The sun hung high over the UA training grounds, a sprawling expanse of dirt and concrete that felt less like a schoolyard and more like a testing environment. Shota Aizawa, the homeroom teacher whose very presence felt like a "Debuff Aura," stood before the gathered students of Class 1-A with a yellow sleeping bag slumped over one shoulder and a digital tablet in his hand.
"A Quirk Apprehension Test," Aizawa announced, his voice a flat, dead monotone. "In middle school, you were forbidden from using your powers during physical exams. That's irrational. The Ministry of Education is clinging to a standardized 'Fairness' that doesn't exist in a world of superhumans."
He looked directly at Kenji, his eyes narrowing. "Sato. You placed second in the entrance exam. What was your best result for the softball throw in junior high?"
Kenji stepped forward, the dust of the track crunching under his boots. "67 meters, sir."
"Try it with your Quirk," Aizawa commanded, tossing him a ball. "Anything goes, as long as you stay within the circle."
Kenji caught the ball. It felt light—too light. In his mind's eye, a command prompt flickered.
[INITIATING TRIAL: SOFTBALL THROW]
[LOADOUT: SKYRIM STRENGTH + SOUL-ENHANCED KINETICS]
[TARGET: HORIZON]
The class watched as Kenji took his stance. He didn't look like a powerhouse. He didn't have the bulging muscles of a strength-quirk user or the visible turbines of Iida. But as he drew his arm back, the air around him began to hum. It was a low-frequency vibration, the sound of a game engine straining under a heavy load.
Part I: Breaking the Physics Engine
Kenji wasn't just throwing a ball. He was calculating a projectile arc.
Through his Focus HUD, he saw the wind speed (4.2 m/s North-West), the humidity (12%), and the optimal release angle (45^\circ). He tapped into his Soul Pool, diverting the energy he'd harvested from the Zero-Pointer into his right deltoid and triceps.
[OVERCLOCKING: PHYSICAL SCALING 120%]
[WARNING: BIOLOGICAL DEGRADATION IN 5... 4...]
Now.
As he swung his arm, he didn't just use muscle. He used a Dragon Shout—not a full Yol Toor Shul, but a whispered, condensed burst of Whirlwind Sprint localized entirely behind his shoulder blade.
"WULD!"
The air exploded. It wasn't a sound of a shout, but a sharp crack of a sonic boom. The ball didn't fly; it vanished. It became a white streak of heat, cutting through the air with such velocity that the friction began to singe the fuzz on the leather.
Aizawa's tablet beeped. He turned it around for the class to see.
[DISTANCE: 1,204.6 METERS]
"Whoa!" Ochaco Uraraka gasped. "That's over a kilometer!"
"Look at his arm," Katsuki Bakugo spat, his palms sparking with irritation. "The hell was that sound? That wasn't just a throw. It was like a cannon."
Kenji stepped out of the circle, his arm steaming. A small notification appeared in the corner of his vision:
[DURABILITY REDUCED BY 5%. REGENERATE AT NEXT BONFIRE.]
Part II: The 50-Meter Dash (Tick-Rate Manipulation)
The next trial was the 50-meter dash. Kenji found himself lined up against Tenya Iida. The engine-legged student was already vibrating, his face a mask of intense focus.
"Sato-kun," Iida said, his glasses glinting. "Your performance in the throw was remarkable. However, when it comes to pure speed, my engines have been refined for a decade. I shall not be outdone!"
"Iida," Kenji said, his voice calm. "I'm not running against you. I'm running against the clock."
[SKILL SELECT: WHIRLWIND SPRINT (FULL CHAIN)]
[STAMINA COST: 40%]
[COOLDOWN LOGIC: BYPASSED VIA SOUL-TRANSPOSITION]
"Start!" the robot official chirped.
Iida blasted off, his mufflers roaring as he hit third gear instantly. He was a blur of blue and chrome.
Kenji, however, didn't "run." He teleported.
To the observers, it looked like Kenji glitched. One moment he was at the starting line; the next, he was ten meters ahead. Then twenty. Then the finish line. Every ten meters, a shockwave of distorted air rippled behind him.
"WULD... NAH KEST!"
The three-word shout for Whirlwind Sprint didn't just make him fast; it turned his body into a kinetic vector. He crossed the line before Iida could even reach the midpoint.
[TIME: 0.82 SECONDS]
Iida skidded to a halt, his tires smoking. "Impossible... you didn't even move your legs! That's... that's cheating the very concept of a dash!"
"It's called a 'dash-cancel', Iida," Kenji replied, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. "If you time the movement correctly, the animation for the run is skipped entirely. You should try optimizing your gait."
Part III: The Grip Strength (Source Code Force)
The class moved to the grip strength machines. Mezo Shoji, the boy with multiple arms, squeezed his device until it shrieked, registering an incredible 540 kilograms.
Kenji looked at the plastic handle. He didn't have multiple arms. But he had Weapon Memory: The Fume Ultra Greatsword.
In the Dark Souls archive, the Fume Ultra Greatsword was a slab of charred iron that required superhuman strength just to lift. By "Equipping" the memory of that weapon, Kenji's hands didn't get bigger, but the internal logic of his grip changed. His nervous system began to output the exact PSI required to hold a ton of iron steady in a boss fight.
He squeezed.
The machine didn't just beep. It groaned. The plastic casing began to spiderweb with cracks. The digital display climbed: 200... 400... 600... 800...
CRUNCH.
The machine shattered into pieces of black plastic and twisted springs.
[SYSTEM ERROR: HARDWARE LIMIT EXCEEDED]
[ESTIMATED OUTPUT: 950kg]
"He broke it," Mineta whispered, trembling. "He's a monster. A gaming monster."
Part IV: The Long Jump (Logic Hopping)
During the standing long jump, most students used their quirks to propel themselves. Bakugo used explosions; Tsuyu used her powerful frog legs.
Kenji walked to the sandpit. He looked at the air. His Focus HUD highlighted a series of "invisible platforms"—not because they existed, but because the Horizon parkour logic allowed him to treat vertical surfaces and microscopic ledges as traversable terrain.
He jumped. In mid-air, he performed a Double Jump, a logic-defying feat he had "exported" from his time in the more arcade-like archives his grandfather had reconstructed. He kicked the air itself, his mana flaring under his boots like a shimmering blue platform.
He sailed over the entire sandpit, landing on the grass on the far side.
"That's... that's not how physics works!" Momo Yaoyorozu cried out, her eyes wide. "You can't kick off of nothing!"
"I'm not kicking off of nothing," Kenji explained, looking back. "I'm kicking off the 'collision box' of the air. If you move fast enough, the atmosphere behaves like a solid object. You just have to know where the geometry overlaps."
Part V: The Aizawa Reveal
By the end of the eight trials, the leaderboard was clear.
* Momo Yaoyorozu (Versatility)
* Kenji Sato (Efficiency/Logic Manipulation)
* Shoto Todoroki (Elemental Power)
* Katsuki Bakugo (Explosive Output)
Aizawa stood at the front, his hair floating as his Quirk activated. "Sato. Come here."
Kenji walked toward the teacher. He felt the Focus HUD turn red.
[WARNING: SYSTEM SUPPRESSION DETECTED]
[QUIRK: ERASURE IS ACTIVE]
"You're an anomaly, Sato," Aizawa said, his eyes glowing red. "Most Quirks have a clear biological source. Fire from skin, engines from bone. But yours... when I erase it, I don't see your 'power' disappear. I see your 'interface' vanish. You're still physically dense. You're still strong. But you lose the ability to 'export' the rules. Am I right?"
Kenji nodded. "The 'System' is the Quirk, sir. The powers are just 'software.' Without the System, I'm just a high-spec PC with no OS."
Aizawa stopped his Erasure, his hair falling back to his shoulders. He looked at the rest of the class. "Listen up. Sato isn't just a late bloomer. He's a different kind of hero. While you're all trying to be the strongest, he's trying to be the most accurate. In a real fight, accuracy kills faster than strength."
He looked at the tablet and sighed. "And by the way... the thing about the person in last place being expelled? That was a 'rational deception' to make you give your all."
The class erupted in a mixture of relief and fury. Kenji, however, just checked his internal menu.
[QUEST COMPLETE: SURVIVE THE APPREHENSION TEST]
[REWARD: ACCESS TO UA GYM FACILITIES (GRINDING ZONE)]
[NEW SYSTEM UNLOCKED: "MODDING" — ALLOWS MERGING OF SKYRIM SHOUTS WITH HORIZON TECHNOLOGY]
Kenji looked at his classmates. They were all celebrating, but his Focus was already scanning the horizon. He saw the high-level threats of the future—the League of Villains, the High-End Nomus.
He didn't need to be the "Symbol of Peace." He needed to be the Final Boss.
End of Day One: Status Summary
* Kenji Sato Level: 18
* Energy Reservoir: 40% (Needs Rest)
* New Strategy: Experiment with "Shout-Infused Weaponry" using the UA workshop.
* Relationship Status: Iida (Respectful Rivalry), Bakugo (Hostile/Confused), Uraraka (Curious).