I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 158

In Scanorbia, the winner took all that the loser had. Ever since the Thunder Dragon had sided with Chul-Soo, Chul-Soo had become the de facto victor. Being the loser, Khan would have had to yield to all of Chul-Soo’s demands. Thankfully, it seemed that such a situation was unlikely.

‘But... the things he is saying do not feel like they are directed at me...’

So, whom were they meant for? If Chul-Soo was not criticizing Khan’s invasion, then what was this all about? What did Chul-Soo want?

‘Who is he talking to?’

Finally, Khan arrived at a conclusion he could hardly believe.

‘Is he really just mad at the staged livestream, like he says?’

At first, Khan thought there had to be some hidden meaning behind Chul-Soo’s words, but as he listened on, that did not appear to be the case. Chul-Soo was genuinely angry about the staged livestream.

‘Why is he making such a big deal about it?’

Khan was a capable ruler who had unified Scanorbia and prided himself on his skill at reading others. However, he had utterly failed to fathom the depths of Chul-Soo’s mind.

“Manipulating things like that isn’t just, wouldn’t you agree?” Cha Jin-Hyeok said.

‘Wait, is justice a concept that reigns over both his mind and body?’ Khan thought.

“Y-Yes, I agree.” Confused, Khan decided to go along with it for the time being.

“So you admit that it was a staged livestream, right?”

“...Yes.”

There was still no mention of the terms of Khan’s agreement with Egan Paul and Humphrey Millen, nor of any benefits Khan might have gained. So, the situation still left Khan bewildered.

“Don’t fall for such dark temptations next time.”

“...I will keep that in mind.”

Only then did Chul-Soo smirk. Finally, he felt a sense of relief.

‘See, Egan Paul, the truth can never be defeated by lies.’

“Oh, and one more thing.”

Chul-Soo had precisely pinpointed why Egan’s staged livestream had succeeded. It was because Egan had perfectly met Khan’s needs. Only because Egan’s and Khan’s interests had aligned so well had a staged livestream been possible.

‘I won’t let that happen again. How dare he try to take my number one spot?’ Chul-Soo thought.

A voice within Chul-Soo, which even he did not recognize, took control of his mind and body. He said, “Document your admission of the staged livestream officially. I want you to provide evidence if you have any.”

“...” Khan’s face visibly darkened. If he were to violate the confidentiality clause first, all promises and assistance from Egan would vanish into thin air. The countless warriors of this land would remain in starvation.

“In exchange, I will take responsibility for your food supply.”

The considerate mad saint, Kim Chul-Soo, had made his official first move.

? ? ?

Jang Michelle, a member of the Trinity Club who was living another life on the Earth Server, was exhilarated. “Can we really deploy these Players into the field this soon?”

This was a golden opportunity for the Players nurtured by the MK Foundation to gain real-world experience.

“I’ve been wanting to develop Players with less popular Jobs anyway.”

Copying what everyone else was doing was no fun. Michelle was actively participating in Play, and sticking to mainstream strategies would make it dull. So she had spared no effort in supporting Players with less favored Jobs, including those related to agriculture.

“This is going to be fun!”

Players with newly awakened talents in farming, based on the Earth Server’s advanced agricultural civilization, were deployed to the Scanorbia Server.

“They’re really giving us land?”

“Yes, they really are!”

A considerable number of Farmer-class Players made their way to Scanorbia.

“I heard the land there is too barren for farming.”

“That’s true, but we do have special Skills related to farming, so it should be okay. They are also giving us land, and they said they will give us subsidies if farming fails.”

“How’s that possible?”

“Apparently, it is.”

Scanorbia had almost no land suitable for agriculture. However, things had changed due to the recent rampage of a certain Thunder Dragon.

“Wait, there’s more fertile flatland than we thought!”

“It looks like this area used to be an expansive forest.”

The Central Forest had been flattened, transformed into a vast plain that stretched as far as the eye could see.

“The MK Foundation is even providing support from Water Elementalists. They told us to dream big!”

“Wow, the support is really solid.”

There was no reason for Farmer-class Players to reject the opportunity to go to Scanorbia. Players from the MK Foundation gradually transitioned to the Scanorbia Server to gain real-world experience, passing on their skills to the Scanorbian warriors. In the process, the abilities of the MK-affiliated Players improved by leaps and bounds, to say the least.

This made Michelle very proud. “It seems like we will see significant results in the not-so-distant future, hohoho!”

“Are you pleased?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Absolutely. It feels like raising many avatars!”

‘I knew she would love this,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

Michelle was very interested in this project. The members of the Trinity Club spared no expense when it came to their entertainment, even if that meant running at a loss. As long as they were enjoying themselves, nothing else mattered.

Jin-Hyeok sneakily glanced at Maria, who was demurely sitting beside Michelle.

‘She looks better than before.’

Maria looked more relaxed than when she had been with the National Intelligence Service. Sure enough, once her budgetary issues had been resolved, her face had brightened up.

Michelle stood up from her seat. “I need to take a look around the Great Plains of Scanorbia. Our Players are said to be doing exceptionally well, so it’s worth checking out.”

Humming a tune, she left, leaving Jin-Hyeok and Maria alone.

“Why are you bestowing so much favor upon the Scanorbia Server?” Maria asked Jin-Hyeok, curious about his actions.

“I don’t particularly remember bestowing any favor...”

Recently, Jin-Hyeok’s livestream had been continually trending on Eltube, breaking the view count record. He had now reached three hundred million subscribers.

“Who would’ve thought you would use the Thunder Dragon for terraforming.”

“Well...”

Jin-Hyeok had not asked the Thunder Dragon to do that. It was more like the Thunder Dragon had terrorized the area on her own accord. Jin-Hyeok stopped himself from saying that; he just let Maria interpret it as she pleased.

“You have not only instilled a sense of hope in the Scanorbia Server but also significantly increased goodwill toward the Earth Server. This will have a very positive impact on future Server connections.”

“Well, that’s good then.”

“However, you should be careful about pressure and containment from the United States side. They were humiliated this time.”

Khan had spilled the beans. Egan Paul and Humphrey Millen had secretly approached him, proposing a scheme. Not keen on entering the Korean Region, Khan had accepted their offer and received support from the United States. As a result, Egan and Humphrey had gained fame, and America could once again flaunt its prowess as the world’s superpower.

“The United States government is blaming everything on Egan and Humphrey, but I’m sure it was involved in some way,” Maria said.

“Yeah, probably.” Jin-Hyeok did not seem to consider that a big deal.

“You might want to be cautious,” Maria said.

“Are you worried about me now?”

“N-No, not particularly...!”

In Jin-Hyeok’s Sword King days, he had fought against various skilled Players to survive. They had employed intricate and meticulous tactics against him, using traps and decoys to target him.

‘The United States government is nothing compared to them. At most, they will send Assassins as a warning. Just like this.’

Jin-Hyeok pulled a small dagger from his pocket and threw it toward the ceiling.

“Keuk!”

With a short scream, an Assassin from the Avengers Army, Black Butterfly, fell to the ground. The fallen Assassin grumbled in a voice that sounded like she was dying. “You almost hit my heart.”

“If you can’t even dodge that, can you really call yourself an Assassin?” Jin-Hyeok removed the dagger lodged in Black Butterfly’s chest. “I told you not to attempt anything while I’m in the Korean Region. Do you think you can hurt me?”

“...I didn’t attempt anything.”

Black Butterfly sounded a little wronged. She had not intended to attack; she had just been observing Jin-Hyeok.

For a moment, Jin-Hyeok seemed flustered, but he shamelessly retorted, “Getting caught is the same as attempting.”

“...”

‘What kind of twisted logic is that?’ Black Butterfly wanted to argue but decided against it, seeing no benefit in that.

“If you think it’s unfair, just don’t get caught next time,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“...”

“This is your sixth Assassination attempt. You have one chance left. You got it?”

“...Fine.”

Jin-Hyeok carelessly picked up Black Butterfly and threw her out of the window. They were only on the sixth floor, so she would be fine.

“Now, where were we?”

? ? ?

“Aaaaahhh!!” Egan tore at his hair, letting out a wail. “Kim Chul-Soo!!!”

It felt like everything was falling apart because of Chul-Soo. Countless people were mocking and ridiculing Egan’s staged livestream. Moreover, the United States government had shifted all the blame onto him and Humphrey. Egan was at his wits’ end. He had no choice but to forcibly insert the text [This video has been staged with prior agreement] into his past video.

~

-Lol, scripted.

-Scripted, what a loser!

-Too late for a disclaimer, LOL.

-Get this loser out of here!

~

Egan developed a temporary social phobia. It was the greatest hardship of his livestreaming career. For days, he remained cooped up in his room, avoiding all human contact.

Then, one day, Humphrey paid him a visit. “Egan, I have a good idea.”

“Good idea?”

“Remember how the MK Foundation dispatched Farmers to Scanorbia, led by Chul-Soo?”

“...So?”

“What if they were found dead overnight? We could send Chul-Soo into the abyss. It would backfire on him for recklessly pushing this endeavor for his own glory.”

“Wait... That’s a bit...” As much as he despised Chul-Soo, Egan knew where to draw the line. He had no intention of pushing innocent people to death.

“Just imagine, without Chul-Soo, you could be the most outstanding Streamer on the Earth Server!”

“...”

Humphrey pulled a pocket watch from his coat and swung it back and forth.

“What are you doing?”

“I am going to calm your anxious mind.” As if he were casting a spell, Humphrey whispered, “All you need is for Chul-Soo to be gone. Then you will be the most outstanding Streamer on Earth.”

“The most... outstanding... Streamer...” Egan’s eyes began to lose focus.

“Just like on Earth, extremist armed forces also exist in the Scanorbia Server. Using them would make things much easier. If you send me, I will contact them,” Humphrey said.

“Without... Kim Chul-Soo...”

“Yes, without Kim Chul-Soo.”

Egan’s eyes were dyed black.

“To do so, we need to create an event that will divert Chul-Soo’s attention. A sort of decoy operation.”

“...Decoy... operation...”

“The world is currently showering the Farmers with special Skills with expectations and praise.”

“...Uh...Ah...” Egan’s body slumped. Laid bare to Humphrey’s psychic attack, he was almost as good as half-dead.

“But we also have exceptional Lumberjack-class Players in our ranks. They are also armed with special abilities. I know an outstanding Lumberjack. He is from my hometown, and his Level is staggering 200.”

“...”

“Let’s use him to cut down Seoul’s Golden Guardian Tree. If we succeed, it will make headline news, and if we fail, we would still have diverted Chul-Soo’s attention. Either way, it’s a win for us.”

“...Uh... Uh....” Egan twisted his body as if he was resisting, shaking his head from side to side.

However, Humphrey swayed his pocket watch back and forth, whispering, “If only Kim Chul-Soo were not around, you would be the top Streamer.”

“...Uh...!”

“All you have to do is sign off on the operation plan. I will take care of the rest.” Humphrey extended a piece of paper. Then, he lifted Egan’s thumb and stamped the paper with it.

Humphrey took the stamped paper, turned his back, and walked away with a sinister smile.

‘Kim Chul-Sooo... I will never forgive you.`

Chul-Soo was his sworn enemy. Chul-Soo had killed Humphrey’s only friend, Jonprich, and ruined the experiments and plans they had been working on. Humphrey had no intention of forgiving Chul-Soo.

‘I will make you feel that you would rather be dead.’