I Gave Up Being Stronger

Dragan considered himself wise. He had decided to become friendly toward Kim Chul-Soo after judging him as a monster; after all, Chul-Soo had casually dismissed his devouring attack.

‘Fortunately, he does not suspect me at all!’ he thought.

Swearing allegiance and standing by Chul-Soo’s side did not seem like a bad choice. Though Dragan felt sorry for Garbinu, who had sealed himself in a Magic Stone, there was no helping it. The Demon Realm always prioritized power.

Once Dragan made up his mind, his pride was no longer wounded. It was only natural to show respect to the strong. If a being more powerful than him said he had no talent, then that was the truth.

“I will tell you everything I know.”

Jin-Hyeok’s eyebrows twitched. He missed the Feyler Family again.

‘Is he going to spill everything without any resistance?’ While Jin-Hyeok had told Dragan not to try hard for the livestream, he had not expected the Demon to give away everything so easily. This would make the livestream too smooth and dull.

“The Great Demon King Garbinu is currently sealed in a Magic Stone by his own will.”

Jin-Hyeok remained silent.

Dragan the Gluttony was a Demon Lord who had devoured countless Demons. As he had consumed many souls, he believed himself to be excellent at reading others’ feelings and thoughts.

‘Why does he look displeased?’ Dragan suddenly realized his mistake. ‘Ah, I made an error in the details.’

“Ah, yes, I forgot. Garbinu is sealed in a Vengeful Stone, not a Magic Stone.”

Dragan thought Chul-Soo would be surprised by the new information, but Chul-Soo’s facial expression did not change.

‘Why isn’t he surprised?’

It seemed the powerful being before him already knew everything and had only come to seek confirmation.

At last, Jin-Hyeok’s face showed signs of life. “A Vengeful Stone, you say.”

A Vengeful Stone was a type of Magic Stone enhanced by trapping a resentful soul inside it. The creation of a Vengeful Stone required sacrificing the life of someone with a grievous and tragic story. This process was so vicious and horrific that the Vengeful Stone’s use had been banned centuries ago.

Seeing Jin-Hyeok’s face brighten, Dragan breathed a sigh of relief.

‘He must like his information to be accurate,’ Dragan thought.

He decided he should speak precisely and omit nothing.

***

Jin-Hyeok said with a serious expression, “It must have taken an incredibly powerful Vengeful Stone to seal the soul of someone as strong as Garbinu.”

“Yes. At the time, he went as far as to betray two of his seven comrades, though I cannot recall their names.”

Jin-Hyeok was increasingly drawn into the story. He sent a message to Wang Yu-Mi to check it out, but even Yolin knew nothing about this. It seemed to be a tale hidden behind the curtains of history.

“I believe they were the ones who dealt with gems and alchemy.”

“I see. So, they were Carvington and Goldium…”

“Oh! Oh! That’s right! As expected, you knew everything!”

Dragan violently shook his slimy body. He felt a tremor of emotion. ‘He must truly be the Demon King!’

“You must know why Garbinu betrayed his comrades to create a Vengeful Stone and seal himself inside it, right?” Jin-Hyeok asked, clearly excited.

Jin-Hyeok felt like he had stumbled upon an unexpected treasure. He had a strong feeling that if he released his video to the public, it would garner billions of views. His attitude led Dragan to misunderstand him. ‘That confident and intrigued demeanor… Only the strong and afford such composure!’

Dragan was convinced that this was a test from the new Demon King. He had to prove his loyalty.

“Of course, I know.”

Although the former Demon King Garbinu had forbidden anyone from divulging this information, it did not matter now. Dragan thought this new Demon King surely knew everything already.

“Garbinu wanted to create a new Server.”

***

Jin-Hyeok shuddered at this information.

‘So, Garbinu wasn’t a benevolent ruler?’

Garbinu was hailed as both the sexiest Demon King in the universe and a great hero. However, it seemed the truth was somewhat different.

‘The Demon Realm’s dimensional value was too different from that of the other dimensions,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

Dimensions essentially meant Servers. The Demon Realm sought connections with other Servers. Connections between Servers were not that unusual. Even Earth, a new Server, was firmly connected to Hell, Scanorbia, and some other Servers, making travel to other Servers relatively easy. However, the Demon Realm was different.

‘The dimensional value of the Demon Realm was so different that it was difficult to connect it with other Servers.’ Like oil and water, the Demon Realm and other Servers did not mix. Moreover, there was another problem. ‘Even the Demon Realms themselves were all scattered.’

This place, the Castle on the Cliff, could be considered a Server in itself. The only issue was that its scale was far too small for a Server.

Though this Dimension was loosely called the Demon Realm because Demons lived there, in reality, the Dimension contained many independent Servers.

“It’s like a structure of island nations,” Jin-Hyeok mused. ‘And tiny islands at that.’

The Demons who had taken root in these islands yearned to expand to the mainland.

“Garbinu attempted to unify the Demons and expand to the mainland, or rather, to other Servers,” Jin-Hyeok said to his future viewers. The Guardian Tree played a crucial role in this process. This was news even to Jin-Hyeok. The Guardian Tree had the power to drive away monsters and create safe zones. “And I think the dimensional gate is similar.”

In a sense, the dimensional gate was also a kind of safe zone—a special space where ordinary attacks were ineffective.

“That’s right, O Demon King. Eventually, to connect the Demon Realm with other dimensions, the Guardian Tree was necessary!”

While Dragan trembled at the birth of a new Demon King, he was also acutely aware of this Demon King’s limitations. Dragan believed that Jin-Hyeok was a newly born Demon. Though it was astonishing how powerful he had become in such a short time, there were inevitably limitations that came with his young age. Dragan thought that regardless of his impressive abilities, Jin-Hyeok surely would not know how to cultivate a Guardian Tree.

“I have an amazing fact to share with you!”

“An amazing fact?”

“I carry a seed of the Guardian Tree in my belly!”

“...”

Dragan prided himself on quickly riding the new wave of the coming era.

“That’s not all. Simply planting a Guardian Tree is not enough to adjust the dimensional values! Special methods are needed. You need a Pla…”

“A Planter?” Jin-Hyeok interjected.

“That’s right!”

Dragan was not flustered. Information about Planters was something one could find out if they tried hard enough. However, what he was about to say next was highly classified information.

‘Now, I would surely become the perfect confidant of this new Demon King!’ Dragan thought.

“Through the various methods I’m about to teach you, you will be able to reach a special state where you can communicate with the Guardian Tree.”

“I can already do that.”

“O-Of course, I expected as much. But what’s truly important comes next. Through that Guardian Tree, you must cultivate other Guardian Trees in numerous Servers. As Garbinu’s confidant, I know these methods well. These trees will organically connect and amplify the dimensional adjustment value, eventually leading to synchronization.”

‘Well, how about now? Isn’t this enough to qualify as your right-hand man?’ Dragan looked at Jin-Hyeok with eyes full of expectation. Hot steam rose from his body, which showed how excited he was.

“You keep presenting trivial things as if they’re grand.” Jin-Hyeok sighed softly. It seemed Dragan lacked talent for livestreaming. Talking as if he knew a special, unique method, then revealing things everyone already knew how to do—Dragan was all bark and no bite. Drawing attention once or twice like this could be effective, but constantly doing it was just asking for criticism. “You don’t need to do that. I’m telling you. You don’t have much talent for livestreaming.”

“T-There is one more important thing! This time, I can assure you that you will need this information!”

Jin-Hyeok looked at Dragan with slightly suspicious eyes.

“If you use a very special method I know, you can grow the Guardian Tree ver—”

“Very large, you mean? A massive Guardian Tree emitting an auspicious golden aura?”

“?!”

Dragan was shocked. ‘How could this young Demon King, born so recently, know all of this?’

“Then, you were going to say that when the Guardian Tree grows even further, it paradoxically becomes smaller, turning into an ordinary tree, right?”

“Pardon?” Dragan tilted his head. This was something even he did not know about. ‘Is he joking?’

Seeing the reaction, Jin-Hyeok inwardly sighed. This Demon seemed less impressive than he thought.

***

“Just call for me. As your servant, I’ll come running to help you!”

Jin-Hyeok tried to make a contract with Dragan, but Dragan adamantly refused, saying he could not dare contract with a Demon King. So, Jin-Hyeok asked him to re-contract with Kim Ysael.

“Would it be okay for you to stay in the Korean Region for a while?” Jin-Hyeok asked Ysael.

“I like Korea!”

Ysael did not seem to mind relocating. Jin-Hyeok felt grateful for her, but also a bit worried. ‘Is it okay for her to be like this?’

Regardless, Ysael decided to stay at Choi Gap-Soo’s workshop in Cheongdam-dong.

“The old man is a bit stubborn. Will you be alright?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“It’s fine. Chul-Soo Land No.1 is also there.”

“Ah, right. Min-Ji is there, isn’t she?”

“Do you know Min-Ji?”

“Of course.”

“As expected of No.1!” Ysael’s expression turned envious. She was jealous of how close Chul-Soo was with No.1.

“No.1 told me to come and make myself at home,” Ysael said.

“But she’s not the owner of the workshop.”

“She said she’s practically the owner…”

Jin-Hyeok could make an educated guess from this. Min-Ji was likely a direct descendant of old man Choi Gap-Soo, probably his great-granddaughter.

‘How else could she use a Trinity Club member’s workshop so freely as if it were her own?’

He had recognized her uncommon abilities from the start.

“I’ll take you there,” he said.

“You don’t have to…”

Jin-Hyeok realized he had made a mistake. Ysael was the runner-up in the previous Sword Emperor Tournament. On Earth, she would almost be unrivaled. He wondered if offering to escort such a skilled Swordsman was disrespectful or even insulting.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll just go.”

“...!!!’ Ysael blankly stared at Jin-Hyeok’s back.

Whoosh!

A lonely wind blew, and tears began to fall from her eyes. ‘I should have just let him take me there! Ysael, you idiot! You fool!’

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