I Gave Up Being Stronger

He displayed a map of the terrain that he had prepared beforehand.

“As you can see, three sides out of four of Cha Jin-Hyeok\'s location is without any cover, and he is at a lower position than the Pentagram. I have already positioned the four men, and an odorless and colorless nerve paralysis gas, which is heavier than air, has been sprayed around the area. By now, Cha Jin-Hyeok, or rather, Kim Chul-Soo, would be feeling that his body is heavier than usual. He won’t be able to use his Broadcaster’s Barrier properly either.”

Choi Ik-Hwan nodded his head with a quite satisfied expression. He felt that he had been ignorant about the Play so far.

‘Times have changed,’ Ik-Hwan thought.

He thought about the Play too traditionally. He thought that all he needed was to utilize the snipers well. However, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“I will assassinate Chul-Soo at your command, sir. Everything is ready.”

“You have done well, Jin-Seong.”

“Shall I proceed?”

“You are the one who planned all this, so you should know the answer.”

Jin-Seong nodded.

‘Wow, he’s never going to say kill Jin-Hyeok with his own words…’ Jin-Seong thought.

He ultimately made his judgment and gave the order, “Kill him.”

The four who were already on standby used their respective Assassin Skills toward Jin-Hyeok.

Jin-Hyeok, who had spread his arms as if he had given up, said, “I believe that honestly recognizing one’s own limitations is the first step toward growth.”

He then let out a cry, as if he had been hit by an attack, and fell to his knees. Soon, a cloud of dust rose around Jin-Hyeok. It was the style difference of the members of the Pentagram. Three of them had the style of a skilled sniper, while the remaining one had a wide-area rapid-fire style.

Jin-Hyeok, who was now crouching, had a bright idea.

‘Oh?’

Jin-Hyeok shook the camera. It was to make the screen shake like a gunfight in a movie.

‘This should make it more realistic, right?’

Next, he increased the volume. The dust was rising quickly, and his livestream was filled with the relentless sound of gunfire from a submachine gun-type weapon.

‘This looks pretty good!’

Jin-Hyeok deliberately did not speak and just lay down, biding his time. The feeling that he was continually growing as a Streamer came with an incredible thrill. Jin-Hyeok didn’t stop there. He lay down completely still.

‘Now I look like a corpse!’

With that, Jin-Hyeok turned his head toward Steel Sniper, ensuring that the man was in his field of view. He deliberately quivered his voice as he spoke to create tension, “Steel Sniper… is also… unable to… move…”

This was a poisonous gas Skill used by one of the binding class Players. Jin-Hyeok had already known what it was because of his Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance, but he didn’t expressly reveal what he had learned.

“The Shinil Group’s… Milky Way Alliance… They are… a force that can never be… underestimated… They’re terrifying…”

And last but not least, as the grand finale, Jin-Hyeok closed his eyes, as if he had lost consciousness.

Lee Jin-Seong’s eyes widened as he watched Jin-Hyeok’s livestream.

“Kim Chul-Soo appears to have lost consciousness.”

Suddenly, Jin-Seong felt strangely uneasy.

‘Wait, shouldn’t the livestream be cut off if he’s unconscious or dead?’ Jin-Seong thought.

But the screen had only darkened and the livestream was still ongoing. Perhaps a special setting, such as a delay, was put in place. As Jin-Seong was mulling over that, Jin-Hyeok started to speak again on his livestream.

⌜I almost died, but luckily I survived.⌟

Jin-Seong almost threw his phone on the ground.

‘Luckily? How can luck allow him to get up so unscathed?’

Jin-Seong gritted his teeth.

‘My plan was perfect.’

He had set up traps far exceeding Chul-Soo’s abilities that he had assessed so far. Chul-Soo should have died here.

‘But how?’

Jin-Hyeok’s voice continued to come through.

⌜In fact, I was lucky earlier to receive the protection of the Guardian Tree.⌟

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

‘Ah, this feels good.’

Thanks to the enemies pushing Jin-Hyeok to his limits, he found out just how far he could go. This had been excellent training for Jin-Hyeok. He had always thought of real combat to be the best training.

Jin-Hyeok was so grateful that he thought of paying the enemies for the training.

“I am not going to think about my defense now.”

To be honest, Jin-Hyeok was a little skeptical, but the protection of the Guardian Tree did its job splendidly. The mana bullets that the Pentagrams fired did not properly reach him and simply disappeared mid-air.

‘The poison gas is useless as well.’

Everything that could harm him was literally useless. This was not in a realm of blocking attacks, it was closer to the concept of deleting attacks.

‘This feels good.’

Jin-Hyeok felt very good, thanks to realizing what he could do.

“I’m also quite exhausted. Now it’s going to be a battle of basics.”

Using Skills or Traits was difficult. Now he just had to move around and fight them. Since he didn’t have to worry about blocking attacks, it was going to be a piece of cake.

“But what I don’t get is that the enemies are not running away even after their attacks have failed.”

Jin-Hyeok had taught them several times through his livestreams, but they still didn’t understand.

‘Ah, that’s a bit annoying.’

He wished they would do their best, just as Jin-Hyeok did his best in the livestream. It was no fun if he caught them too easily.

Anyway, Jin-Hyeok approached the one who was closest to him.

“Level 57. Her Player name is Rainbow Gun.”

She looked to be about 160 centimeters tall. She seemed somewhat familiar, but that wasn’t a particularly important issue.

“D-Don’t come!”

Rainbow Gun fired her gun. Jin-Hyeok habitually ducked slightly to dodge the bullets.

‘Habits can be scary like this.’

Jin-Hyeok straightened his back again.

‘But just walking while getting hit wouldn’t look cool, right? What could make a cool production for my livestream?’

Jin-Hyeok raised his right hand and opened his hand in front of him. Then, he walked slowly toward her. All the bullets fired by Rainbow Gun that touched his right hand disappeared. Jin-Hyeok thought of a cool line to say.

“The Shooter of the Seven Colors. Your rainbow cannot touch me.”

‘Man. That was so cool. But why isn’t she running away?’

She should desperately try to maintain distance so that it would look cool on Jin-Hyeok’s livestream. She seemed to have excellent shooting skills, but her other abilities appeared to be lacking.

Swish!

Jin-Hyeok swung his sword toward her right wrist.

“She won’t be able to use her gun from now on. The next target is over there.”

He continued the livestream as he moved.

“I heard a voice like a hallucination. The Guardian Tree requested that I refrain from killing within its territory. I’m not sure if that was truly the Guardian Tree’s voice, but it might be the request of a divine tree, so I’m complying.”

‘Huh? What the hell?’

“He’s holding a dagger!”

The sniper discarded his rifle and picked up a dagger. He had to have mastered some special martial arts.

“I know that the boundaries between Jobs are not clear at low Levels, but still…”

‘How does this make sense? A sniper wielding a dagger instead of a rifle? Is this right?’

Swish!

This time, Jin-Hyeok did not cut the wrist, but the shoulder. It was because the man did not stick to his Job.

“They’re moving as fast as they can, but their movements are very clumsy.”

Next was 707 Warrior.

Swish!

Next was Agency A.

Swish!

Jin-Hyeok took care of all the members of the Pentagram.

“I think the Milky Way Alliance might find it difficult to recover after the battle. Also, I have something to say to the Ruler of the Alliance and Chairman Choi Ik-Hwan, who may be watching this livestream.”

He took a pause, then slowly continued to speak.

“If you ask me who is scarier between an Assassin and a Thief, I would undoubtedly choose the Thief.”

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The clash between Kim Chul-Soo’s party and the Milky Way Alliance had become a significant societal issue.

-Battles between Players. How far can we allow this to happen?

-24 non-Players were injured during the incident.

The Shinil Group systematically guided public opinion in their favor.

-I heard Kim Chul-Soo deliberately used civilians as shields.

┗Really?

┗If that’s true, he’s a piece of trash.

┗Yeah, that’s why the Milky Way Alliance couldn’t attack him properly.

-I heard that Chul-Soo fought deliberately to get good content for his livestream, and many civilians were seriously injured because of that

┗No wonder he looked so cool on the livestream.

┗It seems like he hid among the non-Players and fought cowardly.

-But wasn’t the first attack launched by the Milky Way Alliance?

┗No, Chul-Soo killed the grandson of the Shinil Group’s Chairman first.

┗Wow, really?

┗It’s disgusting that such people, who would have been punished for murder in the past, flaunt themselves as popular Streamers.

Cha Jin-Sol was exasperatedly surfing around various online communities and the Korean Region Minor Gallery.

“This is too organized! Whenever a post criticizing Oppa appears, it suddenly gets lots of upvotes and becomes a trending post!”

“Well, it’s not that surprising.”

Jin-Hyeok was unperturbed. A few hours later, he started his livestream.

“What I have in my hand is the Shinil Group’s operation plan. You see, outstanding Rulers usually devise meticulous plans, document them, and keep physical files.”

Jin-Hyeok knew very well about the habits of Rulers.

“To me, the swordsmanship diary… no, the livestream diary is an enormous asset and treasure, and it’s the same for the Rulers.”

Song Ha-Young had stolen this. In it were details about using civilians (non-Players) as shields or obstacles to kill Kim Chul-Soo, along with information related to the use of biological weapons. It even detailed how to respond if civilians were affected by the biological weapons. Everything was designed to place all the blame on Kim Chul-Soo.

“I bet the Milky Way Alliance will probably say that this file is also fabricated.”

Jin-Hyeok shrugged his shoulders.

“But I’m not really going to care about that.”

No matter how many good and kind deeds one did, there would always be haters. Worrying about every single one would prevent Jin-Hyeok from fully enjoying his Play.

“Ah, also I have captured Moist Liu Bei, who drafted this plan.”

The Shinil Group was such a fool. They should have protected their Ruler instead of Choi Ik-Hwan. Overall, their skills were no match to Jin-Hyeok.

“I will conduct an interview.”

Jin-Hyeok had a conversation with Moist Liu Bei, whose real name was Lee Jin-Seong. He testified that they really intended to kill Kim Chul-Soo and all of his party members.

“I will end today’s livestream here.”

Jin-Hyeok’s livestream caused quite a stir.

-So according to that livestream, didn’t the Milky Way Alliance plan all of this and try to blame Chul-Soo?

-There was also something about poisonous gas being released in the replay of Chul-Soo’s livestream.

┗That video is probably manipulated. Chul-Soo is the number one Streamer in the unofficial ranking. I’m sure he has the skills to do it.

┗Manipulated my ass.

┗Chul-Soo didn’t even edit the video, and it’s from the livestream. How can you claim it’s manipulated?

┗Are you working for the Shinil Group? You’re disgusting! LOL

┗The Group should fire these people. They’re not making any sense at all!

Later, Jin-Seong committed suicide, leaving a note that read, “I thought I was Playing better than Kim Chul-Soo. But I was merely a jester to him. As a Ruler, I have been completely defeated. I have no confidence to overcome this sense of defeat.”

The incident escalated rapidly. The name Kim Chul-Soo became an enormous issue and everyone knew who he was. The fact that the identities of Kim Chul-Soo’s party were all fake became known, and there were people trying to find out their real faces.

‘I knew it would come to this eventually,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

The Deceiver’s Mask had its limits, and he knew long ago that it was hard to keep his fake identity a complete secret due to the nature of a Streamer’s Job.

‘Becoming too famous might now be the best idea…’

It was a little different from Jin-Hyeok’s initial plan. He smiled.

‘But why do I feel so good?’

The title of being number one in the unofficial world ranking was pleasant to hear, and receiving the attention of many people wasn’t such a bad feeling.

‘I might be a bit of an attention whore…’

He had faintly sensed this before his regression, but at that time, he was so devoted to being a Swordsman that he never really thought about it.

However, as he grew as a Streamer, Jin-Hyeok came to know himself better.

‘Well, I’m still safe for now.’

Jin-Hyeok considered his popularity to be that of a promising soccer player from some island country. He judged that he was not yet significant enough for the Player Hunters or the real powers to eye him. It all pleased him in many ways.

‘And the other party members did their part, too.’

None of Jin-Hyeok’s party members had lost to the Milky Way Alliance. That also made him feel good.

Meanwhile, the internet was still ablaze. The issue had transcended the simple theme of the war between Cha Jin-Hyeok and Choi Ik-Hwan and had expanded into a social issue. It was like a transitional period before entering the new era of civilization. A social consensus was needed.

-Players should also be required to have moral values.

-How long must crime be condoned?

-Under the guise of Play, many people are being killed or injured.

Things that couldn’t have happened just a few months ago were now occurring frequently, and the public authority had been greatly weakened.

-In Europe, they say there’s already some agreement between the Players and the civilians.

Europe was the quickest to do something about this. They had established their own rules and were quickly finding stability. Swiftly, they created the European Player Union (EPU). And centered around the EPU, they were in the process of building a relatively mature Playing culture.

-Do you think that could happen in this shitty-ass country? Do you know how many serious crimes like rape and murder occurred just yesterday?

┗How many?

┗Well, I don’t know the exact number, you idiot.

-Korea is just totally screwed. If you have other opinions, you’re probably right.

┗2222

┗3333

However, there were also certainly heartwarming stories of Players using their powers to save civilians in danger.

-Japan is shocked, and America is amazed by the level of Korean Players!

-Korean Players who have plunged the world into a sea of emotion with their good deeds.

-China is jealous, and Europe envies Korea’s Playing culture!

-An era of the new civilization where light and darkness coexist.

The world was entering a new era. Jin-Hyeok accepted this natural flow and enjoyed his rest. After searching for other posts about Kim Chul-Soo on various websites and finding nothing more to see, he logged onto the Korean Region Minor Gallery. The talk of Chul-Soo on the KRMG satisfied Jin-Hyeok.

‘Huh?’

-└ㅇ┐But honestly, isn’t Kim Chul-Soo a great person?

That was the title of the post. Both the title of the post and the post itself were in bold, proof that it was posted by one of the Named users of the KRMG.

-The Shinil Group tried to kill Chul-Soo, but he just inflicted injuries and left it at that. Honestly, that Guardian Tree hallucination excuse seems to be fake, and I think Chul-Soo showed the aspect of a great person. Chul-Soo’s caliber and ability were too overwhelming! The Ruler who felt an insurmountable wall between him and Chul-Soo eventually… I’ll stop here! Bye~ >_<♡

What Jin-Hyeok focused on wasn’t the content of the post.

[Written by: KingGodGeneral Yumi]

KingGodGeneral Yumi.

Upon confirming the username, Jin-Hyeok’s hand began to tremble.