After learning the true identity of the incident was Level Upper, Haruto rubbed his temples.
This incident was different from the Absolute Power Evolution Plan. That had been carried out under the orders of the high-ranking powers, shrouded in secrecy.
But this case was simply the result of some people in Academy City, frustrated by their lack of abilities, acting on their own initiative.
Which actually made it harder to deal with.
"Could it be… Haruto, you already know about 'Level Upper'?"
Seeing Haruto lost in thought, Saten Ruiko excitedly leaned in.
This girl's curiosity was higher than the sky—she didn't even know what fear was.
Looking at Saten's face, sparkling with "waku waku" excitement, Haruto only felt a deeper headache.
"Miss Saten, don't you plan on going back to your dorm?"
Saten immediately shook her head.
"How could I possibly miss out on something like this? I'm so curious about that legendary Level Upper! Besides, I can't go back to the dorm now anyway, the doors are locked. I snuck out."
The corner of Haruto's mouth twitched.
He decided not to bother with this girl for now.
He turned his attention to the small gangsters lying on the ground.
With a wave of his hand, faint red mist threads flew into their bodies.
Using the Blacklight Virus to invade them, Haruto began devouring and reading their memories—without killing them.
These thugs had claimed they possessed Level Upper. Naturally, the investigation began with them.
Chaotic memories flickered before Haruto's eyes.
Soon, he found it.
And sure enough—they really did have it.
From one thug's pocket, he retrieved a recorder. Inside was the legendary Level Upper audio file.
These thugs had all tried it themselves. They had originally all been Level 0s. Only the leader had been a lowly Level 2.
But after using Level Upper…
Three of them managed to awaken powers and reach Level 1. And their leader had advanced all the way to Level 3.
But when Haruto sought to trace the origin of this audio file, the results were unsatisfactory.
The recording had been discovered by these thugs purely by accident, hidden in the LAN of a private net café.
Clearly, whoever uploaded it wanted to remain in the shadows. So they used a method almost impossible to trace to spread Level Upper.
And since urban legends about it had already surfaced online, it was proof that the file had already spread widely.
At least among the delinquents, plenty had already tried it. The number of affected people was probably around a thousand.
And since it spread person-to-person, the rate of increase would be exponential.
After examining the memories, Haruto prepared to visit that very net café.
Hopefully, the one who uploaded it did so after the Seimei Grail linked into Academy City's network.
If it was uploaded before… the investigation would be far more difficult.
In the meantime, he would also round up these thugs for proper handling.
Haruto moved.
Saten immediately followed after him.
He gave her a glance.
"Following me is dangerous. If I'm forced to protect you, it'll be even more dangerous."
Hearing this, Saten immediately stopped in her tracks, looking conflicted.
This girl might be overly curious and nicknamed a "troublemaker," but she wasn't foolish. She was kind, and she understood boundaries.
If her curiosity would drag others down with her, she knew better than to act.
(Though, in truth, even if Haruto had to protect her, it would hardly strain him.)
Seeing her hesitate, Haruto knew what was going through her mind. So he added:
"Level Upper really does exist."
Her eyes immediately lit up.
As a Level 0, she had always longed for the chance to gain powers.
But Haruto's next words instantly crushed that desire.
"Unfortunately, its foundation is built on damaging the brains of others. It steals their computational power to trigger and strengthen your own ability."
At that, Saten lost all interest.
In fact, she looked disgusted.
She wasn't the type to hurt others just to gain something for herself.
"…Then, should we report this to Judgment? I have two friends—"
Of course, she meant Uiharu and Shirai Kuroko.
Haruto shook his head.
"Too dangerous. Don't let them get involved. I'll handle it with Anti-Skill."
Saten nodded, giving up on the idea.
"…Then I'll head back to the dorms. But can we exchange contact info? If I can't reach you, I'll at least alert Anti-Skill for you."
This time, Haruto readily agreed.
They exchanged numbers.
Saten trudged away, shoulders slumped.
It wasn't clear if she'd even manage to sneak back into her dorm tonight. Still, even if not, she could always stay in a cheap hotel.
Students in Academy City received subsidies—enough for that at least.
Haruto, meanwhile, carried the thugs to the net café.
After connecting to the network, he used his access authority to pull up the Seimei Grail's backend logs.
Unfortunately, the Grail had only been integrated into Academy City fairly recently. The Level Upper upload had happened before then.
Which wasn't really surprising—after all, the urban legends had been circulating for some time.
Haruto also checked the café's surveillance footage.
Nothing was saved to the cloud.
Which made sense—this net café ran side businesses in the gray market. If they uploaded surveillance, it would be like turning themselves in.
The uploader had clearly exploited that fact.
As for the local recordings?
The storage drives had already been removed.
Without hardware, even the best techniques couldn't recover lost data.
Haruto exhaled sharply—mildly irritated.
If left alone, this incident would spiral out of control sooner or later. And the one behind it would inevitably be revealed.
But the Foundation's purpose was to contain anomalies before they escalated—to protect ordinary lives and perceptions.
Having gained nothing useful, Haruto turned his gaze back on the trembling thugs, now awake and cowering.
He gave them a kind smile, stretching his limbs.
Next destination: the thugs' base of operations.
These delinquents were all members of one organization.
Academy City's system had been in place for years.
Naturally, it bred many discontent failures—Level 0s or low-level espers, resentful of inequality rather than lack.
Banding together, they turned to shady activities. Over time, several large underground groups had taken form.
And the biggest of them all—the very one these thugs belonged to—was the Skill-Out, the Armed Group of Level 0s.
This underground syndicate sprawled across Districts 7, 8, 9, and 10— the areas with the largest student populations.
Composed entirely of Level 0s and weak espers, they relied on sheer numbers.
Their usual business involved extorting ordinary students, tampering with ATMs for profit, or smashing vending machines for free goods before Judgment or patrol robots arrived.
And in District 7, their branch was rumored to force young girls into prostitution.
Because they lacked the technical talents other groups recruited, they couldn't hack ATMs effectively.
Their base of operations was located in an abandoned research plant in District 7.
Haruto dragged the thugs over.
Easily taking down the guards, he read their memories, traced their chain of command upward— until finally, he had the District 7 Skill-Out leader in his grasp.
It was a method Haruto knew well, reminiscent of how he'd crushed the Puberty Syndrome Lab.
Simple and brutal.
Thus, under the cover of night in District 7, chaos quietly brewed.
Before long, every Skill-Out thug in District 7 was kneeling before Haruto, backs drenched in cold sweat—looking like a fish awaiting the butcher's knife.