I Gave Up Being Stronger

Emperor Marco was a top Player Hunter, renowned for his prowess.

“He is not very recognizable,” Cha Jin-Hyeok said.

[Mystery Spilling Wind has been activated.]

As if on cue, the Mystery activated automatically, allowing Jin-Hyeok to effectively dodge Marco’s attack.

‘What was that?’ Jin-Hyeok could not fully discern the nature of his opponent’s attack. However, he was thrilled that he was facing a genuine universe-level ranker.

“Emperor Marco is known to make the stealthiest attacks in the world. Rumor has it that he’s as small as an ant,” Jin-Hyeok added.

Anticipating his opponent’s presence, Jin-Hyeok preemptively swung Miri.

When Miri touched the wall, an explosion occurred and shook the entire confined space.

“I don’t think this attack will work here.” Any further mishap can bring down the building. “Of course, I won’t die even then, but rescuing Katrina would become more difficult.”

With Emperor Marco on his heels, rescuing Katrina and escaping was not an option.

“Perhaps the head of the Goldium family…” Jin-Hyeok knew that the one who had planned this could be the Goldium family’s head. This individual, whom Katrina referred to as the bitch who birthed me, had despised Katrina for a long time and could have planned this to get rid of Katrina for good. If he mentioned this on his livestream, he could attract significant attention.

‘No, I can’t say it.’ Jin-Hyeok found himself incapable of doing that. ‘Why can’t I? I risk even my life for views!’

However, when he saw the fallen Katrina, he couldn’t continue. After all, the individual behind this plan was Katrina’s mother. Jin-Hyeok did not want to say in his livestream that a mother had orchestrated her daughter’s accidental death.

‘Is this what human emotion is?’

He felt as if he was slowly learning something new.

***

Nevertheless, Jin-Hyeok knew his situation was less than favorable. ‘I can’t even pinpoint his location.’

He could tell that, at least in this place, he was no match for Emperor Marco.

[Mystery Spilling Wind has been activated.]

Fortunately, Spilling Wind was smarter than he anticipated. It read the timing of his opponent’s attacks, which were difficult to discern even with Broadcaster’s Insight.

[You have activated the Trait Absolute Barrier.]

Thanks to Absolute Barrier, he could continue evading and defending effectively.

‘I shouldn’t attack him. Focusing on evasion and defense would be better. Marco’s weakness is his stamina.’

Officially, the longest Marco had ever sustained a fight was just four hours.

‘I just need to hold out for about four hours.’

As Jin-Hyeok committed to defense and evasion, he sensed Marco’s presence more clearly.

‘He’s definitely small, the size of an ant, and moves very fast.’

Rumors about Maro were rampant. Some said he was a very rare insect-type Beastkin; others speculated that his small size was due to his unique Job.

‘My attacks can’t even reach him.’

Miri was in a reflective mood, its voice trembling.

-I think I relied too much on area attacks.

Obsessed with explosions and caught up in the thrill of smashing things from behind, Miri regretted not achieving qualitative growth.

-I should have developed abilities like precision-guided attacks.

While ordinary people would wonder if a hammer could think that deeply, Jin-Hyeok just nodded. Even he thought that Miri had been overly focused on smashing things from behind.

-I will try harder. I will work harder so that one day I can crush even those tiny gnats!

Jin-Hyeok concentrated on defense.

[You have activated the Mystery Phantom Swordswoman.]

He had recently realized that the best defense was a good offense. If he could not apply this realization in practice, he could not truly claim to have understood it.

“Move, my Phantom Swordswoman.”

The Phantom Swordswoman nodded. She then shrank, transforming from a fallen angel to a diminutive corrupted fairy.

“I shall swing the bloody hammer at those foolish enough to threaten my allies,” she said.

With Phantom Swordswoman moving fervently, Jin-Hyeok found a bit more leeway, which made him happy.

‘I might not win, but at least I can achieve a draw.’

Around fourteen hours passed. Sweat streamed down Jin-Hyeok’s forehead. “Marco is known to have weak stamina, but it does not seem to be true.”

After recalling Phantom Swordswoman, Jin-Hyeok appeared exhausted. “Pant…! Pant…! I am not sure how much longer I can hold on.”

***

Emperor Marco was not particularly enthusiastic about ambushing a Streamer. However, the more he learned about Kim Chul-Soo, the harder it was for him to resist the temptation.

‘His basic skills are practically overpowered for his Job,’ Marco thought.

Absolute Barrier did not seem like something a Streamer could typically wield. Marco judged that only Tanks or Barrier Mages of Level 300 or above could handle such a Skill.

‘If I could extract that ability and sell it to Tanks… or better yet, use it myself…’

He became greedy. Chul-Soo had too many desirable abilities to count: God of Luck, the advanced form of the Rule Breaker, Phantom Swordswoman, Spilling Wind, and even the title of being the Earth Server’s owner.

‘The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.’ To Marco, this was Chul-Soo's fate. ‘I need you to be my sacrifice.’

However, the situation didn’t turn out to be so straightforward.

‘What kind of lunatic is this?’

Even when focusing solely on defense and evasion, Chul-Soo seemed too powerful.

‘Didn’t he just reach Level 300?’

A Tank in the early 300s couldn’t easily maintain such composure. Marco had extracted the poison that he had used earlier from the fangs of the Snake King. He had engineered this poison to be smaller than a water molecule and launched it in bead form. This attack was incredibly stealthy and fast. Any Tank would find it almost impossible to withstand if they didn’t have significant poison resistance.

Still, Marco felt like he would eventually win this fight.

‘Chul-Soo is getting tired!’

Unbeknownst to the world, Marco’s greatest confidence lay in his superhuman recovery ability. No matter how much energy he expended in battle, he could return to peak condition within a couple of hours.

‘I just need to tire him out.’

However, something seemed off.

‘He’s definitely tired.’

Chul-Soo had shown signs of fatigue for the past six hours.

‘He must be exhausted by now.’

According to Marco, Chul-Soo shouldn’t even have the strength to lift a finger, yet the Streamer was successfully defending against Marco’s attacks.

***

After fourteen hours of continuous battle, Jin-Hyeok was holding strong.

‘How much more exhausted do I need to look before you show your ultimate ability?’ Jin-Hyeok wondered. He was not as fatigued as he had appeared. Moreover, he had gained some important insights. ‘My abilities do not consume as much stamina as I thought.’

Aside from God of Luck, none of his powers were particularly draining. In other words, they were very efficient.

‘I should have calculated this much earlier.’ Though he felt a bit regretful about this oversight, Jin-Hyeok was not nearly as worn out as expected.

Nonetheless, gaining information on Marco was encouraging.

‘So much for being quick to tire. That was false information.’

While focusing on his defense, Jin-Hyeok also tried to capture a full shot of Marco. Initially, Maco was hardly visible, but now he occasionally appeared on the screen.

‘Just a bit more!’

Marco seemed to be getting tired as well.

‘If I can get his face for my livestream, it would be a jackpot!’

Jin-Hyeok could almost hear the sound of his view count skyrocketing.

***

Around eighteen hours after the battle began, Marco decided it was time to retreat. ‘I should retreat for now and plan another attack.’

He had a significant advantage in recovery speed. If he had a little time to recover, he could hunt Chul-Soo down easily.

‘First, I need to create some distance with a powerful attack.’

Jin-Hyeok sensed an opportunity was coming: A powerful attack was imminent.

‘Come on, bring it!’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

As always, a finishing move had to be faced head-on for it to be truly satisfying. This time, Jin-Hyeok was not planning to showcase the ferocity of the battle but to capture a moment to get a clear shot of Emperor Marco.

‘Now!’

[Mystery Spilling Wind has been activated.]

[You have activated the Trait Absolute Barrier.]

Jin-Hyeok still could not identify the type of attack. He could only vaguely sense that it was poison-based.

‘I got it!’

He managed to capture Marco’s face in a frontal shot. As rumored, this person was as small as an ant, so the face was not clearly visible, but that was not a problem. Jin-Hyeok’s video boasted ultra-high resolution, and even at a high magnification, the pixels remained intact.

‘He has the face of a bandit.’

Jin-Hyeok even thought of a title for the video.

[Small and Cute Stature. Not So Cute Face.]

***

Jin-Hyeok got Katrina up as she regained consciousness. Cursing under her breath, she expressed her frustration, “Damn that bitch! How dare she invite a Player Hunter to the mansion!”

Although Jin-Hyeok had not mentioned it, Katrina had already figured out the situation.

“That bitch must have hoped I would die here.” Katrina bit her lip hard. She had thought that by becoming a true woman, she would earn the respect she desired, but apparently, that was not the case.

Jin-Hyeok gently asked, “Are you okay?”

“I didn’t expect you to ask that. I thought you didn’t understand people’s emotions.”

“...”

“It’s okay. I’m just a disgusting monster born with a talent too precious to pass on. I have always known that.” Katrina gave a wry smile, and Jin-Hyeok did not say anything in response.

‘I shouldn’t use this for the video,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

Even without Broadcaster’s Insight, he could feel Katrina’s turmoil. Though she did not show it, she was likely quite miserable at this moment.

Jin-Hyeok briefly sighed and then said, “Marco will definitely attack again. He will probably ambush us before we can reach the Guardian Tree’s territory.”

“I should disappear then. It will be difficult for you to fight at full strength if I am around.” Katrina winked at him. “But it’s kind of touching, Oppa. You could not fight your hardest because of me, right?”

“Not really.” Jin-Hyeok shrugged with a puzzled look. “I was just busy trying to capture Marco’s face.”

***

Jin-Hyeok had a plan. ‘Let’s pretend to rush to a warp portal!’

He decided to give the impression that he was in a race against time. Just in case Marco was listening, he softly muttered, “I need to get back to the Guardian Tree’s territory!”

He left the Goldium family mansion. Summoning his Thunder Dragon, he flew across the great plains.

‘Showing such urgency will surely make Marco nervous.’

Their recent exchange had clearly shown that Marco was very serious about defeating Jin-Hyeok.

‘He would hate to gain a reputation of attacking a Streamer more than death itself.’

That meant Marco would try anything to kill Jin-Hyeok before the video went live. Marco was undoubtedly feeling desperate, which likely clouded his judgment.

“Okay, my stamina is too low to keep the Thunder Dragon beside me. I will have to walk,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Before the Thunder Dragon could say, ‘What do you mean? You seem to be fine’, Jin-Hyeok had already recalled it and landed on the ground.

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