I Gave Up Being Stronger

There was a small connection between Cha Jin-Hyeok and Im Kkeok-Jeong. It turned out that Kkeok-Jeong was the previous owner of the item, the Berklev Necklace, that Jin-Hyeok had worn before his regression.

‘Well, the ownership of the item changed a few times in between.’

It went through several hands before ending up in the hands of Jin-Hyeok. To properly enhance the Berklev Necklace, six special ingredients and one condition were necessary.

The condition was that it had to consume the blood of its original owner. It had a wicked condition of consuming a lethal amount of blood and undergoing maturation.

In the past, Jin-Hyeok easily fulfilled that condition.

‘Because the Necklace was already soaked in Kkeok-Jeong’s blood then.’

He remembered what he had read in documents.

Kkeok-Jeong was a famous Player who Played very well only in the early stages of the Server.

Every class had promising rookies. They grew with tremendous momentum until the early to intermediate stages, but they often could not survive for long and were eventually defeated. It was their unfortunate destiny.

Im Kkeok-Jeong was such a case. He achieved tremendous growth in the early stages but was assassinated by an Assassin before long. The Assassin who killed him was a woman who had been sexually assaulted by him.

That was why Berklev Necklace was covered in Kkeok-Jeong’s blood back then.

‘But I am not sure if I can feed his blood to the Necklace now.’

It could not be just any blood. It had to be the blood of an owner who had achieved certain Achievements. The present Im Kkeok-Jeong and the Im Kkeok-Jeong from that timeline were different. Jin-Hyeok examined the fallen opponent. He was barely clinging to life and it seemed like it was not going to take long for him to die.

[LV35/Im Kkeok-Jeong/Bandit/Skills/Seven Lusts Ten Kills]

‘Seven Lusts Ten Kills?’

Jin-Hyeok could not believe Kkeok-Jeong had obtained that Achievement already in the early stage. It was a very notorious Achievement that a Player of the rogue and assassin class could obtain by sexually assaulting seven people and killing ten people.

‘Just having Three Lusts Five Kills would’ve been enough…’

Jin-Hyeok glanced inside the container warehouse. He needed a suitable-sized container to hold the blood and the Berklev Necklace, but there was none.

‘I know for a fact that if I use the Broadcaster’s Shop, they are going to rip me off.’

However, he had no other choice. He spent a whopping five hundred thousand Dias to purchase a large container. Then he approached Kkeok-Jeong. Kkeok-Jeong was already unconscious.

Song Ha-Young was surprised beyond belief.

“Wh..what are you doing?”

Ha-Young was more afraid of Jin-Hyeok than Kkeok-Jeong. Jin-Hyeok calmly pulled out the dagger that was stuck in the back of Kkeok-Jeong's head. The blood flowed out in a crimson stream.

Jin-Hyeok was so focused on his Play that he did not hear a word from Ha-Young.

‘I remember they said the fresher the blood, the better, right?’

Ha-Young was still trapped. She crawled like a caterpillar away from Jin-Hyeok.

“W-Wait! What are you doing?”

‘What the hell am I looking at?” Ha-Young thought.

The person in front of her was not a human, but a demon.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

After being safely released with the help of Jin-Hyeok, Ha-Young returned home, trembling.

‘Why did he take the blood?’

He took out a strange container and filled it with blood. Then he dipped his finger into it and tasted it, only to spit it out. He said something about it not being fresh enough.

He definitely seemed like a demon.

‘And then he suddenly opened up Kkeok-Jeong’s chest…’

Ha-Young stopped her recollection there. It was too horrific, and she did not want to remember any of it.

The image of Jin-Hyeok holding Kkeok-Jeong's still-beating heart in his hand remained unforgettable.

“This should be the freshest.”

She witnessed him not just collecting the Berklev Necklaces, but putting one of them in a container along with blood and the heart of his enemy. After that, Jin-Hyeok casually released Ha-Young without saying anything.

She trembled all over.

‘That guy is clearly insane…’

She had hoped to seize the opportunity to escape and remove the Golden Headband, but even that desire vanished completely after she saw what Jin-Hyeok had done.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Katrina let out a triumphant laugh.

“You really brought them back!”

“One of them is mine, so I’m going to take it.”

“Sure. Thank you so much!”

The stolen item Katrina had was a pair of Berklev Necklaces. One of them was in a container with Kkeok-Jeong’s blood.

[You have cleared the Quest 「Katrina’s Request」.]

“You might not know this, but this is a really great item.”

“It does not look particularly special.”

“When you meet certain conditions and gather specific materials, the Berklev Necklace gains special properties.”

[You have been given the Quest Reward 「Berklev Necklace Enchantment Recipe」.]

Katrina handed him a booklet.

“I’m not sure if this can be unlocked in the early stages of the Server, but anyway, a reward is a reward.”

“Thank you.”

“You still don’t fully understand, do you? How valuable this reward is.”

“Well, I guess it hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

The booklet probably contained the information Jin-Hyeok already knew. It would help him with the probability when enchanting in the direction he desired. It seemed that what Ahn Ji-Won from the Support Team said about Kat-lotto was right.

“I’ll come back when I have more things to sell,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Okay~ You can come empty-handed too~ Preferably at night!”

“...”

“Do you like to drink?”

Jin-Hyeok did not respond and turned his back and walked away. He knew that engaging in small talks with Katrina would be never-ending. He examined the booklet. It detailed things that even he could not fully remember.

‘Oh, I need to mature the Berklev Necklace for seven days.’

If it was not for the booklet, he would have taken the Berklev Necklace out right away. Then, there was an additional note marked with an asterisk.

[*If it is matured with the owner’s heart, it will further enhance its effects.]

This was pure luck on his part. Jin-Hyeok felt oddly pleased. This feeling of completing a proper strategy would be familiar to anyone who enjoyed Playing.

‘Alright. Let’s try clearing the Golden Toad Dungeon again.’

He continued to clear the Golden Toad Dungeon with his party.

Second clear.

Third clear.

…

Seventh clear.

Jin-Hyeok kept obtaining gold bars. Although the amount varied with each clear, he was getting around four hundred million Dias worth of gold bars per clear, on average.

“You are pretty impressive~ What do you think about raising a family together?”

Katrina’s teasing became more intense, but Jin-Hyeok did not really respond to it.

While the balance on his account was accumulating, he was able to reach Level 45.

‘This would be the tenth clear.’

For a Player, ten clears of the Golden Toad Dungeon were the limit. It was a bit regrettable. If it were not just ten clears but a hundred, he could have roughly earned forty billion won.

‘Still, four billion won is good enough.’

He earned money faster than he thought. He never expected that he would personally clear this place this many times after becoming a Streamer.

“So this is our last clear,” Cha Jin-Sol said with a hint of regret.

Jin-Hyeok paid the party about ten percent of the rewards he obtained as compensation, and they would divide the ten percent among themselves. Each of them would take around eight million won each time they cleared the Dungeon.

“I can’t believe it’s over now.”

“Really… It is… really unfortunate.”

“Thanks, Hyung. Thanks to you, we were able to earn so much money.”

Just giving them ten percent of the rewards made them that excited and happy. Jin-Hyeok felt like he was being a bad leader. Still, they would not have had a clue how to clear this place without him, so it was fair that he got most of the rewards.

After the tenth clear, they walked toward the spawned door.

[You have cleared the 「Golden Toad Dungeon」.]

[You have achieved the Hidden Achievement 「First Ten Consecutive Clear」.]

Suddenly, fireworks exploded before his eyes. They were not actual fireworks, but an effect created by the System. Usually, if this kind of effect was used, it meant that the System was about to reward something really good.

‘Oh?’

This was something Jin-Hyeok did not know about. There had to be at least one Player who had been the first to clear this Dungeon ten times in a row. That someone knew about this Hidden Achievement but didn’t tell the world about it. The treasure had to have been something so good that they had to keep their mouth shut.

[The Hidden Boss Room 「King Toad’s Chamber」 has been spawned.]

‘Wait a minute.’

Upon reconsideration, it might not necessarily mean that they obtained a treasure good enough to keep their mouth shut. They might have just gone into that room and did not come back alive.

[At least one person must enter the Hidden Boss Room.]

The System was providing excessively detailed explanations, probably because they were in a low-Level dungeon.

[Players who enter the Hidden Boss Room will become the King Toad’s food.]

[King Toad is Level 53.]

[Players who enter the Hidden Boss Room will receive a 「x7 Jackpot Effect」.]

[Players who do not enter the Hidden Boss Room will receive a 「x2 Effect」.]

The party members’ expressions started to darken. Mok Jae-Hyeon already seemed scared.

“Hyung… What should we do?”

Jin-Sol bit her lip and fell silent. Jin-Hyeok did not know what her intention was, but she gently grabbed onto the hem of his clothes.

Seo Ji-Ah remained silent without any noticeable change in expression, and Seo Ji-Soo seemed slightly bewildered.

“So… at least one person has to go in, right?” Ji-Soo asked Jin-Hyeok.

“It seems that way.”

In front of them, in addition to the exit leading outside, another entrance had been generated.

[As time passes, the King Toad becomes more vicious.]

Kim Jeong-Hyeon, who had a heavy expression, took a step forward. He seemed to have made up his mind.

“I… will go… inside…”

It seemed like he felt that he should be the one to go in, and it made Jin-Hyeok feel uncomfortable.

“Why should you go in?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

‘It’s x7 Jackpot Effect. If I’m not the one going in, I am going to be really mad.’

“I… think I am the most suitable candidate… My… chances of survival would be the highest…”

“What are you talking about? I should do it.”

While they were diligently clearing the Golden Toad Dungeon, Jin-Hyeok was just watching behind them. He did not find the idea of hunting Golden Toads particularly appealing. However, because of that, Jeong-Hyeon seemed to misunderstand a bit. He seemed to think he was stronger than Jin-Hyeok because his Level had increased.

If Jin-Hyeok left it alone, he might end up being pushed aside.

“I’ll see you guys on the other side.”

Jin-Hyeok confidently strode forward. Jin-Sol followed him, crying.

“Oppa!!!”

“Why are you crying?”

“Why does it have to be you who sacrifices your life?”

“Sacrifice? What are you talking about?”

‘What sacrifice. I’m already excited to death right now.’

“I have a clear direction of how I am going to Play,” Jin-Hyeok said.

He could Play however he wanted until Level 100. He could Play according to his own wishes up to that point.

“So, I’m going.”

Jin-Hyeok took light-hearted steps toward the entrance.

Jin-Sol clung to him tenaciously.

“Oppa, please, don’t do this…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get the x7 Jackpot Effect and come back alive.”

“You’re trying to act cool when it doesn’t even suit you!”

What is she talking about?’

He had never tried to act cool, so he did not understand why she was saying that. In her eyes, Jin-Hyeok looked cool.

‘I just want to go in there as soon as possible.’

It had been a while since he had a duel with the King Toad and his body was already itching. But since it was a considerably high-Level opponent, he needed to prepare himself.

‘Open the Broadcaster’s Shop.’

In front of others, Jin-Hyeok only used a simple dagger. But now that he was alone and not livestreaming, he decided to do things his way.

[Would you like to purchase the Steel Sword?]

He purchased the best sword he could use at his current Level. Right now, he could only use items that all classes could use. He had to pay a whopping thirty million Dias at the exorbitant Broadcaster’s Shop. The price was ridiculously high compared to its performance, but he was still feeling good about entering the Hidden Boss Room.

“Wait for me outside, everyone.”

He grabbed onto his excited heart and headed toward the entrance that led to the Hidden Boss Room.

[You are now entering the Hidden Boss Room 「King Toad’s Chamber」.]

The Field suddenly changed around him. He was now standing in the King Toad’s Chamber. There was a fairly large pond in the room, and the pond had quite broad leaves floating on it.

Bubble. Bubble.

There was a presence inside the pond. He looked through the Broadcaster’s Truesight and saw that the King Toad was hiding in there.

‘Should I just release the poison into the pond?’

He knew that it could be quite effective to release the poison into the pond.

‘Nah, forget it.’

Since he already bought the Steel Sword, it would not be bad to have an intense battle. He had a good night’s sleep yesterday, and his body was in excellent condition.

‘Come out, come out, wherever—huh?’

Suddenly, the Hidden Boss Room entrance started to shake.

“Oppa.”

Jin-Sol followed him inside.

“Ah…”

Jeong-Hyeon also entered.

“Why…”

Following them, Jae-Hyeon, who had been caught in a headlock by the Seo sisters, also entered.

“No matter where we go, we are still a party. We can never let you go alone,” Ji-Soo spoke with a determined expression.

‘Damn it.’

Jin-Hyeok did not expect to have this kind of camaraderie between the members. He underestimated the others while he was so concentrated on battling the King Toad.

Ji-Soo started to tease him.

“What’s up? Are you getting emotional?”

“I would never give up Oppa and live by myself,” Jin-Sol said while biting her lips.

‘Sigh. If the party members are here, I have to protect them while fighting.’

Jin-Hyeok hastily poured all the poison he had into the pond.

‘Damn it!’

He had decided to fight with all his heart, but it seemed like today was not the day.