I Gave Up Being Stronger

‘Come on, let’s just focus on the stream.’

Since it was the first time that the Seo sisters were fighting in tandem with the party, Jin-Hyeok took extra time to explain to them how to coordinate their tactics even in the heat of battle.

“Like I said before, don’t just go straight for his vital spots. Play it safe and slow. Target his ankles if possible, or his thighs if that proves hard.”

In Jin-Hyeok’s eyes, it was a tall order to finish off the King Fist Monkey in a single flurry of attacks at the Seo sisters’ current skill level. If they tried to target his critical spots and failed, and the result was that the King Fist Monkey’s aggro was drawn to the sisters, things could get hairy.

With the Seo sisters\' defensive capabilities, it could prove difficult for them to withstand even one blow from the King Fist Monkey.

“Do you two copy? I need an answer.”

It went without saying for Jin-Hyeok, but making sure people registered what he was saying was a must in any Dungeon raid. It was a way to ascertain that people understood instructions and the flow of command was being maintained. Jin-Hyeok had abided by this system without fail in his previous life.

“Copy that.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got you.”

The sisters became half-transparent. Their mastery of this stealth ability was seriously commendable considering their low Level.

The two dashed at the King Fist Monkey, flanking him on the left and right, their daggers flashing as they engaged him in battle.

Perhaps it was because they just didn’t have that much experience, but their approach to attacking seemed rather sub-par to Jin-Hyeok. Jin-Hyeok felt a twinge of irritation, but he reminded himself that they were technically still beginners.

“Cha Jin-Sol, get ready.”

“Huh? Huh? Oh, right, yep.”

“And get your head in the moment. Step up your game.”

Though Jin-Hyeok was someone that usually tried his best to get along with his sister and show some affection, it was naturally hard to speak to her nicely on the actual field of battle.

He’d always wondered why Ruler Players, whose whole Job was to command in real time, were always chewing people out, but now he understood just a little bit of what they felt.

“Alright, alright, I got it,” Cha Jin-Sol answered.

The King Fist Monkey was landing blow after blow on the Wood Fortress. It looked like it was going to break soon enough.

“It’s going to break soon.” Jin-Hyeok made it clear.

“Yep.”

Cha Jin-Sol looked nervous, perhaps because she was keeping in mind the fact that Mok Jae-Hyeon could very well die if she messed up.

And she would be correct. If she messed up, Mok Jae-Hyeon could indeed die.

CRAAACK!

The Wood Fortress broke at last.

The King Fist Monkey’s next swing landed straight on Mok Jae-Hyeon’s abdomen.

THUMP!

“AAAH!”

Mok Jae-Hyeon was thrown into the air. Jin-Hyeok figured he had probably broken one or two ribs, which, from his point of view, was a rather light injury compared to the shriek he was letting out.

Cha Jin-Sol moved straight into action, much more briskly than Jin-Hyeok had expected. She immediately used her healing abilities to mend Mok Jae-Hyeon’s injuries. As expected of someone with a 9-Star Job, her healing was exceptional.

“Alright, now redeploy your Wood Fortress,” Jin-Hyeok ordered.

Mok Jae-Hyeon, who had been sprawled out on the ground, barely raised himself off the floor and readied himself to reactivate Wood Fortress.

‘Oh? He got up.’

Jin-Hyeok had already written off Mok Jae-Hyeon as being no longer useful, after he had let out such a loud and unwarranted scream, disproportionate to the injury he’d received. He’d only cracked a few ribs. It was but a scratch.

It was beyond his expectations to see Mok Jae-Hyeon stand back up.

Jin-Hyeok knew humans were sensitive to pain. If one experienced pain that was too much for them to endure, they would be rendered ineffectual even for tasks they were usually good at.

He had thought Mok Jae-Hyeon would be the same, but he was holding up rather well.

‘Good, he’s still of use to me.’

After all, it was an unspoken rule of society to use and abuse someone who wasn’t having any trouble with what they were given.

‘Maybe it’s because he’s got a 9-Star Job, but he has a good sense for battle, at least.’

It was incredibly painful for Mok Jae-Hyeon, but he succeeded in re-deploying his Wood Fortress in no time. What was more, he used his Wood Spears ability to draw the King Fist Monkey’s attention to him again without even being ordered by Jin-Hyeok.

From Jin-Hyeok’s perspective, using the Wood Spears again was a meaningless maneuver—the monster’s aggro was already fully locked in on Mok Jae-Hyeon—but his effort was praiseworthy nonetheless.

“Alright, now to repeat that from the start.”

Now began the tedious part.

‘It should take around four hours at this rate, right?’

The plan was to chip away at the King Fist Monkey little by little and corner him.

Really, four hours was actually very much on the punctual and quick side. When Jin-Hyeok was Playing in his previous life, there was once a time when a fight spanned over the course of several months.

What was certain, though, was that this was going to be a wearisome process. Other than the “slight” injuries that Mok Jae-Hyeon had at the start, it was a relatively safe strategy of Playing that didn’t really have any risk factors to worry about.

“We plan to continue repeating this same process. It seems like things are going to get rather tedious for a while from here on out.”

Jin-Hyeok believed that no viewer would bother watching such a boring stream to the end.

“I will announce the results of this fight in another stream when it’s all over.”

Yeah, that sounded like a good plan. He could just summarize the fight later in a separate stream. There was no need to continue this one.

Wait, but if he was going to end the stream anyway, didn’t that mean he could join in the fight now?

***

Fatigue was slowly starting to creep up on Seo Ji-Ah and Seo Ji-Soo.

‘I’m tired.’

The fight was likely nearing the two-hour mark.

It was the first time the sisters had fought in this style.

‘It’s pretty fun, though.’

It was admittedly a little enjoyable to coordinate with others on a defined plan, synchronizing their movements with the rest of the team per someone’s command to reach a common goal.

Breathing heavily, Seo Ji-Soo used her stealth ability again.

‘We should be able to target his weak spots soon.’

It was at this moment that Jin-Hyeok brushed by her.

“Wh-what are you doing?"

In his hands was a single dagger. It didn’t look like it was some special artifact, either.

At that moment, Seo Ji-Ah stabbed Alexander in the thigh. Jin-Hyeok capitalized on the timing to land a stab right in Alexander’s neck.

Straight away, Alexander turned all his attention toward Jin-Hyeok. Jin-Hyeok had drawn the monster’s aggro.

‘Wow, that was all it took to draw his aggro?’

Though drawing the monster’s aggro eventually was well within expectations considering what he had done, it was a little strange that Jin-Hyeok was able to draw the monster’s aggro that well, as if he was in fact a tank Player.

Unperturbed by the fact that he had just drawn Alexander’s attention, Jin-Hyeok stood still and looked Alexander up and down.

Alexander’s fist came flying.

‘Broadcaster’s Barrier.’

THUMP!

The King Fist Monkey’s punch did not reach Jin-Hyeok.

“Hey, you’re a Streamer! Why did you just suddenly jump into the fight?!” Seo Ji-Soo shouted with a twinge of panic. “Mok Jae-Hyeon, don’t just sit there! Quick, use your Wood Spears to pull his aggro again!”

The instant that she said that, another swing, this time a hook, came straight for Jin-Hyeok’s temple.

At that moment, Seo Ji-Soo felt like she could faint from the shock of the predicament.

Sure, Jin-Hyeok could scrape by taking one hit with some luck. Ji-Soo had heard that Streamers had some sort of defensive ability that was unique to them in order to protect themselves better.

But two hits would be too much.

Ji-Soo could be sure of this after fighting Alexander for over an hour.

‘You’re gonna actually die if you get hit!’

How could a mere Streamer, the furthest thing from a tank there was, be able to take on one of those attacks with his bare body?

The shimmering shield that had protected Jin-Hyeok’s body just then seemed like it was long gone.

‘I need to at least redirect his attack!’

Ji-Soo willed her body into action, but the monkey’s fist was faster.

His right arm came swinging down.

‘NO!’

Jin-Hyeok crouched down a little, and shifted his weight forward while tilting right, moving toward the monster.

Whoosh!

The fist shot by, going wide.

It looked like a close shave to all bystanders present. That appeared far too dangerous—the fist seemed to pass by within a hair’s breadth of Jin-Hyeok.

Though it looked like Jin-Hyeok had barely avoided the attack, he headed straight for Alexander without missing a beat, and lunged straight for the pit of Alexander\'s stomach with the dagger he gripped in his right hand.

Shuk!

The dagger plunged deeper and deeper into the monster’s solar plexus.

The King Fist Monkey let out a shriek of miserable pain before collapsing onto the ground where he lay there, shuddering. Saliva dripped out of his mouth and his pupils were dilated.

Seo Ji-Soo’s eyes widened.

‘What was that?’

Having fought the King Fist Monkey herself, she was well aware how tough his skin was. Yet Jin-Hyeok had penetrated it like it was butter.

The King Fist Monkey’s body finally stopped convulsing and lay spread out on the ground. He was still breathing, but only that, and was not long for this world.

“...didn’t you say you were a Streamer?” Ji-Soo asked.

“I am.”

“Why is a Streamer like you so good at attacking?”

“I just looked out for when he was out of breath. While he was breathing in, his skin could be penetrated easily as long as I got the timing right. And that allowed me to maximize my damage output.”

Right. Timing.

It wasn’t just that, though. Jin-Hyeok had actually used his Broadcaster’s Barrier Skill offensively rather than for defensive purposes.

“You’re only talking because you were lucky enough to dodge his attack,” Seo Ji-Soo said. “If you got hit, you would have died right there.”

As far as she was concerned, the move pulled by Jin-Hyeok was far too dangerous.

It really looked like he had avoided the punch by the skin of his teeth.

“That’s how you’re meant to dodge attacks,” Jin-Hyeok said.

From his experience, one could better capitalize on windows for attack if they minimized the amount of movement needed to dodge incoming strikes. To put it another way—dodging by the skin of one’s teeth was precisely the most effective way of dodging.

“There’s such a thing as acting too much like you’re tough and all that! Keep this up and you’ll die for real!”

“I did that because I didn’t think I would die.”

“Oh, for crying out loud…”

It was true, though, that this level of intuition could only be burned into someone through countless experiences and learnings. There was no way to explain it in concrete detail to someone—they had to experience it.

‘Hey, to be fair, I still took one hit on purpose, just in case.’

As if analyzing the King Fist Monkey’s attack patterns for over a whole hour wasn’t enough, Jin-Hyeok deliberately took on one of his attacks head-on just to see if he could take it. Being able to rehearse and experiment this much on the battlefield was a blessing, really.

‘If I’m not able to land a proper attack after that much testing, I can’t even call myself a Player.’

Seo Ji-Soo stood there with a look of dissatisfaction. She was unconvinced by Jin-Hyeok\'s explanation.

“Look, I know you’re a bit pissed that I took away all the fun,” Jin-Hyeok said pointedly.

“What?”

“But it worked, and that’s what matters at the end of the day, right?”

With a twinge of annoyance, Jin-Hyeok wondered if Ji-Soo was pouting because she wanted all the fun for herself. He’d held himself back the whole time, and had only joined in because it was just too good a timing to pass up and here he was, being told off for it.

While Jin-Hyeok was considering whether to say this to Seo Ji-Soo or not, she was the first to speak up.

“If you were that strong offensively, you could have given us a hand from the start.”

“That timed attack was the best I could do.”

A moment that struck an optimal balance between risk and effectiveness—that was the moment that Jin-Hyeok had chosen to leap into the fray.

“At the least, you could have let us know of your plans before you did that. Do you know how much of a shock that gave me? I legit thought you were about to die,” Ji-Soo said.

“Do you really think that would’ve worked?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I bet you wouldn’t have been able to focus on your own attacks if you always kept an eye out for when I’d move in.”

Jin-Hyeok had assessed the sisters’ capabilities in battle relatively accurately, and what he’d concluded was that they weren’t up to the level where it was better if he just shared his delicate plans with them.

That was why he had chosen to wait for a good time to jump in on his own, and let everyone just focus on their own tasks.

“Do you actually think you would have been able to create that window of attack for me on purpose?” Jin-Hyeok queried Ji-Soo.

“...For some reason, I feel like you’re looking down on me.”

“I’m just stating the facts as they are.”

“...”

“Good,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“What is?” Ji-Soo asked.

“At least you accept it when someone says something you know is right. There are a lot of kids that can’t even do that properly. Good to know you got that going for you, at least.”

“Enough. Don’t talk to me. Even if you didn’t tell us your plans, you could have joined us to attack as a three-man team from the get-go. That would’ve been better than whatever you did.”

“Like I said, I’m a Streamer. My job’s literally to film stuff. You really think things would’ve worked out if I fought with you guys?”

This was something Jin-Hyeok was saying to himself as much as he was saying to Ji-Soo.

“...Yeah, you’re right. You’re a Streamer,” Ji-Soo said.

Seo Ji-Soo didn’t go so far as to ask why on earth a Streamer was stronger on offense than she was.

What irked her the most was not so much that, but more so why such a strong Streamer was so unaware of the fact that his own strength just didn’t make any logical sense.

‘It almost seems like he actually thinks he’s on the weaker side.’

And not just that, it seemed as if he was disappointed in his own strength.

The gap between his thinking and reality was truly strange.

***

Jin-Hyeok approached the still-breathing Alexander—who was hanging on by a thread—and stabbed him in the heart a few times.

It took a few tries to get through because his ribcage was protecting it.

Shuk!

Jin-Hyeok finally pierced through. A copious amount of blood sprayed forth, but he knew that wasn’t enough.

Shuk! Shuk!

This had to be done properly. It was only once they had confirmed that the monster was deceased that it was all over.

‘Oh, man… I can’t help but keep falling back to my nastier habits.’

Jin-Hyeok couldn’t help but find it fun to join in the fighting himself.

The moment he escaped a monster’s attack by a hair’s breadth and brandished his blade was nothing short of exhilarating.

He kept telling himself that he was only joining in because it was ‘something he could only experience in the lower Levels,’ but truth be told, that seemed like an excuse. It was just difficult to rein in something that was a part of his very nature.

‘Ah, yes… this satisfaction.’

No, hang on. That wasn’t right.

Shuk! Shuk! Shuk!

‘I’m just following standard procedure to make sure he\'s deceased. That’s what I’m doing.’

Shuk! Shuk! Shuk!

‘I don’t like doing things like this anymore. I don’t.’

That was right. They needed to hear the System notification they were expecting before he could allow himself to stop stabbing, out of protocol.

Yeah, it wasn’t because he liked the sensation of it.

The notification they wanted to hear finally came in.

[You have slain the King Fist Monkey.]

Shuk! Shuk! Shuk!

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

Shuk! Shuk! Shuk!

[You are now Level 34.]

‘Oh, wow,’ Jin-Hyeok thought. ‘I’ve already reached Level 34.’

Shuk! Shuk! Shuk!

‘Should I have just streamed everything?’

Streamers were able to Level up quicker depending on the number of viewers and the overall reaction toward their streams. The more viewers, the faster it was.

‘Ah, not again!’

He caught himself mulling over the most efficient ways to increase his Level again. That was right. He needed to avoid Leveling up too suspiciously fast.

Jin-Hyeok felt conflicted in a way.

‘Would it actually be better to have the stream turned off when I’m actually fighting, like today?’

He realized this was a decision that he needed to consider properly. Jin-Hyeok knew he wasn’t exactly the most knowledgeable person about streaming there was, but one thing he did know was that he needed to make content that was sustainable in the long term.

The farthest he could keep up Playing the way he was now was Level 100, and even if he was a regressor, there was no way he was going to become a real estate owner in Yeonhui-dong by then.

That meant he needed to think of content that could be outputted consistently past Level 100. Therefore, there was likely no way he could continue branding himself the way he was right now.

‘Yeah, I need to give this one a proper think-through.’

[You have unlocked the Achievement 「All-Clear (Sareoga Mart Dungeon)」.]

‘An All-Clear, huh?’

At this point, Jin-Hyeok had been expecting that he’d earn an Achievement along those lines. After clearing the second floor by defeating the Big Fist Monkey, he had received two ‘First’ Achievements, as it was the first time that the monster was defeated. He predicted there would be an even bigger Achievement upon clearing the third floor.

An ‘All-Clear’ Achievement was unlocked if one not only cleared all the Fields of a Dungeon, but found and acquired all its hidden secrets.

‘Damn, All-Clears were hard to come by even when I was the Sword King.’

Indeed, if asked beforehand, Jin-Hyeok would never have imagined he’d be earning an all-clear at his present Level.

All-Clears were rare even if one followed standard procedure for clearing Dungeons to a tee. In addition to the foray itself, a team needed to have good luck and timing in order to satisfy a variety of anomalous factors depending on the Dungeon. All in all, it was extremely difficult—some would even say impossible—to deliberately aim for an All-Clear and get it.

‘Wow, to get an All-Clear at this Level…’

Before Jin-Hyeok realized it, his heartbeat was quickening again.

He checked his unlocked Achievements right away.