I Gave Up Being Stronger

“What are you doing, Oppa?” Cha Jin-Sol found her brother’s actions a bit odd.

Cha Jin-Hyeok appeared much more tense than usual, sitting on the edge of the bed and shaking his legs nervously.

“Why are you staring at your phone like that?” Wondering what he was up to, Jin-Sol sat beside him and sneakily glanced at his phone screen.

Jin-Hyeok, who looked incredibly anxious, suddenly sprang up from his seat. “I did it!”

“Ah, you scared me! What’s going on?”

“I reached four hundred million subscribers!”

“Ah… I thought it was something more important.” Jin-Sol was less impressed. Everyone knew that Jin-Hyeok’s subscriber count would soon reach four hundred million.

“It’s not that special, right? It’s not like they are giving you a gold button or something,” she said.

At the mention of the gold button, Jin-Hyeok flinched. SSP was a universal streaming system. Although Earth had a few Streamers with a few hundred million subscribers, the universe had quite a lot of them. Moreover, Streamers received a silver button for reaching one hundred million subscribers and a gold button for a billion. These buttons were more like medals, not having any special functions.

“But it still feels good.”

“Well, if you’re happy, I’m happy.” Jin-Sol sat back on the bed and tapped the space beside her. “Come, sit down.”

“Why?”

“Let’s monitor your old livestreams together. We should check out the online community reactions and see what your subscribers are thinking, right?”

“I am already doing that sufficiently with Wang Yu-Mi.”

“But Yu-Mi askedto help you.”

“You? Did you acquire a second Job that’s related to this kind of stuff?” Jin-Hyeok was ready to scold her if she had, but fortunately, she had not.

“No, it’s not like that, but Yu-Mi thinks that you listen tomore.”

“I listen to Yu-Mi as well.”

“She must have judged that you listen tomore than her.”

[The probability of the Instant Kill effect activating is at least seventy percent, no matter how you estimate it. The reason the passionate, intense, dramatic, and fierce IntenseMan refrained from using Instant Kill was that he wanted a more perfect storyline for his livestream.]

[Written by: ChulSooIsGod]

Reading a post from the Korean Region Minor Gallery, Jin-Hyeok shook his head in disbelief. “Does anyone actually believe this kind of bullshit?”

“I think it’s getting positive reviews.”

Jin-Hyeok knew that even the powerful beings from the Arvis Server would not possess such an absurd ability. “Wow… There is a lot of talk about the probability of the activation of my Instant Kill.”

“Yu-Mi insists we should add more to the confusion.”

“So that they can’t accurately guess the probability?”

“Yes.”

Making it impossible for an opponent to deduce the Instant Kill probability was crucial. The adversaries’ responses would vary depending on this percentage.

[What the hell are you talking about? There is no such absurd probability in the entire universe! The success probability of an overpowered ability like Instant Kill is at most 0.1 percent. Stop exaggerating Chul-Soo’s abilities.]

[Written by: NoOverpackagingPlz]

Though the two posts said completely opposite things, both garnered as many as fifty thousand likes.

“It seems everyone believes what they want to believe. But what is the actual probability of the activation of your Instant Kill? Oh, no, wait. Don’t tell me!” Jin-Sol made a ‘Blah-blah’ noise and covered her ears. “I’m afraid I might accidentally tell people.”

Jin-Hyeok just looked at her for a while. His calm gaze made her feel somewhat embarrassed.

“Why are you looking atlike that?” she asked.

“Why did you cto my room?”

“I told you… It was Yu-Mi’s idea to…”

“I don’t think that is it.”

Jin-Hyeok had been feeling strange emotions lately. It had all started with the Seo sisters. Getting hurt or even dying while Playing was common. However, when he had seen Seo Ji-Ah and Seo Ji-Soo seriously injured, he was engulfed in emotions he could not understand.

Even now, looking at Jin-Sol, he was experiencing these odd, hard-to-define emotions. Also, despite not using Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance, he seemed to be able to read Jin-Sol’s emotions to sextent.

“Um… A lot of people died in the recent battle: members of the Black Rose Alliance and Lucia, whom you were somewhat close with. Ji-Ah and Ji-Soo almost died too.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I know it’s normal. I know it’s not a Play if it is not dangerous. I know how you feel about this, but…” Jin-Sol was cautious, worrying that bringing this up could only lead to more scolding. “...but I was just really worried.”

“...”

“I thought you were going to die there.” At first, she had been cautious, but soon, her suppressed emotions burst out. She could not help it. She felt she had to say this.

“Can’t you go easy on such dangerous Plays? No matter how fiercely you had prepared, the battle with Makendra was too risky. What if the Instant Kill ability had not worked? Then it wouldn’t have been Makendra dying but you. You know that, right?” she added.

“That’s because you clate.”

“Then you should have takenwith you from the start!”

He felt he should scold her for such thoughtless words, but strangely, he was not upset. Since the regression, he felt like he was learning something new.

Jin-Hyeok beca little curious about what exactly this feeling was and about this ticklish sensation in his chest.

“I will try to be more careful next time,” he said.

“...Huh?”

“I said I will be careful next time.”

“Are you okay?” Jin-Sol placed her hand on Jin-Hyeok’s forehead. “Did you hurt your head or something?”

***

The Server-Grade item, Picasso’s Brush, had potentially game-breaking abilities, depending on how it was used.

──────────

[Picasso’s Brush (Bound)]

[A brush imbued with the passion of an artist who burned with an artistic soul.

Everything touched by his brush beca masterpiece of the century.

Item Skill ⌜Retouch⌟ available for use (0/3)

-When it is applied to an item, there is a certain probability of grade/effect enhancement.

-When it is applied to a Player, there is a certain probability of Job change and level-up.

(*Note: Retouch is limited to one use per item or Player and cannot be used on the holder of the item.)]

──────────

Picasso’s Brush was a consumable item, and it was only usable three times.

“How could we take this from you…?”

“I refuse.”

The Seo sisters rejected Jin-Hyeok’s proposal.

He sighed. “Are you going to be this uncooperative?”

“It’s not about being uncooperative, but…” Ji-Soo turned her gaze toward Ji-Ah, who then cup with a response.

“Shameless.”

Ji-Ah continued, “Yes, shameless! We would be shameless if we just took it from you. Don’t put so much… what’s that word?”

“Pressure.”

“Yes! Don’t put too much pressure on us! It should be used on Players far more talented than us.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jin-Hyeok shook his head in disappointment.

“Is it easier to level up from 1 to 10 or from 100 to 101?”

“Well…”

“The former.”

“Using it on overly complete Players would have minimal effect,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Until right before his regression, the highest Job grade was 9 Stars. There were rumors of 10-Star Jobs, but that was like an urban legend. Essentially, 9 Stars was the limit for Job grades.

“Using it on you guys would have a dramatic effect.”

“But…”

“And you both have enough narrative.”

They were like tragic heroes who worked harder than anyone but could not climb higher due to their lack of innate talent. He had already discussed everything with Yu-Mi.

“This is going to be perfect content for my Eltube channel.”

Eventually, the Seo sisters accepted his proposal, and Jin-Hyeok used two of the three Retouches on them.

“But to maximize the effect, it seems we need to use the item with the God of Luck Mystery, and we need the help of the Golden Guardian Tree. I have to be in top condition. I want to do it in a quiet place with no disturbances. So, when I call, Ji-Ah, cto my house first.”

“To… your house?”

“Yes, to my house.”

“So it’s going to be… just the two of us?”

God of Luck was a Mystery too dangerous for his current self to handle. If mishandled, it could shatter his psyche. However, the exceptional effect of the Mystery was worth taking the risk for.

A few days later, Ji-Ah cto his house. She was wearing more makeup than usual, as they were not Playing, and she had worn a white dress, which she rarely wore. When Jin-Hyeok’s eyes fell on the dress, she blushed.

“Is it bad?” she asked.

“Yes, it’s bad.”

Ji-Ah’s face turned even redder.

“Your body might release filthy water while we do this,” Jin-Hyeok explained.

“...”

“That dress looks expensive. Are you sure you’re okay wearing that?”

For sreason, Ji-Ah, whose face had turned bright red, nodded. She underwent the Retouch effect and Awakened as the Shadow Ruler. During the process, her fluttery dress almost melted into rags, and filthy water poured out of her body, but that was not important.

About two weeks later, when Ji-Soo visited his home, she arrived in strange clothing. Sealed in a black rubber suit from head to toe, she had even worn large goggles over her face, making Jin-Hyeok wonder how she could breathe.

“Is that a diver’s suit?” he asked.

“Something like that.”

“Aren’t you hot?”

“Assassins must adapt to and endure extrenvironments. We never know when or where our targets will give us an opportunity.”

“That makes sense.”

Jin-Hyeok repeated the sprocess for Ji-Soo, and she also Awakened as the Shadow Ruler. He thought she would be happy, but it seemed she wasn’t.

“...I want to die,” she said.

“What’s wrong?”

Ji-Soo had changed into a tracksuit that Jin-Hyeok had prepared in advance. The diver’s suit had been unable to withstand the toxins that had seeped out of her and had burst soon after the process. Filthy water had splashed everywhere, but thankfully, the Guardian Tree’s barrier prevented the house from being contaminated. However, due to the barrier, the filthy water had risen to their knees.

Just like Ji-Ah, Ji-Soo did not seem particularly happy. Both sisters decided to research their new Jobs and went off the grid for a few days, and Jin-Hyeok found that quite gratifying.

“It’s good to see such a thirst for knowledge.”

***

Jang Michelle was pleased with Jin-Hyeok’s livestream. “I was on the edge of my seat watching it. I am glad the project we prepared has borne good fruit.”

Jin-Hyeok was relieved that Michelle liked it. Though he had not checked, it seemed she had donated a considerable amount of Dias to his stream.

“Yes, thanks to you, my livestream reached first place in the universally trending video list, and my subscriber count has gone past four hundred million,” he said.

“That’s incredibly fast.”

“They say I have also reached the top ten trends on the universal scale.”

“So, which one is it? Are you first place or tenth place?”

“Pardon?”

“It would be nice if the person I am sponsoring is in first place.”

“I only know that it is within the top ten. The detailed information was not disclosed.”

Michelle sighed, seemingly disappointed. Jin-Hyeok had many conversations with her as part of SVIP management. During one of them, she made a significant remark.

“Did you know that Makendra was a high-ranking officer of the Black Alliance?”

“Yes.”

“At this point, the Black Alliance might directly intervene. Soon, numerous warp portals will be activated.”

Earth was soon going to lose the privileges of being a newly opened Server. Although it would not be connected to a super Server like PlArvis afterward, many powerful Servers would be linked with it.

“Yes, I am prepared for that,” Jin-Hyeok said while grinning unwittingly. “Stronger foes will appear incessantly.”

“You seem to be enjoying this.”

“Well, I’m just happy I can create good content for my Eltube channel.” His heart was pounding.

A few days later, indeed, many warp portals began appearing around the world, connecting the Earth Server to numerous Servers. A cataclysm had begun, and Jin-Hyeok immediately sensed someone’s presence as soon as the sun cup. It could be someone related to the Black Alliance or perhaps a Player who hunted other Awakened Players.

However, it was someone completely unexpected.