This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 358

“These people, all of them?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“If that’s true, then it definitely seems a bit…”

“Coincidental, right?”

“Yes.”

It was, as Chae-rim said.

Even if the lack of heroes available for immediate mobilization might justify pulling in people from a relatively less busy area, it was hard to dismiss the fact that all those summoned were individuals who had lost family, friends, or loved ones to the Another Ones as mere coincidence.

‘Of course…’

The absolute in this world felt quite coincidental to us, but there was also the possibility that such a conclusion was a result of coincidences upon coincidences stacking up.

As they say, there is also the possibility of coincidence… but honestly, how likely is such a coincidence?

0.01 percent?

It might even be lower than that.

So here, it might be more appropriate to consider this less as a coincidence, and more as the Association Chairman having some special intent behind summoning only these people.

Given the circumstances, that would be correct…

“Hmm…”

The real issue was likely the hidden intent within this whole operation.

What could the Chairman possibly be planning by gathering these people together?

What kind of scheme could be at play, specifically targeting those with such backstories?

Could it be a plan to form a task force that operates independently from regular heroes?

There was an abundance of possibilities, especially with the issues related to mini rifts becoming more severe lately.

I don’t really understand how exactly these new rifts differ from the existing ones since it’s not my area of expertise, but unlike the existing rifts which had warning systems detecting them before they occurred, these new ones were not being detected either before or after their appearance, effectively throwing humanity’s struggles against the Another Ones back to a time before the rift warning systems were developed.

Back to when it was impossible to predict rift occurrences, leaving humanity completely vulnerable to the Another Ones’ rampant violence.

Still, there was at least one improvement compared to those times… that being the scale of the rifts.

It’s possible they decided to stick with what’s been working, but recently, the rifts being opened have all been labeled as “mini,” indicating they are very small in scale.

For whatever reason, the creatures emerging from them also looked different from the ones previously observed, being all little mutants.

Thanks to that, dealing with them wasn’t particularly difficult.

Unlike the previous lot, which had exoskeletons that looked incredibly sturdy and truly were, the newly emerged ones had lost some of that defensive capability and moved much faster instead.

Thus, responding to these new threats wasn’t notably troublesome, but… the issue lay in the time it took to reach that point.

Since mini rifts can’t be detected unless someone reports them, we couldn’t prepare in advance like we had before when rift occurrences were announced.

Considering the current reality, staging ourselves in advance at predicted rift appearance sites and quickly handling whatever popped out was impossible.

“Ah, right. By the way, what happened with that thing?”

“What thing?”

“That… was it two years ago? When the damage from mini rifts began to increase, the Association Headquarters mentioned putting together a research team to develop a new warning system that could detect those as well.”

“Ah… that?”

Of course, I knew that developing something new through research wasn’t as easy as it sounds.

I knew that, but… surely after two years, something should have emerged, right?

So I asked, but the response I got was one suggesting uncertainty.

“Well… I don’t really know that side of things.”

“Oh…”

“Though considering it’s been two years with no news, that kind of speaks for itself, doesn’t it?”

“True, thinking about it that way makes sense.”

“Moreover… the existing rift warning system was so perfect that research related to it began to dwindle, didn’t it?”

“I had heard something like that, but was it that severe?”

“Yeah, until then, there really wasn’t much to improve, and if it was working fine, there was no reason to touch it, so while it was maintained, investment in related fields virtually stopped. So everyone just focused on playing maintenance, leading that entire specialization to die off.”

Given the current reality, it made sense that even after two years since the team was established, there was still no news.

And what that meant?

It meant the only way to rely on manpower until another solution was prepared.

“By the way, you suddenly bringing that up makes me think you’ve been considering that the Chairman summoned these people in relation to the mini rift issue, Dogun?”

“Yeah, it seems likely… that’s the most urgent concern right now.”

“That is certainly true.”

The reason the Association and Chairman were facing criticism from the public was clear.

Because of those mini rifts, people were dying almost every day, and they hadn’t presented any substantial countermeasures.

And that statement implies?

If they could somehow solve the issues related to mini rifts, they could regain public support.

‘Of course, the Association hasn’t been idle this whole time, but…’

It’s absurd to think they would just sit back while lives are being lost every day.

Therefore, the Association had been proposing various measures in their own way.

One of those was to utilize the unique characteristic of South Korea, known as the CCTV powerhouse.

By collaborating with various institutions, they attempted to track the locations of mini rifts and the Another Ones bursting out from them using the installed CCTVs. However… unfortunately, that attempt only led to half success.

It was inevitable because, not long after that measure was implemented, mini rifts began appearing inside buildings.

What use are CCTVs installed on the streets?

They can’t see inside buildings.

‘Still, it’s a good method for tracking the Another Ones that came out of rifts, so it’s still in use today…’

But as a result, people were getting seriously hurt.

That’s when I had a thought.

Had my suspicions caught someone’s attention?

“So, what do you think Dogun?”

Chae-rim threw the question at me.

“Umm… aren’t they trying to form a five-minute standby team or something?”

“A five-minute standby? What’s that?”

“Oh… that means a team ready within five minutes…”

Because of that, I suddenly found myself explaining what a five-minute standby is to Chae-rim.

“Where did you even hear that term?”

“Well… while managing, I picked up a lot of things here and there.”

“Hmm, really?”

After briefly nodding, Chae-rim, still using my thigh as a pillow, suddenly started contemplating my suggestion with a serious expression that was completely out of place.

“Five-minute standby… could it even be effective?”

“I’m not sure… we’ll probably have to try it to find out?”

I said that, but I didn’t think it would be completely useless.

After all, if they decided to form a dedicated team to respond to any and every report concerning mini rifts instead of managing based solely on proximity like before, a more rapid response could indeed be possible.

“But… if Dogun were to do as you said, those on that team would get seriously hurt.”

As Chae-rim pointed out, that was true.

Those with experience would know just how maddening a five-minute standby could get.

However, that’s only if they were forced into it against their will. What if those people had valid reasons to willingly accept such circumstances?

Those who hold a deep hatred for the Another Ones?

“Then, isn’t that why they intentionally brought in only these people?”

Would they not choose to feel joy in even taking down just one more Another for the chance to do so? Would they not happily choose to be part of the effort?

At least, that’s what I believed.