This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 429

While Yoonseo was briefly contemplating Chae-rim, the person in question, Chae-rim, was having a one-on-one meeting with the ‘Sprinter’, who could be considered a friend of sorts.

Of course, this was not a sitting arranged at Chae-rim’s request.

It was the Sprinter who requested the meeting first, after all.

“So, what was the reason for this meeting?”

Perhaps it was because of the busy matters at hand that such a meeting was called.

Chae-rim, who sat down while brushing aside her slightly disheveled bangs, had a face worn out from fatigue.

Maybe that was why her tone sounded particularly grumpy.

If the person sitting across from her had been an ordinary person?

They would have been too scared to utter a single word in response to Chae-rim’s demeanor.

However, the Sprinter sitting opposite her was no ordinary person; thus, rather than feeling intimidated by Chae-rim’s appearance, he seemed utterly indifferent.

“Wow… your personality is quite impatient. Is serving tea really going to kill us?”

Was it that Chae-rim couldn’t entirely ignore those words?

After briefly staring at the Sprinter’s face, Chae-rim sighed and called her secretary, who had been waiting outside.

“So, what are we drinking?”

“Um… do you have something like juice?”

“Please get me a glass of orange juice.”

“Ah, if you have grape juice instead of orange, I’d prefer that.”

She usually only asked for orange juice, so why the sudden request for grape juice?

Casting a sideways glance, she couldn’t help but marvel at the absurdity of it all.

“I guess it must be because I’m getting older; sour things upset my stomach.”

If she said so herself, what could anyone do about it?

Since they were guests after all, there was no choice but to accommodate.

So when she eventually brought the grape juice with ice cubes floating in it per his request, maybe only after savoring it did she feel ready to speak.

“Um, it’s nothing really…”

And thus the serious conversation began.

“Things have been a bit noisy lately, haven’t they?”

“…So?”

“What do you mean, ‘so’? I was just curious if you’ve been well.”

Was that really the sole reason for the visit?

Well, it could be possible.

There’s certainly a chance that the sole reason for the meeting could indeed be genuine, but given how much the situation had changed, it was hard to believe her words entirely.

After all, while she used to be relatively free from responsibilities back then,

now she was the complete opposite.

And with the harsh reality looming right in front of her… no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was hidden underneath.

The issue was, what could that be…

What could it be that made one who had taken a neutral stance, not wanting to be a shrimp suffering among whales since snatching the Vice Chairman position, pay a direct visit to the Vice Chairman’s Office?

Considering there was at least a bit of clout involved, surely the Sprinter knew that the Association Chairman’s eyes and ears were everywhere, yet he had still come here…

And not even stealthily.

Well, even if he had come unnoticed, it likely would have been reported to the Chairman regardless, so it was more or less the same whether it was an open visit or a secret one, but to come so openly must have meant something wasn’t ordinary at all…

At that moment, perhaps he was just thirsty.

Or maybe it was simply that he was bored.

The Sprinter, who had finished the juice and was crunching the ice cubes that had been added for coolness, opened his mouth once more.

“By the way…”

“…?”

“What’s going on with that guy who came to the party with you?”

I was curious about what he wanted to say, but suddenly Dogun’s name popped up.

Hearing someone entirely unrelated bring up Dogun didn’t sit well with me, especially if that person was a woman.

I scrunched my face at that, but maybe my reaction looked different to him.

“Ah, sorry… I thought that might not have been great to bring up…”

With his expression resembling that of someone who may have made a mistake, strange words spilled from his lips.

“Well, yeah… there is a bit of an age gap…”

What on earth was he talking about without really knowing how much Dogun liked being around me?

“Mind your own business about other people’s love lives, okay?”

“R-really? I thought you two had broken up… Anyway, well… I’m glad to hear you’re doing well.”

So why did he bring up Dogun in the first place?

Was it just a conversational starter?

Or perhaps… was there some reason related to Dogun that brought him here today?

“Right, so let’s skip the small talk and get to the point, shall we?”

Honestly, the chances were high.

So I nearly became anxious for a moment, but pushing down my boiling feelings, I continued speaking in the calmest tone I could muster.

“Actually, it’s nothing much really…”

As expected, it seemed there was more going on than a simple courtesy visit.

It was honestly surprising that he was dragging things out this long. There had to be something weighing on his mind, but finally, the Sprinter seemed to make up his mind and bit down on his lip.

“I… received a really strange proposal.”

And what began to flow from him was a story that felt somewhat abrupt.

A strange proposal? What could that possibly be?

Did he perhaps receive an offer to invest in our company?

That could actually be a possibility.

There certainly would be a chance of that happening—

“Did someone tell you that this would become super promising and ask you to invest?”

If one were to search for ‘Sprinter’ on a portal site, they’d unavoidably come across the ‘Sprinter Scam Incident’ as a related search term.

Of course, it wasn’t him doing the scamming but being scammed, yet he had once been severely burnt by that experience, and with his ears still so open they were like oil paper, it was entirely possible someone was thinking of pulling a fast one on him again.

So I wondered if he got entangled in such a situation again—

“W-what are you talking about! You know I haven’t cared about that stuff since the incident!”

Seeing him jump up like that at my concerned comment offered reassurance it wasn’t that.

So if that wasn’t what he meant by “strange proposal,” then what could it possibly entail?

What on earth could be so peculiar that someone with a lifetime full of experiences would deem it “strange”?

It was at that moment I thought that.

Maybe he caught the curiosity in my eyes.

“Well… it was some kind of charity party? Anyway, I was a little tipsy back then, so I don’t remember fitfully…”

He started to recount naturally.

“Someone came up to me and asked if I had any thoughts about becoming a ‘Hero.'”

And along with that statement, a business card about the size of a half-palm made its appearance on the table.

To be fair, up to that point, there wasn’t anything particularly strange.

Even though I didn’t often attend such occasions because they weren’t my cup of tea, once I did go, business cards were pretty much guaranteed every single time.

Not only because he currently sat in the Vice Chairman’s position but even previously, receiving a business card wasn’t anything significant.

So looking at it purely based on the fact that he received a business card, there wasn’t really a valid reason to describe it as “strange,” but… what mattered wasn’t just the fact he received a business card but rather who it belonged to.

He was now scanning the business card with his eyes, only to quickly realize a couple of particulars.

The reason he had expressed receiving “a strange business card” was precisely that…

Because every essential piece of information that should have been present on a business card was grossly missing.

There was no ‘name’ to identify who handed the card over, or the ‘affiliation’ or ‘position’ to clarify just how much leverage that person held, not even a phone number or an email address.

However, it wasn’t entirely blank.

The person who handed this card must have felt disinclined to leave a blank, high-quality card behind, because something was indeed inscribed on it.

The problem was… the only information noted was a username to a particular messenger application that, according to rumors, offered anonymity and was often used by Villains.