I Gave Up Being Stronger

Gridel was having difficulty perceiving the culture shock.

‘So, it wasn’t that the Swedeen Empire made a move? He made me wait just because he was uploading a video? Is this an Eltuber thing? Or am I missing something? I must have gotten too old. He would not make me wait just because he met his number one fan.’

Gridel could not believe it. In that short span, numerous thoughts flashed through his mind.

Choi-Gap Soo, who had lived longer than Gridel, heartily laughed. “I roughly understand how you feel, but you shouldn’t think too hard. To Kim Chul-Soo, this is much more important than meeting you.”

On Gap-Soo’s phone, Gridel saw a ♥ symbol. Gap-Soo had pressed the like button even before watching the video.

Still confused, Gridel asked Cha Jin-Hyeok, “Is this story more important to you than meeting me? I’m not trying to complain. I’m genuinely curious.”

“I guess meeting Chul-Soo Land No.1 is indeed more important to me,” Jin-Hyeok answered.

“Are you serious?”

“Sir Gridel, did you subscribe to my channel?”

“Did you like all my videos?”

“Well…”

“Min-Ji presses like as soon as my video comes out. She also leaves many good comments. She actively participates in the community as a Chul-Soo Lander.”

“...”

“So, to me, Min-Ji is much more precious than you, Sir Gridel.”

Kim Min-Ji, who was hiding behind the pillar, melted again. “He’s so generous… I’d have no regrets if I died right now.”

“Who is this Min-Ji.” Gridel glanced behind the pillar. Suddenly, he felt an immense presence.

‘That is not a human!’ Although this individual was hiding it, Gridel felt an overwhelmingly strong presence and aura that an ordinary person could never give off. ‘Is she a top ranker I don’t know about?’

Gridel could roughly identify what type of Player someone was just by their presence, but he could not tell anything about Min-Ji. When their eyes met, he felt like he was being sucked into a bottomless abyss.

Gridel looked at Gap-Soo, Chul-Soo, and Lilia. ‘They must also feel that girl’s presence, right?’

Despite that, they did not mind having her in the room. Rather, it was Min-Ji who was having a hard time being in the same location as Chul-Soo. It was a day full of things that Gridel’s common sense could not understand. ‘This place is crazy!’

***

Gridel had visited Earth to obtain the replica of the Pisat’s Relic from Jin-Hyeok. He had not thought it would be such a difficult task. Not only was his relationship with Jin-Hyeok decent, but he also thought if he came to Earth, Jin-Hyeok would agree to the deal to some extent, considering the Sword Sage’s sincerity.

Gridel was accustomed to receiving such treatment.

‘I didn’t expect to feel this uncomfortable.’ Gridel found this shocking. The girl sitting across from him unsettled him more than MoneyShower, a Trinity Club member.

Gridel wondered who this unknown top-tier ranker was. He had no idea why MoneyShower was using honorifics and bowing to her.

‘I feel a tremendous bloodlust from her.’

She was smiling on the outside, but that was not a real smile.

‘If you say something stupid, I will cut your head off.’

The constant auditory hallucinations he encountered were definitely not hallucinations. This girl was directly injecting her will into his mind.

‘I didn’t expect the negotiation to be this uncomfortable.’

As this girl was making him nervous, he was having trouble putting his thoughts forward, but he did his best to achieve his goal.

His requests to Chul-Soo were simple.

1. Hand over the replica of the relic. If that is not possible, at least lend it to him.

2. Do not make any more replicas.

Jin-Hyeok nodded. “What can you give me in return?”

“I will give you as much money as you want.”

It was not a tempting offer. Jin-Hyeok had more than enough money. So, he said, “Rather than money, I want you to appear as a guest on my livestream a few times.”

“A guest?”

“Yes, I noticed that you rarely appear on other livestreams.”

Gridel had revealed himself only a few times on Marshmallow’s livestream; he had never appeared on any other Eltuber’s livestream.

“Well, that's…” Gridel said. Most of the heads of Arvis's Seven Great Families were like that. Sometimes, they appeared on the programs run by large broadcasting companies, but they tended not to participate in the personal videos created by Eltubers. That was an unspoken rule of the absolutes.

“If you don’t want to, forget it,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“No, who said I don’t want to? Alright, I will appear on your livestream. Although I’m not sure what I can do.” Gridel had not expected Chul-Soo to make this demand. However, Chul-Soo’s next condition wasn’t any easier.

“I want the Pisat Family and its related personnel to compulsorily watch three of my livestreams.”

“...”

Jin-Hyeok wanted to tell them to subscribe and like his videos, but that seemed meaningless. Forcibly inflating the numbers like that would only make him feel empty.

‘If my content is interesting, they will subscribe and like without being told to. If it’s not fun, they will not watch anymore.’ Jin-Hyeok’s goal was to make them watch his videos first.

“If necessary, I want to have the right to request filming cooperation from the Pisat Family. I hope you can accept that too,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“That’s not too difficult.”

As the negotiation went on, Gridel felt like he was sinking deeper into a quagmire.

‘The conditions are all too easy.’ Naturally, Gridel did not like the idea of appearing on Eltuber’s livestreams, but it wasn’t something he was unable to handle. Moreover, asking his people to watch livestreams or provide filming cooperation was nothing compared to getting the relic back. ‘Does he have an ulterior motive?’

Most of Chul-Soo’s subsequent conditions were also related to his livestreaming, such as being able to invite the Pisat Family’s Swordsmen as guests in livestreams if necessary.

“Oh, and I would like you to allow me to record at the Cliff of Singing Swords,” Jin-Hyeok proposed.

“That’s…” Gridel frowned. After thinking for a while, he shook his head. “That’s difficult. No matter how precious the relic is, I cannot publicly reveal the Cliff of Singing Swords.”

“Is that so?” Jin-Hyeok let out a faint sigh as if he was disappointed. “Then let me train at the Cliff of Singing Swords.”

***

The Cliff of Singing Swords was a sacred place of the Pisat Family that only the winners of the Sword Emperor Tournament could enter. Entering it was considered the ultimate dream for Swordsmen because by training there, they could become much stronger in a short period.

Gridel, who had returned to the Pisat Family, summoned the elders. “I think we should allow Kim Chul-Soo to enter the Cliff of Singing Swords.”

“No, we can’t!”

“He’s not even a Swordsman!”

“It’s not right to bestow such a benefit on the runner-up of the Sword Emperor Tournament. The previous runners-up and their families will fiercely protest.”

The elders expressed strong opposition, but this was something Gridel had anticipated.

“Can’t we acknowledge Chul-Soo as the winner of this Sword Emperor Tournament?” Gridel asked.

“How can we acknowledge a runner-up as the winner?”

“That’s unacceptable!”

“The winner of the Sword Emperor Tournament has already been decided. If we change our minds now, the authority of the Pisat Family will crumble.”

Gridel showed the elders a video that analyzed the fight between Chul-Soo and Unknown. The video analyzed what kind of Sword’s Oath Unknown had made and how it worked. It was perfectly organized according to the timeline of the Sword Emperor Tournament.

“The reason Unknown was able to exert such a strong power was thanks to the reckless Sword’s Oath. And as far as how he maintained that power… it was because, as you all know, the referee was bribed,” Gridel said.

Unknown was able to continuously draw out the power of the oath only because the referee had not ended the fight when he should have.

“Unknown had died before we declared the end of the Sword Emperor Tournament. All this is clearly recorded in the video of the fight. Unknown was dead before the fight was over. In other words, Chul-Soo won by default.

“T-That’s absurd!”

“Chul-Soo won by default? That’s an unreasonable claim!”

“Patriarch, you aren’t someone who would make such an unreasonable claim,” an elder muttered suspiciously. “Wait, about the specific details of the oath… How did you obtain this video with vital responses perfectly captured?”

“Wasn’t Marshmallow carefully filming that scene?” Gridel said.

“No matter how good of a Streamer Marshmallow is, he can’t create such a detailed analysis video.”

Gridel remained silent for a while, then solemnly said, “In a tiny place on the Earth Server, called the Korean Region, I saw two Trinity Club members. Two of the same personality, at that.”

“Two Trinity Club members of the same personality?”

“That can’t be!”

This was very rare in the universe’s history. The universe had only ninety-nine Trinity Club members. Those arrogant beings were known for not blending with each other, especially if they had similar personalities. If they met, a bloody war could break out. From the perspective of the Trinity Club members, it could be just a playfight, but for the others across the universe, it would be a disaster.

“Is that Server about to be devastated?”

“Are there any Arvis citizens there?”

“If we need to launch a rescue mission, you should give us a heads-up in advance.”

Gridel felt strangely relieved. This was supposed to be the normal reaction, not what he had seen on Earth.

“The two Trinity Club members are helping Chul-Soo together,” Gridel said.

“...”

Only then did the elders understand Chul-Soo’s explosive growth to some extent.

“But there is another higher being above those two. Even I can’t fathom her identity,” Gridel said.

“And is she mediating the two Trinity Club members?”

“Ah!”

If such a powerful being existed, there was some plausibility in two Trinity Club members settling in one place.

“But Chul-Soo treats that higher being like a child, and the higher being reveres Chul-Soo,” Gridel explained.

“I’m baffled.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, Patriarch.”

The higher being was more powerful than the Trinity Club members, and Gridel’s words implied that Chul-Soo was above that higher being.

“I’m telling you the truth. Chul-Soo may be… not just a Player. It might be more reasonable to think this way,” Gridel said.

The elders unknowingly nodded.

“Well…”

“I guess it makes sense, seeing how Chul-Soo’s swordsmanship is more powerful than that of most Swordsmen.”

Gridel lowered his voice. “We live in an age without divine intervention. However, even in Garbinu’s era, there were often explanations about divine intervention. Isn’t there a saying that if it weren’t for the help of the Gods, Garbinu might not have achieved this fame? No one believes it, though.”

The elders’ expressions became serious. They also found it difficult to accept Chul-Soo’s absurd growth. It seemed they finally had a clue.

“Perhaps… Chul-Soo might be the incarnation of a God,” Gridel said.

“T-That’s…!”

“Such nonsense…!”

“I know it’s nonsense, but is there anyone who can explain Chul-Soo’s existence other than this?” Gridel asked. No one could refute him. “Let’s keep this among ourselves for now. We should cooperate with Chul-Soo as much as possible and not do anything that goes against his will. Perhaps a great wind of change will blow in this world. No, it may have already blown.”

They wondered if they could plan a new era with God if all this was true. They dreamed of making the Pisat Family even greater. Gridel’s and the elders’ hearts were burning with passion.

“Let’s partake in God’s plan.”

“Let’s partake in God’s plan.”

They shared wine and began to dream of a greater future. It was the moment the Pisat Family transformed into Jin-Hyeok’s perfect helper.