Ever since the Wind Island incident, Luminous Academy had been abuzz with talk of Yugo.
And it wasn't just the students celebrating the birth of a new hero; the townspeople were just as enthusiastic.
The cafe where En worked—a regular haunt of his—was thriving, and the children from the care facility he and his friends had twice defended spoke of the rescue with wide, sparkling eyes. Others across the city who had been aided by Yugo shared in the joy of his success, celebrating what many saw as a truly legendary rise to prominence.
Yet, where there is light, there must also be shadows. The more Yugo’s fame grew and the more praise he received, the more those consumed by envy began to crawl out of the woodwork.
Chief among them were the very individuals who had once commanded the respect of the entire academy as Hero Candidates—the group of reincarnators.
Stripped of their titles and now nothing more than "former" candidates, they were mired in frustration and despair at how far they had fallen.
While their own actions were entirely to blame for their predicament, they weren't the sort of people capable of honest self-reflection.
They harbored deep-seated grudges against Yugo, viewing him as the sole reason their current reality had diverged so drastically from the Luminous History they remembered. Still, despite their mounting resentment, there was very little they could actually do.
The reason was simple: Yugo was now overwhelmingly stronger than any of them.
In their current state, it was doubtful they could even hold their own against a human-turned-Magic Armor Beast, let alone match the strength of Yugo’s own party members.
Furthermore, while Yugo was surrounded by reliable allies like Ryuga and Melt, the former candidates found themselves completely isolated.
Deserted by the companions they had once so carefully "cultivated," they were left to wallow in their own loneliness.
Faced with this reality, their motivations and actions had split into two distinct paths.
The first group consisted of those who refused to let go of their protagonist dreams and continued to make "efforts"—at least in their own minds.
A tiny minority among the former candidates still sought a total reversal of fortune, swearing to overthrow Yugo and biding their time to gather weapons and allies for a vengeful strike.
While that might sound like a potential headache, their endeavors were almost entirely in vain.
They couldn't keep up with the current level of combat, and because the world had changed so much, their knowledge from their previous lives had become useless. Combined with their abrasive personalities and abysmal social skills, they were unable to find even a single opening to exploit.
Incapable of the steady training or genuine character reform required for a fresh start, most of their schemes simply sputtered out before they began, ensuring the nuisance they caused remained relatively minor.
The far more problematic group was the second: those who had given up on the hero business to simply do as they pleased.
No longer caring about being the protagonist, the majority of the reincarnators decided to leverage their slightly higher-than-average status to live comfortably and enjoyably. Under this mindset, they began to pursue their new otherworld lives.
On the surface, it seemed like they would be less of a bother now that they had dropped out of the race, but having once tasted the prestige of being a main character, their desires weren't quite so easily sated.
They might have abandoned their heroics, but they hadn't given up on achieving "happiness." To be blunt, many of them still dreamed of a romantic life with the game's beautiful characters.
The dream of a harem was dead, but the burning desire to find a cute girlfriend and experience all the things they had failed to achieve in their previous lives remained—smoldering not so much in their hearts, but in their groins.
Sadly, every one of them had been unpopular in their previous lives. Now that they were in a game world where they had designed themselves to be ideal handsome men, they found their impulses impossible to suppress.
However, no matter how good the packaging was, the contents remained the same. Furthermore, their past behavior had come back to haunt them; their bad reputations had spread throughout the academy and the entire town.
Worse than Yugo at his lowest point, they were now treated like pariahs. No one was foolish enough to let their guard down around them, and whenever they tried to approach a girl, they were met with either subtle avoidance or blatant rejection.
And so, these former Hero Candidates—who had given up on their destiny but refused to discard their lust—began to wonder: was there a girl who was exceptionally cute, incredibly naive, and possessed a top-tier figure...?
When they discovered that Elena, a girl who fit those criteria perfectly, had transferred in, they swarmed toward her like it was their last chance at salvation.
Accumulated malice and flaring ulterior motives. The evil clutches of the reincarnators were closing in on the pure, unsuspecting Elena.
Naturally, in a situation like this, the one left to struggle with a chronic stomachache was that same man... Having fended off yet another wave of men with bared desires, he was currently busy lecturing the oblivious Elena.