I Gave Up Being Stronger

‘Why is she like this? She can’t even distinguish between monsters and non-monsters.’

Of course, in a life-and-death situation, judgments could be clouded.

‘But it’s Han Sae-Rin. She should be better than that.’

Being someone with high expectations for Sae-Rin, Jin-Hyeok could not help but feel a bit disappointed.

Jin-Hyeok’s expression inflicted another wound on Sae-Rin’s pride.

Woof! Woof!

The barking sound was from Boongboong which Jin-Hyeok had encountered during the Runaway Dog from the Heavens mission given by Wind Wanderer. It pounced on Jin-Hyeok with its big body.

‘Wow, you’ve grown a lot.’

Jin-Hyeok couldn’t overcome the weight of Boongboong and fell down. It thought that it was playing and happily wagged its tail.

[#Play with me!! #Play with me!! #Play with me!!]

It wagged its tail vigorously, shaking its rear end as if it were dancing. Boongboong licked Jin-Hyeok’s face excitedly.

“This dog still thinks it is a puppy and jumped on me. It just wants to play with me. How did you not see this?”

After the regression, when Jin-Hyeok first met Boongboong, he didn’t recognize it.

‘Now I know it’s not my fault that I couldn’t recognize it.’

Jin-Hyeok felt a slight sense of relief. The reason he did not recognize Boongboong was not that his eye for detail was poor, but because the dog was still too young at that time.

The Boongboong he met after regression was a young puppy weighing about ten kilograms. Its Level was only 35 then. However, now, Boongboong had grown significantly. It resembled the appearance of Boongboong before regression.

[LV77/Boongboong]

[#I’m so excited! #I’m so excited! #I’m so excited!]

Jin-Hyeok gently pushed away the now forty-kilogram Boongboong, that still considered itself as a puppy. Sae-Rin just looked at Jin-Hyeok without saying a word.

‘I had no idea that wasn’t a monster, but how did he know?’ Sae-Rin said.

It did not matter whether Jin-Hyeok had a close relationship with that dog or not. She was frustrated at the fact that Jin-Hyeok, a Streamer, recognized that the dog was not a monster. When Sae-Rin was preparing for her final moments, Jin-Hyeok had other thoughts in his mind.

Jin-Hyeok approached her and spoke, “It’s disappointing to see such a rookie mistake.”

“...”

Sae-Rin clenched her fist tightly. Her pride was hurt too much, and she could not accept this fact at all. She felt so embarrassed that she wanted to hide somewhere, even if it meant jumping down from the clouds.

“And what was that thing you said to me? Falling for me? Confess your love?”

“W-Well…!”

“Don’t say such creepy things to me.”

Jin-Hyeok couldn’t see Sae-Rin as a woman. She was a comrade and a brother to him, but never a woman. Sae-Rin bit her lips.

‘Yeah, I showed a pathetic side of me.’

Since she had shown such a side, she had no words to say even if he found it creepy. She fully understood Jin-Hyeok’s words.

His standards were so on point that she had nothing to say.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Somewhere, a voice could be heard.

“Boongboong~ Where are you~”

As soon as Jin-Hyeok heard it, he felt a bit uneasy. It wasn’t an ordinary voice. It sounded like the speaker’s nose was clogged up. Some might say it was a voice filled with cuteness.

Anyway, from Jin-Hyeok’s perspective, it wasn’t a pleasant sound to hear. If he was to describe how the voice sounds in words, it would be like “Boongboong♡~”

“Where is my lovely Boongboong~?”

Jin-Hyeok knew the identity of the owner of that voice.

It was Luluka, the young Angel who broke Jin-Hyeok’s arm as soon as they met.

“Where is my Boongboong hiding~?”

“It’s coming from above,” Sae-RIn said.

Jin-Hyeok looked upward. After making a big mistake once, Sae-Rin seemed like she was sharpening her senses.

Far away, an Angel with white wings fluttered and flew toward them. Luluka landed on the floor.

“Who are you guys?” she asked.

Luluka kept shifting her gaze between Jin-Hyeok and Boongboong. The dog was sitting snugly by his side. They had become quite close after Jin-Hyeok showed Boongboong some affection and gave it a sausage.

“Why have you stepped into my private space, you mere mortals?”

“Don’t act all high and mighty. It doesn’t suit you,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“What?”

“And adults don’t act as pompous as you think they do.”

Luluka had a slight misunderstanding about adults. She thought that all adults spoke in a formal and lower tone.

For reference, even adult Angels spoke in the same way as humans.

“Boongboong, come here.”

Boongboong just turned its head and kept sitting beside Jin-Hyeok. Luluka’s fingertips trembled.

[#How could you… #Do this to me? #I am your guardian!]

Luluka, who was going through the teenage phase, started to unnecessarily bother Jin-Hyeok.

“Why don’t you admire my beauty?!”

“What should I admire about you?”

“Look at me! Look at Luluka! Everything you see in front of you is the epitome of beauty!”

Jin-Hyeok couldn’t help but laugh. Most Angels had poor social skills, but she was particularly bad.

So Jin-Hyeok told her the truth.

“I think she is more beautiful,” Jin-Hyeok said while pointing at Sae-Rin.

Sae-Rin always tried her best while Playing. Jin-Hyeok always admired the way she devoted herself to Playing and got happy when she achieved something. Although he was a bit disappointed in her today, those moments were beautiful enough.

“I now understand your poor taste! You are just like that crazy person with the family name Kim!”

Jin-Hyeok had no idea who that crazy person with the family name Kim was, they obviously got their head screwed on straight. It was clear that this Kim person knew how to handle Luluka.

They just had to gently provoke and tease her. That was the way to get what they wanted from Luluka.

“I will ask again. Why have you stepped into my private space?”

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The official name of the Field Jin-Hyeok was currently standing on was ‘Tomb of the Moon Shaman.’ It was literally where the Moon Shaman was buried. Jin-Hyeok fought the monster before, so he knew she was incredibly powerful.

‘According to the System settings, she is considered a Demi-God.’

Among the opponents Jin-Hyeok had fought, she was one of the strongest, so the memory was vivid. The real Moon Shaman was said to possess a power so strong that she could bring about the destruction of the universe. By the way, the Moon Shaman he fought was not the real one, but a fake created by some faction.

Even though the monster only borrowed a fraction of the real Moon Shaman’s power, the monster was still incredibly strong. According to the System\'s settings, the Moon Shaman was defeated and killed in a hundred-year war against the Ruler of Twilight.

‘How powerful must the Ruler of Twilight, who killed her, be?’

Jin-Hyeok had Played until he reached Level 240, but he never encountered such a being.

[“Though the Moon Shaman was an enemy, I respect her. Build a palace for her in a place untouched by the breath of the sky and bury her deep where no one can find her.”]

A tomb-like palace was built, and the Moon Shaman was laid to rest deep within the clouds. Her tomb was filled with spiritual energy. That spiritual energy was infused with the breath of the Moon Shaman and brought about various miracles.

However, over thousands of years, the power gradually faded. As a result, people\'s memory of the Moon Shaman faded and her grand tomb was eroded by time. However, a small part of the spiritual energy remained, causing minor phenomena.

The Hongik University Dungeon was one of them.

‘This is the place where mischievous Luluka turned into her own playground.’

Luluka acted just like a typical chuuni. She was a child who avoided studying and just did whatever she wanted. Jin-Hyeok remembered Luluka telling him something about how she had a dream of becoming a painter, but her parents opposed it.

So, Luluka would run away to this place every day and would secretly paint.

[“My parents don’t understand me at all.”]

Although she was young, Luluka’s feelings were genuine. The sincere feelings of the young Angel, combined with the spiritual energy of this place, gave birth to this Dungeon named Hongik University Dungeon… That was the background story behind the creation of this Dungeon.

Not all Dungeons had such complex settings. The fact that this place had such an incredible backstory meant that it would play an important role in the future.

“Luluka, do you happen to know…” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“What?”

“Oh, never mind.”

“What is it? Why did you start talking and then stop? No, wait… For what reason did you initiate verbal discourse only to abruptly discontinue it?”

Jin-Hyeok had felt this before, but it seemed like Luluka was not very good at sticking to her concept. When she got frustrated, her usual way of speaking burst out.

“I came here to find something. Well, you wouldn’t know. Never mind. I’ll find it myself,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Luluka seemed angry.

“Are you claiming that I don’t know what you are trying to find with your narrow-mindedness and limited perspective?”

“Why would I ask a child for help?”

“I am not a child!”

If anything, Luluka seemed younger than a middle schooler. It felt like she was about six years old in human terms.

“Do you even know who the Moon Shaman is?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Heh! If you’re talking about the Moon Shaman, that’s a well-known fairy tale that even little kids know about."

“Oh. Okay. Cool.”

Jin-Hyeok nodded as if he was not interested and gently patted the head of Boongboong.

“Boongboong, you want a sausage?” Jin-Hyeok asked while ignoring Luluka.

Luluka’s wings turned red. She seemed extremely angry.

“Don’t you want to know about the Moon Shaman?!” she said.

“But you wouldn’t know anyway.”

“What would you do if I told you that I do know?”

“Ah, forget it. Don’t bother.”

“There is a tomb where the Moon Shaman was buried here. Angels can find their way even in the clouds. How do you feel about experiencing my incredible power?”

‘This is too easy.’

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

If this place was an actual place on Earth, it would be like a neglected cultural heritage site. It was minimally maintained by the Angels, but in reality, it was an abandoned place. Luluka flew ahead, cutting a path through the clouds.

‘Wow, why is she so fast?’

It was hard to keep up with her. Honestly, if Jin-Hyeok had come alone, he might have gotten lost in these clouds.

It was a good thing that Sae-Rin was with him.

“Hold my hands,” she said.

Sae-Rin showed her incredible abilities as a top-ranked Navigator.

[Pathfinder used the Mystery 「Tracking Art」.]

‘She already acquired a Mystery?’

Jin-Hyeok and Sae-Rin flew through the clouds. Thanks to Sae-Rin, they were able to keep up with Luluka.

“Hmph. You mortals are pretty fast.”

The clouds that obstructed their vision cleared, revealing a field made entirely of clouds. In the middle of the field, there was a small tomb.

“Do you see it? This is the tomb that is said to be where the Moon Shaman is laid to rest.”

Jin-Hyeok used Broadcaster\'s Clairvoyance to reveal the information.

[Tomb of the Moon Shaman]

[A model created to visualize the tomb where the Moon Shaman is buried.]

This was what Jin-Hyeok had been looking for. He knew he couldn’t find the real tomb at his current Level anyway. He would probably be annihilated by the Guardians before even reaching the entrance.

“Wow, so you really knew about this place,” Jin-Hyeok said to Luluka.

“With your limited abilities, you wouldn’t have been able to find this place.”

“Thanks. You’re amazing.”

Jin-Hyeok gently patted Luluka’s head. He was not sure who discovered this strategy, but patting her head after teasing and provoking her would make her open up.

“Hmph! You think I would be pleased if you do that?”

[#Thump, thump. #I got praised! #Was I that amazing?”

Jin-Hyeok bought a pickaxe from the Broadcaster’s Shop and started digging the tomb.

“W-What are you doing?” Luluka shouted.

“I think what I am looking for is here.”

Luluka did not attack people she had a favorable impression of. What Jin-Hyeok was doing wasn’t particularly special.

In the future, it would become a method used by all Players, since the Moon Shaman’s Finger was a key material used in various Quests and Scenarios.

There was a coffin inside the tomb, and when the coffin was opened, a finger would be found inside it.

[Moon Shaman’s Finger (Replica)]

‘Originally, there should be a model resembling the corpse.’

However, some of the Angels responsible for managing this place used up most of the budget and could only replicate the finger with whatever they had left. That was why Jin-Hyeok could freely dig through this place.

If this place had been officially and properly managed, the Angels would have caught him immediately.

However, in its current state, they wouldn’t do anything to Jin-Hyeok even if he wreaked havoc in here.

‘It’s a quite well-made replica. I got this easier than I thought.’

It seemed Jin-Hyeok was lucky. It was also written as a replica on the enhancing manual. And in Jin-Hyeok’s life before regression, he had enhanced the Berklev Necklace using a similar method.

‘Now, I should go and enhance it.’

Returning to the Hongik University Dungeon from here was not that difficult. He just needed to threaten Luluka.

“Do you want me to spread rumors that it was you who destroyed this place?” Jin-Hyeok said to Luluka.

In response, the frightened middle-schooler, no, the six-year-old, Luluka would open the exit with tears in her eyes, along with a warning not to spread such baseless rumors.

“You are such a bad person!” Luluka sniffled.

“Just think of it as a valuable lesson.”

Jin-Hyeok patted her head once again. In a way, she was quite fragile. Honestly, if they were to fight, she would be the one to win. If their roles were switched, he would’ve just killed her and moved on.

[Why is he so handsome? #But he is not my type. #I hope he’s not my type. #But still handsome. #Wait, is he my type?]

Jin-Hyeok didn’t know why Luluka was thinking that when Jin-Hyeok just had an ordinary face.

‘Ah, maybe she is practicing her honey-trapping method for the future.’

It seemed like she had heard that even if someone was not good-looking, she had to brainwash and control herself to effectively use the honey-trapping method on them.

Jin-Hyeok should be cautious.

However, thanks to Luluka, they were able to return to the first-floor area where they were earlier.

‘I should quickly go to Mulinus’ Workshop.’

That was his plan, but he couldn’t proceed with it. Several binding Skills were directed at him. They were Skills used by Players. It seemed like they were trying to restrain Jin-Hyeok.

‘Oh?’

It seemed like the Players were trying to kidnap him. It had been a while since someone tried to kidnap him, so he felt a bit excited.