I Gave Up Being Stronger

Cha Jin-Hyeok met with Wang Yu-Mi after a long tand filmed a video in the form of an interview.

“Wow, the Munchkin Trait! Just hearing about it makes my heart swell with excitement! Does such a Trait really exist?” Yu-Mi asked.

Jin-Hyeok could not tell if she had used a special Skill, but colorful question marks kept appearing and disappearing above her head. Soon after, a [>.<] emote popped up. Hidden behind the round glasses, her eyes were filled with madness. Jin-Hyeok had always felt that she was kind of scary.

“If such a Trait exists, I would like to have it too,” Jin-Hyeok answered.

“According to my research, there has been only one Player in history with the Munchkin Trait.”

Jin-Hyeok tilted his head in confusion.

“Known as the sexiest Demon King in the universe, Garbinu! He is the only Demon to have ruled Arvis! They say he possessed the Munchkin Trait.”

“...” Jin-Hyeok had never heard of that nbefore. It seemed to him like she had picked up sweird information from somewhere.

“So, you are saying that the almighty IntenseMan does not have the Munchkin Trait?”

[>_<♡]

“Yes,” Jin-Hyeok answered.

Yu-Mi was leading this livestream, and she had planned the content. After the simple interview, what followed was the Majang Lake Dungeon clear in Paju. This Dungeon was known to be extremely difficult, and only a few alliances had been able to clear it.

Jin-Hyeok had visited this place several times during his days as a Swordsman, so he cleared the Majang Lake Dungeon without much difficulty. There was a lot of fog here, which made it hard to see. He also got a bit wet during the clear process, and his clothes were torn here and there, but overall, the Dungeon clear was not too difficult.

Jin-Hyeok had solo-cleared the Dungeon, but the reactions seemed a bit underwhelming.

-Oi, oi. Solo Clear is expected from our great IntenseMan.

-I can’t believe I’m not surprised anymore by Chul-Soo clearing a Dungeon all by himself.

-Guys, even if it’s Chul-Soo, it’s still a Solo Clear! I think that only five alliances in Korea have cleared the Majang Lake Dungeon!

The reactions on KimKnowItAllTV made it clear that a simple Solo Clear had its limits. Jin-Hyeok needed to clear a Dungeon with a difficulty level that he could not deal with on his own, but that was honestly a tough task even for him.

Soloing such an easy(?) Dungeon was not particularly good content for a Streamer. However, recovering from such lackluster content was precisely the skill of a great Streamer, and in that sense, Yu-Mi possessed exceptional ability.

-He is so hot! I can’t stop looking at him. T_T

-Did you see his dreamy face emerging from the fog? I was done right there.

-Huff, huff. Look at Chul-Soo’s jawline!!

-Dear rain… please don’t stop pouring. Don’t let his clothes dry.

-I want to buy Chul-Soo’s washboard abs!

-Everyone! Watch Chul-Soo’s videos twice, no, three times, no, a hundred times!

Even though the Deceiver’s Mask hid Jin-Hyeok’s face, the viewers kept saying he was handsome.

Back when he had first started his Eltube channel, he did not even know what Hakko[1] meant, but now he was different. Having grown into a Streamer worthy of recognition, he had the deciphering skill(?) to understand these terms, but it was still hard to understand why these viewers were using those words in the first place.

During a brief rest, Yu-Mi explained to him, “I have used sfilters and lighting. No matter how much you hide your face, you can’t hide everything. Today’s weather is really great, and the lake is quite a romantic place, so the shots cout incredibly well.”

The number of likes on KimKnowItAllTV caught Jin-Hyeok’s eye.

It was an astonishing number. In contrast, the number of likes on his actual livestream was only two hundred thousand.

Clearly, Yu-Mi possessed something he did not. However, he still found it hard to grasp what she meant by the shots coming out incredibly well.

“By the way, are you really not going to reveal your face?” Yu-Mi asked.

“I’m considering it.”

“You know. I can see what you’re thinking right now,” she said.

Jin-Hyeok’s eyes met Yu-Mi’s. It felt a bit scary, as if she could see right through him.

“You’re envious of the number of likes on my livestream, right?” she asked.

“...”

“And you’re jealous of how lively my chat is.”

Despite the livestream being paused, the comments were still pouring in like crazy. This was happening even though they weren’t in the middle of intense combat!

~

-Please show us your face, Chul-Soo. I will offer you my entire bank account. T_T♡

-It’s so cold outside. I just want to be in his arms. ♡

-I’m so jealous of Yu-Mi right now. I want to see his face too!

-I was stunned by the silhouette of Chul-Soo’s body line reflected in the light earlier… T_T

~

Yu-Mi said with a smug look on her face, “If you reveal your true face, you might be able to beat me.”

“That’s a bit…”

If people wanted to find Jin-Hyeok, they could. Skilled Players could most definitely find him without much difficulty. People had even deciphered Jin-Hyeok’s weird drawing of Giethoorn, so the thought that they were unable to find him was nonsense.

However, having his face revealed to the public was a different issue. When one’s face was completely exposed, there tended to be more negatives than positives.

“Do you see my lively chat window and the number of likes?” Yu-Mi said, adjusting her round glasses.

[Smug]

[I win.]

For the first tever, Jin-Hyeok livestreamed in the third-person perspective, revealing his face.

His heart pounded with anticipation.

***

-Yo, wtf? This is just too unfair!

-God is fair. Chul-Soo’s intestines must be ugly.

-I totally understand Elly’s reactions now.

-I had criticized it as lacking plausibility, but I regret it now.

The number of likes on Jin-Hyeok’s livestream skyrocketed, but so did the number of dislikes.

-If he just did vodcasts, I think it would’ve been a success too.

-Right now, I feel like I’ve been hit by a 300 kph KTX train.[2] I can’t even deny that he is my new bias now.

-He is so sexy, beautiful, cool, pretty, and handsome.

-Oh my lord… His face is the most intense part of him…

Jin-Hyeok did not know how his looks related to his intensity, but the number of likes on his livestream was increasing rapidly.

He loved that the like count had already surpassed four hundred thousand. At this point, he really wanted to open the chat window on his livestream, but doing too much at once could lead to disaster, so he opted not to.

[You have reached 600 million subscribers.]

Above Yu-Mi’s head, the [♩♬] symbol and small fireworks appeared.

“The IntenseMan has finally revealed his true self.”

[You have reached 700 million subscribers.]

Jin-Hyeok had not done anything particularly intense, yet he had gained another one hundred million subscribers.

Jin-Hyeok was a bit skeptical. “Uh… Thank you guys for the seven hundred million subscribers.”

His face reveal was definitely not the reason for such a rapid increase in his subscriber count. Jin-Hyeok wondered if the Storyteller Yu-Mi had something to do with it, but he couldn’t be sure. Yu-Mi was beyond his understanding. It was much easier to just accept and adapt.

[You have reached 800 million subscribers.]

“I’ve just reached eight hundred million subscribers. Thank you so much!”

“Tfor a reaction to celebrate!” Yu-Mi said.

[＠_@]

[@-@]

[@_@]

Jin-Hyeok did not know much, but doing as Yu-Mi said often led to success.

“Please show us a sword dance! Maybe with that new Song of the Black Tiger Skill you acquired! Oh wait. Letsprinkle swater on you first.” She scooped up lake water in a bucket and splashed it on him. ‘Now we’re ready.”

Jin-Hyeok didn’t understand why she had poured the water, but he remembered Zoro’s movements and swung his sword a few times.

Yu-Mi had manipulated something to create fog. Four black tigers rose behind Jin-Hyeok, and he swung his sword a few times toward the sky before wrapping up.

-He… is so amazing! Where is that? I want to go there now.

-Chul-Soo is insane!

-Wow, so, so intense!

-Can a livestream be this graceful?

[You have reached 900 million subscribers.]

[You have reached one billion subscribers.]

***

Chul-Soo’s face reveal heated up the entire universe. Across different Servers, races, and languages, the discussions were predominantly about Chul-Soo’s looks, albeit in various expressions.

“Wow…” Cha Jin-Sol covered her mouth as she browsed through various online communities. “Yeah, he is good-looking.”

Even Jin-Sol acknowledged his good looks, which meant that Jin-Hyeok was indeed exceptionally handsome. Jin-Sol had grown up seeing him, so she did not feel it much, but she was aware that her brother was considered attractive.

“But to this extent?”

The image Jin-Hyeok had built over tas the passionate IntenseMan, the heroic strides he had taken breathlessly, and the added production from Yu-Mi, all had played a crucial role in making Jin-Hyeok look this exceptionally handsome.

It wasn't just one thing. Many factors had played a crucial role in making Chul-Soo the hottest and trendiest person in the universe. During the stream, his clothes had been completely soaked, revealing his physique. He had a strangely excited expression, the reason for which was his envy toward the number of Yu-Mi's likes. Moreover, Yu-Mi had cleverly edited the stream to show his captivating smile while he was checking the number of his likes and how he had been delighted like a child at the increasing subscriber count.

-This is why I stan Chul-Soo!

-I’m not usually into promoting Streamers, but please, if you have time, watch Chul-Soo’s videos!

Posts promoting Chul-Soo flooded various online platforms.

“But it seems like you don’t really care about all this stuff,” Jin-Sol said.

“What are you talking about?” Jin-Hyeok was just lying on the bed, idly wiggling his toes. He was constantly refreshing the page to check the number of his subscribers. It had already surpassed 1.3 billion.

“I think everyone will notice you if you even step one foot outside,” she said.

“Well, I can always use the Deceiver’s Mask.”

“...Ah?”

“But really, how are you this calm?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You must have received like three hundred million proposals by now.”

“Really?”

“Do you even check the online community reactions?”

“No, I am busy watching my number of subscribers go up.”

Jin-Sol shook her head. It seemed her brother was not grasping how popular he had gotten. She felt a little bit annoyed by his nonchalance.

Suddenly, Jin-Hyeok asked, “Hey, am I really that handsome?”

1. Hakko in Korea means an unpopular streamer, usually with less than ten viewers. ☜

2. KTX or Korea Train eXpress, is South Korea’s high-speed rail system. ☜