Exiled from the Hero Party

A character-collection mobile game.

I had been possessed into one of those so-called gacha games. Reborn inside it, living on and on — it was reincarnation in all but name.

Before I knew it, I had turned twenty. And right now, I was feeling the most absurd thing I had felt since this new life began.

"What did you just say?"

My voice rose before I could stop it. But the three people across from me stayed perfectly calm, as if they had already anticipated every reaction I could throw at them.

"I said get out of the club. Right now. We don't need you in our party anymore."

I hadn't misheard. Standing right in front of me with her arms crossed, the long reddish-brown-haired girl said it again — An Yumin, the protagonist of the original game. She kept going.

"We've looked the other way for every filthy thing you've done up to now, but we're done. We're all adults, and we're about to become academy cadets. So let's end this before the party starts getting a bad reputation."

The words knocked the air out of me again. She wasn't wrong — I had done plenty of things she found unforgivable. Everything I did was for the party's profit and reputation, nothing else. Naturally, I had clashed constantly with someone whose personality was pure justice-hero like An Yumin.

But every single one of those things had been for her sake.

For the original game's protagonist — the girl who would have been shoved into the background by the overpowered gacha characters and reduced to a glorified extra. I had taken her hatred every time. My public image had already hit rock bottom. And still I had endured every dirty job this party threw at me.

I glanced sideways. For a split second, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the clubroom mirror caught my face — the startled expression of a textbook blonde-tanned punk. Face value and all. From An Yumin's point of view, I really had pulled a lot of thug-like stunts.

But you — how are you planning to compete with the gacha characters if I'm not here?

Of all things, this reality was the original game's hard mode.

That's why I nearly killed myself raising An Yumin…

I never wanted credit for the effort. I just wanted her to do well, even if I took all the hate. I never imagined it would end like this.

I looked desperately at the other two.

Song Sia and Ha Yeeun. The comrades who had spent the past year of club activity — of hero-party work — at my side. The original gacha characters of Aegis, the hero club we had built from the ground up.

I shouted.

"You two say something! What the hell is wrong with Yumin?"

An Yumin was the main dealer and party leader of the hero party. But the other two carried roughly equal influence. If this was just An Yumin's personal grudge against me, they could have shut it down easily. I had recruited both of them for her sake — but I had poured plenty of time into them, too.

"……"

Both of them stayed silent.

I turned quickly to one of them — Song Sia, the party's mage and spirit summoner. Silver hair, red eyes, that cold expression. She avoided my gaze.

"An Yumin is right. Everyone agreed. There will be no reversal."

Song Sia's words left me even more speechless. I turned to the last one — Ha Yeeun. Watching me in her blonde hair and nun's habit, she quickly put on a bored look.

"What do you want me to do about it? You should've behaved better from the start, when we let a half-awakened like you into the party."

"What? Are you done talking?"

"It wasn't just Yumin — I put up with a lot too! Never mind how disgusting your private life is. You were late to party activities right before finals, and your work was a complete mess, wasn't it? We're tired of cleaning up after you, Junwoo — no, Mr. Lee Junwoo!"

I lost the ability to speak.

Cleaning up after me? That should be my line!

The hero-activity club Aegis. It might have started as just another club at an awakened high school, but Aegis had become famous even across Seoul, far beyond what students should have managed. The person who turned those three — mere high schoolers with temporary hunter licenses — into influencers across the web and social media was me.

Of course, I had stayed thoroughly in their shadow, handling every piece of practical work and grunt labor. The so-called party operator. The only times I ever stepped into the public eye were when I took the hate in their place.

This absolute nonsense…

Still, I couldn't let go of the last thread of hope. In the mobile game Full Moon's Grey City, my favorite character as a hardcore veteran had been An Yumin. And even in this reality, she was the person I had always liked.

But her eyes were cold.

"Will you just leave already? Looking at our faces must be uncomfortable for you too. Same goes for us. Stop clinging and end it here. We're busy."

That final shot brought every effort I had made crashing down like a sandcastle. Something surged up in my chest. Still — I had my pride as a blonde-tanned punk. I barked at them.

"Let's see how far you get without me. You're going to regret this. Guaranteed."

But the three of them ignored even that. As I walked out of the clubroom, there wasn't so much as a goodbye.

The system notification windows chimed busily. But reeling from that unexpected betrayal, I didn't even have the presence of mind to think about what the alerts meant.

A month had passed since my exile from the party.

Today, sometime in mid-January, was graduation day at Theia Awakened High School. I had come back to the place where I had spent the last three years. But I wasn't attending the ceremony. More accurately — I couldn't.

I had told myself it was nothing. True to the blonde-tanned punk image, I could forget a first love in a month. But apparently the whole affair had hit me harder than I thought. Out of nowhere, walking down the street, my head would spin and my breath would catch. The school clinic diagnosed me with sudden panic disorder.

Embarrassing. A guy, a blonde-tanned punk, with panic attacks of all things…

Well, taking the meds for a while should fix it. Still — as an awakener, my base stats were nowhere near those three.

Just like my current status. Still, the fact that my Mental Strength was about the only stat that matched those three bruised my pride a little.

Anyway — that was why I couldn't walk into that auditorium packed with people. Because of the panic.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Whew. At least attendance at graduation isn't mandatory. Small mercies.

I had poured everything into club life anyway. I didn't have close friends to celebrate graduation with. And nobody would find it strange that a blonde-tanned punk ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like me skipped the ceremony.

I still need to pick up the graduation commemorative gift, though.

For three years I had lived thinking only of An Yumin. Now that she had kicked me out, I needed to find a way to survive. Unlike those three who had once been my party, I was a nobody extra from the original game. Somehow I had managed a 1st Awakening and gotten into Theia Awakened High School — though my authority was garbage.

The hero-party work had wrecked my academic record. But the same activities had earned me a decent amount of volunteer credit. So advancing to Theia Awakened Academy — same foundation — should still be possible.

Theia Awakened Academy. The setting and starting point of the original game. Shortened to Theia Academy, it ranked among the absolute best of all hunter academies.

I wasn't worried about my future. Of course, compared to those three elites who had already completed their 2nd Awakening in high school, I would live a thoroughly ordinary life. But I had no lingering regrets.

As long as I get the academy name on my résumé, that's enough.

I would still earn far more than any ordinary person. I was looking forward to a fresh start, in my own way. An Yumin wasn't the only woman in the world, and I had zero intention of obsessing over her. Running into her at the academy might sting a little — but that was it.

Anyway, I needed to submit my advancement application using my high school diploma and the bonus points from off-campus volunteer hours. For reference, the cutoff for advancing to Theia Academy without a separate exam was the top 40%. Everyone else had to retake the entrance test.

Based on the grades I had calculated recently, I was comfortably over the advancement cutoff. My practical scores were a disaster thanks to that garbage authority, but theory grades plus volunteer bonuses more than made up for it.

"Excuse me, Cadet Lee Junwoo. I'm sorry, but your volunteer activity bonus falls short of the standard. You cannot advance with these scores."

At the high school's administrative office, the staff member's words froze my expression solid.

"What? Please check the documents again! I clearly completed three hero activities — off-campus volunteer work — before finals. That much bonus should more than cover the advancement score."

"Look here. All three of those activity reports list Cadet Lee Junwoo's contribution as zero. The other party members all signed off, so there's no chance the paperwork is wrong…"

I snatched the documents from the staff member.

That's impossible. Contribution zero on all three of the last hero activities?

The other three's signatures were clearly there, too.

What the hell happened?

I had always yielded my rightful contribution to boost their reputations. But for the sake of advancement, I had always claimed a certain portion for myself. No matter how lightly those three treated me, recording my contribution as zero was a first.

This was bad. The retest was purely practical evaluation. As an awakener, my combat ability was a mess. Without theory scores factored in, failing the retest was a certainty.

"In any case, Cadet Lee Junwoo, your attendance is poor and your practical scores aren't great either. Without the bonus points, you don't even meet the advancement standard. And advancement scores only reflect grades and activities from before finals. I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do on our end."

In other words — no matter what, I had to take the retest. The staff member looked genuinely apologetic.

"…I understand."

It was hollow, but with the records sitting right there, I couldn't even file an objection. Then, as if something had just occurred to her, the staff member spoke again.

"If you've completed a 2nd Awakening… even with your current grades, you could be exempted from the retest. Ah—"

The moment the words left her mouth, she fell silent. Graduating high school with a completed 2nd Awakening was something only the absolute top students managed. Those three from the club weren't famous for nothing. Even An Yumin, the original protagonist, couldn't have done it without my help.

Checking my practical scores again, the staff member seemed to realize belatedly that a 2nd Awakening was out of the question for me.

"Still, there are two weeks left until the retest… If you prepare well, I'm sure you'll get a good result! And if the retest doesn't work out, we can provide a recommendation letter for other academies…"

"For now… I understand."

I was grateful for her consideration. But that completely unexpected development sent the world spinning again. I had always assumed I would advance to Theia Academy. Other academies hadn't even crossed my mind.

Just like the day of my exile, the system notification windows chimed busily — but I had no room to check them. I practically fled the administrative office and swallowed the panic meds I was carrying.

"Hah… hah… hah…"

I never imagined that exiling me wouldn't be enough — that they would steal every last scrap of credit I had left. Those three were already at the top of the school's academic rankings. With 2nd Awakenings complete, automatic academy advancement was guaranteed.

And they still went this far?

Honestly, I had been deliberately trying not to think about them. The doctor had said that if there was a source of intense stress, the answer was to stay away from it. So even though I had spoken harshly on the way out of the clubroom, I had planned to live as if we were strangers — for both our sakes.

But a betrayal this vicious?

The crushing sense of betrayal left me gasping like I had just sprinted a hundred meters at full speed. I sat on a nearby bench and caught my breath.

Right then — while I was still trying to calm the returning panic — my authority activated on its own. No matter how much of an extra I was, that ability of mine — so worthless it barely deserved the name "authority" —

Using this authority a hundred times won't change a thing…

But I reflexively checked the system notification window. My authority was already maxed out. Maybe — just maybe — on graduation day, a miracle 2nd Awakening was possible.

"Hah. Figures."

Same as always. An authority was an awakener's unique supernatural ability — complete with a class and an attribute. But true to my extra status, even my authority was trash.

My authority: Peacefully Glittering Mirror. Exactly as the name suggested — a roughly one-meter mirror appeared and glowed. That was the entire thing. The class was Paladin, but the authority had zero special combat effects of any kind. It did have a buff skill, but even that was a joke. Mental calming and a lighting effect — that was all. The Level 1 combat skill called Thrust was an active skill I had spent three years of hellish effort creating. As you could see, it was completely useless.

"At this rate, I can't even argue with being called a half-awakened."

I had trained this authority until its level maxed out. But unlike the three who had exiled me, there wasn't the slightest sign of a 2nd Awakening. In the original game, the filler characters who appeared in gacha bundles or got shoved into the story mid-push never got a 2nd Awakening either. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠An extra was an extra to the end.

And this damned authority's mental calming effect didn't even apply to me.

The mirror looks weird today, too.

Normally it was crystal clear. Right now it looked cloudy, as if stained. But right at that moment—

Ding—

A notification lit up on my phone.

A notification from the streaming app. The internet broadcast of the nun from the party that had exiled me — Ha Yeeun.