Became a Failed Experimental Subject-Chapter 63: I’m Flustered

Not long ago, after I gave a beatdown to that weird woman who seemed like an S-Class hero, I was stuck in a problem I couldn’t figure out alone.

What even is a hero?

If they kill a few humans but save many more, are they still a hero?

Starlight doesn’t seem to think so.

To put it bluntly, from the standpoint of a hero who’s supposed to hunt me, her judgment is technically correct.

But Starlight would never do something like that.

Because she’s a hero who protects people—she doesn’t hurt humans.

So why did that same Starlight, not once but twice, stop me from killing a woman who was a superhuman and tried to kill a civilian?

She lashes out with her fists at me the moment she feels even a shred of suspicion, but “Electric Girl” isn’t allowed to die?

Probably because, unlike me, she’s human.

I’m the one who judged her as unworthy of being called human. But humans might think differently.

Heroes are superhumans who protect people and kill monsters.

Even bad people are still human. No matter how horrible they are, heroes protect humans.

They let humans be punished by human laws—but never punish them directly.

Starlight simply did what she was supposed to do.

She doesn’t separate people into ones worth saving and ones not. She saves them all.

Because that’s what a hero is.

It’s different for monsters like me.

“Grrrr...”

“H-Hiiiik... N-no way... Black Cat doesn’t hurt people...”

Crunch, crunch. I chewed on a human arm in the dark and stared at the whimpering man.

A villain. A human who’s no longer human.

I handled these things the same way every time—no matter how many I devoured, more always showed up from somewhere.

Today’s villain tried to kidnap a child who got separated from her mom in the chaos during a Break-Class monster attack.

With the power of invisibility, and judging by how smooth his movements were, it wasn’t his first time doing this.

How much of a child abductor can I eat?

I already ate an arm... should I tear off a leg next?

...No. Might just be better to kill him outright.

“Black Cat is scary...”

Wuuuuuung. As my killing intent spread, the child clinging to my front leg gave off the sweet smell of fear.

I suppressed it and used telekinesis to lift the kid onto my back.

“Black Cat, up high!”

This brat was crying just a minute ago—and now she’s laughing, gripping my fur with glee.

Using Medusa’s Eye—my ability to freeze what I gaze at—I was keeping the villain from escaping.

Then I sensed heroes approaching and began suppressing the ability.

Across the street, two heroes jumped off a motorcycle and ran toward us.

“Black Cat spotted. All Break-Class monsters have been neutralized.”

“And the child... um, it looks like he’s playing with her? But someone seems to be restrained?”

“Hold on—that guy’s a villain, right? I think I saw him on a wanted poster.”

“Shit!”

“Take him down!”

I handed over the villain, and the two heroes moved in for a clean takedown.

One of them pulled a tranquilizer gun from their pocket and shot the villain with a high-grade sedative. He slumped over, limp.

“This guy... he’s the child kidnapper.”

“What? That bastard? Finally got him, that piece of shit...”

With the villain caught, I used telekinesis to lift the child, planning to hand her over. But the girl still clung to my fur and flipped upside down like a handstand.

“Ahahaha!”

“Wooong.”

“Whoa—watch it!”

I gave a soft growl as a signal, and the heroes stepped in to take the girl into their arms.

Now that my work here was done... I was just about to vanish into the shadows when—

“Hey, hey! We have to do that thing.”

“Ah—! Thank you, Black Cat. You saved the kid and took down the monsters too...”

“Idiot. Say ‘Thanks for defeating the monster, you’re awesome, you’re cute.’”

...The hell is this?

Gratitude? Out of nowhere?

I appreciated it, but wasn’t this a little too friendly for someone who just got help from a monster?

Not the usual awkward, wary reactions [N O V E L I G H T] I was used to.

Just as I raised my fur at the unfamiliar behavior, one of the heroes reached into his backpack and pulled out meat.

“Quick, give it to him before he runs.”

“Oo-wao?”

Wait, you’re giving me meat?

Because I’m a monster, even when I helped, most humans never offered me food.

Just as I was about to leave, I paused and took the meat.

“Wa-oooong...!”

Slrp. The flesh melted in my mouth—soft, chewy texture.

This was... really high-quality beef.

Chomp, chomp. I swallowed it down, then licked my lips.

“...Does that mean you want more?”

“Sorry, that was the last of it. We’re out.”

“Waaaoong.”

Pleased, I sank back into the shadows.

Mm. That was tasty... Good beef like that? I got lucky today.

The next day.

While lying in the grass at the park to wipe out a cluster of Kill-Class monsters forming underground, the heroes showed up again.

“W-wait, that’s really Black Cat, isn’t it? There’s no alarm going off though?”

“He’s just napping, that’s why. Where’s the meat?”

“I didn’t bring any...!”

“Seriously?! We’re screwed—you were supposed to bring it!”

“Come on, you only bring meat when there’s an alarm. It’s a pain to carry around all the time!”

“Whatever, just give him this for now.”

Some C-Class and D-Class heroes held out a sausage while I was focusing my powers on spatial manipulation.

I snatched it from their hand and stayed lying down as they ran off somewhere in a hurry.

“Yo, quick—go buy some meat from the market. Senior’s gonna cover the expense anyway.”

“Black Cat, stay right here!”

“Huwaaam...”

Yawning, I turned my focus back to the underground. I tore apart one Kill-Class monster after another.

A giant anthill was under the park. Ant monsters, the size of human legs, were trapped with no exit and were slowly dying off.

Let’s see... should I burn them with fire manipulation? Freeze them? Electrocute them?

Hmm... fun.

After wiping out all the ants, a long Death Worm appeared, trying to swallow the ants’ leftover cores.

Perfect timing—gathering all those cores one by one with space manipulation was a pain.

As I let the worm do its thing, I noticed civilians gathering around from the park.

“Told you! I said Black Cat was here.”

“Whoa, for real?”

“He’s taking a nap here! Seriously!”

“Wow! It’s Black Cat!”

“Do we have any food? I heard if you give him food, he lets you pet him.”

“Be careful! If you touch him without asking, he’ll chop your wrist off!”

The civilians tried to offer me food.

I had used a lot of abilities, so I was starving. Worked out perfectly.

I accepted the food as they gave it.

“Hey, I’m feeding him right now. Wait your turn!”

“Come on, Black Cat’s stomach isn’t a damn garbage disposal. Don’t just give him anything!”

“At least give him decent food, seriously!”

At first, they all gave me good stuff—foods that went well together or were tasty on their own.

But as more people gathered, the food started getting... mixed.

“What, like monsters care what they eat?”

“Now he’s not just eating monsters for us, but garbage too. Black Cat’s the best.”

Adults came with lunch boxes and dumped their leftover food straight into my open mouth.

Mm... sweet, sour, spicy, salty—a weird, complex taste...

Still, even with all that, this was too much.

When someone threw food waste into my mouth along with the paper foil, saying it was “garbage anyway,” I walked over to them and spat food back out right on top of their head.

“Waaaugh! Y-you bastard—!”

“Kyaaaah!”

SMACK!

The guy, now covered in garbage, threw a punch at my nose—but I caught him with telekinesis, lifted him high into the air, and shook him up and down.

His wig flew off, revealing a bald head underneath, mixed with the filth.

Right then, heroes came running in a panic, both hands full of meat.

“Uh-oh? This isn’t good. They said in the meeting this kind of thing had to be stopped.”

“Why is Black Cat lifting that guy? Hey, what did you do to him?”

“I’ll handle the investigation. You just give him the food.”

“Okay, okay! Everyone back away. Do not approach Black Cat. Don’t give him any food.”

“Huh? Then what’s that meat for? You were gonna give it to him, weren’t you?”

“Civilians are not allowed to feed Black Cat.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? Just because you’re heroes, you think you own him?”

Amid the grumbling civilians, the heroes handed me the meat.

Mmm. Delicious pork and beef...

Not any particular cuts—just a mix thrown together randomly.

Would’ve been nice if it was grilled... but since it’s not Starlight, guess that’s asking too much.

It’s not like heroes carry portable grills around.

“I wanna feed Bwak Cat too! Bwak Cat!”

“Dis my candy! Taste good.”

“No. I said no—wait, hey!”

“Woooong.”

Once I’d filled my belly, I leaned forward and accepted candy from the kids as dessert.

I left thinking today had been a good day again.

The next day.

After cleaning the underground all night and reducing the evolved Death Worm to a corpse, I took its Disaster-Class core and perched myself on the roof of a building with no people around.

Chewing on the core, yawning, I sat there on the rooftop when another hero showed up.

With meat in hand.

“Uh... Black Cat, seriously... thanks. For protecting W-City.”

“Grrrr...”

“God, what the hell am I doing... complimenting a monster? As if it understands anything.”

It was a superhuman with airflow manipulation—probably an A-Class hero—floating in the air above me. I bared my fangs at him, and he sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead.

“Just... eat the meat. I don’t even know why I’m doing this...”

“Grrruuuu...”

“You really do take it gently... You’re a seriously weird monster.”

Woooong. Grrrr...

Letting out a low mix of wariness and greeting, I accepted the meat and perked my ears.

I ate the meat, but... something felt off.

No matter how good it tasted, this was starting to feel less like “luck” and more like a pattern.

Sure, Starlight had always secretly given me meat now and then—but it was never to this extent.

Is... giving me meat becoming a trend among heroes?

“Yeah, eat it right there where it shows. Gotta catch it on camera.”

...Camera?

Why would you film me eating meat?

A vague disgust and tension welled up in me. I slipped into the shadows to avoid the lens.

Sure, I appreciated the full belly, but this was starting to feel... off.

Did they poison the meat?

No... it didn’t taste poisoned.

...Strange.

“Bl-Black Cat!”

And then, the day after that.

Right in front of me as I was devouring some Break-Class monsters—Starlight appeared.

With meat in hand... Starlight had always tossed me meat before, so that wasn’t strange.

But today, the smell was different.

There was a sharp surge of anxiety and urgency in her scent. It made her impossible to predict.

Did something happen among the heroes?

Why does it feel like everyone suddenly started acting weird?

“We need to talk... just for a second!”

Even though I was suspicious, I still backed away from the approaching Starlight.

She’d attacked me twice already.

It’s natural for a hero to try and hunt a monster, so I wasn’t upset about it—but her powers hurt like hell.

Not wanting to get hit again, I kept my guard up and melted into the shadows.

“Ah...!”

****

After fleeing from Starlight, a while later.

At a deserted clearing near a stream, I was entertaining myself by combining different abilities on some tiny fish when another hero appeared.

“Oh? It’s really Black Cat. I thought that was just some illegal dump pile hidden in the bushes.”

“Told you it looked like Black Cat! Who the hell would carry something that huge out here just to dump it?”

“So, should we give him meat?”

“Waaaoong?”

Having found me, the heroes pulled sausages and meat from their backpacks and held them out.

Meat again...

I hesitated for a moment, but once I checked that it was safe, I accepted it.

“Wow, this feels so weird. He actually eats it.”

“I always kinda wanted to try feeding Black Cat, too.”

“Didn’t your little sister survive thanks to Black Cat?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Black Cat. Never thought I’d get to say that out loud...”

“Ooooon...?”

...A thank you?

From a hero?

To a monster?

They’ve never done this before.

As I finished the sausages and licked my lips at the strange mood, one of the heroes gently stroked my head.

“Whoa—soft...”

“Want me to take a photo?”

“Ah, yeah. Please. I need at least one for the report anyway.”

The hero petting me pulled me into a hug, smiling from ear to ear.

While I was still confused, another hero leaned in and snapped a photo of me with their phone.

A photo... for submission?

What even is that?

Just what the hell is going on with these people?