This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 561

I don’t know when it will be, but if there’s ever a moment in the future when I recall this time, I would probably express it like this.

It was the most uncomfortable silence I’ve ever felt in my life.

The reason for this was simple.

Despite Chae-rim and me both rejecting it, Miss Almighty kept staring at me with that lingering gaze.

Chae-rim was observing her with a very displeased expression.

In that sense, if this wasn’t a time-constrained situation?

Wouldn’t I have grabbed her hand and run out of here a long time ago?

It’s only natural that the atmosphere became awkward, with the two supposed main figures of the event acting like that.

‘Chitterlings would be delicious…’

I couldn’t step forward recklessly, so I could only entertain trivial thoughts, putting on an act of ‘I know absolutely nothing, truly nothing at all.’

Honestly, after being decisively rejected once, one would think the lingering feelings would be let go; so what was with that expression?

Instead of letting go, it seemed like her interest only grew as time passed, causing me to sweat nervously.

“…Oh right.”

If you have something to say, go ahead and say it like earlier.

Miss Almighty, who had been staring at me with an expression that I couldn’t discern, suddenly made that remark.

Was she perhaps trying to draw attention that way?

If so, I would say she succeeded.

After all, it was Miss Almighty who made that comment, so naturally, both Chae-rim and I would turn our gazes in that direction.

And as her words garnered our attention, Miss Almighty savored the spotlight before slowly placing her teacup down.

Then, locking eyes with me—

“Do you happen to know a woman with a scar on her hand?”

She asked.

A scar on her hand? When I first heard those words, I had no idea what she was talking about.

After all, there are plenty of people in the world with scars on their hands.

So at first, I could only tilt my head in confusion…

“It was in the shape of a cross…”

But when I heard the follow-up line, I could no longer feign ignorance.

I couldn’t help but respond.

Because I actually knew of someone who fit that description perfectly.

There may be a lot of people with hand scars.

The hand, being more exposed to potential dangers than other body parts, certainly would have its share.

But if we limit it to those with cross-shaped scars… the number would drop significantly.

It would be pretty hard to intentionally acquire such a scar unless you were aiming for it.

And yet, I found it oddly coincidental that there was exactly one person I knew who matched that condition.

“…Why do you ask about that?”

Thus, I couldn’t help but show my mistrust towards her.

“I just happened to come across that information… I thought you might know her.”

She claimed she just asked because she thought I might know her.

Of course, I would know her.

After all, it was my mother.

However, regarding my mom…

No, let’s set that aside. How did Miss Almighty know about the person she mentioned?

I tried to guess, but nothing came to mind.

After all, all I knew was that my mom dedicated her life to some research; I had no idea what exactly she was studying.

It wasn’t that my mom was deliberately hiding anything.

It was simply that… I hadn’t tried to learn.

In that sense, had I chosen to pursue knowledge on the matter, I could have found out quite easily.

Thinking back, my mom didn’t seem to care whether I snuck a peek at her documents.

If anything, she often encouraged me to ask for anything I wanted to see.

Yet, despite that, the reason I had never dug into the details was that I believed I shouldn’t.

Isn’t there a line that must be respected between family?

No matter how close you were, you shouldn’t just rummage through someone’s mobile phone, right?

At that time, I truly believed so, and because of that, I never sought to delve deeper… Who could have known it would come back to catch me like this?

Had I known this would happen, I would have put in a little effort to find out…

My lack of knowledge left me with no options.

Thus, I had no choice but to depend on the mercy of the other party.

So, I gazed quietly at her, perhaps my reaction was to her liking.

A smile spread across Miss Almighty’s face as she maintained her gaze on me.

While her reaction seemed to amuse her, Chae-rim was frowning, clearly displeased with the current situation.

You would expect a person next to her to at least show a little concern if someone was glaring at them, but none of that could be found in Miss Almighty.

She didn’t even acknowledge Chae-rim, instead, she kept her eyes glued to me, smiling gently—

“Did you finally feel like having a conversation?”

That was all she said.

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【Yoonseo’s Perspective】

As Dogun fell into a dilemma facing an unexpected situation, there was someone else in distress for a different reason—Yoonseo.

What can I say?

Yoonseo, having used up the week given to her, was back in the Heogye.

However, the circumstances were a bit different this time…

Previously, Yoonseo would spend a week in the Heogye and then take a week off; but now, with the Forward Base stabilizing, her mission had shifted to a commuting style.

Of course, reaching this point was no easy task.

It was only thanks to Yoonseo’s persistent advocacy to the higher-ups that she could barely secure this arrangement.

Had Yoonseo not made significant contributions during her first expedition, it was highly unlikely she would have even gained that approval.

Despite successfully establishing the commuting system, Yoonseo’s expression remained consistently strained.

The reason was simple.

As soon as the information about that particular anomaly reached the higher-ups, she anticipated some sort of reaction. However, over a week had passed since that information was submitted without any response from the Association.

Was the Association’s situation more dire than it appeared from the outside?

Were they really in such a state that they couldn’t even act on this crucial information?

Yet, that was purely a matter pertaining to the Korean Hero Association. The World Hero Association, overseeing those in each country, should have been able to take action…

‘…Wait a minute, could it be?’

Could it be that the information hadn’t made it up the chain of command to them?

It was a sudden thought, but upon reflection, the possibility was there.

Seeing as no other organization had someone in a position of power like the Korean Hero Association for such an extended period, it made sense.

If the chairman had remained unchanged for a long time, it implies that the various sectors of the Association were filled with the chairman’s allies.

Therefore, if the chairman decided it was best to keep this under wraps after hearing the report… even if the World Hero Association had not been informed, it wouldn’t be strange.

‘This is bad…’

That would pose a problem.

In Yoonseo’s view, to target that so-called nest, the current forces were utterly insufficient.

Even if the RK Guard members’ skills were improving day by day, to assault that nest, each member would need to be elite, or rather, on Hero-level.

Not just any Hero, at least First-Class would be necessary to ensure others wouldn’t hindrance them during a crisis.

And that was staff the Korean Hero Association could never produce.

Thus, the assistance of the World Hero Association was crucial…

‘They’re hiding information, huh…’

If that was the case, then there was no choice but to take measures on this side.

Miss Almighty, was it?