I Gave Up Being Stronger

“It’s nothing big, but since I have made a lot of money, thanks to you, I want to start with a little filial piety.”

“Filial piety?”

“Well, my parents busted their butts trying to support me, so I thought I would buy them a new car and treat them to a nice dinner.”

Cha Jin-Hyeok had promised to buy his parents a new car the other day, so he decided to honor that promise. He knew he would not be able to touch people’s emotions as subtly as Egan Paul, but he knew this filial piety content wasn’t a bad idea. He knew he couldn’t hit the jackpot, but it was still something.

“Oh, and aside from you, old man, there is this guy on the U.S. Server who is looking for me specifically.”

“Already? Haven’t you been playing from your own first-person perspective?”

“Well, they can see my team members’ faces.”

“I see.”

“So I was thinking of covering our faces for the livestream. I went to the Broadcaster’s Shop and saw that they are selling masks that we can use to disguise our identities.”

The Broadcaster’s Shop sold a mask called the Deceiver’s Mask, which had a one-year expiration date. It could hide a Player’s real face. It was expensive, costing up to ten million Dias a piece.

“What would be the point of that? The viewers will find out eventually if they really wanted to.”

“Well, at least it’s one less thing to be worrying about.”

“I suppose so.”

“So I am thinking of making the journey of buying this mask into content.”

“Good idea.”

Gap-Soo said it was a good idea, but he didn’t seem all that interested.

“What about the main episode?” Gap-Soo asked.

“Ah, the main episode is going to be…”

Jin-Hyeok took a step closer to him and lowered his voice.

“This is going to be the first time on the Earth Server. We are going to go hunting for a Golden Golem.”

“Oh?”

Gap-Soo’s eyes lit up. Jin-Hyeok’s eyes probably lit up too. It was a map that he didn’t know anything about, so he was a little excited.

“I am looking forward to it,” Gap-Soo said.

“I hope it can live up to your standard.”

“When are you going to start?”

“I’m not sure, my teammates are pretty weak right now, so I was thinking I should probably give them a week or so of training before we start.”

“I’ll wait for two weeks to be generous. Good luck.”

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Jin-Hyeok knew if he simply offered to buy them the car, his parents wouldn’t take the offer. So he just bought it himself and took the car to his parents.

It was the big black sedan that they always wanted.

“Oh, my god…”

Mom rubbed her eyes and Dad was shuddering.

“Why are you so impressed by something like this? This is nothing!” Jin-Hyeok said.

“You just started your new job, and you have the money to buy this? You’re supposed to be saving money!”

“Are you mad at me? Or do you like it?”

Jin-Hyeok thought his Mom was both angry and excited. There were even a few tears in her eyes.

“I got a big incentive from my company.”

“What kind of company pays new hires so much money?”

“It’s a very global company, but it is not that famous in Korea, so you wouldn’t know if I told you.”

Mom and Dad looked a little worried like he was doing something illegal or dangerous.

“Jin-Sol, you know where my company is, right?” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Uh… yeah, I know.”

“And it’s not a weird place, is it?”

“...No?”

“See? I told you it is not a weird place!”

His parents were a little skeptical, but they were quickly convinced by Cha Jin-Sol’s assurance.

This was why everyday behavior was important as it left good impressions for the future.

‘Now she seems to be fulfilling her role as my sister.’

Jin-Hyeok almost got angry when she said, “What about me? I want a car too, Oppa~” in an annoyingly cute voice. If she had just asked for a car normally, he would have bought one for her. Still, today was a good day, so he did not get upset and just ignored her.

“I am also taking you guys to a nice dinner.”

They headed to a Korean beef omakase restaurant in Hannam-dong. Jin-Hyeok\'s Dad, driving the new car, seemed to be trying his best to not show, but Jin-Hyeok could tell he was admiring the new car’s performance. And Jin-Hyeok\'s Mom was excited about everything.

“Oh, wow! The radio works really well!”

“I don’t think there is a car that doesn’t have a good radio, Mom…”

"Our old car’s radio wasn’t good. It always made that weird sound.”

‘Did it? I have no idea. I kind of feel bad for not giving them a new car sooner.’

Anyway, on the radio, the news was on. It was talking about minor daily news that was happening.

-Yesterday, there were forty-nine deaths from Player-related crimes in a single day, far exceeding the number of traffic fatalities that occurred yesterday…

Nowadays, Player-related crimes were being compared to an epidemic. The recent epidemic that swept the world as a pandemic used to claim hundreds of lives per day, but now the number of deaths caused by Player-related crimes was said to be approaching that. The news was talking about the System, the monsters, the damages, and the public safety.

-The government has also decided to implement a project to foster Players in order to prepare countermeasures…

The news was talking about how the government was asking for a lot of support from the Players. It seemed like the government was moving fast, trying to contain the Players.

‘Before the regression, I applied for that as soon as I heard it.’

Back then, Jin-Hyeok thought that with the support from the government, he could be a lot stronger, a lot faster. In fact, it was true that he was much stronger with the full support of the government.

‘That’s never going to happen now.’

He told himself over and over again.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Joseph came to Jin-Hyeok’s house in person. Jin-Hyeok was not pleased to see him.

“You came to my house?”

Jin-Hyeok was a little angry. His standards were set based on the future.

‘If someone comes to my house unannounced. They are asking to get stabbed.’

This was actually true. If this had happened at any other time, it would be considered self-defense, because the person on the other side of the door could be an assassin.

That was why, in the future, from before the regression, the rule was always to call before visiting someone’s house.

“Who is at the door?” Jin-Hyeok’s mom asked.

“Oh, it’s my business partner. I think he has some questions.”

However, since his mom was at home, he decided to calm down.

“Why didn’t you call me first? I almost stabbed you,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“...”

Joseph looked tense. He knew Jin-Hyeok said it as a joke, but he could still feel the sharpness in his words.

“It looks like you didn’t bring a personal interpreter. Do you understand everything I am saying?”

“...Yes.”

Joseph pulled a small orb out of his pocket. It was a pretty decent Translator Orb. Joseph was definitely more resourceful than Jin-Hyeok thought.

“So why are you here?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“I’ve been watching your videos.”

Joseph saw a magnificent future in his eyes.

“The half-hearted thumbnails, the unimpressive directing, the irregular livestreaming schedule, the passive camera movement, and frustrating progression that solely focus on first-person perspective and lack of interaction… As a Streamer, you fall short in all aspects. However, you have something, an essence that can hide all your weaknesses. I can make you a star. No, I will make you a star. You undoubtedly have exceptional potential.”

“Even more than Egan Paul?”

“Maybe.”

Joseph was being serious. He felt like he had found a diamond in the rough that would sparkle with a little polish.

“Then I respectfully decline.”

“I knew you would say yes—wait, what?”

“The next time you come here and take up my precious time, I won’t be this nice to you.”

“Bu… But…”

Joseph offered Jin-Hyeok one hundred thousand dollars as a down payment. He made it sound like he was offering a great deal, but it did not sit well with Jin-Hyeok.

“I told you. I don’t need it.”

Jin-Hyeok stood up.

“Don’t come looking for me again. Next time you’re here, I might have to kill you.”

‘Why is this guy trying to make a star out of me when I just want to live a normal life?’

Jin-Hyeok had already become a national hero before regression, and it was not as good as people thought.

After leaving Jin-Hyeok’s house, Joseph got on the phone with Egan.

Egan sounded very unhappy.

—What a stupid choice. Okay, I need you to come back to the States. If he hates it so much, so be it. It’s up to him to take the opportunities that come his way.

However, Joseph tried his best to convince Egan. He argued that Jin-Hyeok was someone they had to have on their side. His impassioned plea seemed to move Egan a bit.

—I didn’t think you would back him this much. Fine, let’s do a little checking. It’s not that I don’t believe you, but it’s good to just make sure.

“What are you thinking?”

—I am going to send Black Butterfly.

“What?”

Egan was building his own universe as he led the Avengers Army. Black Butterfly was the codename of the Avengers Army’s Assassin, Kaylin.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

It had been a week since they cleared the Bupyeong Station Dungeon. Jin-Hyeok had given each team member their own assignment, one of which was to get to Level 35.

For reference, Jin-Hyeok was Level 38, similar to the top-ranked Players in each class on the leaderboard. For a while, Jin-Hyeok was really confused as to why the top-ranked Players were at similar Levels as him, even though he never really tried his best to level up.

Now he knew.

‘My standards are set too far into the future.’

He lowered it as much as possible, but it was not enough. He thought that he should try even less to lower his standards.

‘It’s good to see that Jeong-Hyeon got to Level 35 the fastest.’

Also, Jin-Hyeok gave them all the Deceiver’s Mask with a one-year expiration date. Their faces were all changed due to the privacy settings, and there was a feature that prevented their names from being revealed.

For example, if Jin-Hyeok called Mok Jae-Hyeon by his name or ‘Loser,’ which was his Player name, it would be replaced with \'Tank\' on the livestream. It was not perfect, but it would save him the hassle for the time being.

“I… just got… Death Immunity… as a Trait,” Kim Jeong-Hyeon said.

‘Hm… He got it sooner than I thought.’

Death Immunity allowed a Player to be not afraid of death, which could allow them to play more aggressively. It also had a nice effect of making them resistant to various fear effects and debuffs. It also did not conflict with any other Traits.

“Huh? We got that too!”

“...”

It looked like the Seo sisters got the same Trait.

“I got it too!”

“Me too, Oppa!”

Even Jae-Hyeon and Jin-Sol got Death Immunity.

They could only get the Trait in the low-Level Tutorial Field, so it was a good thing they all got it now.

‘My hard training is paying off.’

He was overwhelmed with pride. Just like how learning a language at a young age is much more advantageous, Traits were best acquired at low Levels.

‘I didn’t expect Jin-Sol to get it.’

Healers usually do not experience death very often, because other Players would try their best to keep Healers alive, no matter what.

That meant that even though Jin-Sol was a Healer, she played just like any other Player, which Jin-Hyeok liked.

Also, Jin-Sol eventually quit her job and decided to put all her efforts into being a Player. It seemed like being a Player was a good fit for her.

‘I hope she doesn’t become a top-ranked Player.’

It was hard to become one with half-hearted efforts and determination. Only people who were as crazy as Jin-Hyeok used to be became top-ranked Players.

Even Assassins and those who hunt Awakeners rarely messed with Healers, because they knew killing a Healer would be met with international outrage. In retrospect, being a Healer was the best way to build a stable future.

‘I also thought about becoming a Healer for a moment.’

However, Healers were weak. So unimaginably weak.

No matter how much Jin-Hyeok dreamed of a stable future, he honestly could not even imagine himself as a Healer. As the Initial Awakened Streamer, he had Broadcaster’s Barrier to help him out, but a Healer had nothing. Even now, Jin-Hyeok was glad he didn’t choose to be a Healer.

“Let’s head to Sindorim Station.”

They arrived at Sindorim Station. It was where the Golden Golem Castle was located.

‘Let’s see…’

There were quite a few people inside Sindorim Station. On the way up to the Techno Mart, there were a lot of billboards on the walls.

‘It was the fourth billboard.’

It was not too hard to find the entrance. Jin-Hyeok took the Map of Golden Golem Castle and touched the fourth billboard to open the gate.

‘This should not be as hard as I thought.’

The fact that he was able to find the gate without a navigator meant that this Dungeon was not incredibly difficult. For the real high-Level Dungeons, they were hard to find even with a navigator.

‘Hold on…’

Jin-Hyeok sensed there was an Assassin in the distance. He could not see them, but he could definitely sense them.

‘I guess the others can’t sense them.’

Jin-Hyeok used the Broadcaster\'s Truesight to see the Assassin’s hiding place.

[LV37/Black Butterfly/Superior Assassin/Skills/Heavenly Temptation]

The fact that her Job\'s name was in orange meant that she had an 8-Star Job. She had a pretty good Job and was at a very high Level. Once Jin-Hyeok saw her hiding place, he could clearly see the Assassin.

She was clearly looking for the opportunity to ambush him. He wasn’t planning on ignoring her and letting her do her thing.

“Ji-Ah, do you have something like a poison dart?”

“Yes.”

“Can you sense the person hiding in that sixth billboard over there?”

“...I will try.”

Jin-Heok was a little disappointed that she didn’t notice. Even though she did not talk very much, she was quite strong.

‘No, let’s lower my standard. Lower my standard…’

He pulled himself together and said again.

“Well then… Do you see the person drawn on that billboard? I want you to shoot your poison dart at the left eye.”

“All I have is a deadly poison. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, it’s okay. Just shoot.”

There was a Level difference between the Assassin and Seo Ji-Ah. Also, Jin-Hyeok didn’t think the Assassin would die from this distance. However, he knew it was going to hurt like hell.

Ji-Ah did as he asked, firing the poison dart with a careful, unobtrusive movement, and it hit the opponent with precision.

The Assassin fainted and collapsed, but Jin-Hyeok did not read much into it.

‘She’s nothing but a high Level.’

If a Level 35 Player was this powerless against Ji-Ah’s surprise attack, it meant that she was just a Level Grinder. By the way, those who leveled up by just beating up monsters with no extreme training were called Level Grinders. They were much weaker than Players with the same Level because they focused only on leveling up and emphasized on the power that comes with Levels, and not on building up their actual strength.

Jin-Hyeok decided not to bother with such an Assassin, as he knew his party was going to meet many of them in the future.

Jin-Hyeok opened the gates of the Golden Golem Castle.

[You are entering the Dungeon, 「Golden Golem Castle」.]

This was the beginning of his actual livestream.