Chapter 2: When NPCs Come Alive
The final day had arrived.
The timer on the wall ticked mercilessly toward midnight, yet the corridors above lay silent. No chatter in the guild chat, no footsteps echoing through the halls—nothing but the cold hum of machinery.
"Last day... and nobody even bothered logging in." Mariano's voice drifted through the empty steel corridors, carrying a weight of melancholy that surprised even him. "Guess I'll be saying goodbye alone."
His hands found their way deep into his coat pockets as he approached the elevator—one of the hidden lifts reserved exclusively for guild members. While regular players had to fight their way through death traps and villain-infested training grounds, he could access any floor with a simple keypress.
The control panel gleamed before him, each button labeled with a different My Hero Academia-themed project. His finger hovered over one particular floor.
"U.A. Villain Alliance Sector..." The button felt warm under his touch. "All those late nights we spent perfecting this place."
The memory hit him like a physical blow. Months of collaboration, endless debates about character accuracy, the thrill of bringing their favorite villains to life in perfect detail. Now he was the only one left to witness their masterpiece.
The elevator descended with mechanical precision. When the doors slid open, Mariano stepped into a world that defied the game's original limitations.
The space stretched far beyond what should have been possible—a twisted recreation of U.A. High School, but corrupted. Instead of the gleaming halls of heroism, shadows pooled in every corner. The architecture itself seemed to breathe with malevolent intent.
"We dreamed of building the entire Musutafu city," he whispered, running his fingers along a cracked wall. "But the developers... they kept limiting us. 'Too ambitious,' they said. 'Players will think it's unfair.'"
So they'd compromised. Created their own interpretation. The result was something darker, more intimate—a labyrinthine academy where hope went to die.
His lips curved into a bitter smile. "The look on infiltrators' faces when Nomu burst through the walls... priceless."
A moss-covered section of wall caught his attention. His fingers found the hidden mechanism, and stone ground against stone as a secret passage revealed itself, descending into darkness.
The underground levels were his pride and joy. Containment chambers lined the corridors like a twisted museum, each one housing a perfectly crafted villain. Nomu of various classifications stood in perfect stillness, their exposed brains gleaming wetly under the fluorescent lights.
"Beautiful work," he murmured, studying one particularly impressive specimen. "Even the neural pathways look authentic."
But the real treasures lay deeper. Past the standard enemies, beyond the common villains, in the vault where the true legends waited.
The reinforced doors recognized his keycard with a soft beep. Pressurized seals hissed as the entrance to the inner sanctum opened.
And there they were.
All For One stood at the center, his imposing figure radiating an aura of absolute dominion even in stillness. Tomura Shigaraki flanked him, fingers poised as if ready to decay everything in sight. The League of Villains had been arranged in perfect formation—Dabi with his patchwork skin, Toga with her unsettling smile, Spinner clutching his blade, Twice in his conflicted stance.
But Mariano's eyes were drawn to the far wall, where the true apex predators waited. Overhaul stood in pristine white, every detail of his plague mask perfect. Muscular's grotesque form dominated one corner, while Moonfish's blade-toothed grin promised violence.
"My precious collection," Mariano breathed, moving among them like a curator in his private gallery.
He paused at All For One's description panel. Most of the text matched canon perfectly, but one line made him pause:
Though possessing vast power, they will never betray their Creator and will follow all commands with absolute loyalty.
Every guild member had voted for that safeguard. Nobody admitted it, but everyone feared what they'd built.
"Almost time," he said, settling onto the cold floor. "I'll wait here until—"
23:59:58
23:59:59
00:00:00
00:00:01
The counter kept going.
"What the hell?" Mariano scrambled to his feet. "Is this some kind of developer joke?"
A voice like grinding stone filled the chamber: "The Creator has arrived. All kneel before him."
Metal clinked. Fabric rustled. The sound of massive bodies shifting position.
Mariano turned slowly, his blood turning to ice.
They were moving.
Every single one of them dropping to one knee in perfect synchronization.
Shigaraki's red eyes fixed on him, no longer vacant but burning with terrible intelligence. "Is something troubling you, Creator?"
The words hit Mariano like a physical blow. His mouth opened and closed soundlessly before he managed to croak, "N-No! Everyone... stay exactly where you are until I give new orders!"
"Understood, Creator." The response came from dozens of throats in perfect unison.
Mariano's keycard trembled in his grip as he swiped it again. The doors opened, and he ran.
Behind him, he could hear Toga's giggle: "Creator-kun seemed scared. How cute!"
But the corridor ahead wasn't empty. A High-End Nomu blocked his path, its multiple eyes tracking his movement with predatory interest.
"This is insane!" He sprinted past it, weaving through a gauntlet of villains that should have been static decorations.
A classroom door exploded outward, and Muscular's massive form filled the doorway. "Where you going, little hero?" The voice was playful, but the threat was real.
Mariano dove past him, taking stairs three at a time until he burst through another hidden passage into the artificial forest above.
His back hit a tree trunk as he collapsed, gasping for air. His hands shook uncontrollably.
"This isn't possible. This isn't—" He paused, a realization cutting through his panic. "They called me Creator. That means..."
The implications were staggering. And terrifying.
"I can control them." The words tasted like power and poison in equal measure. "But one wrong move..."
Pull yourself together, Mariano!
He slapped his cheeks hard, the sting bringing clarity. You created them. You understand their programming. You can handle this.
Marching back to the hidden entrance, he pressed the mechanism with newfound determination. The stone door began to slide open—
—and Muscular's grinning face filled the gap.
"There you are!" Without warning, the massive villain reached out and... hugged him.
"Boss!" Muscular's voice cracked with genuine joy.
It should have been endearing. Instead, Mariano felt every bone in his body compress under the enthusiastic embrace.
"Okay, okay! Put me down before you crush me," he wheezed.
Muscular obeyed immediately, setting him down with surprising gentleness.
The corridors were now fully alive. Nomu prowled the halls, lesser villains chatted among themselves, and the entire complex hummed with activity. But none of them attacked. They simply... existed.
Mariano walked among them with forced confidence, projecting authority he didn't feel. The key was not to show fear. Predators could smell weakness.
When he reached the inner sanctum again, the League was in heated discussion.
"—completely inappropriate!" Overhaul was saying, his voice tight with irritation. "Approaching the Creator without proper protocol shows a lack of respect for hierarchy!"
Dabi scoffed, blue flames dancing around his fingertips. "Says the guy who probably would've tried to 'improve' him with his Quirk."
"At least I understand proper decorum!" Overhaul shot back.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Twice cheered from the sidelines, his dual personality in full display.
All For One's voice cut through the chaos like a blade: "Silence. The Creator returns."
Every eye in the room turned toward Mariano. The weight of their attention was almost physical.
"Please... stop with the kneeling," Mariano said as they began to drop. "It's unnecessary."
They straightened, but the deference remained.
All For One spoke first, his tone carefully measured: "What are your orders, Creator?"
Mariano's mind raced. These beings could level cities if they wanted. But they were waiting for his command.
"Toga," he said, pointing at the blonde girl. "Take some of the Nomu and scout the perimeter. I need to know what's happening outside."
"Yay! A mission from Creator-kun!" She bounced on her feet before vanishing with inhuman speed.
"Everyone else, report to the main assembly hall. We're going to figure out exactly what's going on here."
The villains filed out with military precision, leaving Mariano alone with his thoughts.
What the hell is happening to me?
He made his way to the control room, his sanctuary of monitors and switches. This was where he'd spent countless hours fine-tuning their creation, balancing power levels and behavioral parameters.
But now he noticed something different. The screens showed more than just security footage. They displayed... everything. The entire world outside their complex, stretching far beyond what any game map should contain.
"We're not in the game anymore," he whispered.
His reflection in the dark monitor showed the truth he'd been avoiding. His eyes had changed—pupils dilated and surrounded by an unnatural golden ring. The mark of his Quirk.
All For One: Variant
That's what he'd named his ability when creating his character. Not the original's power to steal Quirks, but something far more insidious—the ability to grant twisted versions of existing powers. Every villain in this complex had been "gifted" their abilities by him, their creator.
In the game, it had been simple flavor text. Now...
"Now it's real," he said to his reflection.
The intercom crackled to life. "Creator-kun!" Toga's voice was breathless with excitement. "We found something really interesting outside!"
Mariano keyed the microphone. "What is it?"
"A human! A real one! He's got this book and he keeps staring at our Nomu like they're zoo animals!"
A real human. In this impossible place.
"Bring him to the main hall. Gently." He paused. "And Toga? Try not to stab him."
"Aww, you never let me have fun!"
Mariano made his way to the kitchen, retrieving two glasses and a bottle of juice from the refrigerator. His hands were steadier now, purpose driving out panic.
If there were real humans here, then this world had rules beyond what they'd programmed. And if that was true, then his Quirk—his real, actual Quirk—might work on them.
He concentrated, feeling the familiar warmth in his palm as he manifested a small, writhing mass of cells. It looked almost like a seed, but it pulsed with its own heartbeat.
A Quirk Seed. His own creation.
He dropped it into one of the glasses, watching it dissolve into the clear liquid.
When he returned to the main hall, Toga was already there with their guest—a man in simple clothes who was frantically scribbling in a leather notebook.
"James Woods," the man introduced himself, barely looking up from his writing. "Scholar and researcher. This place is absolutely fascinating! The bio-engineering alone..." He gestured wildly at the Nomu standing guard.
"Mariano di Martino," he replied, offering the contaminated drink. "Guild leader and... architect of this place."
James accepted the glass without hesitation, still babbling about cellular structures and mutation patterns. "The applications are endless! How did you achieve such stable bio-modifications? And these constructs—are they fully sentient or operating on programmed behaviors?"
Arrogant, Mariano noted. Brilliant, but arrogant. Doesn't even consider the danger he's in.
"Trade secrets," Mariano said with a smile. "But please, drink up. You look parched."
James downed the entire glass without pause, then continued his excited rambling about genetic manipulation techniques.
Thirty seconds later, he collapsed.
The transformation was violent but swift. James's screams echoed through the hall as his body contorted, muscles expanding and contracting in waves. His skin took on a mottled, purple-black hue, and bony protrusions burst from his spine and shoulders.
When it ended, something that was no longer entirely human knelt before Mariano.
"Master," it spoke in a voice like grinding stone. "What... what have you done to me?"
"Given you power," Mariano replied coolly. "A Quirk of your own. Congratulations—you're no longer entirely human."
The transformation had worked perfectly. James retained his intelligence but gained the physical modifications of a High-End Nomu, along with absolute loyalty programming.
"I can feel it," James whispered, staring at his transformed hands. "The power... but also... I can't disobey you. Even thinking about it hurts."
"That's the point," Mariano said. "Now, go to Sub-Level 7. You'll find others like yourself there."
The former scholar shambled away, still trying to process what had happened to him.
Dabi, who had been watching from the shadows, stepped forward. "Damn, Creator. That was cold, even for me."
"It was necessary," Mariano replied. "If we're truly in a real world now, then I need to understand the extent of my abilities."
"And if more humans show up?"
Mariano's smile held no warmth. "Then we'll have more test subjects."
The assembly hall had been transformed into a command center. Every major villain from their collection stood in formation, awaiting orders. The sight should have been intimidating—and it was—but Mariano was beginning to feel something else.
Power.
Real, tangible power over beings who could reshape reality itself.
"Status report," he commanded.
Toga stepped forward first. "Perimeter secure, Creator-kun! No other humans detected, but..." She hesitated. "The world outside is huge. Like, really, really huge. Way bigger than any game map."
Kurogiri materialized from a portal. "I attempted to scout via warp gate. The landmass extends far beyond our previous understanding. We appear to be on an island, but the mainland..." He paused. "It's vast, Creator. And inhabited."
"Inhabited by what?"
"Humans. Thousands of them. Possibly millions."
The implications hit Mariano like a freight train. If this world was real, if there were actual people out there, then everything changed.
"Shigaraki," he said, turning to his most dangerous creation. "What do you think we should do?"
The white-haired villain's red eyes gleamed with anticipation. "What we were made to do, Creator. Show this world what real villains look like."
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the assembly. These weren't just NPCs anymore—they were living weapons, each one capable of mass destruction, all bound to his will.
And for the first time since this nightmare began, Mariano smiled.
"Then let's introduce ourselves properly."