Saving My Beloved from a World on the Brink of Destruction

Around 30 heroes applied to join the SH Unit. Many of them were S-rank or A-rank heroes, including those who gave up on applying to the SH Unit a while ago. In front of the waiting room for the SH Unit, two government officials borrowed from the Public Relations and Management departments were organizing documents. Their job was to verify the identity and paperwork of the heroes who came for the SH Unit selection test.

“Did this person apply too? I heard that he has been really busy lately.”

“Well, all S-ranks are required to participate. It’s weird if there are no S-ranks at the SH unit test site in the first place.”

“True. Ahh, I envy S-ranks… no, but still, it’s nice to see their faces once in a while.”

S-ranks were not even a presence that heroes could frequently encounter. Just as one cannot see top-tier celebrities every day, the chance to face an S-rank was very rare. Their popularity was also similar. In fact, in terms of recognition alone, heroes were ranked even higher than celebrities.

Among the S-rank and A-rank heroes, there were many who had fans that rivaled those of celebrities due to their flashy appearance and skills. Even just by looking at community forums, there were several personal bulletin boards for the top heroes, and the related comments never stopped even if you just searched their names.

– Hey Hero Jeong Mu-eum, are you wearing an Apple’s headphones?

Yeah, he switched to the new Silver line that just came out. Let’s get them together lol.

– Old woman, even if you meet a monster, you won’t hesitate to die after seeing Cha Jae-ha’s face.

– The god must have had a mental breakdown while sculpting Chan-yeong’s face. He probably thinks his creation’s face is better looking than his own.

Have you even seen a god’s face lol?

God is Chan-yeong. Believe in him and go to heaven. If you don’t, prepare to fall into hell with disbelief.”

– Moo-eum, I love you (´艸｀).

Just being able to see their faces and talk to them directly made the competition for this job very fierce.

“Oh, Ji Ahn is here too. Do you want to get her autograph?”

“She already went in when you were in the bathroom.”

“Ah, are you kidding me? You should have told me earlier.”

In the middle of their pointless banter, one employee found a strange application form.

“What’s this? Did it get mixed up with other applications? It’s an F-rank?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I personally registered the application documents,” the bespectacled man replied nonchalantly. Even he couldn’t believe what he was saying.

F-rank, Civil Affairs Division, Yoo Hwa-shin. The applicant had no proper offensive abilities, and although he’s an awakened individual, his physical strength’s base was only slightly better than an average person’s. Ordinary people didn’t even have a visible rank in physical or magical power.

“You didn’t stop him? One hit from an S-rank would probably finish him off.”

“He insisted on going, so what could I do?”

‘Who wouldn’t want to stop him?’ Just thinking about that person made the employee sigh.

A remarkably innocent individual with a memorable appearance. If only that person had better abilities, his decent looks and personality could have garnered some popularity. The more the employee thought about it, the more his head involuntarily drooped.

What could you expect from an F-rank anyway?

“Hello.”

An odd intonation was felt in the greeting.

Yoo Hwa-shin, who had been curiously looking around, stood in front of the two men. Unlike the tension felt in the waiting room, there was no trace of nervousness in Yoo Hwa-shin.

“Hello, I am Yoo Hwa-shin from the Civil Affairs Division, who applied for the SH Unit. …Oh! You are that employee! Did you come to see me?”

Yoo Hwa-shin recognized the employee and happily offered a handshake first.

The unhappy-looking employee let out a short sigh and handed him a numbered ticket instead of shaking hands. “Unfortunately, you’re just here by chance. Your identity has already been confirmed, so you can just go in.”

Yoo Hwa-shin, with a pitiful expression, shook the hand holding the number ticket. “You’re not even going to shake my hand. That’s disappointing. After the match, you’ll shake my hand, right?”

At the absurd question, the employee mumbled a vague response, “If you’re still alive, that is.”

“Ha ha, then I’ll consider that a promise. I just need to go to the waiting room written here, right? …Alright! Then! Everyone, good luck with your work. Fighting, fighting.”

Yoo Hwa-shin entered the waiting room leisurely. The anxiety seemed to have transferred to the employee who had been watching them.

‘Sigh.’

Feeling a sudden churning in his stomach, the employee pressed his temple firmly.

◈◈◈

Following the number 2 on the waiting room ticket, Hwa-shin headed to his assigned room. He wondered if there would be any vacancies in the hero-only waiting area, as it seemed that all the rooms on this floor were being used. The conference room had been repurposed as a waiting area. As he opened the door, he saw a large rectangular space with five two-seater sofas and a conference table with snacks.

In the waiting room Hwa-shin entered, four heroes were each doing their own thing. One of them was lying down on a sofa, sound asleep. Another hero sitting across from Hwa-shin gave him a glare while he was carelessly picking out some snacks and sitting on a random sofa.

And, it was this hero that talked to him first.

“Hey.”

While unwrapping a snack, Hwa-shin briefly scanned the man from top to bottom. ‘… Did this guy appear in the novel?’ his mind jogged. At the same time, he twisted a cream sandwich, only placing the un-creamed top side on his tongue.

Mmm, sweet. As expected, the snacks in this world were tasty.

The man, whose face grew more sinister due to Hwa-shin not responding and only eating the snack, crossed his arms. His large build and muscles made it difficult to properly fold them.

“You, what’s your hero rank? I’ve never seen you among S or A ranks.”

Hwa-shin only answered after swallowing the sandwich he had been chewing, “Because its F-rank.”

“Ha! I thought you’d at least be C, but F-rank?” the man raised his voice in annoyance. “If a brat like you joins the SH unit, what will happen to the status of the heroes who applied this time?”

…I was wondering what’s he going to say. Even a goblin’s cry would be less idiotic than this.

“I’m not sure. Would it get higher?”

Whether it was due to his unique smirking expression or his sarcastic answer, the man’s frown deepened. “People will think the selection test is easy if someone like you participates! At least someone like me, an A-rank, should be here to maintain the prestige. Tsk.”

Naturally, there were characters with such rank-centrism in this novel. People will act as if it’s an absolute reason when given a reason to discriminate. Really, how did they live when there were no ranks?

“Why don’t you forfeit now, you loser?”

At his words, Hwa-shin held a snack to his ear and nodded, “Huh? What? The loser doesn’t want to? …Oh, what should I do? He says no?”

“You… you, do you know who I am to respond like that?”

Hwa-shin put the remaining half of the sandwich in his mouth, pretended to seriously consider the man’s words, and then opened his mouth again. He spoke with an innocent smile, “What would I do even if I knew? To a weakling?”

At his words, the infuriated man stood up abruptly, walked over with large strides, and grabbed Hwa-shin’s collar. With the man’s hand gripping him, Hwa-shin dangled lifelessly like a doll. Even as Hwa-shin contemplated whether to retaliate, the man continued to yell at him, “This bast*rd is an F-rank, yet dares to call someone weak-!”

“Ugh… it’s really noisy in here.”

A petulant voice filled the waiting room. A boy who had been sleeping with a sleep mask on slowly raised his upper body from the sofa. “Why are you fighting here? I’m exhausted from fighting a monster yesterday. Can’t you take it outside?”

Brown hair with a baby perm, a white headset hanging around his neck, and a school uniform with a haphazardly tied necktie. Given his fearless attitude as he woke up and complained…

The corners of Hwa-shin’s mouth involuntarily curled up.

Finally, they met.

And,

“It’s Jeong Mu-eum.”

One of the future colleagues that Cha Jaeha trusted and worked with. A prospective member of the SH1 unit, S-rank Hero Jeong Mu-eum.

◈◈◈

Jeong Mu-eum. Age 18. Personality, like a Chihuahua.

His fans had given him various nicknames, from “My phone is on silent mode” to “Jeong No-Noise” and “Silent Chihuahua”. The name of his fan club was “Silent Mode.”

In the novel, Jeong Mu-eum’s face was described as “rivaling an idol’s,” but at the time, Hwa-shin didn’t know exactly what that meant. He didn’t even know what an idol was. However! Having absorbed all of Yoo Hwa-shin’s memories, he now understood the phrase perfectly.

‘What do they mean, rivaling an idol?’

It was more like outshining an idol.

Jeong Mu-eum was the cutest guy he had ever seen. Even with his eyes covered by a sleep mask, it was evident. There was a saying that handsome men had a different aura. Moreover, his face coupled with that way of speaking didn’t annoy Hwa-shin at all.

The A-rank gorilla who had been showing off seemed to be unaware that S-rank Jeong Mu-eum was in the waiting room. He now tucked his short tail between his legs.

“…Sorry it was noisy,” the burly man said and went back to the sofa after leaving a message to Hwa-shin, ‘You’ll see’.

‘Did we have a close enough relationship for him to tell me to watch and see?’

Although the commotion had died down, Mu-eum scratched his head and looked around. Then, with a troubled voice, he spoke to Hwa-shin, “Excuse me.”

Hwa-shin couldn’t help but laugh at his next words.

“Can you tell me if there’s something wrong with my eyes? I can’t see anything right now.”

“Can’t see?”

“I mean, my eyes are open, but it’s pitch black.”

…Well, that’s because you’re wearing a sleep mask, Mu-eum.

Jeong Mu-eum would often show a seriously careless side, which was a cute point in the novel, making him laugh throughout. Seeing it directly in front of him was even more amusing. As Hwa-shin laughed heartily, holding his stomach, Mu-eum furrowed his eyebrows above the sleep mask, seemingly annoyed by the sound.

“Excuse me, why are you laughing when I can’t see anything?”

“Well, just a moment.”

Hwa-shin walked over to the sofa where he was sitting and lifted the blindfold for him. Only then did Mu-eum furrow his brows at the white light that had flooded in and opened his eyes wide.

“Ah, right. The sleep mask.”

“It would be fun if you were wearing earplugs next time too.”

“Please help me then as well. But don’t just laugh like you did today.”

Shamelessly responding, Jeong Mu-eum stretched as he got up from his seat. He was quite short for a high school student, maybe a little less than 170cm. After removing his sleep mask, his round, mono-lidded eyes accentuated his puppy-like appearance.

It made sense that Cha Jaeha, even with ‘that’ kind of personality of his, would find Jeong Mu-eum particularly adorable later on. Even if Mu-eum kid got angry, the kid would only look like a Chihuahua barking.

Hwa-shin smiled and introduced himself first, “I’m Yoo Hwa-shin.”

“…Ah, yes. I’m Jeong Mu-eum.”

“Well…”

Before they could exchange their full names, the door to the waiting room opened. A staff member dressed in a formal suit gestured towards the hallway.

“Heroes in waiting room 2, we’ll be moving to the stadium.”

“…I guess we won’t even have time for a proper introduction, right?”

Without a moment to chat with Mu-eum further, the SH unit selection test began.