The Show Is About to Begin

"Then I'll leave Ruiko in your care. There's someone else on my end who needs waking up." Rod waved to the three girls, then quickly departed without waiting for any reaction from them.

In the blink of an eye, a gigantic black shadow swept past the window and vanished, leaving the three girls staring at one another. After a long while, Uiharu Kazari finally spoke.

"No matter what, it's really great that Saten is okay~"

"Wait, if that bastard old man can wake people who fell unconscious because of Level Upper, we need to report it to the hospital." Shirai Kuroko dialed a certain hospital and directly contacted Heaven Canceller.

"Eh? Y-yes, I understand." Shirai Kuroko had intended to tell Heaven Canceller about Rod waking Level Upper users, but Heaven Canceller cut her off first.

"What is it, Shirai?" Uiharu Kazari looked over in confusion, clearly noticing that Shirai Kuroko's reaction was off.

"The doctor said that after testing, they found one identical pattern in the brainwaves of every Level Upper user. You have to know that no two people can possibly have identical brainwaves, so perhaps..." Shirai Kuroko analyzed, only to be eagerly interrupted by Uiharu Kazari.

"That means if we can match those brainwaves in the Library, we can find the person who invented Level Upper!?"

"Can you do that?" Misaka Mikoto asked curiously.

"Yes, those records are definitely registered in the Library." As she answered, Uiharu Kazari moved to the computer and began searching.

As the sound of rapid keyboard tapping filled the room, Uiharu Kazari logged into the Library and began her search at incredible speed.

As the progress bar advanced, the three girls stared fixedly at the screen, afraid of missing even the slightest detail.

"It's here! The brainwave match rate is as high as 99%!" Uiharu Kazari cried excitedly.

"Who is it?" Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko hurriedly crowded closer, squashing Uiharu Kazari's pretty face flat.

A familiar face appeared before the girls.

"Kiyama Harumi!?" the girls cried out in unison, clearly having never expected this result.

"How could it be her?" Misaka Mikoto said in astonishment. She had never expected that Stripper Woman would be the mastermind behind Level Upper.

"The evidence is conclusive. Uiharu, contact Judgment and have Kiyama Harumi arrested!" Shirai Kuroko promptly instructed.

"Yes, I understand!" Though Uiharu Kazari was shocked, she did not hesitate. She contacted Judgment and began explaining the situation.

AIM Analysis Research Institute.

Kiyama Harumi was reviewing documents when the sound of a door being violently kicked open suddenly rang out. She looked up to see Judgment officers in uniform aiming their guns at her as they issued a warning.

"Researcher Kiyama Harumi, we are placing you under arrest on suspicion of developing Level Upper! Surrender all resistance!"

"Judgment officers... as expected, you people only move this quickly after receiving orders from above." Kiyama Harumi showed no panic whatsoever and instead replied with a hint of mockery.

"Surrender peacefully!" One Judgment officer walked toward Kiyama Harumi, only to notice that the white of her left eye was gradually turning red.

Bang! A gunshot rang out first. One of the Judgment officers collapsed unconscious, and the others instinctively raised their guns at the officer who had fired while demanding an explanation.

"What are you doing!?"

"No! It wasn't me! I didn't mean to fire!?" The shooter immediately threw down his gun and raised both hands to show his innocence.

"It's Kiyama Harumi!?" A Judgment officer who had noticed Kiyama Harumi's change shouted a warning.

The instant his words fell, a violent explosion thundered through the room, completely setting Kiyama Harumi's office ablaze.

With both hands in her pockets, Kiyama Harumi walked out of the smoke with an indifferent gaze.

"The documents have been destroyed. All that remains is the program in my hand that can undo Level Upper." Stroking the program in her hand, Kiyama Harumi muttered softly.

Driving away in a vehicle, Kiyama Harumi swiftly escaped from the AIM Analysis Research Institute.

"What? Kiyama Harumi has supernatural abilities!? And two of them? You've got to be kidding me." Listening to her subordinate's report, Yomikawa Aiho found it hard to believe.

She could understand Kiyama Harumi possessing a supernatural ability, but having two of them was something she had never heard of before.

"I understand. I've already sent ambulances to your location. Leave the rest to me." Yomikawa Aiho hung up, called together all the members, and set off by car in pursuit of Kiyama Harumi.

Inside a taxi, the three girls squeezed into the back seat, directing the driver toward Kiyama Harumi's location.

"What? How is that possible!?" Shirai Kuroko cried out, drawing the attention of the other two.

"Yes, I understand. We'll get there as soon as possible. Leave the evacuation to you."

After Shirai Kuroko hung up, the other two stared intensely at her. With a helpless sigh, Kuroko spoke.

"I just received information from Judgment. They said Kiyama Harumi used supernatural abilities—and two different ones at that."

"Two? That can't be right. Shouldn't one person only be able to possess one supernatural ability? There's never been an exception to that." Misaka Mikoto said in astonishment.

"I don't know, but that's the situation as it stands." Shirai Kuroko shook her head before answering.

"Could it be because of Level Upper? Maybe Kiyama-sensei can use the abilities of those espers who used Level Upper?" Uiharu Kazari proposed a hypothesis.

"That's impossible, isn't it? With that many abilities, how could a single person's brain possibly handle them?" Misaka Mikoto refuted.

"No, it may be possible. A system that networks the neural synapses of ten thousand espers could be called one enormous brain. If it can be controlled, it could accomplish things that a human brain alone cannot." Shirai Kuroko analyzed.

"So Kiyama-sensei is a multi-skill user—Multi-Skill (Dual Skill)." Uiharu Kazari swallowed, unable to stop herself from inwardly marveling at Kiyama Harumi's intelligence.

ITEM's gathering place.

The procedure was roughly the same as with Ruiko, but Frenda did not crave abilities as intensely as Saten Ruiko did, and thus she had yet to awaken her ability.

"How is it, old man? Can't Frenda super-awaken?" Kinuhata Saiai asked worriedly.

"It's nothing serious. I just don't know whether her ability will still be there after she wakes up." Rod shrugged. Through the process of altering her brain, Frenda had already become half a sorcerer, but if she could not awaken an ability on her own to obtain an innate technique, then she still would not gain an ability.

They could, however, learn basic cursed techniques such as cursed energy and barriers.

The thought of Frenda having to learn how to throw punches like Itadori, combined with that classic scene from a certain anime—Rim throwing punches—made Rod chuckle involuntarily.

"Mr. Rod, Kiyama Harumi has been put on the wanted list." Takitsubo Rikou reported to Rod with the same expressionless face as ever.

"So soon? Looks like Kuroko and the others noticed." Rod snapped back to attention, an intrigued look appearing on his face.

"Then let's go. The show's about to begin!" Rod grinned as he directed ITEM's four—no, now a trio. One of them was still lying on the bed, lost in a flood of memories.