I Gave Up Being Stronger

“What the hell are you doing?!” Ghost 1 said as he lunged at Jin-Hyeok.

He seemed to have learned judo as his movements were similar to a Martial Artist. Unfortunately, he never learned not to run toward an opponent who was wielding a dagger.

Stab!

Jin-Hyeok stabbed Ghost 1 in the shoulder. Ghost 2 lunged at him from the side. He seemed to be stronger than Ghost 1.

‘I don’t think I can defeat him in one blow.’

If he mixed up his attacks, he could create a gap. There was also a gentler way to neutralize him by attacking his non-critical areas, but Jin-Hyeok did not feel the need to go soft on him.

‘I’m just going to stab him.’

Stab!

He stabbed Ghost 2 in the nape of the neck. He bled a lot more than Ghost 1. It would not kill him instantly, but if he was unlucky, he might die.

‘I’m not really used to people blindly attacking me without properly knowing who they are attacking.’

Jin-Hyeok did not know if they were weird or if he was the weird one. Either way, it was hard to get used to this situation.

“Jin-Sol. Please don’t let him die.’

In the future, raids and Dungeon exploration would always be done as a team. All responsibilities were shared among teammates. In Dungeons, one bad teammate could wipe out their entire party. That was why in the future, everyone assumed equal responsibility and interpreted it as a collective community.

‘And these guys just betrayed that community. They deserve to die.’

If it was a more vicious and mean Player, they might have gone after every Player known to have a relationship with Angel Girl. At least in terms of Play, and most importantly, betrayal within that Play, it was not only the Player who committed such a heinous act that was responsible, but also the people around them.

This was the way it was supposed to be.

Jin-Hyeok glanced over at the fallen Angel Girl and the Ghosts. Only Ghost 2 was critically wounded, but they were all going to die if he left them alone.

Jin-Hyeok wondered what kind of Thieves did not bring healing potions with them. A good Thief was always ready for the worst outcome, even getting stabbed in the back.

‘Should I just kill them?’

Even if he took this case to trial, what he did would be considered self-defense. People usually hold Players to a pretty harsh and strict standard as if they were government employees, but in cases like this, they would always side with Jin-Hyeok.

If a Player wanted to steal from someone in a Dungeon, they better be ready to risk their lives.

‘However…’

He looked at his sister and her face was white in fear. He thought it would be difficult for her to rise to become a top ranker if she was scared of something like this.

She was too nice and gentle. She always freaked out like that when she saw human blood.

On some level, he was kind of relieved that she was scared.

Jin-Hyeok gave her permission.

“You can heal them.”

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Cha Jin-Sol was deeply shocked.

Without any warning, her brother, Jin-Hyeok, had suddenly stabbed three innocent people. All three were lying on the ground, moaning in pain, and one was critically wounded.

She knew her brother had his reasons, but still, it was hard for her to accept.

She was not the only one in shock. An exit for the Dungeon was created, but no one moved toward it. Jin-Hyeok’s shocking action froze everyone in their tracks.

“You can heal them,” Jin-Hyeok said.

It sounded like he did not want to heal them, but he was only doing this out of generosity.

“So, I can heal them, right?” Jin-Sol said.

“Yeah, if you really want to.”

Jin-Hyeok felt a little proud that he knew and understood his sister’s feelings so well. This made him feel like he was a pretty good brother to her.

Jin-Sol hastily used her healing abilities to heal Ghost 2’s wounds. As a Blood Priest, she had to use her own blood as a medium, so it was hard to use too many abilities at once. If she fully healed him, she would be exhausted.

‘I’ll just heal him enough to keep him alive,’ Jin-Sol thought.

She healed all three of them, dividing her power appropriately.

Jin-Hyeok then asked Mok Jae-Hyeon to unleash a thin layer of Wood Fortress.

“Uh… A thin layer of Wood Fortress?” Jae-Hyeon asked.

“Yes. Pull it out like a vine and make some handcuffs. If you can’t make something as elaborate as handcuffs, you can make a rope or something."

Jae-Hyeon was also frightened to death. His skills were strong enough to block Jin-Hyeok’s dagger, but this was a different matter. He was only able to maintain this much composure because he had the Imperial Resilience Trait.

“I’ve never done this before…”

“I’m sure you can do it.”

“O…okay. I will try my best.”

Fear made Jae-Hyeon stronger. Even though he had never done it before, he succeeded in forming a long vine in the form of a rope.

“See? I know you can do it.”

Jin-Hyeok chuckled, his face covered in blood.

In Jae-Hyeon’s eyes, he looked like a crazy killer.

Jin-Hyeok tied the three of them with the rope.

“Now, let’s wait.”

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Song Ha-Young’s Touch of the Great Rogue had completely failed. If so, it was now the time when Jin-Hyeok would receive compensation for the failed Skill, but it seemed to take a while because Ha-Young was still unconscious.

Everyone remained silent as they realized the gravity of the situation.

‘I understand. Anyone would be angry if the Thieves were trying to stab them in the back at the last minute.’

If this was back in Jin-Hyeok\'s previous life, even Kim Jeong-Hyeon, who was the most mild-mannered of his party members, would have been furious in this situation.

Jin-Hyeok assumed the party members were exercising extreme patience right now. He was a little proud of their growth.

‘Seeing as how Jae-Hyeon has made the ropes so strong and tight, it must mean that he is very angry.’

Just then, Seo Ji-Soo came up to him.

"Oppa, I need an explanation."

Ji-Soo looked very serious. In a way, she looked a little angry, and her lower lip was trembling.

\'I guess she is really angry. Since she is an Assassin, it seems like she wanted to kill them all.’

“I think so too. We should’ve just killed them,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“...What?”

“But our Healer has a weak stomach.”

“...”

“So, I didn’t want to kill them in front of her. She’s my sister, you know.”

Ji-Soo was silent for a moment. It did not seem like a convincing explanation to her.

‘I guess it might be hard to understand from an Assassin’s point of view.’

Although Jin-Hyeok was not the one at fault, she really didn’t show any mercy.

If she experienced killing someone right in front of her, she would know that it was only natural to feel bad for them.

Ji-Soo spoke again, “So why did you suddenly stab them?”

\'Wait. Something feels off. I need to check if we are all on the same page.’

“I thought you were mad at me for not killing them,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“No! What the hell are you talking about?”

Clearly, Jin-Hyeok’s social skills were not up to par. He tried to increase the sensitivity of his Broadcaster’s Truesight.

[#I don’t understand. #Why would you stab innocent people? #Are you crazy? #I’m sure you have your reasons.]

Jin-Hyeok was a little dumbfounded because he had not thought about it.

“Why did you suddenly stab people who were helping us? We were all so happy to clear the Dungeon together!” Ji-Soo yelled.

Jin-Hyeok was a little flustered.

“I don’t think you did this for no reason, but I hope you can give us an explanation that we can understand.”

“...”

Ji-Soo’s lower lip was still trembling. It was hard for Jin-Hyeok’s brain to comprehend, but the Broadcaster’s Truesight conveyed what they were thinking.

[....#Desperate Hope]

She seemed to be desperate for him to give her a convincing explanation.

‘Was I supposed to explain this in a way that made sense?’

He looked around at his party members. They seemed to be having similar thoughts.

‘Wow. This is even more confusing than when Angel Girl tried to rob my inventory.’

“Don’t people usually have a good explanation after doing something like this?” she asked.

“Usually I just assume they’ll understand.”

‘Where do I even begin to explain this?’

It was like trying to explain to kids how to breathe or how to blink.

“Think back to the moment when the gold bar suddenly dropped out of my inventory. It was when I was the most vulnerable, right? The gold bar fell at a time when it shouldn’t have, and the person who was holding my hand was a thief-class Player.”

“...”

“And do you remember where those two were standing?”

It seemed like they were too happy about clearing the Dungeon, they had not seen where the Ghosts were located.

“They were standing off to the left and right of me so that they could subdue me if there was any resistance. They were very tense.”

‘Why would anyone be tense after just clearing a Dungeon?’

The circumstances were so obvious that he did not even feel the need to explain any of this.

“What does that tell you? They were trying to steal the gold bars in my inventory and failed!”

“...”

“It’s best to kill Players who stab their teammates in the back during Play, especially in Dungeons, because you can’t trust them to have your back.”

Jin-Hyeok had seen entire teams wiped out by one or two of these bad apples. The scariest tithing in a Dungeon was an unreliable ally. That was why betrayal in Dungeons was severely punished by punishing even those around them.

Ha-Young, who had finally regained consciousness, shouted, “He’s lying! Everything is a lie!”

‘Oh? So that’s how we’re going to play?’

“I just saw something fall out of his inventory and tried to pick it up.”

Her big eyes were filled with resentment. Before he knew it, tears were welling up in her eyes and dripping down. It looked very real. With that kind of acting skill, she could be an actress.

Jin-Sol came up to her brother and asked, “Oppa, is what she said true?”

At first, Jin-Hyeok was frustrated at his sister, but when he looked at her through the Broadcaster’s Truesight, her status messages were a little strange.

[#Did she just say Oppa was lying? #Is she crazy? #I just want to bash her head in.]

She seemed to be questioning him, but her gaze was filled with trust. Those later status messages were a bit brutal. Jin-Hyeok thought she was gentle, but apparently, he was a little off.

“Of course not, she’s lying.”

“Do you have any proof?”

“Proof?”

Then, Angel Girl interjected, “There can’t be any proof. I am the victim here!”

“Oppa, you are a Streamer. Don’t you have any saved videos?”

“I do.”

Angel Girl pushed herself up. She held one shoulder tightly as if it hurt a lot.

“Come on, let me see that video,” she said.

She was still smug. It did not seem to occur to her that her Skills had been read. It was understandable, considering even Jin-Hyeok was surprised by the effectiveness of Broadcaster’s Truesight.

“I don’t think there’s a need for me to show the video.”

“See? I told you he didn’t have any proof.”

“There will be proof soon enough.”

Jin-Hyeok rubbed his chin and waited.

Normally, the bigger the reward, the longer it took. Since they were in a beginner’s Dungeon, the x8 effect was bound to take a long time.

“Aren’t you getting a reminder to pay me back?”

“What… are you talking about?”

It seemed like his attack had made her forget what was going on, but soon, the System notification for the compensation would pop up.

“You just tried to steal all my gold bars. How are you going to pay me back eight times the amount?”

As he was telling her that, Angel Girl’s face was starting to turn white. He wondered what kind of notification she was getting right now.

After some time passed, she broke down. A notification soon came, this time for him.

[Player, 「Angel Girl」, is severely lacking in compensation.]

[Do you agree to mediation through the System?]

‘Wow, she’s screwed.’

System mediation was simply a way of saying that the System would pay him back on behalf of Angel Girl. The System would reimburse him first, then would ask Angel Girl to pay it back to the System. Alternatively, it could guide her toward a different form of compensation.

[Depending on the circumstances, the System may proceed with the claim for restitution.]

[Do you agree?]

Jin-Hyeok did not have to think about it.

‘I do.’

The System was being quite reasonable and would give him what it deemed reasonable compensation.

‘It would be great if it could just replicate the gold bars and give them to me.’

[The System will mediate the current situation.]

Some time had passed.

[Golden Headband[1] and one other item have been transferred to your inventory.]

‘The Golden Headband? Why is it appearing here?’

1. Specifically the one used by Sun Wukong. ☜