The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

The arena is located in areas seven, eight, and nine of Academy City. The process involves starting from the arena, finding a designated item, and then returning to the original arena.

It's similar to a marathon, but more complex. Unlike a regular marathon, there's no fixed route; participants must mentally construct the shortest path.

Known for its high difficulty in finding items, the competition requires that if the item is held by a third party, you must obtain that person's consent and go to the arena with the third party.

Inside the arena where participants compete in a race against each other in the Seventh School District.

"Cough, cough!"

Inoue Hideka sat disheveled on the orange concrete floor of the arena, trying to calm his erratic breathing.

Cheers and shouts of amazement erupted from the stands of the arena.

Because Misaka Mikoto was the first athlete to arrive at the arena.

Meanwhile, the second-place finisher might still be searching for what they needed to borrow, or they might have found it and were on their way. In any case, before they could even see a trace of Misaka Mikoto, she had already reached the finish line, leaving them no choice but to be amazed.

"Hey! You're so useless! Want some water?"

Misaka Mikoto, unusually smiling, patted Inoue Eika on the back and handed her the drink that the operations committee member had given her.

"Well……"

Then, remembering that she had just drunk this beverage, she hesitated again.

But Inoue Hideka had already taken the drink and started drinking it, and it was too late to take it back. Her face flushed, she looked somewhat bewildered and called out:

"Ah, um, wait..."

Glug~ Glug~

Inoue Hideka took a big gulp of her drink, finally feeling a bit better. Seeing Misaka Mikoto's shy expression, she muttered to herself speechlessly:

"You've already kissed, yet you're still bothered by something like indirect kissing..."

"Wow! What, what, what did you say?! Shut up!"

Upon suddenly hearing Inoue Hideka mention this, and with many people around, Misaka Mikoto, extremely shy, suddenly stuffed the thin towel that the operations committee member had given her to wipe her sweat into Inoue Hideka's mouth.

"Ugh~ Ugh~! Cough cough, cough cough... cough..."

With difficulty, Inoue Hideka pulled the towel out, and her breathing, which had just calmed down, became erratic again.

"Hey! Are you trying to murder me?!"

"Hmph! Who, who told you to talk nonsense!"

"Ah... never mind! I'll tell you, Misaka, you know that, right? I'm in a competition, I'm in a competition! Why did you drag me here?! Are you trying to stop me from winning the punishment game?!"

"Damn it! I would never be so despicable! It's a competition! It's a game with rules for using objects to move, I can't do anything about it!"

Misaka Mikoto angrily yelled at Inoue Eika.

"It's been confirmed, Inoue-san, that's definitely the student who's competing! The 'borrowing' designation is correct. Congratulations, Misaka-san, for winning first place in the 'borrowing race'. We'll be praising the top three later. Please wait here for a moment."

The referee for this "Borrowed Objects Race," Seiri Fukiyori, who also serves as an operations committee member, came over and spoke to Misaka Mikoto.

"What?! How could there be such a bizarre 'borrowing' requirement?!"

Unexpectedly, in order to avoid the obstacle course race, Inoue Hideka, who happened to become the obstacle course race marker, sat on the ground and shouted in frustration.

"How should I know! That's what it says up there. Rather than disturbing others' competition, we should definitely choose you, you idiot!"

Misaka Mikoto's words made a lot of sense, and for a moment, Inoue Eika didn't know how to refute them.

"No, no! It's because of you that we have such bizarre metrics! Don't you realize it?!"

It's because your setting is to use people you like as a reference for borrowing items that such strange things happen!

Inoue Eika looked at Misaka Mikoto, who seemed to take it all for granted, and roared in resentment.

"W-what! What does this have to do with me?!"

“I said I have connections, and I mean I have connections! By the way, I remember the rules of the ‘Borrowed Object Race’ require the consent of a third party, right? Well then, I don’t agree, so your result in this race is invalid!”

"Huh? You bastard! Say that again!"

"Ugh! That's fierce! Are you... are you still the same tsundere Mikoto?!"

"Arrogant, haughty! You jerk! Who's being arrogant! Explain yourself!"

Misaka Mikoto and Inoue Hideka, one standing and the other sitting on the ground, started arguing in the center of the arena.

Little did they know, the camera was pointed directly at them.

Not only Academy City, but the whole world is watching this scene live.

In the 7th school district, Shirai Kuroko, who was on patrol, heard a familiar voice and couldn't help but look at the large screen hanging on the building in front of her.

On the screen, Inoue Hideka and Misaka Mikoto were arguing in a surprisingly natural way.

"Pervert! Absolutely, absolutely unforgivable! Kill him! He must be killed!"

At the same moment, Misaka Mirei, who was strolling down the street, looked at the big screen and smiled happily.

"Well, looking at it this way, this child and Mikoto are actually quite a good match! Ah! Mikoto is so cute when she's shy, just like I was when I was little!"

As Uiharu Kazari sat on the automated bus heading to the 12th school district, she suddenly pointed at the bus's built-in media player and called out to Saten Ruiko, who was curiously looking around beside her:

"Sa-Saten-san! Isn't that Inoue-san? What's she doing at Misaka-senpai's match?!"

"Huh? Um... I remember, Misaka-senpai's competition was a race using objects, right?"

"Hmm! That seems so! I was thinking of waiting until Inoue-san's match was over to watch, but it's already finished!"

"Ah... I know then, it must be Misaka-senpai's borrowing standards, right?"

"Huh? But, Inoue-san, aren't you in a competition? Like this..."

"Ah! Don't worry about it! Not only Misaka-senpai, but that idiot definitely wouldn't care about something like this either!"

--------

"Oh no! I'm still in the competition!"

Inoue Hideka, whose stomach was churning from the shock and whose head was spinning, finally remembered that she was still participating in a marathon!

He hurriedly stood up from the ground and ran outside while shouting to Misaka Mikoto:

"Damn it! If I lose this match, your score won't count!"

"Hmph! If it doesn't count, it doesn't count! Even without this match, Lady Mikoto would never have lost!"

Watching Inoue Eika run away in a panic, Misaka Mikoto snorted and muttered to herself with great pride.

However, her haughty expression suddenly softened, and as she watched Inoue Eika run away, she revealed a smile that could make her female juniors who admired her completely infatuated.

"What an idiot!"

……

"So, what should we do now? With this delay, it's definitely too late to get there using the normal methods. Let alone whether we can get into the top three, it's even uncertain whether we can arrive within an hour."

While confirming the direction, Inoue Hideka ran towards the 12th school district, pondering a countermeasure.

I just boasted that I would definitely get first place, damn it, am I going to be looked down upon by Ruiko?

"I remember the rule is that you can borrow external things, as long as you don't use transportation, then..."

As she ran, Inoue Hideka stretched out her palm towards the building in front of her.

Whoosh!

He instantly appeared on the wall of a building, supporting his body with his right hand, while his left hand aimed at the wall of another building.

In a flash, Inoue Eika appeared on the wall about 50 meters away.

Whoosh whoosh!

One after another, his hands moved rapidly, alternating like a spatial ability user—no, actually faster than most spatial ability users!

Even if you don't know where Inoue Hideka will appear next, it's difficult to catch a glimpse of him with the naked eye.

At that speed, Inoue Hideka moved swiftly back and forth on the walls of the Academy City building, heading towards the marathon finish line located in the 12th school district.

The maximum distance that can be moved in one go is 50 meters. Ignoring all other factors, Inoue Hideka can move a maximum of twice per second.

The magnetic gloves should not be used for more than ten minutes.

Based on this calculation, the maximum distance that Inoue Hidekazu can move using the magnetic gloves is 50*2*60*10, which is 60000 meters or 60 kilometers.

This speed is enough for Inoue Hidekazu to run three marathons.

Academy City isn't very large, only about a third the size of Tokyo, and it's circular in shape, so its diameter is quite obvious.

It won't be more than 20 kilometers!

This marathon race, from the Ninth School District to the Twelfth School District, basically spans across Academy City, but it won't exceed 20 kilometers.

If it's just running, even for athletes with good physical fitness, it would take at least half an hour.

But Inoue Hideka used magnetic gloves to move forward without stopping, and it only took him 3 minutes!

Chapter 232 The Grand Star Festival in Full Swing (4)

The finish line of the marathon in School District 12.

"Oh my god! First place! The winner of this year's Daihasei Festival has been decided! Oh my god! That's... Aki Taiga, the esper from Nagato University! As expected, physical abilities really give this athlete an advantage! Only 25 minutes have passed since the start of the race, and Aki is already nearing the finish line, while the second place is... Wow! According to the surveillance footage, the second place has only just entered the 12th school district!"

"Ha~~ha~~ha~~"

With the finish line in sight, Inoue Hideka was about to stop and catch her breath.

The scenes changed so quickly that he was feeling dizzy and disoriented, sometimes even losing his bearings.

The physical exertion is also enormous, since jumping between tall buildings and changing positions requires complete control of the body.

Although only three minutes had passed, he was already so tired that he wanted to lie down on the ground and take a nap.

Hearing the commentator's excited voice coming over the loudspeaker, Inoue Hideka became nervous again.

The first-place player is already close to the finish line; they must persevere a little longer.

Remembering the confident words he had spoken to Saten Ruiko before the race, Inoue Eika forced herself to cheer up and looked toward the finish line.

A tall, strong male student was running calmly, less than a hundred meters from the finish line.