Became a Failed Experimental Subject-Chapter 42: It’s a Snake

“I did say you could eat until you were full, but you still have to follow the rules.”

The dream of bottomless refills had come true. In exchange for unlimited meals, Yu Hyena laid down a few conditions.

First, don’t snatch the food so fast that others don’t get any.

Second, if a villain shows up while you're eating, drop the spoon and protect the civilians.

Lastly, don’t scream weird shit like Yarikiri! and start rallies in the middle of the soup line.

As long as I followed those rules, I could eat as much as I wanted. No limit.

“You can keep those rules, right?”

“Mm.”

I agreed. Ate my fill. Yawned in satisfaction.

I didn’t think utopia would come back from the dead... but here it was. A sacred land blessed by the gods of endless servings. And Yu Hyena? She was its high priestess.

Just like I promised, even after finishing the meal, I didn’t leave the park. But sleep hit like a wave, and I wandered off to find a nap spot.

Weather was good, too. I flopped down in the corner of the park, into the sandbox by the playground, and shut my eyes.

The sand, warm and toasted by the sun, was basically nature’s electric blanket.

“AHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA!”

“WAAAH! AHAHAHA!”

As I dozed off, a mob of kids swarmed me, dumping sand on my body like I was a human sculpture.

Their tiny hands patted me down while I half-listened to the murmurs of nearby residents.

“Villains have been going nuts lately. It's a damn crisis.”

“That villain boss—Gu Seoryong or whatever—she’s still on the run, right? Probably skipped town by now.”

“Isn’t that Black Cat bastard supposed to catch villains?”

“I don’t like that freak. He’s still a monster, isn’t he? Leave him alone and he’ll knock down a house one day.”

“Yeah, but at least he eats other monsters. Like a spider that keeps your windows clean in summer, y’know?”

They were talking about me. Monsters. Villains. All the things you think when you're just trying to live.

The way their voices floated over to me—scattered, tangled, and half-distracted—reminded me of TV news playing in a cafeteria.

Clang, clang, clang, clang... Someone was tapping their spoon rhythmically against their bowl. The sound echoed.

“Starlight’s been working herself to death, huh? Feeding the poor, killing monsters, keeping people calm.”

“She’s doing more than the mayor, honestly. Sure, the government says it’s supporting welfare, but...”

“Here in Zone 4? Starlight’s the one actually keeping us fed. This food’s out of her own pocket.”

“Don’t forget, Starlight’s a government hero. She’s never even come down here herself. Just sends her sister or some foundation flunky.”

“Hey, why don’t you skip the meal then, genius? You think sending your sister is easy?”

Hmm. So this soup kitchen was running on Starlight’s dime, and the foundation rep was her sister.

Still lying there, I blinked my eyes open and glanced toward Yu Hyena.

So that woman was Starlight’s little sister?

Now that I looked, yeah—they really did resemble each other.

The scent though... Starlight always smelled like hot stone eggs. But her sister smelled like boiled beef and savory tallow.

Both smelled delicious in their own way.

Interesting... Starlight’s sister, huh.

I yawned again and muttered a warning.

“Move your hand.”

“Aha, you knew I was here?”

The air around me warped—unnaturally wide sound distortion. That was her signature.

Gu Seoryong. Her power.

Her hand stopped just shy of plunging into my neck. She raised both arms in a dramatic, surrendering pose.

The kids blinked up at her.

“Pretty lady!”

“Where’d you come from?”

“Did you eat? Want some food? It’s good!”

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

“Oh? These babies have much better taste than a certain stray cat, huh?”

I cracked one eye open and saw Gu Seoryong scoffing, petting their little heads.

I’d already noticed—her confusion aura didn’t affect the kids. The adults, though? They couldn’t even perceive her.

“You didn’t use your ability on the kids.”

“Of course not! You think I’d blast toddlers with confusion waves? That stuff’s bad for developing brains.”

“You’re not wrong.”

Her power wasn’t illusion. It directly scrambled the brain. Hit a kid with that, you’d leave scars for life.

“And if I touched a kid, you’d lose it. You’re not soft like Starlight.”

“That’s your only reason?”

“Hah. You think that’s it? We’re lab rats, remember?”

She smirked. Shared context between monsters born from the same place.

All test subjects—orphans sold from state-run facilities into experimental hellholes.

We didn’t touch kids. Not out of honor or law—just some unspoken frequency we all tuned into after turning into monsters.

“I seriously can’t stand it. Four years down the drain, and here you are—this damn freak taking a nap in a sandbox like it's a beach day. And to top it off, you became the watchdog for my final trump card.”

“You mean Yu Hyena.”

“Oh, so you were listening while you were lying there.”

Gu Seoryong had come here to take Yu Hyena hostage.

She crouched beside the kids, who were now tugging her hair while she propped up her chin like a bored actress.

“Just one more year, and W-City would've been mine. I’d already gotten to the mayor. Starlight was totally within range too—just needed to push the right buttons. And then this damn cat shows up and ruins everything~”

“Bad luck.”

“Ugh, if I had her in my hands, even Starlight wouldn't dare fight back. This time I had experience. I was gonna rebuild from the ground up, and she’s basically Starlight’s berserk button. I really risked it all for this. You are no help, you stupid cat. Aaaagh, so annoying.”

“Give it up.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m done. I’m a smart woman, y’know. I don’t fight battles I can’t win.”

“Waaah! You’re tall!”

“Your boobs are huge!”

“Oh my. This one’s gonna grow up to be a villain, huh?”

A kid had climbed Gu Seoryong’s head using her hair like a rope and was shouting triumphantly.

She lifted him off gently. But another one immediately started scaling her back.

One of the boys had both hands buried in her chest like climbing grips before she pried him off and looked down at me.

“So? You Starlight’s pet now? Or should I say, her little kitty cat?”

“I’m not a cat.”

“Whatever you are, why the hell are you taking her side? Heroes are our natural enemies. What—trying to be some sort of monster-hero hybrid?”

“I don’t do hero stuff.”

“You do know you act just like one, right?”

“Do I?”

Heroes get shit on every day no matter what they do, and they still have to smile through it.

I’m not like that.

I just eat what I want. Do what I want.

“That’s not really your style, is it? So why help humans? Why ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) protect heroes?”

“Because I feel like it.”

“Wow. That’s such a monster thing to say... I love it.”

“...What about you?”

“You’re a monster, so why are you playing house among humans? Mimicking them? Trying to rise above them?”

A question packed with layers—Gu Seoryong answered with a very monster-like logic.

“Because this way is just more efficient. You’ve heard the saying, right? Women don’t hunt—we gather. If I build a good enough nest, I don’t even need to go hunting. The food just piles up on its own.”

“That’s it?”

There was a faint whiff of a lie, so I pressed further. She gave a sly little laugh and kept talking.

“Well, there’s more. I want to be successful. I want to be beautiful. I want the perfect man to beg me to have his kid. Isn’t that every girl’s dream? And hey, all that stuff? Totally doable if my nest is flashy enough.”

“I see.”

That one felt honest. Gu Seoryong sighed—tinged with something like regret.

“So basically, you’re gonna keep siding with Starlight. Just because you want to?”

“Mm.”

“Then that makes us enemies. I want to kill that bitch.”

“Some kind of grudge?”

“Nope. I just want to eat her. Doesn’t she look delicious? So strong, so bright... If I eat her, I’ll be stronger than you, right?”

“If you’re that hungry for strength, why didn’t you go full monster already?”

Gu Seoryong was a monster.

Unlike those half-assed freaks who only mutate when needed, her full transformation would’ve been a hell of a lot stronger.

But she never crossed that line.

“Didn’t I say? Monster form’s ugly. I hate it.”

“Still, it’s the only way you even might stand a chance.”

“Even if I did, I doubt I could scratch that beast. That’s why I went with a psychological op. Push a human hard enough mentally, and cracks start to show.”

“Did you find a crack?”

“Nope~! Ugh, that damn bitch... Should’ve just killed a few civilians. That’d shake her for sure.”

“And if Starlight’s mind wavers, what then?”

“It doesn’t change things right away... but it opens a crack. That’s how mind control works—you don’t break the door down, you rot it from the inside.”

She raised a finger, a drop of venom forming at the tip, and licked it.

“My power—Venom Alchemist—doesn’t create whatever drug I want. I can only synthesize based on what my body knows. It’s picky. I have to study which combos work. If I want to use a mind-altering drug, I have to first get the subject addicted. That takes time. But do heroes ever get that? No~! They panic, scream about how I’m too dangerous, ‘must be stopped,’ ‘we’re running out of time,’ ‘brainwashed victims’—they run around like their asses are on fire and ruin everything.”

“You sure talk a lot.”

“Oh? Not a fan?”

“I’m trying to sleep.”

“Hehe, but you know what? You’ve been pretty chatty too.”

“...Yeah. Guess I have.”

Come to think of it, I was talking more than usual. Probably because she was a fellow lab rat. Someone who understood.

The moment I admitted that, she giggled.

“Well, anyway... given how things are, I’m going with Plan C.”

“You mean that foresight power?”

“Nope. I mean Plan C, as in: fake my escape and hide right under their noses. But honestly? You’re kinda dumb sometimes. I bet if we had a kid, it’d be perfect. Smart like me, strong like you. Don’t you think?”

“No thanks.”

“Aww~ fine. I’ll find a place somewhere in Zone 4. If you ever change your mind, just come find me. All you have to do is court me~ and I’ll tell you where.”

WUUUUNG... WUUUNG...

Her monster core began humming softly, like it was whispering something. I frowned. A thought pushed itself into my mouth.

“Why are you telling me all this? Weaknesses, location... things you shouldn’t want me to know.”

“Huh? Duh. I’m courting you. I’m saying, ‘Hey, I’m harmless. I won’t hurt you. Let’s make a baby!’ That stuff’s crucial for monsters like us. You never know who’s gonna rip out your throat.”

“Didn’t you say you’d get your revenge?”

“A woman’s revenge is watching the man who rejected her grovel and beg. ‘Should’ve had a baby with me~ You’re so much better than her~ Please give me another chance~’ That’s the dream, baby.”

“...Is that so? I don’t really get it.”

“Yeah, you clearly don’t know shit about women. You probably haven’t even realized why I actually showed myself to you, huh?”

“Why did you?”

“Heh. What kind of female just walks past a male she likes without saying something?”

She squatted in the sandbox again, letting the kids crawl around her as she swished spit in her mouth, then ptooey—hocked a long, sticky string onto the sand and started smearing it over my body like paste.

“What kind of venom is this?”

“Oh please. What kind of lunatic would poison sand kids are playing with? It’s just my spit. Pure and simple.”

“Whoa, your spit’s like a fountain!”

“You got a water purifier in your mouth?”

“Bleeeeh!”

“Ew! Gross!! AHAHAHA!”

Gu Seoryong kept filling her mouth with spit and dumping it into the sand. The kids laughed and stuck it on my body like mud.

Then, with a sharp exhale, she jumped and landed gracefully on the top of the park wall.

“Well then—see you later, Mister Strong-and-Silent. And quit flirting with other women, alright?”

“Bye-bye, big sis!”

“See you, lady!”

“Oh~ bye-bye~♥”

As she slithered down the wall like a snake, the kids waved and shouted after her. Yu Hyena walked up, confused.

“...Was someone on that wall just now?”

“A snake.”

“A s-snake?! Oh my god. Kids, come here right now!”

“She’s gone already.”

Panicked, thinking a snake had bitten someone, Hyena started pulling the kids close—then paused when she saw the state I was in.

“You’re really gonna stay lying there? What if a villain shows up? You’re supposed to be guarding this place!”

“Doesn’t matter. They won’t.”

“What? How can you be sure of that?”

I pulsed my monster core. Let a faint frequency ripple out.

Far off, still somewhere in Zone 4, I felt Gu Seoryong hunting down some idiot villain who was making a fuss.

Cleaning up your nest before settling in—it’s just monster instinct.

“They can’t come.”

Corpses don’t cause trouble.