This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 319

Of course, before intervening, I should first check Yoonseo’s opinion.

If the person involved doesn’t want it, stepping in and saying this or that, no matter how nicely packaged, can only be seen as coercion.

Thus, as soon as the conclusion was reached, I went to find Yoonseo.

“Hey.”

I had been holding out hope that the opponent would change, but hearing that it wouldn’t seemed to bring me down instantly.

“…Why.”

The response I received was as wilted as a leaf, utterly lacking in vigor.

It was as if it were in the state of seaweed soaked in water.

I understood why Yoonseo was reacting this way, so after scratching my cheek a couple of times, I watched her cautiously and continued speaking.

“What are you going to do now?”

“…What about it?”

Is she really asking out of ignorance? Or is she just pretending not to know, wanting to momentarily ignore the reality that might soon crash down?

I couldn’t tell which was the correct answer, but one thing was certain: staying dazed like this wouldn’t change a thing.

“I mean, what are you going to do about sparring with your sister?”

I was trying to wake Yoonseo up from the self-imposed ignorance of reality like this, but…

“Well…”

Still, the response was frustratingly lackluster.

“Hey, Oh Yoonseo.”

“Why do you keep calling me…?”

“Aren’t you angry at all?”

“…About what?”

“About the situation itself! Everyone is just assuming you’ll lose without even getting a chance to fight. Isn’t that infuriating?”

“It can’t be helped.”

“So what’s so inevitable about it?”

“But… she’s my sister…”

“What’s so special about Chae-rim being your opponent? Is she invincible or something?”

What if she were?

Chae-rim would have the title of ‘World’s Strongest’ instead of just ‘One of the Top Heroes.’

But the reality was not like that, which meant that the word “defeat” existed in Chae-rim’s vocabulary as well.

“Or is it because of types being mismatched?”

Was that really the part that bothered her the most?

Almost immediately after I asked, Yoonseo cautiously nodded her head.

Yeah, that makes sense.

For Yoonseo, whose main weapon is “water,” Chae-rim, who represents “electricity,” would feel like an insurmountable wall no matter what she tried.

But that was a simplistic way of thinking…

“Hey.”

“…?”

“What if there was a way for you to land a hit on your sister? What would you do?”

Would she just continue to remain dazed like this?

The moment I threw out the suggestion with that nuance, the dullness in Yoonseo’s eyes abruptly came to life.

“…How?”

As expected, Yoonseo also didn’t want to face defeat in such a powerlessness manner.

Her now sparkling eyes seemed to urge me to hurry up and reveal that method.

“Right…”

That’s the reaction I know from Oh Yoonseo.

She absolutely despises losing to anyone, embodying the spirit of competitiveness.

“Well, for now… I can think of about two methods?”

“Two?”

“Yeah, so the thing is…”

I momentarily trailed off, cleared my throat, and continued.

“Yoonseo, which do you find easier? Making things cold? Or making them hot?”

.

.

.

No matter how strong Chae-rim might be, my small wish of not wanting to see Yoonseo lose without doing anything became the foundation for the alliance between Yoonseo and me. From that day on, we dedicated ourselves to preparing for the Chae-rim confrontation.

Of course, even during that time, Yoonseo and I had clearly defined roles.

If Yoonseo was focused on honing her own talent even more in preparation for the spar with Chae-rim?

I was deeply analyzing the hero known as ‘Lightning Lady.’

Certainly, it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

It couldn’t be helped since Chae-rim was incredibly strong.

Most of the battle footage available of Chae-rim only showed the opponent barely holding on for a few seconds before being decisively defeated. So there wasn’t much to analyze.

But without giving up, I meticulously combed through the usable footage frame by frame, managing to extract a few noteworthy points.

And today was the day I would meet with Yoonseo to share the results of our efforts.

“First, let’s go over the basic strategy. You remember what I told you last time, right?”

“Yeah, ‘Use ice for defense, and water for attack,’ right?”

“Exactly.”

“But, you know, Dogun.”

“Yeah?”

“Is it really necessary to separate it into those two categories? Since we’ve confirmed that ice doesn’t conduct electricity well last time, wouldn’t it be better to use ice for attacking too…?”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

Sometimes, simplicity is the most effective strategy.

So following Yoonseo’s suggestion might not be a bad choice, but…

“The problem is sustainability.”

If we proceeded with Yoonseo’s approach, we’d inevitably stumble over that issue.

Given that Chae-rim would be the opponent, it couldn’t be avoided.

That’s because, unlike Chae-rim, who was already at a near-perfect level in handling her ability, Yoonseo still had a long way to go.

After all, it was just recently that Yoonseo had begun to grasp the application of her ability to gather moisture from the surroundings and transform it into ice, earning her the silly nickname of ‘Second Frozen’ from her peers.

Because of that, adapting her talent in such a way could still be a bit foreign to her.

And to say she’s not accustomed means…

She would undoubtedly expend more energy than usual when using her powers.

But if she relied on that for both offense and defense?

At first, she might manage to present a decent performance, but eventually, she would get overwhelmed by Chae-rim’s offensives.

Currently, Yoonseo could not compete with Chae-rim in terms of sustainability.

Maybe in the future, when Yoonseo becomes proficient in handling her ability, things would be different, but for now, it couldn’t be avoided.

That was also the reason why we divided the offensive and defensive approaches entirely.

Given that her sustainability was lacking, wouldn’t it be wise to make use of the opponent’s strength?

A few days ago, I had just whispered to Yoonseo about checking out the first sparring venue under the pretense of a preliminary survey, and that was the build-up for all of this.

“Anyway, so how was it?”

“Huh? What?”

“The sparring venue.”

“Ah…”

Just as she seemed to understand what I meant, Yoonseo pulled out her mobile phone from her pocket.

Inside the phone were dozens of photos taken around the sparring venue.

“I thought it would be clearer to show photos rather than just explain, so I took some. What do you think?”

Among those dozens of photos, there was even a picture of the ceiling that I wanted.

“Good.”

To express that she had done well, I gave her a thumbs up, prompting Yoonseo to groan as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“I was really nervous taking those pictures, so I’m glad…”

“Why? Did the staff say something?”

“No, not really… They just kept looking. It felt like, what was it, like… ‘What’s she doing again?'”

“Because you were taking dozens of photos, that’s why.”

“Well, what was I supposed to do in such a spacious place?”

“Is it really that spacious?”

“Yeah, it felt at least twice as wide as the one at school.”

“That much?”

I was somewhat surprised by Yoonseo’s statement that it was at least twice as wide, considering that the school venue was already pretty spacious. But then again, it made sense.

While the venue at the school was primarily used by mere hero candidates, those using the facilities at the association were all heroes of a certain caliber.

So even with the same mock sparring, the contents and outcomes were bound to differ.

Thus, it was only natural that the size of the sparring venue would be larger.

“So how about the height?”

“Um… about the height of our school’s auditorium?”

“That’s quite tall…”

In that case, I had to consider the possibility of facing Chae-rim in mid-air.

I didn’t know how she could use her electric ability to fly, but Chae-rim could indeed fly through the air.

Of course, she had previously stated that using her powers to do so was more labor-intensive than it seemed, so it didn’t appear likely that she’d use it in a spar. But still, it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.

“Wait a minute…”

What if I could lead Chae-rim to have no choice but to engage in aerial combat?