Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Around lunchtime, everyone checked out of the hotel and returned home.

“Ah~ Home sweet home,” Ji-Cheok said.

The hotel was luxurious, but it was nothing compared to his home. Of course, there were not many places that could match his renovated mansion. Mu-Cheok had even bought drones and was using them as housekeepers. He said something about not trusting humans in the house.

“And you can trust machines?”?Ji-Cheok said.

What Mu-Cheok said after, surprised his brother.

“I guess if the drones were hacked, it would be the same, but it would be easier to destroy drones, than killing actual people.”

“That…That’s true…”

Mu-Cheok seemed to be considerate of his brother. On top of that, they had discovered that the drones could be modified with [Arcane Golem Creation].

Beep~ Beep~ Beep~

When Ji-Cheok entered the house, a new drone greeted him warmly. This just showed how convenient it was to have money. He unpacked his bags.

“Since we are home, let’s check your rewards,” Ji-Cheok said.

“Hyung, before that, shouldn’t we check the message first?”

“The one from GOF?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“I guess I gotta do that first, considering the donation he gave me. Let me change first.”

“Okay.”

After putting the cleaned equipment into the locker, Ji-Cheok changed into comfortable clothes. Then he sat on the sofa with his brother and checked the message together.

“It’s in English.”

When he tapped the translation button, the message was translated into Korean.

[Guardian of Freedom-HH05]

[Dear Mr. Um,

Guardian of Freedom has been keeping an eye on your evolution. Although there is no video from inside the dungeon to evaluate your performance, many executives are paying close attention to you and your abilities. We have obtained information about the terms and conditions of the contract between you and Jungha Group. We are willing to offer you three times that, and also United States citizenship. In addition, we will compensate in full for the early termination fee payable to Jungha Group. Could you please contact me if you are interested?]

“Wow…”

“Wow… That’s pretty big.”

With Mu-Cheok’s exasperation, Ji-Cheok read the message in silence several times.

‘Three times? Three times the amount Jungha Group is paying me?’

This was not including the bonuses and other benefits, just the initial contract. What surprised Ji-Cheok was the part where GOF would compensate the early termination fee in full. The early termination fee was a lot of money, and they were willing to pay that.

“They say that the United States has money to burn,” Mu-Cheok said.

“If I just look at the money, it’s a tempting offer. But I don’t really like it.”

“Why?”

Mu-Cheok looked curious.

“The Awakened death rate is quite high in the United States.”

“Ah, that…”

There were statistics on the death rates of Awakened in each country. Surprisingly, Korea ranked forty-fifth among countries in the world, which was relatively low. The United States was sixteenth. Of course, there were fifteen countries with higher death rates, but ten of them were developing countries, so they couldn’t be compared. India had the highest death rate in the world.

“The United States is currently supporting small government conservatism, so the laws regarding the Awakened are quite loose,” Mu-Cheok mumbled.

Just as he said, Americans were actively challenging unexplored dungeons.

‘That’s why many Hunters are dying in America.’

However, Hunter-related content was booming in the United States. By this point, the GodTube streaming service was quite literally growing on the blood of the Hunters—they would turn the lives of the Hunters into money and pass some of that money on to the bereaved families. In these times, medical insurance was difficult to acquire, which made money even more precious. That was why GotTube was considered the flower of capitalism—though some might say that it was the bloody flower of evil. The flower would bear fruit and bring a considerable amount of profit, and the market was growing to such an extent that it could not be compared with Korea.

‘If I sign the contract, there will be times when I have to enter the dungeon, even if I don’t want to go. But what would happen to me when they randomly put me into a dungeon with no information?’

No matter how well-equipped and well-supported Ji-Cheok would be, he could easily be on the next day’s obituaries.In fact, the ‘Temple of [He_who_denies_death]’ dungeon was also a special dungeon with no information. The fact that other teams that had gone in before Ji-Cheok had been wiped out meant that the dungeon was too dangerous for Hunters to enter. In the end, the dungeon had been cleared, but if someone asked him now whether Ji-Han was a safety freak, Ji-Cheok would answer ‘absolutely not’. On the contrary, Ji-Han was rather a little impatient when it came to the team’s growth.

“Oh, come to think of it, we can upload the video from the dungeon now,” Mu-Cheok said.

“Yes.”

When Ji-Cheok asked about the recording at breakfast, the team answered that he could use it as much as he wanted. The team members were very casual about it, almost to the point of being anticlimactic.

‘Still, I should do some editing on the video.’

* * *

?The messages keep on coming, Master. Even though we covered the important scenes, the reactions from the viewers are very positive.?

Ji-Cheok sat cross-legged and put both of his hands in front of his stomach, and started meditating. He would be lying if he said that he meditated with the majestic spirit of nature in his breath—he merely inhaled man-made mana created using the Mana Circle and exhaled the impurities in his body.

That was the life of the modern era. It was the era of mass mana production! Back in the day, people were furious when they started to sell water. They were all like ‘who would pay money to buy water?’. However, nowadays, bottled water had become a nightmare for delivery drivers.

Mana production was the same as water.

‘Instead of pure, clean, and natural mana energy, now it’s time for all of us to breathe in that man-made mana!’

?Master, you need to concentrate.?

‘I know. My mind is still concentrated on meditation. Who knew that [Dual Spell Cast] would make multitasking possible while meditating?’

?You are right, Master.?

The [Dual Spell Cast] was a skill that allowed Ji-Cheok to use two magic skills at once, but after he learned the skill, he found out a surprising fact. He was able to think of two thoughts at the same time! At first, he thought he had learned one of the cultivation skills, [Twofold Will Art]. According to the information at the Likes Shop, the [Twofold Will Art] also split the mind in two, allowing the user to use two skills at the same time. The difference was that [Dual Spell Cast] only worked with magic skills, and [Twofold Will Art] only worked with cultivation skills. The important thing was that this skill would enable Ji-Cheok to think of two things at once. Normally, not meditating in a state of selflessness, where there were no idle or wandering thoughts, was the equivalent of a one-way ticket to the underworld due to cultivation deviation.

?Even if that’s the case, I hope you do not lose your concentration, Master.?

Cheok-Liang was right. One instance of cultivation deviation could be deadly to Ji-Cheok’s inner qi. His body could explode like a bomb, in an instant. Even if he survived, he would still be disabled for the rest of his life. There would be nothing he could do about it. Qi flowed through his entire body along the veins, and if it exploded, the body would explode as well. It was not like a person could be repaired by exchanging parts, like a car.

‘Think about having a stroke. Isn't a stroke caused by a sudden blockage of blood vessels in the brain? Imagine your qi bursting inside your body like that, you’re lucky if you survive. Anyway, are there any important messages?’

Ji-Cheok continued to breathe, circulating his inner qi, and asked a question with his spirit voice. Breathing was a very important factor in meditation, so he couldn’t open his mouth.

?Most of the messages only express the fans’ love and awe for Master. There are also some subtle interrogations, outright criticism, and proposals for a partnership with other GodTubers. The important messages are probably the new message from GOF and scouting offers from other companies.?

‘How are the terms?’

?The best one is from GOF. The scouting conditions from GOF have been raised. The fully paid termination fee and the U.S. citizenship are the same as before. But they offered six times the current salary.?

‘Six times? The last offer was only three times. I can’t believe they doubled the offer.’

?Yes. That is how highly they think of you, Master. Also, according to the information I gathered by searching various news in the United States, this offer is GOF’s best offer ever.?

‘At this point, they are just showing off how much money they have.’

?With this amount of money, even if you move to the United States, the probability of falling into a dangerous situation seems to be reduced because GOF is willing to bet on you with this kind of contract.?

‘What do you mean?’

?Think of their investment as your safety net. Losing Master in a dungeon would be a waste of their investment. Therefore, in order for them to recover their investment and obtain a long-term profit, they will treat Master with respect and care.?

‘It’s like the Barber Paradox, where they would take me with a big investment, so they could use me in a dangerous situation for me to be their money’s worth, but in reality, they would feel like they couldn’t really use me because they were afraid I would die and they would lose out of their investment and profit. Of course, they would probably use me anyway, in worst-case scenarios.’?

?How about it, Master? A lot of the safety part you were worried about has been solved.?

‘Still not interested.’

?You are pretty firm about that answer, Master.?

‘Well, first of all, from the experience of the mushroom dungeon and the recent temple dungeon, I really like my team. I’m sure the Hunters from the United States are also very well-trained, but I don’t know if I’ll get along with them as well as I get along with my current team. I am saying this from my experience of working in an organization, but the best thing to have is teammates that you love and work well with.’

?I understand, Master.?

‘And the same goes with the money. I can’t say that I wasn’t tempted by GOF offering six times my salary, but there will always be opportunities for us to make more money. The offer is not attractive enough to make me break up with my teammates.’

?You are amazing, Master.?

‘It’s nothing to be amazed about. Anyway, are there any other messages?’

?No, Master. Nothing important.?

‘Great. Open up the status window.’

[Um Ji-Cheok]

[Job: GodTube Influencer

Level: 1

Stamina: B

Strength: B

Agility: C

Mana: B (+1 Rank)

Charm: C

Intelligence: D

Class: Shiny Little GodTuber

Overall review: You have debuted successfully and began to rise in popularity. Gather Likes to become strong and famous.]

?This is great, Master. I still cannot believe these are the stats for a level one Hunter.?

‘I know right? Usually, you level up first, and use the stat points to raise the stats rank.’

Ordinary Hunters had separate status points that they got after leveling up, which they could use to raise their stats rank. The shitty thing about this was that if the rank didn’t go up, the Hunters’ power also didn't increase. For example, if a Hunter had 9 stat points, but 10 points were required to raise one rank—even if the Hunter put all 9 points toward one stat, it would not increase in rank, and even with 9/10 stat points, the Hunter would not be one tiny bit stronger, faster, or more agile.

‘That’s such a flawed system! The System should fix this!’

?I am glad Master can replace the stat points with Likes. However, according to the information I have gathered, you need one hundred times more Likes than the respective stat points to increase the status rank.?

Ji-Cheok’s abilities were overpowered even as they were, so if the number of Likes and the number of stat points needed were the same, then his abilities would have been truly out of this world.

‘Cheok-Liang.’

?Yes, Master.?

‘I felt something, after this dungeon.’

?What is it, Master??

‘The world I live in is not as secure as I believed.’