbed the roof with one hand and pushed the entire temple back to the ground!
"boom!!!"
After a loud noise, the snow passed and the sky cleared.
"I'm talking about you..."
On the roof, the plush hat was blown away to nowhere.
The scarf was raised, and a bald man stood there, maintaining a punching posture.
What was in front of him was a snowman in the sky with a huge hole thousands of meters in diameter drilled into his chest.
Hold your fist and turn around.
Saitama glanced at the people paralyzed in the snow: "... people, it's better to rely on yourself."
After a brief silence, cheers and cries started again.
Someone thanked Saitama.
It was a very perfunctory tone.
Because they have to vent their anger to calm down after the disaster.
The former believers picked up the Buddha statue, threw it down the mountain in disgust, cursed the most vicious curses, and then dispersed soon after.
But the middle-aged man didn't leave.
He knelt on the ground as if his life had collapsed, with fruits scattered all over the floor. He kept muttering and repeating: "I obviously spent so much money to worship him, but he can't even protect me..."
“It’s the convenience stores that make the money.”
At some point, Saitama walked up to him and squatted down, then took a look at the place where the tributes were placed in the dilapidated temple: "And the things were just left there to break... In fact, this 'Buddha' is nothing at all. You didn’t take it either?”
The middle-aged man was stunned and seemed a little unwilling: "But I bought the best incense..."
"Ah, this happens all the time."
Saitama nodded: "Mother will put green peppers into the child's bowl, but the child may not like it... So, can you return the wallet to me?"
…
After getting his wallet back, Saitama did not continue to buy baked sweet potatoes.
When he reached the foot of the mountain and looked at the Buddha statue lying in the snow, Saitama reached out and helped him up.
"It's so free, those people..."
Saitama patted the snow on his hands and turned to leave.
But at this moment, the sound of shoes stepping on the snow suddenly came from not far away.
Saitama looked back and saw a little girl whose face was red from the cold.
When she saw the Buddha statue, she had a happy smile on her face and seemed to be relieved. Then she took off the red gloves from her hands very piously and placed them in front of the Buddha statue. Then she bowed and whispered: "Buddha, Buddha, I This is the only thing, this is for you, please don’t be angry with mom, okay?”
It turns out she came with her mother.
Because the Buddha statue failed to protect her mother, her mother and others just threw the Buddha statue down the mountain.
But the little girl felt guilty.
Because she doesn't think Buddha owes them anything.
So I secretly used my own gloves as an apology.
What a sensible child.
…
"Can you help me ask her what she wishes for?"
…
At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded from Saitama's mind.
Saitama was startled and glanced at the Buddha statue.
Stiff, stiff, lifeless.
Saitama thought for a moment, and finally asked the little girl: "...Um, do you have a wish you want to realize?"
"desire?"
The little girl blinked, shook her head obediently, and bowed again to the Buddha statue: "You are asking me to ask this question. Thank you. I am very happy. I hope you, Buddha, can also be happy and safe."
Suddenly.
Saitama smiled when he saw the Buddha statue.
The little girl walks away.
Saitama stood in the snow for a long time.
…
"Ah... it's really..."
It was already noon when we arrived at KING's house.
Saitama shook the snow off at the entrance and complained: "...Suddenly it started to snow again, and it drifted into my neck. It's chilly."
In the room, Genos and KING came over.
…
"Teacher, didn't you wear a scarf when you went out in the morning?"
"Give it to a friend."
"Saitama, yesterday you said you would bring me a gift..."
"...Ah...I completely forgot about it."
…
The camera zooms out to reveal snow falling all over the sky.
In the distant suburbs, a Buddha statue has a scarf on it in addition to the pair of red gloves.
(End of chapter)