This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 120

Honestly, my position in school is a bit ambiguous right now.

So, it’s like I’m just an ordinary student A, but suddenly, I find myself being treated like I belong to the student council.

How did that happen? Well, it all started when I took the temporary manager position for a senior.

Because of that, when we were moving to the training camp, instead of our class bus, I ended up on the bus that only student council members ride.

But don’t get me wrong about this so-called student council bus… At first glance, you might think there’s some kind of privilege or that the bus looks really fancy, but in reality, it’s not like that at all.

If the regular student transport bus is a big 45-seater, the one for the student council members is so small that it would feel normal for it to have the name of a local Taekwondo dojo on it.

Because of that, the difference in seat quality alone was noticeable.

Given the reality, even though the senior said I didn’t need to ride with her for fear I might feel uncomfortable… I declined that offer.

And honestly, I had made up my mind a while ago.

At the very least, during the training camp, I was determined to stick close to the senior and take care of her.

Why? Because—

‘Anyone could see she wasn’t in her usual state…’

The state I saw her in this morning looked pretty serious.

She was making weird jokes and downing hot yuzu tea that was clearly steaming like it was cold water.

It seemed that she was incredibly exhausted from the preparations and training for the camp over the past few days… but what could I do?

If she wasn’t planning on taking it easy herself, I had to step in.

While thinking that, the door to the bus suddenly opened, and a bunch of student council members hopped onboard.

Among them, the senior was the last one to board.

Maybe that’s why. Unlike everyone who got on earlier, the senior didn’t have the luxury of choosing her seat.

There was hardly any room to avoid sitting next to someone that everyone was feeling awkward about; the only empty seat was right next to me.

So, I watched the senior as she stepped into the bus and patted the seat next to me encouragingly with my hand.

When she noticed my gestures, she looked a bit flustered.

Well, I could understand why.

Despite the fact that we’d become quite close, sitting next to each other on the way to the training camp was a completely different matter.

However, as I mentioned earlier, the only empty seat left was next to me, so in the end, the senior had no choice but to sit where I prepared.

“Um, excuse me for a moment.”

“Ah, sure.”

Was it a bit awkward for her to sit next to me like this?

To fill the silence left by the increasingly quiet senior, I ventured to speak up.

“By the way, are we really about to depart?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah.”

“Having checked the number of people three times… You’re really thorough.”

“Well… it’s part of the training, you know.”

“So, what are your thoughts on the seniors?”

Here, when I said seniors, I wasn’t referring to the people who had graduated from our school but rather the active heroes specifically sent to accompany us for the training camp.

Given that the senior was aiming to become a hero herself, I thought her impressions of the active ones would differ from others, hence the question—

“Hmm, I’m not sure…”

To my surprise, her response was lukewarm.

Thanks to that, I realized this wasn’t going to yield the answer I wanted, so I had to shift the topic.

“Oh, that’s right. Here you go.”

“Eh? Why this all of a sudden…?”

“I thought… you looked hot.”

“Ah.”

What was there to say?

There were small beads of sweat forming on her cheek.

Which meant?

Despite this weather being relatively cool for late spring, she had been running around until she was sweating.

It looked like she had been checking the headcount bus by bus… and just picturing that made my stomach turn.

What on earth was pushing her so hard?

While I was lost in that thought, the senior, who had been looking a bit embarrassed, carefully wiped away the sweat on her cheek with the handkerchief I handed her… and that handkerchief never returned back to me.

“Uh, this… I’ll wash it and return it later.”

At first, the senior seemed to want to hand it back to me, but then she looked a bit concerned and pulled it back.

“No need to go through the trouble…”

As I was caught up in a tug-of-war over the ownership of the handkerchief, the long-stopped bus finally started moving, and it didn’t take long for the once noisy bus to fall silent.

Perhaps everyone was tired after getting up early.

Even as one by one fell asleep, the senior maintained an upright posture all by herself.

The reason? Maybe she was worried about potential emergencies.

Other buses had heroes of various ranks onboard, but not the student council bus.

So what if something happened while we were on the way to the training camp?

If something popped off, the senior would have to be responsible for the safety of everyone in the student council until the heroes came rushing over.

But… honestly, how likely was it that something would actually happen?

‘Given how many heroes are gathered here…’

Unless someone was looking for trouble, there was no reason to mess with this group.

Our school wasn’t a place just full of rich kids or anything, so…

Naturally, I resolved that somehow, during our ride to the training camp, I had to help the senior get some rest.

After all, once we got to the camp, she would have to run around dealing with things as the Student Council President, so she needed to recharge while she could.

So—

“Um, senior.”

“… Yes?”

“If you’re bored, would you like to listen to some music?”

Truth be told?

I had a bit of pride about it.

I thought… I could measure up to active heroes, that I wasn’t too shabby.

Everything I had now was thanks to the training I did with Dogun.

That’s how it was until I finally met the ‘real’ ones today.

I realized that there’s a vast gap between a ‘hero candidate’ and a ‘hero.’

Putting everything aside, they had a kind of ease that I couldn’t even begin to match.

Even among heroes, the lowest-ranked ones, like 5th class, had that air.

Having this reality hit me hard, I understood just how pathetic my previous pride had been.

And stupidly, I had the audacity to think I would be responsible for Dogun’s future when I hadn’t achieved anything yet…

…It was embarrassing.

Along with that embarrassment came a heavy wave of anxiety.

I knew I wouldn’t just let it go, and the chances were low, but what if— I mean, what if any of them noticed the managing abilities I had over Dogun?

If one of them offered to provide Dogun a guaranteed manager position beside them, what choice would Dogun make?

Would he still be there for me like he is now?

Of course, I knew better.

Dogun’s not the type to turn his back that easily.

‘I know that…’

I know that, but still, I couldn’t shake off the rising anxiety.

Thanks to a few sleepless days, I was ready to drop from exhaustion, yet I still forced myself to sit upright and look sharp.

I just didn’t want to show Dogun— the Student Council President— the shame of dozing off like a loser.

I tried to hold out until we arrived at the training camp—

“Are you bored? Want to listen to some music?”

I accepted Dogun’s cautiously offered earbuds, not wanting to refuse the suggestion.

Maybe it would take my mind off the sleepiness, but rather than that, the gentle melody was making my eyelids heavier and heavier.

‘I can’t fall asleep…’

I need to look impressive…

Little by little… my head grew heavy.

And then, something carefully brushed against me.

As if handling something fragile, it lightly nudged my head.

With my head now feeling like it could tip forward or sideways at any moment, it added to the weight of the drowsiness.

“Ugh…”

Even resisting was pointless.

Once it began to lean, there was no stopping it.

As my head started tilting, something made a soft bump against it.

It was warm yet firm.

Though firm, it was… strangely comforting.

And just like that… I drifted off to sleep.