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"Sigh..."
In the somewhat dim forest path, a sigh sounded extraordinarily clear.
Shane walked along this path, aimlessly moving forward while contemplating the absolutely unignorable new information he had just learned, unable to stop sighing.
"I originally thought I'd arrived in a world full of clichéd plots."
But what was happening now?
"Isn't this twist too sudden?"
At the very least, Shane hadn't recovered from the shock even now.
Because, this meant one thing.
"Have I been deceived?"
Wasn't that exactly it?
"Even though the Demon King has been defeated and the world has been at peace for a thousand years, under such circumstances, where is there a need for a hero to save the day?"
However, that Goddess indeed used such a reason to resurrect Shane, who had died once, allowing him to awaken as a hero and descend into this world.
"What exactly does this mean?"
Shane was completely baffled.
Even more so, Shane felt as if all his efforts thus far had been in vain.
"I became an adventurer specifically to achieve the goal of defeating the Demon King..."
Yes.
Shane chose to become an adventurer not merely because he wanted to earn money.
If making money was his only goal, Shane could have done as he did before, staying several days in the demon-infested forest, defeating numerous demons and collecting their body materials to sell, without having to worry about livelihood.
He didn't even need to specifically become an adventurer to level up and enhance his power; he could engage in constant battles with demons, ensuring his level would soar.
In the end, Shane still chose to become an adventurer, not just because he was interested in this legendary, dreamlike otherworldly profession but also to establish himself in this world and ultimately achieve the goal of defeating the Demon King.
Otherwise, as a newcomer to this world, how could Shane find and defeat the Demon King?
Therefore, Shane needed information and channels through which he could obtain various kinds of information in this world without any hindrance.
Becoming an adventurer was a good method for that.
After all, from any story perspective, adventurers always need to travel far and wide, running around the world; with the adventurer's guild as a widespread force across the world, Shane could fully integrate into the world using the identity of an adventurer and naturally obtain various kinds of information.
Moreover, Shane also needed to address the issue of identity.
Otherwise, it might not be an issue now, but once his level increased a bit and he became slightly more noticeable, Shane would likely enter the sight of various people and might be investigated by them.
By then, if Shane lacked an identity, it was sure to cause all kinds of trouble.
Hence, Shane could already foresee that if he didn't become an adventurer and simply remained anonymous, refraining from interacting with anyone while silently earning money and leveling up, others would doubt him sooner or later.
At the very least, if Shane didn't become an adventurer, using Lamijion as a base, entering and exiting the town there daily while bringing back a large amount of demon materials, even the gatekeeper would remember Shane's face, right?
If it turned out that way, Shane was bound to arouse others' suspicions. When interested parties emerged and investigated him, his various anomalies would likely be exposed, potentially leading to the trouble of being discovered possessing the Holy Sword, ultimately outweighing the benefits.
Considering those various issues, Shane chose to become an adventurer, using this identity as a springboard to integrate into the world and then make further plans.
In this way, once his level was adequately high and the information sufficiently gathered, enabling him to defeat the Demon King, Shane could embark on his journey to achieve his goal.
At that time, to roam freely in the world, Shane similarly needed an identity.
Thus, Shane tread the path he walked today.
Who would have thought...
"To die before achieving success."
Now, the biggest goal had vanished.
As a matter of personal feeling, Shane thought he could be at least a bit happy about this major information.
"Since the Demon King has already been defeated and the world has long returned to peace, I don't need to arduously fight with someone even the gods fear. I can peacefully embark upon my second life, living ordinarily as an adventurer."
From this point of view, this matter was quite worthy of celebration.
However, Shane didn't believe that the Goddess who summoned him to this world did so merely for amusement, bringing him back to life and turning him into a hero.
The Goddess undoubtedly had a purpose in summoning Shane, there was no doubt about it.
Moreover, the Goddess used the already defeated Demon King as an excuse to deceive him.
This gave Shane the feeling that he seemed to have been dragged into some unseen conspiracy.
"Well, such a development is a trope too, right?"
Shane took it in stride, as usual, adopting a helpless mentality to accept this unexpected situation.
Additionally, it couldn't yet be confirmed that everything was just a conspiracy.
"Maybe the Demon King isn't dead, and Nien knew this so she held the hero summoning ritual again, who knows?"
Or perhaps, actually, after a millennium of recuperation, the Demon Clan intended to regain their honor after having been defeated by the Divine Race and planned to provoke another war, prompting Nien to conduct the hero summoning again, how about that as a setting?
It's just...
"For someone as gentle as Vivian to emphatically state that a hero cannot reappear, surely the relationships among the Three Clans are indeed too fragile to allow a single bit of change?"
If the reappearance of a hero got exposed, no matter how much behind-the-scenes intrigue there was, the relationships among the Three Clans would inevitably become precarious.
Just like Vivian said, no matter what, if the Demon Clan learned of the hero's existence, they would, no matter what, not let it slide, unable to ignore this threat.
And once the Human Race knew the Divine Race conducted a hero summoning, they would surely suspect the Demon Clan of doing something, creating bias against them.
Subsequently, perhaps the Divine Race might even want to use the hero's power to completely eradicate the former arch-enemy Demon Clan.
In any world, ambition and malice are never lacking, and while there are those among the Three Clans who desire peace, some want to destroy it all. Once a hero's existence gets confirmed, Shane could easily imagine dozens of developments where interested parties use this as an opportunity and excuse to act as they will.
"I bet Vivian insists that a hero should not reappear because she knows this well."
If a hero appeared, regardless of the reason, their mere presence would become the spark that shatters peace.
And this is something most definitely no one wishes to see.
So...
"Does this world already not need a hero anymore...?"
Shane sighed once more.
At that moment, a voice reached his ears.
"Indeed, this world no longer needs a hero."
Such a statement echoed in the dim forest, causing Shane to abruptly stop.
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