This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 498

One first-class and one second-class.

The upcoming incident, which will later be named the Absolution Labs Coin incident, was more than just a scam; it was suspected that these individuals had some sort of collusion with the scammer gang.

Among them, the second-class hero was not a significant problem, to say the least.

That’s because it would only be a concern if they had chosen the wrong people; with just two first-class heroes, they could subdue a second-class hero without causing much damage, a common belief among heroes.

In that sense, the real issue was the first-class hero.

An intermediate grade that exists between second-class and special-class, almost like a gateway that many heroes reached as their final destination.

As a result, even among first-class heroes, the levels varied drastically, and the first-class hero involved in this incident was estimated to be upper-middle-tier among existing first-class heroes.

Therefore, it was inevitable to face difficulties in selecting the right personnel.

Frankly, it couldn’t be helped; to subdue a hero who was upper-middle-tier among the first-class without causing significant damage, one would need to either deploy a considerable number of first-class heroes or bring in a special-class hero.

‘The problem is, neither option is easy.’

That was why I decided to return to active duty after a long time.

It was because those two were annoying, but more urgently, it seemed better for me to take action directly rather than wasting time catering to two particular special-class heroes when the situation required prompt movement.

Of course, I also had the option to mobilize multiple first-class heroes for a subduing operation instead of calling in a special-class.

As I mentioned earlier, if the opponent was a special-class, it might be a different story, but since they were first-class, deploying numerous first-class heroes would ultimately lead to a successful subjugation.

Even so, I deliberately chose not to go with that option because the talent of the target we had to capture specialized in dealing with multiple opponents.

I heard that their talent involved producing poisonous mist from their body and manipulating it at will.

With such a talent, the moment we sent in a massive force, it would be inevitable that someone would get hurt.

If things went really wrong, given the already scarce manpower, that precious first-class hero might be out of the field for a while.

In that case, it would be a hundred times better for me to take action myself rather than let that happen.

‘Let’s think of it as a good thing.’

I had been too busy plugging holes lately and couldn’t thoroughly verify those who had newly joined the association, so why not use this incident as an excuse to clean house?

Plus, it might’ve been because it was winter, but I had been feeling a bit sluggish lately. Snapping the two annoying special-class heroes’ necks sounded like a perfect way to get some excitement.

The thought of facing an opponent I could hit without restraint—how sweet that notion was.

Already feeling the itchiness in my seat, I was nodding vigorously, eagerly waiting for the investigation results.

Suddenly, the car door swung open, which I kept firmly shut because I didn’t fancy facing the cold with a gust of wind, revealing a staff member from the audit team.

“Uh, Vice Association Chairman?”

“Did the results come out?”

“Ah, yes!”

“So, where is it?”

“It’s at the Eistacia Hotel.”

And as soon as I heard the staff member from the audit team, I realized something.

Though the possibility was slim, that thought I had of it potentially being a misunderstanding was proven to be false.

“Hmm… Instead of leaving a decent house, they’re staying at a hotel… It must be quite famous?”

“Based solely on name value, it’s not that famous, but…”

“Is there something more?”

“…Yes, it seems that since it’s operated by a foreign company, there’s a significant proportion of foreign guests.”

“Significant, how much?”

“Since we don’t have any connections there, we couldn’t investigate deeply, but… it’s estimated to be over 80%.”

So the proportion of foreign guests was over 80%.

“They must feel guilty, so using foreigners as a shield, huh?”

“We suspect so as well.”

“How inconvenient…”

Was it cunning or just unnecessary cleverness…?

“With this, it’s a dead end… So what’s the alternative?”

“Uh?”

“I mean the alternative. You didn’t come just to tell me it won’t work, did you?”

“Ah, um… I thought of two methods, but…”

“What are they?”

“The first is to subdue the target when they come out of the hotel, or lure the target out.”

“Well… it’s easy to say, but is that actually possible? The target is known to be overly cautious, always preparing for unforeseen circumstances.”

The problem didn’t end there.

Once we started moving, it was inevitable that both the target and the scam gang would become aware of our movements, and at that moment, if the target thought they were cornered, they could start indiscriminate terror against others staying in the same hotel, putting the association in a bind.

‘Even if we say we intended to arrest them for committing a crime, they wouldn’t listen.’

That’s true since the target still belonged to the association.

Thus, it could be said there was no time for them to wait until the target crawled out of the hotel.

And that basically meant that the first method proposed by the audit team was unfeasible.

“So what about the second option?”

“The second is…”

Could it be they wanted the first method to work?

For a moment, the audit team member hesitated, unable to speak, before squeezing their eyes shut and continuing.

“It’s a frontal assault.”

A frontal assault.

Out of everything, at least that notion resonated with me.

How much I would enjoy hearing this would depend on how the rest played out, but.

“That’s not suggesting a reckless push, is it…? Can you explain what the audit team has in mind?”

“Well, um… that’s…”

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It was like waking up from a strange kind of bitterness, realizing that I had relayed every piece of information passed to me by my senior, but found no way to contribute more.

After all, it was morning, and everyone else seemed busy wondering about what had happened overnight, eager to check on any incidents while they had barely opened their eyes.

Of course, it hadn’t always been this way.

It hadn’t been this way from the start, but rather it was a kind of occupational hazard I picked up after becoming Chae-rim and my senior’s manager.

It made sense, though, as heroes were the ones who should be most sensitive to such issues.

And even now, sitting in this hospital room, forcibly recuperating, that habit persisted—just like every other morning, I reached for my mobile phone to check if anything had happened overnight and clicked into a certain community known for the fastest breaking news.

‘I wonder if everything was resolved well…’

Worrying about potential issues, I accessed the community, only to be greeted by mayhem that felt entirely out of place for the morning.

Not just any chaos, but one that could, in a way, relate to me…

This morning, the community was ablaze because someone had spotted a certain individual.

The active mode—a sighting of Chae-rim in her hero suit, ready to jump back into action.

[LL Active Mode Kittaaa———!!!!]

Was what I had believed in just that LL~~!!

ㄴShe said she’d return, right~?

ㄴHehe, LL unni, I’ll take you!

[???: If you’re frustrated, why don’t you try running for once!]

So I decided to try running myself.

ㄴWhat’s happening??

ㄴI’m genuinely scared that she’s returning for that reason;;

[But seriously, the association situation seems dire.]

Honestly, everyone kept saying it was serious, but it didn’t really hit me until now—it really is serious.

If LL is returning to the field, then it’s a big deal ㄷㄷㄷ

ㄴWhat if the Association Chairman also declares a return to the field?

ㄴWell… maybe not LL, but that lady…

ㄴAre you looking down on ‘Hero’ who was the essence of heroes?

ㄴWow, the oldies can’t help but pop out the moment their leader’s being criticized.

Thanks to the commotion caused by Chae-rim finally returning to active duty after putting up with the recent turmoil in the Association, people who wrongly believed she had jumped back in were completely flipped out.

Unlike those who had no idea about the details and were busy speculating, I realized as soon as I saw Chae-rim in her hero suit one more time that she had succeeded in pulling the Association out of the quagmire.