Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World Chapter 81

He’ll die.

 

If he provoked that man any further. Adam quietly took a step back.

 

This wasn’t his first time seeing Cha Jaeha. Of course, it was his first time seeing him in person, but he had seen a video of him fighting monsters. It was an unreleased video not shown to the public.

 

Cha Jaeha was an S-rank. Adam himself was also an S-rank. By rank alone, there shouldn’t have been a difference. But he was different. As if to say he was the protagonist of this world, the quality of Cha Jaeha’s ability felt entirely distinct. 

 

With a single finger, he could turn someone like Adam into a roast. There was no denying that. 

 

A hero’s abilities come with a certain degree of restriction. Whether that’s a physical burden or a psychological jinx. The hero themselves would feel it. But not him. Like a beast.

 

Cha Jaeha was a beast obsessed only with fighting monsters and closing Gates. 

 

However, when Adam first saw Cha Jaeha in the dungeon after they became a team, he had been slightly relieved.

 

It was because his sharp gaze seemed to have faded. Adam had let his guard down, assuming that his sensitive instincts had dulled because he was part of a team. 

 

Fear crawled up from the tips of his toes. But Adam had to speak. That was what a hero was.

 

“….Just because you glare like that doesn’t mean Yoo Hwashin will come back alive.”

 

At this moment, the look in Cha Jaeha’s eyes as he stared at him was exactly like back then. The very beast in that video.

 

Whoosh. A circular ring of fire formed around Adam’s body. The fire, which burned for a moment,

 

“Hyung…”

 

“…Cha Jaeha, stop.”

 

Died down soon after at the words of the remaining unit members. Cha Jaeha eventually spoke toward Kim Daecheol. 

 

“Let’s go back.”

 

“…..Ah. Well.”

 

Kim Daecheol was sitting slumped, as if he had lost his mind at the sight unfolding before him. It had also been a while since he used his ability. On top of that, he had cast his ability on eight people at once, so his body hadn’t adjusted.

 

He barely straightened his trembling legs and stood up. Kim Daecheol suggested that they mix in with the returning crowds and go down to the Illusion City. A few groups of people were still heading back to the residential areas.

 

Following behind the heroes walking ahead, Kim Daecheol looked back several times.

 

Heo Mugong was no longer here.

 

He had once heard of the world Heo Mugong dreamed of.

 

Back then, when both he and Mugong were a bit younger.

 

‘Daecheol. You know, I like the sky?’

 

‘You haven’t even seen it. This is your first time going to see it.’

 

Thinking about it, Heo Mugong had never given an answer to that. He remembered Heo Mugong’s face at that time. With a smile that looked like a frown, Heo Mugong had replied.

 

‘Daecheol. Let’s make sure we succeed. We’ll show people how beautiful the real thing is. And, let’s let them know that it’s weird to prove one’s worth with light.’

 

‘…..Yeah.’

 

That was what Heo Mugong had said.

 

Even though the barrier was up, the sky could be seen through the transparent film. The morning sky was clear without a single cloud. Come to think of it, Heo Mugong had never once seen the daytime sky.

 

Kim Daecheol ran after the heroes who were far ahead.

 

Mugong, the morning sky you couldn’t see…

 

It is quite beautiful too.

 

Once they reached the Illusion City, they returned to the camper van. Inside Camper No. 7, where Hwashin was missing, all the heroes, Park Sodu, and Kim Daecheol sat in a circle. Cha Jaeha stood leaning against the outside. 

 

Park Sodu was still crying, and Jeong Mueum sat in silence with red eyes.

 

In the end, it was Adam who spoke first this time as well.

 

“….Could you at least give us an opinion on what’s going to happen to this dungeon in the end?”

 

“Yeah, we’re completely new to this.”

 

Nathan added.

 

“We don’t really know either.”

 

Rubbing the back of her neck, Yoo Jian opened her mouth with difficulty.

 

“We’ve cleared it well up until now, but mostly Yoo Hwashin led the way. Yoo Hwashin was also the one who stated the clear conditions. To make the protagonist resolve to maintain this world. He said that was the condition to end the dungeon.”

 

Because if the protagonist collapses, the whole world collapses.

 

At the difficult answer, Adam spoke with a troubled face.

 

“A resolve to maintain the world… you say. That’s quite difficult. Then for now, we should ask the person who originally lived in this dungeon. Kim Daecheol.”

 

“….Ah, pardon?”

 

“What do you plan to do now? Heo Mugong is dead, and the barrier is up. But well, it will probably be restored sooner or later. After that, they will probably look for the cause of the incident. If that happens, they’ll likely track us down. Since we made quite a mess.”

 

Kim Daecheol closed his mouth.

 

Everything Adam said was absolutely right.

 

Kim Daecheol looked at the scenery outside the RV window. Children and the elderly who didn’t know about the operation were peacefully running around the empty lot. Protecting them was also the role of the rebel army.

 

Citizens classified as valueless because they lacked Light. Citizens of the Illusion City classified as valueless despite having Light, because it lacked utility. 

 

Kim Daecheol slowly opened his mouth.

 

“Heo Mugong is dead… I don’t know what will happen to this rebel army now.”

 

It was a group that started solely from ‘inferiority complex’ and ‘irrationality’. A group that started because we didn’t possess what they had. That was his and Heo Mugong’s rebel army.

 

Unable to endure it, he had run away.

 

But at the same time, he felt empty. He couldn’t find the value of life.

 

The sky could be seen through the car window. Because the transparent barrier was still up, the sky visible right now was the clear sky of Enet.

 

Kim Daecheol bowed his head.

 

“I…”

 

Suicide. He was going to end this meaningless life today. That’s what he had thought. Until he met them.

 

“…..Plan to protect this place.”

 

“It might already be meaningless.”

 

At Nathan’s words, Kim Daecheol answered bitterly.

 

“I gave up on finding meaning.”

 

Meaning isn’t what’s important. Kim Daecheol recalled the day he first met the silver-haired man. A day that hadn’t been long ago, yet already felt like the distant past.

 

—If you have nothing precious, you can make something, and if sad things happened, you can find good things.

 

—That’s—. 

 

—Even so, if you haven’t found anything in life, just try being in a state of having found nothing. That’s how you end up meeting people like us. 

 

I thought a life with nothing wasn’t worth living.

 

“….Without having found anything, I plan to just live on.”

 

He felt that it was okay even if he didn’t find anything.

 

“At the same time, I want to teach people not to obsess over light, and that light isn’t important. So that the Illusion City can produce its own energy and become self-sufficient, instead of relying on Enet.”

 

Let’s stop comparing ourselves to them now.

 

“And when someone wants to be together, I’ll be with them.”

 

—There might be at least one person who will stay with you. Perhaps, even now, there might be many people waiting for you, remembering you without you knowing.

 

“Instead of meaning, I want to live for tomorrow while thinking about those who will be with me. Well, there might be times when I have to go up to fight again in between. Though I won’t be as reckless as my friend was.”

 

If I live like that. I think I’ll only know what the sky my friend Heo Mugong wanted was when the time comes.

 

Ending with those words, Kim Daecheol bowed his head. He bent his waist so low that the crown of his head was clearly visible.

 

“I apologize. It is all my fault that your precious comrade died. I will live on without dying and remember you all. Because dying won’t be an atonement.”

 

Simultaneously with those words, a status window popped up before the heroes’ eyes.

 

Different from the status window showing light levels or affiliations.

 

It was a status window depicting the plot of the 「Battery War」.

 

「 Battery War. The story of a man living in a world where everything is determined by light and batteries.

 

It was the moment it reached its end.

 

The end of a dream gone awry. And the start of a new dream.

Kim Daecheol thought of the dead Heo Mugong and a certain man.

 

There probably won’t be any reason why they died and he survived.

It’s just luck.

 

Therefore, Kim Daecheol had to live even more. Not to find meaning, but just to live.

He had resolved to live looking towards tomorrow.

 

Not war, but truly tomorrow. 」

 

[ The rift in the corresponding dimension has been restored. ]

[ Part 1 of the story in the corresponding dimension has ended, but this dimension does not end. ]

[ The roles of those dragged in have all ended. ]

[ A total of $@#% people dragged into the rift will return to their original world. ]

[ The dimensions are severed, but simultaneously connected. Please, do not forget this fact. ]

 

***

 

“Haa.”

 

A man with an anxious face was pacing in front of the Red Gate. Click. His thumbnails, which he’d been biting intermittently, had turned into the shape of gears. 

 

Normally, even for a Red Gate, it wouldn’t take more than a day. But a day and a half had already passed. Just what on earth was happening inside.

 

What Ha Cheongwon’s foresight ability could reveal was only about ‘The heroes successfully complete the mission.’

 

“Th-they’re coming out!!!”

 

The B-rank hero who had been waiting with him abruptly stood up from his seat.

 

Vwooom—.

 

The color of the Red Gate changed as white light poured out. Although he frowned, Ha Cheongwon’s gaze remained fixed towards the gate.

 

The first ones to come out were the American heroes. That red hair must be Nathan, and is that blond hair Adam? Because he was told Nathan and Adam moved as a set. So America also sent elite heroes for the internal search.

 

Next, Cha Jaeha revealed himself.

 

‘….Thank goodness.’

 

It seems everyone made it back alive. Relieved, Ha Cheongwon slowly checked the members.

 

Cha Jaeha, Jeong Mueum, Lee Suho, and Yoo Jian.

 

Wait a minute.

 

The Gate closed, and the heroes standing there remained silent. Ha Cheong-won pushed up his glasses as if he couldn’t believe it.

 

No matter how many times he checked, one person was missing.

…….

 

“Where… is Yoo Hwashin-ssi?”

 

***

 

“Ah, I’m bored!”

 

“Stop stuffing your face with cookies, Elric.”

 

“But what can I do when the cookies you dragons eat are so delicious? Were you locked in this room making nothing but cookies your whole life?”

 

Hwa-shin… no, Elric, with a butter cookie in his mouth, was sprawling out on the sofa. 

 

“You said you’d go back when it’s time, so why are you still here?”

 

“Well. The person who’s going to grant my favor isn’t awake all the time, you know. The flow of time here and outside is different anyway.”

 

Munch munch. The sweet butter cookie melted softly in his mouth.

 

“Are there any more cookies?”

 

Holding the empty plate, Hwashin smiled brightly.

 

The dimensional dragon, who had been reading <Your Hero Is Here>, let out a deep sigh at the gap between Hwashin’s behavior and the situation currently unfolding in the book.

 

‘….Those guys really need to know he’s doing this here.’