Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 152

There had been a time when it felt as if the world was really going to end.

Monster Wave, Gate Wave, Dungeon Wave… The name of the incident varied. A lot of people died, and it didn’t just end with half of the population like in those superhero movies where the villain wiped out humanity with a snap of his finger. The infrastructure obviously collapsed, and nuclear power plants exploded. There were now advanced technologies used to purify the leaked radioactivity, but losing half of the population and land meant that the Earth would never be the peaceful world it once was.

Some countries were even wiped out entirely. In those that remained, crime rate had risen considerably because of poor public safety—the authorities were busy with more important things, after all. Except for large cities such as Seoul and Busan and satellite cities around them, monsters kept appearing out of nowhere. It was only natural that the Korean government was desperately trying to protect these big cities. Finally, the government put Warding Stones everywhere around the cities to stop the monsters from attacking them.

Agriculture had been replaced by drone farming and Smart Farms for quite some time. Jung Bi-Ga’s company was deeply involved there as well. It was now a thing of the past for grandmothers to drive farming tractors while smoking a cigarette.

For this reason, heading to the Imjin River before dawn was really not a good idea. It was okay to drive on the highway, thanks to the street lights, but the outskirts were pitch black. It wouldn’t be that surprising to be murdered in a place like this.

‘And that’s why Cheok-Liang was worrying about me.’

Fortunately, in South Korea, it was illegal to keep and bear arms. In countries where guns were permitted, people would ‘exchange’ a bullet for a bag of potatoes. There were satirical memes on the Internet calling them ‘bullet alchemists’. Even though the memes got famous, that country’s government still didn’t enforce gun control.

?Even in Korea, if people wanted to buy guns, they bought them from smugglers.?

‘There are monsters in the sea, so there is no way for the Coast Guard to check on those smuggling ships. It is impossible to prevent smuggling, since they only patrol the coast. That’s why smugglers in third-world countries hire a talented mercenary and just hold a ceremony for all the Gods related to the Sea. Then, they leave in their half-broken ships and pray to the Gods to survive. If they end up killed by monsters, that was their destiny, and if they live, they make money. Some of them even landed on the west coast of Korea and are now selling everything from organic Chilean drugs to firearms.’

?I heard that they make the most money from smuggling king crabs, Master.?

‘Yupp, that’s the drug that Koreans want. They love king crabs more than weed.’

Farmed snow crabs were less tasty and had less meat than wild king crabs, so the price of wild-caught king crabs had risen exponentially. There were old gulag prisons that had been turned into king crab fishing hubs. King crabs from the ice sea caught by political prisoners and ideological criminals who resisted dictatorship were now sold for around 500,000 to 600,000 won per kilogram. The price was crazy, but for Koreans, it was more reasonable than marijuana. If they had to buy one of the two with this amount of money, they chose the king crab in one hundred percent of cases.

They would eat the meat by steaming it and eat the crab intestines by mixing it with sesame oil, seaweed flakes, flying fish roe, and rice. They would also put the rest of the crab in ramyeon and make spicy fish soup. After eating, they would post pictures of the crabs on their social media to make their friends jealous. That high was better than the high from smoking weed.

The Russian mafia was deeply involved in the king crab business. They also sold guns from time to time. It was said that they transported the guns by land, through the area that used to be North Korea.

?Master! I think you are going too fast!?

‘I don’t want to get killed by Russian bullets.’

He drove Mono Bike G at a high speed, even though he was now far too strong for common criminals to do anything to him. A speed of more than three hundred kilometers per hour and the empty road with no cars in sight meant that for him, who had superhuman strength, transportation was more like teleportation.

If someone could kill him at this speed in this darkness, he would respect the hell out of them. However, thanks to [Heaven and Earth Iron Stance], he could withstand quite a few attacks with his body. He even had [Indomitability], so if someone attacked him, unless they instantly killed him, that would be the last thing they did.

Just like that, he rode his bike for a while. The fortress in Imjingak could be seen in the distance. In the past, it had been a tourist spot close to the bridge across the Imjin River; now, the bridge was locked, and thick barriers and a fortress had been built there. Before he could get close, the military barriers, guard posts, and soldiers blocked him.

“Halt! Name and purpose of visit, sir?”

The soldier looked very disciplined. Since Ji-Cheok had come here this late at night, it was natural for them to be on guard.

“I heard that Jung Ji-Han, the director of Jungjin, is in there…” Ji-Cheok said.

“I’m here! Mr. Um!”

‘Holy shit, he scared the crap out of me.’

He was not the only one surprised. All the soldiers at the guard post looked like they were about to have a heart attack. They all aimed their guns at Jung Ji-Han.

From the darkness next to the guard post, Ji-Han walked slowly toward the light. How long had he been there? Or had he just arrived? Ji-Cheok couldn’t tell. What was certain was that neither the soldiers at the guard post nor he had sensed that Jung Ji-Han was there.

He was wearing his customary three-piece suit with a long coat and matte black shoes. His shirt was still stiff, with not one crease. He looked as if he had just come to work. Anyone seeing him would have thought that it was Ji-Han’s first day at a stock company rather than doing who-knew-what at the Imjin River.

He stood there, not a single strand of hair out of place. The headlights were reflected in his glasses, so Ji-Cheok couldn’t see his expression.

“This is my pass,” Ji-Han said.

He walked toward the heavily armed soldiers and showed them his pass.

?I feel mana from that pass, Master.?

Ji-Cheok looked at the pass carefully, but somehow, he couldn’t see it properly even with his extraordinary eyes.

‘I can’t see what it looks like. How about you, Cheok-Liang?’

?I cannot see it either, Master. It looks like he cast a skill on it. I see the card, but I cannot see what is on it.?

“Clear, sir! I will open the barrier for you,” a soldier said while saluting.

The soldiers opened the barrier without any objection.

‘Is… this okay?’

“I will go with you,” Ji-Han said.

“Excuse me?”

Ji-Han walked toward Ji-Cheok and sat in the back seat of his Mono Bike G. Then, without waiting for Ji-Cheok to say anything, Ji-Han put his feet on the footrest of the rear seat and fixed them there by himself.

‘Who is this man? Does he really have foresight skills? He knows about the footrest!’

“We should go,” Ji-Han said.

“Ah… Okay. But where should we go?”

“We are going to cross the bridge.”

“Pardon me?”

‘Cross the bridge? What is he talking about? It’s been a long time since the area over the bridge became a demonic realm!’

When Ji-Cheok looked back, Ji-Han was staring at him blankly. It was hard to guess what kind of facial expression he had under those glasses.

?Master, what are you going to do??

Ji-Cheok’s head started to hurt from Cheok-Liang’s question.

‘Hm… I don’t know what to do… Let’s just go.’

Ji-Cheok had to find out what the hell his boss was thinking.

“This is necessary,” Ji-Han said.

‘Well if it’s necessary, then I have no choice.’

“Okay, I’ll start the engine.”

“Good.”

Vroom~

They drove past the soldiers.

Imjingak was dark because it was empty. There were almost no streetlights; the only things that allowed Ji-Cheok to see what was in front of him were the exceptionally bright moonlight, the bike headlights and his Qi-enhanced vision.

As soon as they crossed the river, they saw roads that had long since been destroyed and ruins of buildings that had been crushed during those chaotic days.

This was the point where civilization ended.

“There are many reasons why the bridge was not destroyed. One is to secure funds for the military unit. It’s quite difficult to operate an army with taxes alone. They kill easy monsters trying to cross the bridge, sell the bodies for money, and use the money to fund the army,” Ji-Han said.

Normal bullets wouldn’t kill even weak monsters, but special bullets would. Of course, they were lacking compared to Hunter skills, but they were still better than the Hunter Assistant gun that Ji-Cheok had used before.

“Ah, yes. I’ve heard about that before.”

It was fairly common knowledge. In the South Korea of the current days, when North Korea was gone and normal bullets didn’t work against monsters, being a professional soldier was very much like being a Hunter Assistant. It was dangerous and dirty, but it was also a well-paid job. Of course, even with the insane salary, only insane people wanted this insane job.

There was a theory that if a person killed enough monsters as a soldier, they would become Awakened. Ji-Cheok didn't know if that theory was officially tested, but many people in their twenties who became Awakened had military backgrounds. For this reason, quite a few people who were trying to change their lives volunteered to enlist in the military.

?The Ministry of Defense manipulated the media to say that if you kill a lot of monsters, you will become Awakened!?

?The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea is not smart enough to think of something like that! If they were smart, they would have renewed Gutgeoni!?

?We haven’t used Gutgeoni for a while now! Officially, the mascot of the Ministry of Defense is Himchani, the mighty tiger!?

?We have proof that you still use Gutgeoni in your events! If you changed your mascot, you should’ve used Himchani instead!?

Even though Gutgeoni had retired from being the mascot, he was still the symbol of the Ministry of Defense. There were some kids who confused Himchani with Hodori. Even Ji-Cheok couldn’t tell the difference between Hmchani and Hodori.

The authorities insisted that Gutgeoni had retired, but for some reason, he appeared at almost every military event, and the meme went on. Because people knew how their military worked, they knew that Gutgeoni would continue to be dragged into events, unless they were broadcast in the media.

Anyway, there were those who risked their lives in their twenties to become Awakened.

While passing through the destroyed ruins, Ji-Han spoke again.

“People lived here in the past. Now, as you can see, it is completely destroyed…”

There was a cottage visible in the distance. But in spite of its somewhat recognizable shape, it was no longer a place where people lived.

“So, where are we headed?”

Right as Ji-Cheok asked this, he saw a glowing arrow in front of him.

“You can follow the arrow.”

‘What the… When did he learn that skill?’

Guided by the arrow, Ji-Cheok drove with Ji-Han in the back seat. The bike rattled tremendously on the unpaved road, but there was no problem with the ride. The new and improved Mono Bike G had amazing shock absorbers! The bike was made for the off-road experience, so these unpaved roads were nothing. It was not like the government was going to lay asphalt across this dungeon-like land.

After passing through the ruins, they arrived at an area that had become a forest. The trees were not any of the species that normally grew on Earth; they were lifeforms from another dimension that had made the entire zone into a demonic realm. When the monsters had come out of the dungeons and made themselves at home in the area, these plants had come out with them. They were as tall as small apartment blocks, and the foliage was so thick that no light could go through. Of course, driving in the morning didn’t help with the light at all.

“Do not use your light. You will wake up monsters that are light-sensitive. But don’t worry, we can get through,” Ji-Han said.

“How about this light? And what about the sound of the engine?”

Ji-Cheok pointed at the glowing arrow.

“It is only visible to you. And I will handle the sounds of the bike.”

He took out something from his sleeve. It was a statue the size of a palm that looked twisted, like a spiral.

Ji-Cheok felt a wave of mana sweep over them.

“The sound is blocked now,” Ji-Han said.

‘If you say so…’

1. Imjingak is a park located on the banks of the Imjin River.

2. Gutgeoni was the mascot of the Ministry of Defense of South Korea from 2012 to 2020.

3. Himchani is the mascot since 2021.

4. Hodori was the official mascot of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul.