Became a Failed Experimental Subject Novel - Chapter 5

“What…? How did you know?”

“I sensed it.”

“Th-This isn’t the time! Quickly, to the shelter…”

The police officer, still slightly drunk, stumbled to his feet and started to run towards the shelter, then stopped.

“Wait, aren’t you coming? If you’re going, we should go together…! Ah! Are you going to fight? With the monsters? They’re Crushing-Class?! Multiple ones?!”

“I don’t intend to fight. Go quickly.”

“Then what are you doing?!”

Anyway, I don’t care about monsters of that level.  If I wait, the Esperes will come, so I was just planning to hide or evade them appropriately.

However, even high-level Esper can hardly deal with multiple Crushing-class monsters alone.

Knowing this, the police officer seemed worried about me.

“No, I don’t know exactly, but aren’t you an esper who has only recently awakened or is somehow lacking? You could die here!”

“I won’t die. Don’t waste time…”

“You idiot! What are you doing! Don’t you know what a siren is?!”

“Idiot uncle! Hurry! Hurry!”

“Kids! I told you not to go there!”

At that moment, children ran from the apartment building towards the park.

Following them were their mothers, especially the mothers and children who frequently visited the park.

The mothers knew I was an esper and seemed eager to take their children to the shelter, but the children had impulsively run out and come here.

Then, the iron gate at the apartment entrance came down.

“Ah, ahhhhh! What do we do! What do we do!”

“Oh dear! It shouldn’t close already!”

The door to the shelter in the apartment basement was blocked.

That meant the monsters were approaching.

I stood up and walked towards the children.

“It’s dangerous to stay here! The monsters are coming!”

“Mom, why are you doing that? Let’s go quickly! The Beggar is here!”

“Uaaaaah, the shelter is already closed?! Why? Why?!”

“What should we do…! The phone, the phone…”

“The Esperes?! The Esperes haven’t come yet?!”

The mothers and the police officer were in a panic, while the children seemed relieved.

I gestured to the police officer and pointed to the children.

“These brats, give each of them a good smack on the head. They’re disobedient little brats.”

“Is this the time?! The shelter door is closed!”

“Let’s just hold out until the Esperes arrive.”

“R-Right! This person is an esper!”

“Are you sure?! Crushing-class…this, it’s not just one or two sirens?”

I quietly nodded.

The strength and destructive power my body could exert without transforming into a monster were between Lethal-class and Crushing-class.

On the other hand, my physical durability was the same as when I transformed.

Killing the monsters would be difficult, but holding out until the Esperes arrived wouldn’t be hard.

“Gather together. Give those disobedient brats a good smack on the head, and hold them tight.”

“Ouch! Why are you hitting me!”

“Stay still! Don’t run out without listening to your mother!”

“You too! What are you doing following your friend when they run out?”

“The Beggar sleeps outside!”

“No candy for you for a week!”

“That’s not fair! Candy!”

After I emphasized that they should hit the children on the head again, the somewhat relieved mothers hit their children on the head, pulled their ears, and punished them.

Then, the void in the distance shimmered.

“They’re coming.”

“Hi, hi… Crushing-class monsters aren’t easily affected by bullets…!”

“Aim carefully, and fire calmly, one shot at a time.”

“Calm?! Now?!”

The police officer drew his gun from his waist, and I, leaving my core alone, heightened my senses.

The monsters, with their prey before them, tore away the veil they had been hiding behind and revealed themselves.

Their forms were familiar… Crushing-class monsters, Phantom Hounds.

They were troublesome monsters that shifted between tangible and intangible states, attacking. But even when intangible, they still partially existed in reality, making them vulnerable to powerful impacts.

Killing them in my current state was impossible, but I could stop them.

However… completely stopping them would be quite difficult.

“The Esperes better hurry.”

“Caw!”

For the first time in a long while, I unleashed my power without restraint, and launched myself into the air.

The ground caved in as they flew away, and the Phantom Hounds seemed flustered by the suddenly shortened distance.  I stepped in and threw a punch—its phased body distorted. The Phantom Hounds all rushed at me at once, but my body isn’t soft enough to be injured by this alone.  Their teeth must’ve hurt them more—when they opened their jaws again, I aimed my fists and struck their snapping mouths. I punched; once again, my fist connected with dematerialized empty space.  It felt like plunging my arm into water and stirring it. I wished the Phantom Hounds would just focus on me…

“Aaaaaah!”

Bang, bang, the sound of gunfire echoed through the air.  The monsters aren’t stupid. Faced with a strong monster, they might flee due to survival instinct, join forces with their own kind, or, like now, ignore the strong and attack the weak.  A monster’s objective is not the extinction of humanity, but to eat humans. There’s no need to eat only the strong.  The target is the weak, the soft and tender flesh.

“Kyaaaaaak!”

“Kyaii!”

I slammed into the ground again, sending two Phantom Hounds rushing towards a child and her mother.  They could only materialize during the moment of biting, so my punches landed properly, but the impact was insufficient.  The Phantom Hound, which flew far away, rolled on the ground, and immediately got back on its feet, then vanished again.

“When will the Esper arrive?”

“W-wait a minute…! This is C2C!  Monsters have appeared in the apartment! When will the Esper arrive?!”

[What? An apartment? Why are you there!]

“I was on patrol! Protecting children and civilians! When will the Esper…”

[How are you protecting them?! The Esper will still take a while!]

“Why?!”

[I don’t know! They said it’ll take a while! That’s a special-class shelter there! There…!]

“It’s not a shelter, that’s why this is happening!”

[…Damn it! Why are you outside?!]

“Kyaaaaaak!”

At that moment, two Phantom Hounds broke through my defense line. The monsters charged, having materialized. I sent one flying immediately…but the other one…

With this strength, it’s insufficient.  Without transforming into a monster…I can’t reach it. But…

If I transform into a monster now…

“Officer!”

“Khh, huuk…!”

A moment of hesitation; in that instant, the Phantom Hound bit the police officer’s neck.  I snapped back to my senses and rushed to the Phantom Hound, pulling it off the officer.  The monster’s senses sharpened, picking up the scent of human blood. The wound…is deep. It narrowly missed his neck, biting closer to his shoulder, but it’s a potentially fatal injury.

“Huk…heuk…”

“What to do, what should I do…! A, aaaaah!”

“Why…isn’t the Esper coming…!”

“…Stop the bleeding. Take off your clothes and tightly bind his neck.”

“St-stop the bleeding…?”

“Uuh, uuh…heuk…”

Leaning on the child and mother, I looked down at the bleeding officer and instructed them to stop the bleeding. The child’s mother seemed panicked by the ceaseless flow of blood, pacing anxiously.  And I…swallowed my saliva at that sight.

…A delicious smell.

The scent of human blood stirred my appetite. Similarly, the Phantom Hounds, stimulated by the blood, grew increasingly ferocious.  Those ones that had been quietly observing my fight revealed themselves and slowly approached.

Because I hesitated for a moment, I put the police officer in mortal danger.  Even though I know I’m no longer human, I wanted to live a human life.  My power without transforming into a monster is between a Lethal-Class and a Crushing-Class monster. My simple durability is far higher, but to protect everyone from these monsters…

I need the power of a monster.

“I can barely suppress my hunger. Hurry.”

“Q-quickly, everyone get away! Hurry!”

“Grab the children and prevent them from escaping.”

Though confused by my incomprehensible words, the child’s mothers, knowing that there were things that took precedence over shame, immediately took off their shirts and tightly bound them around the police officer’s neck and below his shoulder.  And I turned my gaze towards the monsters.

To eliminate all these monsters, I need the destructive power and speed to wipe them all out in an instant. No, if I did that, the children wouldn’t survive.

To protect them until the Esper arrives, what’s needed is a barrier capable of blocking a wide range, an ability to obscure vision.

Boiling malice, my human flesh inverts with shadows.

The body of a black tiger that swallows and spits out sound, the wings of a harpy that manipulates wind, the tail of an aberrant creature that dominates shadows.

A siren’s wail, incomparably louder than moments before, resonates and echoes outside the apartment building.

“Krrrruuurr…”

“Hi, hii…?! Mon, mon, monster…?!”

Along with the swelling shadows, I, having transformed into a monster, spread the monster’s power.

[Oooooooooo!]

The roar of the tiger concealing its tracks, with it, wings spread, a curtain of wind obscures the surroundings.

Dozens of tails engulf the shadows, settling darkness around.

A barrier of abilities that blocks all things, tangible and intangible, a portent of being devoured by a stronger monster if they approach.

The activated monster core emits waves, warning the monsters.

If they approach any further, they will all die.

Monsters, when encountering stronger monsters, flee to avoid being eaten.

However, the Phantom Hounds didn’t flee.

The strongest instinct of a monster: to eat humans and grow stronger.

Following this instinct to grow stronger, monsters also antagonize other monsters.

Eating a strong monster allows one to grow stronger.

If A monster is injured by an Esper, weakened, or not attacking for other reasons, it will become prey for weaker monsters.

To the Phantom Hounds, I am strong yet not attacking—a diseased monster.  Added to that, the scent of blood leaking from the cop’s neck only drove them harder.

However, since I’ve transformed into a monster, the Phantom Hounds can’t approach me.

A line of defense has formed, where they neither flee nor approach.

“Hungry…is it…? A monster…not like a monstrous transformation, a superpower…”

Below my body, now possessing the form of a giant beast, a police officer facing my monstrous form weakly uttered.

“A superpower user…not registered, it would seem…”

Humans never mistake a monster.

The waves emitted by a monster’s core, the subsonic tremor that stimulates human instinct.

Regardless of rank, an oppressive aura continuously emanates, intimidating humans.

“A…giant cat, I never…expected that…”

[I’m not a cat.]

Monsters cannot speak human language.

But, my mind is currently a monster with the ability to manipulate sound and waves.

When I resounded an answer around me, the children and police officer were startled.

“The monster…is speaking…no, is it obvious?”

Logically, monsters cannot speak human language.

Since communication is also impossible, humans thoroughly antagonize monsters.

In the first place, a monster in human form is nonsensical.