????

"...in critical con..."

"...ambulance!"

"...so many bloods..."

"...happen to..."

"...this to..."

'What...?' Izuku thought as he took a glimpse of what was going on, just to see a crowd of people surround him. He wanted to say something and ask for help, but at the same time, he thought it was just a dream and his body was just too tired to move.

'I...live...?' Is the last thing he thought before everything went dark.

???

Izuku floats in an empty void. Confused, he looks around him, wondering what is going on.

'Why...am I here...? W-was that...a vision...?' Izuku never felt so confused in his life. Just now, he saw a glimpse of the real world, where all the nightmares were not there. Now, he's here, floating aimlessly in the black void.

'...those statues...' Izuku thought as flashes of a grinning god shook him to the core. He holds both of his hands in fear and he continues to breathe heavily. 'Why...why do I...why do I have to go through all of that!?!?'

"The time has come." Izuku widened his eyes before looking around, but he still saw nothing. "...no, not yet...you still have to grow..."

"W-what?" Izuku mutters before frantically looking around. "What do you mean by that!? I still have to grow!?"

"...grow stronger, child...then, we talk." As the voice said this, a pair of glowing purple orbs appeared in front of Izuku. Izuku starts to panic before suddenly, he feels a chill through his spine and he turns around, multiple glowing orbs start to appear one by one.

Izuku grew more and more anxious as he suddenly felt something get a hold of him. He looked down and saw his body start to get covered by shadows.

"No! No! No! No! No!" Izuku frantically tries but fails to get the shadow off his body.

"Do not be afraid, child." Izuku froze at the voice. It still spook him, but for some reason, he also felt...reassured. "The shadow is your friend..." Izuku didn't know what it meant but his fear subsided before the shadow covered his vision.

???

"GAKH!!!" Izuku got up out of panic as he started to breathe heavily. He then notices that he is holding his chest with his right hand, something that confuses Izuku. He looks at his body and notices that all his wounds are healed. He takes off the blanket that covers him and he can only stare in disbelief. His two legs have regrown without any explanation.

"How...?" Izuku mutters in disbelief before he looks at his right hand and does something that makes sense to him in his current state of mind.

Bit it.

As the teeth pierce his skin, an immense pain can be felt as he lets go of his teeth. He covers his mouth, struggling to stop himself from screaming at the top of his lungs out of pain, a few tears escaping his eyes.

He then looked at both of his legs before he swung both of his fists down into them, and as predicted, he felt another immense pain and he whimpered in pain. Suddenly, someone opens the door. Izuku, out of panic, immediately tries to act normal, except that his red face and teary eyes don't exactly help to make him look...normal.

The person who enters the room is a scrawny and lanky middle age man with messy beige hair and black eyes, wearing an outfit reminiscent to an office worker. While at the back is a slim young man with feathery ash blond hair. The one that made him stand out is the pair of a giant red feathery wings. He wears an outfit resembling an aviator uniform.

Izuku knows who the winged man is, the current number 3 hero after Endeavor and All Might. This man was known to be the youngest Japan's top pro hero in record time. Izuku would've fanboy over him if it wasn't for the fact that he has just experience something that would traumatize him for the rest of his life.

But, one thing that took Izuku's attention the most is the man that come with Hawks. He doesn't look like a hero, or maybe he's an underground hero in disguise. He was too lanky to even be seen as a pro hero, thou.

"Yes, I ain't a pro hero. You don't have to call me out for being lanky." Izuku snaps out of his thoughts as his face turns bright red at being called out.

"Hahaha, you gotta admit, Mera. The kid has a point." Hawks said with a large grin before he faced Izuku and gave a lazy wave. "Hey, kiddo. How are you feeling?

"Why are a hero and a stranger here?" Izuku asked, unable to help himself to be on edge. Both men look at each other before looking at Izuku.

"I guess I should introduce ourself." The men, who Hawks called Mera, pulls out a business card and give it to Izuku. "My name is Yokumiru Mera, a worker for the Hero Public Safety Commission, or HPSC for short. We found you unconscious near the sewer and brought you to the Musutafu Public Hospital."

Izuku heard of HPSC, known as the biggest enforcement agency responsible for the interaction between heroes and society. Izuku also knows that HPSC isn't the most morally good group of people, especially when he encounters some of the heroes who work under him, brushing him off when he asks for help by simply looking at his shoes.

To think that his shoes of all things would be his biggest enemy.

"And I hope you know about me." Izuku simply nodded.

"Hawks, the current 3rd Ranked Pro Hero of Japan." Hawks grin widely, but Izuku can't help but notice how the grin looks forced. Like how he always did to reassure his mom... "So, you never got to answer my question."

"...like missing three out of my 4 limbs." The duo blinked at the unusual responses. "I thought...my hand and legs were gone...so much blood..." Izuku looks back at them. "H-how long have I stayed here!?"

Both men looked at each other before their faces turned serious, which took Izuku off guard.

"I'm going to be honest, kid. You're very, very, very lucky to be alive." This caused Izuku to flinch before nodded glumly.

"Yeah...I know that very well..." Izuku mutters.

"...what you experienced just now was a Gate. It's a mystery phenomenon that has caused a lot of trouble around the society." Mera said as he sat down. "It was very rare to encounter Gates, as they mostly appear near the less crowded areas."

"The sewers ..." Izuku said as Hawks nodded.

"Yeah, these gates have appeared for quite a while now. The Hero Public Safety Commissions have spread out the whole of Japan to keep it from endangering the citizens." This causes Izuku to look at Hawks. "There were several pro heroes hired by the HPSC to enter the dungeon and investigate. But they mostly end up killing all the monsters inside it."

As Hawks said monsters, the image of giant statues trying to bash Izuku like he's a bug or burn him to nothing plays in his mind as he starts shaking. This causes both Mera and Hawks to look at Izuku.

"So, you encounter them, huh?" Izuku simply nodded. "I hope you don't mind to tell us more about it. It'll help greatly with the investigations."

Izuku simply nodded and he started to explain the whole scenario he went through, the creepy, dark, and long hallway, the giant door leading to an altar full of moving statues, and the one statue that scared Izuku to the bones. This made both men look at each other.

"A gate where you need to follow specific rules? We never encountered this before." Mera mutters before looking at Izuku. "Thank you for your information, kid. This will help greatly."

"And for your unanswered question, it's been 2 days since you entered the gate and we found you lying on the ground, covered in blood." Izuku's eyes bulged out of his socket. 2 days!?!? What about his mom!?!?

"Oh, there's another thing we like to mention." Hawks gain Izuku's attention. "You see, not many people were able to survive when they entered the gate. But, when they did...the gate gave them some sort of 'reward'."

This made Izuku bristled. All of that pain and suffering, and that stupid 'gate' have the gall to compensate it with a 'reward'!?!? Screw those shits!

"Holy, kid! You got a loose tongue there." Izuku snaps out of his thoughts and blushes. He curses himself for thinking out loud. "Anyways, what I mean is, when people survive the gate, they go through something we like to call an Awakening."

"Awakening?" Then, he remembers the screen that appears right in front of his eyes. He looked around before noticing a small logo shaped like an envelope. Izuku then looks at them, who simply gives him a confused look.

'They can't see that? Is it only for my eyes?' Izuku thought before he let them continue. Izuku has a weird feeling that he shouldn't trust them. Then again, they are total strangers to him, so he has every right to not be suspicious.

"A-anyways, yes. The people who went through an Awakening somehow unlock a power that's beyond quirk." Izuku widens his eyes in disbelief. A power beyond quirk? Mera demonstrates it by summoning a blue aura out of his palm. Izuku looks at it in awe as Mera guides the aura into Izuku's hand and the bite mark disappears.

[Your HP has recovered by 3]

Izuku tries not to yelp at the sudden screen that appears in front of him. He looks back at them and they didn't react. So, it proves his theory.

"I-is that your quirk?" Mera looks amused but he shakes his head.

"No, it's something we call 'Skills'," Mera said as the blue glows disappeared. "The skill I obtain is 'healing aura'. It helps to heal injuries and fatigue of any target I desire."

"Holy shit, that's amazing! There's so many possibilities with it!!" Mera, for the first time, in his life, was caught off guard by Izuku's enthusiasm. Izuku realizes this stops himself and gives him a sheepish look. "Sorry...I was a huge fan of quirks. So, when I heard there's another type of power..."

"I see." Mera can't help but give the kid a small smile. He misses some of the child's innocence in his life. "So, yeah. For some unknown reasons, people awakened some sort of power within them after surviving a dungeon. But, the weird thing is, every awakened human always awakens their skills when they're on the brink of death."

"I...I see..." Izuku mutters as Hawks pull out an orb with a machine attached to it. There's a screen that displays '0' in it like an old calculator. "What's this?"

"It's a measurement tool for the awakened. It is still a prototype, but it is good enough to find out if the person has awakened and give a rough estimation of their strength." Mera said as Izuku raised his eyebrow.

"Prototype?" Izuku asked.

"Gates are still a huge mystery even to us, despite it already appears since 20 years ago." Izuku widen his eyes in shock. 20 years!?! How did no one notices it!?? "It's the whole point of keeping it a secret, kid. So no one will notices it."

"I...said it out loud again, did I?" Izuku mutters as Hawks snort in amusement, but Mera lightly elbows him.

"Let's see if you're an awakened, kid." Mera said as Izuku looks at the orb. "Just place your hands on it, and we'll do the rest." Izuku nodded as he place it. Mera and Hawks looks at the number before their eyes turn comically small, like a chibi art where all character's eyes are just a pair of dot.

"Umm, what's wrong?" Izuku looks at the screen and his eyes turn similar to them.

[10]

'Even the lowest rank awakener are at least 70!' Both Mera and Hawks winced at the number before giving Izuku a look of sympathy. 'To think he pull the worst draw after everything he went through...poor kid.'

'I start to hate the look they gave me.' Izuku didn't know how it worked, but given their faces, he had a feeling it was that bad. His eyes twitch from the look they gave him.

"Well...that's something." Izuku's veins popped at the words Hawks used. He gets it, it's bad. No need to rub salt in the wounds. They get up and walk out of the hospital room, causing Izuku to pop another vein.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?!?!" Izuku covers his mouth as he starts to panic. Why did he suddenly get angry so easily!?!? His face turns red as steam comes out of his head.

"..." Izuku looks back at the message logo under his view. He reaches his hand to press it.

[Mailbox: 2 Unread Messages]

[Do you want to read it? [Y/N] ]

'Is this a hallucination? How did this turn into a video game?' Izuku thought before looking at the screen. He sighs before pressing the 'Y'. 'I start to question which is which...'

[Messages]

[Congratulations, you have become A Player] [Unread]

[Daily Quest: Train to be a formidable opponent] [Unread]

Izuku stares at the screen blankly before he presses the first message. As he did that, another screen appears.

[Congratulations, you have become A Player]

[For becoming a Player, you will be granted access to the system. It will help the 'Player' to develop. You will be given a quest to help you grow. If you succeed in completing the quest, you will be given a reward. If failed, you'll be penalized.]

'...I'm getting delusional over time...' Izuku then looked at the bottom part of the screen.

[You have received a reward]

'Reward?' Izuku looks around the screen and notices that there's no sign of rewards. Izuku was a bit confused before looking at the screen. 'Could the reward be...the system itself?'

Izuku notices the next message he gets and presses it.

[Daily Quest - Train to become a formidable combatant]

[Goals:

- Push Ups: 0/100

- Sit Ups: 0/100

- Squats: 0/100

- Run: 0/10 KM ]

[Caution: If the daily quest remains incomplete, penalties will be given accordingly]

'...this is crazy...' Izuku mutters before collapsing on the bed. As he looks at the ceiling, one particular sentence plays in his mind.

"You see, not many people were able to survive when they entered the gate. But, when they did...the gate gave them some sort of 'reward'."

Izuku shivers at that particular word before he decided to do the daily quest. If what they said is true, then the penalty won't be pretty. And given how brutal it was in the gate, he didn't want to find out.

1...2...3...4...

Izuku starts to get tired at his 5th pushup and collapses into the ground. He opens the screen again and blanched.

[Push Ups: 0/100]

"...IT DIDN'T COUNT!?!?!?"

Few hours later

Izuku stares at the screen blankly as he walks back into the patient room, fully soaked in sweat, his breathing feels heavy, his lungs feel like on fire, and both of his arms and legs feel like glass shards stuck inside and continue to tear his muscles.

[Push Ups: 100/100] [Completed]

[Sit Ups: 100/100] [Completed]

[Squats: 100/100] [Completed]

[Run: 11/10 KM] [Completed]

[Quest Rewards]

[Reward 1: Status Recovery]

[Reward 2: 3 Status Points]

[Reward 3: Random Loot Box]

Izuku stares at the screen blankly before grinning like an idiot and collapsing onto the ground. Before he fell unconscious, he heard a familiar voice that he didn't know he had missed so much.

"IZUKU!?!?"

To be continued