This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 394

Are you thinking of leaving any possibilities of escape behind?

With a harsh sound, a multitude of tentacles surged from behind the girl and began slithering toward me.

The sensation of being slowly engulfed by those wriggling, grotesque sights felt truly bizarre.

And as I took in that extraordinarily strange scene, I thought to myself.

Could I return this time as well?

To be completely honest?

I had no confidence.

Before, I had the dependable ally known as Chae-rim with me, but this time, I had no one like that.

Which meant, until some kind of helping hand from the outside came flying in, I had to manage everything all on my own.

The problem is… can I really do that?

If I were to fall to the outskirts like last time, I could at least try to use that to my advantage somehow… but this time, it won’t be the same.

Instead of the outskirts, I’d probably be dragged to that… ominous, massive tree I saw before.

And around that place, the Another Ones would be swarming.

Could I realistically escape from there by myself?

‘Even if I somehow managed to escape by a stroke of luck…’

The next issue would be just as problematic.

To be honest, I didn’t think they would just catch me and let me go.

Even now, thinking about my left arm brings cold sweat trickling down my spine, and if something inhuman were to increase in me, what then?

And if the mutated part were somewhere impossible to hide like my left arm?

At that moment, I might really have no choice but to lock myself up in a room.

Among the countless possibilities, was it really because I imagined something like that?

I found myself squeezing my jaw tightly without realizing it.

Of course, no matter what, reality doesn’t change.

Staring at the tentacles that seemed poised to engulf me at any moment, I then tightly shut my eyes.

.

.

.

The situation where Dogun, who had been closely following until just now, suddenly vanished was enough to plunge everyone else into a panic.

It couldn’t be helped.

It couldn’t be helped because even Chae-rim, of all people, didn’t immediately notice that Dogun had disappeared.

Of course, given the circumstances, she was much more focused on what could jump out at any moment at the front rather than the relatively safer back… but that one fact remained unchanged.

Was it because of that?

Under normal circumstances, Chae-rim would have stepped up immediately to manage the chaos, but even she found it hard to escape the panic easily.

And during that suffocating silence without anyone stepping forward… the first to roll up her sleeves as if stating they couldn’t just sit there was an unexpected figure.

“…First, everyone calm down.”

Surprisingly enough, the first to say those words was none other than Bora.

Of course, Bora’s face was just as pale from fear, but still.

Compared to others, she was able to maintain a relatively calm demeanor because she had experienced a similar situation before.

What else can I say?

Due to her incredibly special talent—no, it would be an understatement to say special—Bora had grown up under the management of the Association since she was young, experiencing similar situations many times.

So… one could say she had encountered scenarios involving kidnapping that ordinary people might face only once in a lifetime.

It couldn’t be helped.

It couldn’t be helped because isn’t that the nature of things?

Even a seemingly perfect system where failure seems impossible can develop holes once humans get involved.

Let alone when it’s related to factors like protection or confidentiality.

Besides, while Bora had become much milder after breaking free of the Association Chairman’s control and being able to indulge in her desires, until not long ago, wasn’t she the one with an unpredictable personality?

Because of this, there were instances where people connected to Bora held grudges against her and leaked information regarding her.

Thus, Bora’s childhood was a constant balancing act.

“We need to find Dogun… right?”

And having experienced similar situations multiple times, Bora understood better than anyone present.

In situations like now, prompt action was more critical than anything else.

It was true that she had to squeeze out her voice, struggling to speak despite being surprised, confused, and worried—saying that to the other two was precisely why she did it.

It would be a relief if nothing much had happened to Dogun… but it could genuinely become a race against time.

That’s why she said it, but the unexpected statement that came from someone they hadn’t anticipated only plunged Yoonseo and Chae-rim deeper into panic as it coincidentally erupted just after Dogun had only managed to tie the knot with them.

And as the two were left bewildered in panic, when they regained their senses?

The search for the missing Dogun began to take shape.

The sight was akin to a well-crafted machine device operating seamlessly.

“First… sister, use your detection ability to scan the area thoroughly. The darkest spots might mean he’s closer than we think.”

“Yeah, understood.”

Considering her standing within the Association, she could have taken charge and led the situation, but perhaps instinctively, she recognized that it was better to follow Bora’s instructions than to take control herself in a situation like this.

It might seem odd to follow directions from someone like Bora, who was practically an ordinary person, but still, Chae-rim silently complied with Bora’s orders.

“And Yoonseo, you…”

When even Chae-rim, who could be considered her superior, followed Bora’s directives without question, Yoonseo had no choice but to do the same.

Thus, amidst the frantic mobilization of all available resources searching for Dogun’s whereabouts…

Yoonseo clasped her hands tightly around Dogun’s mobile phone, linked to a couple’s location-tracking app, as if it were her only lifeline.

Before long, she intercepted a signal she had been anxiously awaiting.

Whether it was because they were underground or for some other reason, the signal had been weak for a while, so she hadn’t had high hopes.

But just for a brief moment—about two seconds, it flickered up on the app screen before vanishing.

And Yoonseo, who had been staring intently at her phone screen, didn’t miss that fleeting flash.

“I-I found it!”

“You found something?”

They managed to successfully identify the location estimated to be Dogun’s current position, but the problem was that the app itself wasn’t particularly reliable.

It boasted the kind of performance one would expect from an entirely free service.

Because of that, while they knew he was somewhere in the vicinity, pinpointing the exact location was impossible.

Yet, one fortunate aspect amidst all this was that, just as Bora said, the position displayed on the app wasn’t very far from where they currently were.

The issue was… that being close has no relation to the overwhelming number of surrounding buildings.

It was truly a downtown area that would rank among Seoul’s top spots.

Thus, considering the margin of error, they would have to search at least five or six buildings.

Or perhaps even more.

In this situation, where they had no idea how much time they had, was it really feasible to comb through them all one by one?

“Who knows, maybe I’ll find him right in the first building,” she tried to think positively, but the word ‘impossible’ kept echoing through her mind.

And perhaps it wasn’t much different for Chae-rim either.

Before long, a heavy shadow enveloped Chae-rim’s face.

It was probably at the moment they both reached a similar conclusion.

“…We have a rough idea of where he might be, right?”

“U-Um…?”

“Dogun’s location.”

“Ah… yes!”

“That’s enough.”

With those words, Bora took out a pen from her pocket.