'I wonder what Yuriko's feelings are now after experiencing that,' Yuuya thought. 'There really are such illogical monsters in the world like her and me.'
However, considering that this guy could nonchalantly ignore the fundamental laws of physics whenever he wanted, it wasn't surprising. After all, it was normal for monsters to have worldview-defying power, and you couldn't define a monster by the standards of normalcy.
Suzushina Yuriko walked toward the bathroom expressionlessly, frowning slightly as she held her side. "Tsk! This guy really infuriated me last night."
'I never expected it to actually feel like that,' she thought, her face flushing slightly. 'This is such an annoying physical reaction.'
Yuuya watched Yuriko's retreating figure, stroked his chin, and smiled slightly. 'After being tamed, she really is obedient. Perhaps she just decided that having this kind of peaceful life isn't so bad after all.'
"Time manipulation," Yuuya muttered to himself, activating Imperial Privilege.
His head felt muddled again as the Skill forced new concepts into his brain. A strange, physics-bending "common sense" regarding chroniton particles appeared in his mind.
Acquired: Time Manipulation (Level 4).
'Huh?! Only Level 4?' Yuuya thought, surprised. 'Why is it only at this tier? Could it be that the concept of a Level 5 time manipulation ability is conceptually higher than even my Imperial Privilege's EX tier?'
Yuuya raised an eyebrow slightly. Time-related abilities were indeed incredibly rare; Academy City officially had zero time-manipulation Espers to date.
The Esper abilities in Academy City were currently divided into five distinct systems. The Natural Phenomena System included abilities such as Aero Hand, Hydro Hand, and the Railgun. The Physical Principles System included abilities such as Telekinesis, Teleportation, Gravity Control, Vector Manipulation, Optics, and Quantum Mechanics. The Human Physiology System included physical enhancements, visual processing, and mental abilities like Mental Out. The Chemical Principles System included liquid transformation and oil-based explosions. Finally, the Unknown System included abilities that defied categorization, such as Dark Matter and Precognition.
Time-related abilities fell strictly into the Unknown System. While Academy City didn't have a single Esper who could pause or reverse time, they did have Espers with abilities like predicting the future and making future calls.
For example, Academy City currently housed an Esper with an ability called Future Talk that allowed the user to literally call and talk to their future self up to seven days in the future. Unfortunately, the original holder was only a Level 3. If it were Level 5, it would theoretically be possible to talk to anyone in the future, not just oneself.
"Snap!"
Yuuya snapped his fingers, and time within a precise 30-meter radius instantly slowed down.
The morning wind blew in through the open dormitory window, and the curtains swayed incredibly slowly, as if a cosmic deceleration button had been pressed on reality. The dust motes floating in the air hung almost entirely suspended.
"It's slowed down by a factor of ten," Yuuya analyzed. "But it can only decelerate local time, not reverse it. What a pity."
Yuuya sighed. If time could be reversed, that would be truly amazing. Full time reversal would undoubtedly be a Level 5 ability.
"Future Talk," Yuuya commanded, switching his active Imperial Privilege skill.
He used this incredible causality-bending ability again.
'Wait, the level constraint is even lower this time!' Yuuya frowned. 'It's only locked at Level 3, which is the exact same level as the original holder! Is the conceptual weight of Future Talk really that high?!'
Fortunately, it wasn't completely inaccessible like Kakine's Dark Matter, which apparently required a baseline of Level 5 just to manifest the foundational physics.
'Hey, can my future self hear me?' Yuuya asked curiously in his mind, activating the temporal link. It was really strange to be initiating a psychic phone call with his future self for the first time.
"I can hear you," a voice identical to his own echoed in his head. "But you'd better teleport back to your apartment right now. Index wakes up to pray every single day before sunrise. If she finds you missing, she's going to assume you've gone out to fight the evil Magicians by yourself again. She'll run out onto the streets to look for you, and then she'll get caught and taken away by Kanzaki Kaori. Then you'll have to chase them all the way to Tokyo and fight Kanzaki again. And because of all that collateral damage, you'll be sent to remedial summer school by Tsukuyomi Komoe-sensei for skipping classes to fight. It's been so tough..."
Click.
In exactly thirty seconds, the temporal connection for the future call timed out and disconnected.
"Only thirty seconds of talk time?!" Yuuya's lips twitched slightly.
'And this chain of events happens an hour from now?! Because of skipping class to fight a Saint, I have to take remedial summer classes with Komoe-sensei for the entire summer vacation?!'
Yuuya's expression changed drastically. Summer vacation was sacred. He finally had a long vacation coming up, and he absolutely refused to spend half of it sitting in a hot classroom being scolded by a loli teacher.
'No way. This absolutely cannot happen.'
"Seriously, even a high school student who saves the world is still subject to the wrath of high school teachers," Yuuya couldn't help but mutter. He glanced toward the bathroom door.
"Yuriko, I'm leaving now!"
After finishing his sentence, Yuuya used Spatial Movement to teleport out, feeling a bit like a scumbag boss who used people and then abandoned them before breakfast.
"This guy... tsk!" Yuriko clicked her tongue as the showerhead sprayed warm water over her head. She exhaled a long breath.
A faint, genuine smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, without her even realizing it.
...
District 7. Yuuya's Apartment.
After returning to his apartment, Yuuya looked at the sky outside the balcony. It was just beginning to brighten, the sun not yet fully risen. He then looked at Index, who was breathing evenly on his bed.
Index's sleeping posture was absolutely atrocious; the blanket had been completely kicked to the side, and she was sprawled out like a starfish.
'These damn pajamas...' Yuuya averted his eyes and walked into the kitchen.
He opened the refrigerator, took out some fresh ingredients he had bought the other day, and prepared to cook. He hadn't actually cooked for himself in a long time, usually relying on opening pre-made, high-quality food from his System Storage. But right now, he felt like making something from scratch.
"Hmm, let's try it out first... Master Chef (EX)!" Yuuya thought to himself, activating Imperial Privilege.
The next moment, a massive influx of world-class recipes, culinary chemistry, and knife techniques flooded his mind, as if he had been a three-star Michelin chef for decades.
He picked up the kitchen cleaver, and it felt like a natural extension of his own arm. The ingredients on the cutting board were quickly and flawlessly diced into neat, orderly pieces, moving so fast it looked like magic.
Yuuya had finally figured out the exact duration constraints for the abilities gained from Imperial Privilege. Passive knowledge and artistic skills (like cooking or music) could last for 12 hours a day. Combat skills (like swordsmanship, martial arts, or tactical strategy) could last for 6 hours. But actual supernatural Esper abilities could only be maintained for a maximum of two hours before the mental strain forced the skill to vanish.
However, this drawback meant nothing to him. Even if one superpower could only be used for two hours a day, he had his own Multi-Skill abilities, and he could just swap to a completely different Imperial Privilege skill the moment the previous one ended.
'Imperial Privilege is such an absolute bug,' Yuuya thought. 'Otherwise, how could the emperors who wielded it be considered equal to gods?'
The rich, savory aroma instantly filled the small apartment, wafting through the vents so that the entire hallway could probably smell the mouthwatering fragrance.
"Waaah... apple..."
Index was having a very happy and content dream, a trail of drool leaking from the corner of her mouth as her nose twitched slightly. She opened her eyes groggily, her stomach growling violently as she was instantly energized by the aroma filling the room.
She quickly scrambled out of bed and peeked around the kitchen doorframe. She was absolutely shocked by what she saw. Her vibrant blue eyes sparkled, and drool involuntarily dripped from her chin again.
Several perfectly prepared dishes were literally floating in mid-air, held aloft by Yuuya's telekinesis. They were emitting a rich, intoxicating aroma, and incredibly—each dish was actually glowing with a soft, appetizing light.
'That's amazing!'
"Yuuya! Are you actually a royal chef?! It smells so incredibly good! Can I eat it now?! I can't wait!"
As she spoke, she reached out and excitedly jumped up to grab the glowing plate floating in mid-air.
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