Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 212

Ji-Cheok had talked about searching the entire dungeon before, but that was bound to take too long. Ji-Han had put the brakes on Ji-Cheok’s plans and declared that he would destroy the dungeon according to his own schedule, even if it was without Reable or Ji-Cheok. This meant that Ji-Han was not going to wait for him to find a way to save the Tama people.

So, in the meantime, Ji-Cheok had to figure out what to do on his own.

‘I understand. I’m sure he sees something that I don’t with his divination skills.’

[You have received a [God Request].]

[Kill Jung Ji-Han — 10,000,000 Likes.]

[You have received a [God Request].]

[Betray Jung Ji-Han — 10,000,000 Likes.]

[You have received a [God Request].]

[Summon [Crawler from the Dead] — 10,000,000 Likes.]

In the last while, Ji-Cheok’s notification board had been flooded with requests from the Gods. The base price of a God Request seemed to be ten million Likes, since every God Request he had gotten was priced at ten million.

“Why are you frowning so much?”

Ji-Cheok was floating in the sky using Soul Telekinesis, looking down at the island, thinking about yesterday’s events while looking at the pesky requests from the Gods. Reable, who was using a Specter as a chair, found Ji-Cheok’s expression rather confusing.

“I am just thinking about Director Ji-Han.”

“Why? Are you pouting because Ji-Han didn’t help you?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. He just seems really motivated…”

“Huh? That’s weird.”

“You know how he is. He is always like, ‘Try your best, but even if you do, you won’t succeed.’ He’s being an asshole.”

“Hahahahaha! Ah~ This is why you never cease to amaze me~”

“Me? Or the Director?”

“Both of you. Hahaha!”

‘I’m sure Ji-Han and I are just toys to this God.’

“So what are you going to do, Mr. Umji? How can I help you?

“You said you can absorb energy from corpses, right?”

“Yes. Energy absorption spells are Necromancers’ specialty. It doesn’t matter if it’s living or dead, everything has its own energy.”

“And can you transfer me the energy you absorbed?”

“Of course I can transfer it~ What about it?”

“Well, I was being serious before.”

“About what?”

“When I said I was going to turn this island upside down.”

‘Yeah, I’m going to physically take this whole place apart.’

“Huh?!”

‘Cheok-Liang!’

?Yes, Master. I have got the whole thing ready. According to my calculations, you have to spend 3.821 million Likes.?

‘Buy it!’

?As you wish, Master!?

The God of Spirits had told him ‘If you find the one that is asleep, you shall get what you want.’ And the God of War had told him that if he reached the level of Mind Origin Sword, then he would be able to solve this problem. However, the path to the Mind Origin Sword Realm was far and elusive. For now, he was going to act on the God of Spirits' advice. He had decided to push forward with the method of finding whoever it was that was asleep, dumb though it sounded.

Psss! Flash!

Suddenly, light flashed all over Ji-Cheok’s body. This was a sign that the effectiveness of the skill [True Human] was being maximized. [True Human] was a higher-level skill of [Human]. It was important that these could overlap.

[[Human] — Function: Optimize the efficiency of all abilities while human.]

[[True Human] — Function: Increase the efficiency of all abilities while human.]

Optimization and increased efficiency. Thanks to these two things, he had increased his Qi to nearly five times the original amount. Now, Ji-Cheok wondered if he could increase it ten times more. In other words, he thought he could get fifty times more Qi than he had in the first place. It seemed unbelievable, but it was, in fact, possible.

Due to special treatment from the System, Ji-Cheok had one single attribute called Mana and Cultivation instead of separate ones. This meant that his Qi and mana were linked, which in turn meant that if he had skills or items that increased his mana amount, his Qi also increased.

The four skills, [Mana Liver], [Mana Skeleton], [Mana Spleen], and [Mana Stomach], all allowed his internal organs and bones to generate or contain mana. The [Mana Liver] allowed his blood to collect mana, the [Mana Skeleton] allowed his bones to collect mana. The [Mana Spleen] and the [Mana Stomach] were also vessels for containing mana. These alone increased his amount of mana by several times the original amount.

Also, Ji-Cheok had learned [Northern Darkness Divine Art]. It had cost him ten million Likes to obtain the skill, and another ten million Likes to access the God’s Grace Service, which allowed him to combine the skill with [Heaven and Earth Chaotic Divine Art].

In addition to that, Ji-Cheok now learned the [Class 2 Mana Control] skill created by the God of Magic. His mana and Qi exploded, and the [Human] and [True Human] effects, which were already in synergy, were united into one with the [Northern Darkness Divine Art].

Rooooaaarrrr!

A powerful vortex of Qi rose from his entire body, engulfing his surroundings. Yet, in spite of the storm within and without, Ji-Cheok’s head remained cool and his mind clear. As he contemplated what was happening, he felt the turbulent Qi within him. It wouldn’t be strange if his body just exploded from Cultivation Deviation! Thankfully, he was well in control of his body. This was all because he had been taught by the God of War how to wield the Formless Sword.

And this was the result!

Whoosh!

Every bit of Qi that he had surged up, transforming his body in the process.

Crack!

With bone-cracking sounds, his body began to change once more. It was a natural Metamorphosis! Ji-Cheok also expected this to happen, because the God of War had already told him about it. According to him, if Ji-Cheok increased his amount of Qi sufficiently, he would undergo another Metamorphosis.

“Whew…”

The transformation was quick, and just like the previous time, his skin emitted a foul odor. At the same time, System notifications popped one after the other, announcing his transformation.

[You have increased the rank of Mana and Cultivation.]

[The rank of Mana and Cultivation has become S+.]

[You have increased the rank of Mana and Cultivation.]

[The rank of Mana and Cultivation has become SS.]

[You have increased the rank of Mana and Cultivation.]

[The rank of Mana and Cultivation has become SS+.]

[You have increased the rank of Mana and Cultivation.

[It cannot be increased further without Enlightenment.]

[The rank of Mana and Cultivation has become SS++.]

[You have increased the rank of Mana and Cultivation.]

[It cannot be increased further without Enlightenment.]

[The rank of Mana and Cultivation has become SS+++.]

The stats window had turned weird—instead of becoming SSS, his Mana and Cultivation rank now had three plus signs after SS! He was overflowing with power and was about to explode!

“Wooow!! Mr. Umji~ What’s going on? How did you suddenly change like that?”

“There is always a way.”

The explosion of power made Ji-Cheok feel omnipotent, but in reality, he was far from it. His new power was enormous, but he had exactly zero experience using it. That was bound to improve the next day when he could use the [Training Space of the God of War] and the [Teaching of the God of War] once more, but for now, he had to make do with what he already knew.

‘Now then.’

“Let’s start turning this place upside down.”

Boom!

The ground exploded.

* * *

Bernade Itum’s appearance could be described as what the Greek god Pan would have looked like if he was beautiful. It was the opinion of those within the Tama Clan that her profession as a Druid Wizard likely played a role in shaping her appearance. In any case, whatever it was that made her body look that way, as she stood inside the tent that housed Macaw of the White Charcoal, her face had an expression of alarm.

“My God…”

“Now I see why she has her eyes on him”

Druids could befriend birds, and it was even possible to have control over them. As a Druid Wizard, she was using her birds to survey the surroundings, while Macaw was scouting with his own magical powers. And there was certainly a lot to see.

By this point, the dungeon was almost completely devoid of monsters. There were some Twisted and Mutated Entities that survived, but they were few and far between. Most of the survivors were Cannibals. The Cultists had been wiped out, as they fought without fear of death, but the Cannibals were more concerned with their survival.

That was why the two Tama could scout the dungeon without being interrupted—there was no one to interfere. It was under these circumstances that they spotted Ji-Cheok and Reable. The sight of the two of them floating in the sky was amazing, but not impossible with proper skills. What shocked them came right after that.

Right now, in real-time…

Boom!

The two were watching a marvelous sight.

There was a glowing line in the sky that appeared to be about a kilometer long and thirty or so meters wide. From a distance, it might look like a very large tape measure, a glowing tape measure. It went down to the ground, and it moved like a forklift, tearing up the ground. It pulverized the ground, the trees, the rocks, the soil, and everything else in the way.

As she watched in horror, she realized that the glowing tape measure was a Sword Qi blade. Ji-Cheok had increased the length of his Sword Qi to about a kilometer!

“Is it possible for Sword Qi to stretch… like that?”

“I guess it is possible for him.”

“How much Qi does he need to have to perform something like that?”

“Maybe he has some special skills…”

This dungeon was located on an island that was about half the size of Jeju Island. However, looking at the thing that was turning the ground upside down one kilometer at a time, she instinctively knew that the entire island would be dug up before long.

“Amazing…”

“I think so too, Mr. Macaw. But…”

Bernade watched with a puzzled expression.

“Why is he doing that?”

She couldn’t understand Ji-Cheok’s behavior. But how could anyone possibly understand a guy who was doing heavy construction work inside a dungeon?

* * *

“HAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA! HAHA—cough, cough!”

It was Ji-Cheok’s first time seeing a God who laughed so hard that he coughed.

‘I should think of making some GodTube content later with this. If I can get rid of the skeletons and the corpses, and get a good shot in, it might be a hit.’

[You have received 26 Likes.]

[You have received 36 Likes.]

[You have received 1,200 Likes.]

[You have received 1,200 Likes.]

[You have received 1,200…]

The Gods’ Likes were rolling in.

‘I guess the Gods weren’t expecting this. Anyway, who keeps sending Likes in the tens? I thought the Likes I get from GodTube don’t show up as messages by default.’

Boom!

He generated an incredibly massive blade of Sword Qi and used it to tear up the ground, crushing plants and everything in his path. The reason he could do this was that he had gained the proficiency to wield the Formless Sword.

[Formless Sword]

[The art of wielding an intangible sword. Although it is said to be formless, it is just a figure of speech. It is a generic term for a sword made entirely of Qi. Since it is made by utilizing Qi, its shape is not fixed and can change.

Requires a cultivation skill rated as a Divine Art, rank A or higher.

Requires Cultivation rank S or higher.]

With the Formless Sword, it was possible to create such an incredibly massive Sword Qi if one’s Qi allowed it. Of course, it wasn’t an absolute ability by any means;’Ji-Cheok had heard that there were quite a few boss monsters and Hunters level 100 and higher with defensive abilities that nullified Sword Qi and similar skills on a fundamental level.

This skill was good for smurfing on low-level monsters, but it was not that effective for the really strong opponents.

Still, it was very useful at times such as this—a large-scale heavy construction.

1. Jeju Island is an oval approximately 73 x 41km.