I Gave Up Being Stronger

Cha Jin-Hyeok was genuinely surprised.

‘A Server-Grade item already?’

Among the items, there were a few that were labeled as ‘Server-Grade.’ These items could only be obtained within their respective Servers. They were usually based on myths or legends related to that Server, and the Golden Headband was one of them.

‘This is a rare item, only three of them have been found worldwide.’

The Golden Headband was an item that appeared in the story, Journey to the West. It was a special headband worn by Sun Wukong, one of the characters in the story. It was known to cause tremendous pain to him, reacting to the specific spell called Tight-Fillet Spell. Because of that, Sun Wukong submitted to the control of the Buddhist monk, Tang Sanzang.

The one who used this item the best was a Korean-American Player named Park Terse, who was considered the world’s strongest Tamer. He was called the world’s strongest Tamer because he was able to place the Golden Headband on the head of the Thunder Dragon.

[Golden Headband (Target: Angel Girl)]

[Grade: Server Specific

Special spell 「Tight-Fillet Spell」 can be activated.

Even during Jin-Hyeok’s prime, the Level of the Thunder Dragon was shown with just a question mark. It was not just because he was a sword-wielding-class Player. Even Players specialized in scout class could not definitively confirm the Level of the Thunder Dragon.

Countless teams from the strongest Server, Planet Arvis, attempted to raid the Thunder Dragon, but all of them failed. However, after using the Golden Headband, the dragon obediently submitted to Park Terse.

‘That means anyone can be made to submit as long as they wear this.’

It was an item that could make anyone below the Level of the Thunder Dragon obedient. Jin-Hyoek never imagined such an item would come out in this low-Level area.

Jin-Hyeok sighed.

‘What a truly fantastic piece of trash.’

It was true that the Golden Headband was a rare Server-Grade item on Earth, but of all things, it had to have a designated target.

‘Why is the target Angel Girl?’

The Golden Headband floated around in the air for a bit before it then settled on top of Angel Girl’s head all on its own.

“Wh…what is this?” Angel Girl asked.

Jin-Hyeok was not in the mood to answer her. In fact, he was quite unhappy

He finally encountered a Server-Grade item, only to see it being wasted like this. Even if it was not the Thunder Dragon, even just placing it on the head of a Lesser Spirit would've had greatly improved his life.

“What good is there in making her obedient?”

No matter how much he thought about it, there was not anything good about this. Knowing the usefulness of the Golden Headband, he could not help but feel disappointed. It felt like winning the lottery but having the winnings deposited into Cha Jin-Sol’s account.

‘What’s the other item?’

Jin-Hyeok decided to place his hope in that.

[Lifetime Contract]

[A contract between Players, guaranteed by the System.

This contract defines the first party as Player Kim Chul-Soo and the second party as Player Angel Girl.

0. The freedom of the second party belongs to the first party.

1. The first party can exercise ownership over all possessions of the second party.

2. The second party must respond to all demands of the first party, and failure to comply will immediately trigger the Tight-Fillet Spell.

3. The first party can share in all tangible and intangible rewards acquired by the second party.

*Detailed Content.]

If the Golden Headband exerted physical influence, then the Lifetime Contract seemed to be the administrative influence exerted by the System.

‘Ah…’

Jin-Hyeok initially expected around four billion won in compensation, which was exactly eight times the amount of five hundred million won. However, he was a bit disappointed that the reward fell short of his expectations.

‘Wait a minute…’

As a once virtuous official Player of the government, he was not inclined toward malicious thoughts. Although he was somewhat disappointed with the compensation, upon further consideration, it seemed like a quite favorable condition.

‘I know that she is going to be a Grand Rogue in the future.’

Jin-Hyeok had experienced hardships because of her as well. There were rumors that she had hidden cash amounting to tens of billions of won.

‘I should just think of her as a walking building.’

A walking building.

A splendid and high-quality building that would generate monthly rent. If he thought of it that way, this reward was quite good.

‘She is not going to remain at a low Level forever.’

If she grew up and truly became a Grand Rogue and made great Plays, it would ultimately be greatly beneficial for Jin-Hyeok too. By the way, stealing would be considered a great Play among Thieves. In fact, he had used contracts of this kind extensively, so he had a rough idea of what needed to be done.

[Detailed Content]

[1. The first party grants ____% of freedom to the second party.

2. The first party demands ____% of everything currently owned by the second party.

3. The first party shares ____% of all tangible and intangible rewards acquired by the second party.

4. The renewal of all contract conditions shall be done every ____ year(s).]

In a way, Angel Girl was a goose that laid golden eggs. By now, a contract with the same content would have been delivered to Angel Girl as well. Judging from her pale face, she had to have been quite frightened.

‘I shouldn’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.’

Rather, it would be better for him to have her not only grow steadily, but also have a foundation for her growth. Currently, she might be just a shabby pawnshop, but in the future, she would be worth the same as a building in Gangnam-gu.

Jin-Hyeok filled in the numbers for all the blank parts.

[Detailed Content]

[1. The first party grants 100% of freedom to the second party.

2. The first party demands 0% of everything currently owned by the second party.

3. The first party shares 0% of all tangible and intangible rewards acquired by the second party.

4. The renewal of all contract conditions shall be done every 1 year(s).]

For now, Jin-Hyeok decided not to demand anything. If he asked for too much right now, she would lose her motivation for growth.

‘I need her to grow and become a Grand Rogue.’

It was better to leave her alone for now.

The expression on Angel Girl’s face was quite amusing. She seemed confused about whether to laugh or cry. Eventually, she approached him cautiously and said, “...Thank you for showing mercy.”

“I wouldn’t call it mercy, but okay.”

The contract would be renewed every year. He did not understand why she was already grateful. She had no idea what he would do and what he would demand in a year.

“Still, thank you. I’m sorry for all the things that happened today.”

Jin-Hyeok decided to just ignore what she was saying. They were not particularly important at this point.

‘But I am curious about how strong this Golden Headband is.’

As he thought if he had to recite some kind of spell himself, he heard a System notification.

[Do you wish to activate the Golden Headband?]

When a Player obtained an item, it was customary for them to try it. That way, they could feel its performance and utilize it appropriately.

‘Activate.’

This was a natural step.

“AHHH!”

Jin-Hyeok heard a scream. It seemed like the performance of the item was quite remarkable.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Jin-Hyeok headed to the Shop Field near Jongno 3-ga Station. The Shop Field near Jongno 3-ga Station was filled with merchants called Dimension Merchants, and it was also the home of the Jewelry Workshop operated by Katrina.

Katrina was a man in his mid-thirties, well-built, and had a sensual figure. Although he looked like a woman at first glance, he was a cross-dressing man.

“Wow, for a beginner, you have quite a few gold bars.”

His voice was thin for a man, and thick for a woman. His body looked hard and sturdy.

“You are quite resourceful!”

The way he looked at Jin-Hyeok was somewhat unsettling.

In the future, Katrina’s alias was Man Hunter. Honestly, Jin-Hyeok did not have much desire to come here.

‘At least he is a businessman with a conscience.’

The best way to deal with him was to keep the conversation strictly business without mixing in any personal discussions.

“Hm… I think this should be worth around forty-two million Dias.”

Katrina leaned on the glass display case, crossed his arms, and looked at Jin-Hyeok with curious eyes.

“What’s the currency unit here?” he asked.

Katrina displayed a screen in the air that only he could see and searched through it. It seemed like he did not know much since he had just arrived recently.

“Ah, yes! The Korean won! Right, if we do it in Korean won, I will give you forty-five million won. How is that?”

This was a form of tax evasion. From his perspective, the Korean won was money with much less value than Dias.

In the future, Dias would become the world’s key currency. But it did not matter much to Jin-Hyeok at the moment.

“Alright. Let’s make the deal,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Wow~ It’s been a while since I had such a fast transaction like this. Alright, this is just for today. I am going to give you fifty million won for it. I am actually losing money on this deal~”

“Is that okay?”

“I’m giving you a good deal because I like you~”

“So you are willing to give fifty million won for this amount?”

“That’s right. Make sure to use my services often. Any. Service. You. Want.”

Katrina tried to pat Jin-Hyeok’s shoulder with his index finger, but Jin-Hyeok blocked it using the Broadcaster’s Barrier.

“Wow~ Are you friend-zoning me?”

“Can we trade some more?”

“What do you mean? You have more gold bars?”

Katrina’s eyes widened. It seemed that he was quite surprised that a rookie at Level 40 had so many gold bars, at least according to his standards.

“I have quite a few.”

“How many is ‘quite a few’?”

“More than you’d expect.”

“What Level are you?”

“I’m Level 40.”

After thinking for a moment, Katrina nodded.

“Alright, since this is our first deal, I will give you the same rate. Give them all.”

It felt like he was looking at Jin-Hyeok as if Jin-Hyeok couldn’t possibly have that many more gold bars.

“Thank you so much,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Jin-Hyeok had almost forty times more than what he initially took out.

“Wait… wait a minute.”

The gold bars kept coming out one after another.

“Why do you have so much?”

The amount Jin-Hyeok initially obtained was worth around five hundred million won. Then, it was doubled because of the Fast Lane of Wealth Achievement, and then it was doubled again thanks to the x2 Effect for the First Clear of the Dungeon.

Katrina, who had been smiling happily all along, suddenly turned pale.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Before regression, Jin-Hyeok’s team had many people supporting them from the back. He called them the Support Team, and he had some acquaintance with the leader of the Support Team, Ahn Ji-Won. He was a Level 7 civil servant of the same age as Jin-Hyeok and was a merchant-type Player.

“Whenever I go with you to trade with Katrina, I get a much better deal, Mr. Jin-Hyeok.”

“WIth me?”

“Yes. With you there, Katrina barely leaves any profit for himself!”

“No, you’re lying. What kind of merchant doesn’t leave a profit?”

It was the same as a government employee saying they weren’t busy. For reference, government employees in Jin-Hyeok’s previous life were always busy. Looking at Ji-Won, who was the same age as him but had so much hair loss, and the exhausted Support Team, the answer was clear. He remembered Ji-Won telling him that Ji-Won had lush hair before Ji-Won was assigned to his Support Team.

“Katrina will do that. He goes crazy whenever he sees a handsome man. If you ever have to directly trade precious metals in the future, make sure to go to Katrina.”

“Okay. Thanks for the tip.”

Ji-Won gave him various pieces of advice.

“Also, if you are going to trade with Katrina, make sure you do not take everything out at once.”

“Why?”

“I know Katrina and he will offer a condition with almost no profit, or even a negative margin because he would be attracted to your appearance. You have to proceed with future trade based on that condition. He is a loyal merchant, so he will stick to what he says.”

Ji-Won’s motto was to save every penny. It was also his creed that not a single penny of the country’s money would be wasted. Coming from such a person, this had to be valuable information.

‘He is right. Katrina really keeps his word.’

Ji-Won's advice was correct. Katrina handed Jin-Hyeok about two billion won with a pale face. It was precisely around 2.2 billion won, but Jin-Hyeok did not bother with the decimal places.

“And if you set aside a portion of that and give it back, Katrina will become an unparalleled business partner in the future. It’s a business partner if you put it nicely, but essentially Katrina will be a sucker for you.”

Back then, Jin-Hyeok wondered why deals had to be so complicated, but Ji-Won’s advice was quite effective.

“I will give you two hundred million won back. Just give me the twenty billion, without the decimals.”

“...Really?” Katrina asked.

“This is our first trade. I want to maintain a good relationship for future trades.”

Jin-Hyeok had to keep selling the gold bars in the future. He decided to aim for bigger profits rather than immediate small gains.

“Wow~ You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?”

They concluded the transaction to their mutual satisfaction. Katrina smiled and continued to flirt with him.

“Hey, I want to ask you for a favor, is that okay?” he asked.

‘Wait, this sounds like he is about to give me a Quest.’

[A Quest, 「Katrina’s Request」, has been created.]

Suddenly, Jin-Hyeok remembered his conversation with Ji-Won.

“Katrina would randomly give Quests to male Players he really likes. It’s amazing. We call it Kat-lotto because it’s like winning the lottery. I also want to win the Kat-lotto once and just retire as a civil servant… But I guess that’s not possible with my face.”