36

Darkness filled her vision, her dazed mind not yet fully recovered.

"Where is this?" Saten Ruiko murmured to herself.

'Are those without Items truly defective products?!'

'Why, no matter how hard I try, does my Item not improve in the slightest?!'

'I'm not resigned to this?!'

'I carried so many expectations.'

'Did I lose?'

Countless voices, both male and female, echoed in her ears one after another.

They were filled with emotions like unwillingness, disappointment, and anger.

'No matter what, I can't suppress that longing?!'

"Are these my words?" A familiar voice resonated in the space, and Saten Ruiko asked, bewildered.

She didn't understand what was happening or why she was there.

After a long while, her vacant eyes slowly focused.

"So this is what they call reaping what you sow." Saten Ruiko remembered everything. Was this the side effect of using Imagine Breaker?

The thought that she might never wake up, never see her friends and family again, and that her parents and younger brother would be heartbroken because of her, sent a deep pang of guilt through Saten Ruiko's heart, and fear and unease consumed her.

Unnoticed, faint teal energy emanated from Saten Ruiko's body. These negative emotions, connected to the Imagine Breaker network, gradually gathered on Saten Ruiko's body and, after Rod's modification, were transformed into Curse Power.

Outside, Rod had already successfully used Idle Transfiguration to transform Saten Ruiko's brain into the structure of a Jujutsu Sorcerer's brain. The innate technique, however, required Saten Ruiko to guide herself.

With the experience of her previous Item Awakening, she should be able to successfully create her own innate technique. Rod intended to use her superpower to engrave the innate technique, turning Saten Ruiko into a Jujutsu Sorcerer. (Fan-made setting)

"Alright, let me see your resolve, Saten Ruiko." Rod released his hand from her forehead, letting Saten Ruiko lie completely on the sofa.

"What resolve?" Shirai Kuroko narrowed her eyes, asking in confusion.

"Just look forward to it." Rod didn't answer, instead flashing a smile that made question marks appear above everyone's heads.

In her mindscape, Saten Ruiko, who was immersed in sadness, felt a warm light emerge from her palm, like the rising sun, illuminating the dark space.

Tears fell, landing on the amulet in her palm.

"This... this is the amulet my mother gave me."

The scene shifted, and Saten Ruiko stood by, witnessing a past memory.

Under the setting sun, her mother squatted down to her level, taking out an amulet and handing it to her.

'Here, this is an amulet.' Her mother's gentle words came.

'Oh... how superstitious.' Her childhood self responded with a hint of disdain.

'If anything happens, come back immediately, okay? Your life is more important than anything.' Her mother didn't blame her at all, still smiling as she looked at her.

She knew that her mother cared more about her than superpowers or anything else.

'Is big sister going to become a superpower user? So cool.' Her younger brother's words of admiration.

'It's okay, Saten Ruiko will definitely be fine.' Her father's comfort.

'Saten Ruiko, I believe you can definitely Awaken a superpower.' Haruue Erii's trust.

'Count me in. Don't misunderstand...' Frenda's tsundere remark.

And finally,

'Be resolute!' Rod's instruction.

Everything was so heartwarming. The emptiness in her heart was gradually filled. As someone without an Item, she wasn't completely useless. Therefore, she was absolutely not a defective product?!

"My resolve? I've already made it long ago?!"

Forgetting her confusion and casting aside her panic, Saten Ruiko tightly clutched the amulet in her hand and stepped forward. The dark space was gradually torn and shattered by small gusts of wind, and breezes continuously converged through the cracks.

Growing stronger, the wind howled, swirling around Saten Ruiko.

This familiar feeling returned, but this power was even stronger than before.

Just as Saten Ruiko successfully shattered the dark space, in the real world, the window was suddenly blown open by the wind, and wind from all directions converged into the room, scattering documents everywhere.

More importantly, though Rod didn't particularly want to, he still caught a glimpse beneath the skirts of the three girls.

Misaka Mikoto's safety shorts—good heavens, I'm speechless! Truly one of the most failed inventions in human history?!

Haruue Erii's strawberry polka dots, fitting for the innocent Haruue like a child.

Shirai Kuroko's black transparent lace, faintly visible, smooth and bright, exceptionally daring.

"Ah!" They all reacted by instinctively covering their skirts.

Haruue Erii's face was so red it looked like it could drip blood. Although she was somewhat used to Saten Ruiko's attacks, being seen by Rod, a male, was more than she could handle.

"Did you see?" Misaka Mikoto, her face flushed, asked Rod.

Rod, however, showed a look of disdain and retorted,

"As for yours, did I see it or not?"

"Old man?! You idiot?!" Misaka Mikoto was furious at his words. Wasn't he basically saying he saw exactly what she was wearing?

"This perverted wind, could it be your doing?!" Shirai Kuroko's pretty face also flushed slightly. What she was wearing wasn't something to be casually seen.

"Yours, 85 points." Rod rated them to himself.

"You're even giving scores?!" Shirai Kuroko teleported behind Rod, grabbed him by the neck, and said, seething with anger.

Rod, unfazed, ignored Shirai Kuroko's antics behind him and continued,

"A-cup, no go."

"I'll XXX you XXXXXXXX!" Shirai Kuroko exploded with rage, elegant words bursting from her mouth.

While Shirai Kuroko was fuming, Rod's phone rang. He answered, and a girl's anxious voice came through.

"It's super bad, old man! Frenda passed out, and she told me to call you for help!"

"I know. I'll be over in a bit. Get her settled."

Rod, who had already anticipated this, calmly arranged.

He hung up the phone.

"Don't worry, Saten Ruiko has successfully Awakened her Item. That gust of wind just now was a sign of her Item Awakening. She'll naturally wake up in a little while." Rod explained.

"Really?! If that's the case, that's wonderful." Haruue Erii, who was still in a state of shyness, let out a huge sigh of relief upon hearing this, then slumped down.