Chapter 1: The Boy with Camera Eyes and Bargain Bin Dreams
The city of Mustafu was a sprawling metropolis of towering glass, gleaming hero agencies, and cutting-edge technology. However, if you took a wrong turn, went past the bustling commercial districts, and descended into the tangled, shadow-draped alleys of the lower-income residential sectors, you would find a very different world. Here, power lines crisscrossed the sky like a chaotic metallic spiderweb, blocking out the sun. The air always carried a distinct aroma of cheap instant ramen broth, exhaust fumes, and damp concrete.
Standing atop one of the most dilapidated apartment complexes in this district, with his hands planted firmly on his hips and his unusually long nose pointed proudly toward the smoggy sky, was a fifteen-year-old boy. His name was Usopp. He had a mop of unruly, thick curly hair, and he wore a middle school uniform that had clearly undergone multiple traumatic surgeries involving mismatched thread, safety pins, and sheer willpower.
"Behold, my loyal men!" Usopp shouted, his voice echoing down into the narrow, trash-strewn alleyway below. "Exactly four point seven kilometers to the east, at the intersection of Fourth Avenue, the Pro Hero Kamui Woods is currently engaged in a fierce apprehension of a purse snatcher! And naturally, if it were not for my supreme tactical visual oversight from this vantage point, that wooden amateur would have lost his target completely!"
Down in the alley, three small neighborhood kids—a trio of first-graders who followed Usopp around like ducklings—stared up at the roof with stars in their eyes.
"Woah! Usopp is amazing!" the first kid cheered, waving his arms.
"Are you really communicating with the Pro Heroes through a secret earpiece? Are you the mastermind of this city?!" the second kid asked, jumping up and down with uncontrollable excitement.
Usopp flashed a blindingly confident, toothy grin and struck his thin chest with his fist. "But of course! I am Captain Usopp! The man whose visual prowess makes even the most fearsome villains tremble in their boots! The undisputed master of the 'Super Zoom'!"
In reality, Usopp's Quirk was far less glamorous than he made it sound. It was completely non-combat oriented. His eyes functioned exactly like high-end, complex camera lenses. He could focus his vision to magnify objects miles away with crystal-clear precision, or he could switch to microscopic mode, zooming in on a single blade of grass to see the individual cells. Whenever he activated his Quirk, his eyes emitted a faint, mechanical whirring sound, and his pupils would physically extend slightly forward from his irises, adjusting like a camera lens.
Was it a powerful Quirk? In a society overflowing with people who could generate explosions, manipulate gravity, or freeze entire buildings, Usopp's Quirk was mostly useful for reading a neighbor's television subtitles through their window to save on the electricity bill, or for spotting dropped copper coins in the gutter from three streets over.
He was just about to launch into another fabricated tale about how he once stared down a sludge villain, when a shrill, piercing female voice shattered his heroic moment. The voice came from the open window of the apartment directly beneath the roof.
"Usooooop! Stop making up ridiculous stories for those poor children and get down here right this instant! The bargain sale on eggs at the corner market ends in exactly twelve minutes! If you do not secure that carton of eggs, dinner tonight will be boiled rice with a side of... more boiled rice!"
Usopp froze. His grand, invincible hero persona crumbled into fine dust in less than a second. The color drained from his face, leaving him a sickly shade of pale, and beads of nervous sweat formed on his forehead. "Y-Yes, Mom! I am coming right down!"
He turned back to the three kids in the alley, instantly adopting an expression of grave, manufactured seriousness. "Well, men, duty calls. A highly classified mission requires my immediate intervention at the local grocery store. A syndicate of villains is attempting to monopolize the affordable poultry products, and Captain Usopp must thwart their evil scheme!"
Without waiting for a response, Usopp bolted. He sprinted down the rusty, creaking metal fire escape at top speed. His sneakers flapped loudly against the metal steps because they were two sizes too big—a necessity when shopping strictly at second-hand thrift stores.
As he ran toward the market, dodging stray cats and overflowing garbage cans, his mind wandered to his future. He had recently made an absolutely reckless, completely irrational decision. He was going to apply for the entrance exam at U.A. High School, the most prestigious hero academy in the entire country.
Why? Was it to save the world with a fearless smile? Was it to become the next Symbol of Peace? Absolutely not. It was because Pro Heroes made an astronomical amount of money.
Usopp was tired of the leaky roof. He was tired of wearing oversized shoes. He was tired of his mother working double shifts just to afford imitation sausages that tasted vaguely like cardboard. If he became a licensed hero, he could buy a house that did not flood when it rained. He could buy a refrigerator that actually kept things cold.
He dashed into the grocery store, skidding on the linoleum floor, grabbing the last carton of discounted eggs just before an elderly woman could reach them. As he walked back home, clutching the eggs like a prized treasure, the crushing reality of his situation settled over him. U.A. was notoriously difficult to enter. The exam was legendary for its brutality. How in the world was a scrawny teenager, whose only special ability was staring really, really hard at things, supposed to pass an exam designed for superhumans?