Became a Failed Experimental Subject Novel - Chapter 42

“You didn’t press it by mistake! That’s why I told you to take a break from volunteering for a while…!”
[Thanks to that person, nothing happened!]

The morning after the weekend ended, Yoo Anna, after receiving a report from the Esperes who had returned from escorting her younger sister, immediately called her.

[And, Unnie, is that what an Esper should say? What about the people who truly go hungry if I’m not there?]
“I know, I know, but it’s dangerous right now! The villain Goo Seoryong…”
[I know too, can we stop talking about that now?]
“We’re talking about your safety right now!”
[Safety? Then have you ever listened to me even once? You kept being an Esper even when it was dangerous, and even rose to S-class.]
“That’s not what I’m talking about…”
[That’s enough, I have to work, hang up.]
“Hello, Hye-na? Hey! Yoo Hye-na! Ugh, seriously!”

Click. Yoo Anna, hanging up the disconnected call, sighed and leaned back on the sofa, frowning.

“Haa… what a mess all because of one villain….”

Currently, a significant number of W City’s Esperes are deployed to escort high-ranking officials and the families of Esperes. The true trash cleanup began after the destruction of Gyuryong Fortress, and there’s growing anxiety about retaliation as the villains in Sector 9 are being dealt with, all while the pursuit of the still-at-large Goo Seoryong continues. Nothing has happened directly to the Espers themselves yet, but fleeing villains are harming ordinary citizens. While these villains are being caught one by one, the state of vigilance is by no means safe.

“A-at least, it’s fortunate that Black Cat is here.”
“Hey.”
“…Haa.”

Yoo Anna shot a sharp glance at her subordinate Esper’s remark, then sighed, thinking that it was indeed true. Truly, if Black Cat hadn’t been there, a disaster would have already occurred long ago. Currently, the one seamlessly filling the power vacuum of the Esperes, who are insufficient due to escort duties, is the Despair-class monster, Black Cat. If it weren’t for that creature, which hunts monsters tirelessly 24 hours a day, roving all over W City as if an S-class Esper had emerged, the monster damage to citizens would have snowballed.

“As you said, it’s certainly fortunate that Black Cat is here… it’s also a peculiar creature.”

It might not be something an Esper should say, but reality must be accepted. Within W City, among Esperes, Black Cat’s danger rating has already dropped to the Disaster-class, one level lower. When Black Cat appears, most Espers don’t even tense up; they sigh in relief, saying, “Thank goodness~” The problem is, it’s not just Espers who think Black Cat’s presence is fortunate.

This time, the high-ranking W City council members also played the “Black Cat” card, demanding to be escorted. They said things like, “Black Cat catches the monsters, what have Espers done? At least properly stop the villain’s damage, escort us.” It was even more irritating that they had never fought monsters in the field, yet they acted as if they knew everything. The most frustrating part was that they weren’t entirely wrong. Right now, the best option is to leave the monsters to Black Cat and minimize villain damage.

Yoo Anna had to find Goo Seoryong as soon as possible. Before Goo Seoryong’s venomous touch reached her younger sister.

“…Show me the cam.”
“Ah, yes.”

Yoo Anna took a small button from the Esper assigned to security, removed the chip inside, and inserted it into her phone. Checking the reported time, she played the video, and a familiar-looking man appeared on the screen. Wild, shaggy hair, a tall stature, and a well-balanced, muscular upper body that didn’t seem artificially inflated.

“This person is…”

An unforgettable face once seen. The man who saved her younger sister was the man from Goo Seoryong’s bedroom. Yoo Anna pulled out the file containing the testimonies of the villains captured from Gyuryong Fortress. That day, Goo Seoryong took a man to her bedroom… the man’s name was Park Deun-deun.

“Park Deun-deun…?”

Is that really a person’s name? What kind of name is that? What is this? Did the testifying villains play a prank? This document only contains information cross-verified by testimonies. Could he be Goo Seoryong’s subordinate? Did she brainwash him with her ability? Was he planning to abduct Yoo Hye-na by letting his guard down? If so, this moment would have been the optimal opportunity, yet he helped instead? Why?

Yoo Anna, understanding nothing, frowned and continued to watch the video. The more she watched the video, the more complicated Yoo Anna’s mind became.

“Is this person in the registered data?”
“…Facial recognition shows no results.”
“He seems to be at the top of B-class to early A-class, but unregistered…”

If he’s a physical enhancement type with this level of ability, it wouldn’t be strange for him to have pressured Yoo Anna alongside Goo Seoryong. Gu Seoryong’s subordinate, no, perhaps even her lover. What was his scheme? Yoo Anna watched every scene the man was in to find out his identity. And a moment later.

[YARIKKIRI!]
[Woooah! YARIKKIRI!]

Yoo Anna powerlessly ended the video.

“What in the world is this….”
“Th-that, he might be… sick, perhaps?”
“His body is really good. He fights incredibly well, seems to have extensive experience in one-on-one combat… but his head, maybe.”
“Should I say intelligence? He’s like a big child.”
“In any case, he doesn’t seem like someone who approached with ulterior motives.”

It looked as if his brain was affected by Goo Seoryong’s poison. Just a strong simpleton. With his masculine appearance and strange charm, perhaps he was just a victim whom Goo Seoryong drugged and dragged to her bed?

Yoo Anna, feeling a bit relieved, after a brief moment of thought, spoke to the two Espers.

“This man, from the video, seems to really just come here because he wants to eat. Try offering him that if he stays in the park from the beginning to the end of the volunteering period, he can eat until he’s full.”
“Are you planning to use him as your sister’s bodyguard?”
“He doesn’t seem like a bad person.”
“…Should we suggest that he register as an Esper?”
“No, if he registers as an Esper, it might actually give information to other villains, so let’s leave him as he is… He didn’t seem to obey Goo Seoryong either, so he’d be perfect as a guard dog.”

If she could have a powerful psychic around her sister, food was a small price. At that moment of good fortune.
BEEEP! An alarm blared throughout the government building where the Esperes were stationed.

[Sector 6! Four Disaster-class monsters detected! Repeating, four Disaster-class monsters detected!]

The alarm’s pattern indicated Disaster-class. The Esperes reflexively stood up, ready to rush out the window, but slowed their steps at the subsequent broadcast.

[Continuing for Sector 6, Black Cat detected! Black Cat has appeared!]

“Ah.”
“Well, it should be fine.”
“What do you mean ‘fine’! It said four! How much building damage will there be the moment even one escapes?!”
“S-sorry!”

Yoo Anna, who had one foot on the windowsill, stopped for a moment despite her anger, and returned to the room.

“I’ll go, the rest of you stand by! Monitor to make sure no villains run wild while the alarm is sounding!”
“Yes!”

“This much should be fine,” Yoo Anna thought, grabbing her bag and putting it on her back. She quickly accelerated and flew off. The time it took to fly from Sector 1, in the center of W City, to Sector 6 was only one minute. Just then, Yoo Anna spotted a Disaster-class monster flying away in the air and charged at it.

“Kieeeek?!”

BANG! Yoo Anna burst the lower body of the Disaster-class monster with a spray of blood, then landed on a rooftop and unleashed a punch at the falling monster. WHOOSH! A large, swollen, fist-shaped blast of light enveloped the monster. Yoo Anna lightly jumped back into the sky and grabbed the monster, which was now only a head.

“This is Starlight, one Disaster-class monster subdued, type: Storm Bird.”

CRUNCH. Yoo Anna crushed the head with both hands, directly breaking and incinerating the monster core. Having eliminated a Disaster-class monster with only two attacks, Yoo Anna felt herself growing stronger. Had she grown by chasing Black Cat? Yoo Anna clenched and unclenched her hands, then approached Black Cat, who was trampling the corpses of other Storm Birds on the ground.

“Crunch… crunch… crunch…”
“…Remaining Disaster-class monsters, all subdued by Black Cat.”

The bodies of the Storm Birds littered around… A stronger Black Cat had torn apart three Disaster-class monsters like snacks. Hunting Disaster-class monsters so easily, as if they were Lethal-class or Crushing-class, he certainly wasn’t like this when she first saw him. If he grew even stronger like that, he might become an Extinction-class. At that point, would he still be the Black Cat she knew? Just thinking about it brought a strange sense of unease.

Yoo Anna, spotting Black Cat chewing on a Storm Bird’s core, charged at him. THWACK! Her hand, not enhanced by her ability, landed on Black Cat’s head, but Black Cat didn’t budge, continuing to chew on the core.

“Hey! Don’t eat that! It’s dirty! Dirty!”
“Kyaoooh…!”
“I’ll give you beef! Beef!”
“Woong-oh-oh?”

Black Cat, who had been stubbornly chewing the core, held the core in its mouth at the mention of beef and approached Yoo Anna. Can a monster really be like this? Eating monster cores was a monster’s instinct, to eat humans and monsters to grow stronger, but it preferred beef over instinct.

“Here, put that down, and eat this.”
“Woong-ang-yang-yang.”

Yoo Anna threw a piece of grilled beef to Black Cat and received the core, which she then destroyed with both hands. It seemed Black Cat had already eaten the cores of the other two Storm Birds, but this was still something. Yoo Anna sighed and grilled the rest of the beef from her bag one by one, throwing it to Black Cat as she spoke.

“I’m really glad you’re such a strange creature….”
“Waong-oh-oh-oh.”
“Is it good?”
“Waong.”

Watching his cute behavior, she felt it was worth buying and preparing all the refrigerators, bags, and meat in advance. Thinking that, Yoo Anna sighed at the sudden feeling of emptiness. Can an Esper be like this…? No matter how well-behaved Black Cat is, he’s still a monster, but he helps so well for a monster, and yet… it’s also true that I’m benefiting from him in many ways.

“Haaaa… huh?”

Yoo Anna, whose head ached with various problems, let out a stress-filled sigh. Then, Black Cat suddenly rubbed its head against Yoo Anna’s leg.

“Oh? Wh-what? Are you cheering me on?”
“Waong.”
“Ah, right, you want more beef grilled…”

Seeing him open his mouth wide, “Of course,” she thought. Yoo Anna grilled another piece and then suddenly wondered if it would be okay to reach out, since he was coming so close. Black Cat’s fur was smoothly shining. Even as she carefully extended her hand towards his soft fur, Black Cat was focused on chewing the meat. Surely today, for real? Just after she swallowed her saliva in anticipation, Yoo Anna’s hand touched Black Cat’s head.

“Ah, ah….”
“Grrrrrrrr….”

Shhh, shhh. At Black Cat’s docile behavior, letting her stroke his head, Yoo Anna felt a shiver run down her spine. The videos she had seen circulating in the community, the ones she had secretly envied… she replayed various videos in her mind, and screamed internally.

I’m petting Black Cat too!

“Kyaaaaah…!”
“Woong, a-oong…! Kyaaah!”
“Ah! Aaaah…!”

With both hands, swish, swish, swish, Yoo Anna stroked Black Cat’s fur as if mashing it, and Black Cat, after swallowing the beef, fled into the shadows. Did I touch him too hard? I should’ve been gentle! Yoo Anna breathed out a sigh full of regret, wiggling her fingers and savoring the remaining sensation.

“Ugh, hehehe…”

It felt like all her stress had melted away.

“…And so, if Han Mu-ryo-ssi is agreeable, how about you stay here for the weekend?”
“If possible, I was also thinking, perhaps you could help out with the volunteering?”

Just last week, the ideal of free, all-you-can-eat had vanished. Nevertheless, I, having returned to the paradise of free meals, was offered a proposal by the two psychics. To wait here at the free soup kitchen every weekend and help out when villains showed up again. If I did that, they would feed me as much as I wanted, just like when I first came.

“Hmm, I refuse.”

I lightly refused and continued eating my meal. The psychics started bothering me again, trying to persuade me.

“Of, of course, you might be afraid of facing villains, but we’ll fight alongside you. It won’t be a big burden…”
“I’m busy.”

After eating, I have to nap, search for good restaurants, and roll around playfully in an empty lot by the river for no reason. And they expect me to spend my precious time smelling food I can’t even eat? Are they trying to torture me?

“Um, perhaps… Mu-ryo-ssi, you’re not understanding it as ‘if villains don’t come, there’ll be no food,’ are you?”
“Isn’t it?”
“Oh, yes… even if villains don’t come, if you wait, we’ll give you food… to eat until you’re full…?!”

CRASH! I pushed my chair back and shot up from my seat, picking up my plate and shoveling the food I had been savoring into my mouth. I went back to the serving line, stood in line, and received a generous portion of food. Yoo Hye-na blinked blankly and said,

“…So you’ll do it?”
“Hmm.”
“W-well then, please take care of us, Mu-ryo-ssi.”

I gave a thumbs up, delighted that the ideal of delicious, free, all-you-can-eat food actually existed. Indeed, even if clouds briefly appear, the sun is always in its place.

“You are on par with yarikkiri, no, even greater.”
“Ah, yes…”
“From now on, I shall call yarikkiri, Yoo Hye-na.”
“Please, I’m begging you, don’t do that…”

Yarikkiri, it’s a good thing…