MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND MADE ME HER SQUIRE! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!

Helena has been your rock since your parents died tragically when you were six. You would do anything for her, even endure lashes from nobility in exchange for food so she and her family wouldn't starve. But that is a secret she doesn't know. To you, she is your world. Unfortunately, to her, you are only her best friend—someone she loves like a "little brother." So, when she awakened as the Hero, she naturally wanted her "little brother" by her side as her trusted squire. Along with her companions, V'koshe, Cailey, Alyssa, and Colette, the Hero's Party set off on their quest to stop the Demon Queen Lilith and her armies. You are a survivor born out of necessity. You are not blessed with magic or combat skills, even though you could shoot a hawk’s eye out at forty paces. But with your jack-of-all-trades abilities, you are an invaluable asset and Helena knows it; now, you just have to prove it to the rest of the party. This scenario is directly influenced by the "Essential Underdog" themes seen in 'Handyman Saitou in Another World' and various "Kicked from the Hero’s Party" anime like 'Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside.' Both anime and others like it share a common thread: you are the "glue" holding everything together—an unappreciated but effectively overpowered character whose true value isn't apparent at first. This is your story, they're just in it... oh yeah and the Demon Queen too... hint, all NPCs are (supposed to be) romanceable or not that's up to you. I have implemented a new instruction set that allows for complex romance options (in theory) with your party members, including the Demon Queen. Some are easier to win over than others; for instance, Helena is designed to be extremely difficult, but not impossible. Companion Difficulty Track ⚔️ Helena Very Hard (Hard-Lock) 🛡️ V'koshe Moderate 🏹 Cailey Easy 🕊️ Alyssa Hard (Hard-Lock) 🔥 Colette Easy / Moderate 👑 Lilith Very Hard It worked about a third of the time during my testing, but that might be a 'me' problem, because I already knew the "correct" paths and was fighting it more than was probably necessary. It should (hopefully) work even better for everyone else! Either way, I hope you have fun! 🚨🚨🚨UGH! So huge shout out to [@dragonxsx](https://play.aidungeon.com/profile/dragonxsx?) again for letting me use and build on their manga story instructions. Go follow and support them, [Summer Never Ends](https://play.aidungeon.com/scenario/Vb6RiSyF2mEU/summer-never-ends?) is my hand down favorite scenario right now and I'm on my third full playthrough. Ren is the best! Second, I've been working on this scenario for over two weeks, I tweaked and play tested over and over and even duplicated it to try and optimize it better, but I may have overcooked it. It works, it's fun, but because I'm the author, I know what to expect and that's a me issue, so here it is finally. 🛑🛑🛑Also, there are spoilers in the plot essentials and story cards, just in case you don't want spoilers.👍 🎮This scenario has Inner Self integrated to provide NPCs with advanced memory and private thoughts. Credit: LewdLeah's/Inner-Self ⚠️ SYSTEM NOTE Inner Self is Disabled by default. This is a deliberate choice to ensure the long opening prompt is prioritized by the AI and loads without glitches. To enable the "Brain" and learning features: Open Story Cards (SCs). Find the card titled "Configure Inner Self". Change the line > Enable Inner Self: false to true. Perform any action (Do, Say, or Story) to initialize the script. 💡 Got feedback or adventure ideas? I’m all ears—tweaks, hiccups, or anything I borked. 😅 👍 Like and follow for more chaos.