The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

"Well, let's not talk about that. Inoue-kun, you were there at the time, right? Don't you have anything to say?" Shirai Kuroko looked at Inoue Eika scrutinizingly. "Speaking of which, as a member of the Disciplinary Committee, I haven't even pursued the matter of you avoiding the security guards to give a statement yet."

Hearing Shirai Kuroko's words, Inoue Hideka reluctantly rested his left hand on the table, propping up his chin, while fiddling with the straw in his cola with his right hand, and said very unwillingly:

"The situation was that I heard a piercing sound coming from the alley. Out of curiosity, I went in to take a look and saw your classmate, whom you mentioned, lying on the ground in great pain, surrounded by a group of thugs..."

Inoue Hideka tried her best to make her lie sound as smooth as possible. In fact, the sound did not come from the alley, but she couldn't very well say that she knew what was going to happen inside and went there to cause trouble, could she?

"And then? Who dealt with those delinquents? According to my classmates after marriage, you weren't the only one there, were you?" Shirai Kuroko asked, pressing for details.

"Yeah, it's not just me. There's another very strong senior, um, with a spider-like tattoo on his back, who seems to really like drinking Musashino milk..."

"So you don't know who it is?" Shirai Kuroko began searching her mind for someone with that characteristic.

"So Eika is also someone who helps those in need. I misunderstood her this morning..." Saten Ruiko said to Inoue Eika with a smile.

Inoue Hideka knew things were going to get bad when she heard Saten Ruiko say that, and sure enough...

"No way! He's neither a security guard nor a disciplinary committee member. Using violence arbitrarily is simply unreasonable. He's an outright criminal!" Before Saten Ruiko could finish speaking, Shirai Kuroko said righteously.

Misaka Mikoto and Inoue Eika, who were standing next to her, both looked embarrassed.

"Hey, Misaka-senpai, your school's summer festival is about to start, right?" Instead of dealing with Shirai Kuroko who was caught up in the righteousness of managing things, Inoue Eika struck up a conversation with Misaka Mikoto, who was in the same state as her.

"Yeah, that's right! Actually, I don't like this summer festival at all!" Misaka Mikoto frowned, looking quite unhappy.

"Hmm, you should have almost finished practicing that piece, right? Are you planning to use the piano or the violin?"

"I actually wanted to use the piano, but I haven't practiced enough! If all else fails, I guess I'll have to use the violin instead?" Misaka Mikoto said, distressed.

"Should we practice again today? But those armed but powerless individuals are also a concern!"

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Movies

"If Misaka-senpai is going to investigate the base of the non-powered users, she'd better bring me along as a meat shield. That device that interferes with power users seems to be quite effective against you power users!"

Inoue Hideka heard Misaka Mikoto's mutterings and offered a suggestion.

Although in the original story, Kurozuma Watari didn't suffer any unexpected consequences in the end, Inoue Hideka was unsure what kind of storm her butterfly effect would stir up.

After all, from the moment Inoue Eika arrived here, this city was no longer the original Academy City, and this world was no longer the original A Certain Magical Index world.

For example, Saten Ruiko and her classmates' homeroom teacher was originally male, but after Inoue Eika joined the team, it became female Shinjuku Rika. Also, Misaka Mikoto wanted to learn the piano after hearing Inoue Eika play a piece. These were not things that Inoue Eika actively changed.

There are also things that Inoue Hideka actively changed, such as Kamijou Touma not losing his memory, Shokuhou Misaki knowing about the future developments, and Saten Ruiko now having a boyfriend.

Therefore, Inoue Hidekazu wasn't sure if Misaka Mikoto would encounter danger in the giant spider's lair. If things didn't develop as in the original story, he, as a tank and a decent fighter without any special abilities, could still come in handy.

"Hmph! Don't underestimate me!" Misaka Mikoto's personality naturally wouldn't allow her to say anything that would make her back down. Instead, she seemed even more interested after hearing Inoue Eika's words.

Inoue Hideka had no other choice but to hope that Shirai Kuroko, who was always serious and cautious about official matters, would remember what he had said.

"Ring ring~" Shiori's cell phone suddenly rang.

After hanging up the phone, Uiharu Kazari explained the situation to everyone and then left with Shirai Kuroko, with Misaka Mikoto following behind.

Only Inoue Hideka and Saten Ruiko were left standing there, staring at each other.

It turns out that Shiori Haru received an alarm that another incident had occurred in which an armed person without ability attacked a person with ability.

Inoue Eika looked at Saten Ruiko, thought for a moment, and since there seemed to be nothing else to do, asked, "Ruiko, do you have any plans for the future? Want to go see a movie together?"

“Yeah, that’s true. I haven’t seen a movie with Eika yet.” Saten Ruiko thought for a moment, then said with a smile, “Let’s go then.”

Arriving at the Sixth School District, where entertainment facilities are concentrated, there are quite a few movie theaters. Inoue Hideka searched on the map and came to a movie theater that was not very big and not too crowded.

After buying a can of popcorn and two drinks at the counter, Inoue Eika and Saten Ruiko sat in the waiting room to wait for the movie to start.

At Saten Ruiko's request, Inoue Eika chose a touching love story from the movies that were about to be shown.

The name was actually familiar to Inoue Hideka; it was from a super touching movie she had seen in her previous life called "Koizora" (Sky of Love).

This is an exceptionally touching love story filmed in Japan. Perhaps the theater owner planned a second screening to commemorate the emotions it evoked.

However, Inoue Hideka was a little curious. Since there were no popular anime from the previous life, why was there a movie? Or was it just a movie with the same name?

After a short wait, the staff informed Inoue Hideka and Saten Ruiko that they could enter the screening room.

Nobody's here!

Inoue Hideka and Saten Ruiko actually booked the entire venue.

The movie started playing quickly, with a very ordinary beginning, but it became more and more touching as it went on. Saten Ruiko actually cried while watching it.

Although there were some differences between what Inoue Hideka saw and what she saw, the actors were not the ones she had seen before, and there were some minor changes to the plot, it was still very touching. Even though Inoue Hideka had seen it once, she was still deeply moved.

Take out a tissue and gently wipe away Saten Ruiko's tears. Since there was no one else in the screening room, Inoue Eika simply put her arm around Saten Ruiko and patted her shoulder to comfort her.

From the halfway point of the movie, Ruiko Saten cried until the very end. It seems that having too high emotional intelligence isn't always a good thing.

When the staff came in to clean up, Inoue Eika had no choice but to take Saten Ruiko, who was still crying, out of the screening room.

Standing in the corridor, Inoue Eika gently comforted Saten Ruiko, "Although the male protagonist died in the end, they had no regrets, so that's enough, isn't it?"

"But, but the male lead did so much for the female lead, yet he didn't have a happy ending. Don't you think that's pitiful?"

Inoue Hideka really doesn't know how to comfort people. Hearing Saten Ruiko's words, he didn't know what to say either. The male protagonist is indeed very pitiful.

"Yinghua, do you think it's true that lovers in the world will eventually be united? Could it be that we will too..."

"You're being too sentimental, Tear. It's just a movie."

"But you can't prove that things in movies won't happen in real life, can you?"

Inoue Hideka was utterly helpless. It seemed that words wouldn't persuade Saten Ruiko at this point. He leaned down, pressed his lips to Saten Ruiko's, gave her a light kiss, and then said:

"Can you feel it? Ruizi, I'm right here. This is reality. What the future holds is a matter for the future. Right now, we should look forward to life with a positive attitude, instead of denying the future with pessimistic concepts. Don't you think so?"

"Incredibly insane!"

Suddenly, a slightly childish voice came from around the corner of the corridor.

Then a girl wearing a hoodie, an orange T-shirt, and shorts that revealed a lot of her long, beautiful legs stood out from around the corner, muttering something with a verbal tic.

"So lewd! Doing something like this in a movie theater is so shameless!"

Huh? Kinuhata is my favorite...

Inoue Eika felt the world was truly wondrous. With so many cinemas around, how did this little girl who loved watching B-movies and C-movies end up choosing this one? And wouldn't you know it, she just happened to witness her kissing Saten Ruiko?

After glancing at Kinuhata Saiai, Inoue Eika didn't bother to explain and left the movie theater with Saten Ruiko.

Kinuhata Saiai belongs to the Dark Side, and unless absolutely necessary, Inoue Eika doesn't want to get involved with these dark things, especially with Saten Ruiko nearby.

"Let's go eat, Ruiko?" Inoue Eika asked Ruiko Saten as they stood at the entrance of the movie theater.

Stepping outside and breathing in the fresh air, Saten Ruiko's mood improved.

Wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes, Saten Ruiko nodded. "What does Eika want to eat? This time you won't insist on eating what I make?"

Towards the end, he even revealed a look of disdain and mockery.

"Then let's go back and eat. I was originally planning to treat Ruizi to a big meal, but since Ruizi is so willing to cook, I guess I'll have to make do!"

This is a classic case of the devil being one step ahead of the saint; Saten Ruiko is now completely outmaneuvered by Inoue Eika.

"Ugh! Yinghua always bullies me!"

"Ha ha!"

--------

The next day, around 2 PM, Inoue Hideka, who was training in his dormitory, suddenly received a call from Shirai Kuroko. The caller was very rude and, after briefly explaining the situation, directly ordered Inoue Hideka to wait at a certain location.

After hanging up the phone, Inoue Hideka guessed that Misaka Mikoto and the others had probably gone to the Great Spider's lair, but she was also a little confused as to how Shirai Kuroko knew her phone number.

After tidying up a bit, Inoue Hideka didn't even bother to take a shower. Following the directions given by Shirai Kuroko, he started his motorcycle in the basement, turned on the navigation on this high-end motorcycle, and sped off following the navigation's instructions.

Chapter 58 is already cleared?

Perhaps the distance was too far; despite Inoue Hideka's hurried pace, the battle had already begun when he arrived at his destination.

When they were less than 100 meters away, Inoue Hideka heard a piercing sound and saw Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko, who were surrounded by delinquents, covering their ears in obvious discomfort.

Not far from the group of people, there was a purple van parked. Inside the open trunk of the van were several large speaker-shaped speakers. Behind the van was an abandoned building.

Upon seeing this, Inoue Hideka not only did not stop his motorcycle, but instead accelerated and rushed towards the trunk of the van.

"Buzz!" The engine roared louder, and the speed increased. When they were about seven or eight meters away from the van, Inoue Hideka suddenly jumped off the motorcycle.

"Oh!"

Even someone as strong as Inoue Hideka felt unusual pain after being thrown off a speeding motorcycle.

"Tsk!"

The motorcycle crashed into the horn, making a loud noise, and the piercing sound stopped abruptly.

Inoue Hideka rubbed his shoulders and sat up from the ground. He wasn't worried about the motorcycle; it was just a matter of money, and he could just fix it properly later.

Conversely, if the motorcycle can resolve the predicament of Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko, then it will have served its purpose.

The thugs stared in astonishment at the person and car that had suddenly barged in. They hadn't yet reacted to the sudden reversal of the situation and were staring blankly at the now useless speaker.

After getting rid of the throbbing pain in their brains, Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko glanced at Inoue Hideka with 'well done' expressions, then looked at the group of delinquents with schadenfreude, as if to say, 'Are you ready to be tortured?'

"Isn't it inappropriate to harass a girl?"

At that moment, a voice that seemed to pronounce the death sentence on the delinquents also came from the shadows of the building.

A delinquent's number one enemy, a milk man who has been tormenting them lately, and two ability users—the delinquents feel like they're about to cry; it seems they're doomed today.

As some of the thugs were already contemplating whether to surrender, their leader, seeing Milk Man and Kurosawa Miyawa, pointed at Kurosawa Miyawa and started yelling wildly:

"Kill him! Kill him!"

The crazed gang leader even pointed a gun at his men as a threat.

"Snake Valley, you've changed!" Kurotsuma Watari said as he handed the bull-man to Inoue Eika, before rushing toward the delinquents who were pointing guns at him.

In no time at all, Hei Qi Mian Liu swiftly resolved all the problems.

Before Inoue Hideka could even say a word, still rubbing her shoulder, the battle was already over.

Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko were also surprised to see Kurozuma Watari, whose fighting skills were top-notch.

Taking the milk from Inoue Eika's hand, Kurozuma Watari gulped down a large mouthful, then said with apparent satisfaction, "As expected, milk is still..."

Musashino Milk.