I Gave Up Being Stronger

Seo Ji-Soo was surprised.

He was very short and hunched over. It would not be easy to find anyone else who suited the name Gollum so well.

The Seo sisters and Cha Jin-Hyeok had intended to search for a Navigator named Gollum from the beginning of their visit here. However, they had not expected to meet him so easily, nor had they expected him to be so unimpressive.

“I heard you were looking for me,” Gollum said as he swept his few strands of hair to the side and looked at Jin-Hyeok.

Jin-Hyeok nodded.

“What’s your Level?” Gollum asked.

“Around 150, but I can bump it up to 170.”

“Ah, you’re the Player with the Mythic-Grade Card, right? Your name was… Kim Chul-Soo.”

This was unexpected for Jin-Hyeok. “You know me?”

“Of course! You’re the most famous Player on the Earth Server.”

Jin-Hyeok was pleased. A universally known Player like Golumberum often did not pay much attention to rookie Players. It was like how seniors in high school didn’t really care about freshmen.

“If that’s the case, I think this conversation is going to go easier than expected. I want your guidance while I Play here,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“My fee is high.” Gollum sneered and looked at Lucia. “Lucia, how many have I rejected recently?”

“Around thirty Players?”

Gollum nodded and turned his gaze to Jin-Hyeok. “Make an offer. How much will you use me for?”

“Five hundred million Dias.”

Gollum burst out laughing. “Only five hundred million to hire me? You must be crazy.”

Lucia sighed. She had known this would happen.

When another Player had offered him seven hundred million Dias before, Gollum had sneered at it. He had scolded Lucia, saying, ‘What do you take me for?’ and she had sweated bullets.

Lucia assumed Gollum was leveling up an alternative character on the Earth Server, as he could not Play as his main self here. Usually, top-rankers from other Servers did this. For rankers who had nowhere else to grow, Playing an alternative character in a weaker Server was a kind of entertainment culture.

Gollum’s Level was relatively low at around 130, but Lucia’s seduction skills had no effect on him. He had probably worn all kinds of items that resisted mental attacks.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Jin-Hyeok said with a frown.

“I told you. My fee is high. Did you really think you could hire me with only five hundred million Dias?”

“Isn’t five hundred million per hour reasonable?”

“...What?”

“How can someone use a Navigator of your caliber for just five hundred million Dias?” Jin-Hyeok earnestly asked.

Those words moved Gollum.

***

Gollum heartily laughed with a slightly reddened face, clearly pleased with the deal. “Lucia! Why didn’t you introduce me to such a noble person sooner?”

The beer tasted exceptionally refreshing and good today. The atmosphere of the table was quite pleasant. Lucia seemed overjoyed, probably thinking about the hefty referral fee she would receive.

Some Players referred to Gollum as a ranker who did not care about money, but Jin-Hyeok knew that was not the case.

Not all top rankers are wealthy. The real rich ones were usually Merchant-class or Streamer-class Players. Excluding those with such extraordinary Jobs, the real top rankers often lived in a state of poverty.

Navigators with weak defensive stats required significant amounts of money to clear Dungeons. To survive in top Dungeons, they had to keep spending and spending. They earned a lot, but they spent just as much.

Earning a million and spending eight hundred thousand would leave two hundred thousand to spare, but earning one billion and spending 1.1 billion would result in a deficit of one hundred million. That was why most top rankers from other Servers were poor. Ordinary people would think it was madness, but it was true. Moderately high ranked Players were often wealthier.

That was one of the reasons Han Sae-Rin had given up on being a Navigator and switched to being a Ruler.

As the night deepened, Gollum became heavily drunk. “You have about 350 million subscribers?”

“About 370 million.”

“That’s quite an achievement for an Earth Player. Streamers can make a living with that much, right?”

“Fairly so.”

“I’m so jealous.”

Gollum’s forehead hit the table, and he fell asleep. Only a few customers were left in Lucia’s bar.

“I should get going,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Lucia, who was attending another table, rushed over to him. “Leaving already?”

“I have to.”

She seemed a bit disappointed. In just one day, Jin-Hyeok had become a VIP of this bar. He had never experienced this during his time as a government official, but it felt quite convenient and pleasant.

“Take care. Come back again! And give my sister a chance. She’s a pretty decent girl.”

Jin-Hyeok left the bar and walked down the street. The street had been bustling during the day, but it was incredibly quiet and peaceful at this time. After walking for a while, he stopped. “Why are you following me?”

Someone had been following him since he had left the bar. This Player’s name was Kayn, and he was a Swordsman who was around Level 180.

“You seem to have quite a bit of money, kid.”

Jin-Hyeok had known Kayn was there from the moment he had entered Lucia’s bar. Kayn would later become a rather famous villain. He was more famous for being a villain from Planet Arvis than for his prowess.

Arvis Server was arguably the strongest Server in the universe, and its inhabitants took great pride in that. They prided themselves as cosmic police and pursued their own sense of justice. The fact that a Player from such a planet was playing the villain on the relatively weak Server was eye-catching.

“And?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“If you hand over everything you have now, I will spare your life.”

Currently, Kayn was at a higher Level than Jin-Hyeok. Also, Kayn was a skilled Swordsman. Jin-Hyeok did not want to fight him if he could avoid it.

“I am a Streamer, you know. Ever heard of the Streamer Protection Treaty?”

“You are not seriously depending on such a superficial treaty, are you?”

“Well, not exactly.”

Kayn drew his sword and strode toward him. “Let’s start by taking your left arm.”

“...”

It was somewhat ridiculous that Kayn had swung his sword right in front of Jin-Hyeok.

Jin-Hyeok wondered who would just stand there and get hit by such an obvious attack. He stepped back to dodge Kayn’s sword.

“...”

“...”

An awkward silence fell between them.

“Who the hell are you?” Kayn asked.

“You didn’t really think I would get hit by that, did you?”

“...”

Jin-Hyeok had shown his true skills in all of his livestreams, but it seemed Kayn had not watched any of those videos. Kayn started exerting more power. He mixed in feints and footwork to create openings in Jin-Hyeok’s defense.

Jin-Hyeok used Broadcaster’s Barrier to block all of his attacks.

“You’re quite skilled at operating Broadcaster’s Barrier. You would have achieved much more if you were a combatant-class Player.”

Suddenly, Jin-Hyeok felt irritated. Kayn’s words somehow felt like an insult, as if he were saying, ‘You are not cut out to be a Streamer.’

“Seems like you haven’t watched my livestreams. I have improved a lot in livestreaming.” Anyway, Jin-Hyeok focused on his defense, and Kayn relentlessly attacked him.

“How long are you going to keep cowering behind your defense?” Kayn said.

“...”

Kayn’s attacks were not dull. Jin-Hyeok was accumulating more and more minor wounds, and it was lucky that he had experienced fighting Kayn before. Otherwise, he would have had suffered more severe injuries.

It was said that even the kids walking on the streets of Planet Arvis could be rankers in other Servers. Though Kayn’s Level was only around 180, he was by no means an easy opponent.

Usually, defending was easier than attacking. If a Player just decided to defend, they could somewhat hold their own even against those with superior skills.

Before Jin-Hyeok knew it, he had reached a dead-end alley. When his back hit the wall, he extended his hand.

“Wait, I will give you five hundred million Dias. That’s all I have right now.” Jin-Hyeok took out a leather pouch full of Dias from his inventory.

“Now you’re talking sense.”

“It’s five hundred million Dias. If you spare my life, I will add another five hundred million to make it an even one billion.”

“Make it five billion.”

“...”

“Aren’t you rich enough to spend five hundred million per hour hiring a Navigator?” Kayn chuckled. “How can someone as insignificant as you earn such a huge sum of money? Isn’t that strange?”

“...”

Jin-Hyeok quietly placed the leather pouch on the ground and raised his hands. When Kayn smirked and bent down to pick it up, a translucent silver thread wrapped around his wrist.

It was Ji-Ah. Assassins could prove weak in a direct confrontation, but they exhibited tremendous power in surprise attacks.

Ji-Soo released her poison attack. It emitted a much more concentrated form of the venom she had used when she bit Jin-Hyeok earlier, now in a gaseous form.

Kayn was calmer than expected. “What a pitiful attempt.”

He easily got out of Ji-Ah’s binding skill and formed a thin mana barrier around him to prevent the poison fog from reaching him. Just as he was about to gather mana to create a Sword Wind, Jin-Hyeok, who had been ready to draw his sword at any moment, swung it. “This is how you set up.”

It was rare for someone to fall for a trick right away. Jin-Hyeok had to mix feints and disturbances one, two, or three times in a row to execute the attack he wanted. The blade of his Greatsword of La’kan, now covered in sword energy and sharpened to the extreme, swiftly decapitated Kayn.

The reason Jin-Hyeok had been testing Kayn until now was to make sure the latter was truly unaware of his livestreams.

If Kayn had watched even a bit of them, he would have known about the Berklev Necklace and that it could reflect fatal attacks.

Kayn’s eyes flickered as his head lay on the ground, making Ji-Soo scream.

“Oh, he’s from the Arvis Server. They’re tough, so they don’t die easily even when severed,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“...How did you know? Do you know about me?” Kayn asked.

Jin-Hyeok leaned close to his face and whispered in his ear, “Not telling.”

Kayn’s eyes widened in anger, turning red.

“When you meet a Player from Arvis, you must make sure to confirm the kill.” Jin-Hyeok lifted his Greatsword of La’kan and stabbed Kayn in the heart several times. It was not because he wanted to feel the satisfaction of killing.

But then, he heard someone clapping. Someone was approaching them.