Yuanna flew towards the monster and attacked with both feet.
The super-accelerated dropkick, with its powerful physical force and shockwave, tore the monster’s body apart.
There was a slight opening, and Yuanna immediately seized the corpse the monster had been chewing on and pulled it free.
Heroes who face defeat cannot even leave behind their remains; they try their best to retrieve each other’s corpses, as a sign of mutual respect. Even if only the chest and right arm were left…
At that moment, Han-young Lee’s right hand unfolded, and something fell out from within.
Yuanna reflexively caught the item that Lee had clutched even in death, identified it as the mandatory miniature cam worn by heroes, and tucked it into her pocket.
In that instant, a Hopeless-Class monster raced past her at an unimaginable speed.
Stunned by the incomprehensible speed, Yuanna quickly raised her hands to block an attack.
However, this caused her to lose her grip on the corpse, allowing the monster to snatch Han-young Lee’s remains.
“Ahh!”
The monster, as if mocking Yuanna, bit off Han-young’s arm in mid-air and shook her head.
Thereafter, the remaining torso tore off and fell, Yuanna catching it carefully and placing it near a nearby building.
Rage boiled within her.
This was the monster, the enemy of humanity.
How could something like this protect humans? What kind of foolish talk was this?
“Grgh… grgh…”
The sound of grinding teeth, Yuanna positioned herself against the monster glaring at her from the opposite building rooftop.
“Hooouuuu…”
The fastest stance she could launch from, with endless energy from the nuclear fusion power source within her heart, firing it all directly as she charged forward. It was Yuanna’s most powerful technique against the monster, named Flare Drive, her ultimate skill.
“Dieeeeee!”
At near-light-speed, emitting a sonic boom, she launched herself like a human bullet and struck the monster.
But the monster, ignoring her assault, plummeted to the ground.
Literally, sinking into the ground.
That was an ability Yuanna recognized.
Han-young’s superpower: Liquidation.
One of the best-rated superpowers among the rescue heroes, a power that allowed escaping underground.
It had been stolen… from Han-young.
“This isn’t a power you should have…”
Her fury reached its limit, igniting her superpower.
A human sun, with her body wrapped in a fierce heatstorm, now spinning like a drill, Yuanna plunged into the ground.
“This power exists to save humans! Don’t you dare use it to escape!”
She would eliminate this monster, definitely, this time.
Having already won a ground pursuit once, Yuanna started a desperate underground chase.
The Hopeless-Class monster versus the S-Class Hero.
The human warrior strong enough to face the Hopeless-Class alone, and the monster capable of destroying an entire city by itself.
Together, they ravaged W City’s underground.
#
[… I apologize for letting the Hopeless-Class monster escape.]
The ruined downtown area, one of the few intact zones, a ramen shop.
I was eating ramen while listening to the TV news.
According to the news, the immense traces left by the conflict between a Hopeless-Class monster and an S-Class Hero were enormous.
An entire district had been devastated, yet fortunately, the citizens had evacuated to a shelter, which remained unharmed.
The surviving citizens emerged from shelters to find the city in ruins. At the moment, heroes were forced to stand in front of cameras to apologize.
The destroyed region, particularly below ground, had been completely melted, making it mandatory to conduct some land-based construction for a while.
Still, people these days are accustomed to moving and settling quickly.
Even with property damage, as long as there was no loss of life, they could surely rebuild.
“Was that really a Hopeless-Class monster? According to the hero-side communication records, two Hopeless-Class monsters were reportedly involved! Does that even make sense! Just one district being demolished?”
Indeed, there were conspiracy theories emerging from other cities, questioning whether it was really a Hopeless-Class monster. If it wasn’t, then perhaps it had only been a Disaster-Class monster.
If four Disaster-Class monsters were involved, the explanation that the heroes had confined them to a single district to minimize damage would be convincing. But if there were two Disaster-Class and two Hopeless-Class monsters, and just one district was destroyed, that makes no sense.
“Isn’t Yuanna S-Class? Could you have been venting your anger in that area?”
“Most of the destruction was related to high heat, according to powers! As per existing announcements, the Hopeless-Class code 0 and code α were reportedly lightning and wind abilities!”
“Explain, Yuanna!”
“The monster, Black Cat, is currently protecting humans! Aren’t you the one who unnecessarily provoked the monster, causing more damage?”
“Slurrrp!”
I ate my ramen noodles while watching the news with interest.
Other people in the shop were gossiping about Yuanna while eating ramen.
Then, Yuanna grabbed a table to get everyone’s attention and turned on a large TV adjacent to her.
“Let me reiterate, what was there was a Hopeless-Class monster. Just an unusual specimen.”
Yuanna presented a graph comparing the waveforms recorded during previous Hopeless-Class appearances to the ones on the alarm device.
Then several videos appeared, ones that had captured me and were posted on social media. There was footage of a giant black leopard lounging near people, calmly doing nothing. Afterward, a previous similar docile monster was shown.
“Citizens often forget the purpose of monsters after some time. Some of these monsters have high intelligence and use it to allure humans into becoming prey.”
“Ugh…”
“Ugh…”
“Slurrrp!”
Next came a shocking scene that made people lose their appetite… a chaotic display of the monster’s rampage with entrails flying and blood everywhere.
To me, it was like watching a cooking show; I slurped the noodle strands without hesitation, while the others turned away from the TV.
“The currently observed Hopeless-Class is also believed to hunt in a similar manner, showing abnormal behavior, and I anticipated great danger if it was not eliminated quickly. Therefore, I apologize if the pursuit extended the damage. But! If left alone, truly, W City could be wiped out by this one monster!”
Yuanna then displayed a video of me transforming from a phoenix into a tiger while devouring Han-young’s corpse in front of everyone.
“This monster is an unstable Hopeless-Class capable of transforming into forms that humans find favorable. Hero Lee Han-young has already been preyed upon! How much longer must we allow ourselves to be hunted by this simple deception? Must humans be hunted by monsters?”
Yuanna’s cry was filled with anguish, her compelling call silencing all the reporters who had been shouting.
“Out of frustration, the pursuit has been extended, for which I apologize once again. Though, citizens must immediately discard the false notion that this monster is harmless. It’s only a matter of time before it overcomes its instincts to suppress its hunger. Black Cat will attack humans soon.”
Finally, Yuanna concluded by saying that the heroes would also contribute to the city’s recovery as she bowed and left.
Even heroes work hard, her face looked very tired.
But… why “Black Cat”? I’m not a cat.
“Phew… This is bad news… Confirming the existence of a Hopeless-Class monster in W City is serious…”
“If there’s abnormal behavior, it might quiet down temporarily, but… should we consider moving to another city?”
The people in the ramen shop were all buzzing.
The only one solely focused on eating was me. I thought while eating a dumpling.
Hmm, this is indeed a delicious dumpling place… the crunchiness, the meat juice… it’s absolutely flavorful.
Beer’s also supposedly delicious, isn’t it?
“Here, two beers.”
“Two beers, is that correct?”
“One more plate of dumplings.”
“Ah…Are you sure you have enough money?”
I nodded and tapped my pants pocket to the waiter who was blinking in surprise. Seems he was worried I might run after eating this much.
Apparently, I’ve already eaten ten bowls of ramen and 22 plates of dumplings.
Sorry, but I have a free dumpling voucher and plenty of money.
Even if I didn’t, I could afford ten bowls of ramen easily.
“Here’s your beer!”
As soon as the beer arrived, I drank it all without savoring the first glass, leaving it untouched.
I hesitated momentarily but decided to drink both. This so-called delicious beer was… tasteless.
What kind of flavor does alcohol even have?
As I was growing full, I ordered another plate of dumplings.
Because of my earlier confrontation with Yuanna to eat Han-young Lee’s hands, I’d sustained many injuries, heightening my hunger.
Still, it was a promise with a dying human that I had to keep.
After barely filling my stomach, I took out all the bills and vouchers from my pocket and handed them to the waiter as I stood up.
“Check please.”
“Excuse me, wait a moment!”
Then, the waiter stopped me after examining my payment.
I turned back wondering what was wrong, and the waiter pointed to the small print on the back of the free dumpling voucher.
“The coupon is for one plate per voucher, sir…?”
“Hmm?”
That means… Since I ate 23 plates, with two coupons deducted, that would leave 21 plates of dumplings…
I’m short on cash.
“…Is there any dishwashing work not involving the stolen plates?”
“No, sir?”
“Any heavy lifting jobs?”
“Sir…?”
Big problem. Feeling awkward, I scratched my cheek.
There’s nothing I can do; I pushed past the people carefully and ran towards the exit.
“Sir! Sir?! Wait!”
“Wait, sir! Sir!”
“Hey! Thief! Stop the food thief!”
“I’ll definitely pay it back!”
Now I’ve increased the places I owe money to, not just ramen shops.
When I make money some day, I’ll definitely come back to pay.
I squeezed between the people carefully and disappeared into the crowd.
