This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 635

【Yoonseo’s Perspective】

My head throbbed, and my hands and feet trembled uncontrollably.

It was the price I paid for unleashing my talent in such a short time.

The problem was… I couldn’t take a break just because my condition was like this.

The situation in front of me was far too serious to allow for that.

The twelve higher entities above me seemed to take issue with the pathetic performances of the lower entities below.

They were far more powerful than people imagined.

After all, the talents of the so-called worst villains had fallen into the hands of these higher entities, cutting off all news about them.

These individuals, regarded as heinous enough to be treated as global public enemies, were now using their talents without restraint, leading to truly terrifying results, since the world Hero Association could only watch in concern for the damage they would cause.

The attacks that our expedition team had launched to reduce the number of lower entities began to look like mere child’s play as they shot toward the forward base.

What was even scarier was that not a single one of them cared if their attacks harmed allies.

In contrast, the expedition team had to block incoming strikes while also keeping an eye out for the lower entities that took advantage of the chaos… It was only natural that the situation began to turn increasingly unfavorable for the expedition team.

“Tsk… why does it have to be like this…?”

They didn’t even rush in mindlessly.

It seemed they had purposefully thrown in the lower entities to gauge the talents that those participating in the expedition had, engaging in relatively disadvantageous battles in terms of elemental strengths.

Among all this, the opponent Yoonseo faced seemed to be a being that absorbed the talents of villains, notable in places like Canada and North America.

The villain named Switcher.

Her real name was Richelle Crown.

Once an aspiring hero from the United States, she flunked her qualification exam due to major issues related to her character, went through various jobs, including that of a delivery driver, and ultimately turned into a villain out of resentment for her situation.

The talent she possessed, or rather had possessed, was a spatial interchange ability that allowed her to swap the locations of any objects within her line of sight with those sitting on her palm, making it an exceptionally powerful talent.

Because of it, she had once been counted as one of the promising up-and-comers who would represent the American hero industry—at least before the bullying-related issues surfaced.

At first glance, her talent sounded incredibly overpowered, but it had its limitations.

Firstly, she could only swap the positions of objects that were ‘visible’ to her.

In other words, if her line of sight was obstructed in any way, that overpowered talent would become utterly useless.

Additionally, it was known that swapping objects with specific body parts was also impossible.

She could only swap object for object.

So, if I kept those points in mind, I thought it wouldn’t be too difficult to deal with her… Yet…

Was it because the one using the talent had changed from a human to Another?

Or was it that the current opponent didn’t have to worry about conserving power the way Switcher might have, given she was in a dangerous situation?

Facing her wasn’t turning out to be as easy as I had initially anticipated.

“Ugh—!”

I quickly propelled my body backward.

Just as I did, sharp, jagged remnants bursting with malice erupted from the ground, aimed to kill.

As I darted back, I managed to unleash water from my soles, accelerating my backward movement. If I hadn’t done that, I thought I would’ve surely been cut by one of my limbs.

The mere thought sent a chill down my spine.

All the visible objects were rusted, adding to the unease.

The Heogye itself was unfriendly to humans, and I had received sufficient vaccinations to prevent tetanus before entering. But rusted pieces of metal like those…

No matter how well I was vaccinated, getting cut by them wouldn’t lead to a pleasant situation.

That aside, how was she changing positions like that?

Wasn’t Switcher’s talent supposed to involve swapping locations with what’s on her palm and what she could see…?

Yet, thinking back to what I had just witnessed, there had been nothing in her palm.

Nothing in my vicinity either.

But now, debris that had been nearby was popping up from the ground.

It was safe to say I had entirely misjudged the nature of her talent.

Heightened vigilance surged within me, akin to a cat facing a dangerous adversary, for I was confronted with a formidable foe.

How?

How was she doing this?

Could it be that the ‘hand on the palm’ condition wasn’t a requirement of her talent, but rather a self-imposed condition she had set for convenience?

Honestly, the possibility was quite high.

Those with less intuitive talents often impose such conditions to boost usability.

There was no need to look far; my own talent operates on a vastly broader range than what I actually use.

If it were the same case for her, the sight of various debris sprouting from empty space moments ago could be adequately explained…

Separating that realization from my current predicament, I remained distressed.

I lacked a proper way to land any meaningful strikes on my opponent.

For starters… using ice, whether for defense or offense, was simply out of the question.

In a world where she could freely change the positions of objects, providing her with additional targets was tantamount to a death wish.

Yet, suggesting we create a powerful tactic for fighting Another alongside Dogun…

‘The preparation takes too long.’

That very problem was a hindrance.

Even if I wasn’t slacking off during the time, I had extensively practiced in real situations, reducing my initial preparation of nearly a minute to just 30 seconds, cutting it down to just around 15 seconds.

Considering the time I invested, the progress was nothing short of remarkable…

But in front of the opponent I was facing now, 15 seconds felt painfully long.

As debris continued to erupt from beneath my feet, threatening my life, was I seriously going to stand there for 15 seconds in a daze, preparing an attack?

Before I could even shoot, I’d end up in a state worse than a slaughtered meat in a butcher shop.

With this level of talent being unleashed, I thought it was about time for an overload, but whether it was because of her being an Another instead of a human, or if she was simply using her talents without care because she had already hit overload, I was uncertain.

Thus, I fled from the endlessly sprouting dangers while keeping an anxious glance at my surroundings.

If I couldn’t generate options for myself, I had to rely on the situation.

Gathering information about the surrounding circumstances wasn’t a choice, but a necessity, which is why I was mentally cataloging every visible object…

But it appeared the situation around me wasn’t any easier.

It seemed everyone else in the selected elite group had their hands full too; I had hoped at least one of them had gained the upper hand, but given the elemental interactions, it didn’t seem like anyone stood out.

At least the only one who looked free in this chaotic scenario was Miss Almighty?

But asking for her help was out of the question.

Everyone was in battle, and it was obvious why she’d be sitting back and doing nothing.

Most likely, she was just keeping an eye on us like a sports fan from afar, aiming to keep an eye on the ‘Girl’ positioned at a distance.

That thought crossed my mind in that instant.

Snap—!

A crisp sound echoed across the battlefield.