7
Ch.7 I'm hungry
"Whew..."
Yoo Anna soaked in the bathtub for the first time in a while.
Her body melted languidly into the warm water, and her mind, once too sharp, now dulled, unraveled like a loose thread in the water, soft and formless.
Crack, crack. As she twisted her wrist underwater, her overworked bones let out a pained groan.
After the appearance of the monster, Code 0, W-City had been repeatedly hit with Despair-class monster alerts.
Each time, Yoo Anna rushed to the scene, but she failed to eliminate the monster.
The same cycle repeated. Worse, the monster seemed wary of her—whenever she got close, it would vanish instantly.
Was it avoiding her because it was Code α?
The moment they had faced each other, it had attacked her four times midair, cleanly slicing through her flesh.
Yet, the strange thing was—the traces left behind at the sites of the Despair-class alerts resembled Code 0 more than Code α.
Unlike Code α, the monster exhibited the explosive power unique to beast-types. The monster carcasses found at the alert sites had been obliterated without a trace.
Other heroes attributed this to Code 0's handiwork... But then, why would it avoid Yoo Anna?
Quietly, Yoo Anna began forming a hypothesis.
What if Code 0 and Code α were the same monster?
Not a beast-type or a phantom-type, but an aberration-type.
Beast-types, mutated from animals, devour other monsters. Depending on the humans they consume, they can evolve into phantom-types or develop the amorphous bodies of aberration-types.
It's said that their evolution is shaped by the knowledge and fears of the humans they absorb.
A monster that consumes many of its own kind becomes a powerful beast-type.
One that devours humans becomes a phantom-type.
And those that ingest humans with specialized knowledge twist into aberration-types.
Aberration-types are the most troublesome for humans to deal with.
This was why restrictions on information about monsters and phantoms were gradually tightening.
If Code 0 and Code α... No, if they were a single entity capable of shifting between two forms, then all the inconsistencies would make sense.
Whether one or two Despair-class monsters were hiding in W-City drastically changed how the heroes should respond.
That was why Yoo Anna had been rushing to every alert, desperate to confirm the truth.
But neither Code 0 nor Code α had shown themselves to the heroes.
Brief monster alerts, followed by the erasure of all traces. Only remnants remained.
This only strengthened the possibility that two Despair-class monsters were lurking in W-City.
If that were the case, the current situation was a three-way standoff between them and Yoo Anna.
Two highly intelligent monsters, conserve their strength and avoid provoking the heroes while preying on weaker monsters to stockpile power...
If they were growing toward Annihilation-class... And if this worst-case scenario was true...
The moment they reached that level, they would likely begin their all-out battle.
If so, W-City is a ticking time bomb.
"Haah..."
Yoo Anna irritably washed her face, then summoned her superpower.
The water in the tub, scalding against her overheated skin, bubbled violently, releasing steam.
In the thick, humid mist, Yoo Anna—her battered body exposed—closed her eyes and recalled her battle with Code α.
"I almost had it..."
Dashing through the city at low altitude, in the midst of high-speed combat, she had been steadily wearing Code α down.
Four solid hits that tore through the flesh—yet she herself remained unharmed.
That fact nagged at her.
There had been openings. Chances for it to strike back.
Even opportunities to land a critical blow on Yoo Anna, who had recklessly charged in.
Had it already been injured fighting Code 0? Was that why they were both lying low?
Given their pattern of fleeing, Yoo Anna couldn't help but suspect as much.
Thinking that was her chance, she had recklessly pushed her superpower to its limits.
The result? Her power had spilled over—onto civilians.
And in that attack... The monster had taken the hit.
That sight refused to leave her mind.
Monsters were supposed to be hostile to humans.
So why...?
Why had it seemed like it was shielding them from her attack?
And if there really were two of them... The one that had dealt her a critical wound—
They should have been forced to fight each other by now.
Where the hell were they hiding...?
***
"Slurrrp!"
Ah... I can say this with absolute certainty.
I’m confident that no one can deny this truth.
Ramen is the best.
If there’s a single greatest food on Earth, it must start with ra and end with men, right?
A famous ramen shop in W-City—though some argue ramen and ramyeon are different, this place specializes in instant noodles boiled with special seasonings.
A spicy kick layered over a deep, savory richness—beef bone broth, a harmony of beef, chicken, shiitake mushrooms, and roasted garlic.
According to the owner, this is Ohyang ramen...
I had endured the hellish experiments of that lab just to eat this.
As if the emptiness in my heart was being filled, I let out an involuntary groan of satisfaction.
"Grraaahhh..."
This intense flavor—now I can say it with absolute conviction.
The slop I used to eat was nothing but soggy rags wrung out into dirty water, while ramen... Ramen was a dish crafted by the gods.
After finishing my meal, I pulled out whatever money I could from my pocket and placed it on the table.
"Owner... Keep the change."
"Hey! This isn’t enough! You ate five bowls but only paid for four! What’s this?!"
"My mistake."
After properly paying, I left the shop and flexed my fingers.
The smell had been too stimulating for my human appetite, but ramen was still too much for me.
The owner hadn’t noticed, but I’d broken five pairs of chopsticks and cracked three of the five bowls.
And yet, he only charged me for five bowls... What a kind man.
...I’ll come back and pay extra once I’ve earned more.
"Hey, Mr. Go! If you’re done eating, hurry up and get in!"
"Right."
Stepping outside, I returned to the designated spot where people in the truck waved at me.
Like stepping onto a cardboard box, I carefully grabbed the edge of the truck bed and vaulted inside.
Two others were already in the back.
Including the driver, passenger, and me, there were five of us in total.
On the side of the truck, alongside a phone number, was a label identifying its purpose: [Monster Damage Cleanup Crew]
A truck tasked with clearing away the corpses and wreckage left behind after monster attacks.
Because the work was dangerous, they didn’t even bother with proper background checks—as long as you showed up to work, you were hired as a day laborer.
Having landed this job, I worked hard disposing of monster carcasses to earn my keep.
"Bongbap, you really eat a ton... Well, I guess it makes sense since you do the work of three people by yourself."
"Seriously... That can’t be your real name, right? Is it an alias?"
"Who names themselves Go Bongbap...?"
As I pulled out triangle kimbap from my pocket and devoured them, the others looked at me with a mix of disgust and awe.
The temporary name I’d chosen—Go Bongbap.
A name born from my wish to eat as much as I wanted.
"Hello, boss.. Oh, Bongbap, you’re here too!"
"Ah…Good work."
"Hey."
When we arrived at the site, one of W-City’s lowest-ranking heroes was waiting for us.
Her name was Lee Han-young. A petite woman with black hair, standing only up to my navel.
Her superpower is swimming.
No matter where she was, she could swim.
When she activated her power, her body hovered between material and immaterial, distorting like a liquid.
Even a pile of monster corpses was like a pool to her, and she could dive through solid rock.
Her combat ability was mediocre, but her power was specialized for rescue and investigation.
"No survivors left. You can use drills and chainsaws freely."
With the hero’s confirmation, the boss started cutting through monster carcasses with a chainsaw while the manager broke apart rubble with a drill.
Sometimes, I lifted and moved intact prefab building parts, while the other two workers stuffed the chopped-up monster remains into disposal bags.
As I effortlessly loaded the bags into the truck, Lee Han-young approached me with the same question as always.
"Bongbap... How are you so strong? You don’t even have any superpower."
"If you eat a lot, you get strong. If you’re hungry, you get weak."
"So... Today are you full?"
"Mmm... 40%."
"That means you’re still hungry, huh?"
By now, I’d gotten used to blending in, so I just seemed like an unusually strong human rather than a person with a superpower.
To Lee Han-young, my strength was a mystery, and she often struck up conversations like this while we worked.
For some reason, she kept staring at me, gulping audibly.
"W-want some water?"
"That’s not enough. I need at least 1.5 liters."
"Ah! That’s why I brought multiple bottles!"
I hate opening bottle caps... It still takes too much concentration to open just one, so I drank carefully, annoyed, before getting back to work.
Some human corpses were placed in separate bags and left in designated spots, while the monster remains were loaded onto the truck.
Once the truck was full, the collection was complete.
This truck specialized in monster disposal, while another followed behind to handle debris.
"Man, I wish we had a Bongbap too."
"Hey, Bong! Load this onto the truck!"
"Can you give us a hand over here?"
"Enough! Bongbap, get in!"
Because I could effortlessly lift heavy monster carcasses and debris, other truck bosses often tried to rope me into helping.
It wasn’t like I couldn’t lend a hand, but if I kept at it, our truck would fall behind schedule.
After loading up, we headed to the disposal site to unload.
The two workers emptied the bags, and then we moved on to the next site.
This was how we spent our days—working, getting paid.
"Today’s pay is stingy too."
"Be grateful you’re getting this much, you brat!"
"This isn’t even enough for a day’s worth of food."
"That’s because you eat like a monster!"
Even though I did the work of three people, my earnings were never enough.
The reason? I ate enough for five humans in a single sitting.
And on days when I monsterized, I needed enough for fifteen.
My dream—to eat premium beef to my heart’s content—when would it ever come true?
Even in this monster-infested era, food supplies were abundant.
Under government control, agricultural zones were kept sparsely populated, with enough heroes stationed to ensure no disruptions in food production.
Yet, because of the inherent danger posed by monsters, food prices were terrifyingly high.
As a result, day laborers like us were always short on money.
"Bongbap, lend me some cash."
"I don’t have any."
"Come on, please. You earn nearly four times what I do. Just a little..."
"I do five times the work you do."
With a sigh, I handed over a small amount to the man begging me.
He’d recently lost his job when a monster destroyed his workplace, forcing him into this line of work.
He was looking for other jobs, but for now, this was his temporary gig.
He had no choice—his wife had just given birth.
"I’m hungry too, so this is all I can spare. It’s not a loan. Buy formula or something."
"Thank you... Really."