This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 555

It was the moment when the face of the Association Employee who had just missed the target they had struggled so hard to find began to show a mix of confusion and despair.

“Oh right.”

As if forgetting something crucial due to being overly hasty, the target, which had seemed to vanish into thin air, reappeared right in front of them.

Thanks to that, the expression of the Association Employee, who was starting to look a bit glum as they contemplated how to report this, became extremely ambiguous.

Of course, the other party showed no signs of caring about that.

“Excuse me, where do I go to meet Lightning Lady?”

With such an expression on their face, it seemed reasonable to ask what was wrong, yet they only spoke about their business.

In a typical scenario, it wouldn’t be surprising for someone to feel offended.

Nonetheless, the employee from the Association was surprisingly calm.

After all, she already knew.

She understood that judging the person standing in front of her by ordinary standards was a mistake.

Therefore, instead of questioning the other party’s demeanor, she chose to answer their inquiry.

“Um, you could try going to the Korean Hero Association?”

“Ah, thinking about it, that was a pretty obvious question.”

That didn’t mean she had nothing else to say.

“Pr-before you go! Could you wait just a moment?”

“Hm?”

“I’ll admit the method you’re about to use is convenient and fast, but you can’t enter Korea like that!”

“Why not?”

“Well, um…”

Having to explain something so obvious was quite embarrassing.

Feeling flustered, she reminded herself that the other party wasn’t someone who could be judged by the standards of an ordinary person and tried to speak as calmly as possible.

“If you don’t go through proper immigration control, it would be illegal entry…”

Of course, if they were to send an official document requesting cooperation from the Korean Hero Association and clarify who was visiting, they would probably handle things flexibly.

Without a doubt, that would be the case… but still, for a hero representing the United States and the mighty American continent to be an illegal immigrant…

Considering the reputation this person had, it was highly likely that it wouldn’t even leave a smear on their record, but from her position as the intermediary, she wanted to avoid any unnecessary noise.

Fortunately, the other party seemed to be someone who would at least listen.

“It may be a bit inconvenient, but how about taking a plane?”

She cautiously suggested this, only to receive a really ridiculous response.

“But… isn’t a plane going to take a long time?”

To someone from the old days who couldn’t even dream of crossing the ocean, a plane was nothing short of miraculous, yet here they were complaining about it taking too long.

If people from ancient times who took months just to cross a single sea heard that, they would likely curse the boat for being slow.

“…I’ll do my best to find the fastest one.”

Somehow.

Now it made sense why there was a jet aircraft sitting unused in the Association’s asset list.

As she smirked internally at this newly realized truth, she immediately took out her mobile phone to contact the office manager, who was probably enjoying a leisurely lunch at that very moment.

Was that unexpected jet aircraft indeed prepared just for her?

No sooner had she made her inquiry than she received a response that they would get it ready right away.

She did have to explain why she was heading to Korea, though.

“You want to meet Lightning Lady…?”

“Lightning Lady is… Miss Jeong, who is currently the Vice President of the Korean Hero Association, right?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm… I see. If Almighty wants that, then…”

Why wasn’t she asking why she wanted to meet her?

More accurately, she probably couldn’t.

Being the office manager of the World Hero Association allowed her to walk around with her head held high everywhere she went, but with someone so influential, it would be too risky.

It was hard to imagine such a scene, but what if she ever angered her?

It was beyond terrifying to even think about what could happen.

So, the normally arrogant office manager was smart enough to tread lightly in these matters.

“Anyway.”

Having succeeded in securing the fastest aircraft available, all that was left was to persuade the other party.

With the news that the plane was already prepared, she carefully attempted to convince them, and surprisingly, the other party nodded readily.

“Mm, I don’t like waiting, but it can’t be helped. Illegal entry is a crime.”

Every time this happened, it struck her that the other party was definitely not an ordinary person.

It was as if their very thought process was different.

If they had been an average person, they would have never even considered taking such an action, but in the eyes of the person before her, it seemed to be a crime defined by law.

In a way, one could argue that they were both on the same page, but the circumstances surrounding them were fundamentally different.

After all, if the moral standard of ordinary people was set to what is commonly referred to as ‘ethics,’ then the person in front of her seemed to operate under the criteria of ‘law.’

And what that meant was that as long as it didn’t violate the law, they could commit whatever act they pleased.

“Anyway.”

She had averted the situation of the hero representing America and the World Hero Association being labeled an illegal immigrant, so she should be satisfied with that for now.

While the employee sent on behalf of the Association let out a secret sigh of relief, the one who had led her to such thoughts was thinking entirely different.

“Korea…”

It was fascinating.

Not the country of Korea itself, but the situation at hand.

Along with that thought, a memory of a certain ‘woman’ who had visited her dwelling about a year ago floated to her mind.

In truth, the term ‘dwelling’ was merely a placeholder because she was so thoroughly protected by her abilities that she barely ever referred to the place where she slept and ate.

And to state it differently, this meant that unless she specifically permitted it, no being in existence could invade her domain.

Yet, that ‘woman’ had surely set foot in that dwelling.

Without any prior permission.

That alone was enough to have her eyes widen in surprise, but furthermore, that woman hadn’t just walked in through the door.

She didn’t come in by simply opening the door; she appeared alongside a ‘rift’ that the Another Ones used to move.

So initially, she had thought that an Another, which she had only heard about, was presenting itself in human form to do something to her.

It wasn’t all that surprising, though.

She had long been aware of the existence of a Queen, just as the Queen had likely noticed her.

So, predicting what would happen once the Another Ones started making moves wasn’t too hard.

In simple terms, it was just a matter of when it was going to happen.

That’s what she initially thought, but then she took a moment to use her abilities and discovered something.

That the other party was not a monster disguised in human skin, imitating human behavior, but a pure human.

A pure human who freely used the rifts known to be the dominion of the Another Ones.

With her personality, which couldn’t let intriguing matters slip by, this was definitely a subject she couldn’t overlook, and thus she couldn’t help but feel curious about the other person.

The reason she had offered them tea and attempted a conversation stemmed from that.

And as they shared a cup of tea and exchanged words, she gleaned a few interesting tidbits, including…

That the survival competition against the Another Ones was nearing its final stage—and—

“You will soon be heading to Korea.”

It was that very statement.

At first, she had wondered why she would have any reason to travel to that small, distant country, but who would have thought it would become a reality a year later?

Did that woman possess some sort of prophetic or foresight ability?

Only she could know for sure, but one thing was certain—she was so utterly curious about what kind of situation she would face upon heading to Korea that she could hardly contain herself.

…Just a little, but enough to make her flush with excitement.