The restaurant has closed.
There’s nothing I can do… I’ll have to try another restaurant.
This restaurant is also closed.
What bad luck… another restaurant is closed too.
Hunger-driven, I wandered the streets for a while. Seeing that all the shops were closed, I was baffled.
Now I notice not only other grocery stores but also clothing shops, everywhere, are all closed.
“Why are they all closed?”
There’s no siren, no monster in sight.
People are hurriedly packing their belongings and leaving somewhere… but there hasn’t been an evacuation alarm, has there?
Then, the monster alert sounded through the city center.
The classification: killer level. People already on the move picked up their pace.
Could it be that now they are using a different method for early evacuation instead of monster alarms?
Perhaps that’s why they had evacuated beforehand… I waited in confusion, hoping the evacuation would soon be over.
Because once it’s over, the restaurants will open, and I can eat.
Soon, the heroes should arrive… Quickly, defeat these monsters… Squatting in front of a restaurant, I was reading the menu.
However, the heroes did not come.
In the monsters’ senses, I could feel the killer-level monsters about to attack the humans.
The thrill of tearing apart humans was palpable… Rising from my seat, I transformed into a monster in the alley.
“Hey, it’s Despair Level! It’s a Despair-level siren!”
“AAAHHH!”
“Huh? Is that Black Cat!”
“Everyone! It’s Black Cat! Don’t worry! That’s Black Cat!”
Why are you worrying…? As I dashed out from the alley and jumped from building to building, I calmed the panicked citizens who hadn’t managed to evacuate yet.
I arrived at the location where the monster appeared and tore apart the Giant Salamander with the large eye on its forehead.
These creatures hypnotize humans before tearing them apart quietly and leaving their eggs in the corpse.
The women who woke up from the hypnotic state noticed me and sighed in relief.
“S, we’re saved…!”
“Ah! Is there anyone with ham? Ham!”
Oh, lucky.
Lately, the people I help are either those who don’t give ham at all or those who give a lot. It seems today is one of the latter.
Just when they were packing large luggage, they pulled out meat and threw it to me.
After skillfully tearing it apart, I chewed it all up.
Hmm, I was hungry anyway…this is good luck…
“AAAAHHH…! What’s that fur? It’s incredibly soft!”
“Wow, look at this…so tame, right?”
“Isn’t what they say on TV all a lie?”
The people I helped carefully approached me, touching my head and back.
Even though I usually growl to tell them not to come too close, when they give a lot of ham, I let it go as payment for the meal…but now, there are way too many people doing it.
By the way, why don’t the heroes show up? It’s much slower than usual.
At that moment, the people around me answered my question as I finished savoring the ham.
“Let’s go, the Despair-level monster is coming.”
“But isn’t it fine since Black Cat is here?”
“He’s also a monster, right? If the monsters fight each other, we’ll all die. What’s fine about that?”
A Despair-level monster is coming?
I looked at the women checking their smartphones, a piece of information I hadn’t heard yet.
It seems the warning was sent via text message. Since I don’t have a smartphone and haven’t felt the need for one, I had no idea such an alert had been issued.
“Let’s go quickly! The evacuation shelter will be full soon!”
“Thank you, meow!”
“Growl…”
“Wait…! I have to use the restroom! I’ll catch up, go ahead!”
“I’m not a cat,” I growled as the fleeing women trembled, and one of them stayed behind.
Since another Despair-level monster hadn’t approached yet, it didn’t seem so urgent to flee.
Just as I was about to leave, the woman grabbed one of my tails.
“Umm…are you…are you smart? They say you’re an intelligent monster on TV…”
Wondering what she wanted, I stopped and waited for her to continue speaking.
“…If you understand me, can I ask you for one favor? My boyfriend…he’s a hero…right now, he’s on standby in Sector 2 to the north…they said a Despair-level will soon be there…”
Ah, I see. So the Despair-level monster is heading to Sector 2 in the north.
With this much preparation, the heroes will likely handle the fight, I shouldn’t interfere or get in the way.
With the new information, I tried to depart.
“Could you catch it for me? I really couldn’t live without him…If you do, I’ll give you a lot of meat, okay? I… I…my dad runs a butcher shop in Zone 5. Come to the back door, and I’ll secretly get you…about a whole cow…”
I stopped my moving feet and turned around to look at her.
The woman, perhaps realizing how absurd her words were, absently stroked the bracelet on her wrist, looking somewhat defeated.
“What am I saying…to a monster…”
“Growl…”
That’s right, a foolish request.
Even if you consider me an intelligent monster, asking a monster to catch another monster is stupid.
Are you dreaming? In this world overflowing with monsters, it can’t possibly flow as easily as you think.
Growling once more, I bounded up onto the rooftop, leaving her on the ground.
But…a whole cow…just how delicious could it be?
Since they run a butcher shop, their meat must be fresh…they wouldn’t offer cheap meat for their loved one’s sake…if it’s a whole cow’s worth, how much meat would that be…my mouth is watering.
“Meow…”
I licked my lips and glanced north.
What bad timing to make this arrangement while I’m starving.
Might as well go see how strong this Despair-level monster is.
If it seems stronger than me, I’ll leave it to the hero and flee.
Besides, there’s something I want to try this time.
Since the last encounter with a wolf-form Despair-level monster, I’ve been practicing suppressing my presence.
The monster’s aura that remains even in my human form, I’ve been trying to control it freely.
In my monster form, I suppressed the vibration of the core.
As a result, the frequency of the sirens echoing through the city gradually faded.
The practice wasn’t bad. The issue is that moving in this state is difficult.
With the aura reduced to human-level, I tiptoed carefully across the rooftop.
It’s like carefully filling a cup with water without spilling a drop; fighting while hiding one’s presence is impossible.
The power I can exert is about the same as when I am in human form, but there’s no hint of a monster about me, erasing even the subtle traces I’d usually leave.
According to my estimate, the feeling should be similar, but… other Despair-level monsters may sense something unsettling.
I jumped high, spreading my wings to glide through the air.
Above the city where the siren sounds have ceased, I flew silently to the north, my focus on one thing:
The butcher shop’s whole cow… no, can the Despair-level monster even detect me?
This meat will be delicious… no, no, if I’m hidden correctly, I’ll be able to help the people without worrying about attracting other monsters.
Then I can earn money and buy as much premium beef as I want this time… Hmm…does a butcher shop even carry premium beef?
As I approached Sector 2, the number of people on the road dwindled rapidly.
I could sense the heroes’ presence, and the approaching Despair-level monster, from far away.
Without being noticed by the other heroes, I quietly perched on the rooftop, still hiding my aura, and observed the Despair-level monster.
Still distant, a squid swimming through the sky comes into view.
A flying squid? I’ve never seen this creature before either.
Even with the forced infusion of data on various monsters during my time as a research subject, I’m unfamiliar with this one—no doubt it’s a rare beast.
At the mountain range outside the city, acting as a perimeter wall, a squid with long legs clings to it and changes its body color.
Suddenly, the squid morphs into a jellyfish, spreading electric currents around.
Is it shapeshifting? Formless type? Or maybe a phantom type…?
A genuinely rare monster, I’m intrigued, when suddenly, several heroes emerged from within the city.
“Mirage, the first defense line has been breached!”
“Of course, an electric fence won’t be enough to stop it…still, respond with better timing. Coordinate your special abilities with others when you use them.”
“Defenses against attacks are sharp! Pair those who can counter each other’s abilities!”
Fire and ice, sharp wind and chunks torn from buildings.
The intangible and tangible, strikes and slashes—difficult to defend against with a single trait—engulfs the monster.
Watching from afar, I focus on the woman who stands out among the heroes.
The surroundings distorted by high heat. The air around her punch seems torn apart.
From afar, her attacks look incredibly fierce.
Looking at the Despair-level monster and Yuanna in action, they seem capable of handling things on their own.
“Hmph…”
There’s no need to help…I suppose the cow deal is off.
In my monster form, I yawned and, sensing something unusual, opened my eyes again.
The Despair-level monster, called Mirage, was emitting a strange, ominous mist around it.
“Here it comes! Beware of the enchanting mist! Put on gas masks!”
“Step forward with air-current manipulation abilities! Block it!”
With a heavy, cloud-like substance, the mist envelops the heroes like ink spreading through water.
They hastily donned gas masks and tried to counter it, but Mirage was faster.
Heroes who inhaled the mist clutched their throats, resisting against the energy mixed within the fog, rendered immobile.
A massive tentacle sweeps above them. The elongated limbs that disrupt spatial perception trample the building and breach the city’s boundary.
In a brief moment, Mirage has moved from the city’s outskirts to its interior.
While the heroes are confused and flustered by the bizarre scene, I am startled by Mirage’s behavior.
Through the senses of the monsters, Mirage, unlike its outer appearance, is a creature acting differently from its true nature.
Suppressing aura, what I was practicing, Mirage seems to be doing something similar.
While pretending not to approach the city, Mirage gets close to the heroes by staying outside the city boundary.
The emitted mist distorts the actual distance from the perceived distance, making it hard to react in time.
This suggests that Mirage has experience surrounding and confronting multiple heroes.
This creature…has become adept at hunting humans…heroes.
Additionally, Yuanna’s attacks aren’t landing on Mirage properly.
Although recognizing that there’s something odd when a critical hit should have wounded Mirage but was immediately regenerated, she doesn’t seem to know exactly what’s amiss.
Is this also a difference in perception between heroes and monsters? To monsters with the ability to directly sense the core, Mirage’s core location is clearly detectable, meaning I know where it’s moving. But there isn’t a single hero reacting appropriately.
