I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 137

The acronym HARD stood for Harmful, with Adverse effects, Risky, and Dangerous.

The HARD movement was also known as the Anti-Kim Chul-Soo movement. Charles claimed that Chul-Soo had a profoundly negative influence on the world.

“There are countless cases of Players becoming disabled after imitating his style of Play. Even if we disregard such direct adverse effects, it is undeniable that his style of Play contributes to public sentiment that trivializes grave dangers.”

From Charles\' perspective, the way Chul-Soo Played was far too reckless.

“Or he is sending an irrational message to society that one must Play like that to level up. Why must we bear so many risks? We are humans, and we have the right to live as such.”

Many social activists sided with Charles. With Europe at the forefront, the momentum of the HARD movement grew. The opinion that Chul-Soo’s style of Play was inhumanely intense began to gain traction.

“I know that an overwhelming number of people are fervent admirers of Kim Chul-Soo. But that does not necessarily mean they are right. Humans have always fought against wrongs, and will continue to do so because we are human.”

Charles turned his attention to the new Dungeon, New World, that Chul-Soo had recently entered.

“After experiencing countless deaths, even the most resilient of minds are bound to crack. Perhaps Chul-Soo has already lost his sanity. However, those Players are different.”

This time, it was not just Chul-Soo; other Players, including Bong King and his party, were also Playing in the New World. And Chul-Soo went so far as to admonish Lee Hyeon-Seong and Choi Gang-Byeok, claiming they were just basics, even though they were performing well. This infuriated Charles. In Charles’ eyes, Hyeon-Seong and Gang-Byeok were performing their roles adequately. Yet, Chul-Soo excessively berated and cornered them. Other regular Players witnessed it, and countless viewers saw it as well.

“Some of them will lose their minds, and their lives will be shattered. A family’s happiness, which once dreamt of a joyful life, will be broken. The countless children who have watched his livestreams will behave the same way and see their daily lives collapse. Yet, no one takes responsibility.”

‘Once they come out of the New World Dungeon, someone will surely have gone mad,’ Charles thought.

They had experienced too many deaths. Right now, they might be maintaining an alert state due to high tension, but as soon as they exited the New World, some minds would undoubtedly collapse.

‘The world must know that Chul-Soo’s style of Play is malevolent.’

Charles boarded a plane to South Korea to interview Bong King’s party.

‘Hyeon-Seong and Gang-Byeok might just agree with me.’

***

A meteor fell right above Cha Jin-Hyeok’s head. Seeing it directly, it was bigger than he had thought.

‘Activate Star Shield.’

He used the Star Shield to fend off the meteor.

‘It’s not an instant-death attack.’

Meteors were falling everywhere. To his senses, it felt like multiple Mages with Levels around mid to late 100s were targeting and attacking him at the same time.

“The dust is rising so thickly, making it hard to find the way. For now, my destination is to head back to the Eastern Ancient Castle Town.”

Jin-Hyeok recalled the optimal route of the New World.

1. Enter Azov Village.

Engage in a conversation with the guard and acquire the vase.

2. Enter the Eastern Ancient Castle Town.

Gather a few items and power up to fight the Fire Spirits residing in the Burning Fortress.

3. Enter the Burning Fortress.

Defeat the Fire Spirits and acquire the Thermal Flower embedded somewhere in the Fortress.

4. Re-enter Azov Village.

After delivering the Thermal Flower to the guard, obtain ownership of the vase.

5. Re-enter the Eastern Ancient Castle Town.

Deploy the vase in a special location located somewhere in the Eastern Ancient Castle Town.

When the vase was returned by the guard, it was supposed to be imbued with several special settings. It will then act as a key to operate the Clear Gate. This was the optimized route discovered after countless challenges by numerous Players.

‘Up to step 4, it was more or less similar.’

Originally, the guard would take the vase and do something with the Thermal Flower. What the guard did exactly was unknown. The important point was that after the Thermal Flower was extracted, the remaining vase, now with those special settings, was to be returned to Jin-Hyeok by the guard.

“Over there. The vase is lying on the ground.”

It was supposed to be returned to Jin-Hyeok with those special settings, but the guard had been burnt to death, preventing that.

“I will pick it up for now. I need to hurry before it gets destroyed by the meteor shower.”

While Jin-Hyeok could have simply picked it up, he threw himself at it. It would appear more intense that way. Rolling several times, he managed to rescue the vase.

“A violet aura is swirling around the vase. It seems to be due to the Mysterious Thermal Flower inside.”

The vase was quite hot, but it was not a problem to handle.

“It feels like a heat below the Phoenix Grade. I am not affected at all.”

Jin-Hyeok considered feigning an intense reaction, pretending his palms were melting, but it seemed pointless. It felt more appropriate to clearly show the effects of the Phoenix Heart.

“Come to think of it, the guard was instantly incinerated upon holding this. Had I not consumed the Phoenix Heart, I would have faced a similar fate.”

Trying not to look too intense felt a tad awkward. He could almost hear Bong King from a distance scolding him, saying, ‘That is not how Streamers do it!’

“I was indeed fortunate.”

‘What if I had received this Mysterious Thermal Flower without the Phoenix Heart?’

The chilling thought was oddly comforting.

‘Now that I’ve obtained the vase...’

Jin-Hyeok had to progress through this Dungeon while maintaining a modicum of logical consistency. He instinctively felt that the time allotted to him was not long.

“This vase seems to act as a key. There was a keyhole-like slot right above the oval-shaped Spirit Gate.”

He set his course back to the Eastern Ancient Castle Town. The ground constantly shook, as if it was in the middle of a massive earthquake, and the meteors kept raining down, so even walking was not exactly an easy task, but he had to press on.

“I believe that inserting this into that slot will complete the New World.”

This was a path he had traversed twice already, and showing the same content consecutively meant he had to diligently fill the silent gaps of his livestream.

“The New World Dungeon has always spoken of connections and junctions with new worlds.”

Jonprich had said the same, and so did the Spirits.

“I think the transformation of the Closed Spirit Gate into the Clear Gate is part of that process. Both the Spirit Gate and the Clear Gate symbolize connections with other worl—”

A meteorite collided with Jin-Hyeok’s head, shattering on impact.

“Ouch! That one hurt quite a bit. That was a sizable meteorite.”

Trying to multitask was not easy.

‘I messed up my control.’

“There is a bit of blood on my head.”

Jin-Hyeok felt a warm sensation. Warm blood streamed down his face, wetting his clothes.

“It would be good if I could stop the bleeding, but I don’t have that luxury.”

Given the choice between livestreaming and stopping the bleeding, livestreaming was the obvious choice. He felt he would not die from losing this amount of blood, so he needed to focus more on the livestream.

“I believe that the culmination of all the Scenarios I have progressed through here is the Spirit Gate, which connects this world with the Spirit Realm. And as the Clear Gate, which bridges this world to the outside, it is the epitome of everything this Dungeon and Scenario represents.”

Jin-Hyeok felt like his speech skills had improved. Working alongside a talented Streamer like Bong King seemed to have helped. His confidence began to swell slightly, and his crumbling self-esteem started to rebuild.

“This vase had a special power. It housed the Thermal Flower, protecting its mystical flame from ever fading.”

Simply holding the Thermal Flower would burn it out. It could only be harvested with this vase. For the Thermal Flower, this vase was its world.

“Much like Jonprich’s stomach that engulfed Elines. Lee Hyeon-Seong’s cleaving sword became the medium to split open Jonprich’s belly, ultimately connecting two isolated worlds, as many of you may recall.”

Everything was interconnected.

“So, I believe that breaking this correctly will open a path to a new world.”

Exiting through the Clear Gate would technically be a completion, but not a perfect one. What the New World Dungeon demanded was inserting this exact key into the Spirit Gate.

‘I found it!’

Jin-Hyeok was inspired by Bong King, who managed three tasks at once. Inspiration without change led to no progress. While streaming and dodging meteors, Jin-Hyeok captured the area of the screen where the Spirit Gate appeared and displayed it to the viewers as a reference.

“Right there. That hole looks like where the vase goes.”

Crack.

The world split.

“It looks like the sky is about to collapse.”

It resembled a building about to fall.

“I need to move quickly.”

Breathlessness consumed him. Talking and moving made his breathing erratic.

‘I see it.’

The Clear Gate was in view. It floated high in the air, but that was no problem. He ran up the walls of the Eastern Ancient Town Castle and leaped into the air. The world shook massively. Time was truly running out.

‘I only have one chance.’

He recalled the image of Hyeon-Seong, focusing on a single point. Although Jin-Hyeok had been disappointed with him numerous times before then, Hyeon-Seong looked great back then. Hyeon-Seong’s line was so earnest it resonated deeply with Jin-Hyeok.

“My vase knows not of failure.”

Jin-Hyeok wanted to recite a more impressive line, but he could not think of one in the rush. Though it was a pity, he finally inserted the vase into the slot.

‘I don’t even have the time to check the notification.’

The moment the vase was placed, Jin-Hyeok immediately exited through the Clear Gate.

[You have cleared the Dungeon 「New World」.]

***

In the Korean Region Minor Gallery, there was much debate on whether it should be upgraded from a Minor Gallery to an Official Gallery. Yet, for some reason, it still held the title of a Minor Gallery community. Traffic surged at the site.

[Honestly, isn’t he actually intense right now? Isn’t he going to die like that?]

[If it was that intense, could he livestream AND Play like that? LOL, what’s this intense concept even about?]

┗Are you dumb? You don’t understand?

┗?

┗The reason he livestreams like that is that the situation is intense. IntenseMan is always intense.

┗What the hell are you talking about? If it was really intense, could he run and livestream simultaneously? Normally, he would just run for his life.

┗Do you think Chul-Soo is normal?

┗Sorry.

[It looks like a lot of blood is flowing from Chul-Soo’s head.]

From the first-person perspective, it was hard to be certain, but the traces of blood made the injury look severe.

[Is he really livestreaming in that condition?]

[Excuse me everyone, but isn’t he genuinely intense if he is bleeding that much?]

The viewers were confused. They were wondering if Chul-Soo was genuinely intense, or if he was just acting.

Then, a Named user of the KRMG, NoOverpackagingPlz, joined the conversation.

[Of course, it’s freaking dangerous. Chul-Soo is just pretending to be nonchalant and squeezing out false composure for his livestream. I have told you many times before. Kim Chul-Soo is overrated LOL. He is going to croak from blood loss LMAO!]

[Written by: NoOverpackagingPlz]

As Joseph, who was NoOverpackagingPlz, flexed his huge trapezius muscles and posted his comment, countless users began to unite in condemning him.

┗When did this bastard come back here? If Chul-Soo is fluff, you’re bluff

┗Is that supposed to be a joke? Tsk tsk.

┗Damn it, I laughed T_T I wanna die.

[When will NoOverpackagingPlz kick the bucket?]

[Is NoOverpackagingPlz’s mom doing okay?]

[He is just a troll. Let’s not feed the troll.]

Joseph chuckled. As he mocked Chul-Soo, people began to rally around him.

[101 Reasons Why Kim Chul-Soo’s Play is Brilliant.]

[The Sole SSS-Tier Korean Streamer Providing Content No One Else Can.]

Chul-Soo’s Play began to be idolized, and Joseph was thrilled.

‘Huh?’ Joseph thought.

[Why is someone trying to assassinate Chul-Soo?]

In Chul-Soo’s first-person view, just after clearing the Dungeon and moving outside, someone came into view. It was an Assassin with blond hair and blue eyes.

[Holy shit! Chul-Soo got stabbed! This seems like an actual dangerous situation!]

[Who the hell is that foreign-looking girl?]

┗She’s like a foreign villain.

[This is a diplomatic issue. How dare they try to stab Chul-Soo? Is she out of her mind?]

┗But she’s pretty hot! ?

It was Kaylin, the Assassin from the Avengers Army.

Player name: Black Butterfly.