I Gave Up Being Stronger

“That’s a serious matter. Hurry up and tell me what you meant,” Kim Min-Ji said.

Choi Gap-Soo explained that the ability Kim Chul-Soo had just gained could give rise to certain situations.

“So, Chul-Soo can now produce weapons by himself,” Gap-Soo said.

“Oh, then there will be new types of content!” Min-Ji replied.

“...”

Seeing Min-Ji’s eyes sparkle, Gap-Soo could not help but sigh. Just explaining to Min-Ji what was good for Chul-Soo didn’t seem to be working. So, he changed his strategy a bit.

“Didn’t Chul-Soo just restore a relic of the Pisat Family almost perfectly? Because of that, Gridel, the Sage of the Sword, made a fuss about visiting Earth. Ah, he might have already visited Earth by now.”

“Okay, but if they demand Chul-Soo to hand it over, I can kill them.”

“You know that’s not allowed, right?”

“Anyway, think about it. What if Chul-Soo makes another relic and sells it at a high price? Will the Pisat Family just sit back and watch? To them, the relic is the sacred treasure of their ancestor.”

“What will they do about it?” Wondering if they would harm her precious Chul-Soo, Min-Ji frowned.

“Even if they don’t directly harm Chul-Soo, they will try to retrieve the replica made by Chul-Soo regardless of whether it means they have to mobilize the entire force of the Pisat Family. Large and small battles may break out in numerous places, and innocent people can die.

“That’s not all. If Chul-Soo can replicate the relic, he can also restore the Ink Sword Artedal. Then, the Swedeen Empire would make a move. They also will not tolerate replicas circulating in the world. If the world becomes chaotic like that, wouldn’t it also inconvenience you, Ms. Min-Ji? You will be caught and forced into hibernation again, and when you wake up from hibernation, Chul-Soo might not be there.”

“Hmph, you don’t know anything about Chul-Soo, old man,” Min-Ji confidently said with an attitude befitting Chul-Soo Land No. 1. “Chul-Soo will never make second or third replicas.”

“Chul-Soo is cra—, no, intensely dedicated to Eltube. He would do anything for view counts,” Gap-Soo said.

“No! Chul-Soo has beautiful and noble standards.”

Gap-Soo tilted his head. Seeing Min-Ji’s confident attitude, he felt like he was missing something.

‘Chul-Soo has beautiful and noble standards?’ Gap-Soo thought. ‘Well, there was that time when he didn’t show the tears of the young boy in his livestream before…’

Recently, at some times, Chul-Soo had not shown scenes in his livestream that he would naturally show previously.

‘Is she talking about a sense of moral responsibility for breaking the weapons? If Chul-Soo has such a sense of responsibility and indebtedness, does that mean he might not make second or third replicas? I guess it kind of makes sense.’

“Rather than a video of creating and selling replicas, a video of the Pisat Family or the Swedeen Empire coming to him and saying, ‘Great Sir Chul-Soo, won’t you give us that replica? We earnestly implore you,’ would have a much greater impact on his channel,” Min-Ji said. She then laughed. “Hehehe, that would be fun.”

***

Cha Jin-Hyeok was visiting Gap-Soo’s workshop when he heard Min-Ji’s voice as he climbed the stairs.

“Rather than a video of creating and selling replicas, a video of the Pisat Family or the Swedeen Empire coming and saying, ‘Great Sir Chul-Soo, won’t you give us that replica? We earnestly implore you,’ would have a much greater impact on his channel.”

‘Oh? She’s right.’ Jin-Hyeok had yet to decide how to use his newly acquired ability, so Min-Ji’s words gave him some inspiration. ‘This is indeed an insight befitting Chul-Soo Land No. 1.’

For Jin-Hyeok, money was not important. View counts, subscriptions, and like numbers were much more important.

‘It would be much more fun to get involved with the likes of the Swedeen Empire and the Pisat Family.’

He could also take on the frame of a Craftsman who makes only one replica. It would be better to create a character as a replica Craftsman rather than a replica mass-producer.

“Min-Ji, long time no see,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Startled, Min-Ji sprang up from her seat and hid behind a pillar. The bold and confident attitude she had in front of Gap-Soo just a while ago had long disappeared.

“H-Hello…” In front of the screen, she was the bravest of all, but in front of Chul-Soo, she was a shy girl.

Jin-Hyeok, who had expected such a reaction from Min-Ji, grinned. However, he then felt a strange feeling.

‘Huh?’ it was the unfamiliar sensation he had felt during the enhancement. That sensation somehow seemed unfamiliar, but meeting Min-Ji made him understand it a bit.

“Come here for a moment, Min-Ji,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“M-Me?” Min-Ji, who had been stealing glances at Jin-Hyeok from behind the pillar, timidly revealed herself.

“Quickly.”

“Y-Yes!” Min-Ji reacted intensely to every word of Jin-Hyeok. It was unclear when she had put them on, but she was now wearing oversized sunglasses that covered half of her face. It was broad daylight now, and this was indoors.

Jin-Hyeok stared at Min-Ji.

“D-did I do something wrong?” Min-Ji asked.

“No, that’s not it.” Jin-Hyeok got up from his seat, placed his hand on Min-Ji’s head, and closed his eyes.

Gap-Soo’s mouth fell open. ‘He just put his hand on the head of the Mad God of Favoritism…’

An unimaginable scene unfolded before Gap-Soo’s eyes. Min-Ji bit her lip and clenched her fists, trembling.

Miri muttered as if she understood Min-Ji.

-I understand that feeling.

Then Miri suddenly muttered in a sharp voice.

-But I won’t share him with you.

Like recognized like; Miri could feel that this girl was out of her mind. She was definitely a crazy girl.

-Master is mine.

‘You have an excessively grand ambition for a mere weapon’

Hearing a different voice all of a sudden, Miri was startled. She had never conversed with anyone other than Jin-Hyeok.

-W-Who are you?

‘Me? I am Chul-Soo Land No.1.’

Even though they were not mentally connected, Miri could sense Min-Ji’s microcosm a little. It was a dark universe, and all the stars floating in there had the face of Chul-Soo. Seeing that bizarre and terrifying sight, Miri involuntarily screamed.

-S-She’s crazy!

Jin-Hyeok calmed the weapon down.

‘Miri, you need to be quiet. I can’t concentrate,’ he telepathically told Miri.

-Master, do not be fooled. That woman is a lunatic. That cute appearance is not real!

Miri’s voice didn’t reach Jin-Hyeok, who had already started concentrating.

***

After placing his hand on Min-Ji’s head, Jin-Hyeok felt her energy.

‘Yup. This is it. I felt her energy when I was doing the enhancement.’

The feeling was much stronger when he had received the sword handles from Shelby and Kim Ysael. Jin-Hyeok opened his eyes and asked, “Old man, I heard Song Ha-Young stole swords from your vault, is that true?”

“Yes, that’s right. Although she was a bit arrogant, she looked rather cute when she intensely stole my weapons, so I let it slide.”

“But why do I feel Min-Ji’s presence from those weapons?”

“That’s because…” Gap-Soo felt a sense of crisis for the first time in a while. If he did not answer properly here, he would face the wrath and iron mace of the Mad God. “As you know, Min-Ji is a very skilled hacker. Didn’t you hack my passwords on my vault and weapons, Min-Ji?”

“T-That’s right! That’s what happened!” Min-Ji replied.

Jin-Hyeok nodded. “I see. It was a bit hard to believe that Ha-Young’s skills alone could rob your vault, old man.”

“I kind of gave the weapons to her intentionally.”

“You intentionally gave them?”

“Well… because it was admirable to see her trying so hard to steal.”

“I didn’t know that could be admirable.”

‘To think someone can find a Thief stealing their property admirable.’ Jin-Hyeok thought that the mindset of a Trinity Club member was indeed extraordinary. “Then, I guess it’s also thanks to Min-Ji that I was able to win the Sword Emperor Tournament.”

Min-Ji’s face turned red, and soon her entire body turned bright red. Like Marshmallow’s head, her body melted like cheese.

“Is she okay?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Haha… She’s fine. She’s just a bit shy,” Gap-Soo replied.

Steam was rising from Min-Ji, who had turned into melting cheese.

“Thanks to you, I also figured out the direction for my content. Thank you,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“I-I didn’t do anything,” Min-Ji replied.

“No, actually, I was quite worried about how to use this ability. Thank you, Min-Ji.” Jin-Hyeok looked at her.

He was looking at her normally, but from her perspective, it was incredibly alluring. She had returned to her human form, put her hands behind her back, and looked at the ground.

‘He’s so dazzling… I can’t look at him,’ Min-Ji thought.

Jin-Hyeok felt good. Although he was not sure about Min-Ji’s true identity, it was a fact that she was Chul-Soo Land No. 1. He could feel how much she liked him.

Grateful for the unconditional love and goodwill of his fans, Jin-Hyeok sincerely said, “Thank you, Min-Ji.”

“N-No, not at all…” Min-Ji mumbled very quietly. “Thank you for existing. I-I love you.”

Then, she disappeared from the spot.

“She’s shy but says everything she wants to say,” Jin-Hyeok said while smiling happily.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to show this on your video?” Gap-Soo asked.

“Yes. But I’ll blur out Min-Ji’s face.”

He was going to upload a short video, but suddenly, Gridel, the Sage of the Sword, came to visit him.

***

Gridel still could not adapt to the Korean Region.

‘There was definitely another presence overwhelming the Trinity Club member just now, and Chul-Soo must have felt it too!’ Gridel thought. However, Chul-Soo seemed to be doing his own thing, and MoneyShower also seemed to have no particular thoughts. Not only that, but the Succubus in the workshop also seemed unfazed. ‘Why is everyone acting like it’s nothing!? What’s happening in this small Server?’

It had been a long time since Gridel had received such poor treatment. The Succubus (Lilia) did serve him tea, but that was it. The infamous Sage of the Sword had visited them, but they didn’t seem to have any particular reaction to it.

“You can sit there. I think I saw you when you were very young. Is that right?” Gap-Soo said to Gridel.

“That’s right… I didn’t know that a Trinity Club member would settle in such a small Server.”

“I see that you don’t watch Chul-Soo’s livestreams. If you had watched them properly, you would’ve easily known that I was here.”

Gridel felt a strange emotion.

‘Should I feel guilty here?’ he thought. MoneyShower’s tone and attitude made it seem as if not diligently watching Chul-Soo’s livestreams was sinful.

“I came to have a conversation with Chul-Soo,” Gridel said.

“You’ll have to wait a bit. He’s uploading a video right now.”

Gridel had to experience another unfamiliar emotion again. The great Sage of the Sword, the head of the Pisat Family, had come to this workshop but was treated so coldly. More importantly, nobody found it strange! Gridel wondered if it was an incredibly important video.

“When you say a video…” Gridel said. Then, he thought, ‘Did the Empire move before me? Did the prince come and have a confrontation? Did they talk about the Ink Sword Artedal?’

Since Chul-Soo was treating him so poorly, the video had to be very important.

Soon, Jin-Hyeok grinned. “I’m done!”

When he uploaded the video, Gap-Soo and Lilia simultaneously took out their phones. Gridel seemed invisible to them. The Sage of the Sword also checked Jin-Hyeok’s video, wondering what kind of video it was.

[Telling the story of meeting Chul-Soo Land No. 1.]

It had only been a few seconds since the video was uploaded, but someone had already made it to the top comment.

[Wow, Chul-Soo, you’re quite something. I can’t believe you met with Chul-Soo Land No. 1. If you keep on meeting your fans, you’re going to be so well-off in your life. You even communicated with a cute and friendly image. If you keep this up, you might become the best in the universe. Everyone will fall in love with you. Are you okay with that?]