I Gave Up Being Stronger

[The owner of the Special Dungeon ⌜Banyan Tree⌟ has exited ⌜Banyan Tree⌟

[You have cleared the Dungeon ⌜Banyan Tree⌟]

‘Wait, it’s been cleared?’ Jin-Hyeok thought. He had heard rumors that if a Dungeon boss monster left their Dungeon, it could be recognized as a clear. Some of the more experienced Adventurers in Arvis had mentioned it could happen.

However, the idea had seemed so far-fetched that he still doubted it.

‘So, this works?’ What he had once thought was just an exaggerated rumor turned out to be true. ‘Han Sae-Rin will be so jealous.’

Jin-Hyeok was already delighted at the prospect of teasing her. He imagined her face turning red and her indignantly saying, ‘I-I could do that too!’

That would easily garner at least a hundred million views.

‘Sweet… huh?’ However, that was not the end.

[You have unlocked the Achievement ⌜All-Clear (Banyan Tree Dungeon)⌟.]

Jin-Hyeok’s expression became serious. ‘A hundred million views isn’t the real issue right now…’

He wanted to click on All-Clear (Banyan Tree Dungeon) right away to see the details but barely managed to resist. It would not be fun to reveal everything all at once.

‘I should let the viewers wait and then reveal it at the right moment.’

The fact that he had again achieved an All-Clear Achievement was already causing a stir. Kihael, who had been watching the livestream, was ecstatic.

“Yes! Right on!” As someone who used to be a GM, he seemed to understand why things had turned out this way. The current GMs had definitely interfered a great deal with the Dungeon. “They tried to kill Kim Chul-Soo, didn’t they?”

They had probably expended quite the effort, and such actions usually led to unintended consequences. Although bringing the Empress of Hell to the outside world was an impressive feat, calling it an All-Clear seemed a bit of a stretch. However, the GMs’ manipulations had likely led to a lowering of the criteria for an All-Clear due to backlash.

“After all their talk about how we can’t do our jobs or don’t do them properly!” Kihael had heard that most of the new GMs critiqued their predecessors during their interviews, claiming they were far more adept at balancing the System. “Looks easy from the outside, doesn’t it? Do you all think Chul-Soo is that of an easy target?”

Kihael found himself spamming LOLs on Wang Yu-Mi’s livestream channel, even when it was not the right moment. He spammed LOLs so much that he got a three-minute chat ban, but he could not care less. He was feeling pure joy.

“Experience it for yourselves. The wall that is Kim Chul-Soo! Hehehe! Radical hardliner? The urgent appointment of a new director? What’s the point? The wall called Chul-Soo is much higher and stronger!”

Then, a chilling voice rang out.

“What about the GMs? Tell me more.”

It was the famous Kim Min-Ji, the official Chul-Soo Land No.1.

***

Verpalto knelt with his hands raised high. It was the first time in decades he had suffered such humiliation.

Inside the conference room, Min-Ji walked around with her arms crossed, eyeing the GMs with a deadly gaze. “I have captured all your scheming on video. Notice how you all deleted it? I had quite the time restoring it.”

One of the GMs raised a concern. “But hacking is illegal…”

“So what? Do I look like I care?” Min-Ji was relentless. “Legal or not, if this video gets out, you are all finished, understand? How could you, as GMs, conspire to bury a beautiful Player?”

The GM who had raised the question felt something was off. ‘Don’t they usually say innocent Player and not beautiful Player?’

As a junior GM, he was curious about Min-Ji’s identity. It seemed unlikely she was a universe-level ranker, so he wondered how she could freely enter and exit the GMs’ office and hack the server to extract the footage of everything that happened here.

‘She restored the deleted content?’

‘The director himself ordered the deletion, and we double- and triple-checked.’

Min-Ji spoke with a somewhat rogue attitude. “Yo, Veryvery.”

“My name is Verpalto.” However, when he realized Min-Ji was frowning, he added, “Yes, my name is Veryvery.”

“Shouldn’t you compensate?” Min-Ji asked.

“What do you mean by… compensate?”

“Well, since you tried to kill our Chul-Soo, you should make appropriate reparations.”

“B-But we didn’t really harm Chul-Soo and…”

“That’s because Chul-Soo is that great. What if he wasn’t? Attempted murder is still a serious crime, you murderer!”

“Are you saying I am a murderer?”

“If you are not a murderer, then who in this world is?”

The more Verpalto engaged in conversation, the darker it seemed to get before his eyes. Having a rational, logical discussion with her was impossible.

‘Let’s just get this over with. Whatever comes next, I will figure it out tomorrow.’

“What do you want me to do?” Verpalto asked.

***

Upon facing the Empress of Hell, Hassan momentarily lost consciousness. Jin-Hyeok casually scratched his temple as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. “Hm… he is out too.”

Many had fainted along the way to see Hassan. The Empress of Hell’s overwhelming presence was too much for them to bear, causing a temporary mental collapse for many. Fortunately, for people within the protective territory of the Guardian Tree, the aftereffects were minimal. Jin-Hyeok found it somewhat amusing.

‘The Empress of Hell is strong, but is she this strong? How weak must one be to faint just by being in her presence?’

Although he did not quite understand, seeing so many people affected made him accept it as it was.

“I will try to block your overwhelming presence with my Absolute Barrier.” He shielded Hassan, who had just regained consciousness, with his Skill.

Hassan’s hands were trembling. “I-I am…”

Jin-Hyeok sighed. “It seems unlikely that Hassan will be the one to perform the miracle.”

“I am curious what trickery you are up to.” The Empress of Hell, Gahi, was already prepared to kill Chul-Soo, ready to freeze him whole at the slightest provocation.

“Do you want to wait until God Finger becomes stronger, or do you want me to do the operation now?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“You?”

“I have a special ability called Imitation.”

The phrase special ability made the Empress of Hell slightly frown. “I know that most famous Streamers have this ability. I don’t think you should be calling it a special ability.”

“How can the absolute ruler of a Server be so narrow-minded?” Jin-Hyeok showed her a video uploaded by Marshmallow, which included a conversation between Marshmallow and the Named Analyst Encyclopedia.

“I guess I can mimic a similar shape or something.”

“Can you produce the same effect as Zoro does?”

“Are you crazy? That’s not imitation. That’s copying. Even I can’t do that easily.”

“Right? So, you’re saying that it’s not supposed to be easy, right?”

Marshmallow’s expression in the video was one of shock.

“What? A Streamer used Imitation to copy a Skill of that grade perfectly?”

“Even more impressive. In some aspects, it was superior to Zoro’s Skill.”

“You’re talking nonsense. How is that even possible?”

In the video, Marshmallow watched one of Jin-Hyeok’s streams and blinked in disbelief. He was so shocked that his Marshmallow-shaped head wobbled.

“Yo, what the hell is going on? How is this possible?”

“So, I’m assuming you don’t know either.”

“Imitation is not supposed to work like this.”

This was the moment Marshmallow began to take a genuine interest in Chul-Soo.

“What’s this guy’s name?”

“Kim Chul-Soo.”

Jin-Hyeok then said, “If even the universe-level ranker Marshmallow says this much, doesn’t it mean I am quite skilled?”

***

The Empress of Hell experienced significant internal conflict. ‘I might be deceived again.’

The number of those who had approached her like this would easily exceed hundreds. She had personally killed dozens of them, and the rest were probably living miserably somewhere. Centuries of accumulated distrust did not easily fade away.

She defensively asked, “Have you ever replicated and used that miracle?”

“Nope, it will be my first time.”

“So, you want to experiment on me?”

Jin-Hyeok slightly tilted his head. “Is that not allowed?”

The Empress of Hell focused and looked directly into Jin-Hyeok’s eyes. Those with malicious intent usually revealed themselves through their gazes. Having encountered numerous frauds and possessing strong mental abilities, she could usually discern someone’s intentions just by looking into their eyes.

Until now.

‘His gaze is clear… Maybe too clear.’

His inner universe was too chaotic to comprehend, but his gaze was exceptionally clear. She had never encountered such a person before.

Jin-Hyeok sighed and said with a hint of disappointment, “Hey, you are not very desperate, are you?”

“What?”

“Even God Finger Hassan started from humble beginnings. No one was willing to receive a miracle initially, but…”

Jin-Hyeok showed her a video of Katrina.

“In times even more doubtful than now, Katrina made the bold decision to receive a miracle right away from Hassan.”

Though the process was slightly glossed over, Katrina was, in the end, the first person to receive the miracle from Hassan.

“You’re not thinking of what might happen if the operation fails, are you?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“What?”

“If you are really entertaining such a cowardly thought, you are not fit to be the Empress of Hell.”

“...”

“It can’t be right?”

The Empress of Hell continued to look into Jin-Hyeok’s eyes. They remained clear.

“Even for enhancing artifacts, the chances of failure are much higher than success… You do not deserve the miracle with that mindset,” Jin-Hyeok said. He wanted to say that he was going to give up on the content, but he held back.

After hearing Jin-Hyeok’s words, the Empress of Hell felt like she had been struck on the head. ‘There is some truth to his words.’

Had she been more desperate and intense, she would not have missed this opportunity. That woman named Katrina had made a decisive choice to receive the miracle at a point when there was zero evidence that it would work. Without courage, there was nothing to gain.

“Fine, use your Imitation skill,” Gahi said. However, she did not fully trust Jin-Hyeok. She warned him clearly. “If you harbor any malicious intent, I will dismember you and kill you.”

Strangely, the more menacingly she warned him, the clearer Jin-Hyeok’s eyes seemed to become.

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