Chapter Summaries

Chen Fan agreed to protect Index while Stiyl and Kanzaki left to investigate the Church’s memory alteration. On Academy City’s physical examination day, researchers tested Chen Fan’s Vector Manipulation and found that even his restrained power crushed the steel platform.

• Stiyl and Kanzaki told Chen Fan they would investigate why Index’s memories held no trace of them, and Chen Fan agreed to protect her.
• Stiyl and Kanzaki bowed to Chen Fan and vanished into the night.
• Academy City announced its scheduled esper examinations, while news reports continued to cover the destroyed satellite.
• Teacher Komoe brought Chen Fan to the Level 5 testing site, where researchers prepared to measure his ability.
• Chen Fan stomped on the steel testing platform and caved it in, knocking several researchers off balance.

After confirming he was a Level 5 esper, Chen Fan went to visit Kamijou Touma and Index at the hospital but ran into Misaka Mikoto and Saten Ruiko instead. The chapter ended with Saten mistaking Chen Fan and Misaka Mikoto for a couple, prompting Misaka to protest.

• Chen Fan passed Academy City's tests and was confirmed to be a Level 5 esper, delighting Tsukuyomi Komoe.
• Chen Fan decided to visit the hospitalized Kamijou Touma and Index after his physical examination.
• Chen Fan encountered Misaka Mikoto and Saten Ruiko and teased Misaka until she accidentally damaged cleaning robots with her electricity.
• Saten Ruiko invited Chen Fan and Misaka Mikoto for drinks and then assumed they were a couple, which Misaka denied.

Saten Ruiko asked Chen Fan and Misaka Mikoto about being espers and how people gained supernatural abilities. Chen Fan explained that Academy City’s massive AIM Field and its curriculum enabled abilities to emerge, leaving Saten and Mikoto with his theory.

• Saten Ruiko teased Misaka Mikoto and Chen Fan about being a couple, prompting Mikoto to argue with Chen.
• Saten recognized Chen Fan as the esper who had saved her and asked what it felt like to be an esper.
• Chen Fan asked why espers existed only in Academy City, and Saten attributed it to the city’s technology.
• Chen Fan said Academy City’s vast AIM Field and its curriculum enabled students to develop abilities, and explained how personal beliefs could align with the field to produce powers.
• Misaka Mikoto objected that espers kept their powers outside Academy City, and Chen Fan clarified that he meant people who had not yet gained abilities.

Chen Fan discussed urban legends and esper abilities with Misaka Mikoto and Saten Ruiko, including the rumored Imaginary Hand. The group then talked about serial bombings and planned to go shopping together.

• Chen Fan told Saten Ruiko to call him Brother Chen Fan and offered to help if anyone bullied her, while Misaka Mikoto accused him of flirting.
• Saten Ruiko asked whether esper abilities could be forcibly granted or strengthened, and Chen Fan warned that external enhancement could burden the body.
• Saten Ruiko mentioned the Imaginary Hand urban legend, which supposedly gave people esper abilities or strengthened existing ones.
• Chen Fan asked about Uiharu and Kuroko, and Misaka Mikoto explained that they were busy investigating serial bombings caused by objects exploding from within.
• Saten Ruiko invited Chen Fan to go clothes shopping with her and Misaka Mikoto, and Chen Fan joked about buying swimsuits or underwear before Misaka Mikoto corrected him.

Chen Fan, Saten Ruiko, and Misaka Mikoto went shopping, where Saten tried on swimsuits and Misaka confronted Chen over watching her. Their outing was interrupted when Uiharu Kasumi arrived and was surprised to see Chen Fan, now a Level 5 esper.

• Saten Ruiko asked Chen Fan for his opinion on a swimsuit and tried it on while he watched.
• Misaka Mikoto pulled Saten away from Chen and argued that he was taking advantage of her.
• Saten asked whether Misaka and Chen were dating, and Misaka denied it; Saten privately thought she still had a chance.
• Misaka chased Chen after he insulted her, and he hid behind Saten.
• Uiharu Kasumi arrived and was surprised to see Chen Fan in person.

Chen Fan confronted the serial bomber after Misaka Mikoto shielded Uiharu from an exploding plushie. He gathered the bomber’s shrinking soda-can bombs and survived their blast, leaving the culprit stunned as Chen Fan’s ability activated.

• Uiharu evacuated the crowd, but Shirai Kuroko warned her that the bomber was targeting Disciplinary Committee members.
• A girl delivered a shrinking frog plushie to Uiharu, and Misaka Mikoto threw it away and shielded her as it exploded.
• Chen Fan jumped down unharmed, stopped the bomber from escaping, and accused him of causing the serial bombings.
• The bomber threw shrinking soda cans toward the crowd, and Chen Fan gathered them all before they exploded in his hands.
• Chen Fan spoke from the smoke, unharmed, as the sound of an ability activating rang out.

Chen Fan protected Misaka Mikoto and her friends from a serial bomber, then visited Kamijou Touma and returned to school, where his rescue made him a celebrated figure. He began analyzing the magical formulas from Index’s attack as he prepared for possible future encounters with angels.

• Chen Fan deflected the bomber’s explosion without injury, and Misaka Mikoto subdued the culprit with electricity.
• The Security Force arrived to arrest the bomber, while Misaka Mikoto, Shirai Kuroko, Saten Ruiko, and Uiharu thanked Chen Fan for protecting them.
• Chen Fan declined the group’s invitation to eat, visited the hospitalized Kamijou Touma and Index, and later rested while analyzing the formulas he had intercepted.
• Chen Fan returned to school the next day, where newspapers praised his rescue and classmates gave him attention, including several love letters.

Chen Fan stopped a group of delinquents from attacking a Tokiwadai student and learned from Shirai Kuroko that Imaginary Hand had brought more espers and trouble to Academy City. After Shirai Kuroko left to answer another call, Chen Fan went to meet Saten Ruiko at a café, where several boys approached her.

• Chen Fan rescued a Tokiwadai student from delinquents who had attacked her and another student, then made the group admit their victims had not bullied them.
• Shirai Kuroko arrived and offered Chen Fan a Disciplinary Committee position, but he declined and teased her about keeping him away from her Onee-sama.
• Shirai Kuroko told Chen Fan that Imaginary Hand had increased the number of espers causing trouble around Academy City.
• Chen Fan and Shirai Kuroko received calls at the same time; Shirai Kuroko left to help elsewhere, while Chen Fan headed to meet Saten Ruiko.
• Chen Fan found Saten Ruiko sitting alone at a café, where several boys moved toward her.

Chen Fan arrived at a shop where Saten Ruiko was being harassed and quickly defeated the men who confronted them. He asked the clerk to call the Disciplinary Committee, then left with Saten Ruiko for another shop.

• Three men tried to force Saten Ruiko to go with them, but she refused and waited for Chen Fan.
• Chen Fan arrived and mocked the men, who revealed their superpowers and attacked him.
• Chen Fan stopped one man's punch with a finger and knocked him unconscious with a touch to the chest.
• The other men attacked Chen Fan, but he defeated them and told the clerk to call the Disciplinary Committee.
• Chen Fan and Saten Ruiko left for another shop in the busy area.

Chen Fan and Saten Ruiko discussed the people using Imaginary Hand to gain or boost psychic powers, and Ruiko hesitated to take out her phone. Later, Chen Fan ran into Misaka Mikoto at a vending machine, where Shirai Kuroko suddenly appeared beside her.

• Saten Ruiko apologized to Chen Fan for their earlier outing being interrupted, and Chen Fan reassured her as they sat down at a café.
• Chen Fan explained that Imaginary Hand had given some people psychic powers or increased their abilities, and warned that forced enhancement could have side effects.
• Saten Ruiko admitted she understood why someone desperate for powers might use Imaginary Hand, and Chen Fan said the important thing was how people used their abilities.
• Saten Ruiko and Chen Fan chatted until she left for remedial lessons, while she repeatedly touched her phone but never took it out.
• Chen Fan saw Misaka Mikoto perform an Auto-Repair Roundhouse Kick at a vending machine, then sat nearby as they exchanged awkward remarks.
• Shirai Kuroko suddenly appeared beside Misaka Mikoto and called out to her.

Chen Fan took Shirai Kuroko’s Imaginary Hand audio file after disrupting her Spatial Teleportation and began listening to it. Misaka Mikoto and Kuroko could only watch as he went ahead despite their concerns about the file’s side effects.

• Shirai Kuroko found Misaka Mikoto with Chen Fan and explained the day’s incidents involving Imaginary Hand.
• Chen Fan asked Kuroko for the audio file, saying he wanted to investigate who had made it.
• Kuroko refused to hand over the file because using Imaginary Hand violated regulations and could have side effects.
• Chen Fan interfered with Kuroko’s AIM Diffusion Field, preventing her from teleporting, and took her phone.
• Chen Fan put on earphones and began listening to Imaginary Hand as Mikoto and Kuroko watched helplessly.

Chen Fan discovered that the Imaginary Hand used a shared electrical signal to enhance espers, but its core had evolved into a hostile Thought Body. He redirected its attack into Shirai Kuroko’s phone, leaving Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko stunned by the danger and his power.

• Chen Fan connected his brainwaves to the Imaginary Hand’s signal and traced the users’ brainwaves to a growing program at its core.
• A blood-red eye appeared and attacked Chen Fan with an electrical wave, which caused Shirai Kuroko’s phone to smoke and break.
• Shirai Kuroko mourned the lost contents of her phone, and Misaka Mikoto shocked her after learning what she had saved.
• Chen Fan explained that the signal could enhance esper abilities and that a Thought Body formed from the thoughts of nearly ten thousand people had attacked him.
• Chen Fan said he had redirected the attack into the phone, and Misaka Mikoto questioned how he had overcome so much computational power.

After Chen Fan’s intrusion into the Thought Body left Imaginary Hand users unconscious, Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko helped investigate the cause. They identified brain physiology expert Kiyama Harumi as a match for the strange brainwaves and rushed to pursue her after learning she was fleeing.

• Chen Fan told Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko that he had alerted the Thought Body, and Uiharu called to report that arrested Imaginary Hand users had all collapsed.
• Misaka Mikoto, Shirai Kuroko, and Chen Fan went to the hospital, where a doctor found the unconscious students shared an unusual brainwave frequency.
• Chen Fan explained that the same brainwave segment had invaded his mind, and Uiharu searched Academy City’s records for its owner.
• Uiharu found a match in Kiyama Harumi, a brain physiology expert who researched AIM Field diffusion.
• Shirai Kuroko called the security department to arrest Kiyama Harumi, then left with Misaka Mikoto after learning Kiyama was fleeing.

Chen Fan learned that Saten Ruiko had also used the Imaginary Hand and rushed to intercept Kiyama Harumi, who was fleeing the Security Force. After Kiyama attacked the officers, Chen Fan demanded the Imaginary Hand treatment program, but she froze him in a block of ice.

• Uiharu Kasumi told Chen Fan that Saten Ruiko had used the Imaginary Hand, fallen unconscious, and was on her way by ambulance.
• Chen Fan reassured Uiharu and flew off at great speed to find Saten.
• Chen Fan landed on the bridge highway and collapsed the road, stopping Kiyama Harumi’s car as the Security Force pursued her.
• Kiyama Harumi deflected the Security Force’s bullets and attacked the officers with fire and ice.
• Chen Fan stopped Kiyama Harumi’s ice attack and demanded the treatment program, but she launched more ice at him and froze him.
• Kiyama Harumi said she would become Academy City’s enemy if necessary to save her students.

Chen Fan confronted Kiyama Harumi to destroy the Imaginary Hand network, which had left his friend unconscious and was fluctuating because he had infiltrated it. After easily overpowering Kiyama Harumi, he sent her beneath the damaged highway, where she struggled back to her feet as the Security Force watched.

• The Security Force fired at Chen Fan, but Kiyama Harumi blasted several members away and Chen Fan shattered the ice encasing him.
• Kiyama Harumi teleported a car above Chen Fan and detonated it, but he stopped the car and emerged unharmed.
• Chen Fan told Kiyama Harumi that he had infiltrated Imaginary Hand and intended to destroy it because her ability had knocked his friend unconscious.
• Kiyama Harumi attacked Chen Fan with multiple esper abilities, but he dodged the road opening and broke through her barriers, light sword, and defenses.
• Chen Fan struck Kiyama Harumi and sent her beneath the damaged highway, then descended as she struggled to her feet and the Security Force watched.

Kiyama Harumi’s runaway Fantasy Network gave birth to the growing Fantasy Beast, and Chen Fan discovered that its true core was a triangular prism-like crystal linked to the connected students. The Fantasy Beast fled toward a nuclear power plant, but Chen Fan intercepted it and reflected its ice attack, leaving the monster damaged but regenerating and growing larger.

• Kiyama Harumi collapsed as glowing information streams formed the Fantasy Beast from her body.
• The Fantasy Beast’s piercing cry and growing body overwhelmed the Security Force, while their bullets had no effect.
• Chen Fan used his Twelve-Hook Jade Rinnegan to see the Fantasy Beast’s formation and identify its crystallized core, then cut down its tentacles to protect the officers.
• The Security Force captain recognized Chen Fan as a Level 5 esper and told the officers not to interfere.
• The Fantasy Beast flew toward a nuclear power plant, so Chen Fan intercepted it before it could reach the facility.
• The Fantasy Beast attacked Chen Fan with ice, but he reflected the blow and tore away part of its body as it regenerated and grew larger.

Chen Fan defeated the Fantasy Beast and took its crystal, while Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko arrived and found Kiyama Harumi. The group headed back to deal with the unconscious students, and Kiyama’s casual talk of improving her network drew Shirai’s anger.

• Chen Fan destroyed the Fantasy Beast by severing its connection to its core and stored the dark golden crystal in his Divine Kingdom.
• Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko arrived, and Shirai identified Kiyama Harumi as a suspect in the Imaginary Hand incident.
• Chen Fan explained that the Fantasy Beast had formed from over ten thousand people’s thoughts and threatened Academy City as it absorbed the AIM Field.
• Misaka Mikoto thanked Chen Fan, then chased him after he teased her, until Shirai reminded them that the treatment program and unconscious students needed attention.
• Chen Fan caught Misaka Mikoto when she crashed into him, then went with the others to return and check on the students.
• Chen Fan told Kiyama Harumi that her Fantasy Network needed a more stable host, and Shirai rebuked Kiyama for suggesting she would improve it next time.

Kiyama Harumi explained that she created Imaginary Hand to treat the students left comatose by a failed experiment, then gave Chen Fan its treatment program. After the affected students recovered, Saten Ruiko admitted she still wanted an esper ability, and Chen Fan began removing his eyepatch, saying he would help make her dream come true.

• Kiyama Harumi told Shirai Kuroko and Chen Fan about her students' comas and gave Chen Fan the treatment program for Imaginary Hand.
• Chen Fan explained that Saten Ruiko was the person he wanted to save, and Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko worried about their friend.
• Chen Fan and the others used the program at the hospital, stabilizing the affected students' brainwaves and confirming they could recover.
• Saten Ruiko told Chen Fan she had used Imaginary Hand because she still dreamed of gaining an ability and feared her classmates had been hurt because of her.
• Chen Fan comforted Saten Ruiko, promised to help her gain an ability, and began removing the eyepatch over his right eye.

Chen Fan used Illusion Magic to give Saten Ruiko a gift, while Stiyl Magnus learned about a mission involving a girl imprisoned by a magician and was told Chen Fan could be a helper or a target. The next morning, Index woke Chen Fan and explained that Kamijou Touma had gone to tutoring.

• Chen Fan placed Saten Ruiko under Illusion Magic and left her to wake with the gift she had long wanted.
• Stiyl Magnus met Aleister Crowley, who asked him to deal with a magician imprisoning a young girl and suggested Kamijou Touma or Chen Fan as a helper.
• Aleister told Stiyl that Chen Fan was also his mission target, but refused to explain whether Chen Fan belonged to the science side or the magic side.
• Index woke Chen Fan by sitting on his blanket and shaking it, then said she had entered his room with a hairpin while Kamijou Touma was at tutoring.

Chen Fan took Index out to eat after discovering she had repeatedly raided his food, and their bickering continued as they walked. He gave in to her demand for McDonald's, leaving Index to question his joke about Kanzaki.

• Index asked Chen Fan to take her out to eat because she had emptied his fridge and snacks.
• Chen Fan confronted Index, who admitted she had sneaked into his room five times to eat his food.
• Chen Fan agreed to take Index out, and she complained about Kamijou Touma while they walked.
• Index pointed at ice cream, but Chen Fan teased her and suggested McDonald's instead.
• Chen Fan joked that Kanzaki might accuse him of abusing Index, and Index asked who Kanzaki was before realizing he was teasing her.