I Gave Up Being Stronger

Before his regression, if Cha Jin-Hyeok were asked to name the most annoying villain organization on the Earth Server, his answer would undoubtedly be the Demigod Alliance. As a government official, Jin-Hyeok, along with his team, had clashed with the Demigod Alliance several times and come close to capturing the Alliance’s leader, Shin Yu-Ri, on a few occasions.

‘Yu-Ri was strong by herself, but...’

Yu-Ri boasted the strongest firepower in one versus many battles, but she was slightly weaker in one-on-one, small-scale fights. It took her a long time to load her cannon, and once she fired it, her location was easily exposed, making her an ideal target for snipers.

However, whenever Jin-Hyeok tried to exploit Yu-Ri’s weakness in their capture operations, he had always failed due to another Player—Woongi.

Jin-Hyeok thought of Woongi as a madman wearing a teddy bear costume. Woongi had not particularly committed any villainous deeds, but he was classified as one of the top-tier villains. He was not the type to initiate misdeeds, but he was overly zealous in protecting Yu-Ri. To the world, he was known roughly as Yu-Ri’s bodyguard.

‘I thought he was a Player? So, that’s why no matter how hard I tried to uncover his identity, nothing came up... That was not a teddy bear costume?’

Jin-Hyeok had thought Woongi was a Player wearing a teddy bear costume, but upon looking at him with Broadcaster’s Insight, he realized it was Woong’s body and not a costume.

‘So, he is actually a bear?’

If Jin-Hyeok were to put it in System terms, Woongi seemed to be one of the bear-type Beastkin. He was even bigger than Kim Jeong-Hyeon. Standing up, he seemed to be about four to five meters tall.

Woongi shouted, “Your Majesty!”

He was so loud that the surroundings reverberated. Woongi ran on all fours to the queen and sniffed around her corpse. “Something’s off, teddy.”

Hearing that way of speaking, Jin-Hyeok became certain that this was the Woongi he knew of before his regression. Only two people in the world added such odd phrases at the end of their sentences: Mole Man and Woongi.

“Is Your Majesty alright, teddy?” The mana that had been surging through Woongi calmed down a bit. Then, a [???] sign appeared above his head.

“It’s strange, teddy,” Woongi said as he stroked his chin with his huge, cotton-like hand. “Why did I wake up if Her Majesty is fine, teddy?”

Woongi seemed quite calm. He stood up on two legs and approached Jin-Hyeok. “Are you a bad guy, teddy?”

“No, I’m one of the subjects of Her Majesty the Queen.”

“So, you are a good one, teddy.”

Through Broadcaster’s Insight, Jin-Hyeok could feel that the slight wariness and hostility Woongi had toward him vanished. Now, Jin-Hyeok could feel Woongi had become cordial toward him. Thanks to that, Jin-Hyeok could read more information about him.

[LV258/Woongi/?/Ultimate Fan]

‘Is that really an Achievement?’

[Ultimate Fan]

[Dreaming of becoming the strongest mercenary in Planet Arvis, Woongi had resolved to become the bodyguard of Princess Veselity.

From their first meeting to the end, he protected Veselity as a bodyguard and wished to be sealed with her.

When protecting the queen, the fan becomes unimaginably stronger.]

The description was just as strange as the name of the Achievement.

‘How can this be an Achievement given by the System?’

Jin-Hyeok felt odd. It was as if this Achievement had not been naturally generated but forcibly created and inserted into the System.

‘Wait, hold on.’

Something he had forgotten came to mind. When Jin-Hyeok had faced Yu-Ri before his regression, she had been wearing something on her head. He had thought it was just an ornament.

‘I think she was wearing that!’

It seemed like Jin-Hyeok needed to talk to Yu-Ri to make sure. He immediately sent Wang Yu-Mi a secret message.

[Emergency! Bring Shin Yu-Ri here right now! Mole Man can come along.]

“But, what is your purpose here, teddy?” Woongi’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, you! Tell me why you came here, teddy!”

Since Jin-Hyeok had intended to defeat the White Jade Armor Knight, technically, he had come to kill the queen. Woongi didn’t know that yet, but it was also true that Jin-Hyeok had used Instant Kill on the queen.

‘Damn... I don’t think I can overpower him.’

He believed he could not even beat Woongi, let alone overpower him. The information from Broadcaster’s Insight was also telling him the same thing.

[When protecting the queen, the fan becomes unimaginably stronger.]

Since the queen whom Woongi had to protect was here, Woongi would be much stronger than his actual Level.

‘It’s not just about not overpowering, I might actually lose to him.’

So, fighting Woongi right now was not the answer. It did not fit the concept of Jin-Hyeok’s livestream either. Jin-Hyeok deliberately sighed and shook his head. “Why do you think I’m here?”

“State your purpose, teddy!”

“Are you stupid?”

“I am not stupid, teddy!”

“You are, though.”

“No, I am not, teddy!” Three exclamation marks appeared above Woongi’s head. If those turned red, it meant he was angry, but they were currently black. He was not angry, but he did seem a bit flustered. It seemed like Jin-Hyeok had hit the nail on the head.

“Why do you think I came here? Look carefully. Do you notice anything different about Her Majesty the Queen?”

“Something different, teddy?”

Just like how most men would get flustered at their girlfriend asking, ‘How do I look today?’ Woongi appeared flustered; [;;;] signs appeared above his head. He was actually sweating profusely, which made his fur completely wet.

“W-What is different about her, teddy?”

“See? That’s what’s wrong with you. Can you even call yourself the queen’s bodyguard?”

The signs above Woongi’s head became words, which expressed his state more precisely.

[Depressed, teddy.]

“Do you even care about Her Majesty?”

“Yes, teddy! I am the queen’s one and only fan, teddy! Nobody loves her as much as I do, teddy!”

“Then why can’t you notice what’s different about her?” Jin-Hyeok pointed at the queen’s head. “She took off her helmet.”

“T-Teddy?”

“Can’t you see that she is wearing a tiara instead of a helmet?”

“T-Teddy!”

Even someone not interested in her would have noticed that. Anyway, Woongi seemed quite flustered.

“I came here to give her this gift,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Sorry for the misunderstanding, teddy. You and I are now friends, teddy.” Woongi extended his hand toward Jin-Hyeok.

Jin-Hyeok thought of his next plan as he shook Woongi’s hand. ‘I need to stall for more time.’

Jin-Hyeok had to stall until Yu-Ri and Mole Man arrived here, and he needed to do that naturally and without making Woongi feel bored. He pondered how to do that.

***

Mole Man had a significant concern lately. ‘Since Pathfinder fell out of favor, I have become the undisputed number one Navigator.’

Of course, Pathfinder kept telling him that she had voluntarily retired from being a Navigator, but Mole Man chose not to listen to her.

‘But still...’

He was operating as a freelance Navigator, not belonging to any particular alliance, and lately, he had been hearing a recurring question.

“You’re not affiliated with the K-Force, are you?”

“Ah, sorry. We are specifically looking for Navigators from the K-Force.”

Previously, just having the title of number one Navigator was enough, but now Players always asked, “Are you with the K-Force?” Mole Man had Played with Chul-Soo on several occasions and prided himself on their friendship, but he felt ambivalent about answering “Yes” to the question.

‘Technically, I’m not with the K-Force.’

Moreover, having the pride of being the top ranker, he could not just ask Chul-Soo to accept him to the K-Force. He only wanted to be affiliated with the K-Force if they scouted him first.

‘Hmph, I’m only interested in joining Chul-Soo’s original party!’

He was not interested unless it was Chul-Soo’s original party, which was directly linked with Chul-Soo.

Then, he received a message from Yu-Mi.

-Hey, are you free right now?

I’m in Busan right now, moly!

Mole Man was relaxing, looking at the night view outside the window. He had come down to Busan on purpose in case Chul-Soo needed help, but he had kept that a secret.

-Great! Chul-Soo urgently needs help. We will pay whatever you ask. Can you head to the Haeundae Dungeon right now with Yu-Ri and Park Terse?

-Hm... I am a bit busy right now, moly.

-Then, no worries. I will look for someone else. We are short on time, so I will talk to you later~

-Wait, hold on, moly!

-Yes?

-Did Chul-Soo mention me specifically?

Yu-Mi thought about what to reply for a moment before throwing a tempting bait.

-Chul-Soo said it has to be Mole Man. He desperately needs the help of the unparalleled ranking number one. But if you are busy, we will manage.

-Well, if you put it that way, I guess I have no choice but to go, moly.

Terse and Yu-Ri traveled on the back of the Thunder Dragon. The dragon sternly wanted Terse.

[“If you vomit on my back one more time. I will turn you into a roast.”]

Terse vomited into a plastic bag he had prepared in advance. Thankfully, not a single drop spilled.

“Welcome, comrades! I welcome you to the party of the undisputed number one Navigator, moly!” Mole Man talked ahead, chuckling to himself. “Yes... This is something only I can do, hehehe.”

Yu-Ri seemed slightly dubious. “This guy... is he really the top-ranked Navigator?”

***

Mole Man, along with Yu-Ri and Terse, arrived at the entrance of the Abandoned Temple.

“The real deal, Korea’s top-ranked Navigator, has arrived, moly!”

Recognizing Mole Man, Han Sae-Rin frowned. “What brings you here?”

“Chul-Soo was desperately seeking me out, moly.”

“Chul-Soo is soloing right now. What are you talking about?”

Sae-Rin had already seen Jin-Hyeok’s solo Play through the livestream. She was biding her time, making excuses so that the Avengers Army would not interrupt Jin-Hyeok’s soloing.

“You fool! That is why you have always been second best. Outdated Navigator you are, Pathfinder!”

“I’ve retired from being a Navigator. And you do realize that the time I spent as number one was longer than the total time you’ve ever been as number one, right?”

“W-When did you calculate that, moly?”

“I’m still thirty-two hours ahead.”

Sensing the situation turning slightly unfavorable, Mole Man quickly climbed the stairs. “Chul-Soo specifically asked for me, pleading for me to come. So, I am going to go meet him, moly!”

Sae-Rin thought about it for a moment but then got up. The Avengers Army was also with her.

After entering the first floor, Black Panther, the Navigator of the Avengers Army, felt a peculiar sense of defeat.

‘What’s going on?’

There was no doubt that Mole Man and Pathfinder felt an intense rivalry toward each other. Both desperately searched for the Hidden Items on the first floor, competing over who was the better Navigator.

“Hmph, the patterns on these murals are strange, moly!” Mole Man said as he touched the murals.

“If you look closely at these bones, you will see small patterns engraved on them. If you interpret these patterns... you can create a magic circle using these bones.” Sae-Rin used the bones of the monsters that Chul-Soo had previously killed to create a magic circle.

Black Panther understood why Mole Man was being so enthusiastic. After all, Mole Man was Korea’s top-ranked Navigator. However, Black Panther was confused about why Sae-Rin was acting this way.

‘I thought you retired from being a Navigator!”

In a normal world, Black Panther was supposed to be the one competing with Mole Man. He didn’t know why Pathfinder was in his spot.

‘Do they not see me as a competitor?’

With his pride deeply wounded, Black Panther became much bolder and greedier than before. His competitive spirit surged.

‘I am a Navigator too, you guys!’

Black Panther dug his tail into the ground and channeled his mana at maximum output. As their magic circle glowed with green light, a small chest appeared.

“It’s a pair of cotton gloves.”

They acquired a pair of cotton gloves on the first floor. Soon after, they found a handkerchief on the second floor. Thanks to Jin-Hyeok sweeping through the monsters, it was relatively easy to find the Hidden Items on these floors. On the third floor, they got nothing and eventually arrived at the fourth floor, where Jin-Hyeok was.

“The special one has arrived, moly! Huh?” Mole Man tilted his head in confusion. “Chul-Soo, what are you doing, moly?”

To Mole Man’s eyes, something about Chul-Soo seemed off.

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