Saitama is a guy who's a hero for fun. After saving a child from certain death, he decided to become a hero and trained hard for three years. Though he's now so strong he can defeat any opponent with a single punch, lately he feels as if, in exchange for overwhelming power, he's lost something even more important.

A monster is moving toward City Z, one that has been created by the mysterious organization known as The House of Evolution. Genos, a young cyborg, attempts to stop it, but gets in over his head before Saitama happens along.

Saitama and Genos glean information about The House of Evolution and its founder Dr. Genus, a scientist with dangerous ideas on artificial human evolution. Meanwhile, Dr. Genus learns of Saitama's amazing strength and has plans of his own for One-Punch Man.

A group of battlesuit-clad terrorists called "The Paradisers" appears in City F, led by an enormous man known as Hammerhead. Calling for the redistribution of wealth, the group targets the fat-cat Zeniru, who in turn dispatches his bodyguard to defeat them. Unfortunately, Saitama is on the same errand.

Though he's been doing the hero gig for three years, Saitama realizes that the public knows nothing about him. Determined to get a little recognition, he decides to become a pro hero, but first he must pass the Hero Association tests and become a full-fledged member.

It's been five days since Saitama became a professional hero and he has yet to do anything heroic. When Genos informs him that C-class heroes who don't fight bad guys are dropped from the hero registry after a week of inaction, Saitama heads out on patrol, yet can't find any criminals or monsters to stop.