Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World

“If the results from the re-evaluation are credible, we will include Mr. Yoo Hwashin in the SH1 unit.”

 

Even after the briefing ended, the conference room was still noisy due to the Association President’s shocking statement. The Vice Minister of Defense grumbled, questioning how an F-rank individual could be capable, and expected disappointing results. The police executive, citing the lack of precedent, also straightened up their papers.

 

“If we can’t trust him, we simply won’t include him. There’s no need to get so worked up about it.”

 

You all really love to expend unnecessary energy.

 

The Association President stood up from his seat. The elderly man adjusted his tie, gave a short bow, and exited the meeting room. The director of the Audit Department followed him, the bell around his neck jingling.

 

“President, may I ask you one thing?”

 

The President, with his hands behind his back, said ‘Yes, go ahead’ but didn’t slow his pace. The Director of the Audit Department had no choice but to match his speed. That was only natural.

 

“You’ve seen everything that happened at the gate, haven’t you, President?”

 

“Haha, well, yes, that’s true.”

 

“Then you must know the truth of the report. Was it necessary to add such conditions?”

 

The Director of the Audit Department adjusted his rimless glasses.

 

His question was perfectly reasonable. One of the President’s skills was Multi-Clairvoyance.

 

There was no way he wouldn’t have activated his clairvoyance for the S-rank gate incident, so he must have already known whether the report was true or not.

 

The President stopped sharply in front of the elevator, his shoe heels clicking together. His straight back and perfect posture seemed to speak to his character. Or was it his core strength?

 

The Director of the Audit Departement consciously straightened his own hunched back a bit.

 

“Of course I know. But just because I know doesn’t mean the public will believe it.”

 

“….Well, I suppose not.”

 

“The heroes in the SH Unit will soon represent the Gate Safety Management Department. They will be at the forefront of saving the people and the country. Naturally, people will rely on the SH Unit, and seeing this future, they’ll want to know how strong they are.”

 

The elevator chimed and the doors opened. The President stepped in first, followed by the Director of the Audit Department.

 

“That’s why we need evidence. Once we have the evidence, this is a great opportunity to turn the victim of the Hongdae Gate incident into a national hero.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Right. Now that he thought about it, Hero Yoo Hwasin was the only survivor of the recent Hongdae Gate incident. If such a man newly awakened and joined the SH Unit…

 

“People love stories like this. Don’t they, Director of Audit Departement?”

 

The Director of the Audit Departement nodded repeatedly.

Yes, yes. You’re right. You’re absolutely right, President

. His head nodded so fast it almost created a cool breeze.

 

***

 

Hwashin and the newly added friend waved their hands. His still carefree attitude, devoid of any seriousness, was as displeasing as ever.

 

“I came to keep my promise. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

 

Ha Cheongwon, walking ahead, checked Yoo Hwashin’s previous records while flipping through his work file.

 

“Three days isn’t really ‘a while’.”

 

“Then, ‘it’s been some time’?”

 

“Shall we go in?”

 

At Ha Cheongwon’s gesture that neatly ignored his words as he entered the measurement room, Hwashin muttered “You’re quite consistent.”

 

“Please wait a moment. I need to make some adjustments.”

 

“Sure, take your time.”

 

Ha Cheongwon stood in front of the touchscreen.

 

The previous measurement hadn’t been accurate, so he needed to increase the device’s magic sensitivity.

 

Hero Jin, who was an S-rank hero with mental abilities, was evaluated as S-rank only when the mana sensitivity was set to maximum.

 

Usually, the sensitivity was set to average because increasing it put more strain on the machine, reducing its durability.

 

Lower durability meant lower accuracy, and importing additional measurement devices was costly. If he drafted a purchase order, it wouldn’t even make it to the department head, let alone the deputy director.

 

In the first place, cases like Hero Jin were extremely rare, and even in similar cases, there wasn’t a big difference in rank, so there was no reason to sacrifice the machine by increasing sensitivity.

 

“It’s ready. You can step up now. …This test might take a bit longer, so please be patient.”

 

As Hwashin stepped onto the footrest in front of the machine, the weasel poked its head out of his pocket.

 

“Pii?”

 

The cylindrical machine, split in half, came forward with a whirring sound. As Hwashin entered, the weasel, seemingly startled, scurried up to his shoulder.

 

‘Will it come out as S-rank this time?’

 

He hoped so.

 

While he could manipulate karma to make it work somehow, he wanted to see a proper measurement first. He wasn’t sure how it would turn out yet.

 

“It would be nice if it came out the way I want, right, Pii?”

 

“Pii, pii!”

 

As if it understood, Pii patted Hwasin’s shoulder firmly.

“You can’t even understand… What, you say you do understand? Alright then, try granting my wish.”

 

It was an animal from a dimensional rift, so maybe it could grant wishes.

 

– You sure expect a lot from such a small thing.

 

…Dragon. You always appear in my head at times like this.

 

“Pii!”

 

The cylinder closed completely, and various lights flowed up and down along the circuits between the machine gaps. Laser lights shot from all directions, and a green laser scanned Hwashin from top to bottom. Pii chirped occasionally, but that was all it did.

 

“It’s done. You can come out now.”

 

Hwashin rotated his neck to loosen his stiff muscles. This body accumulated fatigue too easily.

 

The weasel jumped out of the machine and scampered around the floor, looking for praise. Hwashin picked it up and sat down on the sofa. Lazily half-lying down, Hwashin thought about what he’d do if he didn’t get an S-rank—knock Ha Cheongwon out and manipulate the results himself.

 

Ha Cheongwon examined the documents with a serious face.

 

‘…I’ve expected it, but still.’

 

Seeing it in person felt different.

 

Even in the previous precedent, S-rank Hero Jin had only risen from B-rank to S-rank. Even that alone was big enough news to make the front page and warrant an exclusive interview.

 

Imagining the increased workload made Ha Cheongwon feel dizzy. …The department transfer season was still far off.

 

“…The results are out.”

 

Ha Cheongwon approached Hwashin with the original and a copy. He silently handed over the documents and inserted the original into the first page of his work file.

 

“Your overall rank is S-rank. It seems the previous measurement wasn’t done properly because your awakened ability hadn’t stabilized yet.”

 

Ha Cheongwon said, ‘Congratulations’, and Hwashin replied neutrally, ‘Thank you. I guess we’ll be seeing each other often’.

 

Hwashin wasn’t particularly surprised by the test results, his acceptance was impressively natural.

 

That day, even while wrapping up his work, Ha Cheongwon kept recalling Hwashin’s words, ‘I guess we’ll be seeing each other often’. They shouldn’t have any reason to meet again, yet he said they’d see each other often. He had said something Ha Cheongwon didn’t even want to dream about.

 

His finger paused on the mouse as he was about to send official documents regarding hero management and SH Unit organization to major departments like the Ministry of Land and the Ministry of Defense.

 

‘Did he leave a curse or something?’

 

Right. He should sprinkle some salt in front of the entrance.

 

***

 

Chug, chug.

 

The landscape in front of the Association building boasted a beautiful view with evergreen trees and seasonally planted flowers. The center of the meticulously maintained Association park, frequently visited by civilians for administrative tasks, featured a circular central garden. On a bench in this garden, Hwashin sipped a newly bought drink while examining his test results.

 

[Name: Yoo Hwashin

 

Overall Rank: S

 

Basic Physical Strength: B

 

Mana Capacity: S

 

Type: Manipulation

 

Skills: Word Command (S), Mana Manipulation (A) …View Detailed Information]

 

※ This skill lacks information. The user must input the details directly.

 

※ The limits of this ability may vary depending on the user’s basic physical strength. Special caution is needed. In case of overload, please visit the designated national hospital or the medical office within the association immediately.

 

His physical strength was low, but the high grades of his skills probably contributed to his overall S-rank registration.

 

…But how did this magic and these skills come about?

 

In <YHH>, the abilities of an awakener could be read through mana.

 

However, there were limits. The results sheet couldn’t capture all the information about an awakener’s skills.

 

The awakened themselves knew best the usage and exact limits of their skills. It was similar to how one didn’t need to learn how to breathe to know how to do it.

 

“Pii, was it you?”

 

“Pii?”

 

When Hwashin tapped its black nose, Pii rubbed its nose bridge against Hwashin’s neck.

 

There was no way mana could suddenly be measured, and he hadn’t expected the ability to be recorded exactly as he wanted.

 

Hwashin looked alternately at the interesting paper and Pii, then casually sipped his drink again. He never wanted to drink the muddy iced Americano his boss had bought again, but the new brown sugar bubble tea he had bought was quite to his liking.

 

The chewy bubbles felt satisfying to bite with his teeth.

 

‘If it changed like this without me manipulating karma…’

 

It surely meant something had intervened. In this dimension he was living in.

 

If so, it must be related to that ‘crack’, and the thing most related to that ‘crack’ here was…

 

Wasn’t it this weasel looking at him with a clueless face as it eyed his bubble tea? Hwashin picked up Pii’s long, squirming body and stared into its round eyes.

 

“Pii.”

 

“Pii?”

 

“From now on, you need to stick close to me always. Got it?”

 

“Pii!”

 

That way, he could find out whether it was a bringer of luck or just a white furball.

 

A week after receiving the results sheet, an announcement about the SH Unit list was finally posted on the Association’s bulletin board.