"Woo... it hurts, it hurts..."
Seeing Misaka Mikoto ignore her warnings and unleash a large-scale lightning attack, Selene rushed over imdiately to stop her, knowing she couldn’t allow such a situation to ruin her entertainnt. She grabbed Misaka’s hand that was still summoning lightning, lifted her single-handedly, and delivered a rciless "Hell Slap" in front of Misaka’s confused yet adorable gaze.
"Do you want to destroy the entire seventh district’s power grid!?"
"Woo..."
Ignoring Misaka, who was crying from the pain, Selene threw her to an excited Shirai Kuroko standing behind her, and turned her gaze towards the delinquent girl who looked terrified. "Will you confess on your own, or do I have to beat it out of you first?"
As she spoke, Selene’s fingers made cracking sounds.
"My steel willpower won’t be intimidated..." Whether it was the shock of seeing Selene handle Misaka with such ease, or the aura of authority that Selene exuded, different from Misaka’s deanor (let’s just say, similar to Esdeath), the delinquent girl was now trembling with fear.
"Hmm?" Seeing her still trying to act tough, Selene didn’t scold her harshly, but instead gave a friendly smile, "Sorry, I didn’t hear you. Could you repeat that?"
"It’s nothing, Level Upper is..."
Having obtained the answer she wanted, Selene nodded in satisfaction, "A wise choice." She then turned to ask, "Kuroko, did you record it?"
"Eh... Oh? Yes, I did!" Though Kuroko was elated holding her beloved Misaka , her professional skills as a Judgnt officer remained intact.
"Well then... thank you for your cooperation." Selene smiled slightly at the terrified delinquent girl and turned to leave the alley. Seeing this, Kuroko quickly followed, holding Misaka.
Watching the trio disappear, the delinquent girl only dared to stand up after a while, her legs trembling uncontrollably. She gazed at the night sky and muttered, "Did I... survive?"
Recalling the overwhelming pressure, like an abyss descending and a soul-shaking coldness, the delinquent girl shivered, thinking she never wanted to experience that feeling again.
Who exactly is that person? Hmm? Her eyes? The girl suddenly recalled Selene’s unique, complex eyes. "No wonder... she’s the number one Level 5, huh? The gap is insurmountable..."
Elsewhere, on the way back to the jonaGardeN restaurant, Misaka gradually ca to her senses since Selene hadn’t used full force (a little application of Honkai energy: stimulating the nervous system to cause intense pain without harming the body).
"Hey! Why did you hit ?" Recalling what had happened, Misaka looked fiercely at Selene.
"..." Selene gave her a look as if she were a fool and didn’t respond, quickly heading back to the restaurant. "Hurry up, the food will get cold and won’t taste good."
"Huh, what’s with that look? I... woo..." Without looking back, Selene raised her hand as if to deliver another chop, which made Misaka hide behind imdiately.
"Hey, senpai, you’d better behave... This ti, it was really your fault."
"Huh? Even you, Kuroko..."
Returning to their spot in the restaurant, they found that the food had already been served, and they could start eating right away. Selene, of course, wasted no ti in digging in.
Misaka, too, turned her anger into appetite and began competing with Selene for food. It wasn’t intentional, but since she hadn’t managed to eat at Uiharu’s place and had been busy until the evening, she was really hungry now.
While the three were enjoying their al, a news broadcast suddenly caught their attention.
"We interrupt this program with breaking news. A malfunction occurred at the seventh district power grid. Due to the risk involved in continuing to supply power, the power grid authority has decided to shut down in two hours. It’s expected that the seventh district will experience a blackout lasting..."
"Seriously, another blackout. The equipnt is outdated..." As Misaka complained about the unreliable power system of Academy City, she suddenly noticed Selene and Kuroko looking at her strangely, "Huh? Why are you looking at like that?"
"It seems you have no self-awareness. Do you know why I hit you?" Seeing Misaka complaining like an ordinary onlooker about the outdated equipnt, Selene couldn’t help but feel angry. Every blackout incident in Academy City seems to involve you, doesn’t it?
Although she managed to stop Misaka’s third electrical attack, being so close, the first two attacks had already caused so damage to the power facilities.
"I don’t know, isn’t it you who..."
"Sigh, that’s why I tried to stop you earlier, senpai..." This ti, Kuroko stood on Selene’s side.
"What?"
After Kuroko’s explanation, Misaka’s face visibly reddened. It was unclear whether it was from sha or embarrassnt.
"I’m sorry!" Misaka sincerely apologized with her hands together, bowing. "I didn’t realize the seventh district’s power supply center was in such a place."
Thinking about spending a hot sumr night without air conditioning, and how many people would be cursing the person responsible for the incident, she realized she was the one who caused it. Just imagining the situation made her head ache.
...
The next morning.
"So hot! Why did the power go out in the middle of sumr!" Without air conditioning, Kamijou Touma couldn’t sleep due to the heat.
Intending to take a cool shower, he found there was no water pressure due to the power outage. He wanted to have breakfast, but the food in the fridge had gone bad because of the blackout.
Thinking about his ergency supply of instant noodles that he accidentally spilled, stepping on his credit card and breaking it while looking for his wallet, the money given by a Tokiwadai lady being zapped by another Tokiwadai student...
Kamijou Touma couldn’t help but lant, "Such misfortune!"
Heading to the balcony to sun-dry his futon, he suddenly noticed a white bundle on it.
Upon closer inspection, it was a girl wearing a nun’s habit and hat. Kamijou Touma was surprised to see a little girl. "What’s this... a girl? Why is she here?"
But it wouldn’t be right to leave the little nun unattended.
"Hey!" He gently nudged the little nun, calling out.
"Tummy..." Groggily opening her eyes, the little nun murmured, "I’m... hungry..."
"Huh? Are you..."
"I’m hungry." Seeing Kamijou Touma’s lack of response, the little nun repeated, "I said I’m really hungry!"
"Huh? In this situation, are you thinking of..."
(The encounter between Kamijou Touma and the little nun)
...
Due to the mysterious attack on the power facilities last night, leading to a major blackout in the seventh district, many facilities failed today, including basic infrastructure like traffic lights.
Although patrol robots could replace traffic lights to direct traffic in the seventh district, the Judgnt officers inevitably had to work overti.
"Which bastard is so bored that they attacked the power facilities? Are they out of their minds?"
Judgnt officers, whose vacation plans were ruined because of this, complained. When Misaka Misaka overheard this, she didn’t get angry, but looked embarrassed because she knew she was the cause.
At that mont, Shirai Kuroko appeared behind Misaka, looking serious, "Senpai, there’s trouble!"
"Arashi is unconscious?" Misaka frowned upon hearing the news.
The two hurried to dical Hospital in the seventh district, discussing what had happened on the way.
"The details aren’t clear. He suddenly... collapsed during questioning by the security officers."
"What’s the cause?"
"Unknown... According to the doctor’s examination, there’s no physical abnormality, just a simple loss of consciousness... It seems there’s been an increase in patients with this condition recently."
"Could it be a psychological issue?" Kuroko didn’t dismiss Misaka’s suggestion. This condition, with no physical injuries but just unconsciousness, seed like a ntal issue. "Anyway, let’s check it out first. You should also inform Selene."
"Okay."
...
"Arashi is unconscious?" Selene was puzzled when she heard the news, "You an that explosion maniac? Why do you care about him?"
"Please don’t be so heartless. According to the security officers, he suddenly fainted during questioning..." On the phone, Kuroko’s voice was slightly breathless. "Misaka and I are heading to the hospital, and it seems there’s an increase in patients like this recently..."
"Were those who fell unconscious all users of Level Upper?" Selene interrupted Kuroko, "Or were they all people whose ability levels didn’t match the records, right?"
"Maybe, I’m not sure yet. But how did you..." Kuroko was unsure if Selene’s guess was correct, surprised, she asked.
"Isn’t it obvious? You don’t gain power without a price," Selene said softly.
"Oh, did that delinquent leader ntion anything about Level Upper?" At this point, Misaka couldn’t help but interrupt, thinking about the delinquent girl from yesterday.
"All she knew was that Level Upper is an audio software that can quickly boost abilities. She didn’t know anything beyond that. You can ask Kuroko; she probably recorded it..." Selene thought for a mont, "By the way, Kuroko, try to get a hold of Level Upper."
"Huh? Why do you want Level Upper?" Kuroko didn’t understand why Selene wanted Level Upper, thinking it should be useless for her since she’s a Level 5.
"What are you thinking? Do I need that thing? I just want to analyze its principles and see if I can crack it." Hearing Kuroko’s thoughts, Selene was speechless, "Stop overthinking. I’ll co over as soon as I finish these chores."
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