One-way traffic

Moreover, why did he specifically come to this place? And why did these two people come here?

There are still many mysteries, and all he can do now is keep exploring forward.

Thinking of this, Accelerator leaned against the stone wall behind him, feeling utterly bored.

"How boring."

"Um, because of me, I'm really sorry I can't provide you with any useful information..."

"Is 'sorry' all you can say?"

Accelerator ignored the girl and casually looked at the fire in front of him.

Then, the girl hesitated for a moment and put her hands together.

"……Thank you."

"what?"

"Thank you for saving me and Mr. Takibayashi."

Hatsune Miku took a light breath, and a grateful expression appeared on her pretty face.

"If it weren't for you, we might have been completely doomed because of those zombies. Thank you so much..."

The girl smiled slightly and said gratefully.

"To me, you are like a hero."

"A hero, huh?"

The first one seemed to pause for a moment.

He thought for a long time and then said the simplest sentence.

"I've said it before, I'm not a hero."

"I am an evil party, a bastard, a piece of shit three times worse, a hopeless, utterly worthless evil party, nothing more."

Hatsune Miku fell silent for a moment.

After finishing the sausage in one bite, Accelerator threw the wooden skewer into the fire in front of him.

As the flames burned, as if signifying something, the bamboo skewer that Accelerator had thrown in was completely burned to ashes in the deepest part of the flames.

"My name is Hatsune Miku. Thank you for saving me... May I ask what your name is?"

"...So, in the end, I'm still going to get involved in this annoying stuff?"

The first person shook his head and said helplessly.

"One-way passage".

"Eh?"

Hatsune Miku was slightly taken aback; she found it hard to believe that this was the other person's name.

It's practically a code name...

"Don't overthink it. I've long forgotten my name. This is the only name I can use now."

They actually said they forgot...? That's just too much—

Hatsune Miku wanted to continue asking questions, but the white-haired figure in front of her had already stood up.

He leaned on one of his canes, picked up a can of coffee he'd found at the supermarket, and started drinking.

"The rest is up to you. As for me, I'll follow your leads a little further... I need to find the guy you're talking about."

"Just one person? That kind of thing is too dangerous!"

Hatsune Miku finds it hard to imagine Accelerator doing that kind of thing all by himself.

Although she didn't know what kind of power the other party possessed, it might be very strong, after all, it was able to save the two of them from being surrounded by a horde of zombies in a sea of ​​fire all by itself.

But Hatsune Miku cares about something more.

She saw the purest kind of feeling in Accelerator.

lonely.

This white-haired, red-eyed person may be the strongest in terms of power, but... in some aspects, he may be the weakest.

Hatsune Miku simply couldn't bear to let someone like that continue to be lonely.

Even though they only met for less than ten minutes.

"Please let us stay with you! Mr. Takibayashi and I have very special power in our words, and we're sure we can help you!"

"...Are you out of your mind?"

Accelerator scratched his head, looking at the girl in front of him with a headache.

"I'm a bad person. Saving you was just a coincidence for me. There's nothing to dwell on, is there?"

"Even so, the more people in this apocalyptic city, the better... If everyone can gather together, maybe we can analyze some more useful information!"

This is indeed true.

Accelerator carefully considered what Hatsune Miku had said. For her, this was all the information she knew, but what about the man who hadn't woken up yet?

If it were him, he might be able to provide some useful information.

Furthermore, Accelerator is very interested in what the 'special power' Hatsune Miku mentioned actually refers to.

Therefore, he made a rather complicated choice.

"...Do as you please."

He opened the tab on the coffee can with one hand, and the first person turned away impatiently.

"But if there's anything that holds me back, I'll abandon you without hesitation."

He slowly left the area and headed towards the rooftop not far away.

Only Hatsune Miku remained standing alone, her eyes fixed on the figure in first place.

One-way...

The girl blinked, recalling the so-called name of the person in front of her.

As mentioned before, Hatsune Miku possesses a very special ability.

That is the power of the mind.

After seeing the loneliness emanating from the other person, she made this choice without hesitation.

Perhaps even she herself doesn't know why.

Was it simply to repay a debt of gratitude? Perhaps not.

Perhaps, she simply saw the loneliness in the other person, nothing more.

Known as the strongest loneliness in Academy City.

She didn't believe that Accelerator was simply the villain he described himself as...

Chapter Ten: The Trio

Takibayashi fully regained consciousness.

However, what came into view was a scene that even he could hardly have imagined.

"……what?"

He looked at the familiar figure with white hair and red eyes sitting in front of him, and then blinked again.

"Am I hallucinating? Why is Accelerator from A Certain Magical Index here? Am I still dreaming...?"

“It’s not a dream, Mr. Takibayashi.”

The light, melodious voice brought him back to consciousness, and then he saw a girl with twin ponytails standing cheerfully in front of him.

"It was Mr. Yifang who saved us!"

"...Accelerator, that is, the one, Accelerator?"

"Yes, that's right! Huh? Why do you know Mr. Takibayashi's name?"

Hahaha?

Takibayashi twitched the corner of his mouth. He glanced at Hatsune Miku to one side, and then at Accelerator in the distance.

Under their gaze, the man stood up as if he had gone mad and burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Hahaha! Invincible! This is practically like having a cheat code!"

"Wait—Mr. Takibayashi, what's wrong...?"

Hatsune Miku looked at Takibayashi, who was gesturing wildly in front of her, with a confused expression, while Accelerator impatiently threw the soda can in his hand at the other's head.

It hit the target with perfect accuracy, just like hitting a basketball hoop.

"It hurts so much—!!"

"You bastard, you better explain to me what's going on here."

"Huh? This, this... Ahahaha..."

Seeing Accelerator reaching for the electrodes on his neck, Takibayashi quickly waved his hand with a wry smile.

"Brother, please don't do it! I do know you, and I'm not your enemy, but... I'm afraid you won't believe me if I tell you."

"Stop spouting nonsense. I'll give you one minute to finish what you've got. Hurry up."

————————————————————————————————————————

Takibayashi recounted everything he knew.

Even Accelerator himself was wide-eyed this time.

"You're such a damn good braggart, you've completely messed up my train of thought!"

"Calm down, one of you! I... I'm serious!"

Seeing that Accelerator was about to swing his cane at his head, Takibayashi quickly waved his hand and said.

"Exactly, in our world, you're all characters in entertainment works, just like Hatsune Miku over there... except she's an electronic singer, while you're the strongest esper in Academy City, only in a novel..."

"Really? ...She is indeed an idol in real life. How does Mr. Takibayashi know that?"

"...This is truly remarkable."

Under normal circumstances, Accelerator would simply dismiss what the other person is saying as nonsense and shoot them in the head.

But now a zombie world has emerged.

If, if we think about it carefully—

"The concept of ability users is based on their personal reality influencing the macrocosm through the microcosm. If that's the case, then according to the theory of quantum multiverse, Academy City can even calculate the reverse data of the geometric Big Bang. So, it's not impossible for a higher-level world to influence other worlds—"

"Hey, slow down! I can't understand all those words coming out at once. I've almost forgotten everything since the exam! And that stuff isn't even third-year high school physics, is it?!"

But at least the three of them basically completed the communication.

Accelerator stood up, and Takibayashi, who was lying on the ground, also got up immediately.

"Anyway, I know you have great power, Yifang... You don't mind me calling you that, do you?"

"I don't care what happens, I'm more curious about what's going on here."

Accelerator propped his cane against his side and opened another can of coffee with one hand.

"That young lady over there just said that you all possess a special power. What is that? Is it the same type of power as the one I use?"

"ability……?"

Takibayashi glanced at Hatsune Miku with a puzzled look, and then he realized what was going on.

"That's really nothing serious."

Takibayashi waved his hand and picked up a sharp shard of glass from the ground.

Without hesitation, he made a slash on his palm.

*Pfft!* Blood gushed out as flesh was torn open, startling Hatsune Miku.

But soon Accelerator narrowed his eyes.