Became a Failed Experimental Subject Novel - Chapter 16

Yoo Anna thought to herself how foolish she was, yet she spoke to the monster.

“Why are you hunting orphanage directors?”

Monsters couldn’t speak human languages; they were beasts transformed into human predators.

“Why did you protect someone else from my attack back then?”

A monster’s instinct was to attack humans.

“Why are you trying to keep me away from the children?”

Monsters were enemies of humans. She simply couldn’t understand it. Black Cat’s behavior was not that of a normal monster.

Naturally, there was no reply.

The ultralow frequency hum, overwhelming humans, the oppressive aura spreading from the monster’s core, the sound of human skulls crushing still echoing in her mouth. Black Cat was a monster, after all.

“Monsters… must die.”

Yoo Anna exhaled slowly and began to approach Black Cat. Only then did Black Cat lower its guard slightly and prepare to flee. Its large, unfurled wings blazed, and its multi-branched black tail slowly sank into the shadows. At that moment, the room door burst open.

“Don’t kill it! Don’t fight!”
“Don’t do it! Don’t do it!”
“Wh-what, wait a minute…!”

The children from the next room, the orphans of the orphanage, burst out through the door and grabbed Yoo Anna’s legs. Yoo Anna, who had been concentrating all her senses to avoid losing the fleeing Black Cat, was flustered and tried to push the children away. If she used her superpower now, all the children clinging to her would burn to death. This was why Yoo Anna disliked people who protected monsters more than she disliked monsters themselves.

“You kids, do you even know what you’re doing…? Let go right now! The monster right now…!”
“Don’t bother the cat!”
“The cat is helping us!”
“Espers never helped us!”

Yoo Anna, trying to get the children off her, was greatly shocked by what they said and froze. Espers hadn’t helped them. Just as they said, Yoo Anna hadn’t been able to help these children even though she vaguely knew what kind of situation they were in. On the other hand, Black Cat… had dealt with all the orphanage directors who were doing illegal things.

“…W-wait!”

The moment Yoo Anna stopped, Black Cat didn’t miss the opportunity and vanished. A black shadow sinking into the ground; in a moment, Black Cat would visit the last remaining orphanage. Yoo Anna, still with the children clinging to her legs and eyes squeezed shut, frowned and communicated with the Espers.

“…I lost Black Cat.”
[Understood. Then come here immediately…!]
“No, I can’t come right now.”
[Huh? H-has something happened to you?]
“Haah? If it grows more, maybe, but my ability is still stronger. There’s no way Black Cat could have gotten me…”

Yoo Anna was about to say, there’s no way, but she stopped. By all appearances, this unpleasant and powerless feeling seemed like she had been affected by Black Cat.

“…Yes. I think I have.”
[Really?! No, B-Black Cat is that strong? Already?! Then in a little while, it’ll be an Extinction-class monster…!]
“It’s not that bad. Anyway… I can’t come now.”

Yoo Anna thought it strange that she was saying such things and sighed.

“…Black Cat will only hunt orphanage directors. Don’t provoke it unnecessarily.”
[Yes…? What do you mean?]
“Contact me if there’s any more unusual behavior.”
[Senior? Yoo Anna Senior?]

Yoo Anna hung up the communication and gently stroked the heads of the children clinging to her legs. The children, who had been clinging with their eyes tightly closed, one by one looked up at Yoo Anna.

“I’m sorry… for not being able to come and help you.”
“Ugh… ughhh…”
“Hoo… haaaahhh…”

Only then did the children burst into tears, like children whose suppressed emotions had finally broken free. And shortly after, a communication came from the Espers.

[…Black Cat has escaped.]
“Any casualties on your side?”
[One. The orphanage director…]

As expected, Black Cat had hunted only the orphanage director and then disappeared. Yoo Anna, who had put the exhausted children to bed, looked up at the night sky and felt somewhat disheartened.

“Yes… I missed it.”
[Um… and, Senior… this orphanage has some serious evidence…]
“…Control the information, please. I trust you know why.”
[…Yes.]

Yoo Anna, who had already guessed what that “evidence” might be, hung up the communication and lowered her head. It would be problematic if public opinion formed as if a monster had done something good. If adults, not children, clung to protect a monster, it would be impossible to placate them and separate them as they had today.

“…Black Cat.”

Yoo Anna looked down at her weakly extended hand, recalling Black Cat’s form. It was a feeling she had never experienced despite having missed Black Cat many times before. It was the first time an Esper felt defeat from a monster.

Black Cat’s Perspective
[Despair-Class monster Black Cat has begun its activity. A total of 12 people have been attacked, targeting the orphanage directors of W-City…]
[After completing one hunt, Black Cat stopped hunting. W-City’s monster behavior specialists have suggested that Black Cat’s unusual behavior indicates an individual with stronger animal instincts than monster instincts…]
[W-City’s S-Class Esper, Yoo Anna, who goes by the Esper name Starlight, warned about Black Cat and has stated that this incident was merely Black Cat revealing its true nature…]
***

On the rooftop of a building in W-City, I sat enjoying the pleasant breeze, pulling out a cucumber from my pocket and crunching on it. Lately, I’ve been eating too many greasy things, so vegetables taste delicious. I listened intently to one of the buildings, eavesdropping on the news broadcasts people in the opposite building were watching. Some broadcasts spoke with serious concern, while others defended Black Cat.

[But honestly, I know I’ll get flak for saying this, but how many times has Black Cat saved people? It seems to have saved many more people than the 12 it attacked.]
[In fact, there’s a rumor that the children protected in the orphanages run by the recently attacked orphanage directors were abused, and they’re all grateful to Black Cat…]
[As a countermeasure against Black Cat, how about installing giant cat toys on buildings and turning them into cat trees?]

Which broadcast was that last one? Are they sane?

“…I told them I’m not a cat, seriously.”

I finished the cucumber and looked up at the sky, sensing a presence above. A red trajectory; Yoo Anna was flying. Listening closely, I could hear the distant alarm of a Disaster-Class monster.

“It must be tough, Esper.”

I pulled out another cucumber from my pocket and ate it.
***

My Growth
After hunting the non-human orphanage directors, I grew significantly once again. Monsters grow stronger by eating other monsters and humans. Especially by eating strong humans and strong monsters, but for me, who hadn’t eaten humans much, those fatty lumps seemed to be quite nutritious. With my abilities now under much better control, I could even completely hide my presence for a short while. It’s like balancing the tip of a needle on the tip of another needle; it breaks if I lose focus for even a tiny bit, but if I concentrate, I can do it for about 10 minutes. I’ve learned the knack, so if I keep practicing, I’ll get better and better.

Separately, my ability output has also improved.

“Bla-ack, Cat-taa-aat!”

Today, after hunting a monster that suddenly appeared, Yoo Anna started chasing me again. I used my improved ability, which was now hard to call Lee Han-yeong’s superpower, to escape through the urban jungle. Having already experienced what Yoo Anna does when chasing me underground, I no longer fled underground unless I had a significant distance. I’d put so much effort into restoring it, and it would be a waste to break it again. Now, I was confident I could shake off Yoo Anna even without going underground.

Lee Han-yeong’s superpower, Ethereal Form, was a superior ability to the ghost dog’s intangibility. Unlike simple intangibility, where my body couldn’t affect physical objects at all, Ethereal Form allowed me to control the boundaries of what touched my body. While escaping, I pondered how I could hinder Yoo Anna a little more, and I came to the conclusion of connecting intangible objects. I’d grab a roadside tree in my mouth while fleeing, then let it touch my ethereal wings and embed it between the intangible buildings before flying. If I was lucky enough to grab a pile of rebar, I could continuously create obstacles.

“That’s enough, you bastard!”
“Woah-ooooong~”

Unlike me, who could completely ignore obstacles by turning ethereal, Yoo Anna had to melt through them with her superpower. This caused a slight deceleration every time, widening the distance between Yoo Anna and me. Although Yoo Anna still had higher instantaneous ability output and attack power, I had surpassed her in escape ability. If Yoo Anna, with her brute force output, were to melt all the buildings and chase me, I might enter her ability’s effective range again, but Yoo Anna isn’t that kind of Esper. She’s the type who tries to minimize damage if possible. Having been chased by her several times, I understood this fact, and I could even stop Yoo Anna.

“Grrr…”
“Hey?! What are you…!”
“Kyao-ooh.”
“Hey, you, you bastard!”

There weren’t enough obstacles to grab in my mouth, so the distance seemed to be closing a bit. I casually flicked an antenna on top of a building with my paw, and Yoo Anna urgently flew over and grabbed it. I already knew this was an incredibly expensive item. To be precise, the antenna on top of the communication tower. The tower itself was made of quite strong alloy and wouldn’t break easily, but against a Despair-Class monster’s strength, there was no answer. Yoo Anna barely saved the antenna and welded the communication tower with her superpower. In the meantime, I escaped to another location.

“You knew what you were doing, didn’t you! I’m seriously going to kill you!”

Now that there was enough distance, if I escaped to the ground, it would be my victory. At that moment, something incredible entered my sight. A large chunk of meat skewered on a stick, a kebab food truck. Escaping was always possible, but eating such a large kebab in my monster form was impossible except now. Besides, monster damage is covered by insurance, right? It was a free meal.

“Wao-ong-oong-o.”

Delicious! This place, definitely a good restaurant!

As I tore off a piece of kebab from the food truck and ate it, holding the skewer with two paws, Yoo Anna descended to the ground. Before her two feet could land on my back, I subtly twisted my body and dodged.

“No, damn it! Are you really a cat?!”
“Grrr!”

I told them I’m not a cat, seriously! I just frequently take the form of a feline beast monster. Right now, I’m something in between a black panther and a tiger. I grabbed the kebab in my mouth, jumped, and filled my belly while fleeing. Then I wedged the kebab skewer into a wall again. I had a delicious snack, so it was time to run again. Today’s escape was my victory.

“Ugh! Seriouslyyyyyy!”