I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 198

[A skilled Broadcaster should be able to understand and relay the actions of their subject more accurately.

To deeply understand the subject, it is necessary to imitate their actions.

Becoming the subject and acting as them is the best way to analyze and understand them from multiple angles.]

‘Huh?’

This reminded Jin-Hyeok of the effect of his Mythic-Grade Card: To Stand at the Summit of that Path.

‘Isn’t this a bit redundant?’

Jin-Hyeok would be somewhat disappointed if his new ability and the ability of the Mythic-Grade Card were similar. He did not think his audience would appreciate the same type of performance.

‘Still, I should give it a try.’

He was not sure if Imitation was more efficient than the Mythic-Grade Card, but efficiency was not everything. Jin-Hyeok was a Streamer, not a Swordsman. As a Streamer, his priority was to produce good content and give a more impressive performance.

‘Imitating his Skill should be easy.’

Jin-Hyeok had already experienced Zoro’s sword technique several times. From Zoro’s perspective, this would be Jin-Hyeok’s first encounter with that sword technique. However, in reality, that wasn’t the case. Jin-Hyeok had experienced the Song of the Black Tiger technique several times before his regression. It was a sword technique that had given Jin-Hyeok a painful defeat, so he had spent a long time studying how to counter it.

‘Hm... It works.’

It felt as comfortable as perfectly fitted clothes. Apparently, Jin-Hyeok’s compatibility with the Imitation Skill was quite good. Black tigers created with his mana started to appear behind him.

‘Why do I have three tigers when Zoro only has two?’

Five black tigers tangled and fought each other. Zoro’s black tigers were stronger individually, but Jin-Hyeok had the upper hand in numbers.

‘Why does this seem to work so well?’

The black tigers Jin-Hyeok created handled Zoro’s troublesome black tigers. Hence, Jin-Hyeok only needed to focus on Zoro’s sword.

‘Wow, he’s really fast!’

This was the advantage a pattern-type Swordsman enjoyed in battles. While they lacked adaptability in certain situations, they displayed consistent performance.

Jin-Hyeok also drew his sword, lightly deflecting Zoro’s attack.

‘I will just deflect the path of the sword.’

Jin-Hyeok was planning on using Broadcaster’s Barrier on the attacks that could not be deflected.

Suddenly, the trajectory of Zoro’s sword changed. Zoro threw the sword in his right hand on the ground. Jin-Hyeok’s sword cut through nothing but air.

“I knew how you would react like that,” Zoro said. He shifted the sword in his left hand to his right. Then he rotated half a turn, swinging his sword from right to left. The rotational force added to the fierceness of the blade.

‘I haven’t seen this pattern before.’

Jin-Hyeok’s Greatsword of La’kan could not keep up with Zoro’s attack speed.

Whoosh!

Zoro’s sword struck him in the neck, and Jin-Hyeok felt dizzy. He could feel his body collapsing.

‘Wow. It’s been a while since I felt this powerless.’

“The Song of the Black Tiger is the sword of Instant Kill,” Zoro said.

Jin-Hyeok faced death once again.

***

The Song of the Black Tiger was an ability that maximized the probability of Instant Kill. If the Player could accurately strike a vital point for a critical hit, it would nearly always result in an instant kill with almost a hundred percent probability. However, due to the large movements and the high risk of counterattack associated with this ability, it could not be used recklessly.

Zoro looked down at the fallen Chul-Soo.

‘Just like you thought of your thorough setup, so did I,’ he thought.

He had not expected to use this setup against Chul-Soo, a Streamer who had recently leveled up to 200.

‘You read my patterns too quickly as if you had fought me several times before.’

That was both a strength and a weakness for Chul-Soo.

Zoro glanced back and spoke to Egan. “I made him think he had read all my moves. So, Chul-Soo became too confident in his attacks. You can say that Chul-Soo was complacent, and I took that opportunity to execute my sword technique.”

Zoro explained his thought process to Egan. This was also a way to ask for the upgrade recipe of the Rule Breaker as the mission reward.

However, instead of replying to Zoro, Egan pointed behind him. “Look!”

Zoro hastily moved to dodge an attack coming from behind him. Jin-Hyeok had gotten up and swung his sword.

“...You!”

“You’re indeed fast. I thought I could at least hit you from behind.”

At that moment, Zoro realized something. “Extra Life?”

“Yeah. You said that you’ve been watching my livestream from the beginning, but how could you forget that?”

Zoro chuckled in disbelief.

‘I was so blinded by the Rule Breaker that I missed the basics,’ he thought.

“I gotta say. Your sword hurts like a bitch,” Jin-Hyeok said with a smile.

“This time, I will painlessly end your life for good.”

“I don’t think I can let you do that.”

“What?”

“You see... I’ve got my content for the day.” Jin-Hyeok rotated his arm. He had staged his death and fully demonstrated his newly acquired Imitation Skill. “With a Streamer’s eye, I can see exactly how the Song of the Black Tiger ability works.”

“...”

“You might be doing it intuitively, but I see it concretely. I can even see how the Skill maximizes the effect of Instant Kill.”

The black tiger absorbed the surrounding energy like a black hole. Its sharp teeth and claws weren’t really that important.

“How should I explain it for you to understand... Hm...” Jin-Hyeok continued.

Zoro could not just charge in and kill Jin-Hyeok. He felt that his fate was telling him to stop and listen.

“Imagine there are threads around a person, many connected strands. Oh, think of a marionette with strings attached. I think it’s easier that way.”

Zoro realized Jin-Hyeok was trying to teach him something, and his heart fluttered.

“The energy of the black tiger cuts the strings attached to the arms, legs, and head.”

“...”

“That maximizes the chances of Instant Kill activating.”

“...”

“If you use Instant Kill when all the strings are cut, the opponent will die no matter what. However, the strings reconnect instantly, so timing the ability is tricky,” Jin-Hyeok explained, still smiling. “Now that I’ve taught you the principle, consider this as a payback for helping me.”

Jin-Hyeok closed the distance with Zoro and swung his sword. The swords clashed.

Clang!

At that moment, Zoro sensed something was off.

‘His sword is much heavier! This bastard was hiding his true power!’

Jin-Hyeok smirked and said, “This is how a Streamer hides their power.”

He activated the Munchkin Trait, which could be activated only on other Servers.

***

KimKnowItAllTV’s chat was ablaze.

-What the hell? What just happened?

At the moment of Chul-Soo’s death, numerous viewers had cried, laughed, enjoyed, and mourned. When he had revived due to Extra Life, some were relieved, thinking that Chul-Soo always had a plan, and others boasted that they knew it all along.

Even though all viewers were watching the same situation, a variety of reactions were inevitable. However, right now, the reactions were almost unanimous.

-What the?

-Why is Chul-Soo dominating?

-It looks like Chul-Soo is much stronger.

Chul-Soo’s Greatsword of La’kan relentlessly pressured Zoro. Zoro appeared to be struggling just to fend off Chul-Soo’s attack.

-Wait, did Chul-Soo go easy on Zoro because of his content?

-Did he just die for his content? Who the hell would do that?

-Well, there’s Chul-Soo to start...

The viewers poured out numerous opinions on how this could be possible, and Chul-Soo gave them the answer.

?This is how a Streamer hides their power.?

-Wooow! Is that really possible?

-How can a Streamer hide their power against a Swordsman?

-This is a truly magnificent performance.

As time passed, Zoro became drenched in sweat.

-Wow, look at that delicate swordsmanship!

-How can he be a Streamer? He’s more like a Swordsman.

-Seems slow and smooth, but actually super fast.

Wang Yu-Mi forgot her role as a Storyteller and became immersed in watching Jin-Hyeok’s swordsmanship. “It’s beautiful.”

Unlike Zoro, who was tense all over, Jin-Hyeok was relaxed. He moved lightly and quickly, yet sharply targeted Zoro’s weaknesses.

-I think Chul-Soo is blocking the attacks that he can’t deflect with Broadcaster’s Barrier while attacking Zoro continuously.

-He can attack and defend at the same time! Seems overpowered to me.

A heated discussion ensued on how this could be possible, and the viewers reached a conclusion.

-Of course, a Streamer should be capable of both defending and attacking.

Tanks and damage-dealing Players expressed relative feelings of deprivation.

-How is this fair?

-So unfair, LOL. I’m speechless! I put my soul into becoming a Tank, and there is a Streamer who can defend better than me...

-This is proof that the Earth Server GMs totally failed at balancing difficulty.

-I feel so deprived!

-I don’t want to Play anymore. Honestly, isn’t this way too unfair for other Players?

-If you feel it’s unfair, imagine how Zoro feels right now.

-You think you’re more aggrieved than Zoro? LOL

Jin-Hyeok dominated Zoro, feeling elated.

‘It’s so good to have a rough idea of when Instant Kill will trigger.’

Zoro was a Player whose skills were often overrated due to his possession of the Instant Kill ability. His opponents were naturally cautious against Instant Kill, making it hard for them to fully unleash their abilities against him.

Jin-Hyeok started to have some regrets about his past battles with Zoro.

‘I should have just fought without worrying about his Instant Kill ability. The probability of it triggering seems low anyway.’

Being overly concerned about Zoro’s Instant Kill had been one of the reasons for his past failures.

‘Well, even considering all that, I have now surpassed my past self.’

Jin-Hyeok’s heart started pounding.

Before his regression, even if he did not worry about the Instant Kill ability, he could not have dominated Zoro like he was doing right now. Of course, Jin-Hyeok was reaping the benefits of the Time-Lapse Recording Skill, but that too was a part of his abilities.

‘If the Levels are matched, it is not too difficult to take on a Swordsman.’

The fact that Zoro was a pattern-type Swordsman played a part in it, but despite that, this achievement was encouraging. Victory seemed certain within a few minutes.

‘Then, I can safely say that I have become much stronger than I was in the past.’

Jin-Hyeok wondered whether, with this rate of growth, retirement was really necessary. At this point, even discussing retirement seemed meaningless. He seriously considered not retiring at all.

‘What do I need to do to not retire at all?’

Jin-Hyeok had wanted to stop becoming stronger, but now he had a different plan.

-This is crazy. A Streamer from the Earth Server is dominating a top Swordsman from another Server, and it’s a low-Level Streamer at that!

-Are we all being fooled here?

-Are Chul-Soo and Zoro collaborating for a staged livestream?

-This is totally scripted, LOL

-If you can’t understand it, it’s scripted? Wow~ Is there anything real in your world?

Yu-Mi clenched her fist and began typing rapidly.

[Mr. IntenseMan has opened a new horizon for us! >_<]

Advancing toward uncharted territory was challenging. However, it was different when there was a leader who could pioneer the way for the others. Chul-Soo was becoming a leader for Earth’s Players. He was the standard and the benchmark.

“Everyone can Play like Chul-Soo!” Yu-Mi said with a bright smile. Her fingers continued to move busily.

[Our goal is to be like Kim Chul-Soo~?]

-I agree!

-22222

-333333

‘After today, the overall level of the Earth Server is going to rise significantly.’ Yu-Mi was certain.