I Gave Up Being Stronger

Cha Jin-Hyeok heard footsteps steadily approaching him. A swordsman walked along the path Mole Woman had previously laid out. Jin-Hyeok was surprised by this visitor, and his voice grew a bit louder. “The captain of the Sword Emperor Unit, Kyle!”

Jin-Hyeok thought that the sudden appearance of a famous Player would garner quite a bit of attention from the viewers, but surprisingly, the reactions were lackluster.

‘Usually, when someone of this caliber shows up, the number of likes skyrockets.’

Of course, the number of likes was increasing, but this increase didn’t satisfy Jin-Hyeok’s standards. Oddly enough, the likes increased faster when he focused the camera angle on the collapsed Mole Woman.

‘Kyle does not draw as much attention as I thought.’

Kyle, whom he believed to be strong, turned out to be less popular than Mole Woman.

Jin-Hyeok quickly regained his composure and said, “With the appearance of Kyle, the Assassins have vanished like the wind. A wise choice.”

Assassins aiming for the back of the head was only natural. Their plan had fallen apart the moment their ambush had failed. Pushing their luck now would be uncharacteristic of them.

Kyle stood before Jin-Hyeok. “I have come to settle things with you, Chul-Soo.”

“Does it look like I am?”

Jin-Hyeok sighed and shook his head. “Aren’t you on duty right now?”

“That’s insignificant compared to our duel.”

“You’re out of your mind.”

“Do you think you’re in any position to say that?” Kyle was annoyed. He did not want to hear such words from Jin-Hyeok of all people. Suddenly, Kyle became curious and asked, “Do you perhaps think you are normal?”

“Do you perhaps think I am abnormal?”

Their eyes met, each pair filled with different convictions and beliefs.

“I just can’t understand you.”

“I just can’t understand you.”

‘Does he really think he is normal?’

‘What part of me does he think is abnormal?’

These two people’s thoughts were fundamentally incompatible. Pretending to converse with Kyle, Jin-Hyeok finished numerous internal calculations and said, “I also think that settling our duel is important, but not here.”

Jin-Hyeok was currently in the middle of crucial content. It was part of a universe-level Scenario, and he needed to find the Great Sword Spirit. He thought it was not a good idea to do this content simultaneously with an excellent content piece like a duel with Kyle.

‘The direction of my content will become too muddled.’ Just like how a meal prepared with excellent ingredients could fail if the combination was off, the same could happen to content. Jin-Hyeok’s current situation was like mixing oranges into kimchi stew.

“Are you running away from the fight?” Kyle asked.

“I actually do not want to settle things with you.”

“What?”

“You seem to have forgotten something important. I’m not a Swordsman. I’m an Eltuber.”

“Do not speak like a cowardly little man.” Kyle’s expression darkened rapidly. Anxiety began to creep in as he thought he would never be able to fight with Chul-Soo.

“But if you want to fight me, there is a condition,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“What is it?”

“Help me. I don’t think I can defeat these Assassins alone.”

The Assassins who had retreated could ambush them again at any moment. Jin-Hyeok judged that Solo Play had its limits.

‘Duel Play can be just as impactful as Solo Play,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

***

Shevian silently waited for Jin-Hyeok and Kyle’s conversation to end. This was his idea of fairness.

After finishing his talk with Kyle, Jin-Hyeok approached Shevian and said, “That was quite a good strategy, Assassin boy.”

‘My strategy?’ Shevian thought.

“It was clever to have me let my guard down and then send in another Assassin,” Jin-Hyeok added.

“That wasn’t me!” Shevian said. While Jin-Hyeok was praising Shevian, the Assassin didn’t feel like so. “I’m not that cowardly.”

“A skilled Assassin would naturally say that. After all, Assassins are masters of conspiracy and betrayal, excelling at backstabbing and ambush.”

Overhearing the conversation, Kyle felt somewhat perplexed. He could not tell if this was praise or insult. By the tone, it sounded like utmost praise, but the content seemed like an insult.

“It wasn’t me! It was my father’s scheme!” Shevian yelled.

“Your father?”

“Yes. The head of the great Maier Family, Sir Samuel Maier.”

“He must be quite skilled.”

“He is.”

“Are you going to charge at me again?”

Shevian clenched his right hand around his dagger. He desperately wanted to lunge at Jin-Hyeok but could not find an opening. Moreover, Kyle, the captain of the Sword Emperor Unit, was here too, which made him hesitant to make any rash moves.

“I want a fair fight wit—”

“Of course, you’re not going to attack me right now. You’re a dedicated Assassin, after all.” Jin-Hyeok wore a satisfied expression. He no longer wanted to kill this grateful boy who had provided him with some tension for his content. Keeping him alive would surely provide more great content for his channel. “Such an excellent Assassin like you would not do anything foolish and reckless.”

“...”

“I’m sorry. I was too dismissive of you. I take it back.” Jin-Hyeok brushed past Shevian and quietly said, “Ambushes like earlier are always welcome, Assassin boy.”

‘An opening!’ Shevian saw a chance.

Jin-Hyeok had come very close to him, and Shevian had a strong intuition that he could stab Jin-Hyeok’s neck if he just swung his right hand. This was an Assassin’s instinct. Although he aspired to fair fights, years of ingrained assassin training made his body react automatically.

At that moment, Miri, who had been placed on the ground, sprang up on her own and struck the back of Shevian’s head hard.

Thwack!

With a loud sound, Shevian fell forward.

Kyle moved to behead Shevian, but Jin-Hyeok stopped him.

“Why are you stopping me? He’s a dangerous Assassin,” Kyle said.

“He is young.”

“What…?”

‘Since when did you consider such circumstances? Do you have a warm heart?’ Kyle thought.

Shling!

Feeling slightly embarrassed, Kyle sheathed his sword.

Jin-Hyeok grinned. ‘I hope he pulls himself together soon and ambushes me properly.’

The Streamer was very much looking forward to seeing the performance of his latest content finder.

***

Kyle asked with a serious expression, “When did you learn how to use the Sword Control?”

“Oh, so that’s what this is called,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“...”

Moving weapons without touching them to annihilate enemies—Swordsmen called this technique Sword Control. It was an extremely difficult Skill at the pinnacle of technical swordsmanship. Even among top-ranked Players, few could use this technique freely. Many did not use it because it was inefficient, which spoke to its immense technical difficulty.

‘He used Sword Control without knowing about it?’ Kyle found it unbelievable. He wondered how Chul-Soo could have already mastered the Sword Control when he had only recently entered the realm of the Mind Sword. ‘What a terrifying talent.’

“Who taught you this?” Kyle asked.

“Is this Skill so impressive that I would need a teacher?”

“...”

“You don’t need to praise me so much for something so trivial.”

After a moment of silence, Kyle burst out laughing. ‘Yes! That’s the Chul-Soo I know!’

Kyle’s competitive spirit surged.

Just then, Mole Woman scurried past Kyle. “Alright, I, the Navigator, will enter first, moly!”

“Wait.” Kyle placed his hand on Mole Woman’s shoulder.

“What is it, moly?”

“When did you wake up?” Kyle had completely forgotten about Mole Woman. The only person important to him was Jin-Hyeok.

“I don’t understand the intent of your question, moly.”

“You clearly collapsed from poison earlier.”

“As if the number one ranked Korean Region Navigator would fall to such poison, moly!”

Mole woman was telling a lie. She had actually fainted for a short while.

‘That poison was terrifyingly powerful, moly,’ Mole Woman thought.

The moment she sensed the Assassin’s presence, Mole Woman had preemptively taken various antidotes. Since Playing with Jin-Hyeok involved highly unusual and difficult situations, she had prepared for all kinds of dangers in advance. If she had not spent an astronomical amount of money on preparations, she really could have died from the poison. However, her pride as a top-ranked Navigator prevented her from showing any of this.

“Chul-Soo might have let his guard down, but I didn't, moly.”

Mole Woman, who had quickly regained consciousness, had remained on the ground in a more alluring pose. She judged that it would benefit Chul-Soo’s livestream.

‘This is how important I am, Chul-Soo! The value of being number one is incomparable to mere second place. I’m a Navigator who is even more excellent than Pathfinder despite my Job change! I’m the real talent perfectly suited for livestreaming, moly!’ she thought.

Jin-Hyeok began walking after Mole Woman, seemingly unsurprised. His attitude suggested he had known all along that Mole Woman had not fainted. Unable to contain his curiosity, Kyle asked again, “Chul-Soo, did you know that Mole Woman had not fainted?”

“A Navigator would not faint.”

“What…?”

“If they are intense, that is.”

This statement completely contradicted Kyle’s common sense. In his experience, Navigators were the Players more exposed to danger among all Jobs. They were the vanguard of expeditions, pioneering the way. Fainting was routine for them, and no Player deemed it strange.

“It’s normal for Navigators to faint,” Kyle said.

Mole Woman frowned.

“That’s why Chul-Soo said something after the sentence, moly.” She desperately tried to hide the fact that she had fainted. “An intense Navigator never faints, moly.”

This was both a mantra and self-brainwashing for her.

***

Mole Woman asked, “Are we going to focus on hunting all the monsters that appear here for an All Clear, moly? Or are we going to concentrate on meeting the Great Sword Spirit as quickly as possible, moly?”

“Hm.” Jin-Hyeok thought about it.

“If it’s the latter, I can create a path that’ll allow us to skip all the small monsters, moly.”

This concept was still unfamiliar to Kyle, who had followed an elite course on the Arvis Server. Arvis primarily prioritized Players’ safety. Their ideal Play involved clearing every area of a Dungeon thoroughly and perfectly, even if that was somewhat inefficient. The idea of ignoring and passing by monsters seemed excessively unorthodox. After all, it meant introducing even more variables into a Dungeon, which was already full of uncontrollable factors.

‘Of course, Chul-Soo is going to choose the former. What a pointless question.’ Kyle couldn't help but smile, wondering if Mole Woman had asked this question because she was still inexperienced as a Navigator. It was slightly amusing to see her ask a question that did not need to be asked—or rather, shouldn’t be asked.

But then, Jin-Hyeok opened his mouth.

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