This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 527

What is this, a defense game? Just when I thought I could take a breather, I find out that everything that piled up until now was just the morning workload!

In a defense game, after clearing a round, you’re usually granted a moment to catch your breath before the next one, but here, it’s been non-stop!

‘What on earth…’

What kind of battles has Chae-rim been fighting all this time…?

Thanks to that thought, I couldn’t help but wonder. While I just have to organize these and get them over with, Chae-rim has to review everything one by one, approve what’s needed, and reject the rest.

So, it must take her longer than me.

‘This is…’

There’s surely an established way of handling tasks that she’s been sticking to, and my original plan was to minimize chaos from my involvement and stick to her method as much as possible.

But upon checking, it seems my plan needs a bit of a tweak.

Fortunately, it seems I don’t need anyone else’s permission.

Because after hearing the news of my return, the Secretary was so overjoyed that she handed all the paperwork and related tasks over to me, so now this workload is entirely my responsibility.

Thanks to that, I could easily add a few sticky notes to the documents at my discretion.

The reason I picked up the documents that I had already reviewed again was because of this.

I quickly skimmed through them and began sticking summaries next to each document.

Of course, knowing Chae-rim’s meticulous nature, she’d probably want to check the exact content herself, but…

‘Still, it’ll be much easier and quicker for her to review it with at least a rough idea of what it contains rather than diving in completely blind.’

If I can lighten Chae-rim’s heavy load even just a little, why not do it?

However, it’s probably been ages since I last picked up a pen to write something, since the time I was pouring all my energy into getting my certification.

Seriously, after writing just a bit, my wrist started to feel a little sore.

Thinking I had to write legibly enough for Chae-rim to understand, I might have been pressing down a bit too hard on my wrist without realizing it.

At this pace, my wrist might give out before I finish, so I eased up a little and filled the sticky notes with somewhat decent handwriting.

And with those notes attached to the documents, I handed them over to Chae-rim—

Bang!

Not long after the documents entered Chae-rim’s room, she burst out, and I thought, ‘Could it be…’

Was my way of handling things not to her liking?

As I pondered that within moments of her rushing out, Chae-rim saw me sitting at the desk and headed straight towards me.

Then she hugged me tightly before promptly retreating back into her room.

‘This is…’

Does this mean she was pleased with my work…?

She knows my contact info; she could have just sent a message or a text instead of coming out to give me a congratulatory hug…

Looks like that might be the case…

As I stood there a bit dazed, I only realized after hearing a voice from across the room.

It wasn’t just Chae-rim and me in that spot.

I glanced in the direction of the sound and saw the Secretary staring at me with wide eyes.

Then she immediately flashed an expression as if saying she understood everything once our eyes met.

Naturally, I couldn’t help but feel a bit troubled by her reaction, but for now, I decided to keep quiet.

I mean, the Secretary is one of the few people who knows the truth about Chae-rim and me.

Still, she’s been doing her utmost to keep that fact a secret, so I didn’t want to say anything.

Besides… there was a bit of embarrassment lingering somewhere in there.

Hmmm…

Instead of saying anything, I cleared my throat a couple of times and pretended to focus back on my work.

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Dogun had no idea, but in fact, the relationship between him and Chae-rim had become quite a hot topic within the Association.

It was only natural to think about it, considering that before Dogun joined as Chae-rim’s manager, she had been active all alone without one.

But now Chae-rim had a manager?

Just that fact alone was enough to make everyone’s jaws drop, especially since that manager wasn’t a woman but a younger and handsome man.

As soon as the news broke, those who love to gossip started speculating that they must be close and busy spreading rumors, while those who genuinely admired Chae-rim just started cheering her on.

From their perspective, it couldn’t be any other way.

For those who have admired Chae-rim since her Hero days, it made complete sense to cheer her on, especially since she was approaching thirty.

Fulfilling her duties as a Hero and as the Vice Association Chairman was great and all, but isn’t it also time to prioritize her happiness?

So when Dogun first appeared, the fans of Chae-rim within the Association welcomed him quietly.

Sure, if we were to compare the two, Chae-rim would absolutely come out on top… but Dogun, being younger and quite good-looking, helped tip the scales a bit.

Moreover, unlike other men who just tried to latch onto good women, Dogun’s earnestness made it easy to admire him.

So naturally, even without him showing it overtly, many wished for the two of them to get together soon…

But what a turn of events!

It seemed there were already some stiff competitors for Dogun, who everyone thought would be the perfect match for Chae-rim.

Among those competitors was none other than Baeksulhwa, the currently active and rising star Hero, who was now in the spotlight and referred to by the codename ‘B’ among the observers.

[Awkward Tiger: Breaking news! Breaking news! Just saw ‘C’ give ‘D’ a deep hug!]

[Gasping Tissue:?!]

[Broke YG:!]

[Cute Peach: Is this… could it finally be…?!]

[Peacekeeper Tissue: Isn’t it work hours right now?]

[Fire-Breathing Tiger: Wow, I was just on my way to submit a document and missed witnessing this live ㅠㅠ I should’ve moved five minutes earlier!]

When the news first broke that ‘D’ had been caught up in a monsterization incident and was being quarantined, I thought it was all over…

But the moment Dogun—no, ‘D’—was freed from quarantine and returned to work, the spicy news hit the chatroom harder than a lightning bolt, sparking excitement among the observers.

Of course, they couldn’t help but react that way; nothing could ignite more excitement in a drab workplace than gossip about someone’s love life.

Especially when it’s related to someone they’ve long admired and cheered on, it’s a whole different level!

[Peacekeeper Tissue: I thought it was all over when the accident news broke… ]

[Broke YG: That’s true love for you~]

[Fire-Breathing Tiger: Did something happen between ‘D’ and Chae-rim while he was quarantined?]

[Cute Peach: Seems like it? Anyway, just visiting regularly would surely have touched ‘D’ deeply.]

[Peacekeeper Tissue: For real ㅠㅠ why did that happen ㅠㅠ]

[Fire-Breathing Tiger: Wasn’t mentioning ‘that incident’ forbidden?]

[Peacekeeper Tissue: Uh, sorry;;]

How dare they break the rules set by all of them.

The thoughts of the leader ‘Awkward Tiger’, who served as Chae-rim’s dedicated Secretary, were interrupted by a message that arrived through the Association’s internal messenger from Chae-rim.

It asked if everyone was free to have a meal together now that Dogun had returned.