This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 585

At that very moment when the hands of two different people intertwined.

There was one person who was in a state of indescribable shock, and that person was none other than Dogun.

The reason Dogun was in such shock was simple.

He had accidentally caught a glimpse of Yoonseo on the live stream of Miss Almighty’s lecture, which was being broadcast globally on various platforms.

Just before the lecture was about to end, specifically right before the first part concluded, Yoonseo had briefly appeared.

It wasn’t too hard to recognize her, even though she was dressed in a somewhat stiff-looking suit from head to toe.

After all, we had known each other for a few years; it was hardly possible not to recognize a face just because of a change in attire.

‘Wait… wasn’t today a day off?’

I was pretty sure of that.

So why in the world was Yoonseo there?

The thought of Yoonseo working on her day off was astonishing.

What in the world did I just see?

Even having seen it with my own eyes, it was hard to trust what I had witnessed.

Honestly, it was hard not to feel this way because the ‘Yoonseo’ I knew was the kind of person who would meticulously guard her days off.

Therefore, there was absolutely no way she would choose to work on her day off.

‘Ah, could it be…’

Perhaps she was asked by her sister to help out just for today?

There was enough possibility for that, considering that the news I watched before the lecture said there was an enormous crowd near the lecture hall.

Among those gathered, there were even some notoriously aggressive protest groups, so it was natural that Chae-rim, who had suddenly become the person in charge of this event, would be worrying herself sick.

I may not have understood the actions of those protestors at all, but from Chae-rim’s perspective, she couldn’t just sweep them away all at once just because she disliked them.

If it later became an issue of public oppression, it would ultimately be Chae-rim who ended up in trouble.

Perhaps that was why she had asked Yoonseo for help.

Chae-rim was in a position where she couldn’t step out personally, but having even one famous hero near the scene might deter everyone from engaging in any extreme behavior, fearing they might get caught.

Of course, this was all just my speculation. It could very well have been that the association randomly summoned someone who happened to be off that day, and unfortunately, Yoonseo was that person.

Or maybe—neither Chae-rim nor the association but rather Miss Almighty personally pinpointed Yoonseo for some reason.

Such possibilities couldn’t be ignored, especially since Miss Almighty’s sudden visit to Korea seemed to be heavily influenced by her mother.

She might have thought that without a proper reason for her visit, it would attract unwanted attention, so she chose Chae-rim as an excuse.

Anyway, if Miss Almighty’s purpose was indeed to gather information related to her mother, it was clear that Yoonseo would fall within the scope of her interest.

Honestly, this was unmistakable; if she had researched my mother, it would be just a matter of time before it extended to me.

And if she also looked into me, Yoonseo would naturally come into play.

‘…No, wait.’

Maybe from the very beginning, she was targeting Yoonseo instead of me.

From my perspective, if someone I had never met before were to question me about my family, about my mother, I couldn’t just relax and let my guard down, no matter who it was, but Yoonseo’s situation was a bit different.

Of course, I’d admit that Yoonseo wouldn’t speak carelessly about my mother and that we were practically family, but still, you never know what could happen.

Given that she was Miss Almighty, I couldn’t afford to be complacent.

That was why I was left astonished upon unexpectedly seeing Yoonseo.

‘Should… I call her…?’

It was only natural that my hand instinctively reached for my mobile phone because of the worry.

Having reached for my phone and picked it up, I ultimately couldn’t bring myself to call Yoonseo.

The reason was simple.

Considering the live stream had a five-minute delay for unforeseen circumstances, I couldn’t gauge the situation on her side.

If I rashly called and put Yoonseo in a difficult situation, it would be a disaster.

With that concern in mind, I couldn’t call; instead, I conveyed the message through a text.

I was worried that if I didn’t word my message carefully, it might complicate things more than necessary, so even though I couldn’t explain everything in detail, I wrote as clearly as possible.

Now it was just a matter of Yoonseo checking the message.

However, given she was in the midst of work, it was understandable that taking out her phone to do anything might be a little tricky.

Normally, the presence of the ‘1’ notification would have vanished quickly, but today it felt particularly heavy.

Perhaps because of that influence, I felt slightly anxious compared to earlier.

Because of that, I was just mindlessly fiddling with my mobile phone when, unexpectedly, I let out a chuckle.

It was just too funny from my perspective.

When I thought about it, it was truly laughable.

I mean, it had only been about a minute.

People can get so busy with work that they might not be able to check their phones; was it really necessary to get so anxious over a lack of contact?

Right, she would check it when the time was right.

And what about Yoonseo?

She would handle things well just by receiving my message.

Even if she always acted annoyingly during our conversations, she was someone who definitely got things done when it mattered.

So, it was best not to rush or pressure her and just trust Yoonseo.

It would be better than saying a few extra words that might lead her to make a mistake.

With that, while I continued to feel anxious and serious all on my own, had already twenty minutes passed?

Soft music, perfect for falling asleep, was playing in the background of the live stream when a message announcing the resumption of the lecture appeared on the screen.

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【Baeksulhwa’s Perspective】

While Dogun spent his time watching a once-in-a-century event, Baeksulhwa was spending her time quite differently.

Her brow was deeply furrowed, as if she had something weighing heavily on her mind, and the reason was simple.

Lately, there was one thing that had been inexplicably troubling her.

What could it be?

Baeksulhwa had been suspicious about Yoonseo’s recent activities.

To be precise, rather than suspicion, it was closer to being puzzled.

‘No matter how I think about it, it feels strange…’

What on earth has Yoonseo been up to these days?

What was she doing outside that made everything seem so suspicious?

It was hard not to think about this, given how Yoonseo’s recent actions were the epitome of suspiciousness.

Take her recent business trip, for example.

To be precise, it was the souvenirs she brought back.

Although Chae-rim and Dogun hadn’t noticed, the things Yoonseo had displayed as souvenirs were not local specialties from one particular region, but products from various places in China.

Some came solely from Guangdong, while others were exclusively from Sichuan.

Of course, if Yoonseo had indeed traveled around China during her week-long business trip, it would be completely reasonable for her to have gathered various regional souvenirs.

But, on the day she returned from that week-long trip, Yoonseo had said herself that the mission assigned by the Chinese Hero Association—translated to their local terms, the Chinese Superhero Association—was so demanding that she couldn’t even think of sightseeing.

Yet out of nowhere, various regional souvenirs came tumbling out of her bag.

It felt as if someone had deliberately provided Yoonseo with items to create an alibi.

But why go through all that trouble?

Was there really a need to complicate matters so much?