I Gave Up Being Stronger

After arresting Helam, the members of the Magic Investigation Team and the Special Task Force removed all the bombs hidden in the spaceship.

Ilina blew cigarette smoke into Helam’s face, making him cough violently.

“How dare you plant bombs on innocent people!” Ilina slapped Helam so hard that his neck almost snapped.

Vilsmark quietly said, “Enough, Ilina. He has already been arrested.”

Ilina glared at Helam as if her anger had not subsided.

Helam defiantly said, “Everything happened because of Kim Chul-Soo.”

“What?”

“Chul-Soo infringed on the freedom of Hell and tried to become its owner. I was merely fighting to protect our rights.”

“Then how do you explain sacrificing innocent children and taking people hostage for your cause?”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t uphold such a cause,” Ilina said while blowing out smoke.

She glanced behind her and looked at Jin-Hyeok. ‘I’m sure this is going to infuriate him— Never mind!’

Jin-Hyeok was smiling broadly. Thanks to Helam, Wang Yu-Mi’s channel was getting more popular.

-Helam is such a scumbag.

-Wooow! He’s so shameless.

-Guys like him deserve to die.

-Grand cause, my ass!

The viewers were united, fueled further by the moles Yu-Mi had planted among them.

-But isn’t he somewhat right?

-Honestly, Chul-Soo did take over Hell and became its owner out of the blue. Right now, he’s taking control of Hell with Hell Man’s help.

-That’s true. No one asked Chul-Soo to conquer Hell.

Yu-Mi’s moles replied to these comments, and the rest of the viewers went after them like moths to a flame.

-Even if that’s true, do you think that Helam’s actions are justifiable?

-If that’s what you call freedom, I would leave the Server.

-God, I hate these self-proclaimed centrists!

-At least Chul-Soo would not stoop to hostage-taking.

Many pointed out the facts.

-Did Chul-Soo even take the freedom of any Hell resident? No!

-They all said that their lives have improved.

-And it’s not like Chul-Soo became a dictator.

-In fact, the members of the Freedom Alliance of Hell are the ones who oppressed the freedom of the residents of Hell.

Chul-Soo had not harmed the residents of Hell in any way. He neither levied new taxes on them nor burdened them with any new obligations.

-I would welcome Chul-Soo as our Server’s owner with open arms.

-It’ll only benefit us.

-Exactly. We would get more experience points and Dias.

Yu-Mi watched the screen with a satisfied face.

‘The bait worked perfectl—huh?’

While the viewers were deeply engaged and created a significant synergy, a major turning point occurred in the livestream.

She hurriedly used a screensaver. “Due to our channel’s policy, we do not broadcast direct scenes of murder. If you want to view the unedited footage, you must subscribe to our VIP membership!”

***

Someone had just slit Helam’s throat. It was none other than the Commander of the Sword Emperor Unit, Kyle.

Vismark was startled. “Commander Kyle!”

“The Sword Emperor Unit does not tolerate terrorists,” Kyle said. He wiped his bloody sword with a cloth and, as Vilsmark sighed, nonchalantly said, “The Sword Emperor Unit will take full responsibility.

Kyle looked at Vilsmark and smiled. ‘I know you knew this would happen, Commander Vilsmark.’

Kyle wondered if Vilsmark had even hoped for him to kill Helam. This way, the responsibility for the rash action would fall on the Sword Emperor Unit, and the Special Task Force could claim the honor of eliminating a vicious terrorist.

After cleaning off the blood, Kyle stood before Jin-Hyeok. “Hey, are you Kim Chul-Soo?”

Jin-Hyeok nodded and asked, “And are you Kyle?”

Some soldiers of the Sword Emperor Unit bristled.

“How dare you?!”

“Show some respect, Chul-Soo!”

“This man is the Commander of the Sword Emperor Unit!”

Jin-Hyeok sarcastically added, “Sir?”

“Chul-Soo, your greed almost sacrificed many lives.”

“My greed?”

“All this started because you decided to become the owner of Hell.”

-I think that’s a bit of a stretch.

-I am a resident of Hell. Actually, things have improved because of Chul-Soo. What is Kyle talking about?

-That’s quite a leap, LOL!

-So, if someone gets stabbed with a sword, it’s the blacksmith’s fault rather than the owner’s?

The viewers disagreed with Kyle’s statements, but strangely, Jin-Hyeok did not respond.

“Excessive greed sometimes leads to unforeseen disasters, Chul-Soo.”

Jin-Hyeok did not feel the need to refute Kyle. He was simply thrilled by the intense competitive spirit emanating from Kyle.

[#Is he strong? #Is he strong? #Is he strong? #Is he strong?]

[#Let’s see who is stronger. #Let’s see who is stronger.]

Kyle’s status relentlessly updated as if it was bugged.

[#Is he strong? #Is he strong? #Is he strong? #Is he strong?]

‘He wants to fight me… but is holding back pretty well,’ Jin-Hyeok guessed. Despite seeming like a stretched rubber band that could snap at any moment, Kyle remained calm. He looked like a highly trained Swordsman who could maintain his composure.

‘I must have become really strong,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

He was surprised that the commander of the Sword Emperor Unit felt a competitive urge toward him, a Streamer.

This reminded Jin-Hyeok of his old Sword King days, and he felt exhilarated. He decided to provoke Kyle a little. “You don’t seem that strong to me.”

Praying that Kyle would lose his temper, Vilsmark stepped between them. “This isn’t the time for us to be doing this.

Jin-Hyeok was somewhat disappointed. ‘Kyle was almost like an idol to me before my regression.’

To Jin-Hyeok, Kyle was a special person. Every Player walking the path of the Sword revered him. Kyle’s straightforward and unrestrained personality divided opinions, but no one could argue about his swordsmanship skills.

Kyle gruffly replied, “Stay out of this, old man.”

“I’m in charge here, Kyle.” Vilsmark pulled a small model sword from his coat.

Kyle placed his right hand on his chest and bowed. This was a relic of the Swedeen Empire, a model fashioned after the sacred sword Excalion. Whoever received this sword from the emperor could exercise the same rights as the emperor of Swedeen.

“I expect you to obey my order,” Vilsmark said.

“Fine, I will.” Kyle turned his gaze to Jin-Hyeok and continued, “If my words offended you, come find the Sword Emperor Unit. I will be ready for a duel anytime.

***

The series of events instigated by the Freedom Alliance of Hell were swiftly resolved. Both Helam, the alliance’s leader, and Sandyem, the alliance’s core member, were killed, and the remnants were eradicated under the leadership of the three major empires.

-When you think about it, Chul-Soo’s contribution to this event was as significant as that of the teams from the three empires.

-Chul-Soo>>>Swedeen+Helen+Mazique. Do you agree?

-No, no. Chul-Soo>>>Insurmountable Wall>>>S.H.M.

Even on Popularity Nation, Chul-Soo’s favorability reached an impressive eighty percent.

-The IntenseMan of Order and Justice touched my heart.

-Lol, I’m proud to be from the same Server as Chul-Soo.

-This is what you call noblesse oblige.

Most members of the Freedom Alliance of Hell who had directly participated in terrorist acts were killed, and a few were sent to trial. Somfiad, the boy who had been forced into the warp portal incident, received significant compensation. Hell Man introduced a public complaint system to start direct communication with the residents of Hell.

⁕⁕⁕

Jin-Hyeok had reached Level 460, but something disappointed him. “I’m leveling up slower and slower now.”

“You know that’s normal… right?”

Jin-Hyeok and Cha Jin-Sol sat before each other, eating dinner. Having run large-scale livestreams consecutively, Jin-Hyeok realized it was time to do more relaxed daily content in a vlog style.

“I know,” Jin-Hyeok replied. He was well aware that leveling up one or two Levels a day was abnormal. Most people could not even break past the Level 300 barrier, so Jin-Hyeok’s leveling speed was phenomenal in comparison.

However, the viewers sensed something unusual in the siblings’ conversation.

-That’s not normal either…

-Why is their standard so different from ours? T_T

-I’m Level 260, and I’m crying right now.

~ Jin-Hyeok felt conflicted for a different reason.

‘Man, creating this calm, everyday content is so hard.’

It was easy to excite his viewers with provocative content, but satisfying them with mundane daily content was quite challenging.

‘The viewer count is only eight hundred million.’

While a viewer count of eight hundred million viewers was impressive, he didn’t think of it as so; after all, his viewer count had recently reached two billion and three billion.

‘Maybe I should have brought one of the three beauties instead of Jin-Sol. That might have pushed the viewer count over one billion.’

Feeling the difficulty of running a livestream with such subdued and calm content, Jin-Hyeok decided it was time to raise the stakes. Fortunately, Jin-Sol brought up a suitable topic.

“Oppa, you know about the Pisat Sword Emperor Tournament, right?”

“I do.”

The Pisat Sword Emperor Tournament was a fencing event hosted by the renowned Pisat Family every four years, attracting the universe’s leading Swordsmen. Its last winner was Kyle, the commander of the Swedeen Sword Emperor Unit.

“All the famous Eltubers are going there. Aren’t you?”

“I’m considering it, but…”

Many Eltubers, as well as journalists from all over the universe, flocked to this grand festival.

“I just think that since so many Eltubers are going there, not a lot of people will watch my livestream.”

“What do you mean? Your livestream will trump all the other Eltubers’.”

“Do you really think my livestreams are better?”

“Absolutely! When I watch other people’s livestreams after yours, they seem so bland.”

“Don’t be too biased. I might start believing you’re telling the truth.” Jin-Hyeok thought Jin-Sol was just comforting him. He believed Han Sae-Rin’s assessments would be far more accurate.

‘I can’t even capture the beauty of the three women properly…’

There were already experts in the field of tournament broadcasting. These Eltubers were witty and quick on their feet, making matches much more entertaining to watch.

“To differentiate myself from other Eltubers, I think…” Jin-Hyeok glanced around. He wondered if he was perhaps stepping outside the bounds of what was typically expected. These days, he was constantly pondering ‘What would a normal person think?’

“I think I should participate in the Sword Emperor Tournament. What do you reckon?”

Jin-Hyeok wondered if an ordinary person like Jin-Sol would find his proposal strange. Normally this tournament was a festival for Swordsmen across the universe, and it was rare for Players from other Jobs to participate. Those who did often failed in the preliminary rounds.

“Do you think it’s a bit weird for an Eltuber to participate in the tournament?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

Jin-Sol shook her head and walked back to her room. Jin-Hyeok wondered if his idea was terrible as he watched her return with her phone.

She tilted her head and said, “What do you mean? I already submitted the application form for you.”

“Huh?” Jin-Hyeok finally understood what she was talking about.

“Aren’t you?”

‘So, she wasn’t asking if I was going there, but more like why am I still here!’ Jin-Hyeok realized he had overthought it. ‘That means ordinary people wouldn’t think this is strange at all!’