Giant robot

Although they had panicked a little when they first saw the giant robot, they had gradually calmed down. Once they realized it could not possibly catch up to them within the allotted time at its speed, they began to relax.

"All we have to do now is wait for time to run out, right? Going head-to-head with that monster would be stupid."

As they compared the scores they had earned and tried to work out whether they had enough points, someone suddenly shouted, drawing their attention.

"Look at that guy!"

A person in sportswear had his back to the crowd, wiping sweat from his face with one hand as he walked toward the robot, one step at a time.

The crowd cried out, "He can't be planning to challenge that monster, can he?"

"That's impossible, right? It's a giant robot! Only someone with a gigantification Quirk could hurt it. But that guy obviously doesn't have a Quirk like that."

"Huh?" Mina Ashido's attention was drawn to him too. Looking at his back, she said uncertainly, "Jilan Jiyu? Why..."

Jilan Jiyu drew closer and closer to the robot, but it did not look directly at him, as though it were searching for something. This made him more certain of his thoughts.

Based on Jilan Jiyu's estimate before the exam, there should have been around thirty people at each testing site. After this big guy appeared, everyone should have run out, but the actual number did not match. If his estimate was right, the boy who looked like a rhinoceros should still be within the robot's search range.

He did not know why the boy had not run out yet, but he might be in danger.

In truth, Jilan Jiyu did not care whether he lived or died. He was only doing it for points. The exam had basic questions and difficult questions, so there was a good chance it also had a bonus question.

If he was right, the bonus question was the spirit of a hero, the responsibility to save others.

As Jilan Jiyu approached, the robot's head stopped turning aimlessly. It turned toward him and swung the back of its hand at him.

Although it's tremendously powerful, is it actually held back by its own body, making it slow to act against things that are too small compared to it...?

Hamon surged through his body. Jilan Jiyu dodged the swat at a speed far beyond the robot's, leaped onto its arm, and ran up it.

"That guy..." Watching Jilan Jiyu charge at the robot without hesitation, someone was moved. "He actually has the courage to challenge a powerful enemy. A real Pro Hero would definitely do the same!"

"My dream is to become a Pro Hero..." One person abruptly raised his lowered head. "Just watching while someone else fights, waiting for time to pass and being ready to run at any moment... I can't do that!"

The moment he finished speaking, he charged out. Before he could reach the robot, its huge hand slammed down over him, pinning him heavily beneath it before he could even resist.

"What?! He was taken down in an instant!"

The people who had been about to charge forward hesitated. U.A. High School had Recovery Girl, and although they knew their lives probably were not in danger, they still lacked the courage to challenge an opponent they could not overpower.

That was only human nature, perhaps. Once the person leading the charge was defeated, those following would doubt their own thoughts without someone to lead them—was it really possible to beat that thing?

Just as they were about to back away and turn to flee, a piercing creak of grinding steel suddenly came from the robot's hand against the ground. The gap between the hand and the ground widened little by little, and then a force from below violently flung it aside!

"Haha! A lousy pile of junk like you thinks it can hurt the great Tetsutetsu!" Although dust flew around Tetsutetsu, his body was visibly harder, gleaming with a metallic sheen in the sunlight.

His words were full of energy, and he did not seem to have been hurt.

He glared at the giant. "I can't hurt you, but don't think you'll beat me easily, either!"

He reached out and wrapped his arms around the robot's leg, then stomped several times, only to find that he could leave footprints but could not throw it off balance at all. He clicked his tongue and shouted to the crowd.

"What are you all standing around for?! Get over here and help me take it down!"

They were all impressed by Tetsutetsu's display, having never expected him to emerge unscathed. Snapping out of their daze, they charged forward, roaring, "Take down this monster! We're heroes!" They never stopped to consider why they were fighting it, simply rushing in with the crowd.

Mina Ashido was a little confused. Wasn't this big guy worth zero points? Why are they ganging up on it like a party fighting a boss?

Although she wanted to join them, the dwindling supply of digestive fluid stored in her body told her it was time to retreat.

"I can attack with my body too, but..." Mina Ashido covered her face with her hand. "Hitting steel hurts!"

Jilan Jiyu had noticed Tetsutetsu when he came running over, but had not paid him much attention.

"Sendo Hamon Overdrive!" Jilan Jiyu sent Hamon into his feet and used the magnetic force released by its energy to run up the slope of the robot's arm.

"I suddenly thought of Sister Bayo..." In Bayonetta, a game Jilan Jiyu had once played, the protagonist, Bayonetta, had run across giant monsters several times, attacking with hair woven from magical power.

Jilan Jiyu suddenly felt as though a lifetime had passed—what he was doing now seemed to overlap with a character he had once controlled.

Golden Hamon surrounded Jilan Jiyu's fist as he punched the spot where the robot's eye glowed red. It looked like a weak point, but the spot was as hard as bulletproof glass. His attack did nothing except send a sharp pain through his arm.

Hamon was far stronger at healing than attacking. By the time he flipped onto the robot's head and took a breath, the scrapes on the arm he had attacked with had already healed completely.

The robot observed its surroundings through the glowing eye on its head, which presumably housed a camera. When Jilan Jiyu hid on top of its head, it continued turning its head in search of a target, but the top of its head seemed to be a blind spot. It gave up looking for Jilan Jiyu and lowered its head, focusing on the people making small moves around its legs.

As I thought, a frontal assault is useless. Then I need to find the examinee who still hasn't shown himself.

After using Hamon to connect his feet to the robot's head, Jilan Jiyu looked around like an assassin seeking synchronization while overlooking an entire city from a height. On the surrounding streets, he could see only the wreckage of robots destroyed here and there, with no sign of anyone.

Did he hide indoors? Leaving the other small robots aside, this super robot should be equipped with thermal imaging, allowing it to see through thick buildings and spot people in hiding.

Or perhaps the ID tags have GPS systems that let it pinpoint everyone's location directly...

Jilan Jiyu used Hamon to enhance his hearing and listened carefully to the sounds around him. If his guess was right-"Caw... caw..." came the cries of crows.

There!

Jilan Jiyu jumped off the robot's head and moved in parkour-like leaps across buildings about as tall as its shoulders. He paused briefly on one rooftop, then leaped down and, without hesitation, hurtled toward a second-floor window of an office building across the way, where crows circled!