With the release of One Punch Man chapter 187, fans witnessed the dark side of the Hero Association. McCoy was conducting Hero Gambling, which was an alternate source of money for the association. Upon learning about the same, Saitama gets interested in earning money from it.
The previous chapter saw Genos asking Saitama for a sparring match to test his new upgrades. However, upon seeing that Saitama did not feel threatened by him, he stopped the fight. Genos wanted to get stronger and was thus thinking about joining the Neo Heroes. However, given that Saitama did not want to change his workplace, Genos decided to stay in Hero Association.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the One Punch Man manga.
One Punch Man chapter 187: Child Emperor confronts McCoy about Hero Gambling
One Punch Man chapter 187, titled The Butterfly and The Back, opened with Hero Papillon 800 preparing to fight a monster. He was in contact with McCoy in the HQ.
The chapter revealed how the Hero Association conducted Hero Gambling as a hidden source of income. Wealthy people, especially the association's sponsors, would bet on fights between heroes and monsters. However, the fights were also rigged to benefit the company's sponsors.
As part of this, a B-Class Rank 4 hero Mad Devil Yankee was forced by McCoy to pose as C-Class Rank 333 hero Papillon 800. Mad Devil Yankee did not want to take part in the rigged gambling; however, McCoy threatened him. McCoy hinted at how he would make sure that his sick mother's treatment was interrupted by mishaps in the hospital. With no other way out, Mad Devil Yankee agreed to the deal.
While he posed as a C-Rank hero and had to face Shiverhuahua, a wolf-level monster that had been disguised as a demon-level monster. However, Shiverhuahua was a special monster that became wilder and more dangerous while out in the open, changing its level to "demon" in real. Thus, there was a vast difference in strength between the hero and monster, leading to Shiverhuahua dominating the fight.
As McCoy believed that Shiverhuahua was actually a wolf-level monster, upon seeing Papillon 800 get beat up, he was convinced that the hero was a good actor. However, Papillon 800 was pushed to the ropes and believed that he was going to die. That's when Saitama came to his help and defeated the monster with a single blow.
McCoy and the betters were furious as Saitama's arrival caused their bets to go down the drain. McCoy instantly went to meet Saitama and Genos, who were on the location, and sounded them off for fighting a monster without being instructed. As Saitama and Genos wondered why they were being scolded for defeating a monster, the Child Emperor arrived and told them about Hero Gambling.
Child Emperor revealed how the Hero Association conducted rigged gambling to earn income. As part of it, the company would release the odds of a hero defeating a monster. When Saitama checked the website, he was delirious after finding out that he had poor odds. This bugged Saitama, as he was certain that he could win a lot of money if he placed a bet on himself and defeated a monster.
When another monster arrived, he and Genos went after it. However, at the same time, he spotted a purse snatcher. While he wanted to win money, he caught the purse snatcher and returned it to its rightful owner.
Elsewhere, Mad Devil Yankee got to meet his hero, Mumen Rider. Previously, he was a delinquent; however, upon seeing Mumen Rider fight the Deep Sea King, he got inspired to become a hero. After Mad Devil Yankee passed out from fighting Shiverhuahua, Mumen Rider was the person who took him to the hospital.
Final thoughts on One Punch Man chapter 187
One Punch Man chapter 187 saw Saitama desperately wanting to earn some money. While he knew that doing so by gambling was wrong, he could not stop himself from indulging in the same. Having failed to do so, he might look for other opportunities to earn money. Elsewhere, Child Emperor and Genos could try digging deeper into the Hero Association.