This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 303

Dogun’s Perspective

As I hurried home, there were a few mishaps at the end, like how Yoonseo’s back suddenly caught fire, but that was about it.

To be fair, it was quite a serious situation, yet things managed to wrap up relatively uneventfully.

Of course, that doesn’t mean nothing changed.

At least in terms of Yoonseo’s daily life, a few changes worth calling transformations did come about.

For example… it became hard for her to roam around freely like before… pretty much those kinds of things.

That was the change brought into Yoonseo’s life, and honestly, it was somewhat to be expected.

After all, despite the incident being serious, the photos from the press conference turned out remarkably well—so much so that, without even trying, people started recognizing Yoonseo’s face whenever she wandered outside.

And once even one or two people started to gather like that?

The very presence of those people acted as bait, attracting even more people to Yoonseo’s side.

It didn’t stop there.

In the early days, it wasn’t just people; reporters were also a problem.

When the press conference ended, Chae-rim helped clear away the reporters trying to stick to Yoonseo with the Association’s influence, but that was a trick overly specific to that time, and sure enough, starting exactly three days after the press conference, on Monday, reporters magically discovered that Yoonseo was studying at Heogye High and began waiting nearby.

‘To be precise, it was right near the school gate…’

Anyway, the reporters waiting around the school gate to snag at least a line of private interview with Yoonseo ended up causing quite a bit of hassle for the other students. Some of them, overly impatient with their accomplishments, even attempted to sneak into the school, only to get caught in the radar net of heroes already stationed at Heogye for their patrol missions, which led to Chae-rim stepping in once more.

And just like that, when Chae-rim took to the front lines again, at least those making a ruckus at the school vanished.

While it might be a bit ambiguous to call it a direct result, Yoonseo also started to hitch a ride with Chae-rim to school every morning, just like Bora and I did.

Ah, speaking of Chae-rim’s new car, it was just a regular SUV, only slightly bigger than others.

To put it honestly, it wasn’t the one Chae-rim originally planned to buy.

But what’s the point of worrying about that now?

This time, Chae-rim was once again trying to purchase that monstrous Hummer.

And who was it that persuaded Chae-rim to change her mind? That would be me, of course.

It goes without saying that saying it is easy, but reaching that point was anything but.

You see—

“Aren’t bigger and sturdier cars the best?”

That was Chae-rim’s philosophy on cars right from the start.

“Well… that’s true, but…”

And the most maddening part was that, in a way, it wasn’t incorrect, so I couldn’t just shoot back a defense against that.

So what could I do?

I didn’t feel like it, but I could only bring up realistic circumstances.

“Still… the car you’re trying to buy is a tad too big.”

“Hmm…”

“And remember last time? When you asked me to pull the car out, and…?”

Fortunately enough, the alley in front of our house wasn’t unusually narrow for an alley, so as long as Chae-rim was careful, she could park her previous car without any issues.

However, that was only when it was about one car driving through the alley; if even one other car were to appear while pulling out or parking, especially if another car pushed in behind that one…

Just like last time, we would wind up in a situation where we could neither go forward nor backward.

So, I thought Chae-rim would change her mind if I used that as an example—but—

“Then we can just park it outside the alley, right?”

Contrary to my expectations, Chae-rim’s yearning for something big and solid was so immense that it didn’t extinguish even with that little reasoning.

So I had to change my approach once again.

“Uh… more than anything, won’t the maintenance costs be terrible? With insurance and taxes, it must be ridiculous…”

It certainly would be.

Given the car Chae-rim was trying to buy, despite its rugged exterior, its price alone would rival that of any sports car.

And it was also an imported car.

“Recently, you’ve had a lot of expenses for various reasons. So thinking ahead, it would be smart to save where you can…”

I figured the taxes alone would be astronomical, hoping to hit that point home—but—

“—sugar.”

Immediately back came a smile that looked as if she was gazing at something cute.

Along with it, Chae-rim pulled out her smartphone.

And on that smartphone, clearly shown, was a photo of the city skyline, skyscrapers standing tall.

“…?”

So what did she want me to do with this?

At first, I thought like that.

Honestly, I couldn’t figure out what point Chae-rim was trying to make by showing me this.

At that moment, I had no idea, but maybe my confusion was written all over my face.

“Do you see the building in the middle?”

Chae-rim grinned and pointed at one of the buildings in the photo.

“That’s my building.”

“…!”

“And the one to the left, too.”

“…?!”

“Oh, the one on the right is currently under renovation, so there’s no profit coming from it right now… but anyway, that too.”

By that point, I started to get it.

So… I had been worrying for nothing.

From everything I had seen regarding her spending habits, I could’ve guessed she made good money, but this was something else altogether…

“Oh, and just for the record… I’m exempt from taxes.”

“Uh…?”

“It wasn’t like that from the beginning, but it’s a kind of benefit given only to special-class heroes. So once I retire, I’ll have to start paying again…”

And at that moment, I couldn’t help but accept it.

My alternate method of persuasion that I had painstakingly chosen had clearly failed.

It was then that I half-gave up on convincing Chae-rim.

“Still… I would appreciate it if you could drive something more ordinary.”

Before completely giving up, I said that merely because I didn’t want to waste everything we went through.

“Why…? Is it… burdensome?”

To be completely candid, that had a bit of influence.

But it wasn’t the sole reason behind my concern.

“Honestly, to an extent, that’s true, but more than that, it’s just worrying.”

“Worrying? About what?”

“Well, the car you want to buy tends to stand out somewhat, you know?”

Is it just standing out?

The Hummer that Chae-rim used to drive around, now departed from this world, was the very symbol of Chae-rim—or rather, of Lightning Lady herself.

It was that notorious; when we first met, I recognized Chae-rim not by her face but by her car.

The fact that I expressed concern was actually due to that very point.

Because with a car that stood out that much… well, it would be a perfect target if something happened.

Of course, I didn’t think any maniac villain would particularly target Chae-rim, but then again, you never know what could happen.

I was genuinely voicing that concern, but—

“Hmm… that’s true.”

Surprisingly, that seemed to hit home for Chae-rim the hardest.

For the first time, a positive reaction flowed from her lips.

Strangely enough, it didn’t seem to put her in a bad mood at all.

Given how someone challenges her spending like this, it would be understandable for her to be somewhat annoyed about it.

“Then how about I drive something more ordinary, like you said?”

And just like that, the result of successfully persuading Chae-rim turned out to be the vehicle now sitting right before my eyes.

‘With this size…’

It might be a squeeze for eight, but seven would fit in just fine, right…?

While I had managed to convince her, the obsession with size seemed to stick with her.

As I chuckled inwardly at the sight of an SUV big enough to accommodate three in the backseat with the seats folded down and connected to the trunk, I climbed into the passenger seat at Chae-rim’s urging.

“Dogun? What are you doing not getting in?”