I Gave Up Being Stronger

The Berklev Necklace could be enhanced in various directions, and the direction Cha Jin-Hyeok wanted to enhance was 'Reflection.'

[Reflection]

[Ability to reflect an attack that result in an instant death. (Probability: 70%)

However, an attack that result in a fatal injury may be converted into an attack that result in an instant death instead. (Probability: 30%)]

An ‘instant death’ referred to an attack that could cause immediate death upon receiving it. A ‘fatal injury’ meant an attack that, if received and not promptly treated, could lead to death. The System automatically distinguished between an instant death and a fatal injury, but Players could generally get a sense of what the attacks were by experiencing near-death crises several times.

‘So this is an ability with a high probability to reflect attacks that would kill me, but the same ability also comes with a low probability to turn attacks that could kill me into attacks that would kill me.’

The Reflection probability was a whopping seventy percent. That was why Jin-Hyeok still wore the Berklev Necklace even after he had reached beyond Level 240. Even if he searched the entire Server, there was no item that could reflect attacks resulting in an instant death with a probability of seventy percent.

‘Although the fact that a fatal injury attack could be converted into an instant death attack isn’t a trivial problem.’

However, honestly, if a Player suffered a fatal injury during combat, they could consider themselves dead. In such desperate situations, there was no time to receive appropriate treatment from a Healer. If they were going to suffer a fatal injury, it was better to die cleanly and quickly, which could also be helpful to their teammates.

The fact that Jin-Hyeok had survived until he reached beyond Level 240 proved that this was a great item.

‘There is another good thing about it.’

Despite having such excellent effects, the usage rate of this Berklev Necklace was surprisingly low. That was very advantageous for Jin-Hyeok. There were no items that were great in every aspect. There were definitely items that could counter this Berklev Necklace.

‘The fact that the number of Players wearing this Berklev Necklace is low means that there are few Players that have items to counter this Berklev Necklace.’

It was only a thirty percent chance of instant death. If one did not have the guts to accept even this level of risk, one was not cut out for the Play. However, Cha Jin-Sol’s expression was strange.

‘She looks oddly terrified.’

Lately, Jin-Hyeok had been refraining from using the Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance when interacting with people. Somehow, he felt like his social skills were slightly lacking, and to bring them back to their original state, Jin-Hyeok believed he needed to better observe the other person’s thoughts and emotions. The Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance provided too much information and hindered his personal growth.

‘Why is she acting like that?’

Jin-Hyeok quickly found the answer.

“The effect on the item is pretty overpowered, right?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Are you freaking crazy?!”

‘I didn’t know the item was that good.’

“So what you are saying is that if you wear this, you can die from attacks that are not supposed to kill you,” Jin-Sol said.

She kept saying weird stuff.

“Who the hell would wear an item with a fatality rate of thirty percent?”

“Don’t you see that the reflection rate is seventy percent?”

“Do you know that even the mortality rate of the previous global pandemic that paralyzed the world was less than two percent?”

Jin-Hyeok did not know why his sister was getting so worked up. He found it difficult to understand her thoughts, so he eventually had to resort to using the Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance.

[...#A fatal injury doesn’t mean death. #I can just heal him. #Is he crazy?]

'Just heal me?’

Sometimes Jin-Hyeok thought that she tended to underestimate the severity of the Play. Suffering a fatal injury meant being in an incredibly desperate situation.

However, Jin-Hyeok understood her with a generous heart.

‘She hasn’t experienced battles that intense. That could be it.’

Intense and thrilling battles where Healers could not even properly heal Players. Jin-Hyeok felt like she could not understand because she had never experienced that electrifying—no, dangerous battle.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

From Jin-Hyeok’s perspective, Jin-Sol had never experienced an exhilarating battle that pushed the limits. However, that was only based on Jin-Hyeok’s standards. Jin-Sol had already died countless times in the Tutorial Dungeons. It meant she had experienced battles so intense that there was no way out except death.

Even when a Level 100 Player faced a Level 110 monster, or when a Level 10 Player faced a Level 20 monster, the situations were equally intense. The perceived intensity was similar, whether high-Level or low-Level.

Except for Jin-Hyeok, other high-ranking Players rarely used the Berklev Necklace enhanced with the Reflection ability. Having even a slight chance of dying from a non-lethal attack was such a fatal and dangerous disadvantage.

“We will start gathering materials to enhance the Berklev Necklace starting Monday. I need you and the other team members to go to the Heyri Art Valley[1] in Paju,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“But tomorrow is Saturday. I was planning on taking a break.”

“Weekends don’t exist for Players. You even quit your old job to pursue this path. You should think about how to become stronger, not how to take more breaks. You do want to get stronger, right?”

“...”

“Go to the Valley and build up your skills there. It is a Field where the revival setting is in place, so if you work hard, you will get good results.”

This was advice born from experience. Many diverse monsters between Levels thirty and fifty appeared there, making it a great training ground. Players could learn various patterns and attack styles.

Sometimes the Field boss monsters would appear, and they would get killed, but it was a Field where it only took three minutes for Players to revive, so it was an excellent place for leveling up. In other words, it meant that Players could experience a second death within three minutes, and governments around the world were conducting campaigns to avoid consecutive deaths within three days.

“Aren’t you coming with us, Oppa?”

“I am going to take a break from livestreaming for the weekend.”

“You just told me that there are no weekends for Players. You said we need to become stronger!”

“How can a Streamer get stronger?”

Jin-Sol felt slightly indignant.

‘You’re the strongest among us, Oppa!’ Jin-Sol thought.

However, she knew that the only response she would get would be something like, “It’s because I’m still a low-Level.”

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Saturday morning dawned. Without realizing it, Jin-Hyeok opened his eyes wide.

‘Wow! It’s Saturday!’

He had now firmly decided on his direction of Play.

During the weekdays, he would focus on his main job, which was livestreaming. On weekends, he would take the time to rejuvenate and recharge through wholesome hobbies.

And of course, a wholesome hobby for him involved wielding a sword.

‘This sounds like a good plan to me.’

Working five days a week, and resting on weekends. To maintain this universal and ordinary life for a longer period, it seemed essential to have the Mystery called the Second Identity that the Angel Girl possessed in his previous life.

“I don’t like waking up at six in the morning,” Song Ha-Young said.

She seemed somewhat dissatisfied.

“What kind of Thief cares about what time it is?” Jin-Hyeok said.

“This is when I go to sleep.”

‘Ah, that’s right.’

Normally a Thief would sleep when the sun rose and move around when it set.

However, Jin-Hyeok did not care. He was not the one who was tired.

“Today, we will explore Dungeons in Daehak-ro. I heard there are a lot of Dungeons there.”

Daehak-ro had quite a few small theaters. Dungeons had been created in each of those theaters.

“Why are we going there?” Ha-Young asked.

“My senses are telling me that there are many mysterious treasures hidden there. There are even Dungeons exclusively for Thieves. Isn’t that interesting?”

“Not really.”

‘Really? That can’t be true.’

Jin-Hyeok had become much more perceptive now. He checked with the Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance, just to be certain.

[...#OMG! #I’m so excited! #I hope I can get even stronger!]

As expected, Jin-Hyeok was not wrong. It seemed his social skills had almost returned.

“I’m hungry. Let’s have some bread before we do anything,” Ha-Young said.

“Don’t people normally say let’s have a meal or something?”

“Bread! Bread! Bread! Bread!”

Ha-Young sang a little tune.

[#Give me bread! #Give me bread! #I love bread!]

It seemed she could not hear him.

“There is a really famous bakery around here.”

Ha-Young half-dragged Jin-Hyeok along as she walked. Her footsteps were incredibly light, probably because she was a Thief.

She bought several types of bread, some baguettes that were about half her height, and some cream-filled ones with names Jin-Hyeok couldn’t pronounce. All in all, she bought a lot of bread.

“Are you going to eat all that?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

Surprisingly, she did eat all of it. He wondered how it all fit into her small frame, but she actually ate every single one of them.

“Why do you eat so little?” Ha-Young asked.

“I need to stay light to fight well.”

“But I thought you were here to livestream?”

“Nope. I am going to Play, just like you.”

“But you said the Dungeon we’re going to was exclusively for Thieves.”

“Strictly speaking, it’s for non-combatant class Players.”

Non-combatant class Players during this period had been exhibiting inexplicable behavior. In this low-Level range, there was almost no difference in abilities between combatant class Players and non-combatant class Players. Yet, non-combatant class Players rarely entered non-combatant exclusive Dungeons. Instead, they tend to form parties with combatant Players to enter regular Dungeons.

Anyway, Jin-Hyeok and Ha-Young started exploring the theaters in Daehak-ro one by one.

[Would you like to enter the non-combatant exclusive Sub-Dungeon 「Content Box」?]

Upon entering, Jin-Hyeok saw Dwarf monsters and Goblins wandering around. He felt like wielding a sword would be too easy, so he drew a dagger instead.

Stab!

[You have defeated a Goblin.]

Stab!

Normally, defeating such weak monsters was not particularly enjoyable. But today was different.

‘Yes! I love this feeling!’

Seeing the precise Sword Ways through the Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance exhilarated him. Each hit on the monster was a critical hit.

‘This is what I was missing out on!’

This thrilling sensation excited him. He was certain. The sense in his hand holding the sword was clearly telling Jin-Hyeok.

‘The Almighty Jack of All Trade Trait is imbued with the Sword Emperor Trait! I can feel it!’

Jin-Hyeok could feel it. He purposely moved roughly, attacked inefficiently without striking vital points, and yet his rhythm was much more refined. His footsteps were light, and his body was filled with energy.

‘This is what a Player should be like!’

It was a sensation that could not be felt until reaching a high Level.

The agility of moving as one with the sword.

He had not reached the realm where he was one with the sword, but handling the sword had become much more natural than before he obtained the Sword Emperor.

Of course, this did not mean he was incredibly satisfied with himself. By his standards, he had barely escaped the realm of being weak.

Still, it was something to be grateful for. By relentlessly defeating monsters, he managed to clear the Sub-Dungeon.

[You have cleared the non-combatant exclusive Sub-Dungeon 「Content Box」.]

‘Great.’

Jin-Hyeok and Ha-Young left to go to another Sub-Dungeon. He hoped there would be tougher monsters.

[Would you like to enter the non-combatant exclusive Sub-Dungeon 「Uniplex」?]

Jin-Hyeok knew that the Mystery called the Second Identity was somewhere in one of the Sub-Dungeons, but he did not know the exact location. It would be easy to see where it was by using the Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance, but he decided not to use it. He knew what he was doing was inefficient.

‘But hobbies are inherently inefficient, right?’

Why bother pursuing efficiency in a hobby meant to be enjoyable? Just by having this kind of normal thinking, it was undeniable evidence that Jin-Hyeok had truly regained his senses.

“Um… Are you okay?” Ha-Young asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You seem a bit strange, like a madman…”

“So? What about it?”

“I… Nevermind.”

Jin-Hyeok wanted to enter the next Sub-Dungeon as soon as possible.

The sensation in his hand.

This thrilling sensation!

Before this feeling subsided, he needed to enter another Sub-Dungeon. He hoped to god that the enemy monsters were stronger.

“Alright, let’s go in.”

“O-Okay…”

Angel Girl’s face was filled with disappointment. It seemed she was too disappointed that she did not get a chance to shine. Since Jin-Hyeok would give her a chance to shine later, he decided to ignore her for now.

They traversed various Sub-Dungeons in the vicinity, exterminating the monster in their way.

[You have acquired the Achievement 「Goblin Slayer」.]

[You have acquired the Achievement 「Crimson Wolf Slayer」.]

[You have acquired the Achievement 「Fierce Deer Slayer」.]

He obtained many seemingly useless Achievements, but it didn’t matter.

It was the fun that mattered to Jin-Hyeok.

Soon, it was already 1 p.m.

“Let’s eat some bread,” Ha-Young said.

“Again?!”

“What do you mean again? That’s an insult to bread.”

“...”

For Jin-Hyeok, as long as he filled up on calories, it didn’t matter which type of food he ate.

“Mmm~ Delicioso!!” she said.

Jin-Hyeok did not know why she spoke like that. Clearly, she was not in her right mind.

[#I love you, bread. #I love flour! #I want to eat more bread.]

While eating bread, she seemed to want more bread. If bread were a monster, the System would have given her the Bread Slayer Achievement.

Anyway, they explored various Sub-Dungeons even during lunchtime.

[Would you like to enter the non-combatant exclusive Sub-Dungeon 「Laon Art Hall」?]

[Would you like to enter the non-combatant exclusive Sub-Dungeon 「Arko Arts Theater」?]

After clearing out the surrounding Sub-Dungeons, it was already evening. Now it was time to start looking for the Mystery.

1. Heyri Art Valley is an artistic community in Paju. It was constructed by artists, writers, painters, and other creatives, and is Korea’s largest artistic community. ☜