Became a Failed Experimental Subject Novel - Chapter 13

After the Press Conference
The night after the press conference, which was more exhausting than fighting a monster, Yoo Anna, having shed her black suit, collapsed weakly onto the sofa.

In her hand was a keepsake of Lee Han-yeong, which she hadn’t been able to return to her family, despite making a brief appearance at her funeral. It was a button-shaped item, flipped like a coin, a field recording camera issued to all Espers.

Its official code was Black Cat, a shapeless Class: Despair monster. This designation was based on testimonies that most of its observed transformations subtly incorporated features of tigers or felines. The equipment was meant to record information about the monster.

Today, Yoo Anna had informed everyone at the press conference about Black Cat’s dangers. It was an anomaly whose actions were unpredictable, and because its form was shapeless, its combat style constantly changed, making it impossible to predict its compatibility with an Esper’s powers. Only genuinely strong Espers could face Black Cat… in W City, only Yoo Anna was a truly viable card.

How much would the citizens, who were completely unaware of these facts, understand from this press conference? Yoo Anna felt incredibly stifled.

However, her heavy heart wasn’t solely due to that. There was a recording file within the camera, Lee Han-yeong’s final moments. The agonizing screams of Lee Han-yeong as she was bitten and lifted from the ground, fleeing from three giant wolves, three Class: Despair monsters. At this moment, the camera’s lens was already shattered into tiny pieces, leaving no clear image. All that remained was sound, and even that was filled with noise, perhaps due to dust entering the device after she submerged herself, breaking her psychic ability. Lee Han-yeong’s screams as her lower body was chewed, the sound of bones breaking, her desperate cries, and then her weak breaths after giving up. And then, silence.

With a strange echoing sound, Lee Han-yeong’s murmuring began. Most of the sounds weren’t clear, as if she was clamping her hands over her mouth to muffle them. But among them, some words were distinctly audible.

[Eat me, and win…]

Lee Han-yeong had asked the monster to eat her, grow stronger, and fight other Class: Despair monsters.

Immediately after, a sound Yoo Anna wished she could forget echoed—the sound of the monster chewing a human skull. And then, a powerful roar, strong enough to break the machine that had been barely holding on. The monster, Black Cat, ate Lee Han-yeong after that. Perhaps what followed was the monster’s unique existential evolution. The Black Cat engulfed in flames—it was definitely stronger than the one in Yoo Anna’s memory. Black Cat, a Class: Despair monster without even a code name, consumed the core of the wolf monster, then returned to Lee Han-yeong. And as if fulfilling a promise, it tried to finish eating her. Afterward, it seemed to give up even on that, throwing the corpse and fleeing.

The casualties were 1 Esper, 0 civilians. It was a miracle hard to believe was the result of a Class: Despair monster’s rampage. Today, she had preached to the citizens that Black Cat was not some absurd monster that protected people. However, Lee Han-yeong’s last words confused her. Could there really be a monster that protects humans? She almost wished it would attack humans sooner. Yoo Anna, having entertained a thought an Esper shouldn’t, closed her eyes, overcome by fatigue and overwhelming drowsiness.

“What are you, exactly… you…”
***

The Underground Construction Site
“Hey! Mr. Gopyo! It’s about time to stop and come up!”

Drrrrrrr, holding the strongly vibrating drill, I stopped the machine at the foreman’s voice. This was the underground of W City, an area recently ruined by a rampaging Class: Despair monster. My job now was to gradually break apart the walls that had melted and hardened like glass.

Leaving the drill behind, I rode the temporary elevator to the surface with the foreman. I then sat on a nearby ruin, waiting for my meal. A moment later, a drone dropped a parachute from high above. It was meal delivery.

“Let’s eat lunch, Gopyo. You want a large portion, right? I’ve never seen anyone hint so obviously for more food by their name.”

“Hmm.”

My current name is Gopyo (Large Portion), a splendid and beautiful name. A single bowl isn’t enough to feel full, but at least it’s free food. I half-gulped down the delivered food, like others might quickly drink coffee during a break, then immediately stood up and went back underground.

“Gopyo! Take it easy!”

“I’m not tired yet.”

“Ugh… that person is really incredible…”

“He’s truly a monster… how can he hold that rock drill for so long? For me, it’s great that the work progresses as if I’m bringing equipment underground.”

Taking the drill into my hands again, I walked through a narrow tunnel formed underground, breaking the hardened walls. The tunnel was just wide enough for me to stretch out my arms and legs, not very big even for an average person. Such tunnels extended endlessly into the distance. These were the traces left by Yoo Anna as she chased me.

Occasionally, special metal pillars appeared in the tunnel. These strong alloy pillars, which hadn’t completely melted even under Yoo Anna’s psychic power, felt quite solid even to my strength. These pillars, which seemed like they wouldn’t even show a mark unless struck by something of at least Class: Disaster level, were essential for city construction in the monster era. After monsters appeared in the world, humans gradually adapted, replacing all structures with modular ones that could be quickly swapped out if any part was destroyed. Along with that, large pillars were embedded in the underground foundation to reduce damage from monsters constantly emerging from below. It was a type of earthquake prevention device, designed to minimize damage on the surface by having the pillars support the axis even if the immediate surroundings collapsed or rose. For the city to be reassembled, these pillars had to be intact.

I dropped the sensor I was given beneath an intact pillar. It was a special sensor said to react when a detector was fired from the surface. Through this, damaged pillars could be pulled out from the surface, crushed building debris could be filled into the holes, and new pillars driven in. This was the foundation restoration work. This work was quite dangerous. Because it wasn’t a properly constructed tunnel, but merely the aftermath of a psychic ability, it could collapse at any time, and underground monsters could emerge from anywhere. As such, the pay was very, very lucrative. Danger pay was high, and the foreman had even promised to pay me for three people’s worth of work, given my performance on this government-subsidized project. Swelling with the thought that I could finally eat my fill of top-grade beef this time, I was working very diligently.

“Hmm?”

Just then, I sensed a monster’s presence. My senses, much sharper than before, identified the monster’s form and the size of its core. Earthworms, emerging from the ground as if feeling the drill’s vibrations, and mole crickets resembling armored insects. Even in the distance, a giant centipede monster was crawling joyfully through a newly formed passage. Numerous underground monsters—they were the reason for the high pay of this work.

The monster alarms in this area were already broken. In their place, a temporary monster alarm below the temporary elevator was active. If it rang, that day’s work would be stopped, and all workers would have to rush to the surface to evacuate. If they evacuated, the day’s work would be over, and they couldn’t work again until the Esperes cleared out the underground monsters the next day. Daily wages were paid only for the hours worked.

“No, no.”

I immediately returned to the elevator and turned off the temporary alarm, which had countless warning stickers plastered on it, instructing not to turn it off arbitrarily. It was still lunchtime, so everyone would probably rest a bit before coming down. Before others came down to the underground, it was time for a monster clear-out.

A monster specialized in hunting smaller monsters in such places. My human form quickly diminished, transforming like a child. A form shrouded in darkness, the monster that belonged to the tail part when I transformed into a winged black panther. An anomaly that dominated the shadows of the night. In the purely dark tunnel, my extended body rooted into the ground everywhere, piercing through the monsters’ bodies.

“Shhhhrrrr…”

I carefully inserted thin stings like needles, then made the shadows explode like fireworks within each monster’s body, expanding them. I then swallowed the corpses of the monsters one by one. Lethal-class and Crushing-class monsters provided more satiety than the lunch I had just eaten. Hmm… it wasn’t bad, surprisingly. I savored the taste… no, the shadow taste, then gathered my infinitely extended body and returned to human form.

A moment later, I reactivated the alarm and continued working. The foreman and other workers soon came down the elevator.

“Wow… seriously, it’s like working with a small heavy machine.”

“They say our team’s work speed is seven times faster than other places.”

“Gopyo really does work well.”

The workers looked around the already significantly progressed tunnel, then one by one grabbed their tools and spread out.

“Gopyo! Drink some water!”

I took the 1.5L plastic bottle, gulped down water, and looked around at the workers. Since wages were paid per team’s workload, the workers’ gazes towards me were warm.

“I was scared because they said a lot of monsters would appear, but strangely, none are showing up.”

“It wasn’t like this before Gopyo came; maybe because he’s so big, the monsters don’t think he’s human and don’t come around?”

“Gopyo’s just a lucky charm, a real blessing.”
***

Farewell
“Gopyo, is today really the last day?”

“I’ve done enough.”

After working on the foundation restoration for a while, I said my final goodbyes to the foreman. He seemed a little regretful that I wouldn’t be coming anymore. But it was time to leave.

Because I still couldn’t properly control my monster aura, the number of Class: Lethal monsters gathering underground was steadily increasing. Those who mistook me for a weak underground monster kept flocking to me. Until now, I had dealt with them all, but if I stayed longer, a higher-class monster might come seeking this group of Class: Lethal monsters. Modular roads and buildings were already rapidly going up in the areas where new pillars had been driven in, and it would be a shame to mess it up after all the effort of restoring it. Until I could perfectly conceal my presence, I couldn’t stay in one area for long.

“Haa… so the Gopyo bonus event is over… Well, take care elsewhere.”

The foreman handed me my final day’s pay and offered a light farewell. The reason I continued this work, despite knowing I was attracting minor monsters, was the thick envelope of cash. I discreetly opened the envelope and felt pleased. At least I had achieved my goal. With this amount, I could eat my fill of top-grade beef.

“Heheheh…”

I chuckled aloud, then quickly put on my clothes and, out of sight of people, jumped onto a restored building. The shirt, bought with the money I earned, flapped noisily in the wind, but I had to move quickly now. The supermarket in the next district would close soon.