As a girl who'd idly researched all sorts of sodas in her free time, Natsume-san had mastered the expansion and explosion formulas for dozens of flavors, earning her the title of Academy City's Beverage Bomb Demon.
Too bad those formulas were still less effective on healthy drinks like fruit juice, preventing a certain someone from establishing complete dominance over the vending machine territories.
Ignoring the out-of-place chuunibyou catchphrases, the certain bun-haired girl who'd scored a hit was now upholding the fine tradition of pressing her advantage.
An invisible air domain enveloped Kouzaku Mitori's entire body in the same instant. After Natsume-san had pulled her close enough, what followed was an utterly merciless, all-out suppression.
As long as her opponent was a normally-structured human, Natsume-san's confidence would instantly skyrocket. No human, no matter their lung capacity, could stand against the bun-head girl's clever brain.
Dense air formed heavy walls, layer upon layer like immovable mountains.
With a single thought, she instantly pressed down on that nurse-san, making it hard for her to breathe, and even accidentally squashed half of the other girl's strawberry bread, dismantling any potential resistance.
Even the tablet and remote that had fallen on the grass were deliberately swept away dozens of meters.
"Sonoko-chan, how did you know Kouzaku Mitori's location?"
Up in the air, light and shadow interlaced. The duo of girls hidden in an unknowable place projected life-sized images onto the ground.
The shimmering figure of Shokuhou Misaki asked the bun-haired image beside her with some surprise.
It seemed the incident of being controlled by Kihara Gensei had left the bun-haired girl even more wary than before, even if the opponent appeared completely helpless now.
"Eh, it was really just luck, you know?"
"You know how it is, Senpai, my luck's always been pretty good."
Tilting her head, the certain bun-head gave a vague explanation, her gaze flickering slightly.
She had unhesitatingly crossed the lakeside park, an area nearly half the size of School Garden, and found Kouzaku Mitori hiding in a remote corner in just over ten seconds.
Natsume-san felt she was testing the very limits of human luck.
Well, truth was, Natsume-san had simply detected Kouzaku Mitori's AIM field.
While Natsume-san hadn't recorded Kouzaku Mitori's AIM field information beforehand, amidst the gathering of Level 0s, the field of a Level 4 stuck out like a sore thumb.
But she couldn't explain it to her Senpai that way, since there were some things even she didn't fully understand.
Most importantly, Natsume Sonoko wasn't planning on telling others about these experiences of hers, at least not for now.
"Luck is part of one's strength too, you know."
Shokuhou-senpai smiled faintly, not paying mind to the other girl's evasive look.
It seemed Sonoko had her own secrets she couldn't share.
As Kouzaku Mitori logged out of the Exterior, her account was revoked the very next second. Cheers and applause! The Administrator-san had finally fully sanctioned the Kihara Gensei group for their malicious account theft.
A dangerous thing like the Exterior was better off in Shokuhou-senpai's hands, to prevent certain people from sneakily doing something outrageous.
Although Shokuhou-senpai didn't seem too reactive about retrieving the Exterior, instead treating it like something inconsequential.
In fact, this Administrator-san was already preparing to completely scrap the Exterior, and once this thought appeared, it became irrepressible.
To conceal and maintain the Exterior, Shokuhou Misaki needed to invest massive funds and energy every year.
But those issues were secondary. What she couldn't bear was that just anyone using brainwave synchronization technology could seize control of the Exterior within minutes. The existence of such a flaw made its value as an asset plummet infinitely.
And with the series of actions Kihara Gensei had taken, various clues corroborating each other, the Exterior's location would likewise be exposed to the eyes of Academy City's upper echelons.
Adding these two factors together, Shokuhou Misaki had no confidence she could continue holding onto something like the Exterior with low risk. It also meant this technology originating from her would soon be abused by others.
And once Academy City figured everything out, they would inevitably send Dark Side groups to recover the asset, like 'School' or something else. Before that happened, all she could leave them was a destroyed Exterior.
From the very start, Shokuhou-senpai had no intention of confronting Academy City head-on.
"To think they'd try to oppose Academy City with such a childish method. If it were that easy, I'd have done it long ago."
"Compared to the brainwave synchronization Kihara Gensei devised, I can casually register hundreds of Exterior accounts. Even if only one account can be logged into at a time, the efficiency is still much higher than her approach."
Her starry eyes gazed expressionlessly at the immobilized Kouzaku Mitori, the remote swaying gently in her hand. Shokuhou Misaki suddenly broke into a radiant smile, shining bright like a blooming sunflower.
Gotta say, trying to use the Exterior to disrupt Academy City was imaginative, but ultimately meaningless.
Even with the Exterior's assistance, how much information could a mere Level 4 brain process? It would inevitably end up inputting random destructive commands, driven by darker impulses to cause even more terrible consequences, let alone finding members of the Board of Directors from a sea of people.
Furthermore, technology developed with the help of Accelerator had entered practical use years ago. The possibility of using Mental Out to control Board members had long since vanished.
They couldn't even get their hands on such basic intel. Truly, ignorance is bliss.
Even ditzy Sonoko knew that relying on brute force simply wouldn't work, a certain blonde-haired girl mused, magnificently ignoring the fact that this very person had twice pushed her into peril before.
Come to think of it, that #1 was quite a treasure boy, no wonder the Board of Directors favored him so much.
Compared to him, a certain bun-head had it much rougher, given no resources at all, and only managing thanks to the support and help of her golden-haired senpai.
"Sonoko-chan, this person is no longer a threat."
Making a cute gesture, Shokuhou-senpai playfully waved to the bun-head girl beside her. With the bun-head's cooperation, preventing the opponent from thinking and using her abilities, revoking the opponent's access to the Exterior was a piece of cake.
"Eh, understood."
Blinking momentarily in surprise, Natsume Sonoko caught on and dissolved the light-and-shadow projection on herself. Now, the two of them in the flesh stood at the center of the converging wind pressure.
"I probed Kihara Gensei's memories. Just as I thought, your identity is exactly what I suspected. You're 'Mii-chan', aren't you?"
"I never could understand it. The researchers actually had me play the role of someone who abandoned Dolly. I was so naive back then. How could someone Dolly cared about so deeply ever do such a thing?"
Standing before the girl in the nurse outfit, Shokuhou Misaki recalled something, speaking unhurriedly.
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T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.