jdhmnovel Chapter 78: Weongpa and Miongpa
Chapter 78: Weongpa and Miongpa
“Myaaong.”
After swallowing that parasite, a very peculiar ability manifested within me.
A clone... No, perhaps it’s more like a division.
I can create a monster about the size of a regular cat.
This monster, formed by cutting off a portion of my core, is at a Kill-Class level.
It has no special abilities, only physical capabilities — a black cat.
Since it shares thoughts with me, it doesn’t attack humans.
Honestly, it’s a completely useless ability.
Even if I create a Kill-Class monster by splitting off a part of my power, there’s nothing it can do.
However, that doesn’t mean there’s no way to utilize it.
Just like Number 3 shared the consciousness of the parasites, I can share the vision of the divided cat.
If I sever a portion of my power and hand it over, I can couple space manipulation abilities to allow for long-distance movement.
If I reabsorb the divided cat, the power returns to me as it was...
If I scatter cats throughout the city, I could arrive at monster sites faster than any alarm system.
Fascinated by the division ability, I started creating small cats every day and then taking them back.
Separating a part of my core to make a cat is quite troublesome, so making one a day is my limit.
If I get used to it and can quickly divide a large number of cats at once, it might not be such a bad ability.
“Geh, ge-ge-ge-geh... What is that? A... a baby? Are you giving birth?”
While I was practicing the ability,
Starlight, who had been licking a tube of Churu crammed into a large container, reacted excessively to the sight of the cat monster.
The scent of excitement, eyes wide open, heavy breathing.
“Wh-what the hell is this? It’s seriously cute! Isn’t this too much? How is it any different from a regular cat?”
“Nyaa.”
Starlight grabbed the back of the cat monster’s neck and lifted it up.
Annoyed that she was handling a part of me without permission, I reabsorbed the cat monster back into my body.
“A-ah...! I-I was just going to touch it for a bit!”
“Woong.”
The scent of a lie.
No matter how I looked at it, those eyes just now were planning to take it home.
The divided monster is weak... If Starlight picks it up, it can’t even resist, and it could end up being taken down by a lesser monster.
If that happens, that portion of my power would be completely lost.
All in all, it’s a defective ability.
“...So, I’m planning to treat the remaining infected people. Because of that, they said Electrice would be coming back to W-City... This time, she’ll come and go quietly. It’s an unofficial visit, after all.”
“Waongongong.”
Starlight was grilling me some expensive meat and talking about what she’d been up to lately.
It didn’t seem like she particularly wanted me to listen — more like she just wanted to vent to someone.
I absentmindedly listened to her ramblings as I chewed on the melting beef.
“And they said that if you want, A-City would help construct a giant cat tower in W-City. Would you like that?”
“Kyaaak!”
Why do these people keep treating me like a cat?
I’m not a cat, so I refused angrily, and Starlight, looking confused, said,
“If you hate cat towers so much, then why do you keep jamming steel pipes into buildings and playing around like you’re making one...?”
“Oongwoongwaaang.”
“Just say it.”
[That’s not a cat tower.]
“Then what is it?”
[Hmm.]
What could it be...? A construction material impaling game on tall buildings?
Merging with buildings through phasing and embedding things where only a hero could dismantle them, just to watch them get annoyed?
Should I call it an important ritual that satisfies my monstrous instincts to some extent?
Come to think of it, I don’t really know why I do it either.
“No matter how you look at it, you’re definitely a cat. I don’t get why you hate being treated like one....”
“Waaaang.”
“Wait! Hey! Don’t scratch your claws there!”
Starlight’s palm smacked the back of my head as I dug my claws into the concrete floor.
Ignoring the harmless blow, I continued to grind my claws, causing the concrete surface to scrape and flake off.
“Damn it, now I have to file another repair request! Go grind your claws over at the riverbed where the ground’s softer!”
“Waong.”
She doesn’t get it — the ground over there is too soft to be satisfying.
Truthfully, as a monster, I don’t need to sharpen my claws.
I just do it because it feels good.
When I finished eating the meat and stretched out, yawning, Starlight took the chance to pet my back.
“That cat from earlier — don’t just bring it out in random places, okay?”
“Oong?”
“There are a lot of weird people around lately. If you pull that thing out, they might really try to take it.”
“Waong.”
Indeed, there had been a surge in strange people around W-City lately.
If word got out about my division ability, people might start abducting every cat monster I create.
Since this ability is fatally flawed in that my power can be drained directly, it’s best not to use it in front of others.
“And next time, if you’re going for a walk in another city, let me know first... Ah! Wait! I wasn’t done petting you yet!”
I broke free from Starlight’s hand and leaped off the rooftop.
My stomach was full; it was about time to go look for some work.
Lately, there had been plenty of jobs cleaning up the remains of insect monsters still lurking throughout the city.
****
[Shit, I wanna line up all those Weongpa bastards in the park and slap them all at once.]
[Every time I hear those Weong bastards spewing bullshit, I get the urge to grab a bat.]
Re
“W-City citizens! It is a sin to give offerings to the Apostle with one hand while committing blasphemy with the other!”
“Such impious behavior will only anger the Apostle!”
“To lift your gaze and look upon the divine body is a sin in itself! If the Apostle is not seated in a high place, do not dare to look upon him! Do not look down upon the Apostle!”
“Our almighty cat~ rains down fire and brimstone~ Even amidst the world’s destruction, my faith shall not falter~”
With a doctrine entirely different from the Weongpa, the D-City refugees began clashing with W-City citizens in a whole new way.
And so, the W-City citizens gave them a new nickname — Miongpa.
A term that meant “crazy bastards,” the Miongpa quickly became notorious as W-City’s most deranged faction, serving as a cautionary tale for the more sensible members of the Black Cat Mom Café.
[Our Black Cat Mom Café does not condone missionary activities by the Miongpa members.]
[We are a group that loves and cherishes Black Cat, not a group that worships him.]