A Different World

Luo Yifang faced a huge dilemma. He had no idea where to even start with this idiotic Absolute Ability User Project. Was he supposed to just wander around the streets every day? He didn't think his luck was that good, to stumble upon an experimental site like Railgun did. Besides, the test subjects had changed, and they were probably still in the lab. As for contacting the person who gave him the Absolute Ability User Project, sorry, Luo Yifang had already investigated that number and address. The laboratory was even abandoned.

"So you're just playing games at home now?" Paqi's voice rose a full octave. She had never seen such a decadent transmigration, while you were spending time playing games and drinking coffee, your transmigration predecessors had already conquered several girls. And you're here playing with figures?

"Uh, this is called relaxing my mind and finding a solution to a problem," Luo Yifang pointed to his head. "I overused my brain last time when I was writing the intelligent life program."

Paqi just sighed. "Alright, alright, I get it. You can't maintain that state for long." Having spent the last few days together, she knew at least one thing: Luo Yifang wasn't always this slippery. There was a reason for his current flippancy, and the reason itself was a bit complicated.

"But I've had a few leads these past few days," Luo Yifang smiled. "But I need to go to Tokiwadai and make some preparations."

The method Luo Yifang came up with was simple: he planned to hack into Academy City's network to find some information. However, given Academy City's advanced black technology, their firewall might not be so easy to break. Even if he could break it, he doubted he could find information on the level of the Absolute Ability User Project. At worst, he might only find information on related personnel, but that would be enough. Following the clues would be better than having no leads at all. But he still had to make other preparations. It was May, approaching June. The original Misaka Mikoto didn't start disrupting the project until August. Waiting until then wouldn't work. So, if all else failed, Luo Yifang planned to subtly push things forward from behind the scenes.

What, you ask about Misaka Mikoto's safety? Please, Luo Yifang was a cold-blooded... cough cough, of course not. Misaka Mikoto would eventually face the darkness of Academy City. As for the guilt of leading someone into darkness, sorry, Luo Yifang definitely didn't have that. What's wrong with facing darkness? You're actually facing reality. What's wrong with recognizing reality? At least now that Luo Yifang was here, if Misaka Mikoto entered darkness because of him, he definitely wouldn't let her be in danger.

"If the so-called protagonist dies, will there be a reward for changing the timeline?" Luo Yifang squinted and asked Paqi a question.

"I don't know. All judgment standards are decided by the [Book of Ten Thousand Worlds]," Paqi said irritably. "But I don't think so. With so many timelines and so many transmigrators, the death of a protagonist or two must have happened many times. The [Book of Ten Thousand Worlds] should have plenty of observational standards for that."

"Oh," After asking, Luo Yifang listlessly took a sip of his drink, his attention returning to the screen in front of him.

Paqi was helpless with the current Luo Yifang and stopped talking. Several hours passed like this until dusk. Luo Yifang finally put down his controller, stretched, and stood up from the sofa, planning to go out for something to eat.

Pedestrians filled the streets. Luo Yifang expressionlessly searched for a place to eat. As he walked past a dark alley, he froze and stopped. He glanced suspiciously into the pitch-black alley, but after a brief look, he lost interest and left.

"What did you see just now?" Paqi asked curiously.

"Nothing, just a corpse," Luo Yifang sniffed with some annoyance. "It didn't smell good. What bad luck, seeing a corpse just trying to get a meal."

Luo Yifang's extremely strong physical physique had enhanced all aspects of him. Both his sense of smell and hearing had greatly improved. Night posed no obstacle to him, not to mention he could also perceive information returned from various physical quantities. As for the corpse just now, honestly, no matter how peaceful and stable Academy City appeared, there was no shortage of underhanded methods. There were at least two Level 5 dark side factions alone, "School" and "Item." Seeing a corpse wasn't a big deal.

The only thing that felt a bit off to Luo Yifang was that a part of the returned physical quantities seemed to be missing, as if something had obstructed the information transfer. But overall, Luo Yifang didn't pay too much attention. There were countless strange superpowers in Academy City, so it wasn't strange to occasionally encounter one like this. Moreover, the information feedback from just now told him it was the corpse of an adult male, which made him even less inclined to get involved.

After grabbing a bite at a random restaurant, Luo Yifang prepared to head back. But when he reached that alley again, he stopped. This time, Luo Yifang didn't choose to leave; he walked straight in.

"What's wrong?"

"The corpse is gone," Luo Yifang said in a deep voice. The biological signals within the man from before had almost completely stopped, indicating not only that he was dead, but had been dead for quite some time. If it was a deliberate murder and the body needed to be disposed of, it should have been dealt with long ago. Why leave it in an alley where it could be discovered at any moment, only to deal with it now?

After walking a few steps, Luo Yifang stopped in front of a wall stained with a large patch of blood. The alley ended here. He looked at the dark red blood on the ground and confirmed again that the person had likely been dead for some time. The flies buzzing around were also good evidence.

"No one else has been here," Luo Yifang concluded after several analyses, reaching a conclusion that shocked even himself. "Did the corpse leave on its own?"

Paqi was also very confused at this. "What, it left on its own? Are you sure? This isn't a zombie apocalypse movie set, the next one over is the infinite flow."

"I'm absolutely sure," Luo Yifang nodded. "If any other living person had been here, they couldn't have erased all traces in such a short time. You know, the physical quantities returned to me are much more precise than any analytical instrument. I only detected the existence of one thing, and that was the corpse!"