This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 632

Honestly, I was really worried.

It was no surprise since Bora was clearly in a completely unfamiliar environment.

On top of that, the tools were of a different kind than what she usually used. Although I had the flashlight on my mobile phone, the place was so dark that, in a way, it was understandable to be worried.

I seriously considered ordering a flashlight as a quick delivery, and that’s why I was caught up in those thoughts.

For now, my mobile phone was doing the job of lighting things up, but after wandering around for several hours, the battery was nearly dead, and no matter how strong the built-in flashlight was, it was obviously not comparable to a proper flashlight designed for that purpose.

Still, I wondered if anyone would even deliver to an abandoned building like this…

If worst comes to worst, I could always offer to pay double.

In that moment, I fiddled with the Seoul-exclusive quick delivery app, which I often relied on in emergencies.

Not wanting to sit on the dust-covered floor, Bora had taken a very uncomfortable-looking squatting position, busy doing something.

Finally, she stood up, and the moment our eyes met, I felt all the worries that had been swirling inside me just melt away.

Honestly, it was inevitable.

From my standpoint, I couldn’t help but react that way because the expression on Bora’s face was the ‘confident look’ I knew so well.

It was the same expression she had when she showed me her second serialized work, which had propelled her to the status of a star cartoonist, overwhelming enough to overshadow the title of her debut work.

Now that Bora wore such a look, I had no choice but to trust her from this moment on.

And as if validating my trust, she slowly walked over to the wall I had been watching, carefully tapping the wall with the brush in her hand.

At last, the scintillating brush strokes began.

Before debuting through a contest, she had worked with pens, and ever since winning that contest and debuting as a professional, she had been using tablets, so it was obvious that she wouldn’t be used to handling a brush…

However, just like the saying goes, when a skill reaches its limit, everything connects; there was no hesitation or uncertainty in how Bora handled the brush.

Only certainty filled her.

Thanks to that, the image that popped into my head was that of the legendary Heo Seon-bong confidently passing the exam set by his mother.

Wasn’t it said that he practiced writing by sitting in a dark room?

Of course, in Bora’s case, it was drawing, but if that was intricate, it was definitely no less complicated.

‘By the way…’

To think something like this could happen just from drawing.

It truly was a talent the association chairman would obsess over.

I was relieved that such a thing hadn’t happened; if Bora had a personality close to a psychopath or sociopath, perhaps a villain far worse than Frozen would have been born.

That’s how insane her talent was.

Even though Bora modestly downplayed it as merely pulling up one of many possibilities, isn’t it true that there are countless people who risk their lives for the faintest glimmer of opportunity?

In that moment, I found myself completely captivated by the scene unfolding before my eyes.

Thud—

From the doorway behind me, no, the place where the door clearly used to be, I heard the sound of footsteps.

Bora seemed so focused on her artwork that she didn’t notice, but I definitely did.

It couldn’t just be dismissed as a momentary illusion.

The sound kept echoing, and I realized someone was approaching.

Was it delinquents wandering around looking for a place to smoke?

Or homeless people seeking shelter from the cold in this blocked-off area?

As I began to ponder about who was coming, those two categories immediately sprang to mind, but neither felt quite right.

That was because the sound didn’t carry any ‘fear’ or ‘hesitation.’

Anyone would naturally have fear of an unfamiliar environment.

It’s a fundamental instinct every living being should have, making it universal.

Especially in a place so dark that without a flashlight, you can’t see an inch ahead… there was no need to doubt that fear or hesitation should be present.

Yet, the footsteps that got closer in that brief moment did so without a hint of hesitation.

It was as if the approaching individual believed without question that whatever happened here couldn’t possibly harm them.

Had they trained in boxing or something?

Or could it be an Awakened?

I couldn’t be optimistic about either possibility.

After all, in this building where the elevator had even stalled, the sound of someone climbing up a floor meant that this person intended to confront either me or Bora.

Perhaps they were targeting both of us.

The expression of despair on my face was due to that.

I hadn’t fully realized because of Yoonseo’s situation, but thinking back, it was inevitable that many would be targeting both Bora and me.

Among those, the most dangerous were those who didn’t have the backing of someone like Chae-rim, unlike me.

When under the association chairman’s management, the living power known as the chairman kept a watchful eye, making it impossible for anyone to act recklessly.

But if there were people or organizations who recognized the value of Bora’s talent early on and took this opportunity to act…?

It could end up with me pushing Bora into hell.

‘…I hope it’s not an Awakened.’

That’s why I glanced at the entrance and muttered inwardly.

If the opponent wasn’t an Awakened, I had some confidence.

I had been rolling around under Seolhwa-senpai and Chae-rim’s guidance, after all.

There simply hadn’t been a situation where I could put those learnings to the test until now…

However, regardless of that reality, the lessons I had learned were still firmly engraved in my mind and muscles.

As I prepared to bring those lessons to bear for the first time, the footsteps drew even closer.

And at that point, even Bora, who had been focusing on her drawing, must have realized something was up.

“Was that you making those footsteps, Dogun?”

Bora, who had not stopped her hands even once since picking up the brush, finally turned toward me, curious.

“…No.”

The only response I could give to Bora’s question was that one word.

“Then who on earth…?”

She seemed to want to ask who would come at such an hour, in such a place.

But perhaps she kept her mouth from finishing that thought because of the possibility that began with ‘perhaps…’.

Could it be that whoever, presently closing the distance slowly, was suddenly feeling exceedingly frightening?

Bora’s white fingers, visible even in the dark, trembled.

Whether it was the sudden fear or not, the tip of her brush shook for a moment.

She fixed her gaze on me, quietly swallowing her fear.

“…Don’t worry. It’s probably nothing serious.”

It could very well be the police responding to a report from someone who saw us entering this abandoned building.

‘If only it were that…’

Perhaps one of the higher-ups listened to my wish.

“Ah, there you are.”

The footsteps that had gotten closer suddenly halted, and a very familiar voice—familiar enough to feel oddly strange—echoed from a short distance away.

“…Both of you.”

The voice, usually so warmly welcomed, did not feel welcoming at this moment.