I Gave Up Being Stronger

She wanted him to persuade Shin Yu-Ri, who had Awakened as Artillery of Nemesis, to join the National Intelligence Service\'s party. It seemed that Maria had recognized Yu-Ri’s potential. If he succeeded in this quest, Maria promised to provide him with one piece of information of any kind, within Maria’s authority.

‘This is a win-win for me!’

Even if Maria hadn’t proposed it, Jin-Hyeok had intended to do this all along. Of course, Yu-Ri’s own opinion would be the most important, but Jin-Hyeok thought it would be better for Yu-Ri to grow in the NIS under proper management, rather than be consumed by the recently acquired power and become a villain.

“I refuse,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Had it been the old Jin-Hyeok, he would have accepted without a second thought. In his previous life, his goal was simply to become stronger. However, now it was different. He had tasted what it was like to Play as a Ruler, and he was able to identify which situation was good content for his Eltube channel.

Now that he knew the taste of pizza and fried chicken, it felt a bit disappointing to eat only salad.

“Why so?” Maria asked.

“To be precise, I refuse half of your proposal.”

Maria calmly sipped her tea, waiting for his explanation.

“A Player’s future can be completely changed depending on how the early growth is determined.”

“That’s true.”

“In the beginning, I plan to stand by and guide her.”

“You, as in Mr. Kim Chul-Soo?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Let me ask you this then. Who else but me can support Yu-Ri, who lost her husband and is on the verge of collapse?”

“...”

Though it wasn’t solely for Yu-Ri’s sake, but still, Jin-Hyeok managed to get the Shinil Group to apologize to her, leading to punishment for many responsible. Chairman Choi Ik-Hwan even stepped down from his position. Jin-Hyeok didn’t plan on being Yu-Ri’s sturdy support, but it happened as he did what he had to do.

“I’ve unintentionally become an emotional support for her, am I wrong?”

“No, you’re right.”

“I will guide and nurture her in the beginning if she wishes. But after some time passes, I will try to persuade her to join your side.”

Maria took another sip of her tea.

A bit of time passed.

“What do you request in return, Mr. Kim Chul-Soo?”

“Information.”

“Information?”

“Information that aligns with our mutual interests. I want the information to properly nurture Shin Yu-Ri. There must be a Skill that is essential for her. Since our interests align, I would appreciate more detailed and useful information.”

Maria and Jin-Hyeok talked for a while, and they were able to come to a very satisfying conclusion. As Maria got up from her seat, she cautiously asked, “But why… why are you doing this?”

It was as if she was saying the Kim Chul-Soo whom she knew didn’t seem like a person brimming with humanity.

‘I knew she would ask this.’

And as Jin-Hyeok had already expected that question and had prepared an answer in advance…

“Because I want to help her, " Jin-Hyeok calmly replied.

At his words, Maria looked at him with a somewhat bewildered expression but didn’t question any further.

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

The livestream of Mystery Box (Wang Yu-Mi) attracted more viewers than ever before. Kim Chul-Soo was currently livestreaming content on his daily life. In such cases, more viewers flocked to Mystery Box’s channel. She paused the screen for a moment, then rewound the video slightly.

“Let’s watch that again,” she said.

On the screen, Chul-Soo was speaking.

⌜Because I want to help her.⌟

The viewer’s chat went wild.

-Barack_Yomama: Mind. Blown.

-OneMoreBeer: Look how insanely cool he looks!

-SemiAutomaticPrinter: Why am I crying so hard?

Exclamations of awe come up incessantly.

-LoveChulSoo: Oppa, you can have me!

-JunePapa: Truly strong people act like that. I want to be like him too. ^.~ I’m so touched!

To the viewers, Chul-Soo seemed to ask for nothing in return. The sincerity of simply wanting to help came across, and it created a wave of emotion. Mystery Box discussed various aspects of this scene with the viewers, communicating with them. She then put her hands together in a slightly exaggerated manner, placed them against her cheek, and made a dreamy expression.

“They say heroes are born in troubled times, don’t they? I feel like I’m witnessing that right now. What do you all think?”

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

[You have accepted the Quest 「Maria’s Proposal」.]

Jin-Hyeok accepted Maria’s quest. He received a call from Yu-Ri right away, so he immediately left the house.

They met at a coffee shop.

Yu-Ri was dressed in black.

“Thank you so much. Thanks to your care, I was able to retrieve my husband and hold a proper funeral. I am truly sorry that I couldn’t express my gratitude properly before as I was overwhelmed. Thank you,” Yu-Ri said.

“It’s okay. I wanted to help you..”

“...Thank you for saying that.”

Jin-Hyeok meant what he said, but somehow, she didn’t seem to believe him.

“I don’t understand why you would do all this for me.”

‘What I don’t understand is why she is getting choked up.’

Jin-Hyeokd decided to understand that she was being this erratic because she was not in a mentally sound state.

Yu-Ri placed her cell phone on the table and slid it toward him.

“I… I saw this,” Yu-Ri said.

“Huh?”

It was Mystery Box’s channel on Eltube. It was a video edited by KingGodGeneral Yumi.

‘What’s this?’

The video attracted many viewers, and they seemed heavily focused. While overly praising Jin-Hyeok, Yu-Mi was attaching an emotional narrative to what he had done.

‘Wow, really? She’s making me look like a saint! But it does seem a bit forced.’

Jin-Hyeok almost laughed. Receiving attention was more enjoyable than he thought.

‘Should I turn on my chat, too? No, no. If I do that, the livestream quality will decrease. I’ll just keep doing what I usually do, and watch the viewers’ reactions through Mystery Box’s channel.’’

“I know the general content through your previous videos. I don’t know all of it, but please let me join you. Uh… What should I call you…?”

“Call me Kim Chul-Soo when I’m streaming, and Cha Jin-Hyeok when I’m not.”

“The favor you’ve done for me, Jin-Hyeok, is too big for me to keep to myself.”

In summary, Yu-Ri also wanted to become a person who exercised a good influence, like Jin-Hyeok. She said there had to be many people like her husband, and she wanted to help them.

‘What on earth happened in the previous life that turned this lovely person into a villain?’

“How can I become as strong as you?”

“I’m not strong.”

It rather hurts Chul-Soo\'s pride to be called strong at this stage.

‘I’m actually thinking of retiring at Level 150 while hiding my skills, because I’m weak, yet you call me strong?’

Jin-Hyeok couldn’t agree with her, but he let it go.

“Anyway, I’ll help you,” he said.

Jin-Hyeok explained the Job called Artillery of Nemesis to Yu-Ri.

“Your abilities right now are incomplete.”

“...”

“For the time being, there is only one Skill that you will be able to use, and tha is to materialize a gigantic cannon and fire it.”

However, its destructive power was far from ordinary.

“It takes a long time to charge mana, and there is a lengthy cooldown after firing. Also, your physical abilities are very weak. Therefore, it’s a Job that’s not very useful in small-scale battles.”

“Does that mean I can’t become strong?”

“In small-scale battles, no.”

However, in large-scale battles, it was a different story. No area-effect spell from any Mage could compare to Yu-Ri’s cannon.

That was the case on Earth, at least.

“If you have a good team around you and are in an environment where you can be well protected, you will unleash more formidable firepower than anyone else. And Maria’s party should be more than capable of fulfilling that role.”

“...”

“However, it would be good if you had some other protective abilities of your own.”

It would be good for her to have abilities that she could use to protect herself, like Jin-Hyeok’s Broadcaster’s Barrier.

And Jin-Hyeok already knew what ability would suit her the best.

‘Iron Dome.’

It was a defensive Mystery. It was a unique Mystery that had only been discovered once in the whole universe. It was the special ability that Yu-Ri had in Jin-Hyeok’s previous life.

“It would be nice if you could get a defensive Mystery, and even better if you could get a mobility Mystery to move around.”

A defensive Mystery and a mobility Mystery were all the things that Yu-Ri possessed in his previous life.

“Fortunately, I have received information about them. By the way, the fact that I received all of this is a secret to others. That’s why I’m not livestreaming right now.”

It was actually unexpected. No matter how much Maria had the System on her side as an administrator, Jin-Hyeok never thought she would provide such detailed information.

Maria said, ‘It’s all because of you, Mr. Kim Chul-Soo,’ but it wasn’t a convincing explanation.

‘What did I do?’

“Let’s start as soon as you are ready,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“I can start from tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes, I want to immerse myself. Otherwise, I feel like I’ll go mad.”

Jin-Hyeok nodded.

‘She’s right. She should want to immerse herself. She should feel like going mad if she doesn’t Play.’

It was the right mindset for becoming a top-ranked Player.

‘I wish she could become strong quickly.’

The mere thought of Yu-Ri joining the National Intelligence Service made his heart pound.

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

There was a timely update notification.

It was a System-wide notification.

[Solo Mode has been updated.]

[Dual Play Mode has been updated.]

If a Player entered a Dungeon after setting it to Solo Mode or Dual Play Mode, the Dungeon’s difficulty and content would be partially adjusted accordingly.

‘It’s literally just a partial adjustment, though.’

There was no kindness from the System like, ‘You want to go in alone? Alright, I’ll lower the difficulty a lot for you! Come on in!’

It was only a partial adjustment.

Naturally, the efficiency of Solo or Dual Play was much lower. No matter how much the difficulty and content were adjusted, there was a tremendous efficiency gap between a party of experts Playing together and one or two people Playing.

In Jin-Hyeok\'s previous life, he had strongly avoided Solo or Dual Play.

‘Back then, I was obsessed with efficiency.’

However, now it was different. Jin-Hyeok thought that he was no longer the madman obsessed with efficiency.

‘Because I’ve grown to be a Streamer who knows romance and elegance.’

Honestly, even the previous life’s Cha Jin-Hyeok wanted to try Solo Play at heart. The same went for Dual Play.

Typically, Dual Play meant one combat Player teaming up with one Healer. That was the norm.

‘Dual Play without a Healer… A Play without the possibility of retreating or healing… That’s a man’s dream. Wouldn’t that be the slightly foolish but cool Play that ignites a man’s heart?’

That was what Jin-Hyeok thought as he climbed Bukhansan[1] with Yu-Ri.

“It’s surprisingly not that hard,” Yu-Ri said.

“That’s because you are Level 45.”

They were wandering around Bukhansan.[2] Thanks to the map that Maria had provided them, they were able to find the entrance to the Dungeon in just fourteen hours.

“Do you see that shimmering space above that large rock?”

“Yes, I see it.”

“That’s the entrance to the Dungeon. A new Field will unfold once we enter there.”

“Can we rest for a moment before going?”

Jin-Hyeok tilted his head out of confusion.

‘But we’ve only been wandering around for fourteen hours. Why was she tired already from just climbing the mountain? Even if she’s a Level Grinder, she’s still Level 45. How can she be tired after just fourteen hours?’

Jin-Hyeok still hadn’t let go of his own standards. For average Level 45 Players, moving this much would be exhausting.

“It seems like there’s a disconnect between your mind and body,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Huh?”

“At around Level 45, you wouldn’t usually be tired at this point. But it seems like your mind hasn’t caught up with the change in your body yet. Let’s rest a bit before we go in.”

“...Is that so?”

Yu-Ri took deep breaths, lost in thought.

‘My mind is really weak…’ she thought.

It had to be because the loss of her husband still had not healed.

‘But soon, I will be able to do it too.’

She consoled herself that way and began to learn from Jin-Hyeok’s misguided(?) standards.

“Let’s try to enter the Dungeon now. We can set up the Dual Play Mode.”

“It’s done.”

After setting it as Dual Play Mode, they entered the Dungeon called the Ruins in the Forest.

Yu-Ri looked around.

“Wow… It’s like a completely different world has opened up.”

They were in a forest. However, it felt very different from the forests they were familiar with in Korea. The trees were much larger, and they heard bird calls they hadn’t heard before. There were complexly shaped vines growing around the trees, and monkeys with red faces were jumping around them.

“It feels like we’ve entered a primeval forest.”

At least for this very moment, Yu-Ri felt as if she had escaped from reality. She could momentarily forget the sorrow of losing her husband.

Unlike Yu-Ri, who was immersed in the sensation of having arrived in a different world, Jin-Hyeok was unimpressed.

“If we follow this path, we will reach the Village of the Forest Dwarves.”

“It’s like we have entered a fairy tale.”

They began to walk. Jin-Hyeok was excited in a different way from Yu-Ri.

‘The size of Dungeons has grown significantly.’

In truth, based on Jin-Hyeok\'s perspective, all the Dungeons up until now had been too small. A Dungeon should be vast and immense, like entering a different world. That was his standard.

‘It’s starting to take on the shape of a real Dungeon.’

In his mind, a real Dungeon needed to have various NPCs, Quests within the Dungeon, Dungeons within the Dungeon, and wicked places where unexpected variables would pop out.

‘So this is a Dungeon with a village of NPCs.’

It was finally starting to feel like a real Dungeon. It felt like returning home.

“Look over there. I’ve never seen such huge mushrooms before,” Yu-Ri said.

Colorful mushrooms were growing. These mushrooms were as large as fir trees, and there were windows in the middle of the Mushroom stems.

[You have entered the Field 「Village of the Forest Dwarves」.]

1. Otherwise known as Bukhan Mountain ☜

2. Bukhansan or Bukhan Mountain, is a mountain on the northern periphery of Seoul. ☜