I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 270

Encyclopedia heavily sighed, stroking his chin. “I can’t believe they rejected it.”

“…Hey, I’m the one who is embarrassed because of you,” Marshmallow said.

In online communities, numerous users were mocking Marshmallow.

~ -???: “Since I recommended him, I thought he’d surely become an honorary citizen.”

-Showing off his overconfidence in his last livestream, yet here we are. LOL!

-I screenshot-ed that expression from the last livestream.

Marshmallow had revealed in his last livestream that he had recommended Kim Chul-Soo for honorary citizenship. He confidently stated that since he was the one making the recommendation, Chul-Soo would become an honorary citizen of Arvis in no time. Naturally, a hint of pride seeped through his expression, which his editor had emphasized.

It was not just Marshmallow; everyone around him expected Chul-Soo to become an honorary citizen. Encyclopedia was no exception. In fact, Encyclopedia had suggested Marshmallow to recommend Chul-Soo in the first place.

“I checked the reason for the rejection. It’s somewhat hard to accept,” Encyclopedia awkwardly replied.

“Go on, enlighten me, my brilliant friend.”

“I honestly thought he would be granted citizenship… The public opinion was not even bad.”

“But he wasn’t.”

“That’s what’s strange. Including the Dion mayor’s suicide incident… Something’s definitely off.”

The situation with the suicide had been too swift and effective. Encyclopedia genuinely viewed it more as a murder than a suicide.

“Cut to the chase. I am in a bad mood because of the mocking,” Marshmallow said.

“Do you think Lady Harkoen might be involved?”

“…No way! Why would Harkoen go to such lengths over Chul-Soo?”

“Have you seen Chul-Soo’s face?”

“Yes, I have.”

“And you still question it?”

Marshmallow frowned slightly. He was annoyed that he was beginning to understand Encyclopedia’s nonsensical explanation.

Encyclopedia continued, “But if Lady Harkoen is indeed involved, eventually, Chul-Soo and Lady Harkoen will clash, right?”

The scale of the Swampland Crew and the Harkoen family was incomparable. If the Swampland Crew was a single soldier, then the Harkoen family was an entire army. In other words, Chul-Soo was the egg, and the Harkoen family was the rock. No one could smash a rock with an egg.

Marshmallow frowned again and said, “Stop beating around the bush. What was the reason for rejection?”

“Absence of recommenders from any empire.”

“Is that a thing?”

“It was introduced recently.”

Recently, a new condition was added for becoming an honorary citizen. One needed recommendations from certain groups designated by any empire. To prevent the situation where someone gained honorary citizenship solely based on support from one specific group, it was necessary to prove that one was supported by various sectors of society.

“They have asked to submit additional documents showing support from the Farmers,” Encyclopedia said.

“Why Farmers of all people?” Marshmallow frowned. He was not particularly fond of Players with that Job. Most Farmers still thought the best Streamer on the Arvis Server was Chokoli. Chokoli was Marshmallow’s father and the top-ranked Streamer of the Arvis Server decades ago.

“Why does Chul-Soo need approval from those Farmers, who are still living in the past?” Marshmallow asked.

“Are you discriminating against Jobs now?”

“Me? Discriminating against Farmers, who value history, tradition, and experience? I would never.”

The world was changing every day, yet the Farmers remained stuck in the past—at least, that was Marshmallow’s assessment. Encyclopedia shared a similar point of view, stating:

[…(Skipped)… Farmers are one of the most conservative groups within Arvis, with an average age significantly higher than that of Players with other Jobs.]

Even in other online communities, there was little disagreement that Arvis’s Farmers were a very conservative group.

Marshmallow frowned. “Doesn’t this basically mean they won’t accept Chul-Soo?”

“Most likely, yes.”

Most would give up at this point. The task of gaining recommendations from the Farmers was daunting. Moreover, the deadline for submitting supplementary documents was just two weeks later.

“Hey, Marshmallow, will you trust me one more time?” Encyclopedia said.

“…Trust you again? Do you know how much I have been ridiculed recently because of you?”

“Just trust me this time.”

“Go on, then.”

“You know how videos are being poured out daily stating why Chul-Soo cannot become an honorary citizen, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s make a video with one reason why Chul-Soo can become an honorary citizen.”

“You said they asked for recommendations from the Farmers. Isn’t that basically the same as saying they won’t approve it? Why should I bother making a video about it?”

“Because Chul-Soo is Chul-Soo,”

“…What?”

“Let’s livestream with that title.”

“Are you crazy? Why would I make an exclusive video about Chul-Soo? And what’s with the title? It makes me sound like I am one of the Chul-Soo Landers.”

“…”

“Get a grip, Encyclopedia. There’s a limit to how much you should suck up.”

The next day, Marshmallow uploaded a video.

[Chul-Soo is Chul-Soo.]

***

At the same time, a big event was happening on the Earth Server.

-Did you see the conditions set by Chul-Soo?

-I thought I went back in time to the 80s, LOL!

-This is against the labor law, isn’t it? Are you kidding me? LOL! We keep coddling Chul-Soo, and now he has crossed the line.

Chul-Soo had announced he was recruiting Farmers. His plan was to recruit Players who would be dispatched to Arvis, an advanced Server, to learn advanced agricultural techniques.

-It’s not even an overseas dispatch but a Server dispatch, and he is only giving them the minimum wage?

-This is so different from his conditions when he recruited Players for Scanorbia.

Back when he was recruiting Players for Scanorbia, the Farmer Players were given land and paid well. However, this time, not only was Chul-Soo not giving out land, but the salary also barely met the legal minimum wage.

-It’s not just the low wages, lol.

Some people copied the recruitment conditions and posted them online.

[*We need someone who can endure some humiliation and unfairness.]

[*We cannot guarantee reasonable working hours.]

[*We need someone who will work with enthusiasm and passion as if it were their own business.]

[We need someone who can endure and be patient with poor living conditions.]

Many people ridiculed Jin-Hyeok.

-This is worse than not recruiting at all.

-How is Chul-Soo going to recruit anyone with those conditions?

-Unless someone’s got a screw loose, no one would go with him.

In truth, Jin-Hyeok was aware of what ordinary people thought. He had initially wanted to have the same conditions as he had put forth in the Scanorbia situation, offering good salaries and benefits to bring people to Arvis, but Wang Yu-Mi and Han Sae-Rin had opposed that idea.

“I’m against it!”

“Me too!”

The two of them made the same argument as if they were of one mind.

“Actually, we shouldn’t pay them at all!”

“It’s a test of pure passion.”

To Jin-Hyeok, it seemed their eyes harbored a similar kind of madness. “So, you’re saying that those who apply for the money aren’t worth considering?”

“Exactly!”

“I think so too.”

Jin-Hyeok also thought so. “Alright, let’s do it that way.”

On the day of recruitment, the application closed in just twenty seconds. There were so many applicants that for every three hundred applicants Jin-Hyeok could only recruit one. Farmers from all over the world rushed in. Most of them were top rankers from various Regions.

Jin-Hyeok nodded. ‘I knew it would be this competitive.’

Being able to endure some unfairness, thinking that it was okay not to make money, and being willing to tolerate some humiliation were the features of the mindset needed to become a top ranker.

‘I wasn’t wrong with my reasoning!’

The online communities’ opinion had somewhat shaken Jin-Hyeok, but now, he felt validated that his reasoning was not wrong. The task of filtering the first-round applicants was handed over to Yolin, who had recently joined the organization. Yolin showed considerable administrative skills and screened the applicants.

“There was one special applicant that I wanted to report to you separately.” Yolin gave Jin-Hyeok a piece of paper.

‘Huh?’ Jin-Hyeok was surprised. He saw a familiar name. ‘Kimaev?’

Jin-Hyeok remembered the Player distinctly from when he had been passing through Scanorbia.

[LV209/Kimaev/Arborist/Savior of Trees]

Kimaev had a good reputation among the farmers.

“They say he has the ability to revive dead plants.”

“The harvest turned out really great with that guy’s help.”

“He seems to have a very rare ability.”

This Level-209 Farmer with a 9-Star Job wrote in his application,

[….(Skipped)… If you choose me, I will donate my land from Scanorbia to the MK Foundation and also donate three million Dias a month.]

Instead of receiving a salary, Kimaev wanted to pay Chul-Soo to be dispatched to the Arvis Server. It was a testament to how intense he was about going there. Kimaev’s fierceness was different from that of others.

Jin-Hyeok was slightly impressed. “He is worthy of being an excellent Farmer.”

About two hundred Players were assembled to be transferred to Arvis, all top rankers from various countries.

***

The Player base in Arvis’s agricultural sector was aging. The agricultural sector had suffered from chronic labor shortages. The three empires of Arvis operated many support systems to promote the primary industry, one of which was the Labor Input System.

Agricultural Players could request the entry of Players from other Servers into Arvis. Players from other Servers could get a labor visa to help out with work. Recently, hardly any Players used this system. Now that the colonial system was gone, few people were willing to readily accept the requests of Arvis’s Farmers. However, this time, as many as two hundred Players were dispatched to Arvis.

“I really like the look in their eyes! They’re passionate.”

“I remember the Players from the colonies didn’t have any passion in them, hahaha!”

“It’s going to be fun to put them to work!”

“It’s been a while since we’ve got some third-class citizens! The harvest this fall will be a bit easier.”

Jin-Hyeok conversed with an elderly man. It was the same elderly man with whom he had previously discussed matters related to the Golden Guardian Tree. The old man’s name was Trituri.

“I see you’ve really brought us some third-class citizens,” the elderly man said.

“Did I not promise?” Jin-Hyeok replied. Although he said that, even he had not expected it to happen so soon.

“These days, third-class citizens are so lazy, you know. They complain about wages, how they’re treated, accommodations, and whatnot. Ah, I remember the old days.”

“Sir, may I ask you something?”

Naturally, the elderly man did not listen to Jin-Hyeok; perhaps he had been longing to have a conversation with someone. The elderly man just went on about what he wanted to say and bragged. However, the bragging was actually what Jin-Hyeok wanted to ask about.

“…Oh, really? There is a very effective fertilizer for the Guardian Tree?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Yes.” Trituri felt that Jin-Hyeok was quite a commendable third-class citizen.

Trituri was a Farmer who considered growing the Golden Guardian Tree the pride and medal of his life. Wherever he went, he always talked about the Guardian Tree, but in truth, most people were not very interested in his tree stories. So, when Jin-Hyeok listened to his story with great interest, he naturally became excited.

“…So, that’s how I did it. Do you know what happened as a result? The young Guardian Tree grew into a large Guardian Tree in no time, ahem!” he said.

“Wow, that’s quite impressive!”

While they were having various conversations, Jin-Hyeok revealed that he was also the Planter of a Guardian Tree. Trituri looked at Jin-Hyeok with a smile, as if he was looking at a very promising young sprout. For the first time, he listened to what Jin-Hyeok had to say.

“So? What happened next?” Trituri said.

“Well, after that, I developed a mental connection with the Guardian Tree, and we have been able to talk to each other. Lately, the Guardian Tree has been keen on aggressively smashing monsters, though. Is this normal?”

Before long, Trituri’s expression became serious. It was so serious that he almost seemed grave.

‘Did I say something wrong?’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

“Sir?”

“Ah, so, ah, uh… yeah… You’re saying… you are having conversations with… the Guardian Tree…?” Trituri was feeling intense emotions.

[#Conversation with the Guardian Tree? #Is that even possible?]