I Gave Up Being Stronger

There were a total of four GMs in Yangpyeong, and GM No.1 was Kudli, who was nearing his retirement age. Kudli belonged to the Sheep Tribe, characterized by the horns of a sheep on his head and white wool growing all over his body. He had recently neglected grooming, so he was completely covered in fur.

“This place is like heaven.”

He didn’t really work on any of the ongoing operations. All he needed to do was to enjoy snacks and have peaceful days. After all, the subordinates would handle the actual tasks.

By spending his days this way, he hoped to enjoy a comfortable retirement with a generous pension. But one day, he got a call from the GM of Seodaemun-gu.

“Hmm, I don’t really know. Talk to the GM No.4.”

His favorite excuse when he felt bothered was to claim ignorance. However, that did not work today.

“What? There was something related to the Seoul-level Scenario hidden in Yangpyeong?”

Kudli quickly stood up from his seat. The Korean Region in the Open Beta Server, Earth, was a significant one. It was also the first region of the Server where the SSP was made available and integrated.

“Just wait. Let me check.”

However, due to having poor eyesight, he first had to spend quite some time looking for his glasses. The whole situation was exacerbated when, as it had been quite a long time since he last used it to do work, he was not familiar with the interface, and thus had to spend even more time fumbling through it.

“Okay, there is a record. Yes. It clearly states that the Guardian Ring was acquired. It looks like the top reward in Yangpyeong… How is this related to that Seoul-level Scenario?”

Kihael gave up on explaining any further and immediately reported to Serchan, “They have acquired the Guardian Ring. They seem to be planning to reveal it in an hour.”

“Verify their identity and prepare to contact them. Also, share this information with Maria from the Korean National Intelligence Service,” Serchan said.

The GMs of Seoul became busy. Especially the GMs from Seodaemun-gu, who, unfortunately(?), were deeply connected to the 4th Seoul Scenario.

Then, Kihael found Mole Man. He was with an unidentified Player named Boiling Comradeship.

“Hey, you obtained the Guardian Ring, right?”

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Cha Jin-Hyeok was taken by surprise. There was a Hidden Dungeon in the Tomb of the Greatsword of La’kan, and of course, it was quite encouraging and delightful for him to have cleared it. However, he was not sure if this was important enough for Kihael to show himself like this.

‘Besides, today is Saturday.’

Kihael, the work-life balance addict, showed up on the weekend.

“Alright, I’ll explain briefly. That item was allocated for someone in the Earth Server by the System,” Kihael quickly spoke.

The item Jin-Hyeok acquired was the Guardian Ring, and Jin-Hyeok knew well about this ring. This ring was an item used by the top-ranked Tank of his party, Choi Gang-Byeok, before regression.

“There is the 4th Scenario in Seoul. Some crazy guy broadcasted it on his livestream, do you know about that?” Kihael asked.

“Ah, I know! I saw it on Kim Chul-Soo’s livestream!” Mole Man said.

“Yeah, that one.”

It seemed like Kihael didn’t recognize the person standing in front of him was Kim Chul-Soo.

“In fact, that Scenario wasn’t for the people on Earth. It was a Scenario for invaders who were planning to invade Earth.”

The 4th Seoul Scenario was ultimately about creating a public enemy. It was a Scenario that provided Earthlings with a platform to feel threatened, unite, and grow.

Kihael just said that some lunatic had messed it all up.

“Conversely, the Dungeon that you just cleared was for the heroes on Earth that were supposed to protect the Earth Server. That was the original setting.”

The 4th Seoul Scenario had two themes:

1. A setup for invaders (attackers).

2. A setup for heroes (defenders) to block the invaders.

However, Jin-Hyeok took what was meant for the invaders, which was the Greatsword. The GMs had to work overtime and slightly adjust the settings.

“We worked hard to adjust the two setups. In a reversed manner,” Kihael said.

Jin-Hyeok took what the Players from other Servers should have taken. So, the GMs adjusted the details so that what the ‘heroes’ should’ve taken was taken by the Players from other Servers.

“But the sad fact is that an Earth Player took that item too.”

It seemed like the whole Scenario would fall apart. Kihael sighed.

‘How on earth did he get this?’ Kihael thought.

Even for Kim Chul-Soo, it would have been difficult. To his knowledge, Chul-Soo was just lying around in his room right now.

‘Chul-Soo is also a guy who values work-life balance.’

Kihael’s head already hurt because of Chul-Soo, but now another crazy guy named Boiling Comradeship appeared out of nowhere. Despite the raging headache, Kihael had to address the situation.

“So, I suggest selling the Guardian Ring you obtained,” Kihael said.

Boiling Comradeship, who was actually Jin-Hyeok, replied, “No.”

“What?”

“Do you think if you spoke in a stoic manner, I’m just going to sell the item? Nope, not selling. You can go back now.”

“Do I sound like I’m making a suggestion?”

“You did say the word suggest.”

“It was a suggestion until you said no,” Kihael said while looking around.

There were no witnesses around.

‘I need to retrieve it even if I have to kill him.’

Suddenly, an annoying voice could be heard.

“I finally found him! Mole Man! I believe we’ve met. Nice to see you! Phew, I finally found you!”

It was Kang Mi-Na from MiNaTV, and she was livestreaming.

“See? I told you I’d find him. Hehe, thank you for the donations! Yes, thank you! Let’s see what he has obtained!”

Kihael couldn’t kill Jin-Hyeok.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Hehehe.”

Jin-Hyeok found himself laughing unexpectedly. His mother, seated across the dining table, tilted her head in confusion.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Good things keep happening.”

Upon hearing this, his mother smiled brightly. She seemed truly happy that he had something to rejoice about.

“I’m done eating. Thanks for the food.”

Jin-Hyeok returned to his room and sat on his chair, but he kept chuckling.

“So I’ve obtained both the offensive item and the defensive item.”

The offensive item was for the invaders and the defensive item was for the heroes. And Jin-Hyeok had acquired both.

‘Thanks to Kihael, I now fully understand the 4th Seoul Scenario.’

The 4th Scenario, called The Revered One, was the same Scenario Jin-Hyeok experienced in the Ukla Server in the past.

‘So, back then, I was in the position of an invader?’

He recalled not being able to clear it properly and then failing to become an actual invader of the Ukla Server.

‘In the end, I was defeated and had to leave the Ukla Server.’

Ultimately, Jin-Hyeok’s party, before regression, failed to conquer the Ukla Server. It was because the hero of Ukla, Xenon, had appeared. That was the general storyline of the Scenario. An invader would appear and attack the Server, and a hero would rise to stop them.

Similarly, a comparable Scenario unfolded on Earth. Jin-Hyeok remembered himself fighting against the invaders.

‘And that was when the Guardian Ring was obtained by Choi Gang-Byeok.’

At that time, the invaders were engaged in The Revered One Scenario, and Jin-Hyeok and his party were the defense force opposing them. The hero back then was the Shield King, Choi Gang-Byeok.

‘So that’s how it was…’

“So, I… I acquired the item that Gang-Byeok was supposed to get?”

Jin-Hyeok chuckled slyly. He had no remorse about taking something intended for Gang-Byeok.

“He should’ve done better.”

It was only natural for the Player with the best performance to get the best items. Since Jin-Hyeok performed better than Gang-Byeok, acquiring the Guardian Ring was a matter of course.

“I hope he gets stronger soon.”

The competition between Cha Jin-Hyeok, the Sword King, and Choi Gang-Byeok, the Shield King—this paradoxical competition was always a topic of debate.

Before regression, there were some who claimed Gang-Byeok had won the battle between the two when Jin-Hyeok clearly had won.

In this life, it seemed like Jin-Hyeok might win by a bigger margin.

“Hehehe.”

He started to feel giddy, like a young girl smitten with her first love.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Kihael returned without any good news.

“Sigh. Why is the Earth Server Scenario so hard to manage?”

Just with Kim Chul-Soo, it was headache-inducing, but now there was another factor called Boiling Comradeship.

“There’s the Yeosu Swordmaster, Asdf-something, and now Boiling Comradeship.”

Players of calibers that should not be in an Open Beta Server were now emerging one after another. This was way beyond what the GMs had anticipated.

Serchan patted Kihael’s back.

“There’s nothing we can do. Let’s just be grateful that the Guardian Ring did not end up with Kim Chul-Soo.”

“...That’s true, but isn’t the 4th Seoul Scenario something the System considers quite important?”

The System would surely modify the 4th Scenario in some way and proceed with it. If that happened, the GMs would be the ones suffering in the middle. Numerous variables would arise, leading to more overtime work.

“Isn’t that exciting?” Serchan said.

“...You find this exciting?”

“Experiences like this are rare. If we handle it well, our capabilities as GMs will be recognized.”

‘...He really doesn’t match my vibe,’ Kihael thought.

He walked with a heavy step and sat on a chair. Even though it was Saturday, it looked like work was inevitable today.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Jin-Hyeok felt he was wasting time.

“I can’t spend my precious weekend like this.”

There were only four hours left on Saturday. He had to make good use of it.

First, he gathered Song Ha-Young, Han Sae-Rin, and Kang Mi-Na in one place.

“Introduce yourselves. Sae-Rin and Mi-Na probably know each other, but it’s your first time meeting Ha-Young, right?”

Jin-Hyeok figured with this trio, he could gather more information about the 4th Seoul Scenario.

‘This Scenario seems like it was prepared just for me.’

Kihael would surely swear at Jin-Hyeok if he heard that, but that was how Jin-Hyeok felt.

Invaders and heroes—Jin-Hyeok was already excited thinking about how much fun it would be if he took on all the Quests for both sides.

“I need you three to work together and gather some information."

"But why do we need a Streamer for this task?” Ha-Young asked.

“Because it is an important Scenario where GMs might intervene even at the slightest mistake. They might even try to kill you if you are not livestreaming.”

“...”

“It might be a tough job.”

At the mention of its difficulty, all three of them began to show interest. Jin-Hyeok knew that feeling all too well.

‘It’s always more satisfying to conquer something challenging.’

He then entrusted the three with the task of researching the 4th Seoul Scenario and headed straight to Mok-dong. He had heard rumors that a powerful monster had appeared there.

‘How annoying.’

There was no powerful monster in Mok-dong. At most, there were monsters of Levels forty to fifty. He felt like he had just wasted his time.

Sigh.

On his way home, he got a call from Cha Jin-Sol.

—Oppa. I feel so wronged!

“What happened?”

—We got chased out of the Heyri Art Valley.

As always, Jin-Hyeok’s party members were training and building teamwork in Heyri Art Valley in Paju. They had progressed to the point where they could now easily hunt the once-challenging Field boss monster, Black Brown Bear.

Now they were exploring Hidden Dungeons instead of Fields.

—Some crazy guys said they would monopolize the Heyri Art Valley and then they ambushed us!

“And then?”

—We were outnumbered. We had just cleared a Dungeon, so we were at a disadvantage in terms of stamina.

Kim Jeong-Hyeon suffered a severe injury with a broken neck, and Mok Jae-Hyeon had one of his arms cut off.

—We nearly died.

Seo Ji-Ah and Seo Ji-Soo managed to get them out, desperately escaping but severely injuring their legs in the process. Treating those injuries, Jin-Sol passed out three times.

“So?”

—Huh?

“Are you telling me that you guys lost?”

Jin-Hyeok was very upset. After hanging up the phone, he muttered to himself, “It’s still the weekend.”

He quickly headed to Paju.

Boiling Comradeship had arrived at Heyri Art Valley.