I Gave Up Being Stronger

The Dragon’s Nest, home of the Fire Dragon Julius, was a primordial Dungeon. It was the oldest Unexplored Dungeon in the entire universe.

Julius was born as the Dungeon’s owner and was somewhat special.

Initially, he had been a typical Dungeon boss filled with hostility toward Players. However, as time passed, he gradually developed self-awareness. At some point, Julius was reborn as a fully sentient being. By facing countless challengers, he came to know about civilization.

He began to wonder about civilization, unable to take a single step outside the Dungeon.

‘What’s the outside world like?’ He had heard there were other Dragons besides itself, and he wanted to meet them.

‘How can I get out?’ he wondered.

Since he had naturally acquired wisdom over a very long period, Julius eventually learned the way to leave for the outside world.

‘I have to die.’

He also came to understand that death did not mean much to him. Dungeon bosses were resurrected through regeneration even after death.

However, even the freedom of death was denied to him. The Players who challenged him were far too weak. Even when he allowed them to attack, it was useless. They would either faint or die from the recoil of their attacks. No attack could penetrate Julius’s scales. Even Garbinu and the Seven Great Heroes had managed to inflict only scratches on his body.

‘Why can’t anyone kill me?’ Julius lamented.

Civilization had advanced, and the Players’ Levels had improved, but it was not significant enough to matter to Julius. He tried his best to let the Players who challenged him survive and leave. After all, they needed to be alive to continue challenging him with even a sliver of hope. But now, even that had become tiresome. He had been betrayed countless times by Players, and too much time had passed to keep expecting.

‘Just die.’

Players were no longer potential saviors who could break his chains; they were no different from mosquitoes buzzing in front of his face—weak creatures that collapsed at the slightest breath.

‘Why are they getting weaker!’

The Arvis Server, the strongest Server in the outside world, was becoming more prosperous, but its Players were beginning to lose the determination they once had. Julius believed Players should act like Players, not choose only safe paths for stable growth. Such growth might mass-produce moderately strong Players, but it would not give birth to truly powerful ones.

“They are foolish beings who no longer think about getting stronger!” Julius raged, breathing fire, but the situation remained unchanged.

‘It would have been better if I had never gained wisdom.’

He had been much happier when he knew nothing. Julius wanted to go back to when he was full of hostility toward Players.

Just as he was about to give up everything and let his soul crumble, a new stimulus appeared.

‘Oh?’

It was the Eltuber Kim Chul-Soo. Chul-Soo was someone who piqued Julius’s interest. Julius watched Chul-Soo for a very long time and saw potential in him.

‘Maybe…’

Chul-Soo could be the Player who could kill him. Julius became engrossed in Chul-Soo, cheering for his growth. Then one day, news came that Chul-Soo would be visiting the Dragon’s Nest.

‘Finally!’

Julius, the official Chul-Soo Land No.1000, [1] leaped from his throne. He took the form of a child with androgynous features.

‘Come quickly! Hurry!’ He beamed with a bright smile, and his heart began to race. “Come quickly and kill me, Sir Chul-Soo.”

***

A multitude of people gathered in front of the Dragon’s Nest. The Dragon’s Nest was located on the Ingirua Server, which was traditionally allied with Arvis.

“Oh! That’s Chul-Soo!”

“Chul-Soo really came!”

Until Chul-Soo arrived at the entrance of the Dragon’s Nest, the overwhelming opinion was he was never going to come. While Chul-Soo was an incredibly strong Player, the notoriety of the Dragon’s Nest had been built up over long ages; the Dungeon was as formidable as him.

“Are you really going to do a Solo Play?”

“Why are you insisting on the Solo Play when you can mobilize the K-Force or the rankers from Arvis?”

“Do you truly believe you can clear the Dungeon all by yourself?”

Questions poured in.

“Do you know that you’ve become the dream of countless children?”

“Teenagers are losing their lives trying to imitate you? Do you acknowledge that?”

“Don’t you think this Play will be excessively dangerous?”

Cha Jin-Hyeok did not answer each question individually. Standing at the entrance of the Dragon’s Nest, he looked around at the cameras.

“I think you’re misunderstanding my intentions,” Jin-Hyeok said. He had already decided that tense, nail-biting content would be difficult to craft. It was time to change his concept. “Why do you think Solo Play is difficult?”

“Well, because…”

“Clearing the Dragon’s Nest is rather easy.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Chul-Soo’s statement that ‘clearing the Dragon’s Nest is rather easy’ spread across universe-wide communities in real-time. The reactions were largely divided into two.

-Hahaha! This is so Chul-Soo! I’m in awe of his spirit.

Then there was the negative.

-He can’t give up showing off even if it kills him. The Dragon’s Nest will probably be Chul-Soo’s grave.

Chul-Soo Landers actively supported Chul-Soo, while those who despised them and Chul-Soo prayed for his defeat. Jin-Hyeok looked around and smiled with satisfaction.

‘I think I’ve grabbed enough attention.’ He stood at the starting point as a new Eltuber. ‘I’m counting on you, Dragon’s Nest.’

He decided to clear it very easily.

***

The Dragon’s Nest always had challengers. Since it had the most notorious reputation in the world, this meant that one could also grasp the greatest honor by clearing it. Players dreaming of being the best always challenged the Dragon’s Nest. However, not everyone could be the best.

“We’re almost out of food.”

“Don’t worry. It’s almost time for new Players to come in.”

Inside the Dragon’s Nest were several groups of Players and camps. The Dungeon consisted of three checkpoints along the path to the boss room. Since one could only leave for the outside world after reaching the boss room, quite a few people were wandering around the first and second checkpoints.

The most famous ranker at the first checkpoint was a Tank called Furface. He was also a veteran who had survived here for ten years, unable to leave the first checkpoint for some reason.

“Someone’s come in,” Furface said.

Through the entrance appeared not a group of Players, but a single Player.

“Huh?”

Furface was an orangutan Beastkin. His orangutan blood was so strong that at first glance, he looked much closer to an orangutan than a human. This red-haired figure stood before Jin-Hyeok.

“Are you alone?” Furface asked.

“Yeah, I am,” Jin-Hyeok replied.

“You’re crazy!” Furface burst into incredulous laughter. “There must be widely available guides about this place in the outside world. Did you come without studying at all?”

“Of course not. I studied a lot before coming.”

To establish a concept of overwhelming power, one had to study the opponent thoroughly. Jin-Hyeok had memorized all widely available guides about this Dungeon.

“Ah, then are you a Navigator? Is your party coming soon?”

“No, I’m going to clear the Dungeon by myself.”

Furface sighed. Over the past ten years, a few idiots had wanted to solo the Dungeon. In fact, he had been one of them ten years ago.

“Doing a Solo Play is impossible here,” Furface said.

“It doesn’t look that difficult.”

“I thought the same when I was young.”

Furface thought this young human quite resembled his younger self. That was why he felt somewhat concerned.

“What’s your name?” Furface asked.

“It’s Kim Chul-Soo.”

“Kim Chul-Soo?” It was a name he had heard quite often, but he could not remember exactly where. “What is your Job?”

“I’m an Eltuber.”

“An Eltuber?”

“We used to be called Streamers a lot. You must be Furface, the leader of the first checkpoint.”

Furface was momentarily at a loss for words.

‘Streamer? Is he talking about the Streamer Job that I know of?’ Furface did know that they were now called Eltubers.

“Isn’t that a non-combatant Job?” Furface asked.

“Technically, it is.”

Furface had heard rumors about a non-combatant Player winning the Sword Emperor Tournament. It seemed like a lot of those kinds of oddballs and crazy Players were roaming around these days.

“This is insane. A non-combatant Player challenging a Solo Play. Are you perhaps the winner of the Sword Emperor Tournament?”

“Yes.”

“Of course, you could never be the winne—Huh? What did you say?”

“I am the winner of the Sword Emperor Tournament.”

Furface sensed that he had made a mistake. He had ended up fueling this young man’s misplaced confidence. As a senior and an adult, he gave Chul-Soo sincere advice.

“Even if you’re the Sword Emperor Tournament’s winner, you shouldn’t be this arrogant. Solo Play is impossible here, even if you were the Emperor of the Swedeen Empire, not just the Sword Emperor Tournament’s winner.”

“I’ll pass that on to Kyle,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“What…?” Furface was surprised. ‘Has the name of the Swedeen Empire’s emperor changed?’

Being confined in the Dungeon had left him completely out of touch with the outside world.

“By the way, Kyle is weaker than me,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Is Kyle the name of the Swedeen Empire’s emperor?”

“So, it’s true that the signal doesn’t reach inside the Dungeon.”

Jin-Hyeok looked at the Players standing behind Furface. They looked quite shabby as if they were living a life detached from civilization.

“That’s right. We’re completely cut off from the outside. Our only channel for new information is the new Players coming in here,” Furface said.

“I see.”

Jin-Hyeok felt a bit of anticipation. Although he had decided to change his concept, he could not change his basic mindset from what he had been doing so far. The desire for high difficulty and challenges still stirred in his heart.

‘Does the signal really not reach here?’ A part of him hoped it would be true. However, it was a futile thought. “You’re mistaken. The signal is working perfectly well.”

Furface looked at Chul-Soo with an expression of disbelief. For ten years, this place had been isolated from the outside. Even Streamers who had claimed they would livestream in this place had been frustrated.

“What are you talking ab—”

Furface couldn’t finish as the Players behind him started to murmur.

“I-It’s working!”

“Try charging your phone! We got the signal back!”

Players took out their phones and communication devices, charged them with mana, and shed tears of joy. Those who had not seen their families for days or even years succeeded in calling them.

Furface found this phenomenon difficult to understand. ‘How is this possible?’

This had never happened in the past ten years. Furface asked with a serious expression, “Wait, has a new civilization capable of changing the Dungeon’s internal settings been born? Is that it, Chul-Soo?”

Jin-Hyeok, looking slightly disappointed, shook his head. “Anything that interferes with my livestreaming seems to be automatically blocked. “

“Huh…?”

“Be it barriers, poison, or settings…”

“What do you mean…?”

“It means the Dungeon is weaker than expected.”

“...”

Jin-Hyeok quickly continued, “Furface, I heard you know the fastest and most efficient way out of here. If you could help guide me…”

The line Jin-Hyeok had originally prepared was ‘I will provide you with plenty of food.’ However, he changed his words on the spot. The Players crying tears of joy in the background had moved Jin-Hyeok’s heart.

“...I will help you get out of here.”

1. Both Julius and Marshmallow have the No.1000 title. ☜

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