127
Ch.127Whyong
The man who laughed at the story of the Whyong faction moved again upon hearing the notification sound from his phone.
"Alright, I should get going for my next delivery. Let’s meet again if we run into each other on the street next time. And if I can, maybe give you some money then."
"Try giving it to me if you can."
"Scary…"
After the man I had become close with at the construction site left, I remained alone in the park, lost in thought.
Still, it seems everyone is living well enough.
While that thought was comforting, my eyes caught sight of the box houses that had sprung up in the corner of the park.
Suddenly, a question arose.
People called the Whyong faction, who couldn’t even secure proper jobs.
How on earth do those people manage to eat and survive?
***
"Hey, over there."
"Is he a superpower human...?"
Curious, I approached the humans who had built tents and box houses to live in a corner of the park.
The moment they saw me, they all became wary. But when I reached out and toppled a pile of boxes, they glared at me and stepped forward.
"Who are you? Are you from the demolition team?"
"Even if it's just a box, this is our home! Under the Emergency Shelter Act and the Refugee Protection Act—"
"Is this a house?"
I’ve slept on the streets before, but I’ve never built something this amusing to live in.
Intrigued by the cardboard box, I squeezed myself inside.
That alone was enough to destroy the tiny house.
"Those filthy W-City bastards, trying to destroy our homes again!"
"Everyone, gather up! It’s the demolition team!"
"This is fun."
"Stop breaking it, you jerk!"
Unable to resist the urge, I kept destroying more boxes when one of the humans threw a glass bottle at my head.
Thud. Catching the bottle, I noticed there was still some liquid inside. I twisted off the neck and drank it.
"Eek?!"
"He really is a superpower human! An enhanced one!"
"It’s the demolition team!"
"So it was alcohol."
Of all things, it had to be cheap alcohol. I really don’t understand why humans like this stuff.
After spitting out the alcohol, I tossed the bottle into a distant trash bin and then asked the ragged-looking humans,
"How do you survive in W-City?"
"W-what?! We can’t leave this place! There’s water here, electricity! Food comes too! We have the right to at least that much—!"
"Water and food? Are you digging through the park’s trash bins?"
"Y-yeah! It’s thrown-away food, isn’t it?!"
As one of the humans pointed a sharply broken wooden stick at me and shouted, I was reminded of a nostalgic time.
"If you like alcohol, I’d recommend the park next to this one instead. There are a lot of middle-aged humans there who drink by the stream, so you’ll find plenty of alcohol and snacks."
"Huh?"
"If you prefer snacks, go to the park near the apartment complex with lots of kids. You’ll find plenty of dropped candy and sweets."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"But parks like this one are good for finding a variety of food. I get it. Hmm, today it’s hot dogs."
After saying that, I rummaged through a nearby trash bin, and the humans who had been wary of me began lowering their weapons one by one.
"W-what? Were you just a beggar? With that build?"
"Now that I look, heroes don’t usually walk around wearing just pants. And you’re even barefoot."
"So even in W-City, there are people who survive by digging through trash bins…"
"Ha, just how good is life in W-City that even a beggar has such a good physique?"
"A superpower human beggar…"
Pulling out a half-eaten hot dog, I discarded the dirty bread and vegetables, keeping only the sausage, and headed to the drinking fountain.
If I wash it with water, it’s edible.
Just as I was about to eat the sausage, people approached and grabbed my arm.
"Hey, are you really going to eat that like that? Give it here."
"It’s mine."
"Just do as I say."
Wondering what they were up to, I followed their instructions. The man brought out a small frying pan and a strange metal plate from the box house.
"What’s this?"
"It heats up with sunlight. Just wait three minutes."
"Fascinating."
Another person cut off the bitten part with a knife, and the man squeezed ketchup from his pocket onto the sausage, now warmed by the sunlight.
I took the now-edible sausage and ate it.
It was delicious.
"But you’re a W-City citizen. Do you really have to go this far?"
"What kind of citizen digs through trash bins? You’re just another hungry person like us."
"Well, that’s true."
"If you’re hungry, follow me. I haven’t gotten my share of the food distribution today, so I’ll give you some."
"Food distribution?"
"You’re really going to share your portion?"
"I’ll just give you my portion. I got lucky today and found a whole pizza, so I’m full."
"Well, then…"
The man gestured for me to follow.
Amid the wary crowd, the man led me to a small warehouse building at the center of the box houses. Around it, several superpower humans had set up sturdy tents, distinct from the makeshift box homes.
"What’s going on? Who’s this guy? A superpower human?"
"Nothing serious. He’s here to get some food distribution."
"Wait, which city are you from? We weren’t notified about any more superpower humans coming."
"Are you a W-City hero here undercover?"
The superpower humans, now highly suspicious, emitted faint energy waves to call others over.
"He’s a beggar from W-City. He was digging through the trash."
"Why bring a W-City beggar all the way here? And this guy’s a beggar? That’s ridiculous."
"Hold on, let me check."
One of them held up a phone to my face, scanning for identification.
"He’s not a W-City hero."
"What? Check other city databases too."
"Wait, found it. A-City, A-rank superpower human, Park Deun-deun?"
"A-rank?!"
"If he’s from A-City…"
After searching my registered superpower human information from A-City, they looked at each other, suddenly breaking into wide smiles and approaching me.
"So A-City finally sent someone! And an A-rank at that!"
"Of course! No one wants the Black Cat as much as those A-City bastards!"
"Park Deun-deun—living up to the name deun-deun (solid). Is that a pseudonym? Not your real name, right?"
"Let’s get along, fellow strugglers!"
"Hmm."
Fellow strugglers? Seems like another misunderstanding.
But when they offered me food, I decided not to correct them.
"Eat up. We got these cheap at the market today."
"W-wait, he’s just a W-City beggar—"
"He’s not a beggar."
"Ha, I knew it. Disguised as a beggar to get close? Smart."
"Honestly, we’ve been too bold coming in as superpower humans, so W-City’s been watching us."
"Typical A-City."
"Hey, you came for food distribution, right? Here’s today’s share."
"Ah… Um…"
Now convinced I was an A-rank superpower human from A-City, they completely dropped their guard and opened the warehouse behind them.
Originally meant for storing park cleaning tools, the warehouse was now stacked with long-preserved foods like canned goods.
"What’s all this food?"
"Huh? Supplies."
"Supplies?"
"Don’t tell me A-City didn’t mention supplying you?"
"Well, A-City’s situation is a bit…"
"But for an A-rank superpower human in that situation, they must’ve tried."
"Ha, I was hoping to get some fish."
"What are supplies?"
"Wait… You don’t even know that?"
After sending the man who brought me here away, the superpower humans explained.
The canned goods piled in the warehouse were supplies sent by each city’s government to the heroes dispatched here.
Whenever goods entered W-City, they were smuggled in, ensuring heroes from each city wouldn’t starve.
"Originally, everyone came to W-City looking for jobs, but then this Whyong faction thing happened, and no one could get work."
"Once the situation was known, each city started sending supplies, but only for superpower humans like us."
"Regular citizens who snuck into W-City have nothing, so they dig through trash."
"So superpower humans don’t starve, is what you’re saying."
"Even if A-City doesn’t send supplies, you won’t starve. We agreed to help each other with meals. Ever since the Black Cat became an Annihilation-class monster, the market’s been open."
"It’s a miracle we can buy this much food at that price."
The superpower humans raised their drinks and pointed to a fridge beside the tent.
"With the activity stipend from A-City, if you don’t spend it on anything else, you can buy enough food when the market opens—"
"I don’t have money."
"What? Wait, A-City didn’t give you money either? Did they really just send an A-rank superpower human and nothing else…?"
"Given the situation, what can you do?"
"Our city doesn’t give us money either, telling us to manage on our own."
The superpower humans around me sighed in unison.
"If it weren’t for this Whyong faction nonsense, we could at least work and worry less about money."
"This is all because you G-City folks kept saying the Black Cat should be dissected!"
"No, it’s because those E-City idiots got caught sabotaging!"
"What’s sabotage?"
"Uh, like poisoning the Black Cat’s food so W-City citizens would hate it and E-City could take him in. Of course, it didn’t work."
"I see."
Back when I was still a Despair-class monster, sometimes food with special seasoning would be thrown into my mouth.
"Stupid move. Now that the Black Cat’s Annihilation-class, one wrong step could get everyone killed, so they’ve stopped that…"
"These days, they just create W-City community accounts and manipulate public opinion on the Black Cat Moms’ cafe."
"E-City’s methods are too extreme."
"B-City’s no better. What was that? Offering sacrificial victims?"
"Black Cat’s still a monster, right? Even if he pretends not to eat, he’d still enjoy it if given secretly!"
"That’s why they call us the Whyong faction…"
"What?"
As the argument grew louder, I quietly got up and moved under a tree.
"This is all your fault—"
"That’s why I told you to follow B-City’s orders!"
"Orders? Listen to yourself, C-rank."
"It’s the demolition team! The demolition team’s here!"
Just then, a human came running from the box houses, shouting across the grass.
Immediately, the superpower humans who had been arguing all stood up and rushed out.
"What’s going on?"
"It’s W-City’s demolition team! Stop eating and follow! If we leave them alone, it’ll get messy!"
Grabbing three slices of pizza in each hand, I slowly followed.
At the outskirts of the refugee tents centered around the warehouse, where the outsiders had built their box houses, police officers who hadn’t been there before were now clearing the structures.
Among them, a familiar face stepped forward and addressed the refugees.
"Now, now, everyone, please don’t come at us with weapons. We’re not armed either."
"Liar! You’ve got snipers positioned up there!"
"Come on, what kind of police deploy snipers to chase out beggars…? Yes, here, illegal residence structures obstruct emergency evacuation routes—we’re just moving them."
"That’s my home! Don’t break it!"
"We’re not breaking it, just relocating it… Didn’t we tell you not to build houses out of boxes here? So difficult, every time…
“Hey, over there! Don’t crush the box! It’s someone’s home~!"
The outsiders, armed with frying pans and kitchen knives, faced off against dozens of police officers, who looked exasperated as they moved the box houses.
In the tense atmosphere, when an officer accidentally knocked over a box house while trying to move it carefully, the outsiders erupted.
"You’re violating the Refugee Protection Act!"
"How can the police do this?!"
"This is our zone!"
"It’s not your zone—it’s W-City’s administrative district. This is illegal occupation. How many times do we have to say this park is for all citizens, not a residence?"
"We’re just staying temporarily! Is even that not allowed?!"
"Yeah, we’ll leave once we free the Black Cat…!"
"Okay, okay, got it. If you’re not helping move the boxes, step aside. If these boxes block evacuation routes during a monster attack, it’ll be chaos."
"W-City doesn’t even get monsters anymore! Thanks to the Black Cat!"
"Lately, they haven’t appeared. But have you ever seen someone throw away their fire extinguisher just because their house hasn’t burned down?"
"Let’s stop here, officers."
As the refugees and police stood in a standoff, the operatives stepped forward, emitting energy waves.
The police hesitated, gripping their radios.
"Um… Should I call for backup?"
"That won’t be necessary. We don’t want a clash either."
"We apologize for our citizens obstructing the evacuation routes. But instead of moving things yourselves, call us to handle it."
"They’re our citizens, so we’ll take responsibility."
"We’ve told you many times—that kind of talk is dangerous."
Now, the police and the superpower humans from other cities engaged in a tense exchange.
"If you’re in W-City, you must follow W-City’s laws. We can’t tolerate claims of extraterritoriality."
"You’re the ones violating the Refugee Protection Act!"
"You’re hoarding the Black Cat’s protection for W-City alone! Selfish bastards!"
"Are we not even people to you?!"
"Hey, you all need to quiet down—"
"If this keeps up, next time it won’t be me but the heroes who come…"
Just then, the police’s gaze landed on me.
With pizza in my mouth, I waved at the officer from among the refugees—someone I hadn’t seen in a while.
The startled officer’s eyes widened as he pointed at me.
"Hey, what are you doing here?!"