Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 227

“So, are we heading to meet Team Beta now?”

“Yes. I would like you to train them.”

“That shouldn’t be hard. And by the way, I also have something to tell you.”

Ji-Cheok told Ji-Han about what had happened earlier in the day, including the fact that he had combined all the Alchemy and Alkahestry skills into the [Divine Alkahestry and Alchemy].

Ji-Han looked surprised.

“That… is really unexpected. Even though you’ve become a God, I didn’t expect you to attain that level of power.”

“For that reason, I would like you to help me.”

“I think I know what you are asking of me.”

Ji-Cheok was talking about reshaping the potion industry.

Ji-Cheok could now cover half of the worldwide potion consumption by himself. He could fill rivers and oceans with his potions! He was definitely on the road to becoming the tycoon of the potion industry, a mammoth that could shake up the world’s economy. But right now, the most important thing to him was speed.

Ji-Cheok had no idea how to run a business or anything like that. All he could do was mass-produce potions.

“Then, I’ll take care of it.”

Ji-Cheok had a discussion with Ji-Han about the number of potions he could produce and sell, and his boss .

? ? ?

It had been three months since Ji-Cheok took care of the dungeon in the Philippines. The war waged against the mafia in the Philippines had reached a far greater scale than any outsider could imagine.

“Ugh…Cough…”

A white man was tied to a tree trunk, his limbs broken and bleeding. In front of him stood a puppet-like being made of plants, looking at the man groaning and grimacing in pain.

It was Macaw the Charcoal.

He was the one who was carrying out this atrocity.

“Hohoho. Why would someone from Italy bless this insignificant country with their magnificent presence? I find that rather surprising…”

“Macaw… You… Are you not afraid of Don’s retribution? I know you have a lot of people under you, but a weak country like the Philippines…”

The white man had been sent by a large mafia organization based in Italy. He was part of the reinforcements brought in by some of the mobs in the Philippines as they found themselves slaughtered on their home ground. In order to survive, they had resorted to asking for help from foreign powers. However, the Italian mafiosi taking the field had also been crushed, just like everyone else.

“An old man like me wouldn’t know who you are, but you know an awful lot about me. Hohoho.” Macaw chuckled. “Come on, Alberto. You know better than this. I spared you for a reason.”

“What is it…”

“It’s a warning. I am telling you all to stop paying attention to my country. The Philippines is about to become something else entirely.”

“You think the Americans or the Mexicans are going to just ignore this?”

“They won’t. But we’ve already taken care of them too, so it’s no big deal.”

“Are you crazy? The entire world is going to be your enemy!”

“I doubt that. All of you work in the darkness, but we are proud of what we’re doing. And the public thinks so too. So I think there won't be any problems. Now… I guess there is no need for any more small talk. I want you to go back to where you came from, and make sure your boss gets the message I’m about to say.”

The man named Alberto waited for Macaw to speak.

“The Philippines is now under the watchful eye of our God. So don’t you dare mess with us, you understand?”

Alberto nodded and groaned in pain. There was nothing more he could do.

? ? ?

“Hello, everyone! Umji~ Gumji! And Choco! I am BJ Choco!”

The Hunter named BJ Choco was next to Ji-Cheok. He said he got the nickname because his poodle was named Choco, but he actually changed his real name to Kim Choco.

He was not a bad-looking guy. He was pretty cute in his own way, so he was quite popular among the female fans. However, he was not a very eloquent speaker, nor was he particularly funny, so he had a hard time doing live streams.

Using that brief spark from his previous encounter with Ji-Cheok, Choco had been working hard to become famous. He had been creating new reactions for the viewers and finding content that people were interested in. And yet, his most viewed videos were still those about Um Ji-Cheok!

‘If I can’t be funny, I should just become famous for being the first one to broadcast new things.’

He had been a nameless streamer for too long to let his pride get in the way of his success. He had already swallowed most of his pride and was planning to do that however much it was necessary.

So even today, he was trying to piggyback his way to success on Ji-Cheok’s stream.

And for today, he even had an excuse to do so. Ji-Cheok had a new product for his Likes Potion line!

“Today’s livestream is the first official release livestream of our new Likes Potion! Is it a paid advertisement? Of course not! You know me. I’m part of the Gumji fandom!”

-Hey Choco, how does it feel to leech off of Ji-Cheok every time you get a chance?

-Are you a streamer? Or a leech?

-So, what is the new product?

-I know it’s not a paid advertisement. You’re just a leech!

Kim Choco was more loyal to Ji-Cheok than anyone else. It was no wonder, since he made a living off of Ji-Cheok. That was why he ignored the haters in the chat.

And the truth was that most of his viewers didn’t mind it at all.

-Isn’t Choco the only streamer who helped Ji-Cheok when he needed it the most? He’s not a leech. He’s just lucky.

-Yeah, he put all his eggs into Ji-Cheok basket and it was a success! He’s different from other streamers.

“Anyway, it’s time for the grand reveal of the new product! I can assure you that many people, especially men, will want to have this. It is a hair growth potion!”

Choco held up the new potion that Ji-Cheok had created. It was the one thing that countless scientists throughout human history had been trying to create but had never been able to.

Even though they lived in an era of conquering Alzheimer’s and cancer, and replacing severed arms with machines, nobody had found a cure for going bald just yet.

-A hair growth potion?

-Wait, is he serious?

-I knew that Ji-Cheok used Alchemy but… How did he make that?

-It was rumored to be impossible to create, even with Alchemy!

“You know, there have been a lot of pills related to hair growth and even Hunters with Alchemy skills tried their best to create one. And I know that there were many frustrated men in the past saying ‘We have potions for rejuvenation, but why can’t we make a simple hair growth potion?!’ But this product is different from any other ones that are out in the market! Ah, it’s not an advertisement. It’s more like a product review! How can I get views and money if I just did paid advertisements all the time?”

Choco got excited.

“Okay! So… to give you a better example, I brought in a guest for today! Please come on in!”

And suddenly, a man entered the screen. He wore a mask, sunglasses, and a baseball cap to conceal his identity! But when he took off his hat, the viewers’ chat exploded.

-That’s a monk haircut!

-Oh no….

“Please tell us about yourself.”

“Hello. I am an office worker who’s had male pattern baldness for a year. I came to you because you said you had a miracle hair growth product.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m thirty-two.”

“Ah… Thirty-two and balding… I’m so sorry.”

Choco was interviewing the guest pretty skillfully—it seemed that his hard work learning how to stream had paid off.

“Well, that should be enough for now. Let’s go ahead and try the potion!”

Choco unscrewed the cap of the potion bottle and applied the liquid to the man’s bald spot.

Then, something amazing happened.

His hair actually grew back! It wasn’t much, but it was clear to everyone watching: short strands of hair were visibly growing from the bald spot.

-Holy shit, is this actually happening?

-Quick! Where can I buy this?

-Dude calm down, your baldness is not going to run away from you.

?My baldness should?be running away from me!

?Touche.

The chat was chaotic! Everyone was going crazy!

“Look at this, everyone! Um Ji-Cheok has done it again!!”

“Is this really happening? What? Am I dreaming?”

The guest was even more excited than Choco. Choco felt both happy and sad as the guest was playing with his new hair.

-I feel so sad for him…

-Let him enjoy this.

-I can’t believe Umji managed to create something like this… That’s crazy.

-Is there any side effects?

“I know some of you are worried about the side effects, but I have checked with my detection skill and there are none! Well, if you lose your hair due to stress, you have to use the potion again, but that’s about it! Now, Mr. Freshhair, thanks for coming to my livestream. I know using it on one guest might still be suspicious, so I’ve called for more guests! Please come out!”

One after another, men with different patterns of baldness came into the screen. Choco’s hair show was not over yet.

The number of viewers joining Choco’s live stream began to grow exponentially. It became a world-famous, legendary live stream that only ended after five hours.

After the livestream, the hair growth products from Jungjin started being sold all over the country.

? ? ?

?Hair growth potions, aphrodisiacs, skin regeneration potions, and all others are selling like crazy, Master. ?

.

“How much did we sell?”

Ji-Cheok was on the top floor of the large skyscraper that had been recently built near the World Tree in Paju. On one side of the penthouse that had now become his home, he had his own private training room. He was cultivating here because gathering Qi under the World Tree was very effective.

Just because he became a God, that didn’t mean he had an unlimited source of power.

Of course, at this point, he could just convert his Likes into Qi, since he was [GodTube_superstar], but it was a complete waste to use them like that.

One of the benefits of being a God was that he was pretty much free from the constraints of the physical world. In extreme circumstances, he could even have his heart and head blown apart and not die. As long as he had his soul intact, he could be resurrected as many times as he wanted.

This allowed him to absorb the energy around him at a terrifying rate, because it was impossible to damage his body. His body was no longer a frail vessel, but rather a power tool made to withstand any kind of stress.

A day of cultivating did not just yield a twofold effect, but a hundredfold one, and in just three days, he earned a year’s worth of cultivation by the standards of his previous self. Not only that, but he had also created pills that allowed him to train all day long.

‘But you lied to me, didn’t you, Mr. God of War? You said I’d be able to kill Gods after becoming one. Now that I am a God, I find that’s not the case at all. Maybe it’s because I was not a combat-type Hunter in the first place, so I am not a combat God either.’

Besides, he still had a long way to go to achieve the [Mind Origin Sword Realm].

‘How do I even do this?’

After taking pills like a fiend and training his Qi for a while, his Qi tank had reached thirty Gapja.

He felt like his entire body was going to be vaporized because his body could not contain the saturated Qi.

?It has been ten days since you started selling the hair growth potion. By this point, you have sold 30,000 bottles domestically and 120,000 bottles overseas. The price was 12 million won per bottle, so that makes 1.8 trillion won in revenue. That is more or less the yearly budget of a major city, Master.?

“What?!”

Ji-Cheok coughed.

‘Wow. I almost got Cultivation Deviation!’

His shocked exclamation had almost caused his Qi to flow in reverse. In the past, this would have been enough for him to get Cultivation Deviation, but his divine body was so strong that he had only coughed a little.

‘Wait, but 1.8 trillion won in 10 days? How much were the raw materials again, Cheok-Liang?’

?It was five hundred thousand won per bottle, Master.?

‘Holy... That means the profit is 11.5 million won per bottle!’

?It is probably more like 11.2 million won if you factor in the cost of staff and logistics.?

‘Still… That’s a lot of money…’