Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 199

Chapter 199

Even while Ji-Cheok was hunting inside the dungeon, his Likes continued to pile up.

‘Why is that?’

?This is a common phenomenon for GodTubers who are growing rapidly. Although you might not be posting content right now, more and more new users Like and subscribe as they watch your videos.?

This being the situation, Ji-Cheok decided to put his Likes to good use—buying Class 3 Magic Spells, specifically. He purchased [Improved Invisibility], [Remove Sound], [Remove Heat], [Remove Scent], and [Detection Resistance]. If he buffed himself with these illusion-type spells, he could become an invisible assassin!

In the case of the Class 2 Invisibility Spell, if he made any sudden or significant move, the invisibility would be broken. By comparison, the Class 3 Invisibility Spell had no such weakness. It was a miracle spell that did not break even with sudden and extreme motions!

These spells cost Ji-Cheok just under one million Likes, and they were so effective that the enemies couldn’t sense the team even if the latter danced naked in front of them. The downside was that, with the spells being so effective, the teammates couldn’t see each other either. So Ji-Cheok had to learn another skill.

[Chain Link]

[Class: Rare (Non-Upgradable)]

This skill connected him spiritually and mentally with his teammates. Like the Telepathy spell, they could communicate with each other’s thoughts and instinctively know where others were. It was a skill that had to be mastered as a commander. It was a higher-version skill of Improved Telepathy. This was not a magic spell, but rather a skill used by mental-type Hunters. Ji-Cheok purchased it and connected with his team members. The entire team was now a high-level assassin squad!

‘This way.’

Ha-Na took the lead. Her skill, [Guidance of the Stars], overlooked the entire dungeon, so it was easy for her to guide them around. According to the skill description, [Guidance of the Stars] simply ignored the laws of physics, so she could use it even in closed areas such as caves. It was ridiculously overpowered.

With her [Guidance of the Stars] skill, Ha-Na found several other mini-dungeons that existed inside this huge dungeon. These were the so-called [Dungeons within Dungeons]. It was said that these places were common in Wide-Area Dungeons. Ji-Han’s standard dungeon exploration procedure involved going inside all of these mini-dungeons.

One of them was a cave located on the northern shore of the rocky mountain. Since the rocky mountain was located at the eastern end of the island, it meant that this cave was on the northeastern side of the island.

“You can dispel your magic spells. There is no one around.”

“Got it.”

Ji-Cheok canceled all the magic spells that he had used on the team.

“You guys know that dungeon exploration takes a long time if we do it the standard way, right?” Ha-Na asked.

“Of course. It takes a long time because we have to explore dungeons within the dungeon. When I worked as a Hunter Assistant in the past, I had to go to a place like this and grab the loot, so I know it quite well,” Ji-Cheok said.

This was also on the written exam that he had to take before becoming a Hunter. If they were unlucky, exploring a Wide-Area Dungeon meant that they had to stay inside for three months! And Ji-Cheok knew that he had to turn this place inside out in order to find clues that would allow them to completely clear the dungeon.

In the case of some dungeons, it was said that the boss appeared only after finding a few secret rooms and performing a ritual. Sometimes, in those rooms, there were treasures, artifacts of the God, and even NPCs. The quest rewards from those NPCs were usually pretty great, but Ji-Cheok was genuinely not interested in those rewards. He was committed to finding a way to save the people of this dungeon. That was what he really wanted. And he believed that such a method indeed existed.

‘How do I know this? Minor Intuition said so. I guess it’s kind of obvious, since dungeons are made to be cleared. Besides, I still have no idea why this dungeon is forcing people to make the so-called Choice. ‘

There were clues all over the place, and Ji-Cheok was planning on looking for them. This meant that he did, in fact, have to go with the standard dungeon exploration method.

“We should consider the area around the rocky mountain as a safe area, and use it as a base to explore all other areas. Byul Ha-Na, please guide us.”

“You can count on me.”

Ha-Na took the lead. She was followed by Ji-Byeok, Ji-Han and Reable, then Seong Kwang and Mu-Cheok. Ji-Cheok was the last in the line. His role was to guard the rear and prevent any surprise attack from behind.

Eventually, they entered the cave.

“Light of the stars…”

Inside the dark cave with no light, Ha-Na summoned her starlight to guide the team. Several stars twinkled around them, dispelling the darkness.

The cave was wide enough for five people to stand comfortably next to each other, and it looked like the ceiling was also about five meters high. As they walked a couple of steps inside, they were welcomed with a quest.

Ding.

[You have received a quest.]

[Cave of Discarded Beings.]

[Difficulty: Four-star dungeon — Beginner

Even in the world created by the Fragment of the Twisted God, there are beings that need to be weeded out. This is the place to throw those beings away. They have nothing left to offer to the God, so they covet the things of others, just like the Undead.

Reward: Fragment of a God.]

‘A Fragment of a God?’

The difficulty level was Beginner, but it was still a four-star dungeon, so the reward was up to par. This was the third time for Ji-Cheok to experience a [Dungeon Within a Dungeon]. The first one was the Imp dungeon, and the second one was the one that Despair had forced him into.

It could be said that it was his first time experiencing a mini-dungeon in a normal way, and the same was true for his team members. From here on, it was up to their leader, Jung Ji-Han, to lead them through.

‘Come to think of it, this quest… There is no explanation on how to clear it. I thought there would be words like escape, destroy, or defeat…’

“This is an area where monsters with no intelligence appear. Be careful, because they can be more violent than the [Twisted Mutants]. Ji-Byeok, try and focus on protecting Ha-Na.”

“Of course!”

They moved forward. The cave gradually became bigger; soon, the ceiling was over twenty meters above their heads, while the side walls were at least thirty meters apart.

“Stop! I see something. One monster in front of us!”

At Ha-Na’s call, everyone stood still and readied their weapons. They could hear a sound from beyond the light.

“Krrrr…”

“Kiiiiaaak.”

What appeared in front of them was a monster whose appearance was even more bizarre than that of the [Twisted Mutants].

The [Twisted Mutants] also looked like they were mixed with a lot of beings, but at least they somewhat looked humanoid. The new monster, on the other hand, was so much worse. It had both?spider legs and human legs. It also had some lizard legs for good measure, three heads, and two mouths. This distorted creature moved in a prone position, like a lizard.

Ji-Cheok immediately used his Eye of Insight.

[Ravenous Twisted Mutant]

[Level: 81

Attribute: Void / Forest Shade / Choice

Weakness: ???

A miserable being that has been devoured so many times by others that only its shell remains. However, the [Recovery by Eating], a grace bestowed by the Fragment of the Twisted God, still remains, and it tries to fill its emptiness with that of others.]

The monster was staring at them.

“Kaak! Kak!”

“Krrrr..”

Different sounds came out of its mouths, and suddenly, a magic circle appeared around it.

‘Wait, that thing knows how to use magic spells?’

Ha-Na and Mu-Cheok both moved at a speed fast enough to leave afterimages. The arrows flew like lightning bolts, and Mu-Cheok’s dual pistols spewed fire.

Boom!

Mu-Cheok’s mana bullets collided with the magic circle, which blocked them and scattered them to pieces. In the meantime, the arrows were able to penetrate the monster’s body and drill big holes all over. A moment later, however, new flesh grew to cover the holes!

Tss….

Smoke rose from the wound as it healed in an instant!

‘What? I’m jealous! I want to have that kind of regeneration too!’

?How about purchasing the Troll’s Regeneration skill and upgrading it yourself, Master??

‘That won’t be affected by the [True Human] skill, right?’

?No, Master. Trolls are a different species.?

‘Damn. That’s a shame.’

While Ji-Cheok was thinking of something else, the approaching monster was quickly smashed to the ground by Ji-Byeok’s powerful punches. Her physical power was tremendous! Then, Mu-Cheok put a bullet in what looked like the thing’s head to finish it off.

‘I didn’t even have time to join in.’

“Oh wow, this is interesting~,” Reable said.

“What is?”

“This thing. It has a very little amount of soul.”

“What do you mean, a little amount? It’s either there or not.”

Reable smiled at Ji-Cheok’s question.

“Alright, pop quiz! If a soul is broken into fragments, what should it be called?”

“So that’s why the description of the quest said…”

Ji-Cheok suddenly realized.

‘...There is nothing left, only an empty shell. So this means that it has no soul?’

“That’s right. This monster has a very little soul left. Actually, it’s even hard to say that there is a soul… I would say it’s more like the remnant of a soul. Well, since it’s impossible for dungeons to create a soul out of nothing, I guess it’s not that surprising~”

Even as people who collected resources from the dungeons, they had no idea what he was talking about. Everyone seemed to be thinking ‘How does he know that?’.

“Anyway, it seems to be moving only based on the instincts of the body. It doesn’t have a soul, but the power of the System is still intact… This is very interesting. Can I keep it?” Reable asked.

“Yes, you can take it.”

Reable snapped his fingers. An Undead hand protruded from the ground and dragged the monster’s corpse into the ground.

Just then,

“Grrrrk. Grrrrk.”

“Kuuuuu!”

New monsters appeared one by one. Just like the last one, they appeared terribly mutated and distorted.

‘I can’t even find a single similarity between these things…’

“Jung Ji-Byeok.”

“Got it. LOOK AT ME!!!”

“O, great pig that feeds us with thy flesh! Give us thy blessing of protection!”

The moment Ji-Byeok stepped forward to use her taunt skill, a shield created by Seong Kwang covered her. The monsters reacted in kind and attacked the team.

The first to attack was a headless monster that looked mostly humanoid. All of its limbs were intact, and it simply looked like a naked man, but there was nothing above the neck. Instead, there were several horn-like bone protrusions on its shoulders and arms. The horns emitted light and discharged electricity.

The monster used its lightning attack on Ji-Byeok, but the attack was blocked by the shield. At the same time, the other monsters charged forward.

Ji-Cheok’s team responded in kind. As Ha-Na and Mu-Cheok attacked from a distance, Ji-Cheok ran past them.

‘Activate Soul Telekinesis!’

With the power of telekinesis, he flipped upside down and landed with his feet on the ceiling. While running on the ceiling with his Wall Drive skill, he used the Soul Telekinesis on the enemies.

‘I’m going to lump you all into a giant ball!’

Woong!

His telekinetic power grabbed the monsters and compressed them into one big cluster. The bullets from Mu-Cheok’s mana pistols rained down on them. At the same time, Ha-Na’s arrows exploded as they hit the monster cluster.

‘The ranged attacks of these two are so strong!’

Boom!

However, the monsters were acting differently from before.

Crack! Crunch!?

The monsters started biting each other and stuck tightly to each other. Right in front of the team’s eyes, they filled the gaps between each other with flesh.