I Gave Up Being Stronger

This year’s Sword Emperor Tournament, which had drawn more attention and interest from countless people from across the universe than ever before, had selected its final four contenders.

-Isn’t this the first time two Players who aren’t renowned Swordsmen have made it to the top 4?

-I never thought I would see this kind of upset in my lifetime, LOL!

-Not just one Player, but two!

-Maidona: There is no field more honest than swordsmanship. Newcomers can never surpass the established. (???)

Experts who had confidently declared that new stars could not make it to the top four of the Sword Emperor Tournament had been humiliated.

***

Just before the semifinal matchups were determined, Kyle slammed the desk and stood up from his seat. “What are you talking about, old man?”

Sitting across from him, Gridel let out a sigh. “Please, show some manners, Kyle.”

“Do I look like I’m in the mood to show manners right now? You’re telling me to forfeit!”

Although it had not been announced to the public yet, the semifinal matchups had already been determined.

It was Kim Chul-Soo vs. Kyle and Unknown vs. Kim Ysael.

Kyle was excited at the thought of finally being able to have a proper sword fight with Chul-Soo. However, Gridel had asked him to forfeit.

“I will never forfeit,” Kyle said.

‘Do you know how hard I tried to teach Chul-Soo? How I have been counting down the days until the fight?’ Every night, Kyle fell asleep while imagining crossing swords with Chul-Soo. He thought of attacks and techniques he would use in a thousand different scenarios. He was looking forward to the day when he could fight Chul-Soo without any worries. However, out of nowhere, Gridel was now telling him to forfeit.

“Even if you do not want to forfeit, you have no choice. Swedeen will summon you,” Gridel said.

“Why would the Empire do that? I’m on vacation.”

“I heard they detected signs of rebellion in the southern part of the empire. As you know, those who were exiled four years ago…”

Kyle frowned. He had little interest in political matters. “I guess they are determined to create signs of rebellion even if there aren’t any.”

If signs of rebellion were detected, Kyle, as the captain of the Sword Emperor Unit, had to unconditionally respond to the empire’s summons. If Kyle refused to forfeit the fight, the empire would forcibly summon him. Since the situation had reached this point, Kyle became a bit curious. “Why are they going this far?”

“It seems Swedeen wants Chul-Soo and Unknown to fight.”

“Do the Pisat Family think the same?”

Gridel avoided Kyle’s eyes with a slightly embarrassed look and quietly answered, “It can’t be helped. You know that our Pisat Family is not financially well-off either, right?”

As always, finances were never enough.

“Our finance department also concluded that a final matchup between Chul-Soo and Unknown would generate a bigger buzz,” Gridel said.

“...”

“If you accept this proposal without resistance, I will personally make sure to arrange a one-on-one duel between you and Chul-Soo.”

Kyle let out a sigh. “Can you promise me that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Seems like the Empire wants to kill Chul-Soo right now.” Kyle turned his back, heavily frowning. “Damn it!”

His footsteps were much heavier than usual.

***

“Chul-Soo, they are forcing me to forfeit. You must also be very disappointed by this, but…” Kyle glanced at Chul-Soo and tilted his head. Chul-Soo didn’t seem to be disappointed. “Hey, Chul-Soo.”

“Huh?”

“You can’t fight me in the tournament. Aren’t you disappointed?”

“Huh? Well… yeah, I am.” Although Jin-Hyeok said that, his mouth was twitching.

Kyle, who had succeeded in somewhat understanding Jin-Hyeok through a series of events, continued to talk as if he was dumbfounded. “Don’t tell me you’re more drawn to a duel with Unknown than me?”

“No, it’s not that, but…”

“I’m much stronger than the likes of Unknown.”

“Of course, you are, but….” If Jin-Hyeok were a Swordsman, he would want a stronger opponent, but he was an Eltuber. “It just seems like fighting Unknown would draw more attention.”

“...”

Jin-Hyeok was a bit embarrassed. He felt slightly ashamed because he still had some Swordsman’s spirit left in him.

‘No, I shouldn’t be ashamed of this. I am an Eltuber! Get a grip, Jin-Hyeok!’ With a reinvigorated mind, Jin-Hyeok seriously said, “A duel with you would also become an attractive piece of content, but we lack narrative. Well, relatively speaking, we lack narrative.”

Kyle had taught him about the Sword’s Oath and the realm of the Mind Sword. A duel with Kyle, the winner of the previous Sword Emperor Tournament, was also very attractive as content material.

In ordinary cases, this alone would be excellent for Jin-Hyeok’s channel. However, in the end, people were more curious about the duel between Unknown and Chul-Soo, and Jin-Hyeok had no choice but to meet the needs of the public.

“Also, I think it would be a bit difficult to fight Unknown at full power after fighting you. I would probably be quite exhausted after fighting you,” Jin-Hyeok continued.

“Hey, Chul-Soo.” Kyle lowered his voice as if he had made some kind of decision. “It seems the Swedeen Empire is involved in this one.”

Swedeen was one of the three forces ruling the Arvis Server. It was one of the most powerful forces in the universe, and its name alone carried immense weight. Swedeen’s involvement would put pressure and fear onto ordinary people.

Kyle added, “I think they want t—”

“What, do they want to kill me again by any chance?” Jin-Hyeok’s eyes sparkled much more than usual.

“It seems so.”

“Just like the Mazique Empire?”

There was a strange tremor and excitement in Jin-Hyeok’s voice.

***

When the entire Server was trying to catch Helam, Kyle had been tracking down Helam. He did not know exactly what the Magic Investigation Team was doing on Jin-Hyeok’s side. During the meeting, he had been thinking about other things and did not listen properly, just nodding along.

Jin-Hyeok showed his previous videos to Kyle.

‘The direction of the flowing lava and the direction of the falling pile of rocks are…’ Kyle thought about it. They were strangely targeting Chul-Soo. “Wait, the Magic Investigation Team was trying to kill you?”

“There is no evidence, but it seems so.”

Kyle looked at Jin-Hyeok with displeased eyes.

‘What kind of life is this person living?’ Kyle thought. ‘The Mazique Empire is as powerful as Swedeen. I’m sure the pressure would have been immense. But Chul-Soo seems to be enjoying it instead.’

“Why didn’t you officially raise the issue?” Kyle asked.

“Didn’t you see the view count on the video?”

The view count had surpassed one hundred billion. It was said that there could be people who had never watched the video, but not people who had watched it only once.

“The empires’ abilities are extraordinary,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Kyle was speechless. ‘Of course, they are! And with those extraordinary abilities, they are aiming for your life, Chul-Soo.’

However, before he could say that, Jin-Hyeok excitedly continued, “They provide such splendid content and a sense of crisis that I couldn’t even imagine.”

“...”

“It’s like they are a golden goose that lays golden view counts.”

‘Jesus! How obsessed are you with view counts?’ Kyle said, “You’re crazy.”

The grinning Jin-Hyeok turned serious. “I’m not crazy, just intense.”

‘Usually, people call that crazy, Chul-Soo,’ Kyle thought, yet could not say it. Chul-Soo’s expression made Kyle think that it was pointless to say anything as Chul-Soo firmly believed he wasn’t crazy.

“Anyway, don’t die. I’m the one who will settle the score with you,” Kyle said. He left Chul-Soo’s lodging, and his mind became complicated. ‘Why are they going this far against Chul-Soo? He’s just one Player.’

Keeping just a rookie Player in check seemed excessively overboard.

‘Is there something I don’t know about?’

***

Kim Ysael and Unknown were about to fight.

-Wait, who’s Kim Ysael?

-You don’t know Ysael?

-Is this the Ysael that I know of?

-Wait, isn’t she the runner-up from the previous tournament?

Ysael was a famous Swordsman.

-I heard she changed her name last year.

-Isn’t Ysael from Arvis? Is there a family that uses Kim as their surname?

-I heard she changed it because of Chul-Soo.

Information about Ysael spread around the online communities.

[Ysael Kim Chul-Soo]

[Ysael Chul-Soo Land]

[Ysael name change]

There was an interview about Ysael changing her name to Kim Ysael.

“I am Chul-Soo Land No. 777”

Ysael loved Chul-Soo so much that she had changed her name to Kim Ysael.

-Wow! She changed her name because of that?

-She must be a die-hard fan! LOL!

Ysael was already breathing heavily while fighting against Unknown.

“How dare you say you will swing that wretched blade at Mr. Chul-Soo!” she said. Just then, a strong wind blew, and her short hair swayed violently. “As Chul-Soo Land No. 777, I won’t let you touch Mr. Chul-Soo.”

“You’re very chatty for a Swordswoman.” Unknown had little interest in Ysael. His only concern was Chul-Soo. He had no other thought than to meet Chul-Soo in the finals and kill him.

Ysael let out a deep breath. “There is only one way you could become this strong in a short time. Did you make the Sword’s Oath?”

The referee deliberately delayed the start of the sword fight. This was purely for spectators’ entertainment. The Pisat Family, which was the organizer of the Sword Emperor Tournament, thought that these conversations were very enticing for spectators.

“You must have made an oath to demonstrate that power in only this Sword Emperor Tournament. Since the scope of your power is very limited, you must be able to manifest very powerful abilities,” Ysael said.

-Eh, no way!

-What crazy bastard would risk everything just for one Sword Emperor Tournament?

-He’ll be screwed after the tournament ends.

-If he did that bullshit with a Sword’s Oath, that’s worse than a druggie.

-Druggie XXX, Oath-ie OOO. Same shit.

-He fully snorted the oath, lol.

“But you’re overlooking something, Unknown,” Ysael continued.

“...”

“You are not the only one who can make an oath.” Her orange eyes blazed. It was as if small flames were burning inside them. “Right now, I can make an oath with a much narrower restriction than you.”

-Wait, is she saying what I think she’s saying?

-Man, she’s cool!

-‘Only in this Sword Emperor Tournament’ vs. ‘Only in the semifinals of this tournament. Of course, the latter restriction will be stronger.

-No way! She would be crazy for doing that.

Soon, new information about Ysael came out.

-Ysael is actually from the Victor Family.

-Isn’t that one of the Seven Great Families? What!

-It’s true. And she’s the legitimate heir of the Victor Family.

-She gave up the Victor surname and chose Kim?

Then, another surprising piece of information was revealed.

-Ysael gave up one trillion Dias of assets and changed her name to Kim Ysael.

-Holy shit!

Ysael raised the two swords that she usually wielded. Her determination was much more intense than usual.

“Chul-Soo Landers of the universe, gather your wishes for me,” she said. As the official Chul-Soo Land Member No. 777, she had a duty to show an appearance befitting that position and reputation. “Help me uphold justice with a noble Sword’s Oath.”

At that moment, Jin-Hyeok burst into the arena. The referee did not stop him, thinking this was also too enticing for the spectators.

“Chul-Soo Land No. 777, Kim Ysael,” Jin-Hyeok said. His eyes were slightly red. He had also heard everything about Ysael through Wang Yu-Mi. “Please don’t do this. Do not risk your life because of me.”

Jin-Hyeok approached Ysael and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Please, Ysael. Cherish yourself. That’s for me.”

“Mr. C-Chul-Soo!” Ysael dropped her swords. She had met Chul-Soo in person and conversed with him; that alone made her drown in a sea of emotion. She suddenly hugged Jin-Hyeok tightly and cried in his arms.

Jin-Hyeok inwardly let out a sigh of relief. ‘Whew, that was close.’

He had barely managed to protect his duel content with Unknown.