The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

So, you really want to have your own abilities?

"My name is Uiharu Kazari, um... my hobby is... everything about the young lady."

At this point, Haru Shiori showed a look of longing, even forgetting her shyness.

"I love sweets, and my dream is to maintain order in Academy City and protect its safety! Nice to meet you!"

When talking about her dreamland, Shiori Uiharu even showed a rather proud expression on her face.

In the fall of sixth grade, Shiori applied for the Disciplinary Committee for the second time. After four months of training, she finally obtained the qualification of Disciplinary Committee member, seemingly due to a breakthrough in her intelligence processing ability.

In other words, Haruharu Shiori is now a full-fledged disciplinary committee member. No wonder...

Inoue Hideka was lost in thought, so much so that he didn't react when it was his turn to introduce himself. It was only after Saten Ruiko called him a few times that he came back to his senses.

When Inoue Hideka received a meaningful look from Shinjuku Rika, he broke out in a cold sweat again, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed hard and forced himself to stand firm.

"My name is Inoue Hideka. My hobby is drawing manga, and my interest is reading manga."

The classmates around him looked at him strangely. He seemed like a sunny boy, but they didn't expect him to have such a homebody hobby.

“Hmm, a dream…” Inoue Hideka hesitated for a moment.

Arriving in Academy City, I didn't seem to have any particular dreams. My biggest dream was probably to see Misaka Mikoto in person, but now that dream has come true.

Other things, like saving his sisters, seem like a pipe dream given his current abilities.

This world is so dangerous, with all sorts of magic and superpowers flying around; just surviving is no easy feat. If I had to talk about dreams, I'd hope for a more peaceful world, at least so I could live a more comfortable life.

Catching a glimpse of Caspian Sea's increasingly impatient expression, Inoue Hideka realized she had been lost in thought for quite a while and subconsciously said:

"My dream is for world peace!"

Due to nervousness, he unconsciously raised his voice, which, combined with Inoue Hideka's previous hobbies, easily reminded people of a chuunibyou teenager dreaming of becoming a world hero.

"Pfft! Haha!"

Some people couldn't help but laugh out loud, but Inoue Hideka's chuunibyou-esque remarks did ease the oppressive atmosphere under the Shinjuku Caspian Sea vibe.

Shinjuku Rikai's lips curled up slightly in disdain. As teachers in Academy City, many of them also served as academy security guards. Having witnessed countless dark events, they utterly despised this naive dream of world peace.

Those students who noticed the change in Rikako Shinjuku's expression laughed even more unrestrainedly, some even whispering unpleasant remarks.

Inoue Hideka sat down helplessly, propping her chin up with her hand and closing her eyes to ignore the vile mockery and sarcasm.

Well! It seems I accidentally said something terrible!

I never expected to receive the kind of treatment that comes with being a main character in an anime on my first day of school.

"What's so funny! Those who trample on other people's dreams don't deserve to achieve their own!"

Inoue Hidekazu himself didn't care, but others around him did care on his behalf.

Seeing Inoue Eika close her eyes, Saten Ruiko thought that Inoue Eika was weak and had cried because she felt wronged. She couldn't bear to see it and stood up to defend Inoue Eika.

The cheerful Saten Ruiko has never known fear; she is the only girl in the group of four who always stands in the sunlight.

The darkness of the city never affected her sunny heart. Even as a level 0, the weakest of the four, she never lost her confidence in life.

She often comforted Mikoto and the others when they were feeling lost and uneasy. If Mikoto was the pillar of the group, then Ruiko was their haven.

No matter how hard I work outside, as long as I go home, my heart is still at peace.

So even though Ryoma Shinjuku was standing there, Ruiko Saten still bravely did what she believed was right.

Ruiko has always been like this, whether she's facing delinquents, facing Theristina Kihara Leifrain, or facing Jonan Asahi.

Inoue Eika looked up in surprise, only to be met with Saten Ruiko's seemingly encouraging gaze and confident smile.

With a gentle smile, Inoue Eika returned a big smile and said to Saten Ruiko, "Thank you, Saten-kun!"

Ruiko is indeed Ruiko!

She's a gentle girl who, though she may seem very casual at first glance, is able to perceive the atmosphere around her and show them meticulous care!

"continue!"

Ignoring the interaction between Saten Ruiko and Inoue Eika, Shinjuku Rika returned to her previous serious demeanor and coldly spoke.

The students, who had been surprised by Ruiko's speech, came to their senses, felt the cold atmosphere of the Caspian Sea in Shinjuku, and recalled the fear of being dominated by their homeroom teacher.

No further unpleasant incidents occurred after that. After everyone had introduced themselves, Shinjuku Rikai organized the male students in the class to bring over the new books, school uniforms, and other items needed for the first semester, and distributed them to each student in turn.

After finishing these tasks, it was already noon. I said I would rest in the afternoon and classes would officially begin tomorrow before leaving Shinjuku Rikai.

Today is the first day of school. Touma will probably go out to eat with his classmates. In that case, I'll buy some food and eat it back in the dorm.

The students dispersed in twos and threes, and Inoue Hideka also got up and walked out after thinking for a while.

After Saten Ruiko and Uiharu Kazari finished talking in Shinjuku Rikami, they went out together, apparently planning to have dinner together and then go shopping.

Girls, especially outgoing girls, always love shopping.

It's better to stay home!

There's nothing much to do in the afternoon, so I'll go back to the dorm and exercise.

"Huff...huff..." Lying on the bed, Inoue Hideka was panting heavily, clearly exhausted.

Now there are some new things in Inoue Hidekazu's room—three large sandbags have been hung from the ceiling, arranged in an equilateral triangle shape, with less than two meters between them. The sandbags, still swaying gently, indicate that Inoue Hidekazu has just finished training.

For Inoue Hidekazu, a homebody who doesn't particularly enjoy exercise, coming up with this training method was already quite an achievement.

Although it's a very simple method, it's also very practical.

During training, Inoue Hideka would stand between three sandbags.

First, use your body to hit one of the sandbags, making it fly outwards, then hit the other one, and so on, hitting each of the three once.

Then, due to inertia, the three sandbags will crash into Inoue Eika, who is standing in the middle, one after another. Inoue Eika will then use even greater force to knock them back, achieving the same effect as hitting a tree.

At this point, a distance of less than two meters will come in handy, at least preventing situations where the object is too far away to be hit.

This method of hitting the three sandbags without any intervals is not only time-saving and more efficient than hitting a big tree, but also avoids the embarrassment of being seen hitting a big tree in a park.

Moreover, the sandbags were not filled with ordinary sand, but with iron sand specially customized by Inoue Eika, whose hardness and weight were far superior to that of large trees.

At the time, Inoue Hideka almost spent all his savings on those three sandbags.

Of course, sometimes there isn't enough time to ram back. If you're a little slow, the next second Inoue Hideka might be greeted by three sandbags ramming into you at the same time.

As a result, Inoue Hideka's body was often covered in wounds, but it also became increasingly robust.

After about half a month of training, he has gotten used to the pain that comes from his body from time to time. He might not even be used to the day when he doesn't feel any pain at all.

However, the results of this training are also quite remarkable.

At least for now, Inoue Hideka is confident that she can withstand Misaka Mikoto's Iron Sand Whip head-on and survive!

It's more accurate to say he survived, rather than being completely unharmed.

Inoue Hideka remembers that during the incident with her sister, Touma caught Misaka Mikoto completely off guard and took the brunt of her lightning strike head-on!

Compared to this guy, I'm far inferior!

Of course, they are the main characters, possessing the protagonist's halo, which I can't compare to.

Chapter 10 Saten Ruiko

After resting for a while, Inoue Hideka got up to take a hot shower. The weather in April was still not warm. Although she wanted to take a refreshing cold shower, she was afraid that she would catch a cold.

It was already evening, and the setting sun shone through the window onto the floor tiles, giving the air inside the room a unique rosy hue.

Having been in Academy City for over half a month, Inoue Eika still has a sense of unreality.

Having once dreamed of coming to this world, when she finally arrived in the Academy City she had always longed for, besides excitement, Inoue Eika felt more lost and confused about what to do next.

Aside from the thought of survival sustaining his daily training, he probably only feels that Academy City isn't a dream when joking around with his friend Touma.

Arriving in Academy City, I had no goals, no motivation, only the pressure to survive.

This is not the place that Inoue Hidekazu had always dreamed of.

I once fantasized that if I were to travel to Academy City, I would definitely save all the younger sisters, then successfully win over Misaka Mikoto, and live a happy and fulfilling life with her.

However, all of these fantasies are based on the premise of strength. Without strength, they are nothing!

Right now, Inoue Hideka is like a fart. In front of those high-ability users and magicians, he is not even worth a glance, just an ant that they would not even bother to look at!

He couldn't even defeat the level 3 fire-generating ability user in the bank robbery incident in the original work!

Faced with reality, Inoue Hideka also gave up those unrealistic fantasies. Anyway, everything was handled by Touma, and there was nothing that his Imagine Breaker couldn't solve.

In the end, Touma will become the hero that Misaka Mikoto would come to save me as long as I cry out.

Well! Anyway, none of this concerns me!

Inoue Hideka chuckled self-deprecatingly, put on her clothes, and prepared to go to Touma's house for dinner.

As I came down from the dormitory, I saw Saten Ruiko at the crossroads ahead, walking towards me with several handbags in her hands.

"Hey! Hello, Inoue-kun!" Saten Ruiko greeted Inoue Eika with a smile first.

"Hello! Saten-san! Where are you headed?" Seeing Saten Ruiko's smiling face, Inoue Eika's gloomy mood improved slightly, and she smiled as she spoke to Saten Ruiko.

"Of course I'm going back to the dorm! But where did Inoue-san come from? And where is she going?" Saten Ruiko said matter-of-factly.

"Huh? Is Saten-san's dorm over here? I just came out of my dorm and was planning to go to a friend's for dinner. After all, I can't cook, so I can only rely on my friends for help!" In a better mood, Inoue Hideka even cracked a joke.

"Really? I didn't expect our dorms to be so close! In that case, how about I cook for you? Hehe!" Perhaps seeing that Inoue Eika was easy to get along with, Saten Ruiko also made a small joke.

Hearing Saten Ruiko say that, Inoue Eika was intrigued. He remembered that Saten Ruiko was a perfect housekeeper, possessing abilities that even perverts would acknowledge as those of a maid! Inoue Eika was already tired of eating Touma's mediocre cooking every day! Taking this opportunity to enjoy some good food would be nice.

Young man, how can you say such a thing as a disservice to Touma, who works so hard to cook for you every day?

"Okay! Perfect! I'll get to see Saten-san's cooking skills! Come to my dorm, let's go buy some things first!" Inoue Eika said, and walked back first, as if afraid that Saten Ruiko would change her mind.

"Um... never mind!" Saten Ruiko was a little embarrassed; she was just joking. But whatever, they were classmates anyway, and she'd see each other all the time, so it was good to get to know each other now!

After saying that, he followed Inoue Hideka's footsteps.

Turning around and walking into the convenience store downstairs from the dormitory, Inoue Eika began to pick through her purchases: tea, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and so on. She had left all the food she bought last time with Touma, so she had to buy it all again this time.

"Hey! Don't buy things you don't know! This sunflower seed oil is suitable for stews and braised dishes, and it's already evening. By the time it's cooked, it will be night! And this soy sauce is suitable for cold dishes, but it's not summer yet, so it's not really suitable for cold dishes, is it?" Saten Ruiko said helplessly to Inoue Hideka as she took the things from his hands and put them back in their place.

As she watched the items being taken from her hands one by one, Inoue Hideka couldn't help but have some doubts about herself. The things she bought last time were just things she bought because they were cheap. She wondered what Touma's feelings were when he used them.

Inoue Hideka simply stopped taking them. He would take one item from Saten Ruiko and then take another.