Toaru Majutsu no Virtual-On Chapter 2

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Misaka Mikoto sat on a bench on an Academy City District 7 building rooftop. She pulled the goggles up from her eyes and began sensing the cheers around her directly.

"Yes! We cleared the preliminaries, so we're the District 7 representatives now!!"

"Th-that's amazing. I never thought we would get to stand on that stage…"

Saten Ruiko and Uiharu Kazari were trembling in excitement nearby. They went to the same school, but they were not wearing their sailor uniforms today.

They wore cheerleader-style outfits colored a bright purple.

Needless to say, it was the same coloring seen on Mikoto's Raiden and Shirai Kuroko's Fei-Yen.

Which meant…

"Uuh… I just remembered."

"What's that bashful fidgeting for!? We're the representatives! The district's honor rests on our shoulders!! Hold your head high!!"

Mikoto had been engrossed in her Virtual-On battle a moment before, but she too was wearing a miniskirt. She had felt like she was inside a sealed, coc.o.o.n-like c.o.c.kpit, but how had it looked to the people around her?

"P-pant, pant! Onee-sama's bare legs are completely defenseless… But I can sense Onee-sama's unique form of romance in how she keeps them tightly closed even in the middle of battle."

"I had a feeling this would happen!!"

Mikoto moved her leg to stomp on the face of Shirai Kuroko, the twintail girl crawling on the floor right in front of her.

Saten was still excited and she made a suggestion from next to Mikoto.

"Okay, okay! Let's go have a victory party for clearing the preliminaries! We need to do something to celebrate the occasion! The usual family restaurant works, right!?"

"…Let me go change first."

"You can't. This uniform is District 7's trademark now!"

Mikoto sighed.

Shokuhou Misaki, Tokiwadai Middle School's other Level 5, came to mind. Now, which would do more psychological damage: wearing a dress and giving a speech on stage as a representative of their year, or walking around town in a cheerleader costume on the weekends?

As Mikoto stood up (while grabbing Shirai's collar for trying to get an even better low-angle look from the floor), her portable device emitted a quiet beep.

In fact, all of their devices did.

Instead of an email or voice call, it was a request for a chat service that allowed a real-time exchange of short messages.

"Furashina: I saw your match. Congratulations on qualifying for the main tournament."

"Oh! How about we invite Ririn-chan? She's the one that introduced us to Virtual-On in the first place."

Saten smiled and made that suggestion, but the response was an apologetic one.

"Furashina: I would love to join you, but I would have a hard time figuring out where anyone is in this crowd."

"Yeah."

"I suppose that is true."

Anywhere near where the Virtuaroids were fighting would get incredibly crowded. It was enough to render the city nearly unrecognizable even to residents like Mikoto and the others. Even if they searched each other out while continuing the chat, there was no guarantee they would find each other. After all, they could easily miss each other even if they were waiting inside the same train station.

"Furashina: I have a terrible sense of direction and I'm no good with crowds, so I'll enjoy the celebration from here."

"Eh? Even with your portable device's navigation?"

"Furashina: The 3D makes me nauseous. I can handle this text chat, but I prefer to avoid using any of the more graphical services for long."

"If you say so."

Mikoto did not ask any more questions.

They had tried to meet up a few times before, but they always just missed each other due to crowds near the meet-up spot. Mikoto and the others still needed to return the handkerchief she had dropped.

For that reason, they had only spoken with her online, but she did not seem to know all that much about the latest gadgets. They had first met her when they reached out a helping hand after seeing her having trouble with some light flaming on an SNS.

Overall, she was the small animal type.

She did appear to be attempting a variety of things, but some people needed more distance than others. It was possible this was the most comfortable distance for her.

(She seems a lot more like a proper undercla.s.sman than Kuroko.)

It had been a truly lucky find that she had introduced Virtual-On to them.

It was possible even she was surprised.

"Let's get going, Onee-sama. That fight was quite mentally taxing, so it's important we eat something sweet and relax."

"No, no. We've got to come together as a team for tomorrow! We need to come up with all sorts of formations!!"

"Ahh… You mean we're going to ignore the food and dive straight into strategizing mode?"

The 4 girls chatted as they left the rooftop.

They all held portable devices.

They spoke about Virtual-On as something perfectly normal.

 

Once the battle with the Cypher named Blue Stalker ended, Kamijou Touma and Index were released unharmed.

The white and black Specineff was nowhere to be found.

Only after pushing the ultra-thin goggles up onto his forehead did Kamijou remember that he could even do that.

He no longer felt the extreme realism that had seemed to dive deep below his skin.

The portable device he held was unharmed. There was no sign of it having been snapped in half.

He saw the usual scene of District 7 in front of the center.

"Index. That's right! Index! Are you okay!?"

"Bwoh, mgah!? Wh-what is this!? I can't see! …Is this a bag!?"

Kamijou suddenly remembered they had done that to her.

Index managed to get her head out of the sack, but the calico cat only stuck its head out and mewed. It seemed to like the enclosed s.p.a.ce.

Meanwhile, Aogami Pierce blinked in confusion.

"Kami-yan, how are you feeling? Are you really all right!?"

"Eh? Ah? Well, I feel just fine…"

"I was really shocked when you suddenly disappeared, Kami-yan. I thought you'd been kidnapped by a Teleporter."

"Disa-…what?"

"You just up and vanished. Want to check the center's security camera? It was like a magic trick. Do you know what a Ring Scan is?"

"No."

"When you play Virtual-On, a ring of light appears and scans you from head to toe. Well, you might not be able to tell when you're playing with the goggles on. I think it's used to display your body when you move around in the c.o.c.kpit."

"Ohh…"

He had seen that in front of the center. He recalled the ring of light that appeared over the heads of the boys and girls as they played Virtual-On.

"So that's called a Ring Scan?"

"But that only appears once at the start. I've never heard of the scan suddenly starting in the middle of a game and I've definitely never heard of the player's body disappearing into it. No, wait…disappearing…a Virtual-On player disappearing… Could it be…?"

Not even Aogami understood what was happening, so his explanation was quite fragmentary.

But he failed to notice Kamijou's confusion and tilted his head as he continued.

"Right after you disappeared while joining the battle, your Temjin began moving like I've never seen before. But once the game was over, you reappeared like nothing had happened. What was that?"

(A Teleporter? No, my right hand would have negated that, right?)

That second Ring Scan should not have happened.

And if Aogami Pierce was to be believed, Kamijou Touma's disappearance had happened in the short period between Temjin's sudden activation and the end of the match.

A certain idea came to mind first.

(It all felt oddly real and I couldn't quite tell where I really was.)

A chill ran down his spine.

"Did it happen when I smashed the controller - my lifeline - inside the c.o.c.kpit?)

He still did not know what that had meant or if it had even been the right thing to do. He was even doubtful that simply breaking their portable device would provide other players the same result.

Perhaps it had more to do with throwing out all a.s.sumptions.

Perhaps it had more to do with truly believing he could move the way he wanted.

Or something like that.

"Hey, Aogami."

"Yeah?"

Kamijou just about asked about it, but he held his tongue.

Aogami Pierce had held a negative view of the Defected players. But the puzzled look on his face suggested he had yet to realize that Kamijou had Defected.

(He mentioned something about anti-tracking stealth, didn't he? Can the center's monitoring system not tell who's Defected? Well, I guess they'd just search them out and delete their accounts if they could.)

After thinking through it all, a new question occurred to him.

Yes…

"Index. What about her? Did an unnatural Ring Scan start in the middle of the battle for her too?"

"No, it was only you, Kami-yan."

"Touma, what are you talking about?"

"It was…only me? Index, did anything happen while you were fighting that Blue Stalker? Um, how should I put this…?"

"No. There were only some times when Bal-Bados's movements were a little unstable."

"Unstable?"

"It was like the movements were catching on something. I would move the stick, but it only strained and wouldn't react like I wanted."

Was that it?

Kamijou could not say for sure, but had he resisted that odd feeling by taking things a step further and breaking his portable device while Index stayed put and returned to the rules of the Next Generation Game?

Was that the source of the difference?

Kamijou's physical body had entirely vanished, but Index had simply continued operating her portable device like she was possessed even when her vision was blocked.

But…

(In that case…Aogami might be wrong about the change occurring when you fight a Defected Virtuaroid.)

Kamijou looked down at the device in his hand.

(Does it actually begin when you realize you can do more in that c.o.c.kpit than just operate the Virtuaroid via the portable device? Well, I had a little help getting there thanks to the Blue Stalker's unfair movements and that weird corrupted message.)

Question it.

That mysterious message had been sent to his address from his address.

But he seemed to remember something similar happening when reporting on a system error. For example, the automated email sent back when an email could not be delivered. It might have been something happening inside his own device with no connection to the Blue Stalker.

But this was different from an email delivery error.

He had no idea what the portable device had read from him to trigger that message.

"…"

The Next Generation Game Virtual-On was only the tip of the iceberg.

A ma.s.sive amount of data and scripts were hidden below the surface.

His intuition told him the Defection was not adding anything to the system; it was switching off the security to use the system's full functionality to some end. Yes, what was the purpose of the Ring Scan used on normal players? Index had said it seemed to be scanning their bodies, but Kamijou doubted it influenced how they controlled their units. Could it be nearly useless and the proper Ring Scan was the one that had made Kamijou disappear?

But.

In that case, the Blue Stalker's intent was a mystery. Why did they not keep that secret to themselves? If they wanted to cheat and show off their superiority, it might be best to target people who could not cheat in the same way, but that would ultimately let the secret out and rob them of the very superiority they wanted to show off.

Kamijou doubted they were too stupid to understand that.

In that case, did they have some other goal?

"Whatever the case, I'm glad you drove them off. The center might get fewer visitors if someone like that kept hanging around nearby."

(Oh, then I should probably avoid fighting others from now on. It would hardly be fair now that I've Defected and I want to avoid providing an odd inspiration like the Blue Stalker did for me. It's a shame because this seems like a lot of fun.)

"But is it really over?"

"Who knows, Kami-yan. Your movements were pretty superhuman to keep up with the Blue Stalker, but that blue Cypher never did transform. And it made several miraculous dodges in a row. I bet it was just toying with you. Plus, look at its name. You don't want someone like that following you around everywhere, do you?"

"Ugh…"

"There's no guarantee since a Temjin base might not be able to keep up with a transformed Cypher's. .h.i.t-and-away tactics, but if you're going to be defenseless otherwise, wouldn't it be a good idea to come up with a self-defense plan?"

"Hmm. You mean like changing my username and selecting a different unit?"

Kamijou tried to do just that, but the unit selection would not accept his alternative choice.

"What's going on there?" asked Aogami Pierce. "Some kind of error? Try rebooting it."

(No, could this be due to Defecting?)

He set that plan aside and tried coming up with something else.

"Instead of that, what if I turn off the wireless…or just switch off the power?"

"That might work, but it'd be pretty inconvenient. These days, you need these things to ride the train or withdraw money at the ATM, right? I don't know how far you've gotten into using them, Kami-yan, but it seems a lot of people can't calculate change or remember any English vocabulary without them. Y'know, like how people grow reliant on cellphone kanji conversion. The people who are really into it can use them to produce really complex kanji you've never even seen before and foreign languages even more chuuni than German, but take away their portable device and they can barely communicate with another human being."

"I-I can't even think about living without the coupons!! …But that only leaves me one option."

"You've gotta thoroughly customize that plain Temjin, right? Most rookies have barely touched the customization, but that means they have plenty of room to grow."

 

It was the second day of the long weekend.

Part of the reason Kamijou had waited a full day was simply because he had found the Blue Stalker that creepy. He would grow hesitant when he realized he might run into them again while wandering around before he came up with a perfect countermeasure.

But he soon realized something.

For as long as he remained motionless and did not work toward improving his situation, he would remain in danger. He would not grow and he would not become any stronger. The perfect countermeasure was not something someone would just drop in his lap. He had to get moving and accomplish it himself.

So he took action.

The Virtual-On tournament between the representatives of the 23 districts began that day. His portable device kept receiving PR emails and some of the events were introduced on TV.

"This is Nakamura Mary! The long-awaited tournament begins today!! If you don't like crowds, you can stop by one of the viewing bars to enjoy a drink while you watch or you can laze around your home and watch on your portable device! As your Live DJ, I will help connect the footage together, so it might be even more intense than watching it in person. And the more viewers I have, the more advertising money I get, so make sure you watch!!"

"What in the world are you doing, you shill?"

The conversing commentators played in the background like music in a family restaurant as Kamijou took Index out into the city with him.

Posters were plastered across the walls, fireworks burst in the sky on some kind of cue, and stands selling goods lined the streets. There were also a lot selling telescopic lenses made to attach to a portable device. If those things were selling for a fight between giant Virtuaroids, it was easy to imagine how crowded the tournament battleground had to be. While the preliminaries had used a round-robin tournament system, the main tournament used a traditional tournament system. The matches themselves would move quickly, but anyone who was following a specific team or contestant would have to move all over the place, which could not be easy.

Index was entranced by colorful drinks in bottles shaped like Temjin or Fei-Yen, but Kamijou tugged on her hand and kept walking.

"Touma, what are we doing today?"

"Hmm."

He wanted mobility and stability.

Altogether, that meant speed.

Thick armor and a special move that could turn things around in a single blow were meaningless if he could not keep up with the speed of that world. Plus, Cypher could transform to gain even greater speed and explosive attack power. It would not just stand there and take a rush from a blind spot.

And luckily, Virtuaroids were easily customizable.

No fancy tools or maintenance equipment were necessary.

"You can use the Material a.n.a.lyze feature. …You've probably already forgotten about it, though."

He had received an explanation from Aogami Pierce and Lilina who would show up on the screen when released from sleep mode.

"Just by holding up your portable device, you can read in the traits and features of any material in the real world and incorporate it into your Virtuaroid. It can be mechanical or biological. For example, you can incorporate the structure of a real weapon or the nature of an insect or other animal. Humans will refer to their surroundings as a mini universe, so your possibilities can grow endlessly if you are creative enough."

That was apparently how it worked.

The portable device in his hands was all he needed to infinitely expand his Virtuaroid.

"If that's what I'm doing, where should we go?"

He and Index discussed it as they walked through the streets of District 7 together.

Even now, they could see fluorescent-colored Virtuaroids clashing here and there.

The main tournament did not just have one location, so the matches were held in districts across the city.

The crowds were much larger than during the preliminaries that had ended the day before and the fields for the matches were much fancier. The same technology used to display the units in empty air was used to create something like bluish-white tape to demarcate the field as well as displays for the units' remaining endurance, the remaining time, and what battles were gathering attention at other fields.

They could also hear the commentators' voices, but not from giant speakers. They seemed to be playing from the spectators' portable devices, creating something of an overlapping echo effect.

"Those midair moves really are the best. But maybe they want to gather more viewers because there're adding in some unnecessary and illogical actions."

"Yes, but the viewers will notice that right away. And did they think we were just showing the matches with the highest number of viewers? The world of videos isn't that kind. Videos need ups and downs to keep people's attention! And you're the down! You're just the necessary filler, so don't get c.o.c.ky! Gwa ha ha ha ha!!"

Kamijou and Index had a hard time weaving through the crowds. The rampaging Virtuaroids were scattering stray bullets all over, getting pushed down, and rolling along the roads, but the students were unconcerned as they cheered and used their portable devices in recording mode. In fact, they grew more excited as they shouted support or jeers.

"Fast, quick, speed… What could I use? An airplane? A rocket? But even if we walked to District 23, I doubt they'd let me near any of those."

While waiting with the crowd for the light to change, he aimed the scanner on the back of his portable device at a red sports car stopped nearby.

It worked differently from a flashlight. A pale ring of light danced along the sports car's surface, but it seemed to work more like a projector.

(Huh…this light. I could swear I've seen it before.)

He thought for a moment and remembered.

It reminded him of the ring scan light that pa.s.sed over the players' bodies when beginning a match.

A small light flashed and Lilina, who provided navigation and alerts during a game, appeared on the screen.

"Okay, okay! Material a.n.a.lyze complete. Please give the new data a name and indicate a stored preset. Go!"

"Hmm. Name the data Sports Car Red, create a new preset, and name it Preset A."

"That's pretty plain."

"There's no good reason to give them confusing names. That would just make it harder to find what I want later."

Temjin, Raiden, and the other Virtuaroids each had their own basic specs.

They could have high speed, powerful close-range attacks, a low jump height, poor brakes, and more.

But the Material a.n.a.lyze was separate to that.

"How does this work…?"

Simply put, the scanner attached to the device could read the traits and features of a material and incorporate them into your own Virtuaroid. You could make up for a weakness by giving speed to heavily-armored Dordray, or you could further expand a strength by giving even greater firepower to Raiden. The possible combinations were endless and that was one reason why there was never a single best choice of Virtuaroid.

It could be anything from a shortcake to the thick wall surrounding Academy City. Some players had even earned a visit from Anti-Skill by carelessly posting that they had incorporated a j.a.panese sword or explosives.

"I guess I'll start by scanning everything that looks fast."

"Hm?" Like cats and birds?"

"I suppose that's an option too. I really am from Academy City, aren't I? All I could think of were machines I'd never get access to like a fighter jet or a rocket engine. Something found closer to home might be more constructive."

For the time being, he captured the calico cat on Index's head in the ring of light. …He doubted the yawning kitten would be the trump card needed to defeat that blue Cypher, but the more options, the better.

And where could he find other birds, cats, and dogs?

Partially because he was sick of the crowded sidewalks, Kamijou made a suggestion.

"Oh, I know. Let's try going to a large park."

 

"…"

Misaka Mikoto's face was soaked with sweat.

She wore the bright purple cheerleader-style uniform of her team and she had frozen in place.

She slowly inhaled and exhaled.

Her eyes were on her portable device.

(Nothing…)

No matter how she operated the device, the desired display never appeared.

She gently clenched her teeth to drive back the dizziness.

(I keep waiting for a response, but she still hasn't sent anything.)

It felt like having a hole in her chest.

A normal presence by her side was not there.

She could not reach that girl no matter how far she reached out her hand.

At times, she could lose sight of that girl's value and even found her irritating.

And then that blank spot was slowly filled by some disconcerting rumors.

The Defected portable devices.

And the related penalty.

"The official Virtual-On tournament will begin soon. The players who pa.s.sed the preliminaries should complete the entry process on their portable devices. Please register your unit data and the number of players on your team."

When that businesslike email reached the small device, Mikoto's anguish grew all the greater.

They had qualified for the main tournament as a team. This was supposed to be a day they would look back on fondly. Searching out the concerning rumors might require Defecting her own portable device. But if she did that, she could not use the device in an official match. This would ruin everything.

Misaka Mikoto shut her eyes and pictured each face in turn.

Then she opened her eyes and came to a decision.

She concluded that it was meaningless if any one of them was missing.

She spoke into the portable device.

"Lilina, send an email to the entire team saying I won't take part in the main tournament."

She spoke quickly, regretted it, and forced down that regret.

Defection.

She knew the rumors concerning how to do that.

And she knew the theoretical method for rescuing those who had been "swallowed". If anyone in Academy City had any sense, people would be doing the same thing elsewhere.

She first had to Defect and contact someone who had started ahead of her. After that, she could come up with the necessary ideas for optimizing and improving the plan and even directly join in if necessary.

 

Parks came in many forms.

They could be a gra.s.sy empty lot in the gap between buildings or they could be a vast forested region that provided a home for rare animals. The District 5 nature park that Kamijou and Index arrived at felt a lot like an outdoor event site.

Green surrounded a large manmade lake in the center. An indoor pool and a tennis court were located further out.

It had a jogging course and an outdoor concert stage instead of slides and swings for children, so it felt like it was meant for a slightly older demographic.

"C'mooon! The great Nakamura Mary is here, so get the viewers all fired up with an exciting battle!!"

"So this is what happens to a woman when she gets too full of herself…"

This too seemed to be a stage for the tournament. Not far away, an Apharmd and a Dordray were moving this way and that atop the neatly mowed gra.s.s and the manmade lake. Dordray had the exciting look of a giant construction machine, but Apharmd had the same "standard" image as Temjin. It was a little rounded and more humanlike and it used modern weaponry like machineguns and tonfas.

The open s.p.a.ce was full of students and families enjoying the long weekend.

Kamijou sighed after taking refuge in a wooded area with a more obstructed view.

He could see the demarcated field with various displays dancing around, but he gave it a wide berth.

Observing the movements of those more experienced players could come in handy, but he was focused on the Material a.n.a.lyze at the moment.

"There we go. There are plenty of small birds like doves and sparrows. And maybe I can ask someone walking their dog for permission to scan their pet. I might as well scan as many other animals as I can."

"If you wish to use the Material a.n.a.lyze feature, please remain within 1 meter of the target object for 10 seconds."

"Pigeon, sparrow, bird skin, bird meatb.a.l.l.s… Drool…"

"Surely you haven't been adding flavor data to your Bal-Bados…"

No matter how annoyed Kamijou was, Index was still the more experienced Virtual-On player.

"So what exactly have you incorporated into your Bal-Bados?"

"Soda, of course. Mint, of course. Lime, of course. I made it just like the soda mint parfait that tragically doesn't actually exist…"

"I was afraid of this! So anything other than food!?"

"Hm? Well, I gave it the balance of a balancing toy, the light weight of a paper airplane, and the toughness of a frying pan…but overall I guess I went for speed. Since tricky Bal-Bados's original movements aren't all that great."

"Hmm. So there's a lot you can do. With that much freedom, I feel like I'll get lost if I don't decide on a direction to start with."

From there, he began his data hunting journey.

The pigeons showed zero - if not negative - caution around humans, so getting one of them was simple. They showed no sign of fleeing even with the bright lights and explosive noise of the clashing Virtuaroids. In fact, he had to be careful lest he accidentally kick one while walking around.

The sparrows proved more difficult. They were sensitive to light and noise and they refused to let him within a meter of them. 2 meters was the limit no matter how hard he tried. After some thought, he left the device on the gra.s.s and used string and wire to press the b.u.t.ton from a distance.

He also scanned some other things he caught sight of like a gra.s.shopper and a dragonfly. He would be incorporating their traits and structures into his Virtuaroid, so those small bugs could actually be quite useful. He had heard a lot trivia about the strength of spider webs and such.

After scanning a whole bunch of things, Lilina expressed some doubt from the screen.

"Touma-sama, what good is scanning that sign? That seems unnecessary for gathering Material a.n.a.lyze data."

"Don't worry about it. These things can come in handy," explained Kamijou as he walked away from the sign next to the manmade lake.

The sign was a notification concerning the water level adjustment drainage ditch.

Meanwhile, Index and the cat began to protest while following him around.

"Toumaaa, I'm hungry. It's already lunchtime."

"Oh? It's that late already?"

He was worried about his finances, but he really did not want to head back to the dorm for lunch only to return to this park afterwards.

They ended up visiting the food cart zone that had appeared in a corner of the park's parking lot through something of an unspoken agreement. The crowds were a bit of an annoyance, but these carts would not have all been there if not for the tournament.

"Lilina, perform a search."

"Sure thing. Found something on the tournament's official site. They have a portable device coupon accepted at any of the registered stands or carts."

That was a relief.

He ignored all the stands selling portable device accessories such as POV cameras attached by the ear, sheet-style wireless keyboards, and drones that could be sent out for simple filming using the screen at one's fingertips.

He focused on the ones selling food.

He saw the gold standards like ramen and oden, normal options like hot dogs and kebabs, and even dark horse options like skewered deep sea fish and peanut b.u.t.ter curry. Some were trailers lugged around by manpower and others were full-on vans.

"Let's try them all! Them all!!"

"Not a chance!! You need to decide on one, Index!!"

They looked around and ended up checking out a seafood bowl place that only served rejects. Of course, the "rejects" did not refer to the customers; it referred to the fish the fishermen had thrown out because they would never sell. Since no one ate them, their numbers grew and they tended to wreak havoc on the ecosystem.

Kamijou Touma convinced Index by saying their delicious meal would double as a social service, but his real reason was how super cheap the rejects were when compared to bluefin tuna or sweetfish.

"Mmm! It's actually really good! But what kind of fish is this tuna-like one!?"

"It's best not to think about it, Index. The long deep sea fish name wouldn't mean anything to you anyway and I promise you you'd regret the pictures you found if you searched the name on your portable device!"

Kamijou and Index chowed down while on their feet. The cat was able to eat a special cat bowl that the guy running the cart had prepared for them. Everything not on the menu must have been sold at a bargain price because it was actually more cost-effective than the human lunches.

"Touma, what are we going to do now?"

"It might not be a bad idea to check out the zoo or aquarium, but then again…the Material a.n.a.lyze might not work right through the gla.s.s. Would it just scan the gla.s.s? But light and air don't seem to affect it…"

Because people payed by portable device, there was a wireless router sitting next to the cart's register.

Kamijou looked over at it while holding his styrofoam bowl.

(A communication device… But I doubt I could move at the speed of light if I incorporated optical fiber. And even if I could, I wouldn't be able to control it.)

"Ahh, that was yummy. Thanks for the meal."

"It makes Kamijou-san a little sad you turned away from me and faced the guy at the cart when you said that…"

After they finished their lunch, Kamijou took his and Index's bowls to a garbage can a short distance away.

(But if that blue Cypher really does show up again, how am I supposed to fight? Fire a long-range barrage to cut off their escape route? Stay close and keep attacking so they don't have time to transform? The Material a.n.a.lyze adjustments I choose will change depending on the answer.)

He opened the appropriate menu on his portable device and found 20 to 30 scan data files, from the cat and pigeon to small bugs. But they were essentially ingredients. What would he expand on and what would he throw out? He had a feeling those decisions were what mattered most.

Kamijou Touma had no way of knowing thanks to his amnesia, but the way Lilina spoke to him was like the aquatic mammal that had come with the word processor and spreadsheet software of an older age.

"Is something the matter? I am awaiting further inquiries."

"It's nothing."

(I can just leave the data management to Lilina. I've heard some people do it all manually, though. …Maybe I should study up on all this. But if I go for it without knowing what I'm doing, I'll probably screw it all up.)

He reached the recycling trash can while still deep in thought. Due to the crowds for the tournament, it was about to burst. But Kamijou Touma the House-Husband King had honed his lazy housework skills through life as a student, so that was not enough to bother him. He shoved the styrofoam bowls right on in.

That was when someone spoke to him from the side.

"Mumble, mumble…"

No, they may not have been speaking to him.

But he still turned a curious glance in that direction due to the location.

An impressive pile of garbage bags had formed right next to the trash cans for burnable and non-burnable trash. The clear bags seemed to contain gra.s.s clippings and fallen leaves, so they lacked the raw stench of kitchen waste.

Even so, was this any place for a girl to dive on top of the garbage bags and fall asleep?

Her bright hair was halfway between gold and silver, which he thought was called platinum blonde. Her hair was long, but the bangs covered one of her eyes and hid half her face. She was short and her slender body was covered by a blue outfit consisting of a white blouse with a large ribbon on the chest, a miniskirt, and a deep blue vest. Overall, it made her look like a ballerina or a figure skater. Although the pleated skirt was awfully short.

If that was all, he might have simply gasped.

But this girl was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with an inhuman beauty that could almost be called fairylike.

But…

"…"

Kamijou covered his face with his hands.

The location could not have been worse. She felt as out of place as a teddy bear floating in a muddy river.

He honestly considered leaving. He even turned around, but then he faced her again.

He knew this was none of his business.

(But why is she sprawled out like that!? And with such a ridiculously short skirt!? Can't you give me just one thing! Just one thing that makes me think she won't be in trouble if I leave her here!?)

People tended not to gather in the trash area, but this was the day of the Virtual-On tournament and there was a thick wall of people not far away. And to make matters worse, someone could appear at any moment and yet it was a gloomy, deserted area.

He did not want to imagine what would happen in a strange collaboration between this defenseless girl and someone who lived a less-than-admirable life.

Once he finally resigned himself to his fate, Kamijou grabbed the shoulder of the girl sleeping peacefully in the pile of garbage bags. If an ally of justice arrived now, this visual would likely earn him a punishment.

"Hey, wake up! Why are you collapsed here!?"

"…Zzz…mumble, mumble?"

She woke up.

Surprisingly, her eyes were ruby red.

And they did not appear to be color contacts.

He could see no concern on her face, so it did not seem that she had fallen victim to an urban legend about having one's organs taken after drinking too much. She looked like she had chosen this bed herself.

Still sprawled out on the garbage bags, the girl blinked her red eyes and spoke to him.

"Y-yawn… What in the world happened…?"

She shook her head, shaking her bangs in the process.

When Kamijou looked down at her face again, a strange sensation ran up his spine.

He recognized her.

"Huh? Lilina…?"

"Fweh?"

"What is it? Do you need something?"

Two voices replied.

He compared the face seen through the portable device and the face on the screen. The two girls looked almost…no, exactly the same.

There were differences in their clothing and coloring, but their appearances were shockingly similar. Confusion briefly fell over Kamijou, but after he chose not to write it off as a coincidence to just give up on thinking, 3 possibilities came to mind:

1. This girl had entered the real world from a portable device.

2. This girl was a cosplayer who had modeled her clothing after Lilina.

3. This girl was the model on which Lilina was based.

(Well, 2 or 3 would be the sensible choices.)

Then the girl said something else.

"Um, are you mistaking me for someone else?"

"What?"

"My name is Ririn. Furashina Ririn. My name is not Lilina…mumble…"

She did not seem all that interested.

It almost sounded like she was answering a wrong number in the middle of the night.

(She doesn't seem interested in the tournament or Virtual-On either. Does that mean she isn't a cosplayer?)

That left Possibility 3: This girl was the model on which Lilina was based. But if she was the model, then was she somehow connected to the developer of the Next Generation Game Virtual-On? Virtual-On was quite popular, but there were a lot of mysteries concerning who had made it and when. It felt like running across a living legend.

"Mumble…"

"Wait, wait, wait! Not there! Don't go to sleep on the pile of trash!! There are plenty of better options! Like a bench!"

"I might not look it, but I'm a celebrity who can't sleep in a bed with hard springs…"

"Aren't you just driving up prices through inflation, you celebrity? Anyway, get out of there!!"

He grabbed her arm and tugged, but much to his surprise, she did not budge. Yes, picking up an entirely limp human being took a surprising amount of effort!!

As Kamijou grunted and groaned over the collapsed girl (looking incredibly suspicious as he did so), he spotted a familiar face walk by not far away.

It was Misaka Mikoto of prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School.

For some reason, she was wearing a light purple cheerleader-style outfit. He doubted she would choose to walk around the city dressed like that, so it may have had some connection to the tournament.

Perhaps she was cheering on a friend or competing herself.

Either way, he was glad to see her.

(I-I can't do it on my own. This is perfect timing, so I should just ask for help.)

"Hey, Misak-…"

Just as he gave up and called out to her, something cut off his words.

Furashina Ririn had suddenly tugged on his arm. The unexpected force knocked him off balance and he was invited to the garbage bag bed as if he were lying over the slender girl.

"Wait, you-…mgah!?"

"Be quiet," flatly said Furashina Ririn.

Incidentally, Kamijou had dived face-first into the girl's flat chest while her hands firmly held his head in place, bringing him into a strange new zone.

But then she said more.

"She is dangerous. People like her are known as Hunter Hunters, so you need to be careful…"

"Mgah…what?" asked a puzzled Kamijou.

Was she referring to Mikoto with that unfamiliar term?

"A Hunter is a player who inflates their score by hunting down NPCs. A Hunter Hunter is a player who targets those players. And they are always residents of the Defected mode, just like you."

His heart gave an icy leap in his chest.

How did she know he had Defected? And did that mean Mikoto had Defected too?

If Misaka Mikoto was partic.i.p.ating in the tournament, wouldn't that mean she continued to fight despite knowing the danger to those around her?

And if Furashina Ririn was Lilina's model, she would have to be closely connected to Virtual-On's developer.

How much did she know?

Could she provide a useful hint regarding the conflict with the Blue Stalker?

So many questions came to mind that he had difficulty judging the value of each individual one. His mind was near bursting and he did not have time to rank them all by importance.

"Wait, please wait. Can you explain everything from the beginning? Who exactly are you?"

Kamijou tried to get some information from her, but an unexpected interruption stopped him.

"…Touma."

A low - frighteningly low - voice seemed to rise from the depths of h.e.l.l.

"You were taking so long throwing out the trash that I thought you might have gotten into trouble. I was worried and came to check on you, but this is what I find?"

"Oh, Index-san."

"Why so formal all of a sudden?"

"Please, please. I am trying to have an important discussion at the moment and I would greatly appreciate it if you did not complicate matters. So get lost!!"

"Not only are you attacking a girl on a pile of garbage, but you're acting like a king too!? What is the meaning of this, Toumaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?"

With that shout, the world was dyed red and black.

 

Some girls' voices could be heard within the crowds.

"Hyah, we've finally made it to the main tournament! I can't believe we're representing District 7!!"

"Auhh… But do we really have to wear these? Why do we have to dress like cheerleaders, Saten-san?"

"It's important, Uiharu! This is a team battle, so we need an obvious sign of our unity!!"

"Unity, huh?"

"Yeah, I am worried about Misaka-san suddenly canceling on us."

"Well, we know she isn't the kind of person to ditch this without a good reason, but I can't help but wonder what happened."

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we can't seem to contact Shirai-san either. Then again, it might turn out that someone from their school found out and they've been confined to their dorm. They do go to a fancy school after all."

"N-now that I think about it, aren't we in a lot of trouble? It's just you and me now, Saten-san, and our opponents will probably have a full team of 4."

"Not a problem! They've been registered as part of our team, so they might arrive late and join in. We just have to trust in our teammates and keep fighting!"

The girls wearing bright purple cheerleader outfits vanished into the crowd.

 

Kamijou Touma knew he had to do something.

The short platinum blonde girl named Furashina Ririn had disappeared without interacting with Kamijou and Index much. She must not have had much interest in other people because she had wandered off without even saying goodbye. He had wanted to run after her, but he had lost sight of her in the crowds.

"Oh, how about you purchase 3…no, 6 of the aerial filming drones from that stand over there and search for her from the sky?" suggested Lilina. "Her distinctive blue clothes and platinum blonde hair should stand out."

"You fool, don't underestimate the emptiness of Kamijou-san's pocketbook."

"Umm, according to the bank account in Kamijou Touma's name, your remaining balance is-…"

"I wasn't asking for an answer! And that's scary! When did this device get linked to my bank account!? And when it's connected to the internet!"

"Either way, I'm not sure why you would want to brag about how poor you are."

So Kamijou a.s.sumed that was the end of it.

However…

"…Touma."

"Yeah."

After less than 2 minutes of walking around, they spotted Furashina curled up on the park lawn like a cat in the sun.

He shook her shoulders to wake her, but she walked off again. Then they found her sleeping underneath a fish & chips van.

Finally, they ran across her sleeping with her next to a drink vending machine. Her head was sticking inside a wire mesh trash while her miniskirt and small b.u.t.t were sticking up into the air.

That was when Kamijou Touma realized he truly had to do something about this.

"Cut it out!! What do you hope to accomplish by worrying Kamijou-san's peace-loving heart!?"

"Nfweh…?"

Furashina Ririn looked his way after he pulled her head from the trash can, but the eye visible past her long bangs looked unfocused and her cheeks were red. And her reactions were incredibly sluggish.

He was certain she was not listening.

Just like the homing instinct of a drunk, she was moving entirely on reflex.

Kamijou scratched at his spiky hair, sighed, and pulled out his portable device. He glanced over at the drink vending machine next to the trash can.

"Okay, fine. Here, I'll give you some coffee, so drink that to wake up. This is actually weird. Not even a TV station's AD can sleep like that."

"Ah, no fair, Touma!! If people accept that lazing around is enough to get a treat, this country's economy will collapse!!"

"Sounds like your lifestyle in a nutsh.e.l.l to me."

Due to the crowd, some of the b.u.t.tons had the "sold out" light active, but the black coffee was still in stock. He pulled out his portable device, held it up to the vending machine, and grabbed the hot can that clunked down to the bottom.

But he was soon stopped.

"Sorry, but I don't like hot things or bitter things."

"That's why it'll help wake you up."

"I don't like what I don't like."

"You mean I wasted my money!? Uhh, here, Index! Open your mouth!!"

"A chance to steal it for myself!? …Glug, glug, glug, glug…ahhh, that was refreshing."

The black coffee effect seemed to make Index's face look slimmer and more dignified, but he did not have time to focus on that now.

These small expenses were no laughing matter when they piled up, but he bought another one.

(Anything's fine as long as it'll wake her up.)

So he chose a carbonated energy drink from the drinks without the "sold out" light active. This one was known for its fairly harsh effects.

"Sorry, but carbonated drinks make me feel bloated and sick. Pa.s.s."

"Index."

"Gyahavobarhahhh!! I'm br.i.m.m.i.n.g with energy!!!!!"

After making sure the drink did not go to waste, Index had something of a punk aura around her, but that was still not Kamijou's focus.

He could not leave that blonde napping idiot without doing something about her sleepiness.

"Is there anything I can do? I get the feeling she'll just refuse if I try to feed her something super spicy."

"The more fundamental problem is that sleeping is my job. Or maybe you could say remaining asleep is my duty."

"That level of laziness might be the dream of all mankind, but…oh, I know. There are food carts here too. Come here a minute!!"

Furashina Ririn would disappear and fall asleep somewhere if he let her, so he was forced to grab her fairly warm hand as he walked through the park. Index's spirit had been sent to the world of punk, so she was too busy headbanging to make any of her usual comments.

Kamijou returned to where they had eaten lunch earlier. As he walked around the food trucks gathered in the parking lot, he spotted the perfect one.

"A coffee jelly sundae. Hmm, that should work. …I'm a bit worried about this price that looks inflated for the tournament, though."

"Coffee is bitt-…"

"It's almost all syrup and whipped cream!! Can you please meet me halfway here!?"

Kamijou forced the issue and prepared to hold his portable device up to the reader on the counter.

At that very moment, Furashina puffed out her cheeks and narrowed her visible eye while still looking nearly emotionless.

"In other words, I can avoid the bitterness by keeping that from working."

"Hm?"

Immediately afterwards, an odd tone sounded from his portable device.

"Wah!"

"What? I'm getting an error too!"

"Is something wrong with the communication base? No, this app doesn't exchange data."

He looked around and noticed a small commotion.

The Virtual-On tournament itself seemed to be continuing without issue, but the portable devices in this section of the rest area had all ceased functioning.

"Ahyarawarbrr!? Wh-what is with these packets?"

Lilina's eyes were spinning on the screen.

Could it be?

"Are you hacking the device with some kind of electric or data esper power!?" he asked the girl.

"I'm not sure what you mean by esper power…"

"N-nyo, Touma-shama, this portable devishe should theoretically be immune to any attack method reliant on the shtandard binary-based von Neumann architecture. It doesh not matter if it comesh from an equation or eshper power."

"Then what's going on?"

Kamijou felt shocked anew, but Furashina Ririn did not hold her head high.

In fact, it drooped down.

She was preparing to fall asleep.

"Yawn… That should give me…some time to…"

"Unfortunately for you, Furashina, Kamijou-san keeps a 5000 yen bill hidden in his sock for times like this!"

"————"

"And if you don't fix this bizarre problem right this instant, I'll give up on the coffee jelly sundae and bring you a piping hot h.e.l.l with the blackest coffee I can find! I'll pour it down your throat whether you like it or not, so choose wisely!!"

Limp Furashina's red eyes dilated slightly.

That was all.

"Huh?"

"It's back…"

"It scares me that I have no idea what happened."

Everything was back to normal.

Unsure what had happened, Kamijou looked around, but…

"Mumble mumble, zzz…"

"T-Touma. I'm about to be crushed here."

He had to do something about Furashina Ririn, partially because she was leaning all of her weight on Index. To do that, he needed the caffeine of the coffee jelly sundae.

So he ordered one.

As the Kamijou household's finances were driven into even more dire straits, he held up his portable device and purchased the necessary item. The three of them sat at one of the simple tables put together for the food cart customers. They were quite crowded, but they managed to find s.p.a.ce to sit. A lot of people had their portable device on the table to watch the matches while they ate. Seeing people watch it on a video site while sitting within the actual battle stage was an odd sight.

"…Sob. This is Nakamura Mary. The next standout card is over here."

"…"

"Here we have the Comet Strikers team that looks like out-of-control trucks after adding skates to ultra-heavyweight Dordray to forcibly give it some mobility. And their opponent is the Killer Trench team that uses Apharmds with the improved disturbance abilities thanks to stabbing their shields into the ground to ma.s.s-produce obstacles. I can't wait to see how it turns out! Sob…"

"That's quite the change of heart there. I'm impressed at how depressed it makes you. It really must be frightening to get your sponsor mad at you."

It was time for the coffee jelly sundae.

The spiky-haired boy was unsure of the difference between a parfait and a sundae, but this looked like a wide container with lots of die-shaped pieces of coffee jelly poured in, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream piled on top, coconut syrup dumped over that, and finally a stick-shaped cookie stuck diagonally in. It also looked like a mas of calories that would last someone stranded in the mountains or a desert island until rescue arrived if they ate it bit by bit. Simply put, it was the enemy of girls everywhere.

"I've turned into something of a bad guy for ordering that for her. Well, just eat it. You can tremble in fear once your mind is functioning again. You need to find something to worry about, even if it's just your weight."

"Ah, the napping girl has reached the next stage!? Lazing around gets you a veritable house of sweets!?"

"Don't you recover now! And again, that's your normal life!!"

"And the napping girl is snoring with her face inside the container."

"Don't ruin it like that!!"

Hearing a strange bubbling sound from where Furashina Ririn's face was submerged in the ice cream, Kamijou quickly grabbed the nape of her neck and lifted her head. He had bought all that coffee jelly to wake her up and yet she was about to use it to give herself eternal slumber.

"C'mon, look this way so I can wipe off your face."

"Nfhh?"

"This handkerchief sure is getting a lot of whipped cream off. If I tied you to a tree, I bet you'd attract rhinoceros beetles…"

Even if she had a small face, it was still impressive that the sundae was large enough to contain it all. She would have had difficulty finishing it all herself, so they all shared it in a casual family hotpot style.

"Chomp, chomp!! Munch, munch, munch!! Touma, that clump of vanilla there is mine!!"

"This will be entirely useless if you eat it all! And Furashina's about to fall asleep again since you're excluding her!!"

The girl seemed to have almost no independence. Or rather, any time not focused on her would be entirely wasted. Kamijou finally grabbed her spoon, scooped up some coffee jelly, and developed a delivery style of culinary culture.

Index grew somewhat irritated as she watched.

"…Touma. I didn't think I was going to see the old-fashioned 'say ah' here."

"I'm well aware this is a legendary art that had supposedly faded into the mists of time, but there's no other option here! I have to take one for the team. If I don't throw out my shame, we'll be stuck here forever!!"

Finally, he managed to get a bite in her mouth.

Furashina Ririn's mouth moved like a small animals and then she swallowed.

"Gulp."

"She swallowed it. Oh, my! This girl just swallowed my coffee jelly, Index-san!!"

"If that's enough to move you to emotion, then I'm confident I can submerge America in a sea of tears 24/7."

That said, Index seemed somewhat interested, so she scooped up some coffee jelly in her small spoon and carried it toward Furashina Ririn's mouth. The girl's mouth moved on reflex like a drunk's homing instinct.

The caffeine's blessing must have reached her after a short delay because life gradually filled her dull eyes.

Her wobbling head suddenly stopped.

"Mh? This isn't good. My drowsiness is about to vanish entirely."

"That's how it's supposed to work."

She ignored Kamijou's comment, rubbed her eyes through her bangs, and then reached upwards to stretch her back. When she leaned back a little, her sensual but undeveloped feminine bodylines showed through her blue vest somewhat. Whether sleepy or wide awake, she seemed to do things at her own pace.

Regardless, it looked like she was not going to fall asleep below a van or with her face in a trash can anymore.

"Mission complete. Finally."

Kamijou gave into his annoyance and let his legs sprawl out in front of him while sitting in his seat. He also plopped the portable device down on the table. Just like removing a wrist.w.a.tch or cellphone, it provided an illogical sense of relaxation.

He glanced down at the device.

"I need to do something about this soon. With the Defection and Blue Stalker, the problems keep piling up. What am I even supposed to do?"

"…"

Furashina Ririn's eyes were drawn toward the portable device too.

After a pause, she asked a question.

"Do you hate that thing?"

"Hmm?"

After a glance over at Index who was consuming the rest of the coffee jelly now that it was not needed to wake up the other girl, Kamijou answered without really thinking.

"I do."

It was a piercing answer.

Furashina Ririn gasped a bit, but he continued.

"It brings all sorts of extra problems like the Blue Stalker and such. Defection? I don't care about that. Why would I even want 'more'? Its only value is in being fun, so I don't care whether or not it's useful. But they felt the need to add on that extra stuff."

"…"

The girl's eyes moved so slightly no one would have noticed.

It was like she was viewing a dream.

"What is your name? She seems to call you 'Touma'."

"Oh, I'm Kamijou Touma. Come to think of it, I bought a giant dessert for someone I hadn't even introduced myself to."

"Kamijou Touma-kun. I must remain asleep."

Kamijou looked puzzled.

The light blonde girl looked him in the eye using the eye hidden by her bangs.

"I thank you for showing me something that makes me want to wake up despite that."

 

Kamijou could not remember what had happened, but the next thing he knew, Furashina Ririn was gone. She would apparently appear and wander off randomly whether she was feeling sleepy or not. She had a surprisingly ephemeral presence for how much of an impact she left.

Kamijou was returning the empty coffee jelly sundae container to the food truck. Unlike the styrofoam bowls from before, this was an expensive-looking gla.s.s container. He had Index wait for him at the table. Not because he was spoiling her, but because taking her through the food cart zone would only increase their expenses.

And that was when he ran across someone.

"Huh? You…?"

"Misaka?"

After casually speaking her name, he recalled what Furashina Ririn had said earlier.

She was dangerous.

She was known as a Hunter Hunter.

"What are you doing here? Are you watching the tournament?"

"More importantly." Kamijou took a step back with a quizzical look on his face. "What's with that getup? Are you a cheerleader???"

Mikoto followed his gaze down to her chest, her navel, and below. She quickly covered her miniskirt with both hands.

She rubbed her thighs together and blushed.

"I-I have my reasons! Like friendship, or unity, or something that started as a bit of fun but turned into representing District 7!!"

She snapped back at him, but she seemed to be her usual self.

He could not tell what had made Furashina so concerned.

Mikoto spotted the portable device attached near Kamijou's belt.

"Oh, so you're playing Virtual-On, too."

"I only started recently, though. I really don't know what I'm doing yet."

"(I see. So he's a beginner. Then he wouldn't be deep enough into it to Defect. That's good.)"

"Misaka?"

"Nyothing!!"

She shook her head, stuck her flailing hands in front of her face, and kept him from getting close.

"If I have time later, I can show you the ropes."

"Hm? But…"

"Oh, well, you know what my school is like, right? I'm afraid what would happen if it got out I had a guy's address registered. Unlike a cellphone, a lot isn't known about how the data is managed, so it might be automatically linked to some SNS and the list might be stored somewhere else where the dorm manager could see it."

"Oh, I see," was all he could find to say.

Kamijou himself wanted to avoid playing against normal players since he had Defected. Defecting happened when you destroyed your controller while playing, but he had been inspired to do so while fighting the Blue Stalker who was a Defected player. That might not happened again, but there was still a chance of him leading someone else to Defect. And if he knew the risk, he wanted to avoid forcing that on another player.

"Well, I'll be going," said Mikoto. "Oh, right."

"What is it?"

"If you see any other girls dressed like this, could you tell them I'm here?"

She clasped her hands in front of her face and made an odd request.

Kamijou looked puzzled.

"It's not like I know anyone else from Tokiwadai."

"They're not actually Tokiwadai students. But if I get into the details, I'm afraid it would give you a connection to them and cause an unwanted miracle to happen. Then again, you have a way of expanding your group of friends no matter what, so that might not help much… Well, it doesn't matter. Just please do that if you see them!"

"Sure." After that casual response, Kamijou felt a need to say more. "But, Misaka, if things get really bad, come talk to me about it. I don't want things to ever again end up like they did with that experiment."

"…"

"Don't think you've missed your chance because you didn't come to me earlier and don't a.s.sume I'll get involved on my own when things get worse. As soon as things look bad, come tell me about it. It's never too late to get a helping hand."

"You…"

Mikoto started to say something, but she swallowed the words.

And she smiled.

"Understood. I won't hesitate to get you involved next time. It doesn't matter if you're lined up at a ramen shop or if you're fighting for a one-per-customer pack of eggs. You made me promise, so don't you cry about it later."

"Sure."

Kamijou and Mikoto waved goodbye and parted ways.

After getting rid of the trash and taking a breath, the familiar girl was gone.

Only then did a fundamental question occur to him.

(What was she doing here anyway?)

He had no answer to that question.

He belatedly looked around the area.

But the familiar face he spotted was not Mikoto.

"Hi there, Kami-yan. I hear you've gotten a Defected PD and taken a step off the straight and narr