Despite the inital shock, the roar of the crowd thundered through the U.A. Sports Festival stadium. Thousands of spectators cheered, their voices blending into a deafening symphony of excitement.
"And we have a winner!!"
Midnight's sultry voice rang across the arena as the giant screen displayed the first-place finisher.
XUANYU – 1st PLACE!
The camera zoomed in on him, a young man with black hair, standing calmly at the finish line.
Despite looking calm outside, he was exhausted.
Every muscle in his body protested, the aftereffects of manipulating World Origin Rune. It was a wrong move on his part to use it here. He is barely able to stand, and that too because of Blue Silver Grass providing him pure energy.
But none of that showed on his face.
To the crowd, to his competitors, Xuanyu looked completely unfazed.
The second-place contestant, Bakugo, gritted his teeth. "Tch! How the hell was that even fair?! That guy just teleported!"
Todoroki, standing beside him, furrowed his brows. "No… He didn't just teleport. He controlled the entire battlefield. The mines never exploded near him, he smashed the robots like toys."
Izuku, still catching his breath, smiled wryly. That was just how Xuanyu was, afterall he is the owner of the mysterious shop.
Suddenly, Xuanyu frowned as his shop tablet vibrated in his inventory. Excusing himself for a moment, he accessed the notification.
His eyebrows shot up—it was a quest. Opening the quest board, he was greeted by a list of worlds:
→ DOULUO (HOME WORLD)
→ NARUTO
→ BNHA
→ FAIRY TAIL
→ HIGH SCHOOL DXD
→ DC
→ BEN 10
→ HARRY POTTER
→ BLACK CLOVER
Xuanyu raised his eyebrows again. Some of these worlds seemed to be named after their protagonists. Interesting.
Regardless, the current quest was from the Hero World—BNHA. That much was obvious. Tapping on the tab, he found a single quest available:
[QUEST: SAVE THE LITTLE GIRL NAMED ERI
→ MAXIMUM PARTICIPANTS: 4
→ MINIMUM STRENGTH REQUIREMENT: SPIRIT ELDER / CHŪNIN / MID-RANK DEVIL
→ TIME LIMIT: 2 HOURS
→ PENALTY FOR FAILURE: STRENGTH SEALED FOR 8 DAYS
→ REWARDS: 500 SHOP POINTS
-----
Xuanyu's eyes widened at the quest details. Penalty? Since when was that a thing?! The previous quests never had one.
His mind raced. Strength sealed for eight days? That was a long time, especially if another quest appeared in the meantime. Did that mean their will be penalties for every quest? This is going to be a problem.
He tapped on the penalty section, hoping for more details, but the description remained vague. Was it a full seal or a partial one? Did it only affect cultivation, or would physical abilities be suppressed too?
Xuanyu exhaled sharply. This changed everything. If penalties were going to be a regular thing, he'd have to be more careful with which quests he accepted.
But their doesn't seem to be any problem right now. Cause lowest limit is given, of spirit elder/ Chunin/Mid rank devil. Ther highest limit isn't specified. Meaning that even god rank experts can take part in it.
Still, 500 shop points for saving a little girl...
He clenched his fists.
Eri, huh?
Whoever put her in danger was about to regret it.
Xuanyu shook his head, it seems that play time is over. He took out the mobile given to him by Nezu and texted others about the quest, the time limit and the penalty.
Afte texting he looked at the mobile, hmm it seems he needs to create more efficient way of communication between Shop member's. It will be much more efficient that personally visiting the shop and informing.
Anyway, he also texted Izuku that he is gonna forfeit.
-----
Stadium – Live Announcement
The stadium buzzed with anticipation, the cheers reaching a fever pitch. Midnight smirked, twirling her whip as she prepared to make the big reveal.
"And with the one-million-point headband, the biggest target of the next round is—"
She paused.
Her sharp eyes scanned the lineup of students. Something was wrong.
She turned toward the camera crew. "Oi, pan the camera already! Who's the lucky winner?"
The massive screen shifted to the starting lineup. Bakugo, Todoroki, Kirishima, and several others stood in the arena. But—
Xuanyu was missing.
Murmurs spread like wildfire.
"Wait… where is he?"
"Is he hiding or something?"
"No way, he wouldn't back down—right?"
Then, a nervous voice broke through the silence.
"Umm… Sensei Midnight, Xuanyu forfeited."
A static-filled pause.
Midnight's smile twitched. "He what?"
Izuku swallowed hard, rubbing the back of his head. "I-I got a message from him ten minutes ago. He said… he's forfeiting."
Another long pause. Then—
"HE WHAT?!" Midnight's usually sultry voice cracked in sheer disbelief.
Kirishima's jaw practically hit the floor. "Wait, wait, wait—he just quit?! Like that?!"
Sero blinked. "Hold up. First, he pulls that insane win in the Obstacle Race, and now he just—walks out?!"
Mina let out a loud "EHHH?!" "You don't just casually throw away a one-million-point headband! What kind of logic is that?!"
A loud boom cut through the chaos as Bakugo's palm exploded in rage. "THAT DAMN BASTARD—!!"
His face contorted with fury. "HE WINS JUST TO THROW IT AWAY?! WHAT KIND OF SHITTY GAME IS HE PLAYING?!"
Todoroki, arms crossed, narrowed his eyes. "It doesn't make sense."
Jirou frowned. "Yeah… If he wanted to win, he would've. There's gotta be a reason."
Denki scratched his head. "What's more important than a million points, though?!"
Mina, still flabbergasted, threw up her hands. "Maybe he just didn't care?!"
Kirishima shook his head. "Nah. He raced seriously. You don't fight that hard just to quit later."
Ojiro, more observant than most, frowned. "Izuku… did he say why?"
Izuku hesitated, gripping his phone.
"N-no. He just said… he has something important to do."
Silence fell over the students.
For a moment, they all processed the same thought—
What could possibly be more important than this?
Then—
"DOES THIS MEAN WE DON'T HAVE A ONE-MILLION-POINT HEADBAND NOW?!" Present Mic's voice boomed, breaking the tension.
Midnight ran a hand through her hair, clearly frustrated. "I—I'll check with the officials! Ugh, what a pain!"
The students kept exchanging glances, some confused, some irritated, and one very particular explosive blonde furious.
Bakugo cracked his knuckles, his teeth grinding together. "When I see that bastard again, I'm blowing him to hell."
Little did they know—Xuanyu was already long gone.
-----
Hearing the fading noise, Xuanyu shook his head and moved towards the private room given to the shop memebers.
As soon as Xuanyu stepped into the private room, he was bombarded with questions.
"What's the quest about?"
"Why the sudden time limit?"
"Wait, is there a penalty now? Since when?!"
Xuanyu raised a hand, signaling for silence. "One at a time," he said. "The quest is simple—save a girl named Eri. We have two hours, and the minimum strength requirement is Spirit Elder, Chūnin, or Mid-Rank Devil. There's no upper limit, which means we can send in our strongest."
The room fell into brief silence as everyone absorbed the information.
Then—
"No upper limit? Doesn't that mean even I can participate?",Bibi Dong asked.
Xuanyu nodded," Since no limit is specified, then it means there is no upper limit. So you can participate."
Bibi Dong smiled," Well then, I will be participating. Other spots you all can choose."
Altough others wanted to protest but thinking of Bibi Dong being a god rank experts, they wisely kept their mouth shut.