When Luo Yifang opened his eyes again, the world had changed. Well, the ceiling was unfamiliar. Then he sat up and looked around. Well, the room was even more unfamiliar. Fine, so none of that had been a dream.
But... there was a bit too much information in his head. Vector Manipulation, Academy City, all that messy Number One and strongest nonsense... Luo Yifang felt that he needed to sort it all out properly, so he lay back down on the bed.
A moment later, Luo Yifang—oh no, perhaps he should be called Accelerator now. Of course, he still thought Luo Yifang sounded better, because he was both Accelerator and Luo Yifang, yet neither of them at the same time. His current situation was rather strange.
That was all just Luo Yifang's own speculation. Fine, life had to go on. Unable to keep lazing in bed, he rolled off it, rubbed his messy white hair, and headed into the bathroom. Looking at the pale face and wine-red eyes in the mirror, Luo Yifang did not feel particularly good.
He smacked his lips. "These clothes are so stupid. And why am I still this skinny? I'm seriously sick of this. No, I have to train properly!"
Luo Yifang was already dead. That was true. In a sense, the original Accelerator no longer existed either. But Luo Yifang still did not know exactly what his situation was. The instant he opened his eyes, he understood that something about him had changed, but only he could figure out precisely what. At the very least, though, he could still use Vector Manipulation, and...
"Seems like I'm stronger..." Luo Yifang extended a finger and pressed it against the wall. Like a hot knife through butter, his slender finger sank into the wall all the way to the knuckle without the slightest effort. He pulled it back out and looked at his spotless index finger, then at the small hole in the wall. "Just as I thought?"
In the past, this kind of thing had been as easy for Accelerator as eating or drinking. But now, Luo Yifang felt that it was even easier than breathing. Even the most basic calculations seemed to have been simplified to the extreme. "Hmm... not only has my computational ability improved drastically, the calculation process itself seems to have been simplified too..."
To put it simply, Luo Yifang could not claim he could beat ten of his former self, but he could beat five. Already at the very peak of the Level 5 pyramid, he now felt as if he were charging down a path toward smashing through the ceiling, never to return. With two souls, even the world itself seemed a little different to him. More specifically, the Vector Manipulation he had once known now seemed to have gained new ways to play with it.
"For example... like this?" Luo Yifang reached toward the toothbrush and rinsing cup beside him. Then... then the cup smacked him in the face...
With his reflection active, Luo Yifang naturally was not hurt, but his expression darkened considerably. In the end, he obediently caught the cup with his hand. "Well, well, I can use all four fundamental forces. Why didn't I think of that before?" Of course, Luo Yifang's application of these near-universal fundamental laws was still at the beginner level. Otherwise, he would not have gotten smacked in the face by a cup. Still, it seemed that he had already begun touching upon some strange threshold.
He turned on the tap and filled a cup with cold water. Not in the mood to wait for the water heater, Luo Yifang merely held the cup, and the temperature of the water began to rise. In an instant, the freezing water became pleasantly warm, more energy-efficient and convenient than any water heater. What should have been a simple wash turned into Luo Yifang having a great time playing around in the bathroom.
After finishing up, Luo Yifang emerged from the bathroom looking completely refreshed. Though the loss of his trademark dead-fish eyes and smug expression made him seem to be missing something, he was undeniably much more pleasant now. At least he no longer looked as if everyone in the world owed him money.
The next step was easy. Luo Yifang dug out a laptop from his cabinet that seemed not to have been touched in ages. After confirming that it still worked, he powered it on and began writing a small program. "Mm, with my current self, I should be able to do this much..."
The program was simple, and Luo Yifang finished it in just over ten minutes. If any researchers had been present, they would have been astonished. The program was remarkably similar to the support programs they used when developing esper abilities in newcomers, only more streamlined and direct. After debugging it for a while and confirming there were no problems, Luo Yifang connected to the computer without any equipment, forcibly extending his own bioelectromagnetic waves through his formidable computational ability.
To be honest, such delicate work was a tiny bit difficult for Luo Yifang, who had spent a hundred years specializing in destruction. Of course, only a tiny bit. Had no one seen the flashy stunt he pulled when saving Last Order? Tsk, tsk, a single "awesome" could hardly describe it. If only he had finished off that guy back then, it might have been even better. At least he would not have ended up brain-damaged?
Then Luo Yifang began doing something that would make every researcher in Academy City's jaw drop—while connected to the computer, he used his Level 5 ability to stimulate his own brain and develop a second esper ability. That kind of behavior would leave one brain-damaged at best and dead on the spot at worst!
In the end, Luo Yifang's head did not explode. There was merely a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead, though his paler lips showed that those few minutes had not been pleasant. After disconnecting, Luo Yifang rubbed his temples. His head was a little dizzy now, and he needed to sort through the sudden influx of information.
"Hmph..." Suddenly, the voice of the [Book of Ten Thousand Worlds] sounded in Luo Yifang's mind once more. Yet Luo Yifang felt that something was off. "[Book of Ten Thousand Worlds], Page 87, reporting in, authorized user."
"Oh? You lot work pretty efficiently. From the last thing the [Book of Ten Thousand Worlds] said, I thought I was about to be abandoned." Once he came back to himself, Luo Yifang spoke as calmly as if he were discussing some trivial matter, showing little concern over the [Book of Ten Thousand Worlds]' arrival.
"Hey, that's your attitude?" The voice sounded deeply displeased.
"I'm a little busy right now. Wait a moment." Luo Yifang began adjusting his computer. Starting that program earlier had nearly fried its memory. If not for Luo Yifang's powerful computational ability holding things together, it would probably be smoking by now. "Besides, I keep feeling like you aren't speaking in your own voice. It feels weird."
"You!" Apparently furious, the voice took quite a while before speaking again. This time, however, it was no longer the ethereal, cold voice of the [Book of Ten Thousand Worlds], but the soft, adorable voice of a little girl. "Hmph, satisfied now, you filthy pervert!"
"Huh?" That actually startled Luo Yifang. "You have genders too?"
"Now I finally understand why the main body wants to beat you to death. I want to as well," the little girl practically squeezed out through clenched teeth. Yet paired with her soft, sweet voice, it had no intimidating effect whatsoever. If anything, it was so adorable it could make someone die from cuteness. "The [Book of Ten Thousand Worlds] isn't some low-grade god system from those things you've read. Every page is an individual with complete emotions and consciousness!"
"Mm, sounds impressive." But Luo Yifang's interest came quickly and vanished just as quickly. After mumbling that indistinctly, he decided to ask something more useful. "But don't you have names? Calling you book, book, book every day—doesn't that get annoying?"
"I-I obviously have a name!" The little girl choked again. After thinking for a long time, she hurriedly said, "My name is 87!"
"...What a perfunctory name... Do you think you're that bald assassin, 47 or something...? And now 87..." Luo Yifang rolled his eyes at this temporary name that was clearly meant to dodge the issue of her having no name. "Forget it. I'll call you Paqi instead. How about that?"
"Eh, why?" The little girl seemed to eagerly want to know whether that name held some deeper meaning.
"Because 87 sounds a lot like Paqi in Chinese." Unfortunately, Luo Yifang had never been good at considering other people's feelings. At least, his current self was still a beginner at it. That blunt answer shattered little Paqi's heart.
"87... Paqi... 87... Paqi... Waaah!! You're all bullying me!"
"H-Hey, don't cry. How about I call you Dog Egg instead?"
"Waaah!" Yet the little girl cried even louder.
Before you continue