134
Ch.134 Heroes Don’t Have Time
[B-City. Currently, smoke is rising from the entire mountain...]
"Huh, they just blew up the entire mountain in one go."
All the heroes of W-City had gathered in the operations room.
Currently, thanks to the Black Cat, W-City had little to do, so they could send the maximum number of personnel for support.
Some of the heroes, who had been resting in peak condition after not fighting monsters for a while, were even feeling restless.
"That's obviously a monster, right?"
"Well, it's probably not a volcano or something. There aren’t any volcanoes around this area."
"It’s pretty close to B-City. Surprisingly, it hasn’t entered the city yet."
"It must be wary of B-City. Strictly speaking, the hero surveillance network implemented in A-City was first done by B-City."
The method of placing heroes at regular intervals throughout A-City to emit ability wavelengths and repel monsters—that idea was largely thanks to B-City.
Though they don’t have many heroes, when combined with the number of villains, B-City has the most superpower humans of any city.
The constant emission of ability wavelengths from so many superpower humans had the effect of blocking some monsters from approaching.
"If that’s the reason it’s not approaching the city, then it must be one of the weaker Despair-class monsters."
"Don’t you think there’s a problem with assuming a monster capable of that level of power is weak?"
The traces of ability left by the monster, which hadn’t even revealed its true form on screen.
The mountain, melted by a viscous liquid that could be called dissolution, decomposition, or acid, had already turned into flatland.
Monsters avoid things stronger than themselves but rush to devour anything that seems even slightly weaker.
"If it can use that ability relentlessly, it might see B-City as prey."
"Should we head out early? B-City knows we’re sending a lot of heroes and said they’d prepare a train."
"It might be the first time in a while an entire team is sent for support. Let’s get ready."
"No, no need for that."
Amid the heroes staring at the screen, still watching the mountain melt in real time, Yoo Anna spoke up.
"It’s already gone."
The speed of dissolution wasn’t increasing, nor was the range expanding.
What was still melting on screen was literally just a trace.
The monster had already disappeared from B-City.
And at the same time, in front of a large TV installed in District 3, a muscular man and a white-haired woman who were watching the news about B-City said the same thing.
"It’s already gone."
"Mhm."
However, where their gazes were directed was slightly different from the others.
The protruding shape of the melting mountain.
Just as bones are the last to dissolve when flesh rots away, some parts still retained their form.
Like how someone familiar with the original shape could guess what it was just from the wreckage, the two test subjects inferred what had been inside the mountain.
"The research lab has melted away."
The monster that disappeared from B-City had melted the research lab Gu Seo-ryong was looking for.
"Did they use a test subject to erase their traces?"
"How else would you explain it?"
"They must’ve realized we were chasing them."
"I’ve never been sloppy enough to get caught tailing them."
"I guess so."
It wasn’t a mistake on Gu Seo-ryong’s part, who was using the master code.
Most likely, this was the researchers’ decision after noticing that the researcher left behind in A-City hadn’t returned.
A scorched-earth tactic by researchers who knew monsters devour human memories.
"Well, it’d be weirder if they didn’t run."
Gu Seo-ryong and I had already revealed ourselves in A-City, where the research lab was operating.
There’s no way they wouldn’t have seen that.
Of course, they’d also know I’ve become an Annihilation-class.
"From the perspective of B-City’s research lab, it’s obvious they’re the next target. They’re not stupid enough to sit around and wait to die."
"We should’ve moved faster."
Still, I wasn’t disappointed.
Next to the communication tower on the tallest building in the city, I ate the food Gu Seo-ryong bought from the park and said,
"Can you find them?"
"Oh, of course. Do you think I got the code for nothing?"
Gu Seo-ryong had found the research lab even without the researchers’ memories.
Now that she had the master code, locating a research lab parasitizing near a human city was only a matter of time.
"They couldn’t have gone far. We’ll find them if we search the neighboring cities. Next time we find them, let’s destroy the lab first and then go on a date."
"We’re not dating."
"We went on one before?"
"That wasn’t a date."
"Sagugu was there, but it was still a date."
"What’s a date?"
When I gave her a pitiful look, Gu Seo-ryong moved closer and tore off the meat clinging to the bone.
"Anyway, why is the ability still active? Shouldn’t it have all melted by now? It’s still digging underground."
"Is it strange for the acid to persist?"
"Hmm, it is strange."
Gu Seo-ryong put the bone, now stripped clean, deep into her mouth and pulled it out.
Bubbles formed on the smooth, melted surface, and a sour smell spread through the air before slowly fading.
"Acid usually evaporates as it melts its target. But that one isn’t evaporating—it’s persisting."
"So it’s not due to its traits."
A monster’s traits are powers derived from its body, like snakes having venom or birds flying.
Though deadly, even ordinary people can survive with an antidote, and if you bind its wings, it can’t fly. Unlike abilities, a monster’s traits follow the laws of reality.
The undissipating acid carried a power that corroded reality beyond the traits of ordinary acid.
"An ability of dissolution."
Now that I thought about it, it was strange.
Abilities weaken the farther they get from their core origin.
If the research lab had abandoned B-City and fled, the dissolution should’ve ended by now.
"...Its ability’s persistence and power are too strong for an ordinary Despair-class."
"If not, the test subject is still near B-City."
"Why would they do that?"
"No reason. If they were faking their disappearance from B-City, they wouldn’t be melting things so thoroughly. Even to us, it’s obvious they’re completely erasing a real research lab, not a fake."
If the test subject that melted the research lab wasn’t still hiding in B-City, there was only one answer,
A monster capable of maintaining such a powerful ability while moving far away—one with output beyond Despair-class, obedient to the research lab.
"Maybe their successful subject was there."
"Could be. What do you think, Annihilation-class?"
"Can’t tell just from that."
"Right, if you could identify an Annihilation-class just from traces, you’d be a shaman, not a monster."
Gu Seo-ryong shrugged and stood up, approaching Sagugu, who had already finished eating and was playing nearby.
"Anyway, B-City’s research lab is gone. I’ll check if they’re pretending to be gone while hiding somewhere. You just do whatever you want and relax for now."
"I’m not relaxing."
"You mean what you’re doing isn’t relaxing?"
"Sagugu wants to play with brother too! Let’s go play together again!"
Sagugu held out the Pipikung doll and gestured for me to play with her.
Before I could refuse, Gu Seo-ryong patted her head and pulled her back.
"If the successful subject really is Annihilation-class, Sagugu and I won’t be able to help you, so don’t just relax—think about what to do."
"I’ve never relaxed, but fine."
"Successful subject...?"
Then, Sagugu froze in place, still holding out the Pipikung doll.
Her blank eyes, filled with confusion—I’d seen that look before.
"Sagugu... becomes a successful subject? By eating CXI...?"
"Sagugu? Here, Pipikung."
"...Huh?"
Muttering, Sagugu blinked and returned to normal when Gu Seo-ryong handed her a new Pipikung.
The doll in her hand had already been crushed.
"Pipikung No. 91!"
As I watched Sagugu running around the rooftop with the new doll, I glanced at Gu Seo-ryong.
I’d seen it before—her drugs weren’t working properly on Sagugu.
There was only one reason,
Sagugu had grown stronger than Gu Seo-ryong.
From the beginning, Sagugu had a higher physical completion than Gu Seo-ryong or 444, so it was inevitable.
"Gu Seo-ryong."
When I called her name, her sharp gaze softened slightly as she met my eyes.
As a fellow monster and test subject, she knew what I was going to say.
"What can I do? She keeps eating all the monster cores I need."
"Is that okay?"
"Why wouldn’t it be? Stronger tools are better, right?"
"You’ll get eaten by Sagugu."
Sagugu was suppressing her instincts thanks to Gu Seo-ryong’s drugs.
If she grew strong enough to resist her ability and drugs, then—
At my warning, Gu Seo-ryong laughed silently and said, as if it were nothing,
"Sagugu might be impulsive, but she wouldn’t do that."
***
A few days after B-City’s research lab vanished overnight, the outskirts of W-City were buzzing with unprecedented energy.
"Are they really doing this?"
"Occupying a closed District...?"
"That’s the kind of propaganda the government used during the fortress city days! 'If we keep fighting monsters, we’ll reclaim our land someday!'"
After hearing the Black Cat wanted a Cat Tower, Starlight pushed forward with the hesitant Black Cat, Cat Tower project.
Following the official announcement that construction would begin, a vote open only to W-City residents decided which District to occupy—just yesterday.
Now, the survivors of W-City had come to the outskirts to witness this historic moment firsthand.
"That building’s still there."
"That building was well-built. It was the taekwondo dojang I went to as a kid."
"That road... My dad used to drive me to school on his way to work."
Occupying a closed zone outside a fortress city’s walls was incredibly difficult.
Heroes fought with their lives, and citizens risked death to build, break, and rebuild walls until a human nest was formed.
The citizens who had lived through the early days of the fortress city plan gulped as they stood by the outer walls.
But today, they didn’t have to worry about monsters attacking those who stepped outside.
"Opening the gate."
Below the outer wall, Starlight touched the wall and manipulated something, causing the never-before-opened gate to unlock.
The door to the closed zone—never opened for citizens.
The mechanical device, unused until now, creaked as a section of the wall fully opened.
Every worker from W-City’s restoration project had shown up for this construction.
And refugees, now recognized as W-City citizens, came forward to participate in the city’s expansion.
Temporary workers, citizens, and low-tier superpower humans without combat abilities—all here just to be part of this moment.
"...Let’s shovel."
"Shovel it!"
Everyone felt a strange thrill as they drove their shovels into the ground.
Thud, thud, thud. Digging into the rusted, dust-covered asphalt was meaningless.
In the end, heavy machinery would be the first to turn the earth and lay the foundation for the new zone.
Yet, like a ritual, those who struck the ground first made the citizens and other workers shout in unison.
"Woooooah!"
"Waaaaah!"
"Don’t get too excited! Stay calm—there’s always a chance something could happen, so be ready to evacuate! Hey, everyone!"
Despite Starlight’s orders, the workers rushed forward like madmen, past the heavy machinery.
The neighborhood they thought they’d never see again, stolen by monsters—now right before their eyes.
Seeing everyone running through the ruins like children, Starlight finally gave up and sighed.
"I get how they feel, but..."
Even as she said that, Starlight flew toward a nearby fire station.
After briefly looking down at the ruined building, she spread her ability’s wavelength and shouted to those gathered below,
"This isn’t the time for this! The Black Cat is waiting for the Cat Tower!"
"Damn right! Wait for it, Black Cat!"
"We’ll build you the one and only Cat Tower in the world!"
The workers regrouped around the heavy machinery, picking up pickaxes and sledgehammers to spread out.
The heroes had already surveyed the surrounding buildings.
The completely ruined structures would be demolished, with their exteriors restored to form the pillars of the Cat Tower, evoking memories of the past.
"Thank you for letting me see my mom’s soup restaurant again!"
"My house! If not for the monsters, I’d still have 10 years left on the mortgage!"
The workers tore down the buildings full of memories—ones they could never live in again.
But their laughter was filled not with pain from the past, but hope for the future.
"Report the demolished buildings first! The debris team will move in immediately!"
Among the workers warming up near the empty trucks, I quietly stood up and prepared to clear the wreckage.
"Bongbap, let’s go!"
"Mhm."
Once we cleared all the debris around the planned pillars, it’d be time for yakitori.