The room was dark, just the way he liked it, filled with the scent of wine and old comic books. In the background, a soft piano melody played from an old record player.
This gloomy atmosphere, with a touch of class, was interrupted by the sound of the door.
"Master," Kurogiri's voice asked softly.
Despite having the ability to appear directly inside the room, Kurogiri would never dare to do so without his master's permission.
"Come in..."
Kurogiri opened the door and entered. In the center of the room, a man sat on a comfortable sofa in front of a fireplace, watching a recording of the UA training that had taken place not long ago.
It was strange—this recording shouldn't exist. UA was careful, and every recording was deleted shortly after being reviewed by those in charge, to prevent information leaks like the one that had happened before.
What was curious was the angle. It wasn't from above like the one shown by the teachers' drone—it was from within the forest, which meant a student had recorded it.
"I see..." All For One smiled as he watched Allen being injured. "The answer isn't how to attack, but how much..."
"Master, would you like us to prepare?" Kurogiri asked, a fleeting glint of coldness flashing in his eyes.
"Prepare? ...No, Kurogiri, this isn't the time. For now, I want to focus on four other things. One is the perfection of Trigger, the second is that drug Overhaul is working on, the third is strengthening Tomura-kun—he could become a great trump card if properly raised—and lastly... that."
"Understood. However, Allen Walker will grow stronger if we don't stop him."
"Kurogiri, letting time dictate your actions is truly a mistake. Allen-kun is indeed becoming a monstrous young man, however, it's not as if there aren't ways to deal with him—especially now..."
Kurogiri shuddered as he saw All For One's eyes briefly turn red and his body become enveloped in a sinister aura. For the past few days, Kurogiri had felt something different about his master. The man who had once been furious, craving Allen Walker's flesh and blood, had now regained his calm. No—Kurogiri, who should have been the most accustomed to All For One, now felt fear in his presence.
'Is this still the master?'
"Anything else, Kurogiri?" All For One asked with a faint smile.
"No."
"In that case, continue supporting Tomura-kun. Don't worry—our time will come..."
Kurogiri left the room and finally managed to breathe.
'What happened to the master?!'
All For One crossed his legs, watching the recording over and over again.
"You really deceived me, didn't you? I never would have imagined you truly had no Quirk. What a lying child—that's not very heroic. But it doesn't matter... We'll meet again... soon."
Behind All For One, the shadow of a man in a white suit appeared, disappearing the next second.
....
(Several months later)
Mount Everest, 5:34 PM.
The tallest mountain in the world had always attracted people from all over, those who sought to reach its summit. Even in a world where miracles called Quirks existed, the mountain still drew adventurers who wanted to carve their names into history—but it had also become the grave of many.
"I-it's so cold..."
The woman in question was inside a small tent as the storm intensified and the temperature dropped.
"I need... warmth..."
She quickly pulled out a small electric heater, but it was like a candle in a freezing storm.
Being trapped at such a high altitude on Everest during a storm was extremely dangerous, which is why climbers avoided ascending when storms were forecast. But nature is unpredictable—you can't force it to follow a weather report.
"This is the end..." the woman muttered. She no longer knew whether she was trembling from the cold or fear. Still, she couldn't blame Everest. From the very beginning, climbers were warned of the mortal danger.
The woman took out a small notebook and wrote something before curling up and closing her eyes. At that moment, she smiled as a warm sensation pushed away the cold. She knew this wasn't a miracle, but the final symptoms of hypothermia—like the saying, "when a candle is about to go out, it burns brightest."
'At least it won't hurt...' the woman thought as she let herself be embraced by the warmth, waiting for it to be her final thought. 'It's warm... very warm... actually, it's really hot!'
She suddenly opened her eyes, blinded by bright sunlight and a tropical breeze.
The woman blinked in confusion, her eyes wide like spheres.
"Are you okay?" a male voice asked.
"Huh?"
Still dazed, the woman looked around and noticed she was in the arms of a very handsome young man.
"A god? An angel?"
The young man chuckled. "No, not at all. I'm more handsome than that."
The woman was left speechless by the narcissistic comment.
"Look, it's Absolute-man!"
"I thought his name was Womanizer-man!"
"I heard his name was Walker-man!"
Allen's smile froze, and he frowned before shouting at the tourists who kept messing up his name.
"Hey, stop changing my name! Do you know how much it hurt not being able to use the name I had planned, just for you to not even say it right?!"
Several men, women, and children laughed.
Meanwhile, the woman opened her mouth as she realized she was on a beach, floating a few meters above the ground.
"No respect at all..." Allen clicked his tongue before looking at her. "Are you okay?"
"Is this a dream? Did I die?"
"Not at all. I found you on Everest and brought you to a beach so you wouldn't turn into a popsicle."
The woman remained stunned. As Allen spoke, she recognized him—the red cape, the black and crimson suit. There was no doubt—he was that famous young hero everyone talked about.
"How did you know?"
She was confused. The first thing she had done was try to call for help, but the radio didn't work. She knew it was her fault—she had climbed alone, without a guide or support, simply because her Quirk allowed her to survive in low-oxygen environments, a Quirk suited for mountaineering.
Allen raised an eyebrow before smiling slightly. "I heard you..."
....
After leaving the woman with paramedics, Allen flew upward—beyond the clouds, beyond the atmosphere. Once outside the planet, he was greeted by the familiar sight of Earth.
Gwen – It must be nice being able to enjoy this view every day.
"When I get back, I'll take you to the moon as many times as you want. heh"
MJ – Me too!
"Of course."
Allen read several comments from girls—and Wade—asking for the same thing. He agreed with all of them, except Wade, and then remained high in the atmosphere, basking in the sunlight.
"It's been quite a while since I arrived in this world... It's been unexpectedly relaxing living here."
Help!
Allen opened his eyes upon hearing a cry for help and focused on the Atlantic Ocean.
Over the months, all his Superman-like powers had grown thanks to absorbing sunlight. Now, he could even hear every corner of the Earth.
Allen flew down, entering the atmosphere at a terrifying speed of Mach 20. It wasn't that he couldn't go faster—but doing so would cause destruction in his wake.
When he arrived, he saw a man stranded on a raft—a castaway.
Allen flew closer. To his surprise, the man looked emaciated and filthy, as if he had spent months on a deserted island.
"Are you okay?" Allen asked. He had already lost count of how many times he said that per week.
"Wait... are you real?"
"As real as your beard. And tell me, Chuck Noland, what brings you to the middle of the Atlantic?"
"Ah! Thank heaven!"
The man's story was unfortunate. He was a rich guy who had gone out one night on his yacht with six liters of tequila. At some point, he fell off the boat, and when he woke up, he was on an uninhabited island, where he spent two months before building a raft and deciding he'd rather die trying to escape than perish there.
"Well, I guess we learned a lesson today."
Rukia – Don't drink and drive a yacht?
"That—and also wear deodorant," Allen covered his nose. "Man, I've smelled corpses that smelled better."
Allen carried the raft directly so he wouldn't have to touch the man, who smelled like rotting waste, and flew him to the nearest beach.
After dropping him off, the man thanked him—but Allen left as soon as he tried to hug him.
Back in the air, Allen closed his eyes again, focusing on his hearing.
Wednesday – Looks like expert advice worked.
"Yeah..."
With enhanced super hearing came headaches. The voices of eight billion people were overwhelming. To preserve his sanity, he chose to ignore large cities, densely populated areas, and towns.
He didn't need to worry—after all, there were many heroes in the world. Instead, he used his global hearing in places with little to no human presence: forests, jungles, Antarctica, the North Pole, mountains, deserts, oceans, and more.
Places where problems occasionally occurred—and no heroes were nearby. Of course, there was one exception: the city of Mustafu.
"Interesting..."
Allen smiled and flew across the ocean, rising above the clouds.
....
(Egypt, Western Desert, Ancient Ruins)
A group of bandits was attempting to loot a newly discovered archaeological site. They had even kidnapped the archaeologists, injuring one of them in the process—he was slowly bleeding out.
"Hurry up, grab the sarcophagus, and let's get out of here!" said a man with an AK slung over his shoulder.
"Hey, brother, I've seen this in a lot of movies—it always ends with some mummified corpse coming back to life to conquer or destroy the world. Better leave it alone."
Everyone froze and turned to look at Allen, stunned.
"Shit, it's a superhero!"
Without hesitation, half of them aimed their weapons and fired, while others used their Quirks. One of them even shot spikes from his arms, reminding Allen of a certain delinquent from Mustafu.
Every bullet, spike, fireball, and attack hit Allen without causing any damage. The bullets fell to the ground completely flattened. When they ran out of ammo, no one even bothered reloading—they just stared at Allen in shock.
"Well, my turn," Allen smiled. He vanished and reappeared in front of a man with a bear's head, punching him and sending him flying into a rock. "Don't just stand there—attack or surrender."
To no one's surprise, the bandits dropped their weapons and raised their hands. Even the leader fell to his knees.
"Oh, come on—what happened to not surrendering until the last man?" Allen shook his head. "They don't make villains as they used to anymore."
The man clenched his teeth but said nothing. Of course, he didn't want to be arrested. He didn't want to go to prison—and more than that, the thought of giving up his treasure tormented him. But he wasn't crazy enough to face the monster standing before him.
Allen shrugged, landed, and switched templates to heal the injured man. He tied up all the bandits and left without waiting for the authorities. After all, he only had a license in Japan, so he'd get into trouble if someone caught him—but he didn't really care about breaking one or two international treaties now and then.
Once he reached the sky again, Allen stopped.
"How much time do we have?"
[A little over an hour]
Allen's smile widened, and he decided to speed things up.
....
On one of Japan's many islands—one of the fourteen thousand—a villain with some kind of gigantification power was attacking a port. Curiously, his giant form was just an enlarged version of a human, something similar to Mt. Lady.
"IF I CAN'T RULE THIS ISLAND, I'LL DESTROY IT!"
Allen descended from the sky, clenched his fist, and without even greeting him, threw a punch that shattered the villain's teeth.
....
Allen arrived at an active volcano. He didn't just use his hearing to detect cries for help—sudden tectonic plate movements were also constantly on his radar.
Taking a deep breath, Allen unleashed his freezing breath, encasing the volcano in ice.
Saya – Idiot, that won't stop the eruption.
"True."
Allen flew toward the volcano and broke through the ice he had just created. Once he reached the magma, he pierced through the mantle and opened another outlet at the ocean floor, allowing the volcano to release pressure.
Kara – Don't forget the marine life!
"I know."
Allen switched to an Aquaman template so he could command nearby creatures to evacuate, though it wasn't entirely necessary—marine animals were already sensitive to these things.
Asia – What about those who can't escape?
"You girls are really picky," Allen sighed, switching to a Tatsumaki template. Then he used telekinesis to move starfish, octopuses, clams, sea urchins, and anything else that couldn't move on its own.
Once he was done, Allen returned to the surface. He made sure the magma was released in a controlled manner—before long, a new island would be born.
"Someone better pay me for island number 14,001... seriously," Allen said expressionlessly before flying off.
But that wasn't the end. Allen traveled across the world, resolving disasters—from dispersing dangerous typhoons with a single punch to extinguishing uncontrollable forest fires with his freezing breath.
And finally, the alarm sounded.
[Time's up]
Allen let out a relieved breath as he heard the system's voice—and at the same time, he lost his Superman powers.
"I'm tired... let's go home..."
....
Allen appeared in the living room of Mirko's apartment. Since the rabbit hero had bought an apartment along with Kaina, her life hadn't changed much—except now she was the one getting annoyed when Nemuri and Kaina forced their way in.
Though unlike the other two women, it wasn't jealousy that bothered her. What annoyed her was not being able to "train" with Allen, since they were practically at the apartment every day. This led Mirko to become bolder—she had even dragged Allen into not-so-private places at UA.
That resulted in them almost getting caught twice—once in the third-year's bathroom (ironically, by Nejire), and the second time in the teachers' lounge.
Putting that aside, Allen sat on the couch and turned on the TV. As expected, his face was on every news channel.
– Once again, the Peace Hours have concluded –
"That's a weird name..." Allen said with a bored expression.
Rebecca appeared on his lap while eating popcorn.
"Well, it's your fault, haha~"
"True," Allen shrugged.
Over the past few months, Allen had decided to use all the time he had available each day with Superman's Template to work as a hero. And as expected, his strength had grown enormously, allowing him to travel the entire world and even deal with natural disasters that other heroes could only ignore.
Barbara – But I didn't expect you to become this strong—you've already left Kara far behind.
Kara – Hey, I've only been on Earth for a couple of years, unlike my cousin.
Allen smiled arrogantly. "Well, that's because I'm a Super Superman."
Rukia – ...
Emma F – ...
Kate – ...
"Okay, that was a bad joke. But on the other hand, I'm worried that unlike my strength, the usage time hasn't increased..."
Makima – Out of every hundred spins on the slot machine, you only get a Superman template once. It used to show up all the time.
PercyJ – I bet it's Lucifer's fault!
Lucifer – I'd like that, but no. It's just Allen's bad luck. Even I find it mysterious. Did you anger all the gods of fortune or something?
Allen had no comment on that.
"Alright, enough playing around. I'm ending the transmission."
Felicia – I bet it's because of a woman.
Rias – Could it be anything else?
Natasha – Just be careful not to get anyone pregnant, or a lot of girls at home will get mad...
"..."
After ending the transmission, Allen felt offended; there was always a lot of disrespect in the chat.
Rebecca took advantage of the moment and straddled him, licking her lips.
"Well, I guess it's my turn~"
"Yeah..." Allen smiled, picked Rebecca up, and carried her to his room. He made sure to put up a barrier so no one could hear them. As expected, over these past months, the dolls had become capable of manifesting—though only two at a time and limited to one hour per day. And unsurprisingly, Albedo, Makima, Esdeath, Harley, 2B, and Rebecca didn't miss the chance to spend some quality time with Allen after so long.
Of course, other dolls didn't find this amusing at all—like Jalter, Kurumi, and Anemone.
...
An hour later, Allen said goodbye to Rebecca, who disappeared from the bed with a satisfied and exhausted smile.
The room was a complete mess—clothes scattered everywhere, a couple of overturned pieces of furniture, and the bed looked worse than one in a brothel after a long night.
Allen stood up, snapped his fingers, and the mess was instantly cleaned. He snapped again and got dressed—this time using the Hero X template.
One of the reasons Allen wasn't worried about using the Superman template every day was because, over these months, he had acquired many templates—some even more powerful than his current Superman.
Allen looked out the window. The city of Mustafu—this city full of miracles—had become familiar to him. Maybe not to the extent of New York, but it had definitely become another home.
"Allen~" Kaina kicked the door open and walked in. She looked like an exhausted zombie, staggering toward him.
Allen caught her, chuckling.
"Don't tell me—more extra work?"
Lady Nagant had gone from being an assassin to a UA teacher. Though she hadn't complained at first, she soon realized that dealing with a bunch of students was exhausting.
So it had become a habit for her to seek comfort from him whenever she got home. Of course, this was Mirko's apartment—but she was away in Kyoto, beating up villains. In the end, she loved fighting, so even when she stayed in Mustafu, she'd sometimes relieve stress in ways that didn't involve Allen.
Nemuri and Kaina took full advantage of that.
Allen carried Kaina to the bathroom to help her bathe. The shameless woman acted like a little girl when it suited her.
....
Once in the bathroom, after washing her back, they both got into the tub. There was silence—but no awkwardness, as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
"Ah... I'm coming back to life~" Kaina moaned, resting her back against Allen.
He relaxed as well.
"Tell me about it—I was swimming in magma. I think I still have some in my ear."
"You're tough—you'll be fine~" Kaina laughed, but then her hand grew mischievous, grabbing hold of the dragon.
They exchanged silent glances before leaning in and kissing. Allen's hands moved to Kaina's chest.
"Ah~"
....
When they left the bathroom, Allen was carrying the blushing woman, who was covering her face.
One might think these two were a couple, but curiously, they hadn't crossed the final line—not for lack of desire, but simply because the opportunity hadn't come.
Allen lay Kaina on the bed and whispered something in her ear that made steam practically come out of her head. He laughed and left the room. Once in the hallway, he stopped and looked out the window.
"I guess the camp is about to start."
The so-called UA training camp had been delayed for several months due to certain complications, and it was finally about to begin.
"As they say—better late than never."