3 Preparation for UA

I woke up to a white ceiling, lying on a bed. It seems like a hospital room. Never slept at one until now as long as you don't count the school health office psychiatric ward but the less said about that the better. My diet and activity weren't healthy; my below-average physical capability and not knowing my limits often translates to trips towards the health office after PE class, half the time with blood from a cut injury or nosebleed and the other half dead tired on my feet from exerting too much effort.

Looking around the room there are four other people within this white room. The principal of the school himself, the 1-A homeroom teacher, the healer granny, and a plain-looking man. The first three were recognizable to me, but the fourth was an unknown. I wonder…

"The sky is green."

The man twitched in response to my words. I suppose he might have a lie-detection quirk. How fun. Then I suppose the staff is on guard against me. Maybe they also intend to interrogate me as well. If so I would commend them for doing things so carefully, were it not for the fact this would be a pain in the ass for me to handle.

While thinking such thoughts a strange sound entered my earbuds. Looking towards the source I saw the headmaster who seems to be faking a polite cough. Honestly, having a mouse that has a super-intelligence quirk as a school principal is such a bizarre concept to me.

And yes you did not hear me wrong. The headmaster is a mouse. There are rare cases where an animal gains a quirk. Quite fitting mice would have a few quirk users considering they have an extremely high birth rate and therefore a larger chance of at least a few attaining a quirk.

"Konbanwa, guai wa dou deshouka?" {Good afternoon, how is your health?)

"Nantonaku heiki desu. Daga nihongo no wa nigate nano de, eigo wo tsukattemo iin desu kah?" (Somewhat fine. But I am not good at Japanese, so can we use English instead?)

The headmaster nodded. Thank god for bilingual geniuses. This would have been a lot more troublesome if the mouse didn't know English. Well, not so much trouble as more inconvenient considering they probably can have someone be a translator, but there is just something more to behold when you talk to another human in person. Well, I guess I should replace 'Human' with 'Socially Cognizant beings' in this case considering my conversation partner is a hyper-intelligent mouse.

"Can we ask you a few questions?"

"Feel free."

I intend to try tackling his questions honestly, though the answers he wants the most are likely to be ones I will keep close to heart. I have zero intention of revealing this world was merely a fiction in my original world. Doing so is never a good idea unless you fully trust the other party, and even then it might still be a bad idea.

"Firstly let us introduce ourselves. My name is Nezu, the headmaster of U.A."

I opened my mouth, yet no words came out. Not because I was unable to speak but rather because there was no name to speak of. A name is something vital for a person. That is their identity, something they have from the moment of their birth until their death. However, why is it that I cannot remember my name?

System, I know you can hear me. I cannot recall my name. What did you do to me?

[…]

[Rankers have many rules binding them. One of them is whenever a Ranker is teleported to and from Ranker Arena, they will forget vital memories relating to their identity so that no Ranker can use it against one another during their time on earth outside Ranker Arena]

I never even heard of this 'Ranker Arena' before this. Its functions could easily be guessed from its name alone but I cannot recall going there at all. I have never gone to such a place unless said Ranker Arena also removes its existence from my memory.

[That is exactly the current problem. The system checked that you teleported to another dimension, and assumed you were going to the Ranker Arena, thereby erasing your memories. This was an error in our part]

Fix the damn system.

[Doing so would be overstepping beyond my authority, but please be assured as there is undoubtedly a way to regain them]

Then hurry it up.

[When rankers are teleported back from Ranker Arena their memories will be returned]

And how am I supposed to go there?

[Sadly that information is beyond your paygrade. I have risked breaking our rules already by giving you information regarding the Ranker Arena. However please be assured you will go there sooner or later]

"If you can't answer—

"No, I simply have no recollection of it."

That was not a lie, even if it sounds farfetched. On any other case, I would have made a believable lie but this time around there is no way I could successfully fool them through that means, as there is a lie-detector hanging around. The gaze of every person whose true identity mattered went towards the lie-detector. Said man nodded in affirmation before looking at me with a strange expression set on his face.

What, you never saw an amnesiac child before?

"Selective amnesia?"

My attention went back to principal Nezu who was looking also at me with a strange gaze. And so do the other two people in this room. Damn, is having retrograde amnesia that crazy? Maybe I should take a different route then.

"No. Memory erasure. Not by choice either."

There we go. I will give them that information for free. It is the truth but it doesn't matter all that much. For now, I need to make sure they believe my words rather than trying to hide all my cards. All my efforts would be wasted if they distrust me for lying to them.

System, I want a simple question answered. Can I reveal any information about you? Mainly things such as your existence itself.

[No. Any Rankers who tries to do so will have their Ranker capability revoked along with anything they gain from it]

Lovely. I would have lied to them either way so this is a weight off my conscience. As I said before I have zero intention of revealing sensitive information relating to my identity, not that I have much of them left after the System robbed many of such memories from me.

"Are you being chased?" Huh. So Aizawa knows English as well.

"Nort right now. Maybe in the future, but even then I doubt they can reach here."

I might become an enemy to other Rankers in the future depending on how the Ranker System works. My current location is literally another freaking dimension away though, so I cannot see them coming for me in large waves. If it's merely one or two Rankers then I am sure this world can handle them without my involvement.

I looked towards Ah well, here it goes again

Oh the System can you let me see my quest?

[Tutorial Quest: Evolve a dimensional Skill.]

[Rank Quest: Reach Rank 2]

[Limit Quest 4: Have 4 Rank(4) Skill]

[Quest: Join U.A.]

Thanks.

Well, I have no clue whatsoever about the first, second and third quest, but the fourth is something I can do right away. There is no need to hesitate. Regretting my past actions wouldn't fix the problem itself even if I could learn from those mistakes. Once more, for the third time.

"Umm… May I join UA?"

*Aizawa PoV*

…What crap is this kid spouting?

"I assure you none of us will be capable of contacting my relatives or guardian anymore, and I also have nothing to my name. Or rather I don't even have a name."

The kid said those words without blinking, as if not knowing his own identity was the most normal thing in the world. Something was disturbing about the way he casual mentioned these bad news rapid-fire style. But if he thought pity would help him enter UA then he is making a big mistake.

"Therefore I don't have so many choices in stock. If I wish to have a roof above my head then my best bet would be either villainy or scholarship. Maybe adoption, but I would just escape if that were the case. I'm not exactly suited for familial love you see."

Does the kid think hero school is a playing ground? Not to mention he just implied going rogue and turn into villainy if we don't give him a scholarship. That was a threat if I ever heard of one. Such an attitude does not fit with the image of a hero if you ask me. If that was the kid's way of convincing us to recruit him then he is doing a bad job with this attempt.

"Do you know how many kids apply to this school every year? It is always in the hundreds. Yet only a few successfully manage to join through both training and talent. What makes you better than any of them?"

"I defeated the giant robot."

Right, there was that abnormal feat he achieved yesterday. Making a type-4 robot stumble and fall, before incapacitating it by removing an integral part of its inner machinery. But by doing so he ended up fainting in the middle of battle. That decision of his was nothing but stupidity. If he wanted to defeat the large Type-4 then he should have searched for allies among other applicants. Let's not mention destroying the type-4 was utterly meaningless in terms of whether he would pass the initiation or not.

Ignoring what should be the most efficient route just because he wanted to attain some achievement, another reason as to why he would be a bad hero if he tried to become one.

"Before instantly fainting afterward. Left in such conditions anyone can easily kidnap or even kill you."

There are way too many vigilantes and criminals around the world even if you cut them down by half. Too many death and injuries. That is the reason I would never visit America a second time after my first experience there. That place is a haven for vigilantes. So much chaos every day. Though I'll admit Quirks are perceived better there than here, where everything relating to quirk-usage other than self-defense has complicated laws and is generally frowned upon.

"I was on overdrive, and I can use my Quirk more effectively now thanks to said overdrive. It improves my quirk."

'I broke through my limits so my self-inflicted incapacitation right in the middle of a battlefield without any official ally was not a problem' is his poorly-made excuse. This kid needs to knock down his ego. I opened my mouth just the tiniest bit.

"Do you– "Now, now. Let us not fight shall we?"

My words were interrupted by the principal. I turned my head towards his direction. The man was seemingly scratching his chin, but it looked more like rubbing his neck for those unfamiliar with the hyper-intelligent mouse. I knew it was bad news instantly. He only rubs his chin when making a seemingly difficult decision.

"I propose to give him a seat in 1-A. If he fits, we'll put the stroke to make a good painting. If not, then we will see what we can do for him at that point."

The first thing I wanted to say was What. The. Fuck.

The second was the realization that indeed making him enter the hero course could be the best course of action with the limited information we have. There is a good chance the kid will turn into vigilantism or villainy if let out on his own. The boy himself had just admitted so clear and loud. And more importantly, there is no data about his existence at all until his appearance within the school initiation.

With that and his strange seemingly-versatile quirk, there's a good chance he will be picked up by villains the moment we leave him to his own devices. Training in U.A., as a form of rehabilitation and protection, could work even if it was rather inefficient.

…But that means I'll have to handle him myself, as the homeroom teacher of class 1-A. I sighed in acceptance. There is no other route as convenient as this one, though it might be somewhat troublesome for me. This is the easiest way to solve this problem, so it really can't be helped with. I took a long sight before glaring right at the young boy.

"Take this as a warning of sorts. Do anything with malevolent intention and you will find yourself at a juvenile camp, or even jail." The young boy nodded without a change in expression. He did not even open his mouth the tiniest bit, but rather was looking the space in front of him, as if reading some text invisible to the rest of us. What a creepy child. Either way, I took his lack of response as a yes.

"Then it is settled. You can live in the 1st years' dorm. I suggest you learn how to read and write in Japanese before school officially starts."

So be it. The kid looks like nothing but trouble, but so was the bomber kid. Keeping him here shouldn't make too much trouble.

One day Aizawa will learn not to say that. Not today, but someday.

---Dimensional Journey--

[Hundred Gauntlets+++(1) has evolved into Hundred Gauntlets(2+)]

[Quest: Join into UA Completed +5SP]

[Quest: Train until school starts]

The first text has been around for quite some time now, probably since I defeated the gigantic type-4 robot. From defeating him alone I managed to evolve my Skill from rank (1) to rank (2+) and attained 15SP along with something called SCS. System, give me the details on that thing.

[SCS is short for Skill Creation Scroll]

[You may use it to create any skill you want, long as they Rank below your Limit Quest]

Give me All-Fiction.

[Error: You cannot create a skill higher Ranked than your Limit Quest]

What is that limit and how do I raise it.

[Here]

[Limit Quest 4: Have four Rank 4 Skill]

So basically it prevents me from specializing one Skill while ignoring all other Skills. Fair enough. I guess I should just save up that SCS for later when my Limit Quest is higher. For now, I decided to inspect my status.

Status screen.

[Yes?]

…I meant my actual start screen.

[Oh]

[…]

Don't mind it, we all have those moments.

[I was- Never mind.]

[Here]

[???]

Rank 1

SP: 45

EVO: 1

[Planeswalker]: [Dimension Travel(2)][Hundred Gauntlet(2+)] [Dimensional Storage++(1)]

[Rank Quest: Reach Rank 2]

[Tutorial Quest: Evolve a Dimensional Skill]

[Limit Quest 4: Have four Rank(4) Skill]

Huh. Mind telling me what the number beside each of my skills means? I noticed that HG now has (2+) beside it rather than (1) like when I checked it during the test, along with an announcement that it evolved. And its triple + sign has disappeared as well. Do these numbers in brackets symbolize how powerful a Skill is?

[Correct. Those numbers are the Tier of a Skill, which also works as their upgrade cost. For example, upgrading your current HG(2+) will take up 2SP, and the second upgrade 4SP, then 8SP and finally maxed after the fourth upgrade, as Skills with the + sign after their Rank can be upgraded up to four times different from normal Skills which can only be upgraded thrice.]

So the steep cost increase means I can't just level a strong Skill to oblivion. Fair enough.

Chances are upgrading Dimensional Trave(2) would only lower its current cooldown time of a month, but I intend to take things slowly for now so not upgrading that. Upgrading Dimensional Storage(1) might be useful if I intend to become a treasure hoarder, but no immediate benefits, so scratch that out.

Then by process of elimination, there is only Hundred Gauntlets(2+) left.

[2-4-8-16SP spent to upgrade HG(2+) fourfold into HG++++(2+)]

Upgraded until maxed. Assumedly there is a way to evolve the skill now that it is fully upgraded?

[Affirmative. You may evolve a fully maxed Skill by spending 1 EVO point. However please note evolving a skill may change its effect.]

A skill may change its effect if evolved, not definitively? Honestly, I would rather the current HG to stay the same considering its utility value. It has naturally evolved once without changing at all so maybe nothing would happen were I to evolve it once more. It is a risky gamble but delaying this would barely do me any good.

Please evolve HG then.

[1EVO spent to evolve HG++++(2+) into HG(4+)]

Rank(4+) and the Skill seem to have stayed the same. Nice. Now I can upgrade HG twice more with my leftover 15SP and still have 3SP left correct?

[4-8SP spent to upgrade HG(4+) twofold into HG++(4+)]

Now HG should have multiplied by six times in terms of pure performance compared to during the entrance exam, and barely 3SP left. System business said and done I moved towards my new dorm room being led by the plain-looking lie-detector. As one might expect from a dormitory, this room of mine was very plain, excluding the stack of books for learning the Japanese language which was placed upon the table. Huh. How considerate of them.

After saying my thanks to Mister Lie-Detector the first thing I did was open those books on the Japanese language.

I suppose this is a good time to use HG++(4+) as any. As they say, there is no better time to do something than five minutes ago, with right now being the second best. The Skill has evolved and I do need to know how much more powerful the Skill effects are right now. For the most part, this Skill works the same way, just more focused into the whole 'cause and effect' part according to the information implanted into my brain. Very convenient indeed.

Then again it has happened with every Skill I have been given. I somehow understood all my Skills at not only in shallow terms but at an instinctual level. Should I be worried the system can implant whatever information they want into my brain? I probably should, but there is nothing I can do against the System anyway so why even bother.

Anyway, that is also why I could say with certainty, that HG is a broken Skill.

HG: I am capable of reading Japanese by learning them from these books.

I felt a heavy strain of my mental prowess, however, at the same time; there was a sharp 'Intelligence' boost that I could feel occurring within my mind. 'An explosion of the mind' was the best way I could describe this sensation. My mental speed increased to an inhumane level, and everything seems so clear to me.

This is the power of HG. By merely stating an objective I would gain an extreme boost in certain aspects needed for finishing said objective.

I read through all Katakana and Hiragana books within a short time of ten minutes or so. That was multiple times my usual reading speed when I read fiction in my spare time, and these books are educational in nature, not a story like those fictions. My speed should have slowed down yet it was accelerated to the human limit or possibly even breaking through the aforementioned limit.

Another two-thirds of an hour passed by as I searched for the limits of HG. It was akin to speed reading which I am bad at, yet I could clearly remember every information read throughout the session. I continued to read and re-read everything with this mentally boosted status of mine, finishing all the books on the table. However soon enough I felt a headache and the speed of my thought slowed down to a grind, back to its original pace.

Looking at the clock, only thirty minutes have passed.

…This is indeed overpowered. The world felt so much slower when my HG was active. And you know what the best part is? I can still remember and understand everything I have read during my hyper-intelligence mode. This skill is a game-breaker for someone like me.

Time to grind some knowledge ASAP. With all this power I can—

—I could what?

Choosing the Planeswalker ability was nothing but a mere whim. I wanted to enjoy the pleasure of exploring interesting places and meeting interesting people. Other than that there was my curiosity upon the existence of a parallel world. If there are multiple worlds then what worth would there be for me, as a person, if I was merely one among seven billion others, in one dimension with infinite others that are alike yet different?

Should the world be so humongous then I can't see myself as anything of non-insignificant worth, then I might as well as be meaningless. To be more specific everything was of worth, yet only worth so small they might as well as be meaningless.

I was right then. In the end all there is to care about would be me and only myself first and foremost. If I do not want to share then there is no reason to do so. If I wish to help a grandma cross the road then there is no reason to stop myself. The world is my oyster.

…In that case then I am in severe need of some upgrade for my arsenal though, since there is an infinite amount of infinitely strong being within the multiverse. In actuality, they might be a countable finite amount, but do I have to care about such needless specifics? 1099 or 10100 or infinity. Long as one does not pass and experience them all then those specifications are meaningless. A mathematician might disagree, but I care not for their validation.

Gods and Goddesses of all varieties from all kinds of worlds… You better be prepared because I will surpass all of you. That is my oath.

[Through special actions you have earned the Trait: Underdog +2SP +EVO]

[Skill: Triumph(EX) has been derived from Trait: Underdog]

[Rank Quest: Reach Rank 2 Completed +5SP]

[Rank Quest: Reach Rank 4]

Earning a second Trait? That was news to me. I thought there would be no more way to attain Traits after being given one by the System. Then again maybe I should have taken the hint when there is a quest called Rank Quest. Assumedly my Rank is equal to the number of Traits I have, and Traits can be earned by doing special actions, which in this case was declaring my oath to defeat those humongous bastards above me.

Also, Rank EX Skills? Mind explaining that one System?

[Negative]

So basically no free explanation. Interesting as it is there is not much else to say about this unexpected gain. Without even knowing how it works there is no using this Rank(EX) Skill. Unlike other Skills, no information input was given the moment this skill was attained. Maybe it was because of the (EX) rank. It could be because Triumph(EX) was derived from a Trait as well, but doubtful considering DT(1) was a derived Skill as well and I have full knowledge of what it does.

In the first place, what is a Trait?

[It is a facet of your personality. Your Persona, if you will.]

A mask to be worn against the cold outside world. Huh, I am starting to like this whole scheme of things. Maybe I am starting to prefer this more than the Gamer System already. However, I put a 'maybe' because there is one important factor left before I can accurately state those words with confidence.

The degree of how fun a system is partly determined by how badly you could break and exploit it.

HG: I broke past my physical limit by training extremely hard.

After a few minutes on the clock, I have since sapped all energy from every part of my muscle, most of them formerly unknown to me some previous minutes ago. At this point, I am incapable of crawling or even moving my fingers. But even then I could still think, and therefore…

HG: I continued to train though empty of stamina, by evoking all my hidden power previously locked by my brain.

Another few minutes passed me by. My body was utterly sapped of stamina and I could not move at all. Guess even after self-hypnosis there is a limit to my current physical body.

HG: My body regains its vigor after a short stamina-regenerating rest.

Another minute passed. Though I am supposed to still be out of rest, somehow this body of mine was refreshed already as if I had rested for an hour rather than a minute. I am extremely thirsty though, so maybe HG just accelerated the normal resting process by a few dozen times over rather than summoning more stamina out of nowhere. I drank the water provided by the school staff which sat on the bedside table.