Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World

“Move aside.”

 

At Cha Jaeha’s single command, the flames parted to both sides.

 

‘Amazing.’

 

He did say he was good at controlling his abilities, but seeing him like this when he was angry was really something else. Cha Jaeha moved forward, literally pushing the blazing flames aside as he went. He didn’t hesitate for a moment. There was complete confidence in his ability. If this world were a book, then this person would definitely be the protagonist of this world.

 

‘…I should try calling him hyung again later.’

 

Maybe because they had grown a bit closer, Mueum felt more at ease to talk to him while using his abilities. They passed through the flames spread across the road and descended the stairs. The metal stairs made a loud noise, but even louder was the bang of the inner door slamming into the wall.

 

….Did the door get stuck to the wall?

 

“That’s why I told you… use your ability in moderation…”

 

A woman walked out through the rectangular hole that used to be a door.

 

It was Yoo Jian, covered in soot. ‘Hyung!’ Jeong Mueum shouted briefly and ran towards Hwashin.

 

No, what on earth happened here? Even when he looked back and forth between the inside of the door and the collapsed Hwashin, he couldn’t understand the situation. Inside were piles of corpses beaten to pulp. It was clear that one of the two had done this, but one of them had fainted.

 

“Who did this—?”

 

“Who do you think! It was the guy who’s passed out.”

 

This was why she told him not to do it. Sigh.

 

Yoo Jian shuddered as she recalled what happened inside. She wasn’t unscathed either, her legs were trembling. How could living people suddenly turn into a horde of zombies?

 

“We’ll beat this guy to death later.”

 

Cha Jaeha lifted Yoo Hwasin off Yoo Jian’s back like swatting off insects and slung him over his own shoulder. Thud.

 

“Ugh.”

 

Hwashin groaned painfully as Cha Jaeha’s shoulder hit his stomach. Cha Jaeha ignored it.

 

“Didn’t that sound come from hyung?”

 

Jeong Mueum, who was supporting the limping Yoo Jian, asked while craning his neck.

 

Cha Jaeha answered.

 

“No.”

 

***

 

“You’re really going to get yourself killed.”

 

The warrior said this to Elric, who was recklessly casting magic as usual.

 

“I’m not going to die.”

 

Crack. A head exploded at his feet. Blood splattered everywhere, but Elric didn’t care at all.

 

“So why do you keep following me?”

 

Rather, what bothered him more was the silver warrior who had been tailing him continuously. Anyone could see his armor was suspicious, and he never revealed his face. Elric had tried to run away to shake him off, but the warrior followed until the end of the earth.

 

“The blue dragon.”

 

“What?”

 

“The blue dragon that brings destruction has awakened. I’m going to stop it now. It’s impossible alone, so I need your help.”

 

“Do you know who I am?”

 

The warrior shrugged.

 

“There’s no way I wouldn’t know the man who calls himself the Grand Mage. You’re the famous Elric. Even though you’re over 80 years old, you still look… young.”

 

“I appreciate the compliment. But I can’t help you.”

 

“I don’t like that. If you can’t help, I have no choice but to keep following you. It won’t be easy to shake me off.”

 

“….Haa.”

 

“If you kill the blue dragon, I’ll disappear from your sight then. How about that?”

 

“Why are warriors always so unreasonable? What do you gain from killing it? So what if the world ends? If you die and I die, that’s it.”

 

In response to Elric’s words, he got up from the rock he was sitting on. With a clanking sound, he approached Elric.

 

“I don’t like it.”

 

What? You don’t like it?

The man who openly crossed his arms in front of him said,

 

“I don’t want you to die, and I don’t want to die either. So let’s just save everyone, including you and me.”

 

“…Ha.”

 

A hollow laugh escaped his mouth. Was this some kind of threat to save both their lives? What an oddball.

 

That was the first meeting between Elric and the warrior, the first person Elric accepted as his friend…

 

‘Why am I dreaming about that?’

 

It was a nightmare.

 

When Hwashin regained consciousness, his whole body literally ached. Ugh. He felt like his muscles were crushed under a metal weight.

Let’s see. What was I doing before I ended up like this?

 

Han Jeyou was talking about destruction, and he got angry… Did he kill all the people around? No way. He wouldn’t have killed them all. He must have left at least one or two people to interrogate.

 

I’m not that foolish… am I?

 

“Ugh.”

 

He managed to lift his body with one arm, groaning involuntarily.

 

“…Oh dear.”

 

When he turned his head to the left, Jeong Mueum was sitting there. He was asleep, using his arm as a pillow, breathing softly on top of the blanket. To his right, Yoo Jian was asleep in the same position.

 

Cha Jaeha was sleeping with his arms crossed, leaning against a makeshift chair attached to the wall. Looking outside the window, it was the middle of the night.

 

“…You’ve woken up?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Cha Jaeha was the first to notice he was awake. His face was hard to see, possibly because of the moonlight. This scene felt oddly familiar.

 

“You were unconscious for two days. Those two took care of you.”

 

“What about the gate?”

 

“Of course, I did my duty. But what on earth did you do? I heard everything from Yoo Jian. Everyone at the scene was crushed. Only one survived and was sent to the Association.”

 

At least he saved one person.

 

“Freak is indeed a criminal group. But you went too far. They’re people, not monsters. This incident will cause quite a backlash within the Association. Even if we can handle the media, you’ll face some repercussions.”

 

Cha Jaeha got up from his seat. He looked down at Hwashin, hands in both pockets. Maybe because it was still dark, he couldn’t see Cha Jaeha’s expression.

 

“I thought you were smart. Was I wrong?”

 

“Hahaha, you gave me too much credit.”

 

“Don’t try to brush this off. You wouldn’t have done that if you were your usual self.”

 

A tone that seemed to be probing for reasons. Hwashin looked alternately at Jeong Mueum and Yoo Jian lying on both of his sides. With sunken eyes, he answered calmly.

 

“He said something that shouldn’t be said.”

 

“Something that shouldn’t be said?”

 

“Yeah. He said this world will be destroyed.”

 

Hwashin laughed.

 

“Hmph. What nonsense.”

 

…What was this? It felt familiar. Was it some kind of catchphrase?

 

“Did that trigger you?”

 

“Yeah, something like that. When you get older, even trivial things can trigger you.”

 

“…You’re the same age as me.”

 

“Hahaha, is that so?”

 

“…I guess you’re not going to tell me.”

 

“I did tell you. He said the world will be destroyed.”

 

Hwashin smiled, lowering the corner of his eyes. Cha Jaeha sighed briefly with his arms crossed.

 

‘Just sleep more. I’ll go write the report.’ Saying that, Cha Jaeha quietly left. Hwashin crumpled his body into the blanket of the luxurious single-patient room. Perhaps because he was troubled by the dream he had after a long time, he couldn’t fall asleep easily…

 

Snoooore.

 

***

 

“Waaah, I was so worried!”

 

“Hahaha. Jian, you’re going to crush my bones.”

 

“Hyung, hyung! You deserve it! You totally do!”

 

Jeong Mueum cried as he hit Hwashin on the head. Well, no wonder. It had been four whole days, four days!

 

‘His overall condition is fine. However, the accumulated mana damage has caused considerable physical fatigue. We can’t guarantee when he’ll wake up at this rate.’

 

The doctor said that while pushing up his glasses, so how could they be at ease? It was hard to concentrate on missions with such worries in mind.

 

This incident definitely instilled a sense of urgency in Yoo Jian and Jeong Mueum.

 

They needed to get stronger.

 

A-rank and S-rank gates could now be easily handled by Unit 1. So they thought it would be okay. Yoo Jian, who entered with him, thought so, and Jeong Mueum did too.

 

‘There’s no way we’ll get hurt.’

 

That prediction was way off the mark.

 

“Why did you do that?!”

 

Yoo Jian, with puffy eyes, finally started nagging. Ugh.

 

“That guy, well, honestly, he pissed me off. No, even if I was pissed off, you were the one who tried to stop me. But suddenly you started going berserk, hitting people who were already dead, again and again. Haah. It’s fortunate I managed to stop you, otherwise it could have been on the news as your fault. Those bastards are people too, you know.”

 

“I guess so.”

 

“I guess so, you said?”

 

This bastard. As if expressing Yoo Jian’s feelings, Jeong Mueum hit Hwashin’s back.

 

“Ouch, I’m not fully recovered yet. Guys.”

 

“Anyway.”

 

Yoo Jian sighed briefly and crossed her legs.

 

“I’m partly responsible for not stopping you as your partner. From now on, I’ll try my hardest to stop you.”

 

It would be a lie to say she didn’t feel guilty. She had thought about it ever since the hospital incident.

 

‘If I can’t even take care of myself properly, how can I protect my team members?’

 

She needed to get stronger. But she didn’t know how. The training at the training center was literally just the basics. It was just about knowing what your ability was and establishing some fighting style. Until now, she thought that was enough.

 

Hwashin smiled faintly at Yoo Jian’s words.

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“With all your strength?”

 

“Yeah. I’ll become strong enough to stop you somehow.”

 

“Me too.”

 

Jeong Mueum, who felt the same in the previous incident and this time, also raised his hand. The sleeve of his school uniform shirt went up with it.

 

As expected. I have a good eye for people.

 

“That’s great, just in time.”

 

Han Jeyou knew that this world was going to end. This information was quite important to Hwashin.

 

After all, it meant that someone had given him a hint.

 

‘But the novel’s progression is still too slow to find out who that someone is.’

 

The exact timing of the world’s destruction was not mentioned in the novel.

 

Before that, the crucial point was the ‘dungeonization.’ Depending on when the dungeons erupted and in what direction they would flow, the progression could change.

 

‘Even Cha Jaeha doesn’t know why dungeons appear.’

 

But each dungeon had a definite theme. Some were underwater, and others were giant floating islands in the sky. The events that needed to be resolved there were also different.

 

The fact that someone provided information about the destruction that happened after the dungeonization suggested that the person likely knew up to that point.

 

So it was impossible to find out that person right away.

 

Moreover.

 

“Did you investigate Han Jeyou while I was unconscious?”

 

“…Han Jeyou?”

 

“Han Jeyou knew that heroes had infiltrated.”

 

“Wasn’t it normal for him to figure out that much? You said he seemed to be their leader.”

 

“That’s true. But this time it’s different. Han Jeyou brought in a pair, a man and a woman, and one of them had the ability to manipulate minds with poison.”

 

“So what?

 

“The people gathered there came because of a post on the internet. They didn’t have enough loyalty to warrant mind control, nor were they useful. So where was that ability necessary?”

 

“…No way.”

 

“…You mean.”

 

Yoo Jian’s face turned pale.

 

“You want to say there’s a spy inside the Association?”

 

Hwashin nodded his head. Jeong Mueum seemed to be unable to believe his words.

 

“But to conclude that just from this—”

 

“It might be hasty, but we have to be prepared. Besides, didn’t you say you wanted to get stronger? With all your strength.”

 

No, I said I’d try my hardest to stop you.

 

Hwashin casually turned his neck. It cracked, but he felt like he could move his body enough by tomorrow.

 

“I’ll help you.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“What?”

 

“I said I’ll help you guys get stronger.”

 

The look in their eyes simultaneously pierced him, as if to say, ‘How are you gonna do that?’ Well, they should at least trust him a bit. Then again, it might be hard to believe coming from a patient. Hwashin shrugged his shoulders and spoke nonchalantly.

 

“I’m the one who awakened Ha Cheongwon, you know?”

 

“Whaaaat?!”

 

“Huuuh?!?!”

 

Hahaha. Jian. You shouldn’t grab a patient’s collar like that just because you’re surprised.