Became a Failed Experimental Subject Novel - Chapter 47

“Rehabilitation means forgetting a past where you did bad things and atoning by living a righteous life.”
“Strange, then do the wrongs disappear? What about those who were harmed by that person?”
“Of course, the wrongs don’t disappear. The victims would also want the perpetrator to be punished rather than rehabilitated…”
“Yet you say rehabilitation is necessary?”
“It is necessary.”
Han Mu-ryeo put down his gukbap and frowned.
“If rehabilitation is necessary because, as you say, humans can change, then for the same reason, can’t someone who has been rehabilitated revert to their old ways?”
“Then should we kill all good people too, because they might do bad things someday?”
“That is not it. But if one says that a human who is not human should not be killed on the grounds of having the potential to become good, then the law is wrong.”
“…Why do you think that?”
“Monsters have an instinct to eat humans. Humans who are like monsters also have the same instinct. Nature does not change.”
A precarious feeling. Yoo Hye-na’s lips went dry with the tension, like she was holding a leash on a beast and walking a tightrope.
“For the sake of humanity, monsters must die.”
“So, you’re saying criminals should die because they instinctively make choices similar to monsters?”
“That is correct.”
“Then… um, Mu-ryeo? Why aren’t you eating your gukbap now?”
Noticing something, Yoo Hye-na pointed to the gukbap bowl that Han Mu-ryeo had set down and wasn’t touching.
“You, Han Mu-ryeo, have been prioritizing conversation over eating your gukbap for a while now, haven’t you? You like eating so much, so why?”
“Eating can be done later.”
“Exactly. Your curiosity about the conversation content is stronger than your instinct to eat, isn’t it? The reason you’re curious is because you want to understand my thoughts, right?”
“That is correct.”
“And the reason you want to understand is… because you want to get along better with me… right?”
“…Is that so?”
“And not just with me, but with other people too, aren’t you? The reason you, with such immense power, don’t just take the gukbap by force from the owner, fearing he might get hurt, is also because you want to get along with the gukbap owner… right?”
“Hmm…”
Seeing Han Mu-ryeo lost in thought again, Yoo Hye-na further elaborated on her logic.
“Rehabilitation is about teaching them how to overcome their instincts once again. They learn to understand others, and once they understand, they won’t do bad things. Instincts can be overcome; that’s what makes us human.”
“If one overcomes instinct, then human…”
“Isn’t that right? Han Mu-ryeo, you’re human too, so you’re overcoming your instinct to eat gukbap right now, aren’t you?”
“Human…”
“Exactly. There’s Black Cat, too, isn’t there? Even a monster can overcome its instincts.”
Han Mu-ryeo, with a stiff expression, picked up and put down his gukbap bowl, silent.
Although a mutant, Black Cat is the greatest example of a monster who overcame its instinct to devour humans and helps them instead.
“If a monster can do it, there’s nothing a human can’t do, right? If they keep overcoming, even people who seemed to have rotting humanity might have a chance to return.”
“It seems unlikely that many return.”
“We focus on the possibility, however small. And among those people, as you said, many committed wrongs out of necessity.”
“So rehabilitation is not for those who committed wrongs, but for those who did not?”
“Yes, and… if we don’t even give them a chance at rehabilitation, they might do even worse things. They say a cornered animal acts more wildly, don’t they? If a villain is a human like a monster, you try to engage them in human conversation, believing there’s some humanity left. If that doesn’t work… then there’s no choice, but…”
The humanity remains a monster. At those words, Han Mu-ryeo slowly closed and opened his eyes, his dark gaze settling.
The “monster” Yoo Hye-na spoke of was a villain.
However, Han Mu-ryeo did not hear that word as referring to a villain.
“Actually… even though I’ve said all this, I think what you said is right, Mu-ryeo… I often wonder if rehabilitation is truly possible. And, they say if you force a carnivorous animal to eat grass, it gets sick.”
“Because that is how they are born.”
“So, even with rehabilitation, it’s all about believing the other person is human… Do you know about shepherds? To protect the sheep, you have to kill the wolves. It’s impossible to live with wolves. But dogs, which are of the same species as wolves, can be used to protect sheep, right? At least, you hope this isn’t a wolf but a dog, and you teach it when it’s done wrong… but if it’s ultimately determined to be a wolf… yes, killing it is right. Still, I think it’s okay to take the time to distinguish whether it’s a wolf or not, at least once.”
Dogs and wolves are different.
Monsters and villains are different.
Humans, even if they become villains, have the possibility of returning to the fold of humanity.
“For a better world, more and more people must have the right thoughts and do the right things. To do that… even villains shouldn’t be killed carelessly. If everyone thinks, ‘It doesn’t matter if they die because there are monsters,’ or ‘It’s okay to commit crimes,’ then humans won’t be fighting monsters; they’ll just be chased by them.”
The ‘fold’ of humanity is what makes humans not beasts.
Therefore, humans strive to protect this fold, even when they are harmed by beasts that show their teeth.
Because they believe humans are better than beasts, because they believe they must remain human.
Humans survived that way.
“Ultimately, rehabilitation is an ideal. Still, if people don’t dream of ideals, the situation won’t improve. It’s like we all have to uphold an ideal… Rather than saying rehabilitation is necessary, believing that rehabilitation is necessary is what’s needed. It’s a bit hard to understand, isn’t it?”
“No, I understand.”
“…Really?”
“Weaker humans survived by trying to uphold the rule of not killing each other… Is that not it?”
“Uh… and?”
“Believing that rehabilitation is necessary is not for those who are beyond rehabilitation, but for those who truly made mistakes. If the ideal of rehabilitation is removed, they will shed blood themselves, even more than killing monsters.”
Han Mu-ryeo’s understanding was remarkably close to Yoo Hye-na’s correct answer.
To live happily together, one cannot be happy alone.
Everyone must make an effort, little by little, to survive.
“The law is for the weak to protect each other; not being too sharp also considers the moment when they might mistakenly stab themselves. It’s about remembering that the other is also human and attempting communication…”
“Using force to break rules for one’s own desires is not human, but monstrous…”
Yoo Hye-na felt something strange about Han Mu-ryeo, who was muttering blankly.
A somewhat hollow expression, as if the essence of the conversation was off, similar to how it sometimes felt when talking to her sister, Starlight.
As Yoo Hye-na glanced at him, Han Mu-ryeo, who had been eating suyuk with chopsticks jammed full, opened his mouth.
“Humans are human because they care for the weak. They became strong enough to rival monsters because they moved for the weak. Even if reality is not like that, it was possible because they strove to be so.”
Even laws that seem flawed are for the weak.
Even the inability to properly punish the strong is for the weak.
If the monster’s rules, based on the strong, were applied, it would no longer be a human world.
“If one is strong, one does not need to obey laws. But by obeying laws, one is human.”
“…That’s right. Of course… unlike what we say, reality is a mess.”
“It does not matter. Is that not the ideal of being human?”
“Oh, oh my? Is it?”
Yoo Hye-na’s lips naturally curved upwards when Han Mu-ryeo gave an answer that seemed to indicate he understood her words.
Since Han Mu-ryeo was also human, he should uphold the law for humanity.
Even if it was difficult, striving to pursue the ideal was important.
“Effort to be human…”
Saying so, Han Mu-ryeo picked up his earthenware bowl again and gulped down the gukbap, which had cooled to just the right temperature.
Would this be what it felt like to teach love and understanding to a beast?
Yoo Hye-na, filled with a proud feeling, placed suyuk on Han Mu-ryeo’s new bowl of gukbap.
“I never imagined having this kind of conversation with you, Mu-ryeo.”
“Why?”
“Hmm… I just thought you were someone who would only say things like, ‘The meat is delicious,’ or ‘The gukbap is delicious.'”
“Meat is delicious.”
“Wait a minute, Mu-ryeo? You’re not purposely acting foolish usually, are you?”
“Not foolish.”
“Mu-ryeo?”
What on earth was he? Han Mu-ryeo, who seemed to have solved his curiosity, instantly returned to his usual self.
Just moments ago, he had a paradoxical charm of being an intelligent person with a beast-like body, but now he was just a beast.
‘He’s a strange person,’ Yoo Hye-na thought, then took another spoonful of the delicious-smelling gukbap.
The meal, which had started again, ended after Han Mu-ryeo had eaten 70 bowls of gukbap.
“I ate well.”
“Thank you! Please come again! If possible, next time, with a reservation!”
“…You’re eating less today? Are you being considerate?”
“Gukbap is salty.”
Yoo Hye-na, who felt her own sense of portion sizes was becoming strange, wondered if she should add more salt only to Han Mu-ryeo’s meals in response to his answer.
Yoo Hye-na, looking tired, received her card from the delighted gukbap owner and left the restaurant, intending to go straight home.
Just then, Han Mu-ryeo, having finished his business, was about to jump onto a streetlamp again without a word of farewell.
“W-wait a minute! It’s night! Please escort me home!”
“Hmm.”
“And stop breaking the streetlights! Why do you keep breaking them? Is it fun?”
“It is fun.”
“What? No, you’re not really breaking them because it’s fun… are you?”
As Han Mu-ryeo slowly avoided her gaze, Yoo Hye-na was about to get angry but burst out laughing instead.
Truly, the more she looked at him, the more he seemed like a big child.
And a child who caused a lot of trouble but listened well if someone taught them properly.
“Don’t do that next time. Streetlights are all taxpayer money, you know? How scary is the night if even one of those lights goes out?”
“A pity.”
“A pity… Can’t you really not? Promise not to break streetlights anymore.”
“What is a promise?”
“Oh my? You don’t know what a promise is either…? Here, your hand like this… like…?”
When Yoo Hye-na tried to forcibly grab Han Mu-ryeo’s hand to make a promise, Han Mu-ryeo raised both hands above his head.
“I do not quite understand what a promise is.”
“Are you really a child?”
Seriously, was he just messing around all this time because he found it fun?
Yoo Hye-na erased the thought of Han Mu-ryeo being a big child from her mind.
This was a child who was big, stubborn, and incredibly strong.
Should she at least take comfort in his good heart?
“Look, here, because of you, the streetlight is out and it’s dark.”
“The streetlight is weak.”
“Ugh, really…”
Yoo Hye-na said goodbye to Han Mu-ryeo, who had walked her home, and before entering her house, she walked past the broken, dark streetlight, which was out because of Han Mu-ryeo.
Blink, blink… Under the broken streetlight, flickering as if gasping for breath, Yoo Hye-na looked up at Han Mu-ryeo, who was standing still beside her, before going inside.
“Well, go carefully. Thank you again for helping me tonight. And… if you don’t know something else, feel free to come and ask me anytime.”
An inexplicable sense of responsibility for Han Mu-ryeo was budding in Yoo Hye-na’s heart.
She felt that if she didn’t teach this person well, he would go around doing strange things again somewhere.
But he just doesn’t know; he seems like someone who understands well when taught, so it might be good to have various conversations with him when he comes to the soup kitchen in the future.
“Yoo Hye-na, I will tell you this.”
At that thought, Han Mu-ryeo spoke.
“Humans who become monsters can never return to being human.”
“No, they can return. Even if they’re a villain. So…”
“I ultimately ate the gukbap until I was full.”
“Uh, what…?”
“It’s not overcoming instinct, but ignoring it… So, it’s enduring.”
“W-wait, Mu-ryeo, suddenly coming so close like this…”
Saying so, Han Mu-ryeo approached Yoo Hye-na, leaning his face in.
Han Mu-ryeo’s lack of personal space was something she could never get used to. Yoo Hye-na, startled by his sudden closeness, squeezed her eyes shut, and a low voice, like a beast’s growl, whispered into her ear.
“To me, you still look very delicious.”
“Eh…? Th-that’s… um…”
Whoosh. The shimmering heat rising above her head. Was the night air this cold?
This man is too much like a beast! There’s a limit to how fast he is, what is he talking about? “Looks delicious,” “enduring instinct,” what does that mean?!
Yoo Hye-na’s heart was pounding so hard she forgot to breathe.
The sound of her gulping echoed in her chest, and then, like an electric shock to her heart, sirens wailed through the night street.
A monster alarm echoed through the night sky, indicating a monster had appeared somewhere far away.
The small, loud sound from a distance slowly brought her heart rate back to normal.
Regaining her composure, Yoo Hye-na stepped backward from Han Mu-ryeo, standing where the streetlight’s glow reached.
“…Too, too close. Still, that is.”
Why was he like this? Yoo Hye-na, letting her unsettled emotions show, glanced at Han Mu-ryeo, who was standing under the broken streetlight.
Han Mu-ryeo was staring blankly at somewhere far away, not at Yoo Hye-na, frowning.
At that moment, Yoo Hye-na also realized that something was strange.
The siren was getting louder.
Towards Yoo Hye-na’s direction, no.
Throughout all of W City.
[Emergency alert! All citizens of W City, please evacuate. Repeat! Emergency alert! All citizens of W City! Please evacuate immediately!]
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! Evacuation alarms blared loudly from various parts of the residential area, and the dark night street was brightly illuminated.
People rushed into the streets, running towards shelters, and buildings quickly closed their entrances.
“Evacuate.”
“Mu-ryeo!”
Han Mu-ryeo leaped onto the building without stepping on the streetlight.
Among the running people, Yoo Hye-na looked up at him, remembering that Han Mu-ryeo was a considerably powerful Esper, and then ran towards the shelter.
Between the night air that had just been shimmering with hot heat, a cold voice sharply announced the emergency evacuation.
[Black Cat is attacking people! Current casualties: 5 children, 47 adults dead!]
At the broadcast, Yoo Hye-na bit her lip.
‘Finally, it’s come to this,’ she thought.
[Repeat, Black Cat is attacking people! Citizens, do not approach the monster and evacuate immediately!]