I Gave Up Being Stronger

“Kim Chul-Soo and the K-Force are arrogant. They want to hide the truth because of their ridiculous arrogance, thinking that only they can prevent the disaster. We have the right to know the truth,” Ronaldo said, leaving many thrilled by his words. “Why should the great Americans, the great American Players, have to follow Chul-Soo’s strategies? We are not minions of the K-Force!”

The American Players especially showed a lot of support for Ronaldo.

“Make America great again!”

Ronaldo kept shouting, “Make America great again!”

Numerous people responded enthusiastically. However, the outcome was not entirely positive.

***

Upon hearing the news that the arrival of a terrifying disease was imminent, the world naturally fell into a panic. Panic buying occurred everywhere, and various supermarkets ran out of essential goods. Various medicines sold out, and hospital room reservations were fully booked.

[The wealthy are securing VIP hospital rooms in advance with hefty reservation fees, among other extraordinary phenomena…]

[Meanwhile, exclusive contracts with Healers are being strengthened…]

The privileged individuals monopolized hospitals and Healers. Consequently, people in urgent need of treatment died because they could not receive proper medical care.

To add to the turmoil, a Server-level Scenario unfolded on Earth.

[The Server-level Scenario ⌜Invasion of Levion⌟ has begun.]

People wondered what or who Levion was. After much debate, it was soon classified as the name of a virus.

[You have been infected by Levion.]

Since it was not an ordinary virus, its mode of transmission was unclear.

Kihael concluded, “The System used the Levion Virus.”

GMs who had joined the MK Foundation had been brainstorming in advance to prepare countermeasures. They kept their options open, securing ingredients for a cure or finding routes to obtain System vaccines.

“This is unexpected,” Kihael said.

“Why didn’t we anticipate this?” Cha Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Because the System wasn’t supposed to blatantly use this virus. It’s a virus that would normally appear in a Scenario for mid-level Servers, not for a new Server like Earth.”

In reality, this was all due to Super Doctor Ronaldo. His announcement that a new disease was going to spread caused significant chaos, and the System took advantage of this turmoil to introduce a somewhat controversial virus.

“If things had been stable, this would not have happened,” Kihael said. However, his expression was not particularly dark. In fact, he was smirking.

‘Many were happy to see our necks on the line! They were happy that with the old GMs out of the picture, there were openings for our jobs. And many mocked us for not doing a better job of balancing the Server.’

-Yay, awesome! I got the job thanks to you old geezers. Thank you, seniors! ^^

-You guys should’ve done a better job, tsk tsk.

-Honestly, this was bound to happen. I have never seen a Server fail this badly at balance control, haha!

Due to many GMs leaving the System for the MK foundation, a significant gap in manpower had emerged in the System, which was later filled by rookie GMs and those unfamiliar with the Earth Server.

-I just got promoted!! Yay!

-I was waiting for those old geezers above me to leave! Now, my turn has come!

Feeling vindicated, Kihael joyously shouted, “Everyone must be shitting bricks now!”

“...”

“Hehe, let them all into the swamp of overtime!”

“Hey, people are dropping dead left and right, and you’re here making light-hearted comments?” Jin-Hyeok said, shaking his head.

Kihael looked at Jin-Hyeok with a somewhat baffled expression. “What’s up with you? Are you sick?”

“What do you mean?”

“Aren’t you the happiest person right now?”

“Why?”

“It’s perfect content for your Eltube channel, isn’t it?”

Jin-Hyeok’s expression turned a bit more serious.

***

The value of Healers skyrocketed beyond belief. Unless one was an extraordinarily wealthy individual or a wealthy person with power, getting treatment from Healers was nearly impossible. Amidst this, new information began to emerge.

[Dungeons that have the cure have been discovered.]

[Monsters that drop the cure as loot have appeared.]

The problem was that the supply of the Dungeons and cures was woefully inadequate compared to the demand. This inevitably led to Players fighting among themselves for the cure. These conflicts grew in scale, almost to the level of wars between nations.

Jin-Hyeok realized something.

‘...Ah.’

The System did not act as the GMs had predicted. There were some aspects that they had missed.

‘The System seems to be inciting a war.’

Its goal was not to kill people with disease. The System was planning to reduce the population by sparking a war. But then, Kihael posed a fundamental question to Jin-Hyeok. “Aren’t you the happiest person right now? It’s perfect content for your Eltube channel, isn’t it?”

Kihael was undeniably right.

‘I know it’s good content for my channel, but am I happy…?’

If anything, he should have been happy. That seemed like the right emotion to feel, yet for some reason, he was not feeling it. Jin-Hyeok, who had begun to develop a sense of humanity, found it difficult to fully understand his feelings.

Meanwhile, former GMs who had recently joined the MK Foundation were frantically moving around.

‘We need to prove our worth!’

‘If we get fired from here, there is nowhere else to go!’

They were desperate.

‘Levion Virus? Are you kidding me?!’

‘It’s a good thing that there is a cure for this virus.’

While current Earth Players were only focused on the cure dropping within Earth, expanding the view to the entire universe revealed that the Levion Virus cure was not so rare.

“It’s an endemic disease that vanished from the advanced Servers long ago…!”

This virus had disappeared from the advanced Servers a long ago. Thus, while there might not be any remaining cure, there surely would be records on how to make it. The GMs worked desperately to create a cure.

Kihael was also trying to prove his worth, reporting to Jin-Hyeok based on information shared with his colleagues.

“This virus was something advanced Servers dealt with hundreds of years ago. Finding the records should not be hard, so we can have a cure in days, or a few weeks at most.” Confidence was quite evident on Kihael’s face.

Even though Kihael advocated for work-life balance, he was not devoid of his pride as a GM. As former GMs came together for this project, playing a central role, Kihael felt a sense of accomplishment. He also felt pride in this collective intelligence.

‘How about that, Chul-Soo? We can get things done when we need to!’ Kihael thought.

Jin-Hyeok quietly listened to Kihael and asked, “But isn’t there an easier way?”

“An easier way?”

“I am thinking of planting Guardian Trees worldwide. The Guardian Tree has been complaining of itchiness, asking for its branches to be cut.”

“So, you’re saying, cut the branches and plant them in different nations? To grow Guardian Trees all over Earth?” Kihael snorted. “You get a bit of praise from the public, and you suddenly think everything is easy.”

‘Planting Guardian Trees worldwide? That’s an absurd thing to say,’ Kihael thought. If that were possible, Arvis would already be filled with thousands of Guardian Trees.

“How would that even work?” Kihael asked. He realized that sometimes Chul-Soo said the craziest things. However, that was only natural since Chul-Soo was also crazy. “Even if it were possible, it would require extremely skilled Farmers, those who have rolled in the fields of Arvis for decades, and among them, only rankers who have experience managing Guardian Trees can do it.”

Kihael was highly skeptical. “Do you think they would come to the Earth Server? To this backward and deficient Server where third-class citizens live?”

“You focus on mass-producing the cure with the other GMs,” Jin-Hyeok said. In fact, he was not sure if his idea would work. Deciding to mix Kihael’s method with his, he opted for a two-track strategy.

***

[5 million people worldwide have lost their lives…]

The distressing news was all over TV. Just a week into the outbreak of the Levion Virus, a staggering five million people had died from the infection. Moreover, some of the dead turned into undead, attacking those around them. The entire world was in chaos.

[It has been calculated that without treatment from a Healer of Level 150 or above, there is about an eighty percent chance of death…]

The virus had a mortality rate of approximately eighty percent. The figure was horrifying.

[However, in South Korea, the mortality rate is about eight percent. In Seoul, it’s calculated to be about 0.8 percent.]

Many experts presented analyses on this phenomenon. Among them, Encyclopedia’s analysis stated:

[The Korean Players have a fundamentally higher average Level.]

While other Players from the Earth Server received a 20-Level increase after the recent growth of the Guardian Tree, the Korean Players received a 30-Level increase. In Seoul, it was even higher at a 40-Level increase.

[Since the Levion Virus is greatly influenced by the Players’ Levels, it appears to have a diminished effect in Seoul.]

However, there was more to it.

[Nonetheless, a figure of 0.8 percent is extraordinary. It can’t be explained merely by having higher Levels. It’s very likely thanks to that Golden Guardian Tree.]

Later, Jin-Hyeok confirmed this through his livestream.

“The Guardian tree does more than just fend off monsters.” The Guardian Tree also had the power to protect against diseases. “So, we are thinking of cutting off branches of the Guardian Tree and planting them worldwide. We hope it will be of great help.”

The Guardian Tree itself had been itching all over, clamoring for its branches to be pruned.

“However, we can’t just entrust this task to anyone,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Surprisingly, Farmers from Arvis, specifically those who had experience managing Guardian Trees, flocked to the Earth Server in droves.

“Of course, we must help.”

“It’s about saving lives.”

“It’s something only we can do. We have to step forward.”

Though they spoke nobly, their eyes were filled with desire.

[#I am going to be the second Trituri.]

[#I too shall be great.]

[To Earth we go.]