11
Ch.11 It was delicious.
Yoo Anna lunged at the monster, striking with both feet.
A hyper-accelerated dropkick—the sheer physical force and shockwave tore through the monster's body.
Seizing the brief opening, Yoo Anna snatched the corpse the monster had been gnawing on and pulled away.
When heroes fall to monsters, even their bodies are rarely left intact. So, they do their best to recover each other's remains.
A final act of respect—even if only the chest and right arm remained...
Then, Lee Han-young's right hand loosened, and something fell from it.
Yoo Anna reflexively caught the object—a button-sized device—and recognized it as the miniature camera all heroes were required to wear. She pocketed it.
At that moment, the despair-class monster shot past her at a terrifying speed.
Startled by the incomprehensible velocity, Yoo Anna raised her arms to block—but in doing so, she lost her grip on the corpse.
The monster snatched Lee Han-young's body back.
"Ah—!"
Mockingly, the monster bit down on Lee Han-young's arm mid-air and shook its head.
The remaining upper torso tore free and fell—Yoo Anna caught it and carefully placed it on a nearby building.
Rage boiled inside her.
This thing is a monster. An enemy of humanity.
The idea that it could ever protect humans was absurd.
Crunch. Crunch.
The sound of molars grinding bone. Yoo Anna steadied her stance, glaring at the monster perched on the opposite rooftop.
"Huuuu..."
She assumed her fastest sprinting posture—energy from the infinite solar furnace in her heart blazing—and unleashed her ultimate technique: Flare Drive.
"Die!!!"
A human bullet at the speed of light, trailing a sonic boom, crashed into the monster.
But the monster ignored her entirely and sank into the ground.
Literally sank—like a stone in water.
Yoo Anna recognized that ability.
Drift.
Lee Han-young’s power—one of the most highly regarded among rescue-type heroes. The ability to phase through solid ground to escape.
It stole it. From Lee Han-young.
"That power... Doesn’t belong to you."
Her fury burned past its limit, igniting her own abilities.
The Human Sun, wreathed in scorching winds, began drilling into the earth like a living tornado.
"That power exists to save humans! Don’t you dare use it to run—!"
This monster would die today.
Having already won a chase above ground, Yoo Anna now pursued desperately below.
A Despair-class monster and an S-rank hero.
A human strong enough to face a Despair-class alone, and a monster capable of leveling an entire city.
Together, they ravaged the underground of W-City.
***
[...I apologize for failing to capture the Despair-class monster.]
Amid the ruined city, I sat in an untouched ramen shop, eating while listening to the TV.
According to the news, the aftermath of the battle between the Despair-class monster and the S-rank hero had left massive scars. An entire district had been devastated—though thankfully, the shelters housing evacuated citizens remained unharmed. Survivors emerged to face the wreckage, and now the heroes were being paraded before cameras to apologize.
The underground infrastructure had melted completely, necessitating extensive reconstruction.
But people these days were used to relocating quickly.
As long as there were no casualties, they’d rebuild.
[Are we sure it was really a Despair-class? Hero communications indicated two Despair-class clashes! How does that make sense? Only one district was destroyed!]
Conspiracy theories had already sprouted in other cities that only Disaster-class monsters lose when fighting a Despair-class monster. If four Disaster-class had rampaged, the heroes might’ve had difficulty containing the damage to just an area. But two Despair-class and two Disaster-class wrecking only one district? That defied logic.
[Ms. Yoo Anna, as an S-rank, did you lose control and vent your frustration on the district?]
[Most of the destruction was caused by extreme heat-based superpowers! Reports initially identified Code 0 and Code α as possessing lightning and wind superpowers!]
[Explain yourself, Ms. Yoo Anna!]
[Witnesses claim the black cat monster was protecting humans! Did you provoke it unnecessarily and escalate the damage?]
"Slurp!"
I noisily ate my ramen, watching the news with interest.
The other customers murmured about Yoo Anna between bites.
Then, Yoo Anna slammed the table, silencing the room before turning on a large TV screen.
[Let me reiterate—the entities present were indeed Despair-class. However, they were anomalous specimens.]
She displayed waveform comparisons between the monster’s energy signatures and standard Despair-class readings.
Next, footage of me—videos and social media posts—played across the screen.
A massive black panther, docile around humans, doing nothing even when filmed. Then, clips of other supposedly tame monsters.
[Citizens tend to forget a monster’s true nature over time. But some possess high intelligence—they lull humans into complacency to hunt more prey.]
"Ugh..."
"Disgusting..."
"Slurp!"
What followed was footage guaranteed to ruin appetites—a gory spectacle of the monster rampaging, viscera flying.
To me, it was no different from watching a cooking show while eating. I kept slurping my noodles, but the others looked away.
[The Despair-class observed here hunts the same way. Its aberrant behavior demands immediate elimination—delaying would only invite greater catastrophe. I take full responsibility for prolonging the chase and expanding the damage. But! If left unchecked, this monster could erase W-City from existence!]
She then showed the moment I transformed from a flaming bird into a tiger—and the footage of me devouring Lee Han-young’s corpse.
[This monster is an amorphous type—it can assume forms that endear it to humans. Hero Lee Han-young has already been hunted! How much longer must we tolerate this? How many more humans must be slaughtered by such a transparent trick?!]
Her impassioned outcry silenced the hostile crowd.
[I apologize again for the extended pursuit. But citizens—you must abandon the delusion that monsters can be harmless. Sooner or later, its instincts will override restraint. Black Cat will turn on humanity.]
With a final vow to assist in reconstruction, Yoo Anna left the podium.
Heroes have it rough. She looked exhausted.
But... Why Black Cat?
I’m not even a cat.
"Damn... This is bad. A Despair-class is confirmed in W-City..."
"If it’s acting strange, it might stay quiet for a while... But should we just move to another city?"
The ramen shop buzzed with tension.
I, the only one still focused on my meal, picked up a dumpling and pondered.
Hmm. This place really is good. The crispiness, the juicy filling—absolutely delicious.
...She said the beer was good too.
"Two beers, please."
"Two beers, correct?"
"And one more order of dumplings."
"Sir... You do have the money, right?"
I nodded, patting my pocket when the cashier eyed me warily.
I’d already eaten ten bowls of ramen and twenty-two plates of dumplings—of course they were suspicious.
But I had free dumpling coupons. And even if I didn’t, I could afford ten bowls.
"Here’s your beer!"
"Mm."
I downed one immediately but left the other untouched.
Then, figuring I might as well, I drank that one too.
...It was awful.
What’s the appeal of alcohol?
Finally full, I ordered one last plate of dumplings.
My injuries from fighting Yoo Anna over Lee Han-young’s hands had left me starving.
But it was a promise to a dying human—one I had to keep.
I pulled out cash and coupons, handing them to the cashier as I stood.
"Payment."
"Sir?! W-wait a second!"
The cashier unfolded the bills, then pointed to the fine print on the coupons.
"These are only valid for one plate per coupon, sir...?"
"Hm?"
Meaning... 23 plates of dumplings, minus two coupons—21 unpaid.
I’m short.
"...Do you need help washing dishes?"
"No?"
"Heavy lifting?"
"Sir...?"
This is a problem. I scratched my head awkwardly.
No choice. I carefully nudged people aside and bolted for the exit.
"H-hey! Stop! Thief!"
"I’ll pay you back!"
Now I owed two places.
I’ll come back when I have money.
Slipping into the crowd, I vanished.