This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 639

They dared to kidnap Dogun.

It might be a given, but I felt no need to spare their hands from the situation.

So, I ended up using a bit too much force, causing clouds of dust to rise everywhere.

To be honest… I was a bit disappointed.

Since they were hastily summoned, I acknowledged their limitations, but I thought they could at least endure a single blow.

That’s why I quietly prepared my second strike… But I never expected it to end in one hit.

I wondered if they were merely pretending to be down to catch me off guard, so I carefully checked before approaching, but there was nothing that caught my attention.

‘No…’

Did they target Dogun with such meager skills?

The unexpected turn of events made me feel heavier as I packed my things and left the house, but I had to do what had to be done.

Fearing that the battle’s backlash might damage my phone, I took it from the deepest pocket of my activity suit, where I had kept it safely stored, and immediately contacted my sister.

Fortunately, maybe she had been waiting with bated breath for my call.

Rrrrring—

Before even two rings had passed, the call connected with a click.

[Uh, what happened?]

As soon as the call connected, the words that flowed into my ear through the speaker were none other than that, spoken in a surprisingly urgent voice that didn’t match my usually composed sister.

Thanks to that, I was suddenly reminded of what Dogun meant to her.

“…I’m sorry. I failed to persuade him.”

[Oh… I see.]

So maybe I had predicted that I would also fail to convince Dogun.

The disappointment in my sister’s voice wasn’t glaringly evident.

[So, are you with Dogun now?]

“…Yes.”

[From the sound of your voice, it seems you… decided to follow Dogun.]

How did she figure that out?

I didn’t remember mentioning anything or giving any hints about it.

Listening to my sister’s following words, I suddenly had that question in my mind, but realized shortly after.

She hadn’t figured it out; she had suspected that possibility from the beginning.

Recognizing that simple fact made me feel a slight chill run down my arms.

“Did you ask me to do this from the start, knowing it would lead to this?”

[…I’d want to go myself, but I can’t.]

You can, unlike me.

Her words suggested that she had indeed anticipated this situation from the beginning.

Thinking about it, it could be natural.

My sister probably knew Dogun better than I did, or maybe even more than I ever could.

She was likely the first to confront Dogun after realizing the hidden truth and deciding to take action.

But could she not have known that Dogun would never be persuaded?

‘…There’s no way she wouldn’t have known.’

Of course, the instant they clashed, she must have realized immediately.

That persuading Dogun was impossible in this situation.

But she couldn’t just send Dogun, who had no minimal means of self-defense, off alone… so she must have devised this plan.

The one thing my sister overlooked was that the real world could be just as dangerous as Heogye for Dogun.

The evidence was right there in front of me, with all those sprawled out on the ground.

If, and I mean if, Dogun had been kidnapped again by that monster disguised as a girl, and I hadn’t reluctantly installed the GPS tracking app linked to Dogun’s phone on my own, what would have happened?

Of course, pinpointing Dogun’s location as quickly as I had now would have been impossible.

Sure, without the app, I would have eventually found out where Dogun was.

There are plenty of ways to track him down, not just with the app.

If you consider my sister’s authority as the vice-chairman of the association, it makes it even easier.

In a dire situation, would it not simply be a matter of tracking his phone location?

The issue was… from the moment you relied on the power of an external organization rather than your own, a delay inevitably occurs.

And as those delays add up, they can lead to differences that cannot be ignored.

If those resulting gaps were exploited by the ones sprawled out on the floor, what would have happened?

Well, that was honestly a pretty obvious story.

Even if they managed to reach Dogun’s location with the help of an external organization, what they likely would have encountered there would not be Dogun, but rather his phone or its remnants.

Because I knew that it could really happen if the situation just twisted a bit.

The voice recounting what had just happened was weighed down by an emotion that felt very much like anger.

And that wasn’t any different with my sister, who was hearing my words.

[So, there are those who dared to target Dogun?]

“Well… I’m not exactly sure if their target was Dogun or Bora.”

Honestly, it couldn’t be helped since both Dogun and Bora were attractive enough to attract interest.

Just earlier, I had concluded that they must have targeted Dogun since my wits were half gone, but it was likely that what they truly aimed for was Bora.

To them, Dogun was more like… a bonus.

But that’s not what’s important right now.

Others may think differently, but for my sister, what mattered was that some lurking force dared to target Dogun.

Could that fact have influenced her?

[…Have you found out who’s behind this?]

The voice that echoed through the phone was remarkably lowered compared to earlier.

This sudden change sent chills down my spine, but in a different context.

An anger so thick it was almost palpable.

That emotion was currently dominating my sister’s voice.

The fact that my phone hadn’t broken was a relief because of that.

Well… I expected her to be angry, but I never anticipated she’d be this deeply furious.

When my sister questioned me if I had unearthed any leads on the culprits, I found myself hesitating to answer.

Unless my conclusions were near the truth, I worried that I might end up pointing fingers at the wrong people.

So I hesitated momentarily to respond… But perhaps that brief silence had served as a significant clue for my sister, now driven by rage and clarity.

[You figured something out, huh?]

The voice that flowed into my ear through the speaker was lower than just a moment ago.

The certainty wrapped in it added an extra layer.

“Well… it’s not a hundred percent certain information.”

[I’ll judge that after I hear it… Just let me know what you’ve found out.]

What could I do when it was my sister speaking like this?

I really had no choice but to come clean.

“Well… one of the attackers called me by ‘that nickname.'”

[That nickname…?]

“That… you know. After your introduction, the trip to Japan…”

[…Ah.]

Only after saying that did I realize what ‘that nickname’ referred to and why I had chosen to bring it up at this timing.

A brief silence followed.

And from that settled silence came my sister’s words about immediately sending someone to ensure that those captured didn’t escape or make any unnecessary attempts.

“…I can’t stay long.”

If Dogun decides to jump into Heogye alone thinking that I’d be occupied here, it would be a disaster.

So I mentioned that, and the response I got back was—

[Don’t worry. It won’t take long at all.]

A reassuring answer that felt almost like she was talking to herself… so I decided to keep silent until the moment I heard her say we should hang up.