Ch.120Not a Cat

Since deciding not to eliminate Black Cat, it was inevitable that it would eventually reach Annihilation-rank.

Hoping that an Annihilation-rank Black Cat would remain the same as before was merely wishful thinking.

Black Cat, now larger than most buildings, swung its thick pillar-like tail—kururu, kururu—sweeping through the debris.

Seeing its hind legs tensing, Yu Anna, already at her limit, squeezed out her remaining special ability and set her entire body ablaze.

As her whiskers stood up like steel rods, Black Cat’s front paw lunged forward almost simultaneously with Yu Anna taking flight.

“Waaayang!”

“Kugh!”

Just passing through where Yu Anna had been moments before created such intense air pressure that it destroyed the surroundings.

Black Cat had lost its reason—a situation worse than Yeo Un-jae becoming a monster.

[What’s wrong with it?!]

[Is Black Cat attacking Starlight?!]

There was no time to mourn Yeo Un-jae’s death, no moment to celebrate defeating a monster.

Seeing Cage collapsed on the ground, Yu Anna forced her body to move, prepared to die.

She had been the one who decided not to kill Black Cat.

The person who should take responsibility for this situation…

“It’s an Annihilation-rank monster! I’ll…!”

Yu Anna’s temples throbbed with pain as she calculated her special ability, determining the optimal choice for the current situation.

Black Cat was interested in its prey right in front of it—her.

If that was the case, she wouldn’t let that interest turn elsewhere.

“I’ll lure it away! Everyone, evacuate!”

[Evacuate where?]

“Anywhere!”

Yu Anna, glowing even brighter, flew in irregular patterns—sudden stops, rapid accelerations, curves, right angles, and acute angles.

Narrowly avoiding the massive pillar-like front paws swinging at her in succession, she flew toward the outskirts of A City.

When Black Cat followed with a high jump and struck at Yu Anna with its front paw—

Pueong! Black Cat’s front paw was blown clean off.

“Uowaoang?”

The flames of annihilation burning fiercely throughout her body, Yu Anna’s light dimmed as she depleted her insufficient special ability to block Black Cat’s attack.

It looked puzzled that its front paw had been blown off.

“What’s going on…?”

That reaction was strange.

Black Cat seemed completely unaware of its own abilities.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t using any other abilities either.

When monsters undergo existence evolution, they sometimes become completely different monsters.

Did that literally mean losing their original memories and transforming into different monsters?

If that was the case, what stood before her was another monster that had devoured Black Cat.

Yu Anna bit her lip at the thought that Black Cat, following Yeo Un-jae, had vanished from this world.

The fortunate thing was that Annihilation-rank Black Cat wasn’t using its numerous abilities and was only engaging in physical combat.

That was lucky.

Yu Anna fled, melting the city ruins as she went.

If things continued like this, she could safely lure it outside the city.

Just as she thought that…

Something grabbed Yu Anna’s body.

“Ugh?!”

Telekinesis, one of the abilities Black Cat frequently used.

The wavelength was incredibly crude, as if using the ability for the first time, but its output was tremendous.

Wooduk, kkeudeudeuk—as her entire body twisted in pain, unable to even scream, something large and pink fell onto Yu Anna’s head.

She tried desperately to defend herself, but she had reached her limit.

With the impact of being hit by something heavy, Yu Anna’s vision stretched.

‘Ah….’

Kwareureurek! Yu Anna’s falling body scraped the old asphalt, collapsing trees that had broken through the ground.

After rolling for a while from the tremendous impact, Yu Anna struggled to rise with her broken arm.

Blurry vision, compressed lungs unable to draw breath.

‘I’m… dying….’

If her body were intact, she could at least buy some time.

She needed to hold out until people evacuated.

Still, she had managed to lure it outside the city.

With her body growing heavier from frustration and helplessness, Yu Anna painfully forced open her eyes that barely wanted to open, feeling blood scraping her throat.

Before her eyes was Black Cat’s enormous head.

Kuung, kuung—the widely spreading heartbeat, the low-frequency pressure from the monster core made Yu Anna realize what she had done.

They called it “despair” when there was no way out, and “annihilation” when everyone dying was inevitable.

Until now, humans had no record of eliminating an Annihilation-rank monster.

She had thought that perhaps she, who could easily hunt S-rank top-tier Despair-rank monsters, might be able to handle Black Cat after it became Annihilation-rank.

It was a delusion.

This monster couldn’t be handled by an S-rank superhuman.

“Ugh, ah, ah….”

As Yu Anna staggered to her feet, her hand was caught by Black Cat’s telekinesis and lifted up.

Its mouth opened to devour her, drool dripping from it.

Completely treating her as prey.

She should have trusted Black Cat, but not the monster.

The monster that had taken everything precious from her except her younger sister.

Dad, Mom, the firefighter who saved Yu Anna from the flames when she was a child.

That firefighter’s family, the boy who lived in that house.

Yu Anna burst into laughter at the past scenes flashing through her mind.

Ah, so this is what they call a life flashing before your eyes.

Like that firefighter, like that boy, she helped others.

She wouldn’t let monsters torment people anymore.

She would eliminate them all.

She had sworn that at the columbarium.

Yet here she was, trusting a monster, being defeated by a monster.

“…Ah.”

Beyond her darkening vision, Yu Anna saw someone running ahead, and she steeled her weakening resolve.

At least after devouring her, it might go farther away from people.

Yu Anna squeezed out her last remaining ability to shoot a single light far away.

“Over here… stupid… cat…”

However, Black Cat’s eyes didn’t react to the light and remained fixed on Yu Anna.

Just as she was about to feel despair at that realization…

[…What did you say?]

Black Cat spoke again.

Its large pupils, which had been so dilated that its green eyes were barely visible, contracted slightly as it closed its mouth that had been open toward Yu Anna.

This was something she had experienced before—Black Cat regaining its senses after losing control.

As Yu Anna, filled with complex emotions, spoke anxiously, Black Cat swallowed the drool flowing from its mouth.

“Black Cat… is that you? Our cat…?”

[I am not a cat.]

“Ah… ha, hahaha….”

Yu Anna felt relief at Black Cat’s familiar demeanor, and her body went limp.

Even as an Annihilation-rank, Black Cat was still Black Cat.

It had briefly lost its reason but ultimately returned.

[I apologize, I was briefly taken over.]

With an apology, Black Cat carefully bit the nape of Yu Anna’s limp neck.

“Taken over… what do you mean?”

[Such things happen.]

Something felt unsettling, but was it really okay?

Black Cat, carrying Yu Anna who couldn’t offer any resistance, turned toward A City and plodded along.

Though its steps were slow, its movement speed was quite fast due to its size.

“…Seriously, what’s suddenly happening here?”

She had thought Cage was dead, then Yeo Un-jae became a monster, and five Despair-rank monsters appeared in A City all at once.

Yu Anna’s mind was becoming complicated with various thoughts, but she didn’t have the strength left to question anything.

As Black Cat crossed over A City’s wall and entered, all the heroes and citizens who had been desperately fleeing froze at the sight of Black Cat and Yu Anna in its mouth.

[Everyone run away, Starlight has been defeated!]

[Starlight has been… by Black Cat…]

“I’m alive, you idiots…”

Yu Anna painfully responded to the noisy communicator, then looked at the downtown area through her increasingly closing vision.

A City had been transformed into a quiet concrete ruin, like a giant cat’s litter box.

In between, citizens who had escaped from shelters looked up at the enormous Black Cat and Yu Anna.

The city was damaged, but still…

They had survived.

Yu Anna fell asleep, hanging from Black Cat’s mouth.

#

“Bring more painkillers over here!”

“I think we need surgery… is there an empty operating room?!”

“It’s hopeless… give up on this person.”

A City, where a total of seven Despair-rank monsters had rampaged, was completely devastated.

A City, once thought to be the safest of all cities, had suffered catastrophic damage.

Most hospitals within the city had collapsed, and the insufficient hospital rooms and corridors were packed with the injured.

Among them, in a special room—a place that was originally a single room but temporarily converted into a double—

Yu Anna, wrapped in bandages from head to toe, lay on the treatment room bed looking at her phone.

Today, Baskerville officially announced Yeo Un-jae’s death.

As a result, memorial services for Yeo Un-jae were being held in communities across various cities.

In this era, it wasn’t strange for someone you met yesterday to suddenly be dead today.

People had become desensitized to death, but everyone took time to mourn the hero who had helped them endure an era.

A simple funeral without a body—his two disciples who burned the clothes Yeo Un-jae used to wear shed tears, and Meister, watching the broadcast from W City, burst into tears.

[Despite injuries from monsters and villains, Teacher Yeo Un-jae, who trained heroes for the future, finally…]

[The circumstances of the teacher’s death are still under investigation.]

No one except Cage and Yu Anna knew that Yeo Un-jae had become a monster.

Even Baskerville only knew that the monster that devoured Yeo Un-jae had used his memories.

Yu Anna herself didn’t know the details until she spoke with Black Cat.

[I’m sorry. Survive.]

‘What’s that suddenly?’

[It’s Yeo Un-jae’s last words.]

‘The teacher…? Wait, how do you know that?’

Black Cat calmly explained about the monster’s ability—

The power to read the memories of humans it had devoured.

‘What exactly happened to the teacher?’

According to Black Cat, Yeo Un-jae wasn’t a monster that appeared from elsewhere, but was devoured by a monster core lodged in his heart.

A monster core—why was such a thing in Yeo Un-jae’s heart?

Could it be related to the parasitic monster that destroyed D City?

[And he asked me to tell you that he’s still not good at reading minds.]

‘Even at the end, he’s still nagging… thank you for telling me.’

[Are you crying?]

‘…At times like this, you’re supposed to pretend you don’t see it.’

Questions remained, but since he was ultimately devoured by a monster, the same information was released to the public.

Since Yeo Un-jae had already become too weak to face monsters, citizens believed such a thing could happen.

However, regarding the incident that occurred before—

Yeo Un-jae trying to kill Cage—everyone still had questions.

[Isn’t it the parasite? The one from before…]

[Did you see the post by the A City hero? They said Gu Seo-ryong was there.]

[Gu Seo-ryong has grudges against both Starlight and Cage.]

[I heard her ability is mind control.]

[That crazy woman did it for revenge against Starlight.]

[Damn crazy villain…]

Citizens who heard that Gu Seo-ryong was in A City concluded that she had brainwashed Yeo Un-jae to kill Cage.

A City heroes maintained silence on this matter.

There was no need to assert the innocence of Gu Seo-ryong, a villain, and they had no intention of revealing their own incompetence by admitting they received help from a villain to defeat Despair-rank monsters.

Already, public opinion about A City heroes was boiling without such admissions.

[Now that it’s over, I have to say, aren’t A City heroes out of their minds?]

[How could they think of running away in that situation?]

[But what could they do? There were seven Despair-rank monsters.]

[Speaking from another city’s perspective, if they had just fled and survived, our city would have welcomed them.]

[We should be grateful they decided to fight at all…]

Some believed heroes shouldn’t even think of fleeing, while others thought heroes were human too and might want to escape.

Citizens from other cities also shared their opinions online about this.

Among them, some began to question those who claimed heroes should naturally sacrifice themselves.

[Honestly, seeing A City heroes trying to flee made me feel a bit sorry for the heroes in our city.]

[They’re really fighting prepared to die, aren’t they treated a bit poorly?]

[I used to think A City’s treatment of superhumans was excessive, but now it doesn’t seem that way.]

[But they tried to run away.]

[Not all of them wanted to flee. Just some.]

[And what can we do if superhumans flee? We can only be grateful they fight for us, nothing else.]

[The government has been conscripting heroes and forcing them to fight for so long that we take it for granted, but heroes are really sacrificing a lot.]

The fear that heroes might leave without fighting monsters if they had no reason to protect citizens.

Heroes in each city received unexpected expressions of gratitude born from this fear-based respect, giving them mixed feelings.

[When I saw them trying to flee, I thought they were… pathetic.]

[I don’t know what to think anymore.]

[When you think about it, the real garbage is the government, not the heroes.]

[There are people in the government who work properly, but we definitely need to drain the corrupt water.]

Citizens felt the need to improve treatment of heroes and replace the government.

Especially now, with the central government responsible for A City’s system and the loss of the master code for food production factories.

They realized it was wrong that the entire system protecting their lives would be shaken if high-ranking government officials lost their lives.

[Why is it set up this way? Is a master code really necessary?]

[Originally when Meister first created it, it wasn’t this kind of system, but government people changed it weirdly.]

[At first it was just a function for the person in charge to have system responsibility authority for quick processing, but now it’s just a threat to maintain their power.]

[Why does Meister leave it like that…?]

[From what I know, he made it with such a thorough encryption system that even he can’t unlock it, in case villains stole it.]

[Damn, there are worse garbage in the government than villains.]

[It would be a good system if we replaced all those trash.]

[But if we replace everyone, there won’t be anyone who knows how to manage the system.]

[This is hopeless.]

[If we leave it alone, it will keep rotting. Maybe we should prepare ourselves and sweep it all away.]

[Cage might have reason for a sudden coup.]

[Ah… Lord Cage…]

[What will happen to Cage…?]

Yu Anna, after reading people’s discussions, turned her gaze to the bed on the other side of the room.

The sound of a heart monitor—tu, tu—and various tubes and mechanical devices embedded throughout the body.

Cage, who collapsed after the battle that day, still hadn’t regained consciousness.

According to the examination results, more than half of Cage’s heart had already disappeared.

Parts of his ruptured heart seemed to have been gnawed away, torn in various places.

He was already in a state where he couldn’t function properly, either as an awakened one or as a human.

Nevertheless, quick measures were taken to circulate his blood with external machines, keeping him breathing.

Citizens were only told that Cage had fallen into critical condition and couldn’t wake up.

That was more hopeful than announcing his death.

“…Haah.”

What exactly happened, why did he do such a thing?

The person who should explain was in that condition.

Still, it was fortunate that he was at least breathing.

A superhuman’s regenerative power is incomparable to a human’s.

If he regains consciousness, he might not be the Cage from before, but he could live as the human Jeong Ho-young.

Probably.

[Has there ever been a case where so many Despair-rank monsters appeared at once?]

[Are they grouping up because they know S-rank heroes can handle them?]

[Since some monsters learn…]

[No, this only makes sense if something released the Despair-rank monsters, right?]

[But that makes even less sense, doesn’t it?]

Yeo Un-jae’s death, A City’s destruction, Cage’s unconsciousness, plus questions about the Despair-rank monsters that simultaneously appeared in A City.

Amid various anxieties, both Yu Anna and the citizens felt increasingly stifled.

[What should we do from now on…?]

[If even A City ends up like this, is there really any safe city left?]

And the destination of citizens’ worries and concerns was all the same place.

Yu Anna opened the newly established integrated bulletin board in each city’s community.

After this incident, all citizens’ attention was gradually converging on one thing.

[Safe city? Of course it exists!]

[W City, watched over by ANNIHILATION-RANK-MONSTER Black Cat!]

[Black Cat is truly our guardian deity now.]

W City, now self-proclaimed as the Black Cat possession city.

The header of their bulletin board repeatedly played a side view of Black Cat walking with Yu Anna in its mouth, captured by A City surveillance cameras.

[Wow, I really thought it was all over when it attacked Starlight.]

[LOLOLOLOL It was just a cat getting stronger and establishing dominance.]

[Look how it didn’t kill Starlight but carried her in its mouth because it’s attached to her.]

[Ah~ What’s this Annihilation-rank thing~ I’m just a cat~]

Why was there such a festive atmosphere here when everyone else was immersed in sadness and anguish?

Feeling embarrassed by the citizens of her city running wild on the bulletin board, Yu Anna clicked on one of the posts.

It was a video of Black Cat opening its mouth saying it was hungry after carrying Yu Anna to A City.

[Wow, seriously, A City is in that state and it’s eating 3,000 portions.]

[Is our current food shortage because of Black Cat?]

[How is that Black Cat’s fault?]

[When an Annihilation-rank monster kills all the Despair-rank ones and asks for food, we have to give it!]

[Ah, that’s true though.]