Chapter 672: Academy City! Tokiwadai Middle School!
[Ding! Railgun has joined the Chat Group!]
[Ding! Tokiwadai Queen has joined the Chat Group!]
Just as Ren withdrew his attention from the quirky personalities of the Chat Group members, the familiar notification sound made him pause. The holographic screen flickered in his mind, displaying two new names.
"These two people…"
He narrowed his golden eyes, a glint of recognition flashing within them.
With just one glance at the nicknames, he guessed their identities instantly. "Railgun" and "Tokiwadai Queen." The electric princess and the mental manipulator.
Although there were new members, he still had unfinished business in this world, so he didn't speak immediately. He closed the interface, his expression returning to calm.
With a thought, the fabric of space warped around them.
The few of them returned from the chaotic, swirling anti-universe void to the familiar concrete rooftop they were on a short while ago. The transition was instantaneous, leaving only a faint ripple in the air.
Ren looked at Silver Wolf and Name—the girl he had rescued from the anomaly—and invited them with a casual smile, "No need to rush back. Come to my place for a while. We can relax."
"Everything is up to Brother," Name said immediately, her eyes shining with adoration. She clung to his arm, not refusing in the slightest.
However, Silver Wolf, who had more on her mind and a deeper history with Ren, stepped back. She crossed her arms, her face full of suspicion as she eyed him.
"You don't have any bad intentions, do you? Last time you invited me, things got… complicated."
His wary expression made Ren endlessly amused. He leaned against the railing, the wind tousling his hair.
He smiled mysteriously, a playful light dancing in his eyes. "If I had bad intentions, would you refuse my invitation and go straight back?"
"…"
Silver Wolf stared at Ren for a long while, trying to read his poker face. Finally, she sighed, blowing a bubble with her gum. She acted as if nothing had happened, masking her internal conflict.
"Tsk, fine, I'll go to your place to rest. But only if you have games. Good ones."
"Games? Whatever you want to play, I have it. I'm just afraid you won't be impressed."
After all, the interstellar technology in Silver Wolf's world—the world of Honkai: Star Rail—was far more advanced than the Earth civilization of this world. Her standards were astronomical.
Even the most advanced VR games here were merely retro toys to her.
Silver Wolf shrugged, her arms still crossed. "There's no such thing as being unimpressed by games. As long as there are mechanics to exploit and levels to beat, even if it's just a box-pushing game, I can play it until I clear it. A gamer respects the code."
Ren smiled. Silver Wolf truly loved games that much. It was her language, her comfort zone.
"You're back?"
The voice was shaky, filled with disbelief.
The three had just made their decision, but Nao Tomori, who was standing beside them, was carefully stroking the rough concrete wall, muttering to herself.
"Was everything just now real or fake? Is everything now real or fake? Am I hallucinating?"
She had fallen into cognitive confusion, doubting the reality of everything she saw. The universe had dissolved before her eyes and then reformed. It was too much for a normal human mind to process instantly.
Ren didn't explain much. It would only confuse her further.
In any case, he had already eliminated the root cause of the "Adolescence Syndrome" from the world. The supernatural afflictions plaguing teenagers would fade.
She would realize this fact sooner or later as the weird phenomena ceased.
Looking at her confused expression, he casually created a business card from thin air. It was sleek, black, with golden lettering. He slipped it into her hand.
"If you have any doubts, or encounter anything unusual in the future, you can contact me."
Nao stared at the card, her fingers trembling as they brushed against the high-quality stock.
"Oh, right," Ren added, his tone shifting to something more teasing. "Remember to take a good shower when you get home."
Ren reminded her meaningfully before he turned to leave.
Nao finally realized then that she could directly ask Ren whether the cosmic event was reality or an illusion!
Everything that had just happened seemed to have been caused by him. He was the center of the storm.
She quickly looked up, her mouth open, about to ask a thousand questions.
"?"
But she found that the three people who were originally on the rooftop were gone. Vanished without a sound or a trace.
The cold wind howled across the empty roof, chilling her to the bone.
Making her figure tremble slightly.
A strange atmosphere spread, a sense of loss and wonder mixing in the air.
"They don't exist either? Was it all a dream?"
Such a terrifying doubt emerged, threatening to shatter her sanity, but then disintegrated in the next moment.
Her slightly tightened hand felt something unusual in it. A tangible object.
Opening her palm, she saw Ren's business card. It was real. The gold letters glinted in the moonlight.
"…"
Her heart thumped once, hard, before gradually calming down.
The real touch of this business card meant that Ren was just there, and everything was real. The universe had indeed unraveled and knitted itself back together.
Nao Tomori never imagined that this time, while simply tracking Hina Amano to verify a rumor, she would encounter so many things that shattered her worldview.
With an extremely complex feeling, Nao took heavy steps, preparing to go home. Her legs felt like lead.
But as she walked, she felt a chill coming from below. A damp, uncomfortable coldness.
Realizing something, she looked down and saw water stains dripping down her legs from under her skirt.
It wasn't rainwater. The sky was clear now.
It was… she had wet herself! The terror of seeing the universe collapse had been too much for her body to handle.
Nao twitched her mouth, her face turning a deep crimson.
"When… Why didn't I notice at all?"
Nao's face instantly flushed as she remembered Ren's reminder to take a good shower before he disappeared.
He found out!
He knew! That handsome, god-like man knew she had lost control of her bladder in fear!
Even she, who was usually rational, composed, and somewhat cynical, couldn't help but feel the crushing shame of social death at this moment.
She pressed down her skirt, trying to hide the evidence from the empty air.
Nao, pursing her lips tightly, checked that there weren't many people on the street and quickly went downstairs to leave. She ran, her footsteps echoing in the stairwell.
She didn't want anyone to discover her predicament.
As for Ren, the only one who discovered her like this, she remembered him! She would never forget him!
...
Location: Another World - Academy City
A technological city with the world's most cutting-edge technology.
It is twenty to thirty years ahead of the outside world and is the leader of the scientific world. It is a fortress of progress, isolated from the rest of Japan.
The entire Academy City is a huge collection of educational institutions composed of twenty-three school districts.
These school districts offer special educational courses to develop Psychic abilities (Espers), primarily by recruiting students from outside.
In addition to educational institutions, there are also research facilities for students, hidden laboratories, and secret projects.
Production, commercial facilities, international exhibition halls, international airports, and all other necessary living facilities are available within the city. It is a self-contained ecosystem.
Most of the students in Academy City live in school dormitories and receive ability development in various schools.
Most students acquire Psychic abilities through drugs, hypnosis, and electrical stimulation—the Power Curriculum Program.
There are various types of different abilities, ranging from manipulating elements to altering perception.
They are divided by scope and power into:
Level 0 (No Ability), Level 1 (Low-Level Ability), Level 2 (Heterogeneous Ability), Level 3 (Strong Ability), Level 4 (Great Ability), and Level 5 (Super Ability).
And the theoretically existing but currently non-existent Absolute Ability User (Level 6), a being who has attained the will of the heavens.
And the Seventh School District.
It is the school district within Academy City mainly composed of middle schools and high schools, the heart of student life.
Tokiwadai Middle School is located in the Seventh School District.
However, this middle school is quite special. It stands apart from the rest.
It is not only one of the top five celebrity schools in Psychic ability development but also the world's top noble girls' school. It is the "School Garden" for the elite.
Its teaching philosophy is "to create international top talents in various fields during compulsory education."
Therefore, the teaching content is different from ordinary middle schools. It includes etiquette, refinement, and high-level esper training.
Tokiwadai Middle School adopts an elite policy, with fewer than two hundred students.
One of the admission requirements is "Level 3 Strong Ability User or above." It is exclusive.
Currently, it has two Level 5 Psychics—the pride of the school—and forty-seven Level 4 Ability Users.
The admission requirements are extremely strict.
It is said that it once unceremoniously rejected the admission of a certain country's royal family children because they were only Level 2, which even triggered a minor international dispute.
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