Inside the grand lobby, the differences among the students were immediately apparent. Beyond their various uniforms, the groups of girls chatting together were easy to distinguish—only friends clustered closely like that.
Compared to the cheerful small groups scattered around, those standing alone were the rare few.
Among them was Himegami Aisa, wearing a striking red-and-white shrine maiden outfit. She tilted her head slightly, her expression blank. Though her long black hair and beautiful features should have made her stand out, her presence felt faint, almost transparent.
Despite being one of the first to arrive, not a single person had greeted her.
But that didn't bother her. Not in the slightest.
She had been specially invited to Academy City as a Gemstone Esper—one born with natural power. Yet, despite the readings of ability emanating from her, no instruments could detect her precise level. Thus, she was classified as a Level 0.
Still, in her eyes glimmered a quiet hope. Perhaps this time, the Talent Workshop—the greatest research facility in Academy City—might finally uncover the secret behind her mysterious ability.
"Um… I noticed you've been standing here for quite a while. Are you by yourself too?"
Himegami turned her head. A girl with similarly long black hair was addressing her. Himegami's gaze, almost involuntarily, dropped to the girl's chest, and her expression twitched slightly.
Her chest… is bigger than mine.
"…I'm Himegami Aisa from Kirigaoka Girls' Academy. Did you need something?"
"My name's Fukiyose Seiri. I'm also here alone, so I thought I'd say hello." Fukiyose's tone was polite and composed. She was the only representative from her high school chosen for this project, and thus, the only one from her school present.
"Would you like some milk?"
Himegami blinked in confusion as Fukiyose pulled a small bottle of milk from her bag and offered it to her. She accepted it hesitantly.
"Milk?" she repeated blankly. Then, after a moment, she nodded and muttered, "Thank you." Her eyes flicked again toward Fukiyose's chest. So… it's because she drinks milk every day…
"I really didn't expect Tokiwadai to have the most selected candidates," Misaka Mikoto remarked as she glanced around the room.
"Hehe~ Well, Tokiwadai does have the most Level 5s," Shirai Kuroko said proudly, crossing her arms and lifting her chin. "Though I can't say I'm particularly fond of the other Level 5s aside from Onee-sama."
Awatsuki Maaya clasped her hands before her chest, looking at Misaka with admiration. "I'm so glad I was chosen too—and that I get to be with Misaka-senpai and Shirai-san. It's such an honor!"
Wannai Kinuho nodded gently. "Yes. Misaka-senpai may not remember, but she once helped Awatsuki and me long ago. We never had the chance to thank her properly."
Misaka scratched her head, looking puzzled. "Eh? Uh, sorry, I don't really remember that."
Wannai smiled softly. "It was before I enrolled in Tokiwadai. I was still in elementary school back then. Some delinquents harassed me at a train station, and you chased them off."
"Oh… that time, huh," Misaka said, nodding vaguely. Honestly, I have no idea which time she's talking about… I've shocked so many delinquents I've lost count.
At that moment, Awatsuki tugged gently on Wannai's sleeve.
"What's wrong, Awatsuki?"
Awatsuki's gaze drifted toward a corner of the room, where a girl stood alone, her head lowered, looking utterly dejected. She, too, wore the Tokiwadai uniform.
Misaka frowned slightly. "Hmm… I think I've seen her before, but I can't remember her name."
Kuroko frowned as well. "Oh… it's her. She was quite famous at the start of the term, though not for good reasons."
Wannai blinked in confusion. "Not for good reasons?" Having been raised with an elegant upbringing, she didn't quite grasp the concept. For her, simply saying something unkind to someone could leave her guilt-ridden for days.
Kuroko crossed her arms. "Yes. The school administration encourages students to form clubs and factions, right?"
"Well, right after term began, she went around arrogantly handing out flyers to first-years, trying to recruit them into her faction."
"But since six of the new students were Level 5s, no one paid her any attention. Her attitude was terrible, too."
"So from the very first week, she was isolated. No one even wanted to share a dorm room with her."
"I heard that several students even used their esper powers to secretly prank her," one girl whispered.
Awatsuki Maaya gasped, covering her mouth in shock. "Prank her? That's awful!"
Wannai Kinuho nodded in agreement, frowning softly. "Yes, even if her attitude was bad, to bully someone like that is just too much."
Kuroko sighed, helpless. "Your priorities are completely misplaced…"
Misaka scratched her head, her gaze softening with pity as she looked toward the girl standing alone, looking like a lost kitten left out in the rain.
"How about we call her over? Otherwise, people might think we're the ones excluding her."
Kuroko shrugged. "Yeah… I was thinking the same. It really does look that way."
Indeed, with all the Tokiwadai girls gathered together and one student left isolated, it easily gave the impression that they were bullying her.
Kongou Mitsuko stood off to the side, her head lowered. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the small groups chatting nearby. A quiet loneliness welled up within her chest.
Even the girls who had been alone before had now found companions. Yet she remained completely ignored.
Friends…?
Just as she was lost in thought, two pairs of neatly polished shoes entered her view. Startled, she looked up—and for some reason, a small spark of joy rose in her heart.
Someone's talking to me?
"You're Kongou-san, right?"
Caught off guard, Mitsuko fumbled awkwardly before nodding. "Y-yes, that's me. You are…?"
"I'm Wannai Kinuho."
"And I'm Awatsuki Maaya."
The two girls smiled warmly. "We saw you standing here alone and thought we'd come say hello. You didn't come join us, so we were wondering if something was wrong."
Mitsuko's cheeks flushed slightly as she shook her head. "N-no, not at all… I-I'm fine, really, Wannai-san, Awatsuki-san."
"Then why don't you come chat with us?"
"C-can I really?" Mitsuko's eyes widened, her heart fluttering as if butterflies were about to burst from her chest. A glimmer of warmth filled her gaze.
"Of course you can," Wannai said kindly.
"O-okay… thank you…" Mitsuko replied softly, her voice trembling with both relief and happiness.
...
Elsewhere, Musujime Awaki stood with her arms crossed, the bandages over her chest peeking from beneath her clothes. Her brow furrowed slightly. "Why haven't they come yet?"
Just as the thought crossed her mind, a click echoed through the air, and a massive holographic projection appeared.
The entire hall fell silent at once as all eyes turned toward the display.
From the grand staircase, several researchers in white lab coats descended.
And behind them—wearing a lab coat over casual clothes—was a young man.
Every gaze in the hall was instantly drawn to him.
Noah smiled gently. "Thank you for waiting, my chosen children of the Talent Workshop."
"Ah! It's—It's senpai!"
Saten Ruiko and Kazari Uiharu instinctively covered their mouths, their minds flashing back to the previous evening.
In that instant, they recalled his words from yesterday—'We'll meet again.' So this was what he meant!
The students grew quiet as Noah stepped forward. At first glance, he seemed ordinary, but by the second and third, their hearts began to race uncontrollably.
"It's… it's him!" Misaka Mikoto froze in shock.
"So… handsome…"
"A-a hottie!"
Even Gokusai Kaibi, whose esper power involved regulating psychological distance between people, found her eyes filling with tiny pink hearts.
Such a handsome senpai…
Within five seconds, the entire hall's atmosphere had transformed. If this were an anime, the background would have turned pink, hearts filling every inch of the screen.
Noah sighed faintly and raised his hand. Instantly, the wave of youthful excitement dissipated. The mood returned to normal—but the impression had already been etched deep into their souls.
From that moment on, Noah became the shining "white moonlight" in their hearts.
"Alright, girls," Noah said with a calm smile. "I am the Director of the Talent Workshop—and your instructor for ability development. You may call me 'Director-sensei.'"
As his words fell, the surrounding environment shifted in an instant, transforming into a large ability-development laboratory.
Rows of more than thirty cultivation pods lined both sides of the room, all standing by in operational mode.
Musujime Awaki blinked in astonishment, glancing around. "A space ability?! He either replaced the entire environment—or instantaneously teleported every one of us here!"
As a top-tier space-type esper, she could detect even the faintest distortion in the air. Yet this time, she had sensed nothing.
Kuroko shrieked, "W-what is this?! Was that a Level 5 space ability—or some kind of spatial technology?!"
The girls murmured among themselves, awe spreading quickly.
"Everyone, please settle down inside the laboratory," came a firm voice through a megaphone.
It was Kuriba Ryouko, Noah's assistant, her expression serious as she addressed the students.
"There's no need for surprise. The Director is Academy City's first-ever Level 6—an Absolute Esper. He holds total dominion over every power. So whatever happens here should not shock you."
Her words detonated like a bomb.
Level 6—Absolute Ability!
Every girl's eyes widened as they turned toward the calm-faced young man standing before them.
Kuriba continued coolly, "Moreover, the Director is not only a Level 6 Absolute Esper—he is also a genuine super-scientist."
"Otherwise, how do you think this institute managed to develop technology capable of granting anyone the potential to reach Level 5?"
A collective gasp spread through the room.
The sound of students sucking in breath filled the air as they quickly and obediently formed two neat lines.
Especially among them were the dark-side esper Mugino Shizuri—a Level 5—and Misaka Mikoto, who had met Noah once before.
Cold sweat slid down Mugino's forehead. It wasn't fear of his title alone—it was the realization that her power had been completely sealed. It was as though her Meltdowner ability no longer existed.
A Level 6 Absolute Esper—someone who ruled over all powers with complete authority.
Too strong. Terrifyingly strong. To a Level 5, he wasn't just superior—he was an existence so absolute that resistance itself was meaningless. A Level 5 before a Level 6 was no more than an insect beneath a god's gaze.
She couldn't muster even the will to fight back. Against a Level 6, a Level 5 could only lie still and wait for whatever came next.
Gulp…
Misaka swallowed hard, her neck shrinking slightly as she stared at Noah. "S-so he's that powerful? A Level 6 Absolute Esper… that's insane!"
Noah smiled faintly, distributing a stack of papers. The girls looked down and found a sheet in their hands—none of them had even noticed when it appeared.
"These are the guidelines you'll need to read before your ability development begins. Once you've finished, please remove your clothes and enter the cultivation pods."
"R-remove our… clothes?!"
The girls froze collectively. When they looked back toward Noah, they found him already sitting calmly at a small table, sipping tea. The gentle fragrance filled the air, tickling their senses.
"Yes," Noah said, nodding slightly. "It's to ensure that there are absolutely no accidents."
Of course, that wasn't the entire truth. Using the cultivation chambers in this way increased the success rate by only a fraction of a percent—perhaps one in ten thousand. The rest was… well, a small indulgence in his own mischievous amusement.
The girls all blushed, fidgeting awkwardly. Still, under Kuriba Ryouko's firm supervision, they suppressed their wandering thoughts and began reading the papers in their hands.
After a few minutes, Misaka Mikoto, ever the straightforward type, raised her hand first. Her face was as red as a boiled shrimp.
"Um… do we really… have to… undress?" she stammered. "Isn't there another way?"
Every girl in the room stared anxiously at Noah, waiting for his answer.
Noah remained silent, merely tapping a finger on the table. In an instant, over twenty holographic screens appeared before the students.
An AI voice echoed through the lab, accompanied by their personal data projections.
Displayed on the screens were each student's predicted development results—the calculated growth in their abilities after their second round of training, along with their potential capacity.
Level 5? That rank was nothing. It hadn't even reached the domain of gods—something any determined human could theoretically achieve.
But every girl present possessed the latent capacity to reach Level 6. Whether they would actually transcend that boundary depended entirely on their own willpower.
At this stage, however, the data showed only two candidates with a clear path to Level 6—Misaka Mikoto and Mugino Shizuri.
Saten Ruiko's eyes widened as she stared at her screen. In bold letters, it read:
Saten Ruiko — Second Ability Development:
Probability of reaching Level 5: 65%
Ability Type: Updraft
With further evolution: 35% chance to transform into Aerokinesis or Thermokinesis.
"I… I can really reach Level 5?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "Updraft… that's my esper ability?"
Her heart pounded violently in her chest.
Around her, the other girls read their own results, their nervousness and embarrassment quickly fading away—replaced by burning excitement.
All the tension, shyness, and unease about entering the cultivation pods were swept away by anticipation.
Noah looked up with a faint smile. "Have you all decided? Once you're ready, we can begin."
The girls nodded shyly, faces flushed as they stared down at their feet. Kuriba Ryouko pushed over a basket for their uniforms.
"Don't waste time," she said curtly.
At that moment, Saten hesitated, then raised her hand timidly. "Um, Director-sensei…"
Noah glanced at her. "Yes? What is it?"
Saten's cheeks reddened as she stammered nervously. "I-I just wanted to ask… why are all the participants… girls?"
—
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