The Scientific Railgun

Rice Flower Library.

The library, which usually closes at 10 p.m., was plunged into darkness early tonight, with only the occasional glimmer of city neon light filtering through the windows outlining the imposing rows of bookshelves.

Inside the pitch-black building, flashes of light occasionally streaked across the sky.

Two figures were engaged in a chase in the darkness.

At least in Director Tsugawa's view, he was the hunter, and that slippery Chinese boy was the prey he had driven into a corner.

Lin Ran leaned leisurely against a bookshelf, a coin appearing in her hand at some point. She was nimbly playing with it between her fingers, occasionally flicking it with her thumb, letting it spin a few times in the air before catching it steadily with a crisp sound.

The sound was exceptionally clear in the silent darkness.

Meanwhile, in the corridor behind him, Director Tsugawa was changing the magazine of his pistol while carefully searching for his prey in the dark labyrinth of bookshelves, his eyes gleaming red, following the sound.

The boy's composure made him feel uneasy.

"Director Tsukawa."

Lin Ran's voice suddenly rang out.

Do you know what the four fundamental forces of the universe are?

He suddenly asked a very strange question.

Director Tsugawa, who was about to approach stealthily, paused, a look of absurdity flashing across his face before being replaced by a deeper ferocity. He lowered his breath, did not answer, and continued to silently creep forward.

Hearing no reply, Lin Ran sighed softly, and the coin that had been spinning in the air landed in her palm with a "snap".

"Tsk~ Another academic failure."

He shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of pity for the fool.

The next moment, under the astonished gaze of Curator Tsugawa, Lin Ran actually stepped out from behind the bookshelf and calmly walked to the center of the corridor.

In the darkness, two figures faced each other at opposite ends of the corridor.

The atmosphere froze instantly.

Who is the hunter, and who is the lamb to the slaughter?

"The four fundamental forces of the universe are gravity, the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, and..."

Lin Ran slowly raised her right hand, which was holding the coin, and held it out to the front, gently pinching the coin between her index finger and thumb.

Director Tsugawa frowned; he had no interest in listening to a dying man explain physics.

"The last... electromagnetic force."

Lin Ran had just finished speaking.

In the darkness, there was a very faint sound of a coin being flicked into the air by a thumb.

at the same time--

"Sizzle—!!!"

Without warning, streaks of blue-white, fine yet dazzling sparks of electricity ignited at Lin Ran's fingertips, instantly dispelling the surrounding darkness and illuminating the boy's calm face in the shadows.

Director Tsugawa's pupils suddenly contracted.

The trigger was pulled the next second.

"Bang!"

"Please witness the scientific... Railgun..."

As the coin fell, Lin Ran flicked it lightly with her outstretched arm and fingertips.

"Buzz—Boom!!!"

A beam of red light shot out from the electromagnetic field formed by Lin Ran's fingertips.

Come on, let's snipe each other at the middle gate, whoever chickens out is a coward!

The beam of light tore through the darkness in an absolutely straight line.

Keep moving forward.

They brushed past Eri Kisaki, who was urging the police to hurry up.

The police convoy that had just arrived at the library flew over the distance and soared into the night sky, leaving all the police officers dumbfounded.

Only a clear blue-white plasma trail was left in its path, formed by the instantaneous ionization of the air.

Like a shooting star streaking across the sky, brief yet dazzling.

……

The corridor was deathly silent.

Where the orange-red beam of light passed, only charred marks remained.

Director Tsugawa remained in the same position, standing with his gun raised.

His face was filled with terror, and a huge hole appeared in his chest, from which the smell of burnt meat gradually filled the air.

Lin Ran slowly lowered her arm, and the flickering lightning gradually subsided.

He gently blew on his hot fingertips.

"Tsk, the power seems... a little bit too much."

Large caliber, one shot kills, definitely a sniper rifle.

You're as ridiculous as your bunker.

Lin Ran walked over and patted Director Tsugawa's cold shoulder like an old friend. "Being able to die under the power of a scientific railgun and experience the treatment of a two-dimensional protagonist is already an honor for you."

This is a VIP treatment that even Gin hasn't experienced.

"Bang!"

Completely lifeless, Director Tsugawa fell face down like a puppet with its strings cut, making a dull thud and kicking up some dust.

The power of science is indeed very reasonable.

"System, can't you be a little less stingy? Can't you learn from other systems? This kid wants it forever..."

Lin Ran didn't go to see the fallen curator, Tsugawa, but instead continued to complain about her own system as usual.

That's right, this is the item he drew when he upgraded his academic level.

His LV2 Literature level grants him two chances to win prizes in various realms: one is a chance to win candy from a certain Meteorite world, and the other is the signature attack of our Misaka Mikoto—A Certain Scientific Railgun.

"The electric light dancing at your fingertips is my unwavering faith in this life; only the Railgun will live on forever."

He's really handsome, but he's also really stingy.

Including this one, and the two he used for testing, he had a total of thirty coins stored for Misaka Mikoto's Railgun attack, and now he has 27 left.

"Pah, trash! You want to play with guns with me? Do you even know anything about science? Do you know anything about electromagnetism? Do you know anything about a railgun?"

Lin Ran spat at the "corpse" of Director Jinchuan in annoyance. As a good socialist youth, he hated drug dealers the most in his life; they were all social cancers.

Heaven above, he is irreconcilably opposed to gambling and drugs.

Just then, a clear, cold voice, tinged with barely concealed urgency, broke the deathly silence in the darkness.

"Lin Ran! Lin Ran!"

When Lin Ran turned around, he saw Eri Kisaki running towards him, her usually calm and wise eyes now filled with unprecedented panic.

Eri's gaze searched urgently in the darkness, then settled on the two figures in the middle of the corridor—

One is standing, the other is lying on the ground.

At that moment, this undefeated queen, who had seen it all and struck fear into the hearts of countless opponents in court, had never felt so afraid.

In her ten-year legal career, she had suffered countless threats and intimidation, and even when she was just being chased at gunpoint, she had never felt such fear, so much so that she almost suffocated.

She was afraid... that the person lying on the ground was Lin Ran.

He was that exceptionally talented young man; he was the young man who, in a moment of crisis, shielded her behind his back, masking his concern with angry scolding, and then lured the danger away by himself.

Fortunately, the next second, a familiar voice rang out.

"I am here."

Lin Ran's calm voice came through.

Eri Kisaki practically rushed over and saw that the boy was standing there unharmed.

The tension that had been building up inside me finally broke down at that moment.

She slowly walked over, hugged Lin Ran tightly, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed his head firmly against her heaving chest.

"Um?!"

Lin Ran looked completely bewildered (smelling milk).

Her cheeks instantly enveloped in an indescribable warmth and softness.

What happened? Who am I? Where am I? But it smells so good, it's so soft, and it's so bouncy...

Eri hugged him tightly, her sexy and mature body trembling slightly from fear and excitement.

Even the most assertive and proud woman will find it difficult to remain absolutely rational when faced with a man who will stand up for her without hesitation in a life-or-death situation, and even draw away any deadly danger for her.

Moreover, Lin Ran is no ordinary person.

He is a genius writer who wrote works like "The Devotion of Suspect X" and "Snow Country".

He should have had a bright and promising future, but at that moment, he put her safety above his own.

No woman could remain unmoved.

Even the invincible queen who reigns supreme in court, cold and aloof, is no exception.

Beneath the solid ice lies a soft body of flesh and blood.

Feeling the extreme softness and almost suffocating pressure on her cheeks, Lin Ran was experiencing both pain and pleasure. No wonder she was the best friend of a certain international film queen with the best figure in Detective Conan.

With equally substantial capital, they can be considered a hidden "human weapon"!

He struggled to raise his hand and patted Eri Kisaki on the back:

"Hey hey hey... hugging is fine, but... give me some air..."

"..."

Eri Kisaki suddenly snapped out of her daze, realizing what she had done. She abruptly released her grip, took two steps back, and blushed slightly on her beautiful face, though thankfully it was too dark to see clearly.

"call--!"

Lin Ran immediately took deep breaths of fresh air, feeling as if she had survived a disaster.

He thought to himself, with a mix of amusement and exasperation, that if he hadn't died at the hands of Director Tsugawa's gun, but instead had been killed by Attorney Kiyoshi's "brother-in-arms killing," things would have been much more interesting.

Tomorrow's headline will probably be "Genius Writer Xia Mo Dies in Library, Cause of Death: Suffocation?"

Noticing Lin Ran's helpless gaze, Eri Kisaki was also a little embarrassed by her emotional outburst. She could only raise her hand to push up her glasses, regain her composure as a lawyer, and look to the side with feigned calmness.

It was at this moment that her gaze truly took in the scene—the shockingly large hole in the wall with its edges melted, the ozone and burnt smell permeating the air, and… the motionless Director Tsugawa lying on the ground, with the terrible wound on his chest.

All of this indicated that a conflict had just taken place here that far exceeded her expectations.

Eri Kisaki's gaze returned to Lin Ran with mixed feelings.

How did he... manage to do that?