Ch.127Meow

Hyena looked up at me while checking the job search website again.

“Other places might be similar, so I’ll text around to see if they’ll hire people from A City… By the way, Mu-ryo, did you come from A City?”

“I was born in W City.”

“Have you lived here since before the cities were numbered with alphabets? My sister and I are like that too.”

“Oh.”

So Starlight was also from W City.

Seeing my interest in this new information, Hyena tapped her phone screen and said:

“Did you also go to A City during the superhuman draft? Hmm? But wasn’t that a new design earlier? The superhuman registration card itself didn’t exist before.”

“I went and got it made recently.”

“Recently? When? How? There haven’t been any trains from W City to A City in the past few days…?”

“I had business to take care of, so I walked there and back.”

“You walked? You shouldn’t do such dangerous things!”

Hyena, who had been questioning my superhuman registration card, became angry when she heard I had walked to A City.

“People these days stay in shelters and make a lot of misconceptions because Black Cat, who was a Despair-rank monster, is so unusual, but monsters are monsters! If you happen to encounter a monster while wandering outside the city these days, even if you’re an A-rank superhuman… especially recently! In such a dangerous place…!”

“You’re noisy.”

“You walked back too, right? Fortunately, you returned safely, but what if you had been attacked by a group of monsters alone…! No, and how did you even leave? You didn’t use the regular route, did you? That’s illegal!”

“Hmm.”

“I’m not finished! Don’t cover your ears! Mu-ryo!”

When I covered my ears with both hands because I didn’t want to listen, Hyena clung to my arm.

I started spinning in place to shake her off.

As the rotation got faster and my feet left the ground, Hyena became frightened and curled up in midair.

“Kyaaaah!”

“What’s that?”

“Looks like a couple playing roughly.”

“Okay, I get it, Mu-ryo! I’ll stop, so stop spinning! I’m scared!”

Sensing that Hyena was genuinely frightened, I slowly stopped spinning and put her down.

That was fun. Too bad it’s over.

“Haaah…”

Hyena, now on the ground, crouched beside me with a tired expression and leaned her head against my leg.

After resting briefly, she suddenly stood up, frowning and glaring at me.

“Mu-ryo, are you really a child? Why do you do such dangerous things?”

“It’s not dangerous.”

“Yes, maybe it’s not dangerous for you because you’re strong. But what if you die doing something like that?”

“I won’t die.”

“You really don’t listen. Do you have to do everything your way and make people worry about you?”

“I won’t listen.”

“Argh, really! Ow…!”

Unable to contain her anger, Hyena punched my stomach but then clutched her wrist in pain.

“You’re weak.”

“Haah…! Why did you go to A City anyway, and what did you do there?”

I recalled what I did in A City and briefly explained everything except for the laboratory and Gu Seo-ryong.

“I ate chicken in A City.”

“What?”

“I also ate sashimi with the money on my superhuman registration card.”

“Did you go to A City because there are fewer and fewer jobs in W City, and you were hungry?”

“Hmm.”

That wasn’t it, but when I didn’t answer, Hyena created her own understanding of why I went to A City and apologized.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you risked your life to earn money. But still, it’s too dangerous. If you had contacted me… if you’re that hungry next time, come to me.”

“Does that mean you’ll always buy me meals?”

“That’s, well, if possible?”

“You’ll give me free meals?”

“Every day… you want to have meals with me every day?”

Having meals with Hyena isn’t too noisy, so that’s good.

Just as I nodded at the mention of free food, some women passing by said strange things as they crossed the street to the opposite side.

“Oh my, did you hear that? He said he’d buy her meals every day…”

“Must be a kept man. He seems to be a superhuman, how interesting.”

“But he has a good body and looks good too, wouldn’t he make a decent kept man?”

“True, with that body, he’s definitely not an ordinary kept man.”

“Oh my! Oh my!”

As they kept glancing in my direction, I listened carefully, and Hyena, who was hearing the same conversation with her sharper-than-normal senses, shouted loudly:

“He’s not a kept man!”

“Oh my! Oh my! We’re sorry!”

“She heard us! What do we do! How can she hear what we’re saying from this distance?”

“They must be a superhuman couple!”

As I quietly watched the women hurry away, Hyena frowned and said:

“About buying you meals, I don’t mean I’ll just give them to you for doing nothing, okay? You have to work. You can’t be a kept man. Got it?”

“What’s a kept man?”

“It’s something you don’t need to know if you don’t already know.”

“I see.”

Then I guess it doesn’t matter if I don’t know.

Hyena took out her phone again to browse the job search site and suddenly widened her eyes.

“Oh? A job posting just went up, and it’s from the butcher shop I get meat deliveries from! They’re also giving preference to superhumans with physical enhancement abilities…”

“Can I work there?”

“The owner is someone I know well, so I think they’ll accept you. Want to go? My lunch break is over so I can’t go with you, but I’ll contact them.”

“Good.”

“Then, there are a few things you need to be careful about…”

Hyena, who was about to send me to the next job alone, taught me what not to do during the interview.

“First of all, even if you get hired, don’t show that registration card.”

“Is there another person like that convenience store manager?”

“Umm… yes. Showing it might increase hostility.”

“Why?”

“These days, superhumans coming from other cities are being treated as Black Cat’s agents by citizens. They say Black Cat wants to make people hate W City, or that Black Cat is trying to lure them to their own cities.”

Now that I think about it, there might have been such superhumans.

During meal times, words repeatedly whispered into my ears from a distance by a superhuman who manipulates sound.

G City is a Great city, B City will do anything for Black Cat, E City will all die without Black Cat.

G City’s food is also Great, B City promises more than 10 people per day if you want living sacrifices, E City will commit mass suicide if you don’t come, they really will.

They make already noisy meal times even noisier.

“If I vouch for your identity, and if you just say you came as a refugee from another city to escape monsters, there shouldn’t be any problem.”

“So they don’t hate refugees.”

“Everyone just doesn’t want to lose Black Cat; they don’t want people from other cities to die. It’s in District 6, and the location is here. Can you find it?”

“Got it.”

“Then, I’m really late…! Oh, good luck with the interview!”

After finishing our conversation, Hyena ran toward her company.

As I headed to my destination, I occasionally turned back to see Hyena waving her hand high in the air before finally parting ways and moving toward the butcher shop she had told me about.

#

At the large butcher shop building, in front of the freezer where meat was hanging in rows.

Shortly after arriving at the butcher shop Hyena had introduced me to.

“He’s got a really good physique, looks like he’d do well…”

“No ID, no phone, and his name is… what?”

“Baepoman.”

“That’s obviously a fake name, come on.”

“No, no, too suspicious. Can’t hire him.”

The employees who initially seemed pleased when I said I came to work.

All of them grew increasingly displeased as they talked with me.

“Hey, send him away, send him away. The boss got a call from some high-up’s family and said they’ve already decided to hire someone.”

“Who?”

“Don’t know, but from what I heard, someone with great strength is coming? Apparently a pretty high-ranked physical enhancement superhuman.”

“Are you serious? Really? Finally?”

“A superhuman is coming to work here?”

“That’s me.”

“You?”

“Whoever it is, it definitely won’t be someone using the name Baepoman.”

The muscular employees who had been excited about the news of a superhuman coming turned ice-cold upon hearing my words.

Hyena said she would contact the butcher shop owner, so what I’m saying should be correct.

“It really is me.”

“Just in case, text the boss and ask if this is the right person.”

“How could it be? What’s with this Baepoman anyway?”

“It means I want to eat enough meat to be full.”

“No, I didn’t ask for the meaning…”

“I texted the boss, and he’s asking who Baepoman is? The appointee’s name is Han Mu-ryo.”

“Well, that’s that. Good luck.”

“Han Mu-ryo is also me.”

At my response, all the employees frowned.

“Hey, let’s stop wasting time and get back to work.”

“I really am Han Mu-ryo.”

“Look, I know jobs are hard to find these days, but don’t do weird things.”

“Sorry, but we’ve got an appointee coming, so please leave. We’re busy with more meat to butcher because of Black Cat these days.”

I really am Han Mu-ryo.

The butcher shop employees didn’t believe me and got up, going back into the freezer.

“Seriously, I wonder if we can just cut meat like this.”

“At this rate, even rich people will end up eating cultured meat.”

After the employees closed the door, I left the butcher shop alone.

Even though Hyena had contacted them, I failed the interview.

What could have been the problem?

#

After being kicked out of the butcher shop, I didn’t give up and continued looking for work.

Nearby restaurants, factories, cafes, convenience stores… I entered any store I saw.

“S-sorry, but… our store doesn’t really hire superhumans.”

“If you’re a superhuman, why aren’t you a hero instead of working at a restaurant?”

“No, why would a superhuman obviously want to work in a factory? Are you from the audit team? No? Then get out!”

“You’re not a robber, are you?”

“We’re not looking for new employees…”

“No ID? A person who’s obviously a superhuman… why won’t anyone hire us!”

However, every time I asked if they needed workers, I was rejected.

After wandering the streets, I eventually returned to the park in District 3.

I never thought finding a job other than construction and manual labor would be this difficult.

I miss the construction site.

Just then, a familiar face entered my field of vision.

“How’s the baby?”

“Huh? Rice Mound? W-wait a minute?”

The father who had been at the construction site and later became a road maintenance team leader.

The man I had met during my manual labor days parked his bicycle at the edge of the park, took something out of his bag, and hurried into the park.

“Delivery~! Are you number 4772? Enjoy your meal!”

“Thank yo—Whoa! Who is this?”

“He’s huge!”

I went with the father who had just completed his delivery to a nearby tree, and we had a brief conversation.

“You’re Rice Mound, right? Why are you so big now? Wow, you’ve grown even more than my baby.”

“If you eat well and sleep well, you grow.”

“What on earth are you eating? Huh? Can’t you teach me?”

“Are you doing deliveries now?”

“Ahaha! There are no jobs, you know. I have to do whatever I can to feed my child.”

“Because of Black Cat?”

“Hmm? Because… not really? Well, some of the unemployed workers do say that. Are you also upset about losing your job because of Black Cat?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Haha, there was no one at the site who earned as much as you did on their own.”

The man opened a can of soda from his pocket with a hiss and handed me one as well.

“Rice Mound, you must be having a hard time without work too.”

“Are you okay?”

“Well, I’m fine. Thanks to Starlight. Oh, you don’t have a phone, so maybe you don’t know? When team leaders who carried a lot of equipment tried to sell their construction equipment at dirt-cheap prices, Starlight said that just because it’s safe now doesn’t mean recovery projects should disappear completely, so she pushed for indefinite loans using the construction equipment as collateral.”

“What’s a loan?”

“It means they let you freely use money equivalent to the price of your construction equipment. People who had personal equipment are using that to get by while looking for work. You… no, Rice Mound, since your body is your equipment, I guess there’s nothing you can get. Have you found a job?”

“I just went, but I was rejected.”

“Hmm, how about looking for work that requires strength? Like a butcher shop? I heard they’re very busy these days because of Black Cat.”

“I went to a butcher shop and was rejected.”

“…That’s tough.”

The man quickly emptied his can, then seemed to think deeply before taking out a wad of cash from his pocket and offering it to me.

“What’s this?”

“This is what I earned today. Take it.”

“I don’t need it.”

“Don’t be like that. You eat a lot, right? It’s nothing compared to what you’ve given me before. Take it.”

I grabbed the wrist of the man who was trying to forcibly stuff the crumpled wad of cash into my pocket.

“Buy more formula for your baby.”

“He’s been on solid food for a while now!”

“That must cost even more.”

“No, come on! This is my chance to show off a little… Ah!”

“Keh!”

Just then, a child who had been targeting the man’s stationary hand ran up and snatched the wad of cash.

A pickpocket. I instinctively reached out and grabbed the child’s clothes, but the child, feeling choked, quickly took off his shirt and ran away.

“Aish, that was my day’s earnings… That’s why I told you to take it quickly!”

“Your money was stolen. Are you okay with that?”

The man just stood still, watching the child who had stolen his money run far away.

I was curious why he wasn’t angry at all about having his money stolen, so I asked, and the man smiled bitterly and said:

“Let it go. He’s just a kid. Looks like a park refugee too.”

“Park refugee?”

“You know, those kids who come from other cities asking for Black Cat to be sent to their city, those who somehow made it to W City after hearing it was safe because of Black Cat…”

In the direction of the man’s gaze were people I had seen many times before.

Refugees from other cities who had settled in a corner of the park, the ones who raised their voices most loudly whenever I ate.

“You mean the Wae-ong Faction?”

“How does someone without a phone know about the Wae-ong Faction?”