I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 248

The score of the current All-Out War was 3:0. People who did not know better mocked the Korean Players, saying that the hype surrounding the Korean Region was finally being exposed. However, the initiator of the All-Out War, the Great Ruler Emperor, felt increasingly frustrated.

‘They are getting stronger by the minute.’

Of course, as the American Players accumulated victories, they received more adjustments and buffs. However, the Korean Players adapted to the All-Out War at an excessively fast speed.

Then came the fourth round. That was when Kim Pyeong-Beom made his appearance. Kim Pyeong-Beom was known to be very close to Kim Chul-Soo, even to the point of sharing weapons with him.

“How dare you exclude my friend?!” Pyeong-Beom seemed furious that Chul-Soo had been excluded from the war, and the hammer he wielded was mighty.

Emperor scowled. “What kind of hammer deals that much damage?!”

Pyeong-Beom’s hammer was as powerful as several Wizards combining their power. The destructive power of each hit was unreasonably strong. Every swing of the hammer took at least one Player along with it. Even with Tanks to absorb the attacks, Players were getting killed left and right. Emperor knew that without the Tanks, those Players would’ve died much faster.

The problem was that these Players, having experienced such overwhelming power, completely lost their will to fight after being revived. Eventually, the American Players who encountered Kim Pyeong-Beom chose to flee rather than fight.

Emperor bit his lip in frustration. “Dealing with Pyeong-Beom is complicated enough...”

Moreover, another figure was as irksome as Pyeong-Beom. Her name was Shin Yu-Ri, also known as Waiting Wife; moreover, she considered Chul-Soo her master.

‘I have thoroughly prepared for this All-Out War, but...’ Emperor thought.

Knowing how strong she was in large-scale All-Out Wars, Emperor had never been negligent in preparing for the battle against Waiting Wife. He had altered the map’s terrain to eliminate any spaces where Waiting Wife could hide and reshaped the terrain to prevent her straight-line cannon attacks. Emperor had even deployed snipers just for Waiting Wife.

‘Our preparation was flawless.’

There was nothing to fault in their preparation against Waiting Wife. However, despite doing their best and showing the highest level of skill, they could not kill Waiting Wife. That was because at Yu-Ri’s side now was Woongi, who used to be the boss monster of the Haeundae Dungeon.

”I will protect her, teddy!” When it came to protecting Yu-Ri, Woongi showed power beyond common sense. ”I will protect my queen at all costs, teddy!”

Under Woongi’s protection, Yu-Ri was invincible. Sniping her from a distance was almost impossible, and getting close to her was even harder. Ultimately, the American Region lost the fourth round of the All-Out War. The current score was 3:1. Amidst this, someone came looking for Emperor.

“You seem to be in quite a predicament. Joining hands with me will significantly improve the situation. ‘ It was Swampland No.2 from the Swampland Crew.

***

Players from the American Region who had fought against the Korean Region Players unanimously said, “They are... working together like a military troop.”

They described the Korean Players as being like fully-trained elite soldiers. “My Level is higher than them, but still...”

The American Players had a strange experience. Even though they were higher in Level and their Skills and overall abilities were superior, they often found themselves losing in battles.

“Those guys are insane! Their eyes are wildly fierce!”

“I have never seen such relentless fighters. I died today to someone I had killed four times.” Being able to kill someone four times indicated a significant difference in skill. Yet, the one with the superior skills died this time. “It was terrifying.”

This was not just a matter of who had higher Levels or better skills. There was a deep madness in the eyes of the Korean Players.

“You remember what they were saying? Kill the hackers? They kept saying that.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I don’t know, but they seem to go crazy whenever that word comes up.”

The Korean Region won the following two rounds of the All-Out War. The current score was 3:3. The American Players were puzzled. “Our turrets are stronger, right? What is going on?”

The All-Out War was not just about killing each other. After all, if a Player died, they would just get resurrected. Victory in the All-Out War was determined by destroying the Region Flag in the opponent’s base. The American side had their national flag in the middle of their base, and so did the Korean side.

Turrets from each Region were positioned at strategic points, and they had to be destroyed or bypassed to infiltrate the base. The American side, thanks to their overwhelming victory in the Regional War, had turrets much more robust and powerful than the Korean ones.

“The terrain is also much higher on our side, which is advantageous to us,” said one of the American Players. Attacking from above was much more advantageous than attacking from below. Emperor had personally modified the terrain to favor the American Region. The Player continued, “Besides, our base is located near a cliff, making it hard to infiltrate.”

Several factors significantly favored the American Players, yet they had suffered three consecutive defeats. This shocked not just America but the entire world.

“I heard that the Koreans kept calling us hackers.”

“They even said that the Regional War was rigged by the host.”

***

America was not the only country that had a Player with the Great Ruler class. Classified as a 9-Star Job, a few Great Rulers were present in each Region. Shin Byeong-Yeop, a Great Ruler from Korea, had initiated a Regional War against the United States and was steadily accumulating victories. This, in its own right, became quite a topic of discussion.

-Didn’t someone say that the Korean Region is so tiny that they will run out of talented Players?

-Didn’t they say that the Korean Region had no more Players because most of them participated in the previous All-Out War?

-The current score of the Regional War is 30:12. Korea is overwhelmingly winning, LOL!

In response, three American Great Rulers initiated additional Regional Wars in Korea.

-Holy, I bet the Korean Region is depleted of Players now.

-Most of the rankers are probably going to only participate in the All-Out War.

-Honestly, if the American Players just used their overwhelming population, Korea would have no way of defending.

That was the consensus, but it turned out to be a misconception.

-What! The Korean Region is winning.

-Those crazy bastards! They are participating in the Regional War right after the All-Out War. And as soon as one Regional War ends, they’re going straight into the next one.

-How is that possible?

Whether in All-Out Wars or Regional Wars, dying multiple times was common. This process depleted a Player’s mental strength, leading to burnout.

-The Korean Players say it’s nothing compared to the night self-learning they had to do in school.

-What the hell is night self-learning?

-It’s when they had to stay in school and study by themselves until late at night. They used to go to school at eight in the morning and sit at their desks until ten at night.

-Don’t bullshit me. Isn’t that human rights abuse?

Many things had changed when the world had entered the era of the new civilization. However, some things were the same.

-I asked a Korean friend of mine, and they said their mental strength got stronger with the frequent overtime work and after-work gatherings, too.

Many experts poured out comments on this phenomenon. While the exact answer remained elusive, the consensus was that Korean Region Players were not typical Players.

The score of the All-Out War was now 5:3, and Korea was also winning most of the Regional Wars.

-Even if they’re mentally strong, don’t humans have limits?

-They will ultimately lose to the American Region, which has the advantage of having a larger population.

After a while, Emperor removed the participation restriction of Chul-Soo.

“The time has come.” Emperor made his grand announcement. He announced that Chul-Soo, a formidable Player, would now be allowed to participate in the wars. “The real war begins now.”

***

A while ago, Cha Jin-Hyeok smirked while looking at Emperor on the TV. “Tsk! What a fool.”

Emperor was holding an official press conference, having gathered numerous reporters and Eltubers. “He should be more careful. What if I sent an Assassin to that conference?”

By now, Emperor had to be adapting to the new civilization, yet he still appeared complacent, thinking that the world was peaceful.

In fact, Kwak Do-Hyeong, the leader of the Black Thorn Alliance, had come to Jin-Hyeok the previous day.

“I heard that Emperor is holding an official press conference tomorrow. Should I assassinate him then?”

Jin-Hyeok had been tempted by Do-Hyeong’s suggestion for a moment. An Assassin wanting to carry out an assassination was normal.

“No, leave him be.”

However, this was a realm of fun. As Pyeong-Beom, not Chul-Soo, Jin-Hyeok could swing his sword freely without worrying about narrative or his production. Although assassinations would be the most efficient in this case, considering efficiency while Playing in his fun character was meaningless.

“I don’t think killing him will be difficult! It does not seem like Emperor is well-prepared for an assassination,” Do-Hyeong had replied.

“No, my friend Pyeong-Beom is Playing right now. How can I ruin the Play that he’s enjoying?”

“Ah... I’m sorry.” Do-Hyeong nodded and stepped back.

“But with that kind of weak mentality, he is not going to last long even if I don’t assassinate him today,” Jin-Hyeok said with a sigh while watching the press conference.

It was baffling how Emperor was openly giving a speech in a place where assassinating him was very easy. When Jin-Hyeok thought about it, he realized that Emperor had not been on the list of American rankers before his regression. This meant that Emperor would probably die young in the not-so-distant future.

“When will the invitation to the next All-Out War come?”

A few hours later, an invitation to the All-Out War was sent, and Jin-Hyeok immediately accepted it.

***

The All-Out War had begun. Jin-Hyeok had several paths before him, and he chose to walk on the middle one. From experience, he knew that strong Players often gathered on this path.

‘Huh?’ Jin-Hyeok tilted his head in confusion. ‘Why is no one here?’

He only detected the minimum number of Players guarding the turrets. ‘Has their stealth ability improved?’

Just in case, he scanned the surroundings with Broadcaster’s Insight, but there were no Players in hiding. Literally, there were hardly any Players at all.

Meanwhile, Emperor, who had concentrated Players on paths that Pyeong-Beom had not taken, smiled victoriously. “Winning a battle does not mean winning a war.”

Pyeong-Beom’s power was indeed beyond imagination. To fight against Pyeong-Beom, Emperor would need at least five of America’s top rankers. Even then, it was nearly impossible for them to win; they would only hinder Pyeong-Beom. However, Pyeong-Beom was just one person. A war involved many Players, and victory was determined by destroying the opponent’s Region Flag first.

‘Pyeong-Beom has entered the central cave,’ Emperor thought.

The central cave was a passage leading to the top of the map. Therefore, Emperor redistributed and positioned his Players.

Jin-Hyeok continued to feel something was off. ‘What is going on?’

It seemed like there had been fierce battles in this area just ten minutes ago.

“Isn’t that Mr. Kim Pyeong-Beom?”

“That’s Mr. Kim Pyeong-Beom!”

There were a couple of Korean Players that were just in a battle. According to what they said, the American Players, who had been fiercely fighting in this area, had suddenly withdrawn and run away.

“It was as if they knew Mr. Kim Pyeong-Beom was coming here!” said one of the Korean Players.

‘They knew I was coming?’

The movements of the American Players seemed to have changed.

“They seem to be operating guerilla units too.”

“It has become strangely difficult to face them.”

“I don’t know if it’s just bad luck, but we kept encountering Players who countered our Jobs and abilities. This was our first loss in a while.”

American Players were winning big and small fights around the map.

‘Something has changed.’

The tide of the war was beginning to turn. It seemed that the real counterattack of the American Region was about to start.