Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World Chapter 124

Tak.

 

Dung.

 

Keee-.

     

With the piercing sound of string instruments, the sword dance began. Younger dancers formed a circle around a dancer whose face was veiled in black cloth.

 

Lightly, gracefully. Fairy-like footwork took over the hall.

 

Perhaps white fabric had been layered over her trousers, for the trousers of the dancer standing in the center had suddenly transformed into a sweeping skirt. Following the slow-tempo music, the dancer, holding a red sword, began to rotate within the circle.

 

The unfolding white hem of the skirt and the contrasting black cloth covering her face. Even the crimson scabbard had a flowing luster.

 

From all around, exclamations slowly began to pour out. Dung. Dung. Dung. The sound of drums gradually grew faster, and the hand gripping the sword hilt drove the scabbard into the floor. 

 

Thud. Thud-thud. 

 

A dance that grew even faster once she let go of the sword. Matching that beat, Hwashin rested his chin on his hand and initiated the conversation. 

 

“The Hell of Falsehood is a hell for those who tell lies. The size of the hell gradually grows as the number of people swayed by lies increases. …So, it was a blessing that the number of citizens caught up in this hell was small.”

 

“If people who didn’t trust each other had entered the hell in large numbers, they might have been swept up by this energy.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Then, what exactly is this ‘Hell’?

 

Hell was not a place for the rehabilitation of the sinful, but merely a place to imprison and torture them.

 

“Since the protagonist of hell no longer wished to tell lies, she became a dancer and infiltrated the royal castle.” 

 

Srrr. 

 

The music’s tempo slowed down once more. Following the melody, the dancer’s face, faintly visible behind the translucent black cloth, turned sorrowful. With the expression of a woman who had lost her beloved, she grasped the scabbard she had discarded on the floor.

 

“She succeeds in stealing the item. But Jaeha, as you’ve noticed, the relic isn’t completed as one. And inside this castle, there is another relic that serves as its pair.”

 

“And that relic would likely be held by the person most difficult to reach in this castle.”

 

Wang Hao, having eavesdropped from somewhere, chimed in in the middle of the story. Letting out a sly smile, he covered his mouth with his sleeve as if waiting for the next words. 

 

“That’s right. As Wang Hao-ssi said—.” 

 

“Then that peculiar necklace hanging around the King’s neck, that must be the relic.”

 

Cha Jaeha cut in as if he refused to lose.

 

“You’re right too, Jaeha.”

 

Around the King’s neck hung a necklace so simple it was hard to believe it was a royal ornament. The brown leather cord looked shabby enough that its age was apparent at a glance, and the small black gem hanging from that cord looked like a small glass bottle at first sight. However, it was a gem as black as pitch, so much so that no one could tell what was inside.

 

“That girl’s words about hiding in a place where no one could find her were a lie.”

 

Cha Jaeha’s eyes turned toward the young dancers who were waving their hands up and down while holding daggers.

 

One of those dancers.

 

“The protagonist we were looking for must be among them.”

 

“Well then. Since we’ve found the protagonist, are you going to kill her immediately? Since it’s hard to tell who it is, I suppose we can just kill all the dancers for now.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

At Cha Jaeha’s sharp remark, Wang Hao curled his lips into a circle.

 

“Pardon? Why are you like that? If we go by my method, can’t we end this hell quickly? Even at this moment, countless comrades must be fighting for their lives outside the dome.”

 

He continued speaking, turning his gaze toward the air as if looking outside the dome.

 

“Dozens of gates must have opened already. Maybe hundreds.”

 

Srk—. 

 

This time, the dancer’s hand moved toward the sword hilt.

 

“The number of heroes is limited. That’s why they tried to increase the number of people, even through experiments.”

 

“In this hellish situation, since the number of heroes to protect them is small, naturally many citizens must have died, are dying, and… will die.”

 

Srng—. 

 

From the red scabbard, a sword boasting a blue aura was slowly drawn out.

 

Simultaneously, Wang Hao slowly lowered his head. His gaze moved from the dancer back to Hwashin, and then past Hwashin toward Cha Jaeha.

 

Unlike his smiling mouth, his eyes were cold.

 

“If you want to protect something.”

 

“…..”

 

“Make the priorities of what to protect clear, Cha Jaeha-ssi.” 

 

Even Wang Hao says the right thing sometimes.

 

When reading the book, he died quickly so he just thought he was a crazy guy. 

 

“As for Hwashin-ssi, anything is fine, aing~.”

 

…..

 

— Hey, they say it’s a blessing when eighth-grade syndrome hits in the eighth grade. ….Do you even know what eighth-grade syndrome is? I just learned it recently too—.

 

That’s enough, Riel. I roughly know what that is.

 

It’s just that facing such an unexpected scene directly in reality was quite a shock. It would have been cute if Mueum had done it. ….But Mueum would never do it even if he told him to.

 

After briefly lamenting this unfortunate situation internally, Hwashin managed to compose himself and stared at the dancer who began the next song.

 

The drawn sword was clean and sharp, and it was beautiful in harmony with the dance. Holding the scabbard in one hand and the sword in the other, she lunged forward barefoot. She stopped briefly in front of the private soldiers guarding the King, then immediately retreated.

 

Lightly.

 

Once again, lightly. 

 

Cha Jaeha also looked forward in silence.

 

‘Now, this is Cha Jaeha’s turn.’

 

Yoo Hwashin watched him. How would his grown protagonist respond?

 

What does it mean to grow?

 

As for visible growth, there would be the growth of the physical body, or perhaps the growth of skill. Growth that anyone could recognize in an instant if one merely showed it off. Becoming able to use higher-dimensional abilities, or honing another skill. 

 

That kind of growth is difficult but easy to achieve. This is because the sweetness that follows growth is great.

 

Greater ability and better power can easily earn the awe of others.

 

The current Cha Jaeha had reached a state near the climax at a faster speed than the Cha Jaeha in the original work. Since he would grow further through items coming out of hell and become stronger through training, my help would no longer be needed. 

 

The reason mental growth is more difficult than this kind of growth is because ‘others cannot do it for you.’

 

One cannot know the method for that training, and even if others teach it, there is no way to know if it’s the right method. Only the individual can realize that growth and develop.

 

And Wang Hao seemed to have already seen through what part Cha Jaeha was agonizing over.

 

“Choosing is important, but.”

 

The corners of Wang Hao’s eyes curved softly this time.

 

“You must know that the timing is also important.”

 

“The decision has already been made.”

 

“….Is that so?”

 

However, if there was something Wang Hao overlooked. 

 

“Yeah.”

 

It was the fact that Cha Jaeha had already decided.

 

“I am going to take the protagonist.”

 

“…..?”

 

“And leave this place.”

 

The conclusion to this series of situations.

 

***

 

The sword dance became more flamboyant and the situation became more tangled.

 

Even Hwashin raised his eyebrows high this time as if surprised.

 

What is our kid saying right now?

 

“So there’s no need to kill the dancer. We only need to find out who the protagonist is.”

 

“…Hey, Jaeha?”

 

Hwashin poked Jaeha’s arm and pointed toward the dancer again.

 

“Weren’t you going to kill the protagonist?”

 

“….Me?”

 

No, no, no. Wasn’t the flow of our previous conversation like that?

 

— Can you handle it? If that’s correct, you—. 

 

— You know what I’m going to say.

 

“I never once said I would kill the protagonist.”

 

Th…that’s true, right?

 

Thinking about it, that was also correct.

 

In the original work, Cha Jaeha chases the girl to end the hell and eventually kills her. At the same time, that death was also the protagonist’s wish.

 

「 “Mister, please kill me.”

 

I don’t want to kill other people anymore.

 

“This hell is a place to punish the liars you wanted to kill so much. ….And yet, why do you want to stop?”

 

This must have been your wish.

 

Cha Jaeha looked up at the girl who had already lost her form and become a monster. The girl’s body had fled from the collapsed royal castle and settled in Deoksugung Palace at Gwanghwamun. Tears were flowing from over twenty eyes on her viscous skin.

 

“The world lied to me. I resent this world.”

 

One eyeball stared at Cha Jaeha’s sword.

 

“But even so, I didn’t want this world to disappear, mister.”

 

This world gave her a hellish village, but at the same time, it allowed her to meet her only older sister. This world abandoned her, but it allowed her to become family with those abandoned within that world.

 

“Samela is still alive in this world. Sari, Kobato, and Pilli too.”

 

Two eyes, no, three, no, all the eyeballs now gazed at only one person. She was about to utter the last lie of her life.

 

Squish.

 

Her black-stained lips slowly murmured with a gruesome sound.

 

“….That’s why I want to disappear from this world.”

 

Cha Jaeha’s eyes shone brilliantly. If the last lie the girl left behind was her wish. And if that was the only way to end the hell.

 

Because he had to do it.

 

“I’ll end it for you, so it won’t hurt.” 」

 

“Are you saying there’s a way other than killing?”

 

When Hwashin asked, Cha Jaeha looked down at Hwashin blankly with a face that said he couldn’t understand.

 

“You told me.”

 

…I did? 

 

Hwashin pointed at himself with wide eyes. Looking past his back, Cha Jaeha gestured with his chin.

 

“The evidence is right there.”

 

Evidence?

 

Turning his head, behind Hwashin’s back, Wang Hao, Yoo Jian, and Jeong Mueum were sitting side by side.

 

And at the end of the table, Lee Suho was finally visible. Lee Suho, with a flushed face, was smiling and making a fighting pose.

 

The protagonist whose fate had been completely twisted was right here.

 

“Don’t tell me you.”

 

“It’s exactly as it sounds. Just like Lee Suho, I’m going to take the protagonist of this hell out to the outside. Then it’ll work out somehow.”

 

“Ha.” 

 

In the air, Riel’s cry of surprise at Cha Jaeha’s decision was heard.

 

— Can a protagonist just act out like that? It’s not even you. 

— This fellow has tainted that boy! Just… just like that, the story is getting interesting. Heh heh heh. 

— Old man, please go back inside. 

— Now, now, Grandpa. Let’s disappear together with me.

 

Hwashin also let out a small exclamation and leaned back against the backrest.

 

‘He’s going to escape the hell with the protagonist?’

 

….Is Cha Jaeha’s method impossible?

 

If you only asked for the conclusion, it wasn’t. In the first place, the clear condition for this hell was,

 

「 There is only ‘one’ way to end the hell. You must exile the protagonist of the corresponding hell from the corresponding world. 」

 

If he took the protagonist of the hell out to the world outside the hell, namely the ‘dome’? Wouldn’t the story itself change, just like with Lee Suho?

 

But Han Jeyu definitely said it. That hell is not an ongoing story, but merely the past. If so, does that mean the future didn’t change even after Cha Jaeha killed the protagonist in the original work? What happens if you take that person out of the past?

 

The situation was becoming increasingly complicated. Since entering , even Hwashin couldn’t predict what would happen next for the first time.

 

Moreover, the hell hadn’t even begun yet. Since it was up to the protagonist to decide when the hell would start, that timing couldn’t be known exactly either.

 

However.

 

What was certain.

 

Tung. Chwarak. The atmosphere of the dancers changed, and the young dancers surrounded the dancer in the center. The dancer disappeared through the gap completely hidden by the fabric attached to their arms.

 

Tiring. Dung. Dung. Dung.

 

The rhythm accelerated. Following that rhythm, the young dancers began to rotate. The fabrics that had risen wrapped around the dancers’ bodies and repeatedly unfurled.

 

Tak. The moving circle stopped in its place, and an arm popped out from within.

 

A navy-blue blade whose scabbard had vanished.

 

The sword held in her hand instantly soared into the air. Unknown characters engraved on the blade shone brilliantly as the sword sliced through the sky just like that.

 

A moment no one expected.

 

“K-King!”

 

“C-catch those wenches! No, kill them!”

 

“Kyaaaak!”

 

“Th-the King is dead!!!”

 

Simultaneously with the start of the third song, the King’s throat was pierced.

 

The cry of the woman with curly hair rang out loudly through the hall.

 

“Verite!! Run!”