This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 142

I hoped this would at least be a way to refresh my mind, and the gathering turned out to be better than I imagined.

At the very least, it allowed me to divert my thoughts elsewhere.

Just as I was starting to calm down a bit, my phone rang.

Originally?

I had intended to pick it up.

I thought I’d casually let Dogun hear my nonchalant voice after answering the call.

That was the original plan, but when the name “Dogun” flashed on my phone screen, shrouded in darkness, I couldn’t help but freeze.

I hesitated.

After feeling every bit of despair in the park earlier, I was now in a position to receive a call.

Wasn’t it just waiting endlessly for Dogun to call me?

So, I hesitated.

As I wavered like this… the call was dropped.

That was already 15 minutes ago.

“Ugh…”

If he was going to call, he could at least prolong it.

Or, if a single call didn’t connect, couldn’t he call until it did?

I had already been waiting for over an hour at a designated meeting place; wouldn’t acting a little more seriously hurt anyone?

Do you even know how that difference, that gap, can make someone feel immensely miserable?

As I sneaked glances at the phone, which had stayed quiet since that call, I was lost in such thoughts, biting my lip out of frustration.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzz— Bzzzzzzzzzzzz—!

All the phones in the room, including mine, suddenly erupted in a synchronized vibration as if they had agreed in advance.

The overlapping vibrations turned into a sound akin to a siren, which only made people uneasy.

Just moments before, the room had been bustling with music and chatter; now it was as quiet as if a dead rat had jumped out.

“What is this…?”

In the midst of everyone falling silent, someone blurted out a word that shattered the tense atmosphere.

And like a trigger, the once-quiet room erupted into a torrent of noise.

“A disaster message just came in!”

“Rift… energy mass observation warning…? What is this? Does anyone know anything?”

“If it’s a rift, it’s those stupid things called Another popping out.”

“It says those in the regions indicated should evacuate the premises immediately.”

“This is a bit funny. This is definitely not a training exercise.”

“Huh? What? Another message just arrived.”

People were babbling over one another, competing who could raise their voice the loudest, creating a cacophony around me.

I tried to block my ears.

I didn’t think this was an issue worth worrying about, as the kids said.

But then—

“Huh? One of the evacuation locations is Central Park? Shouldn’t we evacuate too?”

What did somewhere have to do with what?

“Forget it. What’s the distance from here to there? Why get annoyed over this?”

“Geez, I thought a villain was popping out or something.”

“If it were a villain, things wouldn’t be like this.”

“Exactly. Everyone’s probably running to the disaster shelter like they’re filming some disaster movie.”

“Oh please, someone’s just an extra, yet they talk so much?”

They seemed to think it was all a joke, but I didn’t find it funny at all.

So, ignoring the babble, I picked up the mobile phone I had set on the table.

And then I checked the late-arriving message… only to find a location I was all too familiar with.

And it was written in a brilliant red, reminding me to take heed.

As soon as I saw it, an ominous premonition crawled down my spine.

Coinciding with that, my heart started banging loudly, “Thump…! Thump…!”

“Whoa, what? Everyone’s going out?”

“Yeah. Shouldn’t we evacuate too?”

Suddenly, a memory surfaced of one of our teachers mentioning this during class.

When was that?

It must have been during history class.

– You might find it hard to empathize, but life is much better nowadays. When I was in school, rift warnings would come two to three times a day.

– Back then… many people were really killed by monsters.

– It is possible to predict where a rift will appear now, but it wasn’t back then. So, at that time, a rift was, quite literally, a calamity.

He further added that while recent cases were unlikely, if they received a disaster message concerning rifts, they should stay as far away from that location as possible.

That memory suddenly flooding back amplified my anxiety.

‘It can’t be…’

It can’t be!

After all, I just ignored the only call I received!

On top of that?

Twenty minutes had already passed.

Even then, he hadn’t called once, so it wouldn’t take a fool to realize that he was deliberately avoiding me, and he wouldn’t still be there.

So it can’t be.

Dogun isn’t an idiot.

So it probably isn’t true, but… out of anxiety, I dialed his number.

…And Dogun didn’t pick up.

No, from the beginning, there wasn’t even a proper signal.

“What’s this? Am I the only one who can’t contact him?”

“It’s not just with calls; I can’t send texts either!”

Both calls and texts were failing.

Faithfully using all the methods I knew, I couldn’t reach Dogun.

Gradually realizing something was off, the other kids began to stir, but I ignored them and headed straight for the exit.

They asked where I was going from behind, but I ignored that too.

Right now, that didn’t matter.

I needed to see whether Dogun was okay, even with my own two eyes, to ease this feeling of unease.

That’s why I headed toward home, as if bewitched.

If it were Dogun, he’d probably go home right away, even if he could be a little annoying with how perceptive he was.

So when I arrived at Dogun’s house and knocked on the door, he’d surely open up with a face that had no clue what was happening.

And then?

He’d probably be startled to see me standing here.

And then, he would probably start apologizing.

Maybe I could even find out the reason for his silence, how he hadn’t shown up for over an hour at our meeting place.

And despite that, I could either forgive Dogun or make him even more anxious.

Yeah, that’s how it should go.

It’ll definitely turn out that way, I repeated to myself as I hurried home.

But it wasn’t easy.

My shoes were uncharacteristically high-heeled, and the streets were congested with people running somewhere and cars abandoned as if they’d lost their owners.

Among them, some were… marked very distinctly by something that could not be hidden.

It was like… the huge traces left by a monstrous beast.

Such traces were boldly left on the ground, walls, and those few cars that had stopped.

From a vehicle that was half-destroyed, something red and viscous was dripping down.

“Sa—save me…”

A voice came from behind a crumpled car door, but I turned my gaze away.

Even as someone wanting to be a hero, what could I do at this moment?

It was more important to confirm Dogun’s safety.

Of course, I knew he’d be fine… surely!

I didn’t want to entertain ominous thoughts.

So I quickened my pace.

No matter how much my breath caught in my throat, how my tired legs shook uneasily, I kept stepping forward.

And just when I arrived in front of Dogun’s house, instead of catching my breath, I banged on the door.

I knocked and pressed the doorbell beside the door.

Yet… there was no response.

It was just… silent.

As if no one was home.

‘…That can’t be.’

Yeah, that’s impossible.

The silence must have meant… they simply couldn’t hear me.

So if I opened the closed door and stepped inside—

‘…Huh?’

Why was the door… unlocked?

It shouldn’t be; that’s impossible…

The door swung open too easily, and I carefully stepped inside.

It was just as quiet inside as outside.

So quiet that every step I took echoed like thunder.

No, right?

This must be a prank.

He’s hiding out of embarrassment for being late for our appointment.

Yes, that must be it.

So come out already!

I won’t be mad.

“I-I… I’m not mad…”

Come out already!

I frantically searched the inside of the house.

Yet, I couldn’t find any sign of Dogun.

And what I found instead was… the reason Dogun couldn’t be late for our meeting.

Letters Dogun had written himself, along with pictures he had taken to send to his mom.

And even a faded photo.

All had been stuffed into a battered box.

As if they were someone’s remains.

The moment I realized that fact, something inside my heart lurched.

So I immediately stood and dashed toward the place where Dogun might be waiting.

I threw off those bothersome shoes and didn’t mind the rain that had begun to fall as I rushed down the deserted street.

‘Not yet…’

It’s still not too late.

If I hurry just a little more… just a little more…

I suddenly cut off that ominous thought that arose within me.

Yet, once started, it wouldn’t stop, and the brilliant red scenery I had seen earlier clung to me like an afterimage.

Was there something stuck in my foot?

My soles felt prickly.

Yet, I wouldn’t stop.

And so… I arrived at the park where I was supposed to meet Dogun…

“Ah…”

There was nothing there.

“Ah, no…”

The fountain that had been our meeting spot, the bench I had relied on during my occasional training, the vending machine—none of those things were visible at all.

Instead… only fragments, indistinguishable from one another, lay scattered everywhere.

Everything visible was drenched in red.

As if someone had accidentally knocked over a can of bright red paint over everything.

“Ugh…!”

So it became even harder to accept.

I couldn’t accept it.

Among those ‘things’ that had been taken away somewhere covered in white cloth, unable to retain their complete shapes, it was impossible to believe that Dogun might be included.

That can’t be true.

How fast he is, after all!

He’d surely recognize the danger and hide right away!

Yeah, that has to be the case.

So… I had to search for him.

I had to find Dogun, who, unaware that everything had ended, was stupidly hiding somewhere.

So… I headed toward the bright red stains.

“Student…! Student?! You can’t go in there!”

“Let go of me…!”

No matter who grabbed me, I shook them off with all my might and moved toward the place where Dogun might be hiding.

“I understand why you’re doing this, but you can’t! Okay?”

“Dogun…!”

“Hey! Get someone who can stop this! Hurry!”

“Lee Dogun…!”

If you can hear me, respond.

Please… answer me!