"Well said, All Might."
As he spoke, Shigaraki Tomura began clapping lightly. Then, in the next breath, his tone pivoted.
"But unfortunately, what I said just now wasn't meant for you, or for Pro Heroes, or for these kind, good citizens standing here."
"I already told you…"
As he spoke, he turned toward the onlookers who were filming, then spread his arms wide. His voice suddenly surged with fanatic fervor.
"I, Shigaraki Tomura, am the Savior of Villains!"
"I am grieved—grieved by a world where the rules are completely twisted!"
"Those without Quirks are discriminated against. Those with weak Quirks are exploited. Those with unusual Quirks are hated and humiliated…"
"A Quirk is merely a physical trait. It does not mean its holder is superior—or inferior!"
"Every person is unique. Every person has the right to rule their own life. So why do you divide people by whether they have a Quirk, by whether their Quirk is strong or weak?"
"That is wrong!"
"So I have decided to seek justice for the weak—for those whose rights are not protected!"
"Now then—those who have been bullied, oppressed, cornered with no way out, those who have suffered discrimination!"
"You should understand… you are not at fault!"
"The one at fault… is this world!"
"So what you must do is not endure. Not suppress. But… answer back!"
His voice rose sharply.
"Now—everyone who wants to answer back at the world…"
"Answer back at the Heroes…"
"Answer back at those who have humiliated you, trampled you, ignored you, tormented you, abused you…"
"You should no longer gnaw on rotting corpses like rats in the gutter!"
"You must show the world… our power! Let the world feel our anger!"
After saying that, Shigaraki bowed slightly toward the filming crowd.
And in the next instant—
He stepped into the black portal formed by Kurogiri's mist, vanishing from everyone's sight together with the Sludge Villain and Kurogiri.
Only his final words lingered over the street and the sea of people—
Filled with boundless malice…
And crushing pressure.
"Come, my companions. Raise our blades to the world!"
"From this moment on—let the world feel pain!"
…
Somewhere unknown—a small, quiet bar.
"Holy shit—no, I can't. I can't take it. That was way too chuuni! It's so embarrassing! My shame meter just exploded!"
"I almost cracked on the spot. Thank god the mask covered my face."
Back in his room, Shigaraki could no longer maintain the calm expression he'd worn in front of Kurogiri and the Sludge Villain.
He flopped onto the bed and yanked the blanket over his face.
Seriously—
Those lines were too cringey.
So cringey he felt like his sense of embarrassment was about to detonate.
So cringey he didn't even want to admit the person who said them was him.
…
After quite a while, he finally crawled out of that post-chuuni shame spiral.
Then he opened his computer—ready to appreciate his "masterpiece."
The moment he opened the browser, he saw the video of his speech—uploaded earlier at his request by Kurogiri.
It had only been online for a little over ten minutes, yet the view count had already surged past a hundred thousand.
And it was still growing at an exponential rate.
Shigaraki nodded in satisfaction.
"Mm… that many views? Looks like choosing the Sludge Villain incident as my opening act was the right call."
"Results-wise, not bad. I cleared the initial mission, laid the groundwork for the first main quest, and I also made it impossible for Kurogiri and that old creep to find excuses to nag me anymore."
"Worth it—even if I had to grit my teeth and force myself through that cringe-fest of a speech."
"Even if just thinking about those lines now still makes my shame meter explode…"
"Can't be helped. Japanese people eat this kind of thing up."
"And those Pro Heroes were kind of dumb, weren't they…? Getting emotionally led around by my words like that."
"Tch. They actually needed All Might to step in and point out the key issue before they could snap back to reality…"
"Honestly… if you don't even have unwavering conviction in what you do, what kind of Hero are you supposed to be?"
"Guess once the name 'Hero'—with all its special and glorious meaning—turns into a profession you can find on every street corner…"
"It loses its flavor."
"Well, whatever. Thinking about it now won't change anything. Fixing society's rotten mindset… that's a job for future 'righteous Hero' Shimura Tenko."
With a shrug, Shigaraki lay back down on the bed and finally started checking the system notification log—messages he'd ignored earlier.
Ever since he left Tendouin Shopping Street and returned to the bar, the system had been chiming nonstop.
But he'd been busy dealing with All For One.
Now that things had settled, he finally had the time to look.