Inside the Schicksal Research Institute's office, Selene sat behind her desk, deep in thought.
Yesterday, when she had met Kamijou Touma, she hadn't just used electricity to startle them—she had also secretly used a faint trace of her spatial ability to make contact with Kamijou's right hand. As expected, her power was immediately nullified.
This meant she needed to start thinking of countermeasures. Selene had no intention of someday being on the receiving end of Kamijou Touma's so-called "Friendship Breaker Punch."
Although she had watched A Certain Magical Index in her previous life, she hadn't seen the entire series—just bits and pieces. Most of what she knew came from browsing certain forums online, where both authors and commenters were creative geniuses. Their discussions were often more entertaining than the original work itself.
The power attached to Kamijou Touma's right hand—the Imagine Breaker—was a unique ability capable of erasing any supernatural force, whether good or evil, regardless of whether it was esper power or magic.
Imagine Breaker wasn't magic—it was something that could neither be recognized nor analyzed as magic. It wasn't esper power either, as it emitted no AIM field and even actively erased nearby AIM fields.
Since Imagine Breaker was a power Touma had possessed since birth, it clearly existed before he ever entered Academy City. Therefore, it wasn't a product of the city's ability development programs.
The essence of Imagine Breaker was said to be "the crystallization of all magicians' desires"—the wish to repair, restore, and remain connected to this world. When magic reached its ultimate potential, it could distort reality at will—but once the world was twisted, returning to the "original world" became impossible.
However, if there existed something unaffected by magic, then even a distorted world could still retain its original form, serving as an anchor—a reference point that could restore everything back to normal.
That "reference point of restoration" was the true essence of Imagine Breaker. It removed all influences imposed on the world by different phases, restoring it to its unaltered state—preserving only the physical laws.
Even though Imagine Breaker constantly destroyed supernatural forces that maintained the balance of the world, it was still a kind of natural destruction—like fallen leaves decomposing to nourish the soil.
Despite its seemingly overpowered nature, Imagine Breaker had one fatal flaw: its effective range was extremely small. Only the part directly touched by Touma's right hand could nullify supernatural powers—if he were hit elsewhere, he could still be injured.
Moreover, only supernatural forces could be negated. Any secondary effects unrelated to supernatural energy—such as a magical explosion's shockwave or debris—could not be erased. Against ordinary humans or conventional weapons, Imagine Breaker was useless.
Realizing this weakness, Selene relaxed. "So basically, as long as I don't rely on abilities, I'm fine. Considering my own superhuman strength and tenacity, not to mention if I carry a handgun, as long as I don't miss every shot, it should be an easy win."
Feeling reassured, Selene sighed in relief. There were plenty of possible countermeasures, after all.
Draining the air around him; teleporting an entire building to crush him; triggering earthquakes or tsunamis through spatial quakes; controlling temperature to extreme highs or lows—all were viable options.
And if none of that worked, she could always just retreat. If I escape beyond the solar system, there's no way Kamijou Touma could chase me there, right?
...
In a pitch-black room, light from below illuminated a girl's chin, casting eerie shadows across her face.
"This... is something that happened to my senior's friend's boyfriend in real life. It was a scorching summer night. As he passed through a deserted park, he encountered a woman standing alone. She asked him for directions to the station. Just as he kindly explained the way... the melancholy woman suddenly raised her hand..."
As the atmosphere built to its peak, the black-haired girl glanced eerily at the four other girls sitting in front of her. Three of them couldn't endure the creepy tone and swallowed nervously in unison.
Then the black-haired girl continued: "That sorrowful woman slowly lifted her hand... and suddenly—whoosh!—she took off her shirt!"
The girls around her exchanged confused looks.
"Hey! That's not scary at all!" Misaka Mikoto stood up abruptly, throwing off the black cloth that had been covering her.
"Honestly, after all that buildup, that story was... disappointing." Shirai Kuroko frowned, clearly unimpressed. "You really ruined the mood, Saten."
"Saten-san, what kind of story was that?" Uiharu Kazari looked at her friend, completely baffled by her taste.
"I thought it'd be something scary, but this? So boring." Selene also voiced her disapproval.
"Eh? Senpai, you've heard of it before? But think about it—if this really happened to you, wouldn't you be terrified? The sudden stripping woman! The urban legend of the Stripping Lady!" Saten Ruiko puffed her cheeks, clearly unhappy that no one appreciated her beloved urban legend.
"Not scary." Misaka Mikoto said flatly. "That's just a pervert with exhibitionism."
"Hey, hey, look at this!" Uiharu Kazari suddenly perked up, remembering something. She pulled out her laptop and waved everyone over. "Have you guys seen this? It's a whole forum dedicated to Academy City urban legends! Super detailed, too!"
"Hm?"
Everyone gathered around. On the screen was indeed a forum specializing in urban legends.
Shirai Kuroko took one glance and sighed, sitting back down with little interest. "Don't waste your time on those silly sites. Urban legends are all nonsense anyway. This is Academy City, the city of science. Those supernatural stories can't possibly be real."
"How dull! You're no fun at all," Saten Ruiko pouted at Kuroko's comment.
"Not necessarily," Selene interjected, her tone calm but serious. "While exaggerated, many of these stories are based on real events. There's always a trace of truth behind them."
"Eh? Selene-senpai, you actually know which ones are real?"
"I only know some of them," Selene replied. "For example—'Why Do Wind Turbine Rotors Often Malfunction?' Can you guess who that one's about?"
The group thought for a moment, then, as if on cue, turned their eyes toward Misaka Mikoto. Feeling their stares, Misaka laughed awkwardly. "Eh... surely... it's not about me... right?"
"What do you think?" Selene said dryly. Everyone knew that the countless power outages across the School Districts were usually tied to Misaka's actions.
"Look at this one!" Saten Ruiko exclaimed excitedly. "A legend about an ageless girl! Wow... what an enviable ability!"
"And this one—some tragic love story where two guys fought over a girl, and she beat them both half to death..."
"Cough—wait a second." Selene cleared her throat, finally losing patience. She stood up and leaned over the table toward Uiharu. "Let me see that laptop."
"Eh? Selene-senpai, you're interested too?" Uiharu asked with surprise.
"Just curious," Selene said seriously, taking the laptop. Her expression darkened as she began scrolling through the forum posts, reading line by line. Even Shirai Kuroko, who had been uninterested earlier, now leaned in to read as well.
[Why Do Wind Turbine Rotors Often Malfunction?]
[Stripping Lady]
[Level Upper]
[The Ageless Legend of Academy City]
[The Love and Hate of the Top Three Level 5s]
[The Guardian Angel]
[The Man Who Nullifies All Powers]
[The Guide]
[The Brutal One]
[The Elixir of Immortality]
[The Artificial Lake in District 18]
...
As she read through each so-called "urban legend," Selene's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. Ignoring the ones clearly referring to herself, she murmured, "Quite a few of these... are actually real."
[The Man Who Nullifies All Powers]—upon reading that title, Misaka Mikoto fell silent. That description... she had encountered something like that before.
She couldn't help but remember the day she was harassed by delinquents—and the spiky-haired boy who had come to her rescue.
"Interesting, isn't it?" Saten Ruiko said with a grin, noticing Misaka's distracted expression. "Mikoto-senpai, do you think that one's real?"
"Oh? Uh... maybe." Misaka's answer was vague, her thoughts clearly elsewhere.
"Most of these are exaggerated clickbait, but some of them are real," Selene said. "For example, 'The Guardian Angel of Academy City's Network'—I think we all know who that refers to."
At that, everyone turned their gaze toward Uiharu Kazari. Indeed, this seemingly ordinary girl was secretly one of the city's top hackers—the true identity behind the so-called Guardian Angel of the network.
"And this one—'The Ageless Legend of Academy City'—is also true. Maybe someday, I can even introduce you all to her."
"Wow, really? So a lot of these urban legends are actually real!" Saten Ruiko jumped up in excitement. "That's so cool! Then... what about the Stripping Lady one?"
At her question, even Shirai Kuroko—the staunch skeptic—remained silent. After all, there were now two real urban legends standing right among them, one of whom was her beloved Onee-sama. That was a lot to take in.
"Maybe someday, one of us will actually run into the Stripping Lady," Selene said suddenly, smirking as she shot a meaningful glance at Misaka Mikoto.