I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 239

Cha Jin-Hyeok switched his livestream back to the first-person perspective. He was now facing Veselity. The intensity of the pressure increased, and a considerable number of viewers dropped out of his livestream again.

‘Her face...’

Her face was rather grotesque and covered with disgustingly twisted boil-like tumors, emitting a foul odor.

‘It looks like her face is melting.’

Her face resembled melting wax. It was hard to believe that, that was a human face.

‘Is she smiling?’

Wearing the tiara, Veselity appeared to be smiling.

-Whew, the pressure feels a bit less now.

-I can finally breathe a little.

Veselity’s overwhelming presence seemed to have faded slightly. “You are my loyal subject.”

“...”

A faint light leaked from the tiara before the tiara turned into dust and disappeared. Veselity reached out toward the dust floating in the breeze. “My glorious past...”

Jin-Hyeok had a premonition. ‘I think the battle is about to begin.’

His encounter with Veselity was quite different from that of the Avengers Army. Their encounter didn’t have any such intermediate process.

Veselity slowly moved and put her helmet back on. “Though the will of the subject is noble, awakening me from my slumber is unforgivable.”

Silver mana gathered around Veselity’s right hand. It swirled several times before taking the shape of a hammer.

As a shining silver hammer materialized, she said, “Avoiding my wrath will be difficult.”

Veselity stepped back a few steps. “Prepare for the end. When you are ready in your heart, eternal rest shall be bestowed on you.”

Holding the hammer in her right hand, Veselity paused and just looked at Jin-Hyeok.

[LV 254(-20)/White Jade Armor Knight(Veselity)/Skills/The Forsaken Queen]

Veselity’s Level had decreased. With a -20 penalty, it was now 234. Normally, Jin-Hyeok would tell his viewers as he saw it, but he was on stage currently. He wanted to be more dramatic. Displaying all of his emotions, Jin-Hyeok began the performance.

“The queen has not shunned hardship for her subjects. She humbles herself, looking at me with the heart and eyes of the equal.”

‘Wow, I nailed the dialogue!’

Proud of himself, Jin-Hyeok stood up and stepped back a few paces. “I, too, will give my best, my queen.”

The helmeted queen nodded slightly.

***

Jin-Hyeok’s performance stirred the emotions of the viewers.

-I didn’t realize I liked the Black Flame concept so much.

-He is so cool.

-Seems I haven’t outgrown my chuunibyou phase.

-At this point, isn’t it more than just a concept?

The viewers had gradually become immersed in Jin-Hyeok’s concept.

-If you handle this kind of concept poorly, it can be cringeworthy.

-But it’s not. That’s the twist.

-Kim Chul-Soo’s Black Flame Dragon is the real deal.

-The real deal is never cringeworthy.

By now, almost no one mocked Chul-Soo’s concept.

-Isn’t it impressive to come up with such a performance under this much pressure?

-Seeing him act in this situation, he would be successful even as an actor.

-It’s so natural, haha!

Of course, Jin-Hyeok was not acting. He just drew upon his genuine emotions and the deep sincerity of the Black Flame Dragon.

Jin-Hyeok said, “Your Majesty.”

“Speak.”

“How could I, your lowly subject, harm you, my queen?”

“That is our fate.”

“I ask for just one chance to touch the queen’s royal body.” He lifted Miri. “Please grant me this one opportunity. I implore you, my queen.”

“...”

-Isn’t he just saying in a fancy way that he is going to strike first?

Jin-Hyeok revealed another piece of information about Veselity to the viewers.

[Forsaken Queen]

[The Witch of the Cliff, jealous of Veselity, cursed the queen.

All of the queen’s subjects hated the queen, but the queen never hated them in return.

The queen, though forsaken, never abandoned her people.

She was benevolent to her subjects.

Unable to harm her people, the queen proclaimed the law “Never awaken me,” then put herself to sleep.

Achievement Effect: For her subjects only, her Level is lowered by 20.]

“Show us your benevolence, my queen,” Jin-Hyeok said.

-But doesn’t Chul-Soo have Instant Kill?

-If he times it right, it is a guaranteed one-hit. That is easier said than done, though.

Hitting a sandbag and hitting a person were completely different. Unlike a stationary sandbag, a person kept moving. The situation would be the same for Instant Kill.

-You think she will just stand there and let it happen? She is the Dungeon boss!

-Nah, that would be too easy, LOL. Even with the Instant Kill Achievement, it seems unlikely.

“You have my permission,” Veselity said.

-Wait, is this really happening? She gave permission?

-LOL, how did Chul-Soo manage to make this happen?

-He acts all serious, but he Plays so dirty, haha!

Jin-Hyeok stepped forward, Miri in hand. “The Skill I am about to use is called the Song of the Black Tiger.”

It was the ability he had learned from Zoro, the harbinger of Instant Kill. The extraordinary Skill that significantly enhanced the effect of Instant Kill shone at this moment. Thanks to Veselity standing still, Jin-Hyeok could prepare the Instant Death ability with ease.

‘Miri, I’m sorry. I can’t aim for the back of the head this time.’

-...I guess it can’t be helped.

He did not think he would lose in a head-on fight, thanks to Veselity’s decreased Level, but what Jin-Hyeok needed was more than just victory.

‘I just need to hit anywhere.’

The torso was the easiest target. He took a deep breath and focused. ‘I need to end it in one strike.’

Six black tigers made of mana sprang up from behind him and encircled the queen, as he lunged toward her with Miri. Veselity lifted her hammer to block it. Her hammer and Miri collided with a loud explosion.

‘I need Instant Kill to work!’

The base probability of Instant Kill activating was seven percent. With the Song of the Black Tiger and perfect timing, the probability was much higher.

‘It worked!’

The queen’s entrance had been overwhelming, but her ending was a bit anticlimactic. The White Jade Armor Knight slowly fell. “Finally, my glorious past has come back to me.”

Her helmet fell off, revealing a face that was healing from the grotesque wounds, the twisted tumors disappearing.

Jin-Hyeok wrote captions in real time.

[It seems the curse is only lifted in death.]

Jin-Hyeok knelt beside the fallen Veselity. Kang Eun-Woo diligently captured this solemn moment.

‘They look almost sacred...’ Eun-Woo thought. It was like a scene from a myth. Thrilled to be witnessing this moment and eager to share these emotions with others, he wholeheartedly pressed the shutter button.

“My winter was too long,” Veselity said.

“...”

“I was too cold, too scared, too lonely.” The queen now had the tiara on her head, which had disappeared earlier. It looked a bit small for her head, probably because it was from her childhood.

-Oh man...

-Why am I crying?

-The queen’s emotional dialogue is too vivid...!

This was the power of Jin-Hyeok’s first-person perspective livestream. The livestream conveyed the queen’s emotions, just like her presence and pressure, to the viewers through the screen.

-Am I the only one who feels sorry for the queen?

-I’m crying... T_T

-The description of her Achievement earlier was so touching.

-Feeling pity for a Dungeon boss monster is a first for me.

“It is strange indeed. Speaking to you gives me a sense of comfort,” the queen said. The livestream created a bond of empathy between the Dungeon boss monster and the viewers. The queen felt an indescribable sense of comfort. It was certainly not a typical situation.

“Meeting you has been my fortune.” She extended her hand, passing something to Jin-Hyeok. It was her weapon, Ectorial.

[You have acquired the queen’s weapon ?Ectorial?.]

The queen faintly smiled, while her eyes were closed. “You have returned my glorious past to me.”

Then, the queen turned ashen. Jin-Hyeok bowed his head in a silent prayer. He skillfully applied what he had learned from the Avengers Army. “To the queen who could not rest, may you receive eternal rest.”

[You have defeated the Forsaken Queen, Veselity.]

***

‘I did not expect it to go like this.’

Swampland No.2’s plan had failed. Anticipating a fierce battle between the queen and Chul-Soo, he had intended to stealthily put poison on the queen’s weapon, letting Chul-Soo slowly die. However, Chul-Soo had absurdly defeated the queen in one hit.

‘Then, it’s time for Plan B.’

Swampland No.2 had prepared for unforeseen circumstances. Anticipating Chul-Soo’s success in defeating the queen on his own, Swampland No.2 had rigged the fourth floor to collapse upon the Dungeon boss’s death.

‘Now, you shall be crushed to death!’

He had given up on capturing Chul-Soo alive. If he could at least get the intact corpse of Chul-Soo, that would be great, but the current situation did not allow him to have that kind of luxury. Swampland No.2’s primary objective was to kill Chul-Soo.

Jin-Hyeok sensed Swampland No.2’s bloodlust. ‘Is he disappointed with my livestream?’

The number of viewers on Jin-Hyeok’s livestream had significantly dropped. It was three hundred thousand currently, the same as it had been at the start of the livestream, which meant many of that viewers that joined later had left midway.

‘What did I do wrong?’ Jin-Hyeok walked toward a pillar, leaving the fallen queen behind, and knocked on it.

“Hey,” Jin-Hyeok said.

The knocking startled Swampland No.2, ‘What the hell?’

Then, he realized something he had learned earlier. ‘He is going to knock on the pillar ten times! This bastard!’

Swampland No.2 became more anxious. He firmly believed that ten knocks would lead to a powerful attack.

“Hey, can you tell me what I did wrong?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

‘I need to escape!’ Swampland No.2 thought. He fled using his Footwork Technique. Getting out of this situation was the top priority.

Jin-Hyeok scratched the back of his head. ‘He seems like a shy guy.’

Just like Kim Min-Ji, most Chul-Soo Landers seemed to be shy people.

‘I should just get feedback from Wang Yu-Mi.’

Jin-Hyeok walked back toward the queen’s corpse. “But this does not seem like a normal corpse.”

It felt more like a part of the terrain than a corpse. Although he had defeated the Dungeon boss monster, there was no notification of the Dungeon being cleared, nor had he received any experience points.

“Perhaps...” Jin-Hyeok looked around. “The queen might not have been the real Dungeon boss monster.”

‘What would Sae-Rin have done?’

After Playing together with Han Sae-Rin for a long time, Jin-Hyeok had a rough idea of what to do in this kind of situation. He lifted the fallen queen and slowly walked toward the throne with her in his arms. “This seems a fitting place for the queen.”

Even this gesture deeply resonated with the viewers.

-Did you see the caption he wrote when the queen died?

Jin-Hyeok could have just spoken to the viewers but chose to write a caption in silence.

-I really liked the solemn atmosphere.

-I want to be that queen. Chul-Soo, please lift me in your arms!

-LOL, you’re too ugly for him to hug you.

As he placed the queen on the throne, a wall slid open with a rumble. “There is a fifth floor.”

The fourth floor was not the end.

“And it seems... I don’t need to go up there. Something is coming down to greet me.”

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Something was descending from the fifth floor.

‘The presence is immense.’

To Jin-Hyeok, the queen's presence had not been overwhelming. He felt he could win in a fight against her, but overpowering her completely was not easy. However, what was now descending from the fifth floor felt different.

‘This is no joke.’

The entity coming down was at least stronger than the queen.

A giant knight revealed itself. Even with Broadcaster’s Insight, Jin-Hyeok found it difficult to get accurate information.

[LV?/?/?/?]

Then a notification followed.

[The Dungeon’s boss monster ?Woongi? has appeared.]

Jin-Hyeok twitched. ‘Could it be... the Woongi I know?’