I Am Honkai

"I really envy those superpowers. If only I could..."

A young girl in a sailor-style school uniform, with shoulder-length black hime cut hair and a five-petal plum blossom hair ornament, leaned on the roadside railing, enviously watching the Academy City superpower rankings displayed on her phone screen.

Academy City Lv5 Rankings:

1st: Selene von Habsburg - Space Manipulation, Code Name "Will of Honkai"

2nd: Accelerator - Vector Manipulation

3rd: Kakine Teitoku - Dark Matter

4th: Mikoto Misaka - Electromaster, Code Name "Railgun"

5th: Mugino Shizuri - Meltdowner

6th: Misaki Shokuhou - Mental Out

7th: Aihana Etsu (ability unknown, tsk, the original story never mentioned)

8th: Sogiita Gunha - Telekinesis (Gemstone type)

Perhaps due to Selene's influence, the exposure of Lv5s in Academy City is now much higher than in the original story. Now, even Lv0 individuals without abilities can check the Lv5 rankings, abilities, descriptions, and code names on the official website.

"Ah... why am I a non-ability user?"

Saten Ruiko was born outside Academy City. From a young age, she greatly admired Academy City and wanted to become an ability user. She once boasted to her brother that she would become a superpower user.

But reality was quite the opposite; she remains a Lv0, an individual with no abilities.

"You brat! Finally found you!"

At that moment, a rough, angry voice reached her ears.

"Huh? Who?!"

Turning around, a group of gaudily dressed delinquents with nose rings and dyed hair approached her angrily.

Seeing them, Saten Ruiko turned and ran without hesitation.

Behind her, curses rang out, and pedestrians hurriedly moved away, fearful of getting involved.

"You brat! Don't even think about running away."

"This time we'll definitely catch you!"

"You brat, last time you dared to call the Discipline Committee, this time we'll show you what we're made of."

The delinquents chased Saten Ruiko like a cat playing with a mouse, taunting her.

"This isn't good, I'm running out of breath."

Running intensely, Saten Ruiko's heart pounded, and she gasped for air, drenched in sweat.

Suddenly, focused only on fleeing, she tripped over a step, lost her balance, and fell to the ground with a cry, lamenting in her heart, "It's over, I'm done for."

"Ouch! Ouch!..."

Pain shot through her knee.

"You brat, I told you to run, why aren't you running now? Keep running!"

The delinquents surrounded her, cracking their knuckles with menacing looks.

"Ah!"

The girl raised her head, dust on her clothes and face, fear in her eyes, and awkwardly smiled.

"Um... could you gentlemen spare me?"

"Uiharu, why haven't you arrived yet? I'm going to get beaten up," she thought.

"Spare you? After what you did to us last time? Don't even think about it!"

At that moment, Selene was speeding down the road in her beloved sports car.

"Huh?"

The scene by the roadside made her frown.

A black-haired girl was surrounded by obviously unsavory delinquents, who seemed intent on beating her up.

The 7th district was mostly middle and high schools, with many rebellious and delinquent students, most of whom were abilityless. Unable to improve their abilities, they formed gangs, loitered in dark corners, and bullied weaker individuals.

They hated the Discipline Committee, and the Committee hated them.

These delinquents felt the Discipline Committee always interfered with their plans, while the Committee saw them as troublemakers, disrupting the order of Academy City.

Due to the meager monthly financial aid for abilityless individuals, about 20,000 yen (an estimate, as official Academy City records are unavailable), barely enough to survive in high-cost Academy City, they often resorted to robbing other students.

Such incidents of bullying and extortion were common in Academy City, with most people choosing to ignore them for fear of being entangled with delinquents. This encouraged the delinquents' arrogance.

Though their downfall partly resulted from Academy City's system, they didn't deserve sympathy, having become perpetrators themselves.

Thus, Selene said nothing and approached them directly.

With a snap of her fingers, a portal appeared beneath the delinquents.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!..."

With screams, the delinquents vanished.

"Uh!" Saten Ruiko had been crouching on the ground, covering her head, fearing a beating and instinctively curling up to minimize harm.

"Huh?" Not being punched or kicked and hearing screams instead, Saten Ruiko opened her eyes in astonishment.

"Where did they go?"

The delinquents who had intended to beat her were gone, and a figure gradually appeared in her view.

Seeing Selene, her first impression was that she was very tall.

Selene was registered in Academy City as 14 years old, the same age as Misaka Mikoto, but she stood 175 cm tall, with a slender figure.

Since it was noon, the sunlight was intense. Squinting up at her from the ground, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. As she focused and saw the emblem on Selene's chest, Saten Ruiko realized the reason.

"She saved me."

Surprised, Saten Ruiko, who had lived in Academy City for so long, found it was the first time, other than the Discipline Committee, that a high-ranking ability user from a prestigious girls' school saved her.

In her mind, those high-ranking ability users were usually arrogant due to their abilities, looking down on others. As a Lv0, she never thought she'd interact with such powerful users.

Though she thought this, Saten Ruiko didn't neglect proper etiquette.

"Thank you so much!" Ignoring the pain in her knee, Saten Ruiko stood up quickly, crossed her hands in front of her, and bowed awkwardly but respectfully.

As Selene approached, she noticed the five-petal plum blossom ornament on the girl's head and recognized her as Saten Ruiko, one of the four main characters in the Railgun group.

Seeing Saten Ruiko struggling to maintain etiquette due to her knee injury, Selene stepped forward to support her, covering the scraped knee with her hand, emitting a gentle red glow.

Saten Ruiko felt the scrape healing, and soon it was gone.

Testing her knee, finding no pain, Saten Ruiko quickly clasped her hands together, bowing 90 degrees respectfully, and thanked Selene nervously, "Thank you, senior. My name is Saten Ruiko."

"No need to thank me; just be careful in the future." Selene helped her up again and smiled.

Remembering something, Selene paused, waved her hand, and another portal appeared.

With a series of thuds, the delinquents fell from the sky through the portal.

They lay on the ground, eyes vacant, foaming at the mouth, and trembling.

"They're not dead, just scared. I let them free-fall for three minutes. I'll leave the aftermath to you."

"Well, goodbye."

"Wait, I haven't asked your name, senpai..."

Seeing Selene's display of power, Saten Ruiko was stunned, her mouth agape. By the time she reacted, Selene was gone.

"Whew, Saten, I heard you encountered some delinquents... Ah! What's with these people on the ground?"

At this moment, the voice of Uiharu Kazari pulled Saten Ruiko back to reality.

Seeing Uiharu Kazari, Saten dismissed her question, letting her carefree nature take over.

"Uiharu!"

Updraft!

"Saten, I asked you... whoa! What are you doing?!"

The petite girl with a flower hair clip playfully hit her friend with tiny fists, her voice sweet and not at all intimidating.

"Sorry, sorry, I can't help myself when I see you, Uiharu." Saten Ruiko scratched her head and stuck out her tongue.

Her expression clearly said she knew she was wrong but would likely do it again.

"Ugh, fine. Saten, at least tell me what happened." Uiharu Kazari held her skirt, dissatisfied with Saten's skirt-lifting antics but still concerned.

"Not much, just a senior from Tokiwadai saved me," Saten replied nonchalantly.

"What?! From the famous Tokiwadai, the school of young ladies?!" Uiharu Kazari's eyes sparkled as she shook Saten vigorously.

"I think... so." Intimidated by Uiharu Kazari's bright eyes, Saten Ruiko recalled the emblem on Selene's chest and answered obediently.

"Ah!!!"