I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 166

‘I’d rather die...’

The memories of her transforming into a monster and muttering how she wanted to eat Chul-Soo had been vivid in her mind. It didn’t matter how much the tainted Mystery had corrupted her at the time; she just could not bring herself to face the world.

‘I should at least apologize.’

Then one day, she happened to watch a livestream where Chul-Soo tried his best to bring Egan Paul back to his senses.

?Why is your livestream so poor? Is this the best you can do with such content? You call yourself America’s number one? Where is your energy? What exactly are you thinking while doing your livestream? Have you lost your mind??

?Is this the performance of America’s top Streamer??

“Ah!” Soo-Jung murmured in admiration. She felt the sincerity in Chul-Soo’s voice, and Chul-Soo had ultimately saved Egan.

‘So Egan was poisoned too. That’s why he was forgiven.’

Jung realized something. Whether he was facing someone consumed by a tainted Mystery or someone afflicted by a poison, if there was a reason worthy of consideration, Chul-Soo showed infinitely generosity. The way he scolded Egan made Soo-Jung feel as though the scolding was directed at her.

‘Chul-Soo truly wants the best for Egan. That was why he was so stern. I need to get my act together. Why else would he have saved me?’

Chul-Soo could have killed her easily, but he chose to save her. There had to be something he expected from her. Soo-Jung felt as though he had taught her a lesson to allow her to live her life the best she could.

‘I need to get up. I need to face the world. I must do something to make sure that his saving me was not in vain.’

With a sense of apology and gratitude toward Chul-Soo, Soo-Jung resolved to take a step forward in life. She sat on the floor, appearing to be entranced by something. She spent a long time exploring the microcosm within her, focusing on her inner self.

Something seemed just within her reach, yet also unreachable, almost visible yet not, making her restless. She left everything to her instincts.

‘I need to find something.’

She had felt this sensation before. It was just like when she had acquired Fanatical Obsession.

‘I’ve never been particularly talented.’

Yet, she had acquired that Mystery. Oddly, back then, she had felt as though the Mystery was calling out to her, giving her a mysterious confidence that she could acquire it.

‘I must find something within me, just like how I found that Mystery.’

Suddenly, she touched something twinkling within her microcosm, and the NPC from the Room of Awakening immediately revealed itself.

“You have met the special conditions.”

Just like how it had been for Shin Yu-Ri and the Artillery of Nemesis, Soo-Jung had triggered Irregular Awakening.

“You are now about to be reborn as a Mystery Hunter. May your will be fulfilled.”

***

“You’ve Awakened as a Mystery Hunter?” Jin-Hyeok could not believe it.

“Yes, that’s right. And it is all thanks to you. You have given me enlightenment.”

Mystery Hunter was a special and extremely rare Job categorized as a 9-Star Job. Mystery Hunters were technically considered Navigators but were so rare that they did not even have a separate ranking system. However, they were unmatched when it came to finding Mysteries.

“I didn’t know it myself, but it seems I have an innate talent for finding Mysteries. I meditated, and somehow, I became a Mystery Hunter,” Soo-Jung said.

“Hm... So that’s why you possessed a Mystery with your skill level.” Jin-Hyeok had memories of questioning her ability before his regression, thinking she was exceptionally weak for a villain.

Soo-Jung knelt before Jin-Hyeok. “I am really sorry for that time. I wasn’t myself.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. At least I got a lot of views for that content.”

Soo-Jung, who was a relatively reasonable person, felt a lump in her throat.

‘He is saying that everything is okay because he got a lot of views despite my attacks. He cannot possibly mean just that. He is definitely saying it to put me at ease.’

In Soo-Jung’s eyes, Jin-Hyeok’s mindset was on another level. After expressing her sincere apologies, she felt a sense of relief. She looked up to see him and found herself staring blankly at his face for a while.

‘He is so handsome.’

It made sense why the Spirit King’s daughter had hugged him upon seeing his face.

“What’s up?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Ah... I am sorry. You’re just so handsome that I lost track.”

Soo-Jung’s words just went in Jin-Hyeok’s one ear and out the other. He had never thought of the incident with Soo-Jung in Scanorbia as something important. At that time, he had spared her life just because he felt guilty for having killed her before his regression and not because he knew that she would prove beneficial to him.

“You know Kang Mi-Na and Bong King, right?”

“Of course.”

“I am going to introduce you to them. You are going to join their team.”

“What?”

“You don’t want to?”

“N-No, I’m just a little shocked, that’s all. Those two are ranked second and third among the Streamer class, aren’t they?”

Jin-Hyeok tilted his head in confusion.

‘Did their rankings drop a step without me knowing?’

He checked the Ranking Board, and Mi-Na was still in first place and Bong King second.

‘It seems that Soo-Jung is mistaken.’

Since it was not his ranking and the mistake was not particularly important, he chose not to point out the error.

“There are limits to what you can do alone. You can’t really Play by yourself. So, go there, offer help, and receive it. They are currently desperate to find a Mystery.”

‘I can’t... Play by myself?’ Soo-Jung thought.

She clearly remembered Chul-Soo’s past videos where he was killing monsters all by himself. However, she did not bring this up.

“Kyaaaa!!!” Soo-Jung screamed suddenly.

A ghostly figure had burst out of the ceiling and stabbed Chul-Soo.

“Ah, I thought I killed you this time.”

“I pretended to get stabbed since this is the last time.”

It was Kaylin, also known as Black Butterfly. She had just attempted her seventh and last assassination on Jin-Hyeok, ultimately failing. Blood dripped from Jin-Hyeok’s hand, which had caught Kaylin’s dagger.

Kaylin sheathed her dagger and said, “Still, it was thrilling and fun. I have quit the Avengers Army. Now, I want to be your subordinate.”

Soo-Jung found this situation absurd, but Jin-Hyeok and Kaylin were calm.

Jin-Hyeok took a few tissues and wiped the blood from his palm. “I’m not a Ruler, so how can you be my subordinate? You know Kwak Do-Hyeong from the Black Thorn Alliance, right?”

“You mean Viper?”

“Yes. I need you to work with him. And whenever I call you, I need you to come as fast as possible.”

“...Okay.” Kaylin nodded.

Kaylin, who had been irreverent before Jin-Hyeok’s regression due to obsolescence in the Avenger Army, had now joined the Black Thorn Alliance.

After barely regaining her senses, Soo-Jung approached Jin-Hyeok. “Uh... Are you okay?”

“Hey, what are you doing?” Jin-Hyeok said.

Kaylin pushed Soo-Jung, and the latter flew backward like a paper doll and hit the wall behind her.

“She is a non-combatant-class Player. You should be more careful,” Jin-Hyeok said to Kaylin.

“Sorry, since you are also a non-combatant-class Player, I keep forgetting the boundary between the combatant and non-combatant classes.”

Kaylin approached Soo-Jung and helped her to her feet. “The dagger was coated with a deadly poison. If that blood had splashed on you, you would have died in three seconds. That’s why I pushed you to the side. There are no hard feelings, so I hope there is no misunderstanding.”

“...Got it.”

On a closer look, Soo-Jung saw holes in the table where the blood had dripped.

‘She tried to stab someone with that? And that someone pretended to get stabbed by it? How can he be so nonchalant about it?’

Soo-Jung felt as if she had tumbled into a strange new world.

And then a month passed.

***

[“Thank you.”]

The Thunder Dragon expressed profound gratitude toward Jin-Hyeok.

The efforts of the Mystery Hunter Five Crystals were remarkable. Teamed up with Mi-Na and Bong King, Five Crystals had uncovered numerous Mysteries. She collected the ones that were not particularly useful to Players and delivered them to the Thunder Dragon. These served as exquisite sustenance for Aton, the young Thunder Dragon, and the mother Thunder Dragon conveyed her deep gratitude to Jin-Hyeok.

[Your affinity with your tamed subject has greatly increased.]

[Some restrictions on your tamed subject have been lifted.]

Jin-Hyeok frowned.

‘So I can now make the Thunder Dragon retaliate against those who attack me first?’

This news was not exactly a cause for celebration. By the Earth Server’s standards, such a counterattack would be akin to cheating. But that was not the main concern.

‘The Thunder Dragon’s attack looks cooler than mine...’

Even if Jin-Hyeok tried to maintain a relaxed demeanor, he had to show his viewers that he was vigilant. The protagonist of his livestream had to be himself, and he certainly had to be the coolest.

‘Just the Thunder Dragon’s appearance achieved peak viewership, and now it can attack too? That’s crossing the line.’

“It’s good to be mutually helpful, isn’t it? Aton is growing well, I assume?” Jin-Hyeok said.

-“It’s all thanks to you.”

Jin-Hyeok was mentally connected to the Thunder Dragon, so he could feel her genuine gratitude. With the connection, using her as a mount would be much easier now.

‘I’m lucky!’

Although he was annoyed at the Guardian Tree’s constant whining about the female Thunder Dragon’s harassment, everything else was progressing smoothly. He had now reached Level 150.

The Korean Region Minor Gallery was buzzing with talk that Chul-Soo had finally hit his limit and that he could not get any stronger as a Streamer.

However, Jin-Hyeok thought differently.

‘I don’t have to retire yet.’

He could become much stronger going forward. He could feel it for sure now that he had reached Level 150.

‘But... the Players who hunt the Awakened will start eyeing me now.’

The Streamer Protection Treaty would offer him some shelter, but it wasn’t infallible.

‘I have no choice.’

Jin-Hyeok was not sure about his initial goal anymore, so he decided to push his retirement Level a bit higher. He decided to enjoy Playing up to Level 200.

‘To do that, I will need to become stronger. There’s just no way around it.’

Once he adjusted his retirement Level, he felt at ease.

Moreover, the Golden Guardian Tree assured his family’s safety on Earth. The tree had been growing rapidly ever since it had been harassed by the Thunder Dragon. It felt like the Guardian Tree had this urge to grow quickly, and it seemed that even trees became stronger when faced with a crisis.

‘What should be the next content?’

Many ideas immediately sprang to mind, but Jin-Hyeok mulled over which one would make his viewers ecstatic.

Suddenly, he felt Cha Jin-Sol tap him on the shoulder.

“Oppa, it’s the weekend. Aren’t you going to Play as Kim Pyeong-Beom?”

“Nope, not today.”

“Why not?!”

“Just because.”

Lately, Playing as Kim Pyeong-Beom had lost its appeal for him. It seemed his life as a Streamer was now much more enjoyable than his life as a Swordsman. The saying that people change turned out to be true in his case.

Jin-Hyeok thought of a good idea. “I was going to retire when I reached Level 150.”

‘Oh, that’s right! Pyeong-Beom can retire instead of me.’

Since Pyeong-Beom was his avatar, this retirement would count as fulfilling his initial goal. Jin-Hyeok had been feeling a bit embarrassed for not keeping his promises, but now he did not have to be.

“Can you help me out just once more as Pyeong-Beom? For a retirement commemoration, the last Play,” Jin-Sol asked.

“Hm...”

‘The last Play does not sound too bad.’

“So, what is it?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Take a look at this first.” Jin-Sol handed him her phone. The screen showed something happening on the American Server, across the Pacific.

“Isn’t that Berserker Oliverne?”

It was about the top-ranked Daoist-class Player in the United States, named Oliverne.

‘Wait, hold on.’

Jin-Hyeok focused on the screen.