I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 439

Cha Jin-Hyeok, who was already in a foul mood, snapped. His last thread of reason broke.

“I was holding my true power inside your Flowing Prison to gain momentum,” he said.

“What?” Dragan confusedly blinked.

Suddenly, a blinding flash erupted before Dragan’s eyes. Jin-Hyeok had instantly closed the distance between them and swung Miri.

“Agh!” Dragan yelled.

The tremendous impact jolted Dragan back to his senses. He realized the stark difference between him and Chul-Soo. The man standing in front of him was the real deal.

‘If I take another hit like that, I might die!’ Dragan panicked.

He immediately prostrated himself on the ground. However, Jin-Hyeok’s strikes were faster, which resulted in the Demon receiving another solid hit.

“I’m sorry! I will not try to dominate anyone ever again!”

Violence, at times, could spark wisdom. Dragan suddenly understood that his newfound strength was all thanks to the Guardian Tree. His eyes opened, and his perspective changed.

“I’m just a fool who doesn’t know how to dominate others!” Dragan cried out. His massive build began to shrink gradually. “Please, forgive me!”

“You threatened and tried to dominate countless people on Earth. Humanity does not want to be ruled by anyone,” Jin-Hyeok said coldly.

“Of course! You’re absolutely right!”

The problem was that Miri was also going berserk. Miri emanated a golden intense energy, pummeling Dragan as if it were giving him a brutal massage.

-I can’t accept being weaker than the Guardian Tree!

The Guardian Tree and Miri engaged in a battle of pride.

-“You’re weak, weak, weak! I’m so much stronger than you!

-I will not stand for this!

-“Go ahead. Hit me! I will block everything!

Unfortunately, Dragan was the one suffering the consequences of their clash.

‘Please… stop!’ he silently pleaded.

Meanwhile, Jin-Hyeok also continued to assault Dragan, having lost all reason. “If someone like you exists, civilization itself will not forgive you.”

“I’m sorry! I am truly sorry! I’ve learned my lesson!”

Hamedis, who had been quietly observing the scene from behind, cautiously knelt as well. The young Demons following him also dropped to their knees. No one dared to speak during this solemn scene of violence.

Hamedis gulped. ‘Earth… is a terrifying place.’

***

Dragan’s liquid body was in a sorry state. Holes peppered his form, and a dark, murky liquid—the equivalent of blood for him—oozed out everywhere. His eyes were swollen shut. By this point, Jin-Hyeok’s mood had improved slightly. Sometimes, violence could be oddly refreshing.

‘Oh… this isn’t right.’ Jin-Hyeok suddenly stopped. ‘Isn’t it crazy to feel refreshed by violence?’

Since he considered himself calm and reasonable, it was hard for him to accept that he could have such thoughts.

‘I suppose everyone loses their mind occasionally.’

Even normal people could go berserk once in a blue moon. For Jin-Hyeok, this was that moment. Outwardly, he maintained a serious expression as he issued a warning. “Remember today’s pain, Dragan.”

“Of course. I will never forget it, Demon King.”

“If you ever mention dominating humanity again…”

Dragan flinched. He felt a wave of terror wash over him, reminding him of the return of this hell he never wanted to experience again. He prostrated himself once more. “Absolutely not! I do not want to dominate anyone! In fact, I prefer being dominated!”

“Good. I thought as much.”

The hierarchy was firmly established.

Meanwhile, Hamedis was a bit concerned. ‘He seems to be in a better mood now… Is it okay for me to speak up?’

As a strategist Demon, Hamedis was far more sensitive to others’ corruption than other Demons. To him, Chul-Soo embodied corruption itself—truly befitting a Demon King. This made Chul-Soo’s behavior unpredictable. His current benevolent demeanor could change at any moment.

‘I must speak.’ Despite his fear, Hamedis said, “My King, I have an urgent matter to discuss.”

Jin-Hyeok hesitated, unsure whether to respond or not. If he acknowledged Hamedis, it could be seen as him accepting the title of Demon King.

‘Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now,’ Jin-Hyeok had not directly accepted the title, after all. If he accidentally did, he could always edit it out later. “What is it?”

“As you’re well aware, we Demons are born from and sustain ourselves on negative emotions like anxiety and fear from living beings. It’s our lifeblood and sustenance.”

***

Jin-Hyeok was not compassionate enough to sympathize with the Demons’ plight. He knew that they had survived just fine without throwing Earth into chaos. They had gone on about needing more negative energy since the Demon Realm had become an official Server, but he could not empathize with them.

‘Those Demons should find new ways to adapt to the new era,’ Jin-Hyeok thought. “Isn’t it natural for those who can’t adapt to become obsolete?”

Although Jin-Hyeok said that to Hamedis, these words were also meant for himself.

‘This is difficult.’ Jin-Hyeok thought it was impossible to continue livestreaming as he used to before. Even his last hope—the duel with the old Demon King—had fallen through.

Wang Yu-Mi adjusted her round glasses. “I think it’s time we change the fundamental nature of your livestream.”

“Do you have any good ideas?”

“I’m working on a few concepts… still organizing my thoughts,” she replied with a bright smile. “Don’t worry! I’m confident I can make you a universal superstar!”

Her reassuring demeanor allowed Jin-Hyeok to relax a bit. Yu-Mi was reliable as always.

“Oh, and about the Demons…”

“I will handle that.” Joseph cut Yu-Mi off.

Once known as Star Maker before Jin-Hyeok’s regression and now assisting him alongside Yu-Mi, Joseph said to Jin-Hyeok about the Demons, “It doesn’t have to be just fear and anxiety.”

“Then what?”

“Hatred can also be good nourishment for them.”

Soon after, Demon Eltubers began popping up like mushrooms. They cultivated a troublemaker image by causing various incidents. Demon Lord Dragan started livestreaming, taunting viewers with comments like, “If it weren’t for Chul-Soo, you would all be my slaves, you weaklings.”

As a result, anti-Demon sentiment surged on Earth.

-Those filthy Demon bastards.

-Yeah, but Chul-Soo can take you out in one hit.

-You talk big for someone who got thrashed by Chul-Soo.

As Earth people began to despise Demons, the Demons rejoiced.

“I’ve never felt so fulfilled before!”

“Finally, I feel satiated!”

The Demons were not the only ones excited.

“I’ve been itching to fight a Demon.”

“I heard Demons give tons of experience points.”

Players who wanted to battle Demons engaged in duels with them all over the world. Surprisingly, neither Players nor Demons lost their lives. The Seoul Guardian Tree covered the entire globe, allowing both Earth Players and Demons to find a satisfactory compromise.

However, Players based in Korea, especially in Seoul, sighed in frustration.

“Why aren’t there any Demons in Seoul?”

“Would you come to Seoul if you were a Demon? Chul-Soo is here.”

“Ugh. It’s annoyingly safe. I might have to move to another Region.”

Seoul Players began to seek job opportunities closer to where the action was.

***

Yu-Mi coldly said, “You know you can’t do communication livestreams, right?”

“I know,” Jin-Hyeok replied.

“If you want to communicate with people, just say so. I can consider merging channels with BongMiNaTV.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Jin-Hyeok was not particularly interested in interactive livestreams. Even though he was willing to switch to that format if viewers wanted it, he did not believe people were looking for just ordinary interaction.

“By the way, over forty percent of your viewers want interactive livestreams,” Yu-Mi said.

“That’s probably because they do not know my communication skills yet.”

“True, but you do have one exceptional communication skill.” Yu-Mi held out a mirror.

Jin-Hyeok looked at his reflection but felt nothing special. “Stop with the jokes. How should I proceed from here?”

“Is there anything you want to do, Chul-Soo?”

“In the current situation, what we can do is…”

As they talked, it became clear that Jin-Hyeok’s and Yu-Mi’s thoughts were not far apart. They spoke almost simultaneously.

“Content about overwhelming power, right?”

“How about content about your overwhelming power?”

They decided to abandon the idea of creating content with nail-biting tension. Instead, they chose to focus on providing viewers with vicarious satisfaction. The concept would involve easily clearing extremely difficult Dungeons that others could not challenge with a nonchalant ‘That was easy’ attitude.

“But you need truly overwhelming skills for that,” Yu-Mi said.

“I’m not sure about overwhelming skills…”

Jin-Hyeok did not consider himself technically impressive. His physical abilities (Level) were so high that he could just bulldoze through everything.

“Physical prowess is a skill too,” Yu-Mi said.

After their discussion, they decided to fully reveal the Munchkin Trait. When Jin-Hyeok disclosed this on his livestream, online communities exploded with activity.

-See? I told you he had the Munchkin Trait!

-Isn’t this the first time Chul-Soo has officially acknowledged it?

While everyone had suspected he had the Munchkin Trait, this was the first time Chul-Soo had directly shown the word Munchkin on his livestream.

-Wow, he really is a Munchkin.

-So, Munchkin is an actual Trait!

This revelation made life miserable for teachers cultivating young Players. All of their students now dreamed of acquiring the Munchkin Trait to become like Chul-Soo. Just recently, they had been worried about students aspiring to be Eltubers, but now all students wanted to be Chul-Soo.

-No wonder he’s so damn strong…

-Munchkin is broken.

-Now that I think of it, isn’t Chul-Soo the GOAT? Has he ever lost even once?

-It’s an honor to live in the era of Chul-Soo!

The situation was unfolding as Jin-Hyeok had intended. He had shifted from being a Player who provided first-person livestreams with nail-biting tension to an all-time living legend, which resonated well with the public.

-He has never had a slump, has he?

-It’s an insane career.

After revealing his Munchkin Trait, he announced his next move. He would challenge the most difficult Unexplored Dungeon in the universe—the Dragon’s Nest, which no Adventurer had ever cleared.

-Wow, he’s even going to do a Solo Play!

-Isn’t soloing the Dragon’s Nest a bit too much?

-This Dungeon is the one that Garbinu and the Seven Great Heros had failed to clear, right?

The Dragon’s Nest was a famous Dungeon. Strategies for reaching the boss room of this Dungeon were widely available, but everyone had failed to overcome the final battle. Countless Adventurers had died there, and many more had barely escaped.

The brutal Fire Dragon, Julius, was the boss monster. Jin-Hyeok decided to take on this undefeated boss, considered the strongest in the world. Interest in Chul-Soo’s livestream reached unprecedented levels.