The Monster Aspires to Be a Hero!

I returned home and unwrapped the bandages tightly binding my body.
Thanks to Greed, my body had already fully recovered.

I’m starving!
Greed complained of hunger, likely from the considerable energy expenditure.
Despite sharing my body, his meals don’t make me feel full.
I’ve seen research indicating ability users have higher basal metabolic rates than ordinary people – perhaps Greed was in a similar situation?
Greed took eggs and Vienna sausages from the fridge, starting to fry them in a pan.
I removed a stew from the fridge to reheat and defrosted some rice from the freezer.
After around 5 minutes, a meal portioned for about three adult males was prepared.
Greed deftly began eating with chopsticks and a spoon.
While an increasingly familiar sight, it still felt peculiar to witness.
Finishing his meal, Greed hummed in satisfaction.
It felt like gaining an annoying new roommate.

After showering, I picked up the core obtained from the mimicking monster.

Let’s go!
As Greed drew energy from the core, he simultaneously used psychometry on it.
My vision darkened momentarily before seeming to glimpse something briefly.
A warehouse-like building, facing someone there.
And that was it.
“Is this the end?”

It seems someone has an ability interfering with psychometry, like me.
Closing my eyes, I recalled the fleeting psychometric vision.
Someone stood before the monster.
Too blurred to discern gender or any distinct features.
But they were quite tall, and crucially, the monster hadn’t attacked them.
“A human the monster didn’t attack…”

Or perhaps that person was a monster too.
“Or if not… a monster tamer?”

Could be.
If that person was human, it might unravel the 20-year mystery surrounding monsters.
The secrets of where they originate and why they manifest to wreak destruction.
If it was a mimicking monster, it implied communication between them was possible.
That mere destructive beasts were gaining sentience.
Complicated feelings arose either way.

Will your stamina suffice?
Of course.
Just in case, I donned dark clothing with a face mask before exiting through the window.
Leaping across rooftops, I felt an inexplicable cloying sensation in the air.
Though immune to cold since Greed’s merger, the heat still caused a light sweat.

Over there.
Following Greed’s guidance, we arrived at the site of yesterday’s monster battle.
Normally, subcontractors would be mobilized to handle larger monster remains, but since this was human-sized, the ability response team had immediately processed the scene.
Still, the damaged road and shattered buildings remained untouched, that devastation lingering.
I hope the shop owners were alright…

They were surely insured anyway.
Even if insured, payouts might not suffice.
The government should properly compensate them…

There are more pressing matters now!
Greed urged me to hurry the investigation, metaphorically rapping my head.
Brushing his hand away, I cautiously surveyed the surroundings.
Crossing the barrier restricting public access, I examined where the monster’s body had been.
It was currently 1 AM, with virtually no human presence, but I remained wary while using my abilities, just in case.
However, contrary to expectations, I gleaned no insights whatsoever.

I want results on the first try!
Greed began throwing a tantrum over my unfruitful return home.
This level might qualify as anger management issues…

The next day.
I woke slightly later than usual before starting my preparations.
Though mentally and physically drained from battling the monster yesterday, taking rest was not an option.
Today was Friday, the workday at the hero office.
This feels more like a commuting office worker than a hero. Kuhuhuh!
With half-lidded eyes, Greed mocked me while I showered.
Yet his words weren’t entirely wrong, leaving me unable to refute them.
In a society where heroism became an occupation, such peculiar sensations did arise occasionally…

Yummy, yummy!
While I dried my hair, Greed began cooking by retrieving ingredients from the fridge.
Despite his frequent nonsense, mild annoyances, and excessive food and electricity costs, I had grown accustomed to him.

Yummy!
After inhaling the sautéed Vienna sausages with ketchup and veggies, Greed let out his familiar exclamation of delight.
“Don’t devour it all.”
If alone, 1kg would probably last two weeks, but with Greed, it wouldn’t even last three days.
At this rate, I feared depleting my savings sooner rather than later.

Monsters are money. Hunt them heroically!
Selling out your own kind? Quite the heartless fellow.

I’d prefer not to be equated with mindless beasts.
Greed drew a stern line between monsters and himself.
While peculiar, his reaction was understandable.
Compared to Greed, even the monster that had mimicked humans quite credibly would seem beastly.

“Speaking of money, I heard research facilities purchase monster remains and cores?”

Having cores would only arouse suspicion. It’s better to sell them for cash.
“I see?”
An unexpected response.
I had assumed he would suggest utilizing the core now that I had one.

These days, with your ability control maturing, we don’t need to go hiking for cores anymore.
Greed had adapted to generating energy from food ingredients instead of cores within my body.
Reducing that energy consumption removed the need to continually acquire cores through hiking trips, affording more leeway.

It would be better to quickly sell off the cores and byproducts, then prepare your suit.
Greed seemed eager to manifest the suit design he envisioned.
While unsure about the mimicking monster’s pricing, I shouldn’t expect too much from it.

Why’s that?
“Why? Because of its small size.”
Monsters had changed South Korea… no, the entire world.
Due to their immense size, a single monster appearance caused tremendous human and property damage.
Insurance companies were decimated, with survivors raising premium ceilings exorbitantly.
Monsters were akin to unpredictable natural disasters.
If one manifested near your home, familial collapse was inevitable.
The government had to intervene under such circumstances.
Yet no nation could endlessly shoulder such burdens.
Money didn’t grow on trees, and tax revenues were finite.
Then heroes emerged alongside the black technology known as abilities.
Ability users created everything from monster detectors to conceptually new alternative energies.
Those new alternative energies utilized monster remains and cores as an environmentally clean yet highly efficient new technology.
From that point, the global situation changed.
Governments allocated defense budgets towards nurturing heroes.
Heroes received state subsidies to maintain public order against villains while eliminating monsters, preventing further collateral damage.
The state purchased monster remains and cores hunted by heroes, heavily taxed.
Monsters caused damage -> The state hired heroes using subsidies to hunt monsters -> Heroes sold the byproducts at discounted rates -> Funding more subsidies and compensation from those proceeds.
Such a cycle had emerged.

So in summary?
“The monster we caught was human-sized, so its value is unlikely to be high.”

Tch.
“Let’s go.”
It was time for heroics.

Exiting my home, I headed for the Hawkeye Hero Office as usual.
Like always, I walked 6 minutes to the nearby bus stop and waited.
After boarding, I traveled around 15 more minutes to reach the office.
An unchanging daily routine.
Yet… I distinctly felt gazes upon me this time.

Not enemies.
Right, I could discern that much now too.
Different from the cloying gazes that had followed Jieun and me.
How to describe it… A warmer, more ardent heat perhaps?
As an elderly woman rose from her seat ahead of me, heading for the rear exit, I shifted aside so another elderly lady nearby could take the vacant spot.
Our eyes meeting, she thanked me before sitting.
“Thank you, young man.”
“You’re welcome.”
Such occurrences were nothing new.
Still, those gazes upon me felt distinctly more intense for some reason.
“Hey!”
Just before departing, a middle school-aged boy who had hurriedly boarded pointed straight at me.
“Hm?”
“You’re the ajusshi from the news!”
News? Ajusshi?
Was he referring to me?
“Ajusshi, you’re the hero who fought a monster near here yesterday, right?”
The kid continued gesturing as he questioned me.

I want to mince him into that ketchup stir-fry.
The ancient monster Greed, newly awakened in Korea, seemed quite displeased with this situation.
And truthfully, so was I.
At 23 years old, most would call me “hyung”, yet this brat was…
“Right?!”
“Uh, not sure about the news, but you mean me?”
Being preoccupied searching for the monster’s traces yesterday, I hadn’t had time to check the news.
And Greed had expended considerable energy too, peacefully resting overnight.

With an excited expression, the brat took off his backpack, retrieving a notebook that he thrust towards me.
“Can I get your autograph, ajusshi!”
Prompted by his exclamation, the bus became enveloped in a peculiar fervor.

Oh, that must be the person from the news?

Hey, awesome! I just boarded and that guy from yesterday’s news is here!
Rustle rustle.
The passengers’ gazes grew tremendously heated.
An urge to flee the bus washed over me.

Kuhuhuh. This is the super hero Greedman!
Hearing Greed’s nonsense unexpectedly helped me regain clarity.
I proceeded to showcase my carefully practiced autograph skills, having prepared for such eventualities.
While the ardent public attention felt rather draining, witnessing someone happily smiling because of me brought an unimaginable sense of joy.