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**[Breaking News! Lotus Lee Eun-ha announces retirement from professional gaming during the season!]**

[STK Gaming Team wishes the best for player Lotus Lee Eun-ha.]

[The reason is the concern that it could undermine the integrity of the sports industry as a Hero.]

[Was Lotus’s past performance unrelated to the Hero’s Power?]

[STK, emergency call-up for backup players! Penalty applies: cannot use one bench card for the next match.]

[STK in crisis! Warden, save STK!]

[The fracture of the absolute dynasty has finally occurred.]

—

“Hey! Whether Lotus retires or not, who cares!”

[Author: ZiekGarterBelt]

The emergence of a new Hero is always welcome!

ㅇㅇ: If I had to choose between a professional gamer and a Hero, it obviously has to be the Hero.

DustToBankruptcy: It’s sad not seeing Lotus as a pro gamer, but as a Hero, Friede and Bovi can see Lotus, so I’m okay with that!

ㄴyaSergei: Mutual… just truly mutual.

—

“Ah haha! Don’t you know the Hero cutoff privilege?”

[Author: ㅇㅇ]

Lotus didn’t play the game to the level of someone like Friede.

It was pretty realistic and backed by historical accuracy.

And if she boosted with Hero Power, what could come of it?

Don’t you know about Heroes? Ah haha!

LAmpadu: Dude… if you say it like that, the Heroes get criticized.

ㄴㅇㅇ: Not at all. Why would Heroes be celebrities? To put it bluntly, they’re the ultimate beings in human civilization and the nature ecosystem. They won’t get criticized for that.

ㄴKimGaetulaque: I don’t know. In the previous Friede broadcast, a Hero could easily trample most powerful nations. I just want unyielding support.

ㄴIlGwangSoGum: This kind of talk will likely be drowned out by the Hero’s popularity anyway.

—

[Let’s form a Hero Team now!]

[Author: Washbasin]

Let’s create a new team of Heroes to dive into the Soul Warfare League.

Friede could devastate alone, but with a Hero Team, we’re looking at a flawless championship!

ㅇㅇ: No way! They should debut as Hero idols!

ㄴTheMeninator: Gay Gay!

SweetGang: Don’t bash the Heroes, folks. They won’t debut in the sports industry just to protect professional players, including Lotus. They’re truly just and fair people.

ㄴㅇㅇ: Wow, you’ve totally become a believer, haven’t you? Sweet man.

—

The news of Eun-ha’s retirement from the gaming community of Soul Warfare quickly spread to other communities without a grand announcement.

The reason was due to awakening as a Hero.

Through the last Demon King’s subjugation broadcast by Friede and numerous uploads by cyber wreckers, info flew around rapidly.

Thanks to that, many suspected Eun-ha had connections to the Heroes.

The general public response was mostly typical.

The emergence of a Hero, who has redefined historical paradigms, is, in reality, trivial matter—it feels like a minor joke.

Moreover, Friede stated officially that the Heroes protect Korea.

Later, when Friede revealed the specs of the Hero, she claimed that even if Korea fought against the world, it would be invincible in defense. Naturally, the citizens got all hyped up.

At this point, clinging to skills from her professional gamer days seemed meaningless.

While the world was focused on the Heroes, Ah-jin confidently stepped into the center of the street.

“Huff, huff.”

She tried to hunch her shoulders as much as possible, but it was hard to suppress the laughter that slipped between her lips.

“I’m totally fine. Totally fine.”

Ah-jin, who was experiencing symptoms of social anxiety and phobia from the Demon King’s curse, could now boldly face the world as a Hero.

A sense of liberation. Rising confidence was

“You’re too excited. Is it that good?”

“Yes! Thanks to you, sister!”

With Sehee’s beautiful voice ringing in from behind, Ah-jin nodded with a beaming smile.

Like an innocent child showing her pure self to her mother.

If Da-young had seen her like this, she would have frowned immediately, but as Sehee faced this Ah-jin, she merely smiled softly.

Just then, Yuri, who had been watching next to them, immediately countered.

“Ah-jin sister, still not as good as me, right? It really is a happy thing to proudly go out like this with my original body.”

“Ugh!”

Yuri, who had transformed into a 180 cm tall “TS curse” victim.

The Hero, who never imagined she would live as a man her whole life, was now glued to Sehee with a cheerful smile.

Ah-jin had been out a few times with Sehee’s help, but relying on someone else and acting on her own free will had a huge gap, so Yuri’s light steps, completely free from all her struggles, were truly delightful.

Maybe it could be said the curse that Heroes received was among the cruelest. Or perhaps it differed from person to person.

“But there’s still another issue. It’s not that simple to go out like usual.”

“Sister is right. You might get surrounded by people.”

“True. I received a ton of emails while I was home. If I had stepped out without a thought, it would have been a disaster.”

Now, thanks to the magical tools made by Da-young, she had altered her appearance and presence.

There was a reason why she could boldly step out like this while everyone was focused on the Heroes.

Gazing at the two chatting, Sehee decided to stretch her sleepy mind.

“Oh heaven!”

As the blood pumped through her veins rapidly, she relished the dizzying sensation in her brain.

It might be funny to find this pleasant, but it felt like a fresh infusion of energy had cleansed her mind.

Compared to the blatant stares she faced since returning to Earth, this felt like a refreshing sensation.

Ah-jin and Yuri had already made themselves comfy in the clothing section of the mall.

Never-ending excursions to the mall felt like a tiresome affair from Sehee’s perspective.

Upon reflection, even though her body had changed, she realized her interest still wasn’t quite there.

At least, she didn’t have the concentration to put everything on clothes, accessories, and cosmetics.

“Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves…”

She couldn’t drop her post so Sehee leaned against the terrace and watched lazily.

The sudden outing and shopping had started just a few hours earlier, and to pass the time, she closed her eyes and reminisced about the earlier events.

—

“Ah, my birthday is coming up soon.”

It was a casual remark I had muttered while looking at the calendar.

No sooner had I said it than all gazes locked onto Sehee, making her feel rather flustered.

“What’s going on, everyone?”

“Sister, was it your birthday today?”

Da-young, acting as the representative, asked with scrutiny, prompting Sehee to nod.

Now it was the end of June. She recalled that July 1st—the first day of July—was indeed her birthday.

“Yes, that’s right. July 1st.”

She said it calmly, and Da-young squinted her brow, suspiciously.

“Something’s odd. The ID you showed me before had January 1st on it. Why is the date different?”

As expected of Da-young. She remembered that!

She recalled the time she stayed overnight at Da-young’s house for the first time.

Ah, that was the day she had met the streamer, Hero Da-young, in real life.

She revealed that she was a man in the past and had used the ID to verify her name and birthday that day.

There was no need to hide it, so Sehee nodded, officially confirming it.

“Yeah, my original birthday is July 1st. January 1st is my birthday as ‘Jisehee.'”

“I see, so that’s it. Wait a second!”

Da-young, understanding, suddenly whispered eagerly into Sehee’s ear.

“Sister, does this mean you’re saying you were a man?”

Sehee neither confirmed nor denied Da-young’s secretive question.

There’s a saying that silence is acceptance, and though her vision darkened momentarily, the ensuing scene unfolded a different way.

“Sehee, is your birthday a different date? Is it really July 1st?”

To Ji-hye’s question, Sehee responded calmly.

In a voice that mixed the mundane tedium of daily life.

“Yeah, January 1st is the ID created for me by the goddess upon returning to Earth. My original birthday is July 1st.”

“No way, that’s amazing!”

“Oh, that’s tomorrow!”

“We need to prepare for a birthday party fast!”

“Sister, how could you just mention that now?!”

Seeing the four of them react in shock, Da-young let out a quiet sigh of relief.

It seemed that by focusing on the fact that her birthday was tomorrow, they had set aside any mention of her past as an older sister.

Meanwhile, Sehee found their emphasis on birthday significance quite foreign.

Until now, her previous birthdays had only consisted of simply hanging out with friends and transitioning to gaming.

‘Let alone during the Hero days.’

Back then, there were no thoughts of celebrating birthdays—just endless battles.

Though she knew it was a day to celebrate, she couldn’t help but wonder if it warranted such a fuss.

Just at that moment, with things to prepare, Yuri proposed going shopping together, and Ah-jin joined in eagerly, seemingly itching to participate.

Thus began the bustling prelude to the birthday party.