Became a Failed Experimental Subject-Chapter 69: It’s a Walk

Citizens, gripped by a primal fear of brain-eating parasite monsters, voluntarily adhered to the restrictions and avoided contact with others.

This compliance was only possible because they believed that the heroes would eventually take care of the monsters.

Thanks to this, isolating the infected became easier, but eradicating the beetle monsters, the fundamental problem, was not progressing smoothly.

No matter how many they eliminated, the beetle monsters kept flying in, and no leader entity was found.

Yu Anna formed a hypothesis based on the direction the beetles were coming from and the patterns of previous incidents.

The ones controlling these beetle monsters might be the Monster Cult.

“What about the senior?”

“He’s still communicating with D-City.”

“...Do you think what the senior said makes sense?”

“Well, there was a rumor that the Monster Cult almost managed to tame a killing-class monster before, right? If it’s below killing-class... maybe it’s possible?”

Perhaps because of the unique entity known as Black Cat, the heroes of W-City were starting to drift away from the belief that monsters couldn’t be tamed, now leaning toward the idea that it might be possible.

To confirm her suspicions, Yu Anna contacted D-City.

She intended to collaborate with the heroes there to investigate the Monster Cult.

However, the response Yu Anna received from D-City, where she sought help in identifying the leader monster or whoever was controlling them, was nothing but cold indifference.

“This is driving me crazy.”

“What happened?”

“Same as before. D-City says they don’t see any beetle monsters, and even after investigating the cult directly, they found no traces.”

Yu Anna left the communication room, irritated, and grabbed a cold sandwich prepared in the operations room.

A brief moment of rest.

As Starlight prepared to head out again, the heroes who had been resting alongside her sighed deeply.

“So they went and told the cult directly that we’re suspicious of them? D-City’s behavior doesn’t make sense.”

“Seriously, shouldn’t we start preparing for the worst-case scenario?”

“...I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”

The heroes of W-City began to compile every strange thing they had noticed while dealing with the beetle monsters, forming hypothesis after hypothesis.

Infected humans behaved almost normally but exhibited abnormal behavior the moment Black Cat was mentioned or when they saw an image of him.

The parasites’ target was Black Cat — the same objective the Monster Cult had been pursuing.

Every member of the Monster Cult was infected with parasites.

Thus, the heroes couldn’t help but conclude that the parasites must have been planted by the cult.

The reason why no leader entity was seen among the beetles in W-City was because the leader was hiding somewhere far away.

That leader was in D-City, where the Monster Cult was.

If that were the case, D-City couldn’t possibly be unaffected.

The heroes conversing like ordinary people might already be infected.

“D-City has always been known for having little interaction with outsiders.”

“If the entire D-City has already become a nest of monsters... then it makes sense that the beetles are swarming endlessly....”

The problem was that even if that were the case, there was currently no way to act on it.

Infected humans acted completely normal unless Black Cat, their specific target, was present.

Even if they tried to investigate while being aware of the beetles, the parasites would release acid and self-destruct along with their host the moment they were exposed to a power that threatened them.

They erased the evidence themselves.

Unless one was aware of their existence beforehand and investigated meticulously, it was impossible to detect the presence of the parasite monsters.

So, without any concrete evidence, could they really declare that D-City was a nest of infected monsters and request hero support?

Would W-City request it when D-City’s heroes were still communicating normally, denying everything and even getting angry?

They might be infected — but was that suspicion alone enough to act?

“What kind of monster is this, seriously?”

“A monster that isn’t even killing-class, and we’re getting our asses handed to us?”

“Ha... Honestly, it was less exhausting when we were being toyed with by two despair-class monsters.”

Currently, the toughest armor protecting the parasites was not the beetle monsters but the social system of human society.

Even if they stripped away that layer, it wouldn’t resolve the current situation.

Unless every single monster was eradicated, this chaos would not end.

If D-City really had become a nest for beetle monsters and even the heroes were infected, then...

Should they kill every infected human?

Or would they wait indefinitely until they figured out how to kill only the parasites?

If a person’s brain has already been eaten away, can they still be considered human?

If they managed to remove the parasite that replaced the devoured brain, would that person return to normal?

They still feel hunger, fear, and, according to superhuman senses, they still register as alive.

But because they were infected by parasites, should they be killed?

To make any of these decisions, they would have to peel away the shell of human society.

But that would take too much time.

“What about the research department? Any word on a treatment?”

“They said they can’t make heads or tails of it yet.”

At the sight of the hero shaking his head, Starlight let out a long sigh.

Ideally, everyone protecting W-City wanted to save the infected humans as well.

But holding out until then... they were already at their physical limits.

Heroes were still just humans.

While they were hesitating, trying to consider the citizens of D-City who might be infected, the citizens of W-City could end up dead.

Once again, the pressure of making a choice weighed down on Starlight.

Would they kill a few to save the rest?

Or would they try to save everyone and end up getting everyone killed?

In the era of monsters, humans had to make choices to survive.

If they made the wrong choice, they’d die.

****

The heroes’ pace in exterminating the beetles was gradually slowing down.

Even superhumans had physical limits.

Nevertheless, the reason the situation hadn’t worsened yet was because the heroes weren’t the only ones hunting monsters in W-City.

Three despair-class monsters, including me, were hunting beetle monsters every night in the zones where the heroes were absent.

During one of these hunts, I spotted Sagugu chasing beetles across the night sky.

I landed on a rooftop where Gu Seoryong was standing.

“Heh... The more I see it, the more interesting it gets. Truly fascinating.”

“Another dissection?”

“Oh my, you’re here?”

“Nyao!”

The two monsters, who greeted me with relaxed smiles, returned to what they were doing.

Sagugu resumed her hunting game, while Gu Seoryong continued dissecting the parasites.

Holding a small glass plate, Gu Seoryong carefully sliced a parasite with her razor-sharp nails, her vertically slit pupils dilating as she scrutinized its organs.

“What can you learn from dissecting it like that?”

“A lot of things~ Like how its organs are structured, how it can contain monster fluids without a core, and how it controls humans. When you don’t know how something works, dissecting it is the easiest way to find out.”

“...You sound like a researcher.”

“Ufufu, well, I did grow up watching them work, didn’t I? But I can’t concentrate, so could you move away for a bit?”

“Sagugu, come here.”

“Funya? Nyahk!”

While Gu Seoryong continued dissecting the parasite, I called Sagugu over, who had been foolishly gnawing at the beetle corpse again.

I burned her mouth to cleanse it.

Sagugu spun around in pain but, realizing that I was helping her by removing the parasite, she nuzzled her head against me.

“To think it can control people like this... It’s pretty crude, but it’s effective.”

Gu Seoryong muttered with fascination as she cut the parasite’s corpse into small pieces.

Over time, her reason for catching parasites and beetles had shifted.

At first, it was out of disgust and revulsion; now, it was driven by curiosity.

The instinct of a monster that desires to grow stronger was intertwined with human curiosity.

After a while, Gu Seoryong placed the dissected parasite remains onto a small disc-shaped container, labeled it with the date, and tucked it into her pocket.

“Gu Seoryong.”

“Ah~ I get it. I’ll tell you.”

When I finally called her after waiting for her to finish her examination, Gu Seoryong chuckled and lay down on Sagugu’s back.

“With this much of a sample, I can say for sure. Do you want the complex and detailed version, or the simple one?”

“I don’t want the complicated stuff.”

“Then, simply put — there’s nothing that Dundeuni wants. That’s it.”

The reason I had waited patiently while Gu Seoryong dissected the parasites was to learn how to detect them and how to selectively kill the parasites without harming ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) the humans.

According to what I had heard from Starlight, the heroes still hadn’t found a way to do that.

If even after this much research, there’s still no answer, then the infected humans are essentially dead despite still being alive.

There was no way to save a human whose body had been taken over by a parasite.

“...I have no choice but to kill them.”

Humans overtaken by parasites cannot return to being human.

If I encounter an infected human, I’ll kill them before they can commit suicide.

If I consume them while in a powerful energy form like fire or lightning, I can kill the parasite while consuming the human.

A monster imitating a human.

A monster... must die.

“You’re leaving now?”

“Mm.” fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

“Well... It’s not like you’re in any real danger, but I’ll at least say ‘be careful’ out of habit.”

Having made up my mind, I nodded and shifted into my monster form.

Gu Seoryong, already knowing what I was about to do, patted Sagugu’s chin and spoke.

“You remember what I said, right?”

These parasites have no gender.

They are neither hermaphrodites nor do they reproduce by splitting.

If they don’t reproduce yet there are this many of them, it means that there is a separate host organism producing them.

Not a leader of the same species, but a higher-class entity that continuously spawns these parasites.

All the parasites targeting me are acting under the orders of that host.

And the location of that host is none other than Samwon Church in D-City.

“Judging by the current situation, the nest is probably already complete. And since they’re targeting you, they’ve likely already anticipated that you’ll come for them.”

The danger level of a monster entrenched in its nest rises by at least half a rank.

Especially if it’s set up to specifically target a single entity.

Before Gu Seoryong’s nest, Guryong Fortress, was destroyed, she, who was far weaker than Starlight, had managed to overpower Starlight momentarily. It was the same principle.

Standing with my back to Gu Seoryong, I prepared to leap away but left one last warning.

[Stay put.]

“Yaaaawn~ If you want me to stay put, then finish it quickly. My skin’s been getting worse from running around every night because of those bugs.”

Gu Seoryong yawned while covering her mouth, waving her hand dismissively as if she couldn’t care less.

I quietly rose into the sky and accelerated.

No matter how many beetle monsters and parasites I exterminated, it never ended.

Before the monster attacks me, I will go to it and kill it first.

I had already confirmed this method’s effectiveness when dealing with the underground monsters.

As long as I, their target, remain in W-City, they will keep coming to W-City.

Either I kill the host or leave W-City.

And as if to confirm that my prediction was correct, more and more beetle monsters began swarming behind me as I raced through the sky.

Indeed, this is the only way.

Late that night, I quietly left W-City.

My target was D-City, the Monster Cult.

For me, it was just a slightly longer stroll.