This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 297

Yoonseo’s Perspective

“Perhaps Dogun felt the same about today. It’s too soon to let your guard down.”

The words clearly directed at Dogun felt like a reprimand aimed at me.

Yes, at this point, I had to acknowledge the reality, whether I liked it or not.

In other words… I had to admit that I had been somewhat complacent.

Did I consider it could be dangerous?

Of course, I knew that.

How could I not? After all, it was Chae-rim herself who had warned me directly with her own mouth.

So, while I had anticipated that it might be dangerous… I also thought, ‘So what?’

And no wonder; I had felt quite confident back then.

Even if villains were to invade, I was sure I could fend them off with ease.

That’s how it was back then… but now, as things unfolded, I realized naturally.

The villains’ tactics were far more cunning than I had imagined, and I was still nowhere near ready.

What if Chae-rim hadn’t been there?

Honestly, I didn’t want to think about such scenarios, but it was all too obvious to even imagine.

What would have happened?

Surely, instead of holding this half-reflective meeting, I’d be lost in thoughts worrying about Dogun, who had been kidnapped.

So even if Chae-rim was openly scolding us right now, I was willing to hear her out.

Judging from Chae-rim’s reaction, she didn’t seem inclined to do so, however.

“Anyway, well… I’m glad both of you seem safe, but…”

For saying that, Chae-rim’s expression wasn’t particularly bright.

She looked like someone carrying some burdens.

‘Could it be…’

Was using my talent to overpower that girl earlier a problem?

It might be possible.

The Hero Association has a pathological disdain for unauthorized individuals wielding their talents with force.

So, perhaps that was what was weighing on her mind.

“Uh… Sister?”

“…Yes?”

“Is something wrong?”

Could Dogun have felt a similar unease?

His voice came out carefully as he intently stared at Chae-rim’s face.

“Ah… um… the thing is…”

And thanks to that, I could finally hear it.

The reason behind Chae-rim’s less-than-happy expression, despite facing what could be considered the best outcome.

“To cut to the chase… Yoonseo is the problem.”

“…Me?”

“More precisely, the method you used to subdue the villain, Yoonseo… that’s the issue…”

The method used to subdue the villain being the problem? What on earth did that mean?

As questions swirled in my mind, I glanced over at Dogun sitting beside me, and his reaction was no different from mine.

“But… they’re not dead.”

Maybe that was why right after Chae-rim said that, Dogun muttered something utterly bewildering.

“Right… they aren’t dead. That’s not what I’m trying to say.”

“Then what is…?”

“I told you. The method is the issue.”

And following that was a name I had heard once before.

It must have been… in history class.

That name popped out of Chae-rim’s mouth, a name I felt I had heard back then.

I couldn’t help but wonder why Chae-rim was expressing such concerns.

To be honest?

It was absurd.

I never imagined that I would be looked at in a certain way just for having a similar use of talent.

And more importantly… I had instinctively unleashed the abilities I used to overpower that girl.

So even if I were asked to do it again, I wouldn’t be confident I could replicate it.

Sure, maybe with training I could, but right now it wasn’t feasible.

Yet, to have to face such scrutiny…

At this point, it felt beyond ridiculous; it felt unfair.

And perhaps this was something that Dogun, who could be seen as my mentor, couldn’t easily overlook either.

With an incredulous expression, Dogun finally spoke up.

“No, no matter how you slice it, does that make sense? Just because the method of using talent is similar, it doesn’t mean they’re the same person…”

“Exactly how shocking the villain Frozen was to people at the time. Witnesses would react almost pathologically even to just similar cases.”

“No, ha…”

“You know that people aren’t always so rational, Dogun.”

Was he feeling any sense of responsibility for how things had turned out?

Dogun’s expression wasn’t good at all.

Just as I was about to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault…

“Fortunately, it’s not like there’s no plan at all.”

Before I could even open my mouth, Chae-rim’s words beat me to it.

“The reason I called you here is precisely for that.”

All of a sudden, I felt like I had been stripped of my opportunity to speak and could only stay silent.

“So what’s this plan?”

“It’s simple. Since it was destined to become a hot topic anyway… why not take the lead in that flow?”

Having said that, Chae-rim cleared her throat repeatedly, as if preparing to say something important.

And then after a while…

The rhythmic sound of her cough stopped abruptly, followed by—

“So, Yoonseo…”

“…Yes?”

“Are you ready to become famous?”

At first, it was a statement whose meaning completely eluded me.

Dogun’s Perspective

“Are you ready to become famous?”

At first, I didn’t even know what that meant.

However… with no other options available, I think Yoonseo nodded in agreement.

To cut right to the facts, Chae-rim met our belief with thorough compliance.

From the moment Yoonseo nodded…

It all began to happen so fast that I could hardly grasp what was going on.

In that situation, all I could do was watch over the internet for public opinion with the mobile phone I held.

And while I busily scoured the web, was it that the reporters had finally caught wind of the story?

The first article to break the silence was titled, “Bizarre Photo from the Heart of Seoul, Is Frozen Really Alive?”—a headline that reeked of sensationalism.

And just like the sensational title suggested, the newspaper’s name was one I had never heard of before… so out of curiosity, I checked their website, and lo and behold, it was the kind of place that just rehashed posts from internet communities and social media and called it journalism.

As you might expect, the article’s content was an absolute mess.

In broad strokes, it combined old photos of the damage caused by Frozen, with unclear sources, claiming that in truth, Frozen wasn’t dead, but had merely hidden among the crowd—unfurling some wild conspiracy theories.

Given that I already knew all the facts, reading the article just made me want to scoff.

‘Still…’

If I had to point out one fortunate thing amidst all this chaos, it was that none of the articles mentioned Yoonseo’s name.

Perhaps they hadn’t pieced that together yet.

But with articles like this getting published, it would only be a matter of time before they did.

And sure enough, not long after that article went up, newspapers with names I had heard at least once started flooding the media with articles.

Most of these writings were speculative or nonsense, just like the first one, but a few came closer to the truth.

However, those reporting on the truth still used vague terms regarding Yoonseo’s identity, referring to her as ‘Woman A’ or something similar.

One thing was certain… the atmosphere regarding all of this wasn’t favorable at all.

It seemed just as Chae-rim had anticipated.

After all, if I were to read those articles?

The villain who had been subdued by Yoonseo was being portrayed as an unfortunate victim of a crime involving talent, rather than a villain.

And amid the prevailing emotions of fear, a press conference organized by Chae-rim was on the verge of commencing.