A Scientific Urban Detective

Shadan Sen released the panda doll in her hand and picked up the steel ball, examining it carefully in front of her eyes.

On the smooth and round surface of the ball, one could clearly see unique patterns resembling water ripples or flames. Even as just a piece of craftsmanship, it was quite exquisite and beautiful.

However, the reason why Shadan Sen was so persistent about it, even at the risk of exposing Jessai Setsuna, and insisted on having her find this steel ball, was naturally not just for a piece of craftsmanship.

This steel ball was a special product formed by melting and re-solidifying twelve small steel balls, which is why it exhibited such brilliant patterns.

"This is..." Seeing her older sister's fascinated expression, Jessai Setsuna said softly, "That Level 5..."

"Yes, this is the result of that Accelerator's superpower." Shadan Sen couldn't hide her joy. "His 'Vector Transformation' is extremely developed and doesn't require any additional tools; and his ability is destined to make it difficult to obtain his personal belongings; what's worse, Vector Transformation directly manipulates the vectors of things, leaving almost no extra traces..."

Therefore, even Shadan Sen didn't expect to have the opportunity to obtain Accelerator's superpower "relic".

"In other words, you, Sister..."

"No, I probably can't control its power yet." Shadan Sen suddenly regained her composure. She bent down to pick up the panda doll, opened the zipper on its back, and hid the steel ball inside. "I need more training."

Then, Shadan Sen returned the sachet to Jessai Setsuna and patted her head. "Thank you, you really helped a lot this time. Jessai Setsuna, I look forward to the day you come to Tokiwadai Middle School."

"Yes, I will work hard!"

...

"This isn't something you can accomplish just by working hard, give up already!" Misaka Mikoto looked helplessly at Shokuhou Misaki, who was also a Level 5.

The latter seemed to be at odds with a coin pusher game machine, stubbornly inserting coins into the machine.

But whether it was due to luck or simply the machine's settings, the coin tower that had already piled up on the outermost edge refused to fall.

"No, this is unscientific!" Shokuhou Misaki, who had already invested a large sunk cost, refused to give up. "The machine's settings must be wrong. I know that arcades make these settings to make profit."

"Since you know, stop wasting time! You didn't spend any money anyway, so ignore the coins!" Misaka Mikoto said helplessly.

Because they paid the price of an autographed photo, the waitress had given them a lot of chips as a special gift, so they didn't need to exchange for game coins.

Then, the group of five dispersed and started their own activities...

Mainly, Lin Wuming plunged into the pachinko machines by the wall, completely ignoring the other girls.

Thus, having lost the key figure as the hub, the remaining four girls simply went their separate ways, choosing their favorite activities.

Kogawa Mei was engrossed in various racing games; Kohachi Toumi lingered around the claw machines and lottery games; Misaka Mikoto didn't have any particular preferences and chose to experience every game—including all the projects in the simulated casino area.

After taking a tour, Misaka Mikoto discovered that Shokuhou Misaki was still standing in front of the original machine, still competing with it.

She had poured almost all of her two hundred or so coins into it.

Feeling that she couldn't bear to watch any longer, Misaka Mikoto stepped forward to stop her impulsive foolishness.

But Shokuhou Misaki, who was already obsessed, seemed unwilling to give up.

Helpless, Misaka Mikoto looked around and quietly activated her superpower.

Clatter!

The coin tower that Shokuhou Misaki had been coveting finally collapsed, all falling into the exit below.

"Ugh..." Shokuhou Misaki looked back at Misaka Mikoto behind her. "Well, whatever."

—After all, we're out to have fun, so don't worry too much!

In the end, the number of coins earned was about the same as the number of coins Shokuhou Misaki had invested, meaning she spent more than an hour and ended up with neither a profit nor a loss.

"Tsk, what a waste of time," Shokuhou Misaki said. "No wonder the teachers say that going to the arcade is a waste of time and life..."

"Isn't that what arcades are like? We didn't waste any money today, so it's already a good result." Lin Wuming also finished his game and came to them with a full basket of pachinko balls.

"So many?" The girls looked over in surprise, and then all showed the same expression—he must have cheated using his mind power!

"Cough, I really didn't!" Lin Wuming coughed and quickly explained, "Maybe it's because I have an affinity with them?"

Lin Wuming really didn't use his superpower to cheat. He didn't even look at the rules much and just randomly picked a machine to play.

Perhaps because of the newbie protection period, the end result was that Lin Wuming won a whole basket of pachinko balls, more than three hundred in total.

Similarly, Shokuhou Misaki was also holding a basket of more than three hundred game coins.

The other three were just playing for fun, so they had almost used up all their game coins.

Only Kohachi Toumi was carrying a huge plastic bag filled with many of her winnings.

"It's about time to go back." Seeing that everyone had enjoyed themselves, Lin Wuming suggested.

"Okay," the waitress, who had been paying attention to them all along, was the first to respond. "Would you like to store these pachinko balls and game coins?"

The main reason why this arcade hasn't degenerated into a "casino" is that it doesn't offer reverse exchange services—players can exchange money for game coins, chips, or pachinko balls, but the reverse is absolutely impossible, and they won't indirectly exchange them in the form of prizes or vouchers.

The only use for all the game coins, chips, and pachinko balls is to use them the next time you come here to play.

In order to prevent players from conducting cash exchanges in the secondary market, the arcade prohibits players from taking these game coins, chips, and pachinko balls out.

Instead, it provides a free storage service.

"No, I want to take them with me." Lin Wuming of course refused this service.

After all, his original purpose was for these pachinko balls! If it weren't for them, how could he have sat there for more than an hour, as Lin Wuming didn't like this game.

So, how could he abandon the fundamentals and apply for a storage service? Unless these pachinko balls are completely used up, Lin Wuming doesn't plan to come here again.

"But," the waitress showed a troubled expression, "the store has regulations..."

"Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you," Shokuhou Misaki handed the game coins in her hand to Misaka Mikoto, then took out the remote control, "I'll pay properly, just consider it sold to us~"

Five minutes later, the group of five walked out of the arcade, fully loaded.