I Gave Up Being Stronger

‘Exclusive filming is advantageous to me,’ Cha Jin-Hyeok thought.

Even if it was not Mi-Na, someone would keep an eye on him. Whether it was drones or whatever other means, they would find a way to monitor him.

Once Jin-Hyeok entered an exclusive contract with a Streamer, other Streamers or technology would not be able to film him.

‘I’ll only be captured on screen through Mi-Na’s perspective.’

Rather than exposing himself to numerous people, it seemed better to show himself through just one person, which in this case, was Mi-Na. It also made editing any potentially problematic footage easier.

He had a brief conversation with Mi-Na.

“Actually, the Yeosu Swordmaster is my disciple.”

“W-What?”

“Since it killed my disciple, I must seek revenge. I will definitely defeat the monster, so make sure you capture everything.”

They started drafting the Streaming contract.

“What do you think about the conditions?”

“I like it. It’s a bit disappointing that it won’t be a livestream, though.”

Still, the edited version was better than nothing. She would be the first Korean Streamer to film the Flying Toad being killed.

“Then, can I release a teaser?” Mi-Na asked.

“A teaser?”

“I need to use it to attract the viewers, saying that you are going to kill the Flying Toad. With a short teaser, I can draw in more viewers and it will also be easier to get the video on the real-time trending list.”

She seemed to have adapted to the SSP much faster than Jin-Hyeok thought.

“But what if I fail to defeat the monster? Wouldn’t that be all for nothing?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Are you going to fail?”

“No, that’s not going to happen.”

“You need to promise me that you will kill the Flying Toad. Even at this very moment, there might be Players hunting the monster somewhere in the world. Being first in anything is the key.”

Jin-Hyeok saw the madness flickering in her eyes.

“I don’t think that the crazy person who can read my Skills and track my location will be killed by the Flying Toad.”

Her madness excited Jin-Hyeok. It was as if he had met the old Kang Mi-Na, and it brought him a sense of joy.

“Cover my eyes again,” Mi-Na said.

“What?”

“And tie my wrists and ankles.”

“Why?”

“For a thumbnail clickbait, of course.”

“...”

Mi-Na was undoubtedly insane. After tearing her clothes here and there with her own hands, she posed like a damsel in distress who had just been kidnapped. Even to Jin-Hyeok, she looked like she had been through something quite harsh.

“This should do. Now, listen carefully, here is the plan. I was subdued by a mysterious villain. This villain forced me to film only him, with a warning that he would kill me if he was not filmed properly. I had no choice but to sign an exclusive contract.”

“...”

‘Ah, this brings back memories.’

Mi-Na always filmed something multiple times, even if it was the same thing. Even though it looked the same to other people, she would change the directing method for something as simple as saying hello.

Before regression, Jin-Hyeok and his party members would get tired of it, but in the end, they always did it the way Mi-Na wanted.

“And this time, we will start with a scene where we officially sign the contract as Players. Do you understand the concept?”

She even changed her outfit right in front of him.

‘This really brings me back.’

Before regression, they had been through hell together, so there was no sense of embarrassment between them. It was nice to remember those times.

“And the concept for this time is…”

People usually got tired of her, but her pure passion for Playing was truly admirable. Jin-Hyeok believed that this pure desire was the most beautiful thing in the world.

“And the setting for this time is…”

After filming various intros and teasers, they selected the most fitting one to stream before the main video.

Jin-Hyeok felt something after meeting her.

‘I need to retire at an intermediate Level.’

He would not be able to come up with diverse directing plans or ideas like her. He could tell at a glance that this was an area of raw talent and skill, and sword-crazy Players like Jin-Hyeok could never keep up.

Right now, with the combination of early-stage buffs and a few strokes of luck, he was doing exceptionally well. But as his Level increased, it was clear that he would be outclassed in competition with people like her.

‘I just need to keep my sanity until then.’

Jin-Hyeok almost lost what he was striving for just from the few small successes he had recently. He had the arrogance to do whatever he wanted and to aim for retirement on his own terms.

However, the world was not that easy. There were so many talented and crazy people in the world.

‘I should approach my Play with humility.’

He reflected on himself. This became a catalyst for him to regain his composure.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Kihael, GM No. 3 for Seodaemun-gu, asked, “Assistant Manager Serchan, what’s wrong?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. Why are you constantly fixated on Yeosu?”

“Ah… I had a Scenario I wanted to finalize, and I’m worried about it…”

“Isn’t that the city-wide Scenario? Damn, you’re so passionate. You have already received recognition for your contribution to the Scenario, and you even got promoted, so why are you concerned about that?”

Kihael could not understand Serchan. He could not grasp why Serchan worked so diligently.

Serchan couldn’t answer him.

‘Kim Chul-Soo wouldn’t go after the Flying Toad again, would he?’ Serchan thought.

Serchan hoped Chul-Soo wouldn’t.

‘He may be crazy, but he is smart. He knows that we have taken precautions and won’t try to hunt the monster again. He can’t be that insane.’

The Flying Toad could not be allowed to die. Measures had been taken to ensure that it wouldn’t. As an example, a lock was placed to prevent it from entering Phase 2. If it entered Phase 2, it would lose its rationality and would jump into the ocean.

Also, its weakness was set as ‘the ocean’ rather than ‘the ocean water.’ In case the military was mobilized, captured the monster, and threw it into the ocean, a Skill that enabled teleportation was created and included in the settings.

“You seem uneasy about something,” Kihael said.

“Hey, what if there was a monster in an Open Beta that could use an unblockable attack?”

“Where would you find such a monster in an Open Beta Server?”

“Let’s just assume there happens to be one. What if such a monster gets killed?”

“Well, the System would have to provide tremendous rewards to the person who could kill such a monster, I suppose,” Kihael replied in a lazy manner, as if he found it bothersome to even think about it.

“How great would that be?”

“I don’t know. Why are you asking me all this?”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Just in case, Serchan had even granted an ultimate attack, which was considered an unblockable attack, to the Flying Toad.

At the time, Kim Chul-Soo utilized the Broadcaster’s Barrier so well that Serchan believed that it was a different, more powerful Skill. Chul-Soo had a level of skill surpassing that of the top Tanks on Earth.

Therefore, to neutralize the Broadcaster’s Barrier, Serchan included the Devouring Swamp Skill, an unblockable attack. Even for Serchan, this was going too far.

‘I’ve gone too far from causality.’

When a GM exerted artificial power to prevent a certain outcome, it was necessary to have an opposing force of equal magnitude. There would be various side effects, but the rewards could become disproportionately favorable.

‘Let’s not think about unnecessary things. Besides, killing the Flying Toad is impossible now.’

However, for some reason, Serchan couldn’t shake off this lingering uneasiness.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

‘Ah, this is nice,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

A refreshing breeze blew. There was a slight stench of blood and decaying corpses, but it didn’t really bother Jin-Hyeok.

‘Oh, it’s set to be a female monster.’

[LV90/Flying Toad(♀)/Skills/The First Step of the Yeosu Scenario]

The Flying Toad that Jin-Hyeok encountered last time was Level 83. However, this female Flying Toad was Level 90. The GM had brought in a stronger opponent.

‘Wow, Serchan really went all out.’

Even a Level 83 monster would have already far exceeded the standards of the Korean Region, let alone a Level 90 one. Jin-Hyeok could sense Serchan’s determination not to allow the Flying Toad to be killed, which made Jin-Hyeok happy.

The harder it was to kill a monster, the more satisfying it was when he succeeded. Breaking what the GM created to be unbreakable brought him an immense thrill.

‘Great. I am so thrilled!’

There was even a new Skill added. It was called Spatial Leap.

‘Oh… Is it to avoid being captured and falling into the ocean? To escape?’

That was not all. The media had also revealed the information that seawater was no longer the monster’s weakness.

Serchan had really gone all out.

‘And I believe that’s a new Skill. Devouring Swamp? It\'s too bad I can’t see the details of that Skill.’

Even Jin-Hyeok could not obtain information about that Skill.

‘That means Serchan must have set it up to prevent the Flying Toad\'s Phase 2 from starting.’

That way, the possibility of the Flying Toad falling into the sea would decrease. Jin-Hyeok felt even better.

‘With that much effort put into the Flying Toad, the rewards must be incredible.’

It didn’t matter to Jin-Hyeok.

This very moment of facing the Flying Toad was all Jin-Hyeok could ask for. The stronger monster, the added Skills—through these, Jin-Hyeok could understand the intention behind the creation of this monster. For a Player, there was no greater joy than this.

‘Also, it’s a perfect opportunity to see how much I’ve improved.’

What used to be Latent Skills, Sharp Spirit and Sharper Spirit, had now become his perfected Skills.

He could hear the fluttering sound of the Flying Toad’s wings. Soon, she would charge toward him like a runaway locomotive. And if he collided with her, it was instant death—assuming Jin-Hyeok didn’t apply any Achievement effects, of course.

‘She\'s coming.’

The monster flew toward him. Jin-Hyeok lunged sideways to dodge the monster’s attack.

‘Though I didn’t really need to dodge that.’

Jin-Hyeok was currently applying the Repeating Shortcuts and Hidden King Achievement. It granted complete immunity to attacks from toad-like monsters below Level 100.

However, colliding head-on with such a massive creature was not exactly a wise move for a Swordsman.

“Come at me!”

The Flying Toad, which was lying on the ground, rose and glared at him. Just like her male counterpart, she folded her wings and charged toward him like a wild boar.

‘She\'s coming.’

The monster’s gradually growing figure caught his sight. He followed her movements with his eyes and swiftly struck her with his sword. He avoided attacks that had to be avoided and ignored attacks that could be ignored. Thanks to the Achievement effect, the monster’s attack could not reach him.

‘My attacks are leaving minor wounds on the monster.’

With this, Jin-Hyeok could confirm that he was able to strip away her protective barrier much faster than that of her male counterpart he had previously encountered. Jin-Hyeok\'s skills had improved significantly.

He engaged in combat with the Flying Toad for two hours.

‘I haven’t sustained any significant injuries.’

It felt different from the last time he battled the Flying Toad. Back then, to sharpen his senses, Jin-Hyeok reluctantly applied the All-Clear (Sareoga Mart Dungeon) Achievement. But now, there was no need for that anymore.

With just the Repeating Shortcuts and Hidden King Achievement, he was able to freely swing his sword and inflict wounds on the monster.

‘It is not as satisfying as before, but still…’

In the previous battle, his left shoulder was dislocated, and he had a fracture on his rib. But now, he had no injuries.

There was no clearer evidence that Jin-Hyeok had become stronger.

‘This is making me excited!’

Having successfully stripped away her protective barrier, Jin-Hyeok found himself laughing uncontrollably.

“HAHAHAHAHA!!”

And he glared at the Flying Toad. Once the protective barrier was gone, normally, the monster would emit red steam and enter Phase 2.

‘But there is no Phase 2.’

In that case, Jin-Hyeok was curious about what would happen. He wondered which path the monster would choose.

Suddenly, he felt a chilling presence.

‘Wow.’

This was the feeling right before impending death. In Jin-Hyeok’s past life, he experienced this feeling hundreds of times, so he knew very well what was going on. He thought of this feeling as “death approaching.”

‘Is it from underneath?’

Bubble. Bubble.

Something was bubbling and boiling beneath the monster’s feet. Finally, Jin-Hyeok’s Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance interpreted the situation and showed him what was going on. The Devouring Swamp was so powerful that even Jin-Hyeok’s Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance was a bit slow in showing him how powerful the enemy’s Skill was.

[The Flying Toad used the Special Skill 「Devouring Swamp」.]

A green magic circle formed beneath the crouching Flying Toad.

A mixture of purple and green mana surged, and the swamp beneath the monster\'s feet started to bubble and boil even harder. Smoke rose from Jin-Hyeok’s Broadcaster’s Barrier.

Surprisingly, his Broadcaster’s Barrier was melting away.

‘Is that her unblockable attack?’

Jin-Hyeok was surprised that a monster in an Open Beta Server had this kind of attack. He could not believe that the monster had a setting that could ignore Jin-Hyeok’s Achievement effects.

Serchan was definitely a terrifying individual.

‘If he went to such lengths with the settings, I wonder what the reward the monster would give?’

Jin-Hyeok had already confirmed his growth. Now, he wanted to get some rewards.

His body was gradually being corroded by the effect of the Devouring Swamp, and he had difficulties breathing.

‘If that attack hits me, I’m dead for sure.’

Just as his vision was getting blurry, suddenly, everything in front of him turned pitch-black. He felt a sudden mana wave.

Thud!

[The effect of the Berklev Necklace has been activated.]

‘Huh?’

However, it was a bit peculiar. Jin-Hyeok’s defense and mental resilience were greater than he had expected.

‘This is not how it’s supposed to work.’

Jin-Hyeok assumed this attack to be an instant death attack. But it seemed like his Achievement effects and physical defensive stats were far better than he anticipated.

‘I had no idea I was this strong.’

No matter who it was, this attack should have killed anyone. However, it seemed like Jin-Hyeok’s intuition and standards were off. It was rare for him to make mistakes.

An attack that was supposed to cause instant death was now considered an attack that only inflicted a fatal injury.

[This attack qualifies as a fatal injury attack.]

[It will be converted into an instant death attack.]

Thud!

An invisible sword pierced through Jin-Hyeok’s heart.