Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 222

Ji-Cheok turned on GodTube, opened his channel, found [Limping_master_of_fire_and_hammer] among his subscribers, and sent him a message.

-Are you available to talk?

The god actually replied right away. It wasn’t through the message system of GodTube, but a direct message from the God himself.

[[Limping_master_of_fire_and_hammer] is looking at you.]

[[Limping_master_of_fire_and_hammer] has sent you a message.]

-[What can I do for you, newcomer?]

When the message came from the God, Ji-Cheok knew the exact location of the God. He had created his own World, and he was watching Ji-Cheok from within it. Well, it was technically called a ‘World’ but it was really just a dungeon like any other. As Ji-Cheok knew, many of the dungeons were naturally occurring, but a few were the handiwork of the Gods themselves.

‘By the way, that God has got some serious tone. No wonder he is the most famous self-made God from Greek mythology.’

[[GodTube_superstar] has sent a message.]

-[I want to trade for your knowledge.]

Ji-Cheok sent him a message, and he replied right back.

-[Knowledge? What kind of knowledge do you want from me?]

-[Do you have the knowledge to build a dimensional barrier? If so, I would like to trade with you.]

-[Perhaps it is because you have only just risen from mortal to a God. Do you wish to protect this world?]

-[You make it sound like you don’t.]

-[Of course not. I do not care if the world is destroyed. I am sure there are a few people like you who want to, but they are not the majority.]

‘Just as expected… I was right. These Gods don’t care what happens to the human race. They don’t care what happens to the planet.’

-[Enough chit-chat. To answer your question, I have the knowledge. It is not that valuable anyway. But what will you give me in exchange for the knowledge?]

-[I don’t know. I’ve only just become a God.]

-[You’ve got a pure heart. I like it. I am tired of deceitful beings…]

‘Why, Mr. Hephaestus, I wasn’t expecting you to suddenly speak up as if you have a story to tell. That caught me off guard.’

-[I realize that you are one of the rare Gods that deal directly with Karma. Hand over some of the Karma that you have.]

[[Limping_master_of_fire_and_hammer] demands 100,000,000 Likes.]

[Y/N]

‘Hm… So you want my Likes. One hundred million Likes! That’s a lot! But… to save the world from destruction, I will gladly spend it.’

He immediately granted the God’s request, and a moment later, he received the reply.

[You have acquired the [Dimensional Barrier Blueprint].]

The product was delivered instantly. The skill was quickly infused into his memory, and he now had a clear idea of how to build a dimensional barrier.

‘Wow… Can I even make this? Is this real?’

-[You are definitely interesting, newcomer. I will keep an eye on you.]

.

With those last words, Hephaestus fell silent. However, Ji-Cheok could feel the God watching him. Since his channel dedicated to the Gods was still open, it couldn’t be helped.

‘Anyway, how do you even make this thing?’

?It is supposed to protect the entire world, so it is bound to be difficult, Master.?

He immediately shared the [Dimensional Barrier Blueprint] with Cheok-Liang.

First, he needed to drill fifty-kilometer-high metal pillars into the Earth’s North and South Poles, and these metal pillars were not just any pillars. They had to be infused with mana, and the crafting process was annoying as hell. Next, he had to inject a huge amount of mana when activating them for the first time, and there was also a caveat: when they did activate, the process was going to cause a massive dimensional warp around them, and all sorts of monsters and Gods were going to try and destroy them.

But the good news was that once they were up and running, they would receive sunlight and charge themselves with energy to keep them going automatically. There was something called solar mana in the sun that made that possible. It meant that he did not have to worry about maintenance…

Ji-Cheok was seriously concerned about crafting these pillars.

They had to be fifty kilometers long and about three kilometers thick. If the countries of the world decided to help and put their efforts into making them, it was possible, but he didn’t think it could be done within a year.

These giant pillars were essentially the ultimate form of the Warding Stones that prevented dungeons from appearing.

?It looks like both of your mana-burning and dimensional barrier plans are impossible, Master.?

“Sigh. At this rate, I might as well just destroy all the dungeons. I guess there is a reason why Despair showed me that kind of future…”

He thought about the vivid future shown by the esteemed Despair, the antithesis of the God of Hope.

‘Ah, I remember being so hopeless then. It seems that such a future is not far off. How depressing.’

?I do not think that now is the time to think about the means and the methods, Master. We should do whatever it takes to save the world.?

“You are right. But before we do that, let’s ask Ji-Han first. I need to know what the hell he is up to with his divination skills.”

?Yes, Master. It is definitely important to get information from him, but what are you going to do about the Enchantment Stones and the Random Chests??

“I’m going to do an unboxing stream when I get out of the Training Space of the God of War.”

The unboxing videos brought him a lot of Likes anyway, and these were no ordinary Random Chests—they were Platinum Random Chests! He knew that something Legendary was going to be inside them.

As for the Enchantment Stones, in simple terms, they could be used to upgrade anything.

‘I’ve never actually gotten an Enchantment Stone before… Hm…’

“Cheok-Liang,”

?Yes, Master. I am listening.?

“Why don’t I use the Enchantment Stones on you?

?You want to use the stones on me??

“Well… If you look at the description…”

[Definitive Enchantment Stone]

[Class: S

Anything that belongs to the Awakened can be upgraded.]

“Since it says ‘anything’, I wonder if it can enhance things other than skills and items, such as summoned beasts.”

?You have a point, Master. But even if that is the case, wouldn’t it be more efficient for you to use it on your cultivation, which is your main combat skill, rather than me??

“I don’t think this can increase the rank of my skill, so I don’t know if it is going to be worth it.”

Now that Ji-Cheok had gotten deeper into cultivation and became a God, he had a better idea of the realms of cultivation. It was funny that he was just getting started to understand the realms of cultivation while using his Mind Sword, but right now, that didn’t matter.

In any case, one thing he knew was upgrading his cultivation skills with Definitive Enchantment Stones wouldn’t help him much. As for his items, it was not like he had some sort of incredible item that would benefit him in a significant way if he upgraded it.

?Let’s not act so hastily on this one, Master. We still have some time.?

“You want me to think about it more, right?”

?Yes, Master. I am fairly certain that you can also transfer the Definitive Enchantment Stones to others if you wanted.?

“Ah, that’s right. It’s not a bad idea to give them to Mu-Cheok or Ji-Han.”

?Yes, Master. If we are strictly talking about increasing the power of our team, that might be a better choice.?

“Okay. Shall we leave this place then?”

Currently, he had over one hundred million Likes and one unused Legendary Skill Voucher. He also had three Platinum Random Chests and three Definitive Enchantment Stones.

Even with those, he had a long way to go.

? ? ?

Everyone had fallen asleep. They had all leveled up and become superhuman, but they still needed to rest. With the help of the World Tree and the power of the potions, they were back in full condition, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have to sleep.

So, Ji-Cheok was just waiting. He was waiting for Ji-Han to come back from wherever he was. While waiting, he was also thinking about what to spend the last Legendary Skill Voucher on. He was thinking about which skill could even be useful to him, now that he was in the realm of using Mind Sword.

‘I just realized I can use Double Strike on Mind Sword… The System sure is powerful.’

Step. Step.

?He is here, Master.?

‘I can see that. But Reable is not with him.’

“You weren’t sleeping?”

Ji-Han walked over to the swim-up bar in the center of the swimming pool where Ji-Cheok was waiting. However, since it was two in the morning, there were no bartenders, and no people other than Ji-Cheok either. This was only possible because they had the entire hotel to themselves.

“I don’t have to sleep anymore,” Ji-Cheok answered.

“That’s not a very good thing, honestly.”

“Even if that’s true, what can I do…”

Ji-Han remained expressionless at Ji-Cheok’s words. Then, he came and sat down next to him.

“Are you here because you were waiting for me?”

“Yes, I have a few questions for you.”

“I see…”

Ji-Han stretched out his hand. One of the bottles on the wall of the bar flew out and landed in his hand. He unscrewed the cap and took a solid swig.

“You want some?”

“I’m good.”

“I see. So, what are you curious about?”

“In any of the futures you have seen, is there any way to keep the Tutorial going?”

Ji-Han looked a little dazed at his question. It was not so much dazed as surprised. It was so faint that it was hard to figure out what he was thinking.

“Can you tell me why you are asking me that?”

“Well, for starters…”

Ji-Cheok told him about the things he had discovered since becoming a God. And he had planned.

“That’s quite an accomplishment, Ji-Cheok. Now that you are a God, it seems that the restrictions have loosened.”

“Loosened?”

“Normally, the things you are saying right now are not supposed to be utterable in this world. Just like the things I tried to say before and couldn’t.”

‘Ah, yes. I remember.”

“Everything you told me is correct. The world is already doomed. The dimensions have been destabilized, and the System is the only thing still holding the whole thing together. To reverse this, you need to make the destroyed world whole again. Creating dimensional barriers, burning mana, and wiping out dungeons are all ultimately just stalling tactics.”

‘Hm… Just as I expected.’

“In the end, a future with countless dungeons is inevitable, so I am aiming to ensure that humanity can survive on its own in that future.”

“So you’re saying that the human race can’t prevent the world’s destruction, so you are thinking of ways to survive after the destruction. Is that it?”

“Yes. In order to continue human civilization, and for humanity to survive… in my plan, about seven hundred million people will survive to form nations, maintain civilization, and evolve and develop.”

‘Only seven hundred million people?!’

It seemed unrealistic. It was an ending where the dead overwhelmingly outnumbered the living.

‘This guy… How could he tell such a story so nonchalantly…’

“I am probably the only one who knows the future accurately, but there are others who have predicted, foreseen, or otherwise acquired information about the future of world destruction. It is my plan to work with some of them to protect the future.”

“Is that a realistic plan?”

“I can’t be certain, because the future is not fixed. In fact, so far I don’t see anything but the complete destruction of humanity. .”

‘So thanks to the monsters and mythical beings pouring out of the dungeons, humanity is doomed.’

This was the future that Despair had shown him.

“Well then. I guess we need to buy some time. We need time for humanity to prepare,” Ji-Cheok said.

“How are you going to buy time?”

“I am going to build a dimensional barrier.”

“I don’t think that’s something a single person can do.”

“Yes, but it can be done.”

Ji-Cheok knew this was nearly impossible, but he had weighed the options with Cheok-Liang and felt that it was not completely?impossible.