No Hero Needed Anymore

"Sigh."

A sigh echoed clearly along the rather dim forest path.

Shien walked along this path, his steps aimless as he pondered the absolutely crucial new information he had just learned, sighing uncontrollably.

"I originally thought I'd come to a world full of cliché plot points."

And what's the situation now?

"Isn't this reversal a bit too sudden?"

At the very least, Shien still hadn't snapped out of it.

Because this meant one thing.

"Was I deceived?"

Isn't that exactly it?

"Even though the Demon Lord has already been defeated and the world has been at peace for over a thousand years, in this situation, where would a Hero be needed to save anything?" But that Goddess had indeed used that reason to resurrect Shien, who had already died once, awaken him as a Hero, and send him to this world.

"What on earth does this mean?"

Shien couldn't understand it at all.

What's more, Shien felt as if all his efforts so far had been in vain.

"I became an adventurer with the goal of defeating the Demon Lord..."

Yes.

Shien's choice to become an adventurer wasn't just about making money.

If he wanted to make money, Shien could have easily spent a few days in the monster-filled forest like before, defeated numerous monsters, collected their body materials, and sold them. That way, his livelihood would have been completely secured.

Even for leveling up and increasing his strength, Shien didn't need to intentionally become an adventurer; he could have just continuously fought monsters, and his level would have surely soared.

Yet, in the end, Shien chose to become an adventurer. This wasn't solely because he was interested in the legendary fantasy profession of this other world, but also to establish himself in this world and ultimately achieve the goal of defeating the Demon Lord.

Otherwise, as an outsider who had just arrived in this world, how would Shien be able to find the Demon Lord and defeat it?

Therefore, Shien needed information, and even more so, he needed channels that would allow him to obtain various information about this world without any hindrance.

Becoming an adventurer was a good method.

After all, no matter which story you look at, adventurers are the kind of people who travel far and wide, rushing around all over the world. Coupled with the fact that the Adventurer's Guild, an organization spread throughout the world, served as his backing, Shien could completely use the identity of an adventurer to first integrate into this world and then naturally acquire various information about it.

Furthermore, Shien also needed to resolve the issue of his identity.

Otherwise, while there might not be a problem now, once his level increased a bit and he became slightly more noticeable, Shien would surely enter the sights of various people and might be investigated by them.

At that time, if Shien had no identity, it would inevitably cause all sorts of trouble.

Thus, Shien could fully imagine that if he didn't become an adventurer, remained anonymous, didn't interact with anyone, and quietly earned money and leveled up, he would eventually face suspicion from others.

If nothing else, if Shien didn't become an adventurer and instead used Lamigium as a base, entering and exiting that town every day and bringing back large quantities of monster materials, even the doorman would have remembered Shien's face, right?

If it turned out that way, Shien would sooner or later arouse suspicion. When someone with ill intentions appeared and investigated him, all his anomalies would likely be exposed. In the end, he might even be targeted, his Sacred Sword discovered, and consequently, greater trouble would arise, making it a net loss.

In view of this, considering all sorts of issues, Shien chose to become an adventurer. He used this identity as a stepping stone to integrate into this world and then make further plans.

This way, once his level was sufficiently high and he had gathered enough information, allowing him to defeat the Demon Lord, Shien could set off directly and act to achieve his goal.

At that time, to move freely in this world, Shien would also need an identity.

And so, Shien had embarked on the path he was currently on.

Who would have thought...

"My plans are thwarted before I even begin."

Now, his greatest objective was gone.

Actually, personally speaking, Shien felt he could be a little happy about this significant piece of information.

"Since the Demon Lord has already been defeated and the world has long since returned to peace, I won't have to go through the arduous task of fighting against someone that even gods fear. I can also peacefully start my second life and live an ordinary life as an adventurer."

From this perspective, this matter was quite worth celebrating.

However, Shien didn't believe that the Goddess who summoned him to this world did so merely for amusement, only to resurrect him and make him a Hero.

That Goddess definitely had a purpose for summoning Shien; that was beyond doubt.

Moreover, she had used the defeated Demon Lord as an excuse to deceive him.

This gave Shien the feeling that he was being drawn into some unseen conspiracy.

"Well, this kind of development is also a trope, isn't it?"

Shien took it in stride, accepting this sudden turn of events with his usual resigned attitude.

Besides, it wasn't certain yet that everything was a conspiracy.

"Perhaps the Demon Lord isn't dead, and Nien, knowing this, decided to perform the Hero summoning ritual again. It's also possible."

Or perhaps, after a thousand years of recuperation, the Demon Race intends to reignite war to avenge their past defeat by the God Race, which is why Nien is once again summoning a Hero. How about that scenario?

It's just that...

"If even someone as gentle as Vivian insists with absolute certainty that a Hero cannot appear again, then the current relationship between the three races must truly be unable to tolerate even the slightest change, right?"

If the reappearance of a Hero were exposed, regardless of the underlying circumstances or hidden agendas, the relationship between the three races would undoubtedly become precarious.

Just as Vivian had said, no matter what, if the Demon Race learned of a Hero's existence, they would never let it go and would certainly not ignore such a threat.

And once the Human Race discovered that the God Race had performed a Hero summoning, they would inevitably suspect the Demon Race of something, creating a rift between them.

Following that, the God Race might also seek to leverage the Hero's power to completely eradicate the Demon Race, their former mortal enemy.

In any world, ambition and malice are never in short supply. If there are those who desire peace among the three races, there will certainly be those who wish to destroy it. Once a Hero's existence is confirmed, Shien could easily imagine dozens of ways for it to be seized upon as an opportunity or excuse, allowing those with ulterior motives to act with impunity.

"I suppose that's why Vivian was so adamant that a Hero cannot appear again?"

Once a Hero appears, regardless of the reason, their very existence becomes a spark that could shatter peace.

And that is something most people would absolutely not want to see.

Therefore...

"Does this world no longer need a Hero?"

Shien sighed once more.

Just then, a voice reached Shien's ears.

"Indeed, this world no longer needs a Hero."

Such a statement echoed through the dim forest, causing Shien to stop abruptly.

Here is the third update!

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