I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 156

When Atanna laid eyes on Cha Jin-Hyeok, she saw a man whose aura flickered with a peculiar madness.

‘Annoying,’ she thought.

However, the urgent matter at hand was her son. Aton’s eyes were tinged with red.

[“Incompetent fool! Bring out the herbs!”]

Atanna called for Khan, but Khan was still unconscious. Her presence had significantly affected his mental state. Agitated, the Thunder Dragon tossed Khan aside and approached Aton. Aton was wheezing and stumbling about as if he were under a spell, like a dragon intoxicated due to drugs.

[“Tell me what has happened to my son.”]

“The dragon is trying to speak to me. The pressure from her presence has lessened a bit,” Jin-Hyeok said to his viewers.

Atanna found this ridiculous.

‘Is he laughing?’

The human was cheerfully walking toward her with a smile. It was a situation Atanna found a bit perplexing for their first encounter.

“I will try to interview her,” Jin-Hyeok said.

[“I asked what my son has eaten!”]

“He ate a Mystery.”

Atanna was annoyed by Jin-Hyeok’s lack of respect toward her, but she did not make a big issue of it. Her priority was checking on her son’s condition.

“Can I touch you? Your body is flickering with the electrical energy. It looks interesting.”

Summoning her draconic energy, Atanna exerted her presence on the audacious human in front of her. An invisible force weighed down on Jin-Hyeok, making his breathing rugged and sweat pour like rain. He looked visibly distressed.

[“I asked you what you have fed him.”]

“Ooh, this feels good.”

To Atanna, Jin-Hyeok looked like a madman.

“A bit more.”

[“…”]

“Make it a bit stronger.”

Getting a coherent response from this madman seemed difficult.

[“You are annoying.”]

Atanna decided just to kill him. It was the nature of Thunder Dragons to eliminate whatever irritated them. However, Jin-Hyeok’s next words stopped her.

“Your son ate the Mystery called Fanatical Obsession.”

It was a close call. Though Jin-Hyeok himself was unaware of it, this was a testament to his true talent for survival.

[“What? Fanatical Obsession?”]

Jin-Hyeok’s eyes narrowed. A tingling sense of anticipation that he might be able to tame a Thunder Dragon flashed through his mind. He replied, “Yes. Was it something that the young Thunder Dragon wasn’t supposed to eat?”

Even the most powerful beings could show vulnerability before their offspring. While his Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance previously showed all information about Atanna as question marks, he could now read her status. Atanna had fallen into a state of extreme panic.

[…#Why did it have to be a tainted Mystery? #What should I do? #There is no time. #There is no way out.]

The intense emotion was so overwhelming that a sense of immense despair flowed into Jin-Hyeok. If not for Imperial Resilience, he would have plunged into depression and panic. That was how desperate Atanna felt.

“She might be a formidable being, but it seems she lacks experience as a mother.”

Atanna did not hear Jin-Hyeok’s words. Novice mom Atanna’s mind went blank. Thunderbolts incessantly rained down from the sky, reducing everything they struck to ashes. The one expansive forest was being flattened.

‘If she decides to really attack me, I will be done for in a single blow.’

Jin-Hyeok found this razor-edge tension quite thrilling. He grinned. “I think there might be a way to save him.”

[“Speak.”]

“But you might not like it.”

[“Speak. Any wish you have, I will grant.”]

“I can force him to vomit the tainted Mystery, but it will be a bit unsightly. Are you okay with that?” Jin-Hyeok was thinking more of a physical approach. “You have to swear in Draconic that you will just watch whatever I do to your son. In return, if I fail to save your son, you are free to take my life.”

Moved by the sincerity of Jin-Hyeok’s words, Atanna nodded.

[“I swear.”]

? ? ?

KimKnowItAllTV’s chat was going wild

-Is he betting his life against the Thunder Dragon?

-I knew he was crazy, but this is next level, LOL!

-Is the Thunder Dragon really that strong?

-Even the strongest Players on Arvis cannot guarantee victory against a Thunder Dragon despite forming teams of dozens. It’s one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

-And he is risking his life against that?

-Sincere IntenseMan Mode has descended upon us.

The sentiment that this was Kim Chul-Soo’s sincere intensity, not just a concept, gained traction. Wang Yu-Mi gulped, keenly observing the viewers’ reactions.

‘What Jin-Hyeok lacked was just one thing.’

To her, Jin-Hyeok was perfect in all aspects—except for one.

‘Conveying a sense of crisis.’

It was hard to find any sense of crisis in Jin-Hyeok. Heroes usually found themselves in crises; it was overcoming these situations that made them shine. 𝘪𝑎.𝘤𝑜𝑚

-Sincere IntenseMan Mode, LOL! That’s rich.

-What if something goes wrong?

-If something goes wrong, he’s screwed, obviously.

-Well, Players dying isn’t really a new thing.

Keeping the stream in first-person perspective, Jin-Hyeok commenced his ruthless physical interactions with the young Thunder Dragon.

[“Kraaaah!”]

Atanna turned her head away, closing her eyes shut, finding it hard to watch Jin-Hyeok’s Taming (Physical).

‘This lunatic… What is he doing to my son…!’

The sky unleashed even fiercer thunderstorms. The clouds that once covered the nearby area expanded, enveloping the entire Central Forest. All animals held their breath; the trees themselves seemed to shrink. Before the overwhelming presence emitted by Scanorbia’s supreme being, all things withered. The only life form that remained unaffected was Jin-Hyeok.

Tears streamed down Atanna’s tightly shut eyes.

‘I did swear in Draconic.’

She could not stop him.

Jin-Hyeok exclaimed in sheer excitement, “The dragon is incredibly sturdy!”

It felt good to hit the dragon. He found hitting such a robust creature thrilling.

“The mental barrier of this dragon is quite strong too! It’s completely nullifying my Taming Skill!” Jin-Hyeok kept reveling in new realizations, ecstatic about his ongoing discoveries. “Such a robust mental barrier, yet it got tainted by a mere Fanatical Obsession!”

No matter how strong one’s power was, if one could not utilize it effectively, it was meaningless. The young Thunder Dragon was living proof of this. Although it had a strong mental barrier, it seemed incapable of using the barrier. On the other hand, Fanatical Obsession was making good use of that mental barrier.

‘Still, I’m stronger.’

The young Thunder Dragon was utilizing his abilities well in his fight against Jin-Hyeok. However, Jin-Hyeok was also someone who effectively used his abilities.

[You have activated the Skill 「Taming (Physical)」.]

‘Please fail!’

It failed.

[You have activated the Skill 「Taming (Physical)」.]

‘Please fail!’

It failed again.

Jin-Hyeok smiled as he continued his rapid strikes. Attacking with his primary weapon, the Greatsword of La’kan, felt completely different from using the Rule Breaker.

‘If I strike now, I will be able to successfully tame him.’

In essence, the young Thunder Dragon had become an excellent tool for him to practice his Taming Skill. Having continually practiced against the creature, Jin-Hyeok was getting the hang of it.

‘If I use it now, then I will definitely be able to tame him.’

Jin-Hyeok took a momentary pause.

‘And if I strike now, I will fail.’

[You have activated the Skill 「Taming (Physical)」.]

Having tried every possible approach and practiced against the young Thunder Dragon, Jin-Hyeok felt he had become quite adept at using Taming (Physical).

‘Let’s finish this.’

In the end, Jin-Hyeok succeeded in drawing out Fanatical Obsession, just as he had done with Five Crystals earlier. It did not just stop at subduing the Mystery; Jin-Hyeok’s proficiency seemed to have increased significantly.

[You have successfully tamed 「Aton」.]

Above Aton’s head, a halo shaped of the Golden Headband formed. As it appeared to settle on Aton’s head, it expanded, scanning him once. The golden halo then burst into light and vanished.

[The 「Taming Contract」 has been established.]

‘Oh.’

This was not a new feeling for Jin-Hyeok.

‘This feels similar to being mentally linked with the Golden Guardian Tree.’

Suddenly, the mother Thunder Dragon, Atanna, spoke.

[“Human, break the contract.”]

? ? ?

‘Wow… This is no joke!’

Jin-Hyeok had almost subconsciously obeyed Atanna. The authority imbued in the words of the mother Thunder Dragon was indescribable; it was simply extraordinary.

‘She must have used Draconic,’ he thought.

“Uh… N—”

Jin-Hyeok was about to decline when the mother Thunder Dragon spoke again.

[“I shall inherit that contract.”] .

Just like before, a wave of intense emotions flooded into him.

[…#Not my son. #Not him. #Freedom comes at a cost.]

The desperation of an inexperienced mother was quite overwhelming. Tears started to fall from Jin-Hyeok’s eyes, without his will.

‘Is this even possible?’

It was a first-time experience for Jin-Hyeok, to share emotions this strongly.

[“If you refuse…”]

Suddenly, it felt like his eyeballs were going to burst. He did not need to hear her complete the sentence. Clearly, the mother Thunder Dragon was willing to annihilate the entire forest, wiping out every life form in a magnificent blaze of fury. It seemed like the sentiment of a mother who could not bear to see her son robbed of his freedom.

‘Why is she so self-conscious? What does she think I’m going to do with her son?’

At most, Jin-Hyeok was planning on using Aton as a mode of transport. He had no idea why she was being so sensitive. He was not even a professional Tamer. He did not have the skill to fully draw out the power of a Thunder Dragon. Even a Tamer at the level of Park Terse had said that handling a Thunder Dragon was difficult, and that was with the help of the Golden Headband.

“I am not going to refuse.”

Jin-Hyeok felt like he understood how Terse had tamed an adult Thunder Dragon. He had to have tamed this young Thunder Dragon first, then the mother Thunder Dragon could not stand to watch that and thus inherited the contract.

[“The contract shall be inherited”]

A halo of golden light, incomparably more intense than before, materialized. Thunderbolts wavered around the halo. As the halo enveloped the mother Thunder Dragon, it burst into light, filling the entire world with a blinding white light.

‘Whoa. Thought I was going blind there.’

It took Jin-Hyeok a long while to open his eyes again.

[The contract has been inherited.]

[You have established a Taming Contract with the Thunder Dragon 「Atanna」.]

Notifications came in quick succession.

[A portion of the Thunder Dragon 「Atanna’s」 power has been transferred to you.]

The mother Thunder Dragon was so strong that just making a contract with her had transferred some of the dragon’s enormous strength to him.

[You have leveled up.]

.

.

.

[You have leveled up.]

[Current Level: 144]

Jin-Hyeok hit Level 144 in a blink of an eye. This kind of rapid leveling was something he had not experienced in a long time, and he could not help but feel elated.

[You have acquired the Major Achievement 「Thunder Dragon Contract」.]

[Would you like to register your Major Achievement in the Hall of Fame?]

‘I bet Egan Paul is watching this exhilarating moment of me achieving this Major achievement. Are you watching, Egan Paul? Yes, I want to register it.

The moment he decided to register the new Major Achievement, he realized something.

‘I’ve lost sight of my initial goal.’

However, right now, losing sight of that initial goal felt okay.

‘How can anyone maintain their initial goal every single day?’

No human could do that. Just for today, he decided not to adhere to his initial goal.

[The Major Achievement 「Thunder Dragon Contract」 has been registered in the Hall of Fame.]

This was his first entry into the Hall of Fame. However, that was not the end.

[The 「Hall of Fame」 is evaluating/reviewing this Major Achievement.]

‘Uh… could it be?’

[The 「Hall of Fame」 has dedicated this Major Achievement to the 「Astonishing List」.]

Jin-Hyeok had managed to do something he could not even do back in his days as a Sword King.

‘Did I really accomplish this?’

The notifications kept coming.

.