Became a Failed Experimental Subject-Chapter 3: Totally Broke

Just the possibility of getting food before it was thrown away was enough to make the park the most valuable of all trash bins.

Strangely enough, for some reason, other vagrants didn’t come here often.

However, the more I came and went from the park, the more the parents’ gazes began to sour.

Eventually, after I’d been rummaging through the trash cans enough, the police came.

“Oh, uh...? You’re... from before.”

“Mm.”

The one who came to drive me away was the same officer I’d borrowed money from not long ago.

The officer looked startled when he saw me digging through the trash and instinctively reached for the gun on his hip.

But then, perhaps remembering that bullets didn’t work on me, he lowered his hand.

“What are you... doing here...?”

“Eating.”

“Um... yeah... so, there’ve been some complaints in the area, asking us to get you to leave.”

“Who said that?”

“It’s not who said it—it’s that people, people are uncomfortable.”

“I can’t give this place up. The food people throw out here tastes the best.”

At my reply, the officer made a strange face.

A confused expression, a scent of hesitation... within the monster’s senses, fragments of thought leak out.

“I have no intention of hurting anyone.”

I spoke, reading his doubt, and the officer gave off a scent of relief.

“Oh... uh... So you’re not a villain... Maybe you awakened some power and hit your head in a bad accident or something...”

“I’m fine.”

“If you’re fine, then how about working? If bullets don’t work on you, you must be pretty strong. Go get a thorough inspection and try becoming a Hero?”

The pre-Hero detailed examination—yes, I knew about that.

They study the awakened power in full detail and run extensive physical tests for research purposes.

Even someone like me, who lived their whole life in a lab—no, because I lived that way, I knew very well what would happen next.

They’d immediately summon all the S-Class Espers from every city, pin me down, and strap me to an operating table.

“No.”

“Man, you’re something else... What do I even call this? A homeless esper?”

“What’s ‘homeless’?”

“A person without a house... But hey, where’d you get those pants? They look like firefighter gear from way back. And that bracelet? You didn’t steal those, right?”

Just a bit—but I could sense his intent to get them off me and return them to whoever he thought was the owner.

I glared at the officer, emitting a low-level bloodlust that didn’t even require activating the core.

“I didn’t steal them. They’re mine.”

“Whoa... alright, alright, sheesh, you’re definitely an esper...”

The officer shook his head and plopped down onto the bench beside me, then let out a sigh as he rummaged through his pocket.

“Hey, if you're digging through trash because you’re hungry... here, take this, go buy something to eat.”

“Are you lending it to me again?”

“Do you even intend to pay me back?”

“Mm...”

Come to think of it, I had no way to repay him, since I couldn’t earn money.

As I hesitated, realizing this reality, the officer suddenly shoved the money into my hand.

My reflexes kicked in—I almost closed my fist. But if I gripped even a little, I might end up crushing the officer’s hand like meat. So I stopped.

The money fell to the ground.

“Ah! Hey! What are you doing? You have to take it!”

“I can’t repay it.”

“I’m giving it to you. Just take it and go buy something to eat over there, and stop digging through the trash.”

“Give it again.”

“W-Wait! Promise! If you take this, then you stop going through the trash here!”

“Mm.”

I held out both hands again and took the money. With my thumb, I held the bills in place and walked toward the store the officer pointed at.

The hot dog was tasty.

But something like that wasn’t nearly enough to fill me.

Which is why I couldn’t stop digging through the trash.

****

“Haa...”

“Mm.”

A while later, I was rummaging through the trash in the park again when I ran into the same officer.

The officer slumped onto the bench like he was sick of this, while ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) I sat on the ground to avoid breaking the bench, and looked up at him.

“Didn’t you promise not to come back here...?”

“That day, I didn’t dig here. I went somewhere else.”

“Oh, so it was just that one day you didn’t come... figures...”

“If you’re giving me money again today, hand it over.”

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

“...Just asking—if I give it to you, will you stop digging for today?”

“Mm.”

“Then how about I give you a bit more money, and in exchange, you never come back to this park again?”

“That’s not possible. The food here tastes the best.”

“No hope with you, seriously... Hold on, I haven’t had lunch either.”

A little later, the officer came back from the store with two hot dogs.

I tore open the packaging and devoured mine in two bites, then immediately went back to rummaging through the trash.

“You just ate a hot dog. Why are you digging again?”

“Because you gave me a hot dog, not money.”

“You’re like my cat—she scratches up the walls no matter how many scratching posts I buy her...”

I stopped and looked at the officer, who muttered in disbelief.

“Just one or two hot dogs aren’t enough to fill me up.”

“Well, yeah, with that build of yours... ugh, what a mess.”

I was digging through the trash because I was hungry.

And since I wasn’t full yet, I had no choice but to keep digging.

The officer kept nibbling on his own hot dog and tried to reason with me.

“Look... I have to get you out of here somehow. What would make you stop coming to the park?”

“This place has running water and food.”

“Yeah, which is exactly why we’re getting so many complaints... People bring their kids to the park and then see some hobo drinking from the foot-washing fountain and eating from the trash...”

“I didn’t hurt anyone.”

“Right, yeah... no direct harm, sure... you’re someone who just walks away even after taking a bullet... But still, in times like these, just seeing a homeless person around makes some people freak out.”

“No one’s freaked out so far.”

“Did you not receive mandatory education?”

“What’s ‘mandatory education’?”

“Um...”

There was confusion in the officer’s eyes.

“What’s going on here? Did he awaken powers while living as a homeless orphan or something...? I guess that’d explain not being in the system... Do you have any parents?”

“They’re dead.”

“Pretty common these days... Oh, I lost my parents too. So I wasn’t trying to insult you or anything.”

“I see. So we’re both parentless.”

“That’s a weird way to put it...”

There’s nothing strange about being parentless.

I dug deep into the trash and found a sealed bottle of alcohol.

This body is immune to toxins, so I wouldn’t get drunk—but I was curious about the taste.

I carefully picked up the bottle and tried to open it, but accidentally broke the neck.

Still, it meant I could drink the contents, so it didn’t matter.

The taste of alcohol... was awful.

“Tastes bad.”

“Whoa—seriously... who drinks booze like that? Don’t you know how to twist off a cap?”

“The bottle was too weak.”

“Wow. First time I’ve heard someone say that... Is this what being an esper is like? How the hell am I supposed to drive you off...?”

“Do you chase off other vagrants too?”

“Yeah. If we don’t, the complaints just keep coming in.”

Ah, so that’s why no other vagrants came to this park despite the good trash bins.

If the cops chased them off, they had no choice but to run.

But I’m not an ordinary vagrant.

A human vagrant might lose—but a monster vagrant doesn’t lose to the police.

“Give up.”

“What if I can’t? If push comes to shove, I might have to act crazy and just jump you, you know?”

“You can jump me if you want. I’ll ignore it.”

“Jesus Christ... a bulletproof bum... What are you, a bear? You’re as big as one.”

“What’s a bear?”

“Oh my god, you’re kidding me.”

“It’s a joke. I know what a bear is.”

“Uh, hey, where are you going?”

There was no more food in the trash, so I went to wash my hands.

As I did, a group of kids playing in the playground came running over and started getting in the way.

“It’s the hobo! Hobo!”

“It’s the hobo guy!”

“Mm. Move.”

These dirt-stained kids were regulars at the playground.

At first, they didn’t come near me.

But every time they inched closer, I stayed still, afraid I might crush them if I accidentally touched them.

Now they’d gotten bold enough to rush right up.

As I stood still, hand mid-wash, the cop came hurrying over and waved them back.

“Kids—hey! Go back, get outta here~”

“It’s the fuzz!”

“Whoa! It’s the hobo and the fuzz!”

“Where the hell did you even learn words like that...”

Thanks to them, I was able to wash up quickly today.

Very carefully, very gently... I turned on the tap like brushing a single strand of hair aside.

First I washed my hands, then wiped down my whole body with bare hands.

While I was at it, I rinsed my hair and even washed my bare feet.

The cop, watching from nearby, let out a long sigh.

“This is why we get so many complaints! You think this is a shower room?! Why the hell are you bathing here?!”

“There’s running water.”

“Of course there’s water, obviously! God! Why does a hobo have such a good body? It’s pissing me off!”

“Back off.”

I shook out my long hair, now rinsed clean, letting it fall toward the ground.

Water scattered outward like a splash bursting in all directions.

“Ugh! Wet dog smell!”

“Ahahahaha! He’s like a dog!”

“Dog bum! Dog-bum!”

With just a few shakes, my hair was dry. I rinsed my mouth one last time and gulped down a lot of water.

Off in the distance, some women—presumably the kids’ moms—were watching silently.

“Oh my, oh my... look at that body... Honestly, if it weren’t for that, I’d have filed a complaint too...”

“Wow... he’s kind of... primal, isn’t he?”

“Plenty of people lose everything in a single day these days... I mean, yeah, he comes often, but it’s not like he does anything bad to the kids, so I think it’s fine once in a while...”

“Still, having a hobo show up near these apartments is a bit much, right? I wish he’d go to the other park... I pass by there sometimes.”

I heard every word they whispered and pointed them out to the cop.

“Those people said it’s okay if I come once in a while.”

“You can hear what they’re saying from that far away?”

“Loud and clear.”

“Uh... Well, those people probably brought their kids here because they figured you wouldn’t cause any trouble. I saw earlier—you weren’t even trying to touch the kids. But other people feel uncomfortable, so you can’t come here.”

“If they’re uncomfortable, they don’t have to come.”

“No talking sense into this bum. Christ... I’m losing my mind. Have I gone nuts? Why am I trying to evict an esper? I’m just a regular cop.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Maybe a little? You don’t know this? Unlike Heroes, who are at least half-forced to protect people, cops only sign up if they’re totally nuts.”

Suddenly, the officer’s words triggered a memory.

Something from childhood—something my parents once said.

Being a firefighter is insane. But it’s a job that has to be done.

If a crazy person doesn’t do it, no one will.

And my father... always looked tired.

Even as a child, I wished he could rest, even just a little.

“Cops are necessary... mm... Always look exhausted, too.”

“Uh... I didn’t expect you to say something like that.”

“Alright, let’s do it this way. If I’m digging through trash and you show up, I’ll stop.”

“Wait, you mean I have to come here every single time to stop you?”

“The hot dogs are good.”

“Are you extorting a cop now?”

“What’s ‘extorting’?”

I really didn’t know, so I asked.

The cop sighed, then tossed his finished hot dog wrapper away and spoke with half a look of defeat.

“Hot dogs aren’t expensive, and I could buy you one...”

“Two.”

“Yeah, two... Can I count this as a work expense...?”

Since that day, I’ve been able to eat two hot dogs a day.

Eventually, the cop looked at me, bewildered, and said:

“Hey, why do you keep coming every day?”

“Because of the hot dogs.”

I didn’t originally come to this park every day.

But if hot dogs are on the menu, I can show up daily.

“Are you a thug or something?”

“What’s a thug?”

“...Never mind. Just... enjoy your food.”

Truth is—I know what a thug is, too.