This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 573

Rifts and related materials continuously emerged afterward.

Among them were even video files included.

When I played them back, what unfolded on the computer screen was undeniably suspicious experimentation using oddly shaped machine devices.

At first glance, it made my heart drop, but soon enough, I managed to feel relieved.

It was simply because, despite being filled with those suspect machine devices, the video didn’t show anything particularly alarming.

Perhaps it was simply an early video; nonetheless, that was the situation.

So, my initial unease subsided somewhat… but the problem was that it didn’t last long.

It seemed they had realized something through repeated failures because the second-to-last video displayed something that could be called an anomaly, albeit briefly.

“That was just now…”

“…a rift, right?”

At least, that’s how it appeared to me.

The duration was less than a second, though.

‘Haa…’

I had secretly hoped it wouldn’t be the case.

While it was said that documents related to artificial rift generation technology were discovered, I thought my mother had only provided the foundational theory and had no connection to its implementation.

But to think not only was an experimental video found, but even one that showed a successful experiment lasting under a second existed!

The problem was that this was just the second-to-last video.

Meaning, the last video would likely show something even worse.

In other words, it implied that my mother was one of the key figures in the development of artificial rift generation technology.

Hence, the World Hero Association must be hunting my mother too…

Up until now, it seemed they had stuck to conventional methods because they had a face to maintain, but what if they determined that continuing this way would lead nowhere?

The first target would undoubtedly be me.

No matter how urgent the circumstances, one could argue that an organization claiming to uphold justice wouldn’t resort to such actions, but that’s a delusion for those ignorant of the true nature of the Association.

From my perspective, if they perceived anything as a threat to world peace—specifically to the narrative they lead—they would throw ‘justice’ out the window without hesitation.

At the moment, the World Hero Association was the only one discreetly investigating my mother’s whereabouts, but honestly, how long could this continue?

So far, they had managed to maintain secrecy, but… there was no guarantee that this would last.

And not just the World Hero Association; even hero associations in China or Russia, which were likely always on the verge of defecting, would undoubtedly act the moment they learned of my mother’s existence.

It was painfully obvious that they would try to secure me in some way to draw her out from wherever she’s hiding.

Of course, with Chae-rim always by my side, such a thing wouldn’t be as easy as saying it, but… even Chae-rim wouldn’t be able to handle ten problems with one hand alone.

Even a brief opening could lead to a perilous situation.

As for me?

I wanted to prevent the situation from unfolding in such a way.

While I fully acknowledged that Chae-rim’s abilities had surpassed her peak, fighting inevitably led to injury.

“First… let’s dispose of this stuff.”

I turned to Chae-rim, saying this because that part was troubling me…

“…Yeah, that would be right.”

To my surprise, Chae-rim readily agreed with my opinion, as I had initially expected her to oppose or show reluctance.

Seeing her expression, it seemed she shared my concerns about the situation.

Indeed, this hard-won peace must be something Chae-rim wants to maintain, especially since she contributed significantly to achieving it.

“So, we just need to erase them?”

“No.”

That would certainly be more convenient, but I knew that the deleted files could be recoverable.

To avoid any possible future issues, it would be best to ensure this was done properly.

“Burn them.”

“Me?”

“Yes, I think that would be the cleanest way to handle it.”

If I sear them with highly charged electricity, what could those things possibly do?

With the internal components charred black, there really wouldn’t be much left to do except suck my thumb.

I asked Chae-rim to handle it, and she nodded as if she understood my request, taking one of the hard drives in each hand.

Sizzle—

“Done.”

She said this while returning what she held back to me.

“Is it over?”

From the outside, it looked no different than before.

It seemed like I heard a faint sizzle, but that was about all I could observe.

So, it was natural for me to ask.

“Yep, I burned everything inside, so unless we rewind time, recovery should be impossible.”

If Chae-rim said that, then I could trust it.

“Anyway… are you going to put it back?”

“Yeah.”

“Is that necessary?”

“Just in case.”

Leaving traces that we handled this wouldn’t do us any favors.

So, I carried the charred hard drives back toward the storage room.

Then, I refilled the insides of the main units that had a hole blasted into them.

Having taken care not to leave traces, it would be hard to find evidence of my tampering unless someone inspected it under bright lights.

With everything done, Chae-rim and I quickly left the family house.

I felt somewhat unsettled, realizing that my fears had come true.

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【Yoonseo’s Perspective】

As a fellow Korean, did I inherit a bit of the spirit of the national defense department?

The association’s decision regarding the antics of the Another Ones was simple.

More turrets and more shells.

That was the conclusion the association had come to.

To that end, container boxes amounting to several times the previously brought-in amounts poured into Heogye.

And inside those incoming container boxes were turrets and shells packed to the brim.

There were so many that merely looking at them was enough to make one feel overwhelmed.

Thanks to that, everyone had to hustle like crazy to move them all.

As one person put it, if only we could deploy heavy machinery like forklifts, we wouldn’t need to carry these one by one.

It seemed like they tried many things to solve that issue, but unfortunately, there hasn’t been any notable success.

However, this time, thanks to the association taking special care, it was nice that we didn’t have to struggle like during the construction of the base… but despite that, everyone felt slightly skeptical.

Honestly, that was unavoidable because everyone thought even if the number of turrets increased, it would only repeat the previous situation.

And maybe the Another Ones felt the same way.

As if declaring they wouldn’t let humans expand their territory any further, they began to rush in, frothing at the mouth like a beast whose territory had been invaded.

To put it succinctly, both our expectations that this wouldn’t be a fundamental solution and the Another Ones’ frantic actions became meaningless in the face of a simple truth.

The replenishment of shells that had been running out had led to an increase in the number of turrets being operated at once, allowing the settings for the turret-controlling sensors to be divided into three different types.

Long-range, mid-range, and close-range.

By dividing the recognition range of the sensors this way, those flying entities that once tried to deceive sensors and provoke malfunctions began getting hit by the newly arrived shells, causing them to drop from the sky.

If it was a situation where sensor deception strategy worked before, it would be a different story, but if this continued, they would suffer one-sided losses and perhaps decide that this wasn’t a path worth continuing.

The Another Ones that had been lurking in the distance began to vanish one by one.

“That’s right! This is it!!”

Thanks to that, I managed to barely defend my quitting time.