I can copy the beautiful girl

Mikoto looked around while thinking this.

Inadvertently, she made eye contact with someone passing by.

Then that person just shifted his gaze and pretended not to see what was happening here.

"...Huh, that's a normal reaction."

Mikoto laughed dumbly.

"Well, I know that these passersby are not indifferent. Even if they intervene forcefully, they won't be able to help, and will only get themselves hurt. Everyone will protect themselves, it's a normal thing. If you have the power, it's fine, but if you don't, who would be willing to take such a risk for someone they don't know? If there really is such a person, then... that guy must be a huge idiot—"

"Hey, what are you doing? Let that girl go."

At this moment, hearing this voice, Mikoto couldn't help but look over in surprise, but a little expectation rose in her disappointed heart.

"Could it be..."

The black-haired, black-eyed boy stood by the roadside with his arms folded, looking at the hooligans indifferently, and said coldly:

"You guys, don't you know that this street is my territory and only I can pick up girls on this street?"

His face was slightly angry, and he snorted coldly:

"Let her go!! Let me come!!"

Beep, beep!

Mikoto couldn't help but feel an electric current on her forehead.

Volume 24: Chapter Misaka Mikoto

Mikoto felt like she was being tricked.

When she turned around and saw the black-haired boy who spoke, Mikoto was stunned for a moment. After all, she had never seen such a...good-looking person.

But when she realized what the other person was saying, a raging rage burned in her heart.

Although she really didn't have any expectations...well, she did have some expectations.

That's why she felt like she was being fooled.

This could no longer be considered a disappointment, but rather a complete stab in her heart, causing her to feel a deep sense of shame.

It was indeed her fault for having unwarranted expectations, but aren’t you also wrong for disappointing me?

Well, the other party did nothing wrong.

Mikoto rubbed her forehead and suppressed her anger for the moment. There was really no reason for her to call the other party with such a reason.

But didn’t he say this street was his territory, and now he wants to hit on me too?

No problem! As long as he comes over to chat with me and says something he shouldn't say or does something he shouldn't do, then I have a reason to call him out!

Thinking of this, the current on Mikoto's forehead calmed down. She continued to lean against the wall, watching the situation develop.

"Who is your boy?"

"Your territory? When did this become your territory?"

"Oh my, don't tell me, this guy is really good-looking, hehehe, why, do you want to play with us too? It's not impossible~"

"Wow! You have such a strong taste! How come I didn't notice it before? But... if it's this guy, then it's definitely not impossible!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!"

Several people burst into laughter and surrounded the black-haired boy. Then a gangster wearing a hat smiled and put his hand towards the boy's face.

Mikoto's eyes twitched. Although she was indeed very unhappy with the boy, she couldn't help but feel a surge of anger when she saw him being teased like that.

Mikoto wasn't sure why she was angry, but she felt she couldn't just sit back and watch this happen.

Forget it, I'll just electrocute them all and treat it as a momentary mistake. — This thought just occurred to Mikoto.

Before she could react, her eyes widened slightly, and she saw in disbelief that the black-haired man was beating all the thugs away with punches and kicks.

The quick and decisive action even reminded Mikoto of the dorm supervisor at Tokiwadai, and she subconsciously shuddered.

Mikoto shook her head vigorously, completely getting rid of the terrifying face of the dorm supervisor from her mind, and looked at the black-haired boy seriously again.

That’s amazing.

He has such skills even though he has no ability to use them. No wonder he dares to say that this street belongs to him. He is really capable.

Mikoto became a little excited.

Although Misaka Mikoto attends Tokiwadai Junior High School, a school for young ladies, she actually has a very aggressive personality. Her motto is "I will not allow anyone stronger than me to exist" - that's just the kind of person she is.

Mikoto no longer has much interest in ordinary thugs, and she only feels impatience when she sees them.

However, Mikoto was very excited about this skilled thug, and was looking forward to him teasing her so that she could teach him a lesson openly.

After knocking down all the thugs, the skilled black-haired thug indeed walked towards her as Mikoto expected, and then...

Peng——! !

Mikoto's heart subconsciously beat faster.

The boy was much taller than Mikoto, so his left arm was directly across Mikoto's head and leaned against the wall, thus forming a wall-dong posture for Mikoto, completely covering Mikoto under his figure. He lowered his head to look down at Mikoto, and their eyes met.

It was in this situation that Mikoto, who was secretly excited, felt her heart skip a beat and then suddenly accelerated.

tension.

Mikoto was incredibly aware of this emotion and even felt a little intimidated by the boy's staring eyes.

baffling.

Not sure why.

Mikoto's mind was in such a mess that she even forgot to discharge the electricity.

"What's your name?"

"…Mi…Misaka Mikoto."

"Mikoto, right? My name is Kamijou Touma," the black-haired boy said calmly. "I helped you out. As the eldest daughter of Tokiwadai, shouldn't you show your gratitude by treating me to a few games at the arcade?"

“…………Huh?”

Mikoto's somewhat stiff brain finally came back to its senses, and then she took a deep breath.

"Hello, did I ask you to help me? And is there any way you could help me like this? Didn't you say it was your turn to flirt with me? Look at what you're doing now? This is flirting, right? In other words, you're the same kind of guy as those hooligans!"

The inexplicable mood from before gradually disappeared, and the anger surged into my mind again.

Mikoto sneered, "Or were they actually ordered by you? Just to give you the opportunity to be the hero and save the damsel in distress?"

"Read less girls' comics."

"I usually only read hot-blooded comics, and my favorite are mystery comics."

"Like me, I also really like watching One Piece and Conan, but as for Conan, I only read the manga now. I'm too lazy to follow the anime."

"Huh? Why? Isn't the Conan anime better than the manga?"

"You don't understand now, but you will understand when you grow up."

The boy patted Mikoto's shoulder and sighed.

Mikoto couldn't help but feel a spark of excitement on her forehead: "You're not much older than me, are you?"

"The gap between us is more than just a generation! Forget it, since you don't want to thank me, then let's say goodbye. I'm going to the arcade to play games by myself."

Mikoto watched the boy turn and leave, and listened to his words. She couldn't help but feel her hands itching.

Then she coughed twice and followed.

"Although I don't think I owe you anything, if you really said that to help me and attract attention, I'll treat you to a handful of game coins."

"Don't get me wrong, it's just a handful of game coins! I'm not trying to repay a favor! I just think you're not a bad person, contrary to my first impression, so I'm willing to buy you a handful of game coins! I never said I wanted to be your friend!"

"Well, besides One Piece and Conan, do you have any other favorite comics? Don't you like Kindaichi? And Naruto, do you think there are really ninjas in this world? If there are people with super powers, there must be ninjas, right?"

"Yes, yes. Not to mention ninjas, there are even magicians in this world."

"Huh? Are you kidding me? How can there be magic in this world?"

"If we have people with super powers, why can't we have magicians?"

"Superpowers are the product of science and technology. Magicians sound unscientific, don't they?"

"Then is there a possibility that magicians are actually the product of science and technology, but they don't classify their research and technology as science, but rather as magic. So, they don't call themselves superpowers, but magicians."

"T-This...it seems like this is indeed possible?"

"You're a student at Tokiwadai. Your theoretical knowledge should be at the level of a researcher, right? So, it's impossible that you don't understand the definition of science, right?"

“Science is a way for humans to understand and sort out the laws of the world.”

"The world has its own laws. For example, apples fall because of the law of gravity. Someone recognized this law, named it gravity, and then classified it as science, so this law became part of science. Similarly, someone recognized the laws of how to artificially create people with superpowers and also classified it as science, so people with superpowers also became part of science."

"So, if someone recognizes a law in this world called the Theory of Idolatry and classifies it as magic, then wouldn't that law also be classified as magic? However, if the person who discovered this law doesn't classify it as magic, but instead classifies it as science, then isn't it naturally science?"

"Because the definition of science is a method of understanding, sorting out, analyzing, and applying the laws of the world."

"Uh...uh...uh, what you said makes sense, but what is the theory of idolatry? Is it some random world law you made up?"

"Although the theory of idol worship has not been made public, it is a world law that has been analyzed and applied in Academy City. It is a theory that borrows power by completely imitating something."

"Imitation? Borrowing power? Is there really such a law as idolatry? Are you kidding me? If it hasn't been made public, how did you know?"

"Of course I have my own intelligence channels. For example, do you know about the mass production of esper plans?"

"Mass production of capable people?"

"Simply put, it's a clone. According to the theory of idolatry, as long as there's resemblance, one can borrow power. So, according to this theory, wouldn't the clone naturally resemble the original? The mass-production esper project is based on this theory—a project that can mass-produce Level 5 esper."

"It's not about awakening the exact same superpowers as the original body. Superpowers are a person's personal reality, and everyone's personal reality is different. Even two people with similar abilities will have different personal realities. Therefore, it's impossible to give the clone a power development course and have it awaken the exact same abilities as the original body. But what if, instead of awakening the clone's own personal reality, the clone becomes part of the original body?"

"According to the theory of idolatry, clones are naturally similar to their original bodies, and therefore naturally able to borrow the original body's power. If that's the case, then wouldn't it be enough to just make the clones the "emergence point" of the original body's abilities?"

"It's not about giving the clone the powers of a Level 5 esper, but about making the clone a part of the Level 5 esper. The clone, born to be exactly like the original, becomes like the esper's hands and feet."

"Generally speaking, hands and feet cannot use their own abilities and must be controlled by the brain. But what if the hands and feet themselves have their own will?"

"Yes, that's the theory of idolatry."

"Through imitation, one becomes a part of the one being imitated, becoming the 'emission point' of the imitated's abilities. Then, one can naturally use their own brain to independently utilize the power gained through imitation."

"Of course, the mass-production of esper plans ultimately failed. Even though they were anatomically identical clones, the mystery of life was clearly not that simple."

"Even though their bodies are identical, from the moment they are born, the clone becomes a completely different individual. Therefore, while they inherently possess the original's power, that power is incredibly minimal compared to the original. It's better than nothing, and it's impossible to mass-produce the same level of combat power as a psychic."

"Although this failure wasn't entirely meaningless, after all, failure is the mother of success. Academy City later used this theory to create a machine that could truly fully harness the power of espers—but that machine was incredibly expensive, and mass production was impossible. Even producing just one would require a portion of Academy City's total assets, so the esper mass production plan ultimately failed."

Mikoto shuddered after hearing these words. "Eeeeeeeeeeeee! It sounds so real! If there really is such a plan to mass-produce people with special abilities, it would be too terrifying! Anyway, I don't want to see any clones of myself. The thought of it makes me sick."

"It's quite disgusting, really. Most people wouldn't want to see a clone of themselves, right? But as for you... wait until you've actually seen your clone before you express your feelings. I simply don't believe what you're saying right now."

"Ah? What? Can't I feel disgusted? It's normal to feel disgusted, right?" Mikoto said with a look of dissatisfaction: "Just thinking about a clone that looks exactly like me standing in front of me, of course I'd feel terrified! Clones are completely against the spirit of humanity and shouldn't exist! And the people who create clones are so disgusting, they all deserve to die!"

"Cough, cough."

I coughed awkwardly twice. I felt like I couldn't refute the scolding and even that I deserved it, so I quickly changed the subject.

"Okay, let's not talk about this kind of thing that I don't know whether it's true or not. Anyway, I haven't seen it with my own eyes, so who knows what the world is like now."

"In the end, it's just an urban legend?" Mikoto said with disdain.

I quickly pointed forward and said, "We're at the arcade. Let's have a proper match and see who's stronger. To be honest, I've never lost in PVP!"

Mikoto sneered and held her wrist: "Oh, I'm not afraid of you!"

Volume 25: Chapter : People with Enemies

"KO!!"

"W-why?"

Mikoto stared at the character she controlled on the screen falling for the ninth time with wide eyes, unable to believe it.

"You can't even win once... Do you have some superpower that allows you to never lose at games?"

Mikoto could only think of this possibility. After all, she had clearly used her abilities to cheat in this round! How could she not win even with cheating?!