This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 147

It’s outside.

Honestly, if I said I wasn’t worried at all, that would be a lie.

It wasn’t long ago that I had just experienced a life-threatening situation, making my concerns even stronger.

“Right.”

Still, I replied to Chae-rim’s question that way.

I had no choice but to respond like that.

There was no reason to refuse Chae-rim’s suggestion, and I was feeling a bit of regret myself.

So… I guess it was the regret of not being able to bring more food or drinks in my haste to hide.

Of course, with what I had, I could manage for a few days… but there was no guarantee that I’d find a way back to my original world in that time frame.

It would be wise to stock up on food and water whenever possible.

Especially to avoid the situation of having to taste that unknown red liquid.

So there was no problem following Chae-rim out of the cave.

I only had one thing weighing on my mind.

So I asked, “Um… are you okay?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Her response was a confused one.

Was she really that clueless?

“The injury. If you move around unnecessarily, it might open up again…”

Yes, that was exactly what I was worried about.

While it was nice to go outside and look around, if it caused her injury to worsen, that would be terrible.

‘No, the worst case would be…’

It would be if the wound got infected.

In that case, we would have no way to deal with it.

Not only did we have no medicine or bandages on hand, but it didn’t seem likely we could find any even if we tried.

That said, I was a little worried about the makeshift cloth I had bandaged with, but at that time, there were no other options.

Before wrapping that around her wound, I even cleaned the cloth with precious spring water just in case.

Anyway… from the perspective of relying entirely on Chae-rim’s strength, her getting hurt was indeed the worst-case scenario, so I put on a worried expression. Upon seeing my face, Chae-rim smiled and raised the corners of her mouth.

“Oh, this? This is nothing…”

Then, she suddenly pulled down the zipper that was covering her neck all the way to her chest!

Thanks to that, I was momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance of the soft scenery that invaded my sight, but while I was turning my head forcefully to the other side, there was a clattering sound coming from Chae-rim.

Eventually, there followed the sound of a spray being released and the zipper going back up.

“There, all done!”

Only after hearing that did I turn my head back towards Chae-rim.

I did turn my head, but immediately what greeted my eyes was quite the unusual sight.

How should I describe that?

It looked as if it had been compressed like a ball of spider silk.

It completely covered the spot where my makeshift bandaging used to be, now a pristine white.

“What’s that…?”

“This? Oh, maybe you’ve never seen it before?”

The moment I reacted, Chae-rim nodded as if it made sense, then suddenly reached out her hand to me.

Swoosh—!

“It’s like a liquid bandage or something. Well, it’s not a simple bandage, as there are many components.”

Hearing that, I touched what had been sprinkled on my palm with my other hand. It felt as if it would simply drip any moment, but in that instant, it had turned into a solid.

However, it didn’t feel hard; rather, it was a bit stretchy?

“That’s amazing… I guess it looks convenient.”

I hadn’t known such a thing existed.

Is this what they call the world of professionals?

“Right? I suggested it, didn’t I?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, well, the actual development was done by the researchers from the Association.”

Chae-rim then handed me one, saying I should have one too, and only after accepting it and putting it around my neck could we finally exit the cave.

As soon as we stepped out, we were faced with—

“Unbelievable…”

The massive footprint was so immense I couldn’t suppress the rough sound escaping my mouth.

Could it be some dinosaur had just passed through?

Such a footprint was blatantly visible right in front of the cave entrance.

When I passed by earlier, there hadn’t been any sign of such a footprint.

To create a print so huge and deep, what kind of creature would it take?

That gap sent chills down my spine.

The more chilling fact was that such a massive creature was merely one of many Bruisers and not the final boss.

While I was busy expressing awe or lamentation over the enormous prints on the ground, Chae-rim showed no particular reaction to the footprints themselves.

The only sign of her response was her quick glance over at the prints as we exited the cave.

Then she started looking around as if searching for something… Thanks to her actions, my gaze naturally followed hers.

Yet I could not figure out what she was looking for.

“Are you looking for something?”

“Huh? Oh… not really, I was just a bit curious.”

Curious?

What was she talking about?

“This cave, just looking at the inner structure makes it feel like it’s inside some creature’s body, doesn’t it?”

“…It does feel that way.”

So when I first discovered the cave, I couldn’t spare much time to think and hesitated a lot about whether to enter or not.

Was that all?

I had even poked at the walls made of thick, vein-like flesh multiple times.

After going through all that doubt and verification, I confirmed there was no reaction before finally stepping inside.

Still, I couldn’t deny the unsettling visuals that greeted me every time… Chae-rim’s recent words perfectly pierced through that inner feeling.

“I knew it, right? That’s why I wanted to check.”

Chae-rim bobbed her head as if she expected that answer, and her gaze shifted upward.

Could there be something visible up there?

With a sense of hope, I followed her gaze, but there was nothing particularly noticeable.

At least not to my eyes, though I wondered about Chae-rim’s.

“Is that a tree…?”

From Chae-rim’s lips, who had been silent for a while, that mumble escaped while she was collecting the things scattered around.

“What? A tree?”

Could it be that she meant the massive mountain we were hidden in, including the cave we had just been in?

“Yeah.”

Surprisingly, she was right.

That made it even harder to believe.

It was because—

“Um… isn’t it a bit too big to be a tree?”

That was the reality.

It was so large that even from a considerable distance, the top wasn’t visible, obscured by what looked like fog or clouds of crimson.

But to call that a tree?

It didn’t make sense.

“Why does it not make sense? A creature the size of a five-story apartment is wandering around, after all!”

But human emotions can be quite fickle, and upon hearing those words, I found myself thinking, ‘Huh? Is that so?’

“If this really is a tree… does that mean it’s alive?”

“I don’t know about that.”

Responding with a light shrug, Chae-rim suddenly reached out her hand.

“Could you give me something sharp if you have any?”

In my moment of confusion, I looked at what she extended to me and then searched for something around, eventually picking up a piece of scrap metal and cautiously handing it over—

“Uh, excuse me…?”

Grabbing the blunt side of the sharp piece, she boldly approached the wall.

I couldn’t help but be astonished by her next action.

At some point, she had reversed her grip on the metal and thrust it right into the flesh that was protruding outside the cave!

“…!”

The moment I witnessed that act without a hint of hesitation, I gasped, and Chae-rim’s confident voice rang in my ears.

“This makes one thing certain.”

“This… is alive.”

And resting on Chae-rim’s palm was… a fleshy form oozing that vivid red liquid, writhing slightly as if touched by a weak current.