Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World Chapter 114

The night the results of the training were announced. The basement stage of the training center turned into a drinking party. With the exception of the minors—Jeong Mueum, Lee Suho, and Ha Yujin—everyone was pouring alcohol down their throats as if there were no tomorrow. How long had it been since they last rested? If this was a paradise that might end at any moment, they had to enjoy the present.

 

Chanyoung tilted his glass. Beside him sat Hwashin, watching the drinking party with a perfectly composed face.

 

“You’re the one who told Jin-ssi that trashy strategy, aren’t you? From the start, the fact that he poured out the strategy so smoothly as if he’d been waiting for it was suspicious.” 

 

“Whoa, look at that tone. That’s harsh. Calling it trashy.”

 

“What else do you call a strategy that only puts S-ranks on the front lines?”

 

“Well, that’s because~. Our B-ranks had to face only your S-ranks and A-ranks.” 

 

Hwashin didn’t say “yes” to that, but his reaction acknowledged that he was indeed the one who had suggested the strategy to Jin. At the same time, Hwashin took a sip of the drink Chanyoung gave him, stuck out his tongue, and grimaced.

 

‘As expected, the alcohol here tastes terrible. Blegh.’

 

Despite the distinct change in his expression, Chanyoung asked with a face that remained completely unmoved. 

 

“Was it also part of the plan for Jin-ssi to use illusions to make another Hero look like me?”

 

“That’s right. Ah! But I didn’t expect Chanyoung-ssi to be completely outside the circle. That was interesting. Why did you do that? If you hadn’t, your team might have won.”

 

The B-ranks of Team A were stunned when they realized the person they had taken down was not the real Chanyoung, but a ‘fake’ who only looked like him. However, the ‘fake’ was also an A-rank Hero, so they could take some small comfort in that.

 

“…My personality isn’t that great either. I didn’t like being played by Jin-ssi’s strategy. So I only pretended to listen. The original plan was for me to be inside the circle. ….Well, to be honest, I truly didn’t think I would lose. Even if I were caught outside the circle later, I planned to insist it was a mistake on the Audit Department’s part.”

 

“And the reason you didn’t insist on that?”

 

He asked, knowing the answer.

 

“Once I realized that what my unit members wanted wasn’t a ‘team victory,’ I discarded that hand.”

 

At any rate, due to Chanyoung’s choice, the result of the training became a draw. 

 

Normally, right before Yoo Hwashin stepped out of the circle, Chanyoung’s team’s victory would have been confirmed. This was because what the B-ranks had captured wasn’t Chanyoung, but another Hero who only looked like Chanyoung through Jin’s illusion. So, in fact…

 

All Chanyoung had to do was be inside the circle.

 

But the real ‘Chanyoung’ had been outside.

 

In other words, both teams were disqualified for stepping outside the circle, resulting in a draw.

 

“I had absolutely no intention of losing, though.”

 

No, really. Chanyoung loathed losing. If he was going to do something, being first was the best, and even during his school days, he never missed out on being number one. So, in truth, the person who had the hardest time accepting that he was an A-rank was himself.

 

“Why do you hate losing so much?”

 

Hwashin asked while chewing on a piece of dried squid. He wasn’t particularly curious, but he asked because Chanyoung looked so serious. Sensing this, Chanyoung turned his gaze back to his unit members. The space in front of them was already a mess. It wasn’t just a disaster; it was a mess to the point where people were practically barking like dogs.

 

“Isn’t that just how humans are? Even if you acknowledge that you’re weak, you don’t want to be looked down on. If you lose, you’ll be looked down on, so it’s only natural to hate it.” 

 

Confirming his glass was empty, Chanyoung brandished a new bottle of soju. He stared silently at the soju bottle, which boasted a perfect whirlwind.

 

“Hwashin-ssi, don’t you think life would be easy if people could be manipulated as easily as this?”

 

Before he knew it, the unit members were chatting merrily, having forgotten all their sorrows. They had every right to feel indignant about being deceived, or to feel annoyed about Hwashin stepping outside the line, yet not a single trace of such feelings could be seen. No, rather, they looked relieved. 

 

In Chanyoung’s expression as he spoke his next words in a low voice, only curiosity toward Hwashin remained, rather than anger.

 

“I like for everything to happen logically. Therefore, normally, I shouldn’t have been angry or felt wronged after hearing your interview. It was true, after all. Ranks are an objective classification based on clear criteria, and it’s natural for there to be a difference in power according to those ranks. There shouldn’t have been any Hero who got angry at your provocation.”

 

Pour, pour, pour. 

 

Chanyoung filled the empty glass to the brim with soju.

 

“But we aren’t logical. Not even me.”

 

The alcohol overflowed from the full glass. The soju, defying surface tension, filled the top of the table. Hwashin looked down at the scene. The bottle that was pouring the alcohol returned to its place.

 

“I hate being looked down upon. At the same time, I hate admitting weakness. That’s why I never wanted to lose. I wanted to win by any means necessary.”

 

Being weak meant you could be looked down upon. At least, that’s what Chanyoung thought.

 

Right before the training results were announced, Chanyoung had been listening from afar to the conversation of the GH Unit members gathered on the field. He wondered if they thought their leader wouldn’t hear them when they were speaking so loudly. It was an absurd situation, but Chanyoung simply watched them.

 

And he returned and chewed on it alone.

 

– 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 someone to rely on, seek us out.

 

Their appearance as they spoke those words was the most robust appearance out of all the images of his unit members he had seen until now. 

 

Right, the race of heroes are naturally those kinds of b*stards. Because they are bastards who ultimately chose this profession because they wanted to be of help to someone. 

 

With a smirk, Chanyoung clinked his glass against Hwashin’s.

 

Midway through the training. The moment Chanyoung saw his unit members struggling to defeat Ko Youngwoo, he realized.

 

He had lost. This was a game already lost.

 

‘I have never once made my unit members wear an expression like that.’

 

He lifted the clinked glass slightly upward. This carried the meaning that he had suffered a defeat, and it was also an expression of gratitude directed toward him. However, his nature of still hating to lose remained the same. 

 

Chanyoung murmured.

 

“Even so, I want to beat you when it comes to drinking.”

 

Hwashin, who had raised his glass following him, also cast his eyes down low. His gaze moved downward along his long eyelashes. A smile resembling a crescent moon hung on the corners of his mouth as he raised his eyelids again.

 

“Beating me at drinking will be difficult, too.”

 

***

 

….

 

Difficult, my foot! I was such an easy man. I have… the pride of an Archmage.

 

– Think of your age.

 

Hey, my physical age is young. Currently, I have the vibrant body of a twenty-five-year-old.

 

Besides, since even the protagonist, Cha Jaeha, got drunk so easily, I thought everyone here would be lightweights. My body had even held its own against that Ignaty. I thought that even if everything else was crummy, this body had some alcohol tolerance. So naturally, I thought I’d beat all the Korean guys.

 

“How long… hic, has it been since I was this drunk?”

 

Ah, my head is spinning. Spinning. Hwashin, lying spread-eagled on the bed, slowly closed his eyes. He recalled the scene that was rowdy until a moment ago.

 

– Hahaha! Drink! Pour more! It feels terrible, like my muscles are melting! Hey, Cha Jaeha! Are you done already? Kuhahaha! An S-rank is really nothing special! Kuhahahaha!!

 

– H-Hey, Cha Jaehaaaa. Wake uuuuuppp. You, you punk. We can’t tarnish the honor of, uh? Our Unit 1…. Ah.. 

 

– Noona, you’re drunk too.

 

– ….Everyone, just stay healthy.

 

– This Hyung… even drunk, he says stuff like this. Hyuuung, stop it and just go to sleep.

 

– Oppa, I told you I didn’t drink! Mister Hwashin? ….Mister Hwashin is, um…. in a duel. With Mister Chanyoung. Huh? Who do I think will win? Is that what’s important? What? If Mister Hwashin gets drunk, take a picture and send it to you? …..Why would I?

 

It was good, very good. How long had it been since I drank like this? I’ve never drunk like this with Riel.

 

Yes. It was a long time ago, a very long time ago.

 

In front of Hwashin, who closed his eyes, a familiar vista unfolds. That is a memory from the distant past. A matter from when he was at the Capital Academy. Hwashin deliberately covered over that memory from back then, which had already grown as faint as a faded painting, once more. 

 

There is bound to be a reason for an object that has faded and accumulated dust. Because it means the owner did not long for that object. And that applies not only to objects, but to memories as well. 

 

This time, Hwashin fast-forwards through his memories. Moving past his academy days, the story of when he met the Hero unfolds. Not long after, time returns to reality. As he slowly opens his heavy eyelids, a pure white ceiling spreads before him.

 

Hwashin was left alone in this room. In the space where he was left alone, along with the damn effects of the alcohol, he imagines the hell that will unfold from here on. 

 

‘A record of the past.’

 

The existing Red Gates and Hells had different methods of resolution. He knew that. But the fact that ‘that’ reason was because they were the past was something Hwashin had newly learned this time.

 

‘Because it is the past, it cannot be changed. Because it is the past, I regret.’

 

Because they regret, they try to return to their place.

 

Perhaps because he was drunk, his head wasn’t working properly. Maybe the reason he got completely wasted today was because he didn’t want to think about anything for the first time in a while. He slowly closed his eyes again. He thought.

 

If a world of those who regret appears in reality, he himself will not be free from that timeline. Therefore, he did not want to regret anything, at least here.

 

Yes. If the Hell that will unfold from now on is the past, as Han Jeyu said—if it is merely a remnant of the past.

 

He would collect all those remnants,

 

And twist the completed past.

 

***

 

The next morning. Morning at a place mainly used as a youth training center was clear and bright. In particular, the chirping of birds heard from dawn was as cheerful as a song.

 

However, unlike the cheerful song,

 

“I’m gonna die.”

 

“Is this… for real?”

 

“….To think I said such things to a madman. To a madman.”

 

“….Shut up, everyone just run. It’s hard.”

 

Upon the playground, groans spread along the lanes. Until last night, this place was clearly a paradise, so what on earth was all this now? They couldn’t even tell themselves how many laps they had already spun along the circle. What was certain was the fact that the moment they stopped this running… 

 

The fact that they would face that man possessed by madness one-on-one.

 

Yoo Hwashin, the man of madness, swung his fisted arm around. Where had he even found it? He was fully dressed in instructor attire: a bright red cap, a tight short-sleeved t-shirt, and military-patterned cargo pants. However, because he lacked muscle, he didn’t exactly exude charisma.

 

“Now, now, everyone~! There are still 10 laps left. Run, run~!”

 

‘That crazy b*stard.’ 

 

‘Physical strength is national strength—my foot. National strength is you, you punk.’

 

The GH Unit members, still suffering from hangovers and reeking of alcohol, were circling the field. A chicken alarm had sounded since the crack of dawn, and at that same moment, Yoo Hwashin had appeared in the room where the GH Unit members were sleeping.

 

As if he didn’t even have a hangover, Hwashin’s voice upon waking up in the morning was still clear and crisp. Furthermore, his face wasn’t even swollen and was perfectly fine; he was a man for whom the saying “a handsome man is still handsome even after waking up” was a perfect fit. His hair, which they thought he wouldn’t have washed, had the luster of morning dew and was even fluffy, and a touch of elegance could even be glimpsed in his madness-filled smile. Yoo Hwashin, who looked like he had sucked out only the “dew” part of the Ddaeng-Iseul soju, left one remark since the early morning.

 

– Everyone, change your clothes and come out within one minute.

 

Come out? Where to? Why so suddenly? When they looked at him with bewildered expressions as if they hadn’t yet emerged from sleep, Hwashin added a few more words.

 

– As of yesterday, you’re all my people. …..Shouldn’t you wake up and train? You aren’t all going to live like this, are you?

 

It was like a bolt from the blue.

 

O-Of course, yesterday they wanted to act cool,

 

And there was also the part where they spoke like that because they were caught up in the atmosphere, but… 

 

– Shall we start by simply running 20 laps around the field? You all know that as your physical strength increases, controlling your abilities becomes easier, right?

 

They hadn’t known it would be this intense right away.

 

No, we said we would protect you—when did we ever ask for you to train us?

 

A hero in the lead group, who had a face that looked tired to death, slightly raised his head. Should he try asking to just go back inside and sleep? Who knows. He might let him off—. 

 

“Ah, right! Anyone who wants to go back and sleep, please tell me in advance.” 

 

As if reading his mind, Hwashin brought his mouth to a megaphone and smiled brightly. Hwashin, who wore perfectly square black sunglasses, spoke briskly. 

 

“I’ll make it so you sleep forever!”

 

…I see. There’s no way he’d let us off.

 

The man who had subtly raised his head looked straight ahead once more.

 

Let’s run, run. If we run, we live; if we stop, we die.