I Gave Up Being Stronger

Cha Jin-Hyeok had been nervous before the attack. ‘Memphis is not as strong as Zhenba, but still a formidable opponent.’

He had swung Miri with all his might, not expecting to deal his opponent a fatal blow. Moreover, he had anticipated a fierce exchange of attacks, already planning his next moves.

‘Huh?’

Unexpectedly, he had blasted a hole through Memphis’s chest.

“ARGH!!!” Memphis staggered several steps backward. The hole in his chest was as big as a soccer ball, with blood gushing out of it.

Surprised by this unforeseen turn of events, Jin-Hyeok momentarily halted his assault.

‘Is this an illusion skill to catch me off guard? But that hole looks real to me.’

The chat was filled with question marks. No one, be it the viewers; Jin-Hyeok; or even Memphis, the one who had suffered this attack, had anticipated this.

As Jin-Hyeok hesitated, Memphis quickly began to regenerate and thought, ‘Holy shit!’

It was a level of destructive power Memphis had never experienced before. He had never received a fatal injury of this kind from just a single strike of a hammer. Even Zhenba, who was famed as the strongest in Hell, could have never damaged Memphis this much.

Wiping the blood dripping from his lips, Memphis said with a solemn expression, “You have been hiding your true strength, Kim Chul-Soo!”

Jin-Hyeok was surprised himself.

’Was I hiding my strength?’ He hadn’t intended to strike Memphis this hard. Even at this moment, he was diligently thinking about how to conduct his livestream. ‘I must not look surprised.’

Jin-Hyeok desperately managed his expression, pretending he had been concealing his strength all along and that he had anticipated this situation. He looked down at his right hand, which was holding Miri, with a casual smile.

“Do you feel my wrath, Memphis?” Jin-Hyeok said. Externally, he appeared to be a predator, but his mind was ceaselessly racing. “This is the true power of my Black Flame Dragon.”

‘But when did I start hiding my strength?’ He was stronger than he had expected. ‘It must be the continuous leveling up. But just leveling up should not result in this kind of destructive power. And I guess the Guardian Tree is helping me…’

Right now, Jin-Hyeok was in the Fourth Hell, whose Guardian Tree was about ten years old. He was indeed getting help from this Guardian Tree, but he had already considered that when he attacked Memphis.

Memphis was also aware of this and had accepted the presence of the Guardian Tree.

‘But even with the Guardian Tree’s help, my attack should not have been this strong!’

Then, Miri provided an answer.

-I used your power, Master.

‘You used my power? What do you mean?’

Jin-Hyeok was a bit astonished by Miri’s explanation.

‘So, you used the power of the Babylon Cannon? You implanted that power in yourself and used it in that attack?’

Even Jin-Hyeok, Miri’s owner, found this baffling. He wondered how could a weapon, even if possessed a smart will, strategize and execute a perfect attack on its own. Moreover, he was also puzzled by how a close-range blunt weapon could utilize a power meant for a wide-area long-range strike.

Despite his shock, he admired Miri, though Miri seemed unusually apologetic.

-Master, I am frail. Master, I am inadequate.

Suddenly, Miri started a confession.

-I am a sinner for not being able to use that power fully.

Had it fully harnessed the power of the Babylon Cannon, it could have obliterated Memphis, not just punched a hole in his chest.

-I will strive to be more intense. So that Master can use me fully.

***

After restoring his body, Memphis continued the battle with Jin-Hyeok. His primary weapon was a double-handed axe. Every time the axe clashed with the hammer, Memphis was the one pushed back.

‘How can a Streamer be this strong?!’ Memphis thought. He knew Chul-Soo was renowned as the most powerful Streamer in the universe, but had not expected him to be this formidable. ‘Is this the power of the Guardian Tree?’

He had agreed to fight Jin-Hyeok within the territory of the Guardian Tree, acknowledging that its power was also part of Chul-Soo’s abilities. This also meant Memphis was not placing much importance on the outcome of the duel. If he won and absorbed Jin-Hyeok’s abilities, that would be the perfect scenario, but if he could not, he would fight hard and accept defeat.

Either way, he believed a favorable future awaited him where Jin-Hyeok spared his life.

‘But…’ The more they fought, the greedier Memphis became. ‘I must not get too greedy. I need to focus.’

Memphis felt an irresistible pull, an allure that felt like his destiny. It was becoming hard for him to suppress the urge to consume Chul-Soo.

‘If I could just devour Chul-Soo’s abilities…’

He started to believe that he could become the ruler of Hell instead of Hell Man.

‘I am starting to see some openings.’

It was somewhat to be expected. Despite possessing incredible physical prowess, Chul-Soo was a Streamer at his core and technically inferior to Memphis.

‘I can predict his movements.’

While a direct hit could still be fatal, Memphis felt he could avoid that.

‘Should I take a risk?’

The temptation was too sweet to resist. He wanted to extend a tentacle and impale it into Chul-Soo’s back.

‘The opportunity… might come just once.’

Just once.

That was all he needed. Ultimately, he gave in to the temptation when he should have resisted.

***

Jin-Hyeok was the one who understood Memphis best.

‘He must have a trump card hidden, right?’ he thought.

It was evident that Memphis was debating whether to use this card or not. While Jin-Hyeok did not know what Memphis was going to do, he could easily guess that capturing Memphis’s trump card would skyrocket the viewership numbers.

‘Miri, I need you to hold on just a little longer.’

-I can’t… hold on any longer.

Having clashed with Memphis numerous times, Miri was exhaling excited breaths, boiling with the desire to smash Memphis’s skull right there and then.

-But I will try my best to endure it, for my master’s sake.

Jin-Hyeok began to subtly show small openings in his defense without making it obvious. Memphis was proving to be weaker than expected.

‘Good. You are holding on well, Miri.’

Jin-Hyeok waited for greed to fill Memphis’s eyes. Although Memphis tried to be cautious, he was greedier than Jin-Hyeok had expected. It was only a matter of time.

‘He is aiming for my back, isn’t he?’

Jin-Hyeok deliberately exposed his back, feigning an ‘oops’ expression as an extra touch.

Memphis did not miss the opportunity. A large mouth formed on Memphis’s back. Through its widely stretched lips, a long tentacle swiftly shot out, like a lizard flicking its tongue.

‘Huh? Should I let it hit me? Should I block it with Absolute Barrier? Is it too risky to take the hit? Is the risk worth taking?’

That split second felt eternally long to Jin-Hyeok, who chastised himself for hesitating.

‘Even Miri is trying so hard…’

Despite performing near-impossible feats as a weapon, Miri confessed to being inadequate. Yet, here he was, still weighing the risks. As its master, he could not help but feel ashamed.

‘There is no risk if it’s not dangerous!’

A deadly attack like that had to be taken head-on.

“Ugh!” Jin-Hyeok shouted.

Memphis’s tentacle touched Jin-Hyeok’s back. A flush of exhilaration spread across Memphis’s face.

‘Did it work?’ Memphis thought. However, it was too soon to rejoice. The final victor had not yet been determined. The tentacle began to pulsate. ‘It is transferring Chul-Soo’s power to me!’

Memphis was receiving a tremendous power, which gave him a sense of fulfillment far greater than what he had gotten when he devoured Zhenba.

‘Zhenba was nothing compared to this!’

It felt almost as if he were swallowing a dazzling sun. It was so bright he could see nothing else. At that moment, he felt almost godlike.

-Woah, isn’t that too dangerous?

-That looks like some kind of Mystery related to Absorption!

-Is Chul-Soo being absorbed?

The audience’s reaction was heated, and Wang Yu-Mi also bit her nails and trembled.

‘Isn’t this a bit too dangerous?’ she thought. Seeing the viewers’ reaction, she could tell it was a highly dangerous ability. She found it ominous to see Chul-Soo’s power being transferred. ‘Is he okay?’

She wanted to send a message to Jin-Hyeok but held back, fearing it could break his concentration.

Kang Eun-Woo patted her on the shoulder. “Are you worrying about Chul-Soo?”

“That just doesn’t look favorable for him.”

“I may be boasting here, but I am the most sensitive to Chul-Soo’s facial expression. I can tell by his facial muscles that he is smiling joyfully.”

Reassured by Eun-Woo’s words, Yu-Mi snapped back to reality. If Eun-Woo could read Jin-Hyeok’s expression, so could other people in the world, which would surely decrease the content’s suspense.

“Editor! Work with Eun-Woo to adjust Chul-Soo’s facial muscles!”

“You want me to adjust his facial muscles?”

‘Can she see the difference? Is this even possible to edit?’ Kang Chul tilted his head, then clenched his fist. “I will try my best!”

***

The moment was ripe; Memphis revealed his true intention, casting aside his fake facade. “Muahahahaha!”

He was certain he would emerge as the victor of this duel. Since he had already absorbed more than half of Chul-Soo’s power, the battle was now guaranteed to be an unconditional victory.

‘Huh?’

‘Why isn’t it over?’

The bright light obscuring his vision vanished, and he could now see clearly again.

‘Why is Chul-Soo unharmed?’

Because of the absorption, Chul-Soo should have significantly shrunk, yet he appeared unnervingly intact.

‘No…!’ Memphis was quickly reaching his limit. ‘I am already reaching my limit! I feel like I am going to burst.’

It was an overdose of nutrients.

‘I need to stop absorbing.’ He tried to detach his tentacle, but strangely, it would not come off. ‘What’s going on?!’

This was all because of Jin-Hyeok. He had reached out to his back and was firmly holding the tentacle. The viewers could not see this since the stream was being showcased from a first-person perspective.

Memphis felt a severe sense of crisis.

‘No…! Stop!’ He sensed that he would explode in a few seconds. ‘No…!’

Memphis unleashed his last hidden ability. To survive the explosion, he needed a body much more robust than his current one. He began to grow instantly, taking on a form similar to that of Zhenba, the Ruler of the Second Hell.

-Wait, isn’t that Zhenba?

-He looks like a mix of Memphis and Zhenba.

-What the hell? Doesn’t this mean that Memphis ate Zhenba? LOL

-What is going on? Lool. Did Memphis eat Zhenba?

-Betrayal after betrayal, LOL! Are we watching a soap opera right now?

Boom!

An internal explosion occurred inside Memphis that only he could feel; he had barely survived by being in Zhenba’s form. Overwhelmed, he spat out blood and fell to his knees. ‘What on earth is this…?’

Memphis had never considered such a scenario. The existential weight of the being he was absorbing was so immense that he could not digest him.

Jin-Hyeok had not anticipated this either. ‘’What happened? Was I hiding my strength again?’

Jin-Hyeok had felt a tremendous sense of crisis when the tentacle first touched him. He had never imagined the outcome would be like this.

‘I will figure out the reason later.’

He needed to understand why this happened. Knowing it could help him become stronger. However, this was not the time or place for him to contemplate. Something else was far more important.

“Did you feel my wrath?” Jin-Hyeok said.

“How could this…!”

Jin-Hyeok spoke impressively, not entirely sure what was happening. “This is what they call a difference in class.”

He solemnly continued, “To avenge my friend, Jun, and console the soul of the deceased Ruler of the Second Hell, who left this world in sorrow, I shall begin the memorial service.”

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