I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 124

Phoenix Heart—it was one of the dream Items for the fire-elemental-class Players. When consumed in a special manner, it greatly enhanced resistance to fire, and it was known as the ultimate elixir for those under Level 200.

‘The Players who managed to contend with the Spirit King of Fire, Alkinas, were mostly those who had consumed the Phoenix Heart.’

Less than one hundred of these were released on the Earth Server. At one time, a Phoenix Heart appeared at an auction, and one of the chaebols bought it for about 460 billion won, which was a hefty sum. It was said, perhaps in jest, that just consuming it would place a Player within the top 100 Players worldwide.

‘Oh, and it grants immunity to poison as well.’

Not every Player who consumed the Phoenix Heart acquired the poison immunity. However, for those who acquired it, it was known to grant complete immunity to poison attacks below Level 200.

“If it’s a Mission given by Wind Wanderer, I have to do it. This is amazing.”

Cha Jin-Hyeok accepted the Surprise Mission.

“I’m not quite sure what the Phoenix Heart is, but Wind Wanderer has been watching my livestream since the beginning. Thank you for loving my livestream from the start, and I hope you keep watching it until the end. I will try my best to entertain you.”

Jin-Hyeok never had thought that the Phoenix Heart would be listed as a Mission Reward.

‘Being a Streamer is great!’

When Jin-Hyeok first chose to be an Initial Awakening Streamer, he had many concerns. To put it simply, it seemed somewhat less cool compared to a Swordsman, and he believed it had a clear limit in terms of becoming powerful. However, now, his thoughts had changed a lot.

‘If I consume the Phoenix Heart...’

Jin-Hyeok’s goal was to enjoy Playing, like he was right now, until Level 150. But perhaps he could enjoy it even up to Level 200. It seemed like he could become powerful enough to not be envious of others by Level 200.

‘Let’s focus on clearing the mission first!’

Without realizing it, Jin-Hyeok cracked a sly smile. Perhaps it was due to his improved mood, but he began to notice things that were not apparent before.

“There. That bookshelf seems suspicious.”

Jin-Hyeok approached the bookshelf and pulled out a few books. Nothing seemed to change.

“I have a feeling that there is a special space behind this.”

However, he could not just destroy everything that might be a clue. For moments like this, there was a very useful Mystery.

[You have activated the Mystery 「Pure Luck」.]

Sometimes, it was good to rely on sheer luck to solve problems.

“Ah!”

A swift flash of light zipped by.

“There is a predetermined order of pulling out the books!”

It was like drawing a pattern to unlock a cell phone. Jin-Hyeok had to pull several books out in a specific and consecutive order, but given that there were dozens of books, he couldn’t quite remember the order.

“Being a Streamer is truly a blessing.”

It did not matter that he couldn’t remember. Everything was recorded on his livestream, after all.

“This is the last book.”

As he pulled the last book, a creaking sound echoed, and the bookshelf began to rotate. It made a sound like turning a stone door, revealing a narrow gap just big enough for a person to squeeze through.

“I will go in and take a look.”

[You have entered the Field 「Jonprich’s Secret Chamber」.]

It was a space even smaller than the third floor of the Burning Fortress.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything special. Just that enormous safe over there.”

It was a black safe. It flickered with a gleaming light and looked extraordinarily heavy.

‘Wait... Isn’t that Azovral Obsidian?’

Azovral Obsidian was known to be the hardest material in the world. He had heard that only a very limited number of blacksmiths could work with this material. This was only the second time he had seen it in person.

“I’ve never seen a safe this fancy. I guess I have to try and open it, right?”

? ? ?

The Korean Region Minor Gallery had transformed into an online community where discussions only related to Kim Chul-Soo’s livestream proliferated.

[That probably seems to be a safe made of Azovral Obsidian.]

┗What is that?

┗Just memorize that it’s freaking awesome.

[From my power of knowledge, I conclude that Chul-Soo can’t open that safe.]

┗Jesus, another idiot cosplaying Mireuk. LOL

┗A safe made of Azovral Obsidian, haha. Even high-level Thieves nearing Level 200 can’t open that monstrous safe.

┗He might open it, but I’m sure it will take several days.

The discussions about the safe made of Azovral Obsidian heated up both Nerver and the KRMG. Users who already knew about the Azovral Obsidian asserted that Chul-Soo would not be able to open the safe. Posts continuously emerged, claiming that Chul-Soo’s abilities were being grossly overestimated.

[At best, he is a promising Player in an Open Beta Server. If he keeps Playing like that as a Streamer, he will become obsolete soon. What’s the use of reaching that far? He can’t even open the safe alone. He’s just a half-complete Player. If you refute this, you are wrong.]

[Written by: NoOverpackagingPlz]

Numerous rebuttal comments were posted.

┗This bastard is spouting nonsense here again, LOL.

┗Are you okay?

┗LOL! You’re the one that’s obsolete.

┗—-----Do not feed the troll.------------

The post author, NoOverpackagingPlz, was a Named user who had recently gained fame on the KRMG. He was famous for writing posts that criticized and belittled Chul-Soo.

“Haha!”

In a dark room, Joseph stared at the computer screen and laughed.

“Come at me! Like moths to a flame! More! More!”

The more Joseph got criticized, the more magnificent Chul-Soo would appear! The reason heroes stood out in movies was because they were villains. With a vigor as if to break the keyboard, Joseph typed away.

Tap-tap-tap-tap!

[Chul-Soo has hit his limit now. It’s over for him. His downfall is imminent! Let’s all enjoy his last struggle together! Teehee^?^★]

His thick trapezius muscles twitched. Joseph, who had uploaded the post, lit a cigarette.

“Hahaha!”

Numerous comments were being posted under his post. He didn’t particularly check the comments.

Hoo.

Joseph exhaled a cloud of cigarette smoke and murmured, “Chul-Soo has the Unleashing Technique. The Unleashing Technique will tear the safe apart!”

? ? ?

[You have activated the Mystery 「Unleashing Technique」.]

The Mystery known as the Unleashing Technique—even Jin-Hyeok thought it was an incredibly overpowered ability. It was known that safes made of Azovral Obsidian were difficult to open even for Thieves in the late Level 100s. It was generally believed that instead of opening the safe on the spot, it was better to steal the entire safe and take time to slowly open it later.

‘I can’t believe this worked!’

Click!

With that sound, the safe’s door opened. It was quite a tumultuous experience, but bearable.

“Wait...”

Flash!

A burst of light erupted.

‘This is...’

The light engulfed him.

‘...It’s a trap.’

It seemed very likely that this was a trap set by Jonprich. And this explosion was quite familiar to Jin-Hyeok.

‘It’s the same as the Skill of the high-ranking Spirit, Magnar.’

The high-ranking Spirit, Magnar, was originally a monster found on the third floor of the Burning Fortress. Its Level was around 130.

‘It uses a very annoying and complex Skill called Exploding Fire Orb.’

When facing Magnar, it would throw a few orbs of light into the air, and touching them triggered this kind of explosion.

“It seems to be the power of a Spirit.”

Jin-Hyeok used Broadcaster’s Barrier. In a very short time, he also used Star Shield.

‘Holy shit.’ ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novelenglish.net . Fire(.)nᴇt

The explosive power was insane. Though the explosion happened just once, it felt like hundreds of beams of light were piercing through him.

‘Activate Broadcaster’s Barrier.’

Jin-Hyeok twisted himself to minimize the effects of the explosion and repeatedly activated Broadcaster’s Barrier. Within that seemingly singular explosion, there were clearly points and methods to minimize the damage.

Soon, the white light began to fade. Cold sweat trickled down Jin-Hyeok’s back.

“I was lucky to survive the attack.”

Without realizing it, a giggle escaped from his mouth.

‘Did I really withstand that head-on?’

At this very moment in time, Jin-Hyeok came to a realization and understood something—he had become much stronger than his past self.

‘The past me could not have endured even one hit from that!’

Dodging those kinds of attacks was the best strategy. Apart from Choi Gang-Byeok and Kim Jeong-Hyeon, no one from Jin-Hyeok’s party from his past life could have withstood this attack directly.

But now, he had endured it.

‘I am stronger now than I was then.’

At least in terms of defensive abilities, this was clearly the case. His voice grew a little louder.

“It seems like a trap crafted by Jonprich using the power of a Spirit. Touching those light orbs floating in the air there might cause some trouble. Perhaps another massive explosion?”

Jin-Hyeok made a save point just in case. There was a possibility that he might die here.

‘I’m going to touch it!’

An explosion occurred. This time, he couldn’t block it properly.

“...It seems like I died.”

He was resurrected once thanks to the Extra Life Trait, but still died in the end.

It seemed Jin-Hyeok died twice from a single explosion.

‘I think I can block it with some practice.’

There were about seven light orbs. Jin-Hyeok tried each one of them. He died to the first four orbs but didn’t die to the last three.

“I think I’ve gotten used to these explosive attacks now.”

Though it wasn’t formalized as a notification, it seemed he had developed some resistance to this kind of attack.

Jin-Hyeok had achieved another milestone in his growth.

“Huhuhu.”

He had become stronger again.

‘Ah, wait a minute. What was I doing again?’

He quickly regained his composure.

“Now let’s inspect the inside of the safe. It didn’t get a single scratch even within such a powerful explosion.”

[「Warp Portal of Encounter」 Recipe]

Jin-Hyeok could not tell whether this was something Jonprich failed to retrieve or something generated through the System Scenario.

“Oh, it describes a method to activate a teleportation circle. It seems like I can move to the Eastern Ancient Castle Town in one go from here.”

Jin-Hyeok looked outside the open window.

“I think I know why Jonprich fled with the window open.”

Upon closer inspection, Jin-Hyeok could see faint traces of mana with his Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance.

“Over there! There was a Warp Portal in the air. It seems like the remnants left by the Warp Portal of Encounter. Through that, we might be able to chase after Jonprich.”

? ? ?

A few ingredients were necessary.

[Teeth of the Molten Horseshoe Crab]

[Eyeball of the Three-Headed Beast]

.

.

[Knee made of Old Tree]

...Among other things.

These miscellaneous Items were acquired when Jin-Hyeok ventured into the Trance Realm and slaughtered numerous monsters.

“These ingredients will be turned into powder by burning them in the Final Flame, and then sprinkled on the faintly remaining mana circle to create the Warp Portal of Encounter.”

Jin-Hyeok gathered the Items in one place.

Then, using the Final Flame, an Item left to him by Igrit, he set the Items ablaze.

Whoosh!

The flames soared high as if to touch the ceiling, only to have all the Items turn into black powder and disappear in a blink of an eye. The ferocious flames subsided just as quickly.

“I will sprinkle the powder and try to chase after Jonprich.”

‘Hm... But I think I’m too far away.’

“I just need to jump higher, right?”

Jin-Hyeok jumped up high. It seemed like he could jump higher than his Swordsman days.

“I will sprinkle the powder.”

He sprinkled the powder downward. The black powder dispersed in the air before taking shape.

A black magic circle was created.

[You have activated the 「Warp Portal of Encounter」.]

He passed through the magic circle. It felt like he was being pulled somewhere.

“It feels like I’m falling somewhere.”

‘Wow, this is much more dynamic than I expected, like jumping off a cliff toward a black hole with my arms spread wide.’

The feeling was quite interesting as it felt like his flesh was being pulled inward. The falling speed accelerated to a point where it was slightly dizzying. This was the first time he felt this way while going through a warp portal. It was definitely not an ordinary warp portal.

“It’s quite fun.”

[You have received a message from 「KingGodGeneral Yumi」.]

[“Can you please pause the screen? The viewers are getting motion sickness.”]

‘Huh? They get motion sickness just from this? Why?’

“I will momentarily stop the livestre—”

It seemed there was no need to stop.

Whoosh!

Jin-Hyeok’s view brightened. A new place appeared before his eyes.

‘Huh?’

The surroundings were ablaze.

‘Wait a minute...’

Jin-Hyeok knew this was not an ordinary warp portal, but he did not expect this to happen.

[You have entered the Field 「Burning Fortress Second Floor」.]

Jin-Hyeok assumed he would be transported to Jonprich’s hideout, or perhaps the Eastern Ancient Castle Town. Instead, he was transported to the Burning Fortress Second Floor.

[Solo Mode is still in effect.]

Sounds of shouts echoed from various directions. Those familiar shouts belonged to Lee Hyeon-Seong.

‘Is he fighting with the Sword Aura? And he’s pushing Igrit to the brink of death.’

Hyeon-Seong seemed to have grown quite a bit.

[You have activated the Hidden Achievement 「Encounter with the Footsteps Follower」.]

[New World Scenario, 「Walking Alone in a New Place」 has been adjusted to 「Walking Alone, and Together in a New Place」.]

While maintaining the Solo Mode, Jin-Hyeok entered the New World that other Players were clearing. This was a setting he was seeing for the first time. It seemed that while Playing together in the same space, the privileges of the Solo Mode, such as slight difficulty adjustment and monopolizing experience points, remained intact.

“Were you the ones who were following my footsteps?”

Haaap!

Hyeon-Seong was swinging his sword toward Igrit, from left to right. He seemed to think it was his final attack. His face looked truly desperate. He seemed to be trying very hard, but it wasn’t particularly impressive.

“Ah... That’s not how you use a sword.”

Without realizing it, Jin-Hyeok’s inner voice had slipped out.