Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World

“That person…is just too strong. Why would someone like that need to join a team?”

 

Kangsan, who was speaking to his senior Heeyeon, suddenly covered his mouth.

 

The situation that unfolded next was too shocking for him.

 

Hwashin knew it too. Using his abilities in his current condition was risky; his body was weak and incomplete. Other than his formidable appearance, he was useless.

 

With a light cough, Hwashin covered his mouth. Red blood seeped through his fingers and dripped onto the floor. The reporters watching him eagerly captured the exclusive scoop. Some even opened their previously shut laptops.

 

With blood-stained lips, he grinned widely.

 

“The third thing I want to show you.”

 

Hwashin held up three bloodied fingers, his face looking as if he finally remembered.

 

“Is that you can’t win everything alone.”

 

“…”

 

“That’s why SH1 unit can utilize my abilities most efficiently.”

 

The remaining blood that hadn’t dried yet seeped from the corner of his lips, flowing down to his chin.

 

“That’s all I have to show. I’ll take questions upstairs.”

 

Because he needed to make it back alive first. His crooked smile exuded a sense of desolation, or perhaps fear.

 

‘Right, even someone like him must be scared.’

 

Kangsan shuddered. He bit his lip hard with his teeth. All he had investigated about Yoo Hwasin was that he was the sole survivor of the ‘Hongdae Gate Incident’. And various speculations that his new abilities also originated from there.

 

‘I wasn’t interested.’

 

About the person named Yoo Hwasin. People had become accustomed to things like gates and monsters. Some even said heroes had merely become substitutes for celebrities. In this situation, gates started appearing in city centers again. The Hongdae Gate was the starting point.

 

And the sole survivor of that incident returned as an S-rank hero.

 

To Kangsan, being a hero was a superficial job. They had to stand in front of the crowd, become the thickest shield, and at the same time, be the spear that pierced someone. And they had to feel death closer than anyone else.

 

Whether it was someone else’s death or their own.

 

Kangsan was also a B-rank awakened one. But he refused to become a hero.

 

‘Because my life is precious.’

 

Everyone had different values. Reporter Kangsan’s value was, ‘As long as you live, you can do anything.’

 

There couldn’t be anything more important than life! Because of that, he couldn’t take his eyes off Yoo Hwashin.

 

Yoo Hwashin almost died. Why would he still live like that?

 

What makes him different from me?

 

Kangsan clenched his fist tightly in his lowered hand.

 

‘It’s him.’

 

The person he would chase and write articles about tirelessly. From now on, he’d cover him. He wanted to watch everything he did from start to finish.

 

For the first time, Kangsan found his dedicated hero.

 

***

 

Contrary to the rookie reporter’s passionate inner monologue:

 

‘Ah, I’m tired.’

 

Hwashin was simply exhausted.

 

Even though he coughed up blood, his physical condition wasn’t much different from before. He just felt a little heavy and tired.

 

In fact, it was less taxing on his body than when he used his abilities against Go Youngwoo.

 

‘Maybe my body is starting to adapt.’

 

If he went on a few more missions like this, he would be able to handle B-rank gates on his own. Though he wouldn’t necessarily choose to do so.

 

‘To assess, right now I can stop about six weakened A-rank monsters before coughing up blood once. Back then, I only removed the vines, not the main body, so the karma cost wasn’t as high.’

 

‘「Recovery」’

 

Because he needed to move immediately to deal with the monsters, he cast a verbal command on his body while dodging an incoming punch. His body still felt heavy.

 

Bang.

 

Fragments of the shattered floor shot up and assaulted Hwashin. Normally, he could easily dodge this, but now he might get hit—

 

—Or so he thought until the fragments stopped right in front of him.

 

In SH unit’s first selection trial. Hwashin had seen this exact scene before.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Mr. Hwashin, are you okay?”

 

In front of Hwashin stood three reliable figures.

 

Where had their impeccable uniforms gone?

 

Mueum, wearing only a loose white shirt, and Yoo Jian, with his tie roughly undone, stood there.

 

Cha Jaeha, still neatly dressed in his jacket, looked at them with disdain before averting his gaze.

 

“Why are you putting on such a show?”

 

The fragments shot up into the air in an instant. The sharp pieces pierced through the monster’s torso.

 

Thud. The fragments, spinning like bullets, penetrated the thick, unbroken bones and lodged into the opposite wall with a loud bang.

 

Blue blood covered the training ground floor. The blood of the monsters, heavily sedated and anesthetized, thickly soaked Mueum’s new shoes.

 

“Ugh. This is why I hate lab specimens.”

 

Mueum frowned as he lifted his sticky shoe sole to check.

 

“Their blood is always like that.”

 

Yoo Jian, holding a baseball bat from who knew where, sprinted forward. Using the momentum from a sunken pit, she slid between the monster’s legs.

 

She quickly mounted the monster’s back.

 

Before the monster, still under the spell, could react, Yoo Jian’s bat split its head in half.

 

‘Easy.’

 

‘Too easy.’

 

The thought crossed both Mueum and Yoo Jian’s minds simultaneously.

 

Using their abilities to defeat monsters was easy. Much easier than before. It wasn’t about the monsters being weak or strong.

 

Every movement gained momentum from the previous one. Therefore, the movements of monsters that had already stopped once and started moving again were already much slower than before. With less than half, no, much less than their usual strength, the monsters were falling one after another.

 

‘I wish it was always this easy.’

 

Yoo Jian’s bat, flung with precision, pierced the neck of another monster that was still alive. The writhing veins stopped moving entirely.

 

The monsters’ corpses, fallen flesh pieces, and the remaining two monsters burst into flames. The fire rose in the air in sync with Jaeha’s snapping fingers.

 

‘Haha.’

 

Hwasin, leaning against the floor, watched Jaeha’s actions.

 

– The little ones are saving you.

 

Once again, he heard the voice of Dragon, his only friend who had stayed by his side for a long time.

 

– How do you feel?

 

How do I feel?

 

…Why you still ask?

 

‘I feel awesome. Our team is the best.’

 

– Hey, you said I was the best.

 

‘Oh, that’s back then.’

 

The imaginary dragon threw a fit.

Hey, what’s the point of doing that? You’re not even here.

 

Had they ever looked so reliable before? Hwashin could understand why people here were so excited about heroes. It was the first time even he was being saved by someone. Crackle. Cha Jaeha, who had been quietly watching the burning corpses, stood next to Hwashin. He spoke in a low voice.

 

His tone, suppressing emotions, was calm.

 

“So reckless.”

 

He had figured out why Hwasin ‘deliberately’ put on this show. That was why he allowed the monsters to be called. After all, with three S-rank heroes gathered apart from him, there was no way the experimental monsters could be dangerous.

 

Hwasin stared blankly at Jaeha at those words, then burst into laughter.

 

“Hahaha. You’re more reckless than me, Cha Jaeha.”

 

Yes, Cha Jaeha. You’re far more reckless than I am. At least I won’t risk my life for someone else.

 

In <YHH>, Cha Jaeha was the one who threw himself into the fray, even as his limbs were being torn apart, to stop the rampaging illegal awakened ones. He achieved what he wanted by charging in alone despite everyone’s objections.

 

What Jaeha achieved in that reckless scene wasn’t world peace or anything grand.

 

It was one life, barely hanging on, whose fate was unknown. That was all he saved.

 

Just one person. A single person.

 

‘I’ll never understand it.’

 

Mueum and Jian, who had been bickering, were returning. Hwashin, still sitting comfortably on the ground, waved at them, and Mueum greeted him with an exasperated look. Yoo Jian shouted, ‘Let’s go to the medical room!’.

 

Jaeha, having said his piece about recklessness, didn’t speak again, so Hwashin spoke first.

 

“Have we become more casual? You’re speaking informally.”

 

“Not really.”

 

“Just speak informally. I wanted to speak informally with you.”

 

Have they gotten a bit closer? If he got the chance, he’d like to have a team dinner with Unit 1 and speak informally with everyone. It would be nice to take a selfie too.

Dragon, don’t be too jealous. If there were phones there, I would have taken photos with you every day.

 

Feeling a bit closer to Jaeha, Hwashin lay down and looked at the reporters through the glass, laughing heartily. His V-sign for the camera was enough to make the front page of their articles.

 

***

 

‘…How should I describe this?’

 

‘…Heroes.’

 

‘Got something to write about.’

 

They had seen scenes of monsters being dealt with or gates closing a few times through news or videos circulating on the internet.

 

It was not that they didn’t think awakened ones were strong. Their strength had been proven several times already.

 

However, this sense of presence. The rookies didn’t know how to describe the exhilaration of being on the scene so they were at a loss in this situation.

 

Among them, Kangsan, who regained his composure the quickest, murmured to Heeyeon beside him.

 

“Sunbae, I’m going to follow the SH1 unit. Don’t try to stop me.”

 

“Why would I stop you? These guys will generate tons of views. Go ahead and follow them.”

 

A picture was already forming in Kangsan’s mind.

 

The image of the SH1 Unit fighting, their moments together, scenes of them saving the country, and himself being the first to inform the public.

 

***

 

After Hwashin’s demonstration ended, the reporters bombarded Yoo Hwashin with questions.

 

It was only after additional interviews with Yoo Hwashin and the SH1 unit that everything finally concluded. Press conferences for SH2 and SH3 units were scheduled to follow in the coming days. Reporters left the center in a hurry as soon as the conference ended, and articles about the SH1 unit heated up the internet the next day.

 

Among them, the most overwhelmingly popular was the follow-up article by reporter Kangsan about Yoo Hwashin.

 

[From Victim of the Hongdae Gate Incident to Now an S-Rank Hero. Who is Yoo Hwashin? Reporter: Kangsan]