Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World

On the morning of the operation day, Ha Cheongwon was the first to arrive at Yoon Bongpal’s office.

 

Seeing the dark circles under Cheongwon’s eyes, Bongpal lit a cigarette and said.

 

“Wow, your face looks terrible. You look like a zombie.”

 

Yoon Bongpal and Ha Cheongwon, who joined the Association as colleagues at the same time, used to have dinner together often, but since the formation of the SH Unit, they hadn’t had time for that. Cheongwon had become extremely busy.

 

“You used to love leaving work on time, but I heard you’re working until 8 PM these days.”

 

Ha Cheongwon leaned back in his chair, pressing his fingers between his brows.

 

“It’s all because of Freak incidents. Plus, I have separate duties for Unit 2.”

 

“How’s your sister?”

 

“…She’s doing well.”

 

“How did she get better? It’s not something you can just recover from.”

 

The inability to adapt to mana was more like a phenomenon, difficult to classify as a disease.  So there was no known cure. Although there were rare instances where people recovered miraculously, doctors had given a grim prognosis for Ha Cheongwon’s sister, Ha Yoojin.

 

“I’m not really sure myself.”

 

“What?”

 

Ha Cheongwon recalled the moment his sister was healed, thinking of the subtle smile and the small glow spreading from fingertips.

 

What was Yoo Hwashin’s ability? Could he really do such a thing just by manipulating mana? Ha Cheongwon could have reported this ability to his superiors or academic circles, but he chose not to.

 

“That’s how miracles work, I guess.”

 

He considered it the least he could do as a courtesy to his benefactor.

 

“So, why did you choose those two?”

 

“Why do you think? It’s just because the other two were hard to manage. I picked the ones whose faces matched the criminal profiles you specified. What, you got a problem?”

 

“No, it’s just that if those two go… it becomes unclear who to hand over the command to, which makes things a bit complicated.”

 

Haa. With a sigh of concern, the door opened with a beeping sound. Behind the door, with a languid and relaxed voice, he walked in.

 

“Hello.”

 

“Hello.”

 

On one side stood Yoo Hwashin, and on the other, Yoo Jian.

 

***

 

Yoon Bongpal’s overall physical strength was rated C, but his mana was rated A, making his overall rank B. His ability belonged to the manipulation category, which was specialized for infiltration missions like this one.

 

His main job was to mold the faces of heroes infiltrating.

 

“How do you mold faces?” 

 

Hwashin asked, sitting in the chair with a clean face after washing up. Cheongwon, who was putting a towel around his neck, answered instead of Bongpal.

 

“Think of it like sculpting clay. You look at a photo of the person you want to transform into and adjust the face accordingly. Since we’re not cutting or removing anything, it’s better to choose someone with similar facial contours to lower the chances of failure.”

 

“Yeah, yeah. That’s why we picked you two.”

 

A gloved hand alternately pointed at Yoo Jian and Yoo Hwashin.

 

“The two captured criminals are both in their mid-twenties. They’re both male, but one has a slight build, so we considered choosing either Yoo Jian or Jeong Mueum.”

 

After pulling on his blue gloves, Yoon Bongpal wheeled his chair over in front of Hwashin.

 

“But Jeong Mueum is a minor. Even though he already does a lot of dangerous work, it’s not right to have him infiltrate a criminal organization. Close your eyes.”

 

His tone was kind but firm. Hwashin responded with a simple ‘Yes’ and easily closed his eyes.

 

Bongpal’s hand touched Hwashin’s eyelids and then slid down to his nose bridge after a moment.

 

The sensation was unfamiliar, something he’d never experienced before. Even as his face was being molded, he felt no pain, just the odd feeling of his features rearranging themselves.

 

“It feels weird, right?”

 

Unable to speak, Hwashin nodded his head.

 

“I’m telling you just in case you’re worried, it’s easy to return your normal face. When my mana wears off, it returns on its own. By the way, the time limit is 3 hours.”

 

“That’s why the operation time is set to a three-hour limit.”

 

“We have to spend three whole hours with those guys? Ugh.”

 

Yoo Jian shuddered in disgust. She was wearing a comfortable XL-sized hoodie, as per Bongpal’s instructions to wear clothes that hide the body shape as much as possible.

 

“All done. Take a look in the mirror.”

 

As Bongpal’s hand withdrew, Hwashin picked up the hand mirror that had been prepared.

 

“Wow. You can even change hair color?”

 

“Well, you can’t call it a transformation if I couldn’t. Next, Miss Yoo Jian, come sit here.”

 

Hwashin got up, still muttering words of amazement. Yoo Jian giggled as she took pictures of Hwashin’s transformed face.

 

He had thought he would change, but he didn’t expect to look exactly like the photo he had been given. Since his build was similar from the start, wearing a loose white shirt and black pants made him look just like the person in the picture.

 

The brown crew cut, thick eyebrows, and even the aquiline nose were perfectly recreated, showcasing Bongpal’s impressive skill.

 

‘Could I use magic like this one day?’

 

He’d never tried casting such a spell before. He should experiment with it sometime in the future.

 

“How’s the face?”

 

“It’s interesting. When will you tell us about the operation?”

 

“We plan to brief everyone from Unit 1 around lunchtime after Miss Yoo Jian’s face is done too. This time, you can’t bring Pii.”

 

Ha Cheongwon added a remark about Pii as a precaution. Bringing Pii along might risk exposing their identities.

 

“Well, Pii is pretty famous now too.”

 

Hwashin nodded with a proud smile. It made sense since Hwashin always took Pii with him during missions, leading to the creation of online communities about Pii.

 

Initially, there were concerns about animal abuse for bringing an animal to dangerous sites, but the Association provided good explanations about Pii, and such talks quickly disappeared.

 

“Could you bring Pii to our Unit’s office sometime?”

 

“You’re talking about Pii?”

 

Was it because of their gate research? Most heroes knew that Pii was a creature that had emerged from a gate.

 

“Yes. My superior seems interested in that animal, Pii… Though it’s debatable whether you can call it animal.”

 

“By your superior, do you mean San Ihyeong?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Alright then. How is San Ihyeong? Do you like her?”

 

He probably doesn’t,

Hwashin thought. They were so incompatible. San Ihyeong found Cheongwon’s by-the-book behavior frustrating, while Cheongwon was uncomfortable with San Ihyeong’s refusal to follow protocols.

 

But…

 

“Yes, she’s fine.”

 

This was a rather unexpected answer. Surprised, Hwashin asked again, ‘Really?’. Ha Cheongwon rested his chin on his hand, pondered for a moment, then nodded.

 

“Yes. She’s a bit…eccentric at times.”

 

Then he looked at Yoo Hwashin intently and let out a small laugh.

 

“But you’re even more unusual, Mr. Yoo Hwashin. Compared to you, she’s pretty normal.”

 

“What? Me?”

 

“Don’t you remember our first meeting? It was the worst.”

 

Ha Cheongwon shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. Honestly, back then, he thought Hwashin was crazy. …Not that his opinion had changed much since then.

 

The only difference now was that Hwashin had become his benefactor.

 

“What are you two doing? I’m done.”

 

Hwashin tried to suppress a smile at Jian’s altered appearance. He could see the veins popping on Jian’s forehead.

 

Hwashin carefully asked, holding his phone, “…Jian, can I take a picture?”

 

Her voice shook with anger.

 

“I’ll kill you if you do.”

 

Better stay quiet.

 

Yoon Bongpal, who was the one responsible for Yoo Jian’s transformation, stretched with a yawn, looking exhausted after using his abilities.

 

“Alright, everyone, off you go now.”

 

“Mr. Bong-pal, is this really the best—!”

 

“Let’s go.”

 

Hwashin quickly ushered Yoo Jian out, stifling her protest. After all, her transformed appearance was extremely, extreeeemely successful.

 

***

 

“Pfft.”

 

Jeong Mueum’s shoulders shook. Unable to hold back any longer, Mueum turned away, laughing.

 

The faces of the two criminals. He had seen them. Photos? He’d seen those too. But the problem was that Ha Cheongwon didn’t mention that those photos were from ages ago.

 

Unit 1 gathered in the second meeting room was desperately trying to hold back laughter, except for Yoo Jian.

 

Yoo Jian glanced resentfully at Ha Cheongwon, who was standing in front of them, preparing to explain the operation.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“…I didn’t know either. The latest photos Mr. Yoon Bongpal has haven’t been sent to me yet.”

 

“Oh, come on!”

 

“…Bald suits you well.”

 

Yeah.

 

Yoo Jian became bald. That small-built criminal had recently shaved his head in prison. Considering the possibility that even this detail might have been picked up by Freak, Yoo Jian had been transformed into a bald man.

 

Even Cha Jaeha was desperately averting his eyes from Yoo Jian.

 

Even though her face wasn’t Yoo Jian’s, her original face kept overlapping with the bald look. The only person who wasn’t laughing was Ha Cheongwon.

 

“Now, I’ll explain the operation. First, the location and time of the Freak meeting. The location is near an abandoned building in Mapo-gu, and the time is between 7 and 8 PM. Since my foresight isn’t perfect, we’ll need to be in the area and follow groups of people entering.”

 

The PPT flipped to the next slide. It showed detailed photos of the abandoned building. It was a four-story building with two underground levels, surrounded by failed cafes and stores, so it didn’t seem like a place where many people would gather.

 

“The primary objective of the infiltration is to uncover their purpose. Ideally, we’d like to eliminate the Freaks gathered at the meeting, but since we can’t assume they’re all present, our top priority is understanding the goals of the group called Freak. If anyone has any objections, please speak up.”

 

Hmm. Certainly. The time was perfect for this kind of operation. For Hwashin too, it was more important to understand how large of a force was behind Freak rather than immediately eliminating them.

 

What if, in the process, they found out Freak was behind the destruction?

 

‘Then I’d have to kill them quickly.’

 

After all, pests need to be exterminated before they breed.

 

“Since there are no other opinions, let’s move on. The infiltrators will be Yoo Jian and Yoo Hwashin. Cha Jaeha and Jeong Mueum will remain on standby outside. If there’s an alert for an S-rank gate in another location, please head there.”

 

“Question~”

 

Hwashin, who had been resting his arm on the desk, raised his hand. His unfamiliar face startled Ha Cheongwon for a moment, but he quickly composed himself.

 

“Yes, go ahead.”

 

“What if the meeting lasts longer than three hours?”

 

Ha Cheongwon moved to the next slide on the PPT, which showed the expected duration of the meeting. It was estimated to last about 1 to 1.5 hours.

 

“The meeting is almost always finished in an hour. As for the three hours Mr. Hwashin mentioned… I doubt it’ll happen, but given the large number of attendees, you should be able to slip out unnoticed midway. That’s why both of you are told to wear hoodies, and besides, those two prisoners haven’t attended in a while, so they won’t be paying much attention to you.”

 

The plan might have seemed flimsy, but such was the nature of infiltration. Moreover—

 

“You’re both S-rank, after all.”

 

“Well, true.”

 

The bald one shrugged confidently.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

“Why didn’t you bring the axe?!”

 

“Hey, Yoo Hwashin!”

 

Of course, the future unfolded a bit differently than they expected.