Chapter 2: Entrance Exam

-Inside the auditorium-

The lights started to open one by one when a light illuminated a standing figure with yellow hair.

"For all of you examinee listeners tuning in, welcome to my show today! Everybody say hey!" Present Mic's voice envelope the whole auditorium.

Despite Present Mic's loud voice, no one responded. Nothing but silence from the audience.

"What a response! Then let go to the practical examination's rundown. Are you ready? YEAAAHHHHH!" Just like before, a drop of a needle can be heard because of everyone's silence. Not waiting for a reply, he explained the premise of the exam.

"Just like what the application said, you will be participating in a ten-minute mock urban battle. You can have any equipment you want. After this presentation, you will all head to the specified battle center."

Araki looked at his exam ticket given to him earlier.

[Examinee No. 2420]

[Test Location: Battle Center B]

'It's B. I hope I see someone interesting there.'

"Three types of faux villains are stationed in every single battle center. Destroying each gives different points based on its difficulty. You can use your quirk however you want to earn as many points as possible by defeating the villains. Attacking other examinees and doing unheroic things are prohibited."

After Present Mic's instructions, one student raises his hand.

"May I ask a question?" "Okay!"

"On the printout, there are four types of villains. If this is a misprint, then U.A., the most prominent hero school should be ashamed of their mistake. We are here because we wish to be molded into exemplary heroes. In addition, you with the curly hair--- You've been muttering this whole time."

With the student's long speech and the reaction of the crowd, Present Mic continues his own.

"Okay, Examinee No. 7111. Thanks for the great message. The fourth villain is worth zero points, totally worthless. You need to have some obstacle, don't you think? It will go crazy in narrow spaces. It is not impossible to defeat but meaningless to do so. I recommend you avoid it."

After hearing this, the student is content with the explanation.

"Thank you very much! Sorry for the interruption." Some students after hearing this become excited, nervous, or both.

"That's all. Lastly, I'd like to give you examinees a present—our school motto! The hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said: 'A true hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes.' Go beyond. PLUS ULTRA!" Present Mic ended his part and went backstage and the students one by one stood up and exited the auditorium.

They each went to their respective locations to change into desired attire. Araki changes into his gym clothes consisting of long sleeves, shorts, tights, and rubber shoes. It was simple and comfortable. He rides the bus and arrives with the others on the Battle Center B.

There he saw some familiar faces. The guy with glasses and a strict personality, the bubbly girl, and the green-haired boy he met before. Araki didn't even bother interacting with them. Although he finds him interesting, that doesn't guarantee that he would pass, especially with his personality.

"START! What are you waiting for? There're no countdowns in real fights." The students immediately rushed to the battlefield as some became left out immediately. Araki waited for the crowd to diminish in numbers before running to the battlefield.

"Here we go! Let's see, robots. Five robots in a 30-meter radius. Let start on the left side. Oisho~."

Araki immediately feels his body strengthening and immediately rushes to his left area.

-On the monitoring room-

Aizawa, Toshinori, Nezu, and the other teachers are standing side by side, observing the monitors. Each one of them is looking at someone's live footage. Aizawa and Nezu are specifically looking at the same person, Araki.

"That's him, right? Although he looks interesting, his quirk doesn't seem like one." Aizawa says as he watches how Araki fights the robot. He suspects the kid's quirk to be some kind of simple strengthening type quirk.

Nezu still looking at the monitor, replied to him nonchalantly.

"That's what his application form says. However, that doesn't seem to be as simple as that. After strenuous digging to him, we only got know surface-level information on him. Personal information like birth parents, background before he was adopted by the Yakuza boss and his quirk aren't available. The most we can know though is that his quirk is said to be very versatile." Nezu stated not averting his gaze at the monitor.

"You should try to ask him and tell him to be honest, or maybe threaten him with expulsion for giving misinformation."

"He isn't that simple. If my analysis of him is correct, he'd rather leave U.A. than have us meddle and trouble him about his personal information. You can use the reason that he isn't telling the truth, but by the paper he is."

Aizawa just let out a sigh of dissatisfaction with what Nezu said. Although it isn't right, he is wishing for the kid to not pass the test or Nezu changes his mind about putting him in his class. As if he got Nighteye's quirk and looked at his troublesome future.

-Back to the Battle Center-

Araki after saving a student from flying robot debris, suddenly stopped. 'That seems to be enough.' He thought to himself. Suddenly, a loud rumbling sound and shaking ground arise. A giant metal robot appeared with the marking of 0 on the sides.

The robot that serves as an obstacle, to slow down the examinees, dominated almost everyone present.

As the examinees run away from the giant robot, a boy started running towards it. Araki, not even looking in the same direction, thought to himself. 'Looks like I'm right.' He smiles as he clears the previous curiosity in his mind.

"BOOM!" A deafening boom roar in the entire Battle Center. The 0-point robot fell while the kid who punched it fell at the same rate.

"Time's up!" Present Mic declared the ending of the practical test as everyone was gathered by the support robots in one place. After Recovery Girl healed the injured, everyone was guided to the exit and told to wait for the results of the exam.

While walking to the train station, Araki can be seen back to his school uniform but now with a long coat added to it. He smiles as he thought to himself, 'This is going to be a very lively school year. That's 100% sure.'