This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 85

“If you’ve taken it out… first, unlock it…”

“And then?”

“Could you play just one video for me? Preferably something long.”

“Is this enough?”

With that, the Senior handed over her mobile phone, which was now playing a video that lasted an impressive 13 hours.

Considering the video’s title mentioned something about deep sleep, it seemed to be one of those videos you play while sleeping.

Anyway, as long as the sound is clear, it didn’t matter what type of video it was, so I pressed the side of the phone to crank the volume all the way up.

Soon enough, a sound that could only be heard when it rains started resonating throughout the Special Physical Education Room.

‘This should be enough…’

It should be sufficient, right?

After setting the Senior in the middle of the training ground, I began the preparations for our training.

Well, when I say training preparations, it really just meant turning up the volume and placing the phone playing the long video on either side of the Senior.

By this point, I could tell the Senior had started to catch on to what kind of training I was planning.

‘Frankly…’

This setup is too blatant.

After finishing the training preparations, I made my request.

To make the phones I set up in front and behind her quiet using her talent.

“Huh? That’s…”

Was she about to say it was too easy?

It seemed that way, so I added one condition with a smile.

“But, you can only turn off one at a time.”

Of course, even with that, it would still likely feel easy.

Right now, there were only one in front and one behind, so it made sense.

However… what if more sounds were added to it?

If two became four, four became eight, eight became sixteen, and sixteen became thirty-two?

Would it still seem easy then?

Especially if the sound-producing devices were tightly packed together?

The difficulty of the training would increase beyond comparison from now.

Today’s training was merely a groundwork for that.

Even if you were diving headfirst, shouldn’t you at least get a grasp of it?

“Are you curious at all about why we need to do this training?”

“Hmm.”

“It’s for control.”

To be honest, it wasn’t exactly a typical training routine.

Usually, you would start with exercises to increase output, and once it reached a certain level, you would then transition to control training.

But that was only true for… the general case, and the Senior couldn’t follow that sequence.

That’s because what she was handling was none other than ‘sound.’

‘This is quite…’

Putting everything else aside, when it comes to sound, it does appear to be somewhat… less dangerous.

That’s just the way it is since even Yoonseo can use her talent to summon water bursting up from all around.

In simple terms, it’s a bit visible.

Compared to that, the Senior’s talent?

At the very least, when it comes to visibility, it’s practically non-existent.

Unless some special equipment was used, that would be the case.

The problem is that this sound… contrary to what we generally think, can become very dangerous depending on the situation.

It might just be sound after all, how dangerous could it be, you could argue, but…

‘That’s ignorance talking.’

If you recall those martial arts novels I read in my past life, there were always tales of great masters of sound using nothing but a lute and making everyone collapse with a single pluck of a string.

Sometimes it would even lead to internal injuries, with someone spitting blood or even dying instantly.

Though it sounds like just a tale, it isn’t.

There have been instances where sound was used as a weapon, all based on my past life, but it has existed since ancient times.

You could say it has a somewhat profound history.

However, in times where technology was lacking, it was primarily used to demoralize enemies…

But once technology advanced?

It began to truly shine as a weapon.

And the ones who first attempted that were none other than the Nakhji.

I’ve heard that since there was no fighting on land or in the sky, they experimented with various methods to break that situation, which led to the development… and the destructive power of sonic weapons was so immense that—

‘They say it was so horrifying they gave up on using it in real combat.’

It’s hard to believe, but that’s what they said.

The insane ones who didn’t hesitate to ignite the flames of war across the globe were precisely those Nakhji.

Yet even they, after trying to use it just once, went, “Yikes… as expected, this is a bit too much…” and promptly gave up on sonic weapons.

But what would happen if we recklessly attempted such things without any preparation?

We could face genuinely dreadful occurrences.

‘Especially…’

Putting everything aside, the Senior was in the most danger.

If something went wrong, she might end up being consumed by the talent she used herself.

Even if you don’t increase the output to dangerous levels, that could still happen.

Continuous, repetitive noise is harmful to the human body on its own.

Of course, wearing earplugs during training might mitigate some of the noise, but… there are limits.

In the end, maximizing her control to minimize any potential damage that could occur seemed like the best course of action in my view.

Once I adjusted the narrative accordingly, I briefed her on it in front of the Senior.

Naturally, after hearing my explanation, the Senior seemed unconvinced.

It appeared she found it hard to believe that her talent had that much potential, having been overlooked for so long, yet there was also some hint of subtle expectation in her gaze.

“Well, that’s the expectation, but it may differ in reality.”

“Ah…”

“To verify that as soon as possible, let’s wrap up with two for now.”

*

While Dogun was momentarily lost in training with Baeksulhwa, forgetting about Yoonseo, there was someone who couldn’t do the same, and that was Yoonseo herself.

Avoiding Dogun under the pretense of morning training that didn’t exist, her face was anything but comfortable.

Even after pouring nearly all her frustration into a massive sandbag in the training ground, she still appeared that way.

And Yoonseo’s emotional state had a notable effect on the surrounding environment.

Whether it was because of the recent training Dogun had given Yoonseo to increase her influence over the environment, or simply because her expression was gloomy, the air around her had become heavy with humidity.

Of course, she herself remained completely oblivious to this fact.

In any case, the sight of Yoonseo sitting there with a grim expression seemed to suggest that something was wrong, and Chaedam, who had come to school earlier than usual, immediately recognized this and quickly dodged to the next classroom.

And quite coincidentally, the place she dodged to happened to be where Myungwook was seated, who had received a message from Dogun yesterday relating to Yoonseo.

“Huh? What’s up? Why the long face this early? You didn’t forget your athletic uniform again, did you? Need to borrow mine?”

“Oh, then it’s not just a ‘time out’ but an emergency!”

“No, seriously, what’s going on all of a sudden this morning?”

“There’s a heavy rain warning issued for our class.”

And as for these two… they found themselves affiliated with a certain unnamed group that Dogun and Yoonseo were unaware of.

Thus, even if one spoke nonsense, the other could understand perfectly.

“O Yoonseo?”

Just like now.

“Yeah.”

“What’s up with her this time?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

“Seems like she was in a tangle with the Seniors last time, did she end up fighting someone again during training?”

“That doesn’t seem likely. It doesn’t feel like that at all.”

“Oh, really?”

“Well, you know, it’s obvious, isn’t it?”

Who could make Yoonseo wear such an expression?

As far as she knew, there was only one person in the world.

So, it was likely that it was ‘that’ again.

“Dogun?”

“Most likely, right? It seems to be around the right time for it.”

“Well… it has been peaceful recently.”

“Exactly.”

Though Dogun and Yoonseo appeared inseparable, relying on one another to the point where one couldn’t fathom how the other would survive without them, they also frequently clashed.

Of course, most of the clashes ended as simple misunderstandings…

But how could it always be that way?

That’s why they typically found themselves getting into significant arguments once every four to five months—

“When was the last time they had a big fight? Do you remember?”

“Uh… maybe last September?”

“What were they fighting about then?”

“Beats me.”

In any case, if that statement held any truth to it, it was about time for one to be brewing.

The question was how long this situation would last…

“How long do you think this will go on?”

“Honestly? Probably just a week before it’s all sorted out.”

I figured Myungwook, who belonged to the same ‘will wait until Dogun and Yoonseo start dating’ group, would agree with that.

“Not sure… it would be nice if that’s the case but…”

Seeing Myungwook’s skeptical reaction, it seemed their thoughts differed somewhat.