Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World

Life was a shackle. Born unwillingly, they lived through hell.

 

For Lee Suho, life was a shackle. Blood no longer flowed to the ankles of the boy wearing these shackles. It was terrible. Day by day, he was rotting away. A horrible stench. A filthy body. Would he have to keep living like this?

 

He had no proper memories.

 

He didn’t know when, how, or why he was born.

 

All he could remember was:

 

This place. This school.

 

Why was he here?

 

***

 

“No!”

 

[Hehe, what do you mean no?]

 

“No, no, no, no, no!”

 

No! The kid screamed. It was a scream mixed with tears.

 

Jeong Mueum quietly looked down at the boy on the ground, who kept repeating the word ‘no’. With the headset still in his hand, Mueum let out a small sigh.

 

No matter what, they had to settle this situation.

 

“Hey.”

 

“….No. No.”

 

“Hey!”

 

“….No.”

 

“Calm down for a moment.”

 

What did he say his name was?

 

Jeong Mueum stood in front of Suho, who kept repeating ‘no’. He then locked eyes with him. As Suho tried to avoid his gaze, Mueum asked again.

 

Your name, say it out loud.

 

“…Lee. Lee Suho.”

 

His trembling eyes still couldn’t meet Mueum’s. It seemed like he was deliberately avoiding eye contact.

 

‘Lee Suho.’

 

Mueum repeated the name in his mind as he looked at the statues. He pointed at Suho.

 

“Lee Suho said no.”

 

The statues who heard the answer started whispering.

 

[He says he’s not, he’s not.]

 

[Kekeke, he’s a liar. Everything here became like this because of him.]

 

[Boy, do you even know what that kid is saying? ]

 

If you had a mouth, you’d naturally talk behind people’s backs. Whether you were a human or a stone statue.

 

Words were indeed the problem.

 

– Mueum, you know, my mom says you’re an awakened. Is that true? Like, can you do magic or something? I mean, I’ve only seen it on TV, so it’s the first time I’ve met someone with powers in real life. Everyone around me is just a normal person.

 

– Ah, sorry. …Could you walk a little farther away? Sorry, I’m really sorry.

 

– Can’t you show your powers just once? Huh?

 

Jeong Mueum frowned as he recalled the terrible memory.

 

[Child, you too—-]

 

Mueum interrupted the stone statue’s words, seemingly annoyed.

 

“I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

 

“…..”

 

“He just kept saying no.”

 

He kept saying no, so Mueum shrugged.

 

“I don’t know what he’s denying either, but what do you statues know anyway? Do stones know everything, some kind of pseudo-science?”

 

Lee Suho tightly shut his lips at Mueum’s words.

 

He didn’t repeat the word no anymore. The stone statues continued to whisper and giggle among themselves.

 

Mueum looked up at the sky. This place was a space where daytime never existed.

 

[Even so. It’s all wrong anyway. He’s trapped here.]

 

A child statue nestled into the arms of an adult statue, curling up as if to avoid the terrifying situation that was about to unfold.

 

[Look at that. Look at that. It’s happening again.]

 

[This place is done for!]

 

A short, stubby finger pointed at Lee Suho. Mueum turned his head to see Suho, who was crying. Black tears streamed down the cheeks of the boy clutching his notebook tightly.

 

***

 

“Wow. So you survived there? The rumors on TV weren’t false?”

 

Jin clapped his hands. The only celebrity to survive the Hongdae Gate!

 

Unlike gates that usually occurred in forests, this was the incident with the most casualties after the first gate.

 

Jin was in overseas at that time, so he was late to hear the news. Hwashin scratched the back of his neck as he answered.

 

“It would be strange if it were just a rumor, given how much it was on the news. After that, I met the others and joined SH1 Unit. Oh, I heard you and Theo are brothers, Mr. Jin?”

 

“Yeah, Theo is more reserved, but he’s the younger brother. Sometimes people think I’m the younger one. Just between us, sometimes he’s so quiet that it frustrates me.”

 

Jin whispered, standing on his tiptoes. Hwashin glanced over at Cha Jaeha as if agreeing with the sentiment.

 

“I often feel the same way when talking to Jaeha.”

 

Cha Jaeha looked at Hwashin with an expression that said ‘Look who’s talking’. Noticing this, Jin quickly spoke up.

 

“Then how about I send my brother to SH1 Unit, and you come over to our side, Mr. Hwashin?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“It’s a recruitment offer, a scout. The Overseas Cooperation Department is fun. We just took down a gate in collaboration with Japan. The next mission might be in the U.S., you know?”

 

Jin grinned as if to say,

I think you’d fit better with us, Hwashin.

 

“Haha, is that so?”

 

Hwashin brushed off the suggestion with a laugh.

 

Well, it might not be bad to work with the Cooperation Department for a while. They might be spies, and he needed to get to know this Theo person. …But he didn’t want to be away from the kids for too long.

 

Swish. Before he could think any further, Hwashin’s nape was pulled into Cha Jaeha’s arm. The face looking down at him was fierce. Why was he so mad now?

 

“Don’t go messing up the team.”

 

Then from the other side, someone pulled on Hwahsin’s arm. For such a small person, this person was quite strong. Hwashin felt like his head and arm might be torn off.

 

Jin raised the corner of his mouth as if amused. His smile was a bit chilling.

Is he perhaps actually over 200 years old like me?

 

“Cha Jaehwa, do you even care about the team? I heard you don’t usually partner up with anyone. Isn’t working solo more your style?”

 

“That’s none of your concern.”

 

Was this a fight between a cat and a tiger? Despite the tiny person facing off against the huge Cha Jaeha, it didn’t feel out of place.

 

But it was strange.

 

‘…I don’t feel bad about this?!’

 

And Cha Jaeha was acting like this? The protagonist? The guy who usually didn’t care about anything but saving people?

 

Let’s see. They were about a third of the way through the original story, so it made sense that Cha Jaeha started to develop some affection for Yoo Hwashin. They were on the same team, after all. But would Cha Jaeha really care this much?

Did I do something to deserve this? Dragon, did I do something?

 

– Calm down.

 

No, how can I calm down? Dragon, if it were you, would you be able to calm down?

 

Hwashin thought Cha Jaeha wouldn’t care if he went to the Cooperation Department.

 

‘In the original, I wasn’t even in the SH1 unit.’

 

No, he didn’t exist in the original story at all.

 

“It’s understandable to be concerned about someone who never partners up, right? Our job is to save people, and it’s a big problem if teamwork doesn’t match up.”

 

“That’s because I didn’t need a team before.”

 

“Then do you need the SH1 unit? Your skills seem to have improved, so do you really need Mr. Hwashin? Rather, I think he’d fit better in my team, which deals with illusions, and our teamwork would be better. Don’t you think so, Mr. Hwashin?”

 

“No, I—”

 

The arm choking his neck tightened.

I can’t breathe, Jaeha, I can’t breathe.

 

“Sorry, but you don’t have the right to make that decision. Besides, don’t you think it’s quite rude to your brother to say something like that? Yoo Hwashin, say something.”

 

“Ah, I—”

 

“Mr. Hwashin wants to come to my team, though?”

 

“Yoo Hwashin is—”

 

Guys, if you’re going to ask someone a question…

 

You should at least give them time to answer! You’re being rude to an adult, so rude!

 

One side was growling, the other snarling.

 

In the midst of this tense situation, an even more dangerous sound engulfed them. Boom. Did a building collapse? No, it was something different.

 

Cha Jaeha’s voice became calm. Jin also released his grip on Hwashin.

 

“The place that sound came from.”

 

“The open space. Let’s save the fight for later.”

 

When they arrived at the open space, they saw a massive black hemisphere in the center, with Jeong Mueum standing in front of it. Hwashin waved at him.

 

“Mueum~”

 

“Hyung?”

 

Statues on the grass beside the hemisphere were trembling.

 

It’s starting, it’s starting. We’re in big trouble.

The two statues who had been chattering the most were now clutching each other’s hands tightly. Mueum looked at them with disdain. Hwashin approached Mueum and asked.

 

“The notebook?”

 

“…Lee Suho had the notebook. …But now it’s like this.”

 

Before he could ask what to do next, a new window appeared in front of them.

 

「 I have to go back. That’s what Lee Suho thought. Something ominous will cover me again. 」

 

「 Lee Suho returned to the locker alone again. Darkness, despair, pain. 」

 

「 Huh, why am I at school again? Ah right, I came to find my homework. I have to submit it by tomorrow ..ha..$#!#@!^&!#)&^… 」

 

The main character here was Lee Suho.

 

Typically, in a dungeon, the main goal was to kill the boss.

 

But just like last time, and this time too, the solution wasn’t to kill.

 

Hwashin said this after coming out of the previous desert dungeon.

 

– The dungeon. If we eliminate the protagonist of the dimension we entered, the dimension will disappear. The important question is, what happens to us if the dimension disappears while we’re inside?

 

– What will happen?

 

Hwashin had shrugged and replied to Mueum’s question.

 

– I don’t know. The important thing is to make sure the protagonist doesn’t give up on their world.

 

A world where the protagonist… wouldn’t give up.

 

The prince of the desert had achieved his love, and his brother probably became the king according to his wish.

 

That was why they could escape from that place.

 

Mueum didn’t fully understand what kind of world that was.

 

But to close this new gate, simply defeating the monsters wouldn’t be enough.

 

At least in this gate, they had to create a world where the protagonist could live.

 

“….We have to create it, right?”

 

Mueum asked Hwashin, who was standing next to him.

 

“Hyung.”

 

“Yeah, speak.”

 

As if he already knew what Mueum was going to ask, Hwashin had a relaxed expression.

 

“…That kid, Lee Suho, perhaps.”

 

Mueum’s eyes flashed.

 

The black hemisphere was gradually increasing in size. The clock that was running haywire returned to the time when they entered this place.

 

There were countless clues. The most important one was the notebook.

 

A tomorrow that would never come. A daylight that would never arrive.

 

A child who remembered nothing but his name. A student that no one could see. And the old school uniform, clearly different from the ones they were wearing. That kid’s notebook, wet and torn, abandoned on the open ground.

 

In a voice half air, half sound, Mueum said.

 

“Is he a ghost?”

 

“…Ding dong. You got it right.”

 

The protagonist of the school ghost story was.

 

A ghost.

 

The moment they realized that fact, the world fell apart.