This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 444

“Are you saying that if we try to do it that way, then my sister is totally on board with it?”

“Yep.”

“Then what do the others think? Is it okay to take turns every day?”

Taking turns every day… Huh.

Personally?

I thought it was not a bad idea.

As Yoonseo pointed out, if we continue to snarl at each other like this with Dogun caught in the middle, eventually, nothing would remain.

Even if there were leftovers, it would just be wounds.

Honestly, this was a structure that couldn’t help but end up like that.

That being said, right now it was a situation where Dogun was making a lot of sacrifices.

But there was no guarantee that such a situation would continue indefinitely.

Even if Dogun was the type to become infinitely weak in front of Jeong, witnessing the ongoing brawls day in and day out?

At some point, the affection would inevitably run dry.

So rather than leaving things to develop that way, wouldn’t it be better to compromise early and prevent such incidents in many regards?

Thus, Yoonseo’s suggestion was certainly not bad, but… it wasn’t quite perfect.

If it had been something that aligned comfortably with our feelings from the start?

I would have used a different expression instead of saying ‘not bad.’

Well, for instance, expressions like ‘good’ or ‘sounds fine.’

However, Yoonseo’s recent suggestion… honestly fell a bit short of reaching that level.

That’s because saying that the four of us would take turns spending a day with Dogun meant that after your turn ended, you’d have to wait at least three days for it to come back around.

So how could anyone feel satisfied with that?

The issue was… it was very ambiguous to shout a dissent.

Especially now that Chae-rim had already cast her vote in favor of Yoonseo’s suggestion.

It wouldn’t be a problem if no one had gotten on board, but in a situation where Yoonseo’s opinion had already gained some traction?

Even if I opposed it, I would need a plausible reason or alternative.

The ‘problem is…’

It probably wouldn’t exist.

Honestly, it’s by no means a situation explainable by common sense, given that it was a series of events that couldn’t quite fit any pre-existing logic.

So, of course, the commonly known sense wouldn’t apply here.

And since there was no common sense?

Naturally, it was also impossible to relate this to similar situations.

“Well… it doesn’t seem too bad.”

That’s what I said, looking at Yoonseo, who seemed to be waiting for me to say something like that.

If it was impossible to oppose, why would I want to go out of my way to stir the pot?

It would just end up being a loss for me.

So for now, I voted in favor, but… that didn’t neatly resolve everything.

And among those points, the one that particularly weighed on my mind was… whether Yoonseo or Chae-rim’s Sister were okay, but why was Bora here?

I mean… Bora.

It’s not like anyone else asked; it was my sister who said to bring her along… but why…?

‘Could it be…’

Bora too…?

It might have been so unexpected that Bora was called here rather than anyone else.

For a split second, such thoughts crossed my mind, but after giving it some thought, it didn’t seem likely.

It was because… I didn’t sense that feeling from Bora.

So… maybe it was a type of confidence unique to someone who crossed the line?

It was something I could catch a glimpse of from Yoonseo, and even Chae-rim, but I didn’t feel it from Bora at all.

And that meant?

It signified that she was still behind.

But was there really a need to call her all the way here…?

No matter how much I thought about it, it remained a mystery.

Because honestly, I had no idea what my sister was thinking in summoning Bora to this place, but as it stood, it felt like she was sacrificing herself to take care of a future competitor.

But why…

It was a moment when I was chewing over unresolved questions in my mind.

“I’m also in favor… but um… is that okay?”

Coming to my senses, I realized that Bora, the very source of the ballooning doubts in my head, had spoken up.

She opened her mouth to say… something that seemed a little random.

Is it okay, she says?

What on earth does that mean?

It felt a bit disjointed, as if the context was completely cut off.

I couldn’t think of anything right away.

So as I wondered about it just a bit—

“Huh? What’s that about?”

Perhaps she felt something similar, as Yoonseo blurted that out.

“No, I mean, if we’re going to do this, shouldn’t we also consider Dogun’s opinion?”

“Why’s that?”

“Well… because it’d be hard for Dogun, right?”

Now that I think about it, that was true.

That’s because for me, it was only once every four days, but for Dogun, it’s every single day.

In fact, there’s a very high likelihood he’d be doing ‘that’ for at least three out of those four days, meaning it must be a draining experience for him.

So asking Dogun what he thinks before putting Yoonseo’s proposal into full effect was a reasonable idea, but…

“Well… is there really a need for that?”

Yoonseo seemed to hold a different perspective.

And given that Chae-rim was nodding along next to her, it seemed she shared a similar thought.

With two out of the four already voicing their opposition, Bora’s timid suggestion to seek Dogun’s opinion ended up buried and lost.

After Bora’s suggestion faded away, a serious discussion began to unfold.

“Then, as everyone agrees, the basic framework will be taking turns every day, and now it’s time to establish the detailed rules…”

Detailed rules, huh.

What could those be?

“First of all, it’s probably best to define the penalties for breaking the rules, right?”

“Do you have any thoughts on that?”

“Let’s keep it simple.”

“Simple? How?”

As soon as such a question cropped up, Yoonseo revealed three of her fingers without hesitation.

“Three times?”

“Yep, neat and tidy—we’ll sacrifice our turns three times.”

“…Isn’t three times a bit much?”

“Hey, it needs to be significant enough to prevent anyone from thinking about breaking the rules.”

“That’s true…”

Thus, under the leadership of Yoonseo, who was first to propose, and Chae-rim, who was the first to agree with Yoonseo, detailed regulations began to come together.

.

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.

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What’s going on?

What on earth is happening that has everyone wearing such expressions?

Putting everything else aside, the looks on their faces suggest they’re drafting some kind of law.

The mood was serious enough for that.

Which made me all the more curious.

Also, separating me like this, even using Talent to block any chance of the conversation leaking out?

It certainly felt like it was a topic related to me…

But aside from that, I had absolutely no inkling about what it could be, which left me feeling anxious.

Could this be the reason why people say you can’t live without committing sins?

Honestly, I had never quite understood that sentiment before… but experiencing it firsthand made me feel that saying resonate deeply.

‘So… what could they possibly be talking about…?’

If only someone could give me a hint or something, that would be fantastic.

But alas, no one was doing that, and it was just painfully disappointing.

Is this what they call loneliness in a crowd?

Amid my mulling over feelings of isolation, a thought crossed my mind: how long would this all take?

Finally, it seemed like everyone had wrapped up with what they wanted to say.

After an oddly quiet period, voices began to echo in the hospital room.

“Is the discussion over?”

Feeling an overwhelming rush of relief at that realization, I quickly spoke to the four of them—

“Uh, yeah…?!”

“Uh, I think so?”

“Wait, has the time flown by like this already…?”

“Seems like it… already…”

Their responses were all strange in unison.

‘…?’

So I couldn’t help but tilt my head in confusion.