I Gave Up Being Stronger

A few years ago, Prince Deliark of Swedeen had discovered Artedal in the warehouse of a fallen noble family. It was a joyous occasion for the Swedeen Empire, but a tragedy for the fallen noble family.

“I’m sorry, Prince Deliark. This is my father’s heirloom, which has been passed down in our family for generations. So, I cannot sell it,” said a member of the noble family.

Deliark had no interest in such stories. “You’re kicking away the fortune that rolled in.”

Later, Deliark sent Assassins and massacred the entire family. Not a single witness was left alive, and he also deployed clean-up specialists. The next day, the newsletter had reported the incident as a collective suicide by the members of a fallen noble family who had despaired over their misery.

“Sir, it seems a few people know about the existence of Artedal. Should we kill them all?” asked one of Deliark’s subordinates.

“No.” Such an incident happening to one family could be overlooked, but if similar things happened to multiple families, it could arouse suspicion and weaken his political standing. “Let’s just leave it for now.”

Instead of directly retrieving Artedal, Deliark guarded the warehouse of the family under the pretext of preserving the site and verifying it. Much later, when people’s interest had waned, Unknown had appeared.

‘This will be good.’

Deliark had thought of a brilliant scenario.

1. Blinded by his desire for revenge, Unknown massacred the fallen noble family and obtained Artedal.

2. The imperial palace would investigate how Unknown acquired Artedal and accidentally discover his crime.

3. They would revoke Unknown’s Sword Emperor Tournament winner qualification, charge him with serial murder, execute him, and legally retrieve the Ink Sword Artedal.

Deliark wasn’t going to mind if Kim Chul-Soo died in the process too. However, Chul-Soo had shattered this plan.

‘No!’ Deliark hurriedly tried to stop the fight, but it was too late.

-I’m going to eat you! ARGH!

Miri struck Artedal’s side.

-It’s so big, black, and hard! So delicious!

Crack!

Spider web-like cracks formed on the ink-colored blade of Artedal, and the sword soon exploded.

‘Activate Absolute Barrier,’ Cha Jin-Hyeok muttered.

The shattered metal pieces flew in all directions, some hitting the spectator barrier and some piercing the ground. Shiny black pieces ended up embedded here and there.

“Let’s end our bad karma here,” Jin-Hyeok said to Unknown.

Clang!

Artedal was destroyed, and Unknown could no longer receive the aid of Time Reversal. He could no longer be considered a person of this world.

Jin-Hyeok then heard the sound of an explosion. He didn’t see anything, but it seemed a huge explosion had occurred inside Unknown’s head.

Unknown collapsed. Jin-Hyeok looked down at him and said, “Those who seek to take a life, stake your life.”

This was the final act of the Cringe Master, and the viewers went wild.

Marshmallow’s real-time viewer count reached ten billion, a number that he had reached only three times.

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

Prince Deliark vented his anger by kicking his aides, who had lined up in a row, in their shins. “How is this even possible?”

No one had even thought that Artedal would shatter.

“The fragments! We need at least the fragments to analyze something!” Deliark tried to collect the fragments, but they were all gone. Based on Marshmallow’s video, it could only be guessed that someone, presumably a Thief, had swept away the fragments.

“I’m sorry, Sir… There is no clear evidence even in Marshmallow’s video,” said one of the aides.

“How does that make sense? Is there a Thief who can deceive Marshmallow’s eyes?”

“Well…”

The aides exchanged glances. Whoever spoke now would have their shins kicked, but someone had to take the initiative.

“Because Marshmallow was too focused on Kim Chul-Soo… it seems he missed some other elements, like the fragments.”

“What’s the probability that Marshmallow hid it from his video?”

“We can't rule out that possibility, but it’s slim, Sir.”

“Fine. Let’s forget about the fragments for now. Tell me why Artedal shattered. It was a treasure with durability that could even withstand Time Reversal. Surely, you’re not going to say that Chul-Soo’s destructive power surpassed that durability, right? Even if that were the case, a weapon that grew from the Rule Breaker could not have had that level of durability.”

One of the aides cautiously said, “Perhaps… it was because of Shelby and Kim Ysael. The weapons they were holding were not ordinary, Sir.”

“Then request their cooperation and conduct an investigation! What are you doing?!”

Since those artifacts had shattered Artedal, they could shatter the majority of currently existing treasures. If they were Deliark’s allies, it would be fine, but if they were his enemies, it would be a disaster.

After some time passed, the aides returned.

“They said they cannot cooperate, Sir.”

“Then bring them by force!”

“Apparently, their weapons… disappeared.”

“What?”

“We sent an investigation team to ascertain the truth, but the team also reached the same conclusion. The scene of the weapons disappearing is there in Chul-Soo’s video as well. It seems they were weapons with a time limit, but to our knowledge, all weapons capable of that ar—”

Bam!

Deliark kicked the aide’s shin again. “What? What are you trying to say? Are you saying divine weapons descended for a moment or something? Did you bastards collectively snort drugs? It just doesn’t make sense!”

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

After many twists and turns, Jin-Hyeok was recognized as the runner-up of the Sword Emperor Tournament. The winner was the deceased Unknown.

-But, doesn’t that mean Chul-Soo won in reality? LOL

-In real combat, an Eltuber is the best.

-What’s the point of winning the Sword Emperor Tournament if you’re dead?

Due to this incident, a debate brewed over the practicality of swordsmanship in real combat.

-Wasn’t swordsmanship supposed to be the ultimate practical skill?

Swords were extremely versatile, could handle various situations, and did not require much talent like magic did. Therefore, the prevailing notion among people was that ‘When learned by ordinary people with moderate talent, swordsmanship is the most effective martial art in real combat.’

-So, Chul-Soo isn’t overhyped; it’s actually swordsmanship that is overhyped?

-Maybe?

-What if Chul-Soo had used the Omnipotent Director?

-You idiots, if he could have used it, he would have used it at the beginning of the fight. He could not use it because Unknown kept pushing him, you dumbasses.

-Yeah, but Unknown still lost to an Eltuber, haha.

-Are you a sword-freak? You’re hilariously overrating and ranting. LOL

Everyone realized after this incident that Chul-Soo was stronger than most Swordsmen when he used all his abilities as an Eltuber. Swordsmen found this quite concerning because until now, swordsmanship was said to be the most practical skill. However, not all Swordsmen were feeling a sense of crisis.

“I-I’m glad you’re safe,” Ysael said. She couldn’t get herself to go closer to Chul-Soo. So, she stood at the end of the room, by the door, unable to even meet Chul-Soo’s eyes.

In contrast, Shelby stood right next to Chul-Soo and said, “I hope I didn’t interfere for nothing.”

“No, if it weren’t for you two, I would’ve died there,” Jin-Hyeok said. He sincerely felt grateful for them. “Moreover, if it weren’t for you two, I would not have been able to eat, I mean, break that big, black, hard, I mean, Artedal.”

Shelby and Ysael said they had gained enlightenment too. When fighting together, they could see things that they couldn’t when training alone. They said they felt several levels stronger thanks to that and promised to continue training together and grow further.

“Um… by the way, Mr. Chul-Soo,” Ysael stammered.

“Yeah?”

Ysael’s face turned as red as a tomato. Even conversing with Chul-Soo seemed to be an honor to her. It looked like her tears would flow again, but she desperately held them back. “Because you came second in this Sword Emperor Tournament, many forces will try to keep you in check.”

“That’s welcome anytime.”

Seeing that confident attitude, Ysael fell for Chul-Soo again. However, even if he had shown a less confident attitude, she would have found a reason to fall for him anyhow. “So, I want to help in any way I can…”

Jin-Hyeok listened to what she had to say and found it very interesting. Recently, Muenne was receiving overwhelming support from the citizens. They said she would become the mayor soon.

‘Muenne is entering politics?’ It was the kind of change Jin-Hyeok would never even have thought would happen before his regression. The principled Muenne, who had kept a wall between herself and politics, was going to become the mayor of the city of Muren.

“She said there are limits to just individual power without authority. So, we decided to support Lady Muenne as well,” Ysael said.

“Just trust me, friend. I will be a reliable strength to you,” Shelby said while patting her chest.

“We can establish the first branch of the official Chul-Soo Land in other Servers,” Ysael muttered with a flushed expression.

In this way, Chul-Soo had received a political base on Arvis.

***

-Swordsman<<<Insurmountable gap<<<<<<<Eltuber.

To survive in real combat, learning Streamer Skills is the best!

-Swordsmanship is so weak. LOL.

-Eltubers are strongest in real combat.

As these statements spread widely, students from swordsmanship academies began to leave them in droves. This phenomenon occurred throughout the universe, and Earth was no exception. Jang Michelle—the chairperson of the MK Foundation and the founder of the Player Academy ‘For the Beautiful Play in Seoul’—had a lot on her mind.

“Chul-Soo is an exception. Most Eltubers are weak,” Michelle said.

“That’s true.” Choi Gap-Soo agreed with her.

“The top choice for our For the Beautiful Play students is becoming an Eltuber. This is not good.”

“Hey, MoneyShot. Since when were you so serious about the academy?” Gap-Soo said with narrowed eyes.

Michelle was surprised. Even she had not noticed this change. “I don’t know. I just kept working on the academy and became sincere.”

The MK Foundation, which she had started half-jokingly, was now a big part of her life. Thanks to that, she felt alive these days.

“Anyway, this can’t go on. I think Chul-Soo is instilling the wrong values to these students,” Michelle said.

Therefore, Michelle invited Jin-Hyeok as a speaker. She had a short meeting with him at Gap-Soo’s workshop.

“Please correct the students’ misconceptions. I beg you,” Michelle asked him.

“Me?” Jin-Hyeok said.

“I think we need to let them know that most Eltubers can’t become as strong as you. No matter how much the status of swordsmanship has fallen, it has been proven over a long period that swordsmanship is the path where the majority of people with moderate talent can grow the highest.”

Michelle was one of the biggest sponsors of Chul-Soo.

Jin-Hyeok nodded. “Can I include my speech in my video?”

“Of course.”

“Well…” Jin-Hyeok hesitated slightly.

“Why? Do you need something?” Michelle asked.

“Will you also donate? It seems like you have been a bit sparse lately.” Jin-Hyeok grinned awkwardly.

Gap-Soo did not miss that opportunity. “That’s right. Lately, MoneyShot has been passive in donations, saying she’s busy with her work. Whereas, I have been donating every livestream. This is the difference between me and her!” Gap-Soo said.

Michelle, who could not lose to Gap-Soo, gritted her teeth and said, “I will give you one billion Dias for this livestream.”

“Thank you, MoneyShot. When the livestream starts, don’t forget to like it.”

Having obtained Michelle’s permission, Jin-Hyeok promised to give a speech at the Player Academy called For the Beautiful Play, commonly known as K-Academy.

The K-Academy students were excited.

“Wow, is Chul-Soo coming here?”

“Can we see Chul-Soo in person?”

“If I confess my love to Chul-Soo Hyung, will he accept it?”

Jin-Hyeok stood at the podium, before the two thousand excited students of K-Academy