This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 572

Steganography.

At first glance, it sounds somewhat like a dinosaur name.

So what on earth could it be?

I must have been looking at Chae-rim with my eyes full of curiosity.

Chae-rim, who seemed to be contemplating for a moment, took out the personal phone that I jokingly refer to as the golden phone.

Then, she started dialing somewhere.

Rrrrrrrr—

Before long, the phone switched to speakerphone mode, and the ringing tone quickly filled the room.

After a while, the continuous ringing tone suddenly stopped with a click.

[…What? Why?]

Then an astonishingly lethargic voice took its place.

What a lethargic voice.

Does the person who received the call not realize that it was Chae-rim who called them?

Such a voice would naturally lead one to think so.

As I involuntarily glanced at Chae-rim, surprisingly, she appeared completely unfazed.

“Busy?”

She even asked the other party if they were busy… Just from that, I got the feeling.

That the person she was in contact with must have a rather unusual status.

[Uh, I’m busy, why?]

“Busy, what… You sound like you just woke up.”

[Tsk… So why did you call?]

“I just wanted to ask you about something.”

[Tell me.]

“You know that steganography you mentioned last time?”

[Is that just one or two?]

From the quick back-and-forth, it seemed that Chae-rim was quite close to this person.

Though it was a voice I had never heard before, I focused on what was being said rather than pondering that.

“It’s about steganography.”

[Ah… So what is that?]

“How do I unlock it and extract the files inside?”

[…Suddenly?]

“I really need it.”

[Haa…]

It seemed the person exuded the aura of an expert, but explaining to a non-expert like Chae-rim had them feeling a bit overwhelmed from the start.

After a brief sigh, the woman fell silent for about a minute, as if deep in thought, before she spoke again.

[Give me your email.]

“Huh?”

[Say your email address.]

“Ah, okay.”

[Not the one you use for work; the personal one.]

By asking for the email address, it seemed she intended to send something that could help in this situation.

Chae-rim, sensing this, began to recite one of her personal email addresses without further ado.

[It’ll take a bit because I need to search. Maybe… 5 to 10 minutes?]

“Is that enough?”

[Probably? Unless there’s something more specific I’ve handled.]

“Okay, got it.”

[I’ll send a manual along with it, so refer to that when you use the tool.]

“Thanks, thanks.”

That was the end of the call.

Since the matter was all settled, the other side hung up first, leaving no further words to exchange.

Thanks to that, I could finally ask Chae-rim about the things I had been curious about without worrying about others’ gazes.

“Who was that?”

“That person I just talked to?”

“Yes.”

“Shield Guy.”

Shield Guy, huh.

If my memory serves me right, there’s only one person Chae-rim calls by that name.

I guess another special-class hero popped up in our midst, as they say.

But even though that’s true, wasn’t that person from the chairman’s line, so they weren’t very close…?

Did she read the questions in my eyes?

“Since they’re from the chairman’s side, it’s a bit annoying… But that doesn’t interfere with personal connections.”

“Ah…”

“This person, I don’t know if it’s because she’s stuck at home all the time just doing computer stuff, but she has substantial knowledge in this area.”

Indeed, compared to the active Sprinter and Chae-rim, that person was known for not making many appearances at events.

However, the fact that she maintained her special-class status all this time surely means her abilities are quite valuable.

Creating barriers that remain for the long term as long as one doesn’t experience a certain level of shock… That’s a truly precious ability in these times when we can’t predict when those Another Ones might show up.

And the ones who are particularly concerned about their safety are those with wealth and power… They must view such talents as ones they absolutely can’t afford to lose.

Just like that woman known as the Doctor.

It was during this moment of drifting off into other thoughts that—

“Oh, it came.”

The phone held by Chae-rim vibrated with a low hum, and she exclaimed those words.

The push notification signaling that the email had arrived was a bonus.

“Can you step aside for a minute?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Was that her way of saying she would take charge from here, so I should watch from the side?

That seemed to be the case, so I obediently stepped away from the computer.

With the space I vacated, Chae-rim quickly logged into her email and downloaded the attached files from the newly arrived email.

“Hmm…”

Then, as she executed it, up popped a tool that looked quite suspicious.

One glance at it made it seem like it would suck up all your personal information the moment you clicked on it.

Well, in this case, it didn’t really matter since this computer was expendable.

While I was pondering such things as I stared at the suspicious thing floating on her computer screen, Chae-rim quickly opened the attached manual and began to diligently read its contents before starting the unlocking process as directed.

The first target for Chae-rim was the extremely large photo file that had been discovered earlier.

Is there really something hidden inside that?

What if this leads to us losing an otherwise perfectly fine computer?

As soon as the tool began to operate, the questions swirling in my mind quickly faded away.

There was no other choice.

From my perspective, there truly was no other choice since—surprisingly, a compressed file popped out of the image file.

“No way, what…?”

That steganography or whatever it is actually exists…?

I guess it makes sense because I’ve only ever hidden video files with clumsy techniques, but this feels like the work of a true professional.

I was left utterly stunned.

While I stood there speechless, Chae-rim skillfully started to extract the suddenly appearing compressed file.

What was found inside were dozens of document files.

It was clearly a situation that gave off an ominous vibe.

It seemed this feeling wasn’t just mine, as Chae-rim’s expression quickly turned serious.

Then she clicked on one of the files scattered everywhere and executed it.

The level of effort they went through to hide this file is something else altogether.

What could possibly be written in it… That question didn’t stay long.

As the file’s contents filled the screen after a brief load—

“Huh…”

Right from the title, it was an intriguing document.

“A Study on How the Occurrence of Rifts Affects Local Atmospheric Conditions”

Rifts were mentioned right from the first sentence.

And beneath the author’s name, there was my mother’s name glaring back at me.

Well, in a way, I might consider that my expectations had been met.

Even so, I couldn’t relax, as contrary to my predictions, the situation was practically the worst-case scenario for me.

I had secretly hoped it wasn’t true…

No way my mother was actually involved with the Artificial Rift.

‘…No.’

Maybe the first one is like this, while the other documents could contain entirely different unrelated contents?

With that shred of hope, I watched as Chae-rim opened another file, and instantly, it burned to ashes.

Naturally, there was no avoiding it.

The next file also contained a plethora of information related to rifts.

Not only that.

The last file in the bunch undeniably included solid evidence.

The title alone read: “Research on Whether Humans Can Cause Rifts.”

It was oozing with connections to that particular issue.

‘…Wait a second.’

Does that mean the World Hero Association now has even more reason to target me?

In a quick burst, a panicked train of thoughts invaded my mind, and before I knew it, cold sweat was trickling down my back.