Became a Failed Experimental Subject-Chapter 40: Unlimited Refills Are a Lie

“Ah... okay, Mister Yuryeo. Enjoy your meal.”

Yu Hyena handed me a tray with a hollow smile, gesturing for me to hurry back in line.

Thirty plates... I scooped the day’s menu—compressed and packed tight with a ladle and spatula—then dragged my body to a seat and began eating my free meal without a shred of energy.

“Mmm, slurp! Mmm...!”

Tastes good. So maybe I don’t need to feel so empty after all.

Thirty plates for free—who gets that kind of deal? Honestly, it’s practically unlimited.

Maybe I should go back to being Han Muryo instead of Han Yuryeo.

As I ate, I watched the woman passing out trays, chatting one by one with every resident in Zone 4.

“That’s great, congratulations!”

“Oh my, already ten years old? You’ve grown so much!”

“There should be support from the government for that. Try checking in at the welfare center...”

She wasn’t just some ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) lady handing out food.

If someone told her good news, she’d celebrate with them. If they voiced a concern, she’d stop and help them think it through.

Lost your job? She’d find you a new one. Wearing torn clothes? She’d send another volunteer to bring out something secondhand but freshly laundered.

Even in the shortest moments, people got real help from her—and they bowed with gratitude when they took their meals.

Was she the manager of this soup kitchen, or some kind of boss from a local job center?

“Ooooh...”

“He’s really eating all thirty...”

“Wow, that’s impressive. I heard he ate way more than that last week?”

I finished the promised thirty plates. Compared to last week, the cheers and applause were pretty weak. Still, I returned my tray to the counter.

Clack.

The woman looked at me with a strange expression as she greeted me.

“Did it taste good?”

“It did. But I’m still hungry.”

“...You just ate thirty plates and you're still hungry? I don’t even know what to say. I was thinking of cutting you off even more.”

“Mm.”

My stomach was about halfway full. For a free meal, that was a miracle. And yet, I was still hungry.

I glanced at the food counter and gulped.

The woman let out a quiet chuckle and pushed my back gently with both hands.

“Alright, if you’re done, time to get going and back to work.”

“I already finished for the day.”

“Then go find the next gig~ Let’s go! Fighting!”

The next job... huh.

With her hands still on my back, she ushered me toward the edge of the park.

Just then, a group of men shoved past us and barged straight to the serving line without waiting their turn.

“Move, move, move!”

“What the—? Hey, get in line!”

“Fuck off, filthy Zone 4 beggar scum! Get lost!”

“Haaah...”

They wore suits stained with dust, dirt, and dried blood.

They seized the counter, grabbed food out of the pots with their filthy hands, stuffing their mouths, and tried to walk off with an entire pot.

The woman who had been pushing me gave a long, tired sigh and walked back to the line. She clapped her hands, trying to get their attention.

“You can eat as much as you want. But other people need to eat too, so please don’t use your hands. And don’t take the whole pot.”

“The hell? Bitch, are you serious?”

“Do you even know who I am?”

“Doesn’t matter. Wash your hands over there, grab a tray, and wait like everyone else.”

“This cocky bitch—”

“Hold on, she’s actually kinda cute.”

Snap.

The man flicked his fingers, and a fireball the size of a human head floated above his palm.

Next to him, another guy wolfing down food flexed his arms, ballooning them with muscle and grabbing the woman’s waist in one enormous hand.

“Ugh...!”

“Kyaaaah! Villains!”

“Director!”

“Miss Hyena!”

The crowd shrieked as people realized who the men really were.

The soup kitchen volunteers by the trucks sprang into action, activating their powers.

Crackling lightning wrapped around one guy’s hands. Another had turned his chest to metal.

They were definitely C-Class psychics—nothing fancy, but reliable.

The problem? There were way more villains than volunteers, and they looked just as strong.

“What the hell? Why are there psychics here? Are you heroes?”

“Director? She some bigshot, huh? Heh, that just makes this more fun...”

“Hyena, huh? Pretty name. Heh heh, once I fill my belly, I’m gonna have so much fun with you. My power doesn’t just make my hands big, you know?”

“Forget them—take out the psychics first!”

Five villains turned the place upside down, charging the volunteers.

Meanwhile, the one holding the woman didn’t notice her small hand slipping free, reaching around to squeeze tightly near his lower back.

WUUUUUNG.

A strange signal pulsed through the air.

Was that a distress beacon? Like the ones cops use?

“Run! Fuck! If heroes show up, we’re screwed!”

“What are you staring at?! Get lost!”

“Hey, hey, you! Come here! Heh, damn... why are there so many hot bitches in a dump like Zone 4?”

“Aaaaaaah! Mom!”

“Don’t touch anyone else! If you’re gonna take someone, take me—!”

As the villains tried to escape with food and the woman, I stood at the park’s entrance, squinting slightly as they made a break for it.

“Wh-Who’s that hulk?”

“Is he a psychic too?”

“Kill him!”

Panic twisted their faces as they launched their powers at me.

A bloated fist like a slab of meat.

A barrage of fireballs.

Hardened rock bullets.

Compressed air shots.

A pot, flung like a cannonball.

“Nooo!!”

“Kyaaaaaah!”

I raised one hand.

WHOOM! I batted the fireball into the sky with my forearm.

The stone and air projectiles hit me square in the chest.

The flying pot—I caught it by the handle with one finger.

Spin.

Balancing the spinning pot on my hand, I raised my elbow.

Then caught the giant meaty punch dead-on.

SPURT.

The villain’s hand exploded with a squelch, pus flying everywhere.

“Eh...?”

“W-What...?”

“Uwaaaaaah! What the hell?!”

The woman gasped.

The villains who’d attacked from a distance recoiled.

The one who threw the punch staggered back, clutching his ruined hand, bone sticking out, shaking in agony.

I closed the distance in a single step.

Raised my hand like a blade—and sliced.

SHHK!

The villain’s fingers hit the ground.

The woman dropped from his grip.

“W-When did he—?!”

“Aaaagh! My haaaand!”

“He’s a hero! There’s a hero lying in wait!”

I caught her in my arms.

Then lifted the pot—

—and bonked each villain across the head, one by one.

“Guh!”

“Keh!”

“Ghk!”

“Ugh!”

“Agh!”

They dropped in a pile, twitching and drooling.

Still holding the woman in my arms, I looked down at them and spoke.

“Get lost.”

“E-Eh...?”

“I’m not saying it twice.”

“W-Waaaah!”

“Aaaagh! Aaaah!”

The villains scrambled, tripping over themselves as they ran out of the park.

I set the woman down.

She just stared up at me, wide-eyed.

“Unghwohh...?”

And then, the woman made a strange noise, pulled her arms in, and just blinked at me in silence.

Behind her, the residents who had been watching from a distance suddenly burst into cheers and applause.

“Woooooah! Han Muryo! Han Muryo! Han Muryo!”

“That was awesome! Woooo!”

“He’s a psychic?! Makes sense now—he eats like he’s not even human!”

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!

The sound of people banging their trays blended into the wild cheering as I extended the empty pot to the woman who was still standing there in a daze.

She took it absentmindedly, blinking fast.

And then—

She swung the pot hard and smacked me in the head.

“Why the hell is a psychic even at a soup kitchen?!”

“Ow.”

I had saved her, and she didn’t give me meat or even a thank you—just whacked me with a pot.

As I stood there, stunned, she started yelling.

“Go find a job! Eat at a hero café or something! Go hunt monsters! What are you doing here?! This place is for people who actually need help!”

“...I hunt monsters too.”

“Then go do that! Earn money and buy your own food!”

“Even with money, it’s not enough to eat my fill.”

She paused, her angry expression briefly softening like she understood—only to scowl again.

“Wuuuugh~ He saves the day and gets hit with a pot!”

“But she’s right though! What’s a psychic doing begging for food?”

“Wuuuugh~ Han Muryo! Thanks for the help anyway! Wuuuuu~!”

“Jealous he got to hold Miss Director! Wuuuuu~!”

“Wuuuuu~ Her face turned red! So cute!”

“Pipe down and eat already!”

Was that cheering? Teasing?

In the middle of all the noise, the woman’s face flushed bright red as she grabbed the waistband of my pants and pulled me toward her.

I stood still, watching her tug at me with all her strength.

“What’s this about?”

“J-Just come wash your hands. And... your body too. You’re covered in blood.”

“Mm.”

I flexed my sticky, gore-covered hands, and for a moment, I almost licked the blood off out of habit. But I stopped myself.

She dragged me toward the sink, and the residents around us began whispering.

“I mean, wow, that was fast. Like... boom! Bam! Whoosh! And he saved her!”

“Still... doing that here? In public? The director’s so bold...”

“No no no! His hands were filthy! I brought him over to clean up! That’s all I meant!”

“Ahahaha! Yeah, gotta wash up first if you want anything else!”

“Hey! A little help here! Let’s get this mess cleaned up. People need to eat!”

“Thanks to those assholes, it’s gonna take a while to get food out again.”

“Alright, let’s tidy up while we wait, everyone~”

The park was wrecked, sure—but it was full of laughter.

Her face still burning, the woman handed me a damp towel and turned her attention to the injured psychics from earlier.

“Are you two okay? Anywhere hurt?”

“Miss Hyena, we’re sorry. We didn’t think villains would show up so suddenly...”

“I’m fine. Oh—right! I should make a call. I accidentally triggered a beacon... One sec, okay?”

She pulled out her phone and stepped aside.

“Hey, sis? Sorry to bother you during your break—no need to come. I hit the beacon by mistake...”

The voice on the other end was loud enough to hear, but I wasn’t interested.

I wiped the blood from my skin with the towel, then held out my filthy hands.

She handed me a rubber hose and ran water over them while continuing the call.

“Yeah, I got it... just get some rest when you can, alright?”

Click.

She sighed and hung up the phone. Then she looked up at me with wide eyes.

At the same time, the hose she was holding dipped lower.

I bent forward a bit to keep washing, and she quickly glanced toward the residents—then leaned in close, almost whispering in my ear.

“...My name’s Yu Hyena.”

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“Mm.”

Yu Hyena.

When I shifted my eyes toward her, she blushed even harder and stepped back.

“T-Thanks for helping. Really. I thought I was done for back there... Um, if you’re still hungry, you can have a few more bowls. Go ahead and eat a bit more.”

“Really?”

“Consider it payment for saving me. You said you’re still hungry, right?”

What a beautiful sentence.

I grabbed her hand and raised it high for everyone to see.

“She said I can eat more!”

“Whoa, that scared me—what? What’d he say?”

“I think she gave him the green light!”

“Wooooo! Yu Hyena! Yu Hyena! Yu Hyena!”

“Ahahahaha!”

The laughter and cheering echoed all around.

Yu Hyena, now red all the way to her ears, yanked her hand out of mine and grabbed her own wrist tightly.

“H-Hey! You can’t just grab a woman’s wrist like that! Jeez!”

“Woooo! She’s embarrassed! Woooo!”

“Quit yelling and eat your food!”

After that, I returned to the crowd and ate ten more bowls.

When I tried to go for more, Yu Hyena stopped me with a firm glare.

“Didn’t you say I could eat more?”

“I said a bit more! A bit! This isn’t ‘a bit’—this is a mountain!”

“...But it feels like a bit.”

“One more bowl. A small one. And no refills. That’s final! ...Wait—no! That’s still a lot!”

...In the end, there’s no such thing as true all-you-can-eat in this world.