I Gave Up Being Stronger

It was as if Cha Jin-Hyeok were hearing voices.

-Hey, Kim Pyeong-Beom, are you going to just take that?The source of thɪs content is Novᴇ(l)ꜰɪre .ɴᴇt

-He is saying that all the Players on Earth are weak!

Those sincere voices reached Jin-Hyeok’s heart, shaking his emotions.

“Cha Jin-Sol, do you know what a critical point is?”

“A critical point?”

“A critical point is the end point in thermodynamics until which equilibrium can be maintained. Beyond that, the boundaries get blurred,” he explained.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“My heart was like water at ninety-nine degrees Celsius.”

Jin-Sol’s comment had added one more degree to that, and at one hundred degrees, water starts to boil and turn into steam.

“This is all because you called out Kim Pyeong-Beom, okay?” Jin-Hyeok said.

“What?”

This was not his fault. Jin-Sol had provoked him from the side. Some people were very vulnerable to temptation, and if someone stimulated them like how Jin-Sol had done right now, they would succumb easily.

“I guess I’ll have to fight them.”

Just the thought of it sent goosebumps on his skin. It felt like the last thread of sanity he was holding on to had snapped.

“It’s not the weekend yet, but the weather is perfect for Pyeong-Beom to shine.”

“Do you want me to call the other members?” Jin-Sol asked.

Jin-Hyeok nodded. If they included all their original party members and the second-tier members led by the original party members, they could have a massive battle in the Great British Region.

“Alright, I will gather all the members,” Jin-Sol replied.

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“What?”

“Do you also want to fight them?”

“...”

Jin-Hyeok was okay with fighting those warriors, but having his sister join in on it too would be a bit awkward. Even though Jin-Hyeok constantly denied it, he knew he was a bit of a crazy guy. It was not that big of a problem; as long as he did not get provoked, he could control himself perfectly well. Also, he thought it was okay to be a bit crazy from time to time.

However, he hoped his sister would never become like that.

“No way! I’m not a crazy person,” she answered.

“Really?”

“...Yes, of course. I was just angry because it sounded like they were calling Pyeong-Beom weak. I am his fan, after all.”

Jin-Hyeok had been just asking, but for some reason, Jin-Sol was a bit aggressive.

“I am not your fan, I am Pyeong-Beom’s fan.”

That statement puzzled Jin-Hyeok a bit, but he figured it had to be some kind of trendy Gen Z thinking, so he just let it slide.

“Okay, I will gather the Alliance members. It will take some time for me to issue the official notification, so please wait a bit.”

“Okay.”

Thinking about it felt like trying to open a Pandora’s box, so Jin-Hyeok gave up using Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance. He just hoped his sister was normal.

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

In the end, Jin-Hyeok and Jin-Sol’s plan came to a pause, thanks to the active intervention of Wang Yu-Mi.

“You want to take Kim Pyeong-Beom to England?”

Song Ha-Young had read Jin-Sol’s movements and relayed the information to Yu-Mi. Jin-Hyeok didn’t know when Ha-Young and Yu-Mi became so close, but they seemed to have a strong connection.

“I have a much better idea. Would you like to hear it?” Yu-Mi asked.

She had never given him wrong advice. Even if Jin-Hyeok could not fully understand her plan at the time, Yu-Mi’s advice always turned out right in the end.

“There is a way to use Pyeong-Beom more effectively. It will bring the best results.”

Jin-Hyeok felt strange. It seemed as if Yu-Mi knew he was Kim Pyeong-Beom.

If anyone could, it would be the formidable Yu-Mi, but neither she nor Jin-Hyeok mentioned this.

“Oh, and this idea isn't just my own. I have an excellent advisor with me. Her Player name is Pathfinder…” Yu-Mi said.

“Han Sae-Rin?”

“Yes. I know that you’re familiar with her. But you shouldn’t disregard her just because she’s a Navigator.”

Jin-Hyeok had never disregarded her. Sae-Rin, who started as a Navigator, would later become a great Ruler with the Absolute Monarch Trait.

“She has excellent insight, so we often discuss things. Our first idea is this. I need Kim Pyeong-Beom to…”

She seemed to be growing fast.

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

As the Scanorbian warriors occupied the Great British Region, unthinkable things started happening. Terrible things were happening to humanity one after another.

[Charles, the Leader of the HARD Movement, Was Burned Alive.]

[What Should Humanity Do in the Face of Horrific Human Rights Abuse?]

[Why are the World and the EPU Silent?]

Amid all this, one piece of news spread worldwide like wildfire. It came from a livestream by Kang Mi-Na, one of Korea's famous Streamers.

[Korean SSS-Tier Player Kim Pyeong-Beom: “I will crush the warriors of Scanorbia.”]

Mi-Na’s livestream revealed the appearance of Pyeong-Beom, known as the most powerful Player in Korea.

“Who is the strongest among Scanorbia’s warriors? Let’s have a duel. If you are a coward, you can run away,” Pyeong-Beom said.

It was a simple provocation.

-What’s the point of this? LOL! Pyeong-Beom is acting like a child.

-He should fly to the UK right now and fight the Scanorbian warriors? What’s he doing?

-Do those savages from Scanorbia even watch livestreams? LOL.

-This is mocking the suffering of the British civilians. We should take this rather seriously,

Contrary to the opinions online, the warriors of Scanorbia readily accepted the challenge. They brought some British Streamers and released a video. Khan, the great leader of Scanorbia, spoke directly.

⌜Tell me your Level, desired location, and time. I will split your head in half!⌟

Khan also said that the brave warriors of Scanorbia never backed down from a fight. Khan seemed to be quite pleased with Pyeong-Beom’s provocation and challenge.

⌜At least there is someone who can feign valor.⌟

Khan even paused his raid on the Great British Region.

⌜Behold, the greatness of my warriors!⌟

From the outside, Pyeong-Beom looked to be around Level 130. So Khan chose Pongpuru, a Level 138 top-tier warrior from Scanorbia, to send to Korea. Matching levels in an official duel was the warriors' tradition.

“Go. Show them who is the true warrior and return with your enemy’s head!”

Pongpuru nodded to Khan and raised his axe high. He headed to Korea on the British Prime Minister’s private plane, which they had hijacked earlier.

People were curious about how the battle between Pongpuru and Pyeong-Beom would turn out.

-Are Earth Players finally fighting back?

-Isn’t Pyeong-Beom the strongest Swordsman on Earth?

-Yeah, he’s as strong as an Irregular. But he probably lacks real combat experience.

However, the duel never came to fruition. Astonishing news rocked the world.

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

[Pongpuru, a Top-Tier Warrior, Found as a Corpse.]

[Pongpuru’s Death Suspected to be the Work of an Assassin.]

Pongpuru had been assassinated inside the plane heading to Korea. It was well-known that only a few Players could kill Pongpuru in a fair one-on-one duel. However, an assassination was a different story. Assassins could easily kill opponents at a Level significantly higher than theirs with thorough preparation.

-Who the hell killed him?

┗Probably the British resistance?

┗So the British Players actually did something for a change, LOL. I thought they were all weaklings.

Next to Pongpuru’s corpse was a note with the catchphrase ‘I gotchu~’.

-Wait, isn’t that Angel Girl’s signature catchphrase?

┗Are you dumb? Angel Girl is a Thief, not an Assassin!

┗LOL! Do you actually think that Angel Girl has some sort of an exclusive patent on that catchphrase?

┗I gotchu~ §%^@§ Profit rate 300% I gotchu~ ♤♠♧♣ Guaranteed ◁◇ Click §♠♧♣

To be precise, it was not the sole act of Angel Girl, Song Ha-Young. She was a Thief, and her assassination skills were unexceptional. However, things had changed when she teamed up with Assassin Kwak Do-Hyeong.

Inside the Black Rose Alliance’s secret hideout. Do-Hyeon lay on the bed, with a large wound on his chest. “Thanks to you, Noona, it was relatively easy.”

When Thief Ha-Young and Assassin Do-Hyeon teamed up, they became twice as strong.

“How is your wound?” Ha-Young asked.

“I’m entering the recovery phase.”

“Pongpuru was really strong. It seemed like he had prepared thoroughly.”

“If the blade had gone just three centimeters deeper, I would have died too.”

The ones who had assassinated Pongpuru were the joined forces of the Black and Black Alliance.

Do-Hyeong cautiously opened his eyes. “Do you think Chul-Soo will acknowledge my Play?”

“I’m sure he will. We did our bes—ARGH!!!”

“W-What’s wrong?”

“Damn it! It’s the Tight-Fille—”

“Tight what?”

Ha-Young rolled on the floor in agony. After a while, she got a call from Jin-Hyeok.

—Was it you guys?

“Please, just stop it! ARGH!!”

Ha-Young could not understand why Jin-Hyeok had used the Tight-Fillet Spell. If this was not a perfect Play, she didn’t know what was. They had even intentionally left a note to confuse people about who had done the assassination, employing a disinformation tactic. It was a Play that adhered to the basics, so she thought that Jin-Hyeok, who valued fundamentals, would be pleased.

Witnessing Ha-Young’s agony, Do-Hyeon slowly disappeared into thin air. He used his stealth skill to make it look like he was not there.

Ha-Young shouted in frustration, “Where are you going? I thought you couldn’t get u—ARGH!!!”

Due to the pain and how disoriented she felt, she could not tell where Do-Hyeon had hidden.

“Ahh!! I will tell you! It was Kwak Do-Hyeon! He is the one who did it! He killed Pongpuru!”

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”

Ha-Young was already on the brink of death, and Do-Hyeong’s chest wound bled profusely. Ha-Young could not quite understand why Jin-Hyeok was reacting this way, but she tried her best to make sense of it.

She asked, “Are you worried that Khan will get angry and escalate their invasion because of this? If that’s the case…”

“What are you talking about?”

“...Huh?”

“Do I look like a Ruler? Why should I care about that?” While Jin-Hyeok was somewhat aware of his talent as a Ruler, he was not particularly attracted to the Job. “I am a Streamer. Why on earth would a Streamer care about that?”

“Then why are you doing this to us?”

Do-Hyeong also seemed a bit aggrieved. “Did we not follow the basics? If so, please scold us. We will gladly take that punishment.”

“I told you, it is not my concern whether you followed the basics or not.” Jin-Hyeok scowled. “Why would you take away Pyeong-Beom’s opportunity to fight?”

“...Pardon?”

“Huh?”

“Do you know how much Pyeong-Beom wanted to fight the invaders from another Server? You don’t understand Pyeong-Beom’s feelings at all.” Jin-Hyeok was furious.

Ha-Yong and Do-Hyeon could only bow their heads and apologize in the face of his urgency and sincerity.

“Why did you crush Pyeong-Beom’s dream?” Jin-Hyeok shouted.

In any case, the top-tier warrior, Pongpuru, had died. Infuriated at this, the great leader Khan intensified the looting of the British Region.

⌜You cowards! I will kill every one of you!⌟

Amid Khan’s intense anger, Scanorbia’s warriors began to rampage even more, and strange rumors began to circulate.

[The Force that Assassinated Pongpuru is the Black Thorn Alliance from Korea.]

[Viper Kwak Do-Hyeong: “I led the assassination of Pongpuru.”]

Even Do-Hyeon had personally stepped forward and confessed to assassinating Pongpuru. It was even reported that Kim Pyeong-Beom was behind it.

“Cowards like no other!”

“We will rip out their hearts and chew on them!”

The Scanorbian warriors shouted to immediately charge into the Korean Region. Pongpuru’s death had turned the situation into an unpredictable state of chaos.

Jin-Hyeok was lost in thought.

All this had played out exactly as Yu-Mi and Sae-Rin had planned.