Although Alice had transmigrated to another world, the level of technology and the speed of information dissemination in this world was no different from that of Earth. Hence, the minor incident that took place in the church quickly became known by all.
It all began with a passerby capturing the holy light radiating out of one of the church's second-floor windows. Afterward, the photos taken were uploaded onto the internet of this world and shared with a broad audience. Subsequently, someone deduced the church in the image to be the Gryffin Church based on the clues shown. Then, other people quickly discovered that the Hero's Sword inserted in the metal platform outside the church had disappeared. After linking these clues together, the netizens of this world came to the conclusion that...
The Hero had appeared!
In less than a day, practically the entire world had found out about this matter. Apart from the Gryffin Kingdom, even the people from other kingdoms had found out about this matter. Hence, on the second day after Alice arrived at the Gryffin Church and after she had learned how to use this world's version of the computer, the first thing she saw after browsing the internet for this world's news was the headline of "The Hero has Appeared."
Initially, Alice didn't think that this headline was talking about herself. After all, the fact that she had become this world's Hero still hadn't settled in her mind. In addition, she lacked understanding regarding the information dissemination speed of this world. Hence, she was immediately dumbfounded when she clicked into the news article.
Based on the fact that holy light had leaked out from the church's second floor and the fact that the Hero's Sword was missing, it wasn't hard to deduce that the Hero currently resided in the Gryffin Church's second floor. This also explained why Alice had heard a lot of commotion from the church's first floor when she woke up early in the morning. The commotion was probably a result of the people here to catch a glimpse of the Hero.
Fortunately, Alice had not gone downstairs yet today since Father Kasandora had personally delivered her breakfast and a bunch of daily necessities. Looking back at it now, the head priest must've known that she wouldn't want to be disturbed by the crowd downstairs.
It's over… I've been under the misconception that this world is similar to the otherworlds mentioned in isekai novels. Looking at things now, I'll have to change that immediately.
Alice held her head in pain. If this world followed the Middle Ages template, then information wouldn't have spread so quickly. However, she had evidently forgotten that apart from architectural styles and some cultural education, this world was practically identical to modern Earth. Like Earth, this world had mobile phones and computers. It similarly had an internet that allowed people of all regions to communicate with each other. With all these available facilities, it wouldn't be strange for news of the Hero's appearance to spread rapidly.
Most importantly, Alice had forgotten that her right hand would shine whenever she grabbed onto a pair of panties. Hence, she had accidentally accepted the panties Zauna offered without thought, leading to the problem at hand.
Alice couldn't help but feel frustrated by this situation. If possible, she didn't wish for her right hand to shine whenever it came into contact with panties, either. At this rate, wouldn't that mean holy light would envelop her whenever she was changing her underwear?
Alice wasn't a magical girl. The last thing she wanted was to attract the attention of others with such flashy effects. What she hoped for the most right now was for the entire world to forget that the Hero had ever appeared so that she could live her life in peace. Unfortunately, that obviously wasn't possible. So, she could only hope that at least her name and appearance would remain a secret to the public.
"Alice!"
While Alice was looking through the hotly discussed topic displayed on the computer, the door to her room suddenly opened, and in came Zauna shouting her name. Then, when Zauna saw the image displayed on the computer, she said, "Oh, so you already found out. You're the protagonist of the internet's hottest topic right now."
"I don't want to be discussed like this at all," Alice said while scratching her golden locks. It had taken her nearly two hours last night to clean out the dirt and grime she had accumulated from the past half a month. Then, after she came out of the bath and looked at herself in the mirror, she couldn't help but admit that she indeed looked like the young lady of a wealthy family. This appearance would probably help a lot in concealing her identity as the Hero. After all, nobody would suspect a young girl like herself to be the legendary Hero. "Speaking of which, won't the demons find out about me as well?"
"That won't happen. The human realm's internet and the demon realm's internet are mutually exclusive. This is because the internet is built using mana, and there is a barrier that separates the human and demon realms' mana," Zauna explained, shaking her head. "But it is also possible for some demons to mix into human society and then physically relay information back to the demon realm… I think the possibility of this happening is high. It might even be possible that news of the Hero's appearance has already spread on the demon realm's internet."
"This is the worst possible situation," Alice said, frowning.
While Alice was trying to come up with a plan to avoid getting her identity exposed to the public, Zauna suggested, "Since you're so worried about getting discovered, how about you register a LINK?"
After saying so, Zauna handed Alice her phone. Meanwhile, displayed on the phone's screen was a social application similar to Twitter and Weibo.
From what Alice could see, Zauna was unexpectedly popular on this social platform called LINK. Though, it wasn't too surprising since Zauna was a beautiful young lady. However, Zauna had already stopped updating her LINK for the past three days because of Alice's matter, and some of her fans had even started wondering where she had disappeared to.
"It's this thing. LINK is a social software, and LINK users typically publish information about themselves through this software and share it with others," Zauna explained. "Now that you are the hottest topic on the internet, my suggestion is that you register a LINK account as the Hero and have the kingdom authenticate your account. Then, you can share your activities as the Hero through this account since there's no risk for your identity to be exposed on the internet. If you're really worried that your real identity will get out, you can even make some misleading posts. For example, if you are going to the border to fight invading demons today, you can post on your LINK saying that you'll be going to train in the Gryffin Forest instead."
"Good idea!"
Alice's eyes glowed in excitement. Zauna's proposal was indeed excellent. If she described herself on the internet as a macho man, then nobody would think that the Hero was actually a blonde girl in her teens.
"Hehe, I have quite the good brain." Zauna chuckled when she heard Alice agreeing to her suggestion. Then, she took out a brand-new mobile phone from her pocket and gave it to Alice, saying, "I originally bought this phone as a spare, but I've never gotten around to using it. So, you can have it instead. I'll just ask the Gryffin Kingdom for reimbursement later on. Although you've said you don't want to be the Hero, having the identity of the Hero will bring you many conveniences."
"If you put it that way, becoming the Hero isn't all that bad, I guess," Alice murmured. If she wasn't required to fight the Demon King, then taking on the position of Hero would only bring her benefits and no harm. This was probably another factor contributing to the desires of this world's people to become the Hero. Apart from glory, one would also get to enter the upper echelons of society the instant they became the Hero.
While having such thoughts in her mind, Alice accepted the phone Zauna offered. Then, the instant she grabbed onto the phone with her right hand, the phone's information appeared in her mind.
[Weapon: Lilyphone 7+]
[Quality: Not Bad]
[Effect: Mind +2, Control +2, Mana +5]
[Additional Effect: Mana Network (Passive Skill. You can access the internet using this phone.)]
Fortunately, the system evaluated the phone's quality as Not Bad. If her right hand had deemed this phone as garbage, she might not be able to use mobile phones in this world.