Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia nor any of the games/series depicted within. This story was influenced from Locked in Digital by RogueDruid(Icarius51) on Ao3. [I highly recommend reading it.]

Summary: Midoriya Izuku and Shinsou Hitoshi are trapped within a simulation world called Project Zero. The only way to escape is to complete all of the games within the simulation. Warnings: heavy depictions of violence, blood/gore, non-con, underage. Viewers Discretion is Advised. Rated MA+

Chapter 1: Genesis I

Then:

The room was dark, only a sliver of light peaking through what little space of the blinds that was open. There was a large round conference table in the middle of the room and surrounding the table were various heroes the Masutafu police force determined to be the best options to participate in this Case. The ones who fit a series of requirements and capabilities that were necessary to be involved in the strange Case that was granted to the principal of the establishment they were currently in.

The heroes were sitting around the round table forming a U due to lack of people and understanding that the case lead would be present information regarding the case.

From left to right the sitting arrangement went: Ryukyu, Edge Shot, Rock Lock, Fat Gum, Midnight, Power Loader, Hound Dog, Recovery Girl, Present Mic, EraserHead, Gran Torino, Almight, Sir Nighteye, Gang Orca, Best Jeanist, Ms. Joke, Endeavor, Hawks, and Mandalay.

There was little conversation going on between the heroes outside of brief questions regarding the number of heroes and some of the heroes in question. It was to be noted that most of the heroes in the room are high ranking heroes.

The door across from the heroes opened as a projection screen started to unroll. Walking into the room was Pro Hero and Principal of UA Nedzu and a police officer most the heroes knew as Detective Tsukauchi. The detective was carrying a pile of files that he split between Mandalay and Ryukyu to pass between themselves. He saved two files for himself and Nedzu. The two sat a little to the right of the screen to make sure they were in front of the heroes while remaining outside of the projection itself.

Once everyone had a file in front of them, Nedzu motioned for the Detective to start speaking. "32 hours ago elementary school students Shinsou Hitoshi and Midoriya Izuku were declared missing when they did not arrive at school. Usually, as you all know, they must wait at least 48hrs to file missing persons report; however, as both boys are children and are known to be on time, each of the children's schools contacted their parents to determine there where abouts. The parents responded that both children had left for school and should have already been to school. When the parents were asked if their children typically walked to school with a friend, the mother of Midoriya Izuku responded that her son's childhood friend Bakugo Katsuki always walked with Midoriya-kun to school. The school confirmed that Bakugo Katsuki had yet to arrive to school, but he was known to skip homeroom so it did not raise alarms."

Tsukauchi took a breath, "Aldera Elementary reported Midoriya Izuku missing at 9:30am yesterday morning. They also reported that Bakugo Katsuki may have been a witness or was kidnapped with him. It has since been determined that Bakugo did manage to partially witness the kidnapping. Nabu Elementary reported Shinsou Hitoshi missing at 11:00am after confirming with his foster parents that he should have made it to school on time. He, however, did not tend to walk with anyone and no one personally witnessed him being kidnapped. The police on scene were able to confirm that he made it to about two blocks away from the school because he helped one Minoru-san with her dog that had gotten off it's leash. Minoru-san reported that he should have made it to school with more than enough time to spare and that Shinsou-kun liked to go to school early to feed the class pet."

Tsukauchi cleared his throat and went to continue to explain but was gently stopped by Nedzu.

"I will continue from there Tsukauchi-san." Nedzu stated. He grabbed a remote from his pocket and clicked a button. The screen showed an image of each of the boys side by side.

"This," Nedzu gestured to the far right image, "is 10 year old Shinsou Hitoshi. Like the detective said he was kidnapped from his walk to school approximately 2 blocks away from the entrance." Nedzu continued, "He, as you can tell, has purple hair and eyes. He weighs about 33kg (73.5lbs) and is 143 centimeters (4.6ft) tall. His quirk is called Brainwashing and it makes the recipient follow orders after Shinsou-kun asks a question and the recipient responds."

Nedzu motions to the image on the left, "And this is Midoriya Izuku, he has green eyes and hair. He weighs approximately 28kg (62lbs) and is roughly 128 centimeters (4.2ft) tall. He was diagnosed as quirkless when he was 4 years old. Now this is a recording from Bakugo Katsuki when he was asked about Midoriya-kun's disappearance." He pressed another button and sound began to play.

"When was the last time you saw Midoriya Izuku?" An adult male asked.

A male child responded, "Deku and I were walking to school, but Deku started being a crybaby so I hit him to get him to stop crying but he just started crying more. I ran ahead of him to get him to hurry up or he was going to be late."

The child huffed and small fireworks like sounds crackled over the recording.

"I got ahead just enough to not hear him cry anymore, but then Deku shouted and I turned around and some asshole had his hand over Deku's mouth and Deku was kicking him but Deku's weak and useless so I ran to get that shit stain to let go of Deku but he started running with Deku so I started yelling for him to stop."

The child continued getting faster and faster as he talked working himself up until he was practically hyperventilating. "But he wouldnt stop! Hejustkeptrunningandrunning andIcouldn'tkeepupand he wouldn't let Deku go!"

"Kid you need to breath, okay, I need you to take a deep breath... that's good. Okay let it out slowly... Okay one more time for me... Good, good, okay I need you to take your time. We need to know what happened but we also need you to be calm as you tell us. Okay?" The adult stated as he worked to calm the child down.

"Okay." The child huffed again, "The guy that grabbed Deku kept running but he was faster than me and Deku wasn't able to get away. The guy jumped into a van and they got away. I followed them but they were in a car and I can't run as fast as a car. So I kept looking for the car but I couldn't find it so I was running back home to tell my mom to call Auntie but then you stopped me!" The child yelled.

"What did the man that took your friend look like? What about the van? Do you remember anything about the van?" The officer asked.

"I don't know, he had a black hat on and sunglasses. He was wearing shitty yellow sneakers." The child stopped for a second.

"He had long fingers!" He exclaimed, "His fingers were wrapping around Deku's head and even adults fingers can't just wrap around someones head. So that must be something with his quirk." The child said arrogantly.

"Everything else was average, he had jeans and a jacket on but no logos or designs were obvious. The van was black four door, the side back doors slide it was gutted I think, I don't remember seeing back seats. The driver had spiky brown hair but thats all I saw. There wasn't a license plate otherwise I would have remembered it."

"Deku must have been unconscious when he was thrown in the truck cuz he wasn't movin when the douche hat threw him in the van before he got in. There might have been something or someone else but I didn't really get a good look before the fucker's closed the door and drove away." He stated. There was a sound of something popping.

The recording shut off.

"Bakugo-kun has been safely returned to his family, and has stated his willingness to help however he can." Nedzu stated.

He clapped his paws together, "Now there are obvious questions. Yes? Yes." He stated. "One. How do we know these two kidnappings are related?" He clicked his remote.

An image of ten year olds Midoriya Izuku and Shinsou Hitoshi were shown standing in the center of a clinically white room with a door on the far left wall, a desk and computer, and two giant machines with reclining beds attached to them.

"This," Nedzu thumped his pawns, "is a screen shot of a live video." He clicked another button and it showed a video of Midoriya and Shinshou moving to the computer and accessing a video immediately once the computer booted up.

Nedzu clicked another button and the video on the computer took up half the projection while the other half showed a cut shot of the boys. "And this is this first thing that the boys were shown."

The video played.

An adult male with smokey black hair and black eyes appeared. His face was angular and he was wearing a white lab coat. A white button up with a tan colored tie and dark dress pants. He smiled and his eyes crinkled in joy, "Hello boys." He said.

"I have created this space for the two of you to learn together. You will not be able to leave until you complete the simulation." He held his hand up to stop the boys from talking as they both immediately went to open their mouths.

Midoriya's hand reached down to grasp Shinsou's who jumped a bit at the unexpected contact.

"Before I get into that allow me to inform you boys of some things.

1.) My name is Kayaba Akihiko. I am being live streamed to you which means until I end this video you are in direct contact with me.

2.) You are currently in a digital world created by my quirk: Digitize. This allows me to convert matter into data, this includes things like clothes and people. I am able to save things I have previously converted into data so I do not have to do so again. An example would be a pair of shoes, if a black pair of shoes were to be destroyed an exact new pair, the same shoes would just recalibrate to take the previous existing shoes place. I know that sounds a bit confusing but in time, I know the two of you will understand very well.

3.) You most definitely see two great machines with beds attached. Those are important, okay. But don't worry about them for now.

4.) There is a timer created on the right wall. It will tell you how long you have been in the simulation.

5.) The door on the left leads to a separate room that has a California King bed that you two will have to share. There is an attached bathroom and a walk in closet with an assortment of clothes in all lengths, sizes, materials, and purpose. Inside the bedroom is also a small kitchenette and refrigerator for out of simulation purposes, I suppose.

6.) And this is important. You are currently live. Every action and moment that occurs in this digitized world is able to be viewed by people in the real world."

The green haired boys eyes filled with tears and widened with fear, while the purple haired boy whimpered slightly and squeezed the hand in his a little tighter.

7.) If you haven't noticed yet, if you focus your vision a bit you will see your view turn into something like a status screen or a game screen if you understand that better."

Nedzu clicked a button to pause the video, then clicked another and the screen proceed to split into 4: one of the adult man explaining, one of the two boys watching the video, and the other two showed from the eyes of each of the boys or from the first perspective.

"Before I continue the video, allow the detective to explain what we have discovered and that does not get explained to the boys." Nedzu stated.

Tsukauchi cleared his throat, "The video we are watching currently is a recording of a live video, that is currently still live and on going. The link to the live was sent directly to every police department in Japan and to several major Hero Agencies in Masutafu. We have discovered that you can only open one viewing link per device. You cannot for example open the link twice but on two different tabs. You can open the link on any device that connects to the internet. The link allows the viewers (us) to switch the view point like most games do. For example," he motioned to the screen.

"We are currently looking at videos recorded off of four separate devices. One to watch a close up of what has been termed "inner videos" such as the live stream from Kayaba himself. The second is from a third person point of view or 3POV to show both boys on the same screen. The third and fourth are from the first person perspectives or 1POV of each of the boys. The viewer has the option to change which "screen" they see by clicking an option when in the link itself. I will get into that more later." Tsukauchi nods at Nedzu when he was done speaking.

"For the purpose of a closer view I will only be showing the 1POV of one of the boys." Nedzu stated and clicked a button allowing the 1POV of Midoriya to take the bottom half of the screen up.

The heroes all made sounds of understanding and agreement. The video resumed.

"Izuku-kun," Kayaba stated causing the green haired boy to flinch back a bit. "Raise your finger to the top right corner of what you see."

Midoriya did so reluctantly, his finger trembling lightly.

"8.) Thats the number of people watching you currently. Or at least the number of devices opened with the link to watch you two. That number is the same as the one Hitoshi-kun sees." Kayaba folded his hands and rested his chin on them.

"Currently only 50 people including me are watching you, but thats only because I haven't released the link to everyone yet, okay. Don't worry, you will get more views in no time!" He stated cheerfully.

Midoriya and Shinsou shuffled slightly closer to each other for comfort. They both wanted to talk and ask questions but so far Kayaba was explaining everything so they waited.

"Now, move your finger to the top left of your screen... Good. 9.)Thats the amount of money you have access too. Every view grants you a bit of money, people can also donate money to you, and you can earn money in the simulation."

One of the heroes tried to talk but was stopped by Nedzu who made a motion with his hand to wait.

Move your hand to the middle left of your screen, yes exactly there. 10.) That is a chat box. Your viewers will be able to chat with the two of you, though I recommend waiting until you are in a safe place to read them."

Midoriya made a soft sound hearing that last bit.

"Go a little bit lower, you should see a box that says 'Store'. Yes that. Tap it. Good. 11.) This is the simulation store it has food items and other goodies that you two will be able to purchase when in safe points or back in this place, which I lovingly call, the White Room."

"Move your finger to the right, Izuku-kun, the middle should have a semi large rectangle that says 'Inventory'. Tap eh- yes, exactly, see you're catching on. 12.) Inventory is not allowed to be used for in stimulation items. It is only to hold things that you aquire in the White Room. This does not include clothes or food that are currently in the White Room."

"Spoiler Alert: when you complete a simulation you will be granted an item or a privilege. An example could be something like a notebook or a communication device. These items will leave with you when you complete the simulation." He hummed.

"I think that's it for now." He hummed again.

"So the simulation machines are called Amaru; meaning a humanitarian with an intense emotional power who posses strength and immortal love. To activate them, all you need to do is lay down in the bed and allow the head piece to rest on your shoulders. Then a word or name will appear and all you have to do is say it out loud. It will enter both of you into the simulation at the same time. Go on, try it out." He grinned absolutely ecstatic.

Midoriya and Hitoshi slowly made there way over to the machines called Amaru. They both laid down and let the head piece fit them.

"Once you are in I will be shutting off the live terminal from my end. I will turn back on when you return to the White Room." He stated still grinning but now rocking in him chair like a child.

The metallic visor covering their eyes glowed blue and then turned black with the word 'Tutorial' lit in white.

Simultaneously the two called out, "Tutorial." and they were inserted into the simulation.

Briefly all the viewing screens turned black before 3 of them came back on. There was a click from the remote and the 'inner video' recording was replaced to allow the two 1POV's to take up the bottom half of the projection screen and the 3POV to have the top half.

Their sight was filled with a vibrant view of a wide open field full of wildflowers. The wind ruffled their hair causing Midoriya to giggle and Shinso to smile. The two separated to explore a little but they didn't go very far from each other. Neither wanting to trigger something nor lose sight of the other.

Suddenly a feminine voice called out, "[Welcome to Tutorial.]"

"[Tutorial is going to teach and show you the very basics of the simulations. There are various simulations, and each will be randomly generated. The general mechanics will remain the same through all of them. Not all simulations will have all the mechanics, beware of this. All simulations are based off pre- quirk video games, there have been some changes made to the games to both incorporate two main players and to incorporate the two of you specifically.]"

The boys by this point have sat down as the voice instructing them is basically coming from the sky. They weren't required to do anything at this point except listen.

"[In the simulations or the games if you will, the two of you will be acting as the main characters with one of you as the lead, Midoriya-kun, and the other as the support, Shinso-kun.]"

They frowned at that. Feeling a moment of bravery Midoriya called out, "Why am I the lead?"

The voice was silent for a second and then responded, "[Question: Why am I the lead? Asked by Midoriya Izuku.

Answer A: Due to the presence of quirks the Digitized World is unable to process certain subjects with a quirk as the lead. The World would become corrupted and data would be lost. Lost data is unable to completely return to the Real World.

Answer B: The Creator has determined that quirkless subjects have the strongest adaptability when exposed to mental stress and thus prefers the lead to be a quirkless subject.]"

The 10 year old boys paled and moved closer together. Shinso whimpered slightly because him having a quirk puts him in danger just being in this world.

Swallowing Shinso asked, "Does it matter what quirk I have?"

Again the voice was quiet and after a few minutes responded, "[Question: Does it matter what quirk I have? Asked by Shinso Hitoshi.

Answer A: No, quirks are not allowed during any simulation. Clarification- within the Digitized World it will be impossible to use a quirk.

Answer B: No, all personelle within the simulation complete each game as a quirkless person would, to teach and train without the advantage a quirk might grant. Game mechanics are not included as a part of this answer.

Answer C: Yes, due to previous experiments by The Creator there have been multiple determinations that quirks react within the Digitized World in a negative manor.

-Determination 1: Attempts to convert subjects with mutant quirks into data remains a total failure. Digitize is unable to convert mutant quirks into data. Process causes brain damage.

-Determination 2: Attempts to convert subjects with transformative quirks into data has varying results. If subject activates quirk factor and transforms during conversion process, process will cause brain damage. If subject does not activate quirk factor subject will enter Digitized World; however subjects with a transformative quirk cannot tolerate mental stress while in Digitized World. Subject will return to Reality in a coma. Subject who awaken from coma suffer from Anterograde Amnesia.

-Determination 3: Attempts to convert emitter quirks into data has varying results. If subject has a non-mental based emitter, subject will experience the same process as non-activated transformative quirks. If subject has a mental emitter quirk, subject will enter Digitized World and return to reality with no negative health effects.

-Determination 4: Attempts to convert a quirkless subject into data subject will enter Digitized World and return to Reality with no negative health effects.

-Determination 5: Subjects who enter Digitized World are exposed to tremendous mental and physical stress. The best option to prevent irreparable

mental stress is to allow subjects a companion. To place two subjects with similar experiences within Digitized World together.]"

Both boys were white with fear and trembling. They were now apart of something completely terrifying.

Shinso grasped Midoriya's hand in a death grip, "What will happen if I use my quirk in the Digitized World?" He swallowed thickly, he felt like he was going to throw up he was so scared.

The voice answered after a few seconds, [Question: What will happen if I use my quirk in the Digitized World? Asked by Shinso Hitoshi.

Answer: Shinso Hitoshi has mental emitter quirk called Brainwash. Using the quirk within Digitized World would, upon returning to Reality, cause Shinso Hitoshi to fall into a coma and suffer from permanent Anterograde Amnesia.

Prediction Answer 1: Anterograde Amnesia means subject cannot retain new memories.

Prediction Answer 2: The Creator has disabled Shinso Hitoshi's quirk factor while in Digitized World to prevent any activation. Disabled quirk factor is only possible via Digitize and in Digitized World. Shinso Hitoshi, upon returning to Reality, will regain full access to quirk called Brainwash.]"

"Wh-" Midoriya cleared his throat, "Why were we chosen?"

The voice responded, "[Question: Why were we chosen? Asked by Midoriya Izuku.

Answer: The best final results occurred from quirkless subjects. The next best results were from mental emitter quirked subjects. It has further been proven that subjects accumulate better with a companion. Companions are better when close in age, gender, and previous life experience. Results also improve if companions share aspirations and thought processes.

Simflification: Midoriya Izuku and Shinso Hitoshi were chosen due to age, gender, and life experiences. Both are discriminated against due to quirk factor. Both aspire to be and respect heroes. Both have proven to be extremely intelligent and have proven to make the same or similar connections between topics or concepts.

Prediction Answer: Midoriya Izuku and Shinso Hitoshi were chosen at the age of 10 years old due to The Creator wanting to quantify the mental growth of children; with a relative understanding of morality within Reality, when exposed to the simulations of the Digitized World.]"

Both boys looked at each other, that summed up most of there questions. Midoriya mimed time by tapping two fingers on his wrist and Shinso nodded.

"How long will we be in the Digitized World?" Midoriya asked their collect last question for the time being.

"[Question: How long will we be in the Digitized World? Asked by Midoriya Izuku.

Answer: Unknown.

Prediction Answer 1: Subjects can only leave the Digitized World by completing all of the simulations.

Prediction Answer 2: There are 50 separate simulations.

Prediction Answer 3: Simulation completion time is determined by how the subjects adapt to each simulation. Simulations have different completion times.

Simpflification: The time it takes to complete each simulation will be based off of how long it takes for subjects to learn, process, and gain the ability to complete the simulation.]"

Midoriya and Shinso both had tears building in their eyes but neither spilled any at the moment.

"That sounds like it could be a long time." Midoriya stated roughly. Shinso nodded and clenched his eyes tight to prevent tears from falling.

Both stayed quiet either waiting for the Tutorial to end or for the voice to continue explaining.

After about five minutes of silence the voice returned, "[Some of the basic game mechanics you need to be aware of are as follows:

*Checkpoints

*Interaction screens

*NPC interactions

*Plot Points

*Involuntary action

Checkpoints are red glowing circles imprinted on the ground inside the circle is an image of two dragons symbolizing yin and yang.]"

An imprint of the checkpoint formed on the ground in front of them as an example.

"[To activate them, you must both be within the circle. Upon entering the circle, the space will grow large enough to allow both of you to lay down with a bit of extra space. Checkpoints act as both safe points, which allow you to access the 'Store' on your screen and allow you to save your progress if the simulation does not require you to start from the beginning upon failure. Interaction screens pop up in front of certain objects inside the simulations to allow for things like customization.]"

The example this time was a car. The boys moved closer to the car and a smaller screen popped up in front of them with arrows and categories. When tapping the arrows, the options within the box changed and that changed the car itself. Tapping different categories did the same thing. It was literally a screen that allowed them to interact with the simulation without manually having to change things.

"[NPC or Non-player character interactions are in game requirements to gain quests, they sometimes also allow subjects to purchase items and learn information about that specific simulation. NPC's have various warnings about what their purpose is for the simulation. An NPC with a quest will have a question mark floating about their head. Information is an exclamation point. Purchasing, selling, and trading can typically only be done in specific locations like markets or stores. Some NPC's have a plus mark above their head that allows you to do so outside of the typical locations but those are rare.

Plot points are flashbacks relating to the story of the game. When triggering a plot point [the subjects] the point is about, typically the lead, will be incorporated in the memory.

The subject will feel and experience the same feelings that the original character would have. This is in order to further your understanding of who you are playing to help make the relevant connections to complete the game. Afterwards your feelings will return to your own so you can reflect on what you felt to recognize and empathize with the character you are playing.

Involuntary actions are predetermined motions to further along the game experience. For example the plot points are considered a type of involuntary action. Another would be if you are in a survival game and you need to build a house. After doing a specific action a certain number of time the process of building the house will quicken and finish almost instantly. This is of course if you have gathered all the required materials. In short, these are actions you start but do not control to help speed up the process of time consuming actions.]"

Everything was silent for another couple of minutes and then the voice announced.

"[You have completed the Tutorial. May mercy be on your side.]" And the world turned black again.

Time in Simulation: 00:00:32:27

Chapter End

AN: Project Zero is inspired from "Locked in Digital" by RougueDruid(Icarius51) on Ao3. I am taking creative liberty with their theme and overall idea. Some of the games from their story will also be in mine; however, the only correlation is from the actual games themselves- like I spend a good chunk of time watching through gameplay videos on Youtube.

I highly recommend checking out RogueDruid(Icarius51)'s stories, they are a fantastic writer and their stories are lengthy and very well written!

Fav/ Follow.

I love you all!

If you do NOT like Yaoi, do NOT continue this story and just forget it exists. I do not like flame mail just because you're bias!

XD

CREATED: May 9, 2021

POSTED: June 23, 2021