The aftermath of the Sports Festival was a blur of notifications and "Friend Requests" from hero agencies that Kenji largely ignored. While the rest of Class 1-A was basking in the glow of their televised debuts, Kenji was back in the Hidden Library, his physical form resting in the master rig while his mind traversed three new, densely layered simulations.
He needed more than just "Space Magic" and "Dragon Shouts." To be a Hero in a modern, urban society, he needed to master the City.
The Triple-Dive: Modernity, Stealth, and Deduction
Before his internship began, Kenji initiated a series of rapid-fire "Dives" to round out his skill tree.
Drive 6: The Metropolitan Chaos (GTA + Yakuza + Watch Dogs + Saints Row)
This dive was a sensory overload of neon lights and asphalt. Kenji lived through the life of a street brawler in Kamurocho, learning the Dragon of Dojima fighting style—brutal, heat-powered strikes that prioritized environment manipulation. He then transitioned into the high-tech shadows of Chicago, mastering ctOS Hacking, allowing his Focus HUD to interface with any municipal electronic system. Finally, he touched the "Boss" logic of the Saints, granting him Unbound Versatility—the ability to treat any vehicle or weapon as an extension of his own "Code."
Drive 7: The Animus Protocol (Assassin's Creed Complete Edition)
Kenji spent decades in the "Grey." He climbed the cathedrals of Italy, the pyramids of Egypt, and the rooftops of London. He didn't just learn parkour; he learned Eagle Vision, a heightened state of awareness that highlighted enemies, allies, and "Leaps of Faith." He mastered the Hidden Blade logic—the art of the "One-Shot" strike that ignores a target's HP bar if the stealth-check is passed.
Drive 8: The Detective's Mind (Disco Elysium + L.A. Noire + Sherlock Holmes + Obra Dinn)
This was the most taxing dive of all. There was no combat. Instead, Kenji's internal monologue split into twenty-four distinct voices—Inland Empire, Logic, Half-Light. He learned the Deduction Palace, a mental space where he could reconstruct a crime scene by looking at "Echoes" of the past. From the Obra Dinn, he gained the Memento Mortem—the ability to see the exact moment of a person's death by touching their remains.
Kenji stood in a dusty, run-down apartment in Mustafu. Opposite him stood a tiny, elderly man in a yellow cape who looked like he could barely hold a grocery bag.
"You're the brat who thinks he's a video game," Gran Torino wheezed, suddenly vanishing in a blur of motion.
CRACK.
Kenji's head snapped back as the old man bounced off the wall and kicked him in the jaw.
[WARNING: KINETIC IMPACT DETECTED]
[FRAME DATA ANALYSIS: 0.02 SECOND STARTUP]
"Too slow!" Gran Torino cackled, bouncing again. "You've got all those fancy 'Shouts' and 'Space Magic,' but your fundamental movement is bloated! You're playing at 30 FPS while the world is moving at 120!"
Kenji wiped a trickle of blood from his lip. His eyes flickered with the blue-white light of the ctOS Scan merged with Eagle Vision.
"I see it now," Kenji whispered. "You're not just fast. You're using the 'Collision Boxes' of the room to cancel your momentum and reset your dash-frames."
"Ho?" Gran Torino paused, hovering mid-air by kicking off a microwave. "You talk a lot of nonsense, boy. Prove it."
Kenji initiated the Yakuza: Rush Style merged with Assassin's Creed Parkour. He didn't use the Sandevistan; that was too expensive. Instead, he used Frame-Perfect Buffers. As Gran Torino lunged, Kenji didn't move away. He moved into the strike, performing a Tiger Drop—a counter-hit that utilized the opponent's own force.
THOOM.
The air in the tiny apartment rippled. Gran Torino's eyes widened as he felt his own momentum turned against him. He flipped backward, landing gracefully on a shelf.
"Not bad," the old man grinned. "You're learning to 'Read the Code' of the fight. Now, let's take this to the streets of Hosu. I hear there's a 'Bug' in the system that needs fixing."
Part II: The Shadow of Hosu
The city of Hosu was burning. Nomu—the same biological "Glitches" from the USJ—were tearing through the streets. But Kenji wasn't looking at the monsters. His Detective's Mind was screaming.
[INLAND EMPIRE: The air smells of rusted iron and stagnant convictions.]
[LOGIC: The Nomu are a distraction. A predator is hunting nearby.]
"Gran Torino, go handle the big ones," Kenji said, his Focus HUD highlighting a narrow, blood-stained alleyway three blocks away. "I've found a 'Side-Quest' that's about to become the Main Story."
Kenji leaped from the train, using the Saints Row: Super Jump to clear the rooftops. He didn't run; he Parkoured, his movements seamless, silent, and optimized.
He landed at the entrance of the alley. Inside, the "Pro Hero" Native was pinned to the wall by a sword. Standing over him was a man wrapped in tattered bandages, eyes burning with a zealot's fire. Stain: The Hero Killer.
And rushing toward him, blinded by rage, was Tenya Iida.
"Iida, stop!" Kenji shouted, but it was too late.
Stain moved with a fluidity that surpassed even Gran Torino. It wasn't speed; it was Assassin Logic. He dodged Iida's kick by a fraction of an inch and grazed Iida's arm with a serrated dagger.
Stain licked the blood. Iida collapsed, his body paralyzed.
"Another fake," Stain rasped, his voice a jagged edge. "Small-minded children playing hero. You are all 'Errors' that need to be deleted."
Part III: The Ultimate Boss Fight (Kenji vs. Stain)
Kenji stepped into the alley. He didn't pull a weapon yet. He activated the Sherlock Holmes: Deduction Palace.
The world turned monochrome. Time slowed to a crawl. Kenji walked through the "Ghost Images" of the fight.
Stain's Quirk: Bloodcurdle. Requirement: Ingestion of blood. Duration: Varies by blood type. Movement Pattern: High-precision, low-mass strikes. Weakness: Relies on fear and psychological pressure.
"You're a 'Hard-Coded' Boss, aren't you?" Kenji said, his voice echoing in the narrow space. "You think your 'Conviction' makes you invincible. But to the System, you're just a high-difficulty NPC with a predictable script."
Stain's eyes narrowed. He felt a chill—not the chill of a Hero's justice, but the cold, analytical gaze of a Grandmaster.
"You... your eyes," Stain hissed. "They don't see a person. They see a target."
[INITIATING LOADOUT: THE SILENT ASSASSIN]
[ACTIVE BUFFS: ctOS BLACKOUT, EAGLE VISION, DRAGON OF DOJIMA]
Kenji snapped his fingers. Every streetlight in the alley exploded. The darkness was absolute—except for Kenji, who saw Stain in bright, highlighted gold.
Stain lunged. He was used to the dark. But he wasn't used to an opponent who didn't emit a "Threat Signature." Kenji used the Watch Dogs: Stealth—he wasn't hiding; he was simply making the "AI" of the world ignore him.
Clang!
Kenji parried Stain's katana with a Hidden Blade manifested from silver mana. He followed up with a Yakuza: Beast Style grab, slamming Stain's head into the brick wall.
"GAH!" Stain coughed, swinging his blade in a wide arc.
Kenji performed a Blink from Dishonored (a sub-skill of his Destiny dive), appearing behind Stain. He didn't strike. He touched Stain's back.
[UPLOAD: SYSTEM CRASH]
Using the ctOS Hacking logic, Kenji sent a bio-electrical "Ping" through Stain's nervous system. It didn't paralyze him, but it "Jammed" his Quirk. Stain tried to lick the blood on his blade, but his brain couldn't process the "Command" to activate his power.
"What... what have you done to me!?" Stain roared, his movements becoming frantic.
"I've patched your exploit," Kenji said, pulling out a heavy, snub-nosed revolver—the L.A. Noire: Justice. He didn't fire bullets; he fired Void Rounds.
"Iida! Get up!" Kenji yelled. "The paralysis is wearing off! Don't let your 'Code' be defined by revenge! Be the 'Engine' you were meant to be!"
Part IV: The Memento Mortem
The fight reached a fever pitch. Midoriya and Todoroki arrived, their flames and lightning illuminating the dark. But Stain was like a cornered animal. He dodged Shoto's ice and Izuku's 5% Detroit Smash with an instinct that defied logic.
"I will... purge... this society!" Stain screamed, leaping toward Midoriya.
Kenji closed his eyes. He activated the Return of the Obra Dinn: Memento Mortem. He didn't need to see Stain die. He needed to see the Death of the Will. He touched the ground, feeling the "Echoes" of all those Stain had killed in this alley. He channeled their collective "Game Over" screens into a single, crushing pressure.
[ULTIMATE MOVE: THE FINAL DEDUCTION]
Kenji spoke, and his voice carried the weight of a thousand solved mysteries.
"Chizome Akaguro. Your 'Conviction' is a logical fallacy. You kill heroes to make them better, but you only leave behind a vacuum for more 'Glitches' to fill. Your story ends here."
Kenji used the Saints Row: Dubstep Gun logic (manifested through Arc Mana). He hit the ground, and a rhythmic, concussive wave of sound and light shattered Stain's balance.
As Stain stumbled, Iida—finally recovered—delivered a Recipro Extend kick that shattered Stain's ribs.
The Hero Killer fell.
Aftermath: The Level-Up
The police arrived. The Pro Heroes arrived. Stain was hauled away, unconscious but still standing—a testament to his "Boss-Level" HP.
Kenji sat on the edge of a rooftop, watching the ambulances. His Focus HUD was scrolling through a massive list of "Loot" and "XP."
[LEVEL UP: 55]
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: CRACKING THE CONVICTION]
[NEW SYSTEM: THE INVESTIGATION WING]
[HIDDEN DATA RECOVERED: THE 'ALL FOR ONE' NETWORK MAP]
Gran Torino climbed up beside him, his yellow cape tattered. "You did well, brat. You didn't just fight him. You out-thought him."
"He was a good teacher," Kenji said, his eyes returning to their normal brown. "He taught me that even the most powerful Quirks are just 'Software.' And every software has a 'Backdoor'."
Kenji looked at his hands. He felt the weight of the eight worlds he now carried inside him. He wasn't just a hero anymore. He was the System Administrator of a world that was rapidly falling apart.
And he was already looking for the next "Update."
Kenji's Post-Internship Status
| System | New Mastery | Utility |
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan | Heat Actions | Devastating environmental finishers. |
| Assassin | Leap of Faith | Infinite vertical mobility/stealth. |
| Detective | Memento Mortem | Analyzing "Crime Scene Code" and death-memories. |
| Current Rank | Master Specialist | Approaching "End-Game" build. |
The Hero Killer was gone, but the "True Boss" was still hidden in the shadows. And Kenji was finally ready to start the "Main Quest."