I Gave Up Being Stronger

Sandyem knelt before Cha Jin-Hyeok. “P-Please… if you spare my life, I will do anything.”

“...”

‘There is no trap, and we didn’t even say anything. Yet, he’s surrendering so quickly?’ Cha Jin-Hyeok could not contain his anger. “Hey, think about it carefully. I mobilized an all-star cast, with Ilina from the Magic Investigation Team, a high-ranking Arvis ranker like Lessefim, and even the mighty Thunder Dragon Atanna… and for what? For this? Do you know what this is called?”

Sandyem was at a loss for words, unable to grasp why Jin-Hyeok was so furious.

“We call this anti-climaxing, you idiot!” Jin-Hyeok shouted.

“...”

Kang Chul expertly edited this part as he realized Jin-Hyeok wanted to say ‘anticlimactic’.

Having vented his frustration, Jin-Hyeok finally came to his senses. ‘Wait a minute… should I be lashing out like this?’

While he was genuinely angry, he wondered if the public would find his expression of anger understandable and justifiable. He thought they might not. That was when he received a message from Wang Yu-Mi.

[Don’t worry and just vent your anger! We will handle the editing.]

[*Editing Point: Create an emotional narrative and make Sandyem the villain.]

Kang Chul had grown accustomed to editing livestreams. He interspersed some clips he had prepared beforehand into the live feed, showing a video of Lightning Mage Sandyem kidnapping a boy with ash-gray hair and another of Succubus Relphim extracting the boy’s memories.

“This brave young boy has volunteered to ensure the freedom of Hell.”

Kang Chul added a professional voice-over to the clip.

“This child pleaded to be sent home. The adults who cried out for freedom robbed this boy of his,” the narrator gravely said.

Sandyem spoke again in the video.

“We will use him as a conduit to create a small explosion. Even a minor explosion can pose a significant threat inside a warp portal.”

“The Lightning Mage, who intended to sacrifice the boy for his desire, now says…” the narration continued.

The video alternated back to what Sandyem had said a couple of minutes ago.

“I surrender! I recognize my mistakes. But I want you to know that I was just following orders.”

“The one who had forced a life to sacrifice itself is now begging for his own. Was his desire for freedom only this shallow?”

“P-Please… if you spare my life, I will do anything.”

“He called the boy a great warrior and deemed him right to be sacrificed, yet he is now on his knees, begging for his own life. This is his true face and why we must be enraged.”

Kang Chul wiped the sweat from his forehead after successfully editing the livestream. The production seemed to resonate well with the viewers, as the chat exploded with more activity than usual.

-Man, Sandyem is a coward.

-He talked big about freedom and what not, but all he can do is beg when his life is on the line.

-Disgusting!

-LOL! He called that little kid a great warrior yet he doesn’t have the balls to sacrifice his life.

Jin-Hyeok’s popularity soared, as many resonated with his initial outburst of anger.

-I thought he was mad for no reason.

-Man, I guessed he was mad because the place didn’t have any traps, LOL.

-Are you crazy? Chul-Soo would never be mad about that stuff.

-Chul-Soo is a God!

-Let’s go! Bring justice!

Today, Chul-Soo was just as heroic as ever.

***

Helam boarded a spaceship that smuggled items between Servers, evading the pursuit of the Special Task Force and the Sword Emperor Unit. He hid in the bathroom of the spaceship and watched Jin-Hyeok’s livestream.

‘You’re doing good, Sandyem.’

Placing Sandyem in the Galui Rocky Mountains had been a plan of his. Helam wanted to showcase a conspicuous villain as bait while he escaped. In fact, he had fed Sandyem false information. Helam had anticipated Sandyem’s capture and deliberately provided him with a false escape route.

‘This will buy me even more time.’

From Helam’s perspective, sacrificing Sandyem to ensure his survival seemed like a profitable trade since he was the leader of the Freedom Alliance of Hell.

During the livestream, Jin-Hyeok replied to Sandyem.

⌜I don’t need your information.⌟

Then, a screensaver momentarily appeared on Jin-Hyeok’s livestream. It was a newly created screensaver that generated significant viewer engagement.

-Wow, those three women look amazing!

-They’re so pretty!

-Thanks for the screensaver.

-Imma screenshot this.

The viewers were distracted by the images of Relphim, Ilina, and Atanna. When the screensaver disappeared, Sandyem was nowhere to be seen.

-What happened to him?

-Chul-Soo probably killed him. I doubt IntenseMan would keep him alive.

-It’s totally right for Chul-Soo to kill him.

-Mr. Chul-Soo, did you kill Sandyem?

Jin-Hyeok did not specifically mention whether he had killed Sandyem or not. Given that the livestream was for all ages, he couldn’t openly show them or talk about a killing scene.

“Sandyem can no longer do any harm. However, we did find a note in Sandyem’s possession, outlining Helam’s escape route,” Jin-Hyeok announced. He then tore up the note. “Sae-Rin says that this is fake. However, since Nictman has surrendered, we will use him to track Helam.”

Startled, Helam dropped his phone.

‘W-What was that just now?’ He felt as though he had met eyes with Jin-Hyeok through the phone screen. ‘No, that can’t be right.’

He picked up his phone. Soon after, an announcement on the spaceship instructed passengers to sit down and fasten their seat belts as they were approaching their destination.

***

Nictman gulped, feeling a chill down his spine. He wondered if he had indeed come to the right place.

‘Damn it!’

Sandyem was a powerful Lightning Mage, but even he could not withstand a single hammer blow from Jin-Hyeok. Hence, Nictman viewed Jin-Hyeok as a monster.

‘He’s so different from the livestream.’

The livestream didn’t fully convey Chul-Soo’s intimidating presence. However, in person, Chul-Soo was like a giant, an overwhelming disaster that one could hardly stand against.

‘Is Sandyem dead?’

It looked like Chul-Soo hadn’t even used that much force, leaving just a light tap on Sandyem’s head. At that moment, the focus in Sandyem’s eyes disappeared, and he collapsed. There were almost no visible injuries, but the Lightning Mage was no longer breathing.

‘He is definitely dead.’ Nictman could tell. ‘On the outside, he’s unscathed, but his insides are shattered.’

It was a technique that did not affect the outside but eradicated the inside, a Skill usually employed by skilled Martial Artists. However, Nictman didn’t know someone could achieve that with a hammer.

‘Of course, it’s a much more sophisticated technique than just hitting.’

Having witnessed Sandyem’s death, Nictman trembled and said, “Helam has contacted me multiple times through the Ruler-exclusive communication Skill. If we trace that, we can find Helam. I’m sure Lessefim can easily do that.”

Han Sae-Rin pointed out something important. “You just survived because of that information, got it?”

In other words, she implied that she would not return the various treasures that Angel Girl had stolen from him.

With his vision blurring in fear, Nictman quickly nodded. “Of course. Please, just spare my life.”

“We will think about it. But I might just kill you anyway.” Sae-Rin taunted him.

Angered by her behavior but scared of Chul-Soo, Nictman just bowed and kept quiet.

“Though, I think we need to extract a bit more value from your life,” Sae-Rin said.

“W-What?”

“You're hiding something more, aren’t you?”

“No, there is nothing left!”

“If we find anything hidden, it’s one slap per item, okay?” With a mischievous smile, Sae-Rin defenselessly walked toward Nictman and rummaged through his pockets. She was completely vulnerable, and he could take her hostage this instant if he wanted to. He didn’t think for long about his next step.

“I’m going to say this only once. If you return at least half of the treasures you took, I will let this woman live,” Nictman said. He placed a poison-coated dagger to Sae-Rin’s throat and slowly backed away. “Don’t come any closer! Otherwise, this woman dies!”

Sae-Rin smirked again. ‘Isn’t this what you wanted, Chul-Soo? Here is my gift to you, a hostage situation!’

This was perfect for Chul-Soo’s Eltube channel. She was happy that she had set the stage for the livestream. Her eyes were filled with excitement.

***

Jin-Hyeok was aware of Sae-Rin’s intentions.

[#This is great for his Eltube channel. #2 billion views! #Am I a livestreaming genius?]

However, at this moment, Jin-Hyeok found it difficult to think about livestreaming.

[You have activated the Skill Omnipotent Director.]

Jin-Hyeok suddenly took control of the entire space and approached Nictman, who had turned ashen. In that split second, Jin-Hyeok swung his hammer toward Nictman’s temple. The hammer touched the temple, but there was no sound. It was utterly silent.

“...”

“...”

While everyone was silent, Nictman fell to the ground.

Sae-Rin glanced back. “Huh…?”

Golden radiance leaked from Nick’s corpse, and then, with a flash, light burst forth. Nothing was left in the space where the light had exploded.

‘Did Nictman just disappear?’ Sae-Rin thought.

Nictman had vanished without any trace of his form. This contrasted starkly with Sandyem’s corpse lying peacefully in the distance.

Breathing heavily, Sae-Rin approached Jin-Hyeok and gently grabbed his arm. “Chul-Soo…”

“Ah…” Jin-Hyeok finally came to his senses.

“What just happened?”

“...”

“Did you just lose control and swing your hammer with all your might?”

Jin-Hyeok was somewhat confused. It seemed he had inadvertently ruined a great moment that Sae-Rin had created for the livestream.

‘Why did I do that?’ Jin-Hyeok contemplated it. ‘I could have made the scene more interesting. I could have made Sae-Rin’s hostage content more intense. Why did I act this way?’

Sae-Rin deeply sighed, clearly disappointed. “I set up the perfect content for you…”

“I’m sorry. I did not realize what I was doing.”

‘Did I have something against Nictman that I didn’t know about? I’m an Eltuber who thrives on public affection. Was I so upset because Nictman tried to steal that affection?’ Jin-Hyeok still could not understand why he had acted that way.

Sae-Rin sighed again. “You need to reflect on this. If this keeps happening, I’m going to be very disappointed.”

“...”

Then, she smiled slightly. “That’s what Ruler Sae-Rin would say, but as a human, I’m very happy. It shows how much you care about me.”

***

Jin-Hyeok quickly continued the livestream.

‘I killed Sandyem and Nictman too abruptly,’ he thought. There was no particular reward involved in those two scenarios either. Therefore, he needed to act quickly and capture Helam before the Special Task Force or the Sword Emperor Unit could.

“Can you exclude the scene where I’ll be tracing the Ruler-exclusive communication from your livestream? It’s one of my means of making a living,” Lessefim said.

Led by Lessefim, Jin-Hyeok and his group began to track Helam.

“There are two warp portals, and we should probably choose one of them. I am not sure which one,” Lessefim said.

“I think it’s this one,” Jin-Hyeok replied.

Lessefim looked puzzled. “How do you know that?”

“Well, let’s just say it’s just a hunch.” Jin-Hyeok was not completely sure.

‘Would it be too absurd to say I felt like I made eye contact with Helam through my screen earlier, and that’s how I sort of know his general location?’ he thought.

Lessefim responded, “Okay, whatever. Let’s move based on your hunch.”

***

They arrived at a space station on a mid-sized Server.

“So, I guess that warp portal leads to here,” Lessefim said.

However, they were a step behind. The Special Task Force and the Sword Emperor Unit had already arrived at the location.

Vilsmark said, “You’re too late, Lessefim. And you too, Kim Chul-Soo.”

Members of the Special Task Force and the Sword Emperor Unit were surrounding a spaceship and continuously asking Helam to surrender.

“Helam, you’re surrounded! Just give up and come out!”

“Helam, if you surrender now, we will consider it in your sentencing.”

Helam was holding passengers hostage inside the spaceship. Jin-Hyeok’s eyes sparkled. ‘Can this make up for the hostage content I fumbled earlier?’

As his heart raced, he suddenly felt a strange emotion.

‘This is odd… I’m not entirely happy.’

Although it was not as intense as when Nictman had taken Sae-Rin hostage earlier, there was still a slight change in his feelings.

‘Am I worried about the passengers inside the spaceship?’