"Welcome to today's live performance! Everybody SAY HEY!"

Way too many extras, all sitting together, in the giant auditorium listening to that, Present Mic, explaining what we had to do. And nobody said a thing. Then the dude recovers and tries for it again.

"Well, that's cool, my examinee listeners! I'm here to present the guidelines of your practical! Are yo ready?!"

Deku was next to me. We're the only ones from our school apply. Everyone was sitting with their schools, so of course he was seated next to me. That was all, you see. Nothing more. HE was babbling, and it was annoying me.

"Oh my god, it's the voice hero Present Mic! I listen to his radio every single week. This is incredible, that all the professors at UA are real pro-heroes, I can't believe it…"

All of this came gushing out of his mouth like sheer word vomit. Dunno how he does it but someone had to say it: "Shut it". He didn't hear me, of course. Never does anything I tell him too.

Meanwhile, Mic was still babbling about the rules.

"This is how the test will go my listeners! You'll be experiencing ten-minute long mock cityscape maneuvers! Bring along whatever you want! After the presentation, you'll each head to your assigned location, ya dig?!"

We had cards with our designated number passed around. I waited for mine and started fantasizing about the day ahead. The task Mic had sent us. Simple enough. Beat up bad guys and win points. I could only imagine how fun it would be to show off how much better I was than Deku.

We looked down at the cards we'd been sent. "They don't intend on letting friends and classmates cooperate with each other, huh?" I asked, as I couldn't help but notice Deku's center assignment was different from mine.

"They gave us serial numbers, but different assignment centers," he said. Saying just what I'd been thinking.

"Don't look at my card, dammit. I was looking forward to crushing you," I threw at him. He jumped a little. Mic was still talking, of course. Lecturing us some more on the damn rules.

"Each site is filled with three kinds of faux villains. Points are awarded for defeating each according to there respective difficulty levels. Use your quirks to disable these faux villains and earn points! That's your goal, listeners! Of course, playing the antihero and attacking other examinees is prohibited!"

Damn. Thrashing all those extras…that would've been a blast. Suddenly then, some dude in an uptight suit with one of those really finicky voices was raising his hand.

"May I ask a question?! There appear to be no fewer than four varieties of faux villain on this handout! Such blatant error, if it is one, is hardly becoming for UA, Japan's top academy. We're all here today in the hopes of being molded into model heroes!"

Wow, I thought. What an uptight loser. All of a sudden he was pointing in our direction - but not at me.

"And you with the curly hair! You've been muttering this whole time. It's distracting! If this is some sort of game to you, then please leave immediately!"

Deku jumped, slapped his hands over his mouth, and mumbled "Sorry." I'd been telling Deku to shut up only a minute earlier, but feeling like I had anything in common with this uptight weirdo made me reconsider. This guy made Deku look easy.

Mic was answering.

"Alright, alright, examinee #7111, nice catch. Thanks! But the forth faux villain variety gets you zero points! He's more of an obstacle. There's one at each site, a gimmick that'll rampage around in close quarters. Think of it as a gimmick you should try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, but there's kind of no point. That's all for now! I'll leave my listeners with our school motto. THe great hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said "True heroism consists of overcoming the ills of life! Now say it with me, plus - ultra!"

And just like that, the moment was finally here. I was whisked away - gave Deku one last look, probably one of the last looks I'd ever give him, I figured. Hell, no way he was passing this test, quirkless little loser. After our graduation, I'd never have to put up with him again.

The entrance test site was a mock city, huge and expansive, filled to the brim with wide open alleyways. The perfect spot to just let loose. This would be a piece of cake. Just as easy as I'd always known it would be.