"...It’s huge."
That was my impression as I stood before the mock city prepared for the practical exam.
Over the past ten months, my training had progressed smoothly.
Maybe it was because of that, but unlike my previous life, when I had been about the average height for a Japanese middle schooler, I had grown past 190 centimeters. As if that were not enough, I had also gained muscles so packed they could rival even those of most Enhancement-type Quirk users, despite not exercising all that intensely.
Of course, in a world crawling with Mutant-types and people with wildly distinctive appearances, someone who looked like me was plain of plain.
I did not know whether I had accumulated as much power or proficiency as the original characters yet, but surely I had reached the point where I could at least call myself a [Hamon Warrior].
‘Though thanks to that, I had less time to focus on studying and nearly failed the written exam...’
For now, I calmed my breathing and looked around.
There were at least dozens—possibly hundreds—of people gathered here, so it was difficult to check everyone’s faces. Still, I searched for the supporting characters from the original story—the people whose passing was practically guaranteed.
Unless I was viewing this as a reader of the original or an outsider taking another high school’s entrance exam, every one of them was essentially my rival.
‘At least Iida isn’t here...’
But this was reality, not a story in a manga.
Once 2D drawings became 3D reality, it was difficult to tell exactly who was who with just a quick glance like this.
Still, perhaps because the characters in the story had such distinctive looks, there were a few people I thought I could identify if I looked closely enough.
Like Kirishima and Tetsutetsu.
‘Those two ended up at the same test site too...’
If there was one consolation, it was that Iida, whom I had known from before, was not assigned to the same block as me.
‘Why did Ingenium not have Iida take the recommendation entrance exam when he has a Quirk perfectly suited to the obstacle course?’
We were both examinees, and we had grown fairly close since that day—close enough to become good friends. But Iida was one of the few characters, along with Todoroki, who had been clearly revealed to come from a Hero family.
He would have different know-how from us when it came to training his Quirk.
Since Todoroki was a recommendation applicant, Iida was precisely the person I needed to be most wary of here and now.
"Kyo-o-o..."
Slowly drawing out my Hamon, I took the running starting stance I had learned from Iida and stared at the enormous gate that would soon open.
The people around me either snickered at what I was doing or gave me strange looks, but the practical exam was literally a first-come, first-served contest to see who could earn the most points.
Since I did not have a speed-type Quirk, I had to dash out even a little faster than everyone else.
"All right, start!!!"
Just as I finished all my preparations, Present Mic’s voice rang out with perfect timing.
At that sound, I sprinted forward with all my strength.
"What’s wrong with you!? In the real world, there’s no countdown!!!"
Even counting me, only enough people to count on one hand sprang out the instant we heard Present Mic’s start signal. The other examinees rushed out belatedly after his shout, but it was already too late.
When dozens of people crowded together, their speed naturally slowed.
Of course, considering that we would soon scatter in all directions, this might only be a minor difference.
That was why I had to use this small opportunity to establish a solid lead.
"Target acquired! I’ll smash it!!!"
The first mock villain I encountered after the exam began.
It was worth only one point, but simply being the first to face a villain ahead of the others was enough.
"Out of my way!!!"
Boom!!!
The robot’s head shattered from a single punch infused with Hamon.
Having lost its head, the robot paused, twitched for a moment, and then completely stopped functioning.
It looked sturdy enough on the outside, but this was merely a mock villain built for an exam.
A one-point robot was flimsy and crude enough that someone with a well-trained body could defeat it without much difficulty.
Of course, it was true that two- and three-point robots were tough enough that they would be difficult to break without using a Quirk—but I had a way around that too.
"Just as I thought... the head is the main thing..."
Hamon was, at its core, a technique for use against living creatures.
Its effect on robots, which were not living organisms, was negligible.
But what if they had electronic components sensitive to external stimuli, like a CPU?
And what if those components were precise and complex enough to operate these massive robots?
Then pouring powerful Hamon into them would be more than enough to make them malfunction.
"Kyo-o-o-o..."
Crackle!!!
The familiar sound of Hamon flowing.
Whenever my hand touched a mock villain’s head, it would lose control of its body and collapse, like a boxer whose sense of balance had been knocked away by a clean hit.
It was essentially a temporary system shutdown, of course, but this exam judged points based not on “destruction,” but on “incapacitation.”
And with only around ten minutes to spare, they probably would not be able to move again before the exam ended.
"All right... shall I keep going?"
The important thing was to aim accurately for their heads.
Leaving the villains that had already collapsed behind me, I steadied my breathing and ran off in search of more.
**
Meanwhile, in the control room, where the examinees were being observed through CCTV cameras installed throughout the test site.
"YEAH!!! What the hell is that guy!?!?"
Present Mic, watching the examinees alongside the other teachers, finally could not contain himself and shouted at the screen.
Ichijo Ryusuke appeared on the monitor.
As he made the robots drop one after another like puppets with their strings cut whenever he touched them, even the teachers aside from Present Mic wore fairly startled expressions.
"Is that some kind of restraining Quirk?"
"I like it. He isn’t even breaking the robots! Maybe we’ll get less grief from upstairs about wasting taxpayer money this year!"
"..."
The Heroes exchanged opinions over his unflashy, seemingly plain yet utterly overwhelming progress.
Among them, only one person—Class 1-A’s homeroom teacher and Pro Hero Eraser Head, Aizawa Shota—watched him with an uneasy expression.
"What’s wrong, Shota? You look pretty unhappy."
"No. I look no different than usual."
"Really? If you say so, then I guess that’s how it is."
The other Heroes spoke to him.
Of course, most of them were too busy grading the other examinees, including Ryusuke on the screen, to talk with him.
"Anyway, what kind of Quirk does that guy even have? Until just now, he was dealing with robots, but now he’s treating the other examinees. I have no clue."
"...He’s Quirkless."
"...What?"
Even while speaking with Aizawa, the man could not take his eyes off the screen. He watched Ryusuke, who had now begun treating people in earnest, and muttered. Aizawa quietly answered him.
But perhaps the person who heard that answer had not caught it properly—or perhaps his brain simply needed time to process what he had heard—because he stared blankly at Aizawa with a dazed look on his face.
"No!!! Wait a—"
"Be quiet. You’re interfering with the grading."
Only after about three seconds did he finally seem to understand. Just as he was about to cry out, Aizawa covered his mouth and glared at him.
Fortunately, it seemed no one besides Present Mic, who was sensitive to sound, had heard his scream.
"I heard all of that just now!!! So what do you mean he’s Quirkless, Aizawa!?"
"Yeah! There’s no way someone Quirkless could do that! It looked to me like his body was glowing a little!!!"
"I told you to be quiet... Anyway, according to the documents, he is Quirkless. His last Quirk factor test was approximately ten months ago."
The two looked at him with expressions so stupid they hardly seemed fitting for Pro Heroes, as if they could not believe Aizawa’s words.
But the documents Aizawa handed them clearly stated that Ryusuke was Quirkless.
After reading through all the documents, the two instead took on grave expressions.
"Seriously...? Is this really okay? Falsely reporting your Quirk is a serious crime, you know?"
"It would be one thing if he misunderstood his Quirk’s effects... but failing to report an awakened Quirk..."
"Well... we’ll have to wait and see."
Unlike the two flustered Heroes, Aizawa still wore an uneasy expression, but he watched the monitor quite calmly.
However, with a situation like this having arisen, it had become essential to conduct an interview with Ichijo Ryusuke before confirming the examinees’ admissions.
As Class 1-A’s homeroom teacher and the holder of the [Erasure] Quirk in case anything happened, he was obligated to attend that interview without fail. His face was already haggard with exhaustion.
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