Hero Society

A few hours ago.

"Want to quit the Sports Festival? No way." Shota Aizawa looked at the student in front of him with some surprise. While everyone else was trying to achieve good results in this Sports Festival, he was thinking of quitting?

"Give me a reason. As the class monitor of the Hero Course, you should set a good example."

Jilan Jiyu thought for a moment and said, "I think the burden on the Recovery Girl is too heavy, and I want to go and help her."

This reason was something Jilan Jiyu had already come up with, but it was clearly not convincing to Aizawa.

"Every year at the Sports Festival, the Recovery Girl is in charge, so she won't cause any problems. Besides, this year's security personnel are several times more than usual, and the school has invited many Pro Hero to help out, so there won't be any shortage of manpower."

Seeing that this plan wouldn't work, Jilan Jiyu raised their own question, "Will you be asking for help this time? But I heard that Rui En will be in charge of the support for the first-year students."

"Rui En... you mean the Recovery Girl's granddaughter? She's also enrolling this year." It seems Shota Aizawa doesn't often follow these kinds of news, and he said with a hint of surprise, "In that case, you have even less to worry about. With her around, you won't be seriously injured."

"Okay, to be honest," Jilan Jiyu continued, "I'm a little worried. This competition is open to a national audience. Although it will give us a lot of exposure, our enemies will definitely be paying attention too, right? Wouldn't that expose our Quirk?"

"..." Shota Aizawa covered his face with one hand, "Honestly, I don't want to deal with smart people like you."

He thought for a moment and said, "Jilan, although these things shouldn't be said now, I believe you are qualified to accept this fact."

"I'm listening." Jilan Jiyu said, "You're finally able to share some useful information." All along, these teachers have been playing dumb, treating the students as people who need protection, believing that U.A. High School is a safe Gensokyo without any danger. They spend their days doing short-term training and basically don't reveal any useful information. If it weren't for the information he got from Camie Utsushimi, the know-it-all, Jilan Jiyu might still think that he is not in any danger.

"U.A. High School has become the target of everyone's criticism." Aizawa dropped this bombshell right off the bat. "Ever since the USJ attack, our school has been under intense scrutiny from all over the world. Even the news of my injury was leaked by someone. Clearly, we're being targeted."

"... So who is targeting U.A. High School?"

"Who knows? The enemy, the media, other schools, the government... it could be one of them, or it could be all of them," Shota Aizawa calmly. "The reason for holding this Sports Festival in such a grand manner is simple: to show the public that you, who were attacked by the enemy, have emerged from nowhere. Not only have you not been harmed, but you are also full of vitality."

"... I don't know if my analogy is appropriate, but it's like Harry Potter surviving Voldemort's attack; we became the targets of all our peers, the rising stars of the hero world?"

"You've read this kind of old book? That's practically an antique." Shota Aizawa's eyelids twitched. "But you're right, you guys are like 'Harry Potter' now, being closely watched by Voldemort."

"Can I take that as meaning we'd better make a big scene this time, to attract everyone's attention? In short, you're telling us to cause trouble?"

Shota Aizawa quickly replied, "I didn't say that. You misunderstood. Actually, the results you achieve aren't important. The school will provide internship opportunities at good agencies during the subsequent Work-Study Program. What's important is to perform exceptionally well in this Sports Festival and attract everyone's attention."

Jilan Jiyu rolled their eyes. "That's true, but how can you expect to get attention if your grades aren't good..."

Jilan Jiyu never intended to withdraw from the Sports Festival. Obtaining information from others using ambiguous statements is a necessary skill for adults. Shota Aizawa took the bait, telling Jilan Jiyu some secrets and demonstrating his trust in Jilan.

... Since that's the case, then I should repay this trust.

So, at the classroom door after school, Jilan Jiyu made a strong declaration of war.

After school, Jilan Jiyu her notebooks, which contained information about society that she had collected over the years while translating documents and reading books.

This year is 2099, 21st century, a full 22 years since the release of Cyberpunk 2077.

The first example of superpowers, the "glowing baby," appeared in 1999, exactly 100 years ago. At the time, it was just a strange phenomenon being studied. After that, similar strange phenomena gradually appeared around the world, giving users various different abilities. Around 2030, the profession of Pro Hero officially came into the spotlight. Now, hero society has developed for more than 60 years, with various conditions and benefits being very comprehensive. Pro Hero are integrated into people's lives, just like security guards or police officers.

Although various specialized individual technologies are developed specifically for the Quirk of Pro Hero in this Superman society, technology does not significantly change daily life. It remains largely the same as the early 21st century, with only certain aspects of technology being more advanced.

The level of science and technology, which should have been growing exponentially, should have ushered in an era of scientific breakthroughs. However, God endowed each human being with different abilities. After all, for an individual, only their own strength is the most reliable. As a result, countries around the world started researching their own abilities from scratch, thus slowing down the development of science and technology.

To put it simply, the tech tree has been skewed.

United States researchers, leveraging their years of advanced technology, were the first to develop unique combat suits suitable for superpowered individuals. It is said that All Might's "Superman" combat suit was developed by his partner during his studies in the United States.

Russia researchers discovered that superhumans can develop greater strength than the human body; one ordinary superhuman could even defeat a bear with their bare hands. They then developed training methods suitable for superhumans, enabling them to become highly skilled individual fighters. These superhumans are known as special forces, tasked with solving crimes committed by people with superhuman abilities—this is the prototype of Pro Hero.

Researchers from the island nation have concluded that this divinely bestowed ability affects a person's mental state. For example, people with the "fire" ability are naturally short-tempered, while those with the "water" ability tend to be indecisive. They call this ability "Quirk," which symbolizes both an individual's mental state and something unique that sets them apart from others.

Therefore, some parents listened to the experts' advice and only gave their children a nickname before the age of four. After their Quirk was discovered, they would then give them a corresponding name based on their mental state and officially register it on the household registration.

The cyberpunk style envisioned by CD Projekt Red, a company known as the Poland's Stupid Donkey, in the early 21st century never materialized, or rather, never fully came to fruition. However, they persevered in their research despite a lack of resources, and finally released the game decades later in 2077. Players who had been waiting for it for so long yearned for the Quirk lifestyle depicted in the game, resulting in huge sales during its release year, and it remains a bestseller even 22 years later.

Incidentally, the Rainbow Six mentioned earlier is a remastered version. The basic gameplay remains the same, but the unique abilities of each operator have been replaced with similar Quirk.

P. S.: The high-ranking officials of the Celestial Empire believed that urban superpowers should not exist, so they focused on developing technology and ultimately ruled the world with their superior technological strength. (Just kidding!)