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My name is Black Cat because I often take the form of a black feline-like monster.
The reason I take this form is purely for the ease of escape.
My body, an alien substance that consumes others’ abilities, requires me to assume the form of a monster to use its powers.
While other abilities can be activated as needed, the structure of a feline body is essential for soundlessly leaping and landing.
Yuanna uses her unique senses to track the signs of monsters when I use “liquefaction” to dive underground, making it slow and resistant.
However, as this technique has a downside, I can still vanish into my own shadow or transfer between shadows to elude detection while maintaining the monstrous form of a many-tailed creature.
Thus, while I sometimes removed features like wings or horns, I always retained the form of a many-tailed black leopard.
There’s simply no easier monster form for escaping.
Everything I do is to safely flee the scene after killing a monster and to ensure that I disappear from Yuanna’s perception completely before reverting to human form.
But now, that’s no longer necessary.
Whether I vanish into my shadow or just dive into the ground and stop making any noise, hiding within my shadow or transferring between them to evade detection, touching the ground is enough to run away.
What began as a game where I had to escape far from Yuanna’s detection has evolved into one where I only needed to touch the ground some distance away to win.
To catch me, Yuanna has been developing long-range shooting abilities, but for now, I can still escape safely, even if I give her one of my tails.
Given that hiding in shadows has become more important than silencing sounds, there is no longer a pressing need for me to maintain the form of a feline beast.
Yet, I still keep this form, for one reason only:
The meat occasionally given by humans who I’ve helped.
“Kyaah! Eating, eating!”
“Aww, it’s so cute!”
Even without my full strength, I can kill a killer-grade monster with ease. Thanks to eliminating monsters without triggering the monster alarm, more people started giving me meat as a reward.
Some even approach without evacuating when an alarm sounds, carrying backpacks, which makes me question their sanity. If heroes arrive late, things could get really bad.
Apparently, Yuanna shares the same worry, as she voiced the same concern while chasing me.
“Couldn’t you at least stop accepting meat? Do you know how much trouble you cause for heroes? People aren’t evacuating properly!”
“Kyaak!”
Her attack with an ability on my front paw slightly affected my hearing, but it was still accurate. Though harsh, she makes a valid point, so I decided to start refusing the meat offers more often.
Though, I couldn’t resist the expensive and appetizing ones. This even led to news reports about Black Cat’s acquired taste for luxury.
“That…this is a black cat, isn’t it…hehe…”
“Will this work?”
“We have to hope it does! Hahaha…enjoy your meal. If you catch me, how much money will you get?”
Because of the rumors about a monster who helps humans and eats meat, there are more strange people around. Some add tranquilizers or sleeping agents to the meat they give me, but since it doesn’t affect me, I don’t mind much. However, it’s frustrating.
There are even traps set in monster-prone areas to catch me instead, which sometimes trap vulnerable humans instead.
Thinking this crosses a line, I track these trappers by smell and quickly bite their arms.
Yet, some rich folks are still obsessed, wanting to capture me to keep as a pet who eats monsters. Listening to conversations while eating, I’ve also learned some even offer bounties for Black Cat’s capture.
Do they really think I’ll obediently follow them if caught? I’ll just bite off their limbs and escape. Their sanity is questionable.
Desiring to capture me has grown among some people, and more are coming to W City attempting to catch Black Cat despite not being S-Class heroes.
Trying to catch a Despair-Class monster without being an S-Class hero? Are they all insane? Even when I spare them, it seems they’ve gone too far.
“Black Cat! Black Cat!”
“Where? Where?!”
When I handle additional monster alarms and eliminate them without triggering new ones, people stop fleeing upon hearing “Black Cat,” turning around to watch instead.
Ignoring the absurdity of people wanting to watch instead of fleeing, I habitually hide into the shadows.
As I do, Yuanna descends from the sky and extends light towards my shadow.
“Hrrr…”
“Everyone! Why aren’t you evacuating? Start evacuating immediately!”
“Kya! It’s Yuanna! Run!”
“Run! Run!”
The people seem more afraid of the damage Yuanna might cause than me.
Despite her apparent frustration, Yuanna looks at me impassively but doesn’t chase.
Knowing escaping might cause harm to people, I remain stationary for a moment.
“Damn… seriously, doesn’t it look like a monster is better than people?”
“Kya!”
As Yuanna vents her irritation, a tranquilizer dart flies from the city center.
Quickly turning the dart into liquid form, I deflect it while spinning in the air.
With people still evacuating, I can’t fully dodge other incoming shots.
“What? What are you doing?!”
“Black Cat, confirmed hit of tranquilizer dart…”
“Not a hit!”
“What are you doing right now?”
The tranquilizer-wielding heroes in black suits, clinging to building walls, seem prepared to capture me with tranquilizer guns and nets.
Do they truly believe these things will catch me? Despite their attempts, I decide to play along and receive the darts.
Then the heroes, smiling, focus their attacks on me.
“Stop! Don’t provoke it! Who are you?”
“Miss S-Class Hero Yuanna, it’s you who should stop now. We’re from the government’s monster research department.”
“Monster research department… do you even understand what you’re doing right now?!”
“We’re successfully capturing the elusive Black Cat…”
“Hrrr…”
The tranquilizers filled with sedatives trigger unpleasant memories with each injection.
Sensing my growing frustration through my cries, Yuanna’s expression hardens.
Snatching the communicator of the black-suited one who was reporting, Yuanna smashes it on the ground.
“Stop saying you’ve successfully captured Black Cat and get lost! Do you really think Black Cat is that easy to capture?!”
“Starlight, can’t you see this? Black Cat…”
“Ooohhh…”
The people have evacuated completely.
Having no more reason to take hits from these tranquilizer darts, I liquefy my body, letting the material objects fall to the ground.
I glare at Yuanna briefly.
Yuanna slightly shakes her head, silently telling me not to escalate the situation.
But I don’t care. These fools are really pissing me off, and I think I might need to break a few things today.
“OOOHHHH!!”
“Auuuuhh!”
“Kuh…Aaaargh! You bastards!!”
A monstrous roar, the physical sound of which scatters concrete like dandelion seeds in the wind.
Prepared to leap, I rip each limb off the black-suited ones who had fired upon me with tranquilizer guns.
I don’t kill—only retaliate against those who provoke me.
“Aaaaah! Ruuuuuun!”
“They said Black Cat doesn’t attack humans! They said it’s an unusual entity…that it doesn’t attack humans!”
“Bullshit, you bastards! Monster research department? I’ll report all of this, and I’ll make sure it’s made public!”
“Run! Get out of here!”
“Where are you running to? Damn you bastards! I told you not to provoke it! Why increase the damage unnecessarily?!”
Only S-Class Heroes can handle Despair-Class monsters.
On that day, while trying to prevent other heroes from getting involved, Yuanna alone dealt with over 30 burdensome individuals, whom I tossed around one by one, increasing the damage.
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[Black Cat, incredibly, destroyed 124 buildings…]
[There were 0 fatalities, but 32 were injured, all C-City heroes…]
[Is it really okay to allow outsiders entering W City to attempt capturing Black Cat?]
[Starlight criticized those aiming to capture Black Cat, claiming their unnecessary provocations escalated the situation. Evacuating citizens also testified to seeing Black Cat taking the tranquilizers and nets quietly…]
[Damn it, if you’re the government’s research department, what about my shop? Are you paying the insurance? Who will cover the damages until the building gets rebuilt?!]
[Recently, there have been more outsiders entering W City with the goal of capturing Black Cat…]
[W City insists that since Black Cat is ultimately a monster, they can’t prevent outsiders from attempting capture, but Starlight warned that unnecessary stimulation might cause Black Cat to act unpredictably, making this somewhat of a foreseen event…]
[Even though Starlight couldn’t capture Black Cat, she had been effectively controlling it. This event was caused by outsiders from other cities. Is that not the case?]
After a long time, Yuanna drank alcohol, crushing a beer can in her hand within her room.
How many times since becoming a hero has she experienced a day this exasperating?
Her frustration deepened as her confrontations with Black Cat have recently lessened.
Ironically, with Black Cat’s enhanced ability to erase its presence, the damage in W City drastically decreased, and Yuanna’s workload lightened to the point that she began to think that as long as Black Cat continued not to cause more incidents and just hunt monsters, it wouldn’t be so bad.
What concerned her was the growing perception of citizens considering Black Cat a safe monster.
As well as the similarly mistaken outsiders creating chaos in W City.
[What the hell, if S-Class Hero Starlight can’t capture Black Cat, what special skills do C-City’s B-Class Heroes think they have to attempt this nonsense?]
[Does A-City’s failure to capture Mirage make Starlight look like a joke? Is Black Cat considered a joke because even Starlight couldn’t capture it?]
[W City has been completely safe and peaceful with Black Cat and Starlight taking care of all the monsters recently. I never expected outsiders to cause such chaos.]
[Who believes capturing Black Cat is worth 2 billion? Who would offer 2 billion for the capture of a Despair-Class monster? Do they have no brains? Who would buy a living nuclear bomb for 2 billion?]
[If C-City truly wants to capture Black Cat, they should send an S-Class Hero. Why send a B-Class one? Do they truly believe Black Cat can be captured that easily?]
[Star Punch! Star….Nyaa-Punch!]
As Yuanna scrolled through internet community comments, she heavily empathized with the writers.
What was created, she wondered, when she saw photos of herself as a muscular human punching a kitten, followed by an image of a muscular kitten punching a “C-City” emblem.
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