The gate opened with a loud hydraulic roar.
And I ran.
Well—more like, I skated.
My skates screeched softly as I picked up speed. I pushed off with a precise kick and activated the traction system. The pavement rolled beneath me like a moving walkway.
Up ahead, right in the middle of the chaos just starting, I saw the first one.
A one-point robot. Small, with a single high-speed wheel and a metallic torso that spun around searching for a target.
I was that target.
The robot's sensors locked onto me, its body twisting with a mechanical screech, raising a small cannon attached to its arm. It fired.
Thmp! Thmp!
Rubber bullets—not lethal, but they packed a punch. I dodged with a quick sidestep and triggered a short burst from my skates to circle around it.
Right into its blind spot.
I raised my left arm. Aimed.
Psshtk.
A jet of clear, slightly oily liquid shot out from a nozzle under my wrist, hissing through the air and splashing directly onto the joint connecting the robot's torso to its wheel.
The chemical worked fast. A white fizzing reaction began eating through the metal.
The robot tried to turn. Fatal mistake.
I jumped, twisting in the air with the boost from my skates, and activated the right gauntlet.
WHUMM!
A dry roar of high-frequency vibration surged through my arm as the gauntlet slammed into the weakened side of the robot. The metallic frame folded inward like wet cardboard.
Sparks flew. The machine powered down.
One point.
But I didn't stop to celebrate.
No time.
The high-pitched whine of servos to my left made me spin sharply. Another robot—a bigger one with three spear-like legs—was crawling out of an alley between fake buildings. Its body was shaped like an upside-down capsule, with a long metal tail whipping behind it like a scorpion, ready to strike.
Two-point type.
I accelerated. My skates roared beneath me as I veered diagonally to avoid its firing line. A couple of rubber bullets smacked into the pavement behind me, bouncing away.
I rolled forward after the burst and sprang upright, using the built-in springs of my skates. The mechanical beast swiveled its head, tracking me with red sensors.
"Come on…" I muttered to myself.
I aimed my wristband and fired. A precise shot of corrosive fluid struck the joint on one of its legs. It sizzled, bubbling on contact. The metal began to weaken immediately.
I didn't wait.
I shot forward, knees bent, and just as I got into range, I fired up the gauntlets.
WHUMM!
The impact vibrated up my arm in a dull thud. The high-frequency blast focused directly on the already weakened joint.
Crack.
One of the metal legs buckled.
The robot staggered.
Jump.
Another boost from the gauntlets sent me flying upwards, straight to the top of the machine.
Second strike.
WHUMM!
The upper body crumpled like a crushed soda can. The core sparked once, then went dark.
Two more points. Running total: three.
I rolled through the landing, fired up my skates again, and kept moving. There were more robots further ahead, along a debris-strewn street. Candidates were running, shouting, blasting lightning, fire, force fields.
I was just a shadow among them. One that moved fast, aimed precisely, and kept dropping targets without stopping.
I spotted a girl falling nearby, tripping while a three-point robot—a massive thing with thick wheels, armor plating, a spinning claw, and an auto-rubber-cannon—rumbled toward her.
No hesitation.
"Move!" I shouted, firing off a double shot of corrosive fluid at the front axle of the robot.
Direct hit, sizzling across the plating. The robot turned its cannon on me.
I dodged. Three shots zipped by and bounced off the ground where I'd just been. I dashed sideways, rolled, and surged forward again, propelled by my gauntlet boosts.
"Please don't screw this up…"
Jump. Right gauntlet charged.
WHUMM!
First strike rattled the frame, but didn't break it. The armor was dented, weakened. I fired off another burst of acid, aiming for the same spot. The metal flaked. I landed hard, spun around with my skates burning blue, and slammed the second hit right into the base of the cannon.
WHUMM!
Explosion of sparks. The cannon detached, crashing to the ground. The robot followed, collapsing in a mess of glitching sounds.
Three points. Running total: six.
The girl stared at me, wide-eyed.
"Y-You… thank you!" she stammered.
I didn't answer. Just kept moving.
If I didn't know about rescue points, maybe I wouldn't have bothered. But I did. And even though I only needed sixty points, I wasn't aiming for the bare minimum. I wanted to leave them no excuses.
A one-pointer zipped across a side street. I shot the wheel's axle and finished it off with a side swipe without even slowing down.
Another two-pointer went down thanks to a nearby candidate, but I slid in and delivered a crushing blow to its cracked frame just in case. Would it count? Who knew? I'd lost track of the score.
Maybe I was at forty. Maybe fifty. Didn't care.
I helped when I could. A girl with a broken wing, a guy pinned under fake rubble, another who was stunned after a botched landing. I couldn't save everyone, but any time I saw someone in trouble, my legs reacted before my brain.
Rubber bullets kept flying. But so did I.
At moments, it felt like I was floating—not from the boosters, but from adrenaline.
I'd never felt so… free. So useful. Like I really belonged here.
The sky had fully cleared by now, the fake streets were filled with smoke, sparks, and busted robots. Far off, I heard the unmistakable, massive roar.
The giant robot. The zero-point monster.
I stopped.
It was in another zone, like it should be.
I could ignore it.
I could.
But I didn't move.
My eyes scanned around automatically, checking if anyone was trapped nearby. If someone needed help.
Nothing. At least nothing I could see right away.
I sighed, a bit relieved. I wasn't Midoriya. I wasn't going to charge like a maniac into a deathtrap that gave no points.
And yet… I stayed there.
I glanced back at the giant.
I could walk away.
Really, I could.
But my legs were already moving.
I sprinted straight at it.
I had no idea what was pushing me forward. Maybe it was adrenaline, or just a dumb, stubborn desire to stand out beyond my limits. Maybe part of me just wanted to prove that I could pull it off. Even if it didn't count for points. Even if it was insane.
"Shit…" I muttered, more to myself than to anyone else. "Shit, shit, shit…"
As I ran, I pulled a hidden lever near the base of my gauntlets. A small amber light turned on over my left wrist—reinforced mode activated.
A sharp whirring sound responded instantly. The side lights on my gauntlets shifted from blue to red. The vibrations would hit harder now. The system called it forced mode: the shockwaves would be stronger, more destructive… but I only had fifteen shots before overheating would kick in and shut everything down to avoid destroying the gear—or me.
I pointed both gauntlets at the ground.
WHUMM!
The blast launched me into the air like a cannonball. I landed on the roof of a low building and fired at the ground again with both gauntlets.
Another jump.
WHUMM!
Every blast rattled through my bones. I climbed, jumping like a vibrating bullet, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Boost after boost, straight into the sky.
The air trembled with every launch. The wind howled in my ears.
Finally, I reached a rooftop high enough. I was eye level with the giant robot's head.
It was massive. Twice, maybe three times taller than the lower buildings in the testing field. Its frame was simple, bulky. It walked in a straight line, knocking over streetlights and faking destruction, its only purpose being chaos.
It didn't seem programmed to target individual candidates. It hadn't seen me.
Good.
I crouched down, aimed my left wrist, and fired a blast of corrosive fluid.
Psshtk.
The stream splattered onto its back—right at the joint where the armor connected to the main support column holding up the upper frame. The acid bubbled on contact, leaving black scars across the metal.
But it wasn't enough.
I needed to do more.
Way more.
I fired again.
And again.
And again.
Until the cartridges ran dry.
Click.
Out of fluid.
But now, where there had been solid plating, there was a hole. Big, jagged, sparking on the inside.
It was now or never.
I jumped.
And mid-air, I fired up the gauntlets.
WHUMM!
I launched myself straight through the hole.
A brutal jolt shot through my body as I landed. The metal under my boots vibrated like a war drum. I was inside the beast.
Dim light. Steam everywhere. Red emergency lights flashing from overhead.
"This is nuts…" I muttered, moving forward through the cramped inner corridors.
It was a mess of wires, pistons, and hydraulic tubes.
One area near the center looked like the power core—a cylinder wrapped in layers of armor plating. Heavy steel shields, reinforced walls. At the bottom, a gap. Just wide enough to get a hand in.
I stepped closer.
Gauntlets ready. Fourteen shots left.
"Do it."
WHUMM!
The first blast rocked the entire chamber.
WHUMM! WHUMM!
Hit after hit, the vibrations hammered the plating. The metal groaned. Warped. The blinking lights around me started flashing faster. A loud hum began building in the air.
By the tenth blast, a crack split open.
The core trembled violently.
"Come on… come on, damn it!"
WHUMM!
Eleven. Twelve.
A small explosion went off, flinging me back against the inner wall.
I coughed, staggered back up. Two charges left.
With a roar, I jumped back in.
WHUMM! WHUMM!
The final shockwaves slammed home.
BOOOOM!
A muffled explosion, deep inside. Controlled but heavy.
The entire robot lurched. Then, like a falling titan, it started tipping to the side.
"Oh crap…"
I had to get out—fast.
I bolted for the same gap I'd come through, triggered my gauntlets with what little power they had left, and blasted out just as the giant began collapsing sideways.
The wind smacked me in the face. I crashed onto a nearby roof, rolled, and barely managed to stop myself from falling over the edge.
From there, I watched as the robot fell in slow motion, kicking up a massive wave of dust and noise that swallowed entire blocks of the fake city.
Silence.
Then, the loudspeaker boomed:
"TIME'S UP!"
I stayed sprawled out on the rooftop, gasping, arms stretched out beside me.
I had no idea how many points I'd scored.
But honestly… I didn't care anymore.