I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 187

While Gollum was thoroughly examining the exit, Cha Jin-Hyeok was lost in his own thoughts, focused on the first secret message from Wang Yu-Mi.

[1. Giethoorn GMs → Difficulty Adjustment → Big Rewards!?]

The phrase ‘Big Rewards!’ seemed a bit ambiguous. Jin-Hyeok had acquired a rare and excellent Achievement like Instant Kill in this Dungeon, but that was only because he had spent fifteen billion Dias after taking down a high-tier Demon in one hit; it wasn’t something he had earned thanks to the GMs.

Jin-Hyeok smirked.

‘The big reward probably refers to Picasso’s Brush!’

Moreover, Gollum, who was burning with passion, was sure to eventually discover what was hidden in the Gate by drawing out his potential.

“I’ve... found it!” shouted Gollum, with his few remaining strands of hair fluttering. “This exit is not just a simple exit!”

‘There he goes again, stating the obvious. I should just start calling him Mr. Obvious.’

“If the settings of the Gate are tweaked a bit, it transforms into an entrance to another Dungeon. Do you know how to tweak it, Kim Chul-Soo?” He approached Jin-Hyeok with a triumphant look.

Jin-Hyeok shook his head. “I don’t.”

“Then, I win in this competition.”

“Sure.”

“Why are you admitting defeat so easily?”

‘Why does he seem dissatisfied even when I agree with him? If I hadn’t agreed, he would’ve complained about that too. Maybe he is not Mr. Obvious, but Mr. Complainer.’

“It must be nice for a Navigator to beat a Streamer,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Oh, right. You are a Streamer.”

“So, you lost this one?”

“N-No, I can’t agree with that.”

Gollum seemed like a great Navigator as his main character, but his alternative one had been a bit mediocre. Jin-Hyeok had a feeling that this could be their last Play together.

After some time, Gollum clapped his hands. Miraculously, the name of the Gate changed.

[Agony of the Art-Obsessed Dungeon (Locked)]

Gollum continued with pride, “My prediction of this Dungeon having an Inner Dungeon was correct. I’m sure you know about Inner Dungeons.”

“It’s a Dungeon within a Dungeon.”

Mr. Obvious started explaining again, about how Inner Dungeons were rare, much more difficult, and so on. It was all uninteresting information that Jin-Hyeok already knew, but he calmly listened anyway.

‘Go ahead. Keep talking.’

The more Gollum rambled, the more content Jin-Hyeok could gather for his livestream. Jin-Hyeok hoped at least one in ten of Gollum’s words could be useful. The rest of the unneeded rambling didn’t bother him, as he had a competent editor who would be dealing with that.

“...So, if we unlock this, we can enter the Inner Dungeon,” Gollum said.

“So, we can’t enter it now, right?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Right. To unlock it, we need a few things.”

“And we start looking for them now?”

“Yes. We’re solving this really fast!”

Jin-Hyeok shook his head in disbelief. He wanted to tell Gollum to bring his main character’s standards.

‘Why is he bringing such low standards and making a fuss about being great?

“Move aside,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Why?”

“Let’s unlock it quickly.”

“Wait, I can unlock it in no time, just...”

Jin-Hyeok used his Unleashing Technique. With that Skill, unlocking something like this was easy. As expected, he unlocked it without much effort.

“...You have the Unleashing Technique?” Gollum asked.

“Wait, you don’t?”

The more they talked, the stranger Gollum’s standards seemed.

‘Shouldn’t a remarkable Navigator have at least one unlocking skill?’

Now that Jin-Hyeok thought about it, Han Sae-Rin and Mole Man probably did not have one either.

‘No way! They must have something.’

They probably did not have the exact Unleashing Technique but something similar.

“What kind of Navigator are you without the Unleashing Technique...?” Jin-Hyeok’s genuine thoughts slipped out.

“...Are you serious?”

? ? ?

Agony of the Art-Obsessed was a labyrinth-type Dungeon.

“It’s going to be disorienting, so I recommend keeping your eyes closed,” Gollum said.

It felt as if multicolored fireworks were irregularly bursting all around. High-pitched, unpleasant sounds intermittently echoed in the Dungeon, and it seemed as though the world was spinning.

“It appears to be a Dungeon that embodies the psyche of a mad artist.”

“That seems about right.”

Just when Jin-Hyeok thought he was walking straight, he would suddenly find himself upside down, and even though he was sure he was moving forward, he would be walking backward. The colors of the walls also kept changing wildly, sometimes red, sometimes blue...

As if he were expecting this, Gollum asked Jin-Hyeok, “Feeling dizzy?”

[#Say you’re dizzy. #You are dizzy. #But. #I might be a bit dizzy too.]

Gollum’s status made it seem that he was boasting about how he was not dizzy and Jin-Hyeok was weak because he was. The Navigator’s standards really seemed off.

“If I get dizzy this easily, I shouldn’t even be a Streamer,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“S-Streamer?”

[#Not a Navigator?]

“Yeah. Streamers must maintain composure and lead the livestream in any situation.”

“That’s true.”

[#His standards. #Are crazy. #Like Zoro.]

Gollum seemed to agree outwardly, but his mind was obviously elsewhere.

‘This is why I can’t turn off Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance.’

Claiming to be the second-best at navigating labyrinth-type Dungeons in the universe, Gollum led the way. After about thirty minutes, a door appeared in the distance.

[No Exit From the Artist’s Agony (Locked)]

Next to the door lay a shining steel box.

[Box Containing a Key]

Gollum boasted again. “I anticipated this. It’s a common pattern in Inner Dungeons. Often, both the entrance and the exit have similar mechanisms. So, I figured this exit had a similar mechanism as that of the entrance. And it would also be locked. Want to know how that box ended up here?”

As Jin-Hyeok nodded, Gollum went on with his explanations. “Remember the continuous red and blue lights on the walls? The wavelength of the blue light is about 450 nanometers, and the red light is around 650 nanometers. These wavelengths, combined with the Dungeon Coefficient... and calculating... using the simple trigonometric addition formulas... the tangent of alpha plus beta equals the tangent of alpha plus the tangent of beta divided by one minus the product of the tangents of alpha and beta... and so... we set our path... and... that is how I managed to tweak the setting to summon the box right next to the door.”

Jin-Hyeok did not understand a word, but he realized one important thing.

‘This is so boring.’

No viewer in the world would want to listen to such an explanation for long. No matter how it was edited, this would make for a dull video. The best editing would be to cut it entirely or speed it up by thirty-two times and just skim through it.

“What’s inside the box?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Probably a key to get out of here.”

Genuinely curious now, Jin-Hyeok asked again, “But why doesn’t it open?”

“...What?”

“We need to open it to get the key, right?”

“...Isn’t summoning it here enough?”

Jin-Hyeok asked again, sincerely, “Are you... satisfied with just this?”

‘And you call yourself the Great Navigator?’

? ? ?

“Are you... satisfied with just this?”

Gollum was not upset by this question. Jin-Hyeok’s words were sincere, and sincerity usually resonated within Gollum.

‘I... I have lost my passion,’ the Navigator thought.

When he was Playing with his main character, it was never like this. No matter what Achievement he attained, his thirst for more never quenched. Back then, he did not know what satisfaction was as he always aimed higher.

‘I’ve been too lenient with this alternative character!’

Gollum felt like he was finally seeing the essence of his Play. He suddenly felt ashamed of having lost his passion.

“Do you think you can unlock this box with your Unleashing Technique?”

[You have activated the Mystery ?Unleashing Technique?.]

A green light enveloped the box, and the box began to tremble slightly. However, there was no noticeable change.

[You have activated the Mystery ?Unleashing Technique?.]

.

.

.

[You have activated the Mystery ?Unleashing Technique?.]

Jin-Hyeok repeatedly used the Mystery.

Gollum watched him, spellbound, then finally asked, “So the Unleashing Technique is a Mystery, right?”

“Right.” Disturbed, Jin-Hyeok frowned.

‘Ah... I almost lost my mind there,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

Regaining his senses, he realized he had overexerted himself. He was so focused on using the Unleashing Technique continuously that he did not notice the strain on his body.

‘Well, I guess he stopped me at the right ti— wait, no! If I had kept going and collapsed here, it would have been perfect content for my Eltube channel!’

“Why are you rudely interrupting my concentration?!” Jin-Hyeok yelled.

“Do you know that normally, you can use the Unleashing Technique only two or three times in a row?”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Even if you have a Trait like Imperial Resilience, you can only use the Unleashing Technique around four times.”

“And?”

“If you use it repeatedly like you just did, you can’t maintain your sanity. You would go insane.”

“What are you talking about?” Although Jin-Hyeok was sweating profusely, his body temperature was dropping significantly, he was gasping for breath, and his mouth was dry, he believed his sanity was still intact. He said, “I’m fine.”

“Normally, you would go insane...” Gollum frowned. “...But maybe you’re okay because you are already insane.”

? ? ?

Jin-Hyeok successfully opened the box after using the Unleashing Technique some more times.

[You have unlocked the ?Box Containing a Key?.]

The steel box opened, revealing a golden key.

“This must be what we need to use.”

[No Exit From the Artist’s Agony (Locked)]

He inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it.

Click!

[You have opened the ?No Exit From the Artist’s Agony?.]

As the locked sign disappeared, the name itself changed.

[There is an Exit From the Artist’s Agony]

“It looks like this is the way out.”

“...Yeah.” Gollum followed Jin-Hyeok with a sense of deep inferiority, unable to assert his role as a Navigator. He acknowledged Jin-Hyeok in his mind.

‘He is the true Navigator.’

Notifications soon began to follow.

[You have cleared the Dungeons ?Bridge of Agony - Agony of the Art-Obsessed?.]

[You have acquired the Achievement ?All-Clear (Bridge of Agony - Agony of the Art-Obsessed)?.]

Gollum was surprised and moved. His skill, Automatic Recording, had deciphered the conditions for the All-Clear and transcribed them onto parchment.

‘Solo-killing the boss monster, clearing the Inner Dungeon, and intervention by the GMs... These three elements were the conditions for the All-Clear!’

Whether by luck or misfortune, the GMs had heavily intervened in this Dungeon. Gollum had now attained an All-Clear with his alternative character as well.

Jin-Hyeok was equally delighted. He immediately checked the Achievement.

──────────

[All-Clear (Bridge of Agony - Agony of the Art-Obsessed)]

[An Achievement given to those who All-Clear the ?Bridge of Agony - Agony of the Art-Obsessed? Dungeons.

1) Mark of the All-Clearer (on activation, appears on: right wrist)

- The Achievement bearer will not be attacked by the monsters of the ?Bridge of Agony - Agony of the Art-Obsessed? Dungeons.

- The Achievement bearer will receive a significant boost in all experience gained in the ?Bridge of Agony - Agony of the Art-Obsessed? Dungeons.

2) Agony of the Artist

-The Achievement bearer can enhance their Mystery through meditation.

-The Mystery to be enhanced must contain artistic elements.]

──────────

Gollum was surprised once again. “You’ve already... finished meditating?”

Meditation was essential for enhancing a Mystery, and Jin-Hyeok had already completed it. It was a speed of meditation that Gollum had never seen before.

Jin-Hyeok nonchalantly commented. “To be a proper Streamer, you need to multitask.”

Meditation required intense concentration, so multitasking alongside it was not possible, but Jin-Hyeok could finish it quickly. The day he could multitask even during meditation, he could truly call himself a proper Streamer.

‘I’ll get even better at it later,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

Noticing a green glowing pattern, he extended his right hand toward the pattern.