I Gave Up Being Stronger

Cha Jin-Hyeok warmly welcomed Filiak, who had a solemn demeanor. “Welcome, Great Nobleman Filiak.”

Jin-Hyeok subtly glanced at Filiak, trying to gauge his thoughts, but could not quite read him.

‘I could use Broadcaster’s Insight to easily find out what he is thinking, but that is something only third-rate Streamers would do.’

Jin-Hyeok was at a critical point in his content. He didn’t know whether Filiak had come back to accept the current changes and join his side or if the nobleman had spent the past week devising more intense methods to attack him.

‘I would be okay with any of the options, but I’d prefer the latter.’

For the development of the Third Hell, the former option would be better. However, the latter was the better option for Jin-Hyeok’s view counts, which were paramount for a Streamer.

Jin-Hyeok’s heart raced at the thought of being attacked—it was oddly exhilarating.

‘Given his tense posture… it seems like he might be gearing up for an attack.’

Jin-Hyeok decided that even if Filiak chose the former option, he would not feel disappointed. The former option was still acceptable from a content perspective.

“Here, have a seat. Or would you prefer to stand?” Jin-Hyeok asked. He figured standing might be better if Filiak were to attack him.

Filiak felt something was off and thought, ‘Isn’t sitting usually more comfortable?’

Jin-Hyeok’s manner of speaking seemed somewhat unconventional, but this was no time to sweat the small stuff.

“I am going to sit,” Filiak said.

“You are… going to sit in the chair?”

“Is it not allowed?”

“No, of course, it is allowed.”

Filiak sat down.

‘Why do his eyes look so sparkling?’ Filiak thought. He was well aware of Chul-Soo’s abilities. ‘I bet he already read what I am thinking right now.’

Over the past week, Filiak had met and experienced the lives of the residents of the Third Hell. Marshmallow’s livestreams were not fabricated; the residents were happily enjoying hot showers, and children dreamed of becoming like Chul-Soo.

‘Are his eyes sparkling because he knows I am going to help him?’ Filiak was having a hard time understanding Chul-Soo. ‘Why is he so adamant about helping out our Server?’

“It seems like I’ve misjudged you,” Filiak said.

“How so?”

“I did not realize you cared so much about our Server.”

“...”

“Of course, you will deny it since you are known for your humility.”

From Filiak’s perspective, Jin-Hyeok had always maintained humility in his livestreams. ‘You always choose the disadvantageous elements for yourself and the advantageous ones for others, claiming it’s just for your content.’

However, Filiak knew that was not possible. He now knew why Jin-Hyeok was known as the Humble IntenseMan.

Filiak slowly rose from his chair.

Jin-Hyeok had still not lost hope, and his eyes gleamed even brighter. ‘Is he finally going to attack?’

However, instead of attacking, Filiak chose to kneel. “Sir Chul-Soo, perhaps my beliefs were wrong.”

“...”

“I have come to think that the Hell you and Hell Man are trying to create might be a better world.”

“I see.”

Filiak bit his lip hard. He thought about the beliefs he lived by, contemplating whether his previous beliefs and path were right.

“I would like to help you, Sir Chul-Soo. It’s not much, but being a nobleman, I might be able to win some favor among the residents of Hell.”

“That’s good news.”

Filiak tilted his head in confusion. ‘Why does he look like he is disappointed?’

Filiak assumed Chul-Soo was being considerate. If the Streamer said, ‘Yes, I forgive you and accept you,’ that could belittle Filiak’s status as a nobleman. So, Filiak assumed that Chul-Soo was restraining his emotions.

Filiak humbly bowed, biting his lip a little. ‘Perhaps, I have truly met a great person.’

Jin-Hyeok swallowed his disappointment and cautiously asked, “What made you break your firm beliefs in just a week?”

“That is because…” Filiak reached into his coat.

Seeing what Filiak pulled out, Jin-Hyeok could not help but feel disappointed.

“This is called financier, Sir Chul-Soo, a new type of baked goods sold at Casa de Sud. After seeing this, I decided to follow you,” Filiak said.

The disappointed Jin-Hyeok decided to release a prepared video about Casa de Sud the next day.

***

Former Elder Chiamin, who had used Conversion Strike to ambush Jin-Hyeok, was gasping for breath, his lungs filled to the brim.

“Pant…! Pant…!”

“I recommend you surrender.”

“Just give up now, Sir Elder.”

Chiamin had grown weary of the relentless Assassins who transformed into shadows and doggedly pursued him. His desire to flee had vanished.

“Pant, Pant…! You two just don’t know when to stop!”

These Assassins were thorough predators. They were the type who would break their prey’s will to escape before slowly devouring the prey.

‘They had plenty of chances to attack me along the way,’ Chiamin thought.

However, these Assassins had chosen not to. They knew his weakness was his stamina, so they continually pressed and pursued him, exploiting it.

“Chul-Soo promised me that he would spare me!” Chiamin yelled.

“The one who said that was Chul-Soo, Sir Elder, not us.”

“I agree with her.”

They were the Seo sisters. Lately, they had been receiving training from the top-ranked Assassin and the rodent-type Beastkin, Brick. They had learned a lot from their teacher. Their slightly odd manner of speaking was also something they had picked up from Brick.

As they were intensely committed to their training, they even mimicked Brick’s minor speech habits.

‘I’m sure Sir Brick will praise us.’

They had gotten many opportunities to assassinate the former elder along the way, but they had chosen not to. This restraint allowed them to seize a perfect opportunity.

“We are going to protect Chul-Soo at all costs.”

“You didn’t think you would survive after attacking Chul-Soo like that, did you, Sir Elder?”

The Seo sisters’ daggers pierced the elder’s spine.

After cleaning the blood in a nearby river, they returned to the city where Hell Man’s castle was located—Mylen.

Having changed into clean, crisp white outfits, the Seo sisters opened the door to their establishment. With bright smiles, they greeted the customers.

“Welcome!”

“Hello, welcome to Casa de Sud!”

Casa de Sud, the dessert shop that had become the most famous in Hell recently, was bustling with residents lined up out the door.

***

Marshmallow had rented an entire three-story building that overlooked Casa de Sud, waiting for the shop to close for the day.

‘Today, I must secure that interview!’ he thought.

Due to the secretive and swift movements of the Seo sisters, it had been difficult for him to arrange an interview.

Suddenly, he felt a chilling sensation. ‘One blade at my spine, another at my neck.’

Two sharp blades were pressed against him. His instincts as a top-ranked Player told him that these daggers belonged to the Seo sisters.

“Hey, it’s me!” Marshmallow said, removing his mask. “I have to cover my face when I go out, or I will be swamped with people.”

“A Chul-Soo Lander?”

“Aren’t you Sir Chul-Soo Land No.1000?”

Recognizing him as Marshmallow, the Seo sisters withdrew their daggers.

“Did you withdraw your blades because I am Marshmallow or because I am a Chul-Soo Lander?”

“Obviously, the latter.”

“It’s obviously because you are a Chul-Soo Lander, Sir Chul-Soo Land No.1000. Your name is Marshmallow, right?”

Marshmallow was a bit bewildered but had gotten somewhat used to the quirks of the K-Force Players. Even Lessefim and Muenne appeared a bit mad under Chul-Soo’s influence, so it was not strange that Chul-Soo’s closest confidants, the Seo sisters, were even crazier.

“Well, I came here to interview you guys because I was curious why top-tier Players like you are selling desserts here.”

The Seo sisters happily agreed to the interview. They were willing to take on any tasks formally requested by Chul-Soo Landers, so granting a request for an interview was not a difficult matter.

After hearing their story, Marshmallow had to organize his thoughts. ‘Wait, they don’t think they are top-tier Players!’

Their standards were very strange.

‘They are pretty much top-tier Players by the universe’s standard, aren’t they?’

Of course, they could not compare to the top rankers in Arvis, but that was obviously expected. The Earth Server had just moved beyond being a new Server. Given the Server’s slow start, it was natural that the Earth Players were still relatively weak.

‘So, they think they need to do something else because they are weak? And that’s what makes them intense? And they think they have a knack for baking? What are they talking about?’

The Seo sisters had told him that they started baking because it seemed more effective than blatantly poisoning people. They said adding poison to delicious-looking desserts seemed like an easy way to commit murder.

‘I shouldn’t make this interview public,’ Marshmallow thought. This interview could ruin Casa de Sud, and he did not want to cause them harm.

“And… you’re saying you opened a bakery in Hell because your baking skills were lacking? Is that correct?” Marshmallow asked.

Hell was a Server where a fruit called Hellfruit was abundant. Only residents from the Hell Server could digest this fruit. Moreover, as this fruit contained all the essential nutrients the Hell residents needed for survival, it was dubbed the perfect food.

Since Hellfruits were plentiful, Hell’s residents did not think about developing their food culture, and all the food ingredients from Hell were tasteless. As people from other Servers would say, most ingredients in Hell tasted like rubber tires.

“And the residents of the Hell Server enjoy your baked goods, right?” Marshmallow asked.

“That is correct.”

“Yes, that’s right, Sir Marshmallow.”

“May I try one?” Marshmallow tasted one of their baked financiers. ‘This is delicious!’

While it could not be described as heavenly, it was certainly worth waiting in line for at a popular eatery.

“The moist and fluffy texture of the bread, the fragment and sweet aroma of butter… It’s a wonderful combination!” Then, a thought crossed Marshmallow’s mind. “But why haven’t other merchants from other Servers thought of this?”

‘If all the foods the residents eat are that tasteless, selling baked goods like this would be a hit!’

Seo Ji-Ah seemed tired from the continued interview and disappeared somewhere, leaving only Seo Ji-Soo to answer.

“Who knows? Maybe because they can’t make any profits off of the products, Sir Marshmallow,” Ji-Soo answered.

“What do you mean they can’t make any profits?”

“We lose about one million Dias for each financier sold.”

“...”

A loss of one million Dias per item sold was a painful calculation even for a universe-level ranker like Marshmallow.

‘Well, transporting goods to Hell is incredibly complicated.’

There was a reason Hell had little exchange with other Servers. Moving goods between Servers was extremely difficult, and doing so incurred astronomical losses. Hence, Hell had developed an independent ecosystem.

“That means even a few days of business could result in astronomical losses. How do you cover those costs?” Marshmallow asked.

Ji-Soo stared back at Marshmallow, who was slightly flustered by the look.

“D-Did I say something wrong?”

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