"Done."
Having obliterated her target, Mysterious Heroine X glanced around, noticing debris scattered everywhere. Other students had already cleared nearby simulated enemies and were heading toward more distant targets.
"Seriously? Am I the slowest one here?"
Although she'd dramatically smashed two enemies, she realized her control over this body wasn't yet precise. Her immense strength, if left unchecked, could easily spill over and damage the surroundings.
And in this entrance exam, students weren't allowed to harm one another.
"Such a pain."
X sped up, charging down a more distant street.
…
Several hundred meters away, Rin—still in Yukino's form—ran at a leisurely pace.
At a crossroads, a green-haired boy suddenly dashed out from a side street.
"Points! Points! I need points!" His voice was frantic.
"Midoriya?" Rin raised an eyebrow at the sight of the protagonist.
Since he'd just inherited a quirk, the poor boy couldn't use it properly. Ten months of training with All Might had only barely prepared him to withstand ONE FOR ALL; mastering it for prolonged combat was still far off.
The moment their eyes met, Midoriya's widened. "You again?"
"Midoriya-san, good luck," Rin called, raising her fist. She didn't want him to miss out on the exam because of her.
Without further delay, she directed Yukino's body in the opposite direction.
Then—
Boom! A massive green mechanical object burst from a nearby building and slammed into her.
Crack!
Her right shoulder shattered with a sickening noise. Her frail body rolled twice across the ground before colliding with a stone pillar.
"Danger!"
Midoriya's voice rang out from behind.
"Ugh."
Rin spat blood and lifted her head, noticing that the object that had struck her had already been obliterated by a distant beam of light.
She took a deep breath, flexing her limbs, grateful nothing was broken. Her right arm's clothing was torn, and her stockings had ripped, leaving her slightly uncomfortable.
"You okay?" Midoriya rushed forward and grabbed her.
Cough. Rin spat blood again, glaring at him. "Go on—fight. Don't worry about me."
"But you—"
"I have a healing quirk," Rin said, raising her injured hand.
Midoriya hesitated for a moment, then saw the wound rapidly closing. Gritting his teeth, he ran off toward the next target.
…
"Saber!"
In the center of the arena, Mysterious Heroine X kicked a 3-point enemy to pieces, then used the rebound to launch herself dozens of meters away.
Her gleaming long sword flashed cold light, slicing through another robot's neck. But in the next instant, she dispelled the clone, letting it vanish where it stood.
There was no choice—she could only maintain the clone for five minutes. With no enemies nearby, it made more sense to deactivate the quirk and let Yukino search for the next target, saving precious time.
…
"That kid…"
A female teacher in the monitoring room noticed X on one of the split screens and couldn't help but comment.
"She's impressive. Seems this year produced a few exceptional students," the principal—looking like a white-furred rodent—nodded in approval at her effort.
"Wait, look over there…"
The female teacher pointed at the left screen. Yukino, limping slightly, appeared on the screen.
"She's injured… who is that?"
"That student…" the principal mused. "She and the girl wielding the sword are both clones of the same person."
"The same person?" the teacher blinked in surprise.
"It's her, I remember now," a male teacher said gravely. "Two months ago, there was a violent incident where a girl used her own body to shield two children from a rampaging assailant. She was stabbed over thirty times, nearly died. When the police sent her to the hospital, her body had already healed itself—revealing her quirk. If I'm not mistaken, this girl must be the same one from that news story two months ago."
The other teachers stared, astonished.
"So this student had that kind of past… only someone with such selfless heroism can truly deserve the title," All Might murmured, wiping cold sweat from his brow. "If I hadn't known her records, I might have assumed she was a girl."
"Wait… this student is male?" a young female teacher exclaimed.
"Yes. His quirk allows him to produce female clones."
"No… I thought the registered information was wrong! I actually changed him to female!" the teacher panicked, covering her mouth. The room fell silent.
"Well, whatever. From here on out, they'll show their true value," a teacher said after a brief pause, pressing a red button nearby.
Rumble!
The arena shook violently. A colossal, multi-story mechanical enemy slowly emerged from the smoke—a 0-point mechanism.
…
"This… is way too big."
Even with preparation, seeing such a massive construct in person left Rin stunned.
Like Godzilla in the city, its massive mechanical arms seized a building and crushed several floors effortlessly. Huge chunks of stone plummeted to the ground, capable of flattening anyone instantly.
After a brief pause, the machine slammed a fist into the ground, sending a terrifying shockwave and clouds of dust in all directions.
"Run! Escape! There's no way to defeat that thing!"
"Damn it! Get out of here!"
…
Students abandoned all other concerns and scrambled to avoid the meaningless target.
Midoriya fell in terror, tears welling in his eyes.
Farther away, Ochaco Uraraka was trapped beneath falling debris, writhing in pain.
…
"Only two minutes remaining," Present Mic's voice rang out from above, reaching every simulation arena.
"So… it's about to end," Rin murmured, watching Midoriya. She wanted to see if he would, like in the original story, rush to save the girl trapped beneath the debris.
As expected, while everyone else fled, his small figure surged forward. Harnessing the power of ONE FOR ALL, he rocketed into the sky.
"Smash!"
The shout echoed in his heart.
Boom!
The colossal enemy's head collapsed under the incredible force, and its enormous body toppled to the ground. The backlash of ONE FOR ALL disabled Midoriya's legs and right arm.
He plummeted toward the ground.
Rin, sensing the timing, blew a gust of wind to slow him. As he neared impact, she leapt up and caught him.
Then she landed on the ground.
Thud!
Midoriya was gently tossed to the ground.