Became a Failed Experimental Subject Novel - Chapter 7

“Whew…”

Yoo Anna immersed herself in the bathtub after a long time. Her body loosened in the warm water, and her mind, sharpened to the point of dullness, unraveled like tangled thread in the water.
Creak, creak, her bones, burdened with fatigue, protested as she twisted her wrists in the water.

After the appearance of the monster, Code Zero, W City was continuously hit with despair-level monster alerts. Each time, Yoo Annan rushed to the monster’s point of appearance, but failed to defeat it. The same thing repeated; the monster seemed to be wary of Yoo Annan, disappearing immediately when she got close.

Maybe that meant it was Code Alpha? That thing, the moment they met, managed to land four aerial attacks, cleanly slicing into her flesh.

The strange thing was, the monster traces left at the sites of despair-level alerts were closer to Code Zero than Code Alpha. Unlike Code Alpha, the characteristic instantaneous explosive power of the beast-type was present; the monster corpses remaining at the sites where the alerts sounded were completely blown to pieces. Other Esperes called it a Code Zero trace… but then why was it avoiding Yoo Annan?

Regarding this, Yoo Annan quietly considered a hypothesis. If Zero and Alpha were one monster… a formless one, neither beast-type nor phantom-type.

Beast-types, changed from animals, consumed monsters; depending on humans, they become phantom-types or possess formless bodies. This is because they evolve according to the knowledge and images of fear consumed from humans. Monsters that have consumed many of their own kind become powerful beast-types; monsters that have consumed humans become phantom-types; those that consume individuals with special knowledge have their evolution warped, becoming formless.

And formless monsters are the most difficult for humans to deal with among all monsters. This was the reason why information restrictions on monsters and illusions were gradually becoming stronger.

If Code Zero and Alpha… no, if they were a single entity capable of shifting between two forms, all inconsistencies disappear. The approach Esperes would need to take differs drastically depending on whether one or two despair-level monsters are hiding in W City.

Therefore, Yoo Annan was rushing to every alert to confirm the true nature of the despair-level monster. However, neither Code Zero nor Code Alpha appeared before the Esperes anymore. Brief monster alerts, then a repetition of hiding their traces. Only the monster’s traces remained.

This increased the possibility that there were two despair-level monsters in W City. If two despair-level monsters are hiding in W City, the current situation is a three-way standoff with Yoo Annan. If the two intelligent monsters are conserving their strength by not provoking the Esper side and consuming lower-level monsters for easy hunting…

…adding to the assumption that they are growing to annihilation-level, if this worst-case scenario is correct… these two monsters are highly likely to initiate combat the moment they reach Extinction-level. Then, W City is a time bomb that could go off at any moment.

“Haah…”

Yoo Annan washed her face irritably, then boosted her superpowers. The bathwater boiled vigorously against her high-temperature skin, emitting steam. In the humid steam, Yoo Annan, revealing her injury-ridden body, closed her eyes and recalled Code Alpha she fought.

“If I’d just kept going, I could have caught it…”

During low-altitude flight and high-speed combat through the city, Yoo Annan was slowly cutting into Code Alpha. Four precise strikes, cleanly tearing flesh; conversely, Yoo Annan hadn’t sustained a single injury. That bothered her.

There had clearly been opportunities for it to attack. Opportunities to inflict fatal wounds on Yoo Annan, if she’d rushed in recklessly. Could it have already been wounded fighting Code Zero, and were they hiding because of that?

Convinced that the escape was due to such a reason, Yoo Annan considered this her chance and overtaxed her abilities. As a result, her power struck civilians. And… monsters were hit by that attack.

The sight was etched into Yoo Annan’s mind. Monsters are hostile to humans. But why…?

Was it only that I seemed to have shielded someone from my own attack?
And that creature that inflicted a fatal wound on me… if there were two of them, I would have definitely had to fight.
Where on earth are they hiding now…?
***

“Furu-ru-ru-rup!”
Ah… I can say with certainty.Truly, this is something I can confidently say to anyone.
Ramen is the best.
If there is the strongest food on earth, wouldn’t it start with the letters ‘ra’ and end with ‘men’?
A famous ramen shop in W city. Although ramen and ramen-style dishes are technically different, this place is a ramen shop that boils instant ramen with special seasonings added.
In addition to its spicy flavor, a deep savory taste, beef bone broth, beef and chicken, shiitake mushrooms, and roasted garlic harmonize.
The owner said this is Five-Spice ramen…
I endured the hellish experiments of that research institute to eat this.
With a sense of fulfillment as if my emptiness was completely filled, I let out an involuntary cry.
“Kueo-eo-eo…”
This stimulating taste… now I can firmly say.
The medicinal gruel I used to eat was like rinsing a rag in dirty water and then putting it back in, and ramen is a dish made by God…
After finishing my satisfying meal, I took out whatever money I could find from my pocket and put it on the table.
“Owner… I don’t need the change.”
“Hey! You’re short! You ate five bowls and you’re only paying for four!”
“Mistake.”
After properly paying for the ramen again, I left the ramen shop and clenched and unclenched my fists.
The smell severely stimulated my appetite, so I went in, but ramen was still too much for me.
I didn’t let the owner notice, but I broke five chopsticks and three out of five ramen bowls were cracked.
Yet, he only charged me for five bowls of ramen. The owner is a truly kind person.
…When I make money later, I’ll pay more.
“Hey, Go! You finished eating? Get in quickly!”
“Yes.”
After leaving the shop and returning to the designated location, the people in the truck beckoned me.
I carefully grabbed the edge of the truck bed as if climbing onto a cardboard box and jumped inside.
Two people were already inside.
Including me and the people sitting in the driver’s and passenger seats, there were a total of five people in the truck.
On the side of the truck, there was writing indicating what kind of truck it was along with a phone number.
[Kaiju Damage Cleanup Unit]
A truck that cleans up the corpses and debris at the scene of kaiju appearances.
Perhaps because the work is dangerous, they don’t even properly check IDs for the day laborers, anyway, as long as they come to work.
I, having gotten a job here, diligently earn my keep by cleaning up kaiju corpses.
“Bong-bab-ssi really eats a lot…well, it’s only natural since he does the work of three people by himself.”
“No…but is that really your real name? It’s an alias, right?”
“How can your name be Go Bong-bab…”
As I finished eating and took out some triangular kimbap from my pocket to eat, the others gave me a look like they were already fed up.
The name I temporarily used, Go Bong-bab.
I chose it because I wanted a name that implied eating a lot of rice.
“Hello, boss~ Oh, Bong-bab-ssi, hello too?”
“Oops… hard work.”
“Hello.”
When we arrived at the scene, someone who could be considered a low-level Esper of W city was waiting for us.
Her name is Lee Han-yeong, a small woman with black hair, about the height of my navel.
Even by ordinary human standards, she’s quite short. Her superpower is fluid swimming.
Anywhere, she can swim.
The area around her body, when she uses her power, is on the boundary between non-substantial and substantial, distorting like a fluid.
Even a pile of kaiju corpses is a pool for her, and she can dive even into thick rock walls.
Her combat ability is ambiguous, but her superpower is specialized in rescue and investigation.
“There are no more survivors, you can use the drill and chainsaw.”
After receiving confirmation from the Esper, the boss cut the kaiju’s body with a chainsaw, and the section chief sitting in the passenger seat broke the rock wall with a drill.
I sometimes lifted and moved prefabricated building parts that remained intact, and the two people sitting with me in the truck bed put the cut-up corpse pieces into body disposal bags.

As I effortlessly loaded bags containing corpses into a truck. Lee Han-yeong, as usual, approached me.

“Bongbab, why are you so strong…? You don’t seem to have any superpowers.”

“I’m strong when I eat a lot, and weak when I’m hungry.”

“Are you full today?”

“Um… 40%.”

“You’re hungry then?”

I had become quite adept at controlling my strength, blending in with others. I appeared strong, but not supernaturally so. Lee Han-yeong, finding my strength unusual for an ordinary-looking person, often made comments while I worked. For some reason, she also kept staring at me and swallowing audibly.

“W…would you like some water?”

“That’s not enough water. I need at least 1.5L.”

“Ah! That’s why I brought several bottles.”

I disliked opening bottles—it still required intense concentration—so I reluctantly and carefully drank the water, then resumed work.

Some human corpses were placed in separate bags in designated spots, and once the monster corpses were fully loaded onto the truck, the collection was complete. This truck specialized in monster corpse disposal; another truck followed to collect the scrap.

“Wow, Bongbab, we should get one of you!”

“Hey, Bab! Help me load this onto the truck!”

“Could you give me a hand over here?”

“Enough! Bongbab! Get in!”

Because I effortlessly lifted and carefully placed heavy monster corpses and scrap onto the trucks, whenever I had a moment, other truck owners would ask me for help with various tasks. It wasn’t something I couldn’t do, so I’d help for a short time, until my own truck owner stopped me. Continuing to help would delay our truck from getting the next job.

After loading the cargo, we went to the corpse processing plant to unload, two guys would open the bags and empty their contents, before going to another site to collect more corpses. After a full day’s work, I received my daily wage.

“Today’s pay is pathetic.”

“That’s actually a lot, you idiot!”

“It’s not even enough for a day’s worth of food.”

“That’s because you eat so much!”

Although I was considered to do the work of at least three people, I always lacked money despite my hard work. The reason: I ate as much as five people. On days when I underwent monstrous transformation, I needed the equivalent of fifteen people’s worth of food.

When would my dream—of eating my fill of top-grade beef—come true? Even in this monster-ridden era, food was plentiful. The government controlled the population density of agricultural and livestock areas, deploying sufficient Esperes to eliminate monsters and ensure uninterrupted food production. Despite this, the risk of monster attacks made food prices incredibly high. Because of this, daily wage workers were always short of money.

“Bongbab, lend me some money.”

“I don’t have any.”

“I’m sorry, please, you earn almost four times more than me. Just a little…”

“Because I do five times more work than you.”

I sighed, handing some money to the man who constantly begged me for loans. This man had recently lost his job due to a monster attack and was working temporarily while seeking new employment. He had little choice, as his wife had recently given birth to a child.

“I’m at my limit due to hunger. Don’t consider this a loan, buy formula with it.”

“Thank you so much…”