I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 427

Kyle wanted to say many things, such as that the Imperial Treasury was like a living magical creature and hitting it with such power could trigger unpredictable and bizarre changes and that even though he had disabled the treasury’s protective barriers, they could not let their guard down since the treasury could identify them as intruders and launch all sorts of attacks.

That single word “Wait!” contained all these warnings.

Boom!

An explosion erupted as if a bomb had gone off. The rock was harder than Jin-Hyeok had expected.

‘That’s even better,’ Jin-Hyeok thought. ‘If it broke in one hit, it would not be much of a rock, would it?’

Since he was unable to warn Kim Chul-Soo, Kyle prepared to handle the situation by gathering his energy.

‘Chul-Soo is my guest,’ Kyle thought. It would not reflect well on him as an emperor if his guest incurred serious injuries or got lost in the treasury. He had to protect Chul-Soo at all costs.

Boom!

‘What kind of reaction will occur?’ Kyle tensed, but nothing happened.

“I think this should do it,” Jin-Hyeok said, grasping the sword and wiggling it. The sword moved a bit, like a loose tooth. “I will hit it a couple more times.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

-Thanks for the food!

Miri seemed quite happy to be smashing the rock.

“I will apply some force now.” Jin-Hyeok had half-expected the sword to not come out even now, but that thought proved meaningless. “It’s out.”

As Jin-Hyeok held the sword, he saw Kyle staring at him.

‘Is he going to attack me?’ Jin-Hyeok thought. ‘Maybe he’s an Assassin disguised as Kyle?’

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

When nothing happened inside the treasury, Kyle relaxed a bit and secured the sword.

“Surprisingly... nothing happened,” Jin-Hyeok said sarcastically.

“You’re right.”

No dangerous traps were activated, and Kyle did not launch a surprise attack against Jin-Hyeok. They had easily obtained a major artifact of a universe-level Scenario.

‘Should I hope this isn’t this Sword of the Old Era, which I was looking for?’ Jin-Hyeok thought. If it was, the viewers would get bored with his content really fast. The one fortunate thing was that the sword that he had extracted was emanating ominous red energy. A tremendous amount of mana was surging within it.

“It looks like the sword might explode if left alone.” Jin-Hyeok believed that a massive explosion was imminent. He could hear the sword talk.

-Give me blood.

Jin-Hyeok could feel the sword’s desire for blood. If the one holding this sword were someone with weak willpower, they could have stabbed their heart with it.

‘Blood, you say...’ Jin-Hyeok briefly considered whether stabbing himself would make for good content, but he quickly decided against it. While there was some demand for such masochistic content, it was not the direction he wanted to pursue.

Kyle, the former captain of the Sword Emperor Unit and an excellent Swordsman, also sensed the dangerous energy stirring within the sword.

“Chul-Soo, we need to subdue the sword. Perhaps the scabbard you obtained at the gate can calm its magical power!” Kyle said. There seemed to be no other immediate solution. “Kim Chul-Soo!!!”

Kyle sensed the gravity of the situation. The sword could explode at any moment, shattering into millions of pieces, each fragment imbued with that ominous energy. The force was strong enough to endanger even Chul-Soo.

Jin-Hyeok felt it too.

‘Should I just let it explode?’ Jin-Hyeok wondered, considering that this could potentially lead to content about the Imperial Treasury Explosion. While it would certainly be newsworthy, Jin-Hyeok shook his head. Kyle had said he wanted to open the treasury to help people in difficult circumstances. ‘It might be good for me, but...’

If the entire treasury were destroyed, many people who could have benefited from it would lose out.

“I will try pouring the Chul-Soo Potion on it first,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Kyle initially thought that it would never work but compromised with reality, thinking that it could. To his surprise, Jin-Hyeok calmly said, “It has calmed down.”

***

The Chul-Soo Potion was made by Cha Jin-Sol, a Blood Priestess, using Jin-Hyeok’s blood as an ingredient. The sword seemed to greatly enjoy the Chul-Soo Potion.

-Give me more! I want more!

Kyle, who had resonated with many swords, could sense how unruly this sword was. Although Jin-Hyeok had said the sword had calmed down, that would likely be very temporary. They ultimately needed something capable of suppressing the sword.

“Chul-Soo, I think you should bring out the scabbard.”

“The scabbard?”

“Yes. That sword is ominous and unruly. I have just realized that the scabbard you obtained seems to have the power to seal the sword’s will.”

-Give me blood, you imbecile!

At that moment, Miri stepped forward.

-Should I just smash this thing?

-What? Do you dare to smash me?

-You don’t think I can?

-Hmph! Go ahead and try!

Miri vibrated. Having grown alongside Jin-Hyeok’s rapid development, Miri now possessed a strong will. Her body turned golden and began emitting a destructive aura. It was the essence of Miri’s Trait, Persistent and Sticky Desire.

-I will smash your skull!

Just as the beam of light that Miri shot out was about to strike the sword, the bloodthirsty sword finally sensed danger and cried out for help. Jin-Hyeok blocked Miri’s energy with his palm.

‘Calm down. Calm down. I don’t want to destroy the sword right now.’

It would be a shame to destroy the artifact he had just obtained right away. Being mentally connected to Jin-Hyeok, the sword sensed something odd.

-Did you just say that you didn’t want to destroy me right away?

The sword could feel that Jin-Hyeok was not lying. It sensed Jin-Hyeok’s intention that while it would be a shame now, someday he could break the sword to feed Miri. The fiery sword became docile.

-I will behave. I will not ask for blood. I’m useful. You can trust me.

-Hmph, you don’t look particularly useful.

-I...I have different uses than a blunt weapon.

Miri transformed into the shape of a sword.

-Same here.

-...

The sword became dejected.

‘Now, now, guys. Please don’t fight.’

With Miri stepping in to firmly establish dominance over the sword, Jin-Hyeok felt more at ease. The sword no longer acted up like a brat. It muttered something in a slightly frightened voice.

-I’m scared of that one.

-Did you just call me “that one”?

Jin-Hyeok gave Miri a bit more time to firmly establish her authority.

The sword replied to Miri.

-T-Then what should I call you?

-Call me Senior.

-Why are you my senior?

-Do you want your nape smashed?

The sword wanted to retort by saying how a sword could have a nape, but it couldn’t. Not many swords in the world could defy such a menacing aura.

-H-Hmph! You won’t be able to break me.

-You think I can’t?

-A-Actually, I’m not a sword. I am a very important key!

Jin-Hyeok, who had been quietly observing this scene, finally spoke up. “It seems I have obtained the Sword of the Old Era. Although it’s in the form of a sword, it appears to have a special use.”

Jin-Hyeok remembered he had been conversing with Kyle. “Oh, my apologies, Your Majesty. I was meditating between two artifacts with wills and did not hear you properly. What did you say?”

“Don’t worry about it...”

***

The Sword of the Old Era referred to itself as a key. It explained some things to Jin-Hyeok.

-My former master said he would come looking for me.

-Hey, didn’t I tell you to use honorifics when speaking to my master?

-...Sir.

Jin-Hyeok named the sword Gogeom.[1]

-My former master said that the one who would try to put me in the scabbard is not the real master.

-Do you want to die?

-Sir.

Placing the scabbard in the Imperial Treasury was a trick played by the former master, a precaution in case Gogeom was stolen.

-If you put me in that damned scabbard, I will calm down, I mean, I will calm down, Sir! But there would be a problem.

A sword sealed in the scabbard would disappear from that spot, vanishing to an unknown place. Only its former master could find Gogeom again.

“Could that former master be Garbinu?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

-Huh? How do you know my former master?

Through his conversation with Gogeom, Jin-Hyeok learned a lot of things. Unlike what the world knew, Garbinu was a figure who desired to connect the Demon Realm to reality and rule over it. He was waiting for a new vessel, dreaming of eventual resurrection.

‘If things had gone according to his plan, he would have sought Gogeom after taking over my body,’ Jin-Hyeok thought. Gogeom was a key to somewhere. Jin-Hyeok had once again skipped several Stages of the universe-level Scenario.

[(24) The grand plan prepared for a thousand years is at hand. Now that the seal on the artifact has been broken and the Sword of the Old Era has been found, only the final preparation remains. One shall swallow the Herb of Immortality and establish an eternal empire.]

Originally, the sword was supposed to be sealed by the scabbard somehow, and several steps were needed to break the seal. In that process, Jin-Hyeok had to find the Sword of the Old Era, which had disappeared somewhere. It was probably meant to be a long-term project and content, but the Chul-Soo Potion drastically accelerated the process.

‘It seems I have depleted at least a year’s worth of content.’

This was quite regrettable. Jin-Hyeok realized that he should have just put the sword in the scabbard. Then there would have been all sorts of adventure content waiting.

Still, there was hope left.

‘So, I guess the next step would be to find the Herb of Immortality.’

The Herb of Immortality was like the elixir of life. It seemed Garbinu had dreamed of achieving immortality by consuming this herb after taking over Jin-Hyeok’s body.

‘I don’t know if such a herb exists, but...’

Jin-Hyeok was sure something like the Herb of Immortality did not exist, but this would undoubtedly make for good content and be great for his channel.

Jin-Hyeok muttered with a slightly excited demeanor, “This is troublesome. We have no clues other than the name Herb of Immortality.”

-Hahaha! That’s why I’m here...

Gogeom suddenly paused. At first, this new master seemed much gentler than the terrifying Miri. However, it was not so sure anymore. The sword felt as if an unfathomably deep and dark abyss was gazing at it.

“Are you telling me you know more about the Herb of Immortality?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

Gogem was quick-witted. It felt like cold sweat was running down its non-existent nape.

-I-I only know one more fact, Sir!

“Is it an important clue?”

-W-Well... you could say it’s important, but...

“Tell me.”

Gogeom knew that if the clue was too useful, Jin-Hyeok would feed the herb to Miri.

-Actually, the Herb of Immortality is...

1. Gogeom, or ??, means Ancient Sword in Korean. ☜