Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A bright flash of light was their only warning; one moment, they were all going about their days: the League was preparing for their next attack; 1-A and 1-B were in their Heroics lessons with Vlad, Eraser and All Might; Nedzu was cackling in his office, watching as Mei blew up another ‘baby’ while Powerloader lamented his life in the background; Mic was teaching a second-year English class, and Midnight, Cementoss and Ectoplasm were having a debate in the teachers lounge; Tsukauchi was writing another report at the station; Gran Torino was having a ‘chat’ with Sir Nighteye; Melissa and David were working on another invention on I-Island; All For One was – surprisingly – asleep. Then, suddenly, they were gone. And then – just as quickly – they were in a theatre. It immediately came to blows, All Might and All For One charging each other, only to stop inches from contact.

“Now, now, boys, enough of that. No need to cause harm. This is a neutral zone, so you may as well act like it; I have ways of reinforcing the zone if need be.” A tall, black-haired woman with piercing vibrant purple eyes was standing on the small stage at the front of the room. She seemed to stare directly at Bakugo and Shigaraki, respectively, as she made the last statement. Both looked offended at the blatant threat, and then scowled at each other. With a sigh and a flick of her wrist, they were seated. All Might and All For One flew to opposite ends of the theatre, where they continued to glare at each other but made no move to continue their feud.

Izuku found himself seated in the middle of what was apparently the ‘hero side’, surrounded by his close friends in 1-A. 1-B was seated in a group just behind and to the left of him, and when he looked down near the front, he could see a majority of the faculty sitting in a cluster around Nedzu. The ‘villain side’ was a lot more sparsely populated, and All For One sat alone against the far wall, while the League of Villains was seated roughly in the middle, directly in line with the Class 1-A group.

“Alright, now that that’s sorted, allow me to introduce myself. I am Razor, the entity who brought you here today. You’ve all been rather stressed lately, and I figured you could all use a break. So, I’ve prepared a little something for you all to enjoy. Please, take a seat and use the call buttons on your armrests to select your preferred refreshments; they will appear once you have made your selection. Also, weapons and Quirks cannot be used against yourselves or others while in this space or the dormitories adjacent, and you will find that if you try to attack another entity in this facility more than three times, they will become unavailable to you until you leave the facility, as you have no doubt found, Shigaraki.” She stared – not at Tomura, but at All For One, who wore a mask of cold disinterest. “Any questions?”

Midoriya raised his hand.

“Yes, Midoriya-San?”

“What have you prepared? And why?”

“It is as I stated earlier, child,” Razor said softly. “You all have been stressed by recent events and need to unwind for a while. And as for what I have in store, well, you’ll just have to wait and see.”

Razor swept a hand through the air, and the screen behind her flared to life. “Alright, then! As I stated earlier, there are dorms through that door there,” she pointed to a large door at the back of the theatre. “There are multiple rooms with a communal room in the middle. Two bunks per room, four people to a room, although there are enough rooms for you to sleep in your own if you wish. We will pause the viewing for lunch and after every episode, and there will be breakfast and dinner available in the mornings and evenings in the communal area next door.” She smiled.

“But enough of that. I’ve brought you here to watch the recorded events of another universe. It’s relatively similar to your own, but there are also many, many differences. Some of you may not appear in this world, but you’re here anyway, either because I think you could learn something, I think you’re cool and deserve a break, or you do feature but only briefly. I must also state, that while many of the events in this universe may mirror those in your universe, it is a different world and the actions of those versions of you cannot be held against the people in this room.” Her gaze hardened and swept the theatre, coming to rest on certain people longer than others.

Chapter Text

Prologue

The screen at the front flickered as Razor walked offstage, pulling up a chair to sit near the teachers in the front row. She pulled out a pointer and gestured at the screen to make sure it worked, then pointed it at the episode at the top of the list. She pressed a button on the pointer, and the chapter name flashed before the screen changed.

{The Gates. Bridges between dimensions.}

Murmurs rippled around the theatre as Midoriya’s voice came from speakers around the room.

{On one fateful day, these Gates popped into existence all around the world, monsters of all shapes and sizes pouring out of them like an infection. They held no weaknesses to modern conventions. Not even tanks or missiles could kill them. They came to be known only as... Villains.}

Midoriya was frowning at the screen, hand to his chin as he tried to mutter as quietly as he could.

{From the start, it was humanity’s battle to lose. The Gates were metaphysical and could not simply be boarded up. The only way to close them permanently was to enter them and kill the “Boss” Villain. Some were powerful enough to tear entire squads of soldiers apart, others could wipe out armies. Or at least, that was the estimate. Bosses never left their Gates and the basic Villains were enough to decimate humankind on their own.}

Shocked exclamations echoed from both sides.

"Are you shitting me!" Kaminari yelled. Several people turned to stare at him, and he let out a startled 'meep!' and sat down.

{Entire cities were lost, and Villains were running rampant. Entire Governments were in disarray, the public was on the verge of total anarchy, and it had only been three weeks. But then, everything changed. 
The first of Humanity’s weapons emerged. Heroes as they would come to be known, exploded onto the scene. Each and every one of them wielding Quirks, powers that allowed them to fight the Villains head on and win. They could be as simple as increased strength, or as powerful as a scorching inferno.}

Midoriya raised his hand.
“Yes, Midoriya-San?”
“Is this the Dawn of Quirks?”
“Not quite, but you’ll see.”

{While the massive influx of attacks by Villains was being steadily subdued, the amount of Hero deaths in those early days was astronomical, so a system was put in place. Heroes, Villains, and Gates were given a value, a Rank if you will, to ensure that a Hero never took on more than they could chew.}

"Well, at least it's being treated rationally," Aizawa muttered.

Mic snorted and muttered something to his friend, who scowled and buried his face n his capture weapon as he turned back to the screen.

{Unfortunately, not all Heroes were created equal and I was a victim of that system. I am the World’s weakest E-Rank hunter, I had no unique Quirk, and I had come to find myself at the mercy of the World’s most powerful dungeon, “The Double Lair.” 

I was at the edge of death, alone and beset on all sides by villains. But as my vision faded and I sunk into unconsciousness, I felt a gentle touch on my head and from there, everything changed. 

Upon waking up, I found myself in a hospital, completely safe and blessed with my very own Quirk, “The System.” A quest window that only I could see. If I completed the quests given to me by this System, I could grow stronger, I could surpass the weakness that held me down. 
My name is Izuku Midoriya and this is the story of how I became the World’s most powerful Hero!}

The cinema burst into chatter. As she waited for them to calm down, Razor watched several of their reactions. Bakugou was scowling at the screen, Kirishima was watching Midoriya like he wanted to dog pile him and smother him with hugs, and Uraraka was talking quietly with Todoroki, Iida, Asui and Midoriya.

“Alright, that’s the end of that one. Anyone needs to stretch or go to the toilet, now’s the time to do so.”
No one got up, so Razor nodded and moved to the next chapter.

Now playing . . .

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Worth

{"There's a Villain Gate by Tatooin Station! I hear some sort of giant broke through the Heroes lines!" 

Those two sentences sent a shock of excitement through Izuku Midoriya's body as he watched the masses begin sprinting towards the site. Not because he liked watching Villains rampage, but because he loved watching Heroes take them down. It was a spectacle that anyone and everyone loved to watch, a spectacle that proved Humanity wasn't just some punching bag, that they were a force to be reckoned with.}

Uraraka glanced across at Midoriya.

“Did you do that regularly? Chase hero fights, I mean.”

"Pretty much every day," He said, nodding.

{Of course, while this was the excuse Midoriya gave out, it was not the truth. Every takedown, every display of Heroic power gave him the extremely satisfying catharsis he could not give himself. 

Izuku Midoriya, like most of the world's current population, was considered an E-Rank Hero, but unlike the majority of the world, he did not have any unique Quirk to accompany him. He was completely special in that regard, which only made him mundane in the eyes of the rest of his peers. He didn't have the same increased strength that came standard with being a Hero, or the slightly increased regeneration. Midoriya was as weak as they came.}

The boy in Question winced, sighing.

Uraraka wordlessly slipped an arm around him, and Iida placed a hand on his knee. Todoroki leaned over Midoriya's chair to place his chin on the boy's shoulder, muttering something to him quietly.

{If he were to face off against even the lowest of E-Rank Villains, it would take all of his efforts and a healthy amount of luck to escape with his life. He wouldn't even be able to hope to defeat his enemy. 

For all those reasons and more, he found himself inexorably drawn to every last Hero fight he could witness. And before he even knew it, Midoriya found his legs rapidly pumping as he followed closely behind the crowd. 

As he neared the station, Izuku found his eyes tracking far above the railways to gaze upon the Shark-headed villain tearing apart the surrounding area.}

“Oh, I remember him! He stole a purse, then sized up when he was caught!”

{Just behind him, Izuku could see the telltale signs of a Gate. The swirling blue ethereal portal stood fifty feet in all directions.}

Small exclamations of awe echoed through the theatre.

"Damnit, that thing's huge!"

"What the heck!?"

{Though Izuku himself was adept at sensing the intricate energies coming off the Gate, he had seen enough to recognize the pattern. It's rotary speed and the duration of the particles coming off of it told him it was a low B-Rank at best. Highly dangerous and yet, hundreds of people had crowded around to observe as if it was an everyday occurrence. Probably because it was.}

That drew a few snorts of laughter. Aizawa began complaining about how irrational civilians were, while Iida started ranting quietly about how people really ought to use common sense in these situations.

{It had been decades since the first emergence of Gates and in modern times, people had become desensitized to it all. Heroes were always stationed at Gate entrances, so even in the event that some Villains snuck out, they were typically dealt with in a matter of seconds. In this case, it was none other than Kamui Woods at the rear guard. 

His body was completely unnatural, made entirely of wood that bent and flowed like water. With roots shooting from Kamui's body to entangle the Villain, Izuku made haste to pull out his latest notebook, nearly missing a second giant join the fight. 

"EAT THIS!"

With a roar that would put a dragon to shame, Mount Lady, a Hero with Gigantification Quirk, brought a massive iron mace to the side of the Villain's head, deeply denting its skull.}

A collective wince rolled through the theatre, along with sympathetic exclamations of pain.

"Duuuuuuude," Kaminari exclaimed, eyes wide.

"It's like she had a personal vendetta against the guy!"

{Midoriya almost sympathetically winced, forgetting for a moment that it was a Villain, an interdimensional monster that only existed to kill.

Mount Lady was an A-Rank Hero. At the top of her game, it wasn't unfeasible for one strike to be all she needed to take down the threat. In fact, as the Villain collapsed to the ground, Izuku was able to make out his unmoving body.

The sudden beeping of an alarm shook Izuku out of his focus and he looked down at his watch, blanching as he did so, "I'M GONNA BE LATE!"}

Several people chuckled at that, and Iida started to quietly remind the boy that he really should keep better track of the time.

{Izuku hated the feeling of his current clothing. His sweatshirt hung too loosely and was so baggy that he ended up spending a good two minutes trying to shove all of it into his too tight pants.

These were his "Hero" clothes so to speak. They were the only clothes he owned that he could also afford to lose. On multiple occasions, Izuku had considered his form-fitting school uniform, which was by far more comfortable. But school uniforms were expensive and Izuku didn't have the skill needed to knit the clothing back together well enough to hide the claw marks and bladed attacks.

Approaching a construction site, Izuku looked down at his phone making sure that this was, indeed, the site of the D-Rank Gate.}

Midoriya raises his hand again.

“Yes, Midoriya-San?”

“What are the rankings for gates and villains?”

“The lowest rank for heroes, villains and gates is E-Rank. Then, D-Rank, then C-Rank, which is when more unique quirks begin to manifest. The commonplace Quirks of this universe are strength, speed and healing enhancements. B-Rank and up have an exponential increase in power between ranks, with the order being B-Rank, then A-Rank as exponentially stronger, then S-Rank as the current strongest.

"An E-Rank Gate will need ten E-Rank or five D-Rank heroes to clear effectively, a D-Rank gate will need ten D-Ranks or five C-Ranks, a C-Rank Gate will need ten C-Ranks or five B-Ranks, a B-Rank Gate will need ten B-Ranks or two A-Ranks, an A-Rank Gate will need ten A-Ranks or one S-Rank, and an S-Rank gate you would be lucky to clear safely with twenty S-Rank Heroes on hand. Does that answer your question?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Oh, and Shigaraki-San? This will likely be something you’ll enjoy; it’s almost an RPG.”

The man-child grinned.

{While Pros were officially licensed and run by the Government, thus giving them access to more power and more money, it wasn't necessary to become a Pro Hero to clear Gates. It was, however, necessary to be in possession of a Beginner's Badge, an ID of sorts that confirmed the person in possession was able to make their own informed decisions about entering Gates.

Izuku grimaced in response to the memory that thought brought up. It had taken months of convincing and conniving to get his own Beginner's Badge without a Quirk of his own. In reality, he shouldn't have been able to get a hold of it in the first place.}

Iida started ranting about how rules were in place for a reason, and that if he really wanted to do something so badly then he should be patient and go through the propper channels. Izuku retorted by reminding the boy that that hadn't stopped him from going after Stain. Iida fell silent after that, and Razor suppressed a chuckle.

{"Again?!" Izuku heard a familiar voice cry out in his direction and flinched in response. 
"Uh... good afternoon Miss Yaoyorozu."}

Jirou nudged her friend in the side and smiled at her. She smiled back.

{Turning on his heel, Izuku came face to face with Momo Yaoyorozu, an irrefutably beautiful girl who was a good 7 centimeters taller than him. Her obsidian hair was currently hanging low over her back as she attempted to work it up into a massive ponytail.

Izuku had a hard time not staring at her. Every bit of her body was as if it was hand-sculpted by the gods. No matter how much of a gentleman he was, her chest always demanded a quick glance from him, much to his shame.}

The Izuku in the theatre turned bright red, blushing and stammering out apologies between shaking hands as he covered his face.

{Thankfully, Yaoyorozu was too caught up getting herself ready to focus on Izuku's emerald-green eyes. 
"I keep telling you, it's just Yaoyorozu... or Yaomomo. It's what my friends call me. Besides, we're the same age."

Izuku bowed low, "I'm sorry Mis- um... I'm sorry Yaoyorozu." 
Yaoyorozu fought to not roll her eyes. Her father always scolded her about how unladylike it was. "What happened this time?"

Izuku stood up straight once more and scratched the back of his head nervously, "Oh... it just happened while doing some Hero work." 
"Sure... what actually happened?"
Izuku sighed, knowing full well where this was going.

As expected, he ended up sitting on a nearby piece of rebar with the girl as they waited for the entire Hero party to be assembled.

"You even went to a hospital?!"}

“That sounds familiar,” Uraraka says, turning to look pointedly at Midoriya, who blushes a little and shrinks in his seat.

{"Yeah," Izuku mumbled, red hot embarrassment filling his body, "It was an E-Rank and I was the only one hurt."

"How could you have gotten hurt that badly in a party?"

Izuku found himself wishing that he didn't exist at that moment. Here he was, sitting with the drop- dead beauty of a girl and he was spilling his guts over why he was so weak. It was detestable, it was shameful, it was just straight-up horrifi-}

“Somebody stop him! He’s spiralling!”

{"Midoriya?" Yaoyorozu's concerned tone dragged him back to the present and he shook his head. 
"Sorry, it's been a long day and I haven't managed to snag any coffee yet." He chuckled lightly in an attempt to ease her mind, but her gaze only grew more concerned. "I swear, it's nothing... I'm fine."}

“Mmhmm, sure, Green Bean.”

“Green Bean?”

“Yeah! Green Bean!”

{Yaoyorozu finally nodded, giving up her immediate concern for him and instead choosing to ask, "Why do you even want to be a Hero?"

Of course, it was only Izuku's luck that a change of topic would draw him back into that pit of shame and disappointment.}

“Oh dear, I apologise Midoriya,”

“It’s alright Yaomomo, you didn’t know,”

{Earlier That Day:

"Since you're all third-years, I think it's time for you to seriously take a look at your future and think about what you want to become." Izuku held his head low to his desk as his middle-school teacher spoke, "I'll be passing out the handouts now, but..." The man threw the papers into the air, "You're all pretty much planning to go into the Hero course aren't you?!"

The class screamed "Yes!" In affirmation and Izuku meekly raised his hand alongside them. He might've already been able to do Hero work with his permit, but Izuku didn't dream of merely staying at the bottom of the ladder. He wanted to climb as high as possible and reach his favorite Hero, All Might. To do that Izuku needed to go to the very best Hero school.

"UA High?!"

Izuku realized the rest of his class was staring at one Katsuki Bakugo. He didn't need to hear the rest of the conversation to know that the blond was bragging about how he was totally going to enroll at UA and get accepted for sure. He had been like this since childhood and showed no signs of changing anytime soon.}

Izuku groans, knowing exactly where this is going. Uraraka glances over at him in concern, but he waves her away.

{The teacher nodded as he looked at his papers, "Oh? It looks like Midoriya wants to go to UA as well."}

Cries of outrage echoed from the teacher’s corner.

“That’s a violation of privacy!”

Nedzu turned to look at Midoriya.

“Midoriya? What Middle School did you attend?”

“Aldera Middle, sir.”

“Thank you, Midoriya.”

{Izuku attempted to bury his head further into his desk, but the attention of his peers drew it back up.

"You can't get into UA's Hero course just by studying!"

"Yeah! A Quirkless E-Rank like you stands no chance of getting admitted."}

Midoriya growled, scowling, and scrunched his fists into his pant legs. Uraraka was making a similar face on his left, while Todoroki was frowning softly, his equivalent of contorting his face in rage. Iida was going on a quiet tangent beside him about Quirk Discrimination and lawsuits.

{"H-Hang on!" Izuku tried to break through their wall of shouts, "They abolished that rule! T- There's just no precedent- AH!"

Izuku was flung back as Bakugo slammed his palm down on his desk, a mini-explosion sending him flying backwards into the wall.

"Listen here you Quirkless loser!" Bakugo shouted, "You'll never make anything of yourself! You're below even the rejects! So why don't you just take a nosedive off a building!"}

Several people, hero and villain alike, turned to stare at the explosive blond, who growled and glared at the screen.

“You’re getting better, Blasty,” Mina said proudly, throwing herself over his shoulders to hug him from behind. Bakugo doesn’t move to get her off, instead seeming resigned to his fate.

{"Bakugo," The teacher said calmly, "We don't accept that sort of talk here."

Izuku didn't bother to mention that the teacher had only spoken up after Bakugo had made his point.

Grinning arrogantly, Bakugo took his seat once more, a final, "Worthless," Thrown over his shoulder at Izuku.}

Nedzu was taking notes, frowning in his seat. Aizawa was glaring at the screen, hair twitching, and Hound Dog looked like he was going to bite something.

{Present Time:

"Worthless, huh?" Izuku murmured to himself as he looked up to the partially constructed building, wondering if he should just make the climb now and save everyone the trouble. But Yaoyorozu's calming hand on his shoulder dislodged the bleak thought from his mind. He had a responsibility to his mother, he couldn't leave just yet.

"Midoriya? You keep spacing out?" Yaoyorozu suddenly blanched and hopped off the beam before bowing, "Forgive me, I've caused you discomfort with my question!"

Izuku waved her concern away with a wide smile, "Nah! It's nothing! I just wanna become a Hero for the fun of it! I think I'd die of boredom if I didn't have this job to keep me company!"

Yaoyorozu looked like she wanted to say something else, but a nearby, "Alright! Let's get this show on the road!" Cut her off.

Looking over, Izuku saw their raid leader standing at the ready and pushed himself to his feet. Clenching his fist, he steeled his nerves, "Time to prove my worth."}

“Midoriya, you don’t need to prove your worth to anyone!” Iida exclaimed, and Todoroki nodded in agreement with a small hum.

“Again, that’s the end of the chapter. If anyone needs to stretch or go to the toilet then please do so now.”

Once everyone was settled, the next chapter appeared onscreen.

Now playing . . .

Chapter Text

Chapter Two: Temple

{“You say you do this for fun, but if you keep having fun, you’re going to end up dead!” Yaoyorozu complained as she used her unique Quirk to create bandages that she wrapped around Izuku’s injuries after spilling some potion over them.}

Several people in the theatre burst out laughing at that, glancing to the raven-haired girl who was blushing lightly.

{Yaoyorozu technically wasn’t a healer Hero, but her ability to create medical supplies and healing potions that no one else could make from her mana made her a vital asset to any raid she was a part of.

Izuku shrugged, “Sorry.”

“Midoriya... the way you fight... it’s awful, you put yourself in danger so readily, without any concern for yourself.” Yaoyorozu looked directly into his green irises, “What is the real reason behind not quitting your job as a Hero?”}

Several people in the audience leaned forward, looking forward to the answer.

{Izuku looked down at the small crystal in his hand. The Villain Core was likely the only money he would make off this raid. It was a tiny E-Rank piece, barely enough to keep him afloat.

“I just... wanna be a Hero I guess. Save people and all that,” Izuku said as he thought back to that one catchphrase, that one internet clip of a certain Hero rescuing hundreds from Cala island as the S-Rank Gate emerged.}

Midoriya glanced at All Might in his shrunken form, a small frown creasing his brow. I wonder . . .

{His reasoning wasn’t necessarily a lie. Izuku relished the thought of being able to save people from the rampant Villain Gates that appeared without abandon. But of course, that was just a dream, this was reality. And in reality, Izuku was a Hero because it was the fastest way for someone like him to make money, to both take care of himself and his mother’s medical bills.

Obviously, Izuku hated handing out that factoid. He was already weak and struggling as it was, he didn’t want to bring any more shame upon himself by asking for handouts.}

Midoiya paled, hand covering his mouth.
“Mom . . . “

{“Hey everyone!” Kaito Otachi, the Raid Leader, shouted out, “Listen up for a moment!” With a jet-black katana resting on his shoulder, he certainly fit the image of a warrior, even with his wrinkled appearance, “Since the Gate hasn’t closed yet, it looks like the Boss is down this tunnel. Since none of us are employed by any Hero Agencies, it’s up to us if we want to take this thing on.” He nodded solemnly at some of the cautious glances he was receiving, “It’s going to be dangerous, so we could always just wait for the more skilled Heroes to come in and kill this thing. On the other hand, our profit margin will go way down. So, I have a proposal. The seventeen of us will take a vote, and no matter what the result, no complaining when we’re done.”

Two of Kaito’s old buddies immediately agreed, then two other Heroes voted against continuing. Eventually, the final two votes came down to Izuku and Yaoyorozu.

“I-I don’t want to go.” Yaoyorozu stuttered out, one hand grasping her arm.}

Jirou slung an arm around Yaoyorozu’s shoulder, offering silent comfort.

{“Hmm,” Kaito acknowledged, “Eight to eight. Which just leaves one.”

All eyes focused in on Izuku who fidgeted under their gaze for a moment as he looked down the Boss’s tunnel. It was claustrophobia-inducing, roughly made from stone, and likely had a deadly Villain at the end that was willing to kill them without hesitation. But, steeling his nerves, Izuku met Kaito’s eyes, “I’m going!”

“Just one last time, for my mother, for us.”

Izuku wrung out his hands nervously as he stole a glance at Yaoyorozu, “Hey... I’m sorry about forcing you to come by voting yes.”

“I’m fine, you don’t need to worry about me?” Her eyes were hidden by her bangs and her tone was anything but fine.

“Are you... really okay?”

Yaoyorozu exploded like Izuku had never seen before, “No! Of course not! Are you crazy?! If that stab had been just an inch higher, you would’ve had a hole in your heart! Not to mention all the other wounds I had to patch up! What even made you say yes?! Did you hit your head too?!”

“Sorry,” Izuku mumbled, “Once again, she’s right and once again, I’m in her debt.”

“ Are you sorry?”

“Yes.”}

More chuckling from the audience.

{Yaoyorozu heaved out a sigh, sufficed with her rant, “Then if you’re really sorry, maybe you can pay me back by having some lunch with me.”

“....” Izuku was stunned silent for a moment, until Yaoyorozu spun around and locked eyes with him, thankfully missing his blush in the darkness of the cave.

“What? Do you not want to eat with me?!” Yaoyorozu asked with mock offense.

“N-No!” Izuku said a little too forcefully, “That’s not it at all! I-”}

Most of the theatre laughed at that, but Yaoyorozu and Midoriya were both beet red, with their heads buried in their arms.

{“Hey!” Kaito yelled out, “I think this is the Boss’s door.”

It was a tall, two-door entrance, blue with gold trims and detailing. Its handles were the old-fashion type of door knockers. Two simple massive rings to pull the thing open.

Quietly, so that no one else could hear, Kaito’s two friends whispered to each other.

“Hey... this feels dangerous.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah,” The second man agreed.

“Alright people!” Kaito announced, “This is it! Let’s make some money!” Resting his palm against the door, he lightly shoved, opening it with next to no resistance.

A chill settled against Izuku’s spine and for a moment he considered stopping, turning around and running away. But the surrounding Heroes convinced him otherwise.

“Mr. Otachi is one of the most skilled C-Ranks out there.”
“If he weren’t about to turn 60, he could’ve chosen any Hero Agency he wanted.”
“We trusted him this far. It only makes sense to keep going.”
Just like that, opinion had shifted in Kaito’s favor and before he knew it, Izuku found himself stepping cautiously into the dark room.}

Whistles of awe echoed as the audience took in the scene.

{About to throw a fireball into the room to light it, Kaito was nearly blinded by the torches that exploded into existence with blue fire.

“Oh... wow,” Izuku breathed out as he gazed upon the massive stone-walled room. It was a good two hundred feet in diameter. The edges of the room were covered with giant stone statues that stood only five feet apart. The real attraction, however, was at the very back of the room. A king’s throne occupied by a statue at least three times the size of the others. Its head was adorned by an odd crown and it seemed to be wearing some sort of robes, like the senator’s of ancient Greece.

“I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“Are we sure this is still a dungeon?”

“Don’t be stupid.”

“You think the statues are the enemies? There’s nothing else here.”

“Do I really have to repeat myself? They’re statues, they don’t move. Don’t be stupid.”}

The loud slap of a palm meeting a forehead echoed in the near-silent room, and as Midoriya opened his mouth, Razor smiled. She lifted a finger to her lips, and the words no spoilers echoed in his head. He nodded and turned back to the screen, ignoring Uraraka’s curious glance.

{Yaoyorozu found herself hugging closer and closer to Izuku, “It... feels like someone’s watching us.”

“Come on now Miss, don’t talk like that, it’s only gonna scare the others,” Kaito reprimanded.

Izuku could help but find himself agreeing with Yaoyorozu, even if he was the more inexperienced Hero.}

“Never ignore your instincts!” Midoriya says.

{“Mr. Otachi! I think I found something! You should come see this!”

What the Hero had found, was by far the most curious thing in the room. Another statue, tucked away besides the massive statue at the back. It was an angel of death, a slab of engraved text held in its bony hands.

“Hey... isn’t that Runic?” “Anyone know it?”

Yaoyorozu quickly volunteered herself, always happy to show off the skills not related to her Quirk.

“Carthenon Temple’s Commandments. First, worship the Lord.” Izuku suddenly shuddered, the same chill he had felt earlier tracing its way down his back. Turning around, he was certain he caught the movement of one of the bigger statue’s eyes. “Second, praise the Lord.” Izuku squinted closely, attempting to discern anything he could from the behemoth carving. “Third, prove your faith. Those who do not follow these commandments, will never return alive.”}

A collective shiver runs through the audience, and a sense of apprehension sinks in as tension permeates the air.

{Izuku and many from the rest of the party, found themselves jumping in shock as a bang echoed through the apparent Temple. Looking over to the source of the sound, Izuku’s veins filled with ice, the door had slammed itself shut.}

Several of the audience members jump too, and several swear quietly. The tension in the air rises.

{For a few crucial seconds, not a sound could be heard, not even the labored breathing of Yaoyorozu.

Finally, a muscle-bound Hero threw his hands in the air, “That’s it! I’m done with this shit! It was a mistake to even come here! Enjoy the Boss’s treasure!” Strutting towards the door, he reached out for the ring handles.}

Midoriya’s eyes widen, and he calls “No!”, even though the character can’t hear him.

{“No...” Kaito mumbled at first, his body completely tensing up, “DON’T TOUCH IT!” The distinctive screeching of stone on stone filled everyone’s ears and then... a simple WHOOSHING of air.
Just like that, their party member was dead and in his place, stood one of the stone statues, his mace extended out and covered in crimson blood.
“It... moves...?” Yaoyorozu squeaked out, her legs beginning to shake.

“Wait... if that one moves... then,” Izuku’s head swiftly whipped around to face the king. He hadn’t moved a muscle, but his eyes were glowing bright orange and staring down the helpless teen.

“Oh... god...”}

There were general exclamations of shock and fear echoing around the theatre.
“Okay, people, that’s the end of this chapter! We’ll break for lunch now and come back in half an hour! Go get some food from the communal room and have a drink; I’ll see you in a bit!”
As people disperse, wandering off to the communal rooms and the toilets, Razor settles down to watch one of her personal favourite worlds for a while; the world of One For All And Eight For The Ninth.

People slowly trickle back into the theatre and find their seats, and Razor swaps back to the film.

Now playing . . .

Chapter Text

Chapter Three: Faith

{The second those glowing eyes swiveled around to stare down Izuku, he vowed to himself that he would throw away his Beginner's Badge if he ever made it home and wait until he could get one legitimately from school. Why did this urge suddenly come upon him? It was the realization that he experienced near-death far too many times for a 15-year-old.}

The word ‘mood’ was echoed by most of the teens in the facility.

{Getting separated from his party once and getting slashed down the back, getting lost and nearly starving to death, and at least twenty other brushes with death. But it was those very same experiences that saved his life. He had known the reaper long enough to see its finishing blows coming from a mile away.}

A nervous chuckle escaped Midoriya’s mouth, and Uraraka glanced across at him. He waved away the silent question and simply mouthed that he’d tell her later.

{Izuku wrapped his arms around Yaoyorozu and tackled her to the ground as he screamed to the rest of the party, "GET DOWN!"

Izuku's entire world exploded with heat and light as pure beams of magical energy shot out of the king statue's eyes, digging a furrow into the chamber's floor.

The attack lasted mere seconds, if even that, but to the party, it felt like they were pinned against the floor for minutes.}

“Been there, done that,” Midoriya muttered, remembering the events with the Zero Pointer.

{When the beam finally shut off and some semblance of peace returned to the room, Izuku pulled himself off of Yaoyorozu, who had both hands clamped over her ears and tears streaming down her face.

"Yaoyorozu? Miss Yaoyorozu?! Are you o-"

A shrill scream cut him off and he turned back to see a charred hand laying on the floor, the only remains of whomever the king had struck.

"DON'T STAND UP!" Kaito shouted, "JUST REMAIN IN YOUR POSITIONS!" As soon as he saw that everyone had acknowledged him, he began crawling his way over to Izuku, many of the party noticing he was only using his right arm.}

Shigaraki cackled, causing a shiver to run down the spines of the rest of the room.

{Izuku was too busy making sure Yaoyorozu was okay to notice the older man until he placed his hand on the teen's shoulder.

"Mr. Otachi!" Izuku began, but Kaito cut him off.

"Miss Yaoyorozu can't handle these sorts of situations too well, which is why she can only enter E or D-Rank dungeons, even as an A-Rank Hero. This... this certainly isn't an E or D-Rank. We only lived because of you."}

Yaouyorozu’s face turned red and she hid herself behind her hands again.

{"Oh... really?"

"Wait," Kaito gave Izuku an incredulous gaze, "I thought you called out cause you knew that would happen?"

Izuku shook his head sheepishly, "N-No... I just... knew it was dangerous..." He trailed off as his eyes traced their way to Kaito's left arm. "Sir! Your arm!" From just above where the elbow should've been, was a bleeding stump.
Kaito grinned in spite of the situation, "I'm fine, just help me stop the bleeding will ya?"

"There," Izuku said as he tightened the bandages around the Swordsman's remaining arm, "That's as good as it's gonna get."

"Hey Midoriya? What Rank do ya think that thing is?"
"I'm not sure... I've never been in a raid any more difficult than a D-Rank.

Kaito nodded, "I've been in a B-Rank maybe once or twice and even there, there was nothing like this thing. It's A... no... maybe even S-Rank."}

Someone in the back started swearing.

{Izuku briefly considered his surroundings, "Those Commandments, Worship the Lord, Praise the Lord, and Prove your faith. That's in reference to some sort of God, right?" He looked right back into those horrific glowing yellow eyes. "I think... that's the God."

Kaito scowled as he gripped his bleeding stump.
"Is that going to be okay? The bleeding won't stop."

"Well... there's not much we can do about it right now is there?" He scoffed, "I thought we'd only need three healers for this Raid since it was only D-Rank, but look at us now. One was killed so brutally nothing remains of his corpse, another's too shocked to even function," He said nodding at a young man huddled in a corning, crying silently to himself, "Even an A-Rank Hero like Yaoyorozu was unprepared for something like this, which is why none of us should be expecting healing any time soon. For now... let's just wait until things calm down and then try making a run for it. It won't be easy, but-"}

Midoriya’s eyes widen in horror, and he covers his mouth with his hands. No, no, nononononono-
Midoriya. Breathe.
The sudden voice in his head shocked him out of it, and he jerked his head up to see Razor watching him with concern. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out, continuing this until Razor was satisfied that he wasn’t about to pass out and turned back to the screen.

{"Screw that!" A voice rang out, drawing everyone's attention to a slim, runner-like, twenty- something male, crouched into a sprinter's position, "I finally signed on with a big Agency, so I ain't dying here!"

"What are you doing?! Don't move!" But the runner didn't listen and using his superhuman speed, launched off the ground hard enough to crack the brick foundations, heading for the door like a rocket.

He never made it. The red hot energy beam tore its way through his body, leaving only his smoking feet as the remains. The king's judgment had been passed swiftly and harshly, only reinforcing everyone's positions on the ground.}

Everyone winced, and Shigaraki stopped cackling abruptly.

{While everyone else only continued to panic, however, Izuku got to work thinking, running the only gift he had, his mind.

"These things could kill us at any time, so why don't they? They aren't acting like some sort of blindly raging villain. The ones at the door only move if anyone gets too close and the king only attacks if someone stands up. It's a pattern... a pattern." Izuku spun around, his eyes locking onto the angel of death holding the Commandments slab. "There are rules to this place."}

The Midoriya in the Theatre was nodding fervently, having come to the same conclusion only minutes earlier.

{"Huh?" Kaito mumbled, then blanched as Izuku made to stand, "Kid! What the f-" "It's fine. It won't attack."

Kaito made to tackle him, but the look in Izuku's eyes made him take pause, "Those aren't the eyes of a man wishing for death," He realized and ever so reluctantly, he allowed Izuku to do whatever it was he was doing.

Izuku took a step forward as he rose to full height, attracting the gaze of the king, whose stone orbs lit up with power. But before that power could discharge, Izuku threw himself to the ground and the glow dimmed, confirming his theory.}

Midoriya released a breath, relieved. It wasn’t actually him, but he still didn’t want to see another person killed like that. Unfortunately, though, the trial wasn’t over yet.

{"Everyone! Bow down to the statue!"

"What the hell?!" Was the first response.

"Have you lost your marbles, kid?!"}

Sounds of confusion and concern echoed around the theatre.

{Kaito grimly looked around, "You figured something out?"

"He only attacks when you rise past a certain height. If we bow down low enough, we're safe. It's the first Commandment, 'Worship the Lord' literally means bow down to him."

"This... isn't just a gut feeling right?"

"For now... yeah," Izuku answered as he pressed his forehead against the cool stone bricks.

"Well, I guess there's not much else to do."

One by one, everyone followed Izuku's example, bowing down as low as they could as they faced the king statue. Even Yaoyorozu recovered enough to bow, tears still pouring off her in waves.

Eventually, mercifully, the yellow glow in the God's eyes dimmed to nothing, earning glares of relief from the surrounding Heroes, only for that relief to fall into sheer terror. The statue's previously unmoving lips parted to form the widest, most sinister smile anyone had ever seen. The only description for the supposed God's smile was demonic.

"Is it... is it over?" One man asked, standing tall.}

Midoriya shook his head, eyes widening. His hand covered his mouth again.

{"Wait!"
"No... look! It's not attacking! It's over!"
The air became ecstatic as people cheered, "We get to live!" But Izuku knew better, "No... not yet... it's not done."

As if on cue, the statue began to move, its hands gripping the armrests hard enough to crack them and its feet digging into the floor hard enough to make it bend beneath its weight.

"Don't tell me! We have to fight that thing?!"

Kaito grabbed Izuku with one arm and shook him out of his stunned stupor, "Midoriya! Any other ideas would be nice!"

Stuttering for a moment, Izuku thought on the Commandments, "T-The next one is Praise the Lord!"

"Praise it? How on Earth can we praise that thing?!"}

“Shit!”

{A man with slicked-back hair was the one to step forwards, "If it's praising you need, I suppose I could give it a try," He said, pulling out a cross from around his neck, "I was a member of the church choir." Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and clutched the pendant tightly, walking forwards as he began to recite a prayer.

"I-Is it working?"

"I think it's slowing!"}

“No, no, no! Please, no,”

{"Wait..." Izuku breathed out, "YOU'RE PRAYING TO THE WRONG GOD!"

Unfortunately, it was too late, and the man didn't even have his eyes open in time to see the massive stone foot crush him into a blood puddle.}

Midoriya winced and shut his eyes, then peeked up at the screen a moment later.

{"Scatter!"

Izuku latched onto Yaoyorozu and began pulling her along, dashing away from the statue as it crushed another victim underfoot. Out of the corner of his eye, he was just barely able to make out someone stopping at the edges of the chamber, a stone soldier at their backs.

"Here should be safe, right?!"
"Behind you!"
The man was cleaved in two before anyone could even blink.}

Midoriya’s eyes widened as he took in the room, and things clicked into place in his head. He opened his mouth, but Razor’s voice was in his head again.
No spoilers, remember, kid? But you’re not wrong.

{"That's no God! That's a devil!" Izuku frantically thought as he sprinted along, his mind churning through all his knowledge. "Behind us walks a murderous Lord. In front of us, Guards keep the door from being accessed, and in every other direction, we've got even more warriors to keep us penned in with their weapons and instruments!" Izuku nearly stopped running, the thought sprung up so violently, "Instruments?! Hang on... if the ones with weapons attack when you get too close... then that means the ones with instruments..."

"Get to a statue with an instrument!" Izuku screamed out, hoping to anyone that would listen that he wasn't dooming the rest of the party.}

Midoriya grinned as his other self came to the same conclusion he had mere seconds earlier.

{Kaito was the first to reach one, which almost immediately began playing out a solemn methodical tune, "The ones with instruments don't attack!"

Several others died as they picked their way to one of the more musically inclined killer statues, but Izuku didn't have time to worry about anyone else as he and Yaoyorozu came to a stop next to one with drums. But even as Izuku urged it on, it wouldn't start playing.

"Why..." Looking around, he noticed that the only thing different about theirs was the number of people. Recognizing that only one person could sit safely at each statue, he tore himself away from Yaoyorozu and began sprinting as fast as his legs would carry him, "Stay there! You'll be fine!"

His theory was confirmed as a steady drumbeat started up behind him, signaling Yaoyorozu's safety while he made for the final instrument, the harp.

Suddenly, a shadow passed over him and Izuku's instincts took over, causing him to dive forwards, the God's foot crashing down just behind him, sending him flying through the air and skidding across the ground.

"No! Not that way!"}

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!”

{Izuku looked up just in time to see himself sliding towards a warrior armed with only a shield. The step of the giant had thrown him off and now, he was at the mercy of the mortar guardian.

Digging his feet in, Izuku slowed his slide just as the shield was brought down, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris and sending an intense pain rocketing up his leg.

His breathing was labored, and his body was bloodied, but his will was barely dented and the desire for life outweighed his pain as he crawled, bit by bloody bit to the final statue. Izuku grabbed on to that thin string of fate and hauled himself those last feet, his body collapsing just as the soft melodies of the harp and the womanly voice rang out.

All the instruments and melodies meshed together to form one of the most horrifically beautiful songs Izuku had ever heard. It was also apparently enough to calm the wrath of the God, who calmly retreated to his seat and sat down, the evil grin still spread across his face.

Izuku's vision grew dim as he attempted to focus on Yaoyorozu, who was desperately sprinting for him. "Huh? ...Where'd all this blood come from? Oh... my leg's gone."}

“Well, damn.”

{

It only took about a minute for Izuku to come back to consciousness, but in that time, a new development had taken place.

Yaoyorozu was clutching her stomach over Izuku's mangled stump, spitting up bits of blood. Her mana exhaustion was beginning to take a toll on her for certain.}

Midoriya’s eyes widened further in panic, and he glanced across at Yaoyorozu.

{"She'll be fine," One of the remaining six brushed off, "At least she's alive. That's something eleven of our party can't say."

"And now we've got two gravely injured," Kaito said, glancing down at his own arm.

Suddenly, Kaito's one remaining buddy from their glory days, Ryouji, turned venomous, spitting out, "Yeah, it's a shame you lost your arm, but none of this would've happened if you hadn't acted rashly and rushed in here!"}

“Screw you, man!” Kirishima suddenly yelled from next to Bakugo, who grunted in a return sentiment.

{"...Yeah."}

“No, dude, no, it’s not your fault!” Kaminari cried.

{Behind them, the God statue raised its hands from its position on the chair, a stone piece rising from the ground as he did so. Circular in nature, it came up to just about Izuku's chest.

"The hell is that thing?"

"An... altar," Izuku answered weakly, his body trembling from the blood loss, "Ya know, the ones where they sacrificed living beings to their Lord as a show of their faith. Pigs, cows, sheep... virgins."

"And the last Commandment is..." "Prove your faith."

"Then I think we all know who should be the offering," Ryouji said as he leveled his sword at Kaito, "Who brought us here? Eleven people are dead now because of you, take responsibility for your actions!"

Izuku weakly raised his hand, "Sir... that's too harsh-" "You shut up and stay still!"}

“No, no, Midoriya’s right! That’s harsh, especially for a perceived folly!”

{"He's right," Kaito admitted, all the light having gone from his eyes, "I'll do it." With that, the man turned on his heel and stumbled off to the altar as Izuku desperately attempted to get up.

"Midoriya, your wounds are still bad!"
"We all voted to come here! It's nothing but a coward's ploy to blame him now!"

But no matter how he struggled, Izuku could make it to his feet, and Kaito reached the altar. Magically, a yellow and orange flame burst into existence at the circumference of the altar.

"What now?!"
Kaito stared down Midoriya once more, "Hey! Is this not what we're supposed to do?"

Izuku, barely awake, did his best to think. "None of the statues are moving, even though something did happen. Do they not approve of the offering? Or maybe..."

"I-I need someone to help me to the altar."
Ryouji blanched, "Are you crazy?"}

Midoriya’s eyes widened and he glanced at Razor, who slowly inclined her head.

{"It'll probably be fine," He didn't have the energy to create any convincing comforts any longer.

Upon reaching the altar with two people helping him, Izuku watched three more flames spring to life around the altar, "So that's how it is..." Getting Kaito's attention he asked, "Do you think the Heroes will come get us if we just wait here?"

Shaking his head, Kaito answered, "Today marks the seventh day this thing has been open, those guys will be moving before reinforcements show."

"They neglected this Gate because it's only D-Rank..."

"Nothing new for the agencies."

Izuku clenched his teeth, remembering Mount Lady's fight just the other day, these things getting out into the world would be total chaos. "Was that just yesterday? It feels like that was weeks
ago." Looking over his shoulder, he met Yaoyorozu and Ryouji's eyes. "You two should come over here too. It looks like the trial only starts when all the flames are lit, so we need everyone up here."

With a little hesitation, all six remaining party members made it up to the altar and all six flames were lit, starting the final trial as Izuku had expected.

Lines of bright blue energy shot out from the altar's center, each line creating its only blue flame in a much wider circumference. But the energy didn't stop there, it raced past the flames and ran up the statues' legs, making them look more like futuristic robots than statues.

And then, the door opened.
"What?!"
"Does that mean we can leave?!"
"No!" Kaito shouted, "It's likely just a trap!"}

Midoriya glanced at Razor, who nodded again.

{All at once, every single armed statue sprung to life and began taking slow methodical steps towards the ground.

"No no no no no..."

Izuku, even from his brain-addled status, recognized something odd going on from his position leaning against the altar. Whenever he looked at one, it stopped. "Don't take your eyes off of them! They stop moving if we look at them!" Ever so gently, Izuku pulled Yaoyorozu's hands down from her eyes, "We need you too..."

Doing their best to make a circle, everyone put their backs to the altar and switched their gazes back and forth between the statues, slowing them. But not everyone was willing to abide by such a simple rule.

With a sudden and shrill shriek, the girl who had helped Izuku over suddenly started sprinting for the door, making it past the advancing line of soldiers and... making it through the door.

"What?!"
"How?!"
"She made it through! Midoriya?! How is this possible?!"}

Midoriya’s brow is furrowed, and he appears deep in thought. Yaoyorozu is also wracking her brain for a reason to this.

{"The door closed a little bit when she made it through... and her flame disappeared, which confirms the red flames are linked to the number of people. But the blue flames keep disappearing, even though no one else has left." Izuku shook his head, "It's a trap, a false hope. The final Commandment is to prove your faith, to remain strong even against temptations. If we can just let this timer run out, we'll get to live."

"What timer?"

But before Izuku could answer Ryouji's question, the other man who had helped Izuku limp over to the center of the room went pale, "I'm sorry... I can't stay either."

"Wait- UGH!" The man pushed past Izuku as he went dashing for the door, knocking him down in the process and making it through.

"NO ONE ELSE MOVE!" Izuku screamed with all his might, "IF ANYONE ELSE LEAVES WE WON'T HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE TO LOOK AT THE STATUES! WE WILL DIE!"

Kaito was starting to become more panicked as the warriors got closer and closer, "Midoriya! What is this?!"

"We just have to stay alive until the blue flames disappear! Those are the timers! When all the blue flames are gone, we win!"

"Are you sure?" Ryouji asked solemnly, "Do you know for certain that once the blue flames are gone that the door won't just close forever?"}

Eyes widen in horror at the implications all over the theatre, and some people’s armrests start creaking from strain.

{Izuku wasn't, but the sudden realization stunned him into silence.

"I never expected someone like you to be so helpful to be honest. I always found myself looking down on someone weak like yourself. But... because of you, I'm still alive. Thank you..."

"Mr. Ryouji?" Izuku asked, ice creeping back into his veins.

"But I'm sorry..." Tears began streaming down his face, "I've got a family... and I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" The sound of a sword clattering to the ground was Izuku's only answer as he screamed his throat raw after the man.
"Thank you? Don't make me laugh. You running from here... you just killed us."}

Izuku stared swearing, startling a few people.

{As Ryouji passed the threshold of the door, everything suddenly clicked into place, "You should both leave," He told Izuku and Yaoyorozu, "As long as there's one person on the altar, the door won't fully close... You two are young. Miss Yaoyorozu, will you please assist Midoriya to the door?"

"O-Of course!" Yaoyorozu moved to help up Izuku, but her legs almost instantly turned to jelly and she fell to the floor, trembling, "W-What? I can't... I can't move my legs!"}

Yaoyorozu winced. She recognised what was happening here.

{Kaito frowned even deeper than he had thought possible, "Mana exhaustion. You used far too much trying to heal Midoriya."

Izuku's fate dawned on him at that moment, "Sir. You should take Yaoyorozu and get out of here." "I told you I would stay!"
"Then who's going to help Yaoyorozu to her feet? ... Just go."
"No!" Yaoyorozu shrieked, "I'd rather stay here with you!"

Izuku chuckled, "We said we'd get something to eat after this right?" He asked, pulling his E-Rank Villain Core out of his pocket and placing it in Yaoyorozu's hands. "You eat without me. You can pay me back when I meet you again..."

The tears started freshly leaking from Yaoyorozu in waves, "This is no time for jokes! You-" Kaito delivered a swift chop to the back of her neck, knocking her out cold.

As Kaito heaved her up and over his shoulder, Izuku requested, "Take care of her... please."

The man sniffed back his own tears, "Yeah... I will." And with that, he stumbled his way out the door, slamming shut with a resounding thud just behind him.}

“Fuck.” Midoriya muttered, causing everyone within earshot to go silent, gaping at him.

{"Well... at least it's just me dying." He scoffed, "Had I known this would happen, I would've gotten myself some insurance." Izuku put every last drop of energy he had in him into standing, scooping up Ryouji's dropped sword as he vowed to himself and the steadily approaching statues, "I might as well go out taking one of you with me."

Raising the sword, he murmured to the stone deaths, "Come get me."

They did just that and before Izuku could even draw another breath, he found a massive stone spear piercing his side, that heaved itself upwards, flinging him into the air and carving him open.}

Several people in the theatre screamed, winced and/or covered their eyes.

{Collapsing down onto the top of the altar, Izuku found himself in the worst, most unbearable pain he had ever experienced like someone had poured acid into his veins.

"No... no, I don't wanna... I don't wanna die! I have family too! All of you... liars... cowards... you left the weakest one behind to die for you." A scimitar was raised high above his body, the sword tall enough to completely bisect Izuku with one swing. "If only I had... one more chance..."

The sword was brought down on him just as the final blue flame popped out of existence and the world froze.}

Shigaraki began cackling again.

{[You have completed all necessary requirements of the secret quest 'Courage of the Weak']

"What's... this?" Izuku found himself looking up at some sort of holographic screen with those words printed onto it.

[You have earned the right to become a Player. Will you accept?]

"What's going on?"

[You do not have much time left. If you refuse, your heart will stop 0.02 seconds later. Will you accept?]

"If I accept... then I don't have to die? Yes... this chance... I'll take it."

[Welcome player.]}

Shigaraki’s cackling grew louder and more wild.

{A bright light exploded over Izuku and just as he felt himself losing consciousness, a gently calming hand placed itself over his head and he felt a rush like he had never known. Then, the light eclipsed all, and Izuku slipped into a deep sleep.}

A lot of people let out a held breath as the chapter came to a close and the screen dimmed. That chapter had been considerably longer than the others so far, and many people were cramped from sitting for so long.

Once everyone was settled again, the next chapter began.

Now playing . . .

Chapter Text

Chapter Four: First Steps

The theatre settled down as the screen began to run.

{Izuku gasped as he sat bolt upright in bed, adrenaline pouring into his veins. His eyes dashed around the room, looking for the statues that killed him, but instead, all he found was that of a typical hospital room.

Hesitantly, he reached under the cusp of his blankets and with shaking hands, threw them off, expecting to see a stump in place of his leg, but instead, he found himself completely intact.

"Was... was it all a dream?"}

“Haha, imagine. That’d be some crazy imagination.”

{Just as he went to look at the setting sun through the pane glass window, his door opened and two lanky men came strolling through one with dark hair and another with bleach-blond, "It's about time you woke up. I wasn't sure if I could wait another three days."}

“Is that-“
“Detective Tsukauchi?”

{"I've... I've been asleep three days?!"

The blond man answered with a half-smile, "I'm sorry if we surprised you, but we've been needing some answers." Handing Izuku a card, the two men took a seat on the nearby couch.

"Japan Hero Agency Inspectors..." Izuku's blood ran cold for a moment as he realized these were government men. He was too young to have his beginner's license and he wasn't enrolled in any Hero schools, he doubted they would overlook this.

"Chill out, kid," The blond man said, "We've revoked your permit, but you're not gonna be charged with anything."

Izuku was stunned into silence. Wasn't illegally obtaining those sorts of IDs a huge deal?}

Iida sucked in a breath, likely to begin a rant about the ethics of such a thing, when the Tsukauchi on-screen spoke again.

{"I think you've been through enough at your age," The man responded to the silence, "And I gotta say, I respect anyone who risks their life for their family." He gave the same tired smile, "You're not in trouble, kid. We just want to know what the hell happened."

Finally snapping out of his trance Izuku asked, "How are Miss Yaoyorozu and Mr. Otachi doing?"

"They'll live, but the old man's lack of a left arm will likely impede his work, he may end up retiring. As for Yaoyorozu, she's still being tended to for her mental trauma. The doctors are still unsure if she'll continue." The man scratched his cheek, "Other Heroes like Ryouji and-"

"No... that's enough. Thank you." Izuku couldn't help but imagine the bloodied scene as Ryouji sprinted out of the room, leaving the rest of them to die with no remorse.}

Several people winced at the reminder.

{The man nodded, his partner finally taking up the conversation, "Only six Heroes survived that Double Dungeon. And while Heroes put their lives on the line every time they enter a Gate, a massacre like this hasn't happened in some time thanks to the Ranking system and healers that are standard in most Raid parties. As such, it warranted a rather large investigation. However, upon entering the Dungeon, both the Inspector agency and the Hunter agency found nothing... nothing but you laying on that altar. Every statue was completely absent."}

“What!?”
“How?”
“Impossible!”

{"T-That's impossible!"

"We thought so at first as well. Had any of the testimonies differed in the slightest, or had we not found some of the deceased's body parts, we would've come up with a different theory. However, as things stand, we believe you may have undergone a Double Awakening inside that Gate."

"A double awakening?"

A good 99 percent of the world's population could be considered Heroes, either during their birth or later on in life, they received their Awakening. A blessing of power that was typically accompanied by the standard physical enhancement Quirks, or ever so rarely, a Rank B or higher would Awaken with a specialized Quirk, something like Yaoyorozu's Creation. Even rarer, was the Double Awakening. There were stories of C-Ranks jumping all the way to A-Rank or B-Ranks going all the way to S.

"We just need you to place your hand on this reader. If your mana is higher than what is recorded on your revoked license, then we can assume you have undergone a secondary Awakening."

Izuku nodded and somewhat hesitantly placed his hand down on the purple crystal as the man held up a reader. The gem glowed faintly for a few seconds and the man glared disappointedly at the reader. "What's it say?" Izuku asked.}

Several people in the audience were leaning forward, looking forward to the answer.

{"It appears that we were wrong for suspecting you." The two men stood and gathered their things, "Our apologies for disturbing you, good luck on your recovery." Without another word, they left Izuku alone with his thoughts once more.

"Nothing huh? Then... does that mean they can't see this?" Izuku pondered as he stared up at the holographic screen.

[You have unread mail]
"How on earth do I use this thing?" Izuku had been trying to tap at it for about ten minutes now to

no avail, "Not a touchscreen I guess."}

Bakugo snorted.
“No shit Sherlocke.”

{"Hmm," He wondered out loud, "Maybe... read mail?" Nothing happened. "Open inbox?" The screen flashed suddenly and Izuku felt like cheering with his success. It had reacted to a very specific wording, meaning that it wasn't just some hallucination, whatever this was, it was real.

[The System will help the Player's growth.]
[If he fails to obey the System's orders, there may be a 'Penalty']
[Your Rewards have arrived.]
"This is weird," Izuku whispered to himself as he sat in bed, looking over the messages. [Daily Quest: Preparing to Become Strong] has arrived (Unread)

"Uh... check?"

The screen disappeared and in its place, a long list of objectives popped into existence.

[Incomplete] Push-ups [0/100]

[Incomplete] Curl-ups [0/100]

[Incomplete] Curl-ups [0/100]

[Incomplete] Squats [0/100]

[Incomplete] Running [0/10km]}

“Hey, isn’t that from that one Manga with the bald guy?”

{Warning - Failure to complete this Daily Quest will result in a punishment associated with this Quest.

Izuku smiled, "This is a joke right? Someone in the hospital doesn't have the energy for this! I'll take a look at it..." Izuku flopped back in bed, "After I get some sleep...."}

“I have a bad feeling about that,”

{Unbeknownst to the teen, as he slept, the clock displayed at the bottom of the Quest turned different colors, going from green, to yellow, to red as time passed. Eventually, the timer ran out and a slight ringing noise filled Izuku's ears, waking him from his slumber.

As his eyes cracked open, he was almost flung out of bed by an intense earthquake, "WHAT THE... hell?" Izuku whimpered out the last part as he found his hands digging not into the bed's mattress, but into a sandy dune. "A... desert?" Izuku's heart sank as he saw a huge shadow beginning to loom over him.

His head turned around at a snail's pace, his eyes meeting that of a six-eyed centipede. Just above the massive creature's head, Izuku could make out the words, Poison Fanged Giant Sand Centipede.'}

“Oh, shit.”
“I KNEW IT!”

{Izuku's eyes went wide as another window popped up in front of him. [Penalty Quest: Survive.]
[Goal: Survive until time runs out.]
[Time required: 4 hours.]

[Time Remaining: 3 hours, 59 minutes, and 57 seconds.]
"You're k-kidding... right?" The creature roared in response and he began running for his life.}

Shigaraki started cackling again.

{Izuku didn't have the focus or mental fortitude to even guess at how much time was left, he had been too busy avoiding the Giant Centipedes that chased him throughout the open expanse of the sandy plains. It could've been three hours, it could've been fifteen minutes for all he knew. Time lost meaning when the only thing that was keeping you going was adrenaline.

His breathing heavy, Izuku began to wonder how much longer he could keep himself going, the three Centipedes practically nipping at his heels. Every muscle in his body was screaming for mercy, but he had none to give.

Taking one last look back, he noticed the closest of the Villains were literally inches away and he gave one last scream of defiance, before... he fell to the hospital floor, covered in sand.

On his hands and knees, shaking from exhaustion, he looked up.

[You have completed the 'Penalty' Quest.]

[Your Rewards for the 'Penalty' Quest have arrived, would you like to accept?]

Izuku had just enough time to read the screens and mumble, "Huh?" Before his body gave out and he passed into unconsciousness once more.}

“Whew, safe.”

{Four days later, nurses watched from the windows as Izuku Midoriya sprinted around the hospital circumference, his shirt soaked through with sweat.}

“Damn, Mido! Ripped!”
Midoriya turned red.

{"How long has he been running? Shouldn't he be resting."

"Not sure... but the doctors say that active Heroes are quicker to recover, so I'm sure he'll be fine."

Just as he made it to the hospital courtyard, Izuku finally collapsed onto a nearby bench, his 10 km running goal reached.

He smiled as his System windows popped up. Rewards for his Daily Quest, inventory to store his Reward items, and his Status Screen to display his stats. "Just like a game," He murmured to himself, careful not to draw the attention of any nearby people.}

Shigaraki’s cackling increased in volume, despite Kurogiri’s attempts to quiet him.

{As he learned immediately after waking up from his desert run, the Daily Quests provided him with three Rewards, Status Recovery, 3 Stat points, and 1 Random Gift Box. The Status Recovery was the first he accepted due to his exhaustion. It was like he had never been tired or injured in the first place.

The Random Box had given out some sort of key at first, but from there on out only gave out little trinkets like pens, which he thought was pretty lame next to the Stat Points Reward or Status Recovery. Strength, Vitality, Agility, Intelligence, Sense. All of them could be upgraded with these Stat points and so far, Izuku had put all 12 of his that he had gotten from the Daily Quests into Strength. The difference wasn't hugely noticeable, but Izuku knew that it was having an effect on his stamina.

"Hmm," He raised his eyebrows as he looked over the description for the random key he had gotten, "Maybe I should give this thing a go."

[Item: Dungeon Key]

Item Class: E

Type: Key

[A key that allows you to create an Instance Dungeon. You may use this at the 3rd entrance of Tatooin Station.]}

Kurogiri finally got Shigaraki to stop cackling, only for him to start wheezing instead. In the end, the mist man just warped his head out of the room until he calmed down.

{Taking a one day leave from the hospital was easier than Izuku expected it to be. He was completely ready to argue with a nurse that he was fine, but much to his surprise she simply smiled and gave him permission, wishing him luck with his business.

From there, it had only taken Izuku half an hour to end up at the Subway entrance, grass-green key in hand.

"Instance Dungeons, Inventory, Stat Points, all of this... is it part of a Double Awakening, or is it the lead up to my Double Awakening?" He smirked, "The weakest E-Rank Hero receiving a Double Awakening. I'm sure that would get a chuckle outta some people." Getting his serious face on, Izuku readied the key, "I'm confident in my ability to run, so if things get too dicey, I can just run away."

With that, Izuku stabbed the key into the air, blue lightning sparking around him as a Blue Gate appeared before him and he stepped through, determined to become stronger.}

“Okay people, dinner is ready if you want to head to the communal area. Afterwards, we’ll watch one more chapter, then resume tomorrow.”
As the crowd dispersed, Razor sat down and continued observing the 849 universe.

People slowly filed back into the theatre, and the final chapter for the night began.

Now playing . . .

Chapter Text

{Izuku took a moment to consider the crackling energy in front of him before stepping forwards, passing the threshold and beginning the descent into the dungeon.}

“Oh, man,” Kaminari groaned. “He’s just gonna jump in head-first, isn’t he? No plan, no weapon, no nothing. Just gonna walk through the mystery portal with no regard for what could be on the other side.”

“Wow, so Kaminari actually does have a brain?” Jirou asked, snark oozing from her voice.

“Hey! I am smart, just in a different way!”

“Oh yeah? Like what, frying your brain?”

“Hey!! That’s a work in progress, I’ll have you know!”

{As soon as he did, he heard a sound that was akin to water freezing over.}

“Shit! Man, what’d I tell ya!? What’d I tell ya!?”

{Spinning around, he saw the Gate dispersing from its swirling portal form and instead hardening into that of a bright blue wall.

Izuku slammed his fist against it, finding that it was just as solid as it looked. “HEY!” He screamed, hoping to earn some attention, but no one seemed to hear him.

The signature sound of heels on concrete made him spin around to see a girl walking up the stairs towards him,}

“Oh, brilliant. You trapped a Civillian!?”

{“Are you okay?” He asked, worried that he had just trapped some stranger inside a Gate. But she didn’t respond, instead choosing to ignore him as she walked straight through the wall, as if it wasn’t even there.}

“Yo, freaky! Still kinda cool though.”

{“Wha... Is this... some other dimension?”
[Warning: You cannot exit this Dungeon. Either kill the Boss or use a Hearthstone.]}

“Oh, so I’m trapped? Huh . . . okay, I think I know where this is going.” Izuku muttered, head in his hand.

{Izuku paled, “Just a week ago, I was struggling with E-Rank dungeons, and now, this thing seriously expects me to clear a dungeon... without a party?!”

With every passing moment, Izuku’s nerves frayed further and further. He had been walking through the subway station for around 15 minutes now, not a living thing in sight.

The subway was no longer the same beautiful underground railway system that Izuku remembered from his previous trips to Tatooin Station. Instead, it looked abandoned and decayed, as if it was from a post-apocalyptic novel. }

“Hey, is anyone else reminded of that Pre-Quirk Webtoon ‘Omniscient Reader’?”

{“Damn... coming here was a mistake,” He lamented as a heavy stench filled his nose, like wet dog times a hundred.}

“No shit sherlock!” Kaminari screeched.

{Suddenly, every nerve in Izuku’s body went into overdrive, shouting at him to move.

Unable to perceive the threat any further, Izuku simply dove forwards, narrowly dodging the loud metallic SNAP that echoed behind him.}

“Jesus Christ that was close!!”

{Swiftly recovering, Izuku turned around, his eyes widening at the massive red wolf that had emerged from an alleyway. Steel surrounded the bottom of his mouth, silver fangs poking up to mix with the gleaming white teeth.

[Steel Fanged Raikan] }

Oh, well that’s not reassuring at all!”

“Kaminari, will you shut up!?”

{“It’s... got a name?”

Most Villains had obtained some nickname or title from Heroes, such as Giants, Goblins, or even Slimes depending on how severely mutated they were. But Izuku had never heard of a Villain with a specific name, much less one that looked perfectly like a wolf.}

“Well, this isn’t exactly a normal gate either, some anomalies are to be expected when encountering a similar environment to what one is used to, but that is also vastly different.” Izuku was muttering again.

{“Is this a real villain? Or is the System creating it for me? Maybe it has to do with the fact that this is a special Dungeon...” Sizing up the creature, Izuku noticed the name hovering just above its head was colored red. It held his interest for just a moment before he came back to reality, his name meant nothing if Izuku couldn’t kill it.

As the Wolf’s hackles began to stand on end, Izuku tried to move, but found that his legs were frozen in place, entangled by a veil of fear.

“I can’t move?”}

“Shit shit shitshitshit! Now is not the time to freeze up!”

{The Wolf launched forwards, its metal maw ready to snap shut. The sudden movement seemed to shock Izuku into motion and he sidestepped the Wolf, his arm far too close to the vice grip that closed around where his head had been moments earlier.

Stumbling backwards, he noticed the Wolf wasn’t letting up and before Izuku could even fathom a response, it bit right next to his face, coming mere inches from killing him.

Instincts took over Izuku’s body in that instant and he planted his palms on the Wolf’s body, vaulting off of him like a gymnast. Flipping end over end, Izuku did a one-handed handstand as he landed, pushing off it once more to land on his feet. Unfortunately, he didn’t expect the heavy momentum that caused him to continue forwards until he had rolled onto his back and his feet slammed into the wire gate of a closed and ruined storefront.}

“Damn, Mido! That was some move!”

{“My body... feels light!” He firmly planted both hands on the ground as he looked at the Wolf from his upside-down position and pushed off, launching into the air and landing just to the right of the Wolf’s face.

His fist clenched, Izuku felt power coursing through him like nothing he had ever experienced before, “I JUST BARELY GOT MY LIFE BACK! I REFUSE TO LOSE IT LIKE THIS!”}

The students cheered.
“Hell yeah, Mido!”
“You tell ‘im!”
“Beat that bitch!”

{The strike was so powerful, Izuku wasn’t even sure if he had seen it. All he knew was that his punch had sent the Wolf flying through the air, crashing into another storefront.

Izuku was stunned, absolutely and completely befuddled. The sudden power coursing through his veins was like a lightning bolt, it was liberating, it was freeing, and it was intoxicating.}

Izuku blinked, glancing nervously at Razor, who just grinned wickedly. He shuddered.

{As the Wolf, mostly unharmed, extracted itself from the wall, Izuku wasted no time dashing forwards, delivering another swift uppercut. This time, however, the Wolf was ready for it and Izuku had to bring his left fist down on its head just to avoid the bite that followed.

The high that he had just experienced with his new power almost completely disappeared as Izuku realized that while he was indeed stronger, his simple punches would do nothing to kill his enemy.}

Izuku groaned.
“Well, that’s a situation I’d be glad to never have to face again.”

{“No backup, no healers, but I do have this!” Izuku reached forwards as he shouted, “Inventory!”

His hand plunged into the glowing screen and he could feel the cool leather grip of a steel sword as his fingers grasped for his salvation.

Withdrawing the magic sword Ryouji had wielded in the double Dungeon, Izuku swung forwards, cleaving the Wolf that was flying through the air in two, collapsing behind him in a bloody puddle.

[You have defeated Steel Fang Raikan.]

[You have Leveled Up!]}

“Seriously!? How low is his level that one kill levels him up!? Or was it just that strong?”

{“I’m pretty sure I overheard Ryouji say he bought this sword for 260000 yen.}

“Holy shit! How much-“

{I’m too poor to ever afford touching it... but for now,” Izuku looked over his shoulder as the telltale growls of the Steel Fangs filled his ears, “I think I’ll be using this sword.

Izuku was resting on the ground, his back against a pillar as he looked through his Status screen, three dead wolves keeping him company.}

“That’s kinda hot.”
No one knew who had spoken, but some of the people in the theatre were privately agreeing with the sentiment.

{“So every time I level up, all my Stats increase by one, plus the three Stat Points I earn from the Daily Quest. Hmm, I guess hunting Villains and leveling up would be the most worthwhile way to earn points.” Looking over his strength, he realized that thanks to his leveling and Daily Quest Points, it had only gone up ten points, and yet, Izuku felt far stronger with twenty points than he had with 16. Which could only mean, “The growth is exponential?” He shrugged to himself and stood, “Well, at least I know now. I know that even someone like me can get stronger.”}

Bakugou’s stare was boring holes in the back of Izuku’s head, but he resolutely ignored his friend-turned-abuser-turned-kind-of-friend-slash-ally.

{A dozen or so pairs of glowing red eyes peeked out at him from shadows and Izuku smiled, “You don’t scare me. After all, I’ve already died once before.”}

“Okay, it’s official. This Midoriya is an absolute badass.”

Razor stood and brough her hands together with a loud clap, the noise akin to thunder in the quiet theatre.

“Alright everybody, that’s the last chapter for today. There’s hot chocolate in the lounge, and we’ll meet back here tomorrow. Make sure you get some rest, because this story’s just beginning.”

As the tired viewers filed out, Razor sat down and continued watching the ongoings in the 849-verse.

Chapter Text

The viewers filed in sleepily, yawning or rubbing their eyes, and took up their seats.

“Alright people. I trust there were no disturbances last night and that everyone enjoyed a good long rest,” Razor seemed to stare at Aizawa and Shigaraki, much to the amusement of Class 1-A and some of the teachers and the League.

Now playing . . .

{Izuku refused to go down. Horde after horde of the Steel Fangs appeared before him. Slashed, hacked, and severed by Izuku’s steadily dulling blade, they fell before him.

[You have Leveled Up!]

He moved faster than he ever had before.

[You have Leveled Up!]

His strength was like nothing he had ever experienced before.

[You have Leveled Up!]

And this... was more blood than he’d ever seen in his whole life.}

A collective shiver ran through the audience and Toga squealed in delight.

“He does look hotter covered in blood!”

{[You have gained the title of Wolf Slayer. From now on you will gain 40% increased Stats when fighting Beast-Type Villains.]}

“Hey, that’s gotta come in handy later.”

{The floor was littered with dozens of corpses, every single one decapitated or completely cleaved in two.

Upon picking through their bodies, Izuku finally realized why he hadn’t found any Villain Cores in the previous Wolves. Instead of cores, they dropped items, once again, akin to an RPG game.}

Shigaraki started cackling again.

Stain nodded in approval of the clean kills, but said nothing.

{Izuku pulled open his inventory to tally up his haul so far. 34 Wolf Fangs, Traveler’s clothes, 2 Worn Daggers, and most importantly, a Hearthstone.

Now with the option to escape the Dungeon, Izuku felt about ten billion times safer. But as he gripped the softly glowing stone in his hand, he weighed the pros and cons of running. On one hand, he was alone, and his blade was beginning to chip away from wear. On the other hand, he might never get the same easy chance to level up like this ever again.

Shoving his Hearthstone back into the inventory, Izuku managed to accidentally pull up a separate tab. “A store?” He smiled, “Man... this thing has everything.”}

Shigaraki’s cackling grew louder, almost drowning out the screen. Razor put a sound-dampening barrier around him for the convenience of others.

{[Would you like to sell all 34 Wolf Fangs for 680 gold?]

“Gold?” Izuku wasn’t sure if the fangs could be used for anything else, although considering the game elements, it was possible. However, his status as a poor teenager was a little more than overwhelming. If this gold was convertible to real life currency, he might be able to worry less about his own expenses, “Sell 17.”

340 gold poured into his account and he went to check the purchasing side of the store, only to receive a curious message.

[You are not high enough Level to access the shop. Please return when you are at a higher Level.]}

“Well that was a ‘fuck you,”

{“How polite,” Izuku joked to himself as he hefted his sword onto his shoulder and continued deeper into the special Dungeon.

Every kill, every attack, made the next just a little bit easier. Izuku once again felt himself referring to this Dungeon as a game. Unlike normal Dungeons, the Villains respawned and continued launching themselves at him. It was thanks to this, that Izuku had learned their pattern.

As he leaned on his sword like a cane in an attempt to catch his breath, he felt one presence above him and one to his right. “Monkey above, cat to the right.”}

“Strat!”

{Reversing his current grip on his sword, his heaved it out of the ground and spun it around, practically letting the monkey-like Villain fall onto the blade as the green-haired teen, slashed diagonally downwards, decapitating the cat before it even knew that he was in motion.

[You have Leveled Up.]

“Looks like the progress has slowed,” Izuku noted as he looked over a bisected Wolf. The nametag had changed from a deep orange, to a white color. “Maybe it’s because they’re too weak for me now... they’re not giving me the experience needed to Level Up anymore.”}

Shigaraki had stopped cackling, so Razor removed the barrier.

“That’s what happens when you grind in low-level areas. Your progress rate slows after a while, and then you’ll stagnate.”

{“But...” Izuku mumbled out loud, “Even with my current strength, I’m not sure I can take whatever’s sitting down there.” His skin erupted with goosebumps as he stared down the dark set of steps. “No question about it, that down there, is the Boss.”

He knew his sword couldn’t take much more and his growth had already slowed, so he decided that he would at least take a look at the Boss before deciding to take it on, or teleport.}

There was a mixed call of ‘stay’ and ‘flee’ from the audience.

{“Is this really Tatooin Station?” Izuku asked himself as he continued down the all too long stairs. “If I go any further down, I might turn up on the other side of the world.”

Thankfully, his curiosity was answered as the passageway opened up to a spacious subway boarding platform. But like the rest of the Dungeon, it was destroyed and water filled the subway tracks, obscuring a dark form from Izuku's eyes.

He only had moments to raise his sword to defend against the shape that shot out of the water, slamming into him and sending him crashing into a nearby pillar, coppery blood leaking into his mouth from the strike.}

“Shit!”

{Falling onto his rear, Izuku gasped for breath and his eyes widened at his broken blade. He had attempted to use it to block or slice through the strike, but it was apparently just too much for the worn blade. Now, only about a third of the actual blade remained, jagged at the ends.

“I thought I had gotten a bit stronger, but your name’s still orange.

[Swamp’s Ruler, Blue Poison Fangs Rasaka]}

“Chills!”

{The massive cobra snake hissed at him loud enough for it to be considered more of a roar. It’s body was about as tall as Izuku was.

Izuku reversed his grip on the sword, holding it more like a dagger as he stared down the beast, “I guess you’re the final Boss.”

“Just one more kill. And then I can finally get some rest,” Izuku said to himself as he put every last bit of energy he had into his legs and he shot forwards, dragging his stump of a blade along Rasaka’s middle section. He only earned a metallic scraping noise and sparks for his effort.}

“Incredible resistance, speed and agility, only obvious weak points are the areas near the head, which is too dangerous to go near. The only way to win would be . . . ” Izuku trailed off, glancing at Razor, who merely nodded.

{Growling right back at the Cobra, Izuku put his back into the effort and struck several more times, rushing along its length to avoid any attacks. Unfortunately, this tactic only lasted about five seconds.

Rasaka got bored with the pesky human scratching his sides and his body pivoted rapidly, slamming the Hero to the ground, then to the side, then back to the ground.

Izuku’s old wounds found themselves reopening as the scales slashed him back and forth, taking more and more of his life force with each passing second.

“How much more...? How much farther do I have to go to escape my past as the Weakest?!” Izuku parried away Rasaka’s fangs with his own blade, narrowly avoiding the huge drops of poison falling from it.

“Strength,” Izuku cursed it, “No matter what you do, strength is all that matters. I could be the most intelligent man on the planet and still lose to this thing. I could be the richest man on earth and still be powerless. Even if you’re wise, or knowledgable, or if you receive thanks... in front of strength, it all means nothing.” Izuku stood once more, throwing his broken blade to the side, “I came here to become strong, to throw away the title of weakest!” As the Boss slithered towards him at a cautionary pace, Izuku’s fists opened, making it look like he was going to grapple with it bare-handed, “My classmates!” He screamed, Bakugo’s face appearing in his mind, “My friends!” Yaoyorozu came to the forefront of his thoughts, “Everyone! They all look down on me! Some give me pity! Some scorn me! Some are even embarrassed by me!” Red hot rage coursed through his veins, “Compared to that statue, you’re nothing! You don’t scare me at all! SO COME ON!”}

Several people in the audience turned to look at the explosive blond, who was scowling at the screen.

{Rasaka roared back, his neck snapping forwards to eat Izuku whole, but he found nothing. He was not in possession of the knowledge that Izuku’s only skill before Re-Awakening was his ability to dodge and run.

From his position in the snake’s blindspot, Izuku wrapped his arms halfway around its neck, digging in his fingers as far as they would go. “I put all my Points into Strength! If it’s that much, then I know I can kill you with nothing but my bare hands!”

Rasaka began to flail as Izuku’s insane pressure crushed his windpipe. Dragging his body against the subway’s walls, he attempted to shake the young Hero loose, but the lack of oxygen was absolutely debilitating.

“Just... die already... die... die... DIE!” Izuku screeched out, the walls shaking as the roars of the two warriors mixed.}

Izuku winced, knowing exactly how much he sounded like Bakugou at that point.

{

“Nurse?”
“Yes, doctor?”
“Has Izuku Midoriya returned yet? It’s getting quite late.”
“I’m sure he’s fine, after all, we were going to discharge him tomorrow.”

“I’m not so sure.” The doctor scratched the back of his neck, “Have you seen some of the conditions those guys come in with? Completely drenched in blood, even more damaged than patients that get into severe motor accidents, it’s amazing they can stay alive in those conditions.”

“Even so, shouldn’t it be considered a miracle they return alive at all?”
“Not at all,” The doctor answered, “Even the weakest Heroes have superhuman abilities. Some are just as monstrous as the Villains they face down.”}

Aizawa scowled.

“That’s no reason to become complacent.”

{[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

“Ha... ha... ha,” Izuku’s heavy breathing slowly morphed into that of a relieved laugh as he sat against Rasaka’s still corpse, “Hahaha... I guess... I got a bit stronger?”}

“Whoooooo!” Kaminari cheered, throwing his hands in the air.

The theatre quickly settled as the next chapter loaded.

Now Playing . . .

Chapter Text

{[You have acquired a weapon.]
[Item: Rasaka’s Scales]
Item Class: C
Item Type: Gauntlet

Attack: +33
[Powerful gauntlets made from Rasaka’s impenetrable scales. Its incredible toughness can inflict a stun debuff and it’s sharp edges are capable of inflicting the bleed debuff.]

- Effect ‘Stun’: Attacked foes have a chance to become stunned and unable to attack. -Effect ‘Bleed’: Attacked foes lose 1% of their health every second.}

“Not bad for first-dungeon loot,”

{Izuku swiftly equipped the gauntlets, reveling in their perfect form fitting beauty. Their attack power was far higher then even Ryouji’s now broken sword.

Rasaka also dropped some sort of pouch containing his venom, but Izuku ignored it for the moment, his body too tired to deal with reading any longer.

With that, he stood, the ruined subway around him disintegrating away to revert to its cleaner, more modern form of Tatooin Station. Izuku couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his home world. But... something felt off. The station was completely empty.}

“Odd,”

{“It’s late... but not that late. Where is everyone?”

Upon finally making it to the subway’s exit, emerging to darkness and rain, he was greeted by a member of the JDF.

“Hey! What are you still doing out here?! Did you not hear the broadcasts?!”}

“Broadcasts!?”

“Oh, shit.”

{The soldier fixed him with a concerned gaze as Izuku returned his questions with a question of his own, “What happened?”

“What?! I...” The man trailed off, before pointing to his shattered sword and armored gauntlets, “Are you a Hero?”

Izuku blanched for a moment, his licence had been revoked due to his age and illegal methods to obtain it. He swiftly calmed as he realized this simple ground soldier would have no reason to doubt his answer. His weapons and torn clothing would be pretty convincing evidence, so Izuku answered, “Uh, yeah.”}

Tsukauchi flinched at the lie, his quirk picking it up through the screen.

{The man suddenly snapped to attention, “Ah, forgive me! I will guide you Sir!”
“Ah... okay,” Izuku responded with a raise of his eyebrows, still confused by the situation.

Continuing to strut through the city, Izuku was shocked by the amount of destruction. Cars and buildings were torn up and strewn all over the place, covered in Villain bodies and blood.

“A Gate opened?”
“Correct, Sir. The small fry have been taken care of. Only one larger Villain is left.”

But Izuku already knew that. Much to his surprise, the teen found himself tracing the Villain’s presence through the air, finding a much denser packet of Mana than any of the surrounding Villains. “Without a doubt, that’s the Boss.”}

“Well, shit.”

{It only took another five minutes for Izuku to begin hearing the sounds of battle. Metal on rock, shouts for healing, strategy calls. The one that stuck out to him most however, was, “Hey! I thought you said you were an A-Rank! I don’t care if you’re a fighter or not! Do something!”

Izuku peeked over the crowd that was surrounding the fight against the Golem Villain, surprised to see Yaoyorozu standing at the rear of the party, her body shivering, but not from the cold.}

“Wait, but isn’t she too young for a license?”

{“I’m honestly surprised she even came back to Hero work. Wait... does that mean they didn’t revoke her license?” Before Izuku could think on it any further, he looked back to the fight, his eyes widening as the Golem grabbed a piece of rock from its body and hurled it at the support group. Two of the three healers were quick enough to dive away, but Yaoyorozu was stuck in place, her legs too weak to support her own body.

The rock filled her vision and she quickly collapsed, fainting into unconsciousness. But while her fellow party members simply watched in shock and horror, Izuku’s body was moving before he even knew it.}

Izuku chuckled nervously as his friends stared at him.

{Like a flash of light, he scooped up the rich girl in his arms and raced past the fight, stopping once more just behind the crowd. Setting her down gently, he checked her pulse and breathing. She seemed okay, so Izuku picked up his broken sword once more and took a few steps back from the crowd, looking around to make sure no one was watching him.

When he was satisfied, Izuku hauled his arm back, the sword gripped like one might hold a spear or javelin. And then, planting his foot hard enough to crack the ground, Izuku threw the blade. It streaked through the sky, tearing through the Golem’s head like a .50 caliber bullet and practically causing it’s entire head to implode from the force.}

“Holy shit!”

{“Hmm, even at a low Level like 18 I was able to kill it in one hit?” Izuku swiftly brushed away the thought and moved to leave, not wanting to be spotted, but Yaoyorozu’s prone form on the ground stopped him. “I’m sure the other Heroes will take care of her... right?” Remembering the other Heroes’ awful tones, ones that resonated with his own past, he decided against it, he didn’t trust anyone that looked down on others.

Scooping up the girl took practically no effort at all, and he walked off into the night, seeking out the hospital for refuge.

It had been another three days since the fight with Rasaka and Izuku was working out in his hospital room, sweat dripping off him as he continued his push-ups for the day.}

“Damn, Midoriya! Jacked!”

{After reaching the hospital, the nurses assured him Yaoyorozu just needed some rest and would be fine. Izuku was pretty sure she wouldn’t even know that it was him who brought her back. That was fine with him, anything else would just require more explanation.}

Izuku frowned.

{As he went to finish his 100th pushup, a small knock came from the door. “I’m coming i-!” Izuku stood as fast as he could, going to put on his shirt, but it was too late, the young nurse was immediately smitten with his body. “Ah! I’m so sorry!”

Izuku gave her a warm smile, “It’s no problem. If anything it’s my fault.”

“So... you’re being discharged today?”

“Yep! Can’t wait to finally get out of here... er... no offense!”

But the nurse was too busy handing over her phone to take offense, “If it’s okay with you... could I have your number?”}

Mina cackled.

“She’s already smitten with him.”

{“Number?”
“Yes... I mean... only if you’re okay with it.”

“Is there some test result they need to text me later?” But upon handing back the phone, Izuku finally noticed the heavy blush on the young woman’s face, “Oh... OH!” Izuku scratched the back of his head nervously, “Have I really changed that much?” He hadn’t spent much time looking in a mirror lately, but he knew that he looked different. From his perspective, he had just gotten a bit taller, but to any outsider, it looked like the 15-year-old had gone through the most extreme puberty on earth, just without the acne or mood swings. He looked less like a teenager now, and more like a young man who had just reached 20.

“I wonder if she knows how old I am?”

“T-Thank you!”
Izuku nodded and wished her goodbye as he began gathering up the few things he had with him.

Suddenly, he was overcome with a feeling of dread and anxiety, “Oh shit! WHAT DO I DO IF SHE ACTUALLY CALLS ME?!”}

“Well, that’s more familiar.”

{

“Jeez Izu! What did they do to you at that hospital?!”
Izuku smiled down at his sister, Sakura, “I just worked out a bit while I was recovering.”

“A bit...?” Her eyes became concerned, like she was worried her brother had been replaced with this far more athletic man.

“Come on, sis! You’re gonna be late for your first day of summer school if you don’t hurry up!” Izuku lifted her backpack with one hand and underhanded it to her. Although, judging by how heavily she fell backwards in an attempt to catch it, he may have thrown it too far. “Sorry, sorry!”

Sakura was about the same height as Izuku had been before his Re-Awakening and her hair was a dark black color. Apparently, she got more of their dad’s genetics than their mother’s. At least, that’s what they had been told before their mother had fallen into an Eternal Sleep.

As he waved goodbye to his 12-year-old sister, he sighed, “I hope she gets along with the others well.”}

“Wait, Midoriya, do you have a sibling?”

“Uh, no.”

“Huh,”

{Sakura by all means, was a perfect student, who had no need for Summer Cram school, especially not for middle school. But despite that, she was determined as anyone could possibly be about succeeding academically.

As he mused over her education, Izuku found himself looking down at his arms. “A few weeks of exercise wouldn’t do this to me, much less 8 days. Which means the System is doing it. Or maybe it’s my Stats? Did I put too much into strength?” Izuku shook his head as he imagined himself practically overcome with muscle, like one of those disgusting bodybuilders that went too far. “Hopefully that won’t happen...”}

Kaminari started wheezing.

“Bro, you good? You sound like a tea kettle.”

{Plopping down onto the couch, Izuku began skimming through his phone, “The UA entrance exam starts in just two months... am I gonna be strong enough by then?”

At Level 18, Izuku’s Stats looked as such: Strength: 48
Vitality: 27
Agility: 27

Intelligence: 27 Sense: 27

But he also had another 12 points to distribute, so in an attempt to evenly distribute it he threw 8 into agility, 2 into strength, and 2 into sense.

Izuku was able to just kick back and relax for another seven seconds before his phone started ringing loudly, causing him to sigh once more, “I just want a small break.” He picked up the phone, “This is Izuku Midoriya?!”

“IT TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH TO PICK UP!” The voice on the other end screamed, forcing Izuku to pull away from the phone.

“Ah! I’m sorry Mister Landlord, I was hospitalized for a bit there, so I wasn’t able to pick up.”}

“Rude bastard,”

{“Well... I suppose there’s nothing to be done about that. Of course, this month’s rent is still due.” “Oh... right...”
“If you can’t make the payment-”

“No no, it’s fine, I’ll make the transfer soon.”

“Thank you very much.”

Izuku hung up as he paced through his small apartment, “A Double Awakening... If I’m really a Re-Awakened person, then I should be able to make a lot more money... right? Ugh, but people have given me the reputation of the World’s Weakest, so I can’t just start clearing high Rank Dungeons, otherwise, more malicious eyes might spy down on me for my unique growth.” Izuku held a hand to his chin as he thought deeply about his troubles. “Maybe...”}

“Don’t do it, man. Whatever you’re thinking, don’t.”

{

The next day felt oddly nostalgic to Izuku. Walking up to a construction site, joining other Heroes to clear a Gate. Only this time, it was a C-Rank and Izuku was not the same weak boy he had been just over a week ago.
A big burly man in the front of the pack waved him over, “This way!”

Izuku smiled back at the warm expression, but his blood froze over as a warning from the System appeared before him.

[Beware of Lizards.]}

“Ooooh, that’s Ominous.”

As people got up to stretch and go to the toilet, Razor chatted with All Might, discussing the similarities between him and several others she’d met. Soon, though, the audience was seated and ready.

Now Playing . . .

Chapter Text

{[Beware of Lizards.]

That was the warning Izuku had to brush aside as he stepped forwards to greet the Raid leader. Taking his hand to shake it, Izuku was surprised by the man’s grip, it was so gentle. He almost seemed afraid to hurt Izuku.

“I’m Natsuo Todoroki. Call me Natsuo.”}

Todoroki and Dabi made strangled noises, like a mouse being stepped on, then glared at each other.

{“Izuku Midoriya.”

“You’re an E-Rank correct?”

Izuku hesitated for just a moment, wondering how it would feel to claim that he was not the weakest for once, but he refrained obviously, “Yes, that’s right.”

A few snickers and jeers of, “The Weakest Hunter,” Caught Izuku’s ears, but Natsuo quickly put a stop to it and put a reassuring hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “That’s enough, you two. The most important thing is numbers after all.” He handed Izuku a slip of paper, “Like I said over the phone it’s a C-Rank Dungeon, so you’ll have to be exempt from fighting. But, in exchange for carrying our equipment and filling our member requirement, I’ll pay you 200,000 Yen. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, no?”}

“Oh, I hope this doesn’t go the way I think it will,” Izuku groaned.

“What way, Deku?”

Izuku shook his head.

“Deku, what way?”

“No spoilers,” Izuku replied, looking solemn. He reached over and put an arm around Todoroki, who sighed and leaned into the embrace.

{Izuku smiled and agreed, signing the contract immediately. In reality, he was toeing a fine line right now. His Hunter’s license was revoked due to his age, so he was forced to find work that was not distributed through any agencies directly. It was a pain, but it was better than getting in more trouble for doing so. And really, with middle school over and done with and high school just a month or so away, Izuku had nothing better to do than look for this sort of work.

“Maybe I can apply for some sort of early license? After all, I am going to enroll in UA.”

Hero schools weren’t just for getting your license though, anyone 18 or older could do that. No, Hero schools coached the strongest of the upcoming Hero generations in using their Quirks and Awakened abilities to save people, whether it be inside or outside of Dungeons. Even nowadays, there were still, “Heroes,” Who used their abilities for criminal activities, these people were labeled Villains alongside the monstrous enemies that emerged from Gates.

Hero schools also served to introduce their students to higher Ranked Agencies through things like Sports Festivals and Villain Hunting Competitions between student Heroes. For this reason, places like UA were highly sought after, but only the best of the best could join.

“Hey don’t worry! Us small fries have to stick together!” Izuku turned his head just to nearly be blinded by the shiny armor of a teenager not too many years older than himself. “I’m a D-Rank myself, Akira, so I’ll make sure to protect you!” It seemed like Akira was another newcomer to this Raiding party, meaning only two of the ten were random additions.}

“Ah, there’s the canon fodder!” Shigaraki cried, grinning widely.

{Izuku smiled, partially from amusement, partially from disbelief, “What... are you some sort of millionaire? I’ve never seen a D-Rank with that much stuff.”

But Natsuo interrupted him before the young man could respond. “The equipment is mostly provisions and some first aid materials along with some mining equipment. Nothing too heavy.” Izuku tilted his head at “first aid.”

“Do you guys not have a designated Healer?”

Natsuo shrugged, “You know how hard it can be sometimes to get a Healer on an attack force. Healing Quirks are far and few between.” He gave a gleaming smile, “Well, enough of that! Time to get started!”

Izuku found himself surprised to see that Natsuo was actually a Mage-Class despite his massive form. “Well, I suppose I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Mr. Otachi is a Mage, but he totally carries himself as a swordsman.”

Upon entering the Gate, Natsuo cupped one hand creating a floating ball of light that hovered just above their party and illuminated the entire cavern.

“Huh?” One of the Heroes mumbled, “Where are all the Villains?”
“There’s no lights either. Usually there are just enough luminous stones to see.” “I ain’t heard of a Dungeon with no Villains.”}

Some of the audience members flinched.

{Izuku wanted to tell them to all be quiet as he set his sense Stat to work, “Villains typically need light to see as well, but even if they didn’t they’d have to be intelligent enough to remove all other lighting sources to make it to their advanta- This sound...”

“It’s a Nomu-Type Nest!” Izuku shouted as the pounding of dozens, if not hundreds of the monstrous Villains echoed in his ears. “They’re above us!”}

“Noumu!?”

{The party, including Izuku, dove forwards further into the Dungeon in an attempt to avoid the falling black creatures.

“Mages! Bring ‘em down!” Natsuo shouted as his arms lit up with flaming energy. “Tanks! Get their agro!”

Izuku watched on with amazement, “Their teamwork is flawless... no wonder they don’t need a healer. If it had been like this in the Double Dungeon...” Izuku shook his head, dispelling the insane thought, “Nothing would’ve changed.”

Turning back to the fight, he watched as the Villains with exposed brains were cut down one by one with a ruthless brutality.

“Everyone’s doing pretty well, even if they are a bit too rough with it, but...” Izuku sighed as one of the smaller black creatures rushed at him, its hands extended like claws. The D-Rank monster didn’t even see the kick coming and its head was blown off before it knew it. “They’re not really trying to protect their porter. I don’t need it, but they don’t know that.” He thought to himself as he dispatched another Nomu discreetly. “Maybe it has to do with that warning the System gave me earlier.”

Within the next ten minutes, the horde had been cleared and the group began working to pull all the Villain Cores from the corpses.

As the rest of the party did that, Natsuo turned to Izuku, “Man, you really saved us there! How’d you know they were coming?”

Izuku shrugged, “I guess I just felt it.”
“You’ve got some pretty sharp senses.” He turned away as one of the other Mages called for him, “It’s great that everyone was taken care of thanks to you... but don’t stress the small stuff too much.”}

“Sus!”

“Don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious.”

{Izuku squinted his eyes and tilted his head as Natsuo strutted off, “‘Don’t stress the small stuff?’”

While Natsuo and a few of his party members crouched over one of the Nomu corpses, Izuku felt a chill go down his spine. He looked around, but there were no more Nomus, which meant... this feeling was coming off of his party members.

Whispering to the one with the expensive armor. “You should be wary.”
“What?”
“If that equipment is as expensive as I think it is, then just keep your eyes peeled.”

Izuku had never known his premonitions to be wrong. Even before his Re-Awakening, he was an expert at sensing danger. So, if he knew that these men were dangerous, why was he continuing onwards with them?

To be honest with himself, Izuku wasn’t sure in the slightest. “Is it my need for cash? Am I just addicted to danger? Or maybe... maybe some part of me is calling out, telling me there’s some sort of opportunity here.”

These were the thoughts that coursed through his mind after the group had stopped for a lunch break. It was infuriating to not know his own reasoning behind it, but Izuku continued on nonetheless, completely calm somehow.

“Wait!” Natsuo called out as he suddenly stopped, causing one of the smaller members to slam into his back, banging their head on his armor.

“OW!”

“This might be it!” He exclaimed while conjuring another ball of light in his hand, revealing a truly arachnophobic scene.}

Mina and Kouda shrieked, shaking.

{Hundreds of Nomu hung in webbed cocoons, partially eaten and torn apart. The culprit thankfully nowhere to be seen.

“It’s the Boss room, that’s for sure.”

Izuku couldn’t help but agree, the energy he was getting off the hallway was akin to what he felt from Rasaka, only stronger.

After only a few minutes of walking through the steely spindle, Izuku began to see the dull glow of bright blue Mana crystals.

Then, they made it to the cavern, almost blinded by the asinine amount of brilliant crystals lining the walls.

“Just at a first glance, I can say these would be worth nearly 5 million yen.”

“Hey hey!” Another one of the party members called out to Natsuo, “If it’s that much, you might even be able to make your younger brothers jealous!”

This earned him a punch to the arm and a scolding, “You idiot, don’t speak of his brothers so lightly!”}

This time, it was Razor that started cackling.

{Natsuo ignored the comments, “Alright, well before we get started on mining these things, there’s one thing we need to take care of!” He pointed off to the back of the cavern, where a massive spider was nestled into its webs. “Of course, since a Gate closes once the Boss is defeated, we’ll have to mine these all first before killing the Boss. Ren? Did you bring the mining equipment?”

“Sorry, but who’d have expected a C-Rank Dungeon to hold all this?!”

Natsuo smiled even as he said, “Well this is troublesome. Hey! Why don’t you two stay here and guard this area while we go back and grab the mining equipment?”}

“Uh, the mining equipment is in the . . . bag- Oh.” Kaminari trailed off with wide eyes.

{Akira nodded assuredly before Izuku could even speak up and mention that there were plenty of pickaxes stuck in his backpack. “It’s been sleeping even through all our shouts so I’m sure it’ll be fine!”

“Good.” Natsuo smiled eagerly, “We’ll be back soon.” All eight members of the party began making their way out, and Akira went to lean against a wall in preparation for the wait. But he didn’t have to wait long. In fact, it only took another twenty seconds for an explosion to ring out and for the exit to be blocked by an avalanche of rocks.}

“Shit!”

“I’m sorry, Shouto,” Izuku said quietly, squeezing his friend’s shoulder.

{“Well... I guess I know who the Lizards are now.” Izuku threw his pack on the ground, “Although I guess I knew all along, I just couldn’t risk making any moves, otherwise they would be primed and ready to kill the both of us.”

Resting his hand against the cave-in, Izuku realized it wouldn’t be that much of a problem to clear for someone with his strength, but as always, it wasn’t that simple.

The clicking and hissing of a spider’s fangs caused the two to turn around, facing down the, now fully awake and likely pissed off, spider Boss.

“A C-Rank Villain Boss.”

“G-Get behind me... I’ll try to think of something.”

“Move aside little one. I’m only interested in the true warrior.”

Akira blanched as the spider growled at him with its clicky voice. “I-I-I-It s-speaks?”

Izuku had heard of plenty of Villains that were capable of speech, but seeing it come out of an arachnid in person was something else. “You’re addressing me,” Izuku said. It was not a question.

“Yesss! I’ll end your life here, for my master and for his master!”

“Who is your master?” Izuku asked calmly.

“A being you cannot comprehend. He is all powerful, all CONSUMING!”

“D-D-Don’t come any clos-” Akira fell to the ground, completely decapitated by a single swipe of the spider’s powerful clawed leg.}

Several people screamed.

{“I was growing tired of that fool’s pestering.”

Izuku’s eyes were wide, he was just barely able to make out the movement. “This thing... it’s fast.”

“If you give up now, I’ll make your death quick and painless! My venom will numb any pain. You will drift off calmer than most will ever experience.”

Izuku scowled and clenched his fists, Rasaka’s gauntlets appearing with a blue glow, “Sorry, but I’m not interested in my death... only yours.”

“Then come, little Hero. Let me see just why my Masters fear your growth.”}

“What?”

{Izuku took a runner’s stance, the balls of his feet pushing against the ground hard enough to cause it to ground. “Like most Villain’s, it’s weak point is its head. In that case, I’ll just need one punch.”

Izuku pushed off, racing towards the Boss with abandon, but it didn’t flinch, sending two of its legs to slam him into the ground.

Sidestepping the first, Izuku reared his right fist back and punched at the second, a shockwave spreading from the epicenter as the spider’s exoskeleton cracked loudly in response.

“I put all my points into strength. As long as I don’t lose in a contest of speed, there’s no way I can be beaten!”

In spite of himself, Izuku found himself smirking as he punched away leg after leg. He wasn’t just holding his own against this Villain, he was winning.

Izuku ran forwards, leaping into the air and driving his armored fist into one of the joints on the spider’s legs, bending it the wrong way and earning a spray of disgusting fluid as he did so. The Villain had been unprepared and its body crashed to the ground as it writhed in pain.

“Too easy,” Izuku thought to himself as he rushed the Boss’s face, prepared to drive his fist straight through its head. But at the last second, Izuku turned away and leapt through the air, just narrowly avoiding an acid spray that washed over the area and disintegrated Akria’s body, his armor remaining behind thanks to its quality.}

“Oh, gross!”

{“Tsk. That’s troublesome.” Izuku landed a dozen meters from the acid pool that melted into the ground, “I guess your head is too dangerous to get near. Then how about this?” Izuku flexed his forearms and long, blade-like scales ejected from the top of his wrist, giving him a sword of sorts. “I’ll just have to bleed you out.”

Beginning to kick it up a notch, Izuku activated his Sprint ability, increasing his movement ability by 30 percent. He moved around at a blur’s pace, using the scale blades to slash off the Villain’s legs at the halfway point, one by one.

He got through three before the spider finally wised up and predicted his next position, flicking its leg fast enough to catch Izuku in the abdomen and slam him into the wall, cracking the stones like eggs.

[Fatigue: 70]

[Your movement will be reduced by 50 percent.]}

“Shit,”

{“Dammit!” Izuku had his arms crossed in front of his face, blocking blow after blow from the spider as they rained down on his body, pushing him further into the ground as wounds began appearing on his body. “One last chance,” He breathed out as the spider raised its leg back up to strike back down, “Accept Status Recovery.”

The spider drove its leg down onto the spot where Izuku had been mere milliseconds earlier, but it realized too late that the green-haired teen was now racing up the leg, his fist reared back and aimed for his head.

“Forgive-”}

“Lol, nope!”

{Izuku didn’t give the Villain the satisfaction of his last words as he drove both gauntlets in the spider’s eyes as far as they would go, the scales and blades shredding anything they came into contact to. And with that, the Boss fell to the ground, dead, leaving Izuku breathing heavily and covered in the arachnid’s gore, “Phew... that was pretty close. I guess it’s a good thing I saved that Status Recovery Reward from the Daily Quest.” Izuku immediately became distracted by the glow emanating from the creature, “Ooo! Ten Villain Cores!” He scooped them up before looking around, he had about an hour before the Gate closed and ejected him from it, there was not even close to enough time to mine all the Mana crystals, but he shrugged and grabbed a pick regardless.

But just before he could get to work, Izuku felt shrapnel bounce off him as the exit exploded behind him.}

“Aw, shit. Here we go again.”

{[An Emergency Quest has been issued!]

[There are nearby entities that intend to murder the player, eliminate them, or a penalty will be given.]

[If you do not complete this Quest, your heart will stop.] [Enemies left to kill: 8 ]

Turning around, he saw Natsuo and his 7 other party members stalking inside with demented grins, “I have to kill... humans?”}

Todoroki blanched.

The theatre was in uproar for a while after that, but eventually they calmed down.

Now playing . . .

Chapter Text

{[An Emergency Quest has been issued!]

[There are nearby entities that intend to murder the player, eliminate them, or a penalty will be given.]

[If you do not complete this Quest, your heart will stop.] [Enemies left to kill: 8]
“What...?”
“There’s no way...”

“No E-Rank could beat a C-Rank boss. The rich kid must’ve severely weakened it before dying.”

“And what luck, his armor’s still here, even though he was completely melted. That’s some strong acid resistance on his equipment.”}

Shigaraki started cackling. Mina flinched and looked sick.

{Natsuo smiled cruelly down at Izuku Midoriya as he finished reading through the System Quest, “I have to kill... humans?” He barely got a chance to spit out those words before a powerful flare impact sent him flying backwards, crashing into the same spot he had been smashed into mere minutes earlier by the Villain Boss. Almost half of his health was wrenched away in an instant.

Izuku lay in the crater, dull pain echoing throughout his body, “How? How could I forget? Not everyone is born equal... and the strong take advantage of the weak. I was not born equal to these men... no, these Villains. But the System is trying to even the playing field... maybe it’s just telling me to do what I’ve always wanted to do, beat down anyone in my path, become the strongest, even if it means...”

“I’ll kill you for that...” Izuku pushed himself to his feet, crawling out of the crater with clenched fists.

“Uh... hey Natsuo? Tell me you held back a little bit.”

Natsuo’s eyes narrowed, “No... I definitely put my all into that attack.”

“Playing around with someone’s life, only Villains do that. And to Heroes, Villains are nothing more than something to be... Hunted.”

Izuku blurred forwards, disappearing from Natsuo’s view as he frantically scanned the area, searching for the supposed E-Rank. And then... SPLAT.}

Izuku grimaced and hugged Todoroki tighter.

{Natsuo felt something wet cover his face, and he turned to his right, eyes widening as he saw one of his Raid members fall to the floor, headless. In his place, stood Izuku, one of his gauntleted fists outstretched.

“One down. No more running...” Izuku growled out, more of a declaration for himself than his enemies, but they didn’t see it that way.

Two immediately screeched in fear and began running, but Izuku was quicker, getting in front of them and impaling both at the same time on his gauntlet blades.

“YOU BASTARD!” Another raced forwards, his broadsword held high.

“Says the bastard who tried to kill me,” Izuku didn’t even attempt to hide from the blow, instead choosing to punch the sword.

The finely crafted steel instantly shattered upon making contact with Izuku and exploded backwards, punching through its wielder like swiss cheese.}

“Well, shit.”

{The next three took even less time than the first four, leaving only a shocked and shaking Natsuo. “Y-You...” Izuku raised one eyebrow as his fear turned to rage at an astonishing rate. “I’ll show you that you shouldn’t mess with the Todoroki’s!”

“The Todoroki’s? Did he seriously name his party after himself? Or maybe he’s talking about-”

Natsuo roared as flames began pouring off his body in waves, “Let’s see someone like yo-!”}

“Shit,” Izuku groaned, burying his face in Todoroki’s shoulder.

{“For a C-Rank, you’re pretty strong.” Izuku said as he wrapped he planted his hand over Natsuo’s face, “But there’s something you don’t know about me.” Izuku plowed the Villain into the ground, smashing the rock like paper-mache. “I’m too stubborn to die to someone like you,” He said over Natsuo’s bruised and beaten body.

“W-W-Wait! I-I’ll give you money! You can have everything in this Dungeon! Just let me live!”

Izuku shook off the blood from his gauntlets. “Don’t worry. I already have my reward. I don’t need anything you have.”

“Y-You’re... reward?”

Izuku stalked towards the man as he attempted to scramble away, his irises sparking a magnificent glowing green. “A Hero’s job is to save people from Villains. To kill you, is to save lives. To know that I can still be a Hero... that’s quite the reward for a Quirkless nobody like me,” He spat out with venom.

“Y-You won’t get away with this!”

Izuku tilted his head for a moment, “You’re right. A massacre like this will have to be reported, and since I had my license revoked, I’ll be subject to a small fine, but... they’ll never expect an E- Rank to have killed 8 C and D-Ranks.”

“W-Wa-!”

Izuku wasted no more time and severed his head from his body using Rasaka’s scales. The thump of his skull rolling against the ground ignored as Izuku inspected his clothing.

“Huh... it’s a mess again... Well, it is a size too small, so I suppose it was time to get new clothes anyways.”

[Emergency Quest: Kill the Enemies, has been completed, will you receive the Rewards?]
“Accept.”
[Reward #1: Status Recovery]
[Reward #2: Stat Points +10]
[Reward #3: Skill: Bloodlust]}

“Is it over?”

Todoroki nodded, and Izuku lifted his head.

{“Let’s see... that’s three Levels that I got from the Villain Boss and ten points from the Quest, even a new Skill.” Izuku took a deep breath and took another look at the System, “What doesn’t kill me, only makes me stronger.”

A week later, Izuku found himself out with Sakura, jogging through the park outside their apartment.

“They didn’t even fine you?!”

Izuku shrugged, “The strongest agencies barely bother with C-Rank or lower Dungeons, so they’ve been short-handed lately, and they said as long as I assisted in a few other Raids, they would waive the fine.”

“That’s pretty convenient.”
Izuku smiled at his little sister and changed the subject, “How’s school going?”

“Same old same old,” She smiled back, “You’re not going to forget about the teacher-parent meeting in a couple of weeks right?”

“Not a chance,” Izuku assured her, “But the UA entrance exam is the same day, I’m gonna be rushing to it, so there’s no guarantees that I’ll be perfectly on time.”

Sakura sighed, “Well, I suppose that’s all I can ask for.” She said as her brother became lost in thought.

“I’ve got four and a half weeks to prepare for the entrance Exam. On top of the practical evaluation, I’ve got to handle the written portion.” While Izuku was a self-sufficient 15-year-old, he still had to go through high school and UA was like a condensed version of typical high schools for Heroes. “Speaking of being 15, I totally forgot that my birthday’s in just 12 days! Maybe I can treat myself to something special with the million Yen I made off the C-Rank Dungeon.” His thoughts quickly turned to those of Rankings. “If I was able to beat a C-Rank Boss on my own, does that make me a B-Rank or a high C-Rank?” He shook his head, “It doesn’t matter, I still need to become stronger. UA’s two Hero classes are typically filled with S, A, or the strongest of B Ranks.”

Thanks to the lack of high Rankers overall, UA was able to typically fill their classes with a few S- Ranks and a majority of A Ranks, something that not many other Hero schools around the world could claim. All too often, countries were too busy fighting over the high Ranked Heroes to worry about training them properly, but UA was basically the only Hero school in Japan for high Rankers, so it received them all.

“If Kacchan really is applying to UA, then he’s almost certainly getting enrolled. As an S-Rank, he’s basically guaranteed a spot.”

A small ding brought Izuku back to the present where he glanced over at the System. [Running: 11/10km]
Looking around, he realized he had left Sakura behind while he had been lost in thought. “Uh... how fast was I going?” Just about to start running back towards her, he realized the Daily Quest requirements had gone over their limits. “Well... I’m sure she’ll catch up eventually, maybe I should try maxing these out for a better reward.” Izuku lowered himself to the ground and began counting out push-ups.}

“Well, shit Izu.”

{

“Hmmm, it won’t go above 200,” Izuku noted as Sakura rounded the corner, practically collapsing from exhaustion, “Since running 200 kilometers is a bit much, I’ll start with 20.” Without a word to his sister, he took off once more, running full speed, this time on purpose.

Sakura just gazed on with mute shock, “...That’s it... I’m going... home.”}

Mina cackled.

{

As it turned out, doubling his Daily Quest did provide Izuku with a hidden reward. The choice between a Blessed Box and a Cursed Box. At first, he intended to choose the Blessed Box, after all, who would want to choose a Cursed Reward. But something stopped him. He wasn’t a huge Otaku or anything, but what he knew of anime told him that the demonic powers were always the strongest. At the very least, this was his flimsy excuse for grabbing the Cursed Box and opening another key.

[Item: The World Above Key] Item Class: S
Type: Key

[A key that allows you to create an Instance Dungeon. You may use this just outside of the Endeavor Agency.]

Izuku was incredibly tempted to try out this new Dungeon Key he had received, but he refrained. He had a Hearthstone, so if he needed to leave, he’d have no problem, but he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to reenter it.

“If the Key is Ranked at S, the Dungeon is at the very least an A-Rank, I’d stand no chance. And in order to get the most out of it, I should wait until I’ve leveled up more.”

These were his musings as he walked through the downtown district of Jaku city, making his way to one of the Gates the Inspectors Agency had asked him to fill the slots for. Dressed in a pair of jeans that allowed him to move easily, a dark grey jacket with the hood pulled up, and a lighter grey undershirt, he heard a familiar voice call out to him.}

“Oh, hey! Sword-mage guy!” Kaminari said. Jirou snorted.

“Sword-mage guy? Really?”

{“Mister... Midoriya?!”

Izuku looked to his right, removing his hood as a smile spread across his face, “Mister Otachi!”

The middle-aged Hero’s dark hair whipped in the breeze as he gave a sigh of relief at Midoriya’s appearance, “You’ve changed so much! I barely recognize you!” He rested a fatherly hand upon Midoriya’s shoulder, “It’s such a relief to see you once more! I had heard rumors of your survival, but I just couldn’t get my hopes up!”

Even as the man laughed with all the joy in the world, Izuku couldn’t help but frown at Kaito’s missing arm.}

Several people winced at the reminded of that nightmarish scene.

{“Please... pay it no mind. I’m lucky to have kept both my life and my other arm, as well as my skill with a blade. I owe that to you, you know.”

Izuku nodded, happy to oblige the friendly old man, “Are you here on the Inspector Agency’s orders as well?”

“Hmm? No... I’m here on order of the Agency Association.”

“Ah, yeah that makes sense.” Izuku cursed inwardly as he realized admitting to be here thanks to the Inspector Agency sounded fishy, but thankfully, Kaito seemed to ignore it.

The Agency Association was the overseer of all Agencies, no matter how powerful they were, they all reported to the Agency Association. It was run by one man in particular, the strongest S-Rank in Japan, All Might.

“Looks like the others are already here,” Kaito said, “Heh... what a day this is. Everyone’s here.” Izuku’s eyes widened as a certain girl caught his eye, “M-Midoriya?”

“Miss Yaoyorozu!” Izuku decided it would be best not to mention saving her during the Golem attack.

“I...” Tears began forming in the corners of her eyes, “I told you to just call me Yaoyorozu.”

“You’re right, Yaoyorozu,” Izuku nodded a calm grin on his face, “Sorry for being late.”

Tears began flowing freely as another, less beautiful face drew his attention, “Ryouji,” Izuku said, not even bothering to be polite with this man. Unlike Yaoyorozu, who had to be knocked out to be dragged away from the altar, or Kaito, who offered to be the sacrifice before the option was taken out of his hands, Ryouji openly threatened Kaito, and ran away with cowardly excuses.

“Y-You got so much taller!”
Izuku chuckled, “You’re gonna start sounding like my... mother...”

Yaoyorozu didn’t notice his stutter and was instead obsessing over his leg, “You’re leg! It’s... what happened?!”

“I’m not really sure about it either, but-”

“What a romantic atmosphere you’ve got here!” A guttural voice called out, “Is someone filming a drama? Or are the Heroes dating each other these days?”

Izuku scowled deeply as three men wearing orange jumpsuits exited a van, handcuffed.

“Shut up trash,” A man in a suit growled, his soulless grey eyes glaring down at them, “This isn’t a picnic.”}

Izuku glanced at Shinsou, who was staring mutely at the screen.

The theatre quickly settled and the next chapter loaded.

Now playing . . .

Chapter Text

{The three men strolled up to the group, creepily leering at Yaoyorozu as they neared the girl, “Take care of u-”

Izuku appeared in between the handcuffed criminals and Yaoyorozu, his eyes glowing with the same green killing intent that had stared down Natsuo. Using his new Bloodlust Skill, he was able to pump some fear into the target.

Sweat trickled down the man’s neck, but he surprisingly held his ground, “Oho, looks like we’ve got ourselves a shining knight.”

Izuku briefly considered a show of his new strength, but Kaito’s shouting dragged him out of his red-tinted vision.

“You’re not really sending us to Raid with Crimi- no... Villains! Are you?”

The short woman with large round glasses flinched for a moment at Kaito’s abrasive tone, “W- Well, they’re rehabilitators, and you’ll have the Monitoring Divison’s Hitoshi Shinso watching over them. He’s a B-Rank and these men are C-Ranks, he should have no trouble handling them if the need should arise.”}

Several people turned to stare at Shinsou, who shrank in his seat.

{Kaito growled and scratched at his stubble with his one remaining arm. These were the Association’s orders, he couldn’t really do anything about it, “... Fine.”

The woman nodded quickly and made her way back to the van as the purple-haired man walked up. Izuku noticed that he had extremely heavy bags under his eyes, as if he never slept.

“Well, you heard the little one. I’m Hitoshi Shinso and I’ll be keeping a close eye on those three today, so try not to worry about them too much.” He glanced in Yaoyorozu and Izuku’s direction for just a moment before redirecting his attention to Kaito, “Who will be the Raid leader for today?”

“I’ll do it. Just so long it’s okay with you,” He said, looking over his shoulder to Izuku.

Izuku was taken aback. To Kaito he was still a lowly E-Rank with no leading experience, he didn’t think he’d respect his opinion this much. “Of course...” He trailed off as Kaito bowed at a perfect ninety degree angle.

“Thank you for giving me this second chance. Because of my actions, eleven people died, but because of you, six lived. I bow to you not just for my life, but in place of all the other Heroes.” Kaito was still, unmoving, “Thank you, Izuku Midoriya.”

“Please... Mister Otachi, raise your head.”

Kaito did so, “Ryouji! You have no complaints right? Even if I’m the one to be leading.”

The man turned away, his back heaving with a sigh, “Do as you please.”

As the men cleared out and went through the portal, Izuku stopped Yaoyorozu for just a moment, “Please, Yaoyorozu, I want you to drop out of this Raid.”

“What? Why?”

Izuku pursed his lips, “I’ve just got a bad feeling about it.”

“Will you still be going?”

“Yes.”

Izuku could’ve sworn that at that moment, Yaoyorozu’s smile was enough to outshine the sun, “Then I’m coming with you!” She declared.}

“Awww~”

{

Izuku felt slow. But not because of any debuff, he already knew that he couldn’t be afflicted with such things thanks to the System, or any stamina loss. Rather, he felt slow because he was. In order to not raise suspicion with Kaito or Yaoyorozu, he was holding back a considerable amount.

“I could’ve cleared this cave of Goblin-type Villains in a matter of seconds, and yet, here I am, waiting minutes for them to clear it. And on top of that, I’m barely earning any experience for the few I have killed.”

“It seems like you’ve really improved a lot, Midoriya.” Kaito waved his hand, flash baking another pack of Villains with his fiery attacks. “And I’ve got to ask where you got such good gauntlets. After all, it’s weird seeing the usually bare-handed Midoriya carrying a weapon.”

“Is it so?” Izuku asked with a laugh, attempting to avoid the question of where he had acquired his weapons.

Thankfully, though his answer was less than enough to satisfy Kaito, Yaoyorozu was too busy obsessing over Izuku’s new skill. “I didn’t even have to create anything to heal you once!”

Izuku brushed it off with a smile, “I just worked out a little.” “And yet, you seem nothing like the Midoriya I knew.”

“Is... that a bad thing?” Izuku asked, wondering if his new deeds of murder had changed him more than he would’ve liked to admit.

“I think it’s great!”

Shinso rolled his eyes and muttered, “Children...”}

The Shinsou in the theatre also huffed and rolled his eyes.

{ “I think it’s great,” Kaito whispered back to the Monitor, “To be in a Dungeon and still be able to find love.” The man simply scoffed at the word “love” and turned back to the task at hand.

“There’s three tunnels. Since it’s a low Ranked Dungeon, how about we split up?”

Kaito thought for a moment before nodding, “We’ll split up.”

“I’ll take these three down the right path, so if you find the Boss, come and grab us first.”

“Right.”

Izuku put his sense ability to work, scoping out the two remaining tunnels, getting the strongest signal from the left, “Mister Otachi, how about we take the left one?”

“Hmm? Sure.”

Upon suggesting it, Kaito and Yaoyorozu moved past him, giving Izuku a glimpse of Shinso’s half smile out of the corner of his eye. He went to scowl at the man, but he was already turned away by the time Izuku did so. With seemingly no other choice, he followed close behind Kaito, wondering if he had made the right choice to ignore the man, “No!”}

“Shit! Now what?”

{ Everyone in the tunnel froze at Izuku’s odd exclamation.

The three criminals grinned strangely, “Looks like this one’s already losing i-” He suddenly

grasped at his throat, blood pouring from it like a waterfall of crimson. His two friends fell the same way just moments later.

“W-What…?” Ryouji croaked out, “What is this?”

Shinso grinned evilly, now holding a dagger, “That was a dumb move to call me out like that kid. I’m not sure how you knew my plan, but I could see it in the way you looked at me.”

Izuku put himself in between Yaoyorozu and the killer, “Your eyes, I’ve seen them before.” He raised his fists, “Those criminals are scum. I can’t say I exactly disagree with their executions, but I also can’t risk a killer like yourself wandering around in here with people I care about.”

Shinso chuckled, “People you care about? You mean this man?” He said, nonchalantly pointing his dagger at Kaito. “Or maybe her…” He drawled out pointing at Yaoyorozu, who was cowering behind Izuku.

Being the only A-Rank in the room, Yaoyorozu was the only one able to witness the exchange as Shinso rushed towards her at superhuman speeds. Or rather, she thought she’d be the only one. Paralyzed with fear, she was unable to create anything to defend herself, but Izuku had already resolved to protect her no matter what it took.

Shinso’s dagger sparked off Izuku’s gauntlet and his eyes widened as he noticed the teen’s other arm reaching out for his throat, “Maybe a little too close for comfort.”

Just before Izuku could crush the government agent’s throat with his rock solid fingers, the man leapt back, smiling all the way with sadistic glee. “Then I suppose I will start with this one.”

Izuku was just barely able to follow Shinso’s sprint over to Ryouji, pushing aside his blade at the last moment and taking a swipe with his own scale blade. “Hmm? I’m surprised you acted to defend a man that you obviously have problems with.”

“Mister Ryouji has acted cowardly, maybe even maliciously, before and I won’t deny that I despise him, but he is a Hero nonetheless and fights for those who cannot fight for themselves. Even if he has run from fights or abandoned teammates, that one small part of him that is a Hero, it’s redeemable, salvageable, but you… you’re just the same as the men you killed.”

Instead of some coy remark or maniacal laughter, Shinso merely tilted his head, “That’s weird…” Then looking over to Yaoyorozu, “Hey you. What’s your name?”}

“Oh, shit shit shit shit shit!”

{ “M-Momo Ya-” Her eyes suddenly glazed over and her shivering form stilled.

“That’s more like it. I guess you’re just immune.” He said to Izuku, whose eyes were flicking back and forth between the two.

“What did you do to her?!”

“As an Assassin-Type, I’ve built up plenty of skills, but none of them compare to my Quirk…

Brainwash.”

Izuku’s eyes widened and he shouted, “Mister! Pin her down!”

But the shout was somehow overpowered by Shinso’s calm command, “Kill everyone but your ‘boyfriend.’”

Yaoyorozu leapt into action, showing off that she was indeed an A-Rank with her strength, speed, and incredible Quirk. Yanking two katanas from her arms, her large ponytail danced wildly as she attempted to decapitate Kaito entirely.

“Kaito!” Ryouji shouted over the commotion as he underhanded his new broadsword to the

Swordmaster. It was a dangerous action, capable of hurting rather than helping, but Kaito was not so easily foiled.

His right arm nimbly launched through the air, feeling the all too familiar grip of a sword as he responded in kind to the young woman, parrying away her blades like they were nothing. “In a fight with blades, you stand no chance as a simple puppet! We’ve got this handled, Midoriya!”

“Yeah,” A voice whispered into Izuku’s ear, causing him to spin around and just barely block

Shinso’s strike, “They’ve got that handled, Midoriya, so why don’t you focus on me!”

“Gladly,” Izuku replied as he beat aside the dagger and took a swing at the man’s face, narrowly grazing his cheek and opening a small cut.

Shinso once again took some distance and finally asked, “Fine, I’ll bite… who really are you?”

Izuku bounced on the ball’s of his feet, fists held like a boxer, “Izuku Midoriya, E-Rank.”}

The theatre was tense and silent, so the next chapter loaded and played without issue.

Now Playing . . .

Chapter Text

{“E-Rank.” Shinso scoffed, “As if some E-Rank could match me in speed. A false Ranker? ...No it seems like you’ve known these others for some time… Which leaves only one answer. You’ve been Reawakened.” He smiled, “And judging by your friend’s reactions it looks like it was recent.”

Ryouji, Kaito, and Hamada, their last Raid member all had wide-eyed looks, even as they continued to fend off Yaoyorozu without hurting her.

“Oh well, I guess there’s no going back now. I guess all of you were simply killed by the prisoners while I was fighting the Boss. Such a shame too, you were so young!”

Izuku planted his foot into the ground and caught Shinso’s downwards swing in his open palm, Rasaka’s scales creaking under the pressure. “Why are you doing this?!” Izuku shouted back.

Shinso giggled maniacally, “I could tell you,” He took another swipe with a secondary dagger, once again parried away by Izuku’s armor, “About the father who wanted revenge for these creeps manhandling his daughter. I could tell you that I just can’t stand the sight of trash. I could tell you a million things, but it doesn’t matter what you believe! You’ll die alongside those pitiful insects all the same!”}

Shigaraki cackled, grinning like a manic.

{ Shinso blinked and Izuku was gone, “If that’s your reasoning, then you’re just as pitiful.” Izuku deadlegged the Assassin from behind and went to punch his head clean off, but his swing only grazed open air, Shinso now reappearing off to his right.

“Is that your fastest speed?” Izuku answered by exchanging a flurry of blows with Shinso, each swing or punch eliciting a hail of sparks from their contact. “I don’t know how many Ranks you raised yourself up through, but it doesn’t matter! It won’t be that easy!”

[An Emergency Quest has been issued!]

[There are nearby entities that intend to murder the player, elminate them, or a penalty will be given.]

[If you do not complete this Quest, your heart will stop.]

[Enemies left to kill: 1 ]

“Well, it looks like your fate has been sealed Mister. Now I have no choice but to kill you.”

[Skill: Sprint has been activated. Movement speed will be increased by 30% and will consume 1 Mana every minute.]

Izuku drove his fist into Shinso’s abdomen before he could react to the attack. The impact was enough to leave a shockwave in the air as Shinso went flying backwards, crashing into the wall, blood leaking profusely from his stomach wound.

[Effect: Stun has activated.]

[Effect: Bleed has activated.]

“I’ll admit kid… you’re pretty interesting. But even with your strength…”

[The enemy’s resistance was too high. The Effects were cancelled.]

“You can’t beat skill.” Shinso’s figure disappeared into a fine mist and his presence vanished completely.

Izuku’s body went into overdrive and he raised both arms in front of his face, just narrowly blocking an invisible strike.}

“Well, shit.”

{ “Hoh? You managed to block that too? Your senses are pretty damn sharp. Let’s see how long you can keep that up.” Shinso chuckled, “Only a few Assassin-type Heroes ever acquire the Camouflage Skill, but no one knows about mine, would you like to know why?” Izuku raised his fist into the air, “Because no one ever lives to tell about it!” Milliseconds before Shinso was about to make his critical strike, Izuku punched the ground with all his strength. 

Dust and rocky shrapnel were kicked up by the insane force and Shinso found himself stumbling forwards desperately stabbing at the area he was aiming for before his vision had been obscured. There was nothing there, but a darkness that passed over him and sent a chill through his body, weighing him down. 

“What… what is this?” Shinso put all his effort into just turning his head enough to glimpse Izuku’s shining green eyes, “Is this… his Shadow?!”}

“Oh. My god. Dude’s terrified.”

{ And then, Izuku shoved his gauntlet’s blade straight through his back, piercing his heart and ending the battle.

As Yaoyorozu was freed from the control of Shinso’s Quirk, she stumbled into Kaito’s arms, just barely able to make out a mumbling from the killer. 

“What are you… truly… what are you?”

Izuku gazed down at him with a sad expression, surprised that he felt some small part of him break as he watched the life drain from the man’s eyes, “Let’s say… I’m a Hero that can grow stronger from every fight. How strong do you think I can become?”

Shinso gave Izuku an honest smile for the first time, “If you can become… as strong as your Shadow is dense… you have no equal.” The man took his very last breath and passed onto the next life.

[Emergency Quest: Kill the Enemies, has been completed, will you receive the Rewards?]

“Accept.”

[Reward #1: Stat Points +5]

As Izuku removed his blade from the man’s chest, he noticed a small twinkle in his coat and he bent down to inspect it. Just as his finger touched the light, a small rock was teleported into his inventory. 

[Rune: Stealth]

Type: Rune

A Skill can be acquired by breaking this Rune.}

“Another one!?”

{ Just as he was about to pull it out of his inventory, a dainty and slightly shaking hand rested on his shoulder, “Thank you… Midoriya.” Izuku stood and turned, surprised as Yaoyorozu practically barreled into him, wrapping her arms around him. 

Too shocked by the suddenness of it, he simply stood there, arms at his sides, staring blankly at Kaito Otachi who was grinning ear to ear.}

“Awwww~”

{ “I’m glad to see that your power hasn’t changed you that much. You’re still the same old kid that’s awkward around girls.” Taking on a more serious look, Kaito nodded, “I guess I owe you another thank you for saving our lives.”

Ryouji had his arms crossed, an uncomfortable frown on his face, “So… what do we do now?” 

“We should probably go report to the Association.” 

Izuku finally snapped out of his stupor enough to send one of his gauntlets to the inventory and rest a calming hand on Yaoyorozu’s back, “That’s a good idea. I’ll meet you out there.”

Hamada blanched, “You can’t seriously be thinking of handling the Dungeon Boss yourself!”

Kaito shook his head, “We’ve all seen his power, if he wants to do it, let him… He’s no longer the World’s Weakest after all.”

Yaoyorozu pulled away from Izuku, her face beet red from embarrassment, but even still she declared, “I’ll come with you!”

“Absolutely not,” Izuku replied, much to her annoyance.

“Hey! I’m an A-Rank!”

“And yet you were held back by three C-Ranks,” Ryouji chimed in.

Yaoyorozu hung her head in shame, “I’m stronger than that… really. I just… wasn’t really using my skills to their full potential.”

“But you were brainwashed and told to kill us.”

“He didn’t say how to kill you, so I chose the method that would give you the best chance of survival.”

Izuku chuckled lightly, “That’s pretty cool that you managed to find a way around his Quirk that quickly.” Yaoyorozu beamed with pride, but was quickly shot down as Izuku finished his thought, “And no one is calling you weak, but in a Boss room, I can’t guarantee your safety,” He said, remembering Akira’s brutal execution. 

Kaito nodded, “He’s probably right, Miss. For now, it might be best if we just leave this to him and do our best to explain the situation to the Association.” No one bothered to mention her remaining trauma. 

Yaoyorozu thought for a moment before finally acquiescing and pulling out something from her pocket. Izuku nearly gasped at the sight of the E-Rank Villain Core from the Double Dungeon Raid. She waggled it in front of his face like an owner enticing their dog with a treat. “This time, you better not be late for our dinner.” Without another word she turned on her heel and strutted off.

“W-What just happened?” Izuku asked.

Kaito threw his remaining arm around the teen’s shoulders, “I think that you just got yourself a date.”}

Mina was cackling again, grinning widely.

{

Defeating this Dungeon Boss was nothing compared to the Spider Boss or Rasaka and Izuku found himself making his way back to the Gate before even ten minutes had passed. As it turned out, Kaito and Yaoyorozu had already informed the Association lady who had been waiting patiently outside, sending her scurrying away to call one of her superiors. 

Upon exiting the Dungeon, Izuku was surprised to see Ryouji bowing low, Hamada in the same position next to him.

“Thank you Midoriya… for saving our lives.”

“And please forgive us for being cowards.”

Ryouji sighed, “I’m sorry… I’m really sorry.”

“Well then,” Izuku replied, holding both his hands out to the men, “If that’s the case, let’s start over.” The two looked up in confusion, surprised to see Izuku smiling warmly, his emerald green eyes sparkling, not with killing intent, but with happiness. “When I saw Shinso dying, I think I realized something. Even if I have to kill, I refuse to let that vicious part of me take over. I want to forgive, I don’t want to hate.”

Ryouji stood and took his hand, breathing out a shaky sigh of relief, “Damn you kid… making an old man like me all teary eyed.”

Izuku took Hamada’s hand as well and shook both hands, “It’s nice to meet you both. I’m Izuku Midoriya.”

“Are you sure about that?” A voice asked, “Cause I’m almost certain I don’t recognize you.”

Izuku turned, staring at the blond man who had come to talk to him in the hospital, “Investigator.”

“Call me Tsukauchi. I’m actually from the Monitoring Division, but was there with the Investigator Division, so that’s the card you got.” He joked. Then, getting serious, “I understand one of our employees has caused you all some distress. We will give our official apologies after the investigation has been concluded, but for now, I’d like to ask you all some questions.” His eyes narrowed, “So… who killed Hitoshi Shinso?”

“Damn. I guess I have to reveal myself after all. There’s no way aroun-”

“It was me,” Kaito answered, stepping forwards.}

Tsukauchi flinched at the lie, frowning.

{ “And what Rank might you be?”

“C-Rank.”

Tsukauchi scowled, “Shinso was a B-Rank Assassin with crazy Skill and an even more powerful Quirk. How did someone like you beat him.”

Kaito hitched a thumb over his shoulder at Yaoyorozu, “She’s an A-Rank with support and offensive abilities.”

Ryouji stepped forwards next, “And he used his Quirk on me after thinking that I was the biggest threat.”}

Tsukauchi flinched again.

{ Tsukauchi paused for a moment, “It does make sense. He’d look down on the smaller girl, the E-Rank, and the man missing an arm. That would leave only this one or the bigger guy. I suppose this man had more skill for Shinso to use.”

“Very well,” Tsukauchi said, “If you don’t mind coming with me, I need you to help fill out some paperwork regarding this incident.” 

Izuku stopped Kaito before he could go follow and he whispered, “Why’d you lie for me?”

“I assumed you had a good reason to hide it. Besides, this is the least I can do to repay you.”

“Midoriya,” Tsukauchi called out, “I’m not sure when you’ll have to fear for your life, but it will be sure, I can guarantee that.”

Izuku tilted his head, “What’s that mean?”

“You were the only Survivor of Natsuo Todoroki’s Raid Team. I personally have no reason to suspect you were involved in any foul play, but… Touya Todoroki won’t see it the same way.”}

Todoroki sucked in a breath, and Dabi flinched in his seat, glancing up at the students.

{ “Dabi? The S-Rank Hero?” Izuku asked, using the man’s nickname.

“Yes. If possible, I might recommend fleeing the country with your loved ones. Because not even laws could hold back someone like him, someone that even the monsters fear.”

Level: 27

Strength: 72

Vitality: 43

Agility: 82

Intelligence: 39

Sense: 69

Remaining Points: 5

[Item: Warden’s Necklace]

Item Class: A

Type: Necklace

Equipped

Agility +20, Sense +20}

The theatre settled after people had been to the toilet and collected food and drinks.

Now Playing . . .

Chapter Text

{"Mister Tsukauchi?"

"Hmm?" The detective looked over to his assistant, a short blond woman with round glasses who was driving his care, "What is it?"

"Why did you let those four get away with their lie?" He gave her a curious gaze, "What do you mean?"

"Well... uh, whenever you detect a lie with your Quirk, your ring finger kinda... twitches? I guess that's the right word."}

Aizawa blinks across at Tsukauchi, who sighs in a defeated fashion and nods slowly.

{Tsukauchi chuckled, "Either you've been doing your research or we've been spending too much time together..." Tsukauchi looked down at his hands self-consciously, "Do I really twitch my finger?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Not even my wife noticed that... Oh! Um..." Tsukauchi cleared his throat, "Well, we know that they were lying, but we have no idea why. Shinso had been in the position for fifteen years and never once in that time could he be completely controlled. I don't doubt for a second that he tried to kill them. But what I do doubt is their ability to kill him." The man shook his head, "Shinso was rated as a high B-Rank, but in actuality, he should've been A at least. Unless an opposing Hero had a Quirk or Skill that resisted specifically Brainwashing, they were his puppet, which means it's technically possible for someone like him to beat an S-Rank."

"But he can only control one person at a time, which is why he was defeated. He took control of a C-Rank while there was still an A-Rank lying in wait."

"No. Shinso could switch his target by releasing his first victim. The girl could've been taken over once he realized her strength if he didn't sense it at first that is."

"So then... who do you suspect?"

"We tested his strength at the hospital and it would be weird to think that an E-Rank could kill someone as powerful as Shinso, but every bone in my body is telling me that Izuku Midoriya is responsible."}

Izuku grins widely, then hides it.

{ His assistant gave him a strange look, "If that's the case, why not interrogate him further? You seem to be pretty gracious with this Midoriya kid."

Tsukauchi stared out the window, his glasses reflecting the now setting sun, "I don't know... maybe... maybe I'm just interested to see what he'll do next."

By the time Izuku and Momo had left the cafe, night had completely fallen, their stroll through the lush greenery lit only by the stars, moon, and park lamps.

Izuku hadn't said much since leaving the cafe, after all, he had been slightly scared by Yaoyorozu's crazy insistence to pay for the meal. He had never seen her in a threatening light before, but he could swear that as he reached for the check, her eyes began to glow red with power. He wasn't crazy enough to risk his life over some basic chivalry.

"Midoriya...? Do you think I should give up being a Hero?"

"Huh?"}

“No!”

“Don’t quit!”

“You’ll do great!”

{ Yaoyorozu spun around, shame covering her face like a mask, "I was raised in a pretty wealthy household, to say the least. And in that household, I was groomed for use of my Quirk."}

Cries of outrage echoed around the theatre.

{ She sighed as a small sparkle of pink light erupted on the palm of her hand and a round green matryoshka doll appeared, apparently modeled after Midoriya. "I can make literally anything, but my parents didn't want me using it for good, only for money."

Izuku shuddered at the thought. To be nothing else but a tool in your parent's minds, it was awful.

"I could've made myself any amount of gold or platinum and escaped them at any time. But that would've only turned me into a hypocrite, so I resolved to only use it once, in order to get my Beginner's License. This was before I knew that those sorts of licenses limited the Rank of Gates you could enter, but in the end, I guess it didn't matter. So even as I ran from home, determined to make it on my own, I was kinda in trouble." She wrung her hands out, "Even at A-Rank, I couldn't handle higher Ranked Dungeons that I managed to sneak my way into. I'm just... not capable of that same lust for life. I can't make those snap decisions to save my life or anyone else's for that matter."}

Iida stood and turned to Yaoyurozu.

“A very admirable decision!”

{ "You're wrong." Izuku said, looking deep into her eyes as she turned bright red, "You knew how to circumvent Shinso's mind control in an instant, probably saving Kaito and the others in the process. Sure, you're nervous, who isn't. But you can't get better at something by giving up." Izuku smiled boldly as he repeated the words that he himself had always wanted to hear, "You can become as strong as you want to be, you just need help that was never offered to you." Holding out his hand to the girl, he felt like crying himself. It felt so cathartic, so beautiful to finally be able to say those words and mean them, to offer help to someone in need wholeheartedly, with the belief that you can help them.

"You've worked hard to get to this point on your own, so please, let me help you."

Yaoyorozu gasped out a sob of relief as she took his hand and looked up into his kind, warm eyes, "Thank you."}

Mina cheered loudly, and the viewers broke for lunch. While they ate, Razor settled in to watch more of the 849-verse. An idea began to form in her mind. All too soon, the audience began filing in and the next chapter loaded.

Now playing . . .

Chapter Text

{ “You... do this... every day?” Yaoyorozu panted out as Midoriya effortlessly jogged beside her. “Everyday,” Izuku answered.
“...Why?”

Izuku stuttered for a moment. He had yet to tell her about the true nature of his Reawakening. The System seemed a dangerous tool and no matter how much he trusted Yaoyorozu, he wanted to keep its secret under wraps.

“Even after I went through my Reawakening, I was pretty weak. I mean... I had all the increased strength and stuff, but I became exhausted really easily.” He gestured at himself, “Heroes can’t increase their strength or speed after an Awakening, but we can lessen the strain those attributes have on us by training. And as someone who’s Quirkless, I can’t really speak on this subject, but apparently, those with Quirks can decrease the Mana drain said Quirks have by similarly training them.” Izuku looked back to his side, where Yaoyorozu should’ve been, only to find that she had been left behind. “...Oops.”

Turning back around, Izuku began to wonder how he had repeated his same mistake as a chime rang out, signifying his Running goal had been completed for the day. Though the two hadn’t run that far, he had done several “warm-up” laps before she had arrived to meet him.

It only took him thirty seconds to backtrack far enough to find Yaoyorozu collapsed onto a bench, her chest heaving rapidly. In fact, the breathes were so violent, Izuku noticed her voluptuous ch- “Nononono.” Izuku nearly slapped himself in front of the girl and instead chose to lightly shake his head to clear the thought.}

Several people in the theatre burst out laughing at that.

{ “Sorry, I space out a little during my runs. I guess it’s just kinda become second nature at this point.”

Yaoyorozu shook her head and waved him on, “Just... go on... without me.”

Izuku almost laughed at the dramatic declaration and instead decided to lower himself to the ground, beginning his push-ups goal. “Don’t worry,” He said, “I’ll keep you company.” With one hand keeping his body in rhythm, he reached behind his back and grabbed the water bottle tucked into his sweat pant’s pocket. He quickly tipped a bit of water into his mouth, allowing Yaoyorozu to marvel at his multitasking skills before he offered her the container.

She took it and self-consciously spun the bottle 180 degrees to avoid drinking from the same side as him. Of course, it was an action Izuku felt a great deal of amusement towards.

“So, enrolling in UA... do you really think that’s the best idea?”

“All the best Agencies were started thanks to UA. Might Towers, The Endeavor Agency, Genius Office, and Prime Heroes are all Agencies that exist solely because of UA High and the Heroes they trained.”

“And you think we could start an Agency as successful as theirs?”

Izuku’s mind faltered for a moment and he accidentally let slip his inward thought, “We?” Yaoyorozu flinched upon realizing what she had said, “We... as in both of us starting Agencies!”

Izuku smiled, “You don’t have to defend it so vehemently. I wouldn’t exactly mind running a Hero Agency with you.”}

Mina grinned.
“I ship it!”

{ Slowly, but surely, the girl’s mouth curved up into an embarrassed smile that matched Izuku’s in happiness, faltering only slightly as his head turned to gauge her reaction. She was so red, Izuku thought she might have some sort of Blaze Magic inside her.

Changing the subject, Izuku called her back to reality, “Well you seem a bit more rested, why don’t you join me for some push-ups!”

The request seemed so jubilant that Yaoyorozu couldn’t help but acquiesce, even as she groaned on the inside about the workout.

Two Weeks Later:

“Uh... w... what?” Yaoyorozu stammered out as she watched Izuku insert a key into mid-air spawning a Gate.

“I was wondering if you would be able to see this. After all, the last time I used a Key, only I could see the Gate,” Then murmuring to himself, “I wonder if the System sensed my intentions and adapted accordingly.”

“How... How can you do this? Where’d you get that Key?” Yaoyorozu was overcome with confusion as she observed the Gate just outside of Aldera Middle School.

“It’s... a long story, but for now, just know that it’s part of my Reawakening.” Izuku once again felt bad holding back the truth from Yaoyorozu and that feeling was only amplified tenfold when the onyx-eyed beauty gave him a nod of complete trust.

“So then where’s our Raid Team?”

“You’re looking at them.”

Yaoyorozu paled, “You want to take on a Dungeon by ourselves?!”}

“Did he stutter?” Dabi snarked.

{ “It’s a C-Rank, nothing to worry about for us!” Izuku declared hopefully. “If we can’t take it, then I’ve got two Hearthstones to use.” He began walking through, only for Yaoyorozu to grab his arm.

“I trust you enough to not ask about that Key... but... to handle a Dungeon on our own?”

Izuku stopped and nodded solemnly, “You’re an A-Rank, someone that would be on the frontlines of plenty of Agency's Assault teams. That’s the sort of future you want right? To be a strong Hero?”

Yaoyorozu froze in place, was that what she really wanted? A-Ranks made plenty of money and lived more comfortably than most, but it was also a dangerous life. Every time she entered a Dungeon, there was the chance she wouldn’t come back. “Just go back home and live like the rich girl you are.” A voice whispered in her head. “Why risk your life with this guy? If you gave up and apologized to your parents, you know that they’d welcome you back?” Yaoyorozu shook her head, to go home meant to be a tool, nothing more than someone to create items for her parents.

“Yes! I want to be as strong as possible! So that I can be independent and live only as I want to!”

Izuku smiled and this time, when he let himself sink into the Gate, Yaoyorozu let herself be pulled along, entering with a deep breath.

Like the E-Rank Dungeon Key from before, this one turned the landscape into a ruined mess. The Junior High School was now more of a decrepit prison, shambling Villains filling its courtyard, their heads now turned in their direction.

Izuku summoned his gauntlets as a floating pink mist began to spread itself around the courtyard. As it struck the zombies around them, he realized it made them slightly bigger, “Yaoyorozu make a gas mask for yourself.”

She quickly did so, fastening it securely around her face, “What about you?” “I’ll be fine,” Izuku assured her, “Probably.”
Thankfully, as the pink mist hit him, he was greeted with a System message. [Zombie Virus Poison Detected: Cleansing Body]

Yaoyorozu seemed to be fairing fine as well, so without further ado, Izuku gestured to the field of Zombies, “Those are your foes, kill them.”

“By... myself?”}

“Again. Did he fucking stutter?”

{“Like I said, you’re an A-Rank, those are D-Rank. It’s like squashing bugs for you.” Seeing the anxiety on her face, Izuku rested a calming hand on the small of her back, “I’ll be right here to make sure nothing happens, but if you’re going to be a Hero, then you need to get used to fighting. You’re not going to get past the temple incident if you don’t learn that you are your own force to be reckoned with.”

“I... I don’t know about this.”

“You told me you could take on Kaito, Ryouji, and Hamada if you were going all out, and I know you weren’t lying. Think about how quickly you were moving when you were fighting them,” Izuku began speaking faster as the Zombie horde grew closer and closer. “If you move like that in- AH!”

One of the Zombies leapt at him, moving far quicker than Izuku had thought possible of the creatures. His right arm instinctively flew upwards, moving to decapitate the creature, but he stopped as he noticed a flash of silver and he instead sidestepped the Villain.

Collapsing behind him, the Villain lay dead, cut in half by one clean cut.

Izuku grinned with pride as he laid his eyes back on Yaoyorozu, her body lunged outwards, both hands gripping a katana. Her face was pale and her breathing was shallow, but it was nothing if not progress.

Her eyes met his and she gave a weak smile, “I couldn’t let them hurt you.”
Izuku grinned even wider, “Thanks for the save!” He slammed his fists together, creating a resounding CLANG! “Now, only two hundred more to go!”

A bit of life seemed to re-enter Yaoyorozu’s eyes and she nodded back, pulling a second shorter blade from her arm, leaping into battle behind Izuku.}

“Whooo! Go Yaomomo!”

{With every severed head, slashed torso, dented chest, and flying body, Yaoyorozu got into more of a rhythm, her body dancing on its own as she practically forgot why she had been afraid in the first place.

As Izuku dashed through his old middle school courtyard, blinking in and out of reality thanks to his new Camouflage Skill, courtesy of Shinso, he felt a rush of relief. He had never expected things to go this smoothly, for Yaoyorozu to recover like this. “Then again,” He thought to himself, “She’s never once killed a Villain, so that unknown was probably the only thing holding her back. It’s like the first time you ride a rollercoaster, you don’t know what to expect, so you’re terrified, but once you go on it you want to ride again.” It was that same sentiment Izuku felt right now. To kill a Villain was a scary experience at first, but the first time was always the worst, from there on, it was like a game. A cathartic experience of power over one’s life.

“Thirty-four!” Izuku shouted across the horde.

“Twenty-seven!” Yaoyorozu yelled back, quickly ascertaining the meaning of the number.

“Game on!”}

Shigaraki began to cackle.

{All Yaoyorozu had ever wanted in life was the strength to be her own person, to not be defined by who she was born as, but until now, she had never felt that power. Always hanging back as a healer she had never known what she was truly capable of. Even when under the control of Shinso, everything felt like it had been fuzzy, in a haze. But now, everything was crystal clear.

“Could I always do this?” She didn’t for a second fool herself that these were some sort of crazy strong Villains, but they were Villains nonetheless. “I guess all that training with Midoriya was worth it.”

“Thirty-nine!” She shouted.

Izuku punched away another Zombie, “Fifty-one!” 

[Skill: Overwhelming Force Lv. 1 has been learned.]

70 Mana

Gauntlet Only

- You have Mastered the use of gauntlets, from now on, all attacks involving gauntlets will have a 33% increase in attack power. Additionally, upon activating this Skill, your Strength Stat will double for one strike.

“Fifty-two!”

“Huh?!” Izuku looked around, realizing that in his desire to look over his new Skill, he had activated Camouflage, allowing the rest of the Zombies to surge to Yaoyorozu and feed themselves into her blades.

“Hmph, fine!” Izuku said as he activated his new Skill and emerged from Camouflage. 

The nearest Zombies were turned into a fine paste as Izuku’s new Strength Stat of 150 tore through them with ease. The punches were so strong that they continued on with a piercing effect, killing row after row of Zombies.

Within no time at all, Yaoyorozu and Izuku each killed their last Zombie respectively.

Yaoyorozu, looking more alive than ever before, her eyes shining with intensity, threw her swords down with exhaustion and declared, “Alright you win. I know I got eighty-one, so you must’ve got a hundred and nineteen.”

Izuku smirked, “One hundred and sixty-nine!”

“What?!”

“It looks like there were more than two hundred!”

[Alert: Zombie Horde Training is complete, Gate will now be closed.]

Izuku tilted his head, “There’s no Boss?” Before he could get an answer or further look around, he found himself and Yaoyorozu once more standing outside Aldera Middle School, looking the same as ever.}

Todoroki glanced over at his friend, who still had an arm around his shoulder.

“There’s symbolism in that, isn’t there?”

Izuku nodded, humming.

{[Secret Quest: Train a Partner, Completed! Would you like to accept your Rewards?]

“Accept,” Izuku muttered, somewhat stunned.

[Reward #1: Item: Weapon]

[Reward #2: Stat Points +15]

[Reward #3: Item: Armor]

“Wait… this was all a Quest?” He looked down at Yaoyorozu, smiling wider than he’d ever seen her smile, “Oh god… I didn’t cure her fear… the System did.”}

Shigaraki’s cackling gradually tapered off, and the theatre quickly settled.

Now Playing . . .

Chapter Text

{“So you got a girlfriend, right?” Sakura blurted out as she sat on the floor of the apartment, wolfing down pizza. 

Izuku began to cough violently on the couch, caught off guard by her question, “Where the hell did you get that idea?”}

The Izuku in the theatre choked on his Cola.

{“Well you’ve been out practically every night for training, but since the Entrance Exam is tomorrow, I don’t feel like you’d risk pushing yourself too hard.” She stuck her finger into the air, as if coming to a brilliant conclusion, “Which means the only thing you could be doing is hanging out with your girlfriend!”}

“I mean, she has a point, Izu,” Mina chimes in.

{Izuku downed a glass of water, allowing the pizza to pass through his esophagus. Taking a deep breath Izuku fixed his sister with a look of amusement, “I have other things to do besides training.” This was a lie. Izuku had done nothing in the past couple of weeks besides work out with Yaoyorozu, take down System generated Dungeons with Yaoyorozu, and… have meals with Yaoyorozu.

“Wait… do I have a girlfriend?” The thought just briefly shook Izuku out of his anxiety. 

Ever since the Zombie Dungeon Quest, Izuku had been unsure if Yaoyorozu snapping into her Hero persona was some miracle, or an act of the System. Aside from her increased confidence, nothing else in her had really changed, which reassured Izuku. It had been nothing but a positive so far, but to alter someone’s personality without them knowing was a problem nonetheless.

“Fine fine… don’t give up your secrets!” Sakura pouted as Izuku continued to be lost in his own thoughts. Looking over at the clock she sighed, “I should probably get to bed… it’s late. Remember five o’clock tomorrow for the parent-teacher meeting.”

Izuku waved away her concerns, “I know! I’ll do my best to make it on time with the Entrance Exams.”}

“Wait, we get to see what their exams are like?” Shigaraki asked, grinning manically.

{“Then that should be enough,” Sakura said, stumbling off to get ready for bed.

“‘Then that should be enough?’” Izuku held a hand to his chin, “She’s never that laid back about stuff like this… should I be worried?” He shook his head, “It’s just a parent-teacher meeting, what reason would she have to be so strict about it. I’m sure everything’s fine.”

Level: 39

Strength: 97

Vitality: 59

Agility: 97

Intelligence: 51

Sense: 81

“It should be enough,” Izuku thought to himself as he looked over his Stats, Yaoyorozu sitting next to him on the bus to UA, “It has to be enough.”

“Alright here’s your stop people! Proceed through the main entrance and personnel inside will guide you to the lecture hall!”

Izuku took a deep breath, closed his System window, and stood, following Yaoyorozu off the bus and back into the frigid April air. 

The hustle and bustle was almost overwhelming. There were at least a dozen buses, all piled high with hopeful examinees. While UA was the only Hero school equipped to handle B-Ranks and up, it also had an excellent General Studies division for those not looking to become Pro Heroes.

As he stared forwards at the massive blocky school building from the courtyard, he felt Yaoyorozu take his hand. Looking over, somewhat embarrassed, Izuku smiled back at her.

“Come on! Let’s do this!”

Their jovial mood was interrupted as someone roughhoused their way past them, wrenching their hands apart. “Outta my way you damn extras… I’ll kill you.”

Izuku looked at the back of the student’s head, able to recognize it at a glance. Even when angled towards the floor, Izuku knew. “It’s good to see you haven’t changed one bit Kacchan.”}

“Oh, he’s dead.” Izuku moaned, burying his face in his free hand. “He’s so dead,”

{The bully spun around, his eyes widening at the sight of his old childhood friend. A few months had passed since last seeing him and in that time, he had grown nearly half a foot taller, put on irregular amounts of muscle for a now sixteen year old, and his face was… different.

Bakugo had no idea how to explain it. It was still the annoyingly kind and gentle face he had always had, but now, there was some sort of calm aura around him. He scoffed, “You may have worked out, but you’re still a useless E-Rank, you and your bitch might as well get back on the bus.”}

“Oh, I can’t bear it. He’s going to die, and it’ll be idiocy that does it.”

{Suddenly, Izuku was in front of him, his hand resting on Bakugo’s shoulder. His face was lit up with a warm, friendly smile as he spoke, “It’s incredibly rude to speak to someone like that, Bakugo. I’d watch your tone, some people aren’t as forgiving as we are.”

Bakugo wanted to flinch away, to shove his hand off his shoulder and spit in his face, but something held him back. Izuku had no malice in his eyes, no killing intent, and yet, everything in Bakugo’s body was telling him to run, as fast and as far as his body could carry him, that this Quirkless loser was now something to be feared. 

Maybe it was the disbelief that Izuku could’ve actually gotten stronger, or maybe it was the shock at hearing “Bakugo” instead of “Kacchan” come out of his mouth. Whatever it was, the discomfort was enough to shake him out of this trance and he stumbled backwards, finally realizing that they had attracted a small audience.

“Is that Bakugo?”

“Wasn’t he the one to get grabbed by that escaped Gate Villain?”

“I heard he had to get rescued by All Might himself!”

“Who’s that person standing with him? He kinda looks familiar.”

“Oh my god, that’s the World’s Weakest E-Rank Hero, Izuku Midoriya!”

“Someone like him is taking the Entrance Exam?”

These comments and many more rolled off Izuku’s ears as he pushed past Bakugo, Yaoyorozu joining him at his side.

“I’ll still kill you.” Bakugo muttered under his breath, clenching his fists tightly and glaring at the surrounding spectators.}

“Good luck after that display,”

{

“He’s not worth it,” Midoriya whispered to Yaoyorozu in the dark hall as she stared pointedly at the blond who chose to sit next to Izuku for no good reason. “He’s been like this ever since he was Ranked as an S.”

Yaoyorozu’s eyes widened, “He’s an S?!”

Midoriya flinched at her exclamation and mouthed a silent apology to some of the surrounding testers, all of which were trying to listen to the man at the podium. He was a famous B-Rank by the name of Present Mic, someone with extreme sonokinetic abilities, both in terms of his Quirk and his Awakened skill.

“His Quirk is Ranked at A, but his technique and skill with it put him at an S-Rank. He’s also got pretty high physical strength and durability for someone focused mainly on Mana attacks.”

“The cards being handed out now will determine your practical exam location! Alpha through Delta! Four separate battlegrounds to split you silent testers up in!” 

As Izuku and Yaoyorozu received theirs, they exchanged a slightly disappointed look. Izuku had gotten battleground Alpha, while Yaoyorozu got Beta.

“Good,” Izuku heard as Bakugo leaned over to glance at his card, “Now I can crush you.”

Izuku glared back, “I’m looking forward to it.”

“You there!” Izuku looked down the rows in front of him nonchalantly, noticing someone had stood and was pointing at him.

“Hello.”

The young man wore perfectly cleaned glasses and a fine pressed school uniform, “You’ve been muttering to the two people next to you this entire time. It’s distracting! If you’re here for some sort of pleasure trip, I believe you should leave immediately, we’re here to learn, not mouth off.”}

Iida turned beet red and buried his face in his hands.

{Bakugo gutturally spat out, “Killing Villains is a pleasure trip four-eyes! If you don’t get that same rush from Hero work can you really even call yourself a Hero?!”

“I-!”

“Alright alright!” Present Mic called out, his voice laid back, much like a surfer dude, “Thank you very much for your questions and comments 7111, but please, let’s not get too heated.”

The student bowed and excused his interruption before sitting robotically once more. 

“It’s as you said! There are indeed four Villain types! Points one through three are standard attack robots that anyone with halfway decent skill could take down. There is, however, one more type that can be taken down for bonus points.” A massive silhouette appeared on the screen behind him, a tank-like lower half, with a human-like torso and a seven-eyed head. “The twenty-pointer is a very special type of Villain, only one exists per field and while they are not impossible to take down, some would consider it a waste of time, even for it’s bonus points.”

“Robots,” Izuku muttered, “You think that’s gonna be a problem for your blades?”

Yaoyorozu shook her head, “I have other means of taking down opponents.”

Izuku raised one eyebrow and shrugged, “I trust you, but I’m gonna be pretty upset if I’m enrolling on my own,” He joked.

“Just make sure you get in, then you can worry about me.”

Present Mic was unconcerned with their conversation and finished his explanation with a hearty, “PLUS ULTRA!”

“You.” Izuku felt a hand grip his shoulder tightly, “Even after I kindly asked you to be quiet for the rest of us, you continued to mutter to that girl. Is your goal in taking this exam merely to mess everyone else up?”

Izuku turned on his bloodlust and spun around, fixing the teen with a glowing green gaze, “What’s your name?”

“I-Iida, Tenya Iida.” Iida answered as his grip loosened and he stepped back.

“His magical power seems around B-Rank.” Izuku let up on the pressure and attempted to give a more amicable smile, “Present Mic was quite loud, far louder than any whispering I could’ve been doing. If you can’t focus your hearing to that degree, then the Villains are going to sneak up on you first. Dungeons are nearly as accommodating as a lecture hall.”}

“Spooky, Mido!”

{“Dungeons?! How old are-!”

“START!!!”

[Skill: Sprint Lv. 2 activated. Movement Speed will increase by 50%]

[1 Mana will be consumed every minute.]

By the time Iida realized he should’ve started running straight away, Izuku was completely gone having disappeared into the false city within seconds. 

Calling out his gauntlets from his inventory, Izuku came across the first Villain. Crashing through a building, riding on one omnidirectional wheel, it brandished its gatling gun equipped arms menacingly.

Refusing to fire, it rushed him, it’s computational mind unable to comprehend the speed at which it was torn apart.

Izuku was disappointed by how easy it was to kill them. Since he couldn’t read their non-existent Magical power, he wasn’t sure what to expect, but this was far less than anything he had anticipated.

[1 Point Villain has been defeated.]

“So the System recognizes them as enemies?” Izuku smiled as another three Villains rolled towards him, “Well then, I guess I should take this opportunity… and Level up.”

Examinees weren’t allowed to take in anything other than their main weapon, but Izuku was a different story. Thanks to the System, any armor he equipped turned invisible and it acted like it wasn’t even there. With this, he could wear the Warden’s necklace and the Shadowsteel armor that he had gotten from the Secret Questline without being disqualified. 

Unfortunately, it seemed like the Villains were nothing but complete fodder. After tearing through twenty of the things, he had only gained one level.

[Level Up!]

[Player has reached the required Level!]

[A Job Change Quest has arrived!]}

Shigaraki began to cackle loudly.

{“A Job Change? Well, I guess it can wait until I’m done he-” Izuku’s eyes narrowed as the world in front of him froze completely.

Robots were turned into metal statues, Bakugo and his explosions were turned into a beautiful display, and even the birds had stopped flying.

[In order to give you adequate time to complete this Quest, time will be frozen just for this one Quest.]

“Stopping time? Why is it giving me a warning about this being the only time? Is it trying to make sure I don’t rely on this?” Izuku stopped for a moment, thinking out loud, “If time is frozen, why not just take out the rest of the Robots or just really take advantage of it?”

As it turned out, the System had other ideas. Purple lightning struck the ground just in front of him and a Gate burst into existence, sucking him inside without a chance to escape its pull.

Maybe it was just the strangeness of the event, or the insane magical energy Izuku was getting off the Gate, but in that instant, he felt like something was different, like the System had finally started to become… serious.}

Shigaraki’s cackling was so loud that Razor had to clap to be heard.

“Alright people, I’ve been thinking, and I might bring you back here after a few years, because there’s another timeline I’d like to display for you. But, I’d like to give you all a chance to settle with this information before that occurs. I’m telling you now to give you time to think on it.”

She sat down again, and the next chapter loaded to quiet chatter.

Now Playing . . . 

Chapter Text

{“This is all the Job Change has to offer?” Izuku asked himself as he easily batted away an armored knight, nothing inside its shell. “To someone with a stabbing weapon, this might have actually been trouble, but with my Strength Stat they’re just as weak as the Villains from the Entrance Exam.”}

Razor began to cackle.

Kaminari felt a thrill of fear run down his spine, and Todoroki, Midoriya, Iida and Uraraka went pale.

{Izuku didn’t even have to utilize his Overwhelming Strength Skill to punch straight through their armor in one shot. Four approached him at once and he simply slipped into his stealth mode, dealing out four equal punches. 

They crumpled like tinfoil and fell like tungsten, exposing their corpses and their respective loot. Now Izuku had Shadowsteel Leg Armor to go with the Shadowsteel Chestplate.

[Item: Shadowsteel Chestplate]

Item Class: B

Item Type: Armor

+7% to physical damage reduction.

[Slows wearer’s Movement Speed if Strength is below 80.]

[Item: Shadowsteel Leggings]

Item Class: A

Item Type: Armor

+30 Strength when using kicks.

[Legs now have increased durability and hardness when kicking.]

[Set Bonus 1 achieved: ???? ]}

Shigaraki set to cackling again.

{“Huh? It gave me a set bonus, but won’t tell me what it is?”

Though the armor disappeared altogether when wearing it, it’s icon in the inventory made it look rather demonic. Pure black plates that overlapped and pressed firmly into each other made Izuku wonder if the secret bonus had something to do with his Stealth Skill. 

“Maybe-!” Izuku flinched and the scale blade popped out from his right arm, disappearing straight into an invisible foe. 

Suddenly, a skeletal form, its face covered by cloth, willed itself into existence, falling to his side dead. 

“I barely sensed him…” Izuku trailed off as a bright yellow light filled the drab stone brick hallway and grew closer to him at a rapid pace. He leapt back, a fireball passing inches from his face, “Magicians too?!”

“Magic like Mister Otachi’s and Stealth like Shinso’s. Is this Dungeon… replaying my last fight?”}

The cackling grew marginally louder.

{Izuku received no answer and was instead beset on all sides by Magicians, Assassins, and Knights.

Knights were the easiest to kill. Without any other special abilities, they were simple fodder for Izuku’s punches. But not everything was so easily defeated. Magicians and eventually some joining Archers managed to keep their distance, firing off spells and arrows as the hard to spot Assassins and numerous Knights engaged him at a close range. 

But despite the unrelenting onslaught, Izuku smiled, “What is this? I trained my body every day by brushing up against death, you think a little skirmish like this will tire me out?!” 

[Overwhelming Strength Lv. 2 has activated.]

Assassins became splatters against the wall, Knights became large flying metal debris that tore through or knocked the Magicians and Archers back. Izuku wasted no time leaping on top of the discombobulated enemies and drove his scale blades into their necks, ending their lives.

[You have acquired Shadowsteel Boots.]

[You have acquired Shadowsteel Ring.]

[You have acquired Shadowsteel Necklace.]

“Wow, what’s up with this Shadowsteel stuff?”

[Item: Shadowsteel Boots]

Item Class: A

Item Type: Armor

+7% to magical damage reduction.

[Item: Shadowsteel Ring]

Item Class: A

Item Type: Accessory

+30 Intelligence, +15 Agility

[Item: Shadowsteel Necklace]

Item Class: B

Item Type: Accessory

+30 Sense, +15 Vitality

[Set Bonus 2 achieved: ???? ]

“Again?” Izuku shrugged, “Whatever. As long as it makes me stronger. Stronger for… whatever is behind this door.” Resting his hand against the ornate red and gold entrance, Izuku could practically smell the Magical Energy emanating from the next room. “Definitely the Boss room.” Casting aside his trepidation, Izuku shoved his hand against the door, Rasaka’s scales sparking against the metal.

Replacing Izuku’s view of the door, was an enormous throne room, seven rows of dark stone pillars leading up to an empty chair. Bright yellow torches illuminated the area and the metallic stomping of feet filled the air.

Izuku found himself tensing up as a reflective blood-red armor emerged from someplace yet unknown and took its place in front of the throne. The chill racing through his body, it was familiar, almost nostalgic in nature.}

“Oh, so now danger is nostalgic? What next? Death?”

{[ Blood-Red Commander Igris ]}

“Well. If that isn’t a warning then I must be blind and deaf to the heavens.”

{“A dark red name?!” Izuku shuddered, even something like Rasaka had an orange name and that’s when Izuku had been at his weakest. “Even with my favorable matchup against armor-type Villains, can I handle him?”

The knight wasted no time taking advantage of Izuku’s momentary pause and charged him, moving much faster than anything with that much armor should’ve been able to. Swinging a blade just as long as Izuku was tall, Igris went to bisect him at the torso with a horizontal slash. 

Knowing that even his gauntlets weren’t strong enough to resist such a heavy blow, Izuku ducked low, feeling the intense wind from the strike pass over him and rustle his tracksuit. However, while the strike was powerful, it also carried extreme momentum, leaving Igris open for a few moments.

Izuku activated Overwhelming Strength and drove his fist straight into the knight’s side, significantly denting his armor and knocking him to the side. It was enough of a distraction for Izuku to wrap his hands around the sword-wielding arm and twist as hard as his Strength Stat allowed him.

The metal creaked and gave for just a moment, but by then, it was too late. Igris slammed his free fist into Izuku’s stomach, stealing all the breath from his lung and sending him flying back into a wall, crashing through a pillar as he did so. 

Igris wasn’t far behind him, attempting to stab his sword straight through Izuku’s head, just narrowly missing as the teen tilted his head to the side, unable to dodge the punch that was thrown into his stomach once again.}

“Well shit.”

{“Just what… I was waiting for!” Izuku wrapped his gauntlets around the blade as he kicked out with all his strength at his enemy’s chest. The Shadowsteel Leggings’ effect kicked in and Igris had no choice but to leave his sword embedded in the wall and leap back.

Izuku fell down from the impact crater in the wall and found his footing, facing off once more with Igris. He expected him to immediately draw the two dagger blades holstered behind his back, but the Blood-Red Commander betrayed his expectations and instead chose simply to unclip his cape from his armor and hold up his fists. 

This might have seemed like a stroke of good luck to an outsider who believed Izuku to have an advantage with his insane Strength Stat and gauntlet weapons, but reality was not so simple.

Before Izuku even knew what was happening, Igris had wrapped his hand around his ankle, lifting him up into the air and slamming him face down into the brick floor.}

“Damnit, he’s fast.”

{Growling, Izuku pushed himself up and wiped away some blood from the corner of his mouth before standing, surprised that Igris had allowed it. “Chivalry? Guess it’s not dead after all.”

Izuku’s eyes lit up with their signature green glow and he cocked his fist back, intent to wait for Igris’s approach. 

The knight tilted his head for just a moment, seeming to consider his options. Izuku could’ve sworn he had shrugged before crouching slightly. Then, he was gone, blurring forwards to take Izuku down once more. 

[Bloodlust activated: Target’s Stats will be lowered by 50% for one minute.]

Igris slowed almost to a halt as he attempted to slow himself in front of Izuku, his glowing white eyes widening as he realized his predicament.}

“Haha, you’re fucked, my man,” Kaminari chortled.

{[Overwhelming Strength activated.]

Igris’s hand reached out for the wall behind him, a blue energy of sorts wrapping around the hilt of his sword as Izuku brought his fist down.

Flying towards him at lightning speed, Igris’s sword reached his hand just in time for him to raise it in defense against Izuku’s devastating downwards punch. But it wasn’t enough.

A shockwave exploded outwards as Igris’s sword was shattered like glass and Izuku’s punch continued downwards, splitting his helmet in two. 

The red knight collapsed to the ground, his body unmoving… for just a moment that is. His clawed hand dug into the ground, attempting to push himself up, but Izuku was no longer entertaining this knight and he activated Overwhelming Strength with his opposite arm, punching straight through Igris’s chest, ending the Boss’s life then and there.

[You have slain Blood-Red Commander Igris. ]

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

Izuku almost immediately collapsed beside him, falling onto his rear with heavy breathing. “I won… but I shredded my gauntlets in the process.” Looking down at his fists, Izuku noticed that he could see his own red, blistered skin, exposed. The scales around his fist had been completely broken by the force of his punches.

[Mana: 390/850]

[HP: 2392/10278]

Izuku sighed at the destruction of his prized weapon, feeling somewhat disheartened by the loss of something so precious to him. He was, however, brightened up as a small pile of glowing drops alerted themselves to Izuku’s presence. 

[Shadowsteel Helm, Shadowsteel Gauntlets, Leather Pouch, Dominator’s Touch, and Hearthstone, have been obtained.]

The Leather Pouch contained an insane amount of gold, 1.5 million to be exact, which effectively doubled Izuku’s current ledger. Dominator’s Touch seemed to be a rune that contained the same Telekinetic ability Igris had used to call his sword back to him, so he quickly broke it. The Hearthstone was nothing special, but the Helm and Gauntlets were the real prizes in Izuku’s mind.

[Item: Shadowsteel Helm]

Item Class: A

Item Type: Armor

+20 Agility

Exhaustion will stack up slower and Stamina will recover twice as fast.

[Item: Shadowsteel Gauntlets]

Item Class: S

Item Type: Gauntlets

Attack: +67

Active Skill: Mechanical Destruction. One Gauntlet of your choosing will be enhanced by an extremely powerful pneumatic burst and deal double damage. Costs 500 Mana and can only be used every 10 minutes.

[Final Set Bonus achieved: ???? ]

Izuku wasted no time equipping his new weapons and reveling in their beauty. Like the rest of the armor set, the gauntlets looked like they were forged from pure obsidian. Ending in the same claw-like protrusions Igris’s armor had, Izuku thought they almost looked evil.

Level: 47

Strength: 115

Vitality: 82

Agility: 130

Intelligence: 89

Sense: 109

[Mana: 580/1150]

[HP: 3472/11754]}

“Damn,” Shigaraki sounded envious of screen-Izuku’s stats.

{The green-haired teen smiled as he felt himself begin to swiftly recover, “Looks like I’ve gotten pretty strong.” He put away any other items he had removed in order to equip his new stuff and in doing so, his eyes landed on the Hearthstone. “I’d only need one of these if there was no other way out of the Dungeon… but… don’t these Instance Dungeons disappear when I kill the Boss?” Izuku spun around rapidly, searching for enemies as a realization set in, “Which means… The Quest isn’t over just yet. Looks like things are only going to get harder.”}

“Well, damn.”

“Oh, come on! A cliffhanger!?” Mina was outraged.

Razor cackled.

“Alright, dinner’s in the lounge when you’re ready; we’ll take an hour break and wind down for a bit before coming back to it. Next chapter gets interesting.”

As the audience dispersed, Razor settled in to continue watching the 849-verse and thought of the final details for the second cinema viewing.

As the audience filed back in, Razor swapped back to the current viewing and let the next chapter boot up.

Now Playing . . .

Chapter Text

{ Izuku was almost unsurprised as six portals opened around him simultaneously.

[The Job Change Quest will now begin.]}

“What!?”

{ "'Begun?!'" Izuku downed a bunch of healing, mana, and stamina regen potions he had bought from the System Shop just after killing Igris, "Then what was the last two hours?!"

[The amount of enemies you can defeat will earn you points. Points will also be added depending on how long you are able to last. The higher your score, the more likely it is for you to be given a high-tier Job.]

Izuku scoffed as the words, 'Good Luck' appeared just above a timer and everything else kicked off.}

“Good luck!? Good luck!?” Kaminari’s voice became squeaky at the end of his sentence.

{ All at once, seemingly base level knights began to pour from the portals, warhammers, swords, battle-axes, daggers, all adorning their bodies.

Izuku's pre-battle excitement began to take over and he began bouncing on the balls of his feet, holding out his demonic hands to either side. "My Mana is full at 1150. Stealth takes 200 initially and then one Mana every second. I could buy myself a little under 16 minutes with that strategy." Izuku smirked, "But the System told me to take out as many enemies as possible right?" The knights gave him no answer, "So if that's the case, I guess I'll just have to test out my new equipment!"

Izuku's body lowered to a crouch as the metal puppets began to fully surround him, their weapons raised to strike him. But… just before they could even swing with their full strength, Izuku acted.

[Skill: Sprint has activated.]

Izuku blurred through their lines, his claws tearing through armor like a knife through swiss cheese. Nothing could touch him and nothing could stop him. Of course, not everything was so easy.

[Magician is using Skill: Detection.]

Izuku could only guess that this marked his position and sped up the other knight's perception, because after slicing through another ten bodies, the eleventh had a hammer coming down to strike him. It was a precise attack, using quite a heavy amount of prediction to guess at where he was going to be, confirming Izuku's theory about the Magician's Skill.

Instead of trying to avoid and slice through him, Izuku went back to an old classic and clenched his right fist tightly, throwing it forwards with about half strength.

The hammer stood no chance. Like Igris's blade, it shattered into a million bits of metal shrapnel that pinged against the knight's armor harmlessly. But Izuku's next punch was not harmless in the slightest and the armor fell to the floor moments later, its head completely compressed.

By now, there were far too many knights to even weave between and Izuku took his chance to clear out as many as possible. Widening his stance, he formed two fists, holding them to his side as the knight's circle closed around him.

[Skill: Overwhelming Strength has activated.]

[Skill: Overwhelming Strength has activated.]

Punching out to either side, Izuku formed two immense shockwaves, shredding the nearest knights and throwing the farther ones back hard enough to flatten into sheet metal. By Izuku's count, he had dealt with maybe a full one hundred, but it had taken 400 of his Mana and in the grand scheme of things, he appeared to barely be making a dent in their numbers. They were emerging from the portals faster than he could kill them.

Izuku growled as he punched away another and another and another. "I don't even have time to even think!"}

“Sounds fun.”

{ [Skill: Overwhelming Strength has activated.]

Slamming his fist into the ground, a wall of pressure emerged, spreading outwards in all directions and clearing the area around him.

Since it was a less focused blast, Izuku didn't think any significant amount of the knights had been killed, but he didn't mind, as long as he had some room to think.

"It told me to kill as many as possible and last as long as possible… but if that's the case there's no end to it and to use the Hearthstone would be to escape the Dungeon before I get a Job. Which means that there has to be a way to complete this quest…" Izuku frantically scrambled for an answer as the frontlines recovered.

"I'm not Leveling Up from these guys… even though Igris gave me plenty of experience. Which means they're special for one reason or another." At that moment, his eye traced over a Magician, "I've been wide open, and yet, they haven't once used any ranged attacks against me, only that Detection Skill."

Izuku finally found himself punching away the knights again as a sudden realization dawned on him, "They haven't been attacking me with magic… because they're too busy using Summoning Magic!"

Activating Sprint once more, Izuku jumped between the knights, using their shoulders or heads like stepping stones as he made his way to the nearest Magician he had seen. Thanks to the Shadowsteel Leggings, his steps were practically like cannons going off every time he pushed off a knight.

Leaving a trail of destruction behind him, Izuku finally reached the Magician, driving all ten of his gauntlet claws into its chest as his body plowed into it.

Using the floating Magician's body as a cushion, Izuku crashed back to the ground as the body dispersed into a cloud of black mist. Subsequently, one of the portals and a good chunk of the knights collapsed to the ground, disassembled.

"If there's one Magician for every portal, then that means there's only five left." Izuku looked up, shocked to see that a full thirty minutes had already elapsed.

This turned out to be a poor decision as the recognition that he had been fighting for that long creeped into his body and a small wave of exhaustion pushed through him. But still, he was undeterred.

"You may be many… but you're also weak." Then to the Magicians hovering in the air far behind their armies, he shouted, "Don't get too comfortable back there!"}

Razor began to cackle again, clued in to a joke no one else understood.

{ From there, all hell broke loose. The knights that had remained still as they listened to Izuku's declaration rushed forwards and the fight was on.

For the next thirty minutes, all Izuku did was wade through an ocean of dead metal, making his way to the Magicians. The next two kills were simple, built on the same principles Izuku had used to kill the first. Hopping on top of the knights was easy at first, but they quickly learned and doing so for a fourth kill risked Izuku landing on one of their weapons instead of their shoulders or heads.

By the time the clock struck an hour and five minutes, the Magicians had found a pattern to easily avoid Izuku by floating through the room.

"Fine, we'll try it this way!"

[Skill: Dominator's Touch has activated. No Mana will be consumed.]

Imagining his hand wrapping around the Magician's throat, Izuku new telekinetic ability snatched up the target and yanked him towards Izuku. The Villain could only watch in fear as Izuku cocked his fist back and drove it into his face as he got within range.}

“Ruthless,”

{ Izuku then looked to inflict the same fate onto the two remaining Magicians, but by the time he raised his hand, they were gone, likely hiding behind a pillar or amongst their summons.

Although, a fair portion of those summon disappeared as their armor was pulled apart and put back together into one giant clump. A giant metal golem.

Izuku just smiled, "It would've been so much harder if you have kept them as they were."

The golem was insanely strong and had a large area of attack, but it was practically standing still next to Izuku's blurring motion.

With the area so freed up all of the sudden, it took Izuku only thirty seconds to find the three Magicians crouching over a small magic circle.

Before they could notice him, he yanked one away with Dominator's Touch, killing him with one blow, leaving only two targets. Two surprisingly unconcerned targets. In fact, Izuku almost felt bad as he dragged his claws against them, slicing their unresisting bodies to bits.

Then, all at once, the entire room of armor fell apart, leaving a panting Izuku Midoriya as the only living thing left. He fell to his knees, gauntlets hanging heavy against the ground, "It's over… right?" Thankfully, the System seemed to hear him.

[01:22:19]

[All the Villains in the room have been slain, the Quest will end now.]}

Several people in the room sighed in relief, relaxing in their seats.

{ [A Job will be granted after analyzing the Player's actions.]

"Granted? Do I not get to choose?" Izuku looked down at his arms and shrugged, "Based on my weapon of choice and Strength Stat, I bet I'll get Warrior, or maybe Tank." Mere moments later, Izuku was shown his fate.

[Wherever the Player goes, the Reaper follows.]

[The Player's path is littered with corpses and the smell of blood.]

Izuku raised his eyebrows, "What is this? It seems too dark to be something as simple as a Warrior."

[As the Player possesses strength, he does not leave anything to his teammates and overcomes everything with his own strength.]

[Your desire for strength burns strong enough to call those who wander the Valley of Death, and the Army of the Dead who follows your commands shall create a path where your voice will be the law and you would never need another's help again.]

"Wait… this can't be right… my Job is…?!"

[Your Job is Necromancer.]

"But… why?!" Izuku cried out, "I've barely touched my Intelligence Stat!"

[Will you refuse or accept?]

"I have a choice?" Izuku thought to himself for a moment, "To create an army… that's pretty alluring… but if they can't Level Up like I can, then they'll be worthless! I refuse!"

[Necromancer is a Hidden Class. Do you still wish to refuse?]

"Hidden class? Does that mean it's some super unique Skill?" Izuku felt like slapping himself, "Of course, it's unique, this entire situation is unique. And so far, the System hasn't led me astray so… I accept the Job!"

[Your Job has been chosen.]

[Based on the amount of points you obtained, you will be given a chance to promote to a superior Class.]

[You have reached the required play time.]

[Points will be added.]

[You did not use a Hearthstone.]

[Points will be added.]

[Final health is above 75%]

[Points will be added.]

[All enemies have been slain.]

[Points will be added.]

[The total points have exceeded the feat limit.]}

“Damn,” Shigaraki muttered.

{ Izuku flinched back as a wave of darkness and shadow rushed to envelop him in its embrace.

[You will be promoted from Necromance to Shadow Monarch.]

[You have learned a Job exclusive Skill.]

[You have obtained bonus Stats.]

[You have obtained the Title 'The One Who Overcame Adversity.']

Suddenly, Izuku felt rejuvenated. Like someone had poured adrenaline into his veins.

[Set Bonus 1: Amount of Shadows able to be extracted and saved increased by 30%]

"The Shadowsteel bonuses are revealing themselves?! Does this mean the System was trying to make me a Shadow Monarch this whole time?!"

[Set Bonus 2: Chance to succeed in extracting a Shadow increased by 50%]

"Shadows? That word keeps popping up. Is that what I call those I bring back from the dead?"

[Final Set Bonus: Active Skill: Appearance befitting a Ruler.]

Izuku's once invisible armor suddenly popped into existence, folding out from its original placements and covering all the empty space between the pieces. His Leggings folded down to create armored boots. His Chestplate expanded down his arms, connected to his gauntlets, and his Helm slunk downwards, forming an interlocking space of neck plating. Eventually, Izuku was completely covered, aside from his face, in the pure black armor.}

“Oh, so badass!”

{ Looking down, Izuku nodded to himself, "I definitely look evil!" He looked back at the System, "Active Skill? Does that mean I can turn it off?" After focusing for a moment, the armor became completely invisible once more and Izuku couldn't feel it. He sighed in relief. After all, once he finally returned to the Entrance Exam, he wouldn't be able to show off the armor since armor was not allowed. Like always his gauntlets remained visible.

Once his attention was finally turned back to the room at large, Izuku noticed a slew of the same messages.

[Shadow Extraction is available on this target.]

"Okay, there's no way Shadow Extraction is not for raising the dead."

[Please select your command phrase for Shadow Extraction.]

"Command phrase…" A hint of a smirk tugged at Izuku's lips and, relishing in the power he could bestow this word, he growled out, "ARISE."

The husks of armor erupted with movement as a dark, inky looking substance began pulling itself out of them. Within seconds, the blobs formed hands, and bodies, legs, and heads.}

“Spooky, man!”

All For One’s head tipped forward as though he were frowning as he raised a hand to his barely-defined chin in thought.

{ Before long, Izuku found himself looking at over 30 knight-shaped Shadow creatures, all with a nice blue glow to the eye gaps in their armor.

[Skill Shadow Extraction Lv. 1]

Job-Specific Skill

No Mana Required.

A Shadow Soldier is created from a body without life by taking out its Mana.

The chance of failure increases the higher the target's Stats are, and the more time passed since the target's death.

Shadows able to be extracted: 39/39

[Skill: Save Shadow Lv. 1]

Job-Specific Skill

No Mana Required

You absorb created Shadow Soldiers and save them.

Saved soldiers can be summoned and reabsorbed whenever and wherever the animator desires.

Saved Shadows: 0/26

[Shadow Infantry Lv. 1 Rank: Normal]

[Shadow Magician Lv. 1 Rank Elite]

"33 Infantry and 6 Magicians. Hmm… I can make 39 of these Shadows but only store 26 of them." Izuku was slightly disappointed by that limit, but another realization dispersed his lamenting. He spun around, laying eyes on the dead red armor of Igris. "If I can take him, then I'll basically have two A-Ranks in my party!"

[Shadow Extraction can be used on this target once one or more Shadow Soldiers have been sent to the World of Nothingness through Extraction Cancel.]

"Then I guess I'll have to remove the weakest fourteen in order to make room for Igris and Shadow Save the rest." Izuku bumped his fist against the nearest Infantry, "Sorry for calling you, but… Cancel Extraction on fourteen Infantry units."

As the Shadows melted away, falling into the ground and leaving no trace, the message gave him a warning.

[You cannot recall Shadows Soldiers that have been sent to Nothingness.]

Izuku nodded, "Kinda expected that one." Without wasting any more time, he stalked over to the red armor. "Arise."

For just a moment, Shadows peeked out of the gaps in the armor, as if trying to escape, but they quickly burst apart stumbling Izuku.

[You failed to extract the Shadow.]}

“Hmm,”

{ [Attempts remaining: 2]

Izuku scowled, "This one's not gonna be as easy I guess. He's far stronger than the others and has been dead for well over an hour. But I'm not gonna let him go like that… Arise."

[You failed to extract the Shadow.]

[Attempts remaining: 1]

Izuku sighed heavily and looked around, noticing the empty throne once more. This time, instead of commanding the dead body, he held out his hand, "Stop protecting the seat of someone long forgotten, and instead… serve me, Igris. ARISE."

Bakugo was glad that he had met the waste of space again, not that he would ever admit it of course.

He had felt so much disgust, so much anger, that it started seeping over into the Exam and he put more effort into using his abilities than ever before.}

The Bakugou in the theatre winced. He was privately glad he’d become better than that.

{ "I'll be stronger than anyone else has the right to be! I'll surpass even All Might and show everyone that I'm not some wimp who needs to be rescued!"

It was that anger, that annoyance that now coursed through his veins and built up a powerful explosion for the robot in front of him. They were so weak they were barely even worth the effort.

But, before he could unleash his might, Bakugo watched in disbelief as a dark, Shadow creature raced past the robot, splitting it in half with a sword.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" He screamed out, landing on the robot's corpse and looking around, almost shocked to see that more than two dozen of these creatures were dancing around the battlefield, stealing kills left and right.}

Razor cackled again.

{ Using his explosions, Bakugo shot himself into the air, scanning the surrounding area, befuddled by the six Shadow Magicians and Igris standing next to him. "It's just some other extra protecting him… right? Someone who feels bad for his helplessness!"}

“Oh, if only,” Razor said quietly. “But he’ll learn soon enough.”

{ Of course, Bakugo couldn't have been further from the truth.

Back on the ground, Izuku admired the efficiency of his army as he watched from a distance, his Magician's casting Blaze Magic at anything that came close to him.

Upon exiting the Dungeon, he had popped out right where he had entered the portal time resuming seconds later.

"Igris?" Izuku asked, "Aren't you bored watching your fellow knights fight?"

Igris was absolutely the most striking, visually, of all the Shadow minions. His cape hung over his back like a waterfall of darkness and his cool blue eyes were enough to unnerve even Izuku. And yet, all he did was hold a hand up to his chest.

He couldn't speak, but Izuku knew what he meant by it. Izuku had given orders to everyone but Igris, instead telling him to, "Do what you want." And it appeared his choice was to remain at Izuku's side. Although, he wouldn't be there long.

Like a bunker buster going off, one of the streets and its nearby buildings exploded into dust as the enormous 20 pointer rose from the ground, spraying rubble and debris every which way. In fact, one of these enormous pieces of concrete came roaring towards Izuku, and yet, he chose not to move.

He chose not to move because he had no need to. Without being asked, Igris appeared in front of him, his once shattered longsword, rebuilt into the Shadow blade that sliced the debris into four chunks that fell to the sides of Izuku. Izuku was impressed, he had barely felt any wind or anything.

Igris, now kneeling in front of Izuku, looked up to him for orders.

"Igris, I want you to rescue anyone who may be endangered by that 20-pointer Villain. I'm interested in a test of your real strength, but for now, I'm really itching to see just how strong I can be."

Igris dipped his head lower for just a moment, acknowledging his orders before standing and racing off towards the voice of a rather panicked girl. One trapped under rubble and mere moments away from being crushed by the robot's fist.

Izuku found himself racing close behind the Knight, his right fist warming itself up for the strongest attack he had ever manifested.

As Igris crouched down to pull the heavy rubble off the bob-cut brunette, Izuku heaved back his arm, taking a deep breath moments before the Villain's attack arrived.

[Skill: Overwhelming Strength has activated.]

[Skill: Mechanical Destruction has activated.]

Izuku heard a hiss of air escape his demonic gauntlet as his fist shot forwards, meeting the Villain's head-on.

For just a moment, Izuku could've sworn the world was quiet, perfectly quiet. And then, it exploded. Thankfully Igris had already gotten the girl free and raced away from his Liege, because otherwise, she might've been outright killed by the force of Izuku's punch.}

“Huh,” Uraraka said. “I guess some things just don’t change, hey.”

{ It was so strong that the Villain's arm was completely torn off, launched back at its own head, decapitating itself. Fortunately, the robot was on tank treads, so it didn't completely collapse over the city, causing even more damage.

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

Letting out a heavy breath, Izuku looked down in awe at his gauntlets, "Oh yeah… I'm definitely keeping you guys." Upon turning around, he found Igris before him once more, this time, holding the girl in his arms, presenting her to him.

"I asked you to save her for me, not… nevermind." Izuku took the girl's hand and helped lower her to the ground just as the PA system came on.

"The time allotted for the Exam has now been expended! If you are in need of medical assistance, please see Recovery Girl, who is now making her way onto the battlegrounds! If you do not require medical assistance, you are free to make your way back to the buses, your results will be mailed to you within the coming week!"

Izuku wanted to laugh at Present Mic's overly excited announcement, it was a breath of fresh air compared to his middle school's announcements. But before he could do that, he asked the girl, "Are you hurt?"

The girl was too shell-shocked to respond, a light blush dusting her face. Although, much to his surprise, Izuku was certain she was blushing over the way Igris had saved and carried her.}

Mina snorted as Uraraka choked on her drink, her face rapidly turning a dark shade of pink.

{ "Good for… Igris?"

The girl finally returned to reality as Izuku asked again and she shook her head, "J-Just a little bruising, thank you."

"That's go-"

"DEKU!"}

“Ah shit, here we go again.”

Jirou smacked Kaminari upside the head.

{ Sensing danger, Igris immediately put himself between Izuku, the girl and whatever was coming their way. It was so quick, even by Izuku's standards, that he only managed to catch the tail end of the explosion that blew off Igris's arms.

Using up Izuku's Mana, the arms quickly recovered, but it was too late to stem Izuku's fury at whoever had attacked them. And who else would be so daring as Katsuki Bakugo?

"Igris?" The knight turned to his master, "Show me what you can do." Igris nodded as the remaining 19 Infantry and 6 Magicians crowded back to him, prepared to defend Izuku at all costs.

Leveling his sword at the teen, Igris prepared to dash forwards, ready to kill if need be.

Bakugo himself wasted no time ignoring the Knight and instead chose to launch himself at Izuku, Igris moving to intercept, but no one ended up reaching their targets.

A bright form fell from the sky, crashing down in between all three fighters, stumbling them, "There is no fighting between examinees! Do you know why?" A boisterous voice asked before a hand cut through the dust obscuring his form, "Because it is against school rules!" All Might cried out.}

Aizawa groaned, hiding a grin behind his capture weapon as Yagi facepalmed. Loudly. “Must you be so dramatic?”

“Yes, apparently I must.”

{ "Hmm," Izuku muttered, nonplussed by the situation on the outside, but fanboying on the inside, "I guess I'll just have to wait to see what you can do for another time, Igris. Sorry." Igris bowed low as Izuku used Save Shadow to disperse the surrounding Shadow Soldiers, leaving only him, the girl, Bakugo, and All Might.

"Hold on there Young Midoriya!" All Might belted out, "We must sort this out! We cannot have bad blood between our two best scorers!"

But Izuku waved him off with a heavy heart, wishing nothing more than to stay and talk to one of his favorite Heroes, "Sorry, but we'll have to do this some other time. I have a parent-teacher conference to attend for my sister."

All Might seemed to recoil for a moment, "Ah! My apologies! That is very responsible of you Young Midoriya! I do hope we can talk at a later date of course!"

Izuku felt an honest smile creep back onto his face, "Of course!"}

The theatre swiftly settled, and the next chapter loaded.

Now Playing . . .

Chapter Text

Hello there!

Terribly sorry to have to announce this, but due to reasons (the USB I was keeping my drafts on wiping itself) I will be marking all of my current works as complete and rewriting/reworking them as I see fit until I (hopefully) have them finished and/or to a point where I am capable of continuing them without falling as far behind on updates as I have.

That said, THESE WORKS ARE NOT ABANDONED

The only works that I have abandoned have been sorted into a collection that marks them as such.

I’m sorry that I have to do this, but I am struggling under the self-imposed pressure and the dynamic shift that is graduating High School, so this is the best option for my mental health. If all goes well (praying to any deity willing to listen that I don’t jinx myself with this) I’ll be back with new (and re-worked) chapters in a few months.

Chapter Text

Hey guys

Sorry about the radio silence the last while, I promise I am working on my stories. They’re just not at a point where I feel comfortable posting them yet. 

I had hoped that I wouldn’t have to make this announcement, but apparently needs must. 

I am a spiteful person. I will make no effort to be shy about that fact nor to hide it; I see no point in it. Having said this, I feel it prudent to point out that there is a reason some of my fics have a request not to ask about/beg for updates. It will encourage aforementioned spiteful streak and delay any likely updates. 

Now, I will say that I was lining up some chapters that I was going to release this month. That is no longer happening. You can thank one specific commenter for that. That said, coming into my comments and saying things like ‘abandoned fic’ or ‘be real, this will never update’ will also delay chapters by way of killing any motivation I might have previously had. 

Do not give me reason to turn off the comments.