Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume SS2/Chapter 9

Synopsis
Kuyama Kihan is a cyber criminal specializing in hacking, having been interested in system loopholes ever since an incident in early elementary school, where he unlocked a computer by hitting random keys. Currently, he sits in an open café offering wireless LAN spots, due to the fact that doing the operation at home would be too risky. Furthermore, he uses a customized notebook computer to decrease the chance of being detected by Academy City when he slips into unauthorized terminals. However, no matter how much preparation Kihan does, he is still nervous in facing the Goalkeeper, who is rumored to be a legendary hacker. He is motivated to proceed with his operation in order to "perfect his master key", and eliminate any chance of the said master key from failing to execute a hack. His first step in the plan to prepare various shortcuts to keyboard commands and hacking programs in order to maximize his response speed and efficiency. Just then, he notices Yomikawa Aiho asking if the open café has an LAN, who seemingly wanted to submit the report she had just written right there instead of having to go back to school instead.

Seeing this, Kihan degrades Aiho as an "amateur" for not noticing the sign on the café's door saying that it had LAN, and silently expresses his contempt for casual computer users who knew nothing about what they used. After all, Aiho shouldn't even be trying to send her report on an unknown wireless LAN as it could be hijacked by anybody due to it lacking the proper security measures. Bringing his focus back to the matter at hand, Kihan drags the processes that are usually performed in the background up to the screen, successfully locates the system that the Goalkeeper manages, and manages to slip through the point of contact used by Anti-Skill and Judgment to exchange information. At this point he is intercepted by a trap that forwards to another site, although Kihan has anticipated this and circumvents it instead. He knows this must be the work of the Goalkeeper since it was weaponized against potential hackers. Despite being immersed into his illegal activities, he becomes distracted by the shrill voice of Uiharu Kazari, who is sitting at the table across from Aiho and playing with a handheld device. Kazari shouts that she finally found something and then says that she just managed to stabilize the speed, before becoming worried once again.

Returning to his notebook computer, Kihan stumbles upon several more traps prepared by the Goalkeeper, each one of them innovatively creative and uniquely suited to take down hackers like him. Having yet to fall for any of the traps and working his way deeper into the system, a notification suddenly appears on his screen stating that his connection was severed. KIhan questions that there should not be problems with the open café's wireless LAN signal and concludes that the Goalkeeper's system must have shut down its power upon noticing his hacking efforts. Although concerned about the possibility of being noticed, he looks down at the notification and decides that his information was perfectly secure. Just to be careful however, Kihan tries to erase any of his traces by implementing various "detours". Believing that he won this contest of hackers owing to the fact that the Goalkeeper was forced to cut the power instead of continuing facing him, Kihan is completely confident in both his victory as well as security.

Unfortunately, he suddenly realizes that the exact same notification for the connection being severed would also appear on the Goalkeeper's computer, meaning if the Goalkeeper can check the time and date that the message was left on their system, then Kihan can be tracked down instantly. Now in a panic, he nervously starts imagining the café’s security cameras and the lenses of the security robots zooming in at him. At this point, an Anti-Skill officer grabs his shoulder, and informs him that he is in violation of the "regulation against unlawful operation of electronic information". However, Kihan is too busy wondering at how he was caught to be bothered by the officer's words. He questions that even if the Goalkeeper was immediately able to determine where his signal came from using his time-frame, Anti-Skill couldn't have possibly reached his location that quickly.

Then, he sees the girl that had distracted him earlier, Uiharu Kazari, stand up and ask for a receipt from the cash register. Upon seeing her with the handheld device, Kihan realizes that it had been modified to operate with programs over the internet using wireless LAN signals. Kihan refuses to believe that Uiharu could have competed with him using such a simple tool, but he is forced to admit the possibility when he recalls her suspicious behavior from before. Wanting to obtain evidence that she was the Goalkeeper, Kihan is thrown to the ground by the Anti-Skill officer when he tries to approach Uiharu and his shouts are not heard by her as she leaves the café. Even while Kihan is being handcuffed, he is impressed by the true capabilities of the Goalkeeper he managed to momentarily witness, and praises the Goalkeeper for being a "true hacker".

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Yomikawa Aiho
 * Uiharu Kazari

New Characters

 * Kuyama Kihan

New Locations

 * Unknown Internet Cafe

Referbacks

 * The identity of the Goalkeeper is mentioned as being one of Academy City's numerous Urban Legends.

Cultural References

 * The café's forms the primary battleground for this chapter's conflict.