Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World Chapter 109

“Shall we try joint training? A match-format joint training from GH Units 1 to 3 and SH Units 1 to 3.”

 

“Joint training?”

 

“Joint training?!”

 

They wondered what on earth he was talking about. There were endless things to point out regarding where this had gone wrong. To begin with, it was impossible for Heroes ranging from S-rank to A-rank, and even B-rank, to leave their posts during a time when Gates were popping up everywhere, and the biggest wall lay in the Domestic Hero Regulations.

 

The Domestic Hero Regulations strictly prohibited combat between Heroes. However, this old man knew that every regulation and law eventually had a loophole to exploit.

 

“I even fought Fomin Ignaty once at the summit using a match format. And as you can see, the result was my victory.”

 

‘As we can see, my foot.’

 

‘If anyone looked at your body, they’d think you lost miserably.’ 

 

Jeong Mueum and Yoo Jian suppressed the urge to retort. The situation was such that even a passing Ppii could sense it wasn’t the time for such jokes.

 

Chanyoung stared at him with an incredulous face. It was the same for Sun Sihan. She had heard from Jian that the guy was quite something, but she didn’t expect him to be this extraordinary. There had never been a single instance where an S-rank threw down a gauntlet toward an A-rank. It might have happened the other way around, but never this.

 

‘…Now that I think about it, why have S-ranks never picked a fight with A-ranks?’

 

Before Sun Sihan, who was hiding a certain uncomfortable feeling, could say anything in response, Cha Jaeha spoke up first. 

 

“That was because there were separate special regulations made at the conference back then; those regulations cannot influence the domestic hero regulations. It is an inviolable domain.” 

 

Hwashin also agreed with Cha Jaeha’s words to some extent. Regulations made for special cases do not affect everyday situations. However, that meaning derived another meaning. It meant that he just had to turn the situation of A-ranks and S-ranks holding a joint training match into a special situation rather than an everyday one.

 

Furthermore, Hwashin just happened to have a way to create that situation. 

 

***

 

“I mean, what kind of person uses a wish coupon they got from an S-rank workshop to fight with fellow Heroes?”

 

Sun Sihan vented her frustration in the breakroom on the 3rd floor where the GH Unit was located. Yoo Jian, who was sitting with her, patted her shoulder as a silent expression of her advice not to try and understand what that guy was trying to do.

 

“Right, my friend. I once tried to understand Yoo Hwashin, too. Don’t be so distressed. Just give up. To begin with, it’s a mistake to try and understand a guy who died and came back to life. And… I’m telling you, that guy isn’t actually such a bad person. He must have another ulterior motive.”

 

“….I know that well enough too. Since I even remember how much you cried when that guy died. But this time, he crossed the line.” 

 

Sun Sihan untied her tightly bound hair and held the hair tie in her mouth. It was to tidy her disheveled hair, and she habitually moved her lips as she continued speaking.

 

“I gwon unerdand why e’s doin dis.”

 

“Yeah, I said I know. Ah, whatever. At any rate, you’d better get ready too. Since you’re the leader of Unit 2, you’ll unconditionally get dragged into it.” 

 

Sun Sihan, having finished tying her hair, let out a deep sigh.

 

“Hey, Ko Youngwoo has already started weight training, and Chanyoung Oppa is holed up in the shooting range. The other GH Unit members are also training like mad because they’re so pissed off after hearing the news. Our kids have already entered hellish training, too. Hey, but do you know what’s surprising?”

 

“What is it?” 

 

“That training. Those guys brought up the idea of doing it themselves, you know?” 

 

The ripple effect caused by Hwashin’s interview was enormous. It had provided a catalyst for the GH Unit members who had been listlessly sagging. A catalyst that said, ‘I’m going to make that b*stard pay no matter what.’

 

The number of personnel in the GH Unit increases as one moves from Unit 1 to Unit 3. Furthermore, because Units 2 and 3 included a large number of B-ranks, the total count easily surpassed a hundred people when combined. However, the SH Unit took all the spotlight for the active exploits, and because the Gates appearing in the city center only differed in their generation locations while their difficulty was similar to before, all of them had fallen into a state of mannerism.

 

No further development was needed, and the public didn’t want them. It was impossible for someone to continue this work based solely on a sense of duty just because they were a Hero. At any rate, they always had to be exposed to danger and had to be dispatched at a moment’s notice, day or night, when a Gate opened, so there were those who endured with a sense of calling along with the love they received from the public.

 

To them, who had been spending days having that stripped away by the SH Unit, those words from Yoo Hwashin became an immense stimulant. 

 

“How are they going to hold the match?” 

 

“That’s….” 

 

***

 

Hwashin used the ‘one-time wish coupon’ he had obtained as the winner of the popular S-rank workshop for this joint training. Of course, because realistic constraints existed, several regulations for the large-scale training were created.

 

The joint training was decided to be carried out by renting a training center located near Seoul. Simultaneously, because the GH Unit members had to mobilize the moment a regular blue Gate opened, half of them were to remain at the Association. A clause was included stating that in the event a red Gate notification rang, the S-ranks must immediately cease training and move to the scheduled Gate location. 

 

—I’m going to add a secret clause that you don’t know about, too.

 

Those were the words the Head of the Audit Department added while allowing the joint training, but Hwashin didn’t care much.

 

“How refreshing.” 

 

Mmh. Inhaling the crisp air of the thicket with all his might, Hwashin looked around. The training center rented from the Association was a place located on the outskirts of Gyeonggi-do, with a back mountain attached. The mountain, covered with dense trees and thickets, had off-limits signs posted, but he had also received word that they had been temporarily removed after receiving authorization. 

 

“Are-are we really going to battle?” 

 

“We came all the way here, so of course we will.” 

 

“I’m still n-not fully prepared. W-w-what should I do?”

 

“Did you read all the research data?”

 

At Mueum’s question, Lee Suho nodded his head vigorously. The data he referred to consisted of the abilities, total case resolutions, and representative incident numbers of each of the 60 A- and B-rank Heroes participating in this training. If one was a Hero belonging to the Association, they could access the entire Hero DB, excluding restricted information. Basic information on abilities could be acquired through that DB, but since the range of accessible data differed by rank, the SH Unit members could access almost all of it.

 

“Then I’ll only call out the unit leaders and vice unit leaders, so try to answer.” 

 

“Ah, okay!”

 

“Chanyoung.”

 

“A-rank Hero. Before the GH Unit was formed, his rank was Team Leader, and the representative a-abilities registered in the DB are A-rank [Quest] and A-rank [Wind Shift].”

 

“Ko Youngwoo.”

 

“K-Ko Youngwoo-ssi is an A-rank Hero, Vice Unit Leader of the GH Unit, and in the same unit as Chanyoung-ssi. His representative abilities are A-rank [Shadow Giant] and B-rank [Colossus’s Helmet].”

 

The names of the abilities certainly followed the personality traits of the individuals. Unlike Ko Youngwoo, who wanted to boast an overwhelming strength, Chanyoung was simple.

 

“Sun Sihan.”

 

“S-Sun Sihan-ssi is an A-rank Hero, Leader of GH Unit 2, and her representative abilities are A-rank [Comfortable Path] and A-rank [Trample].”

 

Jeong Mueum nodded and added a word, saying, “You remember them well.”

 

“He-hehe.”

 

Lee Suho rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, looking embarrassed by the praise.

 

Not only Lee Suho, but all members of the SH Unit participating in this training memorized the abilities of the GH Unit members. It was a fact that even Jeong Mueum had only recently learned—that such a wide variety of abilities existed. In the cases of people like Yoon Bongpal, Ko Youngwoo, and Chanyoung, despite them being Heroes he already knew, there were abilities he hadn’t been aware of.

 

‘Why on earth is Hyung doing this?’

 

Yoo Hwashin’s intention was still a mystery. Even though he had already heard how the training would proceed, it was difficult to understand why it had to be that way. With this kind of training, wouldn’t the very fact that the units were divided become meaningless? While Jeong Mueum was sighing, an Audit Department employee, who was in charge of the proceedings this time as well, appeared at the training center.

 

The heroes gathered together on top of the sandy playground located in the center of the training center. Among the SH Unit, the participants were Unit 1, to which Yoo Hwashin belonged, and Unit 3, which was unusually free. Ha Jin also attended in the capacity of an observer after receiving permission from Ha Cheongwon. On the other hand, Ha Cheongwon and San-hyung, who were currently conducting GRC and Gate research, did not attend. 

 

“I thoroughly enjoyed the interview you did, Hwashin-ssi.” 

 

Not missing the opportunity, Jin tried his best to recruit Hwashin, but Hwashin ignored those words, letting them go in one ear and out the other. For the GH Unit, the Unit Leaders and Vice Unit Leaders of the Combat Units 1 to 3 all attended, and excluding some A-ranks and B-ranks, about half attended.

 

‘Fewer gathered than I thought, but this should be fine. Since the GH Unit heroes who were helpful in ‘Your Hero Is Here’ are fixed to some extent anyway.’ 

 

“Everyone who gathered for the joint training, thank you once again for attending.”

 

The training proceeded with a similar flow to the previous workshop.

 

“Then, I will inform you how the joint training will proceed. This training will be divided into teams. Each team has a hostage to protect, and the team that has that hostage seized by the opposing team loses.”

 

Ordinary training content. It was content familiar to the GH Unit members. However, the members participating in the rare training whispered among themselves.

 

‘I’m going to give that b*stard Yoo Hwashin a piece of my mind.’

 

‘The moment it starts, we surround him by ourselves right away.’

 

However, their wishes would ultimately not be fulfilled. It was simple. The rules made it so.

 

“However, this training will not be conducted as SH Unit versus GH Unit.”

 

“…?”

 

“Regardless of unit division, you will belong to the team of the Hero you desire. However, if the difference in numbers is severe, we will arbitrarily form new teams to match the balance of abilities.”

 

What. Then what happens? The Heroes who hadn’t known the rules began to murmur. Excluding the SH1 Unit and the Unit Leaders and Vice Unit Leaders of the GH Units who had known the rules, everyone had bewilderment written on their faces.

 

“I will call the representatives of each team. The representative of Team A is Yoo Hwashin, and the representative of Team B is Chanyoung. Representatives, please come forward.”

 

Hwashin, stepping forward confidently, looked at Chanyoung, who stood facing him. Chanyoung stood in his place with an impassive face. Perhaps because he was an elite Hero, he didn’t reveal his emotions through his expression.

 

“Now, regardless of the GH or SH Unit distinction, line up behind the team you feel you would win with! As I say again, regardless of your unit members, you may go behind the representative whose win rate looks higher.”

 

After a moment of hesitation, as soon as one person moved their feet, they all began moving to find their places in a swarm. Fearing they might be cut off on a first-come, first-served basis, some even pushed people who were members of their own unit.

 

“It seems all the Heroes have chosen their team leaders.”

 

The Audit Department employee spoke with a bright smile.

 

“Then, representatives, please turn around and check your team members.”

 

At that result, Hwashin’s eyes widened in surprise.