Became a Failed Experimental Subject Novel - Chapter 44

Did I give him too much food for nothing?

The thought came to her naturally after making the decision.

“Lately, the number of villains coming to the soup kitchen has drastically decreased.”
“It’s peaceful and nice.”

After essentially making Han Mu-ryo the security guard of the free soup kitchen, Sector 4 had become unbelievably peaceful. She heard from the Sector 4 police that not only had the soup kitchen become safer, but the number of villains causing trouble in Sector 4 itself had vanished.

[…There’s information that Goo Seoryong was sighted on a train heading to B City.]
“Really? So you don’t have to bother worrying about me anymore, Unnie?”
[Bother worrying…?]
“You usually don’t care, Unnie? Of course, you don’t have the luxury of caring about me too.”
[Th-that’s not something you should say….]
“…Okay, I’m sorry, get some rest. You said you were busy this weekend.”

According to the news, that villain boss, Goo Seoryong or whatever, had disappeared, and the leaderless villains were increasingly falling apart. Villain arrests in W City continued, and the news was broadcasting things like “Fleeing Goo Seoryong, the Fall of the Crime City” and “Great Victory in the War on Crime, Starlight Leading the Charge Against Crime.” If even the reporters who used to complain “Starlight did everything wrong!” were now all saying she did well, wasn’t she doing well? So, giving food to Han Mu-ryo should end here… she wanted to, but she also hesitated.

“Mu-ryo-ssi? Could you move this too?”
“Hmm.”

After asking him to stand guard so that villains wouldn’t cause trouble, Yoo Hye-na saw Han Mu-ryo napping next to her, sniffing the food, early on a weekend morning while preparing the meal. She thought, Why does such a big person always just sleep? He was truly like a human bear; he’d wake up for mealtime, sleep after eating, suddenly get up to stare at something quietly, and then go back to sleep. Unable to stand the sight, she once woke him up and made him work. He worked so hard, it made her wonder if a person could really be like that. Han Mu-ryo was a human crane.

“Wow… seriously, how can a person carry so much stuff?”
“It’s my first time finishing food prep so quickly.”
“Physical enhancement Espers are truly amazing.”

He would effortlessly move sacks and boxes of ingredients weighing tens of kilograms, set up the serving counters by himself so only assembly was needed, and even lift and move gas cylinders for the kitchen facilities with one hand. His muscular body effortlessly lifting heavy objects had a certain something that made people admire him just by watching. With Han Mu-ryo present, the preparation and cleanup times for the free meal service were reduced by more than two-thirds. He was so fast at stacking and loading washed dishes onto the trucks that the volunteers had nothing to do.

“Even if villains don’t show up, isn’t Han Mu-ryo-ssi earning his keep just by doing this?”
“He’d earn a quarter of a quarter of his keep.”
“Well, he eats so much…”

Not only that, Han Mu-ryo also played very well with the children of Sector 4. The children liked Han Mu-ryo so much that she wondered how he was so popular… Looking at him, wasn’t his large size scary? It was amazing to see children approaching Han Mu-ryo without hesitation even when he was just sitting still. Perhaps this animalistic aura was the secret to gaining the children’s affection. Children like animals, after all.

“Alright, everyone worked hard today!”
“You too, Manager!”
“You too, everyone~!”
“Bye, Manager!”
“Is the manager moving?”
“I’m not moving~ See you next week!”

After the volunteering ended, the volunteers split into two trucks and left Sector 4. By this time, Han Mu-ryo would disappear somewhere and wouldn’t be seen again until the next weekend. He was, in a way, like a cat you only see in a certain neighborhood sometimes. He was there, but it wouldn’t be strange if he disappeared at any moment.

“Hye-na-nim, you worked hard.”
“You too, both of you. You should probably be able to withdraw from escort duty soon; how about returning to being Espers?”

In Sector 3 of W City, a commercial district, after parking the trucks at a building rented by the Starlight Foundation and sending the other volunteers away, Yoo Hye-na tied her hair back and spoke. These Espers were temporary escorts sent by her older sister, Yoo Anna, who said the situation was dangerous. Before this, weaker Espers had taken turns protecting Yoo Hye-na’s volunteer activities.

“Ahaha, we’re fine.”
“On the contrary, thanks to this, we don’t have to fight dangerous monsters, which is good.”
“That’s not something an Esper should say. No… of course, I don’t wish for you two to be in danger, but.”

To Yoo Hye-na, Espers were always those who fought monsters. Always, always… She shouldn’t force it, but the thought that it was natural was always with Yoo Hye-na.

“Then.”
“Yes, please go home safely.”

Yoo Hye-na tied her hair up at the foundation and put on glasses, making it difficult for anyone who knew her to recognize her. In fact, many people didn’t recognize Yoo Hye-na with just this. It was thanks to a simple disguise, a change in posture, and Yoo Hye-na’s ability, named Mirage.
Yoo Hye-na, who awakened her ability at a different time than her older sister Yoo Anna, was an E-class Esper. An E-class Esper is someone whose ability is no different from an ordinary person, incapable of harming even a human baby with their power alone.
Yoo Hye-na’s Mirage slightly increased her body’s heat resistance, allowing her to easily hold hot pots, and caused temperature differences on her skin’s surface, keeping her hands and feet warm even in winter. It was an ability useful for living an ordinary life, yet completely useless for hunting monsters. However, there was one special way to use it. Yoo Hye-na could use Mirage on her face and body to create a very slight refraction. This refraction, limited to a difference of only about 1 or 2 centimeters, completely transformed Yoo Hye-na into a different person.

Though only once, it allowed her to narrowly evade a robber’s knife on her way home. It was a seemingly useless ability, but for Yoo Hye-na, living the life of Starlight’s younger sister, there was no more useful ability. In reality, Yoo Hye-na had wanted a different ability.

And so, Yoo Hye-na, having activated her ability, was on her way home.

“…Something’s wrong.”

Sensitive to being followed, she instinctively felt someone tailing her. There shouldn’t be any paparazzi anymore, so then, robbers? She hoped she could shake them off somehow, but Yoo Hye-na’s running speed was below average for an ordinary person. Yoo Hye-na hesitated, contemplating whether to press the call button in her pocket, then shook her head and ran down an empty alleyway. The man following her began to run after her, and Yoo Hye-na became more frantic. Just as she approached some men smoking in the alley, seeking help.

“H-hey…!”
“Oh? Miss, are you in some kind of trouble?”
“Hehehe…”

The men smoking cigarettes grinned slyly and pulled out knives from their pockets. Behind them, the man who had been chasing Yoo Hye-na caught up, panting, and pulled out a small knife from his pocket.

“Huff…! Huff…! This fcking btch…!”
“Haa…! Haa…! Haa…!”

Yoo Hye-na panted and clicked her tongue. A group of robbers, which meant ordinary people…. In this era, where there were many security gaps due to monsters, it wasn’t just villains committing crimes. Yoo Hye-na, thinking she was unlucky, took out her wallet from her pocket and threw it to the criminals.

“Phew… Phew… take it, and let me go. I want to go home.”
“Huh? Look at this, it’s nice that she’s so understanding.”
“Hey, there’s quite a bit of money in this wallet.”

She hoped they were just people who had turned to crime because they lacked money and were hungry. Thinking that, just as Yoo Hye-na tried to walk past the men rummaging through her wallet, the men with knives blocked her path again.

“Wait, you’re a Sector 3 resident, aren’t you?”
“Looks like a rich girl, let’s extort some money from her parents.”
“Haa… I don’t have parents, they’re already gone.”
“Really? An orphan? Then even better!”
“We won’t get reported if we take her and have some fun, she’s cute.”
“Kuh… I like feisty girls like her.”

They were being absurd. Yoo Hye-na told them there was nothing to gain by holding her, but the criminals insisted on proving they were scum. Finally, just as Yoo Hye-na reached into her pocket… thud, something dropped from the shadows in the corner of the alley.

“Wh-what? Ugh?!”

WHOOSH! A black figure charged at high speed, instantly knocking away the knife in front of Yoo Hye-na. Then, thump-thump-thump, with a sound like popcorn popping, the robbers flew through the air and crashed into the wall.
Ugh! Cough! Ugh! Groan! As they each screamed and clutched their injured bodies, a large, beast-like man approached them with heavy steps and said,

“…Do you have parents?”
“Ugh, aaaah…! Wh-what, this bastard…!”
“Seems like you don’t.”
“Eh? H-Han Mu-ryo-ssi?”

The one who appeared from the darkness was Han Mu-ryo, the Esper who had recently appeared at the free soup kitchen. Moving with a swiftness that belied his large size, he grabbed each of the fallen men’s hands and began to crush them.

“Kyahhh!”
“Agh, aaaah!”
“Ugh…! Stop! Stop!”
“Why should I stop?”
“S-save….”
“Grrrrrrrrrr…”

Crunch, crunch. Han Mu-ryo continued to crush the criminals’ hands despite Yoo Hye-na’s pleas to stop, then looked at Yoo Hye-na, blood dripping from his hands. Was it because they were facing each other in the darkness? Yoo Hye-na, who had swallowed hard at the heavy and terrifying atmosphere that was far too much for the usually docile Han Mu-ryo, trembled and said,

“B-criminals, in the hands of the police… the law will punish them, so you shouldn’t do that.”
“The police aren’t here.”
“Even so, you can’t commit such violence!”
“Even when they drew a knife on you?”
“…This is excessive force, a criminal act. You’re even an Esper.”
“Strange, I heard thieves’ hands are cut off.”
“Th-that’s… too much.”
“Is it too much?”
“Of course, that much would be a justifiable punishment, but still, it’s also the age of monsters these days….”
“Hmm.”

At Yoo Hye-na’s words, Han Mu-ryo stood still like a curious beast, blinking his wide eyes. After a moment of silence and tension, Han Mu-ryo stood up, leaving the breathless men.

“Alright, I’ll leave one hand.”
“Hieeee!”
“Ugh, aaaah… police, police…!”
“Haa, haaa…”

As Yoo Hye-na sighed in relief, the robbers stumbled to their feet and limped away. Han Mu-ryo looked at Yoo Hye-na and offered his usual greeting.

“You seem to have gained weight in a short time.”
“Th-that’s rude!”
“It’s a joke. Were you an Esper?”
“It’s not much of an ability, though… it can’t catch monsters, nor can it catch villains.”

Beep, beep, beep, beep. Yoo Hye-na took out her phone and reported the direction and coordinates of where the robbers had fled to the police, then looked up at Han Mu-ryo. Was it the night fog, or perhaps because she had just seen blood? Unlike during the day, he exuded a dangerous and sharp aura. Yoo Hye-na placed a hand on her pounding heart, surprised, and said,

“Why are you here, Han Mu-ryo-ssi…?”
“I was hunting a monster nearby.”
“What? The alarm didn’t go off though?”
“Because I caught it before it could sound.”

Was this also a joke? Monster alarms sound as soon as a monster enters the alarm’s detection range, and Espers only know where a monster is after the alarm sounds…? Starlight can also detect monsters, but even Starlight has never said she detected and caught a monster before it appeared. Yoo Hye-na thought for a moment, then her face flushed at a sudden realization.

“D-don’t lie, Mu-ryo-ssi… And, don’t just, follow women like that, or stalk them.”
“Was I followed? I don’t see any tracks.”
“No… that, tailing, stalking, you… know what that means, right?”
“Tailing?”
“Th-that is, secretly… following a woman you’re interested in… yes, I guess you weren’t.”

When Han Mu-ryo, who had turned around to examine his back, innocently asked again, Yoo Hye-na’s face grew even hotter, and a shimmer of heat rose from her head. It was because Yoo Hye-na, unable to control her psychic ability due to shame, had become incredibly hot. Then, Han Mu-ryo calmly looked at the top of Yoo Hye-na’s head and swallowed.

“Looks delicious.”
“You shouldn’t say things like that to a woman.”
“Hmm.”