I Gave Up Being Stronger

Hamedis, a strategist who possessed a human body and a hippopotamus face, had long served as Dragan the Gluttony’s advisor. He was the one who had advised Dragan to assume the form of Count Piklu of Picture Castle on the Cliff. Piklu was a camera-shaped Demon with almost no combat ability, perfect for lulling opponents into a false sense of security.

“Lord Dragan, there is one issue,” Hamedis said.

“An issue?”

“Earth is Sir Kim Chul-Soo’s homeland.”

“Who is Kim Chul-Soo?”

Dragan frowned, and black liquid oozed from his massive slime-like body, indicating his extreme anger.

‘How dare he use honorifics for someone else before me!’ Dragan thought.

“Kim Chul-Soo is the Demon King’s name.” Hamedis almost sighed involuntarily. Despite devouring so many Demons, Dragan was still this hot-headed.

“Oh…” Dragan’s expression softened. He muttered the name Kim Chul-Soo repeatedly to remember it.

“I do not know his inclinations, so it’s hard to judge how he will view an invasion of his homeland,” Hamedis said.

“Hm… that’s fine. You’ve never been wrong. Speak freely.”

“He is definitely human, right?”

“I believe so…”

“Then he’s likely to approve of our invasion.” Hamedis knew human nature quite well. “Humans value things like justification, honor, and morality.”

“They value such things? Why?” Dragan found this incomprehensible. ‘Isn’t strength everything? What importance can justification, honor, and morality have?’

“I’m not sure either. It’s just how they are,” Hamedis replied.

Hamedis knew about the Demon King from records scattered throughout the Demon Realm. These were left by Garbinu, in preparation for his resurrection. Hamedis knew that the Demon King desired perfect domination.

“The Demon King surely wants domination. But being human, he must consider justification and morality,” Hamedis added.

“Get to the point!”

“He will want us to invade and dominate humans on his behalf. The Demon King won’t have the intention to directly dominate at least Earth.”

“You’re right. Hahaha!” Dragan laughed loudly. He thought that sending young Demons was sufficient for now. Soon, Earth would be plunged into chaos, breeding great anxiety and fear, which would strengthen the Demons further. “We will devour Earth!”

***

Demons appeared in various places on Earth, engaging in battles with Earth Players. However, this did not cause tremendous fear or chaos.

[New species from another dimension.]

[They call themselves Demons.]

[Extremely hostile to humans. Caution advised.]

Such reports merely circulated in the media and online communities. Some journalists and Eltubers attempted to cover this in depth, but it did not amount to much. ɌаΝо𐌱Êŝ

-Isn’t dying while Playing a normal thing?

-Players know what they are getting into…

Earth was a Server directly influenced by Chul-Soo.

-I bet some people will sympathize with Demons.

-Are Demons really anything special?

Any intelligent monster could be called a Demon. What mattered was how many experience points they gave or whether they dropped good items relative to their difficulty.

-They say those Demons are not monsters.

-Apparently, they are coming from the recently promoted Demon Realm Server…

-Oh, is this like a Server war or something?

Earth remained strangely peaceful. It wasn’t entirely unusual for someone from the Demon Realm to attempt conquest on the Server.

-Well, I guess that could happen.

-They aren’t approaching the capital city.

-It looks like the Guardian Tree is stopping them.

As Cha Jin-Hyeok grew stronger, the Guardian Tree’s power also increased significantly. Seoul’s Guardian Tree, which was connected to other Guardian Trees worldwide, now encompassed the entire globe.

The Guardian Tree yawned.

-“Sigh… This is so boring.”

The Guardian Tree was the entity most influenced by Jin-Hyeok. After indirectly experiencing Jin-Hyeok’s adventures, it found this peace incredibly dull. It was almost addicted to dopamine, craving new stimuli, thrilling adventures, and tense excitement.

-“Hm…”

One day, the Guardian Tree observed drought-stricken areas and flooded regions simultaneously. Though these were on opposite sides of the Earth, this did not matter to the tree.

-“Shall I, the great Guardian Tree, lend a hand?”

The Guardian Tree vigorously absorbed water from flooded areas through its roots and sprinkled it over drought-stricken lands. Then it left a mark of its deed.

[By Kim Min-Ji]

When a record-breaking wildfire broke out on another continent, the Guardian Tree extinguished it with water from flooded areas and left another mark.

[By Kim Min-Ji]

People wondered what or who this Kim Min-Ji was; some even speculated it was a divine sign. Many shed tears of gratitude to Kim Min-Ji.

The Guardian Tree felt unexpectedly pleased. It enjoyed people’s praise. In its dopamine-addicted state, it began seeking more stimulating activities. Anthropologists unanimously declared:

[Humanity will enter an unprecedented era of prosperity.]

[Kim Min-Ji is the solution to the climate crisis.]

[The miracle of Kim Min-Ji.]

Meanwhile, the real Kim Min-Ji, the Mad God of Favoritism, stood in front of the Guardian Tree and frowned. She said telepathically, ‘Hey, you. Why are you impersonating me?’

-“It’s not an impersonation! My name is Kim Min-Ji!

‘Min-Ji is my name.’

-“I decided to name myself Min-Ji too!”

‘Why?’ Min-Ji wasn’t pleased. Kim Min-Ji was the precious name Jin-Hyeok had given her. She did not like it being used arbitrarily.

-“Well…”

‘Answer properly, or I will cut you down in seconds.’

-“Because it’s the name of the official Chul-Soo Land No.1…”

‘What?’

-“I am a Chul-Soo Lander too…”

Min-Ji’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled.

‘I guess you’re a good tree.’

She decided to allow the tree to use her name.

***

Dragan the Gluttony grabbed Hamedis by the collar and lifted him. “Why isn’t fear and anxiety spreading?”

“Ack! Forgive me, Lord Dragan!”

Hamedis was equally perplexed. Usually, when Demons appeared in an area and started a conquest, chaos and fear would ensue. However, on Earth, there was no sign of this. Instead, positive news was sweeping the globe about floods being mitigated thanks to someone named Kim Min-Ji, lives being saved, droughts being resolved, and food shortages being alleviated.

“You useless fool,” Dragan said. He slammed Hamedis to the ground. With a thud, Hamedis hit his head and passed out. “Should I just eat him?”

Hamedis was useful in many ways. Eating him would not transfer all his abilities anyway. So, Dragan decided to keep him alive for now.

“At this rate, I can’t face the Demon King…” It seemed sending young Demons alone would not accomplish anything. “So, this Min-Ji is interfering with my project.”

Attacking major cities would be most effective in sowing fear, but that was impossible.

“Hey, wake up.” Dragan created a viscous liquid whip and lashed Hamedis. Hamedis woke up screaming.

“What’s the most influential city on Earth?” Dragan asked.

“According to my research, it’s Seoul, my lord.”

“We’re going to Seoul. I will crush this Min-Ji myself.”

Arriving at Seoul’s border, Dragan smirked. He felt an invisible barrier in front of him.

“Those useless Demons could not enter the city because of this measly barrier?” Dragan said as he touched the barrier. It was ridiculous. Dragan could not believe the Demons were unable to pass such a simple barrier. “Watch me. This is the power of a Demon.”

As he summoned his power, black mana surged. A large fist emerged from his massive slime-like body. Many people witnessed this fist imbued with powerful magic.

“What’s that?”

“Isn’t that the Demon thing they’ve been talking about?”

“Huh? I think I’ve seen that on a livestream somewhere.”

Some even recognized Dragan.

“Isn’t that Dragan the Gluttony or something?”

“The one from Chul-Soo’s livestream?”

Dragan’s fist grew bigger. Now as big as a small hill, Dragan struck the barrier. “Behold. This is the power of a Demon serving the Demon Kin—Ack!”

Dragan collapsed and melted into a puddle, falling unconscious. There was a large hole in the back of his head.

***

The Guardian Tree Min-Ji was very excited.

-“It’s coming! It’s coming!”

The Guardian Tree had been heavily influenced by Jin-Hyeok. Jin-Hyeok was currently trying to lure out Garbinu by pretending to sleep and meditate. Influenced by this, the Guardian Tree had drawn in Dragan by deliberately weakening the barrier.

-“A big attack is coming!”

When an opponent was preparing for such a large attack, it created openings. The Guardian Tree Min-Ji aimed for the back of Dragan’s head.

-“It has a slimy body. I wonder if I can take him out in one hit!”

However, it did not matter. If not in one hit, the Guardian Tree would hit Dragan twice; if that wasn’t enough, then it would hit the Demon thrice. It was planning to keep smashing the Demon’s head until the back of his head cracked.

-“Wait, I took him out in one hit.”

Despite his grand entrance, Dragan was weaker than expected. The Guardian Tree sighed in disappointment and left a mark on the unconscious Dragan.

[By Kim Min-Ji]

The people of Seoul were not particularly surprised by this phenomenon. It was just another ordinary occurrence for them.

-“Oh, but his recovery is quite fast!”

Dragan, now with [By Kim Min-Ji] engraved on his back, suddenly stood up. He shouted into the air, clearly sensing the Guardian Tree’s gaze.

“Kim Min-Ji? So, you’re the infamous Min-Ji?” Dragan yelled.

Just then, the Guardian Tree Min-Ji heard a voice. It was Jin-Hyeok.

‘Hey, Guardian Tree.’

However, the Guardian Tree did not respond.

‘Sigh… Hey, Kim Min-Ji.’

-“Oh, you called for me?”

‘Can you help Dragan for a bit?’

-“You want me to help that guy?”

The Guardian Tree tilted its head in confusion, but due to their strong mental connection, it could somewhat understand Jin-Hyeok’s intention.

-“I see!”

Jin-Hyeok planned to have the Guardian Tree buff Dragan and then fight the Demon. With the Seoul Guardian Tree’s buff, it would be a more even match. This was Jin-Hyeok’s trap to lure Garbinu into attacking him.

-“But I want to crack his head!”

Cracking that slimy being was quite fun for the Guardian Tree. It did not want to give up the soft, satisfying feeling.

‘I’ll pat you,’ Jin-Hyeok said telepathically.

-“H-Hmph! I’ll not be tempted by such an offer!”

When Jin-Hyeok did not respond, the tree quietly added something.

-“If you take a nap on my branches, I will agree to your proposal.”

The deal was sealed.

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