One month has passed. Outside a convenience store somewhere.
Honestly, Shin never thought he'd end up here.
Bakugo: "You calling for a fight, you damn loser?"
A thirteen-year-old boy with short, spiky blonde hair and sharp red eyes—yeah, that's Bakugo, a little firecracker himself. Shin forgot he was living in the same prefecture as these characters, but didn't expect to run into them this fast. Shizuoka Prefecture was where he found himself now. At least, his Japanese was getting a bit easier to understand.
Midoriya: "Don't start fighting, Kacchan!!"
Another kid, the same age as Bakugo, with messy dark green curls and innocent, scared eyes, stepped in. He had symmetrical diamond-shaped freckles on each cheek. Yeah, that was Midoriya. Shin could only sigh.
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Five minutes earlier—
Shin was picking up some stuff when suddenly 3-4 kids barged in, cutting ahead of him. He wasn't too thrilled. Shin shouted to get their attention. That was all it took.
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Back to now—
Shin: "Alright, you little brats, you're cutting in line, you damn pests."
He looked at them with pure disdain.
Bakugo scowled, sparks crackling at his fingertips, ready to blow. Shin lazily scanned around for a weapon, not wanting to waste his quirks just yet. Before anything escalated, the police showed up and broke things up. In the end, Shin was the one in the right.
After the cops left, Shin paid and flipped Bakugo two middle fingers. Bakugo's face twisted with rage.
Shin just laughed and walked off.
Shin: "Don't ever cross paths with me again, damn fool."
Bakugo shouted something after him, but Shin didn't care—he was gone in an instant.
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11 months later...
Since meeting those two kids, Shin had been through a hell of a lot—mostly fighting villains and struggling to learn Japanese. Mostly, he just learned how to curse better than speak politely.
Daily missions were routine now. At least, it kept him moving.
Weekly missions? Tracking and capturing five criminals a week. The rewards were decent—300 EXP, 500 coins.
Monthly missions were brutal: assaulting villain hideouts or clearing monster rooms in closed-system dungeons.
Over these 11 months, Shin hadn't gained many skills, but enough to level up significantly.
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Character Window
Name: Ryojin Kazuma
Age: 16
Level: 34 (670/4800 XP)
Level-up grants 2 skill points each time
Strength: 56 (+12)
Speed: 60 (+19)
Endurance: 70 (+5)
Intelligence: 48 (+9)
Charm: 7/10 (+1) (Charm can't be increased by points)
Skill Points: 8
Passive Skills:
Blinking (60% chance to activate; aura glows blue; doubles speed and evades attacks for 2 seconds; no cooldown)
Self-Healing (Medium) (Heals injuries while sleeping, roughly equal to a mid-level healing potion; 1-day cooldown)
Slander (Medium) (Improves ability to discredit others, making victims confused; no cooldown)
Quirks:
Solemn Lament
Combat skills:
Melee: 38/100
Firearms: 49/100
Bladed weapons: 34/100
Blunt weapons: 57/100
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Buying new skills was expensive. Low-level skills cost 10,000 coins, mid-level 100,000, high-level 1 million. Quirks started at 1 million for low level, 10 million for high.
Shin: "Damn, I thought I'd get some OP stuff like those overpowered heroes in other isekai stories..."
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Four months ago, a mission nearly killed him. He stumbled into a villain's nest full of enemies far stronger than himself. Luckily, a hero showed up just in time—but it was close.
Gear and items at the shop were affordable compared to skills and quirks. The stuff he bought helped a lot:
1/3 Sharpshooter Gloves (Speed +4, Strength +4) 5,000 coins
2/3 Sharpshooter Boots (Strength +2, Speed +15) 5,000 coins
3/3 Sharpshooter Armor (Endurance +5, Strength +6) 5,000 coins
Full set bonus: Extended vision range to 300 meters (not counted in passive skills). Lose bonus if not wearing full set.
Total: 15,000 coins.
Cross Earrings (Charm +1, Intelligence +6) 3,500 coins
Lady Victoria's Ring (Intelligence +3) 1,000 coins
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Sitting in his room, a knock came.
??? : "Pizza deliveryyyyy~"
Before Shin could react, the door was shattered by a sonic blast that nearly gave him a heart attack.
A tall blonde man with wild hair and a small brown mustache stepped in, smiling.
Before Shin could move, a gray scarf shot out and wrapped tightly around him, binding his right hand.
Shin: "This is bad. Damn it, what the hell do I do?"
His left hand produced two pistols—Solemn Lament—and he sprayed bullets wildly.
Suddenly, a brutal kick slammed into his face, knocking him out cold.
??? : "Phew... I thought I was gonna get shot, dude."
The blonde man spoke to a pale, tall, unkempt black-haired man who silently carried a boy away.
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A few hours later...
He opened his eyes slowly. His hands were cuffed tightly behind his back with police handcuffs, and blood dripped from his nose and mouth from the kick to his face.
Shin: "Damn... so I got caught, huh?"
Right now, he was trying hard to think of a way out. But before he could, the door opened, and a tall man with short black hair and rectangular black eyes walked in. He looked straight at him and introduced himself.
???: "Hello. My name's Naomasa Tsukauchi. I'm a detective."
He smiled at Ryojin (Shin).
Sweat started to bead on Shin's hands. He remembered that this detective had a quirk that could detect lies. After a moment, the detective spoke.
Tsukauchi: "Relax a bit. I just have a few questions. I'd appreciate it if you could answer."
The smile disappeared from his face, making Shin even more nervous.
Tsukauchi: "Alright, first question—why did you become a peacekeeper?"
He stared straight at Shin, making him even more tense. He couldn't reveal anything about the system, but maybe he could dodge the question.
Shin: "Well... I didn't really have a choice."
Shin answered and was ready to twist things a bit.
Tsukauchi: "Is that so? Then why kill villains?"
Shin: "Do those lives really matter?"
He asked back with a slight smirk, making the detective frown. Shin continued.
Shin: "They're just sitting there collecting salaries while those villains keep running free. I'm just doing my part."
The detective frowned more but nodded and moved on to the next question.
Tsukauchi: "Alright, Kazuma-kun. According to the info I got, your parents were killed by a villain while you were at home. After that, you were sent to a shelter for homeless kids, but you ran away. I'm guessing all this ties into the things you've done, right?"
Shin (thinking): "Well, you're playing right into my hands now."
Shin: "I hate those villains for taking everything from me. I swear I'll wipe them all out."
Shin (thinking): "Hahaha! What's better than throwing dirt and not getting caught for it?"
He didn't care if the detective didn't know what really happened to his parents. That wasn't his problem.
But if one day he ran into that villain... he might just kill him.
Shin stared the detective down without blinking.
Shin: "At least being a peacekeeper is better than those heroes and cops who just collect their paychecks."
He smiled a little. Well, maybe the country wouldn't really do that, but what could he do? The villains he was after? Still no sign of catching them.
Tsukauchi nodded and soon asked about Shin's quirk. Shin told almost everything except that his gun could switch firing modes. Basically, if he wanted to knock someone out, his bullets were like blunt butterflies—not sharp, more like punches. He'd even asked people who'd been shot with them before.
Tsukauchi: "Alright, that's enough for now."
He said as he unlocked the cuffs on Shin's hands, making him feel a little better.
Tsukauchi: "Honestly, we wanted to arrest you. But someone asked us not to."
Shin: "Who?"
He asked, glancing toward two figures—a mouse-like kid waving cutely and a tall, slender, pale man with long black hair. He thought to himself that these had to be the two.
The little kid waved cheerfully.
???: "Hello! I'm Nezu. How's it going?"
Shin: "Hello, Ryojin Kazuma."
He already knew that this little guy was no joke.
Nezu: "Alright, let's get down to business."
The tall, pale man spoke, handing a document to Shin.
???: "I'm Shota Aizawa. From now on, you're under my care."
He said it with a perpetually sleepy look.
Probably an underground hero, and judging by the vibe, pretty skilled. But that sleepy guy? No way that's him, right?
Shin looked down at the document and smirked.
Shin: "Whatever, man. I'll sleep wherever, you pauper."
He smiled a little and made a teasing face at Aizawa, making a vein pop on the hero's forehead.