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The U.A.
High School Entrance Exam briefing hall was packed.
“To all you examinee listeners, welcome to my live show today…”
Present Mic stood in front of a massive electronic screen, wild blond hair swept high, dressed like a DJ and speaking with boundless energy.
In the monitoring room, Ren watched the scene and grimaced.
He looked down at the black coat he had specially chosen for the day.
Good.
At least it was not leather.
He should not look like he was matching Present Mic.
All Might, standing beside him, noticed.
“Young Mikage, why are you staring at your clothes?
Did you wear the wrong outfit today?”
Ren went still.
Cementoss was standing right there.
If All Might kept talking like that, Ren’s cool, composed image would collapse before it had a chance to work.
Cementoss, whose real name was Ken Ishiyama, was a U.A.
teacher with a square face and thick fingers.
His Quirk was Cement, allowing him to manipulate concrete he touched by softening or hardening it.
To Ren, that was basically a modern concrete-bulwark ability.
And, incidentally, Cement was one of Ren’s targets.
Imagine it: an enemy attacking, Ren raising a hand and bringing up a concrete wall to block the strike.
It had style.
That was why he wanted to leave a good impression on Cementoss.
From what Ren had heard, the man appreciated calm, steady students.
Ren returned his thoughts to the present and answered All Might with a straight face.
“No.
I just did not expect the Entrance Exam host to really be him.”
You know Mic too?” All Might asked in surprise.
“Present Mic.
U.A.’s English teacher.
His Quirk is Voice.
He calls his students listeners, and…” Ren paused until both All Might and Cementoss were listening.
“According to rumor, when he was born, his crying ruptured the eardrums of everyone in the delivery room.”
Two muffled laughs broke out in the monitoring room.
Even the famously steady Cementoss failed to escape.
Ren’s dead-serious expression combined with Present Mic’s embarrassing history was simply too much.
None of them questioned where Ren had heard it.
U.A.’s resident teachers had plenty of gossip magazines and hero profiles written about them.
“Is something wrong, Cementoss?” Ren turned to him with an innocent face.
“I may have some information about you too.”
Cementoss immediately straightened.
“Enough joking,” he said in a deep voice.
“Mic is explaining the exam rules.
I need to stand by at the practical testing site.”
He opened the door and left without waiting for either of them to respond.
Somehow, his retreat looked very composed and very much like an escape.
“Well done, young man.”
Once Cementoss was gone, All Might gave Ren a thumbs-up.
The man had a way of making the atmosphere too heavy, so this was not a bad thing.
“What are you talking about?” Ren asked, all innocence.
He had no idea whether there were hidden cameras in here.
If Cementoss found out Ren had been teasing him behind his back, then Ren’s future concrete-wall dream might be over before it began.
All Might ignored Ren’s actor routine and turned back to the screen, worry settling over his face as he watched Midoriya.
“What, uncle?
Are you worried my junior will fail the Entrance Exam?”
On the monitor, Present Mic had moved on to the practical test rules. Get faster updates on g.com.
In short, the exam was a ten-minute simulated city battle.
Applicants would enter different test sites by group and earn points by defeating mock villains.
“Yes.” All Might nodded solemnly.
“Wait.” Ren suddenly realized something.
His expression darkened.
“Do not tell me you only passed One For All to Midoriya this morning.”
Months ago, Ren had told All Might to give Midoriya the Quirk early, so the crybaby could practice before the exam and avoid making a mess at the worst possible moment.
Before Midoriya could even cause a problem, All Might had caused one first.
What happened to heroes not misleading people?
What happened to giving it to him in advance?
“Well…” All Might looked awkward.
“I was following my mentor’s method.
Only power earned through one’s own effort truly belongs to the person.”
The more important issue was that Midoriya had only finished cleaning Dagobah Municipal Beach Park that very morning.
Ren covered his forehead and opened the door.
“Young man, where are you going?”
“To find a safety net for my crybaby junior,” Ren said without looking back, “my hardheaded mentor.”
He left on his own.
What he did not see was the smile spreading across All Might’s face.
Young man, I really did choose well.
If Ren had known what All Might was thinking, he would have spat the nearest drink at him.
He was only trying to avoid getting dragged into a disaster.
If Midoriya died because of Ren’s unexpected presence in this world, who knew what the whole timeline would turn into?
In the end, this was just self-preservation.
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I hope this chapter pulled you deeper into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.