This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 387

From the building we were hiding in, was it the impact that flew about five hundred meters to where we were?

With a loud crash, as Chae-rim’s feet met the ground, Bora was freed from her side, looking like a newborn fawn.

Her legs trembled as if she would collapse at any moment.

“I thought I was gonna die…”

She had looked so anxious from the very beginning, and it seems she finally lost strength in her legs.

A groan echoed in my ears as Bora melted away onto the asphalt like ice cream, spreading a chilly aura.

“Are you okay?”

“G-Gravity… like a spaceship…”

Seeing Bora like that made me feel sorry, so I approached and gently patted her back.

“I thought we should hurry, but it looks like that scared you a lot…”

Perhaps it was a bit embarrassing for Chae-rim to just watch Bora’s state.

Chae-rim muttered with a slightly awkward expression.

The real problem came right after that.

“By the way… did you guys fight?”

“…Huh?”

“No, um… I saw from the sky, but it seemed like… that kind of atmosphere.”

Even with all of us working together, the tension between me and Yoonseo felt so awkward, it was no wonder Chae-rim was worried.

While receiving Chae-rim’s gaze full of concern, I pondered how to respond.

“…We didn’t fight.”

“Huh?”

“We didn’t fight.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, it just seemed… awkward due to the situation. Dogun was really worried.”

“Hmm, I guess… it seems a lot more serious than we thought.”

“Exactly. If it were any other time, the Association would have already taken action, but the only message we got was the one from earlier…”

“Right… Well, I’m glad to hear you didn’t fight.”

That conversation ended right there.

Chae-rim then took a big step toward me, casually grabbing my hand that wasn’t held by Yoonseo.

Maybe she didn’t like that action of Chae-rim’s.

As soon as Chae-rim’s hand wrapped around my right hand, Yoonseo’s eyebrows twitched as she was keeping a keen eye on her movements… but that was all.

“Then… now that we’ve rescued Bora, shall we really head to the Association?”

Chae-rim held tightly onto my hand and added that remark.

Thanks to that, I couldn’t say a word, but somehow it made me feel frustrated.

The pressure from my left hand began to intensify.

As I let out a hollow laugh inside, cold sweat trickled down my back—

“Bora? We need to go, so hurry and come over here.”

“Ah, yes!”

Even Bora, still on the ground relishing the joy of being on the floor, joined us.

The issue was the method Bora chose…

“Um, s-sorry…”

That she was hugging my waist tightly from behind.

What if she fell off in the middle? That concern flashed in my mind.

With a soft sensation pressing down on my back, I began to feel the considerable strength being transmitted from the arms wrapped around my waist.

It was unclear if it was intentional or just reflexive—therefore, it was a bit awkward to complain about it.

At least, that was how it appeared to me, but perhaps it didn’t look the same to the people flanking me.

“Hah…”

A faint snicker echoed from somewhere, and the pressure I felt on the left started to be felt on the right as well.

Thanks to that, I found myself awkwardly squeezed between the two, but…

Was I feeling it was time to stop lingering here?

“Then… shall we go?”

With those words, we began to float into the air, starting with Chae-rim.

There was no way we would be allowed to leave the ground without resistance, as those formidable beings with significant talents among the villains launched attacks at us floating in the air, but none of them landed a hit.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

With that remark, a wall of water formed, blocking all the incoming attacks.

As we floated mid-air, the massive sphere of water began to traverse the chaotic skies of Seoul.

…

…

…

While Dogun’s group was soaring across the skies of Seoul, Seolhwa was riding on Chae-rim’s back, casting aside all trivial worries and fully unleashing her powers.

What remained in the wake of Seolhwa were only fallen enemies, unconscious like the aftermath of a bomb explosion.

Interestingly, despite the violent signs of battle, every enemy subdued by Seolhwa was unharmed, and that was because there was only one reason for that possibility.

‘Now that I’ve faced them, I understand.’

As I naturally honed my skills battling those that charged from all directions, I grasped this realization.

‘These guys… are weak to internal shocks.’

While their external bodies were as hard as armor, the inside was surprisingly soft, almost like pudding.

Thanks to that awareness, I no longer needed to exert excessive force. Just sending a sound wave to stir up internally was enough to incapacitate them.

And those immobilized enemies?

“Is everything done?”

“Yes, I’ve locked them all in the training room so they can’t break out.”

After filling the villain containment devices found in the Association’s supply room, we collaborated with others to isolate them in a training room or storage area.

But what if they manage to escape?

That probably wouldn’t happen.

The specifications of the containment devices used by the association were fundamentally suited for those with enhanced physical abilities.

Moreover, they were equipped with the function to scan the physique of the wearer in real-time, administering electric shocks to induce unconsciousness if any signs of power use were detected… so, those guys likely wouldn’t cause any more trouble.

With that, we could comfortably say the 9th floor we started from and the current 8th floor were secured.

‘The problem is…’

There were three more floors above the 9th, and many more below.

Even though we had only cleared two floors, a pile of people turned Another like in the training room and one storage area was already filled to the brim, and considering there were still a staggering ten floors left, the number of adversaries left was also significant.

In contrast, the barricades piled up near the emergency stairs were, to put it nicely, extremely pr rudimentary…

Clinging on from the present situation, holding this position after securing only two floors seemed unfeasible.

Hence, I had to make a choice.

Whether to go up or down.

‘Logically speaking…’

Going down seemed like the right call.

Given the various possibilities, heading down seemed reasonable, but… as I thought about going downward, I remembered that the central control room, which controlled everything in the association building, was directly below the chairman’s office, on the 11th floor.

But what if we headed upward to reclaim the central control room?

Even if we managed to secure it, I questioned if we could effectively use it.

That was unavoidable since we had no authority over it.

Of course, if we organized the 11th floor where the control room was located, perhaps we could find someone with authority… but that was just a possibility, not a certainty.

Thus, I couldn’t make a decision rashly.

“…Is the communication status still the same?”

“Ah, yes… I’ve been trying continually, but…”

The ongoing attempts at communication with the outside, in reality, stemmed from this concern… Who would have thought?

That the last message exchanged with Dogun would be the final contact with the outside world.

‘Hah…’

Seriously… what are the other heroes doing…?

While I couldn’t express it outwardly, I found myself lamenting internally.

Click—Creeeak—

A sound echoed from the circular speaker on the ceiling as—

—Ah, I’m sorry to keep you waiting.

A voice I never expected followed after.

—It’s the Association Chairman.