I Gave Up Being Stronger

“No matter what happens, I am not going to look at my phone today.”

He could not even count how many times he left work only to be called back again. He was so exhausted from those calls that he bought a new personal phone in addition to his work phone.

“How many emergencies can there be?”

But whenever he went to check, there was never a real emergency.

Even now, he received messages that were urgent, but he didn’t bother checking. However, the messages weren’t from Serchan’s KakaoTalk.

[Emergency. The Seoul Scenario, 「Revered One」, has begun.]

[Remove variables for a stable progress of the Scenario.]

[Emergency. The Seoul Scenario, 「Revered One」, has begun.]

[Remove variables for a stable progress of the Scenario.]

“Why does it keep on buzzing?”

Kihael, who grabbed a can of cold beer from the fridge, hesitated dozens of times about whether to check the incessantly buzzing phone. He wondered if it was really urgent with that much buzzing.

“No, I’m not going to be fooled this time,” Kihael said to himself as he shook his head.

“I noticed that the actual emergencies come as System notifications.”

If something really urgent happened, something of a System level, it would come as a System notification, just like how Players would receive them.

His phone kept buzzing.

[System intervention is not possible.]

[Upon confirming this message, please discreetly remove the variables.]

Kihael decided to turn off the phone altogether. He thought if he let the phone keep on buzzing, he would eventually check it.

“I heard that Netplus on Earth has a lot of interesting content.”

Meanwhile, the phone of the passionate Serchan also kept buzzing endlessly. It was the same messages sent to Kihael, but Serchan also couldn’t check them.

‘These damn reports!’ Serchan thought.

It was lucky for Serchan to have left the Yeosu Scenario behind. However, the fact that an incompetent GM had taken his spot was very unlucky for him.

‘All he needed to do was to manage what I had left behind! If he had just calmed down the Player, the Flying Toad wouldn’t have died!’

The incompetent GM died on the scene, and the Yeosu Scenario was discarded. Serchan was already on his umpteenth page of the report related to that.

[System intervention is not possible.]

[Upon confirming this message, please discreetly remove the variables.]

Serchan’s entire attention was focused on the report, so he could not check the messages at all.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

This was perfect content for Cha Jin-Hyeok’s Eltube channel.

“I got really lucky and found a Dungeon!”

Jin-Hyeok wondered whether he was allowed to tell his viewers that this was an Event Dungeon or if he should just describe it as a randomly generated Dungeon. Since he could not come up with an appropriate term, he didn’t mention it at all.

“I came in here by sheer accident, and suddenly, I received a notification that the Scenario has started.”

Actually, Jin-Hyeok didn’t turn on the livestream at the moment. He was not sure whether he should reveal the video of him Playing. If this was a Dungeon he could clear with his abilities as a Streamer, he was going to post the video. If it was a place where he had to utilize other Skills, then he wasn’t going to post it.

“Let me show you the notification that I got.”

[The 4th Seoul Scenario, 「Revered One」, has begun.]

“I am not sure what a Scenario is, but I’m guessing it’s more significant in scale than simple Quests.”

Large and small Quests would come together to create a massive flow and create one complete story. That was what a Scenario was.

Although Jin-Hyeok knew that, he pretended to be clueless as he looked around.

“Currently, I am in a place that looks like a ruin. It feels like the whole place has been bombed.”

It seemed like he entered a very large abandoned house.

“I don’t see any monsters and traps that are threatening.”

Event Dungeons were known to be challenging. Jin-Hyeok was well aware of that, and thanks to it, he was delighted.

‘I never thought I would enter an Event Dungeon in an Open Beta Server, especially one related to a Scenario.’

This might be the first of its kind in the world. Event Dungeons usually occurred after the Open Beta.

“There is a giant hole in the ceiling.”

Jin-Hyeok could see the night sky from the hole.

“It feels like something enormous came through that ceiling.”

Jin-Hyeok’s intuition was telling him that something would appear from there later. It could be a regular monster or a boss monster. Jin-Hyeok felt like he had been to a similar place before.

“I’ll walk along the corridor. It’s so quiet that I’m getting more tense.”

The corridor became darker and darker. The dust made it hard to see ahead.

“Oh? There’s a door over there.”

Jin-Hyeok approached it. Simply opening the door, without having any information whatsoever, could be dangerous. If he opened the door without precautions, he might encounter unexpected threats, like a metal arm suddenly popping out or boiling molten iron pouring down.

Nevertheless, there was no other choice.

“Since I don’t have a Navigator with me, I have to open it myself. Just in case, I’ll prepare to use my Broadcaster’s Barrier.”

He opened the door.

‘Activate Broadcaster’s Barrier!’

Although he prepared for potential threats, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

‘That’s strange.’

If something dangerous was going to come out, it should have come out by now. The situation inside the Event Dungeon was quite different from what he had experienced before.

Inside, a human-like figure appeared.

“Jesus, that scared me.”

It was not a human but a skeleton.

“Judging by the clothes she is wearing, she was probably an old woman. I’ll get closer to see if there are any clues.”

Oddly, there were no traps. Jin-Hyeok carefully examined the area around the skeleton. It seemed like the owner of this skeleton had met her demise while knitting.

‘I feel like I’ve seen this skeleton from somewhere before.’

Since a while ago, this place felt strangely familiar. Perhaps he had seen too many skeletons in this form.

Just then, a gust of wind blew in.

Boom!

The door closed with a loud sound. Jin-Hyeok tried opening the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

“It seems like I’m trapped. There must be some clues inside.”

Jin-Hyeok searched the skeleton’s clothes and found a note inside her pocket.

[This place is filled with the aura of death. Everything I desired to live for has knelt before the authority of death, and even my beloved sons have been devoured by evil spirits. Ah… the pain… How can I convey this anger? If only my voice could be heard by someone…]

It was not a particularly special note. Playing in Dungeons, one would come across countless similar content.

“I feel like we should extract more information from the skeleton.”

‘God, I miss Han Sae-Rin.’

If she had been here, Jin-Hyeok could have found the right path even faster.

“Then, I think it wouldn’t hurt to temporarily revive this skeleton. I can use the item I obtained from the Gangnam Shinsegae Department Store Dungeon.”

[Pharaoh’s Failed Herb of Immortality]

[The pharaoh sought immortality and created the Herb of Immortality through numerous studies. Though it failed to grant immortality, it possesses the power to call forth the souls of the deceased.]

\'I am definitely in a Scenario.’

The notification explicitly mentioned it as the Seoul Scenario. That meant things obtained from various places in Seoul could be used here. Fortunately, Jin-Hyeok could use the item he got in the previous Dungeon.

“I am going to use the Pharaoh’s Failed Herb of Immortality.”

The Herb of Immortality had red petals. When he put it into the skeleton’s mouth, she started trembling. Blue light emerged from her eyes and she began to speak.

“The army of death invaded and engulfed everything in death.”

“I don’t think I can have a proper conversation with her,” Jin-Hyeok said to the screen.

She seemed to be in an NPC-like form, spitting out preset phrases.

“You can no longer find the light of hope in this land. Only through death can the flower of hope bloom. The flower needs to grow by itself. Ah, how white and beautiful the flower was. It seemed to embody a pure life. Remember, only flowers can drive away death.”

“...”

“The withered winter has passed, and the abundant spring—”

The Pharaoh’s Failed Herb of Immortality, which had fulfilled its role, disappeared.

“I guess the dialogue was interrupted.”

If Jin-Hyeok could meet all the conditions, and not just the Herb of Immortality, he could fully revive that skeleton and obtain much more valuable information. However, hoping for that much was too greedy.

‘But… those lines sound familiar to me.’

Jin-Hyeok had heard many similar lines, but still, this dialogue felt eerie. The level of familiarity could only mean that he had experienced this before.

Anyway, activating this dialogue was the key to escaping from this room.

Click!

The locked door opened.

“I will now leave this room.”

As he stepped outside, he noticed a faint light seeping in from the distance.

“It looks like starlight is seeping through that hole in the ceiling.”

Jin-Hyeok walked in that direction. Suddenly, something sprang up from under his feet.

“A spear?”

He quickly turned his body to avoid the spear. But it didn’t end there. As the walls crumbled, six red spears shot out at him.

‘Activate Broadcaster’s Barrier!’

He managed to dodge some and block the others.

Stab!

“I couldn’t block this one.”

One of the red spears pierced his thigh. Still, Jin-Hyeok thought he made a good decision in that short moment.

‘I still got it.’

“I had to choose between my heart and my thigh. If I survive this, I will edit the video with my Time-Lapse Recording and show it to you guys.”

Jin-Hyeok smiled.

‘I’ve been here before.’

Until just now, Jin-Hyeok was unsure, but after getting stabbed, he was certain. Even if the mind had forgotten, the body would remember.

‘This is the Scenario I faced on the Ukla Server, right?’

The name of the Scenario was not \'Revered One,\' but the content was the same.

By the way, the Ukla Server opened later than the Earth Server, and Jin-Hyeok encountered this Scenario there. Of course, there were a few differences.

‘At that time, I was around Level 150. The skeleton was actually an old woman and was even capable of conversations. I believe other Players had entered the Dungeon before me and attempted to clear it. By doing so, the skeleton had gained life. This would mean that the monsters here are the Headless Knights.’

The average Level of the Headless Knights was around 100. They were tough opponents for Jin-Hyeok at the moment.

[LV101/Headless Knight/?]

[LV102/Headless Knight/?]

[LV100/Headless Knight/?]

“Their Level seems to be around 100, and they are called the Headless Knights.”

They emitted a sinister black aura while wearing black armor and wielding black swords.

“Just looking at them, I know I can’t defeat them.”

Indeed, Event Dungeons were different from the other Dungeons. To create an army with an average Level of 100 on a Server that was merely in Open Beta was absurd. This Dungeon was not designed for Players to clear; it was designed for Players to die.

Before Jin-Hyeok’s regression, he did succeed in killing all those Headless Knights. The real problem was the Bodiless One that popped up after the Headless Knights were all dead.

The Headless Knights had no head, and the Bodiless One was just one giant face.

‘And that gaping hole in the ceiling is where that thing came and went.’

The Bodiless One was around Level 160, and Jin-Hyeok fought with it for three days before finally killing it. He nearly died multiple times.

Beautiful memories from that time filled Jin-Hyeok’s mind.

“Now, I am going to start the livestream. For those curious about what happened before, please check this recorded video. It will be uploaded as soon as possible.”

Jin-Hyeok started the livestream.

“This might be my last livestream, who knows.”

Dozens of Headless Knights were approaching him.

“Some are holding spears, and others are wielding swords. It’s quite alarming for them to come at me with their weapons drawn.”

Jin-Hyeok raised his dagger and suddenly realized.

‘I really love livestreaming!’

That moment when he was being overly dramatic by saying this might be his last livestream, he realized his genuine desire to enjoy livestreaming more.

Before Jin-Hyeok knew it, he had grown to fully love livestreaming.

The Headless Knights were now right in front of him.

‘This is going to be such amazing content!’