This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 534

It’s a bit late to mention this, but one of my hobbies in my previous life was watching tech YouTube videos.

You know, those kinds of videos.

Like, videos of blacksmiths making swords… that sort of thing.

Searching for and watching those was one of my favorite pastimes back then, and so when I heard Yoonseo say that it seemed to lack destructive power, one of the videos I had seen back then suddenly popped into my mind.

So… should I call it a barnacle video?

To be exact, it was a video showing how to remove barnacles stuck under something like a yacht using a high-pressure pump… and as soon as I thought of that video, I felt certain.

If Yoonseo could replicate the principle of the high-pressure pump from that video, then even Chae-rim wouldn’t stand a chance in terms of destructive power.

Of course, a few prerequisites had to be met to achieve such results, and that’s why I brought out a test steel plate, which I usually pull out when heroes are testing their penetration or destructive power, in front of Yoonseo at the training ground.

Then I told her to attack the cursed steel plate with her maximum output, but… perhaps there was something lacking in my instruction.

Yoonseo started to hesitate just a little.

So, I had no choice but to tweak my order a bit.

“Try attacking with your maximum output just once.”

Perhaps that made things clearer for her.

Yoonseo nodded as if she understood, turned to look at me and the senior, and asked if she could step back for a moment.

Once I moved back to the edge of the training ground without resistance, Yoonseo took a deep breath and began to prepare herself.

After repeating a few deep breaths—

“Ha!”

She launched a massive ice spear created with a battle cry towards the steel plate.

And the moment the flying ice spear collided with the steel plate waiting at the center of the training ground, a deafening sound echoed, reverberating through the training ground.

“Umm…”

Despite the grandeur of the sound, the result was somewhat disappointing.

Well, that part aside, why did she have to create an ice spear to attack?

She could have just blasted it with a water cannon effect, and it would have been fine.

“Why did you do that?”

I asked out of curiosity, and a question mark appeared on Yoonseo’s face as she looked back at me.

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you go through the trouble of creating ice to attack?”

“What about it?”

“There was no need to freeze it; you could’ve just shot out water.”

“Then the destructive power would be weaker.”

After hearing Yoonseo’s words, I suddenly realized.

I was so caught up with my own decent idea that I overlooked a crucial point.

“Don’t do that; this time, just attack.”

“You mean not to freeze it?”

“Yeah.”

Originally, Yoonseo’s talent was not dealing with ice but controlling liquid.

That had transformed into the form she mainly used after a process of application.

Thus, what could be said to be closer to Yoonseo’s essence is not the ice chunks she just displayed but pure liquid itself.

So when I gave that order, I was worried about the repercussions of sending water out as instructed.

“It’ll cause a ruckus…”

“It’s fine. I checked earlier, and there’s a drainage system.”

And I had activated that as I brought out the steel plate, so even if Yoonseo raised her talent to the max, there wouldn’t be a water catastrophe in this training ground.

…Hopefully.

“It’ll get my clothes all wet, though?”

“Clothes? You can just change.”

Even though it’s a temporary building, it has its necessities.

Thanks to that, there’s even a separate laundry room, so if things get out of hand, they can change into the community training uniforms provided by the Association, and if their clothes get wet, they can just use the dryer.

So there was no need to worry too much about that, and perhaps that made Yoonseo feel it was okay to give it her all.

Yoonseo nodded once more and began staring at the steel plate, which had barely a scratch even after receiving that massive ice chunk.

The surrounding air began to dry up rapidly, and the ice shards scattered on the ground started to melt away right after that.

Was she gathering her strength?

‘This part definitely needs improvement…’

If it takes this long to prepare for an attack, there will be hardly any chance to use it in real combat.

What enemy in the world would take a hit when declared, “I’m preparing a big attack right now…!”?

Even the notoriously simple Another Ones wouldn’t fall for that.

So I needed to find a way to simplify or skip the preparation process.

As I gazed at Yoonseo’s back, jotting down potential improvements and necessities in my mental notepad, I suddenly noticed the enormous droplets of water gathering behind her.

They flickered for a moment, and then streams of water shot straight towards the steel plate.

Up to that point, it wasn’t bad.

I thought that any attack form that took that shape was fine since it somewhat aligned with what I was envisioning in my head.

Thus, I considered Yoonseo’s choice of form not bad, yet I couldn’t shake the feeling of disappointment.

‘There’s insufficient power.’

To be precise, while the output was sufficient, it felt like it was just not focused enough.

That meant there was a need for something to harness that.

‘Well, anyway…’

At least I confirmed that the output was enough.

Like the old saying goes, you can’t be full after the first bite; for now, I suppose I have to be satisfied with this level.

Now that I’ve confirmed what I desired, it was time to plant the image I was envisioning into Yoonseo’s mind.

“Once you’re done, come here for a moment.”

“Okay.”

I called Yoonseo over, who had dashed away to avoid the pouring water.

Of course, there was no guarantee that the image I was imagining in my head would be directly copied into Yoonseo’s head just because I communicated it, but at least it would reduce the chances of her aimlessly fumbling around trying to understand.

So, I sat Yoonseo in front of me and asked her.

“What do you think is the strongest material in the world?”

“That’s obviously diamond, right?”

“Right, diamond.”

To be precise, it’s not the strength but the hardness that we’re referring to, but nonetheless, it is indeed extremely hard.

“So, what method is used to work on that diamond? Since it’s the hardest material in the world as you said, it shouldn’t get scratched by anything ordinary.”

“Uh…?”

Maybe it sounded a bit strange after hearing it?

After a moment of tilting her head, Yoonseo answered my question in a hesitant voice.

“Cutting it with another diamond, right?”

“I heard that’s usually the case.”

“I see… I guess it’s worth a lot.”

But why suddenly shift to that topic out of nowhere?

I was caught off guard and almost laughed out loud, but I held it in and continued.

“Can you cut a diamond with water?”

“Huh? With water?”

And before I could finish my sentence, her response was immediately questioning the validity of it.

Well, of course, it makes sense.

How could one cut the hardest material in the world with something that couldn’t even leave a scratch on a steel plate like that?

I’m sure Yoonseo was thinking something along those lines.

“Want to make a bet? Whether you can or can’t?”

“No way.”

“What? Why not!”

“Seeing you say that means you think it can be done.”

“Oh well, you saw right through me.”

After all, I’ve been tricked with a similar condition a couple of times.

“Anyway, to cut to the chase, you can cut diamonds with water.”

Of course, it’s hard to say it’s entirely pure water.

That’s because, as I saw in a video, you’d need to mix in sand acting as an abrasive to achieve such destructive power when cutting diamonds.

But that only applies to when cutting diamonds, and I’m sure Yoonseo wouldn’t expect to go that far.

What if it’s not at that level?

Without needing any special tools, it’s possible to replicate something similar just with Yoonseo’s talent.

“So from now on, our goal is to mimic that as closely as possible.”

Of course, it won’t be easy.

It might be even more challenging and prolonged than when she learned temperature control… but then again, if training were easy, it wouldn’t be training.

So… let’s consider this vacation as if we were dead.

Huh? You asked for this first, didn’t you?