This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 489

The moment the ice thorns sprouted and pierced through the writhing creature on the ground, everyone finally understood the true reason why it couldn’t escape, which seemed like it could climb the walls and run away at any moment.

‘Whoa…’


‘I already knew it was extraordinary, but…’


‘It was to that extent?’

And that spectacle was enough to evoke admiration from those who had been focusing on confronting the creature alongside Yoonseo.

Yoonseo being exceptional? Everyone was already aware of that.

How could they not know?

She was one of the few special exam passers in the Association’s history and the very disciple of the Lightning Lady.

Just the title alone meant a guaranteed future as a hero, but perhaps it was more important to consider her background.

After all, anyone active as a hero in the current era was fully aware of how remarkable that woman, who roamed the streets of Seoul under the name Lightning Lady, truly was.

And as remarkable as she was, she was also very strict… hardly ever acknowledging others easily.

Well, considering how tough she was on herself, there wasn’t much talk about that.

Even now, things had calmed down a lot, but it was a fact that when Chae-rim had just become a Special-Class, those wanting to learn anything from her often ended up falling by the wayside.

To learn anything from Chae-rim, one first had to catch her eye, but no one could meet that condition.

It was said jokingly that to earn the acknowledgment of the Lightning Lady, one had to be a Special-Class themselves.

That was just how strict Chae-rim was regarding talent.

Yoonseo had passed that benchmark.

So it was only natural that she could be exceptional.

However, that was only compared to others of similar age; many believed there was still a long way to go.

In fact, those gathered here had just thought that way until a moment ago.

Considering it carefully, that might have been natural.

While talent was important, one couldn’t overlook the depth of experience and years accumulated over time.

And above all… there existed realistic limits to the growth heroes could demonstrate.

Given how intricate and delicate the Talent Organ was, there was no way around it.

Of course, if one focused solely on training, disregarding any damage to the Talent Organ, they could showcase incredible growth.

But realistically, how many people would actually do such a thing?

After a few years, they would obviously end up retiring early.

Consequently, for those unaware of Dogun’s mysterious power, Yoonseo’s recent display could only seem like evidence of her genius.

It was that overwhelming of a performance.

Using the talent known as Liquid Manipulation, to recreate the phenomena once demonstrated by the infamous villain Frozen was already making them speechless, but what happened just now was truly…

‘Using the droplets gathered along the container wall to launch the initial attack and then freezing the flowing water that slipped through the gaps to swirl the insides…’

‘The control is on an insane level…’

‘How is something like this even possible? Is there some special secret or technique?’

‘Next after Lightning Lady is her? It wouldn’t be bad to establish some rapport in advance…’

Thanks to that, while those who witnessed the scene were lost in different thoughts, the one who made them think that way, Yoonseo, was standing still, busy catching her breath.

The reason was simple.

It was the first time she had experienced a scene like that, so she needed time to evaluate herself.

That feeling like she was just grasping at something elusive.

However, that feeling was fleeting, and soon she subtly frowned.

That was only because the energy consumption was greater than she had anticipated.

Of course, considering the price paid off with the upper entity that was observed for the first time today, it was still worth it.

While she couldn’t gather much information just from that one instance, she was sure she could extract essential intel.

Thus, it could be deemed a profitable venture; however, that said, today was just the first day of the expedition.

So there was no benefit in exhausting herself already.

Especially since, unlike before, it was impossible to recover the Talent Organ using Dogun’s power.

‘This… I think I need to adapt to this.’

It seemed necessary to do so.

Until now, she didn’t have to worry about such things, but that wouldn’t be the case moving forward.

‘Huuh…’

Was it because she was accustomed to not having to manage the aftermath?

A sigh escaped her at the thought that it wouldn’t be easy, but that was beside the point—she had tasks to complete.

By now, it seemed the others had finished tidying up, and among those sprawled on the ground resting, she asked a few to assist with the retrieval of the bodies full of holes.

Who knew when similar entities would pop out again; they needed to discern whatever weaknesses they could as quickly as possible.

In that regard, it was necessary to relay that information to the research team waiting beyond the Rift.

If they managed to relay it safely, the research team would undoubtedly rush in with excitement.

As she was about to convey that, however, the news that came in was somewhat bewildering.

Time shifted back a little, to the moment Yoonseo was battling against the Another Ones alongside her team, revealing that they weren’t the only ones exposed to the attacks.

Though there was a slight time difference, everyone had faced the onslaught of the Another Ones equally.

Acting as if they had no intention of forgiving those who dared to invade their territory, a series of simultaneous ambushes occurred that could hardly be called anything less than a grand offensive, and in that respect, Yoonseo’s side ended up being the luckier party.

That was because, as soon as the wall construction was completed, they had managed to set up automatic turrets and sensors, allowing them to detect the ambush the minute it began.

Had that not been the case… the damage would have certainly been significant.

As evidence of that, other locations had suffered considerable surprises due to the ambush.

The nations that had prepared thoroughly for the expedition had less damage, but those that didn’t faced scenarios where entire exploration teams were wiped out or sustained near-total annihilation.

It went without saying that such places were thrown into chaos, complete turmoil.

Among those affected the most was none other than China.

Given their extraordinarily large population, they boasted a superior pool of heroes compared to other countries, and true to form, they relied on sheer numbers rather than money and hesitated not to push more people into action… their unique tactic of massing forces was effective only up to a certain point in the beginning.

Perhaps, if they had been given a bit more time…

They might have built a forward base that would stand shoulder to shoulder with those funded heavily by other nations.

However, that was only a tale for hypothetical times when everything had gone smoothly, and the Another Ones, the masters of the Heogye, had no intention of letting such attempts go unchecked.

Thus, just as Yoonseo had experienced, they launched their ambush from the skies, and unlike Yoonseo, the Chinese side had not yet succeeded in setting up even the walls, let alone automatic turrets, so they were unable to detect the Another Ones’ assault in advance.

As a result, projectiles with more force than artillery began raining down on the people, and even those Chinese heroes who managed to survive struggled valiantly against the Another Ones, but with most of the main forces in the exploration team mangled like mashed potatoes, what those lucky survivors could do was very limited.

In the first place, the news about the Chinese expedition team reaching the Chinese Association had only come through when a hero from that team, seeing fellow team members being hunted down one after another, risked their life to escape and was miraculously discovered by another country’s team managing the aftermath of the ambush.

In that way, humanity’s first step toward the Heogye began amid an atmosphere of disarray.