Academy City.
A city gathering the world's most cutting-edge technology, within this city was born a science known as "Esper powers." By using appropriate drugs, hypnotic suggestions, mechanical resonance, and other methods, it enhances the influence of a human's personal reality within their brain on the real world, thereby forming Esper powers.
LV0: An Ability User who has undergone scientific development in Academy City, but whose ability is so negligible that it barely affects reality.
LV1: If it is a telekinetic Ability User, they can barely manage to bend a spoon, which provides almost no help in daily life.
LV2: A level that is slightly more useful than LV1, with a noticeable and stable influence on reality.
LV3: Can provide noticeable help and convenience for oneself through abilities in daily life.
LV4: The beginning of a qualitative change. At this level, one has tactical value in the military. Flexibly utilizing the power of a single LV4 can often play a huge role in a war involving modern armies.
LV5: A single individual possesses the combat power to contend with an entire modern army. In front of an offensive Esper, even defenses at the level of a nuclear bunker will be disintegrated in an instant.
The birth of Esper powers attracted all sorts of people from around the world to come to this city and participate in Esper development, and the Misaka family was no exception.
"Is... is this my ability?"
The young Misaka Mikoto lowered her head, looking in surprise at her raised hands. On them, very faint electric currents were flickering, forming bolts of electricity.
"Electromaster, the highest-ranking ability within the electrical category. If you work hard to train, this ability can accomplish many, many things. It is a very good ability."
The Researcher who conducted the ability development for Misaka Mikoto wore a gentle smile. This smile was not only because they were happy that Misaka Mikoto had awakened a powerful ability, but also because they had learned of the immense talent hidden within Misaka Mikoto.
[Potential Assessment]
The moment artificial ability development succeeds, the growth limit of that Ability User has actually already been calculated by Academy City's supercomputer.
Although Misaka Mikoto is currently only at the LV1 level, the results of the potential assessment indicate that Misaka Mikoto has a high probability of growing into a LV5 in the future.
The young Misaka Mikoto happily cradled the flickering electric light in her hands. In the future, this seemingly weak electric light would pierce the sky, becoming a beam of the astonishingly powerful Railgun.
"I wonder what kind of ability my sister will awaken. It should be even stronger than mine, right?" Misaka Mikoto muttered while smiling and looking down.
In another room of the Esper development Research Institute, a little girl who looked extremely similar to Misaka Mikoto was standing there. The black-tech device installed beside her emitted bursts of alarm sounds.
"Hm? Failed? How is that possible? Even if her potential were low, it shouldn't be that she couldn't even awaken..." The Researcher looked at the abnormal status of the instrument in surprise. After a brief moment of shock and contemplation, they instantly thought of a possibility.
Esper powers awakened through scientific development in Academy City can be described as "Artificial Diamonds." However, there is an extremely rare type of existence in this world. They do not undergo scientific development or guidance, but innately and autonomously obtain a personal reality capable of interfering with reality. These people are called natural Ability Users, Gemstone Espers, or "Natural Diamonds."
"[Gemstone]?"
The Researcher looked in astonishment at the individual before them, who was extremely rare worldwide. The little girl being asked was also a bit surprised, but this surprise wasn't because she didn't understand what Gemstone meant, but rather because she was surprised that she hadn't known she was a Gemstone.
Misaka Chinatsu.
This was her name. Unlike transmigrators who take over bodies, she descended into this world as a baby, much like newly added data in a computer.
When she learned of her identity and what kind of place this world was, she couldn't help but be stunned for three seconds before a very genuine "Huh?" involuntarily escaped her heart.
Although the plot of this work is based on Earth, on this tiny planet, there is a gathering of powerful individuals who can casually blow up cities, continents, planets, and even the universe. The gap between the bottom-tier humans and the top-tier powerhouses can no longer be described as the difference between heaven and earth.
Fortunately, while this world is indeed very dangerous, as long as one doesn't casually get involved in those dangerous plotlines, it shouldn't be a big problem, even if her current identity is Misaka Mikoto's sister.
Hmm... it's not a big problem!
Chinatsu thought this way and kept a low profile until the day of Esper development in Academy City. Before this, she had even been calculating what kind of ability she would awaken, wondering if it would be the same electrical type as Mikoto.
But why did it have to be a Gemstone?
Facing the Researcher's inquiry, Chinatsu just continued to pretend to be an ordinary little girl, pushing her acting talent to the limit. She blinked her large, watery eyes, and her childish tone was mixed with a hint of artificiality.
"Gemstone... what is that?"
Chinatsu pretended to be a clueless little girl. On one hand, it was to fit her persona as a young child; on the other hand, this seemingly peaceful Academy City was extremely dangerous.
Beneath the light lay endless darkness, with countless nano-robots distributed in every corner of Academy City. In this way, as long as a certain Board Chairman of this city wished, he could know everything happening in the city.
Conclusion: Must act, and must not slip up.
Looking at Chinatsu's clueless little girl appearance, the Researcher couldn't help but self-deprecatingly raise a hand to cover their cheek, indicating that there was no point in asking a little girl such questions.
The number of Gemstone Espers is very small; they are people with true talent in the world. Unlike Esper powers awakened through science, which require calculating various formulas in the brain to activate, Gemstone Espers rely more on the feeling in their hearts.
It is precisely because of this scarcity and uniqueness that the scientific side does not have sufficient understanding of Gemstones. Some time ago, a person named "Hamazura Shiage" was registered as a Gemstone Esper, and his situation was even more incredible...
"Ahem, actually, to put it simply, little girl, you have already awakened an ability. It's just that perhaps this ability is not obvious or has never been autonomously activated. You can try closing your eyes and earnestly feeling your own body, following that most prominent feeling."
After the Researcher gathered their thoughts, they spoke like this. Chinatsu followed these not-so-reliable words and closed her eyes, wondering if she had subconsciously ignored the power she already possessed because she had been keeping too low a profile in the past...