After changing into their combat uniforms in the locker room, everyone followed the crowd toward the main examination hall to listen to the briefing.
The enormous hall was already packed with examinees. Hero students from all over the country filled the space as far as the eye could see. A rough glance suggested that there were at least a thousand candidates present.
"This… this is the provisional license exam venue…"
Some students couldn't help whispering in shock.
Once the scheduled time arrived, a white-haired man who had been lying lazily on the platform slowly lifted his head and let out a long yawn. His face was filled with exhaustion and indifference.
"Ah… right. I'm Murayama Ryo from the Hero Public Safety Commission," he said lazily. "My favorite state is deep sleep. Please take care of me."
Before he even finished speaking, he yawned again. It was obvious that he was severely sleep-deprived from organizing such a massive exam.
"What kind of strong déjà vu is this…"
"He doesn't even try to hide how tired he is. Is he really reliable?"
The students of Class A were slightly stunned.
Why did this Murayama Ryo feel so similar to Aizawa-sensei? Both of them looked perpetually sleepy, with drooping eyelids and lifeless expressions. Aizawa even slept whenever he had free time.
It was almost uncanny.
"This exam," Murayama continued, "to put it simply, is a survival-style practical test. Winner takes all."
His explanation was extremely brief, which surprised many candidates. However, most of them had mentally prepared themselves. After all, anyone who made it here believed they were strong enough to compete.
"This is an era of hero saturation," Murayama said calmly. "Since Stain was arrested, debates about hero society have never stopped. More heroes have joined the field, and response times have dropped dramatically."
"Once you obtain a temporary license, you'll be thrown into this current as well. Those who can't keep up will be eliminated halfway."
Then he finally announced the key rule.
"So this time, we're testing speed."
"The first one hundred candidates to meet the requirements will receive a temporary license."
The moment those words fell, the entire hall exploded.
Only one hundred?
Out of more than fifteen hundred candidates, only one hundred would pass!
That meant a pass rate of less than seven percent.
Grape counted on his fingers again and again, just to make sure he hadn't miscalculated. After confirming it, his face turned pale.
"In a place full of monsters like this… how am I supposed to pass…"
"If we want all twenty of us to pass," Yaoyorozu Momo said worriedly, "won't it be extremely difficult?"
She glanced at her classmates anxiously. She wasn't worried about herself—her new special move gave her plenty of confidence—but she didn't want anyone to be eliminated.
"It's fine," Masata said lazily. "They're all small fry anyway."
He looked at the surrounding students from other schools who were already on the verge of tears and shrugged.
"They're not worth stressing over."
"Big brother! You'll help me pass, right?! You promised!"
Grape immediately squeezed next to Masata, looking at him with watery eyes.
Masata pushed him away in disgust.
"We'll see. If I can help, I will. But don't rely on me too much."
"Even if I carry you this time, the next test will still depend on yourself."
This kind of exam was like a professional qualification test. You might get lucky once, but in real practice, weakness would always be exposed.
Masata could only try to minimize eliminations. Whether they passed or not ultimately depended on their own abilities.
Murayama wasn't surprised by the uproar.
"This year is special," he said casually. "You can consider it… bad luck, I guess."
After throwing out that excuse, he ignored the complaints and continued explaining. At the same time, animations appeared on the big screen behind him to help clarify the rules.
"Now, for the specific requirements."
He took out three disc-shaped targets and a small ball.
"Each candidate must attach three targets to their body. They must be placed in visible positions. Hiding them—such as under armpits or soles—is prohibited."
"Next, each person will receive six balls."
"Only when a ball hits a target accurately will it light up. Once all three targets light up, they will fall off automatically."
"If you knock off all three targets on another person, that counts as successfully eliminating one candidate."
"Eliminate two people, and you qualify."
"That's the rule."
"Oh, and one more thing."
"Destroying your own targets with your Quirk is forbidden."
"That will be considered a foul."
The moment he said this, many students subconsciously turned to look at Igarashi Masata.
Among so many people, the one most likely to accidentally melt the targets… was obviously him.
"…Troublesome," Masata muttered.
He stared at the fragile-looking device.
"This thing clearly can't handle high temperatures."
With this rule in place, he couldn't freely use elementalization anymore, let alone large-scale techniques. This was an exam, not a battlefield against villains.
"It's similar to the entrance exam," someone said, "but completely different."
Midoriya Izuku had already fallen into deep analysis mode, surrounded by classmates eager to hear his thoughts.
"Fighting robots and fighting people are totally different," Midoriya said seriously. "And the number of balls matches the passing requirement…"
"Doesn't that imply that we're expected to hit other people's third target?"
His conclusion made many students nod.
Although it sounded a bit ruthless, it was indeed the fastest path to victory.
However—
Masata had a completely different opinion.