I Gave Up Being Stronger

Kihael couldn’t just ignore his phone forever. Eventually, he checked the phone he had turned off.

“Fuck!”

‘Why today of all days?’

It wasn’t messages from Serchan, but direct messages from the System.

‘Why not send them as System notifications!’

Cold sweat ran down Kihael’s back.

‘Wait, is it because the System doesn’t want to leave any record of this?’

From the System’s perspective, this was a crucial matter. However, it seemed the System only attempted to contact through personal contacts to avoid leaving a record.

The phone kept buzzing.

[Do you wish to deploy the System Guardian? Y/N]

‘But I still don’t know what the situation is.’

However, it was already quite late. Even though he didn’t know what was going on, the System seemed to hope for the deployment of the System Guardian.

To at least confirm the situation, Kihael rushed back to the office. The passionate Serchan was so engrossed in some other work that he did not notice Kihael’s return. That kind of concentration was truly intimidating.

The phone buzzed again.

[We cannot delay any longer.]

[Deploying the System Guardian.]

Regardless of Kihael’s intentions, the System Guardian was deployed. Kihael examined the monitor and got a rough idea of what was going on.

‘The 4th Seoul Scenario!’

It was a Scenario the System was most diligently working on in the Open Beta Server. The GMs’ interventions were limited, and it was a System Scenario that was self-generated and operated by the System itself. Because of this, there were numerous restrictions in place, making it impossible to fully read the situation inside the Dungeon.

‘All I can tell right now is that a Player from Earth entered here… That’s everything.’

Kihael frowned.

‘This Scenario was originally for Players from other Servers.’

This Scenario was for Players from other Servers, which in Earth’s perspective, were invaders of the planet. By letting invaders come and Play the Seoul Scenario, it would give formidable power to unite the Players on the Earth Server against the common enemies.

Creating the concept of public enemies from Earth Server’s viewpoint was the role of this 4th Seoul Scenario.

‘However, it seems they are close to clearing it or having already cleared it.’

So, it seemed the System was trying to get rid of that Earth Player inside the Dungeon for System stabilization purposes.

‘In that case, as long as they are not a Streamer, we are in the clear.’

Actually, it did not matter even if they were a Streamer. As long as they were not livestreaming at the moment, it wouldn’t be an issue. They just needed to be killed without a trace.

However, a trace of anxiety brushed past Kihael. He immediately searched for the SSP livestream on Eltube.

[Search: Kim Ch]

The livestream was already among the recommended videos. The Streamer from Earth with an overwhelmingly large number of viewers, Kim Chul-Soo was livestreaming.

As always, the title was very straightforward.

[4th Seoul Scenario. In-Game.]

‘Damn it!’

Chul-Soo was livestreaming everything. Chul-Soo was speaking calmly on the screen.

⌜An unidentified and strange person has appeared. It doesn’t seem to be a Player or an NPC. I can’t figure out their identity. I’ll try to interview them.⌟

Kihael’s heart raced.

‘I need to stop this.’

The System didn’t want to leave any records of human intervention. That was why, even for GMs, the System had only contacted them through phones instead of System messages.

‘If a Player gets attacked by the System Guardian… I can’t imagine the uproar.’

It would lead to severe criticism from users who strongly disliked fabricated interventions. Public opinion would turn very negative, and that would undoubtedly result in a massive workload for Kihael.

He urgently used his Administrator’s Prerogative to send himself inside the Dungeon.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The Shadow of the Secret Chamber was one that wielded a sickle attached to a chain, making them somewhat of an assassin-type.

‘Activate Broadcaster’s Barrier.’

Chains flew toward Cha Jin-Hyeok’s back. The end of the chain had a sharp sickle attached to it.

‘Ugh.’

From just one attack, Jin-Hyeok knew.

‘That guy is powerful.’

Even though he concentrated the Broadcaster’s Barrier in one spot to block it, the attack broke through the defense, and the sickle pierced Jin-Hyeok’s back.

“That really hurts. Their attack power is on another level.”

From the upper right side of Jin-Hyeok, another chain targeted him. Jin-Hyeok threw a dagger to slightly alter the trajectory of the chain and then dodged the attack.

The sickle hit the ground with a loud thud. It would have been instant death if that hit him.

“What an incredible attack. I guess today’s livestream will be the last one.”

Of course, Jin-Hyeok knew it would not be the last. Jin-Hyeok needed to hold on for just a few more seconds. He knew when and why the System Guardian revealed themselves. It was the last resort deployed when something did not go as planned by the System, to correct the abnormality.

‘The fortunate thing is that I am a Streamer.’

Jin-Hyeok was broadcasting the evidence to the entire universe in real time. The System was persecuting him for Playing by its rules. It was certain that the GMs would take action to correct what was going on.

‘I just need to survive until then.’

Jin-Hyeok believed he could manage that much. His eyes and instincts were already capable of reading the trajectory of the attacks.

‘Good thing I can see where the attack is coming from.’

Knowing that fact made him happy. But it was disappointing that even with that knowledge, he couldn’t fully avoid the attacks.

“I seemed to be forced into a corner with these consecutive chain attacks.”

Jin-Hyeok switched his weapon to a sword and continuously parried the incoming chains. Of course, he was able to parry those attacks because they were just illusions without the actual power of the System Guardian.

“By continuously throwing weak attacks, it seems like they are preparing to use a finishing move on me.”

Despite knowing all this, Jin-Hyeok could only block the chain attacks. The enemy was gradually pushing him into a corner.

“Now there is no way out. I think the ultimate attack is going to come after three attacks.”

Cling! Clang! Clang!

He deflected three chains. Then, a thick iron chain rushed toward him in an irregular pattern.

“I hope you enjoyed my livestream. I think this is the end. Goodbye, all.”

Suddenly, someone revealed himself.

Stab!

It was an insane person who took the blow instead of Jin-Hyeok. The sickle pierced through that insane person and gave Jin-Hyeok only minor injuries in his abdomen.

“It’s not a crazy person! It’s Kihael. The GM revealed himself. I have no idea what’s going on. Let’s try and have an interview.”

First, Jin-Hyeok applied a potion to Kihael’s wounds. He seemed to be on the verge of losing consciousness, so Jin-Hyeok even poured the potion into Kihael’s mouth. The potion absorption was quite effective, probably because he was a GM.

“Can I do an interview?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“...Do you not see the injuries?”

“I do see it.”

There was a hole in Kihael’s stomach, and blood was gushing out. Jin-Hyeok didn’t know why Kihael was acting so hostile. For Jin-Hyeok, interviewing was very important.

“So, who is that? Why did they attack me?”

“Wel…”

Jin-Hyeok also didn’t understand why Kihael was hesitating. He knew Kihael was going to say something like “It is a System error.”

“...It is a System error.”

“A System error?”

“I made a mistake and activated the System Guardian.”

“I see. So you made a mistake, and that mistake almost killed me.”

“Hey, can you turn off the livestream?” Kihael whispered softly.

“Nope. Not gonna happen.”

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Jin-Hyeok now roughly understood what was going on.

From Kihael’s perspective, this was the best option. Kihael intentionally created a dramatic situation, even though he could have stopped the System Guardian earlier.

‘I learned a thing or two, Kihael. Good job.’

It was a valuable lesson for Jin-Hyeok. To minimize the criticism about the System and GMs, Kihael deliberately appeared at perfect timing and took the attack on Jin-Hyeok’s behalf, emphasizing that all of this was an unintentional accident.

‘This is so much fun.’

Jin-Hyeok just learned a new way of staging, and the process of acquiring this knowledge was very fun for him. Next time, Jin-Hyeok wanted to try something similar.

Anyway, Kihael kept repeating similar statements. He said that this was all because of a temporary error and that the cleaner system, which was the System Guardian, was activated as a bug.

“As for the compensation related to this incident, we will discuss it at a later time. For now, I think I need some treatment,” Kihael said.

“Let’s discuss it now!”

“I’ve lost too much blood. I feel dizzy, and we can’t have a normal negotiation if I’m this dizzy.”

Honestly, Jin-Hyeok didn’t buy it.

‘How can someone feel dizzy after losing only that much blood? But looking at his pale face, he does seem like he’s telling the truth… I can create more content with the negotiation for my Eltube channel.’

Jin-Hyeok decided to talk about the compensation later.

He finally exited the Hope Rising From the Ruins Dungeon. The number of likes on his livestream was over ten thousand.

Jin-Hyeok’s body trembled with excitement.

‘I never knew livestreaming was this much fun!’

It was not just swinging the sword that was entertaining. Jin-Hyeok almost unlocked the communication restriction and was on the verge of interacting with the viewers.

The desire to talk to the viewers slowly emerged. He didn’t even know he had such a desire.

‘The number of likes is increasing rapidly, and there are many viewers…’

Compared to Egan Paul, his number of viewers was still small, but this was still quite impressive. Jin-Hyeok was also manipulating his view count to make it lower, so essentially his view count was on par with Egan Paul.

‘I hope the number of viewers increases.’

Jin-Hyeok initially aimed for third place, but now, he wondered if aiming for second place would be better.

‘Should I just go for the second place?’

He decided not to pursue the goal of being in the first place.

‘I wouldn’t do that to myself. I’m not a monster.’

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Having returned home, Jin-Hyeok fiddled with the Rule Breaker and became lost in thought.

‘So… It always comes down to who has more overpowered items, huh.’

Before his regression, Jin-Hyeok had overlooked the importance of items. One of his beliefs was that true experts did not rely on their tools; they focused on enhancing their own abilities without relying on items. However, as time passed, he came to realize that what remained significant among skilled Players was their adeptness with items.

“I need to equip myself with more specialized items.”

Since he now had Rule Breaker, this allowed him to use items exclusive to Swordsmen.

“I guess the first thing I should obtain is the Greatsword of La’kan, right?”

It was one of the most useful items Jin-Hyeok used when he was below Level 150. It was a massive two-handed sword that played a crucial role in his growth to become the Sword King.

“I heard you can obtain this item somewhere in Yangpyeong…”

The Greatsword of La’kan was not something he personally acquired. The government gave it to him. The first discovery of the item was somewhere in Yangpyeong, but Jin-Hyeok didn’t know the exact location.

“I should thoroughly search that area first.”

Jin-Hyeok decided to explore the Dungeons around Yangpyeong with his party members.

About two weeks had passed.

Jin-Hyeok’s Navigator, Han Sae-Rin, who was currently ranked second after Mole Man managed to take her first place, could not hide her disappointment.

“Why are we wandering around these worthless Dungeons?”

Although she was not the current top-ranked Navigator, she still showed exceptional skills as a Navigator.

“Don’t you think you are wasting your party’s talents by doing this?” Sae-Rin said.

“What’s wrong with our Play?”

“All we’re doing is some amateurish stuff. I know I’m here to help you, but I dropped my ranking because of you!”

“If you don’t wanna be here, you can leave. I can just call Mole Man anyway. I’m sure he would be thrilled to be here.”

“I don’t want that either!”

“Why? If I Play with Mole Man, wouldn’t that be a good thing for you? You can rank up again.”

“If I leave now, Mole Man is gonna sweep in and take the reward! I can’t let that happen.”

Sae-Rin frowned.

‘Maybe this is the power that I possess as Player Kim Chul-Soo.’

A vague sense of anticipation and the expectation that someday he would bring something significant to the table… Because of these hopes, Sae-Rin continued to accompany Jin-Hyeok.

Meanwhile, Joseph also could not help but feel a bit disappointed.

‘Is he in a slump?’ Joseph thought.

Though Chul-Soo seemed to be Playing diligently around Yangpyeong, there wasn’t anything particularly noteworthy about his performance. There was no difference from what the other Streamers could do.

‘It is just a very ordinary Play. There is no differentiating factor. Did he run out of contents?’

Joseph wondered if Chul-Soo’s previous content, the appearance of the System Guardian, was too intense.

Even releasing content needed some sort of timeline. If Streamers released excessively powerful content upfront, there would not be much excitement left for what came after.

‘He must have hit his limit.’

The viewer count had dropped by around three thousand.

‘He is going to need me. If it were up to me, I could turn Chul-Soo into a superstar.’

In the meantime, Jin-Hyeok reached Level 60, and Sae-Rin exploded with anger.

“I can’t do this anymore!”

“Huh?”

“I can’t stand this anymore. I quit!”

“Then should I call Mole Man?”

“Do whatever the hell you want!”

Sae-Rin had fallen to third place in the rankings. The difference between second and third place was massive. She felt as if she had fallen into a pit of despair.

Jin-Hyeok, not sure if he understood her feelings or not, spoke to her.

“I reached Level 60.”

“So what? Everyone knows that Streamers level up really quickly.”

“Just bear with me for one more day. I actually learned a new Skill.”

It was a Streamer-exclusive Skill that could be learned at Level 90. Jin-Hyeok could now use a Skill called Preview.

“What Skill is it? And what does that have to do with me?” Sae-Rin asked.

“Hear me out…”

Sae-Rin gulped as she listened to what Jin-Hyeok had to say.

Her eyes widened.

“Really? Is that even possible?”

“Apparently so.”

Sae-Rin became more desperate.

“Show me, please!”

“You don’t seem desperate enough.”

Sae-Rin grabbed Jin-Hyeok’s hand eagerly.

“I’m begging you to show me. I’ll do whatever you ask.”