Chapter 1851: Chapter 1849: Transformation
"I never thought that world would look even more dangerous than I imagined."
Walking beside Kuroko Shirai, Misaka Mikoto couldn’t help but sigh, and Kuroko Shirai nodded in agreement.
"It really is. Although there are a lot of troublesome people in Academy City, you just can’t compare it to the outside world..."
"I wonder how Mr. Fang Zheng plans to comfort Miss Alisa. She really is in an unusual situation... Ugh, I hope that woman doesn’t have to help."
Even though things between her and Shihou Souki were pretty much smoothed over by now... their relationship was never great to begin with. Moreover, Shihou Souki had no intention of getting close to Misaka Mikoto, so their friendship remained the same. In such circumstances, of course, Misaka Mikoto wasn’t keen on "fighting side by side" with Shihou Souki.
"With Mr. Fang Zheng, you shouldn’t have to worry. On the contrary, Sister Dear, there’s a Tokiwadai ability test today. Are you ready for it?"
"Don’t worry, I’m all set."
Hearing Kuroko’s question, Misaka Mikoto clenched her fists.
"I’ve been feeling much stronger recently!"
"...Sister Dear, this isn’t a game. Defeating monsters doesn’t level you up..."
"Ugh... I wish I could finish early and check it out over there..."
"Today, didn’t we agree to go shopping with Hatsuharu and the others? Sister Dear, Mr. Fang Zheng is over there watching things, so you don’t really need to rush. Plus, Classmate Saten brought Miss Lei along too."
"True, that’s what I said..."
Though she said that, deep down, Misaka Mikoto felt a bit disappointed. To be honest, after fighting Polluted Beasts and Wild Gods in that world, Misaka Mikoto no longer took the small fry of Academy City seriously. Now, like a new player who’s just found a game and become addicted to it, she just wanted to spend every minute of every day adventuring and exploring the new world.
However... due to Alisa’s sudden event, plus the fact that Tokiwadai’s ability test was today, the two had to return to Academy City, and Ruiko had brought Lei along, planning to go shopping with Hatsuharu. After all, up until now, Hatsuharu often found herself left out... Even if that wasn’t intentional.
"It would be nice if Miss Feli could come to Academy City to play. I could show her the uniqueness of our city."
"Mr. Fang Zheng will have plans. So, Sister Dear, good luck."
"Mm, Kuroko, you give it your all too. Oh, I just remembered, let me see Classmate Hainara’s ability test. This is her first time testing since becoming LV5 this year!"
Saying this, Misaka Mikoto hurried to the ability testing ground, while Kuroko turned around and headed to the nearby field for her own ability test.
For Kuroko, it was just a routine test, as her ability hadn’t progressed significantly since junior high. Especially after reaching LV4, although there might be slight variations due to psychological fluctuations, it was pretty much a step forward and two steps back, with nothing particularly noteworthy.
This was the norm...
"Thunk."
A heavy iron box slammed down, and soon the teacher responsible for the test rushed over.
"Recorded at 321.12 meters, with a deviation of 1 millimeter from the specified location, mass at 536 kilograms, overall assessment LV4."
"Classmate Shirai, can we try again? We’ll be ready."
"Uh, sure..."
Upon hearing the teacher’s words, Classmate Shirai nodded blankly, as other students curiously gathered around.
"Classmate Shirai’s in good form today, isn’t she?"
"It’s much higher than her usual scores!"
"Could she become LV5?"
"No, that’s, I don’t think..."
Faced with her classmates’ questions, Kuroko Shirai was bewildered. She had just intended to proceed with the test as usual, but to Kuroko Shirai’s surprise, at her supposed limit distance, she not only succeeded but did so with near-zero deviation. This greatly astonished the teachers overseeing the test, who concluded that Kuroko Shirai’s capability might have improved. Therefore, they increased the measures, trying to find the current limit of Kuroko Shirai’s ability.
But to everyone’s surprise—even Kuroko Shirai’s—they conducted the test three more times and still hadn’t found her limit!
Originally, Kuroko Shirai’s "Spatial Movement" limit was 81 meters, with a mass of 130 kilograms. However, now the test distance had reached 261 meters, and the mass was 236 kilograms, without significant errors on her part, astonishing everyone.
Even Kuroko Shirai herself felt the same. At first, she thought her ability enhancement was related to battling monsters with Sister Dear in the other world, but at most, Shirai thought she might double her capacity.
But now... it’s already more than tripled!
"Classmate Shirai, how are you feeling? Any unusual sensations?"
One of the teachers approached Kuroko Shirai to ask, and Kuroko Shirai shook her head.
"No, I feel good."
In theory, while Spatial Movement didn’t consume much physical strength, it required constant calculation of eleven-dimensional coordinates, which was mentally draining. If it were the previous Shirai, she’d feel overwhelmed after reaching her limit. But now, she didn’t feel any exhaustion or mental strain at all.
"I see..."
Hearing Kuroko Shirai’s response, the teacher thought for a moment.
"Then please come with me, we need to give you a full body check-up."
"Alright."
Kuroko Shirai nodded quickly to the teacher’s suggestion. In fact, she was somewhat anxious inside. After all, the results of this test were too weird. If you said her ability strength doubled or tripled, Kuroko Shirai would happily accept it, as it would mean she could be of more help to Sister Dear.
But now that her ability had increased so much, she hadn’t even reached her limit, without any reaction, it felt strange.
It’s like if someone originally got exhausted after running 10,000 meters, but the next day suddenly found they could run 50,000 meters without losing breath, it’s not a pleasant surprise, but a shock.
However, even after the examination results came out, it didn’t relieve Kuroko’s doubts; instead, it became even more mysterious. Because the check-up showed everything about Kuroko’s body was normal, her brainwaves were stable, and there was no influence from any external substance, simply put — as normal as could be.
But in this situation, being normal itself is abnormal, ok?!
Though uncertain of the situation, the teachers at Tokiwadai continued the tests until finally...
"Maximum range 385 meters, mass 3812 kilograms?! Incredible!"
Ruiko looked at Kuroko Shirai’s physical examination report and exclaimed excitedly.
"Classmate Shirai, are you about to become LV5?"
"No, still LV4."
"Eh? Why?"
Hearing Kuroko Shirai’s response, Saten Reiko looked confused and asked.
"Because my ability only increased in intensity, it didn’t become more complex in calculation, so it can’t reach LV5 level... Maybe I should consult Classmate Hainara... after all, issues in eleven dimensions aren’t something I can handle alone."
"But I remember your previous test results weren’t like this, right?"
Compared to the excited Saten Reiko, Misaka Mikoto obviously understood her junior better. Suddenly increasing by so much was indeed a bit strange.
"Kuroko, did you eat something weird?"
"I didn’t, and the teacher checked, everything’s normal."
"Did Mr. Fang Zheng give you something nice?"
As Saten Reiko spoke, she shook the bracelet on her hand — it’s worth mentioning that Saten Reiko’s current ability test was still LV0.
After all, without the bracelet, she couldn’t use her ability.
However, Saten Reiko wasn’t as concerned now; even if her ability test was still LV0, she already had enough ability to protect herself and her friends. She could even fight alongside Misaka Mikoto and Kuroko Shirai, whom she once could only admire from the sidelines... For Saten Reiko, that was enough.
"Mr. Fang Zheng didn’t give me anything... Ah!"
Hearing Saten Reiko’s words, Kuroko Shirai shook her head, then suddenly thought of something, her face turned a sudden shade of red. Naturally, Saten Reiko noticed this scene.
"Hmm? What’s up? Classmate Shirai, did you think of something?"
"Nothing, I was just guessing randomly, it shouldn’t be like that..."
Facing Saten Reiko’s inquiry, Kuroko Shirai turned her head, blushing, and started fiddling with her hair with her fingers.
Something’s up!
Seeing this, Saten Reiko and Hatsuharu exchanged a glance, realizing the same burning curiosity in each other’s eyes. It was unheard of for Kuroko Shirai to show such a girly expression; there had to be some inside story!
"What happened, what happened? You don’t have some unspeakable relationship with Mr. Fang Zheng, do you?"
"Nonsense!"
At this, Kuroko Shirai could no longer hold back and jumped up.
"My love for Sister Dear is as clear as day, Kuroko will always be a slave to Sister Dear’s love! Sister Dear, please accept Kuroko, accept Kuroko’s love—!!"
As she shouted, Kuroko leaped toward Misaka Mikoto.
"Get a grip!!!"
The next moment, flashing thunder erupted, striking Kuroko Shirai squarely.
