This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 665

The warmth, or rather the coldness, was all too familiar.

Of course, that was to be expected.

It was something I’d felt through my skin every time I trained with Yoonseo.

Did the suddenly plummeting temperature react to something?

My forearm, wrapped in my shirt, twitched more violently, but that was all it did.

No matter how much my left arm squirmed, once my thin shirt vanished, my upper body was practically bare, and the unnecessary strain meant nothing to me.

At this moment, there were only two things on my mind.

First, the possibility that Yoonseo might be nearby, and second—

‘Could something be happening?’

The very essence of the sudden chilling energy.

Dispersing power like this wasn’t how Yoonseo usually used her Talent.

Yet the fact that the coldness was beginning to overflow everywhere sounded alarm bells… This must mean that something was indeed wrong.

So was she hastily releasing energy everywhere in a panic?

The vague anxiety I had felt moments ago began to take on form.

Unknowingly, I leaned my body closer to the chilling energy surging up from underground… and in that instant, a hand shot out from behind and grabbed my shoulder fiercely.

And it pulled me back.

“What are you doing! That’s dangerous!”

The ground beneath us threatened to collapse at any moment with a loud crack, and the pure white cold energy rising from it surely made it seem perilous to my Senior.

The voice that struck my ears was laced with a hint of anger, but there was no time to care about that.

“It’s Yoonseo.”

“What…?”

“Something must be happening to Yoonseo.”

Instinct whispered in my ear.

Now was the time,

If not now, there might not be another chance,

So I had to go now,

The whispers echoed in my mind like an auditory hallucination, and I clenched my teeth reflexively.

With gritted teeth… I turned to face the Senior standing behind me and declared.

“We have to go.”

“…No, it’s too dangerous.”

“The path we’ve walked until now has been just as dangerous.”

“That’s not what I mean! Don’t you see? It could collapse!”

Did you not just see the ground that seemed fine moments ago change into a cliff in an instant?

I understood her worry, but if we didn’t hurry, we might get buried before reaching Yoonseo.

“So let’s calm down for now… If we look around, we could find a safer path.”

“But it’s too late.”

If that chilling energy still surged from beneath the ground right now as a distress signal from Yoonseo?

If something had indeed happened to Yoonseo, just as I feared?

Then it was already too late.

So I had to go now.

…Even if my Senior didn’t intend to let me go.

‘Ah.’

I see now.

A realization brushed against my mind.

Funny how I could only understand this feeling after things had come to this.

I recalled the ‘bomb’ the Doctor had mentioned when I had examined my left arm after escaping from Heogye.

And… I finally understood why my body had been so exhausted on the way here.

I released the instinctive barricade I had maintained.

The moment the Senior held my shoulder tightly, leaving red marks on my skin, I felt a tremor pass through from her grip.

That tremor conveyed nothing but ‘franticness’ to me.

Of course.

She must’ve been assessing if any sneaky Another was approaching, and her wide-ranging sensing network had gone haywire in an instant.

What could it feel like to lose your Talent?

I had no way of knowing.

How could I? After all, I had never truly possessed one.

Although I did have the power in my left arm, it felt too ambiguous to be called a Talent.

“…Did I surprise you? I’m sorry.”

“Dogun, you…!”

“I should be fine soon.”

The Doctor who examined my arm said the ‘bomb’s’ power had a range.

So if I distanced myself from the Senior, her abilities would recover.

Therefore—

“…No.”

“Thank you for bringing me this far, Senior.”

I gently removed the Senior’s hand from my shoulder, which had clutched me tightly.

Knowing my left hand’s touch could feel terrifying from her perspective, I did it as gently as I could.

And then… I propelled myself forward.

Leaping over the gap ahead that resembled a crevasse.

It wasn’t too difficult.

I had consistently trained my body, and the wall of cold that would have been my greatest obstacle parted to make way the moment I leaped.

“Dogun! Lee Dogun!!”

From the other side of the wall of cold that seemed to regain its original form without allowing anyone else to pass, my Senior’s voice reached me.

A desperate, yet… urgent voice.

That very voice grabbed my ankles like shackles, but… I didn’t look back.

Turning around now would only increase my hesitation.

I was sure my Senior would be fine.

Normal Anothers, even if they were high-tier entities, were still mere playthings in front of her.

Rather… It might be better if I distanced myself quickly.

If I thought of her safety.

I focused my gaze ahead.

What awaited me was a sight that looked as if a titanic creature had been sliced in half.

A deep, dark, enormous cave.

I never expected to see this sight again in my lifetime, which caused a bitter smile and a twinge of fear to arise simultaneously, but I pushed it down by clenching my jaw.

Ignoring it, I stepped into the cave, which spewed forth pure white coldness, to meet Yoonseo waiting for me at the end.

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【Yoonseo’s Perspective】

‘It hurts…!’

My arm was in pain.

It felt as if someone was breaking my arm into pieces, with an agonizing twinge racing through my right arm.

What on earth had happened?

Had focusing too much on the roots been the problem?

Or was it trusting the other heroes beside me too much…?

I couldn’t tell.

I had no one to ask.

What had occurred was outside of my awareness, and the other heroes were sent upwards the moment their Talents began to rampage uncontrollably.

They all wore faces of guilt, but what could be done?

I trusted them, yet was this the outcome? There was no changing it even if I interrogated them about their failure, and them staying here would only lead to them getting frozen and dying from the runaway powers.

Instead, it would surely be far more efficient to send them up to help eliminate the ‘Queen’ and that… horrendous being referred to as the Tree from this world.

And moreover… who knew?

If I wiped their debts of the heart like that, perhaps they would help Dogun when he returned to reality someday.

“Ugh…!”

My thoughts suddenly cut off as if someone had forcibly severed them.

Just as I had thought things had calmed down, another wave of excruciating pain surged through my arm.

I opened my tightly shut eyes and looked slightly downward.

And I saw it.

The sharp, pure white object protruding from my right forearm.

Had it looked like this when it pierced through Dogun’s left hand?

Had Dogun… felt this much pain?

It was as if I was being swallowed whole by the sensation of pain.

Was that why—

The out-of-control rampage of my Talent surged even fiercer.

Just like that winter day I experienced with Dogun, the world began to turn white.

As I took in the scene before me, I forced a smile.

Thinking back, it seemed like I had partially achieved my goal of specifically destroying the roots.

It must’ve felt nice to score a hit by secretly approaching.

The result was this.

‘…Ah.’

I want to see Dogun.

I thought I would be able to succeed,

That I would confidently stand before Dogun,

That even if he initially got extremely angry, he would ultimately express his concern and thank me before enveloping me in his arms…

Maybe I should have listened to Dogun and not been so stubborn…

Crack—

Was it due to the coldness surrounding me?

I heard the sound of something frozen shattering.

It felt almost hallucinatory.

Moreover, the voice that followed felt the same.

“This…!”

This…?

“You idiot!!!!!”