"How could a normal human possibly grow at that kind of speed? That's obviously just a boy's delusion!"
Shokuhou Misaki complained to herself as she examined the image of herself within Kobayashi's memory data.
Well, it wasn't exactly surprising. After all, in Kobayashi's impression, the labels attached to Shokuhou Misaki—aside from "Level 5" and "Queen"—basically boiled down to just one more thing:
Huge chest.
After inwardly scorning him for a while, Shokuhou Misaki calmed down and began thinking again.
"But~ even though there are inaccurate parts overall, his information is still… useful."
She decided to look for another opportunity to extract more ofKobayashi's so-called "future memories," and to investigate and verify them personally.
After all, certain fragmented scenes she had seen in those memories were enough to make her uneasy—she simply couldn't ignore them.
If… if Kobayashi's memories really were accurate, then she would have to take action.
Tragedies, if possible, should be reduced as much as they can be.
"What's wrong, Shokuhou-kun?"
The driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror and asked, "You seem to have been talking to yourself this whole time."
"Oh, it's nothing," Shokuhou Misaki immediately smiled.
"I was just thinking that maybe I should find some kind of tool to help with my ability. It might improve its precision."
"I see. That is a good idea," the driver nodded.
"Something like Mitsuari-kun's method? Using a phone camera?"
"No~"
Shokuhou Misaki narrowed her eyes slightly.
"I want to try… a remote control."
________________________________________
The uproar surrounding the so-called "hospital murder" incident quickly came to an end. Under the hospitals' and Anti-Skill's strict control, the impact was minimized, and normal operations were not disrupted.
As one of the parties involved, Kobayashi was finally able to rest and recuperate in peace. Thanks to the assassination attempt, his overall treatment had been upgraded across the board—Anti-Skill was just short of assigning someone to guard him in his hospital room full-time.
That said, Kobayashi was ultimately just an orphan. Even if he was a victim of an illegal experiment, his amnesia meant he couldn't provide any valuable intelligence. Naturally, Anti-Skill wasn't going to give him twenty-four-hour personal protection.
Only Yomikawa Aiho and a few other Anti-Skill teachers in charge of the case came by the hospital from time to time to conduct inspections. The rest was left to the barrel-shaped security robots scattered throughout Academy City.
Still, now that precautions were in place, incidents like what happened with Doctor Yamamoto wouldn't happen again.
Kbayashi had no objections to this arrangement. To be honest, he wasn't used to having guards around him all day—it made him feel like some kind of criminal suspect.
What pleased him even more was that he now had a private hospital room.
After the hospital murder incident, Tiger Peak Toumi had completed her discharge procedures and left the hospital.
This made Kobayashi breathe a long sigh of relief.
It wasn't that he was that afraid of Tiger Peak Toumi…
Okay, fine—she was pretty terrifying.
Even counting his previous life before transmigrating, this had been the first time Lin Wang had ever fought someone. And the very first fight had escalated straight into a brutal, life-or-death struggle. If not for the golden combination of "bullet time" and his telekinetic ability protecting him, he would have been dead for sure!
Ignoring the right side of her face, Tiger Peak Toumi looked like nothing more than a petite blonde beauty—but her methods were far too ruthless.
Crashing in through a window and stabbing him seven times in one second… that was the kind of thing you couldn't forget even if you wanted to.
It was as if killing someone was just an ordinary, everyday task for her.
Someone like that and an ordinary person like Lin Wang were fundamentally different kinds of beings. If possible, keeping a respectful distance was definitely the better choice.
At heart, Lin Wang was just an unambitious ordinary guy. He planned to live off scholarships and lie flat through life—why would he want to fight people to the death?
Not to mention that the other party was a girl even younger than him, and one with Anti-Skill backing her up. How could an orphan like him possibly afford to offend someone like that?
"Things like this are pretty nice…"
At the moment, Lin Wang was living quite happily. Aside from the various injuries that made him uncomfortable, things were almost perfect.
He was reclining on his hospital bed. In front of him floated a tablet computer and a glass of fruit juice. Slightly farther away, an apple hovered in midair, along with a fruit knife, carefully peeling its skin.
All of this was being done by Kobayashi's telekinetic ability, which he had shaped into multiple invisible "arms."
Eating and drinking at the same time, he was also urgently "catching up on studies"—that is, surfing the internet at high intensity, familiarizing himself with the world he now lived in, and preparing for his upcoming "entry into society."
After surviving both a high-rise fall and a failed assassination, Kobayashi could be said to have reached the point where fortune followed calamity. Not only had he awakened supernatural abilities and become a Level 3 strong esper, but he had also taken the opportunity to establish ties with Anti-Skill.
Perhaps feeling that her own work mistakes had indirectly led to Kobayashi becoming a target of assassination, Yomikawa Aiho had taken especially good care of him. Using Anti-Skill's convenience, she even helped him resolve his identity documentation.
In Academy City, more than sixty-five percent of residents were underage students, so the standard form of identification was a student ID.
But Kobayashi had previously been part of the "Refinement Group," and had gone straight from an orphanage into an illegal research institute without any gap. He was only slightly better off than an undocumented person. He had never attended school at all, so naturally, he didn't have a physical student ID.
His identity had only been confirmed through DNA matching and records registered in the "Library."
But now, everything was taken care of.
Yomikawa Aiho had personally run through all the procedures, secured him a student ID, and even found a school for him. Once Kobayashi recovered and was discharged, he would be able to start attending classes immediately.
All he needed to do now was catch up on his studies as much as possible so he could keep up with normal teaching progress.
According to his identity information, Kobayashi Nana was currently fourteen years old, around the age for the second year of middle school.
Considering that he had never received a formal education, Yomikawa Aiho had originally planned to place him in a lower grade. But Kobayashi had refused.
—Are you kidding me? Even though I've already graduated and worked for years, I'm still a proper bachelor's degree holder! High-school content might be another story, but middle-school-level courses? There's no way I'd need to repeat or drop grades!
Straight to second-year middle school. No hesitation.
Lin Wang had full confidence in his knowledge base and learning ability.
In fact, if he weren't aiming to lie flat and enjoy his new life, he could push himself a bit, skip grades, jump straight to senior year, and fight it out with the exam candidates to the bitter end if he really wanted to.
But why bother?
With a generous scholarship arriving every month—more than enough to live comfortably—why not just take it easy in middle school, coast along, and enjoy life?
As he planned his future lifestyle in his mind, Lin Wang continued absorbing all kinds of information online, wholeheartedly laying the foundation for his leisurely days ahead.
Just then—
A knock suddenly sounded at the door.
(End of Chapter).