I Gave Up Being Stronger

Sensing a threat to their lives, the Three Sister Prophets sought the Feyler Family. They knew they would not face assassination in the Feyler Family estate.

After a grueling journey, they finally reached the main gate, only to be struck dumb with astonishment.

‘Kim Chul-Soo…’

‘...is…’

‘...here?’

They could not show their surprise. If they did, rumors like ‘The Three Sister Prophets are frauds’ or ‘The prophets can’t see the future’ would spread like wildfire.

But this wasn’t entirely true. Making a prophecy required enormous mental and physical strength. Glimpsing the future was an intricate and challenging task. Even the renowned Three Sister Prophets could not peer into the future all the time. It was usual for events they had not foreseen to take place, but having rumors like ‘They can’t even see their future’ circulating among the public was far from ideal.

“Kim Chul-Soo.”

“We have come.”

In their efforts to maintain composure and hide their shock, they inadvertently exposed their inner thoughts to Cha Jin-Hyeok’s Broadcaster’s Insight.

[#Flustered #Shocked #Stay Calm #Don’t let him see our true feelings. #Girls, we are not surprised.]

Jin-Hyeok chose to not expose them. Instead, he feigned surprise, dramatically widening his eyes. “As expected! The Three Sister Prophets are amazing! You knew I was here and came to find me, right?”

“Seeing the future.”

“For us.”

“Is child’s play.”

“Why do you want to meet me? We’re not exactly close,” Jin-Hyeok said.

The eldest sister spoke first. “Kim Chul-Soo’s…”

This left the second sister a bit flustered. While the three sisters always split a sentence into three parts and spoke in turns, in this case, it felt like the older sister had irresponsibly thrown the burden of completing the sentence onto the second and third sisters.

With a sour expression, the second sister said, “Future…”

The youngest sister was aghast. She couldn't help but seethe at her older sisters. Seeing the future was an incredibly difficult task. Predicting an individual’s future was even more challenging. The sisters typically foresaw the future from a macro perspective, not the minutiae of personal lives. For instance, they could foresee a valuable artifact appearing in a Dungeon, but not who would acquire it or how.

The youngest sister could not forgive her older siblings irresponsibly throwing these words at her. She had always struggled to conclude their statements. At this moment, they had pushed her to her mental limits, and her frustration finally boiled over as she said, “We are here to look into your future!”

***

Seeing an individual’s future accurately was nearly impossible, almost unachievable.

“Our youngest.”

“Has just made”

“A reasonable proposal.”

The eldest and second sisters were once again struck with disbelief. In the end, their irresponsibility had earned them a stern rebuke from their youngest sibling.

Jin-Hyeok nodded. ‘As long as the view count is good.’

In a world where even Assassins were forgiven, he thought that assassination requests could surely be tolerated. After all, assassinations were technically part of the Play.

The sisters summoned their mental strength.

‘Let’s read.’

‘Chul-Soo’s.’

‘Surroundings.’

The Three Sister Prophets were also curious about Chul-Soo’s future. They wondered if his hands would be stained with blood or whether he would harm them or not. As they tried to peek into his future, they suddenly collapsed with blood-curdling screams. Blood-tinged tears streamed from their eyes. They lay on the ground, trembling violently. The moment they tried to glimpse Chul-Soo’s future, they felt as if the universe was devouring them.

“We cannot.”

“See Kim Chul-Soo’s.”

“Future!”

They coughed up blood. An inexplicable terror gripped their entire beings.

“Chul-Soo.”

“You are like.”

“An endless universe.”

Chul-Soo’s future was similar to an endless universe, yet different. It was something invisible to human eyes.

“A terribly.”

“Vast.”

“Corruption!”

It was a horrifyingly deep corruption. Just trying to peer into that abyss made them feel they were being tainted by it. A glimpse of it had caused blood to stream from their eyes and ears.

Jin-Hyeok quickly asked, “Did you see a vision?”

“We saw.”

“A terrible.”

“Vision.”

The Three Sister Prophets spoke in unison.

“The world’s strongest.”

“Madman is chasing us with a hammer.”

“Screaming that he is not insane.”

Jin-Hyeok sighed. “It seems they are frauds after all.”

***

Jin-Hyeok revealed everything he had read from their inner thoughts using Broadcaster’s Insight.

[#Flustered #Shocked #Stay Calm #Don’t let him see our true feelings. #Girls, we are not surprised.]

This was his revenge against the Three Sister Prophets, who had insulted him by calling him insane.

-LoL! I thought they could see the future.

-So, they were lying about how they can see the future? LMAO!

-Surely, there aren’t any idiots left who still believe these frauds?

Jin-Hyeok seriously told the viewers, “I’m actually quite sensible, you know.”

Unlike before his regression, when he was truly crazy, he had now become a genuinely sensible and ordinary person. He had developed a common sensibility that allowed him to connect with the masses. He was mad at the Three Sister Prophets for making such a ridiculous prophecy about someone like him.

-Chul-Soo is angry, lol.

-He didn’t even get mad when Song Ha-Young tried to steal the priestly robe.

-People tend to get angrier when something hits close to home.

Truly intelligent people were not affected by being called stupid, but those who worried they could be a bit lacking tended to lash out when someone called them stupid.

-Wait, doesn’t that mean the prophecy came true?

-He does seem to be shouting pretty earnestly that he’s not insane.

-It looks like the prophecy wasn’t wrong after all. LOL

“Ah, I forgot to ask them if they hired the Assassins,” Jin-Hyeok said. He had originally intended to confirm that but had gotten sidetracked by the Three Sister Prophets’ offer of making a prophecy. “I guess it’s not that important anyway.”

Focusing on trivial matters made it difficult to create proper content. He decided to concentrate on content production instead.

***

The Three Sister Prophets trembled violently. The future they had glimpsed was tormenting them, having taken on a vivid reality.

“Ugh!”

“Ah!”

“Aak!”

They screamed and woke up from their nightmare, drenched in cold sweat. The terror that Chul-Soo could attack them with a hammer at any moment, smashing their heads, had taken over their minds.

“The side effects.”

“Are too.”

“Severe.”

Prophecy was always difficult. However, trying to glimpse Chul-Soo’s future had dealt a massive blow to their minds and bodies.

“We cannot measure.”

“The weight of the future.”

“That Kim Chul-Soo bears.”

The greater a being was, the harder it was to glimpse their future. The sisters could state something with certainty.

“Chul-Soo might be.”

“The greatest of all.”

“We have ever encountered.”

They trembled as they watched Jin-Hyeok’s livestream. Jin-Hyeok spoke through the screen.

⌜Ah, I forgot to ask them if they hired the Assassins.⌟

⌜I guess it’s not that important anyway.⌟

It sounded like he was giving them a chance to come and beg for forgiveness, like a final absolution granted by a great ruler.

“Let’s go and kneel before him.”

“And apologize.”

The youngest sister bit her lip again.

If the elder sisters divided the sentence into ‘Let’s go’ and ‘Kneel,’ the youngest one could have just said ‘And apologize’ to finish the sentence. It could have been wrapped up so neatly, but once again, her older sisters had said the good parts first, leaving her with little to add. The eldest and second sisters stared at the youngest.

“And beg for forgiveness.”

The line was somewhat redundant with the second sister already saying apologize, but there was no helping it.

***

In a dark room, Kim Min-Ji, the official Chul-Soo Land No.1, smiled softly. The Succubus Lilia placed a glass of orange juice on the table beside her.

“You did it, didn’t you, Miss Min-Ji?” Lilia asked.

“Did what?”

“The Three Sister Prophets collapsing and bleeding.”

Min-Ji put on a serious face. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure, you have absolutely no idea. I’ll believe you.” After setting down the orange juice, Lilia turned and walked away gracefully.

“Lilia, I’m serious.”

“Yes, I know.”

As Lilia closed the door behind her, Min-Ji gulped down the orange juice and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “But I really am…”

The Three Sister Prophets daring to peek into Chul-Soo’s future was an unforgivable crime in Min-Ji’s eyes. To her, it felt like they were trying to hack into his life. She had intended to counter-attack them and melt their brains, but she was too late. The Three Sister Prophets had already collapsed, bleeding, before she could act.

Min-Ji scratched her head, gazing at the door. “Well… I guess it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t believe me.”

***

The Demon Sealing Ceremony was one of the grandest events in Arvis. The citizens of Arvis, well aware of the monsters’ strength, showed great interest in the ritual.

“Please let us get through this safely once again.”

“Help us overcome this crisis without harm.”

The Pope himself came forward to reassure the citizens, while high-ranking Priests and Paladins, led by the Feyler Family, began to gather. The dimensional gate to the other world was opening after five hundred years. Their faces were grim as they assembled to face the Demons that would pour out.

The Pope had foreseen the location of the dimensional gate through forty days of prayer.

“This time, the gate will open in the Ukla Plains.”

“Oh no!”

“A great disaster is coming.”

The Ukla Plains were a vast granary located in the Helen Empire. More than seventy percent of the wheat and rice consumed in the Helen Empire was produced there. If the Demon Sealing Ceremony were to take place there, the crop harvests would suffer greatly.

“We have no choice, do we?”

“If Demons break through, the damage will be far worse.”

Jin-Hyeok arrived at the Ukla Plains first, along with Garcia. They were waiting in a tent where the Feyler Family’s flag fluttered.

“We don’t know exactly when the dimensional gate will open,” Jin-Hyeok said.

The sky flickered purple at times, suddenly pouring rain, then was struck by lightning. As dimensions fluctuated and became unstable, various natural phenomena went haywire. While all these were signs of the dimensional gate opening, no one could predict the exact timing.

“Oh, a familiar face.”

Spotting Muenne in the crowd, Jin-Hyeok approached her.

“Sir Chul-Soo!” Muenne smiled brightly, seeing Jin-Hyeok after a long time.