I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 149

┗I don’t care if we are in a new civilization or something, the United States has once again proved its strength. LOL.

┗They deployed the Seventh Fleet of the United States Navy... Holy...

Many online communities were buzzing with excitement. Media outlets were all over this incident, and the public was also focused on it.

It was an ordinary evening for Cha Jin-Hyeok. He had some time free for his family, so they gathered for dinner. The news channel on the TV was continuously reporting the incident where the United States had annihilated the Scanorbian warriors, showing the warriors sinking into the ocean on their burning ships.

“Isn’t it really fortunate?”

“Yes, well, I suppose,” Jin-Hyeok vaguely replied to his mother.

“I knew that the United States was a strong country, but I did not expect them to defeat those warriors so easily. Should I immigrate to the United States with Jin-Hyeok and Jin-Sol?”

This startled Jin-Hyeok’s father, who was eating with his chopsticks. “Why am I left out?”

“No, you’re just overthinking~ How’s your company doing these days?” Jin-Hyeok’s mother replied.

Even though it did not seem like Jin-Hyeok’s father was overthinking, he just cleared his throat and answered, “It’s about the same as usual. There’s just chatter about the new civilization or not. How about you guys at work?”

Jin-Sol, who had been eating quietly, flinched. “Yeah, it’s fine. Good benefits and all. It’s pretty good.”

“Okay, don’t just idle around, work diligently at your job.”

“...Okay, Dad.”

Cha Jin-Sol was quite famous as a Player, especially known as the Saint of Freedom among the younger generation. Her Eltube videos easily garnered a million views each. However, it seemed that her fame had yet to reach the older generation.

“Um... I was thinking of Playing...” Jin-Sol carefully said.

“Excuse me?! Didn’t you just hear what your Dad said? You need to work hard at your job, save up, meet a good man, date him, and get married. What is this Play nonsense? Only crazy kids do that.”

The older generation, including her mother, had a strong aversion to the term Play. Jin-Sol just nodded while picking at her food.

‘They’re going to find out anyway...’ she thought.

In reality, it was only a matter of time. Whether on the internet or Eltube, a quick search for the Saint of Freedom would reveal Jin-Sol’s face and what she was doing.

‘Ah, whatever.’

The right moment to tell them had already passed. Moreover, asking for forgiveness was a lot easier than seeking permission in the first place.

‘But why does Oppa look so serious?’

Jin-Hyeok had not said much during the meal.

‘He always treats Mom and Dad more affectionately. Today, he doesn’t seem to be in a good mood.’

After dinner, Jin-Sol cautiously knocked on her brother’s door and entered his room.

Jin-Hyeok found this version of Jin-Sol unfamiliar. “Since when did you start knocking on my door?”

“Oppa, is something bothering you?”

Jin-Hyeok was browsing the news on his phone. The news was about the Seventh Fleet of the United States annihilating the Scanorbian warriors.

“Well... from a global perspective, isn’t this a good thing...?” Jin-Sol asked.

“I suppose.”

Eliminating such threats as quickly as possible was the best option. If the warriors had clashed in Seoul, the consequences could have been unimaginable. From a rational standpoint, it was a good thing, but Jin-Hyeok felt uneasy. “It just seems strange no matter how I think about it.”

“What’s strange?”

“That our world’s science and technology can have such a direct influence on Play.”

No matter how he thought about it, it was unbalanced.

“Oh, that. I saw it in the breaking news just now. They said this was all because the Ruler of Authority had appeared,” Jin-Sol said.

“Ruler of Authority?”

“Yeah, what was his name again? Humphrey Millen? Something like that. Wait, let me check. Yup. His name is Humphrey Millen.

“It seems like he has a special power to bestow authority on our science and technology. He prays and temporarily draws our current technology into the realm of Play. Oppa, are you listening?”

? ? ?

Egan Paul considered the Korean Region Minor Gallery the most important among the numerous online communities. Some argued that it should be called the Kim Chul-Soo Gallery, but Egan Paul was now realizing that he had become the main topic on the forum.

-Did you guys see Egan Paul’s video? Watch it ten times, no, a hundred times. Hell, watch it a thousand times!

-Egan Paul and the Seventh Fleet’s performance was incredible.

┗222

┗333

-This is the power of the world police, the United States!

-The top-tier weapon of the superpower amazed the entire world and terrified Scanorbia, and the people on Earth cheered!

The video of Egan’s operation, Savior of the Pacific, which he had just revealed, skyrocketed to the top of the trending list on Eltube. He picked up his phone and called Joseph.

—Joseph, did you see? Stop fooling around and come back to my side now.

Egan needed Joseph.

—You didn’t even sign a formal contract with Chul-Soo. You have done enough. That should be sufficient. Don’t you understand that to pursue your dreams, you must choose my side?

Despite these words, Joseph was unmoved. Joseph delivered the same old speeches, claiming that Chul-Soo was the true star, which infuriated Egan.

—Are you serious? Haven’t you come to your senses yet? Since when did your judgment become so messed up? Even after seeing what I just did, are you still talking about Chul-Soo? Fine. I don’t need you anymore. Stick with Chul-Soo for the rest of your life!

Egan ended the call and threw his phone. His eyes were filled with hatred and anger directed toward one person.

“Joseph, I will prove you wrong. Chul-Soo can never be my match.”

Egan Paul was not only creating exceptional content himself but also mobilizing a considerable number of paid users to comment on online communities. These commenters were tasked with manipulating public opinion in favor of Egan and skillfully praising his videos. Even if his video did not seem entertaining at first, if many people said it was entertaining, human psychology would make other people want to watch it more.

“Yes, this user. Try to recruit this NoOverpackagingPlz from the Korean Region Minor Gallery. He seems like he wants to tear down Chul-Soo. Get him by any means necessary.”

Egan bit his lip. He was determined to prove that Chul-Soo was beneath him no matter what.

? ? ?

Humphrey Millen.

Jin-Hyeok had a realization.

‘Isn’t that the partner of Jonprich the Surgeon?’

Jonprich was a scam artist.

“A friend of a scam artist is obviously a scam artist too.”

While not always the case, it was generally true. Humphrey would definitely be another scam artist.

“Huh? What are you saying?” Jin-Sol asked.

“Never mind.”

After finishing his conversation with Jin-Sol, Jin-Hyeok urgently summoned Wang Yu-Mi, Han Sae-Rin, and Song Ha-Young and got straight to the point. “I think this is all staged.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

“Excuse me?”

None of them had considered the possibility of a setup.

Sae-Rin cautiously asked, “On what basis do you make that claim?”

“Think about it rationally. Do you think the System would allow the balance of Play to collapse like this?”

“Then what about you?”

“What about me?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“You are also overwhelmingly strong.”

“No, I’m still weak.”

“...”

Ha-Young interjected, “Come on, be honest. Are you just upset because you think you lost to Egan and just making excus— ARGH!!!”

Before she could finish, she rolled on the floor in pain. Sometimes, Jin-Hyeok had to discipline those who disobeyed him.

“Do you think I am getting upset over something like that?” he said.

‘Wait, why does everyone seem to be nodding? Is it just me?’

Thankfully, Yu-Mi seemed to be reading his mind well today. “Alright, let’s assume for now that Egan and the United States broadcasted a manipulated video. We should discuss it with that assumption. For now.”

With that assumption in place, Sae-Rin quickly made her point. “So, Khan did not want to come to Korea. But since the warriors were so angry, he had no choice but to come here.”

Khan’s feelings on this matter were easy to discern. It would have been faster to come to Korea using the warp portals, but Khan insisted on traveling through unfamiliar warships, taking the long route. His antics of delaying time like that spoke volumes about his state of mind.

“And the United States wanted to showcase its role and power as a superpower.”

Since the appearance of Players, the power of nations had significantly weakened. Although nations were gradually regaining their former status with governments employing Players and establishing them as government officials, in comparison to the past, these nations were still weaker.

“This incident has undeniably given the United States the status of the world’s foremost superpower.” Sae-Rin’s expression became exceedingly serious. “What if there was a secret deal between the United States and Khan? For example, Khan received substantial supplies of food and medical materials from the United States?”

‘In exchange, he cooperated with the United States to fabricate that staged livestream??’

“Khan has always strived to unify the Scanorbia Server and ensure that the people of Scanorbia did not starve. This is a very plausible story.”

Shortly after the incident, news outlets had reported that Khan had returned to Scanorbia with a couple of his trusted advisors.

“Khan is thoroughly blocking and controlling information. Earthlings’ resistance turned out to be much more stubborn than he expected, and they lost many warriors. However, he claims to have subdued Earth and, as a result, received a lot of tribute from Earth. It seems that people on the Scanorbia Server believe this,” Ha-Young added.

In fact, an enormous amount of rice and wheat had traveled from Earth to the Scanorbia Server, but the media had not reported anything about it.

“Wow! Do I have to raid the White House for this? The White House is a bit tough,” Ha-Young said while shivering.

However, she seemed quite excited.

The sensible Jin-Hyeok put a damper on her unconventional enthusiasm. “Instead of raiding the White House, why don’t you look into Egan Paul?”

“Egan Paul?”

“It seems more suspicious on the side of Egan and Humphrey than the American politicians.”

Ha-Young, Sae-Rin, and Yu-Mi all fell silent. Jin-Hyeok wondered what this silence meant and used his Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance.

[...#So he is pissed off at Egan. #I guess losing to another Streamer hurt his pride. #Saying that it’s staged is just his excuse.]

[...#He already had a plan. #He just #Wants to take down Egan Paul.]

[...#Everything goes as Jin-Hyeok wishes. #I am just here to help. #Egan is doomed.]

They were all misunderstanding something. Jin-Hyeok was not angry at Egan because the latter had outperformed him in terms of popularity. He was not feeling a useless and unnecessary emotion like a sense of defeat. Although he had been pushed out to second place, his initial goal was third place anyway. These three were quite clueless about his feelings.

“Staging is an act of disrespect to sacred livestreams.”

It was definitely not because he had lost first place to Egan.

“If I let this go, I cannot call myself a Streamer. For the sake of a proper Streaming culture and a healthy livestreaming ecosystem, Streamers should all strive together, right?” Jin-Hyeok said.

“That’s right. You are always upright and just!”

“Huh? Was Chul-Soo such a righteous person?”

Sae-Rin kept doubting Jin-Hyeok’s pure sincerity, and only Yu-Mi seemed to somewhat understand his feelings.

Jin-Hyeok posted an announcement.

[I will show the Earth Server’s retaliation. Tomorrow at noon, I will cross over to Scanorbia with Korea’s top Navigator, Pathfinder.]

Today, for some reason, Jin-Hyeok could not sleep. Until a while ago, it was very noisy, but suddenly it felt too quiet. This quiet night brought a lot of contemplation.

‘Egan shouldn’t have done that. It’s human decency. I know that he wants to beat me, but to do a staged livestream? And even collaborating with that scam artist, Humphrey? If he thinks I am going to let this go, he doesn’t know me at all.’

Jin-Hyeok was indeed much stronger in various aspects than he was during his Sword King days, but that only applied with respect to his current Level. Apart from his resistance to fire, he was still far inferior compared to his prime days before regression.

‘Did I post the announcement too hastily?’ he wondered. But when he thought about the unethical Egan Paul, he could not just stay still.

‘When was I ever calculating and strategic in my Play?’

Jin-Hyeok realized that he had been overthinking things lately. He needed to act more like himself.

[???]

[A special constraint has been applied to the Trait, rendering it unviewable.

*Attempting to break the constraint can lead to the destruction of the Trait.]

He felt a strange sense of confidence.

‘I can unlock this. I know it.’

In the silence of this night, he had a strong feeling that he could successfully unlock this Trait. He sat cross-legged and began to meditate. Today, he had a powerful conviction that everything would work out.

‘That Egan Paul... How dare he aim for my first place?’