Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 223

According to Cheok-Liang’s calculations, Ji-Cheok could have a huge impact on the world economy by using his alchemy skills, while earning Likes through his livestream at the same time. For that to work well, however, he needed the help of Ji-Han, because his plans were simply on too great a scale to implement alone.

No matter how brilliant Ji-Cheok was, he couldn’t just summon up the infrastructure and manpower of a giant corporation in a day or two. That was impossible. And since he had neither the time nor the cash, he had to use Ji-Han’s company, Jungjin, and the mother company, Jungha Group.

“I assume you have your reasons?” Ji-Han asked.

“Of course.”

He told Ji-Han what Cheok-Liang had calculated. For a while, Ji-Han was in deep thought.

“I’ve never seen a future like that, but… Okay, let’s try your plan.”

‘Yes! I’ve got Ji-Han’s support! With this… I can do it!’

?Yes, Master. First…?

‘Yes. We should try and conquer Korea from Seoul to Busan—’

“But I think we need to modify our plan a bit. Let’s clear the Philippines before thinking about Korea.”

‘...On a second note, let’s conquer the Philippines first.’

?That was a very quick change of opinion, Master. What amazing flexibility!?

‘Shut up.’

? ? ?

“We welcome you, oh, mighty God!”

Ji-Han and Ji-Cheok left the hotel. He summoned his Mono Bike G and rode through the darkness along the streets of Cebu until he reached a building that looked like a large concert hall.

Inside, the people of the Tama Clan, who now belonged to Ji-Cheok, were waiting for him.

‘I’m surprised that they are all here already. Ji-Han only contacted them before we left.’

There were eighty-two people in total. All of them were high-level Hunters, most of them over level 100. Their Entish leader, Macaw the Charcoal, greeted Ji-Cheok and Ji-Han respectfully.

“I told you you don’t have to use honorifics to me…”

“How can I not? This old man is now a loyal servant and vassal of the God, so I must be courteous.”

“I told you, that’s only a title, and you are all free to live your lives as you wish.”

Ji-Cheok had made the Tama Clan his subjects in order to free them from the dungeon, but that didn’t mean he had the slightest desire to interfere with their lives. That was why he told them they were free to live their own lives.

‘But why are they here?’

“Um Ji-Cheok. This isn’t just a master-slave relationship. You have become their God. It is not something that you can just ignore.”

‘Hm… So it really is kind of like a parent-child relationship?’

This was what Ji-Han had told him when Ji-Cheok had asked what he was supposed to do about the Tama. It was not a relationship that he could just forget about.

“Hahaha. Your Holiness need not worry. This old man will be just fine, and so will the others. But can you tell me why you have called upon us?” Macaw asked.

“We need your help to bring the situation in the Philippines under control.”

Ji-Cheok didn’t really want to believe it, but the fact of the matter was that the security in the Philippines was absolutely terrible. With so much agricultural and industrial land destroyed after the Monster Wave, and with the added political problems, the mafia and gangs were running rampant.

From police to government officials, it was hard to find anyone who wasn’t corrupt. It hadn’t been a very safe country before the Monster Wave either, but after the incident, it had become even worse.

It was not that the Filipinos were incompetent or bad in any way. This was the result of a natural disaster on a massive scale, and the rest of the world was in the same boat, so they couldn’t even send relief supplies to help out this country.

Even in Korea, where things were comparatively better, people at the bottom of the food chain had to put in their best efforts just to survive. In this crazy world, if there was a politician who wanted to send relief supplies to other countries, they were basically asking to be dismissed. It just showed how merciless the world had become.

But that was that, and Ji-Cheok needed to think about what was in front of him. If he wasted his time worrying about every single thing that was going on in his country, that was not going to help them in any way when the world faced inevitable destruction.

‘Rather, it will only help the invaders from another world.’

“Bring our country back to normal…. That is an interesting idea.”

“Is that even possible, Lord?”

Bernade Itum stepped forward.

‘Come to think of it, she was also beside Macaw in the dungeon, wasn’t she? Is she like the second-in-command in this clan?’

“It’s not impossible.”

‘Right? Nothing is impossible. We have eighty-two high-level Hunters to work with.’

They also had Ji-Han, whose abilities were too powerful to measure, and the insane God, Reable. Of course, there was also Ji-Cheok.

In truth, Ji-Cheok had not thought about stabilizing the situation in the Philippines at all. But from what Ji-Han said, it was going to be easier than trying to build a dimensional barrier outright. Seeing that his teammate seemed to have an idea of what he was doing, Ji-Cheok had agreed.

“For now, I will give you all this,” Ji-Cheok said.

His shadow stretched and many pairs of glasses popped out of it. He gave out two pairs to each of the 82 people.

“Wow! A gift from a God… Thank you, Your Holiness.”

“Don’t start thanking me before you know what the item can do.”

‘This old man seems a bit like a troublemaker. Haha.’

“Those glasses are for measuring evil deeds. Just in case something happens, I will give you two pairs each.”

Ji-Han stepped forward and explained what the glasses did. Everyone put on their glasses and looked at each other. Then, they exclaimed in amazement as if they had seen something incredible.

[Surveyor of Sin]

[Class: A-

A tool made by the God of Death for measuring the depth of sinful deeds.

The sins of those who have done evil deeds are deep and follow them everywhere.]

“There is one more item for you.”

As soon as Ji-Han finished talking, Ji-Cheok pulled out another 164 items from his Shadow Pouch.

[Scales of Truth]

[Class: A-

A scale that measures truth.

Those who are untruthful will weigh more than the scale weight.]

“You can tell if someone is evil or not with the Surveyor of Sin, and the scale is an Artifact that lets you know if they are telling the truth or not.”

Of course, Ji-Cheok had bought all of these things from the Likes Shop.

“With these items, do whatever it takes to cut out all the rotten bits inside the Philippines.”

“Huhu. I’ve been around for a long time, but this is the first time I’ve seen this stuff.”

“It is impossible to purchase these items unless you are Um Ji-Cheok.”

“He is indeed our God. So, what do you say, people?” Macaw asked his people.

“I shall fulfill the will of our Lord!”

“Oh, Your Holiness! Watch over us!”

‘Wait, come on. These people… They’re like fanatics! Oh, right. I was told that they would look up to me like a child does to their parents. Hm… It feels a bit like a cult…’

?Even if you were not in this lord-retainer relationship, you are the only person that was able to help them get out of that dire situation. It is only natural, Master.?

‘Hm… Is that so?’

?I would do the same. You tend to undervalue yourself too much, Master.?

“Hohoho. It is an honor to be trusted. We will return this country to its rightful place and dedicate it to you, Your Holiness,” Macaw said with deep trust.

“No, you don’t have to dedicate it to me,” Ji-Cheok said. His gaze turned grave.

“I remember telling you this before we left the dungeon…”

Everyone looked at him, listening closely to his words.

“The world is on the brink of destruction, so we must join forces. The stabilization of the Philippines is one of the cornerstones of humanity’s future. So please do not say that you are dedicating yourself to me or anything like that. You must act for a better future for yourselves. Please let justice blossom on this land. That is the only thing I request of you.”

“Ohh!! What noble words… This old man will risk his life to make it happen!”

“I too will dedicate my life to the command of our Lord!”

“Oh, how merciful our God is!”

‘Jesus… It’s getting worse!’

Although their attitudes only became more cringy with every sentence he said, he had no choice. He had to finish the job.

“Don’t push yourself. Put your own life first. That is all I ask.”

“Hohoho. Leave it to me, Your Holiness.”

Macaw’s eyes glowed with a dangerous light.

?I see the qualities of a loyalist in his eyes, Master. I will have to talk to him later.?

‘You too, Cheok-Liang?!’

? ? ?

Domingo.

Domingo the Escapist.

Nicknamed ‘the Escapist,’ this man in his fifties was a mafia boss famous, or rather infamous, in the Philippines.

He was lying on a bed in his lavish home and was smoking an expensive Cuban cigar. He held his cell phone in one hand and spoke in broken English.

“Macaw… Old man can’t do shit now. Stick to plan. We kill him in a month. Eh, no worries about military, I talked to them. Many people want the old fart dead, dontcha worry abo— Hello? Hello?!”

Click. Beep- Beep- Beep-

The call was disconnected. He looked at his phone with a frown. A no-signal indicator floated on the screen.

“What the fu—”

Boom!

Right then, from the floor, a plant suddenly appeared. The floor cracked a little bit, and various plants and vines grew out of the cracks.

The plants were not just growing on the floor. The ceiling also cracked; vines grew and crawled down, and leaves and flowers grew on the walls.

“Goddamnit!”

After shouting a curse word, Domingo turned his body into smoke and quickly tried to escape the building.

He used his skill [Fog Shift], which had earned him the moniker Domingo the Escapist!

Surprisingly, his Hunter occupation was actually [Vampire Progenitor]. It was a job that changed his race from human to vampire!

Unlike people who became vampires by being bitten, he couldn’t be harmed by sunlight, and things like garlic didn’t work on him. His only weaknesses were silver and weapons with divine power.

Ordinary people died if they were slashed with a sword, and even a Hunter would bleed to death if stabbed with a spear, unless they were a Tank, so his job was full of advantages.

However, the reason why he was nicknamed Domingo the Fugitive, even with those advantages, was that there were still many monsters in the world more powerful than him, even if he had the [Vampire Progenitor] occupation.

The Philippines' underworld, the world of the mafia, was no different.

Criminal organizations would come and go all the time. Sometimes they came from within the Philippines, but more often than not, they came over from the Americas or Europe and took over the businesses here. In a way, Domingo was a remarkable figure for having survived as long as he had.

‘Who are these guys that got past my guards before I even noticed? Are they from the States? France? Britain? Damn it… I need to lay low for a while…’

As he quickly tried to escape his mansion by turning into a cluster of fog, he was startled by a sudden and terrible pain.

‘ARGH!’

He looked at the source of the pain and saw that part of the fog had frozen and become ice. That was not all. Everywhere around him, cold crystals of ice were forming.

“They know my weakness!”