Doujin Artist: Ruiko, you're so brave.
Eriri watched as Ruiko moved quickly through the digital gates on the screen and couldn't help but comment. If it were her, she'd probably have turned and run already.
"I... I'm actually really scared," Ruiko's voice came through the stream. "But I don't want to let Misaka down, and I don't want to give up halfway ."
When she looked up, everyone could see the determination in her eyes.
Curly-haired Guy: Hmph, Ruiko-chan's actually pretty capable, huh?
Amegakure Village's Angel: She's already showing the spirit of a strong person.
This is an Actor: If you feel no fear at all inside, you'll stop chasing hope. But those who push through fear and take that first step will find a treasure beyond imagination. That treasure is called courage.
Shark-Faced Guy: So Anzen said all that scary stuff just to help Ruiko grow braver?
Scarlet Lotus Fairy: I don't think it was just to scare her. The earlier analysis seemed real.
Amegakure Village's Angel: It definitely was. It was also Anzen-san giving Ruiko a warning. When you stand in front of the abyss, it's up to you whether to move forward or back away. The choice is Ruiko's alone.
Ruiko and Misaka Mikoto kept moving forward. They passed through a narrow, dark hallway until the view opened up again. It looked like a lab's main testing area.
Under the dim lights, all kinds of high-tech machines gave off a metallic shine.
Everyone watching the stream could clearly see rows of containers filled with nutrient liquid. Inside those containers, half-developed Misaka clones were being grown.
But through the screen, their bodies looked blurry. It was like transparent squares were used to cover them on purpose.
Curly-haired Guy: M-Mosaic? Why is there mosaic in a livestream? Where's the basic trust between people, damn it?!
Doujin Artist: It's because of people like you that trust doesn't exist. Also, what exactly were you hoping to see without the mosaic?
Scarlet Lotus Fairy: Pervert.
Curly-haired Guy: Hey, Gin-san didn't say anything weird! How does that make me a pervert?
Amegakure Village's Angel: Because even if you don't say it, everyone knows exactly what you're thinking.
Curly-haired Guy: Konan, you've changed. You weren't this sharp-tongued before. The world's gone cold... Gin-san's lost hope in this heartless world.
Doujin Artist: Alright, cut the act. It's making me sick.
Inside the testing room.
"This... this is real?" Even Misaka Mikoto was stunned, her face full of disbelief. "They really used my genetic code to run these experiments."
Ruiko let out a deep sigh and didn't answer. She just looked around the room, her eyebrows tightly furrowed.
Logically, a place should have night staff even after hours. But they hadn't seen a single person since they entered the lab.
Something's off. Is this a trap?
Ruiko felt something was wrong and was about to tell Mikoto to leave. But Mikoto seemed frozen in place, staring blankly at the computer, not moving a muscle. Her eyes were locked onto the screen.
Ruiko froze for a second, then turned to look at the computer screen. That's when she realized—it was showing internal files from the lab.
Laser puncture experiment, Misaka Unit 012.
Failure reason: Caused full-body spasms.
Time of death: Ten minutes after spasms began.
Brain nerve removal experiment, Misaka Unit 084.
Failure reason: Brain damage.
Time of death: Immediate.
Heart transplant compatibility experiment, Misaka Unit 104.
Failure reason: Blood loss. Success rate of heart match: only 3%.
Time of death: 20 minutes and 14 seconds after the experiment started.
There were over 200 experiment logs. In plain terms, that meant at least 200 Misaka Sisters had been cruelly killed as lab material in this place.
At that moment, not only Ruiko but even the others watching the livestream were completely silent.
A long while passed before Saten Ruiko snapped out of it. "Do these scientists... not have even a shred of humanity?"
Curly-haired Guy: Ha, humanity? That kind of thing doesn't hold up in front of big profits.
Doujin Artist: And I think these scientists never saw the Misaka Sisters as people. To them, they were probably just lab animals.
This is an Actor: More accurately, they were seen as puppets. Do you remember what the Misaka Sisters said in the original story? Worth only 180,000 yen, mass-produced from an assembly line. That kind of self-awareness was probably forced onto them by the scientists too.
Amegakure Village's Angel: Disgusting. These people are just sick.
Konan's pretty face was covered in frost, and an invisible pressure spread out from her without her even noticing.
Everything in the hall started to shake. Tables and shelves clattered like they were crying out in pain.
This is an Actor: What about Ruiko? What do you want to do?
Aizen thought it was pointless for everyone else to get angry. What mattered was what Ruiko—the person directly involved—wanted. As long as she made up her mind, even if the sky fell, he'd have her back.
"I... I want to make them pay too!" Saten Ruiko's face was serious.
What those scientists had done was way beyond what she could tolerate. If she didn't do something, she knew she'd never be able to let it go.
This is an Actor: I see. Then let's start small. See that little black box in the middle of the hall? Doesn't look like much, but that's probably the core database for this whole lab. Smash it, and the lab will be done for.
[Promoting a book: "Dungeon Floor Challenge: I Can Add Skill Points Freely"]
Read 30 advanced Chapters on my