...
...
*Splash*
"Gaah! Haah... w-what?" A girl with white hair exclaimed in shock, moving her now wet hair to cover her left eye.
"Wake up, we don't have time to waste." A green haired boy said, holding a half empty bottle of water above her face before pulling it back.
"W-What's happening?"
"I'll explain in a minute, I just need to wake up the other two." He replied, pouring water onto the girl with long, prickly green hair, closely resembling vines. She shot awake and shook her head roughly.
"W-What on Earth?!"
"Good morning." The boy said, before tossing the now empty bottle behind him and kicking the boy with gray hair and weird eyebrows in the stomach.
"Gah fuck!" He exclaimed, clutching his stomach, "W-What the fuck man?"
"First off language, second I ran out of water. Anyway, now that all of you are awake I can explain what's happening." The boy said before sitting down, "First, my name. I'm Izuku Midoriya, and what's happening... is Midnight used her Quirk to put you all asleep."
"W-What? Why would she do something like that?" The boy with gray hair asked.
"To put us in here, and to raise our nervousness and tension." Midoriya replied.
"But where... is here?" The white haired girl asked.
"We're currently in an 'Escape Room'."
"Escape... Room?" The girl with green hair asked.
"I'm not surprised you haven't heard of them. They've pretty much fallen out of style after the turn of the decade, the only remaining escape rooms are in America. But basically, an Escape Room is a room with a bunch of puzzles inside it. Solve each puzzle to get closer and closer to escaping."
"Okay... but why are we in an Escape Room?"
"Before I answer that... what are your names? I'm getting tired of calling you 'Gray Haired Boy' 'Green Haired Girl' and 'White Haired Girl'."
"... Right." The white haired girl replied, "My name is Reiko Yanagi."
"My name is Ibara Shiozaki, pleasure to meet you."
"The name's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu."
...
...
"Alright, now that introductions are out of the way. Let's continue the explanation." Midoriya said, "So Midnight used her Quirk on everyone in the auditorium, her Quirk allows her to put those who breath it to sleep, and depending on how potent the gas is the longer the victim sleeps."
"What was the duration of time we were unconscious?" Yanagi asked.
"I woke you all up the second I woke up, which was five minutes after Midnight used her Quirk." Midoriya explained, "However, the lowest recorded time of Midnight's Quirk duration... is ten minutes of deep sleep."
"... So how did you wake up in five minutes?" Tetsutetsu asked.
"Simple. I swallowed a pill that made me unconscious for five minutes."
"W-What?!" Shiozaki asked in shock, "Why would you do that to yourself?"
"To get us an edge." Midoriya replied, "While Midnight's Quirk will put people to sleep, they can wake up to almost anything a normal person in deep sleep would. Like pouring water on their face or kicking them in the stomach. As to why we need an edge... it stands to reason that this Escape Room is our Practical Exam."
"Wai wai wait. I thought the Practical was destroying robots like always." Tetsutetsu countered.
"While that's how it was, I'm certain that they changed the exam. Their reason? Most likely that, while any fool can destroy slow moronic hunks of metal, not anyone can act under pressure, examine and analyze their surroundings, and think their way out of a situation. Like in this Escape Room."
"I have a question." Yanagi spoke out, "What's the purpose of these watches?"
"And can't we use our Quirks to bust out of here?" Tetsutetsu asked.
"I'll answer both questions at the same time." Midoriya responded, "These watches are important to this... and I assume the other Escape Rooms. To explain, try pushing the buttons on the sides of the watch."
The three of them nodded and pushed the buttons, showing 00:33 on the watch. Shiozaki's and Yanagi's watches have blue letters, while Midoriya's and Tetsutetsu's have red letters. "It's... a clock? No, that's not right. That would be 12:32 in the morning." Shiozaki muttered.
"That's right, meaning this isn't a clock." He said, as the watch now showed 00:32, "It's counting down, meaning it's a timer. When I woke up, it said 00:35. Odds are in two more minutes the other applicants will soon wake up, so we don't have much more time in our edge. Now, as for why we can't use our Quirks, it's against the rules." Midoriya said before getting up to grab a long picture frame on the wall, "There are only three rules. One, escape the room before the time runs out, the faster you finish the higher your score will be. Two, all members must participate and accomplish something in this Escape Room, even just giving input is enough to suffice. And three, no Quirk usage allowed to break the room and force the door open. Using your Quirk for speed however is allowed... and recommended. If the last rule is broken, or you don't clear the room before time runs out all four member's watches will glow bright red, signaling your failure in completing the Escape Room, and failure of the test. Good Luck. Principal Nezu."
...
...
"So any other questions?"
"... Just one more." Shiozaki said, before pointing at the magenta metallic doors, "Why are there different colored doors?"
"I'm glad that's the last question, because that's the last major thing in this room, aside the actual puzzles." Midoriya said, before pointing at the two doors, "So as you can see, we have two magenta doors. And as you all might have noticed, the colors of our watches are either red or blue."
"What's wrong with that?" Tetsutetsu asked as Midoriya checked his watch. 00:31.
"I have time, now, pop quiz. What are the three primary colors?"
"Um, red, blue, and yellow." Tetsutetsu answered.
"In painting, yes. But in light? No. The primary colors for light are, red, blue, and green." Midoriya explained, "Now, what that means for the watches and the colors is this. Red and blue will make magenta, hence the magenta doors."
"So in order to proceed we need to pair up with opposite colors and enter the doors, correct?" Yanagi asked.
"Correct." He replied before pointing to the scanner beside the doors, "I tested this earlier, just hold the face of the watch up to the scanner and it will register. Meaning, in order to complete this room, we need to split up. So who wants to go with who?"
...
...
"Fine I'll decide. Yanagi you're with me, Shiozaki, you go with Tetsutetsu." Midoriya answered, before pulling out his backpack and opening it, "Now where is it... found it." He pulled out two walkie talkies and handed one to Tetsutetsu, as well as a piece of paper and a pencil. "These will help us stay connected, I don't know if we can hear each other when we're separated, but better safe than sorry. Also take this pencil and paper, odds are we'll have information for each other on separate sides, so you can write it down."
"What the heck- Is there anything you don't have in that bag?"
"Odds are? No." Midoriya replied before standing up and checking his watch once again. 00:30, "Right on schedule. Now come on, we have a five minute lead on the other students, maybe more if they start freaking out. Let's hurry and get this done."
"Right."
...
The group split off into pairs, Midoriya and Yanagi took the door on the left, whilst Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki took the door on the right. Once inside Midoriya pulled out his walkie talkie, "See anything of note at first glance?"
"... I see a desk with drawers, some weird podium thing, a bin full of... stuff, and a laptop. What about you?" Tetsutetsu asked, as Midoriya surveyed the room, seeing a desk of his own, a flat screen T.V, as well as a safe.
"I see a desk, a flat screen T.V, and a safe. We probably have to open the safe to get out."
"... Okay, I'll call you if I see anything important."
"Got it." He put the walkie talkie in his pocket and turned to Yanagi, "You check the drawers of the desk, I'm going to see if I can turn on the T.V."
"Understood." Yanagi went to search the drawers, whilst Midoriya turned on the T.V.
*Bzzt*
"... Odd." On screen was a massive string of letters.
USBPNACQLKNIGFCTMQKTMPZVFE
PNHIDAFLHGFPKHQLHQTMPAIND
JDLAXUYNWQPNGJLDCRDEWXQKE
"We probably need to decode it in some way."
"Midoriya, I found something." Yanagi said as she handed him a piece of paper, "It was taped on the top of the drawer, it's in Morse Code."
Midoriya looked at the paper, 'It was well hidden... is it-'
*Bzzt*
"Tetsutetsu is calling."
*Click*
"Did you find anything?"
"The laptop needs a password. And the podium in our side isn't turned on."
"Well we have two potential passwords, one is in Morse Code, another is something we need to decode but we need a key. Is there anything on your side that could be a key?"
"... We didn't find a key, but we did find a piece of paper."
"Which says?"
"Umm... you know that square root sign?"
"A Radical?"
"Yeah that, it says 'Three Radical 3.2329374e+39."
...'
...
Midoriya exhaled irritably, "Why did he make it a huge number? At least make it the actual number and not... that. Alright I'll see what I can do with it." Midoriya said before looking at Yanagi, "Do you happen to know Morse Code?"
"I... took a class on it for an elective."
"Good enough for me, then you can tell Tetsutetsu what this note says. While I do some math." He replied, handing her the walkie talkie, a spare pencil, and the note. While he took the blank piece of paper.
"Why must I do it?"
"Because you have to pull your share of the weight remember? Besides would you rather solve the cube root of three bajillion?"
"No." She said, taking the note and looking it over, leaving Midoriya with the equation.
...
...
"Is this cheating?" He asked himself as he pulled out a calculator, "... No because that'd be unreasonable to do... that, by hand."
...
...
"14,786,512,876,498. It should be the key, but how will that translate to the letters?" Midoriya asked himself, before staring at the screen for a few seconds.
...
...
Then it clicked, "One... that's U. Then move four letters down? That's an N. Seven letters... I." Soon Midoriya used all of the numbers on the string of letters, and with the last number 'eight', he landed on the very last letter 'E'. "United Alliance. Makes sense."
"I finished decoding this paper." Yanagi called out.
"Excellent, what did it say?"
"It says... 'You have decoded the secret note, you truly went beyond! Plus Ultra!'. That's all well and good, but what did that ultimately accomplish?"
"It's a secret note... well either way I decoded this random string of letters. The message was 'United Alliance'. Give me the walkie talkie I'll send it to Tetsutetsu." Yanagi nodded and tossed Midoriya the walkie talkie.
*Click*
"Tetsutetsu I decoded the letters."
"Lay it on me then."
"United Alliance."
...
...
"It's seriously the name of the school?"
"Don't question it and start typing, we only have..." Midoriya checked his watch, "17 minutes left."
"Well we have plenty of time then. We're beating this exam's ass."
"Don't get cocky, we still have something else, and who knows how long it will take."
"Right." The sounds of keys being pushed can be heard from the walkie talkie, until a small jingle was heard, "I got in."
"What did it show?"
...
...
"It's a three by three grid. A star in on the middle square, a moon is on the square below the star, and a sun is on the square next to the moon. Did... did that make any sense?"
"I understood what you're saying. It's probably the safe combination." Midoriya replied, "But what about the other paper?"
"Maybe it's a trap?"
"No, I think it's optional. Heck it even said it was a secret note. And what about the podium? It's turned off, I don't think it's for decoration. So that means... there must be another solution, an optional solution."
...
...
"So what's the call?" Tetsutetsu asked.
"... I want to beat this game to the fullest. And who knows... maybe we'll get a prize for... Going Beyond, Plus Ultra?"
"... Heh, well I'm game. Tell me what to do."
"Try typing in 'Plus Ultra'."
*Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Pwong*
"It... it worked." Tetsutetsu said as he looked back, "And the Podium turned on too. It looks a rectangular grid."
"Rectangular grid huh? Can you hand this to Shiozaki?"
"Gotcha."
...
...
"Midoriya?"
"Is the podium a grid?"
"Yes, it's a... nine by fourteen grid."
"Nine by fourteen... Could it be?"
"Did you have a thought?"
"It's a theory, but it's the only thing I can think of that would fit." Midoriya replied, "Write this down. one, four, seven, eight, six, five, one, two, eight, seven, six, four, nine, eight."
...
...
"I have the numbers... Oh!" She exclaimed.
"Did it click for you?"
"Yes, I need to input these numbers into the grid. That's your line of reasoning correct?"
"Yes, you can put those numbers in right?"
"Of course, give me a moment."
...
...
"Alright, I inputted the number-"
"Midoriya, I got another password, it's a three by three grid again."
"Tell me, and don't snatch the walkie talkie from Shiozaki, that's rude."
"Lecture me later, the entire right side is stars."
"Right side stars, got it. I'll tell you if anything happens." Midoriya signed off of the walkie talkie and knelt down to the safe. "I'll start with the first password. Star... sun... moon."
*Click* *Creak*
Inside is a key, with a note. He took the note and read it, "Congratulations on solving this puzzle. Inside is the key to the exit, all four of the players must escape for your time to be recorded. Also, for this room in particular, once you insert your key both doors will be permanently open. Sincerely yours, Principal Nezu."
Midoriya set the note aside and grabbed the key, "Yanagi!" He chucked the key to her, to which she caught, "Unlock the door and tell Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki to come in here."
"For what reason?"
"Just do it. I have another password and odds are they'll want to see what's inside."
Yanagi looked confused, but did as told. Once she left Midoriya inputted the last password, three stars on the right side.
*Click* *Creak*
Inside was a golden box. "Now this, just screams optional reward."
*Fwoosh*
On cue the magenta doors flew upwards, as Yanagi, Tetsutetsu, and Shiozaki rushed inside. "What did you find?" Yanagi asked as Midoriya pulled out the box.
"Our reward." Midoriya replied as he threw the lid to the side, inside was another note, four golden cards, and a map with a red dot on it. Midoriya took the note and read it aloud, "To whom it may concern, congratulations! You've embodied our school's motto of Go Beyond! Plus Ultra! Such behavior should be rewarded don't you think? Inside are four golden cards. These will act as your student identification cards. Simply bring them to my office along with the note and your picture will be taken on them."
"Wait... does that mean?"
"Before you ask, yes, these golden cards will guarantee your admittance into U.A's Hero Course. That and they look rather stylish I must say. Now, another item inside the box is a map. If you can tell... that's a map of a particular floor of the U.A building. The meaning will be explained once you meet me in my office. I'm running out of room on this paper. I shall answer any and all questions you have once you meet with me. Sincerely yours, Principal Nezu."
"Holy shit! We actually passed?!"
"Language." Midoriya and Shiozaki chastised, as Tetsutetsu gave a betrayed look, "But yes, we have passed. Aren't you glad we did the second puzzle?" Midoriya asked, handing each of them their golden card. "Now, let's go. We shouldn't keep the Principal waiting."
"Right."
...
"I figured your group would be the ones to get the extra prize." Principal Nezu stated, as the four of them entered the office, "Please, have a seat. Tea?"
"Jasmine?" Midoriya asked.
"Of course." Principal Nezu replied, pushing a steaming mug towards him.
"Then yes I would." Midoriya grabbed the mug and took a long sip, "Now, about these cards."
"Ah yes." Principal Nezu started, "As I've stated, those cards have guaranteed your admittance into our school."
"Is that all they accomplish?" Midoriya asked, "The puzzle was optional, not to mention that it was taped on the above the first drawer. If ours were that well hidden, then I would assume the note for everyone else's was just as hidden. So surely, since it was rather difficult to obtain, they should serve a much greater purpose besides 'Looking rather stylish'."
...
...
"Hmhmhm. You're rather sharp Izuku Midoriya, I can see why you're the non-spoken leader of this group." Principal Nezu chuckled, "You are correct, these do serve a bigger purpose asides appearance, these cards have many perks."
"Perks?" Tetsutetsu asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Yes, perks." Principal Nezu replied, before setting his now empty mug onto the table, "Your perks consist of being able to utilize the numerous facilities with no permission necessary, being able to pick what class you four will be a part of, and unrestricted access to our school building."
...
...
"I understand the first two, but why is the third one a perk?" Shiozaki asked.
"And is that seriously all of our perks?" Tetsutetsu asked.
"Patience, you four have a map correct?" Principal Nezu asked, as Midoriya placed the map onto the table, "As you could already tell, this is a map of one of the floors of our school."
"... Yeah I can see that. But what's with the red dot?"
"It's the location of your next Escape Room."
"... There's an Escape Room in the school?" Midoriya asked as Principal Nezu nodded joyfully.
"Yes. We have so many rooms that aren't being utilized because of the increasing demand of heroes. They used to be clubs of various activities. So, not wanting to waste precious funding, I decided to make it into... a challenge if you will."
"Pray tell what kind of challenge?" Yanagi asked.
"I wasn't lying when I said your cards have many perks, however it wouldn't be fair to give you all of them outright now would it? Especially since that escape room was... rather easy." Principal Nezu explained, a smirk growing on his face, "So you will have your three perks, and as you complete the ever growing number of Escape Rooms, your number of perks will steadily increase, and at the end... you will obtain a very worth while prize." He added, before shrugging, "But of course, these Escape Rooms are entirely optional, you do not have to complete them if you don't wish to, and asides the perks you won't gain any extra credit out of them, meaning you still need to maintain grades and overall training. So I shall leave the decision of if you shall complete them to yourselves." He said before standing up. "But first... I do believe some photos need to be taken." He said... before pausing. "Oh and before I forget..."
*Poof* *Poof* *Poof* *Poof*
"I need to take the watches back."
...
...
...
"Okay... is anyone else still reeling from this?" Tetsutetsu asked, holding his gold card with his smiling face on it, "I mean... we got accepted into the national school, U.A, and not only that we got... basically premium access."
"I must admit it's taking me quite a while to process this." Shiozaki agreed.
"Indeed, not only that we get to choose which class we get to attend for our next three years." Yanagi replied.
"I don't think we'll be able to stay in the same class for the next three years. Odds are they'll switch us up between years to differentiate, but I assume we'll be together for the next three years." Midoriya replied, "But we should discuss those Escape Rooms."
"Right, I honestly forgot about that part." Tetsutetsu admitted, "If we complete those escape rooms, we'll gain perks right? Should we do them?"
"I don't see why not." Yanagi replied, "It stands to reason that those Escape Rooms will stay there for... I assume until we complete them. Should there be an exam we need to study for, or a large assignment, we could always attempt them after we finish."
"But the question is... how will they work?" Midoriya asked, "Will they be the same as the ones from the Entrance Exam? Two answers, one of them being a bonus? If so... how will that work?" He explained before sighing, "I should have asked more about them."
"... Well there isn't a point in pondering about it now, we've completed the exam and will be U.A first year's in the upcoming month." Shiozaki stated, "And since we've agreed that we're attempting those Escape Rooms, we should stay in touch no?"
"Yeah we should, hey give me your number-"
"I don't have a phone."
...
...
"What do you mean you don't have a phone?"
"My mom and I have been scraping by... pretty much most of my life. We live in a neighborhood that has villain activity almost daily, destruction of property... means more tax-payer dollars that go to rebuild. My dad even had to go overseas to be able to help us, and even with that we're barely meeting ends meet. Which was why I got these walkie talkies. They're cheaper and after some tinkering can cover... pretty much the entirety of Japan."
"... Holy shit."
"Language." Midoriya and Shiozaki chastised.
"S-Sorry..."
"Anyway, I don't have a phone, but I do have 4 extra walkie talkies, excluding the one I gave you earlier... the one you never returned."
"O-Oh, sorry man."
"Don't worry about it, I was planning on giving it to you anyway. So we have a method of communication." Midoriya said as he handed Shiozaki and Yanagi a walkie talkie.
"... Wait, so do you not have a computer at home?"
"Yes actually." Midoriya replied, "My dad works at a computer company in New York, he sends me top of the line parts that he received as a bonus. He took a few days off to help me build it."
"When was this?" Yanagi asked curiously.
"4 weeks ago."
...
...
"Did you have a computer before hand?" Shiozaki asked.
"No. I didn't have internet until... 2 weeks ago."
"What about the calculator?" Tetsutetsu asked.
"Also a gift from dad. It's not one of those new age fancy ones, but it gets the job done."
"So how did you obtain such vast knowledge?" Yanagi asked.
"Encyclopedias." Midoriya replied with a shrug, "They were gifts of my late grandpa, when the power would go out... which was often, I would open one and begin reading. Actually my grandparents were big book collectors, would always give me books they didn't have much use for anymore."
...
...
"What?"
"Dude... you're a beast." Tetsutetsu muttered in awe as Yanagi nodded in agreement.
"Indeed, your quite formidable." Yanagi replied as Shiozaki bowed her head.
"It almost makes me feel horrid for my dependency upon technology." She replied.
Midoriya felt heat rise to his cheeks as he looked away, "I-It's not a big deal... I also have a computer at home, remember? I'm not a caveman..."
"But still, having these walkie talkies could be fun, it's like how I was when I was a kid." Tetsutetsu said, "Do they run on batteries?"
"Two double A's, but they don't train much power." Midoriya replied, "Anyway, I think we should discuss which class should we be in for our first year."
"Hmm..." Shiozaki pondered for a moment.
*Grr*
Before her stomach vocalized it's opinion on the matter.
...
...
"I-I apologize, I'm rather hungry." Shiozaki replied with embarrassment.
"It's fi-"
*Grr* *Grr*
Then, in a hunger induced chain reaction, Yanagi's and Tetsutetsu's stomachs growled as well.
"... Very well, we shall discuss the plan over lunch."
*End of Chapter*
A/N: So... hi, it's been a little bit. Work has been beating me up and I haven't had contact with my precious laptop in... what was it 3 weeks? Anyway, while I was slaving a way for the profit of my company I thought about something. I realized... that no one has changed the Practical for the U.A Entrance Exam, and I understand why. I mean the unfairness of the Exam was the reason Shinso was introduced into the story... and it's stupid pretty much. So this is where I came in and was like... what if I change the practical from robots... to Escape Rooms.
And before you ask, the reason I decided Escape Rooms was because I love the Zero Escape series. Heck it's in my top 10 favorite game series of all time. So I decided to implement them into the MHA plot... just because. Will it just be a gimmick and not alter anything overall in the story? Well... I can't answer that question why am I putting that on the author's note?
Anyway one last thing. Just because the exam is different doesn't mean the main characters will be swapped with OC's... the reason is that I'm lazy. What the exam will do is change up the class rosters. Will Shinso be in it? I dunno... okay I do know but I can't tell you. I need to have some sense of secrecy here.