Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World Chapter 96

“One neck, two, three, four. This is the first time I’ve killed people like this.” 

 

“Don’t count people by the head.”

 

Wang Hao said, holding two heads in each hand. The chaotic hall was slowly reaching its end. Key figures who hadn’t drunk the champagne quickly escaped through the exit routes. Those who drank the champagne and became poisoned were killed by the hands of heroes.

 

To those who fled, the deaths of heroes or the poisoned weren’t that important anyway.

 

In the end, it’s human nature to be busy saving one’s own neck.

 

“Where did the Korean representatives go?”

 

Wang Hao asked. Yoo Hwashin had not been seen throughout the fighting in the hall.

 

“A Red Gate opened, and they went that way.”

 

With his snake-like, slanted eyes flashing open, Wang Hao jumped up and down in his spot.

 

“Whaaat? If something that interesting happened, you should have given me a hint.” 

 

“Wang Hao, we deliberately didn’t tell you.”

 

Nathan, who roughly wiped blood on his pants, walked towards Wang Hao. Behind Nathan swarmed bodies that had lost consciousness but were not yet dead.

 

Neatly ignoring Nathan’s words, Wang Hao opened his mouth after seeing the pile of living bodies behind him.

 

“You didn’t kill them properly?” 

 

“We don’t want to make enemies. The host country of the summit will handle the cleanup nicely.” 

 

“That’s surprisingly thoughtful for you, Nathan.”  

 

At Wang Hao’s mocking laughter, Nathan jumped up and down in rage. It was up to Uncle Adam, who grabbed both his arms, to calm the rampaging Nathan down.

 

“Save your bickering for later.”

 

Ignaty pointed outside the door with his chin.

 

Crowds of Awakened were visible outside the hall. Those who had already lost their reason were approaching with only the whites of their eyes showing. Some walked on broken ankles; others were drooling. Not a single one among them looked sane. 

 

‘Is this the end of the experiment?’

 

Ignaty took a moment to catch his breath and spoke while looking at the surrounding heroes one by one. Regardless, right now he had to faithfully execute the reason Yoo Hwashin had left him here.

 

“Article 9, Paragraph 1 of the International Hero Treaty. Does everyone remember?”

 

Ignaty asked, clenching his fist.

 

In his opinion, what could bind these damn bastards wasn’t some petty justice, but a treaty established for mutual benefit among nations.

 

And perhaps the meager pride that heroes possess.

 

“I bet Nathan doesn’t remember that.” 

 

“Hey, I passed in second place, you know?” 

 

“You shouldn’t tell lies that can’t be verified, little Nathan.”

 

Wang Hao stepped forward with a smile. Nathan grumbled as he took off his wristwatch and shoved it into his pocket. Beside him, Adam stretched both arms out wide.

 

Ignaty initiated, and all the heroes opened their mouths simultaneously.

 

“While heroes of each nation have, in principle, no obligation to protect the citizens of a host nation…” 

 

Different nationalities, different languages coalesced into one voice.

 

Rapidly beating hearts slowly lowered their heart rates.

 

Justice gathered as one clearly showed the situation before their eyes.

 

“…when there is a ‘cause capable of resulting in a massacre’ before their eyes, they cannot refuse to handle said cause.”

 

The bodies of all the heroes dashed forward simultaneously.

 

***

 

“This is my first time in a Red Gate. So the inside of a gate… looks like this.”

 

Izawa looked around.

 

In the original work, Cha Jaeha was the only one who handled the gate that appeared at the summit. Unlike other gates, this was possible because this gate primarily relied on numerical superiority. Though he came out of the gate half-dead after a life-or-death battle.

 

“Wh-what is this? It looks similar to a status window, but subtly different.” 

 

“It’s a hologram window. It serves to tell us what will happen in the Red Gate. To get straight to the point, inside the dungeon of a Red Gate, there are beings like dungeon bosses, and we must prevent that boss from ending the dimension.” 

 

“Prevent them from ending it….”

 

Hwashin tapped his temple with a finger.

 

“Because most of them are guys with really weak mentalities.”

 

That’s how the protagonist of a dimension is. Every protagonist either overcomes adversity, or dies fighting against it. It’s one of the two.

 

That’s why they are the protagonist.

 

If they live a painless life with only comfortable things and meet a peaceful death, or if their head gets sliced off without even having time for that, then they’re just an extra.

 

The name of this dungeon is 「Abandoned Wasteland」.

 

And the protagonist of this dungeon does not appear until the end. The reason Cha Jaeha was able to close this place was simply because he won the war against the protagonist. Whether the protagonist’s wish was to stop him, or something else entirely, is unknown.

 

Because he never knew their true identity in the first place.

 

「 This is the wasteland. A place that disregards both life and death. Those living here are cursed, wandering in the space between. 」 

 

They stood in the middle of a desert that felt completely different from Albion. The sky was bright yet dark, and shining stars could be seen next to the risen sun. In this unknown space, green hands rose from beneath the ground. Hundreds, no thousands, no, countless hands wrapped in bandages filled the surface of the earth.

 

They poked their faces out. Some were missing eyes, and some were barely connecting their severed necks with nerves.

 

“It would have been better if the kids from the SH1 unit were here. Right?” 

 

“We can’t call those who aren’t here. Let’s take care of these guys first. It’s okay to kill them, right?” 

 

“Yeah, it looks better to get rid of them.”

 

Cha Jaeha stepped forward.

 

“Can you control them to gather in the center?” 

 

“I’ll have to try to know, but.”

 

It was true that this body had weakened from the deal with the Origin.

 

But even so.

 

“If you wish for it.”

 

I’m not one to refuse what the protagonist wants.

 

Hwashin stood up. Following him, Izawa also hesitated and got up from her seat.

 

‘Wh-what should I do.’

 

The wandering pupils of Izawa barely calmed down at Hwashin’s voice.

 

“Chisaki-san.” 

 

He had approached her at some point and whispered in her ear. Izawa’s heart pounded. Because he was the first among the heroes to call her by her name. She answered in a thin voice.

 

“Yes.” 

 

“This Gate will pressure us with sheer numbers. Normally we’d have to defeat them all, but because Chisaki-san is here, there’s something we can do.” 

 

Hwashin smiled brightly. That smile made her heart pound again. Izawa Chisaki fumbled for the hem of the cloak she had already taken off, and this time tightly gripped the long skirt she was wearing.

 

“Can you do me one favor?”

 

Hwashin placed a finger over his lips. At that secret request, Izawa Chisaki nodded her head vigorously.

 

After briefly stating what he wanted, Hwashin stood side-by-side with Cha Jaeha. Atop a black sand dune, Hwashin slowly raised his hands. It had been a long time since he had manipulated this much karma at once. 

 

How long had it been? It felt like over a hundred years. Even during the Battery War, he hadn’t manipulated threads on this scale. 

 

The threads of destiny dangling from the corpses were faint. The fainter they were, the more immense concentration was required.

 

For the more blurred a Law is, the harder it is to control. 

 

“I’m going in.” 

 

“Yeah.”

 

Cha Jaeha dug into the horde at a speed impossible to track with the naked eye. 

 

Phew.

 

Hwashin took a slow, deep breath. His slender chest rose and fell. Hwashin’s eyelids lifted as he regained his vision. Before him, silver threads appeared. Traces of threads forcibly connecting this life to the next. Hwashin slowly raised his fingers. 

 

He touches a strand of that thread. That one strand of thread later spreads widely and connects with all the threads.

 

“「Do not scatter.」”

 

“「Gather to the center.」”

 

What is destiny?

 

He still didn’t know. Even while being bound by cause and effect for that long time. Karma, retribution. Actually, perhaps the one who wants to reject all those destinies is himself.

 

“Cha Jaeha!” 

 

“I know!”

 

Perhaps holding onto that feeling was what kept him saving this world and Cha Jaeha from destruction.

 

A strange light swirled in Hwashin’s eyes. But that light was not his own.

 

A massive explosion caused by Cha Jaeha on the sand. A huge flame roared over the wasteland where no explosives existed.

 

The gathered hundreds of corpses, of lives, burned. In between the places the flames didn’t reach, Cha Jaeha jumped in himself. The fists he swung carried fire. Charred ashes could be seen in the holes punched into the corpses.

 

“Uuugh—.” 

 

The wasteland zombies died, writhing in agony. Cha Jaeha killed them without a single change in his expression. They were the enemy. The Gate would only close if they were killed. 

 

‘Th…ank…you….’ 

 

‘….Ple…ase stop now…..’ 

 

‘I want to….stop…now.’

 

At the voices occasionally heard, Cha Jaeha bit his lip hard.

 

He was killing them. At the same time, he was saving them. The zombies burned, turned to ash, and returned to black sand. Simultaneously, countless hologram windows filled their vision.

 

「 The black sand was soon ash made of life. Those who gained life due to a curse could not end their own lives. They wandered this place aimlessly. 」

 

「 In a world that had already ended, they struggled to protect this world. They didn’t know that very struggle would become a shackle and devour them. 」

 

「 Is it right for me to protect this world? Actually… the one who called me here is no longer here. The worries of the wandering souls were slowly being resolved. 」

 

“So these kinds of windows popped up, huh?”

 

Hwashin, who lightly tapped a hologram window, looked down. He saw the sight of the protagonist struggling. 

 

‘Hmm, not bad.’

 

Rubbing his chin and watching the scene, Hwashin twirled his finger. Zombies newly born from beyond Cha Jaeha’s reach. Their threads snapped in an instant. Before their entire bodies could even emerge, they turned to dust and disappeared. Not one body, not ten bodies, but thousands of bodies. Returning once again. To sand. To dust. To nothingness.

 

Rustle. 

 

“Still, it’s better for him to suffer appropriately.”

 

Hwashin laughed, letting out a snort. At that moment, a heavy pain was felt in his chest. Cough. Along with a short cough, blood splattered onto the sand.

 

‘Riel, isn’t your Origin being too harsh?’

 

As he raised his bloodstained hand to the sky, Riel answered.

 

– Do you know how much power it takes to resurrect one person? …..So be careful from now on. I’m begging you. Because your body isn’t like it used to be either. 

 

‘Hmm. Well, I just have to hold out until the destruction.’

 

He tightly clenched the blood on his palm. Hwashin looked down again.

 

– Ah, and let me tell you one more thing. 

 

‘What is it?’

 

– The contents of the  book. 

 

‘You’re not supposed to tell me that.’

 

The sound of Riel’s sigh could be heard from the sky above. If Izawa Chisaki were listening to this voice, she would have said the spirit’s voice was very nice.

 

– Right now, the progression of your book is fluctuating wildly.

 

‘What does that mean?’

 

– [Partial Excerpt]

 

Opening his eyes again at the clear voice, a new window floated before Hwashin’s eyes. Even though the contents of the book should absolutely not be shown.

 

“So this is why you showed me?”

 

Hwashin smiled faintly.

 

If it’s this, it definitely doesn’t matter if I see it.