The Guild’s Support

Mina Ashido looked at the screen in front of her with blinking eyes. First there was this floating screen in front of her face, then there was some boy's voice in her head, and now there's another screen in her face.

The first screen had asked if Mina agreed to join something called 'Heroine Guild'. Curious, she accepted.

Listening to the voice, Mina hoped he'd be okay. From the sound of it, this Izuku was Quirkless and bullied. However, beside her concern was excitement. The way he talked, it sounded like some sort of fanfiction where a fan of an anime found themself as the main character. She lived in an anime! Plus, it sounds like the main character gets to become All Might's successor. How lucky!! Just what she could expect of a main character. While, sure, it did not sound like Izuku had the best life, she could not understand why this 'new Izuku' would want to pass this up.

Mina actively brushed over the points she could do nothing about or did not understand like the 'Himiko situation' or 'All Might's injury'. Even the point of someone Quirkless being All Might's successor - which drew some questioning or dismissive looks from other guild members - was brushed aside. She considered it, but ignored it on the grounds of 'he's the main character'.

However, once 'Izuku' started getting onboard, Mina offered her full support. So when the second screen appeared asking whether she agreed to help him, she ignored the timer and unhesitatingly pressed [Yes].

Other guild members were not as quick to decide. Ultimately, however, many voted in favor. This situation was still confusing but they saw no harm in it, and if this was all real and true, they did not see anything wrong in providing their support. On the other hand, some others did not care and let the timer run out.

A series of screens began appearing in front of the guild members.

Processing results…with 85.7% approval, the motion passes.

IVT target will be granted 'something to make [this] easier'. [This] is hence defined as the maintaining of future events by convincing individual [All Might] to make IVT target his successor. To facilitate this, IVT target will be bestowed an ability from the assigned categories of meta, manipulation, physiology, psychic, magical, science, enhancement, and construct.

Due to vagueness of request and lack of unanimous vote, system administrator has placed restrictions on course of action. IVT target will be provided a low-grade ability so as to prevent and minimize potential risk. To narrow options down, results will be based on vote. With thirty votes [Yes], four abstaining, and one vote [No], ability will be derived from registered user 21 who was the lone user to vote [No]…

Chosen ability…[Natural Actor]. User will be able to naturally assume any role and act accordingly.

Based on experiences of registered user 21, ability: [Natural Actor] can be upgraded to the average-grade ability: [Two-Faced]. User's true thoughts and feelings will be hidden behind a perfectly constructed mask that allows them to flawlessly assume a role and have others believe them. Does the guild agree to upgrade?

[Yes]

[No]

While several guild members did not see an issue with this and agreed out of support or disinterest, others raised an eyebrow at the name and nature of these abilities. This in turn led them to question the identity of 'registered user 21'.

There were also those who were more interested in the screens themselves and what they were saying. Assuming this was all real, it sounded as though it could give people skills and Quirks. In fact, if the categories would be believed, perhaps even magic. This served to increase both the interested guild members' skepticism and intrigue.

An exception to all this was registered user 21 - Kaina Tsutsumi, otherwise known as Lady Nagat - who again and with more determination voted [No].

When the screen first appeared in front of her, Kaina accepted out of sheer boredom. She was going to spend the rest of her life rotting in a prison cell; so, she saw no point either way. However, she was then bombarded by the voice of some Quirkless teenager.

Kaina did not care what this 'Izuku' had to say. But, again, it was something other than the monotony of her prison cell. As she listened, she wanted to encourage him on avoiding the 'story'. Becoming All Might's successor meant becoming a hero, and she felt it best not to support that path. She wondered just how much this person knew about this world and what happened behind the scenes.

As such, when prompted to provide support to Izuku on becoming All Might's successor, Kaina voted [No].

However, faced with this second vote, Kaina was even more against it. These screens had said this ability was based on her experiences. Something about that resonated with her and she felt something bad would happen. The next screen that appeared before her read…

Processing results…with a 88.6% approval, motion passes. Low-grade ability: [Natural Actor] upgrades to average-grade ability: [Two-Faced].

Warning! Reflecting the experiences of registered user 21, use of ability will place a heavy burden upon the mind. Prolonged or extended use will result in mental collapse. Ability may also activate involuntarily in stressful situations. Target will not be made aware of this.

Several guild members let out an audible, "WHAT!?"

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Lying with his legs hanging off the bed and surrounded by posters of the Number One Hero - All Might -, a scrawny, freckled boy with fluffy, green hair stared at the ceiling.

For several minutes, Darrell 'Danny' Benjamin - now Izuku Midoriya - had been coming to terms with his situation of finding himself isekai-ed into the body of the main character of his favorite anime.

This was a situation he had regularly read about in fiction. However, while he enjoyed reading such stories, actually living it presented a number of key issues he did not know where to begin in addressing them.

Then, a translucent, blue screen suddenly appeared before him. Shocked by its sudden appearance, he jumped up, scrambled, and accidentally fell off the bed.

Getting his bearings, he read the screen.

Congratulations! Upon review of your request, majority vote has determined that you are to be granted the ability: [Two-Faced]. Use of this ability will hide the user's true thoughts and feelings behind a perfectly constructed mask that allows them to flawlessly assume a role and have others believe them.

Rereading the screen several times, a grin appeared on Izuku's face. Internally he cheered, "I have a system! This is amazing! Wait, wait, wait, calm down. I may have a system but I have no idea how it works or what this 'vote' is referring to."

Sitting back on the bed, his body seemed to move by muscle memory as he put a hand to his mouth and started tapping his index finger against his lip. His mouth moved inaudibly as he continued his internal monologue. "I asked for something to help me in making sure All Might makes me his successor as per canon. Then, a few minutes later, a screen pops up saying that I'm being given an ability due to majority vote. Does that mean I'm being watched? What is this? Like that old movie where the guy's entire life is revealed to be a TV show? I have an audience who vote on giving me things?"

"Well, I guess it's not so bad. I've always been paranoid I'm being watched no matter how obvious that was not true. At least now my paranoia is justified and true. Plus, this will make things so much easier. Now, all I have to do is 'do my best to act like Izuku' and this ability should make my acting flawless. Or, if not, at least make people believe or overlook any discrepancies."

"In fact…maybe I can create a sort of 'hero mode'. If my acting is perfect, then no matter what my actual personality is like, I should be able to act like a true hero. Kinda like Sazaku's 'live' command from Code Geass. The brain can trick the body, so I might be able to pull off feats I normally wouldn't because my 'persona' enables me to - improving focus, reflexes, etc. If that works, it'll be so cool."

"Actually, this will make me even more like Izuku. While normally an adorkable Quirk nerd, when the chips are down, he's a true hero who could get through to anyone. It's this quality of his that makes him one of the driving forces behind Class 1-A. So, really, he had his own 'hero mode' and this is just me getting my own. Between that and my canon knowledge, I should be able to be a better Izuku. A superior Izuku…Ha! Yeah, like that worked out SO well for Doc Ock as the Superior Spider-Man."

"I just have to get used to it. So, I should try to maintain the act as much as possible."

"I would just like to thank all those who have supported me by granting me this ability and wish you all the best."

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The various guild members were largely unable to accept Izuku's thanks. It was hard to receive his gratitude when they knew the ability they gave him would tax his mind to the point of risking mental collapse. They wished they could find him and tell him to not overuse the ability. Exceptions to this were those who did not care or were more amused and uncaring for the risk to him.

Another cause for concern were those who realized this did not only affect Izuku. The ability he received was 'based on the experiences' of one of the guild members. Initially, those who thought about this viewed that person in a negative light. But now it seemed they were possibly mistaken and whoever it was had suffered.

While guild members stewed in concern for what would happen next, they suddenly heard fanfare and another series of translucent pink screens appeared before them.

The tutorial is complete. Now that users have been registered to the guild and experienced its core function, the Heroine Guild (IVT) will now be placed under maintenance. IVT will stop transmission and the Heroine Guild will be out of service for twenty-four hours.

Additionally, due to the IVT target's gratitude for the guild's support, a special reward has been generated. As this is the tutorial, all guild members will receive a gift, but be aware that in the future rewards will be distributed according to the individual action of the users. Furthermore, due to this being the tutorial, the reward is of the lowest quality.

All guild members have received one poor quality voucher! After reading the following, please check your mailbox, right pocket, or under your pillow as applicable at your earliest convenience.

The voucher will be invisible and intangible to anyone who is not a guild member.

To use the voucher, take it in both hands, make a wish, and tear it in half. The voucher will vanish and your wish will be granted. However, it is important that guild members keep in mind that as this is a 'poor quality' voucher. Its power is limited and any wishes in excess of that power will be reduced accordingly. For example, wishing for money cannot exceed 150,000 Japanese yen or 1,000 American dollars, wishing for eternal youth could at most warrant an effective and rejuvenating but ultimately ordinary skin-care product, wishing for magic would result in a stage magic kit, etc. It is recommended that wishes be grounded, physically possible, and/or very specific.

After reading this, the screens vanished.

While several guild members blinked in confusion, others immediately sprung into action to see if this 'voucher' was actually real - checking their mailboxes, pockets, and under their pillows where they could. Some who wanted to check were unable to due to being at work, but eventually, all guild members checked to see if they had really received such an item.

What they found was a small, rectangular strip of rough, brown paper with the word 'VOUCHER' printed across it in bold, black letters. It looked like something you might get or find in relation to a county fair…a really low budget county fair.

Some members decided to see how true the screens were. Hailing some passerbys, they found that others truly could not see the little piece of paper. Some even went so far as to try and touch people with it and found it phased right through them.

Meanwhile, other guild members immediately used the voucher.

Ochako Uraraka had taken the voucher to her room and wised for the maximum amount of money the screen said she could ask for. Upon tearing it, a stack of bills suddenly fell in front of her.

Himiko Toga wished 'to find Izuku'. The torn pieces of paper were suddenly replaced by a train ticket to Musutafu. Smiling, she headed toward the train station.

After finding her voucher in her mailbox, Mina Ashido immediately tore it - wishing for tickets to the grand opening of a new arcade. She did it half expecting it to fail as tickets were not even on sale yet. So, she was quite surprised to have the two halves of paper suddenly turn into one dated for the day of the opening.

Kaina Tsutsumi reached under her pillow and found the voucher. As a test, she decided to wish for her escape from prison. What happened was her prison cell audibly unlocking and the door opening.

Others, however, - like Tsuyu Asui and Chitose Kizuki - were unsure what to wish for at this time and decided to save the voucher.

Still, by the end of the day, one thing seemed to linger in the minds of the guild members. The Heroine Guild (IVT) seemed to be real. What did this mean? Why was this happening to them? Various emotions stirred among them, but the most pressing question in their minds was, 'What would happen next?'