I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 199

Zoro lost both his swords. One had broken, and the other had left his powerless hands. He gasped for breath as he kneeled on one leg. “You really were hiding your true strength.”

“I am a Streamer, after all.”

Zoro felt a profound sense of defeat.

‘While I was distracted by the Rule Breaker and forgot about his Extra Life, Kim Chul-Soo was making thorough calculations and setups for his livestream.’

Chul-Soo had been fighting on a level above him. Zoro had felt after just a couple of clashes that Chul-Soo was hiding his true power. Even while leveling up to Level 204, Chul-Soo had meticulously concealed his true self. Zoro wondered if Chul-Soo had yet to reveal all his abilities even now.

‘I was rambling on about how Chul-Soo was a true talent, while I didn’t even know anything about him.’

Zoro had no choice but to acknowledge his complete defeat.

“I never thought I would lose to a Player who just reached Level 200, especially a non-combatant-class Player.” Zoro closed his eyes. “Kill me.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Is this also part of your performance? I was going to kill you.”

“I am also interested in knowing about how to upgrade the Rule Breaker. How about I make you a deal?” Cha Jin-Hyeok was not particularly interested in whether Zoro lived or died. His primary concern was acquiring the most stylish sword in the universe. It seemed like Egan Paul knew somewhat about the upgrade recipe, but that was not enough.

“I really want to upgrade the Rule Breaker. How about you trade your life for the information you know?” Jin-Hyeok said.

Zoro had been researching the Rule Breaker for decades. Jin-Hyeok judged that he would definitely need Zoro to upgrade his Rule Breaker perfectly.

Yet, Zoro remained unmoved. “It’s only fair that I offer my life since I aimed for yours.”

Several heated exchanges followed. Eventually, Jin-Hyeok said, “I hope you don’t regret your decision.”

“I don’t.”

“Are you saying that you’d be okay with not being able to see how much stronger I become?” Jin-Hyeok snorted.

“...What?”

“I am only around Level 200 right now. And I consider myself a Level Grinder at the moment.”

“...Level Grinder? You consider yourself a Level Grinder?” In Zoro’s eyes, Jin-Hyeok was far from being just a Level Grinder.

“Isn’t that obvious? My leveling speed was the fastest in the entire universe. I didn’t even have time to get used to this.”

It was only thanks to his memories as a Swordsman that Jin-Hyeok was able to draw out even this much power.

Zoro was speechless for a while. He realized that standards differed from person to person and that his standards were different from Jin-Hyeok’s. He also realized that Jin-Hyeok’s standards were probably the right ones!

“So what do you think will happen when I level up even more and when I am no longer a Level Grinder?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“...”

“Aren’t you curious? Don’t you wanna see?”

“...”

-Wow! The audacity!

-LOL! But it seems like Zoro is getting convinced!

-How is he getting convinced by that? LOL!

-Chul-Soo’s reasoning behind his persuasion is a bit weird, haha.

“I am going to become incredibly strong, you know,” Jin-Hyeok said.

-That confidence is insane, LOL.

-But we all know he’s not talking out of his ass.

-Honestly, I’m also curious about how strong he can get.

Finally, the defeated Zoro replied, “What do I need to do?”

Jin-Hyeok’s words made Zoro want to live. The Swordsman yearned to witness Chul-Soo’s growth with his eyes. However, Zoro believed that everything came with a price; hence, he had thought that for attempting to kill Chul-Soo, he needed to pay with his life.

“No, wait. I will first steal the upgrade recipe of the Rule Breaker from that guy. Hold on a second.” Zoro walked toward Egan.

Egan frantically waved his hands. “W-Wait! I’m just a Strea— AHHH!”

It was an unfortunate event for Egan. After torturing Egan for a while, Zoro said, “Are you still not going to give me the upgrade recipe?”

Egan could not speak properly, with his lips swollen and several teeth broken. “I never said I wouldn’t tell!”

“What a resilient Player.”

‘I never said I was being resilient!’ Egan wanted to yell it, but his body wouldn’t obey.

“ARGH!!”

After giving Egan some more horrific treatment, Zoro finally obtained the upgrade recipe. He then handed the paper with the recipe to Jin-Hyeok. “It took some time because he’s tight-lipped.”

Egan wanted to curse Zoro but couldn’t. All he could do was lay on the ground, groaning.

-I’d say that’s enough to get him talking.

-I’m just surprised Egan isn’t dead.

-Honestly, I would spill everything after getting tortured like that.

Zoro grabbed Egan by the collar and lifted him. “Who sent you? What? You are not going to tell me?”

Right before another catastrophe occurred, Jin-Hyeok intervened. “You can find it in Egan’s livestream. I think their names were Sephia and Grandel. They introduced themselves as the heads of the Black Alliance.”

“Stubborn guy. He’s refusing to talk till the end,” Zoro said while letting Egan go.

‘I was not being stubborn, you damn bastard!’ Egan felt wronged, but he could not express his grievances in the face of brutal force.

“Do you think that’s the complete recipe?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“What?”

“They’re the leaders of the Black Alliance. They would never hand over the complete recipe. This must be just a part of it.”

“That might be true...”

“To get the complete recipe, we need to find Sephia or Sophia, or whatever the hell her name is.” Jin-Hyeok announced through his own livestream and Egan’s, “You, the Siamese twins, I will be the one to kill you.”

***

[Do you wish to delete your Avatar, Player name ?Gollum??]

Gollum was an alternative character that the Great Navigator Golumberum had created to enjoy Playing in the new Earth Server. That character had now been deleted. Golumberum, the Navigator belonging to the Desert Alliance in the strongest Server, Arvis, had returned.

Marshmallow, the vice alliance leader of the Desert Alliance, welcomed Golumberum’s return. “Why are you back? You said your main character was not fun anymore!”

Most of the members of the Desert Alliance had at least one alternative character. The minimum requirement to create an alternative character was achieving Level 250 on the main character.

“I met someone who reminded me of my initial passion,” Golumberum said.

“Really? On the Earth Server?”

“Yes.”

Marshmallow incredulously laughed. He could not believe that someone from a lower-tier Server like Earth had inspired Golumberum. “I think it’s less about someone amazing inspiring you and more about you finding something to get inspired.

“No, it’s not like that. Kim Chul-Soo. He gave me many inspirations, showed me a side of myself that I had forgotten,” Golumberum replied.

“Kim Chul-Soo? That name sounds familiar.”

“You will know soon enough. It won’t take long.”

“Wow, you think so highly of him.”

“Yes. He... was the real deal. Maybe someday...” Golumberum hesitated before adding, “...he might even surpass you.”

“What’s his Job?”

“Streamer.”

“Streamer?” Marshmallow burst out laughing. “Has he received a gold button yet?”

“Not yet. Currently, he has about four hundred million subscribers.”

“And you think he will surpass me?” Marshmallow shook his head in disbelief. “When I was Awakened, I already had three hundred million subscribers. By the time I reached Level 10, it was already four hundred million.”

“That’s thanks to your parents.”

“Isn’t that also a talent?”

Marshmallow’s parents were high-Level rankers of the previous generation. They were not just any rankers, but those from the Arvis Server. Just by being their son, Marshmallow had drawn three hundred million subscribers from across the universe.

“Well, anyway, if the Great Navigator speaks so highly of him, I should at least remember his name. What was it again?”

“Kim Chul-Soo. Remember it.”

“Kim Chul-Soo... Alright, I’ll remember.”

“Do you have any Dungeons you would like to send me to?”

Marshmallow satisfactorily smiled. He didn’t think much of the Player Kim Chul-Soo, but it was encouraging that the Great Navigator, who had hit a growth limit and found no more joy in Playing as his main character, had regained interest in his Job.

“Hey! Let’s make a Q&A video to celebrate the Great Navigator’s return! It will get good views.”

It would be great content for his Eltube channel.

***

Encyclopedia was engulfed with a great shock. He felt as if his entire body had suddenly turned cold. This was in stark contrast to the chat of the Korean Region Minor Gallery and KimKnowItAllTV, which were ablaze right now.

“What the...” He blankly stared at the screen for a while before furiously ruffling his hair. “The precision of Chul-Soo’s analysis is a secondary issue.”

While it was surprising that Chul-Soo had explained the principles of the Song of the Black Tiger, that was still understandable. The real issue was Chul-Soo's Imitation ability.

‘There were definitely three of them.’

They were black tigers of almost the same quality as the ones materialized by Zoro.

Overwhelmed by the shock, Encyclopedia banged on the door of the house next door.

“What do you want?”

His neighbor was his childhood friend, known by the Player name Marshmallow. Marshmallow and Encyclopedia, who had been close friends since childhood, were still very close.

Wearing a marshmallow-shaped hat and pajamas, Marshmallow opened the door. “Why are you making such a racket?”

“Hey, you have the Imitation ability, right?”

“Imitation?” Marshmallow tilted his head in confusion. After thinking for a while, he finally remembered. “Ah, the one I used when I was two years old?”

“Yes, that one.”

Most Streamers of the Arvis Server had the Imitation ability. Even if they did not have innate talents like Marshmallow, they usually mastered Imitation at an intermediate Level.

“How accurately can you replicate an opponent’s Skills?” Encyclopedia asked.

“It depends on what the opponent’s Skill is.”

“A Skill that can nearly raise the probability of Instant Kill activation to one hundred percent.”

“Man, there aren’t many of those in the entire universe. What was his name? Zoro, wasn’t it? I think he uses it.”

“Yes, that one. How accurately can you imitate it?”

“Why would a Streamer replicate that?”

“Just tell me. How accurately can you do it!” Encyclopedia yelled.

Marshmallow covered his ears. “Why are you yelling so early in the morning? Jeez!”

“Please tell me.”

“Are you that desperate?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then call me hyung.”

“Hyung.”

“Wow, you really are desperate.” The marshmallow-shaped hat on Marshmallow tilted slightly. “Say it again.”

“Okay, Hyung.”

“Wow, you’re serious.” Eventually, Marshmallow answered, “I guess I can mimic a similar shape or something.”

“Can you produce the same effect as Zoro does?”

“Are you crazy? That’s not imitation. That’s copying. Even I can’t do that easily.”

“Right? So you’re saying that it’s not supposed to be easy, right?”

Marshmallow straightened his hat. Seeing Encyclopedia’s demeanor, he too became more serious. “Did anyone copy such a Skill with Imitation?”

“Yes.”

“Who is he?” What does he do? Does he have a specialized Job?”

“Nope, he is just a Streamer?”

“What? A Streamer used Imitation to copy a Skill of that grade perfectly?”

“Even more impressive. In some aspects, it was superior to Zoro’s Skill.”

“You’re talking nonsense. How is that even possible?”

Encyclopedia showed him a recorded video.

After watching the video, Marshmallow incredulously laughed and asked, “And there is no sign of any editing done to this video?”

“Nope, this is the original. And I also saw it live.”

Marshmallow looked at Encyclopedia with disbelief. “Yo, what the hell is going on? How is this possible?”

“So, I’m assuming you don’t know either.”

“Imitation is not supposed to work like this.” Marshmallow looked at the video for a long time before asking, “What’s this guy’s name?”

“Kim Chul-Soo.”

“Kim... Chul-Soo?” A spark of interest appeared in Marshmallow’s eyes.

Encyclopedia would realize why Marshmallow looked so interested only a few days later.

[...It is like a mysterious power. As Chul-Soo already has experience copying an opponent’s abilities through the Mythic-Grade Card’s ability several times, we can only infer that it maximized the Imitation ability’s effect. (However, it is difficult to consider this a perfect analysis.) It might also be interpreted as the application of the All-Rounder Trait, but producing such an effect with just the All-Rounder Trait alone would be hard.

(Skipped.)

...So, I have to be a bit cautious writing this, but it could be that Chul-Soo has already acquired the legendary Munchkin Trait, which is only spoken in legends.]

[Written by: Encyclopedia]

Jin-Hyeok also saw Encyclopedia’s post on the Korean Region Minor Gallery. Numerous users fiercely clashed with each other over the mysterious Trait called Munchkin. It was the hottest topic of recent controversies, with viewers and comments skyrocketing on the post. Other posts related to Chul-Soo were also being posted in online communities all the time.

Jin-Hyeok smirked. This was great content for his Eltube channel. He started his livestream.

[Munchkin.]

The title of the livestream was simple.