How To Leave The Hero Party- Chapter 1

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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Massive horns, a mountain of a body, bulging muscles entwined with countless tentacles radiating dark energy—the Hero’s sword pierced the Demon King’s throat. Simultaneously, a message window appeared before my eyes.

Three years. Three years since I’d been pulled into this game I used to play.

Finally, I could breathe a sigh of relief.

I’d suffered greatly, driven by the promise of returning to reality upon completing every achievement.

Of course, slaying the Demon King didn’t mean instant return.

Still, overcoming one of the biggest hurdles was certainly cause for celebration, wasn’t it?

After all, it meant parting ways with all that had tormented me.

“Haah… Haah…”

The Hero, Claire, stood victorious over the Demon King’s corpse.

Her delicate, golden hair shimmered as though molten gold had been poured and shaped.

Her slender face bore the marks of a long and arduous journey.

Crimson eyes, like the sun, contrasted sharply with the delicate arms that wielded such immense power.

A striking beauty with a willowy figure, she looked at me and spoke with difficulty.

“S- Sage… H- Healing…”

“Ah. Right.”

Her words brought me back to the present. I looked at the other party members.

Leventia, the Knight, stood tall as I, her silver hair tinged with blue. The muscles visible beneath her armor were a testament to her strength.

She coughed, blood trickling down her chin, gasping from the Demon King’s attacks.

Evangeline, the Elven Archer, possessed beautiful, raven-black hair that shone like the night sky, framing her emerald green eyes.

Her long, drooping ears betrayed her utter dejection. She trembled, clutching the remains of her broken bow.

The only one still standing was the official leader of the Hero’s Party, the hero Claire.

And then there was me, the unofficial party member-Yoon Hyun-woo, the sage.

“S-Sage…?”

Her faint voice calling my name gave me pause.

After all, 80% of my suffering these past three years stemmed from cleaning up after them.

The Seeker of the Eight Stars.

The game I’d been sucked into was a notoriously difficult roguelike.

No resurrections after death. Sudden deaths triggered by stress, like some kind of emotional goldfish. Party betrayals were commonplace. Party abandonment? Equally common.

It was a truly unforgiving game.

When I arrived, the Hero’s Party was already formed. Whether due to the game’s mechanics or my Sage class, I couldn’t officially join.

So, I became an unofficial member, trailing after them, providing support. And my experiences that time were… varied.

Honestly, I couldn’t help but hesitate. Did I really need to heal these people I no longer needed?

“S- Sage? No… Hyun-woo…?”

At her fearful whisper, I shrugged. There were still achievements to unlock, minor tasks they could help with. No need to leave them to die just yet.

“Heal.”

A soft, gentle light emanated from my staff, enveloping the area. The two incapacitated party members sighed deeply as they regained consciousness and sat up.

“Haaah… You imbecile…!!”

Was it because I’d delayed the healing? Evangeline, the Elven Archer, snarled as she approached me.

Leventia, the Knight, followed, her stoic expression hardening into one of contempt.

“…Tch. Do you even possess the will to aid your comrades?”

The moment they recovered, they began berating me, venting the stress accumulated during the battle with the Demon King.

And Claire, the Hero who should have intervened, simply watched, her expression grim, glancing nervously between me and the others.

Yes, she just watched as they bolstered their self-esteem through pointless and unreasonable accusations.

Afraid I might retort.

Afraid I might get angry.

Afraid that the fragile bonds of the party would finally shatter.

It wasn’t necessarily wrong.

After all, I had agreed to be their scapegoat to maintain party unity. It was a valid strategy, even within the game’s mechanics.

Of course, my heart wasn’t made of stone. It stung.

I am a man, after all.

And they are all beautiful women. We had been on relatively good terms during the early and mid-game.

Claire, chosen as the Hero after drawing the Hero’s sword, had always been apologetic and grateful that I’d followed her, even without the divine protection afforded to official Hero Party members.

Leventia, the proud Knight, despite her aloofness, had never hesitated to help people alongside me when I needed to raise my reputation in cities for achievement progression.

Evangeline, the Elven Archer, used to adore my lute playing and singing, laughing brightly. After we completed a festival event together, she even promised to make me an honorary elf.

The journey through the main storyline had been so arduous and agonizing that it had changed them all.

But what good would dwelling on the past do?

“Haaaah… In any case, we defeated the Demon King, so let’s return to the royal capital.”

The Hero’s Party’s duty was to slay the Demon King.

Having achieved that, they should all return to their respective places.

Yes.

The Hero would return to the kingdom, hailed as a hero.

The Knight would return to the order.

The Elf… well, she’d probably return to the forest. Or perhaps remain in the kingdom.

As members of the Hero’s Party, having accomplished the monumental feat of defeating the Demon King, they would all undoubtedly secure prominent positions.

Of course, not me. I was never an official party member, just a temporary attachment. And I had no interest in such things.

“R- Right. Let’s go. Quickly.”

With Leventia and Evangeline’s tirade ending sooner than usual, Claire hurriedly spoke while nervously glancing between me and the others.

The portal, a magic exclusive to the Hero, materialized. Standing before the dimensional gate that connected to the royal capital, Claire looked at me pleadingly.

Hmm…

“Your mental state is utterly rotten. When we return to the knight order, I’ll take you on as my squire and retrain you properly. Follow me.”

“Wouldn’t it be better for him to be a lowly forest keeper, tending to the woods?”

“How about a royal soldier? Or perhaps a servant at my estate?”

“H- Hey. Can we discuss this later…?”

“If the Hero commands it, we must obey.”

“Hmph. The honorary Elven Hero is willing to protect even an imbecile like you.”

They started chattering amongst themselves, arbitrarily deciding my fate after the Demon King’s defeat.

A squire in the knight order–or better yet, just a servant.

No, wait. He cooks reasonably well, so it would be better to take him along as the party’s cook.

Wouldn’t tending trees in the forest be more fitting?

Perhaps he should enlist as a soldier in the kingdom’s army.

While the two of them chattered away, and Claire fretted without intervening, I smiled.

“Alright, alright. Everyone, gather ’round.”

“Oh? So, you’ve decided? You’re going to the knight order after all, right? To rectify your decaying mental state…”

“The forest. The forest, you fool. Only the nobility of the forest can transform this imbecile into a proper person.”

Apparently, they still harbored a considerable amount of stress. They continued their relentless criticism, painting a vivid picture of my future.

Of course, that picture was quite far removed from what I actually intended to do. Being a servant or a squire wouldn’t unlock any achievements.

I checked my remaining achievements. I had obtained all the achievements tied to the main storyline, those that required traveling with the Hero’s Party and defeating the Demon King.

All that remained were the achievements associated with Adventure Mode, which unlocked after completing the main storyline and defeating the Demon King. There was no reason to stick with the Hero’s Party any longer.

Therefore,

Now that the Demon King had been defeated, there was no reason to stay with them any longer.

I smiled at them, feeling utterly liberated.

“It’s been fun traveling with you all, but let’s each go our separate ways and live our own lives from now on!”

Not that it was particularly fun.

But what else could I say as I was leaving?

“…What? S- Sage? Hyun-woo… What are you…?”

“Let’s do the chant one last time before we part ways!”

Main Story Chapter 5.

Before things between us started getting awkward, we always did this chant when things got tough—so I held out my hand.

Of course, they just stared at me blankly, seemingly bewildered.

“Come on! Better today than yesterday! Better tomorrow than today!”

“…..”

“One! Two! Three! Fighting!”

The cheer ended, performed and concluded solely by me, my hand raised alone.

The Hero released her grip from the sword used to open the portal, the knight furrowed her brows in confusion, and the elf clenched her teeth.

“Um… H- Hyun-woo? No. Sage. What’s wrong…?”

The Hero’s voice was strained.

“Huh? We’ve defeated the Demon King and we’ve all done what we set out to do, so now it’s time to go our separate ways.”

“What? What… What are you talking about?!”

Finally grasping what I meant, Leventia yelled. I just shrugged.

“No… I said from the beginning that I would only be with you until the Demon King was defeated, right?”

“There’s still much to be done!”

“That’s true.”

The Demon King may have fallen, but monsters still roamed the land. The Hero’s Party’s strength was indeed necessary to eradicate them.

“For you guys.”

But there was no reason for me to accompany them any further.

The reason was simple.

It wasn’t part of the achievement list.

I had little interest in anything other than acquiring every achievement to escape this damned world.

“…You’re lying, right?”

The Elven Archer, who had revoked my honorary elf title and since then consistently called me an imbecile, seemed quite bewildered. Her normally haughty and composed eyes trembled slightly.

“Lies. Imbecile, you’re joking at a time like this? Hmph. Fine. If it’s such an honor for you, I’ll reinstate your honorary elf title…”

“No, no. No honorary elf title. I don’t care about that stuff.”

Claire’s crimson eyes quivered for a moment.

Even though she was the Hero, she was a coward at heart—and now she was afraid at the idea of me leaving.

“Um, Hyunwoo. All that’s happened until now…”

“You just followed the party on your own!! And now you’re trying to run away!?”

Leventia yelled. About how my mindset was rotten, how I needed proper training, how she’d whip me into shape as her squire, how I should work as a servant to a noble house.

She was shouting, clinging to her self-righteousness.

A pride crafted to shield herself from all the pain, hardship, and stress endured as part of the Hero’s Party. Evangeline too started lashing out, unsure whether she wanted me to stay or leave.

“Even if you say that… we all got what we wanted, didn’t we?”

You were the Hero and party members. You wanted to defeat the Demon King.

That’s why you offloaded your stress and frustration onto me throughout that harsh journey.

I wanted to progress through the main storyline, defeat the Demon King, and unlock the associated achievements.

Therefore, I sacrificed myself for three years to ensure your safe passage.

It was a clean transaction. A simple exchange.

Just as one goes home after making a purchase, our objectives had been met. Wasn’t it over?

When I laid out this perfectly logical truth, Claire visibly panicked.

“Hyun-woo, I apologize on their behalf… Tia and Eva aren’t usually like this…”

“Oh, no, no. It’s fine.”

The game system only allows three official party members.

The fact that I tagged along like this was basically an exploit.

And the resulting drop in affection and rise in stress toward me were well-documented game mechanics, so I couldn’t really blame them for how they’d acted.

Of course, I’d suffered because of it, and I felt like unleashing a torrent of colorful curses, but they still had a few tasks left to do for me, so I held back.

“……”

Unlike me, who had come to terms with everything, the Hero’s Party members were disconcerted.

I had always followed them, enduring their tantrums, their torments, their delegated chores, their lack of acknowledgment, without complaint.

And now, I was rejecting their proposed “honors” and leaving? No wonder they were confused.

“Well anyway, thanks for everything so far… and good luck clearing out the remaining monsters! Fighting! I know you can do it!”

Yes, they could do it.

They had leveled up considerably, gained experience, and the kingdom’s army would assist them.

“W- Wait! How are you going to leave? Y-You seem agitated so maybe we should talk first… You need the portal to return, don’t you! Are you going to walk back? Let’s go to the royal capital. Okay? We can talk there….”

Our current location was the heart of the Black Continent, teeming with monsters.

Returning to the kingdom from here required the portal.

The portal was magic exclusive to the Hero. If she didn’t allow it, I’d be stranded.

“Haaa… O- Okay. Let’s talk again once you’ve calmed down! If you don’t want to be a squire, then how about a trainee knight, or even a full-fledged—”

“…That can’t be. Why are you suddenly… If you don’t like being an honorary elf…”

Realizing I was serious, the three of them desperately tried to retain me with meaningless offers.

Like throwing bread at a tiger and expecting it to be satiated.

“I can return without using the portal.”

“…What? That’s… that’s impossible.”

“Don’t worry about me… Just go back and receive your reward for defeating the Demon King. We probably won’t see each other again, but may blessings light your paths—be well!”

I raised the ring on my finger.

A Teleportation Ring.

A magical artifact I obtained after completing an achievement.

Its effect was, as the name suggested, teleportation.

It could transport me to any town I had previously visited.

The three of them paled.

“Wait!! Just a moment! Wait! Let’s talk…!!”

The knight, the archer, and even the hero—

All of them reached out to grab me.

“Don’t touch me.”

I pushed them away.

Whether it was the pain of being struck on the hand, the shock of being rejected,

or perhaps—

The fact that I, who had always smiled and accepted their selfishness, was now staring at them as if they were worthless—

Their faces twisted with anxiety.

“Well then! Goodbye!!”

As the magic activated, I saw their eyes widen.

I saw them moving to grab me again.

Therefore, I could be certain.

This parting would undoubtedly hurt them.

But…

What did that have to do with me?

It’s not like we were ever truly happy together.

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