I Gave Up Being Stronger

Furface’s hair fell out in another clump.

“W-What do you mean?” he stammered.

Cha Jin-Sol, the de facto leader of the K-Force, let out a small sigh. “Let me explain. None of us think my brother is in danger. Someone was supposed to explain this to you guys… I can’t believe you missed such a basic point.”

She glanced at Encyclopedia, who immediately defended himself and said, “I thought they’d obviously know this much!”

For someone renowned as an internet debater, his insight seemed to be lacking. Encyclopedia glared at Furface as if he wanted to kill the Tank, his eyes saying, ‘Why do I have to explain something so basic?’

Trying to gather his composure, Furface asked, “Then why have we gathered in such a grand manner?”

“Obviously, to draw attention,” Jin-Sol replied. When rankers of this scale moved together, they would naturally draw public attention.

Furface found this incomprehensible. ‘What happened to the world during the ten years I was trapped in that Dungeon?’

At that moment, Muenne interjected. “Not everyone is here for that reason, Saint of Freedom.”

“I know, I know.” While Some K-Force Players had gathered for the sake of Chul-Soo’s livestream, others had different intentions. “Lady Muenne, you’re just here because you want to see my brother again, right?”

“N-No…”

“Sure, let’s say it’s not. The same goes for Lady Lessefim, right?”

Lessefim, who had been hanging back, flinched. “No, I…”

“Right. You’re here because your GM friends begged you to stop Chul-Soo’s rampage, and you had absolutely no choice but to step in, right?”

“Y-Yes! That’s right!” Lessefim’s face reddened slightly.

Jasmine grasped the situation a bit faster than Furface. ‘So… one group gathered to draw the public’s attention and another at the request of the GMs?’

Officially, that was their reason, but in reality, they just wanted to see Chul-Soo one more time. ‘Am I still trapped in the Sphinx’s illusion? Or have I melted from Julius’s Fire Breath and entered the afterlife?’

Jin-Sol sighed. “I understand. You’re probably not fully accustomed to my brother yet. To be honest, even I’m not used to it sometimes.”

***

The Fire Breath that Jin-Hyeok had split in half had struck the crater, and the surrounding area was ablaze. Here and there, magma bubbled up like hot springs, forming huge pools of boiling lava. These pools gradually expanded, transforming into what resembled a fire lake. The ground beneath Jin-Hyeok’s feet also began to boil, and he was half-submerged in the magma lake.

“Are you… alright?” Julius asked hesitantly.

“You’re not seriously asking me that, are you?” Jin-Hyeok replied.

“Of course, I know you’re fine, but as a Chul-Soo Lander, it’s natural for me to worry.”

Jin-Hyeok understood this sentiment. “Don’t worry. I even think this is working out well.”

“What do you mean?”

Jin-Hyeok created a solid ground-like surface by layering several Absolute Barriers beneath his feet, preventing himself from sinking further. It was a scene that would give false hope to rookie Players across the universe. They could mistakenly believe that mastering Broadcaster’s Barrier to the extreme could achieve such feats. It was the kind of scene that would make instructors and teachers facepalm.

“Actually, if I swing Miri vigorously, I think I can break your settings,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“You mean if you use God of Luck too, right?”

“That’s right.”

However, that would be inefficient. If they were going to do this, it was better to do it in a much more efficient and beneficial way. In other words, Jin-Hyeok had to become stronger.

“I think this Dungeon is recognizing me as a foreign being,” Jin-Hyeok explained. Dungeons had a tendency to maintain their original state. It was similar to having an immune system, which eliminated foreign elements when they infiltrated the body. “So, when I do something, your settings are doing their best to block it. In that sense, I think if I become as similar to this world as possible, the immune response might lessen.”

“Umm, yes. So…” Julius wanted to ask if Chul-Soo was planning on getting stronger, but didn’t dare say it out loud.

“If that happens, I will be able to break the settings much more efficiently. There will probably be fewer side effects too. Are you listening to me?”

“Yes.”

Jin-Hyeok let out a faint sigh. The ferocious Fire Dragon Julius was known to be brutal, but that was a misconception. He wasn’t brutal, just a bit simple and naive.

‘It seems like he’s not listening to a word I’m saying.’ Jin-Hyeok thought that Julius was a bit dazed. ‘Does he just enjoy being with me?’

If Julius were a more intelligent fan, he would have actively engaged with Jin-Hyeok and helped create good livestream content, but expecting that much from a fan was asking too much. A fan could just exist as a fan.

Jin-Hyeok meditated several times, slowly absorbing the energy of the magma into his body. He was in the process of absorbing this world’s energy into the microcosm within him.

Throughout this, Julius kept his eyes fixed on Jin-Hyeok without distraction. “I could die without regrets now.”

After finishing his meditation, Jin-Hyeok asked, “Julius, how did you become Chul-Soo Land No.1000?”

“W-What?”

Jin-Hyeok’s question was quite sharp.

“This is a closed space, after all. No proper equipment or facilities… Naturally, the signal speed would be slow too,” Jin-Hyeok said.

The competition rate for becoming a Chul-Soo Lander was incredibly high. He wondered how Julius had become a Chul-Soo Lander in this barren Dungeon.

Julius flinched.

‘I guess it wasn’t just luck,’ Jin-Hyeok thought. What had started as a casual question had become more serious. Julius’s innocent eyes were trembling incessantly. ‘He must have used some kind of illegal method. I shouldn’t record this.’

“What kind of illegal method did you use?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“I-Illegal method? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh really?” When Jin-Hyeok looked straight at Julius, the dragon averted his gaze. Being innocent and docile, he did not seem skilled at lying. “If you tell me now, I will forgive you.”

“Really…?”

“I won’t blame you either. But I think we should take this into account when recruiting for the third generation of Chul-Soo Land.”

Jin-Hyeok thought that it would be better if everyone had a fair chance. When he had recruited for the second generation of Chul-Soo Land, too many Players had used unfair methods. After all, most of the second-generation members had incredible abilities, which was unusual.

“Well…” Julius glanced around nervously before hesitantly saying, “Chu-Soo Land No.1…”

“Min-Ji helped you?”

“Well, Min-Ji came to me and…”

“Stop!” They heard a distant shout.

***

Kim Min-Ji panted for a while, but Jin-Hyeok remained unfazed.

“I know you’re not actually out of breath, Min-Ji.” Jin-Hyeok did not find it particularly strange that Min-Ji had appeared alone in the worst Dungeon. He figured that was just like her.

“Hehe… was it that obvious?”

“Did you give him the title of Chul-Soo Land No.1000?”

“Yes…”

“How?”

“By… hacking.”

“Don’t do that again next time.”

“Okay…” Min-Ji looked a bit dejected.

“So? Why are you here?”

“Well, I was worried about you, Mr. Chul-Soo.” Min-Ji peeked out from behind a stalactite formed by cooled magma.

“Be honest, Min-Ji.”

“I-I am being honest!”

Jin-Hyeok stared at Min-Ji for a long time, just as he had done with Julius. All Chul-Soo Landers tended to be innocent and kind, easily confessing to lies when faced with this technique.

Unable to withstand Jin-Hyeok’s gaze, Min-Ji finally admitted the truth. “Julius is a master of seduction. I couldn’t leave you alone with him.”

‘I really must be a master of seduction…’

“What does that mean, No.1?” Julius asked.

“Your intentions are too obvious, No.1000!” Min-Ji retorted.

“What do you mean by that?!”

“At first, you were depressed because you thought you couldn’t leave this place, right? But then you realized you could spend intimate time alone with Chul-Soo, so you suddenly became happy. I saw your wicked smile!”

“T-That’s not…!”

“No Chul-Soo Lander can monopolize Chul-Soo. You know that, right?”

“I know that! It’s obvious!”

“But you harbored lustful thoughts!”

“Y-You’re the weird one for thinking like that!” Julius’s face turned bright red. He heated up as if he could unleash another Fire Breath at any moment.

Min-Ji narrowed her eyes and growled. “If it weren’t for Mr. Chul-Soo, I would have spanked you, you fire lizard!”

“And I would’ve burned you to ashes, you hacker!”

Jin-Hyeok felt a headache coming on. It was unacceptable for Chul-Soo Landers to be fighting among themselves like this. He could not concentrate on his training.

“If you two keep fighting, I will kick you both out of here.”

“Mr. Chul-Soo, this fire lizard first had lustful thoughts…”

“Mr. Chul-Soo, this hacker illegally…”

As Jin-Hyeok stared at them again, they reluctantly joined hands.

“Apologize to each other,” he said.

They spoke rapidly.

“S’ry.”

“M’too s’ry.”

Though their sincerity was questionable, Jin-Hyeok could not force their true feelings, nor could he train them through physical means.

‘Dealing with fans is difficult,’ Jin-Hyeok thought. “I’m going to meditate, so you two get along. Understand?”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Their eyes sparkled. Though it wasn’t a one-on-one fan meeting, they were grateful for even this two-on-one situation. Just being able to observe Chul-Soo in meditation was a blessing to them.

Jin-Hyeok slowly sank into the boiling magma and closed his eyes.

Around that time, a group of people arrived at the Dragon’s Nest. The hostile glares between Julius and Min-Ji suddenly changed.

[“Who dares intrude upon my nest!”]

A giant mouth appeared in the sky. It was an illusion created by Julius, but even as an illusion, it exuded an overwhelming pressure. Normally, Julius would instill fear through Dragon Fear and herd Players into magic circles.

[“I will sweep you all away!”]

However, this time was different. True to his reputation as a ferocious Fire Dragon, he instantly unleashed the Fire Breath.

“No.1000, get a hold of yourself!” Min-Ji’s fingers flew over a keyboard that appeared in the air. “Are you trying to kill them all?”

“That’s the plan.”

“I want to kill them too.” Min-Ji was also angry at the intruders for interrupting their two-on-one fan meeting. These intruders deserved worse than death. “But Chul-Soo doesn’t like killing people.”

“...”

Just before the Fire Breath could hit them, the Players were sucked into artificially generated magic circles and disappeared. Though he could not kill them because of Chul-Soo, Julius was still fuming.

“I should just kill them all,” Julius grumbled, but he couldn’t do more. ‘Wait, isn’t that the Saint of Freedom?’

He spotted Chul-Soo’s younger sister.