Became a Failed Experimental Subject Novel - Chapter 15

He wiped away sweat, looking down at the parts the children had torn off.

The monster alarm device, containing special alloys and technology, had parts that were considerably expensive. If he sold them on the black market, he could earn a fair amount of money, but no matter how many times he told them, the children couldn’t bring the most crucial core component. In truth, that component was in a place absolutely unreachable by simply stretching a hand out from beyond the bars.

The orphanage director, who had never even seen the device with his own eyes and thus didn’t know this fact, opened a drawer and pulled out an expensive lighter and an oddly shaped cigarette. It was a luxury lighter, bought by abusing the tax-exemption benefits meant for purchasing food ingredients for the children’s meals and various daily necessities. With a satisfied expression, the orphanage director, who was touching a luxury item rarely seen by ordinary people in the Monster Era, put the strangely colored cigarette into his mouth and lit it. Then, he redialed a call he had briefly hung up and spoke to another orphanage director.

“Where were we? My mind just went blank for a second, and I can’t remember anything.”
[Hehehe, the kids aren’t listening again, are they?]
“Ugh… seriously, these parentless brats are so stupid. No matter how much I tell them, they just don’t get it… Is it that hard? To bring out the orange glass bottle?”
[How much is that worth?]
“It varies, but they say it’s easily worth two months of a regular salary.”
[That’s quite a bit, then. No wonder you were angry.]

Over the phone, the other orphanage director chuckled, sympathizing with him. Far from finding fault with making children steal, the orphanage director instead got angry if the children didn’t bring expensive items. In the Monster Era, these two weren’t the only ones; such individuals existed in other orphanages as well. Private orphanages—among them, those who started their business not with the noble intention of caring for orphaned children but solely aiming for government subsidies. For them, earning money by exploiting the minor offense immunity clause, which was meant to protect and re-educate children who might go astray, was common sense. Using children to relieve stress was also acceptable because in an era where monster attacks never ceased, disposing of bodies was a simple matter.

Instead, they would contact each other and discuss how they could earn even more money.

“So… could you tell me more about this way to earn big? What are you doing these days that you’re buying so many cars?”
[Ah, hmm… This is something I shouldn’t tell just anyone.]
“Come on, just tell me. I helped you dispose of a body before, didn’t I?”
[Oh… well, since I owe you, I can’t not tell you…]

With that, the other orphanage director chuckled darkly and began talking about the business he had recently gotten involved in.

[Among the rich, you see? There are some with refined tastes, right? It’s the Monster Era, after all. They witness cruel things frequently, so this excitement, you know? It’s just…]
“Don’t drag it out, tell me in detail.”
[Heh heh… Well, if you have any pretty kids, tell me. I’ll act as a go-between.]
“Pretty kids? Ah… perhaps that kind of thing? Doesn’t that not apply to the immunity clause?”
“What if it doesn’t? We can just sell them to the very people who made that immunity clause!”

The orphanage director, who roughly understood what he was talking about, genuinely admired it, thinking, There was such a way! His expression, revealing his thoughts, seemed to blame himself for his stupidity, wondering why he hadn’t thought of it.

[They’ll take care of the bodies themselves, so all we have to do is collect the money. You can earn way more than with stealing!]
“How much can you earn?”
[Heh heh… About a car per person? Rich people don’t skimp on their hobbies!]
“That much?!”
[They pay more depending on how they look, so it’s better to go with the pretty ones. The other kids can just be used for the business we’re already doing.]
“Hmph… If there’s such a good business, you should have told me sooner.”
[That’s why I’m telling you now, isn’t it? Heh heh… Anyway, I’ve opened up the market for you, so look into it and contact me. I’ll take a little cut from the middle, too.]
“Ahem… alright.”

After hanging up the phone, the orphanage director immediately sifted through his mind at the unexpectedly high price, picking out the children with good looks. The first one that came to mind was Na Hye-ri. How much could he get if he sold that young girl, who promised to be quite beautiful when she grew up, to a rich person? He had never thought of the little girl in that way before, but imagining it now somehow excited him. Why hadn’t he thought of it? The orphanage director once again seemed to blame himself for his stupidity.

“Na Hye-ri! Come to the director’s office at once!”

As the orphanage director, with a sinister expression, picked up the phone and pressed a button, his voice echoed through the orphanage. It seemed to be a device for broadcasting across the orphanage at any time, and the director, who had called Na Hye-ri, was grinning. Perhaps it was the effect of the drug circulating in his body, or perhaps he was intoxicated by the excitement of inflicting violence on a young child.

“Truly, a spectacle.”

Thinking this was enough, I descended from the ceiling. Had he beaten that child until blood welled up under her skin? I had a feeling that the girl smelled delicious. It seemed strange that starving children would steal equipment from a truck instead of food.

“Wh-who are you?!”

As I, who had descended in the form of a shadow, took on a human shape, the orphanage director frantically rummaged through his drawer and pulled out a handgun. I wrapped my hand around the pistol and crumpled it. Realizing I wasn’t an ordinary person, the orphanage director stumbled backward.

“Wh-what…?! Police…?! Esper…?! D-do you know who I am? Do you know who I’m connected to…!”

If I were the police or an Esper, would speaking of his connections make it impossible to treat him carelessly? Well, to me, a monster, it was an irrelevant threat. I grabbed the orphanage director’s mouth with one hand and crushed it.

“Neither.”
“Ugh, gah-gah-gaaak…! Kwaak…!”

I am a monster. Even though I am a monster, I don’t want to attack humans. But this is not human.

“Nu, nyu-gyueu…! Guk!”

Shedding my human form, I knocked the orphanage director to the ground. The monster form, a black panther, was something I was becoming accustomed to as it frequently changed. Outside the building, a loud siren wailed, signaling the appearance of a monster. The orphanage director’s eyes widened when he realized I was a monster.

“Grrrrrrr….”
“Gyak… gyaaak…! Gugh…!”

A heavy monster paw pressed down on the fat body, the tiger’s claws digging deeper into the orphanage director’s chest. With a forceful crush, blood flowed from the orphanage director’s eyes and mouth. At that moment, the closed door of the director’s office opened.

“…H-heeek?!”

Pressing harder on the orphanage director, I turned my head to look behind me. There stood the girl who had eaten the least of my meat, startled and stumbling backward, unable to walk properly and falling. Even with the monster alarm blaring, she hadn’t fled; she had come to the director’s office? The director is scarier than the monster, is that it.

“Sha, sha-hyeo…! Sha-hyeo…! Gyak! Gyaak…! Ughuk…!”

Bruises covered her legs. The smell of this mass of fat was already nauseatingly greasy, but thanks to it, my appetite was somewhat piqued. However, such a sight was not good for a child’s mental health. With a crunch, I crushed each of the orphanage director’s limbs with my forepaw, then left him and approached the girl.

“Hek…! Hik…! Hoooek…! Uh…?”

Standing before the trembling girl who couldn’t even run away, I nudged her slightly with my head and then bit the doorknob. As I slowly closed the door, the girl blinked with surprised eyes. From now on, this was not for minors.

“Sha, hyeo…! Gruk…!”

The greasiness spread in my mouth. Having torn off the orphanage director’s head in one bite, I began my meal, smelling the girl’s blood, which I could still sense from beyond the door. I decided to make do with this instead of specially Classd beef. Tonight’s dinner would have to be resolved with orphanage directors, not humans.

“Euduk… euduk… kaduk….”

Hmm… Too greasy.
***

Despair-Class Monster, Black Cat
It, now accustomed to completely concealing its traces, moved with bewildering agility, as if toying with Yoo Anna. The Black Cat’s relentless attacks had continued for over 12 times without ceasing.

“So a monster is still a monster, after all…”
“This one… it hunts like a real assassin.”
“It’s become too skilled at hiding its presence… How on earth can we catch it?”

As the Despair-Class monster began hunting people, the faces of the Esperes, who received the news before it was reported on the news, turned pale. The Despair-Class monster was already a threat that required the full attention of all of W-City, but this one’s behavior was too different from ordinary monsters. Black Cat, which repeatedly hunted safely and then fled rather than hunting many humans, seemed poised to continuously increase the damage, as if mocking the Esperes, if left unchecked.

“But… why only orphanages?”
“All the children are alive, why is that?”

Curiously, the Black Cat that had appeared this time showed a consistent pattern. Only orphanage directors… The reason was unknown, but it didn’t touch the easy targets, the children, at all. Was there a difference in taste depending on the monster? From a monster’s perspective, were children too small for Black Cat to eat? This hypothesis seemed to gain traction as information about the orphanage directors hunted by Black Cat was released. All the victims were very overweight. The Esperes thought that Black Cat was a gourmet monster who liked fat humans. It wasn’t unheard of for monsters to develop dietary preferences, sometimes hunting primarily women, or young children.

“These people…”

And Yoo Anna, who was receiving all that information, wore a somewhat serious expression. All of them were orphanage directors who had been scheduled for investigation. Yet, interference from higher-ups in the government had consistently made it difficult. Why only these individuals, Black Cat? Yoo Anna was puzzled by the commonality that made it difficult to simply attribute it to attacking only orphanages.

However, there was no time to unravel the mystery. Black Cat’s hunting was still ongoing. The urgent matter was to catch Black Cat. Yoo Anna, temporarily setting aside her questions, predicted Black Cat’s next hunting ground. Black Cat would surely appear at one of the two remaining orphanage directors scheduled for investigation. There were two places left; one of the two…

Yoo Anna concentrated the Esperes in one location and waited in the other herself. If Black Cat came to her location, she would confront it alone. If it went to the opposite side, she planned to buy time for the Esperes. Yoo Anna did not evacuate the orphanage directors and children. Black Cat possessed Lee Han-yeong’s ability to pass through objects. Therefore, rather than pointlessly evacuating and putting the children and orphanage directors together in a confined space, she intended to minimize casualties by only having one orphanage director die, even if it meant death. It was a cruel choice, but Yoo Anna, who roughly knew what the orphanage directors were doing behind the scenes, felt no remorse whatsoever.

“Ugh!”
“Euduk… Kkeuduk… Uduk….”

And Black Cat appeared where Yoo Anna was. Yoo Anna, who had been waiting near the children just in case, belatedly blocked the Black Cat, which had appeared out of nowhere. Whatever method it was using, Black Cat revealed itself with an alarm. By the time the siren wailed, by the time Yoo Anna detected Black Cat, the monster’s maw, which had surged from the ground, had already devoured the orphanage director. The orphanage director, whatever he had been thinking, had approached the room right next to where the children were. If she fought Black Cat like this, the children would also be harmed… Yoo Anna immediately called the standby Esperes to protect the children.

“This is Yoo Anna, Black Cat has appeared, come here immediately… no.”
“Grrrrrrr…”
“…I’ll face it alone.”

However, the moment she faced Black Cat, something felt strange. Until now, Black Cat had always fled from her. Why was Black Cat, which had completely hidden itself to avoid Yoo Anna whenever she appeared to catch it, not doing so now? Even now, it was wary of her but not fleeing, instead slowly widening the distance between them. It was as if it was telling her to come closer, or perhaps to stay away. Why wasn’t it fleeing immediately? Was it because Yoo Anna’s superpower would spread around her and melt everything, just like when she chased Black Cat before? Was it afraid of harming the children in the next room?

“…What are you thinking?”