I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 75

It was only because of Cha Jin-Hyeok’s own experience that he enhanced the Berklev Necklace with Reflection.

‘The probability was close to one hundred percent…’

The Reflection effect was supposed to work most of the time. A seventy percent probability was considered very high.

‘I never experienced any penalty before my regression…’

In his previous life, Jin-Hyeok had never faced the penalty where a fatal injury attack instantly turned into an instant death attack. Of course, he knew all this revolved around luck and coincidence, but it was still a significant difference compared to his current life after his regression.

‘Perhaps I used up all my luck during the regression.’

He knew he had to do something.

‘I need to obtain Mysteries related to luck.’

However, Jin-Hyeok did not know how to obtain such Mysteries. It was not like Mysteries were easy to find.

‘Hm… A Mystery related to luck…’

As far as he knew, he knew one person that possessed such Mystery. And thanks to that Mystery, that person managed to escape death several times.

‘Jeon Nam-Gil the Serial Killer.’

The serial killer who murdered his family had a Mystery related to luck. Because of that, Nam-Gil was able to block Jin-Hyeok’s attacks. Even when he swung a random stick at Jin-Hyeok, it miraculously blocked Jin-Hyeok’s sword.

‘There was also that time when a flower pot fell on me while I was trying to capture him.’

A kid unrelated to Nam-Gil supposedly threw the flower pot as a prank, but it ended up benefiting the serial killer.

‘Hm…’

Jin-Hyeok didn’t know how, but he knew he had to take that Mystery away from Nam-Gil.

Meanwhile, Mole Man rushed toward him and hugged him tightly.

“You really did it, moly!”

Mole Man was extremely excited, pointing ahead and jumping around.

“The gate has been opened, moly!”

Jin-Hyeok considered pushing him away, but it seemed like a good clip for his video, so he just let him be. Mole Man’s expression looked genuinely thrilled, making it perfect for his livestream.

“Let’s go, moly!”

Mole Man held Jin-Hyeok’s hand firmly, and then they walked briskly toward the gate. The gate was locked with a padlock.

“I knew this was going to happen, so I obtained one more key, moly!”

Mole Man was prepared. No wonder he was the number two Navigator. Jin-Hyeok brushed off Mole Man’s grip and continued the livestream.

“It seems like the Dungeon has been cleared. I wonder if Pathfinder’s team has cleared it.”

Click!

The gate opened.

[You have cleared the Gangnam Shinsegae Department Store Dungeon.]

[You have acquired the Achievement 「Conqueror of Gangnam Shinsegae Department Store Dungeon」.]

It was not a particularly special Achievement. Some Dungeons would give Players an Achievement just for clearing them, and Jin-Hyeok was familiar with this one. It made finding the Hidden Achievement inside this Dungeon easier and had a probability of increasing the rewards received from the Gangnam Shinsegae Department Store Dungeon.

But at that moment, Mole Man held his head and got on the ground.

“No… No!!”

“What’s going on?”

“It’s too late, moly.”

The ears on Mole Man’s hat, which was of a raccoon's for some reason, drooped sadly. He sure was a Player who stayed true to his concept. Then, he started to cry loudly, like a baby.

“I think this guy needs some comforting. I will mute the livestream for a moment.”

“I don’t need comforting, moly! I lost, moly!”

With the mute mode on, Jin-Hyeok placed his hand on Mole Man’s shoulder and whispered into his ear, “If you ever try to hold my hand again, I will cut off your wrist.”

“...”

Mole Man flinched. As someone who was sensitive to bloodlust, he fully understood what was going on.

“If you understand, smile at the camera.”

“...”

Mole Man’s sobbing stopped abruptly. Jin-Hyeok released mute mode.

“I’ve comforted him enough. Luckily, it seems like my encouragement worked well.”

“...”

Thanks to Jin-Hyeok’s rather forceful encouragement, Mole Man stopped crying. Although he had managed to calm down, Mole Man was still upset.

“They cleared it seven minutes faster than us!” Mole man said while gritting his teeth in anger.

“They took the Achievement for the First Clear away from us, moly!”

Just then, on the pedestrian crossing across the street, Han Sae-Rin and Kang Mi-Na were standing. When the light turned green, they started to walk toward Jin-Hyeok.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Jin-Hyeok continued the livestream.

“We will have a talk as to who won this time.”

Jin-Hyeok’s party members, who were also waiting outside, joined him, and Sae-Rin and Mi-Na’s members were waiting across the street at a coffee shop.

“Everyone is sitting down as if they have won. Some are even foolishly smiling like victors.”

They sat facing each other around a long table. On the opposite side of Jin-Hyeok was Lee Hyeon-Seong.

Hyeon-Seong spoke first, “We were seven minutes faster, so I think we can call it our victory.”

Jin-Hyeok felt a bit annoyed. Honestly, if someone else had said it, he wouldn’t have been this bothered.

‘Hyeon-Seong always boasts like this, whether it is now or before.’

Even though Jin-Hyeok was clearly much stronger, Hyeon-Seong still had this typical Swordsman-like attitude, claiming he won. Hyeon-Seong had always done that before Jin-Hyeok’s regression, and he was still doing it.

Jin-Hyeok was going to let them claim victory because it was not a high-level Achievement or anything, but seeing Hyeon-Seong acting like this changed everything.

“Do you seriously think that you won?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“...”

“Claiming victory while taking a shortcut and not even fighting the boss monster? And you call yourself a Swordsman?”

“Our mission was to clear the Dungeon as fast as we can.”

Seeing how easily Hyeon-Seong stopped using honorifics, it looked like his true nature was about to come out. Of course, Jin-Hyeok was the first to stop using the honorifics, but he decided not to mind it.

“Why do you even have a sword? It’s embarrassing,” Jin-Hyeok provoked.

“...”

“You ran away from a boss monster that even a Streamer like me could easily defeat!”

Then, Sae-Rin, who was the Navigator for Hyeon-Seong, chimed in, “It’s not like we couldn’t defeat the boss monster. We just chose a more efficient strategy. Our goal was to clear the Dungeon.”

“And I’m wondering if you can even call that a legitimate clear.”

“Of course it’s a legitimate clear.”

“That’s from a Navigator’s perspective.”

Navigators always pursued more efficient and safe routes. From Sae-Rin’s perspective, they did everything perfectly.

“How about you, Lee Hyeon-Seong?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“How the hell do you know my name?”

“One search on the KRMG or the SSP and everything about you pops up. A well-prepared Streamer should know who the top-ranked Swordsman is. And stop beating around the bush and answer my question. You. You. You. You!”

Jin-Hyeok pointed his finger at each member of their team.

“From your perspective, do you really think that was a legitimate clear?”

And finally, he pointed at Mi-Na.

“Did you get better clips for your Eltube channel than me?”

“O-Of course!”

Maybe she was telling the truth. She had the ability to produce great content even from mundane events like snow falling from the sky.

“How many viewers did you have?”

“...”

It was not really a question. Jin-Hyeok could check that on Eltube. Her viewer count was probably around ten thousand.

“A Streamer’s ability is determined by the number of viewers. Am I wrong?” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Simply saying that Streamer’s ability is based solely on viewer numbers is not correct. It is more complicated than that.”

“What other objective metrics are there then?”

For now, Jin-Hyeok’s viewer count was much higher than hers. For Streamers, having a large number of viewers was the most important thing.

“Is your Level higher than mine?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“...”

“So, not only do you have fewer viewers than me, your Level is also lower than mine… It sure sounds like a loss to me.”

Mi-Na bit her lip. She seemed quite frustrated.

“So I guess the only one who can claim victory from your team is Pathfinder, right?”

“We only lost two members. That means we didn’t clear by using our colleagues’ sacrifices as stepping stones,” Hyeon-Seong said.

Just then, Cha Jin-Sol chimed in, “Sacrifice? What sacrifice?”

“I know some of you died in the Dungeon. Even though there’s the resurrection setting in the Dungeon, the pain and fear of death are still real.”

“Why would that be considered a sacrifice?”

Jin-Sol looked toward the Seo sisters and asked them, “Do you guys think it was a sacrifice?”

The Seo sisters both shook their heads at the same time. They genuinely could not understand why this was considered a sacrifice.

“It… was a good death,” Seo Ji-Ah spoke first.

“Experiencing death through the boss monster’s attack was a valuable learning experience. I really learned a lot,” Seo Ji-Soo said.

‘Well done. Well done.’

They had such a desirable way of thinking. Furthermore, Kim Jeong-Hyeon added more to it, “The feeling… of my neck breaking… and my head getting crushed… were very unfamiliar sensations… I think… It is something every Martial Artists should experience… at least once…”

Jin-Hyeok spoke up, “Our party learned a lot from this Dungeon.”

Thanks to Mole Man, he regained his original mindset. They had learned a lot from this place.

“Then what about you guys? Besides just being seven minutes faster, were there any other aspects where you were better than us? Of course, in the competition between Navigators, you guys won.”

Mole Man seemed like he wanted to say something, but he closed his mouth after locking his eyes with Jin-Hyeok.

“So what I’m saying is, in the competition between Mole Man and Pathfinder, it’s a win for Pathfinder. In all other aspects, it’s a victory for us. After looking at the facts, why are you still trying to argue?” Jin-Hyeok said.

The other team seemed eager to say something, but they could not bring themselves to speak.

Mi-Na was the first to stand up.

“Fine!”

She glared at each of Jin-Hyeok’s party members.

“If I find Kim Pyeong-Beom, you guys are all done for! Hmph!”

Mi-Na walked away. Despite her attitude, it seemed like she was admitting to her defeat.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Mok Jae-Hyeon could not understand the situation at all.

‘What does it matter who wins?’ Jae-Hyeon thought.

Looking at the people on the other side, they seemed to have lost everything. Looking at his members, they seemed to have gained everything.

‘Am I the weird one?’

He couldn’t comprehend why everyone was fixated on such trivial matters. It was not like someone would pay them for being recognized as having the Dungeon's First Clear.

Of course, that was Jae-Hyeon’s misconception.

“I knew Kim Chul-Soo was not going to let us down.”

Choi Gap-Soo donated ten million Dias to Cha Jin-Hyeok, and Jang Michelle also donated ten million Dias to him.

“Who would have thought we could see such a high-quality livestream on the Earth Server?” Gap-Soo said.

“Solo clear by a Streamer, huh,” Michelle said.

“Chul-Soo showed off his skills, and every move he made was exceptional.”

When Chul-Soo moved, he was agile like an Assassin, and his attacks were powerful like a Martial Artist.

“His use of Extra Life and Berklev Necklace was also remarkable.”

“I admit he was excellent, but I wonder how long he could Play like that.”

“I guess we will have to wait and see.”

MoneyShower and MoneyShot had been watching the SSP for a long time. There have been many Streamers who tackled various Jobs in low-Level stages for a long time. However, very few became high-Level Streamers.

“For some reason, I have a feeling that Chul-Soo will show incredible skills even in the high-Level stages.”

“You’re just saying that because you want that to happen, old man.”

“Hahaha! Perhaps. It might be my wishful thinking.”

Anyway, Jin-Hyeok received twenty million Dias in total from just those two. And the nearly twenty thousand viewers also donated around ten million Dias in total.

Jin-Hyeok had obtained thirty million Dias, and he proceeded to distribute among his party members their share of it—in the form of one million Dias each. The party members trembled with excitement.

‘Fantastic rewards.’

‘Amazing! If I combine it with my sister, that’s two million Dias!’

‘One million Dias in a day… Awesome…’

‘Hehe. I guess I met an amazing Oppa.’

‘So if I win… I get money?’

Everyone was extremely satisfied. The fact that they won the competition made everyone, except for Jae-Hyeon, happy.

Meanwhile, when Jin-Hyeok returned from clearing the Gangnam Shinsegae Department Store Dungeon, he examined his rewards.

[Pharaoh’s Golden Mask]

[Pharaoh’s Failed Herb of Immortality]

‘Where do I use these?’

Jin-Hyeok couldn’t recall. Since he did not know when or where these items could be useful, he decided to keep them for now.

Just then, his phone started to ring.

‘Who could it be?’

The caller was Angel Girl.

—I found him.

“Who?”

—The person you wanted me to find. Jeon Nam-Gil.

Angel Girl found where Nam-Gil was.

—But… something is a bit off.

“What do you mean?”

—Take a look. I’ll send you the link on KakaoTalk.

Ding!

A link was sent to Jin-Hyeok’s phone.