I Gave Up Being Stronger

Above the heads of Choi Gap-Soo and Michelle Jang, a unique window called Favorability appeared.

[Hostile—Unfriendly—▶Neutral◀—Friendly—Very Friendly]

Cha Jin-Hyeok was not unfamiliar with this Skill. Currently, it showed as Neutral, but he knew it could change in real-time. Right now, it was a simple window, but top-ranked ruler-class Players could see all sorts of elements in it.

‘So, this is how it feels.’

The difference between simply knowing what it was and actually seeing it with his own eyes was monumental, and experiencing it firsthand opened a whole new world for Jin-Hyeok. Information that Jin-Hyeok had not considered important until now became meaningful and redefined. It felt like he was becoming smarter.

‘The old man seems to place a significant emphasis on the trust and goodwill between people.’

As a result, once a Player gained favor and built a friendly relationship with Gap-Soo, they could have a very positive and long-lasting relationship. There was a reason why Gap-Soo was famous for being a sucker.

“I appreciate your proposal, old man. I am puzzled as to what you see in me that makes you spare no effort in investing in me,” Jin-Hyeok said.

[Hostile—Unfriendly—Neutral—▶Friendly◀—Very Friendly]

“What are you trying to say with all this sweet talk?”

“While I am grateful for your offer, I don’t want to become a foolish person who only seeks immediate benefits.”

“Hm.”

“At least for this matter, Michelle was the first one to show me unconditional favor and trust. Therefore, I believe it is only right to repay that.”

[Hostile—Unfriendly—Neutral—▶Friendly◀—Very Friendly]

‘Oh, there is a reaction!’

The line between ‘▶Friendly◀’ and ‘Very Friendly’ was shaking quite vigorously.

“Therefore, on this occasion, I think it is only appropriate to forgo my material gains and take the hand that Michelle Jang extended to me.”

Jin-Hyeok stood up and bowed to Michelle Jang.

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity and investing in me, who still has nothing to show.”

In response, Michelle extended the back of her hand to him. Jin-Hyeok was unsure why she was doing that, but still, he kissed the back of her hand lightly. Jin-Hyeok didn’t have much information, but he assumed this to be some kind of custom from where she lived.

Diplomacy caught Jin-Hyeok’s action, and the Skill judged it as a gesture that could win her favor.

[Hostile—Unfriendly—Neutral—Friendly—Very Friendly—▶?◀]

Michelle smiled brightly.

“Your every word, your every move, they touched me.”

“...”

“You described yourself as someone who has nothing to show, right?”

‘Huh? Did I say that?’

“That means that there would be a lot more to see from you in the future, right?”

After saying that, Michelle shifted her gaze to the old man.

“To be honest, I started paying attention to Chul-Soo to win against the old man.”

“Hmph! You think you can win against me?” Gap-Soo said.

“But after meeting Chul-Soo, I understand. How did you discover such a gem? I have to admit that you have a good insight, at least for this time.”

“Hmph!”

Gap-Soo seemed a bit sensitive to praise. Jin-Hyeok noticed Gap-Soo’s ears turning slightly red.

“And you are also my type,” Michelle said to the old man while smiling.

She seemed to find the old man attractive.

‘Her taste is quite unique.’

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

As soon as Jin-Hyeok started his livestream, he began with an apology.

“Due to recent personal circumstances, I could not post any notices for my viewers. I apologize to the viewers who waited for my livestream. As a still inexperienced Streamer, there is much to learn. Please forgive me. If I have to take a break due to unavoidable circumstances, I will make sure to announce it on my channel.”

After the apology, Jin-Hyeok entered the Gangnam Shinsegae Department Store Dungeon with his party.

“The entrance fee was supported by the generous sponsor, Michelle Jang, who is a successful entrepreneur in the United States. Our party might die several times here, but Michelle promised to cover the entrance fee every time. Thanks to that, we can proceed with today’s livestream content more freely. I just want to say thank you.”

There was one change in this livestream. Jin-Hyeok created something resembling the Hall of Fame for supporters who had given great help with creating the content for his livestream. On the right side of the screen, Jin-Hyeok put the name ‘Michelle’ under the title [Contributors]. Additionally, he granted them a very slight privilege.

[Contributor 「MoneyShot」 is satisfied.]

This was it.

Jin-Hyeok added a feature that allowed the Contributors to express their feelings using specific predefined sentences. It was limited to simple expressions such as ‘likes it,’ ‘dislikes it,\' and ‘is satisfied.\'

‘Ah, so Michelle is MoneyShot.’

Even before Jin-Hyeok’s regression, he didn’t know this. He wondered how many more things he didn’t know about in this world.

[Only Level 45 and above can enter the Dungeon.]

[You have entered the Gangnam Shinsegae Department Store Dungeon.]

When they entered, there were hardly any people compared to other Dungeons. To be precise, there were none.

“The Dungeon looks similar to the department store.”

Except for the fact that humanoid monsters were walking around instead of people, the first floor looked almost identical to the department store.

[LV52/Decayed Mummy/-]

The first floor seemed to be the habitat for the Decayed Mummies. They wandered around slowly, wrapped in dirty bandages from head to toe.

“It seems bad here. It’s probably the scent coming from these monsters.”

At that moment, some Players entered the Dungeon. Judging from the relatively large number entering at once, they seemed to be a party.

‘Huh?’

Jin-Hyeok saw a familiar face.

“Han Sae—no, Pathfinder?”

“So, you remember me. How dare you come here without me?”

“No, I didn’t leave you behind.”

Jin-Hyeok excluded Han Sae-Rin from this Dungeon Play. She complained and questioned Jin-Hyeok if she had done something wrong and claimed that this was unfair.

However, that was not the issue. The reason he came here was to properly show the Berklev Necklace to the viewers. And if he could clear the Dungeon in the process, that would be a plus.

‘I thought it would be too easy to clear the Dungeon if you were in my party.’

This Dungeon did not have any Hidden Achievements or Items. There were just some strong monsters around his Level, but other than that, it was a pretty straightforward Dungeon. If Jin-Hyeok had a capable Navigator in his party, they could clear it with ease, especially by avoiding fighting the boss monster, the Decayed Pharaoh.

However, Jin-Hyeok planned to fight the Decayed Pharaoh. He wanted to show off his Berklev Necklace in the most dramatic moment, and having Sae-Rin here would disrupt his plan.

“Watch closely. I will show you how capable of a Navigator I am.”

‘I told you, I don’t need you to be capable…’

Behind Sae-Rin, a few more Players entered.

‘Lee Hyeon-Seong?’

He was once Jin-Hyeok’s rival for the top position in the blade-wielding class. Now, Hyeon-Seong appeared as part of the government party, which Jin-Hyeok was part of before his regression.

He smiled warmly and acted like he and Jin-Hyeok were close.

“Ah, are you Kim Chul-Soo?”

“Do you know me?

“Of course! You are very famous. I’ve heard about your remarkable achievements.”

If this were before Jin-Hyeok’s regression, Hyeon-Seong wouldn’t say these things. It was quite intriguing to see it now.

No matter how he looked at it, Jin-Hyeok was much stronger than him, but back then, Hyeon-Seong kept talking about how he was much stronger than Jin-Hyeok.

Now that Hyeon-Seong was no longer Jin-Hyeok’s competitor, he seemed to be at ease.

‘What an idiot.’

“I’m famous? I know that I’m not that famous.”

“Wow. You are even humble.”

“...”

“So I guess that’s why you didn’t even bother to register on the Ranking Board. Haha!”

A few more Players entered behind Hyeon-Seong, and some of them looked familiar to Jin-Hyeok while others were unfamiliar.

“I’ve heard that the country was organizing a party under the government’s name. It seems like they’re here.”

Actually, it was quite common to encounter other Players like this. The hunting grounds for top-ranked Players were limited, after all.

The last person who entered spoke to Jin-Hyeok in an aggressive tone.

“So you’re the unofficial top-ranker, Kim Chul-Soo?”

“...”

‘Kang Mi-Na? I guess she has also joined the party.’

Seeing Sae-Rin and Mi-Na, who used to be Jin-Hyeok’s teammates, in the same place like this made his heart ache for some reason.

“I will show you that I am a better Streamer than you,” Mi-Na said.

“Who are you?”

“You don’t know who I am?”

Mi-Na seemed a bit overconfident.

“I am the undisputed top ranker in the streamer class, the extraordinary Streamer who exclusively livestreamed the recent Flying Toad hunt and the GM assassination incident. You still don’t know who I am?”

“I thought the undisputed top raker was BonjourTV, isn’t it?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? I made the top rank recently! Right, I am in first place!”

Certainly, it seemed like Mi-Na had a strong sense of rivalry toward Jin-Hyeok because they were in the same class. Jin-Hyeok originally aimed for third place, but if she kept provoking him like this, he could not help but want to be first.

So Jin-Hyeok provoked her back.

“I’ve never heard someone claim to be the undisputed number one in the streamer class,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“You’ve never heard of that term?”

“No, really. This is the first time I’ve heard that.”

“So you don’t know who the undisputed top ranker is?”

“Is it BonjourTV?”

Jin-Hyeok wondered why she was acting like this. She just claimed to be the undisputed top ranker herself. It seemed like she wanted him to say it.

“Sigh.” Mi-Na sighed while smiling as if she could not believe what was happening. Her gaze was fierce, and it seemed like she even harbored a grudge against him.

“Now I see that you’re just messing with me."

‘What is she talking about?’

“So you’ve never heard of the term undisputed top ranker?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Are you really sure?”

Mi-Na glared at Jin-Hyeok as if she were about to kill him. He didn’t know why she was acting like this.

“Whatever. Today is the last day you will be messing with me. I will definitely show you who the undisputed top ranker is.”

This time, Sae-Rin spoke up. She also seemed to have a score to settle.

“We will be the first to clear this Dungeon. I hope you don’t get in our way. I will show you who the best Navigator is.”

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The other party led by Sae-Rin moved away from Jin-Hyeok’s party. It seemed they took the escalator and went up to the second floor.

“Let’s just focus on what we have to do.”

Jin-Hyeok’s party could not compete with the other party in terms of speed. If they had a Navigator like Sae-Rin, maybe they could find shortcuts to clear the Dungeon. However, they could never clear it in a straightforward approach faster than the other team.

[You have defeated a Decayed Mummy.]

Jin-Hyeok used a straightforward approach, taking down the monsters in front of them one by one and heading to the next checkpoint.

“Huh? The Decayed Mummy dropped a special key.”

Jin-Hyeok picked up the key.

The name of the key itself was Special Key, but there was no further explanation. It was nothing special; it was just one of the keys that led to the boss room.

“Our party members fought better than expected. They didn’t die even once to the Decayed Mummies.”

Jin-Hyeok had set the standard quite low in his mind, but now he felt like he could raise that standard a little bit. His party members were certainly not a bunch of Level Grinders.

“We will now head to the second floor.”

The escalator moved slowly.

“Oppa, aren’t you angry?” Cha Jin-Sol asked her brother.

“About what?”

“That party that we met earlier. What if they clear the Dungeon faster than us?”

“...”

Jin-Sol looked quite anxious. Come to think of it, the expressions of the other members were similar, except for Mok Jae-Hyeon.

“In the first place, our goal isn\'t to clear it quickly,” Jin-Hyeok said calmly.

“But still, there is the top-ranked Streamer on the other party. I bet many people are watching, and if they clear first—”

“She’s right! We can’t lose. No, we won’t lose, right guys?” Seo Ji-Soo chimed in.

“Don’t get carried away. This is about our progression in the advanced Dungeon, and to see what my new Berklev Necklace can do. Whether the other party clears it fast or not has nothing to do with us,” Jin-Hyeok said.

It was impossible to clear the Dungeon faster than them.

“You seem the most anxious…” Seo Ji-Ah mumbled quietly behind Jin-Hyeok.

“Who are you talking about?”

Ji-Ah poked Jin-Hyeok’s back, telling him that he seemed the most anxious.

‘Me? Anxious? What is she talking about?’

“Wait a minute!”

Someone came running toward them in a fluster. Jin-Hyeok wondered who was crazy enough to dare to come to this Dungeon alone, but that crazy person turned out to be someone he knew.

He was previously the top-ranked Navigator but now was ranked second behind Han Sae-Rin.

‘Mole Man?’

If he was here, they might be able to clear this place really quickly.

“My name is Mole Man, the top-ranked navigator-class Player. I saw your livestream and rushed over here.”

[#I’m here to help. #Enemy of my enemy is my friend. #Regaining my throne. #I will show you the true greatness.]

“You mean second-ranked.”

“...I was first place until recently.”

Jin-Hyeok wondered if someone could use the term ‘three days ago’ interchangeably with the term ‘recently.\'

Ji-Ah poked his back again.

“You seem excited.”

‘Not really. I’m not excited at all.’

Smirk.

Jin-Hyeok could not help but smile.