I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 62

Mulinus’ attack was aimed at Cha Jin-Hyeok, and the destructive power contained within it was undoubtedly threatening.

If that hits, Jin-Hyeok would surely die.

‘But it’s not that intimidating.’

Perhaps it was because Jin-Hyeok knew that Mulinus was not actually going to hit him, but the current situation itself lacked any excitement. Honestly, it felt rather mundane.

In fact, what was more dangerous than the attack itself was Jin-Hyeok's sudden realization that he felt no intimidation whatsoever from this punch, despite it being an attack which could kill him.

‘Oh, it must be because of Imperial Resilience.’

This Trait definitely seemed more effective than Mental Barrier.

‘I don’t think I’m THAT crazy to be unaffected by that destructive punch.’

Somehow, Jin-Hyeok felt a bit relieved.

Whoosh!

A strong wind blew as Mulinus’ fist brushed past above Jin-Hyeok’s head.

This was some kind of test. If by any chance Jin-Hyeok showed signs of weakness against that punch, he would not be able to come to this workshop anymore.

“Are you insane?” Mulinus asked.

“It’s not pleasant hearing those words from someone who swings their fist at their client.”

Mulinus angrily walked toward a chair and sat down.

“I’m assuming you are here to enhance the Berklev Necklace, right?”

“How did you know?”

“Katrina told me. He said there is a very interesting Open Beta Player.”

“Well then, it makes things easier. Yes, I came here to find you for the enhancement of the Berklev Necklace.”

Jin-Hyeok took out the materials he had gathered one by one and placed them on the table. Mulinus put on green glasses and examined the materials. His hands were so large that the things Jin-Hyeok brought looked like small pebbles.

But then, Mulinus made a strange remark.

“So those videos weren’t fake?”

“What?”

“Haven’t you heard about the controversy?”

“What controversy?”

Jin-Hyeok had no idea what Mulinus was talking about.

“People are constantly fighting over whether you are a real Streamer or not, whether the content you provide is real or fake.”

“Is that something to be fighting about?”

“Don’t you know about the Korean Region Minor Gallery?”

“What the hell is that?”

Mulinus burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha! You have the same personality for your livestream and in real life. This is great.”

‘What the hell is he talking about?’

“You are perfectly executing the do-it-my-way attitude. You don’t care about anything other than your livestreaming, and this includes communicating with your viewers, right?”

“...”

“Well, I guess it’s fine. I’m glad I met the crazy Streamer hiding behind the screen. I guess that makes me the third viewer to know your true identity?”

“You can say that.”

For reference, the first viewer was Choi Gap-Soo, and the second one was Katrina. Mulinus seemed quite pleased.

Jin-Hyeok did not know Mulinus enjoyed watching Streamers through the SSP. In Jin-Hyeok’s previous life, he never had such personal conversations.

“I’ll accept your request. However, the commission fee is very expensive. Enhancing the Berklev Necklace is a labor-intensive task.”

“How much is it?”

Before regression, Jin-Hyeok remembered it cost two hundred million Dias to enhance the Berklev Necklace. Mulinus was a guy who arbitrarily set prices depending on his affinity with the client. Generally, the cost of enhancing the Berklev Necklace was around three hundred million Dias, but since Jin-Hyeok had a good relationship with Mulinus, he was able to get a lower price.

“I’ll do it for one hundred million Dias.”

“...”

“Why?”

“It’s cheaper than I thought.”

Jin-Hyeok did not spare money when it came to artifacts. Having good artifacts could save one’s life.

There was always a reason behind something being too cheap. Moreover, Jin-Hyeok had not built much affinity with Mulinus, so one hundred million Dias was quite surprising. It almost felt like he wasn’t planning on doing a good job because Jin-Hyeok was just a low-Level Player.

“Hahaha! Is one hundred million Dias too cheap for you?”

Jin-Hyeok could not understand him at all, so he ended up using Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance. He was not sure if he could read Mulinus due to the significant Level difference.

[...#That’s how good I am. #One hundred million is pretty cheap, isn’t it? #Are you seeing this, Dragolf?]

Mulinus was Level 209. Jin-Hyeok heard that his Level had been fixed at that Level ever since Earth was integrated into the System. With this Level difference, normally, Jin-Hyeok couldn’t have read anything even with Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance.

‘How intense of an emotion is Mulinus feeling?’

If Jin-Hyeok could even read a specific word like ‘Dragolf,’ it meant that Mulinus had to have been feeling a really intense emotion.

‘Dragolf… Isn’t that the blacksmith located around Seocho-gu?’

The reasons Jin-Hyeok chose Mulinus instead of Dragolf were simple: Jin-Hyeok was somewhat close with Mulinus in his previous life before his regression, and Mulinus was located closer to Jin-Hyeok's home.

“Hey, Kim Chul-Soo,” Mulinus said.

“You even know my Player name.”

“Of course.”

If he had been continuously watching Jin-Hyeok’s videos through the SSP, it was not strange that he knew about Jin-Hyeok. Meeting viewers here did feel a bit fascinating.

“It’s definitely possible to enhance the Berklev Necklace with the materials you have gathered.”

[The Quest, 「Mulinus’ Advanced Smelting」, has been activated.]

“But if one additional material is added, I can create an even better Berklev Necklace. How about it? Will you give it a try?”

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Jin-Hyeok returned home and had dinner with his family in their nice new house. Suddenly, he felt grateful that he could spend time with his family in such a good home.

“This is Mom’s allowance, and this is Dad’s.”

He put five million won each into their wallets. Both Mom and Dad tried to refuse, but Jin-Hyeok forcibly managed to slip the money into their wallets. Seeing his surprised parents checking the amount, Jin-Hyeok quickly escaped to his room.

‘I wanted to give them more, but I guess even that amount is surprising for them.’

Anyway, he felt proud.

He entered his room and lay down on his bed. For some reason, he had been receiving overwhelming support and donations over the past week.

‘Shall I do a little progress check?’

He turned on Eltube and checked the statistics. During his livestreams, he had an average viewership of about fifteen thousand people. The daily donations amounted to about seven million Dias, and after deducting various expenses, it came down to a net profit of around three million won per day.

‘And there are also those who purchased the VIP package separately.’

He really did not understand. Unlike other Streamers, he did not provide any special treatment to VIPs. He never communicated with them, so he did not know why they kept buying the VIP package.

Jin-Hyeok also completed a couple of missions sent by the viewers. Combining the revenue from the VIP package and the mission donations, it amounted to around one billion Dias.

To sum up, Jin-Hyeok earned one billion Dias in one week.

‘I’m losing touch with reality…’

Since he did not engage with viewers, he had no idea why all these things were happening. Perhaps there was a battle of pride going on between Choi Gap-Soo and the people around him. That was what Jin-Hyeok suspected, at least.

‘What was it called? Trinity?’

To those people, spending one billion Dias was akin to the common people spending one hundred Dias. If a few of those people decided to spend their money, one billion Dias wouldn’t be a big deal to them.

‘I might actually retire before reaching Level 100!’

Of course, Jin-Hyeok did not let his guard down completely. He did not expect this kind of luck to continue indefinitely. It might continue, but it was wise to exclude such income from his regular earnings.

At that moment, someone opened his door.

“Oppa! Oppa! Look at this!”

“Don’t you know how to knock?”

It seemed like Cha Jin-Sol could not hear him. She looked extremely excited.

“Look at this! It says Egan Paul earned a whopping six billion Dias this week!”

“Six billion Dias?”

“Yeah, he announces his weekly income every Friday night. He is a Streamer from the United States.”

“...”

“He has an average viewership of about forty thousand! How many do you have, Oppa?”

“I have around fifteen thousand.”

“Wow! He has way more than you! He must be really amazing.”

“I guess so.”

As time went by, the gap between Jin-Hyeok and Egan seemed to be getting wider. Although Egan’s earnings seemed huge compared to his viewership numbers, that was probably his ability.

‘It seems like I’m doing well according to my goals.’

Jin-Hyeok felt relieved. Compared to Egan, it might seem modest, but even being in third place was enough for Jin-Hyeok.

Jin-Sol went outside, and some time passed.

‘Wow! He has way more than you! He must be really amazing!’

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

He could hear the ticking of the clock. Once he heard it, it became incredibly irritating. He could not sleep. One thing he could say for sure was that he was Playing rather aimlessly compared to before his regression.

‘But, is the difference really that huge?’

Jin-Hyeok had fifteen thousand viewers.

Egan had forty thousand.

‘Isn’t this a level where I can somehow compete? If I work hard like he used to, can’t I catch up with him? Even if I’m half-assing right now?’

“Stop thinking like this, you idiot.”

This damn obsession of wanting to be first place was something that could not be fixed. It was inevitable.

People used to say the sadness of breaking up could be fixed by another form of love.

Saturday was coming soon.

‘Let’s just enjoy my hobby to the fullest.’

Jin-Sol, who had gone outside, came back again. She kept entering his room as if it was her own. It was annoying, but at the same time, Jin-Hyeok did not dislike it.

“Oh, Oppa. Our party is planning to go to Paju again for the weekend. I think it will be a good opportunity to see how much we’ve grown compared to last week.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“I guess you’re going to take a break?”

“Yeah, I’m just going to relax. It’s the weekend, after all.”

Jin-Hyeok was planning to take a break, under the name of Kim Pyeong-Beom.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Jin-Hyeok decided to Play as Kim Pyeong-Beom, having summoned an avatar body of himself and laid it on the bed.

[Mulinus’ Advanced Smelting]

[A method newly devised by the one-eyed giant Mulinus to enhance the Berklev Necklace. It requires the finger of the 「Moon Shaman」 that is sleeping in the Hongik University Dungeon.

Quest Location: Hongik University Dungeon.]

Jin-Hyeok had to go to the Hongik University Dungeon first. This place appeared to be a beginner’s Dungeon mainly used by Players with Levels in the 30s to 40s.

However, there were several hidden secrets here. It would be revealed in the future in a Scenario on the scale of Seoul, but this Hongik University Dungeon was a forward base established by a force called the Army of the Full Moon. This was a Scenario that appeared after Level 100, so it was not important now. Anyway, the Hongik University Dungeon had secrets and, naturally, Hidden Stages.

‘And the boss monster of the Hidden Stage is the Moon Shaman.’

Based on what Jin-Hyeok remembered from his previous life, Players could choose to either side with the Moon Shaman, or to fight against her. For reference, Jin-Hyeok was on the side opposing the Moon Shaman.

‘If I fight the monster now, I would probably be dead the second I lay my eyes on the Moon Shaman.’

Just thinking about it made his chest tingle, as if various stimuli were rushing through his nerves. Fighting against the Moon Shaman had been truly thrilling.

Jin-Hyeok couldn’t count how many times he had to face the boundary of death when he was fighting the monster. The memory of dancing on the edge of that precarious boundary, immersed in the Sword Realm, came back to him and his heart raced. He kept that memory, like his first love, tucked away in a corner of his heart as he met Han Sae-Rin at a coffee shop.

“So, you’re Cha Jin-Hyeok?”

“Yes.”

Jin-Hyeok had changed his appearance. Just to be sure, he changed his appearance from the face widely known on the internet as the Yeosu Swordmaster.

“That can’t be true,” Sae-Ran said.

“Why can’t it be?”

She kept doubting, so he called her on his phone to confirm his identity. Jin-Hyeok’s name was saved in her phone as Enchanting Cha Jin-Hyeok. She examined Jin-Hyeok and the screen back and forth.

“But your face…”

“It’s pretty ordinary, right?”

“Ordinary?”

He didn’t understand why her reaction was like that. He almost considered using Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance, but he held back. He might lose all his social skills at this rate.

“Why do you have that expression?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Do you really think that your face is ordinary?”

“Yeah.”

“I think your standard of ordinary seems too high.”

“What are you talking about?”

Jin-Hyeok thought Sae-Rin’s standard of ordinary was low if she thought that his face was extraordinary.

“Well, I guess if you lived your whole life with your original appearance, you might think that way. Anyway, so why did you call me separately? I doubt you called to ask me on a date.”

“There is a Hidden Field in the Hongik University Dungeon.”

Sae-Rin knew very well what was important. The mention of the Hidden Field made her forget about everything else.

Jin-Hyeok loved the twinkle in her eyes. It put him in a good mood.

“There is a monster called the Moon Shaman. I received a Quest to retrieve her finger.”

“I’ve been there before, but I could not find the Hidden Field.”

“Well, you have grown a lot in the past week. Maybe you can find it this time?”

Sae-Rin’s expression was filled with excitement. Her cheeks turned pink

“Let’s go.”

She grabbed his wrist tightly, and they hurried toward the Hongik University Dungeon.

[You have entered the Hongik University Dungeon.]

“But don’t we have to come with our other party members? If it is a Hidden Field, just the two of us might have a hard time,” Sae-Rin asked.

“Wouldn’t it be more thrilling to do it with just the two of us?”

“I guess you’re right.”

After all, clearing Dungeons with a small number of Players was more fun. The more they accomplished with a small group, the greater the sense of achievement. If possible, solo-clearing Dungeons were the best.

It was great to Play with her because Jin-Hyeok did not have to explain everything in detail.

They have begun their Play.