This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 619

At first, it clearly pointed towards the outskirts of Seoul, but then it suddenly switched to Busan and eventually reached the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

‘Is there an error?’

As I kept my eyes on that series of events, the first thought that popped into my mind was exactly that.

To be honest, there’s always a possibility; after all, a location tracking app isn’t foolproof.

If the target enters a place like an underground area or an elevator where the signal doesn’t catch well, the results jump around like this, which is the reality of those location tracking apps.

Ah, of course, things would be different for professional-grade tools, but let’s be real—a monthly fee of just 9,900 won probably wouldn’t utilize such expensive technology.

‘That aside…’

Given how wildly the location is bouncing around, perhaps they’re somewhere eating or something.

Though it seems a bit early for dinner time, that’s pretty typical for hero activities anyway.

Even if it feels a bit early, when you have a moment, you’ve got to eat first, I guess.

Looking at it this way, their daily life doesn’t seem all that different from those who used to be called firefighters in their past lives… but over here, the treatment and welfare are overwhelmingly better, so it’s honestly tough to compare.

‘That aside…’

Since it looks like they’re taking a break to eat, maybe I should sneak in a quick text.

So, I shut off the location tracking app and opened a text window to send Yoonseo a short message saying, “What are you doing?”

After that, I was planning to continue the conversation with, “Oh, really? What are you eating?” when Yoonseo replied with, “What do you mean, I’m eating?”

Maybe it was hard for her to check the messages right away since she was in the middle of eating.

The reply from Yoonseo came through when I was moving to return to the Vice Chairman’s Office after completing the document delivery Chae-rim asked for.

Bzzz—!

My mobile phone, which I had intentionally put away in my pocket to avoid disruption, vibrated wildly, albeit briefly.

As I took it out, I caught a glimpse of the notification with Yoonseo’s name flashing across the screen.

If I had just reacted a bit faster, I could have checked it right there.

Feeling a bit disappointed, I clicked my tongue and unlocked the phone.

I immediately dove into the messages to see what Yoonseo had sent and…

The moment I laid eyes on the content of her reply, I couldn’t help but widen my eyes in surprise.

From my perspective, that was almost inevitable… because the content of her reply had far exceeded what I had expected.

[What do you mean, I’m busy running to the next mission.]

[But why all of a sudden?]

That was the nature of the reply I received from Yoonseo.

So, from my standpoint, it was reflexively startling.

If she’s moving to another place…

What the heck was up with that strange response the location tracking app had shown me?

‘Oh, could it be…?’

Did she finish her meal in the meantime?

So, maybe she was done eating and sent me a message while she was moving?

That seemed the most likely.

No, there was practically no other possibility.

With that thought in mind, I opened the location tracking app again to get some ‘ingredients’ to calm my suddenly racing heart…

‘…?’

But the screen I saw when I logged into the tracking app looked pretty much the same as before, if not exactly the same.

On the map, painted completely white for the viewer’s convenience, Yoonseo was still moving about busily.

I considered whether there might be an issue with the app itself, but it couldn’t be that, since my location was displayed perfectly fine.

Therefore, I couldn’t help but chew my lips in frustration.

There was nothing I could do.

From my perspective, there was no way to escape this: when results differed this much, the answer was already pretty much set.

One of us must be lying.

Then… which is lying, Yoonseo or the location tracking app?

Of course, I wanted to side with Yoonseo because we had known each other for years… but it was hard to ignore that the app had no reason or motivation to lie to me.

Yeah, no matter how you think about it, there was no reason for it.

I don’t know if such a thing is actually possible or not, but still, I’m just one of the many users of this app. Why would it single me out to provide me with false information?

In contrast, Yoonseo could certainly spit out lies whenever she decided to do so.

Right… just like she was doing now.

The important thing here is the reason she had to do this…

What on earth could it be?

What could she possibly be hiding from me that she’d go so far as to lie, even dragging Chae-rim into it?

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I instinctively hardened my expression because there was exactly one possibility that popped up.

This was something that wouldn’t just be a personal issue for Yoonseo, but it had to be serious enough to involve Chae-rim as well.

At this point, the only thing that such a scenario could refer to was…

The expedition team operation initiated by the World Hero Association to eliminate the Another.

Yeah, that was the only thing left.

Perhaps this certainty had dug into my heart like a knife.

Every step I took to return to the Vice Chairman’s Office got infused with a newfound urgency.

It was unavoidable.

This was all on the presumption that my speculation was correct, but then again, if those speculations were true, what was at stake could be a matter of seconds.

So… I hurried as much as I could to return to the Vice Chairman’s Office.

And immediately upon successfully returning, I knocked on the door of the room that Chae-rim usually used as her office.

Was my sudden action bewildering?

As I quickly returned to my seat, the Secretary, who had finished her tasks while I was briefly away, shot me a glance as if to say, “What’s with the suddenness?” but I brushed it off.

I couldn’t afford to worry about that; my mind was completely filled with thoughts concerning Yoonseo and the possible lies she had told me.

So, I pretended not to notice and continued to wait, and thankfully, it seemed Chae-rim stayed inside.

I could hear her voice from beyond the expensive, high-quality wooden door.

“…Who is it?”

Instead of announcing myself, I knocked straight away, and perhaps that had annoyed Chae-rim, because her voice sounded about half a tone lower than usual.

Just the fact that Chae-rim was the one who had made such a voice would be enough to freeze ordinary people in place.

However, I wasn’t ordinary.

The one with a lot to say was me, not Chae-rim.

“It’s me, sis.”

I spoke to the tightly shut door, but I didn’t want to pressure Chae-rim before even sitting at the table, so I attempted to keep my voice as calm as possible.

Yet perhaps from Chae-rim’s perspective, things didn’t quite sound that way.

The voice cut off abruptly.

The sudden halt made me uneasy too, but I didn’t press the person on the other side of the door.

After all, through the conversation moments ago, Chae-rim must have instinctively realized that what she had been hiding had come to light, and she needed some time to prepare herself.

So, I remained there patiently waiting by the door, and how long had it been?

Finally, maybe she had finished her mental preparations.

Chae-rim’s voice came from beyond the door.

“…Come in.”