Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 105

Chapter 105

There was one GodTuber who was the best in the industry. Naturally, they were an overseas Hunter, and they had the highest number of subscribers in the world and the highest number of Likes. They were a top-notch Hunter and a GodTuber, but they did not stream frequently and did not receive any donations. Also, whenever they streamed, they insisted on solo play.

They also swore a lot in their stream. They were speaking in a foreign language, but after translating it, it roughly came out as: ‘Fxxking dungeon, dog-shxt dungeon, Fxxking shxtty axx dungeon, why the fxxk am I doing this, this fxxking dungeon can sxxk my dxxk, useless fxxking skills, why did I fxxking enter this goddxxn dungeon, balancing my fxxking axx’, etc… They would clear the dungeon while every word that came out of their mouth was a curse.

They killed monsters and cleared traps while cursing the monsters’ parents, grandparents, God, cousins, and even cousins’ cousins. Viewers? They never cared about them. Comments? They cursed there too.

However, they had always cleared dungeons that needed to be ‘managed,’ even those that people believed to be impossible to clear. They also killed the monsters in style while they were at it. They only went to the impossible dungeons of the highest level. After clearing them, they would always kick the head of the dead boss monster, with a pathetic-looking kick at that, and say things like ‘I can’t believe it took me this fxxking long to clear this one.’, ‘Fxxking hell, why did it take me this fxxking long.’, etc… They would then stream their quest completion window for the next two hours. And they never forgot to swear while doing it. That was the only time their swear words had some happiness in them.

The reason why people called them ‘That Hunter’ or ‘That Person’ is because they streamed with their face covered, so no one knew who they were. Even their username was something like ‘illlllilililllllll’, which was often used on anonymous websites. They also hid their gender and name, and their voice was altered. All people could tell was that they were very tall and skinny.

That was why fans call them ‘I.L.’ to differentiate them from other Hunters. They called them ‘I.L’ because their username only consisted of the letters ‘i’ and ‘l’, which gave the fans no other choice. People other than the fans called them ‘That Hunter’, and the Korean fandom called them ‘Swear Chum-Ji’. This nickname was given because they sounded like Kim Chum-Ji from the novel ‘A Lucky Day’. The fans used Swear as their last name, because, well, that was the only thing they knew about ‘That Hunter’. Other than that, some people called the Hunter ‘Nerd Chum-Ji,’ because they were a bit of a loser.

At that time, the mana recovery speed that ‘The Hunter’ showed while hunting the monsters was so fast that it was several dozen times that of a normal Hunter. All the famous experts were shocked.

“I’m sure my skills are very different from their skills. But they must have organized their skills better than me.”

Even the slightest mention like this helped aspiring Hunters like Ji-Cheok. Still, he had to draw a line here, because if he didn’t say anything about it, strange rumors could be circulating.

-Oh I see. It’s still very strange… Doesn’t that mean that he can keep on clearing dungeons as long as he is alive?

-It also means that he can clear several times more dungeons than an average Hunter.

-I mean… As long as he doesn’t get hurt, I’m okay…

-Umji-pooh, try to be careful… I’m worried you’ll get hurt…

?It seems that mostly the core fans gathered today because it wasn’t announced on your channel.?

‘Yeah, I think so too. I don’t really see many troll comments in the chat. But the number of viewers is also a bit lower than yesterday. I guess there’s nothing I can do about that.’

“Well, that’s why I came to this Fortress of Hope by myself today!”

‘Because I looked at yesterday’s clear, and thought I could clear this dungeon without the help of the team. Also, I wanted to try something out.’

“Just yesterday, I was standing in the Fortress of Hope. However, when I entered here yesterday, the message that popped up had me thinking. This was the message.”

[All actions taken to protect the Fortress of Hope are rewarded.]

A screen that Ji-Cheok had prepared in advance was displayed and shown to the viewers.

“What do they mean, when they say all actions taken to protect the Fortress of Hope? After pondering and researching the data, I found something interesting.”

-What? What did you find?

-Yeah, tell us, please.

Ji-Cheok had already shown something for the first time several times. Naturally, the chat began to overflow as the viewers realized something unusual.

“First of all… in the videos taken by other Hunters, there were occasions when this wall was broken. And I got information that repairing the wall will give me the title of [Repair Specialist]. And see those ballistas installed on the wall? If you repair those, you can earn the title of [Tinker].”

-So what? We can find this info from Wikipedia.

-That’s why there are Hunters who purposely destroy the wall or the ballistas and repair them.

-I heard that those titles are good for builder-type Hunters. Some large companies would help out their builder-type Hunters so that they could earn those titles in the dungeon.

-I could see that. Fortress of Hope is not really a dangerous dungeon.

‘Yupp. Everyone knew this much already.’

“So, I thought about it.”

-About what???

-This is the second time that you said that line. If you don’t spill, I’m just gonna go back to sleep.

‘Of course. Koreans and patience don’t belong in the same sentence.’

“How about protecting these NPC soldiers that are always fighting alongside the Hunters on this wall?”

Generally, Hunters would only think about killing the monsters and clearing the dungeon. Most of them would think that protecting the NPCs was useless. Everyone was busy in the dungeon because they had to be below level 55 to enter the Fortress of Hope. With a limited time to kill monsters and to level up, and to earn as many titles as possible, Hunters had to rely on maximum efficiency within their set strategy to successfully clear the dungeon. Even the occasional Blue Falcon Hunters did what they did because they were trying to find efficiency in their own way.

As a result, Hunters like Ji-Cheok, who tried to do all sorts of different experiments, were not present. On the other hand, Ji-Cheok was fixed at level 1, so he could essentially clear the Fortress of Hope infinitely and suck all the good stuff out of it.

‘More Likes, and more titles!’

[Keeper of the Walls] was a title that could be obtained by keeping the wall in perfect condition until the end of the wave of monsters. The weird thing about it was that the walls could be destroyed and repaired back, and he would still get the title if, in the end, the wall was in the same condition as the start. It would be a bonus to get additional titles like [Tinker] while repairing the castle walls. But Ji-Cheok hadn’t gotten the chance to earn this title yesterday.

?In other words, you are planning to acquire the title [Keeper of the Walls], while trying to acquire a new title by protecting the NPCs as well, Master!?

‘That is correct, my advisor. I will approve of your approval of this plan!’

“Now then, shall we get ready? It’s time for the monsters to appear soon. Let’s make this stream a crazy one, everybody!”

‘Let’s begin. First… Jump!’

Ji-Cheok jumped down the wall.

* * *

“Wow, Umji…is doing what Umji does best~”

As soon as it was lunchtime, Shin Ju-Ran saw the alarm and locked herself in her home office. Her lunch menu for today was a McDonald’s hamburger combo with large fries and large Coke. She would always eat the same meal for lunch. It was a habit from her elementary school days when she had to go back and forth between academies even though she was an Awakened. She just got the notification on Ji-Cheok’s GodTube channel and wanted to enjoy his stream while eating her Bacon Tomato Deluxe.

“Wow… He’s clearing one dungeon per day? Is that even possible?”

‘This dog-shxt System without any balancing in the jobs. I knew this would happen. Fxxking hell.’

Ju-Ran, who swore for about 0.3 seconds, watched as Ji-Cheok announced that he was going to protect the NPCs. She drank her Coke Zero and ate her fries while keeping her eyes on the screen as she was curious about what Ji-Cheok was going to do next.

‘It’s already so fun. If he was the same as others, I would’ve switched the channel instantly.’

She didn’t know why but Ji-Cheok was different from other GodTubers. If someone asked her what part was different, it was hard for her to pinpoint. Was it his work ethic? Most of the GodTubers worked hard on their channels. Was it his unusual content? There wasn’t a single GodTuber that didn’t have their own unusual content. Was it because he was taking care of his looks? Every GodTuber took care of their looks. Ju-Ran had suspicions as to whether he was investing his Points in his Charm, but then she realized that no crazy person would put their precious Points into their Charm and just forget about their Strength, Stamina, and Mana.

“Oh, yes. This guy is always acting as if the world is going to end if his stream goes down the drain.”

Even as she was saying it, she realized how stupid that sounded, but she couldn’t find any other reason.

‘He streamed as if his life was at stake. Maybe that’s why I’m so invested in his stream.’

Just then, the Ji-Cheok on the screen said something.

?Then, let’s make this stream a crazy one, everybody!?

Ji-Cheok dropped right down the wall.

‘That crazy bastard, it’s going to be full of Ant monsters down there! Don’t do it! How good it would be to kill some Ants first like last time. The teamwork was great. Why are you insisting on jumping into a pool of Ants and swimming in there? Ah I can’t watch this with a clear mind.’

Beep!

She pressed the intercom button.

?Yes, ma’am.?

“Give me a glass of whiskey on the rocks. Better yet…just give me the whole bottle.”

She was going to have Coke Zero with whiskey for lunch today.

?Ah, the Guardian’s Hope? Wouldn’t it be more fun to not use that overpowered item? What do you think, Cheok-Liang??

?Kang! Kang!?

?Alright. We need to go back to the basics. #Let’sgo!?

‘Okay. Umji. If I drink whiskey with Coke Zero, I’m sure I won’t gain a lot of weight, because it has less sugar. Anyway, this video might be his last one, so I can’t watch it sober.’

Tap.

Using her telekinesis, she opened the bottle of whiskey and poured it into a McDonald’s fountain cup rather than a glass. She didn’t care about the ratio. She just poured a lot.

Ji-Cheok summoned his Mono Bike G just before landing on the ground and got on it, exquisitely absorbing the shock.

‘Thank god.’

Just as she was feeling a little relieved, a flood of Ants began to pour out from the Portal in the distance.

A huge bear-shaped toy suddenly appeared in front of the Portal and landed in front of it. She didn’t know what was up with the toy, but the bear now blocked the Portal.

?Summon Indestructible Toy!?

Ji-Cheok revealed this skill from his previous stream. It wasn’t really an upgradable skill, so she wondered in which situation this skill would be used. Of course, the toy was not taunting the enemy the way an actual tank would have done, so the Ants were slowly pushing past it. Still, having a bottleneck in their way meant that their movement toward the wall was that much slower.

“I can’t believe he used the skill like that!”

She didn’t know if it was the whiskey or the soda that shot up her throat.

‘That’s spicy. My throat AND his stream!’

?Cheok-Liang!?

The small fennec hanging onto Ji-Cheok’s neck quickly became gigantic, about the size of a bull!

?Cheok-Liang! Left!?

?Kang!?

Two peop—no, one human and one giant fennec split left and right, predicting the path of the Stone Ants, and simultaneously activated their skill.

?Blaze Walk!?

A wall of flames rose behind both the fennec and the bike.

“The mana they just used should be twice, no, four?times as much as yesterday.”

The size and the length of the flame were incredible. Just as Ji-Cheok said, this was a skill that could not be used unless his mana was one hundred percent full.

1. A Korean classic novel. Kim Chum-Ji, the main character, is very tsundere toward his wife. He swears a lot, but still loves her to death.