Chapitre 2: Entrance Exam Arc 1

Following the directional signs inside of the school, the pair made their way to the initial gathering location of the entrance exam. Ayajo could sense the prestige of the school just by looking at the size of the hallway, being tall and wide enough to fit a double-decker bus and still have room left over.

Any doors she saw were easily more than three times her height, the quality of construction and materials used for the building impressive to the point that even a layman like her can tell that the school only wanted the best for their students.

Despite the impressive surroundings, she didn't have any point of reference if what she's seen as normal for most high schools, maybe gigantic doors are in all high schools?

'Definitely not, U.A. is certainly unique in that aspect, even the most prestigious of high schools wouldn't have unnecessarily huge doors'

Ayajo nodded in acknowledgment to the answer to her unasked question, if any high school were to be uniquely different from other high schools, it would be U.A.

The pair arrived at a huge doorway which was the entrance to the gathering location, examinees streaming into the room with some staying outside to collect themselves and calm their nerves.

Ayajo entered the room with her companion following from behind, the room was a giant indoor amphitheater with a giant screen and stage at the front, examinees seated all around the room haphazardly.

They were quietly discussing amongst themselves, only a bit of noise could be heard within the room which was designed to reverberate sound, signifying the amount of seriousness they regarded the exam with.

Selecting a seat nearest to the exit, Ayajo whipped out her GBU the moment her body touched the seat, eliciting another sigh to be heard within her mind, as her companion sat next to her.

The entrance exam was to start in around fifteen minutes, so she still had plenty of time to continue playing on endless mode.

Her companion looked around the room, searching for someone before finding them a moment later, in the front row at the very middle seat. though they couldn't see their face there was a very prominent feature about the person they searching for.

They had a little golden crown sat atop a head of gray hair that attracted the sights of some of the examinees nearby due to the light reflecting off the crown and giving off a golden glow.

Looking around again to find another person and finding them at the end of the row. They were much more visible than the prior person, revealing that it was a teenage boy with a slim figure.

With one leg over the other and hand on his chin, a mischievous smirk on his face, he had slick black hair that was combed from front to back. his one visible eye was glowing yellow before turning back to brown a few seconds later.

As if feeling the presence of someone looking at him, he turned towards Ayajo's companion, his smirk turning into a more friendly and welcoming smile as he gave a small wave in the pair's direction.

Returning with a wave of their own, they nudged their arm against Ayajo's, getting her attention and flicking his head in the direction of the slim teen in the distance. Looking over at the teen, she gave a small nod before immediately going back to her game.

The teen rolled his eyes, his smirk returning before going back to idling in his seat. After nearly fifteen minutes the room was fully packed and the quiet chatter slowly turned into silence as the examinees noticed that the exam was about to begin.

Not long after, the door to the side of the stage opened, a person walking through and onto the stage.

He wore punk like attire, orange-tinted shades, headphones, and long blond hair spiked upwards in a huge tuft behind his head, and a small mustache.

He had a comically huge smile and a strange device around his neck similar to a speaker.

He walked up to the podium and looked around the room, nodding to himself in approval.

"Soundcheck, soundcheck, one two three!!" His voice reverberated throughout the room, though unaided by any visible microphone his voice was highly enhanced in volume though he might have been using the device on his neck to do so.

'That's present mic, a pro hero with his own radio show, his quirk allows him to increase his voice to deafening volumes, being the announcer for the entrance exam is quite suitable for him'

Though Ayajo didn't visually react to the information given, she internalized it as present mic could be one of her teachers in U.A.

"Alright!! Let us begin examinees!! Welcome one and all to my live show!! Everybody say hey!"

The pursuing silence did nothing to dampen the prior enthusiasm present mic had shown, with him continuing.

"I've got shivers down my spine too, listeners! All right, Examinees..."

"I'm gonna give you the low-down on how this'll go down! Are you ready!? Everybody say YEAH!!"

...

"...Now, pay close attention listeners! We'll be testing your mettle by running a ten-minute mock battle at our replica city districts!"

"You can take any equipment and items with you provided it has been approved prior to the entrance exam!! After the presentation, you'll head to the specified battle center, okay?"

...

"OKAY!!"

Ayajo looked down at her exam ticket which indicated as examinee number 3521 and that her test location was at battle center A, she wondered if she were to encounter her best friends at her battle center, hoping she doesn't as she wanted to go all out during the exam.

"We'll be sprinkling a large number of 'villains' over the battlefield! And they'll appear in three different varieties, with point values scaled according to difficulty!!" Present mic pointed over to the screen, the silhouettes of three mechanical looking enemies with points assigned to each of them on display.

"Using each of your individual quirks, dispatch as many 'villains' as you can. Your goal, listeners, is to rack up a high score!"

"Of course, attacking other examinees and any other unheroic actions are prohibited!"

"three?" Ayajo questioned, turning to her companion in confusion, in her hand was a handout that was handed to her by her companion, who had taken the liberty of taking one for her when she had ignored the large pile of handouts on a table just outside the room.

The handout had four silhouettes, with the silhouette missing from the screen assigned zero points, adding to her confusion.

'They're probably going to explain it soon, i doubt the number one school for heroics would do something as embarrassing misprint information on the examination details'

To prove she wasn't the only one confused, in the middle of the crowd of examinees, a male examinee with a well-built body wearing a prestigious looking school uniform and neatly combed hair had abruptly stood up with their hand raised.

"Excuse me, may i ask a question!?" The examinee asked rather loudly, not as deafeningly loud as present mic but loud enough for the whole amphitheater to hear.

"On the handout, there are clearly four types of villains listed! Such an error would be the height of embarrassment for a top tier national academy of U.A.'s caliber!!"

"The reason we are seated here today is because we seek guidance on the path to becoming model heroes!"

Thinking that the examinee was finished talking, present mic opened his mouth to start speaking again before being interrupted by the same examinee.

"Moreover, what's with you, curly-haired kid! Can't you sit still for a second, you're distracting!" The examinee had turned behind to point at a student with curly green hair, attracting the attention of the entire amphitheater.

"If you think U.A. is some pleasure jaunt, then leave this place at once!" He harshly finished before turning back to the stage, still standing to receive his answer.

An obvious but quiet murmur of giggles and snickers could be heard in the room, all directed towards the green-haired examinee, who shrank into his seat in embarrassment.

"Meanie..." Ayajo stated, a slight frown could be seen on her usually expressionless face.

'It was kind of harsh to do that in front of the whole amphitheater, i can't imagine the number that had done on the kid's nerves...' Her companion replied, more or less agreeing that the still-standing examinee was a bit of an asshole.

"Okay, Okay, examinee number 7111, thanks for the great message!"

"The fourth type of 'villain' is worth zero points! That guy's an obstacle, so to speak. There's one in every battle center, an obstacle that'll go crazy in narrow spaces!"

"It's not impossible to defeat, but there's no reason to defeat it either, I recommend that you listeners try to avoid it!"

"Thank you very much! Please excuse the interruption!" The mean examinee bowed down before taking his seat, satisfied with the explanation.

'Its almost no different from a video game now ain't it? This should be a breeze for you then, shouldn't it?'

Ayajo's companion jokingly said, nudging her gently on the arm.

Ayajo gave a cute little pout, barely noticeable, turning her head away in mock anger from being teased about her obvious gaming addiction.

"That's all from me! Finally, I'll give you listeners a present... our school motto!!"

"The hero Napolean Bonaparte once said... A true hero never stops overcoming the misfortunes in life!"

"Go beyond!!"

"PLUS ULTRA!!!"

"Now, everyone, good luck suffering!!"

The silence that had permeated the room since the beginning of the presentation had abruptly broken the moment it had ended, turning into excited and nervous chatter on what was to come.

"Everybody!! please exit the amphitheater in an orderly fashion and follow our staff member to one of our parking lots where we will be organizing everyone into their respective battle center groups, from A to G!!"

While no one rushed towards the exits, everyone had stood up from their seats and exited the amphitheater with the urgency of someone needing to take a number two, quickly emptying the room in no time at all.

Having chosen the closest seats to the exit, Ayajo, and her companion had been the first to leave, meeting the staff member that was to lead them to the school field.

Though they didn't look too heroic, not having any distinct physical features, the pair could sense that they were far from an ordinary person, even if they weren't a pro hero.

The trip to the parking lot took around fifteen minutes, slightly surprising the pair and the examinees following behind them, though all of them did their research prior to taking the entrance exam and knowing the actual size of the school, experiencing the size themselves was a whole different matter.

On the parking on, the staff member had taken a megaphone from one of the other staff members scattered around, holding up signs with the letters A to G printed on them, each in front of a U.A. branded bus.

"Okay examinees!! Please distribute yourselves into your respective battle center group according to the signs my colleagues are holding!"

"Please do not join a battle center group that does not match your designated battle center! Doing so will immediately disqualify you!! During the grading process, it does not matter how many points you had gotten, rules are rules!"

"We will be heading out in five minutes so please do no dilly-dally!"

The crowd of examinees split themselves according to their groups, the pair heading towards Group A.

Halfway to their group, Ayajo had spotted the green-haired examinee that was embarrassed in front of everyone walking with his head down and clearly nervous, He was walking towards Group B, being in the same general direction as their group.

She jogged ahead to catch up to him, companion following behind. She placed her hand on his shoulder, having to reach up a little bit, as, despite the boy being quite short for his age, she was a bit shorter.

The boy turned to look at her in confusion before she had a chance to say something.

"Don't mind, good luck..." With those four words, she gently patted him twice on the same shoulder before moving towards Group A, those four words only furthered his confusion.

Her companion had reached him before he could start walking to his group again, putting out a hand that obviously was a sign to stop.

Satisfied that their silent request was met, they reached into their hoodie jacket to take out a notebook and pencil, flipping it open and quickly writing down a message before facing the written page towards the boy for him to read.

'Sorry for my friend over there, she just wanted to tell you not to dwell on what happened earlier during the presentation, and that she hopes that you'll be able to do your best on the examination, best wishes to you from me as well'

The boy's face morphed from one of confusion to surprise and finally to one of shy happiness, thankful for the stranger that showed kindness to him even during such a competitive examination.

He bowed his head towards the one who had cleared his confusion and bowed once again in the direction Ayajo had walked, stating his thanks.

"T-thank you!!"

Watching him walk to his group with a slight smile on his face, Ayajo's companion could tell he was still highly nervous, but less so than before, satisfied that their and Ayajo's efforts were not in vain.

They jogged towards Group A to praise Ayajo for her encouraging words, despite not being understood without his clarification.

The buses headed off to their respective battle centers, each examinees nerves becoming high-strung, as each second led them closer to the real beginning of the entrance exam.