The green-haired figure at the classroom door tried to sneak inside as quietly as possible—but he was immediately spotted by Iida Tenya's sharp eyes.
"That student there," Iida said stiffly, suddenly abandoning Bakugo and marching straight toward him. "You said earlier that you graduated from a private elite middle school, didn't you?"
Being discovered so abruptly, Midoriya Izuku responded awkwardly."Ah… I'm Midoriya Izuku. P-Please take care of me."
"Midoriya!" Iida said solemnly, striking a reflective pose. "During the practical entrance exam, you fully understood the combat test's scoring system, didn't you? I completely failed to notice it myself! I misjudged you. Although it pains me to admit it… you are indeed superior!"
"Whoa, whoa—seriously?" Masata leaned forward with interest. "What did Izuku do to make Glasses Brother completely change his opinion?"
"My name is Iida Tenya, not 'Glasses Brother'!" Iida snapped, then immediately continued seriously, "Midoriya destroyed the giant robot with a single punch! And more importantly, he grasped the scoring system of the exam. That is what I admire the most!"
"Tch. What a waste of time," Bakugo muttered, glaring at his childhood friend with irritation.
Just then, a lazy, almost lifeless voice drifted in from the doorway.
"If you're going to play the 'make friends' game, do it somewhere else."
At the teacher's entrance lay something resembling a caterpillar wrapped in a yellow sleeping bag.
"And as a friendly reminder, Iida," the voice continued, "that guy over there also destroyed the giant robot with one punch."
The classroom instantly fell silent.
All eyes slowly turned toward Igarashi Masata, who was sitting casually in his seat, completely unbothered.
"…Alright," the strange creature said as it stood up, revealing itself to be a disheveled-looking man with tired eyes. "Now that things have calmed down."
"I'm your homeroom teacher—Aizawa Shouta. Nice to meet you."
"Time is limited," Aizawa continued flatly, pulling U.A.'s sports uniforms out from beneath the podium. "Change into these and assemble on the field."
U.A. High School Training Field
"A Quirk baseline assessment?!"
Once all twenty students of Class 1-A had gathered on the field, Aizawa explained the content of their very first lesson.
"What about the opening ceremony?""What about the campus tour?!"
A girl with a bob haircut and big, sparkling eyes—Uraraka Ochaco—raised her hand anxiously.
Masata glanced around and silently thought:
U.A. really is huge… and there are a lot of cute girls too.
Yaoyorozu Momo went without saying—she was goddess-tier. Uraraka was cheerful and adorable. There were also cool-looking girls with earphone jacks, mysterious girls with frog-like features, and energetic pink-haired girls.
…Wait. Something feels missing.
"If you want to become heroes," Aizawa said coldly, bloodshot eyes sweeping across the class, "you don't have time for leisurely nonsense."
He pulled out his phone.
"When I was in junior high, the Ministry of Education forced everyone into the same standardized fitness tests. Completely unreasonable."
"This is their incompetence."
Then he looked up.
"Igarashi Masata. You ranked first in the entrance exam, correct?"
Masata answered loudly, "Yes!"
"How far did you throw the softball in middle school?"
"Three hundred and five meters."
"…305 meters?" Aizawa nodded absently.Then froze.
"…What?"
His eyes snapped open.
Masata silently thought, Sensei, are you practicing face-changing like Sichuan opera?
Aizawa coughed awkwardly, clearly shaken.
"…Then try again. This time, use your Quirk."
He tossed the ball to Masata.
"Give it everything you've got."
Masata caught the ball, turning it in his hand, feeling the metallic texture.
"Give it everything?"He grinned."Then I won't hold back."
Red light bloomed across his right hand.
"Volcano Throw!"
The true terror of Masata's Quirk was never just heat—but the explosive force generated at the moment of eruption. Real volcanic eruptions could launch hundreds of thousands of tons of material into the atmosphere. Masata couldn't replicate that scale—but after fighting villains and machines alike, he had learned to harness that force to amplify his own strength.
The softball vanished into the sky.
After a long silence—
BEEP.
The rangefinder chimed.
"Two thousand… two hundred and forty-eight meters."
"2,248 meters?!"
The field exploded into noise.
"What the hell is that?!""That's broken!""This is awesome!""So this is the Hero Course!"
Masata wiped a bit of sweat from his brow.
Using my Quirk like this really drains stamina…
Aizawa lowered his head, voice dark.
"Does this all seem… fun to you?"
"If you plan to treat U.A. with that attitude for the next three years—"
"I'll expel the student with the lowest score."
"What?!""On the first day?!""Is that even allowed?!"
Aizawa lifted his messy hair, eyes sharp.
"Expulsion is a teacher's right."
"Natural disasters. Villains. Reckless criminals. The world is full of unreasonable threats."
"And it is our responsibility as heroes to face them."
"If you think this is a place to laugh around after school, you came to the wrong academy."
"For the next three years—U.A. will make you suffer."
"Plus Ultra."
Midoriya Izuku felt his soul leaving his body.
I'm doomed. I can't control One For All yet. If I use it once, I'm finished. If I don't, I lose anyway… Am I getting expelled on the first day?!
Masata, standing quietly in the corner, felt a strange new attribute awaken within him.
"…How much is McDonald's paying you?" he muttered."I'll double it with KFC."