Evening. District 2 — Schicksal Research Institute, Production Plant No. 1, Rear Entrance.
Under the setting sun, Selene ignored the nearby patrol robots and strolled leisurely, gazing over the dramatically transformed facilities of the Schicksal Research Institute like a tourist, her expression calm and relaxed.
"Tsk tsk, Shuji Matsuzaki really did it—he actually figured out how to make 'Soulsteel.'" Though it was only a low-grade, incomplete version, barely scratching the surface of the true material, it was enough to fill Selene's mind with possibilities.
By infusing materials with Honkai energy, one could forge immensely powerful weapons.
Ordinary materials couldn't normally withstand the process—true Honkai weapons could only be made using Soulsteel, a legendary alloy that only the previous civilization of the Honkai world had been capable of producing. Neither Schicksal nor Anti-Entropy had been able to recreate it; they could only scavenge it.
But that didn't bother Selene. There was no rush—progress must come step by step. The inability to create proper materials was only temporary. She could start small, producing lower-performance variants to build up technical experience. And with her core nearing completion, she'd soon be able to travel to new worlds in search of rarer resources.
With this foundation in place, could true Soulsteel really be that far off?
"I've already told Aoki to package up all the technical data. This project will be worth developing properly." Comforting her restless mind with a dose of optimism, Selene sensed the mountain of data and partially disassembled production lines stored within her dimensional space and nodded in satisfaction.
"Hmm... wait a second, did I forget something? Oh, right—my car."
...
The sun was setting. In a nearby parking lot, Misaka Mikoto had just spent an exhausting amount of effort helping Kiyama Harumi locate her car. After finally watching Kiyama drive off in a blue Lamborghini, she looked at the sky and sighed heavily, her expression one of pure exasperation.
"Seriously, how does someone even forget where they parked?!"
"Ugh, why do I always end up making things hard for myself... It's all that guy's fault. Next time I see him, he's gonna pay for this!" Dragging her tired body along, the thought of a certain spiky-haired boy made Mikoto's temper flare instantly.
"Ahhhh!!!"
Just then, a loud, pained scream echoed from around the corner. The familiar voice immediately caught her attention.
Rushing toward the source, Mikoto found none other than that same spiky-haired "unlucky boy," Kamijou Touma, sitting on the ground beside the shattered remains of a dozen broken eggs, his face twisted in despair.
"All gone... my precious protein source... I waited two hours in line for these..." he muttered dejectedly.
Sensing someone behind him, Kamijou instinctively turned around. "Ah?"
"Ha?"
"Found you! You actually ditched me earlier and ran off on your own, leaving me to deal with everything?!" Mikoto snapped, glaring at him furiously.
"For a broke student like me, getting the discount groceries is a matter of life and death! There's no way a Tokiwadai princess like you could understand that!" Kamijou shot back, holding up the cracked egg carton like evidence in his defense.
"I've been through plenty myself today! First I had to strip in public, then I had to wash someone's skirt, and after all that I still got called a tsund—" Halfway through her rant, Mikoto's eyes widened as she realized what she had almost said.
...Silence...
"'Tsund...'? What's that supposed to mean?" Kamijou asked, tilting his head in confusion.
In an instant, Mikoto's entire face turned bright red. Steam practically rose from her head like a boiling kettle. (Steam Princess mode activated.)
Just as the awkward silence thickened, a cool, calm voice broke through it.
"'Tsund...'? What's that?" Selene's voice came from behind them. Stepping closer, she gave the pair a puzzled look. "And what exactly are you two doing?"
Seeing that it was Selene, Mikoto immediately relaxed, seizing the chance to change the subject. She forced a laugh. "Haha, nothing! Just... nothing! By the way, Selene, what are you doing here?"
"What else would I be doing at a parking lot? Getting my car, obviously. And wait—aren't you that pervert, Kamijou? Why are you sitting on the ground like your whole life just ended?" Selene asked, giving them both an amused, slightly mocking look.
"For the record, I'm not a pervert! This is a misunderstanding! The perverts are Tsuchimikado and the blue-haired earring freak! I'm just an innocent victim who got dragged along!" Kamijou blurted out defensively, throwing his friends under the bus without hesitation after catching Selene's judgmental glare.
"Hmm? You two know each other?" Seeing how casually Selene teased Kamijou Touma, Misaka Mikoto couldn't help but feel a strange twinge of unease deep down. Her eyes flicked briefly to Selene's big chest, then down to her own, and she couldn't stop the sigh that escaped her lips.
"Yeah, you could say we've met a few times," Selene replied smoothly while also noticing the shattered eggs and scattered groceries on the ground.
"I see." Hearing the answer she wanted, Misaka's heart calmed down instantly.
Meanwhile, Selene smirked at Kamijou's pitiful appearance. "So, Kamijou, did you fall again? Tsk, you really are an unlucky one. Counting the two times I saw you wipe out back at that high school, this makes three. Do your groceries ever make it home intact?"
"Gah! I know I'm unlucky, but do you really have to rub it in like that?! And what's with saying my groceries never make it home safely?! That's—well... okay, it's true—but still, you don't have to say it out loud like that!"
Remembering how, just the other day, he'd tripped twice—once at noon and once that evening—right after escaping Tsuchimikado and Blue-Hair Earrings, Kamijou's expression turned even gloomier. His misery was so palpable it practically radiated through the alley.
"Such misfortune!!!" he cried, his voice echoing through the narrow street like a declaration to the heavens.
Selene shook her head in disbelief. "Tsk tsk... what a hopelessly unlucky person." She was about to say goodbye to Mikoto and leave when something unexpected happened.
Mikoto suddenly grabbed her arm, pulling her aside with a strangely serious expression. "Selene, have you ever heard of an ability that can nullify any power?" she asked in a low, almost conspiratorial tone.
"Hm? Sure, I've heard of it—it's one of those urban legends, right?" Selene replied casually. Of course, she couldn't exactly say that she knew the person who actually possessed that ability was standing right there in front of them. Instead, she slipped into her best "innocent curiosity" act and raised an eyebrow. "Wait... you don't mean him, do you?"
Mikoto nodded solemnly, meeting Selene's eyes. "That's right. It's him. I've run into him a few times before—no matter how I attack, my electricity just vanishes. This time, I plan to have a proper fight with him."
Selene blinked, momentarily taken aback. Wow... she actually trusts me this much? For a girl as prideful and guarded as Misaka Mikoto, sharing something like this wasn't small talk—it was almost intimate.
Still, while a flicker of surprise crossed her heart, Selene's face showed nothing but mild amusement. She glanced at Kamijou again, her eyes saying plainly that she couldn't take him seriously as a threat. That guy? Really? He looks too weak to even bother with.
"You'll see soon enough," Mikoto said firmly, her determination burning bright in her eyes. Without another word, she strode straight toward Kamijou Touma.