Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 53

By the time Ji-Cheok ate dessert, Mu-Cheok had calmed down a bit. After Mu-Cheok finished cutting up pears, he collected articles and short clips about Ji-Cheok with his phone.

“Hyung, a lot of people made short clips from this video,” Mu-Cheok said.

“You mean cropping my video and putting text on it, right? I’ve heard of them before,” Ji-Cheok replied.

“If you say it like that, it feels like we are from different generations.”

‘Don’t be so mean, I’m trying hard to find out what kids like these days.’

“This short clip is especially popular,” Mu-Cheok said as he showed his brother his phone.

It was from when Ji-Cheok summoned the dark spirit. The short clip was written in GungSeo font..

[Kek, come out! Weakest among the Four Heavenly Kings!]

The short clip made no sense at all.

“Here is another one,” Mu-Cheok said.

This short clip was from when Ji-Cheok was swinging the giant log toward the gnolls.

[Do not feed the attention whores.]

“I think this short clip is for shutting up internet trolls that comment random stuff just to provoke others,” Mu-Cheok explained to his brother.

“I know that much, Mu-Cheok,” Ji-Cheok said.

“...Yes, of course. You knew that already.”

Mu-Cheok seemed a little flustered. Then, he showed Ji-Cheok another short clip.

“This one is also popular.”

It was from the last scene where Ji-Cheok jumped on his bike and slashed the dual swords at the gnoll boss, Two-Headed Gnoll. The action looked really stylish as if from a movie. In the short clip, instead of the two gnoll heads, there were words.

[★Money★] [★Fame★].

The short clip was badly photoshopped, but it still showed Ji-Cheok slicing the head of the gnoll, which was now just words.

“...Why the hell are those words there?” Ji-Cheok asked.

“It just means to have all the money and fame and have a happy year,” Mu-Cheok answered.

“...”

.

“If I have to explain the short clip, it’s not gonna be funny, hyung!”

“The most famous one of out these three short clips is the [Kek, come out! Weakest among the Four Heavenly Kings] one?” Ji-Cheok asked.

“Yeah. People always love the short clips with chuuni stuff,” Mu-Cheok replied.

“...”

?Master! The Dark Spirit’s Call is a very useful skill! You must not throw it away!?

“But Cheok-Liang, if this continues, I might become the star★ of these chuunibyous!”

?Their Likes are the same as any others, Master! You have to get Likes by any means necessary!?

The evil fennec stretched out his front paws and lay prostrate, as if pleading for forgiveness.

“It doesn’t matter whether you become a star★ of the chuunibyous or star★ of the internet trolls as long as you earn your Likes! I thought you were prepared to do anything!” Mu-Cheok said.

Ji-Cheok stared at the ceiling for three seconds. It was enough to look back on his Hunter life. It was not like Ji-Cheok could stop summoning the Dark Spirit from now on. The skill really had made a big impact when Ji-Cheok killed the two-headed gnoll. Ji-Cheok was afraid that he might actually become the star★ of these chuuni, or of these internet trolls. The short clips would become famous. People would be curious and visit Ji-Cheok’s GodTube channel and press the Like button. It seemed like the perfect plan to gain more Likes, except for hurting Ji-Cheok’s dignity as a human being.

‘This is too cringe for me.’

Ji-Cheok wanted to die, not literally, but in a metaphorical sense. He wanted to give up, but that was life.

“I need to be stronger,” Ji-Cheok said.

If he didn’t want to use the skill, he had no choice but to become strong enough not to rely on the skill.

?Does that mean you want to seal up the skill, Master??

“Yes. That skill is too dangerous. If I am exposed too often on TV, eventually it (my image) will eat me up.”

?Master, what is wrong with that??

“Silence! Cheok-Liang!”

Seeing these two argue like this, Mu-Cheok asked his older brother.

“Hyung, you are so talented, why would you want to give that up? I could make one short clip every three seconds of the video, so why not just do it?”

Ji-Cheok frowned, thinking that the power of the skill really was too dangerous.

“I just have to stick with the original plan, which is to learn cultivation,” Ji-Cheok said.

Ji-Cheok thought that if he put some more effort into becoming stronger, he might be able to say goodbye to the Dark Spirit!

“Seal the skill. Just seal it,” Ji-Cheok said.

?But what if it becomes dangerous out there??

“Okay. I’ll think about it when it gets dangerous. Seal it for now.”

Cheok-Liang stopped talking at that moment. Ji-Cheok was afraid that if he ordered Cheok-Liang to seal the skill forever, Cheok-Liang might do anything to persuade him not to.

After making a compromise with Cheok-Liang, he called Ji-Han. Ji-Cheok wanted to install the equipment needed for training in the training room and in his house as well. In addition, Ji-Cheok wanted to make an unconventional request to allow him to use the entire floor of the training room.

‘It’s not gonna be easy, but I’m gonna have to convince him.’

* * *

A few days later, Ji-Han gave permission to Ji-Cheok to use the entire floor rather easily. When Ji-Cheok arrived at the training room after receiving the call, all the equipment he asked for was in place.

‘How did he get all that done on such short notice?’

Ji-Cheok was thankful that Ji-Han gave him permission to use the training room, but the time it took for Ji-Han to set it up was frighteningly fast. To say that Ji-Han did great was an understatement.

?As promised, all the security cameras are removed.?

Many Hunters were reluctant to expose their training to others. Perhaps that was why all security cameras on this floor were removed without any annoying procedures. Even Cheok-Liang scanned the room and confirmed that the cameras were gone.

“Now I just have to learn the Heaven and Earth Sword Art, Heaven and Earth Divine Steps, and Heaven and Earth Iron Stance,” Ji-Cheok said.

Ji-Cheok had to spend a lot of Likes on the cultivation itself. Learning all three skills would deplete Ji-Cheok’s hard-earned Likes.

?I’m glad you didn’t run out of Likes.?

By adding up Likes from the live stream and the Likes received from the Gods, Ji-Cheok could buy all three skills.

[Heaven and Earth Sword Arts —72,000 Likes]

[Class: Unique (Upgradable, Rank F)

Attack the enemy and protect yourself with the mana of heaven and earth in your sword. If you break the depths of the sword and increase your skill proficiency, you will ultimately be able to split the heavens and the earth!

*This skill can only be acquired by mastering the skill [Heaven and Earth Divine Arts] in advance.]

No matter how hard Ji-Cheok looked at it, it sounded too good to be true. It was crazy to spend 72,000 Likes on this skill. However, the skill description for [Heaven and Earth Divine Arts] was also like this, so Ji-Cheok didn’t take it very seriously.

[Heaven and Earth Divine Steps—70,100 Likes]

[Class: Unique (Upgradable, Rank F)

By breaking the myths between heaven and earth, you will be able to move your body at high speed. When you reach the highest level, you can stand heavier than the earth and move lighter than air.

*This skill can only be acquired by mastering the skill [Heaven and Earth Divine Arts] in advance.]

Ji-Cheok wondered if this meant that the skill would allow him to block and avoid enemy attacks well.

‘This is the problem with cultivation. People like me can’t tell how strong the skill is just from the description.’

Ji-Cheok opened the last skill.

[Heaven and Earth Iron Stance—70,080 Likes]

[Class: Unique (Upgradable, Rank F)

Not only will your strength and stamina increase, but your body will become as tough as steel when facing enemy attacks. When it reaches its highest level, no weapon made in this world can penetrate the skin, and it can also block Sword Qi and Sword Aura.

*This skill can only be acquired by mastering the skill [Heaven and Earth Divine Arts] in advance.]

The first cultivation skill that Ji-Cheok learned, [Heaven and Earth Divine Arts], cost over 70,000 Likes, just like these three new skills. Ji-Cheok had spent a total of around 210,000 Likes for these three new cultivation skills, and 280,000 Likes if the [Heaven and Earth Divine Arts] was included.

The value of Likes and Hunter Points was proportional. Expensive items in the Likes Shop were also considered expensive in the Hunter Store, and the Like to Hunter Point ratio was also 1:1. Ji-Cheok wondered how many crazy Hunters in the world were using 280,000 Points on skills. It was a good thing that Ji-Cheok’s job was [GodTube Social Star], otherwise this kind of sword technique could only be learned by warrior-type Hunters.

‘The names are a bit cringy, but the performance of these skills is amazing.’

The thought of earning 280,000 Points by catching monsters made Ji-Cheok feel unmotivated, and he realized how lucky he was that he could use Likes to learn new skills.

“Originally, I wouldn’t have been able to collect all these Likes, Cheok-Liang,” Ji-Cheok said.

?Yes. It’s all thanks to the [Kek, come out! Weakest among the Four Heavenly Kings] short clip. No one would have expected that clip would be such a hit ?

Ji-Cheok knew that was true. About 90,000 Likes were obtained through the live broadcast and about 150,000 Likes from the edited video! Normally, the fact that a level 20 (estimated) Hunter slayed a level 80 boss monster was amazing enough, but with these cringy short clips, people really went crazy.

“I guess people prefer cringy stuff to actual news.”

?That is correct. Humans are inherently addicted to cringy things! Rather than Master’s first debut video, which depicts the heroic sacrifice, it is a very natural instinct for people to respond better to things such as the [Kek, come out! Weakest among the Four Heavenly Kings] short clip!?

Cheok-Liang was tempting Ji-Cheok with his slender tail, telling Ji-Cheok to surrender to the darkness and become a star★.

‘But that would mean giving up on humanity and walking the road of hardship. I can’t possibly let myself do that.’

Ji-Cheok tried to change the subject without Cheok-Liang knowing.

“Now, all that remains is to learn these skills to the highest level.”

Ji-Cheok would distance himself from the enemies with his footwork, and attack with his sword arts. In addition to this, Ji-Cheok would train his external self, which would strengthen his physical ability! The plan was perfect.

[Would you like to master all the skills?]

“Yes.”

[You have awakened the [Heaven and Earth Sword Arts] skill.]

[You have awakened the [Heaven and Earth Divine Steps] skill.]

[You have awakened the [Heaven and Earth Iron Stance] skill.]

Ji-Cheok instantly learned all the skills. In addition, he also had his passive skill, [Troll’s Body], activated. Ji-Cheok knew that the absolute values of stamina and strength didn’t actually matter—the most important thing for him was restorative power.

“It would be nice to add endurance to all this, but…” Ji-Cheok said.

?Endurance is a stat that increases only when the body is exhausted. You have to work harder on your body. Conversely, restorative power has a limit to healing wounds as long as you are a human. It’s good to train while using it.?

“Got it.”

Ji-Cheok got into position and started training.

* * *

Ji-Cheok had gone through the same steps many times. After doing warm-up exercises in the morning, Ji-Cheok would do this the first thing when he arrived at the training center. At first, Ji-Cheok didn’t know why he had to train footwork like this. Since it was the only thing Ji-Cheok could do, he tried his best. On top of that, Ji-Cheok wasn’t that smart, so it was hard for him to memorize the order of the steps.

Next, Ji-CHeok had to walk on pre-installed poles. It was very difficult to walk on the countless rows of poles. When the pressure on the heel, toes, or ankle was even a little bit off, Ji-Cheok fell to the ground. Ji-Cheok was very close to using the F-bomb whenever he fell off the poles.

Thud!

?Are you okay, Master??

“Ouch. Yeah, I’m okay. I couldn’t even break fall this time,” Ji-Cheok said.

?It’s because you are tired.?

“My body seems fine.”

?You are mentally tired.?

Cheok-Liang’s words forced Ji-Cheok to get up.

‘Mentality.’

Ji-Cheok thought that this was the problem with cultivation. He had to understand the reason behind him stepping on that specific place. Even if he didn’t understand, he had to at least memorize it. Either way, these were too difficult and inefficient.

“I’ve been relying too much on my skills.”

?That’s okay, you are not the first one. Most Hunters are like that.?

Ji-Cheok had never thought about the rationale behind his footwork. Skills were like training wheels on a bicycle: they would take one to their destination, but that was it.

‘I will eventually have to take off the training wheels to gain more speed.’

Ji-Cheok climbed the pole again. Then, thinking about the corresponding sutra, he started to step lightly with his left foot again.

‘Taking steps like the clouds in the sky.’

Ji-Cheok recalled the sutra and repeated it.

‘Step forward like the weight the earth supports.’

Ji-Cheok slipped and fell again.

Thud!

?Master!?

“No, no. I’m okay. I just don't understand.”

‘How? How can I walk on such thin poles when I walk with the heavy steps of the earth?’

1. GungSeo is used in short clips that try to appear serious (in other words, Times New Roman for Korean).