This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 272

Bora’s Perspective

As the room got closer, my heart started racing faster to match the proximity.

So, it was a bit sudden, but I felt worried.

What if my heart just went “boom” and exploded?

It was beating so fast and intensely that it felt like it was competing with the sound of footsteps, trying to see which was louder.

At first?

Of course, the sound of the footsteps was a bit louder.

But as the room came closer, the gap started to narrow, and by the time I was just five steps away from the room, the sound of the footsteps was completely swallowed by my heartbeat.

‘Will it be okay…?’

But… did I clean the room recently…?

Of course, I did.

While it was a bit annoying to move when everyone else was doing it, I didn’t have a hobby of living in a dirty room.

Besides, since I was borrowing part of Dogun’s house now, I cleaned pretty thoroughly.

I did clean, but the problem was that it was a week ago.

The thought of reducing the five remaining clutter items to four made me take a step forward, only to immediately step back.

It’s understandable since the image of the room from last week flashed through my mind as soon as I recalled that last cleaning was a week ago.

Honestly, it wasn’t so dirty that it would make someone squint in disgust upon seeing it.

Considering it was a week since the last cleaning, maybe it was even closer to being clean.

At least that’s my perspective, but I honestly didn’t know how it would look to Dogun.

More than that… I was concerned about something else too.

The small frame placed on the desk, which held the drawing of Dogun.

It was a picture I painted while thinking of Dogun whenever I found time, essentially like a portrait of him.

What if I entered the room with Dogun like this?

Since the desk was directly in front, that picture would most likely catch Dogun’s eye.

Since I didn’t paint it from observation but rather imagined it, it was more of a fantasized artwork reflecting my tastes and delusions rather than a true portrait.

I was already feeling shy enough to die, but if he saw that, I might just have to find a mouse hole to hide in.

“Wait… just a second…!”

I said to Dogun, who had been following a bit behind and stopped when I halted, and hurriedly dashed into the room.

As soon as I entered, I quickly hid the frame on the desk.

Then I pulled out the box I had hidden under the desk and tried to kick the conspicuous items underneath the bed…

But in that moment, I lost my balance and fell flat on my bottom.

“Ugh…”

Did I just hit my tailbone while falling?

A groan slipped out of my mouth as I thought about how I couldn’t make Dogun wait too long, so I stood up and opened the door.

“I-I can come in now.”

The moment I let Dogun into the room, the first thing I heard was—

“Are you alright? It looked like you fell…”

That was it.

To be honest, I was not alright at all.

How could I be?

I hit my tailbone, after all.

But admitting that felt a bit embarrassing.

I feared that the moment I admitted it, Dogun would find out I hurriedly cleaned the room before letting him in.

“Ah… It’s… not that I fell; I accidentally dropped something…”

So I ended up telling a white lie.

My tailbone was still throbbing, but I tried to act nonchalant about it.

“Really? Well, that’s a relief…”

Fortunately, Dogun let it go without further questioning.

Just as I let out a sigh of relief, Dogun got straight to the point.

“So, what is it that you want to show me?”

It did feel a bit disappointing that he dove right into the main topic without more conversation, but at the same time, it was also a good thing.

If we dragged it out any longer, my hesitation would only grow.

Since I had made up my mind with difficulty, it was better to take care of it right then.

But before that…

“Are you… not curious at all?”

“Curious? About what?”

“…About my talent.”

That should be the first thing to reveal.

Dogun’s Perspective

“Are you… not curious at all?”

“Curious? About what?”

“…About my talent.”

Not curious?

Of course, I was curious.

How could I not be, especially since the talent owner managed directly by the Association Chairman overseeing all of Korea was none other than Bora?

Yet, for someone receiving such meticulous management, nothing concrete about her talent was known, so it was only natural to be curious.

But I had hesitated to ask because if the association was going to such lengths to hide it, there had to be a good reason.

“Well, if you’re curious… should I tell you?”

Surprisingly, Bora offered the suggestion first.

To be honest, my feelings about her offer were… definitely curious.

That’s why Bora’s proposal felt incredibly tempting.

I often helped Yoonseo and the Senior with their training whenever I had time, which added to my curiosity.

The power of talent, the foundation of this world, became more and more fascinating the more I delved into it.

That’s why I nodded, almost entranced by Bora’s proposal.

And the moment I nodded, Bora swallowed hard, cleared her throat, and began to explain her talent.

To cut to the chase… I couldn’t fully understand what Bora was saying.

It made sense because even someone who studied this a lot like me had trouble understanding the specialized terms she used, and according to her, this type of talent was a first occurrence, so there were still many aspects that hadn’t been properly documented.

‘But still… does this even make sense?’

What I could gather was that despite how extraordinary it sounded, Bora’s talent truly was special.

Honestly, I thought that the talents Yoonseo or the Senior, or even Chae-rim had were special in their own right.

But compared to Bora’s talent, those seemed to lose their shine.

Bora’s talent was extraordinary.

Or maybe it was appropriate to say it was… special.

But while I could grasp the previous three talents to some extent, Bora’s talent was realms beyond my understanding.

‘How do I even define this…?’

Future prediction? Probability manipulation? No, in this case, it might better be called reality adjustment?

Honestly, I wasn’t sure.

However, according to Bora’s explanation, it seemed there were some restrictions.

It might be because her talent was so absurdly powerful, but she mentioned that each time it was activated, the burden on her body and talent organ was enormous.

Most of the time, after a week of suffering, she would recover, but there were times when she had been bedridden for almost a month due to a severe aftermath.

‘Oh, that’s why…’

And thanks to Bora’s explanation, I suddenly realized.

Why Bora was sent here, or rather, why it was inevitable for her to be sent here.

She was likely brought here with the intention of recovering the damaged talent organ through my powers.

That way, Bora could make better use of her talent in the long run.

Of course, losing her talent wouldn’t happen if the talent organ was damaged.

However… the output would diminish compared to before.

It made sense that the Chairman treated Bora’s talent with respect without overusing it; otherwise, it would be foolish to use it recklessly and not have it available when it was truly needed.

But then I emerged as someone who could recover a talent organ, which was said to be irreparable.

I can imagine how much they must have perked up at the association’s end.

Upon realizing this fact?

I began to feel pity for Bora’s situation, which was as tough, if not more than mine.

“Hmm, so what did you want to show me?”

I asked with a slightly friendlier voice about why she had called me to this room.

And before I knew it, what was presented to me was…

‘Huh?’

A comic manuscript that looked like something you would only see at a publishing house.