This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 80

“Well, it’s your business, so do as you please.”

‘Ugh…’

If I could feel anger just from the text, it seems like someone was really furious…

Honestly, even if I were Yoonseo, I wouldn’t have been able to endure this.

With all the frustration going on, to suddenly tell someone, “You should go home alone for a while,” must have felt completely bewildering.

From Yoonseo’s perspective, she might have thought, “What the heck is this guy trying to pull?”

I mean, if there was at least a valid reason behind it, that’d be one thing, but there wasn’t any.

It must’ve been even more absurd.

Thinking about it, I wondered if it might be better to explain the situation now, but when it came to executing that, it felt a bit off.

What would be so proud about wandering around bragging about this?

‘I guess I’ll have to comfort her later…’

Still, amidst all this chaos, there’s one reassuring thing: I’ve clearly communicated my message.

So, there shouldn’t be any unnecessary time wasted waiting for me.

Anyway… it seems Yoonseo-related issues have been somewhat wrapped up for now, so right after class, I headed to the 4th floor where the Special Physical Education Room is located.

And just as I arrived there and was about to go in—

Click… Click…!

The door was locked.

The door opened with some sort of scanner, and since I didn’t have anything to scan, I had no way to get in.

Just for the sake of trying, I knocked…but…

‘Did they step out for a moment?’

There was no response.

So, I decided to wait for a bit, but while leaning against the door waiting for the Senior, I naturally came to a realization.

‘Oh, right. At this time…’

They must be standing at the school gate.

In that case, there was no need to go looking for them; it seemed like I could just wait for about 10 minutes.

Surely they weren’t going to stand there the whole time.

Just as I thought, about five minutes later, the Senior appeared from down the hallway, her hair tied up in a single braid, swaying like a tail as she dashed toward me.

“Sorry…! Have you been waiting?”

“No, I didn’t wait that long. It’s fine.”

“Still, I’m sorry! I totally forgot to bring you the temporary access pass…”

I had thought that you just had to scan something like a student ID to enter, but it turns out there was a separate access pass.

Well, given the expensive equipment inside, it makes sense that not just anyone could come in and out.

“Here, this is for Dogun. From tomorrow on, just use this to open the door and wait inside.”

“Got it.”

“Or, since we’re already at it, would you like to try scanning it now?”

“Huh?”

Don’t you just hold it up to the scanner?

That’s what I thought, but apparently, I was wrong.

“First, you have to check if the security is on. If it is, then see this button right here? Press that once.”

After confirming that the light under the word ‘Security’ was lit up and pressing the button in question, the light that had been under ‘Security’ started to blink.

While that was happening, when I held the card I received from the Senior up to the scanner…

Beep—!

– Security has been released.

With that electronic sound, a voice flowed out.

“See? Now want to try scanning it again?”

After scanning the card once more, I finally heard the sound of the locked door opening.

“…Hmm, a bit of a hassle.”

Revealing my honest thoughts about it so far, the Senior chuckled knowingly.

“Well… there are a lot of things in there, right?”

“Yeah, it certainly seems that way from last time.”

“Anyway, from now on, just do what I just showed you. Though… there probably won’t be an occasion for it, if you happen to lock it, if you do the reverse of what I just taught you…”

“Will it automatically lock?”

“Yep, that’s right.”

The Senior smiled and nodded, saying she’d go get changed, turning briskly toward the changing room.

As I watched her retreating figure, I felt a strange mix of… something.

I turned my head away, pretending to examine the equipment that I had no real interest in.

‘By the way…’

For now, it seemed best to accept my role as a temporary manager and figure out what to do next.

I had no clue.

Even though I hadn’t just been messing around before coming here.

The reason was that the temporary manager role I was given was not officially assigned.

Though… since the school had even made me an access pass, the process must have been done formally.

What I really wanted to get at was about my relationship with the Senior.

Sure, for now, I was a temporary manager, but in the end, it was simply a disguise so we could fix the absurd rumors circulating within the school.

Because of that, I felt a bit awkward doing things like managing training menus or giving advice during practice, like regular temporary managers do.

After all, I hadn’t planned to keep doing this, and we had pretty much agreed I’d step down as the rumors died down.

So what does that mean?

‘Let’s just clean up behind the scenes.’

If the Senior I had gotten to know so far wouldn’t mind me just standing still and doing nothing, it still felt a bit rude to do that.

It tugged at my conscience.

That’s why I stopped staring mindlessly at the equipment and opened the window.

Thanks to the air fresheners scattered around, there wasn’t any foul smell or anything, but ventilation is crucial to ensure fresh air.

Having started the ventilation, I just happened to grab the mop and was sweeping the floor when—

“Ah…! You don’t have to do that!”

The Senior suddenly came out from the changing room and hurriedly stopped me.

“I felt it was a bit too still, so I thought I’d help out.”

“Oh… um, if that’s the case, how about you just watch my form while I work out?”

“Ah, sure.”

*

Dogun, who had set the mop back in its place, followed after Baeksulhwa, not realizing that she was in an especially cheerful mood.

It was understandable, considering that an issue they thought would take at least a few days to several months had unexpectedly been resolved.

Even though she felt a tiny pang of conscience about the means to get there, she had successfully placed Dogun in the position of temporary manager.

Now, all that was left was to guide the atmosphere so that Dogun would give advice regarding her abilities.

‘How long will that take, I wonder…’

No need to rush on that front—it’s not something to hurry about anyway.

Surely, it wouldn’t be as easy as it sounds.

So, while she tried to suppress her impatience and focused on her workout, it seemed to have worked to some extent.

“Um…”

Dogun, who had been silent enough to be frustrating, carefully spoke up.

“What?”

“I think your back looks a bit hunched compared to before.”

“Oh, really? Thanks.”

Upon hearing that, she straightened up immediately.

And nodded to herself in satisfaction.

Yes, this is how it should be.

If she could start from those small details and create an atmosphere where they could naturally exchange advice?

Then, one day, she would be able to receive feedback regarding her abilities.

And if that happens?

She would finally be able to resolve the questions that had plagued her for so long.

Specifically, she wanted to know what Dogun had seen in her abilities that made him so certain.

She sincerely hoped that it was worth the effort she was putting in; while trying to use the rest of the day for physical training—

“By the way, Senior.”

“Yeah?”

“Is it okay to ask this kind of question…?”

“Go ahead; it’s fine.”

“Uh… don’t you train for your abilities at school?”

Is today a particularly special day for me?

Another opportunity had arisen.

The initial shock that made her flinch from Dogun’s question was mostly due to that.

She’d actually been silent for that very reason, but it seemed like it had been perceived differently by Dogun.

“Oh, if it’s a touchy topic, you don’t have to answer.”

“No, it’s not that…”

What should she do?

What would be the best way to answer?

After a moment of contemplation, she decided to answer honestly.

“Actually… I haven’t trained related to that in quite a while…”

“Really? Why not?”

“Well…”

Of course, despite deciding to be honest, actually saying it wasn’t that easy.

With less than a year left until the Hero qualification exam, how could she not know how to hone her abilities?

What kind of fool aspires to be a hero without even knowing how to improve their own skills?

So she hesitated to speak up, but—

“Um… I don’t really know how to go about it…”

She finally managed to squeeze out her voice and reached out for help.

Maybe this was truly a last-ditch effort.