Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World

The scene at the dispatch site was a total chaos.

 

It was so bad you would believe it had already been destroyed once.

 

Around the entrance of the station where the gate had opened, the ground was littered with the bodies of monsters.

 

“When will backup arrive!?”

 

One of the C-rank heroes urgently contacted the association.

 

They were told it was a C-rank gate. C-rank gates were usually manageable with a small elite group of B-rank heroes, or about five or six C-rank heroes.

 

But this gate was different from usual. The gate, normally blue, had turned red. And monsters were respawning in set numbers. Yes, just like in a game. As if to say this hell wouldn’t end unless this round itself was terminated.

 

Whoosh.

 

A hot burst of air touched his back. Startled, he turned around to see familiar faces. It was the people from SH1 unit.

 

“Good work.”

 

A man lightly tapped the scar on the C-rank hero’s face and gave a wide grin. ‘Heal’, with just that word from him, the scar on his cheek began to heal.

 

A white weasel perched on the man’s shoulder, and a power that had never been heard of before.

 

– I heard there’s an S-rank in Unit 1 who can manipulate mana. Rumors say he can even manipulate awakened abilities and heal bodies.

 

– What? There’s no such all-powerful person. What is he, a mage? Rumors are just rumors, you fool.

 

‘….It’s real, that person exists.’

 

***

 

“Now then.”

Hwashin stretched his arm up. As soon as they saw the gate, Ha Cheongwon’s voice flowed into the ears of all Unit 1 members through their earpieces.

 

Ha Cheongwon was observing the ground through a camera attached to a drone.

 

– The incident number for this gate has not been assigned yet. Normally, it’s measured based on the level of danger, but for now… we haven’t accurately assessed the gate. The monsters emerging from the gate aren’t particularly dangerous. However, their numbers are overwhelming, so a fundamental solution is required.

 

“Ah, I see.”

 

– Yes, if we discover anything on our end, we’ll contact you. So please support nearby…

 

“No, actually, I think I’ve figured something out about this gate.”

 

– Yes?

 

“There’s something inside. Once we resolve it from the inside, everything will be fine.”

 

Ha Cheongwon’s mouth, about to respond to Hwashin’s words, dropped open. Through the lens of the camera, he witnessed ‘that’ scene.

 

Hwashin reaching his hand out beyond the gate.

 

Then calling the rest of the team to gather. What was going on? Soon, one by one, they began entering the gate.

 

W-What is this?

Ha Cheongwon, now anxious, grabbed the mic.

 

– Excuse me, Mr. Hwashin? Mr. Hwashin, what are you doing! No, hey! Hey, hey!!!

 

“Once we go inside, no more monsters will emerge, so just have someone stay here to keep watch.”

 

With those words, the SH1 unit entered the gate. The gate, which had turned red, continued swirling in a vortex shape. Like Hwashin said, no more monsters emerged.

 

only monster corpses remained where everyone had left. The C-rank hero, keeping watch in bewilderment, called the Association on his work phone.

 

“…Um, what should I do now?”

 

***

 

‘We need to go inside the gate.’

 

Hwashin’s bombshell statement had no basis at first.

 

‘Isn’t it strange that monsters keep coming out of nowhere? There must be a cause for every effect.’

 

Cause and and effect. That was all his argument conveyed. Then Yoo Hwasin stretched his arm inside first. As expected. He felt stuffy dry air from inside. This dungeon was indeed ‘that place’.

 

Despite Yoo Hwasin’s impulsive action.

 

“There’s not enough reason to enter the gate.”

 

The composed Cha Jaeha asked with a disgruntled expression.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

Hwasin knew exactly what kind of certainty he meant.

 

The certainty that this action would save more people.

 

Hwasin smiled confidently.

 

“Of course, that’s why I’m doing it.”

 

At Hwashin’s seemingly frivolous attitude, Yoo Jian and Jeong Mueum exchanged glances and then shared a faint smile as if they understood each other’s thoughts.

 

Upon hearing Hwashin’s answer, Cha Jaeha was the first to step inside.

 

It was what you would expect from Cha Jaeha who always ignored Ha Cheongwon’s words. After all, what was a protagonist? The one who dragged everyone around them into the fray. The reason SH1 was always at the center of incidents must have been partly due to his personality. Even here, where there was only a crazy mage loudly proclaiming there was no need to doubt him, despite having no basis or evidence—

 

He still believed.

 

Once Cha Jaeha acknowledged someone, he trusted them, no matter what.

 

‘I’m grateful that you trust and follow me.’

 

If it were him, he wouldn’t go out of his way to follow someone like that. The entire SH1 unit followed inside after Cha Jaeha.

 

Yoo Jian had a face that seemed to say everything would somehow work out, while Jeong Mueum followed with a worried expression.

 

“Wow.”

 

Desert. Inside the gate were endless desert and hot air. Yoo Jian let out a short breath, ‘Phew’, feeling the dryness that might crack her skin from a mere touch.

 

“What is this desert?”

 

After the gate’s dungeonization, <YHH> would face a new phase.

 

「 In the new space, they encounter an unfamiliar scene. It resembled a play, or a page from a book. 」

 

What they encountered in the desert inside the gate was—

 

“….Hey, is that perhaps the system?”

 

Jeong Mueum pointed to a large, translucent hologram window floating in the air, separate from the system. The window had these words written:

 

「 Arbion 」

 

「 From now on, you are strangers who have come to Arbion. 」

 

「 This is the desert ‘Arbion.’ The prince of Arbion is fleeing on charges of treason. You all know that the rise and fall of this country depends entirely on him. Prince, to the south. Head south. Your sun will be there. 」

 

“It’s not the system.”

 

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to see it. In the world of <YHH>, the system wasn’t some absolute entity but a machine created by humans. So, this wasn’t a system.

 

Hwashin knew what this was.

 

Everything that happened in the dungeon was explained that way. Like a scene from a book. Now that they’d entered that space, they’d be engraved on that window.

 

Pretending not to know anything, Hwashin replied.

 

“What we can understand from here is that we need to find the prince of Arbion. If dealing with monsters was the condition outside, this must be the clear condition here.”

 

“Ah, it’s like a game.”

 

As Hwashin smiled lightly at Mueum’s response, Yoo Jian’s expression finally softened a little.

 

“Then we just have to go south, right? I guess we have to find that prince of Arbion to get things done somehow.”

 

“We’re going north.”

 

Cha Jaeha, who was looking over the horizon, spoke up.

 

“North?”

 

“Jaeha is right. We have to go north. That message is given based on the protagonist’s perspective. If the prince heads south, we need to go up from here to meet him.”

 

“Right.”

 

Indeed, to find the prince of Arbion, they had to head north. That was how SH1 moved in the original story as well. However, getting there was quite—

 

“Move aside!”

 

Challenging.

 

It was rough.

 

A centipede hidden in the sand revealed its form. The problem was, there wasn’t just one centipede. The most annoying thing in the Arbion dungeon was the ‘Burrow Desert Centipede’. It was disgusting in the book’s descriptions, and seeing it in reality was even more grotesque. Ugh, how many legs did it have?

 

Whoosh. The sand surged towards them like a wave. Dodging it was easy. Yoo Jian and Jeong Mueum moved to the left. Cha Jaeha and Hwashin split to the right to avoid it.

 

“Be careful, if there’s one burrowing centipede, there might be more than one!”

 

Hwashin shouted towards the opposite side.

 

Tsu-tsu-tsu-tsu.

 

With a strange sound, sand rose in a straight line from beneath.

 

“Mueum!”

 

“Yes!”

 

At Yoo Jian’s command, Mueum immediately assumed his stance. The centipede shot up from the ground. Its massive body cast a long shadow over the sky. With a deafening crash, it plummeted down. Mueum exerted a gravitational force over the centipede’s entire body.

 

“Gravity!”

 

Bang. The centipede fell, unable to withstand its own weight. Tremble. Yoo Jian’s axe struck its quivering head. Green blood poured out. Crack. Not stopping there, she ran towards the tail. The double axe that pierced the thick shell divides the centipede into three parts.

 

Thud-thud-thud-.

 

“Noona, to the right!”

 

A huge shadow loomed over them again. Ugh. Mueum bit his lips hard. It was still difficult to completely lift something above a certain weight into the air. But.

 

“I lifted it!”

 

“Thanks!”

 

Now, drop.

The centipede flailed as it fell right next to Yoo Jian, who dodged sideways. She lightly jumped over the spreading sand wave and sliced the centipede in two, this time she cut the centipede in half from the center.

 

“Explosion.”

 

Meanwhile, centipedes continuously emerged on the side where Cha Jaeha and Hwashin were.

 

The burrow desert centipedes build large nests underground. To efficiently subdue prey, they increase their numbers, turning one nest into a massive centipede kingdom.

 

“Tsk.”

 

The reason Cha Jaeha’s abilities were hard to utilize in this dungeon was due to the ‘Arbion sand’. On the sand already tempered by the sun’s heat, maintaining fire was difficult.

 

Therefore, his usual area-of-effect attacks were ineffective.

 

The number of centipedes gradually increased. It wasn’t just four or five of them. They could see shapes squirming under the sand.

 

“Cha Jaeha, be careful!”

 

“Ugh.”

 

Cha Jaeha was strong. But this was still the early part of the dungeonization. SH1 struggled here. They even nearly died in this hell, so it couldn’t be helped.

 

However, time was critical here.

 

Every dungeon had a different theme it considered important. In other words, what they had to observe to clear it also varied.

 

‘Arbion.’ The most crucial thing in this dungeon was time.

 

「If we had solved it a little earlier, we might have gotten this.」

 

Even Cha Jaeha had said that. So they needed to get out of this desert as quickly as possible.

 

“Be careful!!”

 

Jeong Mueum’s urgent voice spread across the vast desert. A sand trap. The centipedes had created a massive sand pit. Sand, rocks, and weeds were all being sucked into a giant vortex. A gnashing sound echoed from within.

 

A black shell writhed at the center of the vortex, appearing almost like a wave.

 

“Noona!”

 

The corpse of the centipede Yoo Jian was standing on was sucked into the trap. She, too, couldn’t escape from the sand.

 

The reason why the centipedes’ sand trap was called a true hell was because the more you struggled, the deeper you sank.

 

“Ugh. Jeong Mueum, get back!”

 

Damn it. How are we supposed to get out of here?

There was nothing to hold onto except the centipedes’ shells.

 

“Jian!”

 

At that moment, Yoo Jian heard a voice. A soft and steady voice. Unlike the others, who were panicking, Yoo Hwashin was letting his body get sucked into the sand.

 

A spiral sand pattern. Riding the sand like a wave, he grabbed Jian’s hand. After pulling her out with all his might and throwing her outside, he shouted.

 

“Go to the kingdom as fast as you can!! Find the princess there!”

 

“What are you saying!”

 

“Hyung!”

 

“Cha Jaeha!”

 

“I’ll follow soon.”

 

Hwashin smiled. It was his usual mischievous grin.

 

It stopped. Not long after Hwashin completely disappeared, the sand trap stopped. Yoo Jian, standing in place, rummaged through the sand as if possessed.

 

“Hey, hey. Yoo Hwashin.”

 

She dug the ground like a madman.

What is this? Hey, what are you trying to do by leaving like this?

Jeong Mueum blankly stared at the hole where he disappeared. They disappeared without a trace. The centipedes. And Hwashin too.

 

“…What the hell.”

 

What do we do now?

Mueum’s pupils shook like a compass that had lost its direction. Watching this scene, Cha Jaeha murmured in a low voice.

 

“Damn it.”

 

***

 

“Disgusting!”

 

Legs. Too many legs. And there were 40 of these things… 40 many more legs…

 

Hwasin shuddered. The place he was sucked into was an empty, void space. His surroundings were filled with centipede corpses.

 

Tap. Hwashin cast a light spell on his fingers, and a large screen appeared in front of him. It wasn’t a system window, but a scene depicting a story from this world.

 

「 The prince was swept up by the massive vortex. The place he fell into seemed like an underground palace. With no centipedes to torment him, he wandered aimlessly.」

 

Hwashin grinned.

 

Just as planned.

 

Now, both the prince and Hwashin had entered the same place.