Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World

Yoo Jian was dumbfounded by Hwashin’s question but quickly answered succinctly.

 

“No?”

 

Hwashin shrugged his shoulders as if it was trivial.

 

“No?”

 

When Hwashin asked again, Yoo Jian shook her head, insisting she wasn’t. She even gave a look that said, ‘What’s this guy doing?’. Only then did the attention directed at Hwashin return to normal.

 

‘I thought he might be someone special.’

 

‘He’s just an idiot.’

 

‘What is he doing?’

 

I can hear everything you’re thinking.

 

Now that he thought about it, in order to know if his word command worked or not, he shouldn’t have asked it in this way in the first place.

 

For now, he needed to quickly find out who the representative was.

 

“Alright, whoever is the representative here, raise your hand.”

 

Everyone was silent.

 

Instead, a flock of birds flew up into the quiet forest sky. They flew in one direction, like wild animals fleeing from a disaster.

 

Soon, a low but firm voice from Cha Jaeha was heard.

 

“It’s a gate.”

 

Already? Even Hwashin seemed surprised, furrowing his brow.

 

Not much time had passed since clearing the ‘Arbion’ dungeon. The progression of <YHH> was undoubtedly accelerating, like a book with several pages torn out.

 

“A gate has opened! It’s red!”

 

The second red gate. Originally, it would have appeared when the SH1 unit was resting. 

But now, a workshop was being held. As expected, it was too early.

 

.

.

 

Ha Cheongwon’s face turned pale, unable to predict the gate’s appearance.

 

He looked alternately at his phone and the gate before him.

 

“I didn’t even get an alarm, why… how?”

 

That was how it was with red gates.

 

…He’d have to leave it alone for now.

 

In the first place, heroes were born in troubled times, and they grew by missing a few important moments.

 

Jin’s face brightened as he looked at the gate. His mischievous expression showed no concern about the gate at all. He was a different kind of hero from Cha Jaeha.

 

“Is this the red gate?”

 

His eyes even sparkled.

 

And then… he fearlessly jumped inside. Hwashin blocked Ha Cheongwon, who was trying to enter with him. Ha Cheongwon, who was pushed back, looked at him in confusion.

 

“Mr. Ha Cheongwon, don’t you have something to do outside?”

 

“What? What do I—”

 

“Think it over with Miss San Ihyeong. Ah, keep Theo out here, too.”

 

He needed to watch over someone inside.

 

Hwashin also entered the gate silently.

 

The protagonist had been inside for quite a while now.

 

***

 

“…It’s eerie.”

 

A desolate scene. Unlike before, this place felt empty in a different way.

 

[ School Ghost Stories ]

 

The theme of the dungeon appeared before them. This time, it was school ghost stories.

 

“…School.”

 

Whoosh. .A chilling wind, fitting the eerie landscape, swept over them. Those who entered the ‘ghost story’ were Cha Jaeha, Jeong Mueum, Jin, and Yoo Hwashin.

 

“Wow, is this really inside the gate?”

 

Jin, who had heard the story roughly from Ha Cheongwon, looked around. SH1 unit had supposedly gone to a desert. It seemed each gate had a completely different scenery.

 

Something resembling a system window appeared in mid-air. This time, it was red text on a transparent black background.

 

「 Suho played soccer again today and left school. Upon arriving home, he realized he had left the notebook he needed for homework at school. 」

 

「 “Oh no, what should I do? I guess I’ll have to go back to school.” 」

 

“Couldn’t he just not do the homework?”

 

Cha Jaeha glanced at Hwashin disapprovingly for his interruption. Jeong Mueum didn’t react, and Jin chuckled.

 

「 He returned to school. It was scary because it was night, and since the main gate was locked, he had no choice but to climb over the wall. Suho headed straight for the second floor. 」

 

“…Should we proceed like before?”

 

Hwashin nodded. He put an arm around Mueum’s shoulders.

 

“Alright, let’s enjoy our time at the school, shall we?”

 

[ Four students followed Suho inside. One of them easily opened the closed main gate. ]

 

Hwashin laughed at the description floating in the air. The term ‘easily opened’ didn’t quite fit Cha Jaeha’s forceful kick, which had caused the gate to fall to the ground with a thud.

 

“Our clothes have changed.”

 

Cha Jaeha examined his sleeves. The other three were the same. As if they had become part of this world, they were all dressed in school uniforms. Even Jeong Mueum had changed into attire befitting the school.

 

The season seemed to be winter. They were wearing winter uniforms.

 

“This is my first time wearing a school uniform.”

 

How exciting!

 

Hwashin jumped up and down in excitement at the sight of his first school uniform. There were often kids who went to school, but they never wore clothes like this.

 

In this dungeon that appeared in <YHH>, there was a description of all members of Unit 1 wearing school uniforms. Navy uniforms with red ties. It was hard to imagine since he didn’t know exactly what a tie was.

 

The uniform was more uncomfortable than expected, but who cared about that!

 

‘This part is my favorite!’

 

That mischievous smile appeared again.

 

“Why are you smiling like that, hyung?”

 

“No reason, I’m just happy.”

 

But there was also the workshop that happened in the middle. Hwashin looked around.

 

Yoo Jian didn’t come. Maybe because her body was weakened. It seemed it was too difficult for her to enter.

 

…So instead of Yoo Jian, that guy and I came in?

 

‘It doesn’t matter for this episode anyway.’

 

School ghost story episode. To be precise, this world consisted only of the school. In other words, the events only occurred inside this building.

 

The method to resolve the problem in this episode itself was straightforward.

 

But there was one point to note here. Probably because even Cha Jaeha didn’t know, they had overlooked it.

 

If ‘this’ wasn’t resolved, things would get difficult later. This was something that was only slightly revealed at the end. Hwashin looked at Mueum while thinking about this. Mueum was fiddling with his headset with a sullen face.

 

“Are there no monsters here?”

 

Jin asked naturally. It was a question anyone would ask upon entering for the first time.

 

In this school ghost story episode, the monsters were—

 

“Look over there, Mr. Jin.”

 

Before Hwashin could answer, Cha Jaeha gestured towards the playground.

 

“…I see.”

 

Jin replied quietly.

 

“What a sight.”

 

Hwashin answered, seemingly to match the atmosphere.

 

He didn’t quite succeed.

 

What they saw were ghosts on the playground. To be precise, they were a combination of rumors, ghost stories, and curses gathered at the school. It seems there were such rumors in this world, just like in the world they originally lived in. Things like moving statues at school, ghosts crying in the bathroom, and piano sounds from an empty music room.

 

‘The memories in this body are useful.’

 

They made the story much easier to understand. He could clearly understand content that he couldn’t before.

 

Alright, let’s return to the playground.

 

First, there are about 15 monsters running towards them. It was odd to call them ‘monsters; given their strange forms. Some took the shape of toilets, while others looked human. Drooling and running with broken ankles.

 

“Disgusting.”

 

Hwashin frowned.

 

Figures like withered corpses. Hwashin wasn’t particularly fond of such scenes. Who would be?

 

Hwashin shook his head slightly. Then, as if coming to his senses, he looked ahead again. His eyes were sunken, his gaze was cynical, but his mouth was full of smiles.

 

“Now then.”

 

All the running creatures, stop.

At his words, the approaching monsters stopped. At the same time, Mueum and Cha Jaeha leaped forward.

 

Mueum, wearing headphones, clenched both his fists tightly. The flow of air changed subtly. Mueum bit his lip hard, as if resolving something.

 

He released them.

 

“Gravity Imprisonment.”

 

Just like that day, that moment. The monsters in front of Mueum were all trapped in invisible boxes. They felt the difference in that sensation.

 

“Ugh, ugh.”

 

“Bleurgh.”

 

Ignoring those sounds, Mueum clashed his fists together. He whispered in a voice barely audible. A voice as light and soft as cotton candy.

 

“Collide.”

 

The prisons that had been divided into two sides were now colliding with each other. The walls of the prisons slowly moved inward. The space grew smaller, but the monsters remained the same. The monsters were crushed in an instant and turned into black dust.

 

“Ah.”

 

Mueum stopped in place. Now that he thought about it, if he did it this way—

 

“…It gains nothing.”

 

There were two things that could be gained from killing monsters. Sometimes, something came out of the monsters after they died. Some called it a mana stone because it contained mana, while San Ihyeong simply called it a byproduct.

 

If you took that to the Association, they added a bonus to your salary… but with this, the money was gone.

 

Still, at least there was some consolation.

 

Since joining SH1 unit, he’d never been jealous over mana stone or byproduct bonuses.

 

Mueum watched the rising flames beside him. He couldn’t help but laugh. Yeah, there was no way a mana stone would pop out of that fire.

 

“Haha.”

 

That guy was crazy too. Cha Jaeha didn’t even think about stopping the fire.

 

Hwashin was literally clapping and watching. Like a child playing with a toy. He didn’t seem to feel anything even as he watched the burning monsters.

 

….That was the same for all awakened ones, though.

 

Still, that guy was unusual. Hwashin was originally F-rank, right? At that level, his mental strength should be similar to a normal person.

 

Moreover, the person who followed, Jin, did nothing. He didn’t step forward.

 

‘Maybe there wasn’t a chance to use illusion against monsters.’

 

Now that he thought about it, Mueum had never seen how to deal with illusions against monsters. Even though they were both S-rank, they didn’t always meet on the field.

 

Sensing Mueum’s gaze, Jin looked towards him.

 

Jin, turning his head, shrugged towards Mueum. It meant he didn’t even have a chance to step up.

 

Not being particularly close, Mueum just nodded once.

 

“Is everything settled here?”

 

Hwashin, who had done nothing but stop the monsters, said proudly.

 

“Yes.”

 

Cha Jaeha put his gloves back on as if used to it.

 

The gloves Hwashin had given him were certainly helpful. Especially inside the gate. He felt his control over fire had become more precise.

 

Hwashin had said this before.

 

That he would be helpful to Cha Jaeha.

 

Cha Jaeha didn’t particularly believe it, but.

 

‘Either way, it’s helpful.’

 

Ignoring Hwashin’s enthusiastic gaze, Cha Jaeha looked towards the building.

 

After defeating all the monsters, a new window greeted them. As expected, it was about the character named Suho.

 

「 Suho moved to the science lab. He heard a strange sound from there. Creak, creak. What on earth was that sound? It was scary. 」

 

“Let’s go to the science lab.”

 

Cha Jaeha said. With that low voice and occasional speech pattern.

 

The gap was even funnier because he was wearing a school uniform and speaking like an old man. Jeong Mueum couldn’t understand Yoo Hwashin who was chuckling.

 

‘What’s so funny?’

 

Jeong Mueum didn’t have the luxury to laugh. A dungeon where ‘school ghost stories’ spread out. It just made him sigh.

 

Mueum disliked the space called the school itself. No, he hated it.

 

Creak, creak. This wasn’t the sound coming from the science lab, but the sound of Mueum gnawing on his fingernails.