The Demon King, reborn in Japan as a monk

First, there's Kiyama Harumi himself with a gloomy expression, then Misaka Mikoto, who has the title of "Railgun," followed by Uiharu Kazari, Saten Ruiko, and Shirai Kuroko. After thinking for a while, Ishihara Sho also imagined the terrible appearance of the fantasy monster that the Phantasmal Master had created, and then recreated the environment where the incident occurred.

With all the necessary elements gathered, all that's left is to get these characters moving, triggering the mental fluctuations related to them in the two-dimensional world, and opening the portal. Once that's done, all the preparations will be complete.

"Wow, what is that thing? It looks disgusting." Saten Ruiko looked at the fantasy monster floating in mid-air and complained with a look of disgust.

“That is, a fantasy monster,” Kiyama Harumi replied with a gloomy expression.

"Fantasy monsters?" Haru Kazari asked, puzzled.

"It is the product of the Phantasm Manager program, which uses the AIM diffusion field of the ten thousand users in the Phantasm Manager network to create the core of Phantasm Manager! Now, I can no longer control it," Kiyama Harumi said calmly.

"What do we do now?" Misaka Mikoto asked, frowning as a flash of electricity crossed her forehead.

"I don't know. Now, it's up to you guys." Kiyama Harumi said bluntly, passing the buck.

"..." Shirai Kuroko, Misaka Mikoto, Uiharu Kazari, and Saten Ruiko exchanged glances, all seeing the helplessness in their companion's eyes.

"Kuroko, you take everyone and leave here first. Leave the rest to me. As a psychic, I don't acknowledge that this kind of nonsense is a product of psychic powers!" Misaka Mikoto, her body crackling with electricity, solemnly ordered her companion.

"Then please be careful, big sister." Shirai Kuroko did not refute, but after giving the instruction, she decisively grabbed the arms of Uiharu Kazari and Saten Ruiko beside her, activated her Level 4 spatial teleportation ability, and took the two away from the scene.

Then, Shirai Kuroko reappeared and came to the side of Ishihara Akira and Kiyama Haruo.

Ignoring their thoughts, he pressed his palms against the two of them and used his power again to take them away.

"Can she manage on her own?" Kiyama Harumi asked hesitantly, looking at Misaka Mikoto who was left behind.

"Of course, no problem! You know, that's my big sister, one of only seven Level 5 espers in Academy City, a terrifying being with the codename Railgun. Let alone mere fantasy monsters, even an army would be no match for her!"

The next moment, as if to verify Kuroko's words, a dazzling orange-yellow beam of light suddenly appeared, and the fantasy monster floating in mid-air was immediately torn apart by Misaka Mikoto's Railgun, revealing the core crystal of the AIM network, the true Phantasm Hunter, within the fantasy monster. Then, Misaka Mikoto used the same method to destroy the Phantasm Hunter's crystal with the Railgun, blasting it into countless energy fragments...

At the same moment, a white, circular energy gate was created.

Without further hesitation, Ishihara Sho transformed into Dream Superman and flew toward the portal leading to the world of A Certain Magical Index, disappearing into the portal in the blink of an eye.

……

The next moment, the light and shadow shifted, and Ishihara Sho appeared in a desolate place exactly like the environment he had created in his dream—

That is, the place where Mikoto Mimoto and the fantasy beasts fought in the original work!

This gave Ishihara Sho a vague new validation of his own power—

"As expected, it has an impact."

"I just don't know how far this influence will go, or if it can even interfere with people's perceptions."

Thinking it over, Ishihara Akira glanced around, roughly determined the direction, and then walked forward.

The most crucial thing now is to find someone who can help me better understand the existence of Academy City!

For example, a person with spiky hair, a member of the security team, or even a member of the disciplinary committee.

Chapter 22 Kiyama Haruo

However, this is just wishful thinking. This isn't the main area where students spend their time, so it's possible to run into members of the Academy City's security forces like Yomikawa Ai, but there's little hope of encountering the spiky-haired girl or a member of the Disciplinary Committee.

However, it was clear that Ishihara Akira's luck wasn't very good, or rather, the place he was in was just too remote. He hadn't seen a single police officer or even a passerby for half a day, making him wonder if he would simply get lost in the vast facilities of Academy City...

After all, according to the data, although Academy City does not cover the entire Tokyo metropolitan area, it is still two-thirds the size of it, and he cannot simply walk across it.

"By the way, I should also change my image a little."

As he spoke, Ishihara Akira's height gradually decreased while he was walking, and his appearance became younger, transforming him from a young man in his early twenties into an ordinary junior or senior high school student.

Then his clothes changed, becoming something like Touma Kamijou's outfit, which was both casual wear and a uniform—

He was dressed in a white shirt, uniform pants, and sneakers. He continued to wander aimlessly along the street.

Until much later...

He finally encountered another lone pedestrian.

Without hesitation, Ishihara Akira ran quickly to the person's side, patted the person's shoulder, and as the person subconsciously turned around, he immediately cast a hypnotic spell on him.

Instantly, the person's consciousness was suppressed, and he lost the ability to resist.

Then, Ishihara Akira took the other man's phone and money, and asked him about the location and the divisions of Academy City. Under the other man's guidance, he began operating the phone.

According to the setting, the communication network inside Academy City is relatively independent from the external communication network. Although communication is possible between the inside and outside, certain websites cannot be accessed by external mobile phones, which can only be accessed by Academy City students and faculty using internal mobile phones.

Therefore, it's more appropriate to use an internal mobile phone if you want to find certain information.

Of course, this is on the premise that what you are investigating is not sensitive or is rated too high. Otherwise, even if you use an internal cell phone, you still cannot find certain classified information that is considered to be classified as A or above.

Fortunately, the information that Ishihara Akira was looking for was very ordinary. It was just searching for Kiyama Haruo's name and the location of the AIM Analysis Research Institute where she worked. It was general information, meaning that even people with the lowest level of access could search for it, but they wouldn't be able to see more detailed information. So, it didn't take long for Ishihara Akira to find what he wanted.

After that, Ishihara Akira dismissed the passerby who had taken all his money and, following the instructions on his phone, continued moving towards the location of the AIM Analysis Research Institute.

"That's really far..."

……

Despite the long distance, it wasn't impossible to get there. With the main roads starting to appear after entering a certain area, Ishihara Akira arrived at the AIM Analysis Research Institute where Kiyama Harumi was currently working as dusk approached, and stepped in through the main gate without any hesitation.

"Is Dr. Haruo Kiyama here?" Ishihara asked the receptionist standing at the front desk of the research institute.

"May I ask who you are?" the receptionist asked in return.

“My name is Ishihara Akira. Just tell her that I have something to tell her about the experiment on analyzing out-of-control abilities,” Ishihara Akira said.

"Please wait a moment." The receptionist glanced at him, and seeing that Ishihara Akira didn't seem like some kind of inexplicable dangerous person, she picked up the phone and contacted Kiyama Haruo, who worked at the research institute, via an internal line.

"Yes, yes, okay."

A moment later, the receptionist hung up the phone.

"Dr. Kiyama said she will come down to see you in person later. Please sit over there and wait a moment," the receptionist said politely to Ishihara Akira. At the same time, she pointed to several rows of empty metal chairs not far away.

"Thank you for your help." Ishihara Akira nodded, turned around, walked to the chairs that looked like rest seats provided by the bank for customers conducting business, and sat down.

Shortly afterward, a tall, tired woman wearing the white lab coats that researchers usually wear, looking exhausted from staying up late, walked steadily toward Ishihara Akira.

Ishihara Akira then stood up and faced the woman.

"So you wanted to talk to me about the experiment on the analysis of the laws of out-of-control abilities?" Kiyama Harumi stopped in front of Ishihara Akira, her face grim as she stared at the boy who was about the same height as her and said in a deep voice.

"Are you sure you want to say this here?" Ishihara Akira glanced at the receptionist not far away and asked.

"Come with me," Kiyama Harumi said, glancing in that direction.

The two then hurried into the research institute's office building and finally stopped in a rather spacious researcher's office.

Well, it's a private office for individual use, not a large row of rooms, so it's not a bad place to discuss some private topics.

"Alright, you can speak now." Kiyama Harumi walked back to his desk and sat down, looking at Ishihara Akira standing in the room and speaking calmly.

"Before I say all that, I want to know, do you really understand the true purpose of the detonation experiment based on the law of out-of-control ability?" Ishihara Akira didn't mind that Kiyama Harumi hadn't entertained him. He walked over to the sofa and sat down, turning to look at Kiyama Harumi sitting at his desk and asking him in return.

"What is the true purpose of the detonation experiment based on the law of out-of-control ability?" Kiyama Haruo frowned.

Although Kihara Gensei, her mentor, did seem to explain something after the incident, she didn't hear much because her attention was entirely focused on the children who would fall into a coma due to the experiment. Therefore, she still doesn't know what Kihara Gensei was trying to achieve by conducting the experiment.

"It's to create absolute power users!" Ishihara Akira revealed the answer: "By mastering specific methods to induce power users to go berserk, we can stimulate and trigger their abilities to go berserk, thereby forcing them into the LV6 state, which currently only exists in theoretical descriptions, to achieve Academy City's ultimate goal since its establishment..."

"So, the children's coma wasn't caused by an experimental accident at all, but by Kihara Gensei's deliberate actions. Now, do you understand why it's so difficult for you to save those children?"

Chapter 23 On the Right Track

"Then how do you know all this?" Kiyama Harumi's expression changed upon hearing this, and he asked Ishihara Sho again.

“I naturally have my own information channels and methods,” Ishihara Akira said with a smile.

"So you came here this time not just to tell me these things, right?" Kiyama Harumi pressed.

“Yes, I want to make a deal with you,” Ishihara Akira nodded affirmatively.

"A deal? What kind of deal?" Kiyama Harumi narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I'll tell you how to gather your comatose students together, and possibly how to save them and prevent Kihara Gensei from targeting them again. After you verify these methods, you'll use your connections to secure a chance to unlock my abilities." Ishihara Akira answered directly, without holding back.

"Is that all?" Kiyama Harumi asked, puzzled.

They probably didn't expect that Ishihara Sho, a grown man, had never received any ability development guidance.

This is normal, since ability development and guidance are things that students do in their first year of school in Academy City, and they are free of charge—or rather, the cost of development is included in the tuition. So if you are a student in Academy City and are under 20 years old, you should have received guidance and development!

There's only one possibility: you're newly hired!

However, such people are often either rare gems or special talents. They should be received by corresponding research institutions when they enter Academy City, so they will also be qualified to develop their abilities after a certain period of time.

If not, then we really need to consider the other party's identity and circumstances...

For example, you don't have the qualifications.

You are over the age limit.

Especially the latter one. Although it is not explicitly stated, judging from the situation of the entire Academy City, there is no record of any adult over the age of 20 who has acquired the ability, unless they are college students who have been promoted from within Academy City.

It's clear that age still plays a significant role in acquiring skills and abilities.

“That’s all,” Ishihara Akira confirmed.

“Alright then, as long as the information you provide is true and valid, I will personally conduct the ability development induction experiment for you.” Kiyama Haruo looked at Ishihara Sho and responded very decisively.

Ishihara Sho smiled, and then uttered the name of the Underworld Soul Chaser...

Afterwards, Ishihara Akira and Kiyama Haruo left the AIM Analysis Institute and headed towards a university-affiliated hospital where Mingtu Zhuihun worked.

As for how he was found?

As I said before, all information related to Academy City exists on Academy City's internal network; the only difference is the level of obfuscation. Therefore, Kiyama Harumi easily found the information on the doctor nicknamed "Netherworld Soul Chaser," whose real name is unknown, simply by using his work privileges, and then went to attack him.

As for what the two talked about afterward, Ishihara Akira wasn't interested in knowing. All he knew was that when Kiyama Harumi came out of the Underworld Soul Chaser's office, his expression had become noticeably brighter.

Although it still gives people a gloomy and somber feeling, it is no longer as heavy and oppressive as when we first met.

As you can see, the result was quite good.

"Have you reached an agreement?" On the way back to the research institute, Ishihara Akira couldn't help but ask.