Exiled
“Haa...”
I returned to my room, got dressed first, sat down, and let out a deep sigh.
“What the hell is going on?”
I'd turned into a woman overnight. Nothing like this happened in the original novel, Misipcheon. Hwang Bo-jun was just a fake villain to be used up early on—who the fuck would bother with a TS surgery plot for a throwaway character like that?
“Did I do something yesterday?”
I couldn't remember a damn thing. This was straight-up: I just went to sleep, woke up, and bam—woman. No buildup, no warning.
“Argh! Fuck! I can't make sense of this shit.”
I started brainstorming possibilities for this bullshit situation I'd woken up to.
1. Some kind of TS virus snuck into my body overnight and turned me into a chick.
Nah, probably not. This is a cyberpunk world—any virus, no matter how exotic, gets broken down by the nanomachines in your body.
2. Turns out Hwang Bo-jun's intersex and sometimes morphs into a girl.
Even less likely. No way they'd waste detailed backstory on a disposable early-game character.
3. Someone kidnapped me while I slept, did the TS surgery, and dumped me back home by morning.
This one seemed the most plausible. I'd seen mentions of TS surgery in the setting—it's a thing, even if no one's gotten it on-screen yet.
“Ah!”
Something clicked in my head. This house is managed by an AI called HAIOT (High Artificial Intelligence Over-Technology), nicknamed Hai-jjang. And one of its systems is the home cam.
“If someone snatched me overnight, the home cam would've caught it. Hai-jjang.”
I called out right away, and a voice came from the built-in speakers.
> Voiceprint authentication in progress...
> Voice differs, but frequency matches Master Hwang Bo-jun. Confirmed.
> You called, Master?
“Show me the home cam footage from last night 11 PM to this afternoon 1 PM.”
> Understood.
> Checking stored home cam footage...
> Apologies. Footage from May 19th 23:00 to May 20th 13:00 is corrupted.
“What?!”
I couldn't hide my shock at Hai-jjang's words. Corrupted footage? What kind of bullshit is this?
“Can you tell me why it's damaged?”
> Please wait a moment.
About three minutes later, Hai-jjang's voice returned.
> Confirmed: Footage damaged due to external interference.
“Kuh...”
Hearing that, option three started looking shaky too. Kidnapped me, TS'd me, then hacked Hai-jjang to wipe the evidence. That's the only explanation, but... why? What's the motive? Grudge? Sure, trashy Hwang Bo-jun had enemies, but they'd just kill me or sell me off—not drop a fortune on TS surgery.
Fun? If some psycho did this for shits and giggles, they're fucking insane.
“No matter how I think about it, I got nothing.”
I couldn't figure out why anyone would pull this shit. Whoever it was... when I find out, you're dead meat!
> Master. Incoming message from H Group's Chairman's Secretariat. View?
Hai-jjang notified me of a message from H Group—Hwang Bo-jun's family home. Why the hell were they contacting me?
“Read it out loud.”
> Understood.
> Executive Director. The Chairman requests your presence. He has urgent business. Arrive at the Hannam-dong mansion by 19:00.
> End of message, Master.
“To the mansion?”
The Chairman—Hwang Bo-jun's dad, Hwang Bo-cheol. No clue why he wanted me there, but one big problem.
“Go to the mansion looking like this?”
Me being a woman now.
* * *
Meta Seoul, Hannam-dong
Even in Meta Seoul's timeline, decades into the future, Hannam-dong is elite turf. And the priciest plot holds the mansion of the Hwang Bo family—H Group, Hwang Bo-jun's... now my home.
“...”
I stood at the mansion gate, hesitating, then approached the scanner. No old-school doorbell anymore—Hai-jjang said it scans your body against registered data to open the gate.
> Identity confirmed.
> Scanned body structure mismatches registered data, but ID confirms VIP status.
> You may enter.
The mansion AI approved, and the gate swung open. Crossing the garden into the building, a sharply dressed middle-aged gentleman approached with a bow.
“You've arrived, Executive Director.”
The only middle-aged gent in the mansion? Yoo Hyuk-su, Dad's right-hand secretary.
“Secretary Yoo. Long time. Where's Father?”
They'd probably scanned me already, but I pitched my voice low as I asked.
“In the study. This way.”
I followed him to Hwang Bo-cheol's study.
Knock knock!
Yoo knocked, and a voice came from inside.
“Come in.”
“After you, Executive Director.”
He opened the door, and I stepped in. There sat a sharp-featured middle-aged man at the desk, glasses on, reading a paper newspaper—like something out of another era in this cyberpunk world.
“You're here.”
Hwang Bo-cheol removed his glasses, slipped them into the case, set down the paper, and beckoned me closer.
I walked up. “Yes.”
“Do you know why I called you?”
“Can I be honest? No clue.”
“Yeah, figured. Wasn't expecting an answer anyway.”
He gestured in the air—probably manipulating a panel.
My implanted nanomachines projected the news article via my optic nerve.
“What is this?”
“You see it and still don't know? Or playing dumb?”
“I get our stock's tanking, but why show me?”
He went silent, then exploded, eyes bulging.
“Why show you?! You really that clueless?!”
Ow, my ears. Why the yelling?
“Some guy's snapping up our underperforming subsidiaries, and the head office exec doesn't know?!”
He kept ranting, voice rising.
“Know who this investor 'M' is?”
“How the hell should I?”
“You have to know. M—Lee Moo-hyuk!”
Wait—Lee Moo-hyuk?
The mystery investor 'M' is Lee Moo-hyuk?!
“No way. A month ago, that guy had nothing...”
Lee Moo-hyuk was broke as hell in the original—a fresh-outta-school nobody. He blows up later via broadcasting, but right now? Penniless. No capital for takeovers.
“Amy Lee.”
“Amy... Lee?”
No fucking way—the Amy Lee I know? The big-shot backer who kickstarts his rise, the heroine from the Yellow Dragon Faction, Chinese triad heiress?
“You gonna pretend you didn't know Lee Moo-hyuk's backed by that Yellow Dragon girl?”
Amy Lee—daughter of the triad boss who dominates Chinese streaming, nearly owns the scene. But in the story, they don't meet yet. Did my possession butterfly-effect this?
“Hoo... got too worked up. That's not why I called you.”
Hwang Bo-cheol took a deep breath, calming down, and cut to the chase. He got that heated, and it's not the point? What the hell is the point?
“Your sibling was born yesterday.”
“Huh?”
I was floored by the sudden baby news. No mention of Hwang Bo-jun having a sibling in the original.
“And it's a boy.”
“Congrats.”
I offered perfunctory well-wishes.
“You know what that means, right?”
“Means?”
“Why I've kept a fuckup like you as heir and exec.”
“'Cause I'm set to inherit H Group?”
“Wrong. Only 'cause you were my only kid—and a son.”
That's when I saw it coming.
“Now your brother's here, and you're no son anymore. Your role's done.”
“Cool. Give it to him then.”
I never wanted the group anyway—YOLO mindset. Take it or leave it.
“Everything you have came from group funds—my money.”
“What're you getting at?”
“Disownment. You're no son of mine. All your assets—repossessed.”
Wait—what? Disownment's one thing, but take everything?
“Hold up! You strip me bare, then what? I starve?!”
“Not my problem.”
“What about... my company?!”
“Built on my capital. Putting in pro management. That's all—Hyuk-su.”
He called, door opened, Yoo entered.
“Dump her outside.”
“Understood, Chairman.”
Yoo grabbed my arm like a robot, no emotion, dragging me like a hog to slaughter.
“At least give me living expenses!”
Hwang Bo-cheol ignored me. I got hauled out the front gate and dumped.
“Ow!”
Ass-planting hard, I rubbed my sore butt and pounded the sealed gate.
“Talk this out! If I fucked up, I'll fix it! Open up!”
No dice. And just like that, I went from trashy Golden Sun Hero exiling the protagonist... to the exiled Golden Sun Heroine, booted from home.
“What kind of fucked-up plot twist is this!!!!”