This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 360

At that very moment, while Dogun was racking his brain trying to figure out the Association Chairman’s intentions, quite ironically, conversations related to him were also circulating within the Chairman’s office.

And the ones discussing this were none other than the Chairman himself and his trusted secretary.

However, the atmosphere between them was somewhat different from the usual employer-employee dynamic… The reason was simple.

Though they were bound as Chairman and secretary now, before that, they had been in a relationship where one was the Hero and the other was the Hero’s manager.

In fact, the time they spent as the Chairman and secretary was comparable to the years spent in the previous roles, which meant by that point, they could no longer be considered ordinary.

Perhaps that’s why.

“Are you really planning to go ahead with this?”

The secretary’s words, directed at the Chairman, were paired with an unbelievably casual tone as she turned to gaze blankly out the window.

It wasn’t like she normally spoke to her superior in such a manner.

After all, since she had transitioned from being a manager to a secretary to look after her Hero, she had always maintained a proper tone.

She thought it was for that person, and thus had stuck to that style… But right now, she couldn’t do that.

That was because, no matter how hard she thought about it, this just felt wrong.

“Why? Are you worried?”

Did she really not understand? Of course, she was worried, which was precisely why she was saying this.

“If things go wrong, you might bear all the blame. No, the chance of that happening is quite high. If we fail, they won’t just sit back and do nothing.”

“I know.”

“They’ll definitely think this is their chance and come at you like a pack of wolves, trying to claw at you.”

“That’s likely. I’ve taught them well.”

“Someone who knows that is right now…!”

Is she really trying to push forward with such an unrealistic plan?

Those words nearly boiled to the top of her throat, yet she suppressed them back down.

She had no other choice.

There was hardly any point in bringing that up anyway.

After all, who was the person sitting over there? Could they really not know that one simple fact?

The person in front of her, so nonchalantly speaking as if it was someone else’s business?

Had once been a person who saved more lives than any Hero before, a genuine ‘Hero’. Even now, they were being talked about for the mess someone else made.

Surely, this person couldn’t possibly be ignorant of such a simple fact.

Of course, they must know.

Even if they understand how unrealistic this plan is, they’re trying to proceed anyway.

‘Why on earth…’

It was impossible for her to understand.

Of course… she did know that ever since that day of tragedy, the person had changed.

After all, someone who had once risked everything to save as many people as possible had returned, indifferent to the sacrifice of one for the greater good, that much was clear.

However… even so… they had never pushed through with a reckless plan that would only result in useless sacrifices.

Until now, it had always been so… so what on earth could have sparked this sudden behavior now?

Was it because of directives from higher-ups, the Association headquarters?

So now, even though they know this plan lacks rationality, they’re willing to follow along?

That probably wasn’t it.

After all, if they were the type to fold under such circumstances, they would have done so long ago.

Or perhaps… they were cornered?

Were they wanting to draw attention away from themselves because they found themselves backed into a corner?

Even that probably wasn’t the answer.

If that were truly the case, they would have concocted a plan that made more sense rather than this fantastically unrealistic one.

If that wasn’t the answer, then what the heck was?

What was the purpose behind this pursuit of such an impractical plan?

Frustrated questions welled up in her throat, but she didn’t bother to voice them.

Asking wouldn’t yield an answer anyway.

So instead of voicing those thoughts, she chose to express something else.

“Are you really… sure about this? It… it’s going to fail.”

Without a miracle occurring, it was definitely going to end that way.

And that miracle would mean that among the currently active Heroes, someone among the top ranks or one with similar potential would volunteer for this ridiculous, unrealistic plan.

But realistically, who would be foolish enough to do such a thing?

At that point, they could just eliminate the Villains and those Another Ones from a safe distance and snatch both wealth and fame.

“And I know you’re already aware, but the moment this plan fails, you’ll not only be ousted from the Chairman’s position, but you might…”

While she didn’t make a large show of it, there was a genuine fear that she might lose the title of ‘Hero,’ which she had so proudly cherished.

No, even if it stopped there, perhaps it would still be viewed as a blessing.

In the worst-case scenario, not only would she lose the title of Hero, but in a dire shortage of power, in her ambition to retain the Chairman position, she could direct her strength to a pointless end, incurring useless sacrifices and earning the scorn of the people.

“You said you wanted to be remembered as someone worthy of pride by Sia.”

It was only because of that person that she dared to mention a name that felt almost like a taboo…

“…”

Contrary to her expectations of a violent reaction, the Chairman’s response was eerily calm.

That only added to her anxiety.

If only he had reacted strongly as expected, she could have taken that as a chance to persuade him; but with his unexpected tranquility, she didn’t even know where to start or how to approach the situation.

Thus, there was a lingering silence.

“…That’s why I’m doing this.”

The words flowed from the one who had seemed to be gazing aimlessly out the window.

“If we continue down this path, humanity will remain in a perpetual state of getting beaten by those beings.”

“…”

“From what I’ve seen, it seems those beings have gotten smarter… Don’t we need to take this opportunity to teach them a lesson?”

In that instant, she realized.

The root of this entire situation lay in that damned confidential document discovered at the Association headquarters.

Wasn’t it called the Artificial Rift Project?

“If only the HQ had gotten rid of that document earlier, we wouldn’t have to be stressing over such a mad plan…”

Really, why did the headquarters come up with such research in the first place?

Was the money not a concern?

“The HQ folks are the problem. Even when conducting research, how could they choose to explore something like that… don’t they have better things to do?”

“What can I say, at that time, everyone who survived was burning with a desire for revenge.”

“That certainly was a period for it, but…”

Even so, to attempt to create rifts through mere human effort?

Was that not too unreasonable?

Even if they somehow succeeded in their experiment, if those beings were to come through the rift they opened, it would have been an utter catastrophe…

‘Were they really that insane?’

As she pondered, the researchers and those who granted permission for such a dangerously absurd study puzzled her completely.

Well, isn’t insanity exactly that?

If it were something one could understand, it wouldn’t be insanity.

It’s precisely because it cannot be understood that it is labeled as insanity.

‘Regardless…’

Now that it had come to this, nothing could be done.

If the plan couldn’t be undone, then there was no choice but to raise the odds of success.

Though realistically, that was still incredibly close to zero anyway… yet it would still be better than doing nothing and sitting on her hands.

In that sense, she figured she should at least begin by making the announcement of the plan.

The moment she announced it, she’d surely incite quite a bit of criticism, but under the current state of secrecy, securing additional power would be quite difficult.

‘So first, a press conference…’

Before needing to secure additional support beyond those who had already joined, would that even be possible?