This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 588

I plan to completely establish the Another Ones in this world.

What if an ordinary person said that?

Everyone who heard those words would surely scoff.

Or they might think it’s just a madman rambling nonsense.

But what if the one saying such words is officially recognized as the strongest in the world?

It might be obvious, but the impact of the statement itself couldn’t be anything but different.

Is that why?

The reactions of those who encountered Miss Almighty’s statements through a live broadcast that took place at that time, or those who later stumbled upon the flood of news articles that began to overflow after her words, were largely divided into two groups.

It may be obvious, but there were no opposing opinions among them.

Honestly, why would anyone oppose it?

Whether they have been harmed by the Another Ones in any way or not, everyone is in the same predicament, uncertain when and where their lives might be threatened by the Another Ones.

But what if those Another Ones were to disappear forever?

If that were to happen, the very possibility of suddenly having their lives threatened would vanish, so how could that not be a good thing?

Of course… while it’s not that only good words can emerge, there were indeed a few who subtly expressed negative opinions, even if they weren’t outright opposition.

And most of those were probably affiliated with the Hero side.

In fact, from their perspective, it was quite unavoidable.

After all, what was the reason behind the birth of the profession known as Hero in the first place?

It was to protect people and human civilization from the Another Ones who could appear anytime and anywhere through rifts.

Thus they were called Heroes instead of Superhumans.

Since the existence of the Another Ones is tightly linked to the very genesis of the Hero profession, there were also those who mentioned that if the activities of these beings had drastically diminished, then wouldn’t support for Heroes have to be cut down as well?

Of course… everyone knew that the roles of Heroes wouldn’t disappear just because the Another Ones vanished.

Back then, when talents in the name of abilities began to awaken in people, everyone rushed to take down the Another Ones, but now, quite some time later, there were those who often tried to use their talents against other people instead of the Another Ones.

Individuals referred to collectively as Villains, awakened criminals.

The obligations shouldered by the Heroes also included dealing with such individuals.

So even if the Another Ones were to vanish from this world, the profession of Hero wouldn’t disappear… but the very significance of being a Hero would undoubtedly be shaken.

Therefore, there was no way such thoughts couldn’t arise.

Back when those words were first spoken, perhaps the very person who uttered them thought about how likely the situation would actually turn out that way, but unlike then, the possibility of such an occurrence had significantly risen now.

As a result, the atmosphere was bound to differ from how it was back then.

Even if the same words were spoken, the degree of seriousness now was different.

At that time, it felt somewhat like “I hope things turn out this way~,” whereas now it felt closer to “This seems like it will happen, so shouldn’t we act accordingly?”

Of course, considering that it was just a statement that had emerged and that nothing had been decisively decided, there was still the lingering feeling that it might be premature…

But given how much they had suffered at the hands of those beings and how long it had been…

The ordinary individuals were bound to be overly excited.

In contrast, what was the Korean Hero Association doing as they suddenly found themselves caught up in the bomb-like statements that Miss Almighty carelessly blurted out after lending her the venue…?

“Haah… why precisely…?”

“Exactly.”

“I knew she was quite the impulsive character, but this… heh…”

“Perhaps it wasn’t an impulsive act at all, but something she intended from the start?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“What do I mean? Those present here must all know, right? That we’ve intentionally ignored some crucial information that should have been reported to the headquarters.”

“That means… Miss Almighty’s sudden actions are a warning sent to us?”

“That’s just one possibility; the truth remains uncertain.”

Gathered tightly in the special meeting room, where they rarely convene unless discussing something truly significant, they were furrowing their brows in distress.

It couldn’t have been any other way.

From the perspective of the top brass of the Korean Hero Association, it was truly unavoidable… after all, they had no intention of putting more resources into the Heogye than they already had.

Would they go crazy over that?

Though the North Korean authorities, who had tightly shut themselves away, crumbled with the appearance of the Another Ones, causing the territories they occupied to come under South Korean influence gradually, even so, this peninsula was still too narrow.

What good would it do if the territory doubled?

People, and various infrastructures, were still concentrated in certain cities, including Seoul.

As a result, even after a hasty unification occurred, the tendency for concentration towards Seoul and the metropolitan area hadn’t improved at all, leading to an ever-increasing population density in and around Seoul.

And with such a situation where populations reaching tens of millions were not spread over the entire peninsula but rather clustered in specific areas…

It naturally led to an increased crime rate in that region.

Despite this reality, the reason why law and order hadn’t collapsed was due to about ten percent higher awakening rates than other countries.

However, that was also a double-edged sword.

The fact that the awakening rate was higher than in other countries implied that the probability of individuals possessing exceptional talents increased, but that also meant the number of those who squandered their talents would rise correspondingly.

Until now, the balance between those two had been exquisitely maintained, but recently, the situation had grown quite hazardous.

After all, the kinds of fools who love causing trouble thrived in just the sort of societal chaos that was unfolding.

Ever since the incident of the previous attack, the rate of awakened crimes had soared, and thanks to that, even the dwindled number of Heroes had been darting around the scene, their feet blistered from the effort.

But was there any capacity to invest more resources into the Heogye?

Moreover, there were still the victims of monsterization whose treatments were not yet decided.

Just isolating them from society consumed tremendous manpower and resources. Who spread such an absurd rumor that once dragged to isolation facilities, they would never return? People had begun to conceal their relatives or friends who underwent monsterization out of fear, and recently, the cases of “accidents” occurring as a consequence had sharply increased.

And due to the fact that these “accidents” mainly happened in residential areas, once an accident occurred, there would inevitably be significant casualties.

Thanks to that, a suggestion started circulating openly, discussing the possibility of offering rewards to those who reported when someone might be hiding a victim of monsterization, on the chance that it turned out to be true.

Due to all sorts of problems arising simultaneously like that, just covering up those issues was a daunting task, and the so-called strongest Hero in the world, rather than alleviating the situation even a little, made things inconvenient with such bombshell comments at a gathering that was intended for goodwill.

While it was undeniable that some crucial information intentionally omitted from being reported to the headquarters was a fact, wasn’t this a bit too much?

“It’s going to be tough to escape responsibility, right?”

“Yeah… Even if we somehow manage to pull back, those who watched that broadcast won’t accept it.”

“Haah…”

In that moment, only a sigh of distress echoed throughout the meeting room, signifying how troublesome the situation had become.

With a creak, the firmly closed door of the meeting room swung open, and the Association Chairman along with Chae-rim returned to the meeting room after stepping out for a moment to discuss separately.