I Gave Up Being Stronger

Kihael firmly rubbed his temples.

“Assistant Manager Serchan, why would you grant access to the location information? Don’t you know that is a controversial matter?” Kihael asked.

SSP was a video platform integrated with Eltube that also provided numerous conveniences for Players. Player Registration Information was no exception. This was linked to the Ranking Board, allowing access to the personal information of top-ranked Players.

And Serchan granted access to location information as well.

“But there are many Servers that allow it,” Serchan said.

“The ratio of that is three to seven.”

“See? There are seven Servers, out of every ten Servers, that allow it!”

Kihael gritted his teeth and replied, “There are only THREE Servers, out of every ten Servers, that allow it! We looked at the same statistical data, I don’t know why you remember it differently. We just saw it yesterday!”

“Hahahaha!”

“The provision of abundant information means an exchange of numerous pieces of information, and an active exchange of information leads to more proactive Play. We are about to witness a Server filled with passion! Isn’t that beautiful?”

A world filled with passion. It was a world that Kihael despised.

“I don’t think we’re getting along, Assistant Manager.”

Those words greatly surprised Serchan.

“I thought we got along pretty well!”

Kihael was about to ask Serchan how Serchan saw it that way, but he stopped himself. He knew Serchan would interpret and hear things in Serchan's own way anyway.

Serchan lightly pat Kihael’s back.

“You’re quite shy, aren’t you? I understand how you feel. Hahaha!”

“...You know that it’s going to be a pain in the ass if the exposure of information leads to unnecessary crimes among Players, right?”

“Don’t worry. Just because such a system exists doesn’t mean there will be crazy people who will immediately exploit it.”

At the mention of crazy people, Kihael immediately thought of Kim Chul-Soo. However, he quickly erased that face from his mind.

He knew anything associated with Chul-Soo would require a lot of work. Just thinking about Chul-Soo gave Kihael the chills.

“Don’t worry, nothing will happen for the time being,” Serchan said.

Kihael also nodded.

‘I just hope I won’t be here when it’s time to take care of those issues. I’ll just let the other workers handle them.’

That was Kihael’s plan.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Cha Jin-Hyeok returned home and lay on his bed.

‘Hm…’

He tried not to pay much attention to it, but it kept bothering him.

Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance could read the opponent’s conditions. This ability often had a greater effect than he expected. It was particularly pronounced when the opponent’s mental strength or Level was significantly lower than Jin-Hyeok’s, or when the opponent experienced intense emotions.

‘So I can read other people’s memories?’

Jin-Hyeok felt like he could read other people’s memories. It was the first time he experienced such a feeling.

‘It looks like Han Sae-Rin got stabbed in the back by Go Doo-Hyeon.’

As freelancers, Sae-Rin and her father formed a party as Navigators and conducted a Dungeon Clear in collaboration with Doo-Hyeon’s party. Toward the end of the Dungeon, Doo-Hyeon used a Skill to smack Sae-Rin’s father from behind. Her father fell, bleeding.

“What the hell are you doing?” Sae-Rin asked.

Doo-Hyeon did this so that his party could get more rewards from the Dungeon clear.

[The reward will be evenly distributed based on the number of survivors in the Clear Zone.]

[Clear Reward: 30,000,000 Dias]

[Number of survivors in the Clear Zone: 12]

Doo-Hyeon’s party seemed to have decided to eliminate Sae-Rin and her father.

“Just think of it as being unlucky.”

Doo-Hyeon’s party also incapacitated Sae-Rin. However, he eventually changed his mind about killing Sae-Rin and her father. It was because the Streamer in his party stopped him.

“Hyung! They gave us a mission to keep them alive outside the Clear Zone! The mission is worth three hundred thousand Dias!”

“Is that so?”

As time passed, the monsters in the Dungeon would respawn. The perverted being who gave them the mission probably wanted to see the monsters tear Sae-Rin and her father apart.

“I think we should just tie them to that tree.”

“Okay, let’s do that.”

Doo-Hyeon’s party bound Sae-Rin and her father together and then tied them to a tree.

“Since she is going to die anyway, can we have some fun with her?”

“We don’t have time. I am not going to risk the thirty million Dias. Hurry up, let’s get out of here.”

The ten party members, with a hint of regret, clicked their tongues.

And so, Sae-Rin and her father were abandoned there.

‘However, Sae-Rin wasn’t really unconscious and she somehow managed to escape.’

“I really want to kill that bastard,” Jin-Hyeok murmured without realizing it.

Jin-Hyeok’s old party members were comrades who had gone through great ordeals together and were like brothers and sisters. The memories of exploring Dungeons and staying up all night for days were still vivid.

“He should be grateful that I’ve become a better person.”

If this was the past, i.e. before his regression, Jin-Hyeok would have annihilated them without question. However, the situation was different now.

Sae-Rin did not ask for help, and Jin-Hyeok knew that the Han Sae-Rin before the regression and the Han Sae-Rin after the regression were not the same person.

‘I should at least know where this bastard is.’

Fortunately, the SSP website had been opened, and Jin-Hyeok knew Doo-Hyeon was likely to be ranked quite high.

‘He is probably in the Qi manipulating class.’

Among the numerous classes, there existed the Qi manipulating class. It was a class that processed mana into a certain form and utilized it like martial arts. The class felt closer to a martial arts-type Mage.

[Qi Manipulating Class]

[1st. Shadow Man]

‘Ah, that’s him.’

As soon as Jin-Hyeok saw it, he remembered that Doo-Hyeon’s Player name was Shadow Man.

‘Wait, he is the first in the Qi manipulating class?’

The Go Doo-Hyeon he remembered was not such a powerful villain. He was just a mediocre Player, but at this point in time, he was ranked first in that class. He was probably one of those Players who were powerful in early stages, but then became irrelevant later on.

‘I wonder where he could be.’

Jin-Hyeok paid Dias to obtain Doo-Hyeon's location information.

‘Oh?’

[Current Location: Unavailable]

[Last Login Record: 3 days ago. Hapjeong Station Exit 1.]

‘Okay. So three days ago, he was at Hapjeong Station Exit 1.’

In the early stages, it was rare for a Dungeon clear to take three days unless it was a complex Labyrinth-type Dungeon that required a long time to clear.

‘It seems like our destination is exactly the same.’

Jin-Hyeok might even meet Doo-Hyeon inside the Dungeon.

Jin-Hyeok smiled.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Jin-Hyeok introduced Sae-Rin to his party members.

“She is our new Navigator who will be joining our party for this content.”

They exchanged brief greetings.

“I am Seo Ji-Soo, and this is my sister, Seo Ji-Ah. We are known as the Shadow sisters. Nice to meet you.”

“Shadow sisters…?”

Sae-Rin was quite surprised. The Shadow sisters occupied the eighteenth and nineteenth spots in the rankings for the assassin class. The Ranking Board displayed up to the top twenty. In other words, they were among the top-ranking Players in their classes.

‘This party has two top-ranking Players within the top twenty… Is such a party possible?’ Sae-Rin thought.

Jin-Hyeok carefully observed Sae-Rin’s reaction, and he misinterpreted it.

‘It seems like she is surprised by the low rankings of the Seo sisters,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

He wanted to explain that their approach was different from those who simply focused on leveling up, as his team had accumulated diverse and practical combat experience.

However, Jin-Hyeok found it awkward to elaborate on that.

“You are ranked pretty high,” Sae-Rin commented.

Jin-Hyeok raised an eyebrow in response.

‘Is she being sarcastic?’

When Jin-Hyeok said Sae-Rin was only ranked second, she was so angry at him, but right now she was praising another Player for being in the eighteenth place.

“Uh… I am Mok Jae-Hyeon. And my Player name is… uh…”

Jae-Hyeon’s voice became much quieter.

“...is Loser. And I am… the Tank for the party…”

“Ah, I see,” Sae-Rin replied.

Her eyes widened again. Unable to contain his curiosity, Jin-Hyeok used Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance to read Sae-Rin’s status message.

[...#Who is this guy? #He is ranked ninth in ability class? #This guy is also highly ranked.]

Surprisingly, Sae-Rin was sincere.

‘Ah, that’s right. She was always lenient toward others and strict with herself.’

Jin-Hyeok realized she was someone who considered others being ranked twentieth as excellent, despite feeling humiliated by her own ranking of second place.

“As for me… I am… Kim Jeong-Hyeon. My Player name is Flaming Fist of Cheongdam-dong. I am a damage dealer and also a sub-Tank for the party.”

[...#What? #Ranked fourth? #Is this for real? #What kind of party is this?]

“My name is Cha Jin-Sol. My Player name is…”

[...#Ranked seventh? #Ranked seventh in the healer class? #This party is insane.]

From Sae-Rin’s point of view, this party had an unusual composition. Though not large in scale, all the party members were top-ranked Players on the Ranking Board.

“What is your Player name?” Sae-Rin asked Jin-Hyeok.

“Oh, I almost forgot. My Player name is Kim Chul-Soo.”

“That’s an interesting Player name.”

“You think this is interesting?”

Jin-Hyeok raised an eyebrow.

‘This is the most ordinary Player name in the world after Kim Pyeong-Beom.’

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Jin-Hyeok was slightly disappointed. Although his standards for Sae-Rin were already quite low, she was slower than he thought in finding the entrance.

The party was at Hapjeong Station Exit 1. Jin-Hyeok deliberately refrained from using Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance. If he used it, he would’ve easily found the entrance, and Sae-Rin would’ve been disappointed.

“Are you sure a Dungeon was created at Hapjeong Station Exit 1?” she spoke to him, as if sulking.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

It took her almost thirty minutes. If it were back in the old pre-regression days, it wouldn’t have taken her more than three minutes.

‘Ah, I miss that old Han Sae-Rin so much.’

“I found it! Just wait a moment. I need to activate the entrance properly.”

“Okay.”

“...Got it!”

Before he knew it, Sae-Rin succeeded in activating the entrance of the Dungeon. The entrance to Hapjeong Station Exit 1 Dungeon appeared before everyone’s eyes.

“Alright, I’m going to start the livestream now.”

It looked like Jae-Hyeon’s body was trembling slightly in fear.

“S-So… Do I have to go in first?” Jae-Hyeon asked.

“Since we have a Navigator now, I think she should go in first.”

Jae-Hyeon seemed visibly relieved.

They entered the Dungeon. It was a Labyrinth-type Dungeon with vegetation much taller than a person. It was Jin-Hyeok’s first time entering personally, but he had encountered it a few times on paper.

He started the livestream in his own way.

“This is a place filled with bushes much taller than a person. And it also looks like a maze. But now that our party has a Navigator, this kind of maze should be a piece of cake.”

Following Sae-Rin’s guidance, they started walking through the maze.

“There are traces of someone being here.”

Jin-Hyeok looked at the remnants of a campfire.

“Yeah, someone passed by here about three days ago,” Sae-Rin said.

“How do you know it was three days ago?”

Jin-Hyeok already knew the answer, but he still asked, as if he found it interesting.

In response, Sae-Rin pointed at her temple and said, “Trace Detection. It’s one of the Skills for Navigators.”

[...#How do you like that? #This is what I can do! #AKA Pathfinder.]

‘Hm… I didn’t actually ask because I didn’t know…’

Jin-Hyeok asked to provide information to the viewers, and it was a little ridiculous that she was this happy to show off.

‘But… She is definitely impressive.’

They were gradually closing the distance with the team that entered this Dungeon before them.

“They stayed here about an hour ago.”

The other team, probably Go Doo-Hyeon’s team, took three days to get this far, but Jin-Hyeok's party arrived here in just a few hours.

‘If we’re lucky, we might run into them.’

In the distance, the sound of a battle could be heard. Jin-Hyeok turned on the livestream that he had momentarily turned off.

“It seems like the boring part is almost over. We are entering the area where monsters appear, so I will resume the livestream.”

They moved toward the direction where the sound was coming from.

“Oh, a wide space suddenly appeared.”

There was a fierce battle between a monster riding a horse and Players.

“The monster is called Skeleton Cavalry. It is Level 51. It is very agile, considering it is riding a horse. The battle seems to be quite intense.”

Jin-Hyeok carefully looked around and continued the livestream as usual.

“Oh, There is an incredibly large crystal in the middle!”

[Clear Crystal 1/1]

“Ah, it seems like if that thing is broken, the Dungeon will be cleared.”

‘My god, the difficulty of the dungeon is really low.’

It only took a Navigator that was ranked second, not first, only a couple of hours to find the place where the Clear Crystal appeared.

An urgent voice could be heard.

“Break that thing! Now!”

“What are you doing! Break it!”

There were about ten Players engaged in the battle. Half of them were fighting the monster, while the other half were trying to break the Clear Crystal.

“Loser, I need you to protect the Crystal,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“What? Protect the Crystal? And not the Players?”

“If that thing breaks, Arachne will disappear.”

Jae-Hyeon followed his instructions and activated the Wood Fortress.

The Players attacking the Clear Crystal shouted.

“What the fuck?!”

“Who the hell did this?”

Jin-Hyeok asked the Seo sisters.

“You can handle that monster, right? It is fighting the other Players, so I think you two can easily attack from behind.”

“We’ll give it a try.”

The Skeleton Cavalry was at the same Level as the Black Brown Bear they faced in Heyri Art Valley. However, that Black Brown Bear had received a Darkness Buff and had tough skin. This monster was much easier for the Seo sisters to deal with.

‘Still, my party is much stronger than the other party.’

His party risked their lives in Dungeons, so Jin-Hyeok knew they were much stronger. Seeing this kind of improvement made him feel proud.

Although the Seo sisters suffered minor injuries, they were able to defeat the Skeleton Cavalry without much difficulty.

“We have defeated the Skeleton Cavalry. Oh, look! The other Players are approaching us. I suppose they want to express their gratitude.”

One of the men approaching Jin-Hyeok came into view.

[LV50/Shadow Man/Devious Qi Manipulator/Skills/Master of Backstabbing]

‘Wow. I can’t believe I’m meeting Doo-Hyeon in a palace like this.’

It was quite amazing. Although Jin-Hyeok did not chase after him, now that they have met, Jin-Hyeok decided not to leave him alone.

‘I wonder what he is going to say.’

However, Doo-Hyeon’s reaction was more polite than Jin-Hyeok expected.