I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 252

A new guest had become a regular visitor to the top-of-the-line multimedia room of Choi Gap-Soo’s workshop. Her name was Kim Min-Ji. As always, while watching Kim Chul-Soo’s livestream, Min-Ji became furious. “I can’t forgive this bastard.”

Once again, an earthquake occurred in the Cheongdam-dong area—a phenomenon that had become fairly frequent in this region lately and to which Gap-Soo had grown accustomed.

“Whoa, whoa! Please calm down,” Gap-Soo said.

“Do I look like I can calm down right now? I tolerated the rigged map and the map hack, but that’s literally a bug!”

‘You were worse when you used to support the Demon King!’ Gap-Soo wanted to say that but chose not to.

Compared to what the Mad God of Favoritism had done, summoning a Hydra for a mere five, no, three minutes was nothing. When the Mad God of Favoritism went crazy, she would use all sorts of bugs and hacks. There was a reason she had been sealed away.

“Are you planning to repeat the same mistake?” Gap-Soo asked.

“Ah, I don’t know! I’m so pissed off right now. I will kill them all.”

“What about Chul-Soo? He will be sad if you kill them all.”

“...!”

By now, Gap-Soo had somewhat figured out how to handle Min-Ji.

“What do you mean Chul-Soo will be sad?”

“Well, he cherishes his subscribers very much. He holds a special affection for those from Chul-Soo Land. If you, the number one fan in Chul-Soo Land, suddenly disappeared, he would be very sad.”

“Y-Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

The earthquake in Cheongdam-dong subsided.

“If you get too involved, you won’t be able to watch Chul-Soo’s livestream for long,” Gap-Soo said.

“Fine. Then I will get only a little involved.” She decided to subtly leak the location of Swampland No.2

“You... can trace him?” Gap-Soo asked.

“Summoning a Hydra like that idiot did takes a lot of money, time, and effort. There has to be many traces left.”

Min-Ji ultimately found Swampland No.2’s hiding place. He was hiding in a Dungeon in Gyeonggi-do. She did all that in Gap-Soo’s workshop, from her seat.

Gap-Soo gulped. ‘Her eyes... have gone mad.’

Min-Ji muttered to herself, “Should I just collapse the Dungeon?”

***

Min-Ji nibbed on her fingernails. Her legs were shaking vigorously, indicating her anxiety.

“Is something bothering you?” Gap-Soo asked.

“No, it’s just that I have this condition where if I don’t watch Chul-Soo’s livestream, I get really anxious.”

“...”

“When will he start his livestream? By now, he must have captured Swampland No.2.” As Gap-Soo did not respond, Min-Ji cautiously revealed her true intentions. “...Would it be okay to hack Chul-Soo’s livestream?”

For Gap-Soo, the idea of hacking Chul-Soo’s livestream to sneak a peek was actually welcoming. It somewhat felt like watching an unreleased video even before Chul-Soo gave it to him. However, Gap-Soo had learned how to deal with Min-Ji.

“If you keep doing that, Chul-Soo might get angry.”

“Yeah, I think so too.” Though she responded that way, her withdrawal symptoms worsened. Her desperation grew.

“But since Chul-Soo loves all Chul-Soo Landers, he might understand a little.”

“Y-You think so?”

“If Chul-Soo gets disappointed, I will talk to him. You know that I’m pretty close with Chul-Soo, right?” Gap-Soo said.

“Of course, I do.”

“If there is a problem, I will talk to him later.

“You’re a genius! Thank you!” Life returned to Min-Ji’s face.

Gap-Soo also sat down with an excited heart. Now, the unreleased video would play in the air.

‘Just as I thought! He is recording the whole thing.’

Chul-Soo’s face appeared in the air. As Min-Ji had said, he had already captured Swampland No.2.

In the video, Kwak Do-Hyeong asked,

?Yes. Do you know Chul-Soo Land No.1??

?Ah, you mean Kim Min-Ji??

Min-Ji abruptly stood up with a flushed face. “Hey, old man, did he just mention my name?”

“Yes, it seems like that.”

“He remembered my name!”

“Yes.”

Gap-Soo wanted to say, ‘Aren’t you the one who broke through the Golden Guardian Tree’s protective barrier, tampered with the settings, and used Picasso’s Brush to Awaken him as the Munchkin Streamer? I think it would be stranger for him not to remember you...’

“I’m so touched...!” Min-Ji seemed to be moved.

Do-Hyeong continued on the screen,

?So you know about her!?

?Of course. She’s an outstanding hacker, and I have received a lot of help from her.?

?Ah, then I guess I can give this to you.?

?What is this??

It was a note from Min-Ji.

[I always support you. I love you!?]

Jin-Hyeok smiled. Min-Ji had appeared so shy in person, but she seemed very forward in writing. He thanked her as a fan service.

?Thank you, Min-Ji!?

Min-Ji clutched her chest. She made a fuss, claiming she felt pain in her heart, and she was genuinely moved.

“Last time, you comforted me so tenderly...”

Gap-Soo decided not to say anything. Given Min-Ji’s current state, even if Chul-Soo did something wrong, she would probably exclaim, ‘He did it for me! I’m touched!’

“Now he remembers me and praises me.” Min-Ji wanted to quickly log into the app and boast to Chul-Soo Land No.2.

‘He would be so upset that Chul-Soo called my name while recording and thanked me. I want to brag about it so badly!’

She wanted to show No.2 that a huge gap existed between the No.1 and the No.2.

‘Wait, that’s not what’s important right now! Who knows what kind of trap that hacker bastard has set in there!’

Min-Ji thoroughly searched the interior of the Dungeon. “This despicable, dirty, petty Swampland guy must have pulled something.”

Swampland No.2 had even summoned Hydra. No one could guess just how much more wickedness such a petty person had done.

“Bugs need to be fixed.” If something like a Hydra popped up here again, that wouldn’t be righteous.

Click! Click!

Her fingers swiftly moved, tapping on the keyboard that appeared in the air. “I’m just doing the job that the GMs are supposed to do. This is very righteous, don’t you think?”

“...Yes,” Gap-Soo said reluctantly.

***

“I don’t think I can forgive you.” Jin-Hyeok took out Miri, who had somehow transformed into the shape of a blunt club.

-Let’s enjoy this together.

It seemed that Miri had no intention of forgiving Swampland No.2 either.

-Ah, this form would be even more beautiful.

Miri transformed on her own again. This time, she turned into the shape of a long metal spike.

-Shall we start with the appetizer?

The main course was always the head. However, before tasting the exquisite main course, an appetizer was essential.

-Please handle me very roughly.

Jin-Hyeok did not care about Miri’s appearance. Whether she was a spike, a bat, or a hammer, as long as he could swing her, he was happy.

“The problem is not just Swampland No.2,” Jin-Hyeok said. While it was true that Swampland No.2 had crossed the line, that was not the end of it. It was unlikely that Swampland No.2 had acted alone. “I’m sure there is Swampland No.1 as well.”

The fact that Player Hunters were targeting him was frankly a bit thrilling. However, Jin-Hyeok was less thrilled about the mediocre ones getting involved in the matter. He liked it even less when it was someone like a hacker.

“So, I have decided to deal with Swampland No.1 as well.” It was necessary to show the world what would happen if they messed with him first. That way, mediocre Player Hunters would be too scared to come forward, and only powerful Player Hunters would dare challenge him, making it more thrilling.

“But first, we need to find the location of Swampland No.1,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Having regained consciousness, Swampland No.2 said with bloodshot eyes, “Do you think you can find out where Swampland No.1 is? I always prepare for the worst. I have trap after trap after trap!”

Swampland No.2 had anticipated that this hideout would be discovered. “We are all going to die here together!”

He had set traps so that the Dungeon would collapse entirely. It was regrettable that he could not steal Chul-Soo’s powers, but there were no regrets left.

‘Soon, this place will colla— huh?’

However, Swampland No.2 felt something was off. It was too peaceful. He should have been feeling vibration from the ground by now.

‘Why...?’

The Dungeon was intact. Jin-Hyeok approached him with Miri in hand. “Did you hit your head before coming here or something?”

Jin-Hyeok smirked and swung Miri. “Thwack Thwack and More Thwack!”

***

‘He has a stronger willpower than I expected.’

Jin-Hyeok genuinely thought that after a few hits, Swampland No.2 would reveal his comrade’s location. However, the Player Hunter was stubborn. While it was true that more violence could solve the issue, the problem was the current physical condition of Swampland No.2.

‘He might die if I beat him more.’

So, Jin-Hyeok decided to change the plan a bit.

[You have activated the Skill Taming (Physical).]

He decided to reduce the intensity of violence and seek help from a Skill instead.

Swampland No.2 yelled, “Do you think I will fall for such a crude Skill?!”

Thwack!

“This is nothing!”

Thwack!

“You bastard...!”

Thwack!

“It’s easier if you kill me!”

Thwack!

“P-Please... just kill me.”

Jin-Hyeok was very impressed by Swampland No.2’s mental fortitude.

‘I guess a famous Player is famous for a reason.’

Even if it seemed a bit of a stretch to consider Swampland No.2 a universe-level ranker, the Player Hunter was a member of a fairly well-known crew. Being in a small crew of three and having this level of renown seemed to indicate genuine skill.

Eventually, Swampland No.2 passed out, and Jin-Hyeok stroked his chin. “Taming did not work. Maybe it’s because I am not a Tamer.”

Then, Park Terse joined in. Jin-Hyeok had prepared his mind to persuade Terse.

‘I bet he’s going to say something about how taming people is inhumane and that taming among the same species is ethically problematic and so on.’

The Terse that Jin-Hyeok knew would surely think like this. In fact, before Jin-Hyeok’s regression, Terse had written a book titled ‘101 Reasons Why People Should Not Be Seen as Taming Subjects.’ Terse was someone who saw taming people as a highly immoral and unethical act.

Jin-Hyeok said, “Terse, so this is what’s going on—”

“I told you that empathy is more important!”

“...Huh?”

There was no hesitation in Terse’s steps. He immediately went to the fallen Swampland No.2, knelt, and began taming. “Empathy and dialogue must come first for perfect taming. And yet, you resorted to ruthless violence again today!”

“...” Jin-Hyeok felt something was off.

‘So, as long as violence isn’t used, anything goes?’

It seemed Terse’s beliefs had changed.

“So... the problem is that I beat him up too harshly?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Yes. While sometimes, it might be effective, it is not true taming.”

“So... taming people is fine regardless?”

“Well, isn’t Woongi a person?”

“... That makes sense, I guess.”

Terse appeared to have no qualms about taming people. As long as violence was not used, anything seemed acceptable.

‘Why has he changed like this?’

Jin-Hyeok could not figure out what made Terse change this way.