This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 431

In order to devise a countermeasure for the current situation, there was a meeting set up, or at least someone had made a remark like that.

Humanity now faced an unprecedented crisis called Monsterization, something we had never encountered before.

Thus, the essence of that statement was that depending on how we dealt with this here and now, it could very well alter a lot, and to be a bit dramatic, it could change the course of human history itself…

However, instead of uniting to overcome the crisis, what were those who sought to seize this opportunity for personal gain trying to achieve?

I felt it was a bit harsh to say, but I couldn’t help but wonder how different those beings, often referred to as villains, really were.

In fact, they might even be more wicked than those called villains.

At least those labeled as villains seemed to possess a modicum of conscience, or perhaps there was another reason; yet, their activities had notably decreased lately, while those who only sought their own interests were becoming increasingly active by the day.

Still, it seemed they had primarily been operating beneath the surface until now… Had there been a shift in thought?

Or could it be that since things were turning unfavorable for the Association, they felt they no longer needed to be wary of us? But even so, to so openly attempt to poach people like this was quite shocking.

Sigh…

The more I thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.

At least with villains, you could catch them; but those stirring up this situation couldn’t be dealt with badly, which made it all the more frustrating.

How could I, considering the prominent figures in various fields likely standing behind this?

If I acted rashly and took matters into my own hands, it was obvious protests would arise from all around.

It was a foregone conclusion.

In their view, prioritizing personal gain over humanity’s crisis might have seemed like yet another opportunity.

If we were to act on this, wouldn’t they rush in, frothing at the mouth, to question what we were doing?

It seemed quite clear that the Association had grasped just how dire the situation was, and their lack of movement was perhaps due to that very concern.

While it did feel rather unpleasant to have such blatant attempts at poaching, if things went wrong, we might poke a hornet’s nest.

Ugh…

This was stressful.

In the past, I would have disregarded all else and just gone on a rampage, wondering what kind of nonsense this was.

Unlike in the days when I was relatively free from responsibility, I couldn’t just recklessly charge in anymore.

Thinking about it that way, the position of the Vice Chairman didn’t seem so glamorous after all.

‘…This won’t do.’

I felt increasingly boxed in.

Since the assigned work hours had long since ended, I stuffed the business card I had been rolling around in my hands into my pocket and quietly stood up.

With my stress levels rising, I had to let off some steam before it blew up.

Additionally, if I happened to run into the others, I would need to find out if they had received any similar proposals.

‘Well…’

It might still be okay for them.

It could still be all right, since touching upon those two the Association was nurturing for the future would essentially be tantamount to declaring war right in front of them.

I mean, it would be almost like issuing a proclamation of war directly to the Association.

So, it was possible that no proposal had reached them yet, but still, there was no way to tell for sure.

Better safe than sorry; it was wise to understand the situation ahead of time and prepare accordingly.

In other words, visiting Dogun was almost like an extension of my duties.

Having rationalized it was only logical, I gathered my things and exited the Vice Chairman’s Office.

“I’m heading home now; you should get going too, Boyeong.”

“Ah, yes.”

After relaying the message to my secretary waiting outside, I made my way to the hospital where Dogun was admitted.

Perhaps because it was slightly past the typical rush hour for people heading home, the road was a bit congested, though not as much as during my commute.

Thanks to that, I was able to reach the hospital where Dogun was much faster than expected.

Of course, considering the time, visiting hours set by the hospital were nearly over, but that wasn’t really an issue.

After all, since I usually finished work around this time, I had taken the liberty of requesting permission from the hospital beforehand.

This meant that even when I arrived at the floor where Dogun’s hospital room was located, no one blocked my way.

To be honest?

While it felt nice to have things so easy, on the other hand, it was a little concerning.

I trusted the Security Team who were maintaining order around the hospital, but the fact that no one came out to check when someone was wandering the ward at this hour was a bit troubling.

‘I should inform the hospital about this later…’

Of course, it could very well be that the hospital had simply decided to spare me the hassle.

That was entirely possible, but still, this was the hospital where Dogun was admitted.

As such, even small details couldn’t be overlooked.

Because accidents tend to happen in such places.

‘Speaking of which…’

At this time, would he be sleeping…?

Dogun wasn’t particularly known for being a heavy sleeper, but given the circumstances, I couldn’t wholly rule out the possibility.

Fearing the worst, I carefully opened the door to Dogun’s room.

“Ugh… Who…?”

I thought I was being incredibly cautious, but rather ironically, it seemed he was just about to drift off.

A voice tinged with sleep echoed in the room.

“Sorry, were you sleeping?”

“No… I was just looking at my mobile phone.”

What could I say? It was surprising.

We hadn’t done anything special, just exchanged a few words, yet my heart raced as if the stress I felt earlier was melting away.

It felt like coming in from the bitter cold of winter after shivering outside for ages and finally sinking into a perfectly heated hot bath.

The comforting warmth rising from my toes to the top of my head was oddly exhilarating.

‘Really…’

Dogun was deadly charming right after waking up.

His face, all droopy and relaxed, and his slightly huskier voice with a sleep-laden timbre were such a contrast to his usual self, making it impossible not to react.

I wanted to pry about what had happened with Seolhwa today.

But seeing him like this made it a bit awkward to do so.

I chuckled softly and took a seat on the caregiver’s bed positioned next to Dogun’s.

Since this was the case, I figured I would save that inquiry for later and just enjoy every bit of conversation we had.

“So, anything happen today?”

I asked casually, but what was that reaction?

What could be behind that kind of response?

What on earth had happened during the day to evoke such a shifty reaction from him?

“Seeing your reaction, it seems like something did happen, huh? What? What is it?”

“Ugh… Well, the thing is…”

His hesitance in speaking made everything painfully obvious.

It was clear his issue had to be related to the others.

It was only logical; Dogun wouldn’t act this way under any other circumstances.

The question now was, which of the three had a connection to this?

‘First, it can’t be Seolhwa.’

If we ruled her out, we were left with two: Yoonseo and Bora.

‘Which one could it be…?’

Who was it? Who had stirred up trouble?

What had happened to make Dogun so wary of my gaze?

‘Today, I was trying to coast on quietly, but…’

It seemed I had no choice but to dig into this.