I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 226

‘This is great.’

The all-knowing IntenseMan has a plan for everything—as the viewers saw him as such, Jin-Hyeok had many people to defend him. This allowed him to act as he wanted, a welcome change compared to how his life had been before his regression.

“Ah, so you’re a fan of mine?” Jin-Hyeok said to Swampland No.3 and reached out his hand to him.

Swampland No.3 was the fastest Player among the Swampland Crew but very weak in terms of strength. He had enhanced only abilities regarding speed, leaving his other abilities quite unimpressive. But knowing his limitations, Swampland No.3 always moved with meticulous planning when hunting Players.

Jin-Hyeok shook the Player Hunter’s hand. When he applied a bit more strength, Swampland No.3’s expression contorted.

“Ugh...!”

Crack!

‘Wait, did I hear a bone breaking? I didn’t even put that much strength into it...’

Even though Jin-Hyeok was the Munchkin Streamer now, breaking the bones of a high-Level Assassin with a handshake shouldn’t be this easy.

“Aaargh!” Swampland No.3 grasped his hand and screamed. He seemed to be blatantly faking it.

“Stop faking it. I turned off the livestream,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“...You turned off the livestream?”

Upon inspecting the Player Hunter with Broadcaster’s Insight, Jin-Hyeok could read his thoughts quite clearly.

[#A Streamer turned off the livestream? #Even better.]

It seemed Swampland No.3 somewhat cared about the Streamer Protection Treaty. He was happy that the livestream was turned off.

“Did you hire them?” Jin-Hyeok asked without letting go of his hand.

“First, could you let go of my hand?”

“Just answer.” Jin-Hyeok increased the pressure a little more. Swampland No.3’s hand made a crunching sound, but Jin-Hyeok just assumed that was part of the act. “Your acting is quite good. You faked your Level too. Let’s see... Your name is...”

“My name is Kim Min-Soo.” Swampland No.3 tried hard to conceal his true identity using his abilities. It seemed like a fog was covering his Player Name, but the Player Hunter’s effort turned out to be meaningless.

When Jin-Hyeok focused his eyes and looked more carefully, the real Player name emerged soon.

“So, your name is Swampland No.3.”

“...”

[#What the hell? #How does he know my real name?]

Jin-Hyeok was a bit surprised too. He had not expected to see the name so clearly. Being a cautious Player, Swampland No.3 had definitely secured his identity several times over, but Jin-Hyeok’s Broadcaster’s Insight saw through it all at once.

‘Have I become stronger than I thought?’

Since this Job path was new to Jin-Hyeok, he had yet to grasp the full extent of his capabilities.

“Swampland No.3? I have no idea what you are talking about. I’m just your fan... ARGH!” Swampland No.3 shouted.

He seemed to be overreacting. Jin-Hyeok had applied only a little pressure to his hand, yet Swampland No.3 was screaming at the top of his lungs.

‘Ah, now I understand why he is acting like this.’

“Acting like this is pointless,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“...A-Acting?”

“Nobody can record what is happening here right now.”

Before Jin-Hyeok’s regression, Swampland No.3 was someone who would not hesitate to use public opinion and manipulation to hunt Players. It seemed to be the same case now.

Swampland No.3 was creating a situation where it looked like Jin-Hyeok was oppressing him, hoping others would see it as such. However, this was a futile struggle.

“Do you think my Homepage Master is an idiot?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

? ? ?

Homepage Master Kang Eun-Woo was using the Skill ‘Only I Can Film You.’ Through this Skill, he had acquired the portrait rights of Jin-Hyeok. Currently, no one except Eun-Woo could film Jin-Hyeok.

Eun-Woo was eagerly filming Jin-Hyeok with his cannon-sized camera, gulping nervously.

‘I am the only one... who can film Chul-Soo!’ Eun-Woo was ecstatic because of this ability. ‘I should brag about this to Chul-Soo Land No.1 later.’

Chul-Soo Land No.1 and No.2 were feeling strong competitive urges toward each other. The ability to exclusively film Chul-Soo was undoubtedly a powerful weapon.

“Do you think my Homepage Master is an idiot?”

As Jin-Hyeok said that, his eyes met with Eun-Woo’s. Already in a good mood, Eun-Woo smiled brightly.

‘Since this is not a direct combat situation, he must be recording in the third-person perspective!’ Eun-Woo thought.

Eun-Woo remembered Yu-Mi’s instruction. If he ever got into Chul-Soo’s camera angle, he had to be always smiling brightly.

Jin-Hyeok liked Eun-Woo’s smile.

‘I can hear the sound of subscribers flocking in,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

Every time Eun-Woo’s face was exposed in the livestream, Jin-Hyeok’s subscriber count skyrocketed by millions. It felt like a cheat code for bringing in subscribers. Currently, Jin-Hyeok’s livestream was turned off, but Homepage Master Eun-Woo was working hard.

‘I really like this photo,’ Eun-Woo thought.

To Eun-Woo, Jin-Hyeok was the epitome of beauty. He had the pure madness that only someone truly passionate about Play could exhibit. The smile he had while breaking the bones of his opponent’s hand was truly beautiful.

Eun-Woo promptly uploaded the photo that he took of Jin-Hyeok to Kim Chul-Soo’s official Enstagram account.

(Picture)

2,230 Likes

official_chulsoo #train_pic more

-Holy moly! This unbearable handsomeness!

-He is the epitome of beauty.

-Who is that ugly squid next to him? Why is he holding Chul-Soo’s hand?

-I’ll buy that hand.

As always, fans from all over the universe instantly flocked in. Meanwhile, Eun-Woo noticed some comments.

-Wait, isn’t that a member of the Swampland Crew?

-Holy shit! It’s definitely the Swampland Crew.

-He’s Swampland No.3.

The netizens of the universe easily identified Swampland No.3

-He is disguised, but he cannot deceive my eyes.

-That bastard killed my father!

-I am a Level 150 Archer. With my fantastic vision, I can tell that it is definitely Swampland No.3

If Swampland No.3 could see these comments, he would be shocked. He had disguised himself to the best of his ability, and a Level 150 Archer would not normally recognize his true identity.

This was all thanks to the capability of the Munchkin Steamer Jin-Hyeok and Homepage Master Eun-Woo. Jin-Hyeok had unwittingly livestreamed what he saw with his own eyes. Swampland No.3, despite his efforts, could not deceive Jin-Hyeok’s eyes. Jin-Hyeok had unconsciously seen the true form of Swampland No.3.

A similar thing happened with Homepage Master Eun-Woo. Eun-Woo’s ability was unparalleled, as his photos and videos were limited to only the subject he was filming—Chul-Soo. Since Eun-Woo captured Swampland No.3 holding hands with Chul-Soo, Swampland No.3’s disguise was revealed in the camera. To the viewers, Swampland No.3 was just a poorly disguised enemy.

-How lightly must he regard Chul-Soo to attack him in his true form?

-Our Chul-Soo, we must protect him at all costs!

-I have already contacted KingGodGeneral Yumi. That guy is a Player Hunter.

-Good. This is an attack on a Streamer, so we need to formally protest to SSP. The protest petition link is here. ssp...

Fans of Chul-Soo from across the universe were furious, sending real-time tips to KimKnowItAllTV about everything related to Swampland No.3 Even Yu-Mi was surprised by this.

‘I knew that if the netizens started investigating something, they could gather so much information, but this is so much more than I expected...!’ she thought.

Even information about the real name of Swampland No.3 was being shared. Although not all this information was reliable, the sheer volume of it was overwhelming for her. Information about Swampland Crew spread quickly, thanks to the netizens.

-What the hell is Swampland?

└It’s a crew of Player Hunters.

└He definitely approached Chul-Soo with ill intentions.

└Ugly bastard! Trying to steal his face! -_-

-The Swampland Crew resides in the Kaelber Server. The crew consists of five members. He is the third one, a sly Player Hunter specializing in strategies and speed.

-But why would a Player Hunter go after a Streamer?

-Did he just forget about the Streamer Protection Treaty?

-Protest petition link: ssp...... Currently, 300,000 people have signed.

People were beginning to wonder why Chul-Soo had turned off his livestream at that time and whether he had done it voluntarily.

-I bet Swampland No.3 used despicable means to make Chul-Soo turn off his livestream.

-Such a low-life. To attack a Streamer as a Player Hunter.

-Please sign the petition! We have just hit 400,000 signatures!

As the situation escalated, Swampland No.3 also became aware of it. He heard the voices through the voice transmission device implanted in his ear. Upon hearing what was going on, Swampland No.3 wanted to scream.

‘What the hell? When the hell did I attack him?!’

It was true that he intended to attack, but he had not made any moves yet. In fact, he was the one who was being attacked.

‘What? I look like a criminal?’

He felt extremely wronged.

‘I was the one who got my bones smashed! And someone wants to buy my hand? Is holding hands with Chul-Soo that honorable?’

Swampland No.3 was almost bursting with anger. The pain was unbearable, something he had not experienced in a long time. Had he not trained to endure pain, he would have surely fainted.

‘I am the victim here!’

The situation seemed to be turning for the worse.

‘I should escape and wait for another opportunity.’

Swampland No.3 quickly made the decision to flee and activated his Skill.

[You have activated the Skill 「Gaseous Form」.]

This Skill allowed him to escape dangerous situations by turning his body into gas form.

“Activate Gaseous Form.”

Swampland No.3 was shocked. The one who uttered the activation phrase was not him.

Jin-Hyeok was smiling before him with a hint of madness. The one who said ‘Activate Gaseous Form’ was none other than Jin-Hyeok.

‘Good. I’ve timed it perfectly,’ Jin-Hyeok thought, looking pleased.

“H-How... How did you ...?” Swampland No.3 was stunned.

“Oh, this is how mana moves. And when you panic, these lines shake.”

Broadcaster’s Insight was a mysterious ability. It showed Jin-Hyeok the name of the Skill that his opponent was using. He instinctively knew how the Skill was applied to the body.

As the mana lines moved to envelop Swampland No.3, Jin-Hyeok grabbed and pulled them. “I usually cannot grab these lines, but you have created an opening with your panic! So, I can grab them with my hands!”

The mana lines that were manifesting the Skill became entangled.

Blegh!

Swampland No.3 vomited blood because the mana was regurgitating.

‘This... crazy bastard!’ Swampland No.3 thought.

Clearly, the information about Chul-Soo was terribly wrong. Swampland No.3 had never received reports of such abilities. He quickly thought of another plan. “W-Wait! I propose a negotiation!”

“Negotiation?”

“I am a warrior by nature. I want to duel with you, fair and square.”