This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 608

It might be a bit late to say this now, but the Association, that is, the Korean Hero Association, was known for treating people rather harshly.

Nonetheless, the reason why complaints regarding it hardly ever surfaced till now was… because the way the Association utilized its people was incredibly thorough.

To put it simply, when they worked you hard, they ensured you worked hard, and when it was time to give you a break, they made sure you got that break.

If someone who doesn’t know hears this, they might wonder if that’s just the basics, but surprisingly, there are many places in the world that fail to even uphold those basics properly.

In that sense, the Korean Hero Association’s approach that goes beyond basic adherence to their principles and hones them to the extreme could be described as artistic.

It’s no wonder that there are even a few papers related to that topic.

Dogun had recently felt perplexed by Yoonseo’s actions precisely because of that.

It was more than just being meticulous; the Management Team was notorious for how rigorously they exploited people.

Having once clashed with the Management Team multiple times while managing Seolhwa, Dogun was all too familiar with that fact.

Therefore, he already knew that the Management Team wouldn’t carelessly grant vacations like that…

Yet, Yoonseo’s recent actions were far beyond what Dogun’s common sense would suggest.

The long vacation he received after a recent business trip to China was understandable.

Given that the schedule was arranged rather hastily and it involved a week-long itinerary instead of just a day or two, one could think the Association granted it as compensation.

But that didn’t explain the vacation Yoonseo had received the day before yesterday and yesterday; no matter how he thought about it, it didn’t hold up.

That’s why I expressed my confusion about what sort of vacation Yoonseo was having.

Of course, Yoonseo said that the Management Team took into account her voluntary participation as an assistant after renouncing her vacation during the last lecture… but I just couldn’t trust that explanation for some reason.

As I mentioned, that was not how I understood the Management Team to operate.

In my view, the Management Team would rather compensate with public recognition or a suitable monetary equivalent rather than granting vacations.

Yet here they were, just handing out vacations, two days at a time no less.

Had something changed in the Management Team while I was away?

‘I don’t think I heard anything about the Management Team Leader changing…’

If my memory serves correctly, that was the case.

And this was a matter I could not afford to be wrong about; because of the word “Leader” at the end, it could seem like a lower position at first glance, but in reality, the Leader of the Association’s Management Team was likely equivalent to a vice president or higher in a regular corporation.

Thus, if there were any significant changes to such a person, there would undoubtedly be rumors circulating within the Association regarding it.

But I didn’t recall hearing anything about that.

Even the secretary, who was recognized as a well-informed individual within the Association and managed Chae-rim’s external schedule, hadn’t mentioned anything.

Which basically meant nothing had happened.

Yet suddenly, the Management Team was doing something they hadn’t done before?

At this point, it seemed odd not to suspect Yoonseo’s words.

‘Although I’d personally rather not have to go this far…’

It couldn’t be helped.


I knew better than anyone that blindly trusting someone I liked would only make the unease in the corner of my heart grow larger.

If something feels strange or weird, it’s better to deal with it right then and there instead of letting it fester inside unnecessarily.

Even knowing this, I hadn’t been able to ask Yoonseo any questions yesterday because my cowardice kept me worrying about the possibility of a worse outcome.

If it turned out all of this was just my needless misinterpretation, that would be a relief, but what if it wasn’t?

For instance… what if Yoonseo had lied to me with a specific intention?

I couldn’t be sure whether it would be right for me to dig into that.

That’s why I knew I should tackle this issue immediately, yet I couldn’t muster the courage to do so.

‘If it’s not a big deal, that’d be great… but…’

What if it’s the other way around…?

For example, if the current situation had sparked from Yoonseo losing her feelings for me or getting tired of that guy Dogun…?

How should I handle that?

Honestly, I didn’t want to entertain such thoughts.

But it was inevitable that my mind would drift in that direction… because that’s just how my life always was.

…It was frustrating.

If I were to sum up my feelings right now in the shortest words possible, it would be like this.

‘Now that I think about it…’

The news about the Expedition Team had suddenly stopped coming in; it seemed like everyone who was coming had arrived, but how was everything going on their side?

That’s why I was making an effort to redirect my thoughts elsewhere since I felt they were going in a bad direction.

If I didn’t do this, I felt like my mind would keep drifting there, toward the bad side.

It was almost a makeshift measure, so to speak.

Fortunately, that strategy turned out to be much more effective than I had anticipated.

Perhaps it was because I was more than interested in the problems related to Another Ones, to an extent that I couldn’t even compare myself to others.

Like a dog too excited to heed its owner’s command, my thoughts had gone off on a tangent but soon began to focus on issues related to the Expedition Team.

‘Did they say there were a total of twenty people?’

Looking at it this way, the World Hero Association certainly was something special.

They brought together not just one or two, but a total of twenty heroes representing various countries in one place.

Where else but the World Hero Association could such a feat be accomplished?

The White House?

Even the White House wouldn’t have been able to manage something like this.

Heroes, especially those who have reached a formidable level where they represent their respective nations, are all selfish individuals; if they don’t like something, they’ll just raise their hands and refuse to comply with any orders.

In that sense, Chae-rim had to be an extremely rare case to have fulfilled her duties as a hero even after rising to such a position.

In particular, the “Shamsir,” the Princess of the Arab Federation and a hero, was said to have dozens of lovers…

Although she always brushed it off as her attendants whenever she spoke publicly, as is common in that region, how many people are actually going to believe her?

I’ve heard that there are dozens of exclusive photos of her taken by paparazzi trailing her around.

Anyway, each of them is a rather unique individual, so the recent atmosphere within the Association had become quite chaotic.

Although Shamsir, the princess and representative hero of the Arab Federation, and the First Inheritor of the Norwegian royal family, “Princess Royal,” representing not only Norway but also the three Nordic countries, could be more or less seen as state guests and thus should be excluded from consideration, the other heroes who entered the country at the same time were also people deserving state guest treatment. Hence, everyone had their hands full.

Still, judging by how the commotion seemed to have settled down without any particular incidents, it appeared they had managed to complete their tasks successfully.

‘To host twenty state-level individuals at once without causing any problems…’

At this point, the country ought to award something, if not a medal, at least a commendation, don’t you think?

‘…Hmm? Wait a minute.’

Twenty people?

Was it really twenty?

As I suddenly questioned that in my mind, I recalled the various documents that had passed through my hands over the past few days, and something felt off with the number.

To backtrack, according to the materials I had seen, the total number of state-level individuals entering this time was eighteen.

Adding Miss Almighty, who was already in South Korea, would make it a total of nineteen.

But based on reliable information I had gathered from here and there, the total number of the Expedition Team was twenty.

So, I had kept thinking it was twenty, but now that I think about it, there seemed to be one person missing.

That’s why I couldn’t help but tilt my head in confusion.