What happened, Lin Wuming, why are you injured again?
Accelerator frowned, 'And so severely that you need to be hospitalized for four consecutive days?'
The pale figure simply stood by the hospital bed, yet it gave the illusion of emitting a white light.
"Uh... because of various irresistible forces, I guess," Lin Wuming said dryly.
To be honest, opening his eyes and seeing Accelerator standing in front of him—that scene was quite startling.
After all, it was Accelerator!
"I thought you were tired of Sogiita Gunha's endless challenges, so you were just faking illness," Accelerator said.
"Uh... now that you mention it..." Lin Wuming suddenly realized that since the summer vacation, he had indeed skipped several duels with Sogiita Gunha.
But there was nothing he could do; his own experiences had been exciting enough, and he really wasn't in the mood to deal with Sogiita Gunha's challenges.
For those who cared, Lin Wuming's hospitalization information was no secret, and Accelerator was his classmate, so it wasn't strange for him to find him here.
It was just that Lin Wuming couldn't understand...
"Accelerator, is there something you need from me so late?" Lin Wuming asked.
Although Lin Wuming and Accelerator had a decent relationship after a semester of getting along, it wasn't to the point of being 'close friends'.
And visiting someone in the middle of the night—that didn't fit Accelerator's style.
"Of course there is," Accelerator said, "Otherwise, why would I come to find you?"
With that, Accelerator stepped aside, revealing the girl he had been blocking behind him.
Because the hospital room lights weren't on, and Accelerator's presence was so overwhelming, Lin Wuming hadn't even noticed that there was another person behind him!
"I picked this guy up on the road," Accelerator explained, "After thinking it over, it seemed most appropriate to hand her over to you. And she herself wanted to see you."
Lin Wuming looked at the girl; in the dim environment, he couldn't clearly make out her face—after all, Accelerator only gave the impression of being 'pale', which didn't mean he glowed.
"Just a moment, if you don't mind, I'll turn on the light," the girl suddenly said.
Her voice was somehow familiar, but Lin Wuming couldn't recall where he had heard it before...
Until the lights came on.
"You are..." Lin Wuming frowned, looking at the girl in front of him with confusion and surprise.
"Don't you recognize me, Senior Wuming?" The brown-haired girl in a Tokiwadai Middle School uniform tilted her head and looked over.
Then, as if she thought of something, the girl raised her hand and tidied her long hair, gathering the loose strands to mimic a 'short hair' look.
After doing all that, the girl looked up again: "How about now? You should be able to recognize me like this, Senior Wuming?"
"Misaka..." Lin Wuming said the girl's name.
Of course, it was Misaka—Lin Wuming had seen countless girls with this appearance.
It was just that...
"Long-haired Misaka..." Lin Wuming wondered, "So which one exactly are you?"
As far as Lin Wuming knew, the Mass Production-Type Misaka Sisters completely mimicked Misaka Mikoto herself in appearance, so they should all have short hair.
The only two long-haired Misakas were Dolly and Taoli, the two 'Unit 0' models.
So, who was this 'long-haired Misaka' in front of him?
And also...
Lin Wuming carefully re-examined the girl in front of him. In some details, this 'long-haired Misaka' was also different from Misaka Mikoto and the Misaka Sisters.
Her height seemed a bit taller, and her figure... had a clear curve, so no matter how he looked at it, there was a sense of abruptness.
Specifically, she was a more mature version of Misaka—Misaka Mikoto in her high school or even college days would probably look like this, right?
Rather than 'Misaka Sister,' 'Misaka Elder Sister' would be a more fitting description.
However, Lin Wuming knew that in the original plot, such a mature version of the Misaka Clones indeed existed.
Opposite to Final Signal, who was a delayed growth individual, there was another accelerated growth special clone—Misaka Worst!
"I'm a Misaka Clone," Misaka Worst grinned, "But if you ask for my specific number... I'm afraid I don't have one. Because I'm the only one born in this batch, so there's no need to distinguish me with a number."
"Are the clone operations still ongoing?" Lin Wuming asked with a grave expression, "Who is conducting the experiments?"
He had thought that the Production Type Ability User Project had completely ended, and Accelerator was not involved in the experiment, so the 'Third Production Plan' should fundamentally not have been possible.
But he never expected... Misaka Worst had still been born!
And she appeared even earlier than in the original plot.
And also...
Lin Wuming turned to look at Accelerator, how did he still end up encountering Accelerator?
It was the same when he found Final Signal last time; it felt like Accelerator always seemed to encounter special 'Misakas'.
"I saw this guy being harassed on the street, so..." Noticing Lin Wuming's gaze, Accelerator explained.
"To be precise, I was the one looking for trouble," Misaka Worst corrected with a smile, "Well, but the final result didn't make much difference—those guys were destined to get beaten up anyway, whether they were knocked out by electricity or by a punch, it's pretty much the same."
"Don't change the subject," Lin Wuming said, looking at her seriously, "Where exactly did you come from? Are there any other Misaka Sisters?"
Misaka Worst still spoke in a frivolous tone: "Don't be nervous, Senior Wuming, I already said I'm special. There are no other individuals in the same batch, so no number is needed."
"As for when I was born..." Misaka Worst spread her arms and spun around, "You can tell just by looking, I was born earlier than those twenty thousand Misaka Sisters—though that's only for this body."
"And my consciousness," Misaka Worst said, pointing to her head, "wasn't truly awakened until recently. After managing to escape from that abandoned laboratory, I came to find Senior Wuming immediately."
Hearing that there were no more Misaka Clones, Lin Wuming felt a little relieved.
He quietly planned in his mind that after he was discharged, he would definitely conduct a thorough investigation to prevent Misaka Mikoto's genetic blueprint from still being misused.
"The person has been delivered," Accelerator suddenly said, "So I'll be leaving now. Remember to recover soon, Lin Wuming. When you do, I'll have a fight with you—your current state seems to have become interesting."
Without giving Lin Wuming a chance to refuse, Accelerator had already strode away.
