* * *
The beginning of this matter was an hour ago.
It was a moment before receiving Eunha’s message.
Sehee was leaning back on the sofa, staring blankly into space.
At the end of her gaze, a small light floated in the air, dancing like a firefly.
But it wasn’t a calm light; it was slightly trembling, as if expressing her tumultuous feelings.
With a grin, Sehee spoke to the light.
“Yeah, so, can you release all the Hero’s Power?”
“No way!”
In the intangible light, a young girl’s voice echoed.
It was a panicked voice, as if she had just heard something outrageous.
Clearly refusing, the light incessantly expressed its reasons for denial.
“The races of the current world can hardly handle the Hero’s Power! In fact, Sehee, you’re already in a state drowning in bugs and cheats, and what about the other heroes? If this continues, the civilization of the main races will collapse and recovery will be impossible! Dinosaurs have already gone extinct; right now, the main races are the last coins left!”
It seemed that the world, having no powers at all, took it quite sensitively.
Looking at the light fumbling and mumbling, Sehee felt the need to console it.
“So you see, the heroes are all struggling due to the aftereffects of their experiences in this world. Hero Park Da-young was almost in real danger if I hadn’t intervened. Right now, this hero Eunha is already too late. It’s better to restore the Hero’s Power and let the world adapt.”
The light, which had changed shape to a dull gaze, whispered after a while.
“Then, what will you do if those heroes go astray?”
The part the world was most worried about.
If the heroes’ minds broke down and they caused chaos, it would be a disaster on par with the Demon King’s descent.
This world had no power to stop heroes who had strayed.
After all, it was designed this way.
“You’ve done surprisingly well even though you’ve been enjoying the sweet life because of the Hero’s service. I guess you didn’t see this coming.”
“Uh, ahem!”
“Don’t worry. If that happens, I can suppress them any number of times. I’ll definitely side with Earth in that matter.”
“Ugh….”
Punctured with the truth, the goddess’s form trembled.
The stronger the power of magic, divine power, and spirits in the world, the more it captured the attention of the so-called Demon Kings and interdimensional disruptors.
Demon invasions usually start for these reasons, like moths drawn to a strong light.
Consequently, the gods who create and manage the world seek various countermeasures.
Either raise the world’s potential to the max to fend off demons with strong powers and advanced civilization, or quietly cultivate the world based on wisdom, knowledge, and physical laws, without being detected by demons.
However, there were also worlds that constructed their own arrangements based on these two general strategies.
The world Sehee had visited was quite special.
Many gods had merged the worlds they cultivated into one.
Even the gods unified into a single divine entity, giving birth to an unprecedented supreme god.
The specialized developments of each world—divinity, spirits, magic, martial arts, psychic powers, science—were fused into a colossal growth wave.
However, in exhibiting such splendor, an unprecedented Demon King appeared and wreaked havoc.
Had it not been for Sehee’s efforts as the summoned hero, that mighty world couldn’t have escaped destruction.
Conversely, Earth’s blueprint was peculiar.
Earth had not created an environment for powers to occur like the gods of other worlds.
They had saved resources for world investment and poured everything into the potential of the main races prospering on Earth.
Thus, they became a thorough outcast, meticulously avoiding the attention of demons, but as an outcast, they resorted to shallow tricks.
They had invested all resources in upgrading the genes and essence of the main races.
Although they had produced a race with incredible potential, they hadn’t created an opportunity to awaken that potential in a dismally dry environment.
As a result, they had to build civilization from the most primitive stage of creating fire.
It would seem laughably inefficient to other gods, but in fact, that trick led to extraordinary achievements.
As time passed, the humans created depended on tools and squeezed their wisdom, building a civilization that was somewhat on track.
By the year 2000 in human time, the god of Earth, thinking the time was ripe, began marketing to the gods of other worlds, renting out the humans with the highest potential as… heroes to the other worlds.
Under the ritual of “Hero Summoning.”
The humans suppressed by the dry environment of Earth adapted quickly to the rich conditions of the other worlds and grew explosively strong.
Commonly, the so-called genius humans, fairies, and dragon kin in this world were nothing but unranked in front of heroes.
These beings of this world referred to these heroes as:
Heroes.
Moreover, the goddess called this play a meta that relied on the effort of a power hiding.
Thinking that heroes would have limits even if they got stronger, the goddess felt incredibly relaxed.
If the hero staked a claim in that world, all was well.
Even if they returned, they could just turn off the power and let them live as regular people.
But then…
“Is it really dangerous? That hero?”
After that monster appeared before my eyes, the balance of power completely shattered.
It was already hard enough to handle an irregular, and asking other heroes to fully unleash their power was like asking to unleash all the fireflies in a room.
Whether the goddess realized this or not, she showed no reaction other than calmly nodding and explaining the situation.
“Yes. The Demon King’s descent is already confirmed.”
Upon Sehee’s words, I felt no urge to go along with a foolish notion like just killing Eunha right now.
After all, during the process of gathering the heroes, I had long since noticed she held a special affection for them.
The problem was that Sehee, who had returned too strong, was simply beyond what Earth could possibly contain, so I had no choice but to accommodate her intentions.
“More heroes keep coming back from that world with aftereffects. If they had retained their original strengths, there’d be no need to worry. I’ll manage them well, so please cooperate properly this time.”
Of course, we have to. What else could we do?
If we didn’t, the goddess’s head would likely crack before the Demon King descended.
“I… I understand.”
I nodded, trying to hide my sorrow at the reversal of circumstances between heroes and gods.
“But I have a condition.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll limit it to only the heroes who have joined you, Sehee. Right now, they’ve all gathered in front of you and seem fine, but there are still others scheduled to return, so we’ll meet with them one by one and decide.”
That wasn’t a bad deal.
However, if there were more heroes returning, we would need to change the world for them too.
An outrageous idea bubbled forth in Sehee’s mind.
* * *
Coming out like this and waiting, it seemed the goddess’s timetable for opening powers had gone slightly off.
“I knew you were coming out now.”
“Of course. I couldn’t just stand by after seeing what just happened.”
After all, she couldn’t be oblivious.
The heroes before me were no longer ordinary people who had lost their powers.
Already, their manifest powers wrapped around them, returning them to their true states as heroes.
They might have sensed everything happening to Eunha right now.
So… they had gathered like this.
The unspoken protest of why I was going alone, leaving them behind, poked at my face.
But what could I do?
The path I wanted to take was one I couldn’t hastily share with others.
“Sorry for not saying it earlier. But I didn’t think it was necessary for you all to come along.”
After all, Eunha asked me for help, and saving Eunha was also an act of personal selfishness.
I didn’t want to unnecessarily drag others in.
Furthermore….
“I’m going to reveal my identity.”
Revealing my identity as a hero.
At my confession, everyone’s eyes widened in surprise.
“With the recent conspiracy theories during the performance, it would be a perfect time for a clarification stream as a streamer.”
Rather than just reveal the existence of heroes officially, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to set up a situation where the returning heroes could easily find their way.
Of course, it wouldn’t be entirely a good thing.
After all, excessive expectations and interest were bound to lead to distortions, so I might get caught up in unwanted issues one way or another.
I didn’t want to force Da-young, Yuri, Ah-jin, or Ji-hye, to publicly reveal their identities and lose the precious daily lives they enjoyed.
But everyone’s response was different from what I expected. Da-young, crossing her arms, took the lead and said,
“I told you. Just like you helped us, we want to help you.”
With her arms uncrossed, she formed a V with her hand while beaming with a bright smile.
“We’re not so disloyal as to back out just because our identities are revealed.”
“Sehee, if that’s the reason you were planning to go alone, I’d feel upset!”
“Right! I can now even use 1,000 clones! I can definitely help you!”
“Big sis! My Holy Sword is ready too, just like yours. Let’s do this together.”
Following Da-young, the others also cheered me on.
Ah, I see.
A hero cannot stand alone.
With comrades, it’s the typical development of a hero party to rely on each other through difficult adversities and reach a happy ending.
“Thank you. Everyone.”
I, indeed, surrendered to the resolve of the heroes.
A clarification stream, and then….
“Then, let’s go.”
“Yeah!”
“Yay!”
It was the true debut stream of the former hero streamer.
* * *