Became a Failed Experimental Subject Novel - Chapter 38

W City Reacts: Cleanup of Gyuryong Fortress, a Signal for Integrity?

[W City’s Shame, Gyuryong Fortress Cleaned Up, a Signal for W City’s Integrity?]
[Secret Operation Name ‘Trash Cleanup’, Led by W City Police Chief?]
[Police Chief Oh Haeyeong: ‘As W City’s first female police chief, I could no longer stand by and watch W City women being exploited to grow power.’]
[A City, Cage’s Past Remarks Highlighted: ‘All villains are trash.’]
[Some Citizens Express Discontent, Claiming Gyuryong Fortress Was Just an Entertainment Venue, No Need for Such Drastic Measures.]
[Traces of Completely Destroyed Gyuryong Fortress and Monster Alert Just Before Destruction, Coincidence?]
[Citizens Who Escaped Gyuryong Fortress, ‘Black Cat Destroyed It’ Testimonies Continue…]
[Large Amounts of Drug Components Detected in Bodies of Gyuryong Fortress Entrants.]

The community where W City citizens voiced their opinions was abuzz like never before. The news that Gyuryong Fortress, a massive entertainment complex that those in the know recognized as W City’s dark underbelly, had turned to dust overnight.

Some claimed the Police Chief destroyed it, others Starlight, or that Espers swarmed and shattered it, or that it was a villain hideout. The truth was, Black Cat destroyed Gyuryong Fortress, Starlight was defeated by the owner of Gyuryong Fortress, no, Starlight completely melted Gyuryong Fortress. Amidst news where it was hard to discern the truth, people searched for answers.

[Looking at the destroyed traces, it seems Starlight definitely destroyed it? All melted and glittering, it’s that thing.]
[Starlight! Did you use the eraser again! That technique is forbidden…!]
[Wasn’t it used well this time? Honestly, everyone who knows about Gyuryong Fortress knows it was just a villain hideout.]
[If you live honestly, you’d only know it as a casino or entertainment venue, but if you live a slightly messed-up life, you’d know exactly what kind of place it is.]

Only two truths were definitively revealed: Gyuryong Fortress was a villain hideout, and Starlight destroyed Gyuryong Fortress. So what about the other truths?

As everyone wondered, an Esper appeared in the community, authenticating their Esper registration.

[I’m a B-class Esper and I’m making a conscience declaration, Sector 9 was basically operating like an extraterritorial zone.]
[The reason the news isn’t reporting properly now is because Starlight let Goo Seoryong escape. Reporters are afraid of retaliation from villains if they misreport.]
[Starlight did the cleanup of Gyuryong Fortress alone this time.]
[The Police Chief did nothing at all. Oh Haeyeong? Trash cleanup? Yes, she needs to be cleaned up. That woman really needs to step down immediately.]
[It’s also true that Gyuryong Fortress had drugs and murder festivals. They’re just not human. Cage was right when he said villains are trash.]
[Starlight lost to Goo Seoryong? If she lost, what’s she doing catching monsters normally now, is it Starleft?]
[The talk about Black Cat appearing is all coming from the guys who went into Gyuryong Fortress. Haven’t you seen testimonies about there being an arena where they fought rock lions? I think they’re on drugs and mistaking rock lions for Black Cat.]

Citizens eagerly questioned the B-class Esper for cool answers, but the Esper soon left a final post saying, “Got caught writing, I’m screwed,” and disappeared. After the internet disappearance of the Esper, who was probably writing a letter of apology, citizens continued to discuss Gyuryong Fortress.

[My younger sister came back from Gyuryong Fortress this time… I thought she was missing due to monster damage, but she said she was held captive in Gyuryong Fortress the whole time… It’s truly shocking, what were the police even doing?]
[My eldest and second sisters also returned. I’m really happy, but I feel like I’m going to hate the world.]
[Wow, looking at the board posts, if your mom wasn’t there and you got her back, they wouldn’t even give you credit.]
[What’s that post above? I was surprised to see it, but it’s just about chatting in a game? Do you wanna die, seriously?]
[I work for the police… when I was working overtime, I heard shouting from the chief’s office? And the content was about Starlight’s unilateral action, that the police had nothing to do with it, and someone was begging someone else to let it slide just this once?]
[Does that mean the chief was bribed by villains?]
[Not the chief, but someone even higher up might have been bribed? Like the A City Police Chief?]
[There are rumors that the current W City Chief is also involved. That’s why Starlight went alone.]
[If that’s true, Chief Oh Haeyeong should step down.]

Soon after, the Chief and Deputy Chief resigned from their positions with an emergency press conference. The new Chief and Deputy Chief promised the reporters that they would lead the charge in combating villains alongside the Espers, with Starlight standing behind them. After the press conference, Yoo Anna lay on the sofa, opening a beer and checking the community.

[Lately, I’ve been living with a smile thanks to Starlight and Black Cat, but I’m reminded once again how messed up the world is.]
[Damn, it’s hard enough to live because of monsters, now villains are causing a fuss too?]
[But honestly, villains who don’t destroy houses are better than monsters who do.]
[What kind of villain apologist is this? Are you a villain?]

The noisy community, in Yoo Anna’s view, was flowing in an undesirable direction today. The topic of the day was which was better… no, more useful, villains or monsters.

The problem was that the monster people were comparing wasn’t an ordinary monster.

[Black Cat is better than villains.]
[Are you in your right mind?]
[No, ah, damn, I misspoke. Black Cat is much better than villains.]
[‘Black Cat giving a thumbs up emoticon’]
[?? Is there such an emoticon? Where do I buy it?]
[Make ‘me’ one.]

There was such a thing? Yoo Anna, surprised and about to search for an emoticon shop, frowned at the subsequent comments.

[Black Cat vs. villains? Black Cat wins overwhelmingly. Do villains let you pet their heads? Let you touch their tails? Although lately, they don’t let you touch them.]
[What do you do petting villains’ heads…]
[I do want to pet Goo Seoryong’s head though.]
[Black Cat catches monsters too, and there’s almost no building damage, right?]
[That’s because our Blacky is a good monster.]

“Good monster,” what nonsense… she’s right, but she is good… no, a monster shouldn’t be good.

Yoo Anna felt uncomfortable with the continued comparison between Black Cat and villains, yet she found it hard to refute anything they said.

[Post saying Black Cat is 5000 times cuter than villains, like comparing my toenail dirt to the most beautiful girl in the city.]
[I want a Black Cat keyring, but I wouldn’t take a villain keyring even if it was given to me. It feels like carrying a mafia gang sign.]
[There’s a Black Cat keyring?? Where do I buy it?]
[Make ‘me’ one.]

Again! Yoo Anna, about to search for where to buy it, frowned at the fact that she had been fooled twice by the same person.

“This person should be banned from the board,” she thought. Yoo Anna hesitated, about to send a report to the administrator via hotline, thinking that as an S-class Esper, she shouldn’t be doing this.

[Black Cat photobook = I just want it. Villain photobook = There are some villains I’d want.]
[Make me one?]
[‘Yes.’]

“You really can’t be helped,” Yoo Anna immediately contacted the hotline and had the poster blocked for 3 days. After that, Yoo Anna sighed at the continued game of comparing villains and Black Cat, deeply wondering if it was okay to leave things as they were.

Increased vigilance and malice towards villains were good news. It eliminated the admiration young psychics, sensitive to their image in communities and among people, had for villains, and also raised citizens’ safety awareness.

She just wanted to stop the comparison to Black Cat. Why Black Cat, when they could compare all other monsters lumped together? After all, Black Cat had become an icon of a “good monster” in W City, but the phrase “good monster” itself was a contradiction, like “hot iced americano.”

A good monster makes no sense.

As Yoo Anna thought that, the events that had transpired flashed through her mind. Black Cat protecting a child, Black Cat protecting other Espers, devouring bad people, and this time, even openly appearing to protect her.

What is it, a mere monster, now instead of me going to find rampaging monsters, it appears when I’m in danger? And it just had to appear at such a timing, shouting for all to see. What, does it think that’s cool?

It’s a male too, fidgeting just because I lowered my clothes a bit… No, is it really a monster?

“What in the world are youuuu….”

Now, even Yoo Anna saw Black Cat as different from an ordinary monster. Could she really go around telling citizens that Black Cat was dangerous? It would be good if people thought of Black Cat as separate from other monsters…

The problem was that there were still many people who didn’t. The #MonstersAreFriends! tag that spread with Black Cat… just looking at this tag, there were many who were doing unbelievable things.

[I want to breed a monster.]
[I want to raise a monster.]
[They say rich people in B City even raise monsters.]
[They say in Gyuryong Fortress this time, they also gave monsters sedatives and raised them well to use them in the arena.]
[Don’t some monsters help humans if you successfully domesticate them? Why don’t they raise them?]

Among those who used this tag, many also posted about ending up in the emergency room or being arrested by the police after trying to capture small monsters with butterfly nets or similar tools during a monster alert, instead of evacuating to a shelter.

Just looking at them made her sigh… Of course the monster research department would have tried such things. The monster researchers had already tried and given up because it didn’t work.

No, it’s impossible. Taming monsters, she couldn’t put citizens in danger with such absurd fantasies.

[Delivery!]

“Yes~!”

At that moment, Yoo Anna heard the sound of her awaited delivery and quickly went to the front door to receive it.

She moved the new freezer and refrigerator into her room with her superhuman strength. Yoo Anna then unpacked a box of beef that came with them, filling half of the refrigerator and half of the freezer. She had bought these things thinking that if she kept secretly going to the supermarket every time Black Cat appeared, she might eventually be caught on CCTV.

“From now on, I’ll feed Black Cat this,” Yoo Anna checked the newly purchased meat-only bag thoroughly. It was made of the same material as her Esper suit, a special custom order that wouldn’t burn even with Yoo Anna’s flames.

“No, ha… this isn’t the time to be excited….”

Yoo Anna, who had been excitedly organizing the meat, suddenly sighed, thinking she shouldn’t be feeling this way. Why was she smiling when she couldn’t even properly catch the target she had to catch?

Yes… the villain she absolutely had to catch… Goo Seoryong.

“Hoo….”

Yoo Anna sighed, recalling the night she destroyed Gyuryong Fortress.

When she returned to Gyuryong Fortress, the villains, perhaps anticipating her return, had gathered and were preparing to face her. It took only one second to defeat those villains. Eraser… now Yoo Anna herself couldn’t remember the original name of the technique. After one sweep, all the villains were incapacitated.

Among the villains whose limbs were melting one by one and who were burned, Yoo Anna realized Goo Seoryong was missing and interrogated them, but Goo Seoryong had already disappeared somewhere. The villains lunged at her with unfocused eyes just at the mention of Goo Seoryong’s name. Without limbs, risking their lives, crawling on the floor. It seemed somewhat strange for actions of villains who prioritized their own gain, and the inspection results showed that the villains were under the influence of an unknown drug.

Perhaps that drug was the poison from Goo Seoryong’s body, which she used for Dragonification. It was the same poison she had injected into Yoo Anna. Because of that, Yoo Anna, despite capturing all the villains in Gyuryong Fortress except Goo Seoryong, couldn’t feel happy at all.

Currently, for Yoo Anna, Goo Seoryong was a more dangerous opponent than Black Cat. A psionic ability that slowly makes others obey her—if she didn’t catch her quickly, it was obvious she would grow her power again. A villain who seemed destined to cause greater damage than even a Calamity-class monster.

Was the monster unusual, or was the villain unusual?

“Haa….”

It felt like her headache was only getting worse.

Just as Yoo Anna was holding the cold meat in her hand to her forehead, the phone rang in her room. Was it the call she was waiting for? Yoo Anna put down the meat and immediately picked up her phone to answer.

“Hello? Hyena? Is everything okay? Are you safe?”