Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World

“Was Unit 1 chosen based on appearance? You’re all beautiful.”

 

Jin smiled with squinted eyes. With his youthful appearance, it was hard to guess his age.

 

Hwashin had a reason for suspecting Jin and Theo, members of Unit 3, as Freak’s spies.

 

Firstly, their roles weren’t significant in the original work.

 

This meant they had more time to operate out of Cha Jaeha’s sight.

 

At the same time,  as S-rank heroes, they had access to most of the information.

 

‘With Jin’s abilities, communicating secretly would be easy.’

 

The problem was that guy. Hwashin tilted his head slightly, resting his chin. That Theo guy hadn’t said a word since earlier. Even in the original work, he always just followed Jin around. At this rate, they might not even hear his voice before it was over.

 

“I wish I could have been in Unit 1 too.”

 

No one agreed with his flattering comment. But somehow, Yoo Jian seemed to like it, twisting her body.

 

“Are you all going to keep competing among yourselves?”

 

San Ihyeong, who was sitting on a chair, lifted her goggles. Her red hair stood out more than usual today. With her long hair tied back, she looked more tidy.

 

“It’s not a competition.”

 

Jin replied brightly.

 

San Ihyeon turned her head towards Ha Cheongwon, gseturing with her chin as if to say, ‘Yeah, right’.

 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you in advance. These guys came suddenly, and I didn’t have a chance to explain.”

 

Jin answered as if offended.

 

“Geez, what do you mean by ‘these guys’?”

 

At his words, Ha Cheongwon adjusted his glasses and looked at the messy desk.

 

“No, it’s fine. Have you finished your work?”

 

“Yes. I just need to organize. I only took a quick look at the rare items Unit 3 brought from Japan. But there wasn’t anything special.”

 

Despite being Ha Cheongwon’s direct superior, San Ihyeong still spoke formally to him. He thought she’d switch to informal speech quickly, but apparently not.

 

Jin looked at the scrap-like byproducts she had assessed and continued.

 

“I heard you went into that strange new gate? What did you bring… Huh. Is this really from the gate? An item? Not even a byproduct?”

 

Ha Cheongwon nodded.

 

“Yes, that’s right.”

 

It was only natural to be surprised. Until now, no complete items, or items from other dimensions, had been discovered in the original work’s gate.

 

This meant that once San Ihyeon finished her assessment, a new item, never seen before in the world, would be registered in the database. An item with special abilities that anyone would covet.

 

“Our juniors brought something interesting.”

 

San Ihyeong’s ability was the most unique among S-rank abilities. Her ability wasn’t combat-oriented. However, if it were just a simple appraisal ability, it wouldn’t have been S-rank.

 

Some people called this ‘ability’ of hers an S-class receipt.

 

On a typical receipt, you could see the item’s name, price, etc. Her appraisals were similar. The item was automatically named, and its appraised value was shown. For gate byproducts, she could learn their use and rank.

 

“Is this real… no, it must be. Hah. How is this possible?”

 

Throughout the appraisal, she alternated between confusion, excitement, and surprise.

 

After a long time passed. With a single phrase, ‘Appraisal complete’, she turned around.

 

“…This is insane.”

 

***

 

The appraisal report from San was displayed as status windows for each item.

 

[ Appraiser: San Ihyeong (S)

 

Name: Boots Guided by the Typhoon

 

Rank: S (Normal)

 

Attribute: Boots crafted by a master in the midst of a powerful storm. Increases the wearer’s speed by 20%. On water, the speed increase is 30%.

 

*This accessory is part of a set. ]

 

[ Appraiser: San Ihyeong (S)

 

Name: Blue Badge of the Aquarium

 

Rank: S (Normal)

 

Attribute: A blue badge made from the tears of a mermaid. Using the power of the gem at its center allows the user to wield water abilities. If used beyond a certain limit, the gem will automatically break. ]

 

[ Appraiser: San Ihyeong (S)

 

Name: Leather Gloves of the Fiery Hell

 

Rank: S (Normal)

 

Attribute: Leather gloves favored by the blacksmiths of hell. Stolen from hell by a thief from heaven. These gloves are impervious to any flame and grant the wearer heat resistance. Additionally, all flames in the world will obey the wearer. If the user is a fire manipulator, their control increases by 50%. ]

 

Cha Jaeha tried on the gloves, opening and closing his hand.

 

It was understandable why San Ihyeong was so impressed.

 

‘How is this possible? All the items we suddenly brought are S-rank? And Yoo Hwashin selected all of them? That’s impossible without some kind of appraisal skill.’

 

The Leather Gloves of the Fiery Hell, judged as S-rank. Unknown characters were engraved in a regular pattern on the gloves. The gloves covered all fingers and thumbs but exposed the back of the hand.

 

“Whoever designed this knows their stuff.”

 

Hwashin smiled brightly as he got uncomfortably close. Pushing his face away, Cha Jaeha retorted.

 

“What do they know?”

 

“Well, that kind of thing.”

 

It’s the protagonist’s killing point, you fool.

 

“But why were we asked to gather here?”

 

Jeong Mueum, who had pinned the badge to his chest, finally spoke up.

 

The day after the item appraisal, all members of Unit 1 who had equipped the items gathered at a playground near the Association after receiving a message on their work phones. The main content of the message was ‘workshop’ and ‘socializing’.

 

The field was surrounded by a forest that restricted public access.

 

“Did it have to be here?”

 

“In a playground where there’s only us, during a slow time, the S-ranks should foster camaraderie. Besides there are usually fewer gates during this time of year.”

 

For unknown reasons, the frequency of gate appearances significantly decreased during the period from late winter to early spring. No one knew the reason. A British doctor, after investigating gate appearance times worldwide, revealed that gate occurrences were lowest between late winter and early spring, and in midsummer.

 

Everyone called this phenomenon the gate seasonal cycle.

 

“Camaraderie, huh.”

 

Cha Jaeha clicked his tongue.

 

“Useless.”

 

Well, that was true.

 

Having an event like this, when gates could potentially open at any moment.

 

Hwashin was smiling, but it wasn’t sincere at all. It would be more accurate to say he was furious. He needed to investigate Freak’s background and gather information about the apocalypse. Moreover, this paper. Hwashin reread the piece of paper in his hand.

 

[…Yoo Hwasin has awakened.]

 

‘I have awakened, huh.’

 

He understood the meaning, but he couldn’t understand this situation. Who recorded this, and who was Yoo Hwasin in the first place?

 

“Hey, Mr. Hwashin.”

 

Hwashin, who had crumpled the paper into his pocket, turned around.

 

“Here.”

 

Behind him, Jin was shaking a red ball in his hand. ‘It’s your turn’, he said. Looking back, he saw heroes holding blue and red balls.

 

Cha Jaeha had a blue ball, huh. Hwashin also approached the box and reached out his hand. He could somewhat control the color of the ball with magic, but this time he decided to leave it to luck.

 

“Surprising.”

 

A red ball. Surprisingly, it seemed luck wasn’t on Hwashin’s side today.

 

***

 

Officially, it was called the ‘Hero Regular Workshop’, but unofficially, it was also known as the ‘Dog-shit Team Building Meeting’.

 

It was the first time this event was held among S-rank heroes.

 

It was a frequent event among D to B-rank heroes who work in large teams. The event game involved dividing into red and blue teams to take out each other’s representatives. Since the winning team received a bonus, it was usually quite fun, but…

 

“There’s a reason it’s called the ‘Dog-shit Team Building Meeting’.”

 

“What is that reason?”

 

Jeong Mueum clicked his tongue.

 

“Because close friends sometimes gather to gang up on heroes they don’t like. Actually, one C-rank hero was even hospitalized in a designated ward… Well, there are all sorts of problems, but they still hold it every year. Because it’s quite popular when edited and released. You might not have known since you were E, no, F-rank, hyung.”

 

Mueum was holding a blue ball. This meant he was on a different team from Hwasin.

 

“They’re probably doing this for show since the SH Unit is a group of S-ranks. Anyway, don’t overdo it in these games, hyung.”

 

“I won’t.”

 

“Liar.”

 

Mueum stuck out his tongue at Hwashin and then bowed politely before walking away.

 

Good grief.

These days, teens are so rude to an old man like me

. No manners at all.

 

‘I’ll let it slide because he’s cute.’

 

Hwashin turned with a satisfied expression and joined the group holding red balls.

 

A staff member from the Audit Department, who had approached unnoticed, looked around from the center of the field. She raised her microphone and shouted loudly.

 

The Audit Department had many pretty staff members. Just like the previous host.

 

“Hello, everyone!! I’m Bae Yeonha from the Audit Department, in charge of this event. This first workshop is scheduled for a maximum of one night and two days, with no set minimum time. In other words!! The faster you finish, the better.”

 

She skillfully winked, and Hwashin pretended to be smitten.

 

“Thank you for the enthusiastic response!”

 

At the end of her explanation, she confirmed the list of each team once again.

 

Jin, Theo, Ha Cheongwon, and Hwashin himself. They were one team.

 

Then the other side. Cha Jaeha, Jeong Mueum, Yoo Jian, and San Ihyeong?

 

‘The main characters must have some kind of connection.’

 

He felt a strange sense of bitterness.

 

“The representative’s ball should have had a black crown drawn on it. We won’t give you separate time to share who the representative is, so please check after the workshop starts. This workshop will be fully recorded and later edited for broadcast. We’d appreciate it if you’d do your best. We’ll start in 10 minutes.”

 

After a brief closing remark, she left the scene.

 

The large speaker on the left side of the field announced the start of the countdown. At the same time, the large stopwatch next to it began to tick rapidly.

 

“Shall we strategize among ourselves?”

 

Hwashin gathered his team. There was only one thing he aimed to achieve here, and he intended to go for it from the start.

 

“Who is the representative? Let’s share that information first since we don’t have much time.”

 

The representative was the most crucial in this game. The game centered around the representative regardless of the other team members’ survival. Opposite Hwashin, someone raised their hand.

 

“Me.”

 

Ah,

 

Upon confirming him, Hwashin grinned slyly.