I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 258

Marshmallow paced back and forth in the living room for a while before clenching his fists. ‘I can’t just stand by!’

He knew just waiting around would yield nothing.

‘I need to find out for myself.’

Kim Chul-Soo was definitely in for a scolding. Marshmallow could not believe that Chul-Soo had not even bothered to say thank you in person when Marshmallow was the person who helped him get into the Arvis Server. It was only right for Chul-Soo to visit Marshmallow, greet the senior Streamer, and express his gratitude.

‘I am going to find you, Chul-Soo!’

Marshmallow’s informants were spread throughout Arvis. With the knowledge of which warp portal Chul-Soo had taken, pinpointing his whereabouts was an easy task.

Encyclopedia squinted and smiled. ‘I guess Marshmallow has finally made up his mind.’

It seemed Marshmallow’s patience had reached its limit. Since provoking him further was meaningless, Encyclopedia decided just to watch.

‘Even if I just spectate, I can get a direct insight into Chul-Soo.’

There was so much he wanted to ask Chul-Soo in person, like how a Player from a new Server could grow so rapidly, how he had attracted so many viewers in no time, and whether he truly possessed the Munchkin Trait.

‘Well, since Marshmallow is that desperate, I will meet him soon.’

Encyclopedia knew searching for Chul Soo would be difficult and cumbersome, so it was a relief that Marshmallow was taking the initiative

“Hey, Encyclopedia, I’m furious.” Marshmallow’s demeanor seemed to ask if it was okay for him to be this angry.

Encyclopedia replied, “Isn’t it outrageous for a junior Streamer to not even thank the senior for their invitation?”

“Exactly, right?”

“You should find him and give him a scolding.”

“Yes, you’re right. You’re so smart, Encyclopedia.” Marshmallow began tracking Chul-Soo.

***

Arvis was a Server that consisted of one vast continent governed by three empires: the Swordsman Empire of Swedeen, the Magic Empire of Mazique, and the Holy Empire of Helen.

Originally, these three empires were long at odds with each other, engaging in both large and small wars, since they all had the desire to unify the continent and become the one and true empire ruling over the continent.

However, much had changed after the appearance of the Demon King Garbinu. Born of the Demon race, the Demon King had forced the three empires into harmony with his formidable power.

“And... he unified the languages of the three empires and transformed the Server into a structure where they had no choice but to depend on each other.”

Subsequently, the empires became increasingly dependent on each other, reaching a point where they could no longer fight each other. They were economically, politically, and culturally interwoven, essentially operating as one empire. Citizens could move between the empires without any restrictions, sharing the same currency and language.

[In modern times, most citizens tend to view the three empires as one, and changing nationalities according to personal preference has become a natural phenomenon. For instance, individuals who favor swordsmanship might choose the Swordsman Empire of Swedeen, those interested in magic the Magic Empire of Mazique, and those concerned with philosophy and faith the Holy Empire of Helen, freely choosing and acquiring nationality in this new world.]

Lying on his bed, Cha Jin-Hyeok read information about Arvis on his phone with considerable focus. Previously, he had little interest in the history of Arvis, but now, he found it intriguing.

‘Is the Demon King that remarkable?’

The Demon King Garbinu was the one who had established and defined modern Arvis.

‘The ruler before the Demon King must have been Veselity, but there is hardly any record of her. Is this why they call it the Forsaken Queen or the Forgotten History?’

It seemed there were limits to what he could find just by looking it up on his phone.

‘Enough history lessons for now. Where was the office of Swampland No.1?’

As Wang Yu-Mi said, the Player Hunter Association website was operating normally. Information about the Swampland Crew was also prominently posted on the website.

‘So, it’s in the small city of Dion within the Helen Empire.’

Detailed location and contact information about the crew were also provided. He tried contacting them, just in case, but perhaps due to the late hour, no one answered the call.

***

The next morning, Jin-Hyeok was quite surprised. ‘The navigation service here is really well-developed!’

With just a few simple clicks, he could easily find out which warp portal to take and where it was. Augmented reality navigation services were also available for those who found the process challenging. It truly was an advanced Server.

“I will try using the navigation service.”

A hologram appeared before his eyes. It was an arrow-shaped hologram, and following the arrow led him directly to the warp portal.

“The fare is only 1,200 Dias. That’s so cheap!”

The fare for using the warp portal was set at the level of a city bus fare in Seoul.

Jin-Hyeok traveled through the warp portal. “There is no motion sickness.”

The warp portals installed in Korea tended to cause a lot of motion sickness. It was so severe that people who could not tolerate the motion sickness well were terrified of using warp portals.

“The warp portal operates very smoothly here. It’s truly impressive.”

Introducing such new inventions to the viewers could attract a lot of interest. The citizens of Arvis could take pride in their Server, and Players on Earth would find it interesting.

“And there is even a transfer system.”

Jin-Hyeok felt like he had become a traveler. Just admiring the culture of another Server while traveling was content in itself.

“If you transfer to another warp portal within thirty minutes, it’s free. Wow, really advanced!”

‘I wish we could introduce this on Earth.’ He thought for a moment but then shook his head. This was all possible only because there was money to back it up in this place. Only the strongest Server, Arvis, could afford such luxuries; attempting to imitate this in a poorer Server could lead to disastrous outcomes.

“Uh... this seems to be a breadbasket area.”

The small city of Dion was quite far away. After taking the warp portal for the third time, he saw a golden granary stretching to the horizon.

“If I use a mount to get to the next warp portal, it will take around five minutes. Walking will take me about twenty minutes.”

Jin-Hyeok decided to walk. The ripe rice paddies swayed back and forth in the breeze.

“They’re rippling like ocean waves.” Jin-Hyeok could spot some Farmers here and there.

[LV255]

[LV243]

[LV272]

Jin-Hyeok was somewhat shocked. “Aren’t they just ordinary Farmers?”

It was hard to find anyone below Level 250. Occasionally, some seemed to be of managerial level, reaching the late 200 Levels.

‘The Earth Server is nothing compared to the Arvis Server... Is this why people say you should travel more?’

Before his regression, he had only followed orders and never truly experienced places like this. He had always heard how great Arvis was, but this was his first time seeing it for himself.

“I’m sure those people aren’t even considered rankers.”

If there were Players with those Levels on Earth, they could be top rankers in their respective Jobs.

Jin-Hyeok walked along the ridge, lost in thought.

‘What is the difference between Arvis and Earth? Why are they much stronger than us?’

Even though Earth was considered a new Server, Jin-Hyeok wondered if it could ever catch up to Arvis after enough time had passed.

“It would be great if our Farmer Players could come here for dispatch and learn.”

Suddenly, Jin-Hyeok remembered a Farmer he had seen in Scanorbia before coming to Arvis—the Arborist, Kimaev. It seemed like sending that friend to study here would allow him to grow rapidly.

“It would be a shame to pass by without doing anything, so I will conduct some interviews.”

Although the recording would become quite lengthy, the one having a hard time would be his editor, Kang Cheol, and not him. Jin-Hyeok decided to secure as much footage as possible.

“Hello, I am a Streamer from the Earth Server. My name is Kim Chul-Soo.”

“Earth? Kim Chul-Soo?”

Most of the Farmers he interviewed were unaware of Chul-Soo, let alone Earth. A few of the older ones asked, “Ah, so you’re one of the third-class citizens of Great Arvis?”

In the past, Arvis had colonized numerous Servers and was known as the Server where the sun never set. Citizens inside the Arvis server were first-class citizens, Arvis-born slaves were second-class citizens, and colonial citizens were considered third-class citizens. Although such distinctions had disappeared recently, the older Farmers seemed more accustomed to the past. Their questions and gazes bore no malice.

“Can Players from the Earth Server also learn the advanced agricultural techniques of Arvis?”

“Of course, they can!” The elderly man nodded and continued, “These days, the young ones lack perseverance. They don’t want to work at all! The youngest one here is seventy years old!”

“...”

The elderly man was chattier than Jin-Hyeok could handle, almost making him feel sorry for thinking Liling was talkative the day before. The man had many topics in his pocket, such as stories of the past and the present, today’s youth, crop yields from recent years, the neighbor’s dog, and the empire’s politics.

This interview was a new challenge even for Jin-Hyeok, who was gaining confidence in conducting interviews.

‘This is harder than I thought.’

Indeed, Arvis was not to be underestimated.

“In the past, I even raised a Golden Guardian Tree,” the elderly man said.

“...”

“If it weren’t for me, it would not have become the great Golden Guardian Tree it is today.”

“Do you know a lot about the Golden Guardian Tree?”

The elderly man seemed very excited to have a conversation with a youngster (?). “Oh, you want to hear my story?”

***

Once the elderly man started to talk, he showed no signs of stopping. He talked nonstop for four hours. Most of it was boasting about himself, and there was not much value in his words, but Jin-Hyeok did learn one thing.

‘The Golden Guardian Tree does not just grow on its own!’

He had thought it simply grew with time, but that was not the case.

“When it’s a young sapling, it’s fine. It grows well on its own. But as time goes on, it’s a different story,” the elderly man said. He said that the Golden Guardian Tree was very special, and as it aged, it required special care. Otherwise, it would gradually lose its strength and wither.

“If it weren’t for me, that Guardian Tree would have become just an ordinary tree by now! No, it would have died!” the old man added.

Just the thought of his Golden Guardian Tree dying made Jin-Hyeok feel a tightness in his chest.

“Is there a secret to growing the Golden Guardian Tree?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“You need to take care of it with dedication and love.”

It seemed that a lot of things were implied in that ‘dedication and love’ part. It had to involve numerous efforts based on the elderly man’s skills.

“Sir, I will definitely come back to learn more from you.” Thanks to the interview he had conducted on a whim, Jin-Hyeok had obtained valuable information.

The elderly man, having chatted to his heart’s content, seemed to be in a good mood. “Be sure to come! I will teach you everything I know!”

Jin-Hyeok nodded and headed toward the next warp portal. After paying an additional 1,200 Dias, he entrusted himself to the warp portal heading to the small city of Dion.

Soon after, he arrived at the central square of Dion.

“The city... looks like a European city from the Earth Server.”

While the center of Arvis resembled a world out of a sci-fi movie, the outskirts showed many charming and rustic scenes. It felt like a beautiful village in the Mediterranean.

“Here is where the Swampland Crew’s office is located. Let’s go find it.”

Jin-Hyeok did not want to make ordinary raids and assassinations part of this content. It was his first attempt at creating reverse Player-Hunting content, and he wanted to build it up in a traditional way. He had already thought of the title and structure of the content.

[01- Declaration of War]

Using the navigation system, he arrived at the office of the Swampland Crew. It was on the top floor of a four-story building made of red bricks. Upon reaching the top floor, he saw a young woman sitting at a desk.

“Is this the Swampland Crew’s office?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Yes, it is. How may I help you?’

“Is the boss around?”

“He is currently out. What do you need?”

“Ah!” Jin-Hyeok smirked. “I am here to kill your boss. Could you pass on the message on my behalf?”

“You want me to tell him that?” The woman’s face turned ashen.