What the Hell Is This!?
Once upon a time, there was a genre that exploded like crazy after going viral just once. It's the exile story. There are all sorts of variations, but the most common plot is the hero party exile tale. The protagonist has trash-tier skills or abilities, so the party's leader, the hero, spits out the line, "You're no longer needed. You're exiled." I've read dozens of stories that kick off just like that.
"Now they're even mixing in cyberpunk?"
Exile stories are usually set in medieval fantasy worlds, but the one I'd stumbled upon was set in none other than a cyberpunk backdrop.
"What the hell? They kicked out the protagonist because his sponsorship money was too low? That Golden Sun Hero asshole made him handle chat moderation and broadcast setup without giving him any screen time, and now he's talking shit?"
The novel I was reading was titled The Genius Broadcaster Who Devours the Future City. As the title suggests, it wasn't your typical hero-takes-down-the-Demon-King-plus-exile story. Heroes and Demon Kings existed, sure, but in this world, true power came from internet broadcasting. Cyberpunk with internet broadcasting? Who knows... Anyway, power in this novel was determined by a broadcaster's recognition, sponsorship amounts, follower count, and so on.
In a world like that, the Demon King was naturally a top-tier broadcaster. So what about the hero party the protagonist belonged to? The Golden Sun trash hero, Hwang Bo-jun, who exiled the protagonist Lee Moo-hyuk, was a total gold digger in one word. And after receiving some bullshit oracle from the goddess to "defeat the Demon King through broadcasting," Hwang Bo-jun used his capital to start a company. The kind people call a Multi Channel Network, or MCN.
Hwang Bo-jun, who'd founded his MCN, started recruiting broadcasters for his company, and that became the hero party. Prioritizing visuals and figuring women would rake in more sponsorships, he cherry-picked almost exclusively women. But he realized he needed someone for the grunt work too. He figured assigning menial tasks to women would get him flak and scare them off, so he remembered the few male applicants among the women.
Recalling the one who looked like the biggest pushover—the protagonist—Hwang Bo-jun hired him. And just like that, Lee Moo-hyuk became, in the best light, the only male broadcaster in Hwang Bo-jun's MCN. In the worst light, he was the hero party's errand boy, baggage handler, you name it. But after exploiting him to the max, the story I was reading had Hwang Bo-jun kicking him out with a "you're no longer needed."
"...The hero's an idiot, so maybe that's par for the course in exile stories, but is Hwang Bo-jun a eunuch or something?"
Golden Sun types usually had womanizer vibes, right? But Hwang Bo-jun, leader of an all-female accelerator... er, hero party, had zero mentions of messing around with the women?
"If it were me, I'd be doing all sorts of heh heh stuff... Damn, lost track of time reading this."
So absorbed in the novel, I hadn't noticed the hours flying by. Glancing at the clock, it was 3 a.m. Tomorrow—no, today. Had to work, so time to crash.
"Re...p..."
Huh? What the...? Why's it so noisy?
"Pres...ident..."
Was sleeping like a baby, who's making this racket?
"President!!"
I opened my eyes to find a woman right in front of me, fuming. What the hell? I should be in my room sleeping—where am I?
"Who're you?"
"Still half-asleep? It's me, Ra Mi-yeon! Ra. Mi. Yeon!"
Ra Mi-yeon? Rings a bell somewhere...
I racked my brain for the name Ra Mi-yeon. It was familiar, something I'd seen or heard recently. What was it?
Oh! From MiSipCheon. But... huh?
Ra Mi-yeon was a name from the novel I'd read till dawn, The Genius Broadcaster Who Devours the Future City—MiSipCheon for short. So why the hell was it coming up here, now?
"Sorry, but what's my name?"
"Get your shit together, please. Even if you're groggy, forgetting your own name? Hwang. Bo. Jun. Hwang Bo-jun!"
It hit me like a sledgehammer to the skull. Me, Hwang Bo-jun? That trash Golden Sun Hero Hwang Bo-jun?
"I asked you to hire someone for the grunt work—when were you planning to do it?"
"Grunt work?"
"Yeah! Ever since you fired that Lee Moo-hyuk asshole, we've been handling the storage room, break room stocking, cleaning—everything! Hire someone quick, please!"
I started piecing it together in my head. The woman in front of me: Ra Mi-yeon. The one who turns into a heroine later, spinning the washing machine like crazy. And me: Hwang Bo-jun. That low-IQ trash Golden Sun Hero. With just those two facts, I grasped the whole situation.
Fuck... I've transmigrated into the novel!
Nothing else made sense. I'd transmigrated into MiSipCheon. Into Hwang Bo-jun, no less.
"Lee Moo-hyuk got fired?"
"You weren't listening? You fired him yourself—what're you on about? It's been a whole month!"
And it seemed like it was a bit after the firing in the timeline.
We're screwed.
Of all times, right after the exile. A whole month later, no less. I was truly fucked. Hwang Bo-jun, the trash Golden Sun Hero responsible for the exile, meets a ruinous end in the finale. And now I was slated for it.
"Get out."
"Pardon?"
"I said get out. I'll look for someone for the grunt work."
"Got it. But hire someone fast? I'm dying here!"
BAM! Ra Mi-yeon slammed the door on her way out.
"Crazy bitch..."
How the hell could a woman with such a foul temper spin the washing machine that hard?
"What now...?"
I pondered my future over and over. But every conclusion led to the same: no escaping the ruinous end.
"Argh! Screw it! I'll just live like a madman."
If I couldn't avoid it no matter what, might as well live my way. Hwang Bo-jun's a gold digger, right? Swimming in cash? Then YOLO it up till Lee Moo-hyuk delivers my doom. Whatever.
"In that case... heh heh heh..."
"Hoo! Your technique is killer."
"Oh, oppa, you too!"
Hwang Bo-jun—no, me now. Owning a penthouse in the priciest apartment in Meta Seoul apparently meant snapping my fingers brought women right to my door. And even though it was someone else's body, I'd finally lost my virginity.
"Tired now. Go home."
"Huh? No more?"
"I hate repeating myself. Go."
"Tch! Fine. Call me again next time?"
Call my ass... Next time it'd be a different girl. Life's short—gotta sample the variety, right?
After she left, I showered and flopped onto the bed. It was plush beyond compare to the cheap mattress in my old one-room.
"Even rolling in shit, nothing beats being rich."
Maybe from all the thrusting, or maybe the bed was just that comfy—my eyes drifted shut in no time.
(???)
"You sure about this? That's Hwang Bo-jun of H Group, right?"
"I'll take full responsibility. You agreed to help with my revenge, didn't you?"
"We did. Understood."
In a state-of-the-art lab packed with cutting-edge equipment, a man glared coldly down at a blonde guy lying on an experimental bed, a woman in a lab coat beside him.
"Moo-hyuk-ssi. You could just eliminate him quietly. Why opt for this procedure?"
"Sure, I could erase him without a trace. But wouldn't that let Hwang Bo-jun off too easy? He needs to hit rock bottom first."
"I see."
"Do you know why H Group won't disown Hwang Bo-jun, Amy?"
"Because he's a man and the heir... Ah, so that's why this procedure."
"Exactly."
"Got it. Let's begin the procedure."
And so began a man's scheme, fueled by vengeance against another man.
"Oof, slept well. Did I overdo it? Shoulder's stiff."
Maybe from last night's intensity? Felt like I'd slept a ton, but not refreshed.
"What time is it?"
Clock said 1 p.m.
"Perks of being the boss. Sleeping this late and zero missed calls."
I chuckled and headed to the bathroom, planning to soak in the tub to loosen up my sticky body. Stripped in the changing area, entered the bath, glanced in the mirror—
"Am... I still half-asleep? Hallucinating shit."
Rubbed my eyes, looked again.
"What the...?"
Why did the mirror show me as a woman? Was I really that groggy? I groped my chest experimentally.
Squish~ Squoosh~ Feels too real... No, it is real!
"Wh-what the hell!?"
Groped my chest again. No matter how much, it was unmistakably real female breasts.
"Wh-what about down there?"
I felt lower. Gone. No precious little buddy—just female anatomy.
"F-fuck! What the fuck is this!? Why am I a woman!!!"
An unplanned twist even from the original. Me, Hwang Bo-jun, had lost my manhood and become a woman.
