Alleyway

Chiba, Japan

"Well, of all things I expect to see, this is not on my top 10 list."

Izuku watches as the prisoners talk to each other with so much glee, they don't seem like being sentenced to death by HPSC. Judging from the cold look Lady Nagant gives everyone, he doubts that's the case.

"So many prisoners..." Kirishima mutters. "Are they planning to kill them all inside that Gate? If so, why are none of the prisoners looking scared for their life?"

"I think they are all clueless. My best guess is, that Lady Nagant gave them a false sense of security and false promises. If I'm right. that fake promise will be asking those people to clear the dungeon and they will be free from any death sentence or reduced their time in prison." Izuku mutters.

"...how did you guess all of that from a mere observation!?" Kirishima asked in disbelief.

"High Int Stats. Sadly, it could be useless during mid-battle." Izuku said in annoyance.

"Maybe you're stressed during mid-battle? I mean, most people made mistakes due to the constant pressures from the opponents, making you impatient?" Kirishima points out.

"If that's true, then my problem will be more than just under pressure," Izuku said. "Anyways, did you manage to send the message to Gang Orca?"

"I did," Kirishima confirmed but sighed. "But it seems that he was busy since he didn't read my message."

"...well, fuck." Izuku said. "This is why not giving interns an emergency signal feature is dumb. Then again, they expect to supervise us during our internships and prevent us from abusing it."

"Well, that's one hell of a flaw." Izuku simply nodded in agreement before looking at his stats. He can't help but grin as he watches his MP reduce and regenerate. When he levels up [Mana Proficiency, he doesn't expect to unlock its secret feature and regenerates 2% of his MP every 10s. And given his new skill requires less mana plus the mana cost reduction from [Mana Proficiency, he can keep this up for a while.

"So, what's the plan?" Kirishima asked. "We were told to run away when we managed to encounter them. But if we ran away, they would go into hiding and it would take god-knows how long before we found them again, and more prisoners died by their hands."

"I know that very well, Kiri," Izuku said as he watched Lady Nagant get everyone's attention by clearing her throat. The prisoners start to whisper amongst themselves and Izuku wishes he didn't have his enhanced senses as their perverted comments on Lady Nagant were too much even for him.

"Alright, everyone. Now, you all are selected by the HPSC to do an important task for the sake of Japan." Izuku raises his eyebrow at the words and a hint of disgust in Lady Nagant's tone. "This, is [Dungeon, more specifically, it's front gate. This will lead you to an environment where you will encounter monsters that you need to kill or else they'll run rampant around Chiba. It has been undetected for a week now and if we don't clear it, all of Chiba will deal with monsters killing everyone on sight."

Izuku can't help but make a confused 'huh?'. He has experienced that moment, which he dubs 'Dungeon Break', and it didn't fit what Lady Nagant said just now.

He remembers how normal it was when he went to the Gate at the alleyway near the GaleForce Agency and when he walked out, the Gate popped out of nowhere and monsters ran rampant, in less than 12 hours. So, did Lady Nagant make that up, or did she just make that assumption based on her limited experience?

"Anyways, if you all can do this, your sentences will be reduced based on your performance. Whoever manages to kill the boss will get an immediate 'free jail' card." This made every prisoner excited, much to Izuku's disgust. "Now, grab the weapons on the shelves and prepare yourself."

As she said that, everyone starts to fight for their desired weapons. One of them was stupid enough to use it on Agent Hail, who simply cut his head off. Izuku hates how he was numb to it.

"Now, now. Just because we give you a chance to reduce your sentences doesn't mean you all think you can just kill us off and escape. You are all still our prisoners after all and you will be treated as such." The man said in a cheerful tone, sending shivers on everyone in the alleyway. Izuku can't help but feel shaken, not because of how he kills the man, but how he acts while threatening them. It's like the man didn't give a single shit about his murder.

As for Lady Nagant, Izuku can't help but notice her trying to hide her flinch when the blood sprays on her face. Izuku wonders why she acts that way since she is HPSC's trained assassin. He had a feeling there was more about her than the reports or news said about her.

Both boys watch as the two assassins guide the prisoners into the gate. Izuku and Kirishima look at each other before sighing.

"Now what?" Kirishima asked. "Gang Orca remains offline. I tried to contact other heroes but they also didn't respond." Izuku tries to check the news and finally realizes what happened. He shows news regarding Gang Orca stopping illegal shipping, Mirko busting an underground fighting arena, Godzillo fighting a three-headed dragon villain, Shishida dealing with the disaster caused by a Trigger-addict villain, and Edgeshot leading a raid on a Trigger factory.

"...should we question how bad of a coincidence it is that every hero we work under was dealing with problems when the villains were mass murdering a group of prisoners?" Kirishima asked.

"I don't think it's a coincidence, it was all planned from the start. HPSC must've known those 5 were opposed to their rules and how they solve the Gate problems, so they took advantage. Those villains dealing with them may be hired by the assassins." Izuku said.

"Don't you think you're overestimating them?" Kirishima asked. "I mean, there's no signs of them connected to HPSC."

"Kiri, they're assassins. One of their specialties is covering their tracks." Izuku said.

"Yet they were discovered by you, a 14-year-old high-school student." Kirishima points out.

"I think we made it very clear that I'm no normal 14-year-old student," Izuku said as Kirishima snorted.

"True," Kirishima said. "So...we're going after them?"

"Yeah, at least keep them in place until the heroes got here. Share the location, Kiri." Izuku said as Kirishima did so before Izuku deactivated his dome. He takes a deep breath as he can't help but fear what will this gate offer him. Not only that, he is still wary of the system trying to force him to get into another 'kill or be killed' scenario once more. He gulps as Kirishima places his hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" Kirishima asked as Izuku shook his head.

"Nope. But...I gotta face my fear or else I would be taken over by it..." Izuku said as Kirishima grins.

"Well, don't forget I'm by your side, Izu-bro," Kirishima said as Izuku smiled.

"And I'm grateful for that," Izuku said before he summoned Balmug as Kirishima turned into were-liger as he hardened every part of his fur, turning them into sharp spikes. They enter the gate and they can't help but be surprised at what they saw.

The dungeon is a massive cave with crystals embedded in every part of the cave. And the inhabitants were a group of slimes slithering and bouncing around. Each of their steps creates a trail of liquid that sizzles the ground they made contact with, eating the dirt away.

They were wondering why are there so many slimes, as they expected them to be killed by the prisoners.

"So...any idea why arrre the slimes rrremains alive and uninjurrred?" Kirishima growls in confusion.

"...when the boss rewards give them a jail-free card, these slimes don't matter," Izuku concludes. "I mean, if we play MMORPG, everyone will go for the boss and get the super rare loots they drop."

"Well...trrrue," Kirishima said as he scratched his head. "But still, none of them botherrr to kill some of them in case they didn't get the loot?"

"Hubris, my furry friend. Hubris." Izuku said. "None of them thinks they will lose the rewards." Then the slimes start to face towards them as the duo blinks owlishly.

"Huh...they arre quite slow..." Kirishima mutters with a sweatdrop.

"Well, doesn't that make this easier?" Izuku said as he lifted Balmug and activated [Mana Blade] , [Fire Missile] , and [Critical Strike, creating an overpowered blue flame with a hint of purple on his sword. The slime stares as the sizzling starts getting louder while Kirishima snikts his claws and makes a feral grin.

"Let's grrrind, bitches." Kirishima said as both boys charged at the horde of slimes as the slimes bounced towards them.

To be continued