Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World

Based on his experience with countless fake temples and priests, Yoo Jian’s assessment was accurate.

 

“His face is so pale and sickly, and his smile is greasy. He looks like the perfect con artist.”

 

With her hoodie pulled low, Yoo Jian mumbled constantly beside Hwashin.

Did you get scammed by someone who looked like that in a previous life, Jian? Or do you just dislike him because he’s Freak’s leader?

 

Either way, it was clear that Yoo Jian was about to explode.

 

Han Jeyou didn’t seem to hear her insults, smiling brightly with his pale face.

 

“Gate, monsters, awakeners. It’s been about five years since these novel-like words came to dominate our world. Globally, those who awakened were hailed as heroes. And now, at this moment, what remains for us? What has been placed in our hands?”

 

“Nothing at all! What the heck is this, seriously!”

 

“Are awakeners some kind of national asset or what?!”

 

Although comments kept interjecting after each of his statements, Han Jeyou didn’t seem to mind much. Rather, he didn’t even pay attention to them.

 

“Every citizen must undergo an awakening test, and if found to be awakened, their life is divided into two paths: forcibly becoming a hero, or never using their abilities for life.”

 

He spread his arms wide again, his soft tone and natural control over the intensity of his words were perfect. His speech was flawless, captivating everyone present. Well, almost everyone.

 

“At present, the awakeners in Korea have no rights. They only have the obligation to work for the nation. Freak is a group aiming to eliminate this. The logical hierarchy where those with power should be in a superior position. Freak is a group striving to realize this logic, to achieve this noble cause. Indeed.”

 

That’s who we are.

 

…Right, that was basically what his speech was about. Why should those with power be subjugated to the nation, and how should humanity progress?

 

Yoo Jian had already given up listening midway through and started recording instead. The latest miniature recorder that Ha Cheongwon had provided was quite helpful.

 

“…We’ve already taken the first step. From here, we will continue to develop, and you will be part of every step of that development.”

 

“Yeah, I want to make a ton of money with this power too!”

 

“Exactly! What is this?! Being awakened but working an office job doesn’t make sense!”

 

To be honest, he had thought about it a few times. Not every awakened person would want to use their abilities for the country.

 

It didn’t give enormous wealth either. Of course, there were high positions and honor, but couldn’t they amass even more money?

 

So that was why people like these appear. Power didn’t only go to the righteous ones.

 

‘It’s the same with me with this power.’

 

While everyone was shouting, Han Jeyou naturally stepped off the podium and began mingling with the crowd.

 

“Shouldn’t he be president or something?”

 

“Haha, right?”

 

“What should we do? It’s been two hours.”

 

The pair of man and woman who had been following Han Jeyou were now guarding all the exits of the room. As if they wouldn’t let even a single mouse out of here.

 

“Seems like we’ve achieved our goal?”

 

“You mean our pathetic goal of just hearing their intention to follow us around?”

 

“Yeah, that pathetic one. Good. Say exactly that in front of Ha Cheongwon.”

 

Yes. Freak was really trivial. How did Han Jeyou manage to grow this group? Even Hwashin himself failed at resurrecting a mage tower. He was curious about Han Jeyou’s business acumen at least.

 

‘Putting all that aside, I really haven’t gained anything today.’

 

There wasn’t any specific information from Han Jeyou’s speech about how they were related to the apocalypse. Besides, Freak was just a group that Cha Jaeha could easily handle.

 

So, there was no need to mess with them now. Not touching them would make predicting future developments easier.

 

As he was thinking that, a man in a neat suit stood in front of Hwashin.

 

“Hello.”

 

“…Hello, Mr. Han Jeyou.”

 

In response to Hwashin’s faint smile, Han Jeyou clinked his glass against the empty one on the table and spoke.

 

“You’re Chil who recently got out of prison, right?”

 

“Yes, that’s correct.”

 

“I’ve heard a lot about you. I heard you were quite active before I came along.”

 

“…Is that so? That’s an honor.”

 

Seeing him up close, Han Jeyou drank his alcohol with hands rougher than they looked. His Adam’s apple bobbed once and he asked Hwashin.

 

“So, the place you were confined in, was it the Association’s underground prison?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Hwashin nodded.

 

The awakened people who committed crimes couldn’t be imprisoned in regular facilities.

 

They were confined in the very bottom of the association’s building where no one could use their powers. The prison was constructed from byproducts of monsters. Years ago, a British scientist discovered materials that could nullify abilities while studying these byproducts, and the Association’s prison was made from these materials.

 

“Aha. That’s amazing. How did you escape from there? It couldn’t have been easy.”

 

“It’s all thanks to my abilities. I had a momentary opening.”

 

“Really? What about the friend next to you? Did that friend manage the same?”

 

Han Jeyou pointed directly at Yoo Jian.

 

“Yes.”

 

His question was peculiar. There wasn’t much to elaborate on, nor did it seem like he wanted a long answer.

 

Yes, as if.

 

“Then, why don’t we talk about the old days? I’d like to hear about the Freak from your time. The joy of discovering a world I don’t know is both unfamiliar and intriguing.”

 

As if his goal was to buy time.

 

***

 

When a person lived for over two hundred years, one of the things they developed was a sense of intuition.

 

There were different types of this intuition.

 

A quick intuition honed by time, or the intuition to pretend not to notice something even when you did.

 

Perhaps those years weren’t a waste on him, as Hwashin realized that Han Jeyou already knew who ‘they; were.

 

How? It was just a feeling. How else? It was like a sixth sense that no one could fault you for even if you were wrong.

 

“During our time in prison, our memories got a bit blurry.”

 

Hwashin, wearing Chil’s face, said with a laugh.

 

“…Is that so?”

 

“Yes, so I’m afraid I don’t have much to tell you.”

 

Yoo Jian, standing next to him, hid her hands inside the long sleeves of her hoodie. She clenched her fists, ready to kill someone at any moment.

 

“That’s a shame. I thought if it were you two who remembered Freak’s past, you’d be more receptive to our plans.”

 

“You mean that pathetic plan of just following heroes around?” 

 

Yoo Jian asked with a sneer.

 

Jian, we were supposed to say that in front of Mr. Ha Cheongwon

. He was impressed by her straightforward personality. Was this why Cheongwon disliked working with Unit 1?

 

But well. Hwashin was also a member of Unit 1, so he had no intention of stopping her. Wasn’t it interesting? The standoff between these two.

 

Even when facing Hwashin with fox-like eyes and the visibly irritated bald Yoo Jian, Han Jeyou didn’t lose his smile. He laughed more joyfully than ever before.

 

“Haha, a pathetic plan, you say. Well, I suppose the current Freak is a bit pathetic. We had a hard time just hijacking one ambulance.”

 

I think so too.

 

Han Jeyou, smiling broadly, repeated the words ‘pathetic plan’ once more and continued.

 

“Well, then. I’ll give you a reward for realizing we are just a pathetic group executing pathetic plans.”

 

Han Jeyou wiggled his fingers. Following his two fingers, Hwashin also leaned his upper body forward.

 

“This world, you see.”

 

The man with the face of a boy made a popping sound with his mouth.

 

“Is going to be destroyed.”

 

Destroyed?

 

“I want to hasten that time.”

 

And create a new world

. Han Jeyou leaned back and raised his glass high, grinning as everyone behind him raised their glasses in a toast.

 

“…What is this guy saying?”

 

Jian frowned at his nonsense. ‘What should we do now?’ she asked, looking up at Hwashin.

 

Yoo Jian had never experienced a feeling where every hair on her body stood on end. Not even when she first saw the gate.

 

But now. Yes, now. She was feeling that sensation. A danger signal from her body. That signal was all pointing to the one man in front of her.

 

Even though he wore the face of another person called Chil, she could see Hwashin’s real face beneath that mask.

 

Seeing his expression with a smile completely different from usual, Jian softly called his name.

 

“Yoo… Hwashin?”

 

***

 

‘I’m bored.’

 

While waiting, Jeong Mueum had nothing to do, or rather, there was nothing he could do.

 

He was just sitting with Cha Jaeha in a secondhand car on the verge of being scraped in a parking lot across from the abandoned building, waiting for the two people to send a signal.

 

If there was a gate warning alarm, they would head there, but if anything happened to those two beforehand, they would rush in. That was the plan.

 

The plan itself wasn’t difficult. Besides, the thought of those two getting hurt… It didn’t even cross his mind. It would be a relief if noona didn’t beat someone to a pulp.

 

The problem was on this side.

 

‘This is so awkward, ugh.’

 

Two hours of silence passed. No, it seemed like it had been nearly two hours and twenty minutes. They said it would be over in an hour, but it didn’t. Not a single person had come out of the basement so far.

 

‘Sigh…’

 

He had been on a few missions with Cha Jaeha, but they hadn’t really talked then, either.

 

– I’ll go this way. Mr. Cha Jaeha, please take that side.

 

– Alright.

 

– It might be better if you stay back.

 

– Well… No. Alright. I’ll do that then.

 

If heated arguments count as conversation, then they did have a conversation. Even though he tried, it didn’t work out well.

 

Ah! Fine!

He knew it was his fault. It was not like Cha Jaeha refused just him. Cha Jaeha rejected everyone as a pair.

Does it make sense to hold a grudge over that, Jeong Mueum? Are you going to act like a childish high schooler?

 

….Ah, but it was still frustrating, so frustrating. But he needed to do his job properly. Shouldn’t he smooth things over then?

 

Aaargh—

 

Two versions of himself were bouncing around wildly inside him.

 

Surprisingly, after two hours and twenty minutes, Cha Jaeha was the one to speak first.

 

“You once requested to pair up with me, right?”

 

His gaze was still fixed ahead, but Mueum turned his body sideways as soon as he heard the voice.

 

His heart pounded.

Y-You remembered?

 

“….Huh?..Yes, that’s right.”

 

Then suddenly, he turned his body back again. Mueum, who was crammed into the passenger seat, made himself even smaller. He clutched the seatbelt tightly.

 

“H-How did you know?”

 

“Yoo Jian told me.”

 

“…Ah, that noona.”

 

He felt awkward for no reason. This person would probably laugh too. How pathetic to be hung up on something like that.

 

But well. It pretty stung to be rejected by someone you thought of as a hero and truly respected—

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“…Yes?”

 

“Back then, I. I couldn’t really trust people.”

 

“…Uh.”

 

Surprised by the unexpected response, Jeong Mueum clamped his mouth shut. He hadn’t anticipated this kind of development.

 

“To be precise, I couldn’t trust myself.”

 

Yes, Cha Jaeha couldn’t trust himself and his abilities. After all, he was the guy who killed his parents, and he wasn’t sure how helpful his abilities would be to others.

 

So he closed gates as much as he could. At least this cursed ability could be of help where people couldn’t see.

 

He rejected all pair-ups. He didn’t want to be a hindrance.

 

“…So, now. Can you trust yourself now?”

 

Cha Jaeha lowered his eyes as if contemplating the question Mueum bravely asked.

 

Can I trust myself now?

Why did he give this belated apology at this timing? If it were for abstract concepts like teamwork and such, it should have been done earlier.

 

“Well.”

 

But this belated apology could only happen today. After somewhat breaking free from that day’s curse, in this moment when it was just the two of them, with a young awakened who might have been disappointed in him.

 

The corner of Cha Jaeha’s mouth lifted slightly. A light laugh escaped with his response. Although he didn’t want to believe it was all because of that cheeky kid.

 

“To some extent.”

 

Bang!

 

As he answered, their car was pushed back. The massive impact that lifted the car seemed to be from an explosion in the basement of the abandoned building opposite. Black smoke resembling volcanic ash swirled in the sky. The flames that rose up were already engulfing the second floor of the building.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

Cha Jaeha’s long leg kicked the car door with a bang, and the old door flew off.

 

Seeing that, Jeong Mueum also kicked the now-lightened door and spoke.

 

“Yes, hyung.”

 

The flames roared even more fiercely. Without hesitation, the two dashed toward the building.