Chapter 41: 040 Do not wrong yourself
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Mangar Mountain Range, the camp at the foot of the mountain.
When Shane returned here, the entire camp was left with only Vivian by the bonfire.
Seeing Shane return, Vivian stood up.
“Sorry, were you waiting for me this whole time?” Shane looked at Vivian, who relaxed upon seeing him, feeling somewhat touched as he approached with a bit of apology, “Where are the others?”
“Lu Muya and Merica have already gone to rest; only I am here on night watch, and we’ll switch shifts in the second half of the night.” Vivian smiled slightly and said, “As for Tielle, she should be patrolling nearby to see if any demons have come down from the mountain.”
Vivian said this while looking at Shane with concern, “How are you? Are you okay?”
“Of course I’m fine.”
Shane answered immediately.
“Is that so?” Only then did Vivian feel relieved, “It seems you’ve figured it out.”
Shane scratched his head at that moment.
This phrasing sounded like Shane had just been troubled by something he couldn’t understand.
“Actually, you don’t need to worry so much.” Shane said, feeling a bit embarrassed, “I was indeed surprised by some things, but it wasn’t to the point of not understanding.”
As Laischa thought, Shane, although entangled by the Hero Summoning and the fact that the Demon King had already been defeated, wasn’t particularly lost.
The reason Shane agreed to the mission to defeat the Demon King was purely for the sake of a transaction.
Nien resurrected him, who had already died once, giving him a second life. In return, he helped her defeat the Demon King. It was as simple as that.
In such circumstances, even if the Demon King had already been defeated, Shane wouldn’t be troubled.
The real troubling thing, given the current situation, was his identity as a Hero.
Once this identity was exposed, it would inevitably affect this world; that much was certain.
And whatever insider details were behind this, Shane shouldn’t be concerned.
Of course, Shane also understood that he might have become the center of this insider detail, possibly caught in some conspiratorial whirlpool.
However, this was not enough to make Shane feel lost.
(Having been bombarded by so many similar plotlines in past lives, how could I not know what I should do at this moment?)
Now, there was only one thing Shane needed to do.
That was to enhance his own strength.
“No matter what kind of conspiracy I encounter, as long as I can enhance my strength, then when situations arise, I’ll have enough ability to handle and resolve them.”
Shane unconsciously spoke his inner thoughts.
“So, I will work hard to improve myself.”
This was what Shane needed to do next, without any hesitation.
Shane planned to continually improve his strength while slowly gathering information to understand this world.
That way, the mysteries would sooner or later reach him, the center of the insider detail, and he would have enough strength to resolve them.
“Let’s aim to become a formal adventurer first.”
With the identity of an adventurer and the guild as a source of information and a channel to understand this world, Shane could gradually unravel some of the mysteries in his heart.
Not to mention, the adventurer’s guild had influence around the world and could connect with various people, which would also aid Shane in enhancing his strength.
To enhance strength, Shane had two directions.
The other was to acquire skills.
For the former, because it’s easier to take on opponents with similar strength, outright defeating them quickly isn’t as purposeful; this might not be the most efficient way for Shane, who possesses the Holy Sword and various Level-up Skills.
Therefore, Shane decided to focus on the latter, by engaging in various adventurous activities and interacting with different people, to either learn skills on his own or have others teach him new skills.
With the “Heaven’s Grace” unique skill, Shane believed he could quickly learn various skills and instantly level them up.
This absolutely was a method to greatly enhance strength, more efficiently than painstakingly leveling up.
Anyway, Shane didn’t want, like in some classic developments, to become like an ascetic to enhance his strength, isolating himself in a demon-filled forest, and train himself into a Ten Mile Slope Sword God.
That was not only tiresome but also led to losing touch with the outside world with no source of information, making it difficult to respond promptly if a situation arose.
In previous lives, seeing such plotlines, Shane more than once thought, when those protagonists secluded themselves for so long, weren’t they afraid of falling out of touch with the world or even developing communication disorders and social phobia, unable to keep up with the times and community?
One should know, reality is not as gentle and kind as a novel’s setting; focusing only on oneself would lead to a harsh lesson from society!
Besides, having opened such a big hang, even if not going overboard, it shouldn’t be at the expense of oneself, right?
Recalling his ten days in the Monster Forest, Shane’s expression turned blue.
“I must become an adventurer!”
At that moment, Shane made such a firm statement.
This expression of determination made Vivian, who didn’t know Shane’s inner thoughts, show a look of approval.
“I’m glad you think so.” Vivian said with a gentle expression, “If you encounter any difficulties and need my help, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you.” Shane said sincerely, “When it’s truly necessary, I’ll definitely ask for your help.”
In fact, there were indeed many areas where Vivian could help Shane.
At the very least, Shane wanted Vivian to tell him more about this world so he could understand more about its situation.
Given this, Shane wouldn’t be pretentious.
Vivian patted Shane’s shoulder, offering encouragement.
A while later, from the direction Shane returned, a petite figure quietly came back.
Naturally, it was Tielle.
“Thanks for your hard work.”
Vivian looked towards Tielle with a smile.
Tielle nodded, then glanced at Shane before heading towards the tent.
He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but he felt that Tielle’s gaze at him just now seemed a bit complex.
“Probably just an illusion?”
Shane began to murmur.
Afterward, Shane joined Vivian in the night watch.
During this time, Shane also inquired a lot from Vivian until the second half of the night when Lu Muya and Merica came out to take over, making Shane stop regretfully and return to the tent to sleep.
By the way, there were three tents in total: Vivian and Tielle shared one, Lu Muya and Merica shared another, and Shane had one to himself, located at a rather subtly distant place from the other two. It was undeniably a rather disheartening arrangement.