I Gave Up Being Stronger

Choi Soon-Nam was a merchant who sold vegetables at the market.

She wanted to buy toys and cook something delicious for her adorable grandchildren. Having done this for thirty years, she always earned about the sincome, but today, for sreason, she felt like the business would be good.

However, upon arriving at the market entrance, she sensed that something strange was happening.

“Mr. Kim! Mr. Kim! Are you okay? Why are you wandering around drunk in broad daylight?”

Soon-Nam saw Mr. Kim, a herbal medicine merchant, wandering around half-naked. She hurriedly ran to him, but Mr. Kim’s eyes seemed different.

“Violence…” He was murmuring strange words, looking like a zombie from a movie.

Soon-Nam felt inexplicably anxious and quickly turned around. Seeing Mr. Kim slowly walking toward her, she quickened her pace.

“Violence… redeems…”

“Mr. Kim! Why are you like this?”

“...all things…”

Mr. Kim followed Soon-Nam. His gait was unsteady, like that of a drunk person. She bit her lip and ran away in small steps. She could run faster if she dropped the bundles on her head, but she could not do that. In the meantime, Mr. Kim’s steps got faster.

“Violence…,” he suddenly shouted, “...redeems all things!”

He ran toward Soon-Nam and kicked her in the back. She fell forward. Even in the midst of this, she tightly held onto the bundles she was planning on selling that day.

“M-Mr. Kim!!” She fell and scrambled back, and Mr. Kim was still charging at her. Hugging her bundle tightly, she closed her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

She heard a voice. A young man had appeared before her. It was all so chaotic that she could not understand what was going on. The ground was covered in blood, and the young man was putting away his blood-stained sword. Soon-Nam was too shocked to say anything.

“...”

She had seen this man on the news a few times but could not remember who he was exactly. He had a very strange name, something like Butthole Sword or something.

Lee Hyeon-Seong spoke as if this situation had happened many times before. “Yes, yes. I am the Anus Destroyer, Lee Hyeon-Seong. I am a Player affiliated with the MK Foundation, cooperating with the government in relief operations. Please get up. Our Support Players will guide you to a safe area.”

Suddenly, Soon-Nam murmured, “Violence…”

Hyeon-Seong, who was helping her stand up, drew his sword.

“...redeems…”

Soon-Nam began to tear her clothes with one hand, just like Mr. Kim.

“Don’t kill her yet,” said Maria, arriving at the scene. She was in charge of this operation.

“...Excuse me?”

“Look at her left hand.”

While Soon-Nam was tearing her clothes with her right hand, she was still tightly holding onto the bundle with her left, as though she would never let it go.

“She still has willpower left in her. Let’s capture her alive. We might find a clue to this bizarre phenomenon.”

***

A so-called zombie virus had spread in Gangwon-do. People exposed to this virus would tear their clothes and mutter, “Violence redeems all things,” being violent toward everything in sight. Seven bit and tore at others, and scontinued their assault until their fists broke.

Han Sae-Rin said, “They are moving quite openly. It seems like a mental spell cast by the Cult Leader. Players above Level 30 can defend against it, but… the idea of it melting brains is pretty horrifying.”

The curse was not particularly dangerous to Players above Level 30, but it was lethal for non-Players or low-Level Players.

“The worst part is that the Healers’ debuff neutralization spell does not work.” Sae-Rin scowled deeply, wrinkles forming between her eyebrows. It was rare for her to be this angry. “Those affected by this curse have their brains destroyed. Even if the curse is neutralized, they die. It is a very nasty curse specialized against non-Players.”

“I see.” Jin-Hyeok agreed.

The Black Alliance was a universal alliance. They were somewhat subject to the scrutiny of the universal society, yet they resorted to such extrmeasures. No one knew why.

“The Cult Leader must be in a hurry right now. He must proceed with something, even at the risk of the universal society’s condemnation,” Sae-Rin continued.

“And what do you think that something is?”

“It’s either of two things, but my head and heart disagree on what that one thing is.”

The Sae-Rin Jin-Hyeok knew before his regression always believed in what her head said, but in this life, Sae-Rin seemed a bit more emotional.

“What does your head say?”

“My head thinks this schcould lead to the creation of the army of Mountain Madmen, even without Hwa Ta’s help.”

With the army of Mountain Madmen, the Black Alliance would be able to dominate the entire Earth Server. Jin-Hyeok was not sure if Earth was that attractive as a Server, but taking over an entire Server was the dream and pride of many alliances. Hashtags like #ThisServerIsMine and #ThisPlanetIsMine were indeed symbols of true flex.

“And what does your heart say?”

“It seems like the Cult Leader wants to consyou.”

“Me?”

That seemed like a bit of misjudgment.

“This curse has the characteristic of being transmitted in aerosol form. It’s weak, but it can be quickly disseminated to a large, unspecified group of people. Identifying the dispersal points is not that difficult...” Sae-Rin created a virtual map in the air.

The Sae-Rin before Jin-Hyeok’s regression was always caught up in the compulsion of the ‘I’m no longer a Navigator but a Ruler’ type of thinking and hardly utilized her Navigator skills. However, in this life, she had a more flexible mindset.

“...If we join the dispersal points with lines like this, the points seem to be connected by a certain distance formula, and we can find a route heading toward the Taebaek Mountains.”

A green line connecting several points appeared on the map.

“The next dispersal point will be here.” Coincidentally, the news reported new victims at the very location Sae-Rin pointed out. “And the next one will be in this mountain area. I think the Cult Leader is luring you. He is asking you to find him and saying that he is waiting for you.”

***

Grandel, the instigator of the chaos in Gangwon-do, climbed up a mountain and looked down at the burning cities below. “I like the sight of that.”

[Violence redeems all things.]

Grandel believed certain phrases held a mystical power, and he called these phrases Mantra. The more people chanted a mantra, the stronger the mantra became. Thousands of people were currently chanting the Mantra he had created, and Grandel thought this was making him stronger.

“The Mantra will soon reach its full power.”

Originally, he had intended to slowly infiltrate the Earth Server and naturally accumulate the power of the Mantra, a method that would take a lot of tand resources. The fatal flaw of a Mantra was that those who recited them had to truly believe in and utter them sincerely.

Destroying the brain, preventing rational thinking, and instilling a blind belief that violence brought salvation to everything was the quickest and easiest method. Although it would draw scriticism, the Earth Server was not entangled with other powerful Servers in terms of Player rights. Also, Grandel could simply pin all the blon the deceased Sephia.

He placed Sephia’s still-throbbing heart on a stone altar. Then, according to the formula, he arranged the numerous sacrifices he had gathered over time. Eyes, livers, fingers—most were human organs.

“Now, the summoning ritual of the Mountain Madmen begins.”

He envisioned a rosy future.

Grandel felt as thrilled as if he had conquered the universe. Then he muttered like he were under a spell, “Everyone will admire me, right?”

He was going to be stronger and more impressive. With his brilliant mind, he would accomplish everything. Women who had despised him would look up to him.

“It is my world now!” he declared. “Just two hours. In just two hours, it will be done.”

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

Sae-Rin quietly asked, “Are you going to attack him alone?”

“Well, let’s watch him a bit more. What is the chance that this is all a trap?”

“Quite high.”

Jin-Hyeok recorded the scene. Sae-Rin mentioning this could be a trap added a layer of tension to the footage. After all, in horror films, the moments before the ghost appeared were often more tense than the actual appearance of the ghost.

“Shorrific things are placed on the altar. It seems like a lot of people have been sacrificed,” Jin-Hyeok said. He captured as much detail as he could. The editor would take care of anything too graphic.

Grandel was sitting cross-legged on the altar, meditating.

“He seems easy to attack with all those weak points.” Jin-Hyeok lifted his Rule Breaker. He could feel it eagerly vibrating, as though it were anticipating the thrill of the attack. Suddenly, he felt guilty.

Jin-Hyeok apologized to the Rule Breaker in his mind. He promised to devote tto naming it properly once this mission was over.

“I am going to try a surprise attack. This might be a trap, so I will approach him as quietly as possible.”

Jin-Hyeok made sure to add sediting points.

[*Add tension-building background music here.]

Even if he did not, his editor would know what to do, but Jin-Hyeok did it anyway. He moved through the bushes, stealthily approaching the target. Grandel still seemed unaware of his presence.

[*From here on, use subtitles. Add voice-over after editing. (The parts to voice-over will be marked with an asterisk and inserted as subtitles.)]

Playing the assassin for once, after always being the target, was thrilling and enjoyable for Jin-Hyeok. Grandel’s back of the head was a perfect target for a symphony of thwacks.

[*There must be a trap somewhere.]

Jin-Hyeok scanned the area with Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance but found no signs of traps, adding to the suspense.

He crept up and played his thwack symphony on the back of Grandel’s head. The Rule Breaker struck Grandel in the head hard.

It was a loud, satisfying sound. The sensation Jin-Hyeok felt in his hand was more thrilling than usual. It was a perfect thwack.

The sensation, which felt as if the hammer had pierced deep into space, was exhilarating.

Grandel collapsed.

He was not breathing.

That seemed unlikely. A sinister background music and all the built-up tension leading to this outcwould not make for a good video. Jin-Hyeok thought that if Grandel was really dead, he should switch to a comedic approach, but that seemed difficult given the number of civilian casualties.

It had to be a trap.

At that moment, the blood flowing from Grandel reversed and flowed back into his body. His limp fingers began to twitch.

Jin-Hyeok felt a bit relieved. He quickly stepped back three steps and spoke urgently. “You bastard…! This was a trap!”