On how PhDs become human evil

Section 512, Chapter 12: A Good Man Who Keeps His Morals Clean

When faced with Saten Ruiko's confession, Misaka Mikoto was momentarily speechless. Normally, she would probably have laughed and said, "What's the big deal about ability levels? Don't worry about it." After all, Misaka Mikoto wasn't level 5 from the start; she worked her way up from level 1. Her story has even been used as teaching material in many schools to encourage students.

From level 1 to level 5, Misaka Mikoto did not encounter any setbacks, so in her opinion, anyone could become a high-level esper as long as they followed Academy City's ability development plan.

But now, she couldn't say such a thing. She had gained some understanding of the psychological pressure that the Level 0s at the bottom of Academy City were under.

"It's alright, Ruizi."

With a smile, Misaka Mikoto took Saten Ruiko's hand.

"It's just a matter of taking a nap. When you wake up, everything will be fine."

"Misaka-senpai... what if I don't wake up?"

"Kuroko, Haru, and I will wake you up. We definitely will."

Looking at Misaka Mikoto's confident smile so close to her, Saten Ruiko's previously dejected heart suddenly felt a little relieved. However, before she could say anything, the scene in front of her suddenly became blurry, as if it had been pixelated.

Time is up.

"Pfft!"

Saten Ruiko collapsed onto a chair in the restaurant. Seeing this, Misaka Mikoto rushed over to help her up, but the moment she did, she realized that her friend had fallen into a deep sleep under the influence of the Imagine Breaker.

"Well, for her at this stage, sleeping is a better option; being awake would only put a strain on her brain," Bai Jie said. "So what's next? Are you going to take care of that Imagine Breaker?"

"Isn't that obvious?! How could you turn my friend into this... I will never forgive the guy who developed the Imagine Breaker! I won't rest until he gets hit by a Railgun!"

"Yes, I agree with you on that point, but I hope you'll control your strength when you feed the Railgun to it, otherwise we might end up meeting in prison. Anyway, back to the point, although we're supposed to take down Imagine Breaker, we currently know absolutely nothing about its developers."

As Bai Jie said, Misaka Mikoto's current understanding of Phantasm is limited to it being an audio file that can be used to increase ability levels. She knows nothing about its developer, and even the Phantasm download links on the internet do not show the developer's name.

In this situation, even if they wanted to deal with the fantasy master, they would be powerless.

Seeing Misaka Mikoto's helpless look, Bai Jie sighed: "Ha, I seriously feel that you are not the so-called athletic girl. You only rely on your momentum and not your brain to do things. You want to solve things without making any plans."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"...Fine, I'll help you this time since we're offering gifts to Buddhas."

Although Aleister doesn't want White to interfere too much in Academy City's affairs, that doesn't mean White can't interfere. White isn't the kind of obedient child who will listen to reason. You have to understand that he's somewhat similar to Gilgamesh, the King of Pleasure.

"Misaka, do you have the audio files for Imagine Breaker?"

When Bai Jie asked her this question, Misaka Mikoto quickly handed him her phone: "I transferred this from Ruiko's phone before, what do you need this for?"

"Well, I'll take it back and study it—by the way, does Academy City still use flip phones? They're technologically 20 or 30 years ahead of the rest of the world."

"What does it matter? Flip phones and touchscreen phones are pretty much the same."

"...That's right, you don't have mobile games here."

"Games? I think Tetris is pretty fun."

"......"

Bai Jie felt that Misaka Mikoto needed to try out FGO, a mobile game that was designed to entice players to spend money.

After spending most of the day working on Misaka Mikoto's phone, Bai Jie discovered that transferring files on this flip phone actually required a data cable. Unfortunately, Bai Jie's phone type was incompatible with Misaka Mikoto's data cable.

Helplessly rubbing his forehead, Bai Jie could only say, "Alright, it looks like I'll have to borrow your phone for a while. I need to take it home and transfer the files to my computer."

"your home?"

Misaka Mikoto raised an eyebrow.

————————————————————

Thirty minutes later, at Bai Jie's house.

"Your house is a villa! Where did you get it from?"

Misaka Mikoto stared in shock at the layout of the villa.

"What do you mean I brought it here? This villa was a gift from Aleister. Besides, the dormitory in Tokiwadai isn't much worse than this. What's so surprising?"

“Ours is a dormitory, you’re living alone, the two are completely different.”

"If you're envious, you can move in. There are plenty of rooms, so it won't be a problem to accommodate a few more people."

Upon hearing Bai Jie's words, Misaka Mikoto, who had been excited, immediately froze, her cheeks turning bright red.

(Living together? Doesn't that mean...cohabitation?! Wait, wait, wait? Does this guy want to live with me? That's not a good idea!)

Looking at Misaka Mikoto's expression, Bai Jie knew that this girl was overthinking things again: "I'm telling you, what are you thinking at such a young age? I was just saying that you can stay here. It's fine to spend the night over the weekend. Look at you blushing and your heart racing."

"Besides, I've said it many times, I'm a married man and I'm not interested in someone as flat-chested as you. It's you who have repeatedly questioned my innocence, I think it's because you're lusting after me—hey! Don't flirt in my room!"

"No way!"

Misaka Mikoto, her forehead crackling with electricity, roared at Bai Jie with immense shame and indignation.

She's lusting after Bai Jie? Who does she think she is?! You, Bai Jie, are neither a handsome man nor a wealthy tycoon, and you're always spouting flirtatious nonsense. Why would Misaka Mikoto lust after you?!

Even if Misaka Mikoto were lusting after someone's body, she would never lust after your body, Bai Jie!

(Has this girl forgotten that I can read minds...?)

Having completely read Misaka Mikoto's mind using his mind-reading abilities, Bai Jie sighed helplessly. He had lost count of how many people Misaka Mikoto had made this kind of promise. Based on Bai Jie's experience, anyone who made such a promise in front of him had a 99% chance of ending up failing—like Kal'tsit. Kal'tsit was such a cold person back then, saying she wouldn't date and that Bai Jie pursuing her was just wishful thinking. And now? She's still Bai Jie's wife.

(I think I should record this, just in case Chen and the others come to catch me cheating later, so I'll have evidence to prove my innocence.)

Bai Jie is a good man who keeps himself clean and upright.

Section 513, Chapter 13: He was driven to despair by Lady Butterfly's beating.

Bai Jie is in a bad mood today.

"Ahhhh!"

Such wails would come from Bai Jie's room almost every few minutes. Although they couldn't be described as heart-wrenching wails, one could still tell how distressed the owner of the sound was. To put it another way, it was like finally catching a fish, only to accidentally knock over the fish bucket and release the fish.

Such wails would occur every few minutes, which shows just how devastated Bai Jie's mind had become.

Such wails were undoubtedly a form of noise, so when the tenth wails of the day rang out, Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko finally couldn't sit still any longer.

The two of them had originally come here today because of the matter of the Illusionist.

A few days ago, Misaka Mikoto handed the files on Phantasm Master to Bai Jie, asking him to analyze them and see if he could find a solution. However, in the days that followed, Bai Jie didn't send out any news, which made Misaka Mikoto particularly uneasy. Today, she dragged Shirai Kuroko over here.

Upon arriving at Bai Jie's house, the two did not see Bai Jie, but instead found a note in the living room that read, "Wait in the living room." Although they were somewhat puzzled by the note's existence, Misaka Mikoto understood when she thought of Bai Jie's almost mind-reading ability. She and Shirai Kuroko sat down in the living room to wait for Bai Jie to come out.

However, after waiting for nearly an hour, Bai Jie not only did not appear, but he did not even show his shadow once. Instead, wails of agony came from his room again and again.

After enduring nearly ten cries of pain, Misaka Mikoto couldn't take it anymore and dragged Shirai Kuroko up to the second floor.

"boom!"

Pushing open the unlocked door, Misaka Mikoto saw Bai Jie sitting in front of the computer. However, unlike what she had imagined, Bai Jie was intently focused on the computer, his right hand moving the mouse around, and his left hand pressing keys on the keyboard. However, Misaka Mikoto felt that Bai Jie had a particular fondness for the shift, space, Z, X, E, and R keys, and almost never pressed any other keys.

Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko exchanged a glance and then quietly crept along the wall behind Bai Jie.

When they saw what was displayed on Bai Jie's computer screen, their expressions instantly froze.

The scene depicts a burning Buddhist temple, the raging flames turning the entire area fiery red. Inside the temple, two people are engaged in battle.

One of them was a ninja, holding a katana in his right hand and a prosthetic arm made of a mechanism in his left hand. It seemed to be the character controlled by Bai Jie. He would raise his sword to block from time to time and swing it to slash from time to time. His movements were very skillful.

The other is an old woman, who should be Bai Jie's enemy. She seems to be an illusionist who releases phantom-like figures every now and then, as well as butterfly-shaped light bullets.

Seeing this, the two of them immediately understood that Bai Jie wasn't doing research at all, but was playing a game!

"Bilibili...."

Strands of electricity flickered on Misaka Mikoto's bangs, enough to show that this electrifying princess was already very dissatisfied.

Just then, perhaps due to excessive tension, Bai Jie suddenly made a mistake. When the "Danger" sign appeared on his forehead, it flashed for a moment. Because of this mistake, the old woman grabbed the ninja by the back of his collar and slammed him to the ground. Then, she quickly stabbed him with her kunai!

【die】

Large red text appeared on the computer screen.

"boom!"

The keyboard was smashed to pieces by Bai Jie. Clutching his head, Bai Jie howled in pain again: "Aaaaaah! How could I misjudge again! This damn step is cursed! How come I didn't dodge it!"

The game that Bai Jie is currently playing is called Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. It was brought over from the Kamen Rider world by Bai Jie because he was too bored. It is a new work developed by Dan Kuroto, and the story is about a ninja who fights his way through Ashina Country to reclaim his master.

By the way, this game is extremely difficult; one wrong move and you're done for.

The boss that Bai Jie was just fighting, nicknamed Lady Butterfly, is an enemy who can release genjutsu and quickly break down the ninja's defensive stance.

Then Bai Jie got stuck on this boss for the entire morning.

Yes, after a morning, Bai Jie has become so skilled that he can get through the first life without taking any damage. But what's annoying is that he can't beat the second life no matter what he does. That light bullet and the phantom are so annoying, and then there's Lady Butterfly's combo attacks. One combo can fill up his posture bar. It's disgusting!

Forty-eight times.

This is the number of times Bai Jie has fought with Lady Butterfly. Bai Jie is so tired of hearing the phrase "You're still just a little dog."

Recreating a keyboard and installing it, Bai Jie, displaying his unwavering craftsmanship, prepared to challenge that damned old woman once more. Unfortunately for him, the two girls behind him wouldn't allow him to continue playing the game.

"I said... how long are you planning to play?" Misaka Mikoto's voice sounded softly behind Bai Jie.

"Of course, we should defeat this boss first, then go to the Sculptor's Idol to heal and boost our attack—wait, Misaka?!"

Halfway through his sentence, Bai Jie realized who was standing behind him. Turning around, he saw Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko with friendly smiles on their faces.

"Ahaha, well, good morning, Misaka."

Bai Jie laughed awkwardly.

"It's noon now, Mr. Shirai," Shirai Kuroko kindly reminded him.

"Oh right, good afternoon, good afternoon. By the way, what brings you two to my house? Isn't it summer vacation now? Shouldn't you be enjoying your youth outside of school?"

“Then I’d like to ask what you’re doing…” Misaka Mikoto said, putting her hand on Bai Jie’s shoulder. “I thought you were seriously researching Phantasm, but I didn’t expect you to be holed up at home playing games… You should be working properly!”

"Huh? Imagine Mage? What's that?"