The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

By the time he arrived at the 20th school district, the experiment had already moved to the 7th school district.

As evening approached, Inoue Hideka reluctantly gave up the search and rode her motorcycle towards the dormitory.

Tomorrow is August 15th, it seems the only way to find number 9982 is to follow Misaka Mikoto.

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The next morning, Inoue Eika bought something to eat and then found a place near the entrance of Tokiwadai dormitory to hide and wait for Misaka Mikoto to appear.

Inoue Hideka waited so long that the flowers were almost withered, and finally, around noon, she saw Misaka Mikoto leisurely walk out of the Tokiwadai dormitory looking utterly bored.

Inoue Eika followed cautiously behind, and then saw Misaka Mikoto go to the bookstore... to read free books!

After finishing the comic I was following, I went to a children's park alone and sat on a bench, sighing. But a group of children grabbed me and started playing kicking cans with me.

During this time, Inoue Hideka took a break to buy lunch, and while eating, she watched Misaka Mikoto playing with the children in a very childlike manner.

Finally, she accidentally saw a little girl wearing a Gekota badge on her chest. With Misaka Mikoto looking at her with hopeful eyes, the little girl had no choice but to take Misaka Mikoto to two different gashapon machines before finally managing to pull out a Gekota badge.

It was already close to evening when Misaka Mikoto led the children toward the station. Halfway there, she stopped as if she had suddenly sensed something.

After successfully getting the children onto the bus, Misaka Mikoto frantically ran towards the place she had sensed earlier.

Running while searching for something, finally...

They stopped near a large tree, and beneath the tree stood a girl whom Misaka Mikoto seemed unusually interested in...

Inoue Eika, who had been following Misaka Mikoto, finally saw the brown-haired girl standing under the big tree, wearing the Tokiwadai school uniform and goggles.

Misaka clone number 9982!

Chapter 77 Accelerator

Misaka Mikoto stopped panting a short distance from the big tree, looking in astonishment at the girl standing under it who looked exactly like her except for the goggles on her head. Her heart was churning with turmoil.

The plan to mass-produce the Railgun... still exists?

Is there really one of me, a clone?

The girl wearing goggles stared blankly at Misaka Mikoto, then let out a comically ridiculous cry:

"Meow~~"

Faced with this bizarre scene, Misaka Mikoto was deeply conflicted.

Meow? What does that mean? Is her name Meow? Does she belong to the Meow organization? Or did I hear wrong? Isn't it Japanese?

The girl with goggles glanced at Misaka Mikoto, whose expression was constantly changing, and then looked up at the black cat in the tree.

"Do... This four-legged creature that makes this sound is currently facing a crisis."

The black cat in the tree responded to the girl's words with a timely meow.

Misaka Mikoto also noticed the black cat trembling on the branch, looked up at it, and said in confusion, "A cat?"

“When I passed by this street just now, I found a baby in a car parked on the side of the road. Because of the risk of heatstroke, Misaka used electricity to unlock and open the window... The creature was startled and ran up a tree, and it can’t get down. Do, Misaka explained so sincerely and carefully.”

Inoue Eika was hiding behind a pillar of a building not far away, so the conversation between the two could be vaguely heard.

Although according to the original setting, the Misaka Sisters are all emotionless, Inoue Eika does not think so after listening to the goggles-wearing girl's words.

Take 9982 for example. When she sees a baby at risk of heatstroke, she thinks of opening the window for the baby. When she sees a cat in trouble, she will stubbornly ask Misaka Mikoto to help her rescue it from the tree. When she sees a butterfly floating by the roadside, she will also show the same curious look as a child...

When 10032 sees Touma Kamijou risking his life to save them, he tries to persuade Touma to run away by saying things like, "Why are you using your unique body?"

Misaka Mikoto, who disregards her own life with phrases like "artificial body, borrowed heart, 18 yen per unit," is so concerned about the lives of others.

And who can say they have no feelings?

They just don't know how to express their feelings.

Inoue Hideka followed Misaka Mikoto and 9982, watching as Misaka Mikoto squatted down, feeling frustrated, while 9982 stepped on her to get the cat down from the tree...

Because of their argument about the plan, the ice cream vendor misunderstood and gave each of them an ice cream. However, Mikoto Mimoto's ice cream cream was stolen and eaten by 9982...

Then, in a spoiled manner, she demanded that Misaka Mikoto buy her black tea...

Perhaps knowing that they would die in the experiment today, they wanted to experience the beauty of this world as much as possible in the last moments of their lives.

Before they knew it, it was already evening. After losing the final battle for the Gekota Badge, Mikoto Mimoto and 9982 parted ways under a street lamp.

Thinking back to the scene of the two of them fighting over the Gekota Badge, Inoue Eika felt that they were really like sisters. She couldn't help but think that if 9982 survived, she would definitely become the Misaka Sister who was closest to Misaka Mikoto.

"Until we meet again, dear sister."

Finally, 9982 bid farewell to Misaka Mikoto with a cold, flat tone, but Inoue Eika could detect a hint of reluctance in her unwavering voice.

Following 9982 to a dark alley, Inoue Hideka saw 9982 open the large box she had just taken out of the locker and take out her weapon for this experiment.

That was a submachine gun called the F2000R "Toy Soldiers".

Upon seeing this, Inoue Hideka thought to himself that the experiment must have taken place nearby.

Suddenly, I noticed several suspicious-looking students loitering around. It was already night, and school should have ended long ago, so there shouldn't have been so many students still outside.

Upon closer inspection, Inoue Hideka noticed that the students' eyes were lifeless, as if they were being manipulated.

Suddenly, I remembered the urban legend of 'ghost possession' that Saten Ruiko had mentioned before.

Why are these guys all gathered near the experimental site? Could it be related to this experiment?

Or is some crazy scientist working on a new project?

Inoue Hideka took a few steps forward, wanting to see if there was anything different about these students. If they were here to assist with the experiment, it would be better to deal with them first to avoid more trouble later.

But as soon as Inoue Hideka took two steps forward, the students with vacant eyes seemed to be able to see him and retreated one after another. In no time, they all dispersed.

Inoue Hideka felt confused. Why did it seem like I was the one who scared them away?

wrong!

This looks...it seems like he's being manipulated by someone with psychic abilities.

Is it...

Is it Misaki Shokuhou?

But if it was Misaki Shokuhou, why did she retreat as soon as she saw me?

While Inoue Hideka was standing outside, a battle had already broken out in the alley. Hearing the sound of gunfire, Inoue Hideka suppressed his confusion and immediately slipped into the alley.

But 9982 was nowhere to be seen in the dark alley; only the goggles on the ground proved that 9982 had once fought here.

Following the tracks left on the ground, Inoue Hideka quickly chased after them.

Near an overpass, Inoue Hideka saw a white-haired boy leaning against the railing, talking to himself with a crazed expression.

The boy was wearing a black T-shirt with white stripes and gray casual pants. Although he was a boy, a closer look revealed that he did not have an Adam's apple.

His body was extremely thin, completely lacking the masculinity that a boy his age should have. Although at first glance you could tell he was a boy, you might still get the impression that he was a girl dressed in androgynous style.

This white-haired boy is none other than Accelerator!

The No.1 in Academy City, the person who has reached the pinnacle of Academy City's 230 million inhabitants!

This terrifying boy possesses the ability to manipulate vector energy, controlling its direction. He can freely manipulate the direction of all energy, including kinetic, thermal, and electrical energy, simply by touching the skin, and can also reflect any physical attack!

Leaning against the railing, the white-haired boy said to 9982, who was running desperately up the steps below, "Run, run, because the longer you run, the longer you live. This is a life-or-death chase game."

"One-way!"

Inoue Hideka shouted, attracting Accelerator's attention.

Because Accelerator's body had already floated up, it seemed he was going to chase after 9982.

Accelerator, upon hearing the noise, turned his attention to Inoue Hidekazu and gave a wicked smile.

"Oh? You're the only toy this time? You must be really strong, right? Now I can have some fun with you, okay? This time you won't escape! Haha!"

As soon as Accelerator finished speaking, his body, which was still floating in the air, flew towards Inoue Hidekazu, even abandoning his escape attempt, 9982!

The speed was very fast, and it was too late to take out the stun gun to stimulate the legs. Inoue Hideka did not expect that Accelerator would not be surprised at all that someone had interrupted the experiment and would start attacking right away.

Left with no other choice, he took a leap and jumped off the overpass. He was confident in his physical strength; although the height would make his legs go numb, he wouldn't get injured.

The moment he jumped, Inoue Hidekazu yelled at Accelerator, "Why did you participate in this pointless experiment!"

Of course, Inoue Hideka knew why Accelerator was participating in the experiment; he just wanted to use it to distract Accelerator and make him stop attacking.

Perhaps it was his confidence in his own abilities, or perhaps it was the first time someone had asked Accelerator such a question, which piqued his interest in answering.

Accelerator stood where Inoue Eika had just stood, laughing wildly.

"Haha! Boring? I'm doing this for the grand ideal of becoming invincible!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Inoue Hideka quickly pulled out a stun gun and struck her legs. Feeling the tingling sensation, Inoue Hideka looked at Accelerator seriously and asked:

"Invincible? An ideal? Do you even remember why you wanted to be invincible?"

Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Unexpected Intruder!

Upon hearing this, Accelerator stopped laughing and frowned as if he was thinking.

"Isn't the reason you want to become invincible so that you won't hurt anyone else? But what are you doing now? Those children are innocent, aren't they?"

"Aha! Looks like we've got a creature with its own mind this time! Since you asked, I'll tell you, they're just puppets on my path to becoming stronger!"

Accelerator's expression turned crazed again, and he seemed very angry as he spoke to Inoue Hideka.

After saying that, he rushed towards Inoue Hideka again.

Inoue Hidekazu's legs had now returned to normal. Seeing Accelerator rushing towards her, she charged towards the location of 9982, thinking to herself:

They have their own consciousness? It seems those guys with lifeless eyes from before were indeed related to this experiment, but they weren't there to assist it; they were there to stop it!

Could it really have been Misaki Shokuhou who did it?

Inoue Eika couldn't help but picture the slightly tired face of Shokuhou Misaki.

"Oh!"

Inoue Eika ran quickly, but because she was too focused on thinking, she didn't notice what was behind her. Suddenly, a pain came from her back, and she was instantly sent flying.

Boom!

The iron bar that struck Inoue Hideka fell to the ground with a series of sounds.

"puff!"