Became a Failed Experimental Subject-Chapter 30: It’s Free Food
“No... not an alias. Your name.”
“Park Dundeun.”
“Hm... right. Well, I guess names don’t really matter between us, do they? Wow, this is weird. Running into another experimental subject in human form, out here.”
It was the same for me.
I never expected to run into someone like me—another experimental subject—outside the lab. I wasn’t on stimulants right now, I wasn’t in monster form, and no one was forcing me to fight.
Gu Seoryong awkwardly pulled back the hand she had offered and folded her arms.
“So? Dundeun came here just to earn some cash in the arena?”
“I came to find something that was stolen.”
“Hm? Something got stolen? From you? Who had the balls?”
“A metal bracelet... no, a necklace. It was my parents’ keepsake.”
“Oh?”
I had no reason to hide it, so I told her directly. Gu Seoryong widened her eyes in genuine surprise.
“You had something like that, CXI? That’s kind of amazing. A keepsake from your parents, huh.”
“Don’t you have one?”
“Which one? A keepsake? Parents? I’ve got neither.”
“Were you born without parents?”
“I grew up in an orphanage, so yeah. Anyway... if it’s a keepsake from your parents, I can see why you’d come all the way here. But then why the arena?”
“They said I had to pay an entrance fee.”
“Aha~ So you joined the arena just to earn that? Hahaha! That’s hilarious. Fighting in the arena for a hundred bucks?”
Gu Seoryong laughed hard, then gradually dialed it back. She snapped her fingers—click, click. It didn’t seem to be an ability trigger, just a habit.
“If it was stolen, the black market in the back is your best bet.”
“I doubt it’s there. The guy who stole it said he was gonna put it around someone’s neck.”
I repeated the words that thief bastard had said. Gu Seoryong’s expression twisted faintly.
“What, planning to give it to some whore he’s into or something...? You know what the thief looked like?”
“Seemed like a loan shark.”
“I’ll track him down and bring him to you. Do whatever you want with the body—toss it, eat it, I don’t care.”
It was a rather monstrous display of kindness. I gave a nod, and Gu Seoryong looked me over, as if lost in thought.
“...So, what are you gonna do once you find it? Got a place to go?”
“I plan to sleep in the park.”
When I said that, Gu Seoryong’s eyes gleamed like a snake staring down its prey.
“So you’re broke and homeless, huh? You should’ve just said so! What a treat.”
“You like treats?”
“Aha! I like them in many ways. What about you? Like treats?”
“I’ll eat if they’re there.”
“Hm, then maybe we really are a good match?”
Gu Seoryong stepped closer and adjusted her body proportions. She didn’t seem hostile, so when she placed her hand on my waist, I let her.
Then she spoke quietly.
“Looks like you didn’t come here specifically to find me... but if you made it all the way to Guryong Fortress, you must at least know what kind of place this is.”
“This is your nest, isn’t it.”
“My nest! Ahahaha! That’s a word only we would understand. I like it. Yeah, this is my nest. And here... you’ll find whatever it is you’re looking for.”
“Whatever I’m looking for?”
“Yeah. Treats, food, drugs—whatever makes you happy.”
She placed her other hand on my shoulder, and her now-liquefied arm wrapped around me like a snake.
“So? I feel like we’d get along great. Don’t you have a lot of questions too?”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying it’s a rare coincidence that we ran into each other. So let’s talk. I’ll show you around my nest while we’re at it.”
“Sounds annoying.”
“Oh my, I like you even more. I hate dumb guys who just say yes when you seduce them.”
“That tickles.”
I grabbed G3’s fingers that were tickling my chest like worms and twisted them.
She dropped one finger like a lizard tail and backed off, rapidly regenerating a new one.
“Phew... I like violent guys even more.”
Gu Seoryong licked the blood off her freshly regrown finger with her forked tongue.
I stared at the twitching severed finger still in my hand—and swallowed hard.
It was about time I got hungry...
When she saw that, Gu Seoryong clutched her stomach and laughed.
“AHAHAHA! Yeah, you’re getting hungry, right? So? There’s a ton of good food inside. How about a meal?”
“You’re offering me food.”
“As much as you want. Eat until you’re full. And while you’re eating, I’ll have that thief brought over.”
“Hm.”
Free food is always the right choice.
I could pick up the necklace afterward.
I nodded, thinking this wasn’t a bad deal. Gu Seoryong beamed and clapped her hands.
Immediately, the men in suits waiting outside the tent came in.
“M-Ma’am... Who is this person?”
“He’s my guest. Hmm, more like a fellow classmate? Someone I used to know. Didn’t recognize him at first, he’s changed so much.”
“Your... classmate?”
“Yeah. We’ll be heading up to eat, so tell them to clear out the entire third floor.”
“But the guests right now...”
“You dumbass! You think I don’t know that? Clear it out now!”
“And you there—go find the loan shark who came in today with a metal chain necklace and bring him up.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The men in suits rushed out of the tent, and Gu Seoryong waved for me to follow her.
I did, and she led me to one of the buildings in the arena compound.
It was labeled “Management Office.”
We took the external elevator that led up to the third-floor rooftop. As we arrived, some of the suited men were forcefully ejecting loud, complaining guests.
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“Fuck this! Do you know how much I spent here?! You call this service?!”
“Bring out Gu Seoryong, not some flunky!”
“Shut the hell up and get down! We said we’ll refund you!”
“Oh? That’s weird. Didn’t I say clear out the floor?”
“M-Ma’am...! It’s, uh, just now being...”
“Ugh, how embarrassing. Seriously. Sorry, I’ll clean this up real quick.”
Gu Seoryong walked over with the sound of her heels clacking and snapped her fingers.
Everyone on the rooftop—suits and guests alike—rolled their eyes back and collapsed, twitching in place.
Judging by the scent and reactions, she probably triggered her hallucinatory illusion power—something like the sensation of suffocating in fire.
Then Gu Seoryong kicked their bodies off the rooftop.
“Kyaaah!”
“What the hell?!”
“Someone just fell off!”
Screams rang out below as the bodies hit the ground, but soon the noise was drowned out by loud music.
Gu Seoryong sat at the now-cleared table and waved over some nearby suits.
One of them brought over a menu from a rooftop bar table.
“Bring everything from here to here. And you guys? From now on, no eavesdropping.”
She snapped her fingers again, activating her sound-nullifying ability.
A silence curse. Now no one on the rooftop could hear a thing.
The suited staff began bringing out food and drinks without a word.
“You’re hungry, right? Don’t mind me—dig in! We got a decent chef just recently.”
“Okay.”
I sat across from Gu Seoryong and started eating.
The food was shockingly good.
It caught me off guard.
I grabbed a roasted pork leg by the ankle and bit into it, while Gu Seoryong twirled pasta around her fork and spoon and laughed out loud.
“Ahaha! You must’ve been starving. Don’t tell me you’ve been going hungry?”
“I eat enough.”
“From now on, if there’s anything you want to eat, just say the word. I’ll make sure you get as much as you want.”
“I don’t fall for lies like that.”
“Oh my, it’s not a lie.”
“Even restaurants with ‘unlimited ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) rice refills’ eventually say, ‘That’s enough after 20 bowls.’”
“Huh? Rice? Ahaha! I’m not some cheap diner.”
Gu Seoryong leaned on the table with her chin in her hand, watching me eat with interest.
“If CXI said he wanted to be fed by my side, I’d probably keep feeding him forever.”
No way in hell.
I mentally rejected her words as I remembered the truth.
Even restaurants that swear “We’re really unlimited! For real!”
Eventually stop serving and say they can’t give you more.
That’s how cold society is.
As I quietly chewed on the meat without answering, Gu Seoryong seemed to pick up on my distrust and changed the subject.
“There’s more than just food here, y’know. You saw the arena already, right? There’s a ton of fun stuff in the black market too. Good vibes all around.”
“Too noisy.”
“Ahaha! That’s probably from the outdoor club over there. But hey, once you get used to it, it’s not so bad. Don’t you think that bass feels kinda nice?”
I made a comment to get her to stop talking while I ate, and Gu Seoryong pointed behind me.
In the central yard of the apartment complex—next to the arena—was a playground currently being used as an outdoor club.
From a distance, I could see people dancing to the beat of the music.
“Feels like a monster pulse.”
“It’s not quite infrasound, but there’s a definite low-frequency wave. What do you think? I tuned it to match the sound monsters make when they’re courting.”
“Now that you mention it, it’s similar.”
“Oh? So you do know? Have you been courted before~? I heard you were pretty young, CXI. When was it? After you got out?”
“I just witnessed it once.”
“Reaaally~? Hehe, doesn’t it heat up your body when you hear it? It seems to work a little on humans too, but for monsters like us, it’s like whispering dirty talk directly into the ear, right?”
“Not really.”
I replied flatly, and as I looked toward the club, I noticed a group of humans—naked, having sex on the dancefloor.
It was strange enough that I asked Gu Seoryong out of pure curiosity.
“Can monster pulses affect humans in ways other than fear?”
“That? Nah, they’re just high out of their minds.”
Now that she mentioned it, I saw people flashing wads of cash at men in suits, and those men handing out small pieces of what looked like paper in return.
That must be the drug. The ones sticking the paper to their tongues had unfocused eyes and were wheezing, laughing nonstop like they were broken.
“Interested? Wanna try? Ten sheets at once supposedly work even on monsters like us.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Hehe... Well, if you ever wanna eat some ‘rice cakes,’ we can do it together later. It’ll feel reeeal good.”
“Doesn’t sound very tasty.”
Putting drugs on rice cakes... how utterly tasteless.
You’re only supposed to smear honey on rice cakes.
Well, soy sauce might be acceptable... I gnawed on the bone of my roasted meat like a handle and gave Gu Seoryong another answer to shut her up.
“You ever played cards? Wanna go to the casino after we eat?”
“The casino—is that the noisy place downstairs?”
“Yup! Basement level. Just watching the people go crazy down there is fun. You’re a monster, so you get it, right? Humans’ screams, cheers—those intense emotions? Just licking them off the air is so sweet.”
Fair enough.
I nodded and gulped down the fizzy drink beside me.
Turns out it was alcohol. I grimaced, and Gu Seoryong picked up the bottle next to her and showed it to me.
“Haha! How is it? Tastes good? It’s called Dom Pérignon. Supposedly super expensive even before the monster age...”
“I don’t like alcohol.”
“Hmhm, really? Well, yeah—I didn’t think it tasted great either.”
“No cola?”
As soon as I said I didn’t like it, Gu Seoryong flipped the bottle upside down and dumped out the rest.
Then she grabbed a glass bottle of cola and tossed it my way.
I caught the cola, popped the cap off with my finger—pop—and downed it in one go.
“Hm... so you’ve been out of the lab for a while, huh?”
“Not that long.”
Gu Seoryong noted my strength control as she watched me, then raised an eyebrow.
Suddenly, I found myself wondering how she ended up here and not in a lab. I set my meat down and asked:
“How long’s it been for you?”
“Oh my, is that the first question you ask a lady? Hm... let’s see...”
She raised a fist, held up two fingers, and flicked out her long, split tongue beside them with a smirk.
“Maybe... four years? What about you?”
“Hm.”
I thought back to the day I woke up in W-City.
It wasn’t long ago.
Or maybe it was.
“Not even half a year.”
“...That’s it?”
Gu Seoryong sounded genuinely stunned. She picked up a wine glass from the side and tossed it at me.
I caught it and chugged it without flinching. That only made her stare at me harder, completely dumbfounded.
“Hah... You’ve gotta be kidding me...?”
