I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 474

Elines felt an ache in her heart. Since she had once been mentally connected to Kim Chul-Soo, she could empathize with the Guardian Tree’s suffering.

‘We will find a way. We can purify you. Don’t worry. There is always a way,’ Elines said telepathically.

-“No, there isn’t.”

The Guardian Tree could feel it—the deep corruption and the abyss inside its mind. Not even the Saint of Freedom could heal it, and no potion could purify it.

-“Even the Chul-Soo Potion can’t heal me.”

‘...’

-“Even if someone found a way to cure me, it would be too late by then.”

The Guardian Tree was certain of one thing: only death could bring it peace. This corruption could never be purified. It was a hope long abandoned unless Chul-Soo returned and consumed the Guardian Tree with even greater madness. Or perhaps, if those soft gentle hands of Chul-Soo tamed it once more, this rampage would stop.

Then, the Guardian Tree heard a voice.

“Hey, Guardian Tree.”

At that moment, golden light exploded from the Guardian Tree. The severed mental connection had begun to rejuvenate.

[You have activated the Skill ⌜Taming (Physical)⌟.]

Cha Jin-Hyeok stroked the Guardian Tree. His kind voice wrapped around the tree. “You’ve waited a long time, haven’t you?”

The deep abyss and darkness within the Guardian Tree were dealt with.

-“Where have you been...?”

The entire sky of Earth turned golden, and trumpet-shaped clouds moved as if they were playing. Tens of thousands of rainbows appeared all over the world.

***

Jin-Hyeok secretly returned home. His house had been left unattended for several months, and it looked as though no one had lived there. Cobwebs hung in the corners, and dust had piled up everywhere.

“Hm...” Elines awkwardly snapped her fingers. Suddenly, flames roared up, burning all the dust away. This was a Skill she had practiced while dreaming of a happy married life with Jin-Hyeok. “Jin-Sol Unnie seems to be obsessed with space exploration...”

After Chul-Soo’s disappearance, Cha Jin-Sol was not in her right mind. She had been living intensely every day, challenging extreme environments alongside the K-Force members.

“And my parents?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Your mother and father...” Elines conjured flames that formed a screen in the air. It displayed the spot where Choi Gap-Soo’s workshop used to be in Cheongdam-dong. The workshop was completely gone now, leaving behind only an empty plot of land with a small tent. “They’ve been staying there.”

“...” There was no need for many words. Jin-Hyeok understood what was going on. ‘They should’ve just enjoyed traveling around the world like they used to.’

A bearded man stepped out of the tent, holding a sign around his neck.

[Please, find my son.]

Though public interest in Chul-Soo’s disappearance had faded, his parents’ time had stopped three hundred days ago—the very day Chul-Soo had disappeared. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“They shouldn’t be too inconvenienced though. The MK Foundation and Gap-Soo have been helping them... The Guardian Tree has also been taking care of them diligently,” Elines said.

Even amidst its rampage, the Guardian Tree had done its best to protect Chul-Soo’s parents. It tirelessly monitored them, ensuring that no suspicious individuals approached them, and if anyone suspicious came close, the Guardian Tree knocked them out cold with a blow to the back of their heads. That was why, even while they were living like that, nothing serious had happened to his parents. However, since they were not eating or drinking properly, they had grown weak.

‘Hm... if I go to them now, they will probably pass out.’ Now that he had confirmed his parents’ safety, he needed to approach them in a less shocking way. Jin-Hyeok picked up his phone for the first time in a while. ‘It feels like ages ago.’

Though three hundred days had passed in this world, the time he had spent in the universe with Kim Min-Ji felt much longer. No human senses could comprehend that passage of time. He had felt as though he had drifted through eternity. So, using a phone felt strangely unfamiliar.

“Why isn’t she answering?” Jin-Hyeok sighed. “Hey, Elines, do you know where Jin-Sol is?”

“Maybe Mole Woman or Lessefim would know,” Elines replied.

***

Mole Woman and Lessefim had formed the most intense rivalry in the universe. People always said the best driving force for growth was having a rival. The two constantly vied for the top spot, each overtaking the other in turn as they grew rapidly. If someone had to name the best Navigator in the universe, more often than not, they would mention either Mole Woman or Lessefim. Both of them enjoyed exploring the unknown regions of space alongside the members of the K-Force.

“Tch, I’m way cuter than her,” Lessefim said. She plopped down on the desk, frustrated, unable to understand why she hadn’t been chosen to explore space alongside Mole Woman, even though she was far cuter. Even though Mole Woman had been selected by drawing lots, Lessefim still felt it was unfair.

“She must have mastered a weird lottery technique!” Lessefim muttered. No other method could explain why Mole Woman had been chosen for three consecutive expeditions. “It’s obvious. She definitely learned some tricks.”

Since Chul-Soo had become a Player, the boundaries between Jobs had blurred. A notable example was the incident where the Tamer Park Terse had made a contract with the Spirit King of Fire, Alkinas. Anyway, this was the dawn of a new era where even Navigators were mastering lottery techniques.

“Next time, I’ll ask them to do rock-paper-scissors instead of drawing lots.”

Other parties just didn’t measure up to Lessefim’s standards. As a ranker of her caliber, she needed to grow alongside the K-Force. Just then, she received a call from someone, and the contact’s name popped up on her phone.

[♡]

Lessefim’s eyes widened. She had saved only two people in her contacts as [♡]. One was a seller of the most delicious acorns from the Noldran Mountains, and the other was Chul-Soo. Either way, the call made her heart flutter.

She picked up the call. “Who is this?”

—Lessefim, it’s me.

The moment she heard the voice, she bolted away from her phone, which was about the same size as her. Currently, she was living in a miniaturized state.

“N-No way!” She hurried back, grabbing the phone and raising it high. “Is it really you, Chul-Soo?”

After a brief conversation with Chul-Soo, Lessefim grinned widely. She excitedly yelled, “As expected, the chosen Navigator is me, Mole Woman! You’re just a side dish!”

Jin-Hyeok set out to find his sister with Lessefim by his side.

***

Lessefim knew where Jin-Sol and her party were. Surprisingly, they were still on Earth.

“They’re investigating a rift. One was discovered in South America,” Lessefim explained. A rift was an unstable passage connecting to another dimension, which wasn’t an official System Server but an unknown world. “They call the place inside the Otherworld, and the K-Force is the leading team exploring it.”

The difficulty of the Otherworld varied greatly. Some places were weak, while others were incredibly dangerous. Some environments were completely uninhabitable, while others were more fertile than Arvis. Some dimensions had no natives, while others teemed with powerful mythical beasts.

‘I guess something new popped up while I was gone,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

“Shouldn’t you contact your parents first?” Lessefim asked, seemingly recalling something.

“I’m afraid they might faint if I call directly. It would be better to bring Jin-Sol with me when I visit them. They’re probably worried about her too, right? I need to get her,” Jin-Hyeok replied. For some reason, his explanation went on for a while, almost as if he were making excuses. “Besides, they are safe for now.”

“You’re rambling.”

“...”

Jin-Hyeok wasn’t worried because just about every powerful figure in the universe was currently protecting his parents. Not only was the Guardian Tree watching over them, but even the Emperor of the Swedeen Empire regularly patrolled the area, so there was no real danger. Still, he wasn’t confident. The thought of how much his parents must have suffered tore at his heart. He didn’t feel ready to face them just yet; he needed just a bit more time.

“Chul-Soo, you...” Lessefim looked at Jin-Hyeok in astonishment. “You’ve really learned how to understand people’s emotions, haven’t you?”

Sitting on Jin-Hyeok’s shoulder, Lessefim stroked her chin, making small humming noises.

“You’ve become more charming.” She then whispered into his ear, “If you marry me, we could have the cutest kids in the whole universe, Chul-Soo.”

***

Jin-Sol always explored the Otherworld as if today were her last. It felt like life had no meaning otherwise. Perhaps, today truly could be the end.

“What kind of monster is that?” Jin-Sol muttered. Rather than fear, she felt awe. The ferocious Fire Dragon Julius had been an enormous beast, but the creature before her was on an entirely different level. “So, this is just a single claw...”

Just a claw was the size of a massive mountain. All she could see was the monster’s ankle, stretching upward into the sky. Every step the monster took caused the earth to tremble. This was the largest monster she had ever encountered. It was clearly not meant to be hunted.

This monster seemed to have no intention of letting the intruders from the Otherworld go.

“I have never permitted you intruders to come here,” a thunderous voice boomed.

Even though the Players were smaller than specks of dust from its perspective, the monster seemed to have detected every one of them.

“Huh?” Mok Jae-Hyeon, Earth’s proud Tank, froze. His legs turned to stone. At that instant, everyone realized that no one could face this monster.

Even Seo Ji-Ah and Seo Ji-Soo, the sibling duo famed for their stealth, had frozen in the air, as if they had been suspended and preserved in the sky. Jin-Sol knew this would be her final moment.

“Still, it was fun while it lasted,” she said. Playing had always been about living with death close by. She had lived true to the essence of a Player, so she had no regrets.

Thud!

Just then, she felt a jolt to her head.

“Ouch!” she yelled. Then, something felt off. ‘Why am I not dead?’

Pain radiated from her head, and she heard a familiar voice.

“Hey, Dimension Conqueror.”

“O...Oppa?”

Jin-Hyeok let out a deep sigh. He was already at a loss for how to scold his reckless sister. It seemed she needed a proper, serious reprimand.

“Sorry for intruding on your world. Could you let this one slide?” he asked the monster.

There was no reply. Instead, the massive leg of the beast rose, as if it were preparing to stomp down and crush everything. Its foot blocked out the entire sky. If the foot came down, it would flatten every living being here like dried fish.

“Huh?” Jin-Sol flinched. Instead of coming down, the foot was retreating. ‘No way... is it running away?’

The monster had definitely fled. Jin-Hyeok awkwardly scratched his temple and said, “Maybe I should have used my taming Skill or seduction technique...”

Jin-Hyeok wondered if his approach had been too ordinary. However, that wasn’t important right now.

“Chul-Soo!”

“Chul-Soo Oppa!”

“Hyung!”

After reuniting with the K-Force members in an emotional moment, Jin-Hyeok grabbed Jin-Sol by the ear and pulled her aside. “If I’m not around, you should be looking after Mom and Dad! What are you even doing here?”

“What do you mean, what am I doing?! I’m Playing intensely!”

“Is this the right kind of intensity?”

Jin-Hyeok considered smacking her again but held back. He was just happy to see his sister after so long.

Jin-Sol flinched again. “Huh...?”

She was even more shocked than when the giant monster had fled. To her surprise, tears had welled up in Jin-Hyeok’s eyes. When she saw her brother, who had learned to understand emotions, tears welled up in her eyes as well.

She had met her brother, who she had longed to see, after three hundred days, and she greeted him with love. “Hey, Oppa, are you seriously crying?”

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