The way Allen went from being a terrifying threat to a shameless son of a bitch was almost ridiculous.
He didn't feel embarrassed. He didn't even hesitate. He just started running—and even without using any template, his speed surpassed that of a normal human. By the time everyone reacted three seconds later, Allen had already reached the tunnel leading into the stadium.
"Cheater!"
"Allen!"
"That's unfair!"
"Bastard!"
"Stop him!"
"And you call yourself a man?!"
Hearing all the shouting, Allen looked back with disdain.
"Shut up... on the battlefield, anything can happen! Now fight for second place!~"
"In a shocking turn of events, this went from a Boss Raid to a race!" Present Mic exclaimed.
"It was a race from the beginning..." Aizawa added.
Allen's words lit a fuse. Everyone, including the other students, started running after him. But judging by their expressions, it didn't look like they were chasing him to win. They looked like they wanted to hit him.
And how did Allen respond to all that hostility?
He laughed. He laughed while mocking them and kept running toward the finish line amid screams and curses.
"I won't let you get away! ENGINE!" Iida shouted before blasting off after Allen. 'Leaving aside his Quirk-enhanced speed! There's no way I won't catch him now!'
"You can do it, Iida!" Kaminari shouted.
"Go, Iida!" Tetsutetsu yelled.
It was a competition—but right now, stopping Allen was more important.
"I'm going too!" Deku was wrapped in a current of energy before disappearing.
"Deku!" Bakugo sharpened his gaze and detonated a massive explosion behind him.
Seeing that, Todoroki clenched his teeth. His ice Quirk wouldn't give him that kind of mobility. He knew that if he wanted to catch Allen, he would have to use his fire Quirk as propulsion—something Endeavor often did. But for Todoroki, that was impossible. On such an important day, in front of everyone, he wanted to make a statement by rejecting his father's impositions, his methods, and everything he had been forced to endure.
'Damn it...'
The three of them shot forward and reached the tunnel entrance—where Allen, despite running faster than a normal human, wouldn't be able to escape.
"There he is!" Present Mic reached peak excitement. "Tenya Iida, Katsuki Bakugo, and Izuku Midoriya refuse to accept defeat!"
With a savage grin, Bakugo extended his hand. "Got you!"
Iida also reached forward, his eyes shining with determination. "Allen-kun!"
Deku didn't fall behind, pouring all his willpower into the moment as he stretched out his hand. "Allen-san!"
"You really are persistent."
Breaking the tension, Allen turned with an annoyed look and threw something into their faces.
None of them were prepared—they were blinded.
"Ah!" Deku shouted.
"Ah, is this dirt?!" Iida exclaimed.
"What is this?!" Bakugo, unable to see, crashed into Deku. Iida stumbled on his own, falling face-first and slamming into the ground.
Allen didn't even give them a second glance. He crossed the tunnel with a triumphant smile. But there were no cheers. No applause. Just silence. The entire audience watched in disbelief as Allen won using such a despicable method.
"Thank you all for this victory!" Allen said to a drone filming him.
Allen's words of gratitude were the trigger that sparked a massive outcry.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!
"Dirty!" Present Mic shouted. "A truly unexpected, deceitful, and shameless move by Allen!! Aizawa, what have you been teaching him?!"
"I already told you—I have nothing to do with it!"
"Hahaha!" Himiko couldn't help laughing at the situation. However, this time neither Nejire nor Mirko laughed.
"Cheater..."
It started with a single insult from the crowd. Then the rest joined in, throwing cups, bags, bottles—anything they had on hand. The level of anger was so high that security began intervening.
"Bastard!"
"You call yourself a hero?!"
"Son of a bitch!"
Meanwhile, the one responsible for all this stood in the center of the stadium, hands in his pockets, wearing a shameless grin.
"That was a nice tutorial—when does the obstacle race start?!"
Allen's comment only made people angrier.
"By the way, does anyone know how to increase the difficulty on the bots?~"
Some people even tried to jump onto the field. Allen truly had a talent for making people angry.
"Pfft... does it hurt that I won?!"
Even people from other countries were cursing him. Sure, you're strong—but you don't need to mess with everyone else!
Allen mocked them even more. "Sorry, I didn't think it would be that easy. Next time, I'll give everyone a bigger advantage. Maybe I'll wear handcuffs or cover my eyes, hahaha."
Those who knew Allen were speechless.
In a world where heroes seek the public's affection and approval…
In a world where popularity directly affects your ranking as a hero…
In a world where even All Might carefully protects his image…
Allen appeared—a guy who didn't give a damn whether people liked him.
For any other hero, what Allen had just done would be like throwing their entire career down the drain. And yet the bastard was smiling smugly in the middle of all that rage.
"Haha... marvelous!" All For One applauded again from his hideout. But this time there was no sarcasm or mockery—he was genuinely impressed. Allen was a very strange and unpredictable hero.
"This brat..." Kaina slumped back in her seat, staring at the ceiling. "Well, whatever..."
"Sensei?" Nejire asked with a smile that mixed irony and concern.
"He'll be fine," Ryuko said, stroking Nejire's head as she sighed. "Though I wish Allen would think about other people's feelings... stupid son."
"I'll have to discipline him again..." Mirko sighed, though a faint smile lingered on her face.
Nemuri bit her finger while glaring angrily at the crowd. How dare they insult her Allen?! She didn't care if he became the most hated hero in the world—Nemuri, Kaina, Rumi, and Ryuko would always support him.
....
The rest of the students entered the stadium. At this point, their own anger had faded after seeing the crowd's reaction.
They were young, more emotional than professional heroes. So seeing the entire stadium furious at Allen turned their own irritation into anxiety.
For the other classes, being hated by the public was practically the end of the world.
For Class 1-A, however, even though Allen was a trolling son of a bitch, he was still their classmate. Most of them respected him, admired him, or saw him as a rival to surpass. And for several girls whose feelings went beyond that, their chests tightened with worry at the disproportionate reaction.
At this point, no one cared who had finished in second place.
"Allen!" Toru approached him, concerned.
"Hey." Allen patted her head as if nothing in the world affected him.
"Are you crazy?!" Momo grabbed his arm.
"No." Allen chuckled and pinched Momo's nose at her worried expression. Momo blushed and stepped back.
"Hey..." Itsuka walked up and stood beside Allen, showing her unconditional support. She didn't care if they ended up hating her too.
Allen patted her head as well, smiling again—but without the mocking edge he used to provoke others.
Ochako, Mina, and Tsuyu also came closer.
Mina, still annoyed, grabbed Allen's arm and stuck her tongue out at the crowd.
"A-Allen-san... Allen-san!" Ochako felt scared, but she gathered her courage and stood by him anyway.
"Thanks." Allen lightly flicked her forehead.
"Mou!" Ochako puffed out her cheeks.
Tsuyu acted calmer. "Allen-chan, you really screwed up~"
"I don't see it that way." Allen gave a half-smile. "Trying to please the public is exhausting. Besides, there's something good about this—they can't hate me any more than they already do, haha."
The rest of the students were speechless again.
Are you an alien or something?! How can you be so calm in a situation like this?!
"As expected, Allen-san is amazing," Deku said with a laugh.
"I'm not sure that's the right word," Tokoyami sighed.
"Allen-kun, how can you be so shameless?!" Iida exclaimed—though he no longer seemed angry.
"Bastard..." Bakugo growled. However, there was something more than disgust in his eyes. To him, Allen's actions weren't that absurd. 'Who cares about reputation? If you're strong... everyone will be forced to accept you...'
Bakugo hated Allen—but he could respect that mindset.
He might even do something similar. After all, his path to becoming a hero was built on strength. Still, there were differences between him and Allen. Deep down, Bakugo wanted to become a hero who surpassed All Might—so he knew he needed limits. Allen, on the other hand, valued his own decisions above the rules—whether for good, to push this generation of heroes forward, or for bad, just to mess with a hero system based on popularity.
Todoroki, for his part, watched Allen laughing with the girls, ignoring the crowd's boos. He knew he had no right to complain or judge Allen—he had chosen to give up at the end of the race.
'I thought that by rejecting my father I could step out of his shadow, but even now...' Todoroki shook his head. 'No. I will definitely surpass that bastard!'
....
Saeko – What do you think Allen's goal was in earning everyone's rejection?
Lucy – Isn't he just playing around? Hehe…
Annie – I couldn't tell you. I've seen Allen be smart enough to overwhelm Stan Edgar, and also simple enough to do things just for fun.
Arena – He stopped the young heroes for a reason, that's true. But provoking the audience… I don't know.
Rebecca – You're overthinking it. Allen was just being Allen hahaha.
Saya – Allen, why don't you answer the question?
Allen smiled. "Well, it's part of the show that a magician never reveals his secrets."
Everyone in the chat knew Allen would hardly tell them the truth—or even if he did, they might not believe him. Still, time would reveal whether there had been a reason to earn the audience's hatred, or if he simply did it for fun.
….
"SILENCE!" Nemuri shouted at the top of her lungs.
The audience hadn't expected Midnight to do something like that without caring about her image.
When Nemuri saw the crowd fall quiet, she winked at Allen before addressing the students.
"Well done! Everyone gave it their all, and that's what matters! The qualifying round is over, and these are the students advancing to the next stage!" Nemuri pointed at a screen showing the top forty-two placements.
As expected, the management course had been completely wiped out. In Support, Mei and a couple of others managed to survive. From General Studies, Shinso advanced, and the rest were from the Hero Course, as expected.
"Now that I have your attention, we'll begin the second game!"
The screen behind Midnight changed into a slot machine, something that made Allen frown. Unlike the first time, many eyes were on him, so they noticed it and wondered whether Allen had some kind of bad experience with gachas or something.
The screen stopped and revealed the next event: a "Cavalry Battle."
Several students grew uneasy—like Kaminari, who felt this event didn't suit him at all.
"You'll have fifteen minutes, so choose your team carefully—two to five members per team!"
"This will be a fierce battle where your objective is to seize the headband worn by each opposing team's rider!"
"The value of each headband is determined from bottom to top. Rank 42 will be worth 5 points, and each rank increases by five points up to second place, which is worth 205. However, first place will be worth…"
Nemuri paused as the screen changed.
"Ten million!"
Everyone was stunned. The gap between first and second place was so enormous that even if you were in last place, stealing that headband would instantly push you to the top.
However, the problem was that the owner of that headband was none other than Allen.
Everyone turned to look at him—some like Bakugo and Todoroki with intensity, others with fear, some even with disdain, but there was also concern.
"You can try," Allen mocked.
That rekindled the anger of some who hadn't originally planned to target him. After all, they didn't need first place to advance to the third round, and Allen wasn't weak—stealing his headband seemed nearly impossible. Besides, what everyone wanted right now was to stand out, to draw attention, and showcase themselves to the world. Attacking Allen only to be humiliated wouldn't make them look good.
Unfortunately, they were still young. Anger clouded their logic. Many forgot that Allen had wiped the floor with them in the previous round—they only wanted to erase that smile from his face.
….
The students began forming teams.
Allen, from the start, wasn't worried about getting teammates. If he had to win alone, he could just carry a girl on his shoulders, put the headband on her, and may God have mercy on whoever tried to steal it.
But Allen didn't plan to do that. That would be boring. So he decided to form a team—with himself as the rider.
"I'm sorry, Allen," Itsuka said with a serious look.
Allen blinked, not expecting Itsuka to reject him, but soon he grew interested.
"May I know the reason?"
Itsuka smiled, leaning her face close to Allen's. "Because I want to defeat you~"
"I see." Allen smiled as well. For a moment, it almost looked like they were about to kiss, which made Momo—standing nearby—cough.
"Itsuka, are you really joining another team?"
"That's right, Momo-chan. Just this once, I'll leave Allen to you."
"Huh?" Momo flushed in annoyance.
Itsuka walked away laughing and approached a trio of girls Allen knew well—Reiko, Setsuna, and a third girl with a bob haircut he didn't recognize. It was strange that Yui wasn't the third member this time.
Allen shook his head and turned around. In front of him stood three girls: Momo, Toru, and Ochako. He had expected Itsuka to be the fourth; with her on his team, advancing would've been practically guaranteed.
"Well… three is enough. Or maybe we should call someone else?"
"Wait~" Mina jumped onto Allen's back and clung to him. "Were you planning to leave me out, Honey?~"
"Ashido-san, what are you doing?!" Momo exclaimed.
"We're in front of everyone!" Toru shouted, embarrassed.
Ochako turned red. Mina truly had no shame, clinging to Allen like that.
Seeing their reactions, Mina grinned and rubbed her cheek against Allen's.
"You girls are too naïve. Do you think this is a shojo manga? Allen is strong, handsome, and charming—just look around, there are lots of girls staring~"
The three girls looked—and it was true. Both in the audience and among the students, many gazes were directed at them.
Especially from Itsuka's team…
"So it's better if—Ouch!"
"That's enough. Stop teasing them," Allen lightly flicked Mina's nose.
"Mmm… I object to this treatment!" Mina pouted.
Allen chuckled. "Fine. Let's make a deal—if you behave, I'll buy you ice cream."
"Yay~"
The way Mina and Allen interacted stirred jealousy in the three girls in front of him—but it also felt like a bucket of cold water. Mina was right. If they didn't make their feelings clear, they might lose their chance.
Monoma observed Allen silently. His gaze held coldness and disdain—but there was something else too.
"Allen Walker…"
Once the teams were formed, everyone prepared for battle.
The audience watched the participants—but when they looked at Allen's team, it felt strangely out of place.
"It's time," Allen said, sitting down shamelessly with his arms crossed over the shoulders of a very embarrassed Mina and Momo. In front, Toru and Ochako supported his feet with their hands, both equally flustered.
Somehow, Allen looked like a kind of emperor being carried by his beautiful concubines.
Why was his team the only one giving off that impression?!
One thing was clear—the jealousy of many of the male students grew even stronger.
====
A/N: Here is a tutorial on how to be loved by everyone xd
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