I Gave Up Being Stronger

[#What did I just see? #How is that possible?]

Jin-Hyeok did not find anything suggesting an ulterior motive in Black Panther’s thoughts. Jin-Hyeok tried to figure out if Black Panther had an ulterior motive but did not find anything. Black Panther was just feeling intense emotions, and Jin-Hyeok could understand why.

‘Well, Miri was indeed impressive.’

Jin-Hyeok was also surprised at what had happened. His attack was much stronger than he had anticipated. He was a bit flustered himself, which resulted in a 0.2-centimeter error. He had been lucky. If he had hit the monster precisely, he could have evaporated Anderson’s head.

-That would have been nice, too. Another head to smash in.

‘Whom did this hammer take after to become so crazy?’

Normally, it spoke like a cultured, noble lady, but in battle situations, it just flipped. Miri said it was influenced by Jin-Hyeok, but that seemed to be incorrect. If it were influenced by him, this would never happen.

‘Ah, wait!’

Jin-Hyeok thought of a possibility.

‘Black Panther might be pretending right now!’

The Navigator could be using various tactics to deceive Jin-Hyeok’s Broadcaster’s Insight, such as pretending to be very surprised to suit the current situation.

‘Oh, if that is the case, I’m less disappointed in him.’

Jin-Hyeok loved it when other Players pretended to be surprised to deceive him. Having strange and unique tactics was always good as it would be good content for his channel. Jin-Hyeok wished Black Panther was properly deceiving him.

‘Yes. He is hiding something!’

Just thinking about what the Navigator could be plotting made Jin-Hyeok’s heart beat faster. Jin-Hyeok thought it would be even better if Black Panther was planning something dangerous and thrilling.

***

Black Panther was genuinely shocked.

‘How is that possible?’

He shared the same sentiment as the viewers. He had not expected someone to launch an attack this powerful, especially one that precisely targeted a monster hidden in the sand. To his knowledge, no Player was capable of such a feat. Aside from his personal feelings toward Jin-Hyeok, Black Panther felt nothing but awe for that attack. He had not expected the Streamer to pull off something like that.

After overcoming his shock and awe, he regained his composure and fell deep in thought.

‘So there was indeed a monster...’

Black Panther had also sensed something resembling a worm under the sandy beach. He had dug his tail deep into the ground moments before.

‘I was sure it was a water vein.’

It seemed like the monster had a detection evasion ability.

‘Did Kim Chul-Soo accurately identify it as the Sand Worm?’

No matter how Black Panther thought about it, it did not make any sense.

‘How can someone exhibit such extraordinary attack and control and have better detection abilities than me? Is this the power of the famed All-Rounder?’

Black Panther shivered. His eyes met with those of Chul-Soo, who looked at him from a distance. It felt like Chul-Soo’s eyes were saying to him, ‘Aren’t you supposed to be prepared for something like this as a Navigator?’

Of course, that was not what Chul-Soo was thinking. Chul-Soo was actually thinking about what kind of tactics Black Panther was planning.

Regardless, Black Panther felt unjustly accused.

‘I had prepared too! It’s not like I didn’t!’

When Jin-Hyeok had said a monster was lurking below them, Black Panther did not fully believe that but still made preparations.

‘If the monster was the type to hide and wait, it would wait for our numbers to decrease. In that case, it was only right to let the Players with strong defensive abilities get on the boats last.’

This was to ensure they could buy time in case the monster emerged.

‘But... I did not expect the monster to use the terrain to its advantage instead of making direct attacks.’

Black Panther realized he should have analyzed the situation from more angles. This was a clear oversight on his part. He had indeed been complacent. After all, nothing had happened in the previous Dungeon expedition. The real danger of the Haeundae Dungeon was the White Jade Armor Knight that appeared in the end.

Sitting on the same rowboat as Egan Paul, Black Panther muttered as if he were making excuses, “...I assumed that the difficulty of this Dungeon was determined by time, like if we go too slow, the difficulty might increase. And there were reasonable grounds to believe that.”

If they stayed too long on the sandy beach, the tide would rise and cover the entire coastline. It seemed like there was some sort of time limit, which Black Panther thought was the overall theme of the Dungeon.

“So, I felt a kind of urgency to progress quickly...”

“It’s okay, Black Panther. Stay strong.” Egan Paul patted Black Panther’s shoulder. “No matter what anyone says, you are the Navigator of the Avengers Army. Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is not to repeat the same mistakes. If you waver, we all waver. Let’s focus on the positives. Nobody died. We are counting on your guidance.”

***

Jin-Hyeok boarded the boat with Han Sae-Rin. Egan came over to them from his boat.

“Yo, Egan, be honest. Did Black Panther pretend not to know on purpose?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

Egan was momentarily at a loss for words. He had just come from comforting the nearly shattered Black Panther. If Black Panther had heard this question, he probably would have fainted from shock. Egan calmly asked, “Why do you think so?”

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Even I, a Streamer, noticed it, and even she, a retired Navigator, did. There is no way Black Panther did not know.”

Egan pondered what to reply for a moment. He wondered if he should set the record straight or if he should let Jin-Hyeok continue with his misunderstanding. This was a matter directly tied to the pride of Black Panther and, by extension, the Avengers Army.

‘No, I shouldn’t think about saving face in front of Chul-Soo.’

He decided to tell the truth. “Black Panther did not know either. He thought it was a water vein.”

“Oh, I see.”

Surprisingly, Jin-Hyeok did not make a big deal out of it. Egan, however, felt somewhat wronged.

‘Does he think I’m just covering for Black Panther? No! We really didn’t know!’

Nevertheless, Egan thought that speaking more about this matter would be awkward, so he swallowed his unjust feelings.

“I thought you had exaggerated everything about the Avengers Army too, like you did with your abilities and Levels,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Egan, thankful that he had not turned on his livestream, earnestly pleaded with Jin-Hyeok. “Please. Can you keep that a secret from the public?”

“Hm...”

“It would be better for your livestream too. It creates a picture of a competitor you need to catch up to.”

“That makes sense,” Jin-Hyeok smirked. Hearing the sound argument, he decided not to expose Egan’s exaggerated self. If Egan were unable to persuade him, he would have revealed it.

Sae-Rin chimed in. “Then, you should pay royalties.”

“... Royalties?”

Royalties usually referred to payments for using someone else’s patents, trademarks, or copyrights. Egan was confused about why the term was being used here.

Sae-Rin frowned deeply, a stark contrast to her usually delicate appearance. “You’re pretty thick-headed. I’m saying royalties to be nice.”

Then, she whispered, “I’m extorting you right now. Your secret is my collateral.”

“...”

“What happens next is up to you.”

Jin-Hyeok scratched the back of his head, looking at Sae-Rin.

‘Why has she become so aggressive?’

The post-regression Sae-Rin seemed much tougher than before.

‘Anyway, it’s good she is looking out for things I miss.’

Jin-Hyeok was about to keep Egan’s secret for free just because it would make for a good livestream.

“Okay, we do not plan to drain your wallet too harshly. Let’s keep it light, say one hundred million. Say what? Of course, it’s one hundred million per month!”

Eventually, they agreed on one hundred million a month. Jin-Hyeok marveled at how easy it was to achieve a monthly salary of one hundred million. The tough Sae-Rin, now sitting next to Jin-Hyeok, suddenly acted demurely. “You heard everything, right? We agreed on one hundred million monthly. Can you give me ten percent as a brokerage fee?”

“Sure.”

“Really?”

‘Wow, I can never get used to her acting all modestly!’

There were aspects in which she had become tougher than before she had been his regression, but there were also parts that had become more repulsive.

‘I never thought in my life I would see Sae-Rin’s coy voice and crescent moon-like smiling eyes.’

“How did I do~?” she said coyly.

‘What’s with her... Is she also thinking of creating good content for my livestream?’

Jin-Hyeok shivered.

Sensing his mood, Sae-Rin smiled more brightly and pressed herself closer to him. Then she leaned her head slightly forward. “Praise me~”

‘... Can I praise you with Miri?’

***

Sae-Rin giggled.

‘He is so cute!’

To Sae-Rin, Jin-Hyeok was someone who never panicked—a weird person who, no matter what happened, always thought of how to create good content for his Eltube channel. However, there was one thing that made Jin-Hyeok fluster, and it was precisely situations like this.

“How did I do~?”

Every time she behaved like this, Jin-Hyeok got noticeably flustered.

“Praise me~”

Such acts would make Jin-Hyeok stiffen in an unmistakable way.

Sae-Rin indulged in a pleasant fantasy.

‘Does he like me?’

Otherwise, there would be no reason for Jin-Hyeok to react this stiffly. She felt inexplicably happy. It was quite delightful that she was one of the few people who could make him panic.

‘Let’s see, we are about ten minutes away from reaching that island.’

Since they were in the Dungeon, just letting the time go by felt like a waste. Sae-Rin wanted to help with Jin-Hyeok’s livestream, so she initiated a conversation and asked Egan, “I saw that you guys deliberately placed Tanks at the back in case the monster attacked suddenly. That’s right, isn’t it?”

“...Yes.”

“That means you anticipated the monster’s attack, right?’”

“Well, it’s actually...”

Sae-Rin deliberately used provocative wording. It was perfect for creating thumbnails or preview videos. “Did you plan to eliminate your competitor Chul-Soo by allowing the monster to attack him?”

“...What?” Egan was taken aback. He felt even more wronged.

‘Who would betray that crazy guy?!’ Egan thought.

He had seen the attack very clearly—the attack that obliterated the head of the giant worm monster with just a swing of a hammer.

‘Who would dare to dream of betraying such a monster?’

“Wait, is that really the case?” Jin-Hyeok smirked. He had never even considered that Egan would betray him, and he viewed this as part of the livestream. Such content was indeed capable of attracting the attention of the viewers.

It was a minor issue for Jin-Hyeok; however, for Egan, it was almost a matter of life and death. For some, it was entertainment; for others, a survival documentary.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by free(w)ebnovel(.)com