"Tch, boring idiots..."
Accelerator walked out of the convenience store on his crutch, turning his head with a disdainful look to glance at the clock near the entrance.
It was already eleven at night.
In Academy City, where eighty percent of the population were students, hardly anyone could be seen on the streets at this hour. The occasional passersby were adults heading to izakayas in groups.
Many shops that stayed closed during the day had also lit up, making this truly the domain of adults.
Apart from delinquents who had long since abandoned school, or espers who had sunk into the city's dark side, there were practically no young people around.
But Accelerator was not here because he enjoyed the dark side's pleasures, or because he had picked up bad habits like drinking or even drugs.
Despite his vicious appearance, his hobbies still fell within the bounds of an ordinary student's. He was merely obsessed with canned coffee.
The reason he was outside at this hour was very simple.
-He had become homeless.
As Number 1, and because of his own unique circumstances, Accelerator had always rented an apartment and lived alone.
But although this gave him freedom, it inevitably came at a price.
The attention that came with the title of Number 1 was unparalleled.
That much was clear from how Teitoku Kakine, the Level 5 Number 2, still needed a plan to bring down the entire Board of Directors to rise to the top, despite controlling the Dark Side Organization called School and even possessing enough authority to oppose an individual director.
That prestige held as much sway among those at the bottom as it did among the higher-ups.
Who knew how many powerless people had come at Accelerator one after another, using every conceivable means to challenge