I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 273

-“I hate you! You made me upset!”

The Golden Guardian Tree threw a fit, like a child who did not want to take their medicine.

‘Huh?’

Cha Jin-Hyeok felt as if his mental connection with the Guardian Tree had been severed. Shortly after, he was unable to talk to the Guardian Tree. Then, breaking news erupted.

[Nowon-gu is facing an attack by a monster of Level 90...]

[Gangnam-gu is facing an attack of a monster of Level 110...]

With the sudden disappearance of the Guardian Tree’s power, Seoul was plunged into extreme chaos.

[Shocking news! Has the Guardian Tree vanished?]

[The Guardian Tree is no longer functioning as it should.]

Casualties occurred throughout the city. Accidents happened everywhere, and smoke billowed up across the city. Seoul had become a scene of utter chaos. Under these circumstances, rumors even started circulating that Kim Chul-Soo was seriously injured. People even believed this rumor, and it was reported worldwide.

As the news spread, the KOSPI[1] plummeted. Countless individual investors wept. People in the political and business circles became extremely anxious.

“How can the stock market crash this fast?”

“They need to come up with a plan! What are they doing?”

The stock market was not the only issue.

“I heard the country’s credit rating is also dropping like crazy!”

The rumor about Chul-Soo’s injury led to a downgrade in the country’s credit rating. Capital from foreign investors withdrew like a receding tide, and the nation’s economy and prestige faltered. It reached a point where ministers had to hold press conferences asserting that Chul-Soo was in good condition.

***

The reason Seoul had suffered such chaos was that it had been a safe city before. Compared to other cities, in Seoul, less budget and manpower was allocated for the safety of the city. Nonetheless, the city had its unique defensive measures.

[Heroes are born in difficult times.]

The Players from the K-Force and the MK Foundation became the focal points. Under their protection, Seoul began to regain its stability.

[Seoul has regained its stability!]

Criticisms also arose about how long the city would continue to depend so heavily on a single person, Chul-Soo. Entrusting the safety of a city to only him was, frankly, an absurd idea. As a butterfly effect, corruption related to the public safety budget was uncovered, leading to the arrest of several high-ranking officials.

Anyway, as the chaos gradually subsided, some saw this as their opportunity.

‘If I catch Chul-Soo, my status will rise!’

‘Chul-Soo is weak right now.’

‘Now is the chance. He doesn’t have the Guardian Tree to protect him.’

Assassins from across the universe saw this as a golden opportunity.

“Wait, are you an Assassin?”

“...You too?”

However, with Assassins flooding in from across the universe, the situation inevitably became conspicuous. In that sense, the assassination attempt on Chul-Soo was already doomed to fail.

“Get in line.”

“Let’s not fight among ourselves.”

Eventually, fights broke out among the Assassins.

Jin-Hyeok was well aware of the situation.

‘The Guardian Tree is sulking over eating the Control Bug...’ Jin-Hyeok wondered if eating a Control Bug was that bad of an experience. ‘But it doesn’t taste that bad.’

He was puzzled that giving the tree something not so bad to eat would result in the tree sulking so much. Perhaps the Guardian Tree was going through puberty.

‘I’ll need to calm the Guardian Tree later.’

Just because a child disliked it, it did not mean they could skip the medicine. Even if the door was locked, Jin-Hyeok had to break in and make sure the Guardian Tree took its medicine.

“Come on, Seo-Hyo, be a good tree. Please eat this.”

The Guardian Tree shook violently again, and golden dust fluttered around.

“Wait, isn’t that Chul-Soo?”

“Yeah, that’s Chul-Soo!”

As Jin-Hyeok appeared in front of the Guardian Tree, a crowd gathered around him. They asked for autographs and rushed to take pictures with him.

“Are you really okay?”

“You’re not injured, right?”

Returning to Seoul from Arvis, Jin-Hyeok could truly grasp how popular he was. He felt like he had become a superstar.

‘Wait a minute...’ He felt surprisingly good about all the attention he was receiving and thought once again that becoming a Streamer was the right decision.

‘But let’s not get too arrogant.’ He was still a Streamer with much to learn, so he decided to enjoy the popularity while remaining as humble as possible.

Then, an arrow flew toward him. Jin-Hyeok caught the arrow with his bare hands.

“Kyaa!” A student screamed upon witnessing the arrow.

The arrow was just the beginning. Various lethal spells and long-range attacks were unleashed.

‘Hey, Seo-Hyo, at least protect the innocent citizens.’

-“No, I said I don’t want to eat it!”

The Guardian Tree’s help could make the fight convenient, but the tree seemed to have no intention of helping.

‘I guess I don’t have a choice.’

Even if the tree didn’t help, it was not a problem for Jin-Hyeok. After all, the world was a place of survival of the fittest, where being unable to protect oneself meant death; injury was also part of daily life. It was unfortunate for the citizens, but Jin-Hyeok could not do anything about that.

“Hm... First of all...” Jin-Hyeok could instinctively distinguish between arrows shot for diversion and those truly aimed at him. “... I need to kill the nastier ones.”

He moved toward the Assassins who targeted civilians. Thanks to Thief’s Step, which he had learned from Song Ha-Young, tracking them was not difficult.

Thwack!

He struck the back of an Assassin’s head. The Assassin collapsed like a dead frog.

“Maybe it’s because there are so many of them, but the Assassins seem less cautious.”

He struck down several nasty Assassins. The process was not particularly difficult. Although many attacks hit him as well, none were strong enough to penetrate Absolute Barrier.

“Hyung!!!” Mok Jae-Hyeon, the main Tanker of the K-Force, also arrived.

“Good timing. I need you to take care of the civilians.”

“What about you?”

Jae-Hyeon looked worried. Many Assassins were hiding among the citizens. Most were low-Level Assassins, trying to become famous by defeating Chul-Soo, but a few skilled Players could be hiding among them. Assassins were known to strike when their opponents were careless even for a second. It was best to be as cautious as possible.

“Me? What about me?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Ah... Never mind! I will take command of the civilians!”

Seeing Jin-Hyeok’s expression, Jae-Hyeon felt somewhat relieved. A clear madness shone in Jin-Hyeok’s eyes.

‘He is looking for good content,’ Jae-Hyeon thought.

***

Under the command of Jae-Hyeon, the K-Force Players quickly organized and safely dispersed the crowds that had gathered around the Guardian Tree. Government officials were not entirely pleased with this situation.

-I think we should just get rid of our police force and entrust public safety to K-Force Players, LOL

-Did you see the police not knowing what to do in Nowon-gu?

-The police couldn’t do anything. Hahaha!

-I was so frustrated watching the police, but it was so refreshing to see the K-Force do the job so easily.

-Why can’t one hundred police officers do what ten K-Force Players can? It’s so frustrating, LOL!

Especially from the perspective of the chief of police, it was a very difficult situation.

“Damn it!”

After all, it was Chul-Soo who had arbitrarily removed the Guardian Tree’s powers and caused all this chaos.

“Chul-Soo... Is he doing this on purpose?”

Creating a common enemy to unite the people and secure approval ratings was a tactic politicians commonly used. The chief of police was well aware of this.

“He is finally showing his true colors.” The chief was bitter. It was frustrating to see the foolish public being manipulated by Chul-Soo’s performance. He also checked Chul-Soo’s livestream on his phone. Chul-Soo was currently single-handedly blocking attacks of all kinds.

‘Huh?’

For some reason, Chul-Soo looked to be having a difficult time blocking the attacks, and the chief clenched his fist. ‘This is good!’

It seemed like a few more attacks could end Chul-Soo, who appeared a bit weaker than usual.

‘They said he was injured... is that true?’

With numerous Assassins pouring attacks, it seemed like a good opportunity to get rid of Chul-Soo. A rosy future unfolded in the chief’s mind.

‘I can eliminate Chul-Soo and claim the Guardian Tree for myself!’

The chief of police’s brother was a Farmer. His brother had boasted that if the Guardian Tree’s current owner disappeared, he could take over that position.

‘If my brother could possess the Guardian Tree then...’

He could turn his life around with this single opportunity. So, he had to kill Chul-Soo by any means necessary.

‘I need to call the Dark Shadow.’

With the Dark Shadow summoned, today would be Chul-Soo’s last day.

***

As usual, Jin-Hyeok conducted the livestream in a first-person perspective.

‘Ah... the Assassins are pretty weak.’

He wanted the attacks to be at least flashy, but since they were Assassins, there were not many flashy attacks.

‘Maybe I should make Absolute Barrier a bit weaker.’

The advantage of a first-person perspective livestream was that it could maximize the tension during combat scenes. So, Jin-Hyeok weakened his Absolute Barrier for unexpected attacks. Only then did a few arrows get stuck in his arm and a throwing star lodge near his chest. There was no significant damage, but it looked quite painful from the outside.

Jin-Hyeok grimaced. “Hey, you gotta calm down with the healing.”

“...I did calm down.”

“Just heal me when it gets more dangerous.”

“...Okay.” Cha Jin-Sol was learning the hard way.

‘I’ve become quite complacent recently,’ Jin-Sol thought. She realized this while Playing with her brother again. ‘I’ve been too generous with the healing.’

Healing was not infinite. It needed to be used as efficiently as possible, to achieve the best effect. The most efficient way to use healing spells was to utilize them at the most dangerous moment.

“Hey, I’m fine! Why are you healing me?”

“S-Sorry, my bad.”

Playing with Jin-Hyeok, Jin-Sol was relearning the optimal timing for healing. She resolved to use healing more precisely in the future, during more dangerous moments.

‘It’s still early.’

Jin-Hyeok was covered in blood, but these were only minor scratches. Using healing spells for this degree of injury was not very efficient.

‘It should be fine if he gets hit in the vital points once or twice!’

Jin-Sol gradually began to understand the desirable(?) tempo of the Play. Jin-Hyeok was pleased with his sister’s growth but soon noticed something was off.

‘Wait, these attacks aren’t deadly.’

Jae-Hyeon was busy evacuating and protecting the civilians, and Jin-Sol was focused on her healing timing. Jin-Hyeok wondered why there weren’t more dangerous attacks flying toward him.

‘Right now! That attack was diverted!’ After a while, Jin-Hyeok realized, ‘The Guardian Tree is secretly helping me.’

The Guardian Tree was blocking some of the attacks. It was focusing its power, which once covered all of Seoul, onto Jin-Hyeok alone, creating a barrier even stronger than Absolute Barrier.

‘Ah... my livestream is ruined.’

Jin-Hyeok gave up on creating a sense of crisis and tension. Trying too hard when it was not working would make it feel forced.

“I have taken enough hits. Now it is time to teach them a lesson.” Once Jin-Hyeok became serious, the Assassins were no match.

“ARGH!!”

When the Assassins protected the back of their heads, Jin-Hyeok attacked their temples, and if they guarded their temples, he attacked their phitrums. Even if they tried to flee, the Phantom Swordswoman relentlessly pursued them.

“Halt, just surrender your back of the head to me,” the Phantom Swordswoman said.

The Assassins trembled at the Phantom Swordswoman’s precise pursuit.

“...Why is a defensive Mystery following us?!”

Eventually, Jin-Hyeok easily dealt with the Assassins, showcasing his robustness. As a result, the plummeting stock prices soared again. The national credit rating recovered, and investors who had left Korea flooded back in. Thanks to Assassins from all over the universe, people realized something.

-Wait, did they really think Chul-Soo would be weak without the Guardian Tree? Is that why they attacked?

-Chul-Soo’s skills were underestimated because of the Guardian Tree, LOL!

Even without the Guardian Tree, Chul-Soo was a Streamer boasting extreme combat power.

‘There was one skilled Assassin among them.’ Jin-Hyeok had seen a familiar face. He realized it had been a well-known villain from before his regression. ‘Ah, wasn’t he from the police department?’

Before his regression, the police department covertly operated a secret organization. This organization was supposed to be under the police department, but in reality, it was closer to being a villain organization, as Jin-Hyeok remembered. They handled a lot of shady tasks, and Jin-Hyeok had carried out a few missions with them.

‘Why would someone from the police department target me? Did he really want to test his strength that much by fighting me?’

Jin-Hyeok knew many Players wanted to test their strength by fighting him, so he didn’t think too much of it. However, one thing concerned him.

“That Assassin's corpse is glowing for some reason.”

The God of Luck was reacting to the corpse. Jin-Hyeok approached the corpse and found a stone lying nearby. It was a type of Spirit Stone he had never seen before.

“It seems like the Assassin wanted to gift me an item...!”

Jin-Hyeok thanked the nameless Assassin.

1. The KOSPI or Korea Composite Stock Price Index is the index of all common stocks traded in the Korea Stock Exchange. Think of it like the Korean NASDAQ. ☜