Became a Failed Experimental Subject-Chapter 45: Villain or Hero?

“Um, would you like to take a look first? You’ll understand when you see.”

“KHEUUHH—!”

Gulp, gulp, gulp—

Han Muryo lifted a steaming bowl of soup rice like it was beer and chugged it in massive mouthfuls.

The server's eyes went wide as saucers when the empty bowl hit the table.

Without missing a beat, Han Muryo downed the next bowl in just about ten seconds.

For him, one bowl of soup rice was equivalent to a single spoonful for Yu Hyena.

“Right away, ma'am!”

“More garlic chives, too.”

“Yes, of course! I’ll bring them!”

“Haaah...”

Yu Hyena let out a heavy sigh and started eating her own soup rice slowly, carefully.

I can’t believe I even had a heartbeat for this guy for a second.

Still... Han Muryo’s complete lack of hidden motives somehow made her feel safe.

“Take your time. Eat until you’re full. I won’t say anything.”

“I am eating slowly.”

“You’ve already emptied four bowls!”

“Here’s your soup ri—woah, seriously?! Should I clear these away?”

“Ten bowls... no, just keep bringing more until I say stop.”

“Understood!”

Even the restaurant owner—who looked like a middle-aged man—personally came out to deliver the new bowls, his voice filled with amazement, clearly there to see if this was real.

Guess this is what you call an unexpected jackpot, Yu Hyena thought dryly, watching him leave with a delighted smile.

She turned to Han Muryo, who was steadily working through another bowl.

“Do you really like soup rice that much?”

“Soup rice is the best food. It's cheap, comes out fast, there’s a lot of it, and the broth makes it very filling.”

“...So you like it not because it’s delicious, but because it’s filling?”

“It’s delicious, too.”

“No, I mean... if it’s just about getting full, we could’ve gone somewhere a bit nicer, you know.”

Feeling a little disappointed, Yu Hyena glanced around.

Meanwhile, Han Muryo finished his tenth bowl and spoke.

“Every foreman at every job site says the same thing. The only thing you’re allowed to freeload is soup rice.”

“...Huh?”

“Three bowls maximum.”

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Wait... does that mean he’s been deliberately choosing something cheap because he knows how much he eats?

For some reason, that thought made Yu Hyena feel a little better.

She peeked at the menu.

“...Do you like boiled pork slices?”

“I’ve never had them. Too expensive.”

“Excuse me! Could we get four plates of boiled pork too, please?”

“You like boiled pork?”

“I ordered it for you.”

Han Muryo’s eyes widened—and then he began tearing into the food with even more enthusiasm.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t messy about it.

He handled his spoon neatly, and if you ignored the sheer amount he was °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° consuming, he actually looked... almost wholesome.

Glancing at the steadily growing mountain of empty bowls—and the rising total on the check—Yu Hyena quietly opened her bag and slipped out Yu Anna’s credit card.

She had planned to pay for this herself...

but considering Han Muryo ate at the soup kitchen for free, and it was Yu Anna who’d insisted on "feeding him like a bodyguard," she figured it was fair.

As Han Muryo happily devoured the meal, he suddenly spoke up.

“I have a question.”

“Hm? If you’re wondering if you can really keep eating until you’re full, then yes, like I promised—”

“What is just punishment?”

“...Punishment?”

The way he shoveled a huge handful of garlic chives into his soup and crushed them between his teeth overlapped strangely in Yu Hyena’s mind with the sound of him crushing those muggers’ hands last night.

Last night—when Han Muryo had stopped mid-beating after she pleaded with him—

this must be the question that had stayed with him.

“I thought about it while I was sleeping.

Was it wrong for me to break their hands just because I’m not human?”

“Han Muryo, even superhumans are still human.”

“I am different from humans.”

“Well, sure... but still, legally, we’re all treated the same.”

“Legally.”

“Yes. Whether the criminal is a villain, or the person arresting them is a hero, the same laws apply.

If two normal people were involved, and one broke the other's hands during an arrest, it would be called excessive force.

So it’s wrong for you too, Han Muryo.”

Yu Hyena found herself thinking of something her sister had once said.

Even if the one resisting was a villain—

even if the citizen refused to cooperate—

heroes couldn’t kill casually.

They had to protect lives, not end them.

Killing was a last resort, only for when there was truly no other way.

It was suffocating, but that was the law.

“Why must such things be obeyed?”

“...Wait, do you even know what a law is?”

“I have a rough idea. I only learned about it recently.”

“...Were you locked up somewhere?”

“Something like that.”

What kind of life did this man live, to talk like this?

She’d met all kinds of people working in Zone 4, but she’d never heard anyone say things like this before.

“Well... laws are the rules that allow people to live together peacefully.

Like right now—if you really wanted to, you could beat up the restaurant owner and steal food, couldn’t you?

But you don’t. Why?”

“Because the owner would get hurt.”

“Exactly.

Laws exist so that we can live happily without hurting each other.”

The owner, glancing nervously at them, placed another steaming bowl of soup rice on the table.

Han Muryo blinked thoughtfully, his mind working.

Then, after clearing yet another bowl, he asked:

“What if the other side breaks the rules first?”

“We don’t know their situation.

The people you beat up last night were criminals, sure—but not every criminal is a monster.

Some are desperate.”

“Desperate?”

“Yeah. Some people steal just to survive.”

“If you want to survive, you can work at a construction site.”

...He’s not wrong.

In a functioning society, anyone willing to work hard could earn a living.

So why did some people still steal?

“Well... sometimes even finding work isn’t possible.

Some kids steal because they’re forced to.

Some people are blackmailed into it.

Not everyone has a choice.”

“Not everyone?”

“Right.

And punishing those people the same way as real villains...

doesn’t feel fair to me.”

“Government assistance.”

“...What?”

“You mentioned it. The government offers support programs.”

Just like she was telling Han Muryo now, Yu Hyena had often told the residents of Zone 4 the same thing:

There were welfare programs run by the government to help people in need.

If they applied, they could receive initial aid, and with that, slowly start rebuilding their lives.

“Those with strength who still break the rules don't even try to find another way.

They pick up knives and turn on their own kind, licking up the blood they spill.”

“...Some of them just don’t know there’s a better way.”

“Even animals, when hungry, prefer to hunt rather than eat their own kind.

It’s rare for them to turn cannibal.

Only monsters make that their first choice.”

“...People who choose crime with full awareness of what they’re doing deserve punishment for it.”

On that point, Yu Hyena agreed.

If someone knew there were other paths, but still chose crime out of selfishness, they had to be punished.

Just like how a child who gets burned learns that fire hurts—

a criminal had to learn that their actions would spark outrage, not just personal gain.

“Then why say they shouldn’t be punished?”

“Because we don’t know what exactly they did.

Not right away.”

“They pointed a knife at you.”

“...Those people, yes.

But others might have different reasons.

Some people pick up a knife just hoping they can get formula for their baby without hurting anyone.”

“Then those ones shouldn’t be punished?”

“Yes. But if we start doling out brutal punishments without asking questions,

if every thief, every robber is treated the same way...

excessive punishment could become the new norm.

People would be punished too harshly even before we know why they did what they did.”

“I see.”

“...You really understood that?”

“If we punish every thief by cutting off their hands,

then even those who had no other choice will lose their hands.

We must consider that the one we are punishing might be weaker than we think.”

“Y-yeah, exactly.

That’s why everyone who commits a crime should face a lighter, standard punishment first.

And if further investigation shows they truly had malicious intent, then harsher punishment can follow.”

“Investigations are done by police, then.”

Yu Hyena nodded—and found herself feeling strangely emotional.

Wait... this guy I thought was a brute might actually be pretty smart?

Maybe he wasn’t joking about being locked away somewhere until recently.

Han Muryo, looking as if he were writing brand-new knowledge onto a blank slate, stopped eating for the first time, mumbling thoughtfully.

“Investigations exist to find out someone’s true intentions.”

“That’s right.”

“If you already know their true intentions, then you can punish them immediately.”

“Well... that’s why psychic ability users who can read minds sometimes testify in court cases.”

“If you know what’s in their heart, punishment is justified?”

“No, no, no, not quite.

One person’s judgment isn’t enough.

You can’t tell if someone’s lying just because one psychic said so.

That’s why we have trials, and evidence, and a whole court process.”

“Monsters are executed immediately, but monster-like humans are not?”

“...If you put it that way, it sounds bad. Heroes can’t talk like that.”

“I’m not a hero.”

Yu Hyena felt a small, but heavy shock at those words.

And he was right.

Strictly speaking, the man in front of her was an illegal superhuman.

Not a hero.

Not a villain either.

“Non-humans dying helps humans survive.

Then why hesitate to kill them?”

“...You’re not exactly wrong but... W-wait a second, Han Muryo, have you ever killed a person?”

“I have.

Those who slaughtered children like garbage.

And...

one human who asked me to kill them, while they were dying.”

Crunch.

CRUNCH.

Han Muryo bit down hard on a chunk of meat still attached to a bone, his voice steady and casual—

the same tone he used when saying today’s soup rice was delicious.

How could a voice carry the scent of blood like this?

It didn’t feel like talking to a human.

It felt like conversing with a beast.

The illusion that maybe, just maybe, she was imagining things—

slowly crumbled as the greasy smell of the soup rice turned nauseating in her nose.

“You don’t seem shocked or afraid, even hearing I’ve killed people.”

“Well, that’s... this is the world we live in now.

A world where people die to monsters like it's nothing...”

“Yet you still say killing humans is wrong. Why?”

“That’s...”

“If a piece of fruit is rotting, you cut it off before eating it.

If you don’t, you’ll get sick.

Why not do the same with humans?”

“Because humans aren’t bacteria.”

The longer they talked, the clearer it became:

Han Muryo’s moral compass didn’t quite match that of an ordinary human being.

And yet...

He wasn’t some mindless, bloodthirsty serial killer either.

If he were, he wouldn’t be asking her these questions.

“Han Muryo?

Would you mind if I told you why I think—even criminals—shouldn’t be killed?”

“Go ahead.”

“Of course, the people you’re talking about—the ones who killed children—

yeah, even if they were arrested, they’d probably be sentenced to death anyway.

But that’s not what you’re struggling with, is it?”

“Mm.”

“You’re not asking whether truly evil people should die.

You’re asking about everyone else—the ones who might not deserve it."

“If you cut away everything that’s even slightly rotten,

you end up slicing away the good parts, too.”

“Exactly.”

“So first, let me say this:

The reason you shouldn’t kill people is because people can change.

Even criminals can rehabilitate.

That’s why we don’t kill them.”

“...Rehabilitate?”

Han Muryo blinked, as if he were hearing the word "rehabilitation" for the first time in his life.

Almost pure.

Like a child who had strength, but no knowledge.

His hands were brutal, but his intentions—

to remove the trash that hurt others—

were strangely pure.

At that moment, Yu Hyena realized something:

Depending on what she said next,

Han Muryo could either become a villain—

or a hero.