Became a Failed Experimental Subject-Chapter 46: Instinct of the Monster

Yu Hyena’s lips were dry, like she was walking a tightrope with a wild beast’s leash in her hands.

"If you care about humans, monsters must be killed."

"You mean because criminals, by instinct, are no different from monsters, they should be killed too?"

"Exactly."

"Then... Mister Muryo? Why aren’t you eating your soup?"

Spotting the untouched bowl, Yu Hyena pointed at it.

"You love food. And yet, you’re choosing to keep talking instead of eating. Why?"

"I can eat later."

"Right. You’re holding back that instinct to eat because you're more curious about this conversation, right?

And that curiosity means... you want to understand what I’m thinking, doesn’t it?"

"Yes."

"And the reason you want to understand me is... because you want to get along better with me, right?"

"...Is that so?"

"Not just with me—don't you also want to get along with other people too? That’s why someone as strong as you, Mister Muryo, doesn’t just snatch the food by force from the soup kitchen owner.

You’re holding back because you want to get along with him, too... right?"

"Hmm...."

Seeing Han Muryo sink into deep thought again, Yu Hyena pushed a little further.

"Rehabilitation is about teaching people how to overcome their instincts all over again.

If you want to understand others, you stop doing bad things.

It’s possible to fight your instincts—and that’s what makes someone human."

"If you're fighting your instincts... then you're human."

"Exactly, right?

Mister Muryo... you're holding back your instinct to devour that soup right now.

That means you’re human too."

"Human...."

"Yes. Look at Black Cat too, right? Even a monster can overcome their instincts."

Han Muryo flinched slightly, his rigid face betraying a crack as he picked up the bowl, only to put it down again without a word.

Even though he was a mutation, Black Cat had defied the natural urges of monsters to prey on humans.

He had become the ultimate proof that a monster could still choose to protect.

"If a monster can do it, why can’t a human?

Even people who seem rotten might find their way back, piece by piece."

"Doesn’t seem like it happens often."

"We just have to focus on the fact that it happens at all.

And honestly, a lot of the ones who went astray... it wasn’t because they wanted to.

It was because they had no other choice, just like you said."

"Then rehabilitation isn’t for the criminals.

It’s for the people who never did anything wrong in the first place?"

"Exactly.

Besides... if you don’t even offer them a chance, they’ll just turn into something worse.

You know what they say—corner a beast with nowhere to run, and it’ll lash out even harder.

If villains are humans who became like monsters, we should at least try talking to that tiny bit of humanity left inside them.

If even that fails... then there's nothing else we can do."

"Humanity left inside a monster...."

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Han Muryo closed his eyes slowly, then opened them, the darkness in his gaze softening just a little.

Yu Hyena had been talking about villains.

But to him, it hadn’t sounded like she was talking about someone else.

"Honestly... even saying all this, I think you’re right, Mister Muryo.

There are plenty of days when I wonder if rehabilitation is even possible.

Like, you know how they say if you force a carnivore to eat grass, it’ll get sick?"

"Because that's how it was born."

"Exactly.

That’s why, even with rehabilitation, all we can really do is believe the other person is still human.

Have you ever heard of shepherd dogs?

You can't live with a wolf, but a dog—descended from wolves—can guard the sheep.

You just have to hope it’s a dog, not a wolf, and teach it the right way.

But if it turns out it’s still a wolf... then yes, killing it is the right choice.

Still, I think it’s worth taking a close look first."

Dogs and wolves are different.

Monsters and villains are different.

Humans—even if they fall, even if they become villains—still have a chance to find their way back to being human.

"If we want a better world, even one person thinking and acting rightly matters.

And that’s why... even if someone’s a villain, we can’t kill them on sight.

If we act like it’s fine to kill anyone just because monsters exist—

If we treat crimes like they’re no big deal—

Then humans won't be fighting monsters anymore.

They’ll just be running from them."

It’s because we’re human that we resist becoming beasts.

Even when we’re hurt by beasts, we fight to protect each other.

Because we believe humans are better than beasts.

Because we have to believe that.

That’s how humanity survived.

"Rehabilitation is an ideal.

But if people don’t cling to ideals, things will never get better.

Even just believing in it—that’s necessary.

It’s a little complicated, isn’t it?"

"No.

I understand."

"...Really?"

"Humans survive because they try to follow the rule: 'Don’t kill your own.'

Isn’t that it?"

"Uh... and?"

"Believing in rehabilitation isn’t for the monsters who can't change.

It’s for the ones who made mistakes by accident.

If we abandon the idea of rehabilitation completely, humans will bleed even more than when fighting monsters."

Han Muryo’s answer was frighteningly close to the truth Yu Hyena had been trying to convey.

If we want to live happily, it’s not enough for just one person to be happy.

Everyone has to work for it—together.

"Laws exist to protect the weak.

They’re not too sharp, because if they were, they’d stab the ones they're meant to shield.

Laws remind us to see the other as human and try to talk first...."

"If you break the rules for your own gain by force... you’re not human.

You’re just another monster."

Han Muryo muttered absentmindedly, and Yu Hyena felt a strange pang ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ in her chest.

That blank expression—

It was the same empty look he sometimes wore when talking with her sister, Starlight.

The feeling that something in the conversation was slipping out of reach.

As Yu Hyena hesitated, Han Muryo, stuffing his mouth with chunks of pork, spoke again.

"Humans became strong because they fought for the weak.

Even if reality is ugly, it was the effort that made it possible."

Even if the law seems flawed, it exists to protect the weak.

Even if we fail to punish the powerful properly, it’s because we’re trying to shield the powerless.

If we let monsters' rules of strength prevail, this would no longer be a human world.

"If you’re strong enough, you don’t need to obey the law.

But choosing to obey—that’s what makes you human."

"...Exactly.

Even though... reality’s a mess."

"Doesn’t matter.

The ideal of humanity still stands."

"Y-Yeah! That’s right!"

When Han Muryo responded like he understood her, Yu Hyena couldn’t help but smile.

Because he’s human too, Han Muryo must protect humans.

Even if it’s hard—what matters is striving toward the ideal.

"Trying to be human...."

Muttering to himself, Han Muryo finally lifted the cooled bowl of soup and began to gulp it down in big, noisy swallows.

Is this what it feels like to teach love and understanding to a wild beast?

Feeling strangely proud, Yu Hyena placed an extra piece of pork into his fresh bowl of soup.

"I never imagined I’d be having this kind of conversation with you, Mister Muryo."

"Why?"

"Well...

I thought you were the type who could only say 'Meat good. Soup good.'"

"Meat good."

"Wait, wait, Mister Muryo?

You're not pretending to be an idiot on purpose, are you?"

"Not idiot."

"Mister Muryo...?"

What was he really?

Han Muryo, who seemed to have solved some inner riddle, slipped right back into his usual self.

Just moments ago, he'd seemed like a strange paradox—a beastly body carrying an intelligent mind.

Now he was just a beast, plain and simple.

What a weird guy, Yu Hyena thought, scooping up another spoonful of the fragrant soup.

Their meal ended only after Han Muryo devoured seventy bowls of soup.

"Thanks for the meal."

"Thank you! Please come again! Maybe make a reservation next time, if you can!"

"...You ate a little less today. Were you being considerate?"

"The soup’s too salty."

Thinking her own sense of what counted as a “normal meal” was getting warped, Yu Hyena briefly wondered if she should just add extra salt to only Han Muryo’s bowl next time.

With a tired smile, she accepted a loyalty card from the happy soup kitchen owner, stepped outside, and started heading home.

Meanwhile, Han Muryo, finished with his meal, was about to leap onto a streetlight again without so much as a goodbye.

"Wait, wait! It's nighttime! Can you walk me home first?"

"Hmm."

"And also, please stop breaking the streetlights! Why do you keep smashing them? Is it fun or something?"

"It is fun."

"What? No way—you’re not seriously breaking them just because it’s fun, right?"

Seeing Han Muryo slowly avert his gaze, Yu Hyena almost got angry—then ended up laughing instead.

The more she looked at him, the more he just seemed like a big kid.

A huge, troublemaking kid who, if someone patient enough taught him properly, would actually listen.

"Next time, don’t do it, okay? Streetlights are paid for with taxes, you know!

And even losing just one makes walking at night way scarier."

"Shame."

"Shame—?! No, seriously, not okay! Promise you won't break any more, got it?"

"What's a promise?"

"Oh? You don’t even know what a promise is...? Here, give me your hand like this, and—"

Yu Hyena tried to grab Han Muryo’s hand to demonstrate, but he just raised both arms above his head in confusion.

"I don’t really get what a promise is."

"Are you seriously just a little kid?"

Was this whole time just him messing around for fun?

Yu Hyena gave up thinking of Han Muryo as simply a “big child.”

No—he was a stubborn, insanely strong, full-grown kid.

The only consolation was that at least he seemed to have a decent heart.

"Look! Thanks to you, it’s all dark over here."

"The streetlight was weak."

"Augh, seriously...."

Reaching her front door, Yu Hyena gave a quick bow to Han Muryo.

Passing under the broken, flickering streetlight, she said:

"Anyway, get home safe.

And once again... thanks for helping me tonight.

Also... if there’s anything else you don’t know, feel free to come ask me anytime, okay?"

A strange feeling of responsibility was starting to take root inside her.

If someone didn’t teach this guy properly, who knows what kind of weird trouble he'd get into next?

But if you explained things carefully enough, he really did seem to understand.

Maybe chatting more when he came to the soup kitchen would be a good idea.

Just as she was thinking that, Han Muryo suddenly spoke.

"Yu Hyena, there's something I should tell you."

"What is it?"

"Once a human becomes a monster... they can never go back."

"No, they can. Even villains. They can, so—"

"I still ended up eating my fill of soup."

"Huh? Uh, wait—?"

"Not overcoming instinct.

Ignoring it.

That’s why I endure."

"W-Wait, Mister Muryo, don't suddenly—"

Before she could finish, Han Muryo closed the distance between them in a blink, his face right in hers.

Yu Hyena squeezed her eyes shut, overwhelmed by his sudden proximity—the predatory tension of a wild animal looming over her.

A low growl, rumbling like a beast in the back of his throat, brushed against her ear.

"You still look delicious to me."

"Uh—th-that’s—wait—"

A shimmering heatwave swirled above her head, even though the night air was cold.

What the hell?!

He’s way too fast!

What does he even mean—‘you look delicious’—?!

Yu Hyena’s heart hammered in her chest so hard she forgot how to breathe.

Just as she swallowed hard, feeling like the weight of the world was crushing her lungs, a sudden wail of sirens shattered the night.

Wailing from afar, echoing across the sky—

a monster alarm.

The faint but sharp sound slowly pulled her heartbeat back down to something almost normal.

Snapping back to her senses, Yu Hyena stumbled a step back, into the nearest patch of light under the remaining working streetlights.

"...Y-You're too close. Still—"

Why was this happening?

Her chest wouldn’t calm down.

From the corner of her eye, she glanced at Han Muryo standing silently under the shattered streetlamp.

But Han Muryo wasn’t looking at her.

He was staring off into the distance, frowning.

That’s when Yu Hyena realized something was wrong.

The sirens were growing louder.

Not just toward her—but over the entire city.

[Emergency Alert! Citizens of W-City, please evacuate immediately! I repeat! Emergency Alert! All W-City citizens, evacuate at once!]

BWEE-BWEE-BWEE!

Evacuation alarms screeched from houses and apartment buildings, lighting up the dark streets in sudden glaring flashes.

People rushed into the streets, sprinting for the nearest shelters.

Buildings started locking their entrances down at alarming speeds.

"Evacuate."

"Mister Muryo!"

Without crushing a single streetlight this time, Han Muryo launched himself onto the rooftop of a nearby building.

Watching him soar above the fleeing crowds, Yu Hyena remembered—

Han Muryo wasn’t just a weirdo.

He was terrifyingly powerful.

Clutching her jacket tighter around her, Yu Hyena ran for the shelter entrance.

Just moments ago, the night air had been thick with simmering heat.

Now, it was pierced by the cold, metallic voice of evacuation orders.

[Black Cat is attacking civilians! Current casualties: 5 children dead, 47 adults dead!]

Yu Hyena bit down hard on her lip.

Of course, she thought grimly.

It was only a matter of time.

[Repeat! Black Cat is attacking civilians! Citizens, avoid the monster and evacuate immediately!]