The final event of the students' Sports Festival.
The format might differ slightly every year, but it was undoubtedly a one-on-one tournament, and this year, with Lock's presence throwing in an unforeseen factor, everyone was looking forward to seeing what would happen to the one-on-one rules.
The sixteen advancing students and Lock came to the platform again, looking up at Midnight.
Midnight flicked the whip in her hand and said slowly, "For this one-on-one tournament, we will adopt a point-defense system!"
"Huh?!"
As soon as these words came out, the audience was in an uproar, and some didn't understand what Midnight meant.
Afterward, the detailed rules appeared on the big screen, and everyone read through them one after another.
Because of Lock's special status, the top 16 had become a top 17, and Lock had become the sole defender.
To win all the way from the top 16 through to the final, three matches had to be won.
To win the championship, four matches had to be won in total.
Therefore, a win was worth 1 victory point and a loss counted as 1 negative point. A best-of-two double round-robin system was adopted.
Losing a match didn't matter. The loser would fall into the loser's bracket, and anyone who lost twice in total, accumulating 2 negative points, would be eliminated.
And Lock would defend the ring alone. Defeating him would earn a full 5 victory points!
Winning four matches would earn the Sports Festival championship, which meant 4 victory points, but beating Lock would directly make you the Sports Festival champion!
Of course, there was no need to say more about how difficult Lock, a pro hero, would be.
"All sixteen participating students other than Lock, come to me to draw lots."
The referee, Midnight, took out the lottery box, and then all sixteen students stepped forward one by one to draw lots. The final matchups were:
Izuku Midoriya VS Hitoshi Shinso
Shoto Todoroki VS Hanta Sero
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu VS Eijiro Kirishima
Katsuki Bakugo VS Ochaco Uraraka
Denki Kaminari VS Ibara Shiozaki
Tenya Iida VS Mei Hatsume
Momo Yaoyorozu VS Fumikage Tokoyami
Kyoka Jiro VS Mina Ashido
The first match was Izuku Midoriya versus Hitoshi Shinso of the General Studies Department.
Midoriya's control over One For All this time was much stronger than in the original story. Although Hitoshi Shinso's Brainwashing was very powerful, One For All still had a stimulating effect, and Midoriya broke free of the control.
Then Midoriya easily threw Hitoshi Shinso over his shoulder and out of the ring.
"Hitoshi Shinso is out of bounds! Izuku Midoriya wins!"
Knocking the opponent out of the ring, making them surrender, or leaving them unable to fight were the conditions for victory.
I've already got it, my ticket to becoming a hero.
This was only the beginning, the beginning of telling the world that he was All Might's successor!
Midoriya looked at his palm. He regretted his mistake in the Cavalry Battle, and now that the opportunity had come again, he had to seize it!
In the second match, Shoto Todoroki faced Hanta Sero.
Sero's Quirk was Tape, meaning he could shoot tape from his elbows. Sounds ordinary, right?
It actually was pretty ordinary...
He was instantly taken out by Shoto Todoroki, who was in a bad mood, with a freezing attack that covered half of the venue.
In the third match, Eijiro Kirishima faced Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu.
The two Quirks nearly overlapped, and it was quite a coincidence that they were matched up in the final round.
Neither of them bothered with defense, and they just punched each other with Steel and Hardening.
Although it wasn't as showy as a battle full of perfect special effects, this kind of simple, rough, fist-to-flesh brawling was exactly what stirred up the audience's enthusiasm the most.
In the pro hero section of the stands, many agencies also expressed admiration for the two.
In the end, both fell unconscious at the same time, and the result was temporarily held in reserve.
In the fourth match, Katsuki Bakugo faced Ochaco Uraraka.
Bakugo was a person who pursued victory, and he wouldn't show mercy just because his opponent was a girl.
And Ochaco Uraraka also proved to Bakugo that she was a thoroughly worthy opponent.
It was beyond many people's imagination. Everyone had thought this would be a one-sided fight.
But the soft, cute girl with a round, cake-like face actually turned Bakugo into a mess with her Quirk and strategic wisdom.
But alas, the Zero Gravity Quirk was at far too great a disadvantage against an explosion Quirk, especially in this open arena.
Although she lost, Ochaco Uraraka was also valued by many pro heroes for her excellent combat intelligence.
In the fifth match, Denki Kaminari faced Ibara Shiozaki.
There wasn't much to say. Just like in the original story, Kaminari believed himself invincible with his indiscriminate discharge.
Ibara Shiozaki, with her Vines Quirk, grounded Kaminari's electricity for what felt like half a day while he turned into an idiot, and she didn't get hurt at all.
A complete massacre!
In the sixth match, Tenya Iida faced Mei Hatsume.
Poor Iida once again paid the price for his seriousness, although he did win the match in the end.
But throughout the whole match, Mei Hatsume used it as a platform to promote her support equipment and toyed with him ruthlessly.
Finally, Mei Hatsume introduced all the support equipment she had made and their various uses.
After wiping away her sweat, she took the initiative to walk out of the ring.
Tenya Iida gained 1 victory point.
Anyway, her goal was to sell her equipment to those companies and manufacturers. As for fighting and the like, what did that have to do with her, an inventor girl?
In the seventh match, Momo Yaoyorozu faced Fumikage Tokoyami.
Originally, Momo Yaoyorozu, as the daughter of the head of the Yaoyorozu Conglomerate, had attracted a lot of attention. Compared with the little-known Tokoyami, the audience preferred Momo Yaoyorozu.
But who would have thought that Tokoyami's Dark Shadow would hardly give Momo Yaoyorozu any time to create anything?
In less than half a minute, she was pushed to the edge by Dark Shadow, losing the match and accumulating 1 negative point.
In the eighth match, Kyoka Jiro faced Mina Ashido.
Speaking of which, the two girls usually got along very well, but it was a pity that now they had to fight.
The boat of sisterhood capsizes the moment you speak of it.
Kyoka Jiro showed no mercy. She cast a lightning spell right at the start, shocking everyone. This girl could use lightning too.
Then her Earphone Jack touched Mina Ashido's body, amplifying her heartbeat and directly making Mina Ashido's eyes roll back.
She lost consciousness. Kyoka Jiro wins!
With that, the first round of the competition was over, and next came the first round of the loser's bracket.
Those who had accumulated 1 negative point would draw lots again. The loser would be eliminated upon reaching 2 negative points. The winner would get their point back and could compete again.
And Lock could only be a spectator the whole time.
No one challenged him!
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