I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 317

Although Beckant was considered the Hell King, it was difficult to see him as strong as the other rulers of Hell. He was born into a powerful family and had inherited his power.

‘I knew he was strong but lazy and arrogant, never putting in the effort needed.’

Nevertheless, his inherent abilities were outstanding enough to place him at the lower end of the universe’s top rankings. The thing that had brought him down was a combined effort of the Succubi and Earth-born Players, and that too on Beckant’s Server.

Jin-Hyeok gleaned another lesson from this. ‘The combination of seduction and assassination techniques is indeed deadly.’

If these two synergized well, differences in Level or Skills became irrelevant. A moment’s carelessness could be fatal.

Remembering Lilia’s kind smile, Jin-Hyeok reaffirmed his resolve. ‘I must not be deceived by that warm smile and tone of voice.’

Anyone could end up like Beckant if they were deceived. This presented Jin-Hyeok with a new possibility.

‘As expected, if properly honed, nothing is as powerful as the art of seduction.’

It would be negligent to ignore such a potent skill. Jin-Hyeok realized he needed to practice the art of seduction more diligently.

‘Anyway, the command structure of the Third Hell is now shattered. The problem remains with the citizens of the Third Hell...’

Whether the residents of the Third Hell would accept and acknowledge their new overlords remained uncertain, but it was indeed a moment when a new haven was being established for the Succubi.

***

Before she knew it, the Empress of Hell had regained consciousness.

‘I am going to wait a bit longer.’ Even at the last moment, the Empress of Hell did not let her guard down. She kept her true feelings concealed. ‘I am most vulnerable right now. If someone harbored malicious intent against me, they would attack me now. But... no one is attacking me.’

The Empress of Hell found this somewhat puzzling. After all, the Fourth Hell was considered the weakest Hell. Moreover, many were displeased with her ascending to the throne of a lord. Division seemed inevitable.

‘If they kill me here, they can take over the Fourth Hell very easily.’

Eventually, she slowly got up.

“Oh, are you awake now?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“There is something I want to ask you, Chul-Soo.”

“What is it?”

“Why are you helping me?” She was curious, wondering why he had not attacked her, why he was using his limited miracles to help her—what were his motives.

‘Could this be the outburst of justice that others speak about? Is it affection and consideration for my situation?’

It was hard for her to understand. She asked again, “Why are you going to such lengths?”

Jin-Hyeok tilted his head, surprised by the obviousness and simplicity of the situation. “Well, it’s great content for my Eltube channel.”

“...”

Jin-Hyeok’s eyes remained clear. The Empress of Hell noticed that he was speaking the truth and could not help but smile.

‘I guess this is better,’ she thought. She liked the clear sincerity in Chul-Soo’s eyes.

Now that Gahi had become a man, he[1] continued, “Chul-Soo, you probably achieved an All-Clear as soon as you left the Banyan Tree Dungeon.”

Chul-Soo’s eyes widened. ‘How does the Dungeon boss monster know about this?’

Chul-Soo knew Gahi was not just any ordinary Dungeon boss monster, but something more special seemed to be hidden within him.

***

After Kim Min-Ji’s surprise attack(?), Verpalto barely managed to gather his wits before his mind went blank again. ‘That damned Empress of Hell...!’

He was worried about just how much the Empress of Hell was planning to reveal.

“Stop him! Stop him by any means!” Verpalto yelled.

“It’s difficult to intervene artificially through the System, Sir.”

“Fuck!”

Verpalto, a radical hardliner dispatched to manage Seoul, had a sinking feeling. ‘I am... probably going to be fired.’

Being fired would be a relief for him. The thought that he could even be assassinated crossed his mind.

‘I need to do something.’ It was already too late for him to undo his mistakes. ‘I have to survive.’

He decided to confront the issue head-on by meeting directly with Chul-Soo. As he stepped outside, he headed to Choi Gap-Soo’s workshop instead of going to Chul-Soo’s home.

“Please save me. At this rate, I am going to die!” Verpalto begged Gap-Soo.

“Do you not see that I am watching the livestream right now? Go wait over there for a bit.”

Gap-Soo was enjoying Jin-Hyeok’s livestream from a high-end media room. In the livestream, the Empress of Hell was speaking.

“At times, the lords of Hell are contracted by upper GMs. They are summoned as Dungeon Masters when balance adjustments are needed, and tasked with killing those who disrupt the balance. In the past, they have also killed Players who annoyed the GMs.”

“Are you saying this is not the System’s initiative but one from the GMs?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“It has been going on for over a hundred years.”

“This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”

“Well, that makes sense. All Players who met us have died.”

Jin-Hyeok paused for a moment and thought, ‘So, they are not your ordinary Dungeon bosses.’

They were rankers from other Servers, recruited by the GMs for a special purpose. His mind grew complicated. ‘That means the creation of the Banyan Tree Dungeon before my regression was... due to GMs who disliked how fast we were becoming stronger?’

It seemed highly likely.

‘Who was the director of the Seoul Management Bureau before my regression?’

It was Yael, an angelic GM with two wings, known for his mild nature and favorable attitude toward Earth.

‘So, he was the bastard who ordered to have us killed?’

Jin-Hyeok felt somewhat puzzled. He was not very angry at the Empress of Hell who had killed his comrades, but he was furious at the GM who had ordered it. Nevertheless, that did not matter now.

‘I think taking down the GMs could make for good content.’

It was an intriguing idea for content, though it came with significant risks and needed thorough preparation.

“Is it okay that you are telling me all this?” Jin-Hyeok asked the Empress of Hell.

“There is no clause that says I can’t.”

That was the more terrifying fact.

‘They probably did not bother with such a clause since they planned to kill all the Players that got in their way.’

Jin-Hyeok continued the livestream. “This is turning out to be quite shocking. The fact that the GMs manipulated the life and death of Players to their liking... I think that is outside the range of their authority, don’t you guys think? I was lucky to survive, but one misstep and I would have died, just like they wanted me to. Empress of Hell, please tell us clearly. Were you actually trying to kill me?”

“They asked me to play with you a bit before killing you.”

“Good thing I am bored right now. I shall entertain myself with you for a while.”

Jin-Hyeok nodded as he remembered the first things the Empress of Hell had said when they met in the Dungeon before his regression.

‘So that’s why he let us off easy before my regression,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

It seemed like another trick by the GMs. They were deploying the lords of Hell to kill Players who were starting to stand out, and clearly, they had been careful about it.

‘If Players had died too easily, people would have complained about difficulty issues. The GMs would have hated the attention.’

An alarm went off in the Seoul Management Bureau.

“Burn all the meeting records! Dispose of all documents related to the Banyan Tree Dungeon!”

“But the director is not here!”

“I am the deputy director! I will take responsibility, just destroy everything! Leave no trace!”

The GMs scrambled frantically.

“Deputy Director... we can’t delete the files.”

“It seems like we have been hacked!”

The deputy director’s legs gave out, and he collapsed.

The faces of the GMs turned pale.

***

The Empress of Hell continued, “However, one person survived a long time ago. He survived in the era of my great-grandfather.”

A name popped up in Jin-Hyeok’s mind, a name that had been continuously mentioned and intertwined in recent discussions.

“Is it Garbinu?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Yes. Your knowledge of the subject is impressive. It was indeed Garbinu. He survived in a manner similar to you and also obtained the All-Clear reward. My grandfather often told stories about that time.”

“What was Garbinu’s reward?”

“It was probably the same as what you have received.”

Jin-Hyeok sensed that this was the right moment. He decided to share the details of the All-Clear reward he had been saving.

[All-Clear (Banyan Tree Dungeon)]

[An Achievement that is given to those that All-Clear an ?Ownerless Dungeon?.]

“That is different from usual,” Jin-Hyeok said. He also shared the All-Clear he had earned before for comparison.

[All-Clear (Sareoga Mart Dungeon)]

[An Achievement that is given to those that All-Clear Sareoga Mart Dungeon.]

“Usually, the Dungeon name is displayed like this, but this time, the All-Clear mentions an Ownerless Dungeon. It seems like a side effect caused by the GMs’ trickery because it is not a Dungeon legitimately created by the System.”

[All-Clear (Sareoga Mart Dungeon)]

[An Achievement that is given to those that All-Clear Sareoga Mart Dungeon.

1) Mark of the All-Clearer (on activation, appears on: right wrist)

-The Achievement bearer will maintain an invulnerability state within Ownerless Dungeons.

-The Achievement bearer receives a significant boost in all experience gained in Ownerless Dungeons.]

“I guess this means I will be invincible or nearly so in a Dungeon manipulated by the GMs. Sounds pretty good.”

The action and its opposite reaction were always equal. When Jin-Hyeok had cleared the Sareoga Mart Dungeon, the Achievement was ‘The Achievement bearer will not be attacked by the monsters of Sareoga Mart Dungeon.’ Now, it had become ‘maintains an invulnerability state.’

[2) Owner of the Ownerless Place

-The Achievement bearer can appoint an owner to any place where an owner can be appointed.

-?]

Apart from a simple line of explanation, it was marked with a question mark.

“I am not sure what this means. Being able to appoint an owner to any place... I guess we will find out over time,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Garbinu appointed his name to everything in the world and became their master himself,” the Empress of Hell said. He knew far more than expected. “The largest unit he claimed was a Server.”

“A Server?”

‘Does that mean a Player can be an owner of a Server? It’s odd to think there could be an owner of a Server...’ Jin-Hyeok thought. It would be like saying, ‘I am the owner of Earth,’ and suddenly becoming the owner just by declaring it.

“He used to say it habitually, that he would become the owner of the Arvis Server,” the Empress of Hell said.

“Hm...” Jin-Hyeok pondered it for a moment before speaking. “Maybe I should try it.”

Becoming the owner of the Earth Server seemed far-fetched, but he had nothing to lose by trying.

“Especially since this is also the territory of the Guardian Tree,” Jin-Hyeok said. Feeling a strong mental bond to the Guardian Tree, he sensed the state of the Guardian Tree. It was very pleased after showing off its powerful defensive abilities.

“And the Sareoga Mart Dungeon is nearby,” Jin-Hyeok continued. In the Sareoga Mart Dungeon, all of his abilities were significantly enhanced. “If I use God of Luck, I might be able to achieve something.”

Jin-Hyeok moved to the Sareoga Mart Dungeon and decided to immediately test the All-Clear effect Owner of the Ownerless Place.

1. The author decided to change the pronouns here and not as soon as the operation was successful. It appears to be a creative choice, so I’ve not changed it. ☜