The comments section all think I'm a really good person.

This matter took her quite a bit of time.

The methods used by hostile forces to infiltrate are not so simple.

Shiraki Tomoe, who has been working at this medical institution since the Kobayashi Zaibatsu was founded, would never do something like administering substandard medication to frame Koizumi Saki.

She and her sister were saved by God's name back then. Afterwards, to repay the life-saving grace, the promising pharmacologist devoted himself to the research of X-cell inhibitors, living in anonymity for several years.

When mentioning the names of gods or other heroes, the gratitude on Tomoe Shiraki's face was impossible to fake.

When she was arrested, she didn't even know what she had done in the past six months.

Even those with mental abilities couldn't glean any relevant information from her mind.

Rather, starting six months ago, Tomoe Shiraki's memory became a blank.

It was around that time that her terminal began sending messages and intelligence to untraceable unknown entities, and she had not reported her sister, Shiraki Rin, missing for several months.

In addition, the traces retrieved from her brain by a mental ability user indicate that it is very likely that Shiraki Tomoe's body was possessed by an unknown ability user six months ago.

Driven by that unknown enemy, who exploited her identity, completely mastered Shiraki Tomoe's knowledge and skills without revealing the slightest clue—perhaps the only person who sensed something was wrong had already disappeared from the world—and had leaked countless pieces of information.

Kobayashi Ryo was immediately at his wits' end, but the more important thing was to get the right medicine for his senior.

Seemingly to reduce the risk of being discovered, the mole who possessed Shiraki Tomoe's body only tampered with Koizumi Saki's dose of medicine, and did not target the other heroes.

However, so far, among those affected by the drug's effects, Koizumi Saki is the most vulnerable. No other hero has experienced such a rapid onset.

After all, in terms of both ability strength and the activity level of X-cells, Koizumi Saki is not on the same level as other heroes, so she will naturally be more deeply affected, and coincidentally, she is also an important character in the plan.

The unknown enemy, who originally intended to continue using the identity of Shiraki Tomoe, quickly abandoned the body and ran away after noticing Kobayashi Ryo's vigilance.

Having finally regained her senses, Shiraki Tomoe not only has to deal with the mess she created, but also faces several charges and imprisonment in the near future.

Just as Kobayashi Ryo was about to have his subordinates take Shiraki Tomoe away, two people from an unknown force broke into the research institute and took Shiraki Tomoe away almost right in front of Kobayashi Ryo.

Fortunately, the institution still had usable inhibitors, and with the help of other researchers, Kobayashi Ryo finally brought the medicine that could alleviate Koizumi Saki's riot.

As soon as Kobayashi Ryo arrived at Koizumi Saki's bedroom door and took out the medicine, Kita Kirihara, with a furrowed brow, almost immediately took it from her hand and quickly walked to Koizumi Saki's side.

"Wait……"

Wait, you're just an ordinary person; you can't withstand the intense heat emanating from your senior.

—That's what Kobayashi Ryo wanted to say, and he quickly reached out to stop her.

However, contrary to expectations, Kita Kirihara quickly turned around, barely dodging her obstruction, and with a long stride, skillfully and anxiously injected the medicine into Koizumi Saki.

It looks like a coincidence.

Kobayashi Ryo, who had just reached for nothing: ...Huh?

She could even smell the burnt smell of the skin.

Even she would be burned by the high temperature when her senior's ability went berserk, but Kita Kirihara remained unfazed, holding Koizumi Saki's wrist as if she felt no pain, and steadily pushed the pale blue inhibitor into her bloodstream.

Then, finally realizing what was happening, he withdrew his hand.

On his left hand, however, a large area of ​​burn marks quickly appeared.

Kita Kiri had been staring intently at Koizumi Saki's sweat-drenched face, and only relaxed after noticing that Saki's brows were slightly furrowed.

She stood up from her kneeling position and looked towards Kobayashi Ryo.

Whether it was Kobayashi Ryo's imagination or not, she felt a chill run down her spine whenever the other person looked at her.

It was as if he had been scolded for "coming so late," but the emotion in his eyes was so cold that it could send chills down your spine.

...Impossible. How could someone as gentle as Miss Kitagi have such a terrifying look in her eyes?

Kobayashi Ryo thought she must have misread it.

Kita Kirihara's relieved and grateful expression made Kobayashi Ryo's earlier subtle moment seem like a complete illusion.

After all, the other party looked so grateful that they were almost crying, their eyes filled with tears of anxiety, and their lips were tightly pursed. The strange feeling in Xiaolin Liang's heart disappeared instantly.

"Miss Kitagi, is your hand alright?"

Seeing that his senior was getting better and knowing that the medicine was indeed working, Kobayashi Ryo became quite concerned about Kita Kirihara's condition.

She knew that Kita Kirihara's left hand had been seriously injured in the past, and even after it healed, it left him with the aftereffect of not being able to grip heavy objects.

The burns I just suffered also seem to be on my left hand, and I'm worried that things might get even worse.

"We need to get this treated right away." Kobayashi Ryo looked at Kita Kirihara's burns on his hands and was really worried about the two of them.

All that had happened today weighed heavily on Kobayashi Ryo's mind, making it impossible for him to find peace.

Whether it was her senior's situation, or Nana Oba who broke into the organization and took Tomoe Shiraki away, or another unfamiliar girl... she couldn't help but care.

Nana Ohba—the girl I met just yesterday, who radiates kindness but shows no mercy in battle, almost cutting down the building and herself in the process.

Who exactly are she and that girl she calls "Hibiki"?

17. Yuki Uesugi

"The Silver Garden?" After recovering a little, Koizumi Saki quickly got up and noticed the unfamiliar term Kobayashi Ryo used when recounting the events.

Those were remnants found on Tomoe Shiraki's office computer: a black and white giraffe icon that could not be deleted, and a slogan with an ambiguous meaning.

Based on his intuition, Kobayashi Ryo felt that this was quite important information, so he put it at the beginning of the report and explained it to his senior carefully.

And the incident where Nana Ohba, whom I met just yesterday, attacked the research institute with a strange girl and took Tomoe Shiraki away.

"They... claim to be members of the Silver Garden," Kobayashi Ryo said, puzzled. "But they don't seem to have any connection with the association."

Tomoe Shiraki didn't recognize them, and the look of shock on her face when she was kidnapped was still vivid in her mind. Furthermore, Nana Ohba's previous actions had conflicted with the Shadow Association's plans.

Rather, their previous actions were practically nothing short of causing trouble for the Shadow Association.

Ryo Kobayashi has rather complicated feelings about Nana Ohba.

At first, she thought the girl was just a kind stranger and even gently comforted her. Kobayashi Ryo secretly harbored feelings for this strange girl she'd only met once, thinking she was a good person she could befriend.

Of course, looking back now, that person's approach must have been for ulterior motives.

Later, when she found that the information she provided was correct, Kobayashi Ryo breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Banana didn't seem to be an enemy.

The embarrassing thought that "it's great that Banana isn't on the opposite side" flashed through my mind, but less than 24 hours later, I was humiliated by the other side's attack.

...So they must be enemies.

Kobayashi Ryo herself didn't know either.

She rarely encountered things that even her eyes couldn't see clearly, but she couldn't see through Nana Ohba's gentle smile to her true face, nor could she know the other party's position.

Not only that, she couldn't see through the sound of the person next to her either. They must have used some method to conceal their identity.

I had initially thought it was just a thin veil separating us, but that thin layer of white mist seemed to have grown thicker over time.

However, now is not the time to let personal feelings take precedence.

What is the stance of this newly emerged Silver Garden? Could it pose a threat to ordinary people? What are its objectives? How many members are there? Do they all possess near-game-breaking abilities like Nana Ohba and Hibiki Tachibana...?

Countless questions swirled in Kobayashi Ryo's mind, a jumbled mess that he couldn't sort out.

"Does everyone know?" After listening, Koizumi Saki also fell into thought, pondered for a long time, and then asked.

The "everyone" she referred to were the other Tower members, namely the other six Special Heroes in her team.

Aside from Koizumi Saki during her ability surge, the others also had their own things to do, and news about other Special Class members could be seen in the reports every day.

However, their relationship in private wasn't actually that good; it was just so-so.

After all, heroes are all rather eccentric characters, especially the special class.

Saki Koizumi is considered to have a very good personality.

However, her poor command of language skills makes her position in the team quite delicate.

It's not to the point where everyone hates me, it's just...

...I don't really want to associate with her.

Saki Koizumi knew she was clumsy with words and would try her best to avoid awkward situations, so she asked Ryo Kobayashi, who was more eloquent, to help her convey the message.

Over time, Ms. Kobayashi, the tower's biggest benefactor, became her mouthpiece.

After pausing his hero activities, Kobayashi Ryo practically became Koizumi Saki's full-time manager.

This time was no different. While reporting to Koizumi Saki, Kobayashi Ryo sent the message to the other Special Class, reaching a consensus to discuss the matter more specifically at tomorrow's Tower meeting.

"All the Special Grade members have indicated they've received it... However, there's still no news about [Tianjing]." Kobayashi Ryo hesitated for a moment, but then asked Koizumi Saki, "What are your thoughts on [Tianjing], senpai?"

These words caused Kita Kirihara, who was tending to the burns on his hand, to turn his head slightly and turn his attention in their direction.

The viewers recognized the name and knew it was a very important character.

[Holy crap, what did I just hear? Is this some kind of exciting storyline?]

[Is the screenwriter even human? (Furious)]

[Pure Love God of War, huh?]

Wait... what are you guys talking about? I'm a newbie who just started playing, I don't understand!

[This was a scrapped draft from the manga, because the story went almost completely out of control towards the end, so the manga was canceled.]

Tenjō is a Special Class Hero. Her real name is Uesugi Yuki. Her ability is similar to the power of words, dispelling calamities with her words. She is powerful but physically weak, making her a turret-type hero.

Unlike the Chief, who falls from grace in almost every storyline, Tian Jing has little screen time and presence in most storylines, so the character wasn't popular before her IF storyline comic was released.

And then what? What was that comic about?

In that comic, after Tianjing died, her lover, freed from restraint, went completely insane, causing the second biggest event in WP comic history: the collapse of the tower.

That manga was pure carnage... Almost all the heroes perished, and the story ended with Kitagaki Yuko sitting on a pile of corpses, crying, and then seeing the already dead Yuki come to take her away. The final scene was a city stained crimson with blood and a crimson sky.

[After watching this, you'll wonder if the screenwriter had a stroke.]

Therefore, it's reasonable to speculate that Tianjing's true role in the story was actually to restrain the mad dog.

Is this really that outrageous?

【Sodayo】

Kita Kirihara looked at the information in the barrage and seemed to be deep in thought.