It had been more than ten minutes past curfew, but Shirai Kuroko still hadn't returned, nor had she called. Normally, even if she was occasionally late, Shirai Kuroko would notify her and ask her to help deal with the dormitory supervisor's inspection.
Misaka Mikoto finally couldn't sit still. After inquiring about the situation from the neighboring dormitory and asking Hatsuharu Shiori, Saten Ruiko, and others, there was still no sign of Shirai Kuroko.
Thinking about the many things that had happened in Academy City these past few days, and the fact that dangerous magicians had infiltrated, Misaka Mikoto became increasingly worried.
Come to think of it, Shirai Kuroko was also somewhat related to Misawa Cram School. With Shirai Kuroko's serious personality, it wasn't impossible for her to investigate Misawa Cram School on her own.
Although she had now reconciled with the alchemist Aureolus, he was still a magician after all, and couldn't be completely trusted.
But on the other hand, Misaka Mikoto was also afraid that this was just her own wishful thinking and unnecessary worry, and that Shirai Kuroko was fine, just out for a casual night stroll.
If she made a big fuss about it and the dormitory supervisor found out, but it turned out to be a false alarm... wouldn't Shirai Kuroko be punished?
Without hesitating for too long, Misaka Mikoto decided to ask Lin Wuming for help.
"Shirai Kuroko is missing?" Hearing this news, Lin Wuming also became serious. "Do you have any more detailed information? When did she disappear? Where was she last seen?"
"...I don't know. We've been acting separately since this morning," Misaka Mikoto said helplessly.
In the morning, Misaka Mikoto was preparing for today's amusement park trip, and Shirai Kuroko had also left early to participate in Judgment activities.
"Don't worry," Lin Wuming looked up at the ceiling. "If we're looking for someone, there's a very reliable group of people."
Then, Lin Wuming packed a few pieces of strawberry shortcake and went upstairs to find Last Order.
With the power of the Misaka Network, there might be unexpected gains.
And the results didn't disappoint—a Misaka sister witnessed Shirai Kuroko appearing in District 10 in the morning.
At this point in time, and in District 10, it was hard not to associate it with Misawa Cram School and Aureolus.
However, logically speaking, Shirai Kuroko shouldn't know about the alchemist Aureolus.
"Mikoto, did you mention anything about me regaining my memories to Shirai Kuroko?" Lin Wuming asked.
"It seems I mentioned some things during our conversation," Misaka Mikoto recalled. "Could it be..."
"Shirai Kuroko is a very excellent Judgment member, and she's extremely proactive," Lin Wuming said. "Wait a moment, I'll go ask Kamijou Touma."
Then, Lin Wuming indeed obtained new clues from Kamijou Touma.
Shirai Kuroko was indeed active near Misawa Cram School today, and she specifically found Kamijou Touma to unlock her sealed memories.
"In any case, we definitely have to go to Misawa Cram School," Lin Wuming no longer hesitated and immediately prepared to leave.
Kitsunezuka Tomitsu had been paying attention to Lin Wuming's movements. Seeing that Lin Wuming was taking action, she immediately ran out of the kitchen, taking off her apron as she did so.
"The chance to avenge myself has come," the girl said seriously.
"It's not necessarily going to be a battle," Lin Wuming shook his head. "Let's go take a look first."
However, just in case, Lin Wuming still sped off in his wheelchair, heading to Misawa Cram School as quickly as possible.
...
Shirai Kuroko woke up from her unconsciousness. After a while, she realized that she was lying face down on the cold ground.
"Artificial marble floor tiles..." Shirai Kuroko tried to restore logic to her thinking. "Where is this? Why am I here? What happened?"
"That's right, there was an orbital bombardment! A laser beam? No, that should have been a magical attack!"
The last scene left in her memory was seeing a blood-red beam of light descend from the sky, striking Misawa Cram School and destroying it.
Since Shirai Kuroko was near Misawa Cram School at the time, she was also affected by this grand attack.
In order to avoid the attack, Shirai Kuroko instinctively activated her spatial teleportation ability.
And then... then she lost consciousness, until now.
Looking up, Shirai Kuroko saw a familiar scene—a corridor filled with a faint golden light.
It was the scene she had experienced the day before yesterday during the hundred seconds she had lost.
"I'm inside again, inside Misawa Cram School," Shirai Kuroko said with a wry smile.
This was indeed a spatial anomaly. Shirai Kuroko knew very well that when she activated her ability, she had no intention of moving towards Misawa Cram School at all.
Logically, Misawa Cram School was under attack at the time, so how could she possibly throw herself into the net and move towards the center of the attack?
The only explanation was that the space here at Misawa Cram School was distorted, different from the situation in the normal dimension.
And it also affected the surrounding spatial environment, ultimately causing Shirai Kuroko's "spatial teleportation" to fail. Not only did she fail to escape, but she also "threw herself into the net" and inexplicably came inside Misawa Cram School.
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"This is troublesome..." Shirai Kuroko opened her phone to check the time. "It's already so late. I've been unconscious for ten hours? And there's no signal..."
Unable to contact the outside world, the phone became a useless decoration except for telling the time.
Shirai Kuroko sighed and put away her phone: "The only thing to be thankful for is that I'm still alive and wasn't affected by that terrifying bombardment. And it seems that Misawa Cram School hasn't been destroyed either."
After regaining some strength, Shirai Kuroko began to walk forward along the corridor.
Because this was a spatial anomaly, she didn't dare to easily activate her esper ability and could only rely on her feet to explore for the time being.
This was a very strange world. Apart from herself, everything else was a fixed backdrop—unable to be moved or destroyed.
Even the cram school students who occasionally appeared in the corridor seemed to be in another dimension, completely unable to see or feel Shirai Kuroko, who was right next to them.
Shirai Kuroko had even tried to talk to them, but she didn't get any response.
She even almost got knocked down by someone... Their bodies and clothes were as hard as iron, and Shirai Kuroko couldn't shake them in the slightest.
Since then, Shirai Kuroko didn't dare to approach these "moving obstacles" easily anymore.
After walking for more than ten minutes in one breath, Shirai Kuroko opened her phone again to check, but there was still no signal.
"No, at this rate, I definitely won't be able to get out of this place by just relying on my feet!" Shirai Kuroko made a decision.
Putting away her phone, she lifted the hem of her uniform skirt and pulled out two steel needles from the garter belt strapped to her thigh.
Then, she activated "spatial teleportation" and moved the steel needles to a position one meter in front of her.
"No problem, it can be used normally..."
The effect of the ability met her expectations, and Shirai Kuroko's spirits lifted. Then she moved the second steel needle out as well.
The distance became farther and farther...
In this spatially anomalous area, in order to be able to activate "spatial teleportation" normally, Shirai Kuroko cautiously began to adjust her ability.
