This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 248

At that very moment, while Dogun and Yoonseo were enjoying their happy time, something unusual was happening in a place unknown to the two of them.

Influenced by Chae-rim, who had an extreme dislike for the Association Chairman, Dogun and those around him began to view the Association as a sort of evil lair. However, the truth was that the work the Association did was far from insignificant.

After all, the Association was known for trying just about anything to maintain public safety as part of their ground-level mission.

For example… placing spies within organizations formed by villains was one such effort.

Doing this was, of course, to keep tabs on the organization’s movements and, if necessary, to carry out a clean sweep. Sometimes those working for this purpose would unexpectedly gain recognition for their abilities and rise to considerable positions within the organization.

Right now, a woman walking a couple of steps ahead followed someone down a deserted, complicated alleyway; she was one such case.

Initially, she had surely entered the organization as a mere low-level member, but somehow she had become someone trusted and relied upon by the boss.

‘Anyway…’

Putting that aside, just who was this woman?

To be honest, I felt something was off from the moment I was first introduced to her after being called by the boss.

It couldn’t be helped, as the silhouette that peeked out from the clothes she had wrapped around herself suggested she was a woman, but at the same time, her aura was strangely faint.

So, as we entered the alleyway, I even thought the boss must have noticed she was a spy planted by the Association and considered hiring an assassin for quiet disposal.

It got to the point where I had thought about escaping to a safe house provided by the Association if it came to that… But as I followed that oddly faint presence, my worries gradually faded away, leaving only confusion.

What if she really intended to dispose of me?

She would have acted long ago.

I wasn’t sure what the situation was, but the alley we were in had passed the point of being quiet; it was practically devoid of people, making it the perfect place for an ambush.

Yet, the oddly faint presence continued to walk without turning back or paying me any mind.

No, it didn’t seem like she cared about me at all.

That was why questions kept bubbling up in my mind.


‘Who is she…?’

Thinking back to the boss’s demeanor when introducing her, she certainly didn’t seem like an ordinary person.

Among the figures around the boss, through information provided by the Association, there was no one with such a presence.

This meant she was either someone the Association hadn’t grasped yet or a relatively new contact… So what was her purpose?

Could it be related to walking in this completely deserted alley?

Just as that thought crossed my mind…

-Pat…

Once again, a strange sound of footsteps echoed, prompting the woman ahead to suddenly come to a halt.

I almost flinched at that reflexively but managed to suppress it as I thought, ‘She stopped?’

Does that mean this is the destination?

But there’s nothing around!

As I turned my head left and right to visibly check the surroundings, something just felt off, so I was merely sneaking glances. It was at that moment an ominous sound drifted into my ears.

-Crackling…

It sounded like static from a walkie-talkie or the sound of sparks.

Where did that sound come from?

To solve that question that had taken root in my head, I moved my gaze to the direction of the sound.

And… I gasped.

I couldn’t help it.

The very air, which had seemed normal just a moment ago, was now split apart left and right.

‘Why is a Rift here…?’

No, if a Rift was supposed to open, my mobile phone should have received a notification by now!

The phone I had tucked away was completely silent.

‘Could it be…?’

The small Rift that has been talked about a lot within the Association lately?

Yes, it had to be.

If so, soon enough, the Another Ones would come bursting out.

I was clinging to my dazed mind, which was struggling to process this unexpected situation, hastily getting into a combat stance.

Once I was prepared to respond to whatever emerged, I suddenly remembered the woman I was with and quickly cast my gaze in her direction… but she was already moving towards the Rift.

As if walking towards a place she was meant to go, the woman stepped in front of the Rift and turned to look at me for the first time.

And just like that, she stepped right into the Rift.

After that, I couldn’t remember what led me to move my body in such a daze.

The only thing I could recall was that I walked toward the Rift as if enchanted.

And the moment I set foot into that mysterious realm that felt like another world, what lay before my eyes was an unimaginable spectacle.

There were people inside the Rift.

Moreover, it wasn’t just one or two.

It was as if a gathering was planned, as a considerable number of people stood apart from each other, watching each other warily.

What was even more astonishing was that several of these faces looked quite familiar.

Of course, it made sense.

Those were the worst, most notorious villains the Association had been desperately trying to track down.

They were the infamous second-in-command of a global drug cartel, as well as the worst serial killer who vanished without a trace after leaving hundreds of victims, young and old, in the wake of their killings.

These villains, known to be enemies of the Association, had settled at that grotesque location, as though waiting for someone.

The atmosphere was disturbingly thick.

Among them, the ones particularly noticeable were those rumored to be mad.

Was it because they were waiting quietly for someone in such a manner that didn’t fit their temperament that they seemed restless?

A number of eyes were darting around as if searching for prey.

As the mood grew increasingly tense…

‘It’ appeared.

Suddenly emerging from the center was ‘it,’ taking the form of a girl.

Thanks to that, I remembered.

The being presumed to be the leader of the Another Ones typically took the form of a girl, and had a keen interest in humans, acting like one.

Honestly, when that information had first come to me, I had scoffed in disbelief…

‘So it was true…’

Was that why?


I felt cold sweat trickle down my back.

The reactions of the others weren’t much different.

Everyone exuded a remarkably hostile atmosphere, and the sudden presence of the frail girl was enough to instill that feeling in all of them.

Of course, not everyone reacted that way.

There were those known for their impatience who scoffed at the sight of the suddenly appeared girl and began to showcase their talents against her.

Some were renowned for their strength… but the things that flew toward her never touched her.

The girl’s body soon got enveloped in a mass of flesh that erupted from the ground, devouring everything that approached her.

Those who sensed that something had gone wrong immediately tried to escape, but… the girl, emerging once again from within the mass of flesh, was quicker.

The mass of flesh rose from the ground.

And those who had attempted to attack her were all engulfed by it.

Everyone made some attempt to resist, but in the end, that was not enough.

And perhaps because a significant number of people had turned into a handful of blood in an instant, the already heavy atmosphere turned icy cold.

For the first time, the girl, who had maintained her silence, finally spoke.

“Well then… it seems like the disturbances have been taken care of, so shall we start the real conversation?”

A conversation?

Did that monster really gather all of us here for that?

But for what purpose?

“I’ve heard you are being chased by the Association. Is that right?”

No one answered.

However, the girl continued speaking, undeterred.

“And so… let’s make a deal.”

She proposed a ‘deal’ to those gathered.

“I will allow you to use this place as a hideout. And I’ll also provide you with a key to ‘open’ the ‘door’ here whenever you want. In exchange…”

A deal that those perpetually on the run couldn’t reject.

“That is, all you have to do is find and bring me one person.”

The girl, wearing a bemused expression as she scanned the faces of those who looked aghast, smiled softly.

“How about it? Simple, right?”