This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 655

Older folks always have this habit of saying, “Experience is what counts in everything.”

So they urge you not to fear failure and to just go for it once.

Hearing that, you’d think experience is so incredibly precious that its value could never be tarnished or belittled, but in reality, it’s not quite like that.

In this industry, what you’ve got and how much of it is a huge factor, especially.

There are those who can catch up to years of hard-earned prowess in just a few days.

In such a world, while experience can serve as a measure, it can’t be considered a standard.

Just look at my sister; when she debuted, she was just one promising newcomer among many, but she quickly rose above others armed with abundant experience, standing out as a representative Hero of Korea.

Thus, while experience may not be absolute in this line of work…. when facing a crisis, it’s definitely the most helpful thing.

The level of preparedness changes based on how many situations you’ve encountered so far.

And in that sense, having only debuted a little over three years ago, I must seem utterly untrustworthy in their eyes.

I may have proven my skills, but that was only in sparring—there are doubts about whether I can show such abilities in a true crisis.

And yet, I was assigned an extremely important mission, so those accompanying me must have felt a surge of anxiety.

In that case, I can understand why they’d come over and be so fidgety…

Yet, despite that, the first feeling that came to me was annoyance—which is just a part of human nature.

I mean, if you’re that worried, just ask me directly!

Why are they sneaking around trying to speak to me subtly?

On top of that, stealing glances at someone else’s mobile phone screen is downright rude in any country.

Of course, there’s nothing that piques curiosity quite like someone else’s mobile phone screen, so it’s possible my gaze just instinctively went there, but it’s still a bad feeling.

Especially since what I happened to be looking at was a photo taken with Dogun.

“I did ask if she’s dating him…”

Could it be that she’s actually fallen for Dogun already?

I can’t help but wonder if in that brief moment, she’s really gotten that far, but considering the person involved, it’s hard to let my guard down.

Even if you’re a little flirty, there should be limits, right? Expecting self-restraint or integrity from someone who walked in with nearly ten men is a stretch.

And here stands such a person before me!

Does it even matter to someone like her whether it’s ten men or eleven?

It’s practically the same at that point!

Could that be the reason why I felt a rush of wariness?

Unease surged in me, and I noticed it affected my voice, which came out sharper than intended.

“I see what you’re worried about, but there’s absolutely no way that will happen, so just chill!”

Given that we had to speak in English instead of Korean, it made things even clearer.

I thought for sure she’d either get angry or embarrassed, but…

Is being a Hero representing your country not something you could just bluff your way into?

The arrogant and smug demeanor she displayed on the day of our first meeting felt like some sort of tactic, and her relaxed smile popped into my mind.

“Hmm, is that so? I’m glad to hear that…”

Honestly, her calm response felt even more annoying than when she was openly provoking me.

It didn’t help that her eyes seemed to look down on me completely, not in a derogatory way, but rather like she was gazing at a little sister she felt responsible for.

After all, it wasn’t like there was much age difference, yet here she was acting like the all-knowing adult.

Had she completely erased that embarrassing moment when I cornered her during our sparring just the other day?

If so, it’s truly unfortunate.

To forget something that only happened less than a week ago probably means there’s an issue in that part of her brain related to memory.

Lately, there’s been talk about how young people suffer from dementia or digital memory loss—could she be one of those cases?

I thought about those things swirling in my mind, but saying them outright might as well be throwing down a gauntlet.

I had to go through a filtering process to make my words sound polite enough to convey without causing offense, and after several rounds of refinement, I finally managed to prepare something that wouldn’t cause backlash.

“Honestly, it’s not like we have any other options, right? So just trust me on this.”

Still, even after all that effort to smooth it over, there’s a sharpness that lingers.

But it seems like that level of bitterness was nothing to her.

“Well, I suppose that’s true. Then I’ll trust you.”

Given that she shrugged it off with a casual gesture, I could tell she intended to be a little sharp with her words on purpose.

But anyhow… after receiving what felt like a semblance of assurance from me, she must not have felt the need to linger around any longer.

Finally, she waved her bronze-toned hand and headed back to her original spot.

And then she began to chit-chat with another Hero, someone she seemed to know well.

“I wonder… Are they discussing Dogun?”

I can’t believe how needlessly conspicuous she can be!

At this rate, even if I wanted to relax, I can’t—

If it weren’t for that woman, I could have spent my downtime browsing through photos taken with Dogun.

Having been peeked at once already, I felt uneasy about pulling out my phone that I had shoved in my pocket.

So, I spent the time sitting in a half-comfortable, half-uncomfortable position…

With nothing in hand, time seemed to move more slowly, and before I knew it, nearly two hours had passed.

“It seems like it’s about time to get moving, everyone.”

Miss Almighty, who had been glancing at her smartwatch that she didn’t even need to return, since it was her watch from the beginning, looked up and said that, without ulterior motives lurking behind her words.

Then, once again, she stood up faster than anyone else like she was just determined to set the pace.

Who could afford to resist when someone presumed to be the strongest of this group takes the lead in such a way?

At the very least, no one here dared to do so, and just like that, our team set out again on the journey towards the tree, leaving behind the shelter we made together.

“At least the return will be more comfortable.”

“Because of the shelter?”

“Yeah, in case the terrain changes due to battle impacts, we can use that as a landmark…”

“Right, now that you mention it!”

To cut a long story short, Miss Almighty’s decision to rest early while her team’s energy was still intact proved to be a very wise choice.

While we had been resting for almost two hours inside the shelter, the enemies weren’t just idly waiting either—once we strayed a bit from it, an onslaught unlike before came crashing upon us.

Among those attacking us, the most threatening were indeed those Peculiar Entities cleverly hidden among the rubble and large debris.

Unlike ordinary attacks, just one hit could put your life itself in jeopardy, beyond what it means to be human.

In a situation where no one knew when or where they might strike from, no one could afford to relax, and the atmosphere in our group grew sharper as we drew closer to the tree.

It was probably around the time our tensions were gradually starting to tilt towards one another.

“…Found it.”

A voice that was nearly a sigh echoed in everyone’s ears.