This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 500

It was probably the warmth that spread through my palm that made it feel like the anxiety and pressure piling up on my shoulders were gently melting away, almost without me realizing it.

Of course, that feeling didn’t change the fact that the heavy weight was still pressing down on me…

But I had no intention of retreating like a coward.

After all, this was all stemming from my suggestion in the first place. How could I propose, “How about we try this first?” and then suddenly backtrack?

That wouldn’t be the way of a man.

Once a man makes up his mind, he should at least clash against whatever comes, whether it ends in disaster or not.

That’s why I twisted the hand Chae-rim was holding and intertwined our fingers.

Perhaps because of this action alone, I had become aware that I was feeling a bit better compared to earlier.

“Are you feeling better now? How’s that, noona? Is it gentle?”

“Yes, it helps.”

If Chae-rim hadn’t reached out first to grab my hand, I would probably still be caught up in my unrest.

However, thanks to Chae-rim’s help, I had managed to escape from my anxiety—even if not perfectly—and now it was time to move forward.

“Shall we go then?”

“Is that alright? Ah, wait a moment.”

Lingering here any longer would only feed that beast called anxiety. I agreed with Chae-rim’s suggestion to go, but still, maybe it wasn’t too much to check myself in the mirror before leaving the waiting room, considering that today’s photo might follow me for a lifetime.

So, I asked for Chae-rim’s understanding and stood in front of the mirror, where a guy who looked exactly like me was staring blankly in return.

If that guy suddenly smiled creepily, it would be the start of a horror movie.

As those silly thoughts raced through my mind, I stared at my reflection. I ended up locking eyes with the me in the mirror, and a sudden thought crossed my mind.

How strange…

Maybe it was just because it had been a while since I focused on my reflection like this. Also, standing in front of the mirror fully dressed with my left arm freely exposed was quite a rare occurrence now.

Could that be the reason?

My bare left arm had a strangely itchy feeling. I wasn’t sure if it was just a coincidence, but something made me glance over.

“How do I look?”

“Well… of course…”

Was I trying to pick the most plausible and cool word among the thoughts popping into my head?

While Chae-rim was pouting her lips to think, my senior took that opportunity to jump in. The soud of a door bursting open was just a bonus.

“How do you think? Obviously, you look amazing!”

Had she been waiting outside for me to come out after taking a moment to check the atmosphere of the press conference room?

“That’s a relief. Well then… shall we really go?”

Thanking my senior, who approached and adjusted my slightly disheveled tie, I stepped forward, hoping that what awaited me at the end wouldn’t be disaster.

.

.

.

The press conference held under the Association’s leadership turned South Korea upside down.

In some ways, it was almost a given outcome.

After all, Dogun was practically the antithesis for those claiming to deal with monsters.

Unfortunately, it was just the way things were; the logic of those advocating for dealing with monsters began to crumble as they thought, “Shouldn’t the ones who can survive live on?”

As they saw Dogun’s appearance—just a little grotesque with a transformed left arm but still unlike what they considered a monster—their logic was shaken to the core, and guilt crept up on them, leading some to begin retracting their previous claims.

Meanwhile, those who had insisted on dealing with monsters started to show signs of division.

As though to illustrate the saying, “The misfortunes of enemies are the benefits of allies,” the proponents of monster protection began to raise their voices, dragging South Korea into chaos beyond comparison to when the Absolabs Coin incident was made public.

[That was Dogun, right? I acknowledge he looks fine, but honestly, isn’t it still unknown?]

What if he suddenly snaps and starts attacking people?


n Nah, it’s not like I’m talking about just anyone; LL is set to stick around him all day.

n Do you see LL as a scumbag?

[But isn’t that Dogun a bit unique?]


Because when you see pictures of other monsters, their heads are all mutated, and he’s the only one with an arm.

n Oh…

n But why is only his arm mutated?

n I heard somewhere in the news that it gave off a strange vibe, so I just stayed away, and that’s what happened.

n Just stay away? You rat.

n ‘Osoi.’

n Ugh… you geeky fools, don’t show your true colors.

[I’m so jealous of Dogun.]

The sound about LL keeping a close watch all day means that he’s around LL all day as well.

Damn, I want to “mutate” too.

n I want to mutate too, lol. But if my arms turned out like that, I’d end up being a mess.

n ppt acquired, sory.

[Still, seeing Dogun, it seems not every monster is aggressive.]


I heard they’re thinking about ways to suppress aggression; if they manage that, maybe visits can happen…

I miss Dad…ㅠ

n Ah… stay strong…

n I thought it was all nonsense, but now I’m feeling solemn…

Unlike those who felt guilty seeing Dogun looking surprisingly normal and retracted their previous statements or flipped to opposing views, there were still those who insisted on dealing with monsters. They subtly criticized Dogun, not explicitly, but enough to imply.

They thought, even if he looks fine now, what if he suddenly goes haywire?

Comparatively, those who initially had no strong opinions on monsters were curious as to why the guy named “Dogun” was different from the others, or busily envied him for being stuck with Chae-rim all day.

And unlike those two groups, those advocating for monster protection were simply praying that Dogun wouldn’t attack anyone.

As Korean society was engulfed in unprecedented chaos due to the diverging opinions, the expedition team dispatched to the mysterious realm, disconnected from reality, was struggling to continue their exploration.

Considering that the situation of South Korea’s expedition team had been relatively good at the start, several reasons account for that…

Why, why, why…

“Damn it, not again…”

“Seriously, can you let me eat in peace? Why do you only attack when I’m eating?!”

The first reason was the presence of another group, the Another Ones, who seemed to find the steel fortress that had suddenly appeared in their territory unbearable and relentlessly attacked the Forward Base.

While the available power of the expedition team was limited, it felt like another army was popping up from nowhere, with each wave seemingly pushing in that could match or even surpass the previous one.

Unlike humans who needed to eat, sleep, and take care of personal matters, Another Ones didn’t require sleep or personal time.

Thanks to that, the attacks occurred literally at all hours, and these actions kept deteriorating the morale of the members of the expedition team.

With their limited available strength, it was already burdensome enough for the expedition team, but the surrounding environment wasn’t doing them any favors either.

Since the moment Another Ones began to appear, the ruins of human civilization scattered all around, absorbed through the Rift, were piling up in every corner of the Heogye.

Their presence significantly hampered the progress of the expedition team.

It was quite a challenge to ignore those remnants as they often served as cover against Another Ones’ attacks or hindered their combat efforts.

However, removing each and every pile surrounding them while continuing exploration would require an incredible amount of labor.

If they had some heavy machinery to help with the labor, they could at least manage, but unfortunately, heavy machinery was unavailable.

Thus, it was mainly the Awakened with physical enhancement abilities and the Hero with psychokinetic powers dispatched by the Association who bore the brunt of the overload.

It’s no wonder the Heroes involved in debris handling were asking the Association if they could send over another psychokinetic Hero from the RK Guard.

As the expedition team found itself caught between the relentless assaults of Another Ones and the rubble accumulated around, they were reluctantly stuck in a slow motion of retreat… Meanwhile, Yoonseo was…

“@&*#@&!”

“Ah, damn… What are you saying…?”

Unintentionally, she was trying to converse with what they had secured as a prisoner (?), not knowing the absurdity of the situation.