I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 227

‘I need to think about my channel.’

He decided to keep it nice and clean. “Why? Do you think you can win if I let go of your hand?”

“No, I can’t beat you. But as a warrior, I would appreciate it if you would allow me to die an honorable death.”

“...”

“Think of your livestream. This fight will provide better content, won’t it?”

“True. You have a point.” Jin-Hyeok looked around at the passengers and continued, “I think we should change the location of our duel.”

Jin-Hyeok’s heart raced. Swampland No.3’s Level was 230. Encountering a Player with such a Level on the Earth Server was not easy, and on top of that, Swampland No.3 was quite a skilled Assassin. Such an opportunity was rare.

‘I had many fights against him before my regression.’

With this fight, Jin-Hyeok could compare his past self with his current self. He wanted to be sure that he had surpassed his former self.

Jin-Hyeok and Swampland No.3 climbed on top of the moving train.

‘Wow, it’s been a while since I fought on top of a train.’

Memories of swinging his sword thousands of times atop the KTX train to practice his balance flooded Jin-Hyeok’s mind. At that time, he had fallen off several times and even suffered full-body fractures, but that too had become his memory.

‘I used to spar a lot with Lee Hyeon-Seong up here.’

The wind rushing by on a train moving at hundreds of kilometers per hour was as refreshing as ever, putting Jin-Hyeok in a good mood. He kept grinning

‘I might be stronger than I thought.’

He had shattered a Skill that Swampland No.3 was trying to use. Jin-Hyeok had no idea he could do that.

[Gaseous Form (Unavailable)]

“It seems that in my right hand...”—with a serious face, Jin-Hyeok unleashed his inner emotions—“dwells the King of Destruction.”

The adrenaline surged in the midst of this rare battle on the train.

? ? ?

Senior Manager Steikold, who was the department head in charge of SSP petitions, frowned deeply. “Damn it!”

He was not too fond of the traffic surge on the petition server. It usually meant annoying issues were about to arise.

“At this rate, the number of people who signed the petition will soon hit a million...”

Once the number of signatures on a petition exceeded a million, the petition was automatically recorded in the SSP Server. Then, whether the SSP GMs liked it or not, they had to intervene in the issue.

“I told them a thousand times to raise the threshold for the petition number.”

Steikold was angry that they were still using the standard set thirty years ago. Back then, it was rare for a case to exceed a million signatures. However, surpassing that number was becoming increasingly common nowadays.

“And it’s not like we have our hands full with other things.” Steikold sighed.

“Sir, what should we do?”

“What can we do? We just have to send a GM.”

“But currently, they are all out on assignments...”

Facing a serious staff shortage, Steikold had his own way of setting priorities. Besides the number of signatures reaching a million, another criterion he had to consider was how fast the number of signatures was increasing. He referred to this as the slope.

“How steep is the slope?” Steikold asked.

“It’s pretty steep, sir.”

“God damn it!”

It meant that the issue was attracting a lot of public attention.

“There is also something unusual, sir.”

“What is it?”

“Normally, after the initial surge, the slope tends to flatten, right?”

They focused on certain statistical values, such as the range of the initial surge and when the slope usually began to flatten. This decided whether an issue was minor enough to be ignored, or if it required serious attention. They had experienced a lot due to their long-accumulated data, but this incident was breaking all the usual patterns.

“Instead, the slope is getting steeper,” the subordinate said.

“What?”

“Look at this, sir. The number of signatures breached a million and then quickly surpassed two million. I can only think of one similar incident...” The subordinate gulped hard. “...The Demon King of Arvis, Garbinu, was the only precedent.”

“I need you to request support.”

“By request, you mean...”

“Do I have to tell you everything? I bet the GMs in the Seoul Region have a lot of free time!”

The Seoul Region was currently the most peaceful on the Earth Server. Thanks to this, the Seoul GMs were relatively idle. There were even rumors that Seoul GMs were just drawing salaries without doing much work.

“Understood, sir.”

‘Why not just tell me who I should request support from? Jeez!’ the subordinate thought.

Such tricky tasks were always left to subordinates. In reality, this subordinate was a novice with little field experience. There were not many people he could contact.

‘How long will SSP operate in such a haphazard manner?’

It was a wonder that SSP had not collapsed under such disorganization.

‘Well, since it’s still running somehow, they probably won’t change anything.’

After all, burning through junior GMs was cheaper and more efficient than establishing a proper system.

‘I guess I have no choice then.’

Regrettably, the only GMs he could randomly call upon were the junior ones.

‘Kihael, I chose you!’

Examining the holographically created date, Steikold pressed his temples hard. “The slope... is nearly vertical!”

The situation was more severe than that during the Demon King’s time.

? ? ?

Swampland No.3 laughed. “This was my plan all along!”

[#Nobody is watching. #Taste my Supersonic Speed!]

“This place is highly advantageous for me!”

Thump. Thump.

His heart raced. It seemed like he was about to exert his real power. Swampland No.3 had a Mystery called Supersonic Speed, which was not easy to master. Only a handful of Players could effectively harness this power, and Swampland No.3 was one of the rare ones who could use Supersonic Speed effectively.

‘Hm... Supersonic Speed, huh,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

He could clearly see Swampland No.3’s intention to dive at him. Just then, Jin-Hyeok spotted a tunnel in the distance. It seemed like Swampland No.3 wanted to hide in the darkness and overwhelm Jin-Hyeok with his speed.

‘He is making it so obvious. I can clearly see when he will move, how he is going to attack, and how intense he will be.’

Jin-Hyeok assumed it was obvious to him because he had been in several fights with Swampland No.3 before his regression or perhaps because he had Broadcaster’s Insight. Jin-Hyeok needed to fight a strong opponent he had not faced before to distinguish this clearly.

‘Anyway, what I need to confirm now is not the Broadcaster’s Insight.’

The train entered the tunnel. At the same time, Swampland No.3 disappeared.

“I can’t see him,” Jin-Hyeok said. He could not see Swampland No.3 but could feel him lurking around, waiting for an opening. “Terrifying speed.”

Jin-Hyeok was genuinely astonished by the Player Hunter’s speed. “However, just because he is fast does not mean I can’t hit him. Let me introduce you to my Absolute Barrier.”

Jin-Hyeok activated Absolute Barrier. He had practiced it a few times, but this was his first time using it in a real combat situation, so he felt a thrill.

[You have activated the Trait ?Absolute Barrier?.]

Broadcaster’s Barrier worked best when Jin-Hyeok timed the opponent’s attack. If he activated Broadcaster’s Barrier for too long, its defensive efficiency would drop, and it would consume a lot of stamina. That was why he worked hard to use Broadcaster’s Barrier as efficiently as possible. His experiences during his days as the Sword King had been a great help in that.

‘But... is this really okay?’

Absolute Barrier was very different from Broadcaster’s Barrier. It felt like a thin film was enveloping his body.

[*Insert a healing and comforting background music.]

Jin-Hyeok was on top of a high-speed train, and a Player Hunter was targeting him. However, the only thing Jin-Hyeok felt was a mix of comfort and excitement.

‘There is almost no stamina consumption.’

It almost felt like Absolute Barrier had a will of its own.

“No barrier of a Streamer can block my Supersonic Speed!”

Flash!

Suddenly, a light burst out. Sparks flew where Absolute Barrier and Swampland No.3’s weapon, a long claw-like weapon, collided.

Swoosh!

Swampland No.3 seemed to scatter to the side and then vanished from Jin-Hyeok’s sight again.

Jin-Hyeok stood still without much agitation. “There were things that I could not agree with before.”

During his Sword King days, he endlessly practiced and trained to become stronger. He loved the feeling of becoming stronger. He believed that by honing and refining his skills, he could one day become the strongest Player in the universe. However, his beliefs had changed now.

He was wrong from the start. He should have picked up a hammer as his main weapon, but instead, he chose a sword, and that was the limit of his growth.

“They say that before overwhelming power, technique is meaningless. I always disagreed with the statement,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Jin-Hyeok remembered a few absolute beings from the Arvis Server saying this. Now, he was gaining a new enlightenment.

‘Absolute Barrier, you are truly incredible.’

It did not matter if Jin-Hyeok could see his opponent or not. He did not need to time anything. The defensive capability of Absolute Barrier was, literally, overwhelming. Unlike Broadcaster’s Barrier, there was no need to think about efficiency or to use it skillfully.

A rock did not need to worry about an attack from an egg. Swampland No.3’s claw attacks could not even graze Jin-Hyeok. His rapid movements at supersonic speed seemed almost pitiful, as Jin-Hyeok stood in tranquility.

“So, techniques don’t really matter, do they?” Jin-Hyeok was convinced that no matter what Swampland No.3 tried, he could never penetrate Absolute Barrier. Continuing to fight him while using Absolute Barrier seemed like an insult to the barrier itself.

A voice of anguish reached Jin-Hyeok’s ears.

-Master... Please be rough with me...

Miri desperately called out to Jin-Hyeok, and he responded by lifting it. “In the past, I had to move around quite a lot to find my opponent’s weaknesses.”

That was the way of a Sword King. However, the style of a Streamer had to be different. If a Streamer moved intensely, the screen would shake. Some viewers would get motion sickness and vomit. Jin-Hyeok continuously gained insights as he grew as a Streamer.

‘But sometimes, such intense movements are necessary.’

However, Jin-Hyeok had to take it to the next level.

‘Moving around because it’s necessary and moving around because there is no other choice are totally different.’

In the past, he had to fight intensely out of necessity. Back then, he was not the Munchkin Streamer, just an ordinary Initially-Awakened Streamer.

‘Today... I will fight more comfortably. Sort of like my sentimental vlog.’

Jin-Hyeok leisurely lifted Miri so that the viewers would not feel uncomfortable. Everything was calm for him.

‘His movements are clearly visible.’

Despite Swampland No.3’s use of the Mystery Supersonic Speed, Jin-Hyeok could see the Player Hunter’s movements clearly. They emerged from the tunnel.

As the scene brightened in front of his eyes, he swung Miri.

Thwack!

“ARGH!”

Supersonic Speed was disadvantageous for Swampland No.3. Fast speed was a threat to not only the opponent but also oneself. If Swampland was hit by a hammer at this speed, it was natural for his head to be shattered. He fell to the ground, twitching as if he were electrocuted.

Jin-Hyeok approached him and crouched. “Is he... dead?”

Just when Jin-Hyeok thought Swampland No.3 was dispersing like smoke, a voice came from behind him. “I had seen through your attack long ago!”

It seemed like Swampland No.3 knew very well that Jin-Hyeok would target the back of his head. Swampland No.3 had used some kind of cloning skill, but the problem was that Jin-Hyeok could see this too.

‘His attack patterns are very similar to before my regression. Should I just take the hit?’

Jin-Hyeok felt like he had gotten tougher than how he had been before his regression. After a moment’s contemplation, he remembered the concept of today’s livestream. Today’s concept was overwhelming the opponent.

Jin-Hyeok exposed his neck, and Swampland No.3’s claw attack hit his throat.

[You have activated the automatic protection feature of the Trait ?Absolute Barrier?.]

Absolute Barrier protected him efficiently as an AI would. It was like a supercomputer that provided the best efficiency without much effort from him.

Jin-Hyeok twisted his body and grabbed Swampland No.3’s neck, intending to strangle him.

-Master... Ha... I want to smash it...

Miri called out to him so earnestly that he had no choice but to swing it, not toward the back of the head, but at the temple. Swampland No.3 went limp.

-His temple... so delicious...!

‘How can someone’s temple be delicious? Also, was Swampland No.3 always this weak?’

He was so weak that Jin-Hyeok did not even get the chance to compare himself to his old self before the regression.

‘Maybe it’s a matter of compatibility.’

Just like a game of rock-paper-scissors, even among those with similar skills, much could change depending on compatibility.

‘My defensive capabilities increased significantly, so it must have been a terrible matchup for him, who only has speed as his strength.’

As Jin-Hyeok entered the next tunnel, he could hear a familiar voice.

“You crazy bastard...!” Kihael revealed himself. “...Are you aware of what you have just done?”

He talked about something quite interesting.