The giant robot was imposing, its sheer size radiating an intimidating aura.
That is—if the man facing it weren’t Todoroki.
"So this is the fake villain they use for the entrance exam," he remarked coolly.
Even as the robot rose, its shadow stretching over him, he remained unfazed.
A clumsy, lumbering machine was an easy target.
"I expected something a bit more impressive," he mused.
The floor began to freeze, starting from his right foot.
Todoroki slowly lowered his hand as the ice spread out in concentric circles beneath him.
His outstretched palm moved forward, parting the chill that rose like a veil around him.
Along the arc traced by his hand, ice burst forth and surged upward in an explosive cascade.
By the time his hand stilled, the giant robot before him was frozen mid-reach—a colossal block of ice.
"Because that bastard of a father is watching," he muttered.
With one sweeping gesture, he had sculpted a massive ice statue, then charged forward without hesitation.
"Kirishima, was it?"
As he threaded his way between the robot’s legs, he recalled how Kirishima had already surged ahead at a breakneck pace.
Todoroki didn’t know much about Kirishima.
All he had heard was the name—and that he was strong.
But that was hardly all there was to know.
The only glimpse Todoroki had of him in battle was during combat training, where Kirishima simply weathered every attack with unwavering determination.
During an earlier villain ambush, all Todoroki saw was Kirishima driving back the Nomu at blinding speed—even though by then, Kirishima had sustained injuries that left him unable to truly fight.
"Oh! We have a winner! A little anticlimactic, perhaps, but first place is first place! The rest of you, step it up!"
"Is that guy losing his mind from feeling this way all the time?"
Just then, Present Mic’s booming voice declared that first place had been decided.
He cared little about the identity of the winner.
The only one to beat Todoroki was Kirishima.
From the Quirk assessment test through this grueling event, every display Todoroki had witnessed was merely a glimpse of Kirishima’s power—one that was utterly out of reach.
For a moment, he even began to understand how his damn father, having felt that same sentiment time and again, had warped into such a miserable figure.
"No, that still doesn’t add up," he admitted through gritted teeth.
Todoroki bit his lip at the absurd thought.
Regardless of one’s abilities, nothing could ever excuse what that man had done.
That was why he was determined to crush his father’s legacy and rise to the top using only the strength his mother had bestowed upon him.
Even though he’d already lost this round, there would be plenty more chances ahead.
Without pausing a step, he pressed forward, determined to at least secure the seat adjacent to the throne.
"He stopped!"
"There’s a gap between the legs!"
Meanwhile, the other students—temporarily halted by the robots trailing behind—lit up at the sight of Todoroki’s handiwork.
Simultaneously, they all raced toward the newly opened path.
Yet the robot, frozen in an unstable posture, toppled forward abruptly.
Seeing this, Present Mic roared with excitement.
"1-A Todoroki! One move for both breakthrough and obstruction! That’s electrifying! Sure, first place was achieved in a nontraditional way, but it still puts him in the lead! Absolutely devious!"
"A rational and strategic action," someone observed.
"Exactly what you’d expect from a recommended admission student! An elite who wouldn’t even let the Robo Inferno he faced during his debut get close!"
In the midst of the chaos, Midoriya, lingering in the crowd, eyed the cluster of robots barring the way and was suddenly reminded of the entrance exam.
Back then, even though they were just robots, his fear had rendered him immobile.
Compared to that long-ago hesitation, his earlier uncertainty when smashing the first robot now felt like ages past.
This time, Midoriya charged ahead without a moment’s hesitation.
Ducking low in mid-stride to evade a snapping claw, he tore off the top plate as he barreled past.
Riding that momentum, he dodged the robots’ onslaught and surged relentlessly forward.
At that moment, Tetsutetsu—previously pinned beneath a collapsing giant robot—burst out from the rear of the wreckage.
"Ugh! Are all the Class A guys this annoying? I’d be dead if it weren’t for me!"
"Whoa! Tetsutetsu from Class B! He got completely flattened! That’s just hilarious!"
Unperturbed by the roaring commentary echoing through the stadium, Tetsutetsu kept sprinting.
Though the arena was in chaos, his only concern was to keep running—no matter what.
Observing this, Kaminari couldn’t hide his envious grin.
"Lucky them! Those guys can charge right through without worrying about getting crushed!"
"Let’s stick together and clear the path!"
Someone from Class B shouted.
At that very moment, as if to refute the call, an explosion erupted behind them.
Bakugo soared into the air, propelled by explosions erupting from his palms.
"You think I’m gonna let you get ahead of me? Think again!"
"1-A Bakugo! If the ground won’t do, you're taking to the skies—clever move!"
Following his lead, Sero and Tokoyami each activated their Quirks to vault over the giant robots.
They leapt over the machines in Bakugo’s wake.
From the stands, Snipe commented coolly, "Just as expected—most of the frontrunners are from Class A, aside from the one who clinched first place."
"The other departments and Class B aren’t bad either. It’s just that..."
"...they only spend less time getting stuck," another added.
Aizawa, serving as commentator, muttered as if he’d caught every word.
Just as he noted, Class A was bulldozing its way through the chaos—each student unleashing their Quirk with fearless determination.
"Those who survived the USJ incident and felt the upper world on their skin firsthand, those whose fear has been etched into them, those who adapted and persevered—each is using their experience to overcome hesitation."
Midoriya, now grouped with his fellow Class A runners, gritted his teeth and thought,
"Even if I channel One For All in my legs, I can only push it three or four times—maybe five. In my arms, at best twice. I can’t unleash One For All at the start. I just have to break through!"
Using the armor plates he had ripped away—sometimes as a shield, sometimes as a weapon—he forged ahead amid a series of deafening blasts that sent giant robots crashing one after another.
Instinctively, Midoriya glanced behind him.
There, a Vulcan cannon spat out shells amid a shower of sparks.
"Yaoyorozu!"
"It’s nothing special," came the cool reply.
She had unfastened the front of her uniform to set up the cannon, but paid no mind as she kept running.
As the robots finally collapsed and the path cleared, everyone surged forward through the swirling dust.
"She cleared zero points that easily? As expected of a recommended admission student!"
Snipe calmly assessed the scene.
"During the entrance exam, those obstacles were meant to be avoided. But if you treat them as targets to knock down, they're nothing more than slow piles of scrap metal. There's always an opening."
Amid the chaos, All Might spotted Midoriya and murmured to himself,
"I pushed you even when I knew it was impossible. It's okay if it's close—just make it through!"
Whether consciously or not, Midoriya pressed on among the others without a hint of slowing down.
When he finally reached the second gate, the students came to a sudden halt, as if by mutual agreement.
Present Mic’s teasing voice rang out,
"Hey, hey! The first gate was a piece of cake! Now how about the second? Fall and you’re out! If you don’t like that, crawl! THE FALL!"
Across a vast cliff, ropes stretched between towering pillars.
While Uraraka muttered in confusion, Tsuyu stepped forward.
"When on earth did they build something like this? Eh, Tsuyu!"
"Ribbit!"
She leapt high and landed with perfect balance on the slender rope.
With agile, rapid movements of her arms and legs, she advanced with steady confidence.
"What a grand bit of tightrope walking," she remarked.
"Fast!"
Uraraka and Ashido were still admiring the scene when a piercing gaze fell upon them from behind.
Turning around, they found Hatsume—clad head to toe in an absurd amount of equipment.
Her eyes alight with determination, she shouted, "Flash! I'm here! I'm here! Time to shine—my support items are about to steal the show! Behold, support companies nationwide! Wire Arrow and Hover Sole!"
"A support student?"
"You can bring items in?"
At Ashido’s query, Hatsume replied proudly,
"Hero students train for real combat, right? To keep it fair, we can only use equipment we’ve developed ourselves—like our costumes. For support students, this is our chance to impress companies with our ideas and development skills!"
As she spoke, a wedge attached to the short barrel at her waist fired out, carrying a rope.
Using the wedge anchored in a solid pillar, Hatsume leapt without hesitation into the unseen abyss below.
"Now, look! A big-name company, if possible! My ridiculously adorable baby!"
As the rope was drawn into the bag on her back, pulling her rapidly toward the pillar, a burst of air from her shoe soles propelled her upward with minimal resistance.
Laughing wildly, she vaulted over the pillar while Uraraka shouted toward the cliff in defiance,
"I'm not losing!"
"It looks like every student is fighting tooth and nail for a chance, Eraser Head!"
"What are those idiots doing, just standing there?"
While Aizawa’s irritation simmered, Todoroki froze the rope and slid across it to clear the second gate.
Behind him, Bakugo soared in hot pursuit, blasting from his palms once more.
In the stands, the giant screen displayed Todoroki—clearly in the lead.
Strictly speaking, it should have shown Kirishima—the true frontrunner—but why display someone yawning after finishing?
It was far better to showcase Todoroki, who was spectacularly breaking through every obstacle.
"The guy in the lead is overwhelming, isn’t he? Ah, excluding the one who got there first,"
"His Quirk is powerful, no doubt—but his physical prowess and judgment are on a different level... again, excluding the one who arrived first,"
"Well, of course. That kid is the son of the Flame Hero Endeavor! Though I suppose I should leave out that Kirishima kid when I say it."
"Let’s just agree to keep saying 'excluding the one who got there first.' Besides, he comes from the bloodline of the top two heroes after All Might—makes perfect sense!"
As the crowd buzzed over Todoroki’s display, Midoriya advanced swiftly along the ropes.
In moments like these, he was grateful for the training he’d received with Kirishima, which had honed his ability to control his body.
Meanwhile, Todoroki had already reached the final gate.
Present Mic’s commentary rang out,
"And here we are at the final gate! So what is it? The entire floor is a minefield! Look closely and you can spot the mines—use every bit of your eyes and feet!"
"Kirishima just breezed through it,"
Even as he commentated, Present Mic eyed the momentarily halted Todoroki and mused silently.
Todoroki wasn’t slow by any means—but Kirishima was simply too overwhelming.
When it came to raw combat ability, few teachers could even come close.
That is, unless you counted All Might as a complete exception.
"An exception, huh."
For a moment, he found himself thinking that Kirishima bore a striking resemblance to All Might.
Not in terms of raw athleticism, but in the unmistakable way they stood far ahead of everyone else.
Even though All Might himself seemed to favor Midoriya over Kirishima,
he pushed the thought aside and continued into the mic.
"I think I've said this before, but since only one person heard me, let me repeat: the mines are designed for the event—they don’t pack much power, but the sound and effects are mind-blowing. You might just piss yourself!"
"That depends on the person," came the measured reply.
While Todoroki blazed through the minefield ahead, the runners behind him stepped into it one after another.
Many ended up triggering mines and were engulfed by explosions.
As Todoroki darted his feet relentlessly, he thought,
"I see—this obstacle favors those in the lead. They really know how to put on a show."
Then Bakugo streaked in horizontally, his palms erupting with raw energy.
"Doesn't matter to me! You idiot! Don't mistake who you're declaring war on!"
Instead of merely overtaking Todoroki, he chose to launch an attack.
Even as Todoroki evaded the incoming strike, Present Mic continued his excited commentary.
"And now, the lead has changed! Rejoice, mass media—this is the kind of twist you all live for!"
Ignoring the commentary, Bakugo and Todoroki resumed their fierce rivalry, exchanging blows as they charged ahead.
Then a massive explosion erupted from behind them.
The blast banged against their eardrums, and as a wave of pink smoke spread across the minefield, someone was hurled upward by the force.
It was Midoriya, still clutching the armor plates he’d hauled all the way here.
"I’m glad Kirishima got ahead so I could listen to Present Mic’s play-by-play. Thanks to that, I cooked up a plan to harness the mines’ power. Otherwise, I’d have ditched these pesky armor plates," he thought.
"A huge explosion from the rear! What was that power—an accident or deliberate? Midoriya of Class A is charging like a storm! He’s passed them!"
Midoriya arced downward at a terrifying speed.
He clenched his teeth.
"I flew exactly as planned, but the momentum is insane—and I didn’t even plan for the landing!"
"Deku! Don’t run ahead of me!"
"Tch. I’ll clear a path for those behind me, but I’ve got no time to worry about them now."
As Midoriya soared past, Bakugo and Todoroki ceased their exchange and turned forward once again.
Both Bakugo and Todoroki unleashed their Quirks with desperate intensity.
Midoriya caught sight of them chasing him; their speed had begun to wane at his heels.
Desperately, he racked his brain to avoid being caught.
"Danger—I’m slowing down. Of course I am. At this rate, they’ll overtake me soon enough. With the time lost from landing, there’s no way to re-overtake them. Damn it—but I’m not about to let this one chance slip by!"
As Bakugo and Todoroki passed him, Midoriya spun, grabbed the cable attached to the armor plate, and swung it down toward the ground.
The broad plate triggered several mines at once.
Soon, a large explosion rocked the field—though not as colossal as his previous blast.
He released the plate, absorbing the force of the explosion with his whole body as he launched forward.
Luckily, he executed a clean roll upon landing, quickly recovered, and continued sprinting.
Impressed by how Midoriya managed both to thwart his pursuers and accelerate simultaneously, Present Mic roared with enthusiasm,
"Midoriya Izuku! Not giving them any room and keeping those behind in check! He swept through the minefield like it wasn’t even there! Eraser Head, your class is insane! What exactly are you teaching these kids?"
"I think you asked that earlier—but I didn’t do a thing. They just caught fire on their own," came the deadpan reply.
"U.A. Sports Festival! Stage 1! Who could have predicted an ending like this from the very start?"
Present Mic continued his rapid-fire commentary, seemingly oblivious to Aizawa’s quiet protest.
Aizawa bristled for a moment, but chose not to interrupt at such a critical time.
"And now—the man who returned to the stadium first of all—Midoriya Izuku!"
Emerging from a dark tunnel into a flood of colorful paper and roaring cheers, Midoriya found himself celebrated.
Bent over for a moment with his hands on his knees, he paused to catch his breath.
Then, straightening up and lifting his head, he saw All Might applauding from afar.
Overwhelmed with pride, he clenched his fist.
Just then, a large hand settled on his shoulder.
It was Kirishima—seated in a chair on the side of the stadium under staff supervision.
"This atmosphere is odd, but... congratulations, I guess. Am I the idiot here for not catching on?"
"Huh?"
Only then did Midoriya murmur in a daze.
Something was wrong.
"Ah."
Even the cheers, which had surged with Present Mic’s final cry, began to fade away.
Then the stadium remembered:
The real winner of this event had arrived long ago.
Even though Todoroki and Bakugo had raced neck and neck through the course, silence pervaded.
Kirishima laughed in disbelief at the spectacle, while a cold wind swept over everyone.
Stage 1 had ended in utter chaos.
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