Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Defeated the Demon King - 1
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[You have achieved the Demon King Subjugation accomplishment.]
A massive frame like a mountain, piled high with rugged muscles, countless tentacles, and an aura of darkness.
The moment the hero's sword pierced the Demon King's neck, a message window popped up before my eyes.
It had been three years since I got isekai'd into this game I was playing.
Finally, I could breathe a sigh of relief.
I'd gone through hell to meet the condition that completing all accomplishments would let me return to reality.
Of course, slaying the Demon King didn't mean I could go home right away.
But wasn't it enough reason to celebrate that I'd overcome one of the biggest hurdles?
Anyway, it meant I could finally say goodbye to the things that had tormented me all this time.
"Haa... haa..."
The hero who had severed the Demon King's neck.
Delicate golden blonde hair like molten gold poured into a mold.
A slender face etched with the hardships of a long journey.
Crimson eyes like the sun, paired with fragile arms that belied her immense power.
Claire, the beautiful hero with a striking, lithe figure, looked at me and spoke with labored breaths.
"Sa...ge... heal... us..."
"Ah, right."
Her cry snapped me out of it, and I glanced at the other party members.
Silver hair tinged with blue, taller than me—a guy—by a head.
A female knight whose muscles, visible beneath her armor, proved her strength. Leventia was coughing up blood from the Demon King's attacks, gasping for air.
A green-eyed beauty with glossy black hair like the night sky.
An elf female archer whose long, drooping ears betrayed her utterly broken spirit. Evangeline clutched her bow with its snapped string, trembling.
The only ones still standing here were Claire, the official leader of the hero party.
And me, Yun Hyun-woo, the unofficial party member and sage.
"Sa...ge...?"
Her faint call gave me pause.
And for good reason—eighty percent of my suffering over the past three years had come from cleaning up after these idiots.
Pursuer of the Eight Stars.
The game I'd entered was infamous for its brutal difficulty—a roguelike.
No revives on death.
Not some goldfish that drops dead from stress, but quitting the party or backstabs happened all the time.
It was a filthy game.
When I entered, the hero party was already formed, and for some reason—maybe the game's setup or my sage class—I couldn't join officially.
So I'd trailed after them as an unofficial member, providing support, and the variety of crap I dealt with...
Honestly, with them no longer essential, I was debating whether to heal these fools or not.
"Sa...ge? No... Hyun-woo...?"
Her fearful voice made me shrug.
There were still accomplishments left, and minor things they could help with, so no need to let them die here.
"Heal."
A soft light spread from my staff, enveloping the surroundings. In that instant, the two who had been incapacitated let out deep sighs and regained their senses, rising to their feet.
"Huuu... you damn human...!!"
Was it because I healed late? The elf archer Evangeline approached me, growling.
Following her, the female knight Leventia stared at me with a stony expression, showing her contempt.
"...Tch. Do you lack even the will to help your comrades?"
No sooner had they recovered than they started berating me, venting the stress built up from fighting the Demon King.
And Claire, who should have stopped them, just watched with a dark expression, gauging my reaction.
Yeah. She let them boost their egos with their pointless, unreasonable abuse.
Lest I retort.
Lest I get angry.
Lest the fragile party we'd maintained shatter.
It wasn't wrong, per se.
Using me as a scapegoat to hold the party together was what I'd wanted, and it was a valid strategy in the game too.
Of course, my heart wasn't made of glass—I couldn't help but feel the sting.
I was a guy, after all.
All three were stunning beauties, and up through the mid-game, we'd gotten along decently.
Claire, chosen as the hero by drawing the hero's sword, had always felt sorry and grateful toward me for sticking around without even the hero party's divine blessing.
The proud female knight Leventia, though curt, had joined me without complaint in helping people to raise city reputation for accomplishments.
The elf archer Evangeline, who loved my lute playing and songs so much she'd giggle, had even promised to make me an honorary elf after a festival event.
The main story's journey had changed all of them that much—it was that grueling and agonizing.
But what good was dwelling on the past?
"Haaaa... Anyway, we've beaten the Demon King, so let's head back to the capital."
The hero party's duty was to slay the Demon King.
Mission accomplished, so they should all return to their places.
Yeah.
The hero would go back to the kingdom and become a legend.
The female knight to her knight order.
The elf... back to the forest?
Or maybe stay in the kingdom.
Having achieved the great feat of Demon King subjugation as hero party members, they'd all land big roles.
Not me, though.
I was the irregular, unofficial guy who didn't care about that crap anyway.
"Y-Yeah. Let's go. Quick."
Their abuse ended faster than usual, and Claire hurriedly spoke while watching me and the others.
The portal spell—exclusive to the hero—was complete. Before the dimensional gate linked to the capital, Claire gazed at me pleadingly.
Hmm...
"Your mental state is rotten. When you return to the knight order, I'll take you as my squire and retrain you properly. Follow me."
"Wouldn't it be better as a low-rank forest warden managing the woods?"
"What about kingdom soldier? Or servant in my manor?"
"Um, c-can we talk about that later...?"
"If the hero says so, we must accept."
"Hmph. Even the honorary elf hero tries to protect a trash human like you."
Post-Demon King, they started chattering about my future disposition on their own.
Squire in the knight order—no, servant there might be better.
No, since the food's decent, better keep as party cook.
Wouldn't tending trees in the forest suit better?
Maybe enlist as kingdom soldier.
As they bickered enthusiastically, with Claire flustered and not intervening, I smiled.
"Alright. Hey, guys. Gather 'round for a sec."
"Oh? Decided? Knight order, right? To fix that rotten mind of yours..."
"Forest. Forest, you idiot. Without the forest's nobility, that trash human won't become proper."
Still stressed, they kept abusing me while painting my future.
Of course, that future had nothing to do with what I needed.
Doing servant or squire crap wouldn't net accomplishments.
I checked my remaining accomplishments. To beat the Demon King, I'd stuck with the hero party for the main story, snagging all those exclusives.
Left were ones for adventure mode post-main story end—stuff I skipped or unlocked after Demon King.
No reason to trail the hero party anymore.
Thus.
No more reason to stick with them after slaying the Demon King.
I smiled at them.
Completely carefree.
"Was fun hanging out—take care, everyone!"
Not really fun, but hey.
No bad words on the way out.
"...What? Sa-, Sage. Hyun-woo... what do you...?"
"One last cheer before we part!"
Main story chapter 5.
Before things got awkward, we'd always done this cheer in tough times. I held out my hand.
They just stared blankly, uncomprehending.
"Come on! Better than yesterday! Better than today—tomorrow!"
"....."
"One! Two! Three! Fighting!"
I shouted alone, raised my hand alone. Cheer over.
The hero released the sword opening the portal, frowning in confusion. The knight scowled uncomprehendingly. The elf gritted her teeth.
"Um... H-Hyun-woo? No. Sa-, Sage. What's wrong...?"
The hero spoke like a groan.
"Huh? Demon King's dead, business done—time to go our separate ways?"
"What. What... what nonsense!!"
Finally getting it, Leventia shrieked, and I shrugged.
"Come on... I said from the start I'd only go till Demon King."
"There's still so much to do!"
"Probably."
Demon King down, but monsters remained.
True, hero party power needed to wipe them.
"You guys."
But no reason for me to tag along.
Simple reason.
Not an accomplishment.
To escape this damn world, I only cared about grabbing all accomplishments.
"...You're joking, right?"
The elf archer who'd stripped my honorary elf title and always called me trash human looked deeply confused.
Her usually noble, arrogant eyes trembled.
"Joking, trash human. Joking in this situation? Hmph. Fine. It'd be great honor, but I'll make you honorary elf again..."
"Nah. Nah. Don't want honorary elf. Don't care."
Claire's crimson eyes shook.
Hero but coward inside, she feared me leaving.
"Hyun-woo. I-I'm sorry on their behalf... Tia and Eva aren't usually like..."
"Ooh. Nah. It's fine."
Game mechanics limit party to three.
Me tagging along was a loophole.
Favor drop and stress rise from that was common in-game, so I got their behavior.
Sure, I'd suffered, wanted to unload 5700 chars of curses and ask after parents, but they still had uses, so nah.
"......"
While I wrapped up, the hero party just looked shocked.
I'd endured their tantrums, bullying, chores dumped on me, denied credit—always stuck around.
Now rejecting their "honors" and leaving? Confusing, huh?
"Anyway, you worked hard... good luck with remaining monsters! Fighting! You got this!"
Yeah. They'd manage.
Leveled up tons, experienced, army'd help.
"Wait! How you going? You seem worked up—let's talk! Gotta use portal to go back anyway! Walk from here? To capital. Yeah? Talk there..."
Current spot: heart of Black Mountains, crawling with monsters.
Portal needed to kingdom. Hero-only spell—if she refused, I'd be stuck.
"Huuu... Y-Yeah. Calm down, then talk! Squire no good? Trainee knight, no knight..."
"...No way. Why now... Honorary elf not good...?"
Realizing I meant it? They floundered, offering meaningless bait.
Like tossing bread to a tiger, telling it to fill up.
"I can get back without portal."
"...What? No... impossible."
"Ignore me... claim your Demon King rewards. Won't see you again, but best wishes!"
I raised the ring on my finger.
Teleport Ring.
Magic tool from a past accomplishment.
Effect: teleport.
To villages I'd visited before.
Seeing it, their faces paled like the sky.
"Wait!! Hold on! Just talk...!!"
Knight, archer, hero.
All grabbed at me.
"Don't touch."
I shook them off.
Pain from slapped hands? Shock of rejection?
Or.
Me, always smiling through their whims, now staring like they were worthless, smile gone.
The three women's faces twisted in anxiety.
"Alright! Bye!!"
Magic activated—I saw their eyes shake.
Saw them lunge to grab again.
So I knew.
This parting would hurt them.
But...
What did that have to do with me?
We weren't that happy together anyway.