Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World Chapter 113

“[Because an already perished world is inscribing the ‘past’ here.]” 

 

“What does that mean?”

 

Han Jeyu, who had been staring closely at Yoo Hwashin’s face, smiled. Though they weren’t green, Bae Deokho’s eyes—plastered thick with greed—suited him quite well. 

 

“[This is the first time I’ve seen that kind of expression on you. Your charm always lay in how full of mischief you were. Ah, come to think of it, your speech has returned to informal talk again. Maybe I should just talk informally too. That would look much closer and better with you, Hwashin-ssi.]” 

 

In the original work, Han Jeyu was the leader of the Freaks and the greatest axis of evil, but he eventually dies.

 

Yes. He was a character with only that much standing. A villain who had to exist within a story of justice, one who eventually loses to ‘justice.’ He was a character whose role was meant to be consumed just to that extent.

 

In the world of <Your Hero Is Here> , he was never a protagonist.

 

But right now, can this ‘Han Jeyu,’ who knows developments even Hwashin himself doesn’t, really be called a non-protagonist? A low voice pressured Han Jeyu.

 

“Answer the question.”

 

“[It is exactly as it sounds. I do think drawing the GH Unit into training was a rather splendid strategy. However, you already know well enough that a scene of hell like this cannot be stopped by just this much, don’t you?]” 

 

“……”

 

“[The Hells Painting is, quite literally, a painting, an island, and a Hell. ….So, I’ll give you one prediction here.]”

 

Bae Deokho gradually stepped back. At the same time, Yoo Hwashin took a step forward. If Hwashin, who was the hostage, were to step outside the white circle drawn on the ground, it would mean Team A’s defeat. No separate contact had come from the team’s detachment yet. 

 

“[The Freaks will firmly engrave their existence during the ‘Hell of Falsehood.’ I don’t care whether this world is destroyed or not, but there is something I want to leave behind.]”

 

“Is that even possible if you die right here?”

 

“[That would be interesting too, but even if you cut this body down, only the pitiful Bae Deokho will die. I am a rather cowardly commoner, you see.]”

 

His body gradually vanished into the darkness. Even with a Word Command, it was impossible to bind a soul hidden inside Bae Deokho’s body. Hwashin stopped right in front of the circle.

 

“[But Hwashin-ssi, I really don’t understand why you’re so obsessed with this world.]”

 

“……”

 

“[In the end, you’ll be the only one left again anyway.]”

 

“What do you know—.”

 

At those final words, Hwashin crossed the line. A thick vein pulsed on his temple as he gritted his teeth. At the same time, an alarm announcing the end of the training echoed throughout the forest.

 

“Wh-what—.”

 

Ko Youngwoo, who had been happily making a B-rank he’d been pummeling do disciplinary lunges, stopped.

 

“Hyung?”

 

Jeong Mueum, who had been quietly watching the back of Yoo Hwashin as he stepped on the line, called out.

 

“It’s over.”

 

The detachment, having dragged the unconscious Chanyoung outside the line, also looked up.

 

Everyone looked toward the sky. Under a cloudless blue sky, they completed a joint training session that might be their first and last.

 

***

 

In the end, you’ll be the only one left again anyway.

 

Only me again. After the training ended and before the results were announced, Hwashin sat alone on the stairs in front of the outdoor sink behind the training center.

 

—What are you thinking about so deeply? 

 

‘Riel. …What does Han Jeyu know? Is what that b*stard said true?’

 

Hwashin, who had leaned back, looked at the sky and asked. Riel’s form wasn’t visible, but he stared intently into the air. It was because doing so felt like he could see the afterimage of an old friend.

 

—Are you talking about the Hells Painting?

 

‘Yeah, that.’

 

He had never heard or read in the original work that the Hells Painting was the story of a perished world.

 

In other words, Han Jeyu knew information that had never appeared in the original. How was that possible? Why on earth should the character ‘Han Jeyu’ know that fact?

 

—That…

 

—I don’t really know either. I asked the old man and the other dragons, but they all said they didn’t know.

 

‘What does that old man know?’

 

—Don’t insult our room-dwelling old man. It’s just that Han Jeyu guy knows too much. However, I have a hunch. It’s not certain, so… I’ll look into it a bit more before I tell you.

 

‘Yeah.’

 

Let’s do that. Hwashin slowly closed his eyes. He was tired. But he felt like he shouldn’t fall asleep yet. He felt as if he might remember something he had forgotten.

 

Forcing himself up, Hwashin headed back toward the exercise field. There, members of the GH and SH Units were mingled together, talking animatedly.

 

“No, I’m saying we should have gone out like this from the start!”

 

“If we had drawn up the strategy that way, from the start—” 

 

“Your ability was good.”

 

“R—Really? Then could I, perhaps, get an au—autograph too?” 

 

…What a funny sight. Ha Yujin stood close beside Hwashin as he let out a short laugh. Having come as an observer, Ha Yujin had remained in the training center building and watched the session through the Association’s drone cameras. Ppii, cradled in her arms, was munching on a french fry.

 

“Oppa… no, Mister.”

 

“Yeah, go ahead.”

 

“Is this what you wanted, Mister?”

 

Ha Yujin asked as she raised her head. Into those round, shining eyes of a young child, there was no way he could tell a lie—. 

 

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about?”

 

Hwashin was quite good at lying. Toward Hwashin, who was smiling as slyly as a raccoon, Ha Yujin spoke clearly.

 

“I saw the interview. And I thought it was strange. You’re a good person, Mister, so there’s no reason for you to go on a broadcast and say things like that.”

 

“…Did it look that way?”

 

As expected, kids are sharp. For you to recognize that this version of me is a good person. 

 

—Hahaha.

 

What are you laughing at?

 

“So I thought about it. The reason you said those things. Because you don’t do meaningless actions, Mister…..Ah! Except for when you play strange pranks. And through that training just now, I think I figured out what you truly wished for, Mister.” 

 

Ha Yujin looked at the unprecedented sight on the field.

 

B-ranks admired A-ranks and S-ranks while simultaneously viewing them as an insurmountable wall. 

 

A-ranks looked down on B-ranks while simultaneously harboring an inferiority complex. 

 

S-ranks only ran forward, unable to consider those following behind them.

 

They hadn’t communicated at all. Using emotions like admiration, inferiority, and arrogance as weapons, they actually understood each other less than anyone.

 

But looking at them now? It was awkward and clumsy, but they were talking. They acknowledged their weakness and sought ways to join forces; they acknowledged their arrogance and revealed their shortcomings to one another.

 

“You wanted to see this, didn’t you? Those people talking like that. Facing their true selves.”

 

“…This is why I say I hate kids these days. You’re waaaaay too sharp. It’s a real problem.”

 

“I’m not a kid. I look fifteen now, don’t I?”

 

“A fifteen-year-old is still a kid.” 

 

“I guess I can’t help it if you see me that way. Oh, look at Lee Suho! He’s being pushed around like that again!” 

 

Letting out a playful laugh, Ha Yujin hugged Ppii tighter and ran toward Lee Suho. Lee Suho was sandwiched between Jeong Mueum and Ko Youngwoo, who were debating the topic of ‘Which unit should raise Lee Suho.’

 

After Yujin left, a group from the GH Unit hesitantly approached Hwashin, who was left alone. It wasn’t just the Heroes who had chosen Hwashin; members of Team B from the GH Unit were mixed in as well.

 

‘Surely they don’t want to hit me even after the training is over.’

 

Hwashin spoke while purposely making his hands tremble as much as possible.

 

“The training just ended. I’m tired, so how about we fight next time?”

 

Despite those words, the man standing in the center of the silent group looked straight at Hwashin first. He was one of the B-ranks whose name Hwashin had called.

 

After hesitating for a long time, he slowly opened his mouth.

 

“You…. said it.”

 

That you would gain us.

 

“And you entrusted the team’s victory or defeat to us.”

 

It was still a decision that made no sense.

 

“But we still resented you for giving that interview, and we thought we wanted to hit you at least once for ignoring us.”

 

He caught his breath. Although he didn’t want to admit it, there were words that had to be said. 

 

“But at the same time…. for the first time in my life.”

 

He bit his lower lip hard.

 

“We thought we wanted to try and defeat our leader, the A-ranks, and the S-ranks.” 

 

He thought back to when he first received his Hero rank.

 

A B-rank that was certainly better than an ambiguous C-rank. A B-rank who could active on the scene and was fairly recognized by the world. So he was satisfied and worked hard. He remembered what he heard from his senior when he first went out to the field. That although the history of Heroes is short, it is a profession born because it is absolutely necessary in this society. Therefore, the work you do is the work of saving a world.

 

—Yes, Senior! I will save people even if it costs my life!

 

Since when was it? That he began to feel he was just enduring day by day. That the number of A-ranks grew, the number of S-ranks grew, and he began to think of himself as an existence less than dust.

 

Who would ever want a mud-water Hero that nobody wants? Maybe being just a cleanup crew was the end of his role. Maybe this society would flow on even without him. Maybe saving the world wasn’t talking about him, but those guys playing in the upper waters.

 

But after a long while, he considered himself useful. It wasn’t just him. The A-rank heroes who failed to become unit leaders or vice unit leaders, and the support lines too. Today, they remembered the day they first became heroes. 

 

They didn’t choose this profession simply because they were B-rank, or because their rank was higher than others.

 

It was just.

 

‘Because I wanted to save someone.’

 

That was how it started.

 

“Maybe the reason your words made us angry was.”

 

It was just.

 

“Because it was what we ourselves least wanted to admit. Because we still hadn’t accepted that we are B-rank.”

 

As those words ended, another Hero followed.

 

“But we can accept it now. Because we’ve realized that rank is not what’s important.”

 

Soon, another followed.

 

“O-our team succeeded in distracting Sun Sihan-ssi today. Thanks to that… the detachment! Was able to take Vice Unit Leader Chanyoung!”

 

“It’s the first time we’ve won!”

 

“I hit Ko Youngwoo-ssi for the first time! Whoo!”

 

“Me too! I blocked Hero Yoo Jian’s fist today!”

 

And everyone looked straight at Hwashin. They all spoke as one.

 

“We know our weakness. At the same time, we know the strength we possess. Furthermore, we acknowledge your strength.”

 

They themselves thought they couldn’t win. But Yoo Hwashin trusted them and entrusted them with everything. Perhaps what he said in the interview was a call for them to wake up.

 

That the ones looking down on you the most are yourselves.

 

“You said you wanted to gain us.”

 

Everyone except the Unit Leaders and Vice Unit Leaders of the GH Unit gazed into Hwashin’s eyes. His eyes were still full of mischief. He was a man with a light way of speaking and a personality that didn’t seem particularly good—hardly someone to trust. Furthermore, he didn’t even seem to be on good terms with their own leaders.

 

But today, they could speak with confidence. With eyes glowing with an brilliance, as if they were newly assigned as Association Heroes, they shouted.

 

“Yoo Hwashin-ssi. Today. Be glad that you have gained excellent teammates.”

 

“…”

 

“When you are having a hard time, lean on us.”

 

“…”

 

“When you need a place to rely on, look for us.” 

 

“…”

 

“If you ask for our help, we will glady help you.”

 

—Hey, Yoo Hwashin.

 

“We will gladly become the Heroes for you, an S-rank.”

 

—Are you crying?

 

“For the record, this is a secret from our Unit Leader.”

 

I’m not crying, you brat.