I Gave Up Being Stronger

The boy had ashen hair and gray eyes. Shivering, he said, “Please… I want to go home…”

Sandyem slightly furrowed his brow. He signaled to his subordinate, who quickly gagged the boy.

“Mmmmph, mmm!” The boy was now unable to speak.

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

“...”

While some members of the Freedom Alliance of Hell grimaced, none openly opposed this.

“What are you planning to do with the child?” one of them asked.

“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.”

“Did the boy volunteer willingly?”

The boy frantically shook his head, but no one paid him any heed.

Sandyem presented a document stamped with the boy’s seal.

[I, Somfiad, for the glory and freedom of Hell, intend to strike a blow of justice against the invader Kim Chul-Soo, who has unlawfully breached Hell. For the freedom of Hell!]

The leader of the Freedom Alliance, Helam, nodded as he received the papers. The boy’s will did not matter; what mattered was the document and the seal.

‘This should be enough for legitimacy,’ Helam thought.

In advanced Servers like Arvis, attacking someone during warp portal travel was a serious war crime. This action would attract far stricter punishment elsewhere too, as warp portals were central to modern logistics. Attacks during warp portal travel caused immense societal anxiety and consequent losses. Even Servers not as advanced as Arvis maintained a similar stance regarding warp portal attacks.

‘I will have to feign ignorance.’

Though their plan could invite censure, they had to bear this burden for the freedom of Hell.

Helam patted the boy’s shoulder. “What a brave young man.”

Tears streamed down the boy’s face.

“Here, take this.” Helam handed him a small cup. When the boy refused, Helam forced open the boy’s mouth and poured the liquid inside the cup down his throat.

The focus in the boy’s eyes began to fade as he weakly muttered, “For the freedom… of Hell. For the… freedom of Hell.”

Someone cautiously asked, “Will this cause any problems?”

“It’s fine. No evidence will remain anyway. We might have to accept some moral criticisms, but that’s it.”

The vitality returned to their faces; they were ready to endure any moral scrutiny for their noble cause.

***

The Korean Region Minor Gallery was an online community with countless users across the universe. They discussed a variety of topics every day, but the hottest topic was undoubtedly Chul-Soo.

[This Chul-Soo video is so boring. Why is he uploading a meditation video?]

This video described what the surroundings would look like inside a warp portal travel, but many users simply referred to it as meditation content.

[He got too greedy, LOL. I bet his viewers watch his videos only because they are thrilling.]

└This video is so boring.

└I turned it off after just 13 seconds.

└13 seconds? I switched off after 3.

└I’m out of here, bye~

[Chul-Soo is washed up.]

└Really, he’s so overhyped.

└I totally agree. LOL!

[I think it’s time for us to unsubscribe.]

└You subscribed to him? You’re such an idiot.

└I hit dislike for the first time, haha!

└He needs to do a reality check. Why the hell is he doing meditation content? His popularity is dropping.

Contrary to these comments, Chul-Soo’s popularity was high across the universe. But where there were fans, there were also haters.

[His last video didn’t even hit a billion views.]

[He had 2 billion concurrent viewers for his livestreams, and he can’t even break one billion views for this video? What a failure!]

[Looks like he’s on decline.]

The clash between the Chul-Soo Landers and the haters was intense.

[---------------DO NOT FEED THE—--------------]

[Warning—Do Not Feed the Trolls.-------]

└You guys can’t even argue logically. You just cry. Do Not Feed nonsense, LOL.

└Got nothing to say? Face it. Chul-Soo is failing. You guys are not even making any sense!

Logical counterarguments were already plentiful.

[What the hell? Globally, a video with a hundred million views is considered a hit, one with five hundred million a superhit.]

└I don’t care. He couldn’t hit a billion views, so he has failed, okay?

└Idiot, eight hundred million views is still a superhit.

└The above comment was mocking those who say he is declining, you idiot.

└Oh, my bad…

Jin-Hyeok was concerned. ‘Maybe this type of content isn’t right for me?’

Named Eltubers such as ‘Curiosity Palace’ and ‘Let Me Tell You That’ usually posted videos on similar minor issues that people were curious about, and these videos were quite popular.

‘I guess each Eltuber indeed has their strengths and weaknesses.’

Jin-Hyeok briefly discussed this with Wang Yu-Mi.

“Do you know the average views for Eltubers like Curiosity Palace or Let Me Tell You That?” Yu-Mi asked.

“It has to be high.” Jin-Hyeok was not very interested in that niche content, so he had not looked into it deeply.

“They sometimes get superhits, but usually, their views hover around five hundred million.”

“Oh… that’s lower than I thought.”

Therefore, the figure of eight hundred million views on his video featuring meditation content was a massive success by normal standards.

“But yeah, the view count was very low for a video from Kim Chul-Soo. You should reflect on this. You even posted it without consulting me,” Yu-Mi said.

Their conversation was quite different from what ordinary people would expect.

“Sorry, I thought it would be interesting,” Jin-Hyeok replied.

It was not just a verbal apology; Jin-Hyeok was genuinely reflecting on it. He had hurriedly released a video without adequate preparation, leading to this setback.

“This is unfair. How can I stay mad at you when you apologize with that handsome face!” Yu-Mi said. She adjusted her round glasses and twirled her hair. “But I think you can turn this around by saying that you posted this video because it relates to the topic of your next one.”

“The topic of my next video?”

“For example, it can be ‘what if something happens inside a warp portal’?”

Jin-Hyeok stroked his chin. “Well, modern warp portals are pretty stable, though…”

In the distant past, accidents occasionally occurred in warp portals, but nowadays, the accident rate had reached nearly zero. In the last decade, not a single incident had taken place inside warp portals across the universe.

“I guess we should consider causing an accident ourselves. I will think about this! You’re going to meet Hell Man, right? For something like a daily vlog,” Yu-Mi said.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Keep the camera third-person. Just your face guarantees a billion views.”

***

To reach the palace of the Fourth Hell, Jin-Hyeok had to travel through numerous warp portals.

‘Was my video really that boring?’

He wondered if his meditation content deserved to be mocked this way. In fact, meditation was vital for all Players, offering profound insights into one’s microcosm. He had thought it would be beneficial for people to have an indirect experience of it, but his judgment had been off.

‘Should I do actual meditation content next time? It might be good to show a significant discovery within the microcosm, enabling a level of growth.’

It could be helpful to Players thirsty for enlightenment. With these thoughts, he entered another warp portal.

‘Huh?’

During that moment, which was less than 0.3 seconds long, Jin-Hyeok sensed something foreign within the space, and his heart pounded.

‘Is an accident actually happening right now? Am I that lucky?’

Jin-Hyeok quickly used Time-Lapse Recording to slow the flow of time.

‘What?’

Far ahead, something was shimmering, but it was not the light of enlightenment—it was a young boy with ashen hair.

‘There isn’t much time.’

Time-Lapse Recording could not slow down too much time. Moreover, the Guardian Tree’s power didn’t cover this space.

‘I have maybe 30 seconds or less.’ Jin-Hyeok quickly approached the boy and felt something. ‘He has been brainwashed.’

As the owner of the Thunder Dragon, Jin-Hyeok was particularly sensitive to thunder and lightning. He noticed flickering electrical impulses within the boy.

Managing to conceal his excitement, Jin-Hyeok quietly muttered, “If something happens here, we’re all going to die.”

Fortunately, he was maintaining a third-person perspective in his livestream. Otherwise, he would’ve unconsciously conveyed his excitement to the viewers.

‘Why is he here?’ Jin-Hyeok found the energy rippling inside the boy familiar as if he had experienced it once before. ‘There is no time to waste.’

Suddenly, the boy’s pupils focused, and a strong desire to live flickered in his eyes. Jin-Hyeok read his mind with Broadcaster’s Insight.

“Stay still. I will help you.”

At that moment, sparks flew, and a blue light flickered.

‘Is this some kind of bio-bomb?’

Jin-Hyeok could not stop the explosion. The boy was emitting painful levels of electricity, which didn’t harm Jin-Hyeok but distorted the space around them.

‘So, he’s not attacking me directly but trying to throw me in a dimensional rift or something?’

[You have activated the Mystery God of Luck.]

His Level had increased substantially, due to which he could use this Mystery more easily now.

[You have activated the Skill Omnipotent Director.]

The world turned shades of gray. This space was now entirely under the control of the director, Jin-Hyeok.

‘I don’t have much time.’

Without the buffs from the Guardian Tree, he didn’t have much time. Still, in less than three seconds, he transferred the energy from inside the body’s body to the outside environment and then erased most of it. However, he could not remove it completely due to the lack of time.

‘Let’s leave it at that for now.’ Jin-Hyeok decided not to overdo it. He blocked any remaining discharges with Absolute Barrier, protecting the space from being compromised. ‘The explosion will occur only within the barrier.’

There was one problem left. The explosion could severely injure the boy.

‘I need to save him too.

Terrorists using a boy as a bomb in a warp portal was perfect content for his channel.

‘This will exceed 1.5 billion views.’

Even though Time-Lapse Recording was still active, he had to take action instantly.

‘How can I save him?’

He genuinely wanted to save the boy. Then, a strange thought struck him. Did he want to save the boy for his Eltube channel or did he genuinely want to save the boy? Would he even consider saving the boy if his channel wasn’t on the line?

‘Whatever. Let’s save him for now.’

He decided it was for the views.