This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 559

The selection of candidates for the lecture proceeded at an astonishing speed.

Of course, that didn’t mean the process was rushed.

In a way, those most sensitive about this were likely the parents with children involved, so both Chae-rim and I believed we should leave no room for complaints later on.

Fortunately, the results recorded by the candidates in the mock battles had already been computerized and stored in the Association’s database, and as for school grades, a simple request to the Education Department would suffice.

However, we didn’t receive the information all at once.

This could be a sensitive issue, so we only requested information for those who applied for the lecture.

Despite this, with the influx of tens of thousands of applicants, both Chae-rim and I had to sift through the documents.

“Oof…”

Maybe it was from staring at the papers for too long, but my eyes felt scratchy.

I closed my eyes tightly, then opened them again, only to be met with the sight of hundreds of documents still waiting for my attention.

“Feeling tired?”

“No, not really… just a bit of eye irritation.”

“Then how about taking a quick break?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Chae-rim, who had been examining the papers for even longer than I had, was still managing to work, so I couldn’t just take a break.

“Speaking of which… I only left the application open for one hour, and yet tens of thousands applied… It really shows the power of being ranked number one in the world.”

If it had been a concert, I might have understood the turnout.

After all, a concert is an event meant for enjoyment.

However, this was a ‘lecture’, wasn’t it?

Even so, the number of applicants was overwhelming.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that practically all of the candidates vying to be heroes had applied.

“True enough.”

“There’s going to be a lot of complaints from those who didn’t make the cut…”

The reason Chae-rim and I set criteria of excellent mock battle scores and academic performance when selecting the students was quite simple.

We wanted this lecture to genuinely help those who attended.

So we intentionally set the bar high for the conditions, but who would have thought there would be so many applicants.

At this point, complaints from those who didn’t get selected were inevitable.

“This is a headache…”

I muttered while scratching my temple.

“Why? Are you worried?”

“No, it’s just… I don’t want to see you getting unnecessarily criticized because of this.”

“Don’t worry.”

Judging by the tone of her voice, it seemed she had some sort of plan in mind.

“Do you have something in mind?”

Curious, I asked, and after finishing checking the document she had been looking at, Chae-rim placed it down on her right and nodded slowly.

“I’m planning to broadcast the lecture live for those who weren’t selected.”

Ah, that’s why she seemed so calm—there was indeed a plan in place.

A live broadcast.

I wasn’t sure if the broadcast Chae-rim was referring to would be online or on TV, but it was certainly a good idea.

That way, complaints from those who didn’t get selected could be effectively mitigated.

“How will you handle the broadcast? TV?”

“We’ll do both… Since kids these days watch a lot of online broadcasts, we’ll go with that too.”

“That sounds good. If you’re going to do it, it wouldn’t be bad to pick out some of the frequently asked questions from the chat during the Q&A and ask those.”

“I hadn’t thought of that… but following your idea, Dogun, that might work well.”

Thanks to Chae-rim and the Association employees, who nearly burned the midnight oil in the selection process, we managed to shortlist 300 candidates much faster than expected.

And the moment those participants were confirmed, I instinctively felt that, barring any major incidents in their personal lives, we would soon see them at the Association as actual heroes, not just candidates.

Anyway, as soon as we wrapped up the candidate selection, I found myself being led by Chae-rim to the airport.

If she were the Association Chairman instead of the Vice-Chairman, I wouldn’t have had to go to greet the guests. But for now, she was the Vice-Chairman.

Moreover, they had specifically requested to meet Chae-rim, which naturally placed the role of welcoming the guest on her shoulders, so I accompanied her out of circumstance.

“Ugh…”

“Feeling claustrophobic?”

“No.”

It wasn’t that, but I was undeniably feeling quite tense.

Of course, I was about to face the pinnacle of our era, the strongest in the world.

Thinking that I was going to meet such a person, not in a photo but in real life, made it perfectly natural to feel anxious.

Now that I mention it, Chae-rim, who was talking to me, was indeed one of the strongest in Korea, but unlike her, this person was a complete stranger.

‘And…’

I hadn’t mentioned it to Chae-rim, but I was somewhat anxious about the presence of my left arm.

I had it wrapped tightly with long sleeves and gloves, but according to Chae-rim’s explanation, even such disguises would be insignificant to someone like Miss Almighty.

‘What if she takes offense because of me…?’

What would I do then?

I ruminated but couldn’t think of anything concrete.

Thus, I couldn’t help but feel worried.

Even though I believed I had hidden it to the best of my ability, perhaps it was useless against Chae-rim.

“Don’t worry. If the worst comes to worst, I’ll protect you.”

As if trying to soothe my anxious heart that had been restless for a while, she patted my shoulder with a gentle voice.

After letting out a deep sigh and nodding to indicate I understood her intentions, it seemed that was still not enough to ease her worries.

With a soft sound, I felt Chae-rim cautiously take my hand.

For the record, we weren’t the only ones present.

There were those sent by the Association to greet the precious guest who had come from afar, as well as reporters who had positioned themselves here and there to capture images for articles about the upcoming welcoming event.

Chae-rim was holding my hand in that situation.

“Wh-What are you doing, noona?”

“Shh.”

I flinched without realizing it, and Chae-rim playfully smiled, warning me to be quiet.

Perhaps she wanted to alleviate my worries even just a little.

Chae-rim’s fingers began to wiggle and tickle my palm.

Thus, I had to discard all pretenses of tension just to suppress the laughter that was trying to escape.

And so, while spending time with Chae-rim without anyone else being aware, the shout rang out.

“They’re about to land!”

The person communicating with the control tower, using an earpiece and holding a walkie-talkie, raised their voice, and shortly after, something dark appeared from the sky.

The aircraft that revealed itself was somewhat different from the ones I was familiar with.

It had more of a streamlined look.

As expected from such a design, the aircraft smoothly touched down on the runway and began to slow down.

Then, it came to a halt exactly where we had prepared for it.

After a brief wait, the murmuring voices began to quiet down, and the tightly closed doors of the aircraft slowly opened.

And through that entrance came…

“Wow, she’s here!”

“Take a picture!”

A beautiful woman with blonde hair and a gentle-looking face.

She took a single step outside, lightly waving her hand to the crowd staring at her, and the instant I saw her, I instinctively understood why Chae-rim had expressed that she had no idea what that person was thinking.

It was her gaze.

The way she looked at people was devoid of any emotion that a normal person might display, whether it be anger, resentment, curiosity, or fondness.

In her eyes, there was nothing.

And that made an involuntary chill run down my spine.

As she scanned the crowd with that inscrutable gaze, it wasn’t long before her eyes landed on Chae-rim.

And then, for the first time, a flicker of light appeared in her eyes.