Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World

‘Does Ha Cheongwon still haven’t fully blossomed his abilities yet?’

 

Ha Cheongwon belonged to the SH2 unit, primarily analyzing gates with his exceptional precognitive abilities. At the same time, he took on a support role for the SH1 unit.

 

As a result, he was frequently mentioned in other semi-biographical novels. However, his appearance was never specifically described, so Hwashin didn’t recognize him when he acted as a diligent civil servant wearing glasses.

 

Because Ha Cheongwon a year later—

 

‘He will be quite more free-spirited in his words and actions than he is now.’

 

Being incredibly intelligent and rational, he often opposed Cha Jaeha even while assisting him.  Perhaps because of this, there were many scenes of them having petty arguments on the radio. Cha Jaeha even went as far as throwing away his in-ear device, claiming he couldn’t stand Ha Cheongwon’s voice.

 

It was so bad that the novel included a line: ‘Ha Cheongwon thought daily about throwing Cha Jaeha and his vicious gang (SH1 unit) into a monster’s den inside a gate for a day’.

 

– Cha Jaeha, will you only come to your senses after getting yourself killed and your neck sliced?

 

– In all the futures I’ve seen, there’s none where you’re alive. Oh, wait, there’s one. When you listen to my opinion… Hello? Hello? You cut off the radio again… Hey, hey! You crazy bastard!!

 

– Come back immediately, you #$%@!!

 

…Most of their conversations were like that. No one would expect him to be such a diligent young man.

 

To be honest, Hwashin imagined someone more… jaded by society. A middle-aged man in pain. …Ha Cheongwon looked surprisingly fresh.

 

Anyway.

 

“Isn’t it strange? Answer my question. If you’re hiding something intentionally, I won’t let it slide. Concealing your abilities is a serious offense—”

 

Hwashin didn’t hear the rest. It was obvious he was babbling about rules, regulations, and principles. Hwashin lazily picked on his ear.

 

What should he do now?

 

Ha Cheongwon was a stickler for principles with a stubborn personality, so getting on his bad side now could be troublesome later.

 

‘It’s annoying, should I just run away? No, with his personality, he’d probably follow me around. That’d be even more annoying.’

 

Well, he’d have to take a re-examination to join the SH unit anyway.

 

‘It’s better not to create a bad relationship with Ha Cheongwon. We’ll be working together a lot later. …And, isn’t he kind of cute in his own awkward way? He’s just doing his job earnestly.’

 

He felt like he’d been using the word ‘cute’ too often since coming here. Hwashin scratched the back of his head.

 

Ha Cheongwon, with his uncharacteristically messy hair, wrinkled jacket, and bewildered expression, opened his mouth as if to urge him on.

 

“Mr. Yoo Hwashin–”

 

“Excuse me. Mr. Ha Cheongwon.”

 

Hwashin’s eyes gleamed as he interrupted mid-sentence. A chill ran down Cheongwon’s spine at the smile playing on Hwashin’s lips.

 

Cheongwon’s mouth, which had been about to come up with something, shut off on its own accord.

 

His body stiffened. He couldn’t move a single step. Even though the other person was smiling. Cheongwon swallowed hard.

 

Was the person standing before him really an F-rank?

 

No, no.

 

Ha Cheongwon was certain. This person was definitely not an F-rank. Otherwise, Cheongwon wouldn’t be paralyzed like this. There must have been an issue with the machine that day. His mind raced while his body remained frozen.

 

‘Suicide during the test, my ass. This person genuinely wants to join the SH unit. And he’s confident he can do it. Damn it. What kind of misunderstanding did I have?’

 

Blaming his ignorant past self, Cheongwon looked at Hwashin.

 

‘Is his ability mind-related? Or manipulation? If so, there are a few cases of measurement errors. The criteria for ranking were only established 4-5 years ago. There’s plenty of room for loopholes.’

 

Ha Cheongwon’s hand clenched tightly, veins popping on his hand. Glancing at his hand, Hwashin quickly loosened his expression.

 

“I’ll take a separate test later. That’s fine, right?”

 

“Absolutely not… What?”

 

Cheongwon’s eyes widened at the unexpected response.

 

“You’re suspicious about my F-rank status, right?”

 

Hwashin shrugged his shoulders.

 

At this point, what would surprise Ha Cheongwon wasn’t that the ability was strong – but that ‘it’s suspicious for an F-rank.’ He was likely to think there was a problem with the ranking or that Hwashin had somehow concealed his rank.

 

“That’s—”

 

Cheongwon trailed off. It was all correct, but this man was agreeing so easily?

 

Though they’d known each other for 10 years—no, had only crossed paths for about 10 minutes—Cheongwon felt with his whole body that Yoo Hwashin wasn’t that kind of person.

 

“I’ll come find you after the selection is over. Okay?”

 

Well, since they had crossed paths, it wouldn’t hurt to get closer.

 

“Ah, right!”

 

Hwashin extended his hand first to Cheongwon who was still bewildered. His smiling eyes curved even more downward. Hwashin leaned forward and looked up at Cheongwon as he spoke.

 

“…What is it?”

 

“Our promise. You remember, right? Come on, hurry.”

 

…

What’s this about all of a sudden?

 

Suddenly, the useless conversation they had in front of the waiting room flashed through Cheongwon’s mind.

 

– You won’t even shake my hand? You’ll shake it after the competition, right?

 

– If you’re still alive, sure.

 

“Haha.”

 

A dry laugh escaped him. In this situation. Cheongwon, brushing his disheveled hair to one side, kept his promise this time.

 

Satisfied with the brief handshake, Hwashin left with his usual flippant smile and a “See you later!” – just like before.

 

Cheongwon leaned against the railing and slid down.

 

“Haah.”

 

He felt tired as all the built-up tension was released at once.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Leaving the scene, Hwashin headed towards Mueum, wearing a pleased smile.

 

‘I must have developed a knack for identifying talent over the years. Yes, I did feel like I wanted to befriend that staff.’

 

Huh, so this is how one secures a talented individual. How about that! Jaeha, look how I’ve cultivated a friendship with Ha Cheongwon for your sake!

 

Inwardly toasting to his victory, Hwashin walked towards Mueum with light steps. He was both nervous scared and excited to see how Jeong Mueum would react.

 

***

 

“Mueum!”

 

With flower petals swirling around, Hwashin took a seat next to Mueum.

 

Given Mueum’s personality, Hwashin didn’t expect gentle consolations and responses like:

 

– Hyung, congratulations on your victory! I’m so glad you weren’t hurt!

 

Or,

 

– Are you hurt anywhere? Do you need to go to the infirmary?

 

But this was too much.

 

It was chilly. He felt like daggers were flying, stabbing his cheeks. Sweating nervously, Hwashin turned his head stiffly.

 

“….What’s wrong? Are you angry with me about something?”

 

He immediately got a cold response.

 

“Not particularly.”

 

That made it even scarier. Mueum didn’t ask anything, just crossed his legs and swung one foot. Judging by his reaction, it seemed he had seen something.

 

…Well, Hwashin had sort of expected Mueum wouldn’t ask anything. No matter what he saw or heard, Jeong Mueum didn’t pry unless the other person wanted to speak first.

 

– Everyone has a secret or two they want to keep.

 

Sometimes the 18-year-old kid seemed more mature than the protagonist. That aspect of him was a bit sad.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

In fact, it was not that Jeong Mueum wasn’t curious. To be honest, there were more than a few things he wanted to question. Like whether Hwashin was really an F-rank, if he had done something to the shadow, or if it was all just his imagination and simply good luck.

 

‘It’s awkward to ask, but annoying to leave it alone.’

 

Anyway. If Hwashin wanted to talk, that loose mouth of his would have spoken first.

 

Mueum glanced at the man who kept nervously gauging his reaction, and finally spoke while crossing his arms.

 

“….By the way, you were speaking informally earlier.”

 

“Ah.”

 

Hwashin opened his mouth with a dumb expression. The mistake he made just now.

 

When he had been reading the novel alone for years, he would shout things like ‘Mueum! Jaeha! Jian! Well done! Our SH1 unit!’ while making a fuss next to the dragon, and it had become a habit.

 

“Did it bother you? I’m sorry. It’s kind of a habit.”

 

Mueum bluntly replied to Hwashin’s question.

 

“No. It’s fine. I was going to tell you that you can just speak informally to me.”

 

“…!”

 

“Most of the heroes speak informally to me anyway, and it’s more convenient for me too in emergency situations.”

 

“Really?”

 

Yes. Mueum really was fine with it. In reality, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Rather, in Mueum’s common sense, this person continuing to speak formally to him was unusual.

 

Mueum nodded dryly.

 

“Yes.”

 

Inwardly cheering, Hwashin pointed to himself with a foolish grin.

 

“Then call me hyung too. And speak informally.”

 

“I prefer formal speech. ….How old are you anyway, hyung?”

 

Squeeze.

 

Hyung.

 

Jeong Mueum called him hyung.

 

It sounded so lovely.

 

‘Thank you, Dragon.’

 

Hwashin, filled with satisfaction, racked his brain to recall his age.

 

Now that he thought about it, how old was this kid again? Certainly, in his memories, Yoo Hwashin’s age… He skipped military service due to being an awakened, was active in the hero fan club at 24, and recently got a government job. So his current age was…

 

“25 years old.”

 

Mueum looked at him with an incredulous expression.

 

“You say that like it’s someone else’s age.”

 

“….Sometimes I can’t believe I’m 25 twenty-five either. Hahaha.”

 

He was 2XX years old not long ago.

 

But he’d never tell the truth. …He didn’t want to be called grandpa.

 

***

 

The subsequent matches were boring. There were no S-rank participants, after all.

 

Unless the first draw from the randomly selected papers was an S-rank, there was no way the selected B-rank or A-rank would nominate an S-rank.

 

Moreover, it didn’t seem like anyone was putting their life on the line. They were moving so sluggishly that watching a snail monster race from the other world would have been more entertaining.

 

And finally, the long-awaited turn for Waiting Room number 5 arrived.

 

Hwashin subtly twisted the flow of karma with his fingers. He tied the piece of paper with the most brilliant golden thread to the employee’s finger.

 

“…Hero Cha Jaeha!”

 

I’m sorry for using karma for such a trivial matter again. But what can I do when I want to see him so badly?

 

Cha Jaeha, who had looked like a dot, slowly rose from his seat.

 

Since the emergence of gates and the establishment of ranks, Cha Jaeha had been the hero who recorded the highest magic power and basic physical strength. Even the heroes who had been sitting and playing on their phones raised their heads as soon as his name was called.

 

Standing with his characteristic blank face, Cha Jaeha quietly called out a hero’s name into the microphone offered by the staff. His low voice matched well with his strong-featured face.

 

“A-rank, Bae Deokho.”

 

Bae Deokho?

 

Cha Jaeha chose Bae Deokho?