17
Ch. 17 It's a Mirage
The restaurant was closed.
Well, nothing I can do about it. Guess I’ll have to try another one.
This restaurant was closed too.
Bad luck… Another restaurant… And yet another one was closed.
Hungry, I wandered the streets for a long time, bewildered to see every shop shut down.
Now that I looked around, even the grocery stores, clothing shops—Everywhere was closed.
“Why is everything closed?”
There was no siren, no monster attack.
People were busily packing their things and heading somewhere… Hadn’t there been any evacuation alert?
Then, a monster alert blared across the city.
The threat level was killer level. The people who had already been on the move quickened their pace.
Maybe they were being warned to evacuate early through some method other than the monster alert?
Is that why they were evacuating in advance…? Lost in thought, I waited for the evacuation to finish quickly.
Once it was over, the restaurants would reopen, and I could finally eat.
The heroes would arrive soon, right? Hurry up and take care of the monsters… Crouched in front of a restaurant, I read the menu.
But the heroes didn’t come.
Through a monster’s senses, I could feel the killer level monsters closing in on the humans.
The pulsating thrill of predators about to tear into their prey… I stood up and transformed into a monster in the alley.
“It’s—it’s a Despair-class! The siren’s for a Despair-class!”
“Kyaaaaah!”
“Huh? It’s the Black Cat!”
“Everyone! It’s the Black Cat! Don’t worry! It’s the Black Cat!”
Why wouldn’t they worry…? As I burst out of the alley and leaped between buildings, the civilians who hadn’t evacuated yet tried to calm the screaming ones.
Confused, I arrived where the monster had appeared and tore into a lone newt.
These giant newts, with a large eye on it's foreheads, hypnotize humans before quietly devouring them and leaving eggs in the corpses.
The women freed from hypnosis came to their senses, saw me, and sighed in relief.
“W-we’re saved…”
“Ah! Does anyone have ham? Ham!”
Oh, jackpot.
Lately, the people I’ve helped have been divided into two groups: those who don’t give me ham at all and those who give me a ton. Today seemed to be the latter.
People who had been packing large bags pulled out meat and tossed it to me.
I tore into it and chewed happily.
Mmm, I was already starving… Lucky me…
“Kyaah…! Its fur! It’s so soft!”
“No way, wow… It’s super docile?”
“See? Everything they say on TV is a lie!”
The people I helped cautiously approached, some even touching my head and back.
I used to growl at anyone who touched me to keep their distance, but if they gave me a lot of ham… Well, I figured it was payment for my services. Now, too many people do it.
That aside, why hadn’t the heroes come yet? They seemed much slower than usual.
Just then, the people who had given me ham answered my unspoken question.
“Let’s hurry and leave. A Despair-class monster’s coming.”
“But the Black Cat’s here. Isn’t it fine?”
“It’s a monster too, you know? If two monsters fight, we’ll all die. How is that fine?”
A Despair-class monster was coming?
Hearing this for the first time, I glanced at the women looking at their smartphones.
They must have gotten an alert. Since I don’t have personal info registered and don’t see the need for one, I don’t own a smartphone—so I had no idea such an alert had been issued.
“Hurry! The shelters will fill up!”
“Thanks, kitty!”
“Grrr…”
“W-wait! I need to use the bathroom first! Go ahead!”
I’m not a cat. I growled at the fleeing women, but one stayed behind, trembling.
It didn’t seem like the other Despair-class monster was close yet—evacuation didn’t feel urgent.
As I was about to leave, the remaining girl grabbed one of my tails.
“H-hey… You’re smart, right? On TV… they said you’re a highly intelligent monster…”
Wondering what she wanted, I stopped. Tearfully, she continued.
“…If you understand me… Can I ask you for one favor? My boyfriend’s a hero… He’s stationed in the northern Sector 2. He said a Despair-class would arrive soon…”
Hmm, I see… So the Despair-class monster was heading for northern Sector 2.
If the heroes were preparing like this, they’d probably handle it themselves. I shouldn’t get in their way.
Now that I knew, I turned to leave.
“Can’t you take care of it? I can’t live without him… I’ll give you tons of meat, okay? My dad runs a butcher shop in Sector 5… If you come to the back door, I can sneak you a whole cow…”
I stopped mid-step and looked back at her.
She seemed to realize how absurd her request was, fiddling with her bracelet with a hollow expression.
“What am I saying… Asking a monster…”
“Purrr…”
Exactly. It was a stupid request.
No matter how smart a monster is, asking one to kill another?
Was she dreaming? In a world overrun by monsters, things don’t work that easily.
Growling, I leaped away, leaving her behind as I scaled a building.
But… A whole cow… How delicious would that be?
If her dad owned a butcher shop, the meat would definitely be fresh…
She wouldn’t give me cheap meat for her beloved boyfriend, right? A whole cow—how much meat would that even be? My mouth watered.
“...Meowww.”
Licking my lips, I glanced north.
Of all times, she had to make that offer when I was starving.
Might as well check out how strong this Despair-class monster really is.
If it’s stronger than me, I’ll leave it to the heroes and run.
Besides, I’d been wanting to test something.
After encountering a wolf-like Despair-class last time, I’d been practicing suppressing my presence.
Even in human form, I couldn’t fully erase a monster’s aura—but I wanted to control it at will.
Maintaining my monster form, I suppressed the resonance of my core.
Gradually, the blaring sirens in the city faded.
The practice paid off. The problem was moving in this state was difficult.
With a human-level presence, I tiptoed lightly across the rooftop.
It felt like carefully balancing a cup filled to the brim without spilling—fighting like this was impossible.
My strength was about the same as in human form, but my presence was completely erased, unlike before when other monsters could sense me.
At least, that was my assessment. But… Another Despair-class might still feel something off.
Minimizing movement, I leaped high and spread my wings, gliding through the air.
Above the silent sky, free of sirens, I had only one thing on my mind.
A whole cow from the butcher shop… No, no, could the Despair-class monster detect me?
Delicious… No, no, if I could hide properly, I could work among humans without worrying about attracting other monsters.
Then I could earn money and finally eat premium-grade beef until I was full… Hmm… Would a butcher shop even have premium-grade beef?
As I neared Sector 2, the number of people on the streets dwindled rapidly.
The presence of heroes, which I hadn’t sensed from afar, and the approaching Despair-class monster became clear.
Perched silently on a rooftop, hiding my presence, I watched the Despair-class monster.
Still far away, I could see the silhouette of a squid swimming through the sky.
A flying squid? I’d never seen a monster like that before.
Even with the forced knowledge of various monsters from my time as a lab experiment, this one was unfamiliar—meaning it was extremely rare.
Beyond the city walls, in the mountainous borderlands, the squid anchored itself with long tentacles and changed color.
Then, it suddenly transformed into a jellyfish, scattering lightning around it.
Shape-shifting? An amorphous-type? Or a phantom-beast?
This was a rare one. Fascinated, I watched as multiple heroes rushed out from the city.
“The Mirage has breached the first defensive line!”
“Well, an electric fence wouldn’t stop it… But its reactions are too fast. When using abilities, synchronize with others!”
“Its defensive reflexes are sharp! Pair opposing abilities!”
Fire and ice, sharp winds and boulders torn from buildings.
Tangible and intangible, blunt force and slashing power—abilities that couldn’t be countered with just one trait assaulted the monster.
Watching from afar, I focused on one woman who stood out among the heroes.
The air around her wavered from intense heat, and with every punch, space itself seemed to tear apart.
From a distance, her attacks looked brutal.
Seeing the Despair-class monster and Yoo Anna’s strength, it seemed like they could handle it without my help.
“Yawn…”
Well, no need to interfere… Guess the beef’s out of reach.
Yawning in monster form, I perked up at an odd sensation.
The Despair-class monster, Mirage, was spewing a sinister mist.
“It’s coming! The enthralling mist! Gas masks!”
“Air manipulators, forward! Block it!”
A heavy, cloud-like substance spread like ink in water, engulfing the heroes.
Though they hurriedly donned masks and activated abilities, Mirage was faster.
Heroes who inhaled the mist clutched their throats, paralyzed by the energy mixed within.
Above them, massive tentacles stretched, distorting spatial perception as they crushed buildings and the city’s border.
In an instant, Mirage had moved from outside the city to within.
Unlike the panicked heroes, I was stunned by Mirage’s tactics.
To a monster’s senses, Mirage’s true form didn’t match its appearance.
It was hiding its presence—just like I had been. It had pretended to approach slowly from outside the city, closing in on the heroes undetected.
By the time it released the mist, the discrepancy between its real and perceived location made counterattacks too late.
This meant it had experience being surrounded by multiple heroes before.
This thing… It’s skilled at hunting humans, and heroes.
Not only that, but Yoo Anna’s attacks weren’t landing properly.
Even when she seemed to deal fatal blows, Mirage regenerated instantly. The heroes noticed something was wrong but couldn’t pinpoint what.
Was this another difference between hero and monster senses?
As a monster, I could directly sense monster cores—Mirage’s core was clearly moving, but none of the heroes reacted correctly.