2
Ch.2 Delicious
"This should be enough, right?"
After fleeing and evading pursuit for a while, I released my monster form once I could no longer sense the presence of the heroes.
The unpleasant sensation of returning to human form, the hunger from not tasting blood—my stomach growled noisily.
"Huu…"
The first thing I checked upon returning to my original form was whether my pants and necklace were intact.
Given how massive I had become as a monster, it would’ve been natural for them to be ruined, but both were perfectly fine.
Perhaps it was because, unconsciously, I had wished for them not to break.
A monster’s abilities defy the laws of the world, allowing physical impossibilities to occur.
Though I hadn’t consciously protected them, I was relieved. I finally checked my bare upper body.
Well, there was nothing I could do about that. Barefoot, shirtless, and wearing only firefighter pants, I rummaged through my pockets.
Fortunately, the money inside was still there, untouched.
If I were to transform into a monster again, everything except these pants and necklaces would likely tear apart.
If I could control my abilities in detail, it might be different, but I don’t even know how to do that.
I vaguely remember being subjected to various experiments in the lab, but I never once thought about controlling a monster’s abilities.
"I’m hungry…"
The side effect of monster transformation—an endless hunger—wrenched my stomach.
From a monster’s perspective, they are always starving.
The desire to devour humans, the urge to grow stronger—they suffer endlessly from these impulses.
As if that were the very purpose of a monster’s existence.
Because of this, even after reverting to human form, the hunger remained.
Desperate to fill my stomach, I sharpened my senses further.
The faint scent of food in the distance, I followed it and found a convenience store by the roadside.
Standing in front of the store, even the glass door seemed like sugar art to me. I stood frozen, unable to open it.
Seeing me blocking the entrance completely, the clerk frowned and opened the door.
"Uh… Sir? What are you doing?"
"...Here."
Carefully, so as not to crumple or tear the bills, I pulled out the cash and dropped it on the floor.
Because the clerk wouldn’t take it from me.
"Food. Anything that matches the price."
"...Haa."
The clerk seemed momentarily angered by my absurd rudeness but clamped his mouth shut after looking me up and down.
He grabbed a few triangle kimbaps, fried snacks, and a hotdog, placing them in my hands.
As I nodded and turned to leave, the clerk muttered while closing the door behind me,
"Damn it… What kind of lunatic… Oh, come again!"
A quick glance—he immediately bowed his head in greeting.
I felt a little guilty, but since I didn’t know how to apologize properly, I just walked away and ate the food.
"Hmm…?"
Is this what they mean when they say something isn’t even worth a bite?
But… It was surprisingly delicious.
Especially the hotdog… The bread, sausage, ketchup, and mustard… Was it always this tasty?
It was on a completely different level from the mysterious porridge packed with various drugs back in the lab.
At that moment, a single purpose rose from the endless void inside me.
I want to eat something delicious.
Something delicious—other than humans.
To do that, I need money.
"Money…"
What kind of work do I need to do to earn money?
Having no experience at all, I had no idea what to do.
Would a part-time job like the convenience store clerk be good?
But… No matter what I do, there’s a big problem.
In my monster form, before activating the monster core, my body is just slightly stronger than an average human—but by human standards, it’s a bit extreme.
Even now, walking feels like treading on ice. Metal barely feels as solid as a cookie.
Is there any job I can do with this body?
More fundamentally, can I even live among humans as one of them?
Deep down, I already know it’s impossible.
Even now, the delicious scent of humans in the distance makes my monster senses salivate.
If I were to work, I’d inevitably bump into humans frequently.
I’m not confident I wouldn’t crush them like cookie dough.
I am no longer human.
***
"So, what I’m asking is, why the hell did a Despair-class monster appear there?"
Inside the government’s Monster Response Division in W-City.
The high-ranking heroes gathered there all clutched their heads at the thunderous news.
A Despair-class monster—one so dangerous that abandoning an entire city is considered wiser than fighting it—had appeared in W-City.
And then it fled.
"Wait… First of all, why would a Despair-class run away? Are we sure it was Despair-class? Could the sensors be malfunctioning?"
"Its escape speed was definitely Despair-class. No matter how hard we chased, we couldn’t close the distance."
"Hey, this isn’t the time for jokes."
Most of the heroes present had been urgently dispatched to the cemetery, along with W-City’s strongest forces.
They exchanged eyewitness accounts, trying to devise a strategy against the powerful monster.
But no matter how much they discussed, no answers emerged.
The confusion started with whether the monster was truly Despair-class.
"This doesn’t make sense… First of all, the cemetery isn’t even a densely populated area where a Despair-class would appear…"
"It’s a sensor malfunction."
"Even if it’s not Despair-class, the way it effortlessly killed a Crush-class suggests it’s at least Disaster-class. But for something like that to appear in such a low-population area defies all logic."
"Since when do monsters follow logic?"
"Even so, for a monster of that level to appear, do nothing, and then run away—it’s incomprehensible."
The actions of the Despair-class monster, temporarily designated Code 0, made no sense at all.
Its form was beast-type, and it fled on the ground, ruling out gaseous or energy-based movement.
In this era where monster detection sensors are installed everywhere, beast-types are the easiest to track.
Yet, why did no other sensors detect it before its appearance? And why was there no trace of it afterward?
It didn’t fall from the sky—if it could fly, it would’ve escaped that way instead of running.
Footage from the heroes’ body cams showed a completely unrecorded morphology.
An anomalous monster, possibly a new species—hiding somewhere in W-City.
They needed to find and eliminate it or issue an evacuation order.
But so far, the monster has caused no damage.
That fact left the heroes utterly baffled.
"Has there ever been a case where a monster didn’t attack humans?"
"No. All monsters attack humans."
"No exceptions? Most monsters are mutated animals, right? Like zoo specimens?"
"Old records mention a pet dog that mutated—it immediately devoured its owner. Attacking humans is a monster’s instinct."
"Then why did this one run away without fighting? If it was really Despair-class, it would’ve killed them all instantly."
"I told you, it’s not Despair-class. The sensors malfunctioned."
The hero who kept insisting it wasn’t Despair-class wasn’t helping, but the others secretly wished he was right.
However, the sensors had correctly detected the swarm of lesser earth dragons just before Code 0 appeared.
So a malfunction was unlikely… Meaning the truth was as bleak as it sounded.
"A new species… Or perhaps a special variant."
Some monsters, those that surpass a certain threshold, exhibit behaviors beyond their instincts.
The sky-roaming Heavenly Dragon, the Eight-Tailed Fox that built a shrine deep in the forest, and the Draken floating on the ocean’s surface—all were Annihilation-class.
Perhaps it was a monster straddling the line between Despair-class and Annihilation-class.
"We have no countermeasures right now… We can’t evacuate all of W-City’s residents to another city."
Humans are monsters’ prey. A mass exodus could provoke unpredictable behavior.
And if the monster had already moved to another city, evacuating would just be delivering humans to its jaws.
For now, since Code 0, the Despair-class monster was lying low… W-City could do nothing.
"Report to higher-ups and maintain a hotline for updates. If a Code 0 reappears, it’s top-priority."
Top priority meant abandoning any other monster attacks to respond.
The level of devastation a Despair-class could unleash justified leaving entire districts to be devoured.
Hearing the decision from W-City’s mayor and government officials, the heroes all sighed.
Among them, a woman with fiery hair buried her face in her hands and muttered,
"Haa… Guess I won’t be sleeping anymore…"
With the Despair-class monster in hiding, she was now on 24-hour standby until it reappeared.
W-City’s strongest S-rank hero—Yoo Anna.
The only one in the city capable of facing a Despair-class alone.
***
To the outside world, W-City appeared normal.
But behind the scenes, the heightened movements of high-ranking heroes had police and other heroes on edge.
Though classified, rumors spread—a Despair-class had appeared.
And not just any monster—a special variant, lurking somewhere in W-City, its actions unpredictable.
The heroes privy to this information were mentally exhausted from the constant tension.
Meanwhile, the monster they were all searching for was currently in the city center.
"Mmm… Delicious."
To be precise, I was rummaging through a trash bin.
Living among humans risked accidentally killing them, so I gave up on finding work.
But I couldn’t give up on delicious food.
trash bins were magical boxes.
Free, delicious food appeared daily.
Even in this monster-infested era, people still wasted food without a second thought.
Opening a cardboard box, I filled my stomach with slightly stale pizza slices.
Though I hadn’t been trash bin-diving for long, I’d already identified a few hotspots.
First, the trash bins right beside restaurants—other homeless people targeted these, so it was best not to overindulge.
They avoided me because of my size, but the atmosphere turned hostile if I lingered too long.
Next, fast-food joints—occasionally, half-eaten burgers turned up.
And then, the park trash bins near apartment complexes—these offered the greatest variety.
Today’s haul included pizza and a sealed soda, likely abandoned after a picnic.
"Mmm, tasty."
"Ew! A beggar!"
Kids playing in the park sometimes pointed fingers, but I just waved back.
"Want some?"
"Yuck! No! Gross!"
"It’s good, though…"
"Hey! What are you doing? Don’t eat that!"
When I offered a slice, a parent rushed over.
In this world, where many became homeless overnight due to monster attacks, their gazes weren’t entirely cold.
Though my size probably intimidated them, at least they didn’t look at me with disgust.
"Mr beggar, want this?"
"Thanks."
Some kids even handed me their leftovers.
When they did, I sat down and held out both hands, making it easier for them.
These cotton-candy-like children—one wrong grip, and they’d crumble.
"Mmm, delicious."