I Gave Up Being Stronger

Finally standing in front of the fruit stand, Jin-Hyeok continued his livestream without much of a hitch.

“These fruits seem to have been very precious to these monkeys—though mind you, I don’t think they seem very tasty. I’m going to go ahead and open the Broadcaster’s Shop, because I know of a fruit that would be way tastier than these.”

Jin-Hyeok opened the Broadcaster’s Shop and searched for the fruit category.

While it was true that the items in this store had exorbitant prices, one thing that was certain was their quality.

[Priring Banana : 50,000 Dias]

The bananas definitely looked delicious.

They also cost 50,000 won per hand: a price where the seller, if there had been one, would need to do some explaining if they didn’t taste amazing.

[You purchased a hand of Priring Bananas.]

Jin-Hyeok enticingly dangled the bananas in front of the Fist Monkeys. The monkeys stopped attacking him, and started to sniff the air.

“You want one?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

He tore off one of the bananas and handed it to the monkey directly in front of him.

Uki?

The monkey gave the banana a try.

Ukii!

Its eyes became rather wide, and it began to tremble.

Ukikiki!

The other monkeys raised their arms into the air and raised a ruckus.

The monkey that tasted the banana smacked its lips before reluctantly passing the remainder to one of the others.

“You want more?”

Jin-Hyeok handed out more Priring Bananas to the other Fist Monkeys as well.

One hand had around ten bananas.

[You purchased a hand of Priring Bananas.]

[You purchased a hand of Priring Bananas.]

Jin-Hyeok continued to pay for the bananas, which was a painful process in its own right. A sausage cost 30,000 Dias the other day, and now a hand of bananas was 50,000 Dias. The prices were absolutely shocking.

The Fist Monkeys were very well-mannered, queuing up in a line and patiently waiting for Jin-Hyeok to give each of them a banana.

“I guess this is one of the special features of this Dungeon: it looks like you can become friends with the monsters.”

Monsters of the Dungeon and monsters of the Field were different in some ways.

When talking about Dungeons, they often had some kind of storyline or quest, and it was even possible to improve one’s relation with Dungeon monsters through the fulfillment of a certain set of conditions—as in the case of this Dungeon.

On the other hand, the only relationship that Field monsters could have with humans was that of hostility. Unless they were a Tamer, it was impossible for a Player to build relations with Field monsters.

[You have succeeded in winning the favor of the Fist Monkeys.]

[The 2nd Floor Field has opened.]

The stairs leading up to the second floor had been covered by a pitch-black void, impeding the way up. After earning the Fist Monkeys’ goodwill, a staircase emerged in that space.

“Oooh! I’m lucky it worked out like this.”

Jin-Hyeok headed to the stairs.

“Well, I’ll be heading up then.”

***

Joseph was on the airplane headed to Korea when he heard a notification come in.

[You are now entering the Korea Region, Earth Server.]

It was a rather straightforward notification for whenever those that had Awakened as Players entered the sovereign airspace of a foreign nation.

However, more notifications soon followed.

[You have unlocked the Achievement, 「Race Toward a New Civilization」.]

‘What’s this?’

──────────

[Race Toward a New Civilization]

This is a special Achievement bestowed on those who are able to adjust to this new age of civilization faster than anyone else.

Conditions to unlock:

1) Early Adopter Trait

2) Korea channel↔US channel↔Norway channel↔Qatar channel↔China channel

──────────

‘I got it. If someone has the Early Adopter Trait and travels between all of those Regions, they can unlock this Achievement.’

[You can now access the System Streaming Platform (SSP).]

[The SSP is integrated in its usage with the current Server’s pre-existing civilizational artifacts.]

[Only Streamers of the Earth Server are viewable.]

[Integrated platform: Eltube]

With a conflicted expression, Joseph whipped out his phone and opened the Eltube video platform.

He immediately noticed there were some peculiar videos with a watermark saying ‘SSP’ on the top right of their thumbnails. Some of these videos were also marked as (LIVE).

‘Is this the System streaming that Egan Paul was talking about?’

Joseph tapped open one of the videos. There were around two hundred viewers.

‘What are these?’

Joseph was met by a shocking sight.

Discussions in alien languages he had never seen before were rampant in the chat.

What was really strange, though, was that Joseph could understand these alien languages—despite there being no mistake that these scripts did not exist on Earth.

‘How come I already know these words?’

If someone asked Joseph to actually use these languages and write a statement, he wouldn’t have been able to. But somehow, he didn’t have any problem understanding the meaning of something someone else wrote.

As if responding to his bewilderment, more notifications poured in for Joseph.

[TIP: The SSP\'s (System Streaming Platform) language translation function is currently activated.]

Joseph had a browse around Eltube, watching videos at random, before he came to a realization: the videos with the SSP mark were not the normal streamers that were actually streaming on Eltube, but System Streamers. Their videos were simply being uploaded to the Eltube platform.

‘There’s Paul’s videos, too.’

It turned out that viewers not from Earth, but from other dimensions (Servers), also existed.

While Joseph was browsing, he came across one feed that had an overwhelming number of viewers.

‘What the heck?’

The number of viewers was almost ten thousand.

Joseph found this one very odd. Unlike the other videos that had all kinds of colorful titles to provoke the viewer to click it, this one was incredibly simple.

[Doing Sareoga Mart Dungeon.]

Even the image that was used for the thumbnail was just a black screen. Just at a glance, there was a stark contrast between this and the eye-catching images that the other Streamers used.

‘He’s definitely the one.’

Joseph was sure that this was the livestream that Egan Paul was talking about—the one he described as ‘the best Streamer on Earth according to the viewers.’

He tapped on the livestream.

The stream was carried out from a first-person point of view.

Joseph selected an option labeled ‘First-Person Mode’ and immediately received a bizarre sensation.

It was as if he was inside the video. It didn’t feel real, but the experience was certainly much more dynamic than if he was merely watching the video through the screen.

‘Oh!’

A Fist Monkey’s punch came flying toward him. Joseph reflexively gasped and raised his arm in defense.

‘Oh, right, it’s just a video.’

The SSP videos were a whole new world to Joseph.

‘This Streamer seems to have a special shield or something.’

Joseph had yet to realize that the ability he was looking at was the one that every Streamer that had undergone Initial Awakening had: ‘Broadcaster’s Barrier.’

‘Amazing.’

This Streamer was using the least amount of strength possible to maximize efficiency. Joseph’s Job was ‘Scout,’ and he was quite confident in his ability to discern the current strength and future potential of others.

‘I-is this how he always streams?’

It looked far too dangerous—though as dangerous as it looked, it was equally thrilling.

Another fist came flying.

‘H-he dodged it!’

Everything was still filmed from a first-person point of view, so Joseph saw the fist whoosh right past his eyes. He felt a shiver go down his back—that looked like a punch that could shatter skulls if one was hit by it.

‘He can do all this?’

It seemed as if the Streamer had the Fist Monkey completely figured out, with absolute awareness of its attack patterns and timings. In fact, he looked very relaxed, just like he was merely taking a walk in the park. Joseph was astonished.

Joseph then heard the voice of Kim Chul-Soo.

“If they varied their attack patterns to disorient me, I would not have been able to use Broadcaster’s Barrier so efficiently. In that way, I’m actually quite fortunate.”

‘Lies!’ Joseph almost shouted out loud.

How could this possibly be explained by luck?

There was absolutely no mistake that the Streamer’s playing sense was built from the ground up by an exhaustive amount of training and effort.

‘And that’s Broadcaster’s Barrier?’

Joseph had thought it was a special shield he hadn’t seen before at first, but it turned out to be the same ability that Egan Paul had.

Yet though they had the same ability, it looked totally different. They were only the same in name, much like how the same knife could completely differ in its effectiveness depending on who was using it.

‘His movement is so natural and clean… that it makes it look so much more unnatural.’

At this point, it seemed like the Streamer already had a strategy planned out that he knew would work, and was merely executing it.

With that same strange fluidity and ease, Kim Chul-Soo (Cha Jin-Hyeok) opened the way to the second floor.

Upon ascending the stairs with his two companions, they met the ‘Big Fist Monkey’ on the second floor.

It was a massive guy, with a body that was twice as big as the other Fist Monkeys. Being large enough that it wasn’t far-fetched to compare it to a gorilla or even the Hulk, its presence alone was thoroughly intimidating.

Joseph swallowed. His palms became wet with his own sweat.

‘I’m terrified enough just watching the video.’

Then what about this Streamer and his companions, who were facing it for real? Joseph couldn\'t imagine how enormous the pressure they were feeling.

“Its Level is 29, and it has a Big Fist Belt strapped around its waist. I can see that it’s itching to win.”

The Streamer’s voice housed a hint of excitement.

This was a strange stream indeed.

***

[You are now entering the Field of the 「Big Fist Monkey」.]

Suddenly, a square ring emerged and surrounded both Jin-Hyeok and the Big Fist Monkey. It resembled a boxing ring.

This was the Field of the ‘Big Fist Monkey,’ the hidden boss monster of Sareoga Mart Dungeon.

Unlike the regular Fist Monkeys, the Big Fist Monkey was wearing a big pair of boxing gloves.

A pair of gloves appeared on Jin-Hyeok’s hands as well.

‘Oh, it’s the Big Fist Monkey!’

Ding!

A bell rang.

A timer showed up in Jin-Hyeok’s vision.

[Round 1/3, 3:00]

It really was like he had entered a boxing ring. There were three rounds of three minutes each.

The Big Fist Money raised its guard up tightly and began to approach Jin-Hyeok.

‘I wonder how painful it would be if I got hit by it.’

Jin-Hyeok felt a spark of anticipation but continued his commentary as usual for now.

“Seeing as how this Field is shaped like a ring, there might be something out of the ordinary that the Field wants from me. For starters, I will try fighting him without using any weapons.”

This took him back to the old days.

Jin-Hyeok wondered if Kim Jeong-Hyeon was doing fine in this timeline. His nickname had been the Martial King, and Jin-Hyeok used to spar a whole bunch with him.

Compared to Kim Jeong-Hyeon, the Big Fist Monkey\'s defenses had more holes than Swiss cheese.

Sigh.

Jin-Hyeok suddenly felt drained of his energy. The monsters of the low-Level Fields really were far too weak—it was incredibly disappointing.

Whump! Whump!

Jin-Hyeok and the Big Fist Monkey continuously exchanged blows for a bit.

Ding!

The round bell rang for the break.

[Round 1 is over.]

The Big Fist Monkey went back to its corner and caught its breath. While its muscles were humongous, the trade-off was that its stamina was low.

And yet, the power that came from those muscles was still not enough to break Jin-Hyeok’s Broadcaster’s Barrier.

In the current conditions of the fight, Jin-Hyeok had a definite advantage.

“I think I can easily beat it if I attack right now, but this Field seems to follow conventional boxing rules. I’ll keep to them for now, and see what happens next.”

Whatever the case, it was important to respect and follow the rules of the Field.

The second round began.

The general flow of this round was the same as the first, but the Big Fist Monkey’s attacks and steps had become a little slower.

Ding!

[Round 2 is over.]

Ding!

[Round 3 will begin.]

‘Hold on.’

Having dealt with the monkey thus far without a shred of concern, Jin-Hyeok came up with an interesting idea.

‘Broadcaster’s Barrier forms a really solid barrier, right?’

On top of absorbing the strikes of opponents, none of the impact absorbed was transferred to Jin-Hyeok’s body.

Then what would happen if he wrapped the barrier around himself and attacked?

Wouldn’t it be like hitting someone with a blunt weapon, but with none of the associated recoil?

‘Ah—now that I think about it, there were some Initially Awakened Streamers that emulated Martial Artists by enveloping themselves with their barrier.’

Yes, now he remembered.

Most of those Players were killed right around when they reached Level 100.

That was the Level where the strengths, weaknesses, and other distinguishing characteristics of the different Jobs became clearer—and Streamers that continued to pretend they were Martial Artists were practically lambs to the slaughter.

‘I’m not having fun anyway, so let’s at least try that out.’

Jin-Hyeok tried to time the use of his Broadcaster’s Barrier with his attacks. It was a bit difficult for him at first, but he quickly got used to it after a few tries.

THUMP!

The impacts felt explosive, much akin to what the Martial King had always stressed one should look out for when punching.

‘Hey, my striking power is way stronger now.’

Truly, it felt like little explosions were going off from the tips of his fists. This did seem like the feeling that Kim Jeong-Hyeon emphasized.

‘Oooh.’

Seeming like he had learnt a new technique, Jin-Hyeok felt a pang of excitement..

While his punches were probably far too shoddy to even be called a punch when compared to the likes of the Martial King, he was definitely having fun.

Pow!

The Big Fist Monkey received a punch squarely to its jaw, and fell to the ground.

[The Big Fist Monkey is down.]

Jin-Hyeok stopped attacking once the Big Fist Monkey collapsed.

He patiently waited for the monkey to stand up, and knocked it to the ground several more times.

When there were just three seconds left, the Big Fist Monkey was completely knocked out. Any other ordinary Player would have taken this opportunity to put down the monkey for good.

“Since I’ve been keeping to the System’s rules of boxing rounds and timers, let’s try waiting a little longer to see what happens. If this Field follows the rules of boxing, could there be something like a winner announcement?”

Almost right on cue, a Fist Monkey that had a fur pattern of black and white stripes jumped up into the ring, grabbed Jin-Hyeok’s right hand, and held it in the air.

Ukiki!

[You won against the Big Fist Monkey.]

[The Big Fist Monkey admits defeat.]

At some point, the Big Fist Monkey had regained consciousness without Jin-Hyeok noticing and was kneeling down in front of him.

The monkey took off the champion belt that had been wrapped around his waist, and presented it to Jin-Hyeok.

[You have acquired the Champion Belt.]

If a Player wore this belt from the Big Fist Monkey and searched around back on the first floor, they could find the hidden Trait rewards of ‘Enhanced Revival’ and ‘Enhanced Human.’

Everything was going according to plan. That was when Jin-Hyeok received a notification he hadn’t been expecting.

[You have unlocked the Achievement 「The Big Fist Monkey’s First Defeat」.]

These Achievements for Players deemed the ‘first’ to do something were usually considered major accomplishments, to the point where there were many occasions where the reward itself would change purely on the fact that it was the first time something was done.

‘Wait, so even a Dungeon this easy has a ‘first’ Achievement?’

Not only that, but a Field in which a ‘first’ Achievement was accomplished could very well change in its entirety.

That meant that the next time anyone came in, it could have become impossible for them to get their hands on the Enhanced Revival and Enhanced Human Traits.

Of course, Jin-Hyeok liked ‘first’ Achievements just like anyone else. After all, he was the type that inherently enjoyed collecting Achievements like badges, and finding out the hidden pieces of a Dungeon.

But not today—today was different.

‘Oh, I have a bad feeling about this.’

Enhanced Revival and Enhanced Human were only really easy to get here, and the same didn’t hold true for elsewhere.

Jin-Hyeok dearly hoped those rewards didn’t just inadvertently get replaced with something “better” that wasn’t what he wanted.

That was when he was hit with more notifications.