I Gave Up Being Stronger

‘But I am not quite at Garbinu’s level yet, am I?’ Cha Jin-Hyeok thought.

Even though he had gained a bit of fame in the Arvis Server, he was nowhere close to Garbinu. Garbinu was a name that everyone in the universe had heard at least once.

‘I’m just an up-and-coming rookie.’

Nevertheless, he could not just ignore what Katrina said to him. To surpass Garbinu, he had to start by following in Garbinu’s footsteps.

“Tell me more about the Soul Stones,” he asked.

“I will tell you the next time we have dinner together,” Katrina replied.

Jin-Hyeok nodded. Eating meals was an everyday affair, and sharing a meal with Katrina was not a difficult task.

When Jin-Hyeok met with Kihael, Kihael could not hide his astonishment after learning what happened. “No way… This is so strange.”

It was not like Chul-Soo had offered a huge reward for the information. Kihael was confused about how Chul-Soo could obtain such information merely by sharing a few meals.

“Why? Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s not that there is a problem but…”

Every time Kihael doubted something regarding Kim Chul-Soo, things would happen too smoothly for the Streamer.

“Even if it were possible, it would require extremely skilled Farmers, those who have rolled in the fields of Arvis for decades, and among them, only rankers who have experience managing Guardian Trees can do it. Do you think they would come to the Earth Server? To this backward and deficient Server where third-class citizens live?”

After Kihael had said this to Chul-Soo, the Farmers of Arvis had come flocking to Earth.

Kihael had then thought, ‘Surely, these Farmers have great experience and wisdom, but they are too old and physically unfit. This won’t work. We absolutely lack skilled labor.’

But somehow it worked out also.

‘At this rate, won’t Arvis start intervening? No matter how great Chul-Soo is, if Arvis steps in… things will get tough. Do I need to stop caring about Chul-Soo and just think about myself?’

After Kihael thought this, Arvis suddenly started supporting Earth. Somehow, the universe’s energy seemed to be aiding Chul-Soo.

Kihael had then concluded, ‘But the most terrifying enemy is always the one within. People like Ronaldo will definitely pose a threat to Chul-Soo.’

Contrary to his thoughts, these Players posed not even a bit of threat to the Streamer. Instead, they served as fuel to unite the Chul-Soo Landers of the universe.

Now, Kihael was learning about Soul Stones.

‘Isn’t this kind of thing you usually uncover by deploying informants over a long period?’ Even though Kihael found it baffling, he just nodded and said, “I will do some investigating on my own, too. Not sure if it will help, but I will try my best.”

However, he thought, ‘I probably won’t be much help, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, I am just here for a good work-life balance.’

Yet, Kihael felt a bit weird.

‘Why do I feel like I am becoming useless?’ A small stone had been thrown into Kihael’s life, which had been dedicated to work-life balance. ‘Shouldn’t I still do what I need to do? Maybe I should work a bit harder…’

Kihael began to change.

***

Mole Man banged on Jin-Hyeok’s front door.

‘Oh, is there an enemy nice enough to knock before attacking me?’ Excited, Jin-Hyeok activated the recording Skill and opened the door with a trembling heart.

“Oh, it’s you,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“I’ve heard the news from Kihael! Why didn’t you tell me about this, huh, moly?!” Mole Man was furious.

“Why are you angry?”

“I heard that the MK Foundation is greatly increasing support for the Miners! They are also scouting and nurturing promising talents!”

This was all to gather more information about Soul Stones. It would be even better if they could mine a Soul Stone. To the public, this was being promoted as Chul-Soo’s warm support toward unpopular Jobs in the community.

Anyway, Mole Man was furious about that. “If there was such a thing, you should have told me first, moly!”

“Why would I do that?”

“You still don’t know that my secondary Job is a Miner, moly?”

“You have a secondary Job?”

Before his regression, Jin-Hyeok had never heard of Mole Man having a secondary Job. Mole Man was a professional Navigator and had no interest in other Jobs. Until Han Sae-Rin switched to being a Ruler, they had been fighting for the top-ranked Navigator position in Korea.

Back then, Mole Man had even given an interview.

“Concentrating on one thing alone already leaves me with no time, moly. Digging several shallow wells is a pointless act. One must dig deep into one single well to find water, moly.”

“So, you’re saying mining suits you well and you’re diligently training in that Job?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Yes, moly.”

“Why?”

Mole Man looked at Jin-Hyeok as if he was talking nonsense. “That’s how it’s always done, moly.”

Mole Man was deeply inspired by Jin-Hyeok. Being a Streamer who excelled in combat and also cultivated Guardian Trees well had left a deep impression on Mole Man.

“One must always work hard at everything, moly.” With hard work, Mole Man was already an outstanding Miner, ranked fifth in Korea. “This Soul Stone… I will find it for you, moly.”

***

The Earth recovered stability much faster than expected. Guardian Trees emerged all over the planet, forming a sort of Guardian Tree network, and the power of the Guardian Trees spread across the entire globe. As the influence of the Guardian Trees grew, the Levion Virus was neutralized.

Furthermore, with the arrival of cures from various Servers, including Arvis, humanity began to overcome the Levion Virus. This led to the unprecedented cancellation of the Server-level Scenario Invasion of Levion. The chief GM managing the Earth Server announced directly through the System.

[The Server-level Scenario was mistakenly created due to an oversight by the GMs… Therefore… we acknowledge this error and offer our deepest apologies. I will take responsibility for this incident and step down from my position as the chief GM of the Earth Server… and… we will compensate every Player affiliated with the Earth Server with ten million Dias.]

Despite the official announcement, many were skeptical of this notice.

Marshmallow, having already arrived on Earth, snorted. “Error, my ass.”

It was clear that this had been an attempt to artificially reduce the population of Earth, but as the incident grew larger and attracted more attention, it became impractical to continue with the Levion Virus.

“Looks like the System can’t do anything sketchy for the time being.” Marshmallow chuckled.

Encyclopedia, who had come along with his friend, hit the nail on the head. “Why? Are you happy because Chul-Soo won’t be bullied anymore?”

“Who cares about that?” Marshmallow scowled. “I just didn’t like how the System was doing absurd things to weaker Servers, that’s all.”

“But seeing that the System is giving away ten million Dias to every Player, it seems like the System might be changing its approach.”

“What do you mean?”

“It is deliberately throwing around a lot of money. It seems to be planning to slowly suffocate the Earth Server by causing severe inflation. If the System can’t kill them outright, it will slowly strangle them. The System might adopt policies that seem beneficial to Earth on the surface.”

“...”

“It feels like the System is setting the Earth Players up for a massive blow that will shake the entire Earth Server.” Even Encyclopedia could not be sure of the exact outcome. He was just amused by the ever-changing expressions on Marshmallow’s face.

“So, does that mean Chul-Soo will also be negatively affected?” Marshmallow said.

***

That night, Marshmallow vented his frustrations. “Seriously, why hasn’t Chul-Soo suggested a collaboration livestream first? I came all the way to Earth to do my livestreams after all.”

“...”

“Why won’t he do a collaboration livestream with me? It’s not like I can suggest it first.”

“If you want it that badly, why not ask him yourself?”

“Well, I don’t particularly want to.” Marshmallow fell into thought before making a decision. “I guess I need to start doing some livestreams outside. You know, the kind I used to do like the [Experience on the Job] content.”

“I thought you said physical work was too hard for you?” Encyclopedia asked.

“I need to get back to my roots.”

Marshmallow declared he would try his hand at mining. His viewers’ reaction was not bad.

-Wow, finally getting back to his old self, lol.

-I thought he was getting too comfortable.

-Marshmallow doing hard labor for content? I gotta see this.

Marshmallow’s expression swelled up with pride as if to show off. “See?”

“See what?”

“I am not doing this type of content because I particularly want to help Chul-Soo. Look at the viewers’ reactions. They are happy about my content.”

‘Hmm, the back-to-basics project was not a bad idea.’ Marshmallow rationalized this and began his mining experience on Earth. With him being a universe-level Streamer, his content created quite a buzz.

***

On the Arvis Server, Lessefim, the fifth-ranked Navigator and tracking specialist, became slightly anxious. ‘Why haven’t they contacted me?’

She knew there had been a significant event on Earth. She had been waiting because of it.

‘It’s over, isn’t it?’ She was aware that the chief GM of the Earth Server had apologized and that the matter had been resolved. ‘So, shouldn’t I be tracking Corporation Alpha Male now?’

She had lost Corporation Alpha Male right in front of her. It was because someone with an unknown Skill had teleported him away. Lessefim thought Chul-Soo would surely ask for her help, so she had cleared her schedule in anticipation, looking forward to saying, ‘Well, if you need my help that badly, I suppose I have no choice but to help you.’

‘Is he not going to track him at all?’

That seemed unlikely. If she knew Chul-Soo, he would surely want to put a definitive end to the content.

Then, she stumbled upon a strange teaser video.

[Tracking]

It was Chul-Soo’s video. The video was a teaser announcing he would begin hunting down Corporation Alpha Male now that the Server-level Scenario on Earth had roughly been resolved.

“Who is this woman?” Lessefim was quite annoyed when a woman appeared in the teaser video. “Han Sae-Rin?”

A quick search revealed information about Sae-Rin, who was quite a famous Player on Earth.

“She is a Ruler?”

Sae-Rin was a Player who was making a significant impact as a Ruler. Knowing she was a Ruler somewhat eased Lessefim’s mind.

‘Okay. Chul-Soo will start with recruiting a Ruler for the big picture, and then he will recruit me.’ Lessefim thought the recruitment process would also be featured as content. ‘But why…’

Even after knowing Sae-Rin was a Ruler, Lessefim could not understand why she was so irritated. The scene in the video where Sae-Rin and Chul-Soo were conversing particularly caught her eye.

“Why is she smiling so prettily like that?” They were laughing together. “Oh, is that so?”

‘And look at her smiling eyes! The dimples! She is tucking her hair behind the ear!’

Lessefim checked the comments. They were mostly about how they wanted to become Sae-Rin’s fans. The comments were about how pretty Sae-Rin was and how she was the best Ruler on Earth. The comments on the Tracking video, which was supposed to be about hunting down Corporation Alpha Male, were all mostly about Sae-Rin’s looks.

‘I need to say something about that.’

This had to be a mistake in production. The main content, which was hunting down an enemy, was being overshadowed by the focus on a woman’s appearance. Although Sae-Rin and Lessefim had different Jobs, as a prospective wife, no, as a senior, Lessefim thought she could give Chul-Soo some advice about his production. She decided to wait a little longer, sure that Chul-Soo would call to recruit her.

‘But…’

No matter how long she waited, the call never came. And a few hours later, she stumbled upon a shocking video.

[Recruitment]

It was a video of Chul-Soo recruiting Sae-Rin. Upon seeing the video, Lessefim could not hide her mixed feelings.

‘What… is this?’’