This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 507

Did I feel the gaze directed at me was not pleasant?

Raising the ends of my eyebrows slightly to show my discomfort, the person finally opened their mouth with a sigh.

“It seems there’s been a misunderstanding. We have never once used illegal means in our information gathering.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“You seemed reluctant to answer, so I jumped to conclusions. My apologies.”

“That’s… well, considering you’re affiliated with the Association…”

Ah, indeed… the recent attack was a sort of Achilles’ heel for the Association, making it a sensitive topic.

From a logical standpoint, there were no faults.

In fact, some within the Association regarded mentioning the attack as a taboo.

Because of that attack, the Association, already on shaky ground, found itself buried in a mire, so it was only natural for those who take great pride in their affiliation to react this way.

Well, truth be told, I didn’t care.

‘If they had just done everything right from the start, this wouldn’t have happened.’

If the Association had maintained its initial integrity, honesty, and diligent handling of affairs, even with the massive blow, public trust wouldn’t have been so drastically undermined.

Instead of the current complaints about not being able to trust the Association, there would have been a call for us to support them.

But instead of such support, the outcry against the Association arose… which must mean the accumulated sins of the Association towered overwhelmingly high.

‘If you’ve erred, you should bear the consequences.’

Yeah, for sure.

As I thought internally and suggested they speak freely as I wouldn’t mind, the nervousness on their face seemed to ease a bit.

“Ahem… Anyway, since we are at this point, I’ll share the basis upon which we judged this information to be reliable…”

It turns out that the RK Guard had quickly selected cooperating firms and started searching for survivors from the recent attack to gather their testimonies.

Among them were several who had witnessed that Peculiar Entity, which caused many victims of Monsterization, up close.

“And this is the montage of that Peculiar Entity that our company created based on people’s testimonies.”

As they spoke, a drawing appeared on the table, taken from inside their coat.

In that drawing was a monster that looked like a bizarre blend of a wasp and a mosquito.

However, considering it was created from testimonies, it didn’t strike me as particularly realistic.

Rather than realistic, it seemed more characteristic, perhaps?

Did they draw it deliberately like this to highlight the features commonly mentioned in people’s testimonies?

“As you can see in the picture, the external features of that Peculiar Entity are quite distinct.”

Seeing them say that immediately after laying the drawing on the table, it seemed likely.

And indeed, just like they said, the monster in the picture had an unforgettable appearance.

With sharp, large jaws seemingly designed for gnawing on something and a long snout protruding between them, it bore the unique exoskeleton commonly observed in Another Ones.

“It’s a look you’ll never forget… once you see it.”

“So?”

“However, listening to Riruka Shaki this time, it seems she was trapped here in Heogye for several months.”

Still, the relatively intact condition she was in must be thanks to the remnants of human civilization scattered around Heogye.

Dogun and Chae-rim’s sister survived because of those.

The villain lady wouldn’t be any different.

Anyway, why mention that all of a sudden?

With a slight frown and a puzzled head tilt at what appeared to be an unrelated statement, a fleeting thought crossed my mind, causing my mouth to slightly open.

“…So if you’ve been trapped here for months, that means you were also here during the Association’s attack.”

“That’s correct.”

“And yet you knew about the Peculiar Entity.”

Stopping there for a moment to take a breath, I continued after a brief pause.

“It’s almost like you’d seen it firsthand.”

“Yes, it seems that way.”

Indeed… if it’s circumstantial evidence that solid, it wouldn’t be strange at all to consider this information reliable.

It wouldn’t be different even if it were someone other than her.

“Were they calling it a spawning ground?”

“That seemed to be the most appropriate term I could find, but… it’s a bit ambiguous.”

“Ambiguous?”

What did that mean?

I threw a glance of that kind, and immediately got a reply.

“I’ve noted that on the next page.”

As soon as I flipped the documents to check the information written on the back, I couldn’t help but be horrified.

It contained a ghastly truth that couldn’t easily be overlooked.

“…So it said you stumbled into the spawning ground accidentally?”

“According to her, she discovered it while avoiding pursuit from Another Ones, heading deeper into the area.”

“And then she fled?”

“Yes, it seems… even if half of what’s written there is true, the scene would have been quite horrific.”

I could certainly see that.

Even though I hadn’t seen it directly like someone else did, just imagining based on the testimonies described in the documents made me feel nauseous.

The fact that they consume people and forcibly implant the abducted into trees to drain their life force served as conclusive proof that Another Ones cannot coexist with humanity, but still…

‘Could it be that they were also trying to abduct Dogun…?’

Imagining Dogun being captured by them and going through the same ordeal as the victims written here filled me with both anger and disgust.

It was such… appalling news.

At the same time… it was hard to believe.

To think one of the materials needed for producing that Peculiar Entity was human—no, male—semen.

Honestly, who would have guessed this?

Perhaps it was due to the completely different methods of creation compared to existing Another Ones, but at least they were so vulnerable that a regular person could take them down if they wanted to.

There was absolutely no guarantee that would remain true in the future, but it was a slight comfort.

“Anyway, if this information is true, the number of those Peculiar Entities will only increase.”

“Yes, that’s likely. With the prior attack and the recent probing in Heogye, it’s probable that the Another Ones figured out that using those Peculiar Entities against humans would be quite effective.”

“Also… they must have managed to secure additional bodies by taking down several probing teams that previously lacked the necessary hosts…”

What’s the point of discussing it?

Contrary to what Dogun had taught me, the Peculiar Entities were not born from the tree located in the center of Heogye.

Their hosts… were none other than human beings who had undergone Monsterization. Specifically, when those with awakened talents had human male semen inside them, crystals would form from the inside, eventually being expelled from the host’s body, which led to the birth of those Peculiar Entities.

Since there was only that one villain who had seen the spawning ground with their own eyes, I couldn’t claim this information to be one hundred percent certain…

But at least half of it had to be true, and it seemed imperative to take action against that spawning ground or whatever it’s called as soon as possible.

If we didn’t do something, humanity would soon face the worst-case scenario.

Sigh…

I had merely come here thinking of securing a sample to find a way to restore Dogun’s left arm, and yet… what on earth was going on…

After feeling a sudden weight of the situation, I let out a long sigh again, then immediately stood up.

“First… let’s report this fact to the Association. This is not something we can just gloss over.”