I Gave Up Being Stronger

“What do you mean, we are ignoring it on purpose?” Han Sae-Rin whispered.

“Well, you know...”

‘Is she acting like that because of my livestream? Is she pretending not to know?’

“No, it’s nothing big, but...” Cha Jin-Hyeok continued to beat around the bush.

‘Both she and Black Panther must have their reasons.’

Jin-Hyeok trusted Sae-Rin more than Black Panther. Still, just in case, he said to her, “An insect monster is hiding under the white sand beach.”

“...A Monster is hiding there?” Sae-Rin said, startled.

“Yes, you didn’t know?”

“...”

Her expression showed that she was genuinely unaware. She said, “I had no idea.”

“...”

‘What? She actually didn’t know?’

Her face turned a bit red. Jin-Hyeok could not tell whether she was acting or she was being genuine, so he used Broadcaster’s Insight.

[#Did I lose my touch? #Why can’t I feel anything?]

Although this was a bit surprising to him, he assumed she did not sense the monster because she was no longer a Navigator.

‘But that guy is actually a Navigator. Shouldn’t Black Panther know this?’

Meanwhile, Sae-Rin passed what Jin-Hyeok had told her on to Black Panther, who briefly halted his advance.

Black Panther approached Jin-Hyeok. The Navigator was wearing a mask, and he looked quite irritated, seemingly annoyed that Jin-Hyeok had encroached on the Navigator’s territory.

[#You only think about your livestream. #You’re just a fake.]

It appeared he really did not like Jin-Hyeok. Not everyone in the world had to like Jin-Hyeok, so Black Panther’s thoughts on this did not really matter, but that mindset was a bit disappointing.

‘Shouldn’t a Streamer be praised for being crazy about their livestreams? Why would he hate me for that?’

[My friends’ deaths #are not for entertainment.]

‘Hm... I guess he’s not in his right mind, considering he recently lost his comrades.’

Jin-Hyeok was proud that he was able to think this far and had become more like an ordinary person. In the past, he would have just hit the man first.

Black Panther asked him, “Really? A monster is hiding underneath here?”

“Well, I feel it.”

“I need to check if that is true.” Black Panther stuck his tail into the sand and closed his eyes. His tail seemed to have various uses besides maintaining balance.

After a short while, Black Panther suddenly opened his eyes. “There is nothing below here.”

“...”

‘That’s not true. There is a monster underneath.’

However, since this was the Navigator’s territory, Jin-Hyeok decided not to interfere too much.

As Jin-Hyeok refrained from making any other comments, Black Panther even scolded him. “Have some faith in the Navigator, will you?”

“...”

Jin-Hyeok could keep insisting that there was a monster below, but he chose not to. Moreover, letting them believe that there wasn’t any monster under there, then having the monster pop out later would make for better content. The thought alone was thrilling.

Black Panther approached him again. “We can’t waste time. This area is a Field where the tide is gradually rising. Unless it is something really important, don’t hold me up.”

While Jin-Hyeok was fine, Sae-Rin seemed quite upset. “Hey, Kim Chul-Soo might have felt something you didn’t.”

‘Why is her tone so aggressive?’

The Translation Orb was quite effective, conveying meanings almost like a native speaker was speaking.

“You’re just an outdated Navigator. You shouldn’t talk,” Black Panther replied.

“What did you just call me?”

“I heard you lost to Mole Man in the ranking.”

Black Panther seemed to have been misinformed, probably because the United States was so far away from Korea. Sae-Rin had not switched to being a Ruler because she had lost to Mole Man; it was because her talent as a Ruler was far superior. It was just like how Jin-Hyeok started wielding a hammer instead of a sword.

‘I know that bastard is not in his right mind, but he is being too reckless with his words.’

-Should I smash his head, Master?

Jin-Hyeok swore that he had heard the hammer gulp. However, smashing the head of a party member who was clearing the Dungeon with him went too far against his morals.

Sae-Rin provoked Black Panther further. “If you are a Navigator and worse than Chul-Soo, why not just retire like I did?”

“There are no monsters. Chul-Soo must have been mistaken. The only thing below is a large water vein. The water in it flows like a snake or a giant worm. Chul-Soo could have mistaken that with a monster.”

“I think Chul-Soo is right.”

“Did you feel it?” Black Panther asked.

“No, I did not.”

“Then shut up and follow me. I am the Navigator of this expedition.”

Sae-Rin seemed very displeased but did not argue further.

Black Panther was right. He was the Navigator for this expedition. Too many cooks spoiled the broth, and an expedition should have only one Navigator.

‘I didn’t expect them to fight.’

It felt like a cold atmosphere had surrounded them. In fact, the Avengers Army did not look at Jin-Hyeok very kindly.

‘Is it because they see me as a rival to Egan Paul?’

Normally, if there was a group of ten random people, about three to four of them liked Jin-Hyeok a lot, four to five had no particular opinion of him, and one or two disliked him. However, in this expedition, among the thirty members, it felt like about twenty of them disliked him. The ratio was higher than usual. Jin-Hyeok could find out more accurately with Broadcaster’s Insight, but he did not bother.

“We have wasted too much time for nothing. We are heading to the coastal cliff.” Under Black Panther’s lead, they headed toward the coastal cliff.

Since the Avengers Army had already explored this place, they managed to get the boats without much difficulty. They formed a group of six, carrying the boats on their heads, and returned to the original sandy beach.

“Launch the boats. We will board one at a time. We are going to cross over to that island,” Black Panther said.

***

Jin-Hyeok could definitely feel it.

‘I can feel it. There is a giant monster, like a worm.’

A giant worm hidden in the sand.

Jin-Hyeok could not see its name right now, but he had a hunch about what it was. It was a monster known as the Sand Worm, with a Level in the 190s. It was not particularly strong, but its ability to drag people into the sand and suffocate them made it a tricky opponent. In other words, it was not very powerful but was exceptionally good at using the terrain to its advantage.

‘It’s preparing to hunt.’

Jin-Hyeok could feel that. The monster was about to start its hunt soon. The members of the Avengers Army were currently boarding the boats, leaving fewer and fewer people on the ground. Jin-Hyeok assumed the monster would attack them when that number dropped below ten.

‘But shouldn’t Black Panther feel it by now? Is it because he is too proud? Why isn’t he saying something? Is he planning to ignore the Sand Worm and proceed with the Dungeon clear?’

“I feel it now too. Black Panther must have felt it too, but he seems to be pretending not to,” Sae-Rin said.

“He probably thinks it won’t affect the Dungeon clear much.”

It looked like Black Panther had an ulterior motive, but that did not really matter.

About half of the people had boarded the boats. Soon after, as expected, the Sand Worm attacked.

Wham!

With the sand erupting, a worm about five meters long appeared. It had an overall pinkish color, with no eyes due to degeneration and a large mouth with many sharp teeth. Around the mouth were many disgusting suckers, which it used to draw in its prey and then pull sand inside.

‘What are they doing?’

Jin-Hyeok naturally thought the Avengers Army would be prepared. He assumed the ranged damage-dealing Players would be more prepared, but they seemed quite flustered.

‘Really... What the hell are they doing?’

Since the retired Navigator Sae-Rin had felt it, Black Panther had likely felt it too.

‘Didn’t Black Panther warn them?’

“ARGH!!!”

A Player was dragged into the sand. He struggled, but escaping seemed hard.

‘I thought they'd planned for something like this. But why aren’t they doing anything? Could they be deliberately creating this chaotic situation for Egan’s livestream?’

However, even if Egan loved his channel, he did not seem the type of person who would create a sense of crisis at the expense of his members. The Avengers Army’s members were somewhat in a flurry.

‘I have to save them within three minutes.’

He needed to quickly attack with magic spells or Skills that had penetrating power, either making the worm give up its prey and flee or forcing it to the surface by giving it unbearable pain.

‘I think the Greatsword of La’kan, rather than the hammer, is better for a penetrating attack.’

-Master... I can do it too.

Over at the Avengers Army’s side, the Archers seemed to be getting ready to retaliate. But they were a second slower than what Jin-Hyeok thought.

‘One second can be the difference between life and death. How are they so slow?’

-I can penetrate the monster too, Master... Use me.

Miri was excited, appearing to breathe heavily in anticipation.

-I am going to smash the head... Ha... the head...!

The hammer’s voice was so earnest that Jin-Hyeok could not ignore it. He had no choice but to draw out Miri.

‘If I’m using my sword, it would be Sword Aura... But what about when I hold the hammer? Is it Hammer Aura?’

That term felt less cool compared to ‘Sword Aura’. Reading Jin-Hyeok’s thoughts, Miri excitedly murmured,

-Hammer... Force.

‘Oh, yeah, Hammer Force. That sounds pretty good.’

Miri seemed to have gotten a lot of inspiration from the Phantom Swordswoman, murmuring something like a catchphrase,

-The one who cannot be sharp longs for sharpness and, in the end, will overcome its limitations. Be smashed, heads.

He felt a resonance with Miri as if Miri and he were one. This feeling, similar to One With the Sword, always exhilarated Jin-Hyeok.

‘This is so fun.’

This alone brought him great pleasure. As he deeply connected with Miri, he lifted the weapon. Golden energy flickered over Miri.

-Hurry and shoot... please!

Jin-Hyeok and Miri were deeply bound in spirit, and Miri’s feelings were now his. His heart was also ablaze.

‘The worm’s location is.... Here!’

He shot the Hammer Force as if it were Sword Aura. He did not realize it, but he had put a lot of strength into the attack.

***

Egan had already boarded the boat. While filming Chul-Soo, he blinked in surprise.

‘Chul-Soo...’

Chul-Soo did not look human. He appeared like a golden hammer. The whole scene made it seem like a giant, eyeless titan was swinging a hammer.

‘...He shot something out?’

That golden energy, similar to Sword Aura, shot toward the ground.

Rumble!

It felt like a small earthquake. Ripples appeared on the water, and the boats floating near the shore shook.

“What on earth...?”

A burst of a sandstorm emerged, and when it cleared, it revealed a huge hole in the ground about six meters in diameter. Where there had been a sandy beach moments ago now lay a large sinkhole.

Egan hurriedly flew a drone and zoomed in to film inside the sinkhole.

‘The sand... melted?’

The sand had melted and then rapidly solidified, forming a kind of wall, which had helped in maintaining the shape of the sinkhole.

“There really was a monster...” Egan had not intervened in the argument between Sae-Rin and Black Panther. He trusted Chul-Soo and Sae-Rin, but that did not mean he disbelieved Black Panther. Yet, Chul-Soo was right.

‘The monster’s head... was blown off!’

The real wonder was that while the monster’s head had evaporated, Anderson, who had been sucked in by the monster, was unharmed. Currently, Anderson was unconscious.

As expected, the chat room for Egan’s livestream channel was ablaze.

-Holy shit! He is a Streamer? Unbelievable!

-What do we even call him? A long-range, area-of-effect damage dealer?

-Wouldn’t it be close-range, not long-range?

-Seems like he can do both, LOL!

Chul-Soo, the Streamer, had shown a level of firepower that even America’s top rankers struggled to display.

-But Anderson does not seem hurt at all.

-So that’s not an area-of-effect attack, but a precision strike?

The viewers reached an astonishing conclusion.

-I guess the precision strike was so powerful that it looks like an AoE attack.

-What the hell? That’s a precision strike?

-Are there any damage dealing Players with that level of firepower and control among the rankers?

-None. Absolutely none. Never seen one.

The Avengers Army quickly formed a rescue team and pulled Anderson out. He was not hurt at all.

-That level of control with such firepower is insane! How is that even possible?

-But why does Chul-Soo look so dissatisfied?

Chul-Soo had an unmistakably discontented look.

‘Damn... I was off by 0.2 centimeters...’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

For him, it was a gross mistake in control. Nevertheless, he decided to read Black Panther’s thoughts using Broadcaster’s Insight.

‘What the hell is he thinking?’

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