Became a Failed Experimental Subject Novel - Chapter 2

That should be enough.

After evading pursuit for a while, I deactivated my Kaiju transformation when I no longer sensed the presence of Esperes.  The unpleasant sensation of returning to human form, the gnawing hunger from not tasting blood, rumbled in my stomach.

“Whew…”

Returning to my original form, I first checked if my pants and necklace were intact.  They should have been damaged after transforming into such a huge Kaiju, but both were fine.  Perhaps it was because I unconsciously wished they wouldn’t be damaged when I transformed.  The Kaiju’s abilities defy the laws of the world, causing phenomena that contradict physical laws.

Though I didn’t intentionally protect them, I was still relieved. I finally checked my bare upper body.  I couldn’t help this, I was bare-chested and barefoot, only wearing fire-resistant pants, so I searched my pockets. Fortunately, the money in my pants was perfectly fine.

If I transform into a Kaiju again, everything except these pants and necklace will be torn to shreds.  I don’t know if it’s possible if I could control the ability in detail, but I don’t even know how to do that.  I definitely have memories of being made to do various things in the lab, but I never even considered controlling the Kaiju’s abilities.

“Hungry…”

The side effect of the Kaiju transformation, endless hunger, squeezed my stomach.  Speaking from the Kaiju’s perspective, the Kaiju is always hungry.  The desire to eat humans, the desire to become stronger, causes incessant suffering. It’s as if that’s the very meaning of the Kaiju’s existence.

Because of that, even after returning to human form after a transformation, the hunger remained.  Wanting to fill my stomach as soon as possible, I sharpened my senses.

The smell of food from afar, as I walked, I found a convenience store next to the road.

Standing in front of the convenience store, even the glass door felt like sugar craft, I couldn’t open the door and stood still.

Then, completely blocking the entrance, the clerk frowned and opened the door.

“Sir? What are you doing?”

“…Here.”

Carefully, so the cash wouldn’t be crushed or torn, I took it out and dropped it on the floor.  Because the clerk didn’t take it.

“Food, anything that matches the price.”

“…Ugh.”

The clerk seemed momentarily angry at the unreasonable rudeness, but shut his mouth after looking up at my body.  He took out several onigiri, some fried food, and a hotdog, placing them in my hand.

As I nodded and turned away, the convenience store clerk closed the open door and muttered.

“Damn it…what kind of ridiculous display…come again!”

I glanced back, and immediately bowed my head in greeting.

I felt a little sorry, but not knowing how to apologize, I went outside and ate the food.

“Hmm…?”

Is this what they call not even a drop in the ocean?

But…these things were surprisingly delicious.

Especially the hotdog…the bread, the sausage, the ketchup and mustard, was food always delicious…?

It was a completely different level of taste from the unidentified gruel full of various drugs.

At that moment, a single purpose emerged in the endless emptiness.

Something, I want to eat something delicious.

Something delicious, other than humans.

To do that, I need money.

“Money…”

What kind of work do I need to do to earn money?

Having absolutely no experience, I didn’t know what kind of work I should do.

Maybe a part-time job like the convenience store clerk I just saw.

But…no matter what I do, I have a big problem.

The body of a Kaiju, before activating the Kaiju core, it’s just a slightly stronger physique than an ordinary human, but it’s a bit extreme by human standards.

Even now, it feels like walking on an icy road. Unless something’s made of metal, it crumbles like a cookie in my grip

Is there any work I can do with this body to earn money?

In the first place, can I live as a human among people?

I know myself that it’s impossible.

Even now, the delicious smell of humans in the distance makes the Kaiju’s senses salivate.

If I do work, I’ll often have to contact – close contact – with people..

And I honestly don’t trust myself not to accidentally crush some poor soul who bumps into me.

I am no longer human.

***

“So, you’re asking why a Despair-class monster appeared there?”

Inside Anti-Monster Task Force headquarters of the W City government, the high-ranking Esperes gathered here were racking their brains over this earth-shattering news.

Despair-class, a level where, if it appears, it’s considered wiser to abandon a city than fight.

Such a monster had appeared in W City, then escaped.

“No…why would a Despair-class monster even run away? Was it really Despair-class?  Wasn’t it a sensor malfunction?”

“Its escape skills were definitely Despair-class. No matter how hard we chased, we couldn’t get closer.”

“Look, this isn’t the time for jokes.”

Most of the Esperes gathered here were those who had been urgently called to the cemetery, and they were W City’s strongest force.

They were sharing eyewitness accounts and devising countermeasures against the powerful monster.

However, no matter how much they discussed, they couldn’t reach a conclusion.

It was because they were confused about whether the monster that appeared was truly Despair-class.

“I don’t understand…in the first place, a cemetery isn’t a place with a dense enough population for a Despair-class monster to appear…”

“Told you. It was a sensor glitch.”

“Even if it wasn’t Despair-class, considering how easily it killed a Lethal class monster, it seems like it would be at least a Disaster-class.  But even that doesn’t make sense theoretically, for it to appear in that kind of population density.”

“Do monsters follow theories when they move?”

“Even so, for a monster of that level to appear and then run away without doing anything…I don’t understand.”

There was nothing understandable about the actions of the Despair-class monster, temporary Code Zero.

Its form was beast-type, and when it escaped, it was clearly running on the ground, so it wasn’t an entity that could change into gas or an energy body to move.

With monster detection sensors installed in every area now, beast-type monsters are the easiest to track.

And yet, why was there no reaction whatsoever on sensors in other areas when it appeared, and why is it not detected anywhere even after it disappeared?

It didn’t just fall from the sky, and if it could fly, it would have flown away instead of running.

The form recorded through the recording cameras attached to the Esperes’ bodies was also completely unrecorded.

An anomalous ability, a new species of monster like a Thunderfang, is lurking somewhere in W City.

We need to find and exterminate it or issue an evacuation order, but this monster has not caused any damage so far.

That point is what’s baffling the Esperes.

“Have there ever been cases where monsters didn’t attack humans?”

“No, all monsters attack humans.”

“Special cases?  Aren’t most monsters transformed animals?  Like those raised in a zoo?”

“Even in old records, where a pet dog transformed into a monster, it immediately devoured its owner.  Attacking humans is a monster’s instinct.”

“But why didn’t this one fight and ran away? If it were truly Despair-class, it would have instantly killed all of them, right?”

“It wasn’t Despair-class! It was a sensor malfunction.”

The Esper’s words, denying the Despair-class monster and repeating the same thing, were not helpful at all, but the other Esperes also hoped that was the case.

However, that machine reacted properly to the appearance of the Soil Drakes that appeared just before the Despair-class monster.

So it’s difficult to consider it a machine malfunction…then, the conclusion is truly desperate.

“A new species of monster, or should we call it a special entity…?”

Some monsters, those that exceed a certain level, exhibit unusual behavioral patterns that go beyond the instincts of monsters.

The Heavenly Cloud Dragon that wanders the sky, the Eight-Tailed Fox that builds a shrine in the forest and doesn’t come out, the Draken that floats on the surface of the sea, are examples of this.

These monsters are all Extinction-class, so…perhaps, the new species of monster that was sighted might be one that straddles the line between Despair-class and Extinction-class.

“There are no countermeasures we can take now…we can’t evacuate all of W City’s citizens to other cities.”

Humans are the monsters’ food, and a large number of that food fleeing could trigger unpredictable behavior from the monster.

Furthermore, if the evacuation was successful but the monster has already migrated to another city, it would be like feeding humans to the monster’s mouth.

Temporary code Zero, a Despair-class monster, is quiet for now… W city can do nothing.

“I’ll report to higher-ups and maintain a hotline to the reporting system for a while. Code Zero is a top priority call.”

A top priority call means that even if a monster appears in another area, they must abandon that area and come here.

A risk that could cause massive damage, to the point where they would have to leave another monster rampaging in another area, devouring humans.

That was a Despair-class monster.

The Esperes, having heard the judgment of the mayor of W city and government officials, all sighed.

And among them, a woman with fiery red hair buried her face in the desk and said,

“Ha… I’m done sleeping for now…”

Since the Despair-class monster has disappeared, she was destined to be on 24-hour standby until the monster reappeared.

Yoo Anna, the strongest S-class Esper in W city.

She was the only one in this city who could single-handedly confront a Despair-class monster.

***

W city, where some high-ranking Esperes are increasing their vigilance, appeared normal on the surface.

However, perhaps because the movements of the high-ranking Esperes were unusual, the police and other Esperes were also on high alert.

Although it was already restricted information, the rumor was circulating that a Despair-class monster had appeared.

Moreover, it was a special specimen, and the movement of the monster hidden somewhere in W city could not be predicted.

All the Esperes who knew this fact felt mental fatigue from the tension of not knowing when things would happen.

And the monster that the Esperes of W city are currently searching for was, right now, in the city center.

“Mmm… delicious.”

To be precise, it was rummaging through a trash can in the city center.

I gave up working because I thought I might accidentally kill someone if I lived and interacted with people.

But delicious food was hard to give up.

Trash cans are magic boxes.

Delicious food appears for free every day.

Is it not a waste to throw away food even in this era when monsters are rampaging? I filled my stomach with a pizza slice that had a slightly cold taste.

It hadn’t been long since I started rummaging through trash cans, but I already knew a few good spots.

First, the trash can right next to the restaurant; this place is targeted by other beggars, so it’s best not to eat too much.

Although they avoid me because of my size, if I keep picking at it, the atmosphere gets tense, as if they’re about to attack at any moment.

Next is the one next to the hamburger shop; occasionally, leftover hamburgers appear.

And the trash can in the park next to the apartment building; this one has a really diverse selection of food.

Even now, there’s a pizza that looks like it was brought to the park to eat and then discarded, and a soda bottle,half-full, that was capped and thrown away.

Mmm, delicious.

“Ah! It’s a beggar!”

When I rummaged through the trash, children who came to the park to play would point their fingers, but when that happened, I waved to them.

“Want some?”

“Ugh… no! It’s dirty!”

“It’s delicious…”

“Hey! What, what are you doing! That’s not allowed!”

When I offered the child the pizza I was eating, the parents who were chatting with other parents immediately ran over.

Perhaps because there were many people in this world who became beggars overnight due to monster damage, the parents’ gazes weren’t severely cold.

Actually, seeing their fear, it seemed like they were cautious because of my large size, but in any case, I didn’t feel their hateful gazes.

“Mister beggar, will you eat this?”

“Thank you.”

Some kids who came to throw away their leftover food even gave me food.

At times like those, I would sit down and hold out both hands to make it easy for the children to give me food.

These children are like cotton candy; if I grab them too hard, I might crush them, so I have to be extra careful.

“Mmm, delicious.”