I Gave Up Being Stronger

In Cheongdam-dong, Choi Gap-Soo’s workshop had become a place of remarkable interest. At the center of the workshop’s high-end viewing room, a girl in a school uniform laughed on the sofa. “Hehe!”

This girl was Kim Min-Ji, the Mad God of Favoritism. She seemed content as she ate her potato chips while watching a video labeled ‘Kim Chul-Soo’s Unaired Videos’ on the screen hung on the wall.

In a proud tone, she murmured to herself, “The Unleashing Technique can unlock any chest!”

Stealthily observing this, Jang Michelle cautiously said to Gap-Soo, “She looks just like an ordinary young girl.”

“That’s true.”

Michelle would have never believed that this schoolgirl was the infamous Mad God of Favoritism, had she not seen the god herself.

‘She is incredible. To think she can easily hack into the System...’ Michelle thought.

Although Michelle had heard it was possible, seeing it was an entirely different experience. She could not believe they were watching the video Kim Chul-Soo was currently recording. Despite the video having a lower quality and them being unable to donate to Chul-Soo, both she and Gap-Soo were excited that they could secretly watch a recording in progress.

“What is inside the chest?” Gap-Soo asked.

The poor video quality made it hard to see clearly. Min-Ji tapped her fingers in the air, manipulating the screen. The video on the screen paused, and as she zoomed in on the inside of the chest, the quality improved.

“It’s a tiara,” Min-Ji said.

“A tiara, you say?”

Chul-Soo had found a small tiara inside the chest, shimmering in silver. Min-Ji murmured with slightly unfocused eyes, “Chul-Soo would look really good wearing that.”

“...Chul-Soo, in that?”

“Don’t you think so?”

“Yes, I also think he would look good in it.” Gap-Soo did not contradict Min-Ji’s words, not so much out of fear of her, but more so because he did not want to upset Min-Ji and miss the chance to watch the unaired footage. He was also somewhat curious.

‘Does she really think that tiara suits Chul-Soo?’ Gap-Soo wondered.

The thoughts of the Mad God of Favoritism were indeed hard to comprehend with ordinary logic.

Gap-Soo glanced at Michelle. ‘Huh?’

Something seemed a bit off. Michelle looked inexplicably moved. She sat next to Min-Ji and muttered with a serious expression, “Why didn’t I think of that? The tiara... It would indeed suit him so well...!”

“You think so too?” Min-Ji said.

“Yes! I had not thought of it, but you have opened my narrow-minded thinking, Min-Ji.”

“You have an exceptional aesthetic sense,” Min-Ji replied.

“You flatter me.” Michelle chuckled. It seemed that Chul-Soo’s next livestream could include a mission to wear a tiara.

‘Would a billion Dias be enough to convince him? If one billion is not enough, perhaps two billion Dias would do it.’ Michelle was unexpectedly happy.

***

“It’s a tiara,” Cha Jin-Hyeok said.

[Tiara of the Abandoned Princess]

[The tiara contains memories of the abandoned princess, Veselity.]

It was hard to find anything special in the item description. Kang Eun-Woo gulped and asked, “Chul-Soo, could you try on the tiara?”

“This? Why?”

“Yes. I just want to take a picture of you wearing it.”

A princess-style tiara was not exactly Jin-Hyeok’s taste. However, taking pictures was entirely Eun-Woo’s domain, so Jin-Hyeok thought it was best to respect Eun-Woo’s opinion.

‘I don’t see why I should wear this, but...’

There was no harm in trying it on, so Jin-Hyeok did as he was told. He wondered if wearing the tiara would reveal an effect not mentioned in the item description.

‘Nothing special.’

It felt like just a pretty accessory with no special effects, yet Eun-Woo excitedly snapped the shutter.

“Why are you so excited?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“This is one of the ways to accumulate experience points as a Homepage Master. And I think this picture can easily fetch a billion Dias.”

Jin-Hyeok burst into laughter. ‘Haha. He thinks it’s so easy to earn one billion Dias. He’s talking nonsense.’

If a few photos could make a billion Dias, everyone would be rich. Eun-Woo’s words were wildly exaggerated, but Jin-Hyeok did not bother to point that out. It was all part of the experience. He just asked, “Are you done taking pictures?”

“Yes.”

Jin-Hyeok walked toward the pile of stones blocking the entrance. It seemed that a special barrier was protecting it, but the barrier disappeared as soon as he unlocked the chest.

‘Miri. I need you to take care of this.’

-Yes, Master.

Miri did not show its usual enthusiasm. Destroying an inanimate object probably did not excite the weapon much.

A few hits from Miri easily shattered the rocks.

‘That was easy.’

With that, the third floor was cleared, and the only area left to explore was the much anticipated fourth floor—the floor that the Avengers Army had barely escaped.

“The White Jade Armor Knight must be waiting on the fourth floor.” Jin-Hyeok slowly ascended the stairs to the fourth floor. It was quite dark. “I see a dimly lit corridor and numerous pillars.”

Some pillars were so old that parts of them were crumbled, while others had only their bases remaining. Magical torches burned atop a few pillars.

“The air is quite dry.” The dusty stone floor felt somewhat crumbly underfoot. “There is a slight sense of tension. It really feels like I have entered a boss room.”

Jin-Hyeok cautiously moved forward. In the distance, he saw an especially dark spot, and he illuminated it.

[You have activated the Skill ?Broadcaster’s Light?.]

Flash!

‘Oh, that startled me.’

Jin-Hyeok felt a bit embarrassed that he had been startled by his Skill. He had probably overdone it because the surroundings were incredibly bright. The good thing was that it was just light and not a destructive Skill, or that could have been a disaster.

‘No, this is too much. Let’s just adjust it a bit.’

Jin-Hyeok intended to illuminate a specific part, but the whole Field became too bright, ruining the ambiance.

‘I just need to adjust the brightness and the range... There!’

He successfully illuminated only a specific area. It looked quite nice for his video, and he started his livestream.

[Soloing the Haeundae Dungeon.]

Jin-Hyeok debated between recording for an edited video or livestreaming, but boss monster raids seemed better live. Livestreaming had a unique thrill and tension.

‘The viewer count is already over three hundred thousand.’

Three hundred thousand viewers flocked to his channel as soon as he turned his livestream on. It was an incredible turnout.

‘Wow... This is exciting!’

The number of people waiting to watch his livestream being so high thrilled him. However, he tried not to get too carried away and continued the livestream as calmly as possible. “There is a very lonely-looking throne here.”

An old, uncared-for chair was sitting in the middle of the floor. Jin-Hyeok was not sure if he could call the chair a throne, but it seemed like something Egan Paul would call a throne, so Jin-Hyeok just went along with it. A throne sounded cooler than a chair, after all.

“And there... sits the ashen figure of the White Jade Armor Knight.”

The White Jade Armor Knight, sitting alone and yet to be awakened, was tinged in ash-gray.

“I will slowly approach the throne.”

Whoosh!

A desolate wind blew, and dried leaves rolled about. As Jin-Hyeok got closer to the White Jade Armor Knight, the knight’s fingertips twitched. Then a female voice rang out.

“Even I...” Color began to seep into the White Jade Armor Knight. “ Even I had a beautiful past.”

The dust clinging to her body fluttered away, revealing the knight now glowing in white. It was a woman clad in white jade armor and helmet. Jin-Hyeok used Broadcaster’s Insight to reveal the woman’s name.

[LV254/White Jade Armor Knight/Skills/The Forsaken Queen]

‘Huh?’ Her Level was much higher than Jin-Hyeok expected. He had not anticipated it to be that high because the Avengers Army had escaped this boss with only four casualties.

‘This won’t be easy.’

Fighting a strong opponent was always enjoyable. If it were his Sword King days, he would have been thrilled. However, the situation was different currently.

‘Maybe livestreaming was a bad idea.’

The concept of this livestream was overwhelming power. Sticking to such a concept was hard when facing a high-Level opponent.

‘But I can’t just stop the livestreaming now.’

The only thing left to do was to face her head-on.

***

A characteristic of Chul-Soo’s livestreams was that they showed most of his battle scenes in the first-person perspective. While this limited the field of view, it also had the advantage of delivering a vivid sense of what was going on.

-That intro is awesome!

-I just got chills.

-I can feel how intense it is even through the screen!

Jin-Hyeok had overlooked one aspect. When he had Awakened as the Munchkin Streamer, all his abilities had become significantly stronger, including his livestreaming abilities. The livestream was conveying the intensity he was feeling right now directly to the viewers.

-I had to turn off Chul-Soo’s livestream.

-I couldn’t breathe.

-Me too.

Most regular viewers, who were not immune to this immense intensity and pressure, left like the ebbing tide and switched to KimKnowItAllTV. Watching the video through KimKnowItAllTV was much more comfortable.

-But no matter how good his livestreaming abilities are, it’s impossible to completely convey the actual intensity, right?

-So, what level of pressure is Chul-Soo enduring right now?

-Wow, crazy;;; I can’t even imagine.

The White Jade Armor Knight moved. With a creaking sound, thick layers of dust resembling tree bark fell to the ground, and the White Jade Armor Knight stood up.

‘Huh...’

Concentrating on the White Jade Armor Knight, Jin-Hyeok noticed something else.

[LV254/White Jade Armor Knight(Veselity)/Skills/The Forsaken Queen]

In some sense, Playing was similar to solving a math problem; one might not understand it at first glance, but as they look more, they would start to see new things. Similarly, if a Player observed something carefully, things that were not visible before would begin to appear.

‘There was a hidden name.’

Veselity slowly walked toward him, and her armor clanked with each step.

‘She does not seem to be in a hurry to attack me.’

She was no mere monster. Since she had a hidden name, there had to be a story behind this boss monster.

“It seems there is more to this than just fighting her,” Jin-Hyeok said to the viewers.

This had to be a crucial point. The Dungeon and Veselity seemed to be asking something from the Players who visited this Dungeon.

Jin-Hyeok realized she was quite tall. ‘She must be around 180 centimeters.’

Her silver hair, reaching down to her waist, flowed beneath the helmet. Veselity continued her soliloquy. “Now, where has my beautiful past gone?”

Her presence, the dry air, and the tense atmosphere transmitted through space, all intensely stimulated Jin-Hyeok’s emotions. These elements, affecting his emotions, created immense anxiety and a sense of crisis among the viewers.

-This time, Chul-Soo is in real danger.

-Even Chul-Soo can’t withstand this.

-Run away, Chul-Soo! Please!

Jin-Hyeok spoke. “Your beautiful past has not yet passed, my queen.”

He had yet to sense any hostility from his opponent. He knelt on one knee in front of Veselity. His heart was pounding. What made it even more thrilling was that he did not know how to clear this place. It felt like he was figuring out the strategy himself.

‘Let’s switch to a third-person perspective for a bit. That will look better.’

He switched to a third-person perspective drone shot. He was confident it would make for a good scene.

‘This is so fun.’

Veselity stopped in front of him. She was close enough to touch him if he reached out his hand.

“Are you one of my subjects?” she asked.

He pondered whether to answer yes or no. The progress of this encounter could change based on his response. After a brief consideration, Jin-Hyeok skillfully avoided a direct answer. “I have something for you, Queen Veselity.”

“...”

“It’s the tiara containing your memories from your time as a princess.” Jin-Hyeok extended the tiara he had obtained from the chest earlier. At that moment, both he and Veselity trembled.

‘What is she doing?’

She moved her hand toward her helmet and slowly took it off.

‘Wait a minute.’

With her helmet removed, Veselity’s face was revealed.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m