I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 186

Cha Jin-Hyeok had taken out the Spirit Stone of Alkinas, having already thought of how to present the scene to his viewers.

‘Let’s set an editing point here and bring in a scene from the past.’

Although he was not livestreaming right now, he Played as if he were. He visualized displaying a very short clip from the past.

“This item serves as a medium to summon me once, even without a contract. Call upon me if you face insurmountable challenges.”

‘Alright, I can use this clip.’

Jin-Hyeok had learned something from watching Gollum. Even if someone was his subscriber, it wasn’t a certainty that they had watched all his videos.

‘It seems like Gollum has not watched my videos related to Alkinas. He doesn’t even know about the contract with Elly.’

Jin-Hyeok realized he had to add more explanations to his videos. It seemed like the duty of a Streamer for the subscribers.

‘I guess I need to break this in order to activate it.’

Crack!

[You have activated the ?Spirit Stone of Alkinas?.]

Fierce fire energy enveloped the entire Dungeon, making the Dungeon feel like a world of fire. Jin-Hyeok relaxed, savoring the world of blazing flames.

‘Whether it’s the Thunder Dragon or the Spirit King, their entrance looks really cool.’

He wished he could make such a cool entrance too, feeling a bit disappointed in himself.

However, a minor problem occurred.

“I-It’s too hot...”

Small blisters formed on Seo Ji-Soo’s skin. Her face turned so red it seemed like it would melt right away.

‘Oh, this won’t do.’

Seo Ji-Ah was in a similar situation, though she didn’t display her struggles.

Due to the powerful Spirit energy, the Demon just tensely watched the situation, which gave Jin-Hyeok some breathing space.

‘I think I need to throw them to the side.’

Jin-Hyeok first picked up Ji-Soo. She was much lighter than he thought.

‘If I throw her like a shot put, she should be safe.’

Before Jin-Hyeok’s regression, Kim Jeong-Hyeon used to do this often to help his party members escape; back then, Jin-Hyeok had been thrown a lot and had seen people being thrown.

‘I just need to do exactly as Jeong-Hyeon used to.’

Fortunately, the Seo sisters were light and agile, so throwing them was probably not difficult.

“Hurry up and get out.” He threw Ji-Soo.

Whoosh.

She flew better than he thought, which was satisfying.

‘If I put this in my video, it would probably get good views. I should edit it and turn it into a short video, with the title Flying Twins. That would be fun.’

“Ji-Ah, you get out too.”

Since they were twins, they had similar weights. The difference this time was that, having seen Ji-Soo first, Ji-Ah put in extra effort by twisting her body and adding rotational force to fly further. This made Jin-Hyeok almost proud to death.

The Seo sisters glanced over at the Gate. They seemed to be having a brief conversation, probably discussing whether it was okay for them to leave like this. Jin-Hyeok thought it would be more helpful for him if they just left quickly. He decided to scold them about this later.

‘It’s a good thing that the Demon is scared right now. If it hadn’t, one of them would have died.’

The overwhelmed Demon just stood there.

The next moment, a high pillar of fire rose, breaking the blackened bridge. Then, Alkinas’s voice rang out.

[“Did you call for me?”]

“Your entrance is late and kind of overdramatic.”

Jin-Hyeok knew Alkinas could have appeared quickly if he wanted. The Demon probably also knew this, which was why it had been so tense.

“Well, I understand.”

Alkinas’s daughter was here. Jin-Hyeok fully understood a father’s desire to look cool in front of his daughter.

[“Why did you call me?”]

“Do you see him?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“The Demon?”

“It said some terrible things about Elly.”

‘Holy... Firebolts do exist.’

It was the first time Jin-Hyeok had seen real firebolts, having only heard of them before. Thousands of firebolts struck down.

“It said something about how Elly looks tasty because she is full of Spirit energy.”

Jin-Hyeok did not even give the Demon a chance to explain itself.

[“This unforgivable scum!”]

In front of the enraged Spirit King of Fire, the high-tier Demon was just as strong as a speck of dust, and it did turn into dust in the end.

It was an absurdly anticlimactic end.

Jin-Hyeok looked toward Gollum, wearing a triumphant smile. “See? I told you I could kill it in one hit.”

***

The Spirit energy residing in the Spirit Stone was exhausted, and Alkinas returned to the Spirit Realm with Elines.

Gollum collapsed with a sour expression. “You... won.”

Inside the Bridge of Agony Dungeon, this Navigator had no choice but to recognize Jin-Hyeok’s victory.

“Technique becomes meaningless in the face of overwhelming power.”

Intricate calculations?

Complex formulas?

Analysis of various factors?

All of these were meaningless. They were nothing compared to ‘just doing it because it works.’

[You have defeated the high-tier Demon ?Derminane Metodum?.]

[You have successfully defeated the boss monster.]

Moreover, Jin-Hyeok had defeated the Demon all by himself.

‘Could this be an All-Clear?’ Gollum gulped.

He had experienced All-Clears several times with his main character, but never with his alternative character Gollum. His heart fluttered at the thought of acquiring it. Unfortunately, no All-Clear notification came.

[You have acquired the Major Achievement ?Demon Hunter?.]

Gollum settled(?) for the Major Achievement.

[Would you like to register your Major Achievement in the Hall of Fame?]

After registering the Major Achievement in the Hall of Fame, Gollum approached Jin-Hyeok. “I got the Demon Hunter Achievement, what about you?”

“Well...” Jin-Hyeok pondered his reply for a moment. He did not like the name of the Achievement he had acquired.

[One-Shotting Demons is the Best]

“Why? What is it? You must have gotten something better than me,” Gollum said.

“The name is a bit off.”

“The name?” Gollum tilted his head in confusion and then suddenly remembered something. “Don’t you mean...”

“One-Shotting...”

“...Demons is the Best? That one? Seriously?”

“Oh? You know this Achievement?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

Gollum could not speak for a moment. “You really acquired that Achievement?”

“Yeah. It’s a shame the name doesn’t sound cool.”

‘Should I tell him or not?’ Gollum contemplated the question for a moment.

He recalled the intense moments of competition he had shared with Jin-Hyeok. To him, Jin-Hyeok was a remarkably good competitor and rival. Even as a Streamer, Jin-Hyeok had the skills to make a Navigator sweat.

“I think we had some good moments competing with each other, so I will tell you a secret,” Gollum said.

“A secret?”

“Are you not going to register this Achievement in the Hall of Fame too?” As far as Gollum knew, Jin-Hyeok did not register Achievements in the Hall of Fame.

Jin-Hyeok slightly furrowed his brow. “Didn’t you watch my recent videos? I have started registering my Achievements in the Hall of Fame now.”

“...So, you are going to register?”

“Of course. But why do you ask?”

“Do you know a Player named Zoro?”

“Zoro?”

Jin-Hyeok did know him. Zoro was a Player from the Outul Server. He was one of the owners of Rule Breaker and a Swordsman who had given Jin-Hyeok a bitter defeat before Jin-Hyeok’s regression.

“That Zoro had the same Achievement as the one you just acquired. Thanks to you, I now know how to acquire it.”

By finding and analyzing the commonalities between Zoro and Jin-Hyeok, Gollum clearly understood the conditions to acquire the One-Shotting Demons is the Best Achievement.

“So, to acquire this Achievement, you must successfully subdue a Named Demon in a lower-level Dungeon and then one-shot a significantly stronger Demon. No wonder only two Players in the entire universe possess it.”

“Is that a good thing?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Zoro is insane.”

“...Why are you saying that all of a sudden?”

“For some Major Achievements, registering them in the Hall of Fame requires a donation.”

This was a well-known fact. However, donations were usually rare.

“But the donations don’t really change anything. They are mostly used for GMs’ end-of-the-year parties, generally.”

“Do you enjoy beating around the bush? Just get to the point,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“You can make a donation when registering the One-Shotting Demons is the Best Achievement. By the way, Zoro, that crazy guy, poured all his Dias from his inventory as a donation. He said that is what a real man does.”

“...”

Jin-Hyeok had about fifteen billion Dias in his inventory. He had taken out some Dias from his donation to pay Gollum’s daily wage.

“I don’t know what the condition is. Whether you need to use all the amount in the inventory or the eighty million Dias that were Zoro’s entire fortune. I don’t know which one is correct.”

“...”

“Anyway, Zoro succeeded in upgrading the Major Achievement effect through that. The name of the Achievement itself changed upon registration.”

“You mean the Instant Kill Achievement?”

“Yes, Instant Kill.”

Jin-Hyeok unwittingly opened his mouth wide. Amused by his reaction, Gollum seemed quite pleased.

“You seemed to know about Instant Kill.”

“Of course, I know. It’s an Achievement with a brutally strong effect. Everyone hates going against that Achievement.”

Instant Kill was an Achievement that could indiscriminately trigger critical hits on the opponent. The danger of that one fatal, unpredictable hit meant the opponent had to be constantly cautious.

‘I remember losing a lot of stamina being cautious of that,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

It was like a nuclear weapon in terms of Earth civilization. Having Instant Kill was akin to possessing a nuclear weapon.

“...You speak of it as if you have experienced it?” Gollum said.

“...or so I’ve heard. There are a lot of stories about it.” Jin-Hyeok did not hesitate. “I should make a donation.”

“How much are you planning to donate?”

“Roughly a little over fifteen billion.”

“...What?”

“You said you are not taking money from me anyway, right?” Jin-Hyeok smiled.

The money that Jin-Hyeok was planning on paying Gollum was essentially the same amount.

***

Jin-Hyeok had no regret in spending fifteen billion Dias on the donation.

[Instant Kill]

[After a treacherous journey, a great power was obtained.

Holder of the Major Achievement, strike your enemy with the power of Instant Kill.

Achievement effect: 7% chance to activate Instant Kill.]

Jin-Hyeok looked at the Achievement with a dazed expression. Never in his dreams had he thought he would possess Instant Kill. This single Achievement could be more useful than leveling up dozens of times.

Checking the Hall of Fame, Gollum smirked. “You got it. Instant Kill.”

“Yeah.”

Gollum chuckled for a long time. “See, miracles do happen when I am the Navigator! Hahahah!”

As a Navigator, Gollum seemed to have regained his confidence after falling behind in the competition with Jin-Hyeok.

“Can you share the Achievement effect with me?” Gollum asked.

“Are you crazy? To share this?”

Gollum did not give up and tried his best to get information out of Jin-Hyeok. “I know it’s applied at a certain percentage. Just say up or down when I tell you what I think the percentage is.”

“Go ahead.”

From what he said, it seemed like Jin-Hyeok could roughly guess the activation percentage of Zoro’s Instant Kill.

“Hm...”

Gollum looked at him several times before speaking. “About 0.7 percent?”

Jin-Hyeok almost choked in shock. Gollum’s words and way of speaking implied that Zoro’s Instant Kill probability was also around 0.7 percent.

“It’s higher than that.”

“H-Higher than 0.7 percent?” Gollum was stunned.

Jin-Hyeok wondered if Zoro’s Instant Kill chance was much lower than this.

‘Then...’

On second thought, he felt a bit aggrieved. If the probability was less than 0.7 percent, he could have fought Zoro without being cautious in his previous life.

‘Thinking about how much stamina I lost for being cautious of Instant Kill is infuriating. If I had not been mindful of Instant Kill, I could have won. I should fight him again later.’

Jin-Hyeok thought he could win against Zoro if he reached around Level 200. The thought made his heart race. If he could now defeat an opponent he could not beat before his regression, it would mean that he had grown.

Gollum was quite satisfied with himself. He seemed to think that he had a part in Jin-Hyeok acquiring a Major Achievement and even obtaining the Instant Kill Achievement through his guidance.

‘Well, I’ll just let him be.’

There was some truth to it being thanks to Gollum. Jin-Hyeok had to acknowledge what was due.

Gollum, feeling quite elated, continued, “But you know. I think something more is hidden here.”

“You just realized that?”

“...What?” Gollum flinched and cautiously asked, “...Do you feel something?”

“That Gate. Doesn’t that look a bit strange?” Jin-Hyeok did not even know what was strange about it. He had just received a message from Wang Yu-Mi.

[2. Exit Gate Strange Code → Not Normal!]

Finding out what was strange was Gollum’s job.