Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 112

Chapter 112

‘Alright, shall we start? Live stream ON!’

Ji-Cheok greeted the viewers.

“Hello! Umji, Gumji! This is Um Ji-Cheok. I entered the [Fortress of Hope] yesterday too, but I’m here again today!”

A huge number of viewers started to enter Ji-Cheok’s stream. The number was incomparable to the small GodTuber’s channel.

-Umji, Hi~

-Hello Umji!!

-Umji is great! One dungeon per day… My heart is tingling…

-He just did a collab with a small channel earlier. Umji, are you taking care of the rookie GodTubers too?

?Umji also started from the bottom, so he might’ve felt some comradeship.

?And the GodTuber seems to be around the same age as Umji.

-I’ve never seen a Hunter who would clear a dungeon twice in a row. Also, is it true about the preview that you posted yesterday?

-Is it even possible to get first place in all four teams in [Fortress of Hope]? Is it?

“Yes, I’m going to try that out today. The other Hunters are also helping me out. They said that they were going to spectate and not help me fight the monsters. Aren’t they so generous?”

Ji-Cheok turned his camera to the Hunters that were sitting and resting in the corner. The other Hunters couldn’t disagree with what Ji-Cheok just said. If they did, it meant that they were just there to annoy and disrupt Ji-Cheok.

‘So… I’m just going to tell the viewers that you guys are cooperating. Please don’t help me out later!’

“I’m even doing a collab today!”

Ji-Cheok pretended to be friendly, clung to the side of Hunter Choco, and made a sociable gesture.

“Since this is a broadcast drone, I’m going to be mostly showing my face on this stream. Is it okay if I edit it later?” Ji-Cheok said.

“Of…of course! It’s your face anyway.”

‘You’re less tense than before, Hunter Choco.’

[Hunter Kim Choco thanks you for giving him the chance of a lifetime.]

[You have received 2 Likes.]

‘It looks like he decided to be in my team~ But I hope you don’t help me fight these monsters. I’m planning on doing the work of exactly one hundred Hunters.’

“Okay, then… I will start right away. It is advantageous to start early before the Portal opens up. Summon Mono Bike G!”

-He’s starting!

-Umji Let’s gooooooooooooo!!!!!

-No way hahaha. This ***** will definitely fail. There is no way he can defend all four sides.

-Nope~ With Umji, anything is possible~~ ???????????????

As the chat was debating whether he was going to succeed or fail, Ji-Cheok thought of the sunshine and the refreshing sports drink, and sang the theme song for Candy Candy.

‘I am Candy~ Even if I’m lonely or sad, I will never cry~ Alright, let’s smile~ Ready… set…’

“Let’s go!”

Vroom!!

Ji-Cheok ran down the wall with Mono Bike G. He jumped off the wall at the right moment, spun in mid-air, and landed in the wilderness. At the same time, Cheok-Liang turned gigantic and ran in the opposite direction. They ran out in a zigzag way to the far distance, where the Portal was.

“Activate [Cthugha’s Steps] and [Blaze Walk]! Cheok-Liang, activate [Unity]!”

[Summoned beast Cheok-Liang activated [Unity]. Now, Cheok-Liang can use his Master’s skills!]

‘Is it working properly?’

Hwaaak!

Just then, red and black flames arose at the same time, dancing wildly on the ground. The flames burned more intensely than yesterday, following the trajectory of the bike’s tires and the footsteps of Cheok-Liang.

‘Wow! This is pretty wild!’

It was the combination of his skills and the effect of his titles. Not only was the combination of two flames made possible, but with the addition of Cheok-Liang’s [Unity] skill, there were a total of four walls of flames blazing up at once.

-Huh? I didn’t see that yesterday!

-What is that? What the hell is going on?

-Wow… Fxxking hell!! That’s four walls of flames!! Four times the power!!!!! ?????

Before the Portal even opened up, there was already a sea of fire surrounding it. The flames from Hell and the flames of [Blaze Walk] burned everything in their path. The speed at which Ji-Cheok lost mana was astonishing, but it was well worth it, because he had the mana consumption reduction effect from his skills and titles!

?Master, it was a good idea to bring the [Very Small Branch of the World Tree].?

‘Yupp. I still had a trick up my sleeves.’

[Very Small Branch of the World Tree]

[Class: ?

Type: Ingredient/decoration

It is a very small branch of the World Tree. When decorated with it, it purifies the surroundings and generates high-purity mana.

100% increased mana regeneration within 10 meters.

Removes weak debuffs within 10 meters.]

‘This item helps my mana recover twice as fast. My mana recovery speed is already much faster than that of ordinary Hunters, but with this on top? It’s simply overpowered.’

[The [Very Small Branch of the World Tree] ability has been activated.]

[You have designated a range of 10 meters as a ‘Sacred Site’.]

[Within the Sacred Site, mana recovery has been increased by 100%.]

[Within the Sacred Site, minor debuffs are removed at all times.]

How did this work? It was simple. If Ji-Cheok wanted to restore his mana, he just had to stop. When he stopped, the branch designated the surrounding area as a ‘Sacred Site’ and his mana would regenerate very rapidly.

‘Who needs mana potions when you can recover your mana like this?’

Although his skills were eating up his mana like a fat kid with donuts, he kept his mana level even with his mana reduction effects from his titles and skills.

-His mana is A-rank, right?

-Is that possible with just A-rank? I know his titles are helping him out a bit, but still.

-That black flame looks different from normal fire-type skills. Is that a skill from a God of the Underworld, like Hades?

-I think it’s a skill from a God of another world, since it has ‘Cthugha’ in the skill name.

-How the hell did he get that skill book? I’m pretty sure you can’t buy it at the Hunter Store unless your job is related to the God.

‘Did someone ask something? I’m here to find out! Noble answers are what I’m… not about.Let’s just ignore them and continue forward!’

Vroom!

Ji-Cheok turned off his skills and returned to the fortress wall. Without stopping, he jumped up and ran up the wall! In a mere few moments, he had already jumped over the wall and gone straight to the watchtower. He used his Shadow just like the previous time.

Schoong!

He stuck the landing!

Thud!

?You are amazing, Master!?

‘Of course! I went through the same thing as last time, so it’s natural for me to get used to it, right?’

Ji-Cheok stuck to the wall, the same way he had done the first time, and kept driving! He ran down the second wall and fell straight down into the wilderness.

The Portal began to open in the distance. Ji-Cheok infused more of his mana in the Mono Bike G and sprinted at full speed.

‘It’s fun driving in the wind.’?

* * *

Nostradamus was his stream username. Since the world was like this, GodTube was overflowing with prophets. There were many streamers that practiced physiognomy, tarot cards, and fortune-telling, but there were also many streamers that had a God with prophetic abilities as their Patron. If the God had their own religious scripture or book of revelations, they would make their own prophecies about the apocalypse through the streamer.

The repertoire was roughly the same. It was usually along the lines of ‘Humans are doomed, and the good days are over’. After that, they would talk about how mankind needed to be purified by fire, lightning, rain, or pestilence. That was why cult leaders did GodTube, and cult members would make donations to the cult leaders. The leaders then took the donation and gave their blessings through the monitor.

Indeed, this was a world where cult members took blessings through their monitors.

In this crazy world, Nostradamus was a very unique streamer. This guy had no divination abilities whatsoever. His God had nothing to do with prophecy, either. In spite of that, he could still pretend. In short, he was a GodTuber who cosplayed a prophet. However, the way he talked was so bizarre that he was popular just from that.

“Today is the day of Mars. The Ant will die under the protection of 666.”

Surprisingly, his ability as a Hunter was quite outstanding, so he was currently a level 52 Dark Knight. He stood on the wall where Ji-Cheok was supposed to arrive last in the [Fortress of Hope.]

“Oh, the great Fortress of Hope will be purified by fire, and thousands of Ants will cry for Um Ji-Cheok.”

The ‘prophet’ thus started his stream. In his gray robe, holding a strange old book, he took a majestic pose.

Then, his fans started to laugh in the chat.

-His role-playing is so weird. Lol

-Even if he didn’t say that, I’m sure everyone was thinking the same thing.

-LOL LOL This guy always cracks me up! LOL

“I was able to see Hunter Um Ji-Cheok because the GodTube’s gaze was with me. Oh~ There will be the gaze of the almighty GodTube… Now he arrives at the last wall where I stand…”

Eerie music began to play. He frowned as he spoke sternly.

“I wonder if Hunter Um Ji-Cheok will be able to succeed in defending this [Fortress of Hope] with the swarms of Ants that have already reached two hundred meters from the wall… Oh, he’s coming. He is coming!”

He had a unique tone, quite befitting of an apocalyptic announcement. The chat was going crazy, and Nostradamus pointed his finger at the sky. Indeed, it was Ji-Cheok, soaring high into the sky through the watchtower wall at the vertex of the cubic fortress!

Whatever went up had to come down. Ji-Cheok thus came down like a shooting star, falling straight in the middle of the swarm of Ants.

Bam!

With the explosion, dark red flames and bright red flames rose, and the shells of the Ants started to burn.

“Ohh… Look! That is [Cthugha’s Steps]! That is a different kind of fire-type skill from [Blaze Walk]. As its name suggests, it is a skill that burns the Earth by summoning a heretic flame from another world. That’s right. He is the messenger of Hell foretold!”

-Just make your own religion, will ya? LOL

-This man is fking crazy!! LOL

-He sounds more like a cult leader than an actual cult leader. Hahahahaha.

While Nostradamus was gaining popularity, Ji-Cheok’s bike was sprinting through the waves of Ants as if he was Moses parting the sea. And then, suddenly, it started. A dance of intense flames erupted in the path of Ji-Cheok. Every single Ant that came in contact with the flame turned bright red in an instant and popped! Their shells exploded as they died.

* * *

With the Double Strike activated, Ji-Cheok’s bike turned into a lawn mower.

Swish! Schwing! Crunch!

The two flames burned the ground and the Ants at the same time. They burned Ants that were running, jumping, body-checking, and Ants that were partnering up to attack Ji-Cheok. He cut them in half in one fluid motion and went on his way. The headcount rose from a few dozen to a hundred in an instant. He was able to reach the Portal just before reaching two hundred.

‘Do you think we can make kimchi with Stone Ants?’

?According to my search results, you cannot make kimchi with Stone Ants, but you can make a jar that stores kimchi with the shells of the Stone Ants, Master. This was discovered by Kwon Mak-Sun, a living national treasure.?

‘That’s Korea for you. Everything relates to kimchi!’

1. Candy Candy is a Japanese anime series that aired in Korea. Its theme song is very popular among the 70s kids.

2. Team Rocket, go!