I Gave Up Being Stronger

Cha Jin-Hyeok was about to die. His consciousness started to fade. It felt like he was falling away from this world.

Oddly, he felt somewhat delighted.

‘This is interesting.’

He was sure that the attack was an instant death attack. He was confident from the numerous experiences he had had before. However, his expectations were pleasantly wrong, and then he was pleasantly surprised that a mere thirty percent probability was triggered.

That was why people called Playing a series of miracles.

[The Trait 「Extra Life」 has been applied.]

‘Whew! I thought I was going to die.’

It was thrilling. If Jin-Hyeok did not have the Extra Life Trait, he would have truly died.

The Flying Toad shot up into the sky. It seemed that she was planning to carry out an artillery attack.

‘I need a better plan.’

He stopped using the Broadcaster’s Barrier and deactivated all his applied Achievements.

‘I should not think about defending.’

That way, he could perfectly get hit by an instant death attack. In order for the Berklev Necklace to perform its role, Jin-Hyeok needed to get hit by an attack that would instantly kill him. The item could reflect attacks that qualify as instant death with an incredible eighty percent probability.

‘I’ll just expose my vital points.’

The Reflection probability was eighty percent.

‘This is an extremely advantageous effect for me.’

There was no such thing as one hundred percent probability in Playing. Anyone who claimed they had seen one was a fraud.

If Players were not willing to take the slightest risk, they shouldn’t even Play at all. If a Player could not even utilize such an excellent item, they should quit Playing.

‘Here she comes!’

The monster grew larger and larger.

This time, Jin-Hyeok had a strong intuition.

‘Getting hit by that monster means death!’

Bam!

The monster collided with him.

‘Just as I expected.’

[This attack qualifies as an instant death attack.]

[The effect 「Reflection +1」 has been applied.]

Kiiaaak!

The Flying Toad screamed in agony. Her belly was torn open, and she fell to the ground with foam oozing from her mouth. The protective barrier was completely gone.

‘I’ve become so much stronger…’

With great joy, he climbed onto the monster’s belly and swung his sword. In the end, Jin-Hyeok succeeded in hunting another Flying Toad.

[You have leveled up!]

[You have reached Level 56.]

[You have acquired the Major Achievement 「Early Resolution of the Flying Toad」.]

Jin-Hyeok acquired the same Achievement he had returned before.

Once again, there was no underline indicating a reward.

‘Don’t tell me there is no reward!’

It was not like he did this for the sake of a reward, but still, not receiving anything at all was a different issue. Jin-Hyeok managed to kill the Flying Toad, and on top of that, the monster was incredibly stronger with the additional settings. It would be wrong not to get anything at all.

That would be crossing the line.

But then, Jin-Hyeok heard a voice.

“Hey, you bastard!”

‘Huh?’’

Jin-Hyeok knew that voice.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The recently appointed GM of Yeosu, Hagon, had gotten the job through nepotism. His father was a Server-level GM and held the executive managing director position in one of the Servers.

“Hagon, there is a very high-profile Scenario prepared in Yeosu. If you handle it well, you will be set for the rest of your career.”

“Just don’t cause any trouble, Hagon. A competent employee over there has almost finished everything by himself. Just watch and don’t do anything stupid.”

Since Hagon’s childhood, he had been involved in numerous troubles. If his parents had any wishes for him, it was simply for him to eat less and not get into any more trouble.

“Why does this Player keep using the GM Call? Damn it!”

Hagon lay on the floor, caressing his big belly. With his right hand, he picked up a bag of chips and ate it. He didn’t know much about anything else, but he was damn sure the Earth’s snacks were quite tasty.

“If he calls me one more time. I’m just going to kill him!”

Fortunately, there were no more GM Calls.

From the moment he arrived in Yeosu, Hagon established one rule: if someone bothered him three times, they would die. He almost killed one junior GM, and had already killed six Players because of his rule.

‘My father told me not to cause trouble.’

No matter how he thought about it, it was a good thing for that junior GM. The junior GM kept asking Hagon to take the GM Calls, pay attention to Server management, and handle the paperwork. It was so annoying that Hagon almost killed him, but in the end, he restrained himself.

‘I’m becoming a better person.’

If it was in the past, Hagon would have killed the junior GM without hesitation.

“I should just take a nap.”

Although it was working hours, it didn’t matter. If he just killed time, eventually the Scenario set up by the predecessor would work smoothly, and then Hagon would be recognized for his contributions and get promoted.

“If I want to work at a higher level, I should do my best.”

Even if he wanted to work harder, this Region was too small.

“And I highly doubt that someone can even defeat the Flying Toad.”

Hagon was confident that would not happen. The predecessor, GM Serchan, was known to be very meticulous and diligent, and he had never made a single mistake so far.

Since the predecessor had thoroughly and carefully planned everything, there should be no issues.

Hagon fell into a deep sleep. In the meantime, the intern GMs sent several messages to him.

⌜Assistant Manager Hagon, the Flying Toad is in the middle of a battle.⌟

⌜The situation is a bit different from the usual.⌟

⌜I need you to check out the situation.⌟

The intern GMs could not wake Hagon from his nap. They knew waking him up would lead to a horrifying outcome. As they hesitated and could not decide what to do, time passed by.

⌜The Flying Toad has been killed.⌟

At that moment, the GM’s office was filled with blaring sirens.

Beep! Beep!

This was a setting created by the predecessor, Serchan.

“What the fuck! What’s going on!”

Startled, Hagon checked the messages he had received.

“Why are there so many messages?”

Hagon’s face turned pale as he checked the messages.

“What the hell! These useless intern GMs! I can’t count on them for anything!”

Several intern GMs hurriedly entered the GM’s office. Hagon slapped three of the intern GMs one by one with the slipper he was wearing. Even so, his anger did not subside, and he scolded them fiercely. He wanted to punish them even more, but resolving the situation at hand was the top priority.

‘If I knew this would happen, I should have learned the teleportation spell.’

“Who here knows how to use the teleportation spell?”

The teleportation spell was a basic spell for GMs. With a little effort and the help of the System, one could learn to use teleportation spells rather easily.

All three of the intern GMs knew how to use the teleportation spell.

They all raised their hands. Hagon chose the only female intern GM among them.

“Let’s go.”

Hagon and the intern GM quickly teleported somewhere else.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

While filming Jin-Hyeok, Kang Mi-Na was taken aback.

‘What the hell is going on?’ she thought.

The man on the screen seemed stronger than the Yeosu Swordmaster. However, at the last moment, he extended his arms while laughing uncontrollably. His eyes, gazing at the falling Flying Toad, were filled with madness. Though Mi-Na did not know what was going on, Jin-Hyeok seemed incredibly satisfied.

And then, a miracle happened.

Jin-Hyeok succeeded in killing the Flying Toad.

‘Wow, he actually did it! He is truly insane!’

Jin-Hyeok and Mi-Na agreed to leave out the scene where Jin-Hyeok kills the monster. So, within the agreed limits, she pondered on how to edit the video.

However, the incident was not over.

“Hey, you bastard!”

Suddenly, the GM appeared. He had a human-like form, but he was huge, possibly over two meters tall, with one horn protruding from his forehead. He was being carried by a female GM who was much smaller than him.

‘Why is the GM suddenly here?’

Though Mi-Na could not understand, she kept filming. However, at one point, she felt a strange sensation again. She felt that Jin-Hyeok was looking at her.

With this, she was certain.

‘That man can perfectly tell my position.’

She did not know how, but it felt as if Jin-Hyeok could discern the flow and traces of her Skills.

‘He is undoubtedly insane.’

Crazy people recognized each other. She read the madness in Jin-Hyeok’s gaze and bit her lip.

‘I don’t know what’s going on, but this must be a hint.’

Kim Pyeong-Beom was conveying some messages.

‘I am going to capture every scene!’

She activated the High-Speed Recording, an exclusive Streamer Skill, and then focused her entire mind on filming.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

A horn about the size of a finger protruding from his forehead.

An arrogant expression on his face.

A belly sticking out so much that it could not be concealed by his clothes.

Disproportionately short arms and legs.

Jin-Hyeok knew this guy very well.

[LV65/Hagon/Yeosu GM No. 1]

[#This bastard. #How dare you ruin my project? #Should I kill him?]

Despite being a GM, Hagon was only Level 65. He belonged to the Goblin race, and from what Jin-Hyeok remembered, anyone from that race was born as Level 50.

‘I remember his name as Kirudon.’

Jin-Hyeok knew why he changed his name to Hagon. There was a good chance that he had changed his identity after causing some trouble. The Kirudon—now called Hagon—that Jin-Hyeok knew was the GM No.1 for Dobong-gu in Seoul. He was notorious among Players.

‘There have been many incidents involving Hagon, but the worst would probably be the arson incident that happened in the Dobong Station Dungeon.’

Hagon set fire to the Dobong Station Dungeon simply because he didn’t like one Player. Setting a Dungeon on fire was usually done as an extermination action when the Dungeon had serious issues or bugs. However, Hagon did this when there were over one hundred Players legitimately Playing inside. The standard procedure for extermination was to guide all Players outside first and then close the Dungeon entrance.

‘What he did was so wrong and I remember many Players protested…’

However, Hagon only received a three-month suspension as punishment. The verdict was that there was no evidence left since everything was burned down, and that Hagon’s authority as a GM had to be respected. Still, everyone was angry at the slap-on-the-wrist punishment.

Jin-Hyeok still had a vivid memory of this because one of his cooperative parties, Nightfall, was annihilated in that incident.

‘And Hagon also got caught taunting the bereaved families on Nerver…’

Hagon taunted the families saying things like the Players being grilled like the meat on a hot skewer. He also made so many other insulting posts that Jin-Hyeok couldn’t remember them all.

‘If I want to expose this bastard, I need solid evidence.’

Luckily, Mi-Na, who was crazy about capturing everything on video, was observing this area.

“Hey, return the Major Achievement,” Hagon said.

“Excuse me?”

Hagon was even simpler and more ignorant than the guy Jin-Hyeok remembered.

“If you return it, I will spare your life.”

“B-But…”

“You have ten seconds. Ten. Nine.”

“But I worked so hard to…”

“Four. Three.”

Jin-Hyeok made a resentful expression. A bluish energy emanated from Hagon’s fist.

Bam!

His fist struck Jin-Hyeok’s face.

‘Hm…’

He was ten Levels higher than Jin-Hyeok, but Jin-Hyeok could not believe how weak he was. He was definitely a Level Grinder.

Jin-Hyeok deliberately jumped back to make it look like his punch sent him flying.

“Argh!”

It didn’t hurt at all, but pretending to be in pain was exhausting.

Bam! Bam!

Hagon continued to hit him. Jin-Hyeok wished Hagon would hit him more, but he eventually stopped because he got too tired.

‘This guy is so weak!’

“W-Wait a minute,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Pant. Pant. You’re dead meat!”

“I will return it! I will return the Major Achievement!”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes… I will return it.”

“Good.”

[The Major Achievement 「Early Resolution of the Flying Toad」 has been returned.]

Having lost the Major Achievement, Jin-Hyeok desperately grabbed Hagon’s leg.

“On second thought, I don’t think this is right! Please give it back,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Do you want to die?”

“Give it back! You took it from me!”

Jin-Hyeok moved around while still holding Hagon’s leg. He wanted Hagon to be standing in front of a sharp rock. When they got to the position Jin-Hyeok wanted, he stopped.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Hagon said.

Hagon tried to get away from him, but Jin-Hyeok grabbed his leg and did not let go.

‘He should be furious any time now,’

“You fat pig. You’re so fat that you want to eat my Achievement, too?” Jin-Hyeok muttered softly so that it wouldn’t be audible to Mi-Na’s livestream, but it was perfectly audible by Hagon.

“You motherless bastard!”

Hagon started to swear as he pulled out the horn on his forehead. The horn elongated and transformed into an axe-like shape. Holding onto his leg, Jin-Hyeok intentionally showed Hagon the back of his own head.

“Give me back my Major Achievement!”

The back of the head was a vital point. If Hagon hit Jin-Hyeok there, it should count as an instant death attack.

Hagon took a deep breath, gathering his mana. Jin-Hyeok patiently waited, making sure not to disturb Hagon\'s concentration.

‘Oh, he’s fully gathered his mana.’

[Hagon used the Skill 「Plummeting Goblin Horn」.]

Though Hagon was just another Level Grinder, the power of his Skill was incredible. Normally, Jin-Hyeok would have dodged it, but he decided to take the hit on the weak point. Hagon’s axe struck the back of Jin-Hyeok’s head. Since Jin-Hyeok had experienced how to die perfectly before, he was able to devise an even better plan this time.

[This attack qualifies as an instant death attack.]

[The effect 「Reflection +1」 has been applied.]

Unlike when Jin-Hyeok was fighting the Flying Toad, there was no mistake this time.

Jin-Hyeok had grown once more.

“ARGH!!!”

Hagon screamed in pain, falling down on the ground.

Thud!

His head hit the rock that was behind him.

“What? A sharp rock right behind him? What are the chances?” Jin-Hyeok asked.