This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 148

As Dogun and Chae-rim were finally grasping the reality of the place they had just entered, Seolhwa was stuck at the school late into the night, having finished her training but unable to return home due to the rift incident.

Originally, this wasn’t her responsibility, but it became unavoidable.

The rift incident had turned out to be massive and quite sudden.

As the Association repeatedly sent messages recommending evacuation to nearby large facilities just in case, one could say, using the expressions of the reporters who were frantically pouring out articles, that everyone had become complacent, relaxed by the surprise of a perfectly timed blow.

The timing of the rift’s occurrence was also rather exquisite.

It had erupted just as the crowd was beginning to swell, resulting in many getting swept into it while heading home from work.

As a result, those who should be gathering at the school to manage the situation had largely dropped out due to death, disappearance, or injury. Consequently, the workload fell even on Seolhwa, who, despite being a student needing protection, held the title of Student Council President.

And, naturally, Seolhwa didn’t refuse that role.

While her decision had some ulterior motives, the desire to do it was stronger.

After all, if she was going to be a hero, she wanted to be a hero who could stand tall in front of Dogun.

So, she had volunteered for the hardships… Thankfully, no additional rifts had been observed.

Thanks to that, she could relax a bit.

The problem was… it was after she had relaxed.

Sitting casually at the edge of the auditorium stage, she suddenly started noticing the surroundings inside the auditorium.

With no new rift news for several hours, everyone seemed to relax a bit.

Everyone in sight was glued to their mobile phones.

Not one person excluded; they were all at it.

Either banging away on the phones or pressed to their ears.

Among them, a few looked anxious or worried, as if things weren’t going their way.

Watching that scene, Dogun’s face popped into her mind.

“I’ll just make a quick call.”

“Uh? Oh, sure.”

She said that to the vice president sitting next to her and sat back down after getting up for just a bit.

Sure, she could do it there, but she thought it’d be tough to talk properly with the surrounding noise.

Once outside, she pulled out her mobile phone for the first time in hours… but it seemed like things were just as chaotic on that end since she hadn’t received a reply to the message she sent earlier.

Nevertheless, she didn’t feel particularly worried.

‘Maybe they’re still dealing with the aftermath…’

That was all that crossed her mind.

Perhaps they lost their phone in the rush to evacuate or it got broken from being dropped.

Any other possibility sounded unlikely, but it wasn’t comforting since she had rushed off to meet him right after school, meaning they were definitely together during the rift incident.

And if the two of them were together?

Unless the Anothers suddenly targeted them and launched a group assault, there shouldn’t be any issues with Dogun’s safety.

As much as she hated to admit it, Yoonseo had one undeniable talent.

…Her personality might not be great, but her talent was certainly remarkable.

Especially when she was focused solely on defense; she was impenetrable, so even if they were unfortunately caught up in the rift incident, escaping with their lives would be a piece of cake.

Thinking so, she slowly began to worry about something else.

‘Please don’t tell me…”

They’re still together, right?

It was nearly twelve already!


Of course, if they had evacuated to a nearby shelter, it made sense they would be staying close to each other.

She understood that but… it still nagged at her.

Worrying about being a burden to Dogun, she took a moment outside the auditorium, clutching her phone but hesitating, unlike earlier when she was just stuck there.

That’s why she cautiously lifted her phone.

She intended to call Dogun—

“Oh! You’re out here!”

Of course, that was when she was interrupted.

“Sorry to bother you, but could you do me a quick favor?”

To be honest, she wasn’t thrilled.

Since not every teacher had a conscience, during the crisis, she questioned on a couple of occasions, ‘Why are we being tasked with this?’

Anyway, what was it this time?

Before she could process her query, she was handed a stack of documents.

“What’s this?”

“Oh, it’s nothing much… it should have names and some simple personal details listed.”

“Ah, okay.”

“Please check if anyone on that list is in the auditorium. If there is, just let me know who’s there.”

“Is it urgent?”

“Uh, it’s not super urgent, but I imagine there are many people waiting, so the quicker we handle it, the better.”

Basically, it was like taking attendance, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

It would certainly be easier than trying to comfort the anxious people.

“Should I verify as quickly as possible and bring it to the office?”

“Yeah, please do that. I’d really appreciate it.”

Having sent the teacher off like that, she intended to pick up where she had left off when the interruption came.

Instead of just waiting for the phone to connect, she flipped through the documents she had received, and had she not turned to the next page, it probably would have gone smoothly.

‘…Huh?’

What’s this?

Why does Dogun’s name appear here?

Could it be a namesake?

At first, she thought so.

Dogun isn’t a common name, but it’s not super rare either.

So she initially thought it was just a coincidence… but then the date of birth and residence details next to the name caught her eye.

Only after seeing that did she realize.

The name listed was not some namesake, but that of Dogun himself.

But why?

Why is Dogun’s name on this document?

What is this document, anyway?

And right now, Dogun is surely with Yoonseo, so he couldn’t possibly be listed here.

Yet, was there a reason to specifically check and call out his name?

Or could it be that the evacuation spot Dogun went to was packed, and they haven’t managed to identify who is there?

The moment that thought crossed her mind, it suddenly hit her.

She realized that her heart had started to pound rapidly and loudly at some point.

With that realization came a creeping sense of anxiety, often referred to as unease.

Just moments earlier, she had been calm, but suddenly anxiety began to set in.

The phone pressed to her ear had remained silent except for the ringing, adding to her agitation.

And that anxiety multiplied as she began hearing the message indicating the call could not connect.

Was he too preoccupied to answer the phone?

Or had he genuinely lost his phone, or had it broken?

Or if neither was the case…

She didn’t want to think such things, yet the sinister possibilities wouldn’t subside, even though she knew better than anyone that speculating negatively won’t lead to anything good.

It felt as if that was all she could manage to think straight.

Holding onto her reason felt pointless now.

After ending the meaningless call, she dialed Dogun’s number again.

With a fervent wish for this connection to succeed, she began flipping through the pages of the document with Dogun’s name on it, desperately trying to uncover something—anything.

She was hoping to figure out the identity of this document…

And she discovered the truth on the last page of the stack.

– The individuals listed on this document are currently under a request for confirmation of their safety.

– Please check if the person corresponding to the information on this list is inside the facility and respond accordingly.

Only after reading that phrase did she understand.

The document in her hands was… a list of missing persons.

And that Dogun was among the missing.

The moment she realized that—

“Ah, no… this… it can’t be…”

Suddenly, her mind went blank.