Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 54

Ji-Cheok kept falling on the same passage of the sutra. It felt easy for him when he trained on the floor, but he couldn’t even walk a meter across the poles before falling down.

‘Am I not talented?’

Ji-Cheok’s stomach felt heavy, like he had an upset stomach.

‘Should I just use skills to help myself? I mean, it’s essentially just walking.’

Ji-Cheok was afraid that he was going nowhere as if this was just wasting his time.

‘I… Ah, yes. I guess this is why a lot of Hunters give up on cultivation at this stage.’

Ji-Cheok had doubts about whether there was an end to this, even if he endured this stage of training. He had to be an extreme attention seeker for his Likes, and it was hard to attract people’s attention just by using common skills. He realized that he had to learn the Sword Arts also, which seemed harder than the steps training he was doing right now.

‘Let’s do it.’

No matter how hard Ji-Cheok suffered, he always had the troll’s regenerative power to heal him. It was not like he was being attacked by a monster, and it didn’t take much mana to heal the wounds from falling while training.

With that in mind, Ji-Cheok started to train again. He needed to get the attention of the people. He knew that no one would pay attention to him if he just put in the average amount of effort. He knew he had to go above and beyond.

Right then, as if it was mere coincidence, Ji-Cheok’s feet pressed heavily on the pole. He didn’t know how the weight was transferred from his feet to the pole, but he could feel the pole’s center of gravity, even its anti-elasticity.

Ji-Cheok moved forward without thinking as Cheok-Liang opened his mouth in amazement. When Ji-Cheok came into his senses, he had reached both the end of the passage he was contemplating and the other side of the room.

?Master!?

“Hey, it worked! It felt weird, but it felt right. I’ll try one more time before I forget this feeling,” Ji-Cheok said.

As Ji-Cheok was about to repeat what he had done, Cheok-Liang stopped him.

?Master, you need to meditate.?

“Why?”

?It takes time to capture the enlightenment.?

‘Enlightenment? Isn’t that something from martial arts novels?’?

When the main character from a martial arts novel cultivated and attained enlightenment, his skill power would rise tremendously, so the main character could kill an enemy in an instant that couldn’t be beaten before. But Ji-Cheok’s enlightenment wasn’t on that grand a scale.

?You have to do it. Minor enlightenment is just as important as the major one. If you repeat cultivating recklessly, without organizing it in your head beforehand, you really might forget the feeling you had before.?

Cheok-Liang’s teachings were not something that could be learned just anywhere.

“Okay. To put it simply, enlightenment is not limited to those major moments, but instead there are smaller bits of it happening from time to time, right?”

?That is correct. Major enlightenment can be said to be the result of the minor instances of enlightenment put together.?

As Ji-Cheok agreed completely with Cheok-Liang, he nodded his head and sat still. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, recalling the sensations he had just felt. He felt proud just to be able to perform that footwork without relying on skills. He then realized, however, that he had just acquired something more important than that: learning how to train effectively. There were people who would increase their abilities by ten and there were people who would only increase by three, even if they spent the same three hours training. Cheok-Liang had just taught Ji-Cheok how to increase by ten.

When Ji-Cheok woke up from his long meditation, he climbed onto the poles again. After two more trials and errors, he no longer fell off the poles. This meant that Ji-Cheok had completed the basics of footwork training.

[Your understanding of [Heaven and Earth Divine Steps] has increased by 1%.]

‘I knew about skill proficiency, but understanding…’

Ji-Cheok had seen this before, but he had never thought deeply about it. It was common for Hunters to skim through it. Not many Hunters would research the structure of skills, considering the skills simply activated by themselves.

Ji-Cheok continued to train his footwork.

[Your understanding of [Heaven and Earth Divine Steps] is now at 99.8%.]

From here on, no matter how much Ji-Cheok trained, he could not fill the 0.2%.

?Master, forget about the remaining 0.2% and move on to the next training now.?

* * *

The next day, huge metal balls were hung from the ceiling, supported by metal chains instead of rope. Ji-Cheok was fascinated by the fact that the ceiling didn’t collapse from the weight, but then he realized that the building itself was made from special materials.

When he arrived at the training center, the first thing he did was take up the horse stance. It was not easy to maintain a horse stance with heavy weights on his limbs.

‘Ultimately, cultivation comes from a strong lower body.’

It was the reason why Ji-Byeok was able to tank so well for her level. She had trained her lower body to the limit.

[Stamina has increased by 1 from repetitive exercise.]

[Stamina has increased by 1 from repetitive exercise.]

[Stamina, strength, and endurance have increased by 1 from practicing the [Heaven and Earth Divine Arts]]

[Heaven and Earth Divine Arts — 70,000 Likes]

[Class: Unique (Upgradable, Rank F)

Devote yourself to attaining divinity by using the energy of Heaven and Earth!

These arts include internal techniques (meditation for reinforcing the qi and spirit), as well as external techniques (breathing methods for reinforcing the body).

The Heaven and Earth Divine arts provide a slower increase in internal energy than other cultivation skills, but they develop your physique at the same time.

Caution: The skill cannot be acquired if the user has mastered meditation techniques pertaining to another cultivation skill, or if the user’s physique is above level 5.]

Unlike in the past, when Ji-Cheok had to meditate on the [Heaven and Earth Divine Arts] while sitting cross-legged, it was now possible for him to use it while maintaining the horse stance. The [Heaven and Hearth Divine Arts] was a very simple cultivation skill. Since it was a cultivation skill that concentrated on physical ability, meditating in the horse stance also increased the proficiency of the [Heaven and Earth Divine Arts].

‘Would it be possible to meditate during combat?’

It was not written on the skill description, but if it was possible, the skill would be truly overpowered. If it was possible, it meant that Ji-Cheok could strengthen his cultivation even while attacking the enemy with his sword arts.

This rigorous training lasted for four hours, and Ji-Cheok felt as if his limbs were about to break. As he reached his limit, he decided to take a break. Cheok-Liang held a lunch box in his mouth and set it down in front of Ji-Cheok.

?This is a lunch box that your brother prepared.?

“He didn’t have to do that. He should’ve focused more on his training. It’s not like he has a lot of time on his hands…”

Ji-Cheok grumbled, feeling sorry for Mu-Cheok.

?Today’s lunch menu is rice topped with squid and pork belly bulgogi and soybean paste soup. It also contains egg rolls and mayonnaise salad. Finally, the dessert is a fruit pudding. I am guessing Mu-Cheok made it himself.?

Ji-Cheok’s mouth started to water. Ever since they started living together, Mu-Cheok’s cooking skills had improved day by day.

There was also a smaller lunch box. When Ji-Cheok opened it, he found a chicken dish that seemed to be made especially for Cheok-Liang.

?Wow, your brother is such a nice person!?

Ji-Cheok couldn’t agree more.

Even though the lunch box was nothing extraordinary like dishes from GodTube’s cooking channels, it was more delicious than any other dish out there. Ji-Cheok put the lid back on the lunch box.

“Hold on, I want to stream this. Mukbangs are popular these days.”

?Wow, Master! You are thinking about getting more Likes even in this kind of situation! I’m impressed!?

“Nah, I just want the world to know how beautiful this lunch box is…”

It might have sounded like Ji-Cheok was bragging about his brother, but he couldn’t help it. He was Ji-Cheok’s little brother. Ji-Cheok put his lunch back into the bag and started recording.

“Hello everyone! It’s lunchtime at the training center! Today we have a lunch box with us. Let’s see what’s in it,” Ji-Cheok said to the viewers.

Ji-Cheok spent his whole lunch break like this. Not long after he sent the video to Ji-Han for edits, he got a text message from Mu-Cheok.

[Ah, hyung! Why did you show that to everyone? If I had known it would be streamed, I would have made it a little bit prettier.]

Ji-Cheok didn’t know why his brother was being a drama queen. The food looked great as it was.

* * *

After the lunch break, Ji-Cheok started his afternoon training. When Ji-Cheok pressed the button on the wall, the metal balls started to swing sideways. It was a real sight watching dozens of metal balls moving at different tempos.

“So I have to go through this with a wooden sword and not get hit by any metal balls, right?” Ji-Cheok gulped.

?If you get hit, that’s fine too. It will help you with your physical growth. Any broken bones will be healed by the troll’s regenerative power.?

“Haha… Thanks a lot.”

By modern standards, this was self-harm, not training.

‘But this kind of thought is never good while training.’

?You need to look closely at your physical technique too. If improvements on your physical technique stall, I’m going to put electricity into those metal balls.?

“Electricity?”

?Yes. And if you get comfortable with that, next in line are the flaming metal balls!?

From a human rights point of view, this really was not training, but self-harm.

?You must not activate any skills!?

‘Okay.’

Ji-Cheok spent the rest of the day getting hit by the metal balls, rather than actually training his cultivation. The sight was so miserable that even Cheok-Liang couldn’t say a word.

* * *

No matter how hard Ji-Cheok thought about it, he didn’t think he had any talent for cultivation.

?It is fine, Master! Slow and steady wins the race!?

Seeing Cheok-Liang comforting Ji-Cheok meant that even he agreed that Ji-Cheok didn’t have talent. Even the basics of Sword Art, which Ji-Cheok had thought would be finished soon, took nearly a month.

“It looks like mukbang videos are doing well these days.”

?No, Master! I think the animal videos are doing better!?

The views doubled when delicious food and cute animals were combined.

-Umji, can you just keep doing mukbang videos like this and not do anything dangerous?

-I am watching the stream while eating my lunch at my company. So much fun乃

-I used the pet cake recipe that you posted last time. My dog really likes it. 乃

From recent streams, viewers from females in their thirties and forties increased significantly. Ji-Cheok was starting to worry that this might be the start of his new career.

“Delicious lunch unboxing with Cheok-Liang! Today’s lunch is…”

Cheok-Liang opened the lunch box with his mouth.

Click.

Meow~

“It’s Tuna! Oh my god, this is Cheok-Liang’s favorite dish! There's also flounder and salmon, even salmon roe!”

It was a sashimi rice bowl filled with different kinds of sashimi. All the different colors made the dish look beautiful.

-Wow, my mouth is already salivating.

-Look at how fresh that salmon looks… Wow…

-It looks like it’s stacked in the shape of a flower. That must have taken a lot of work.

-I thought it was the decoration, but that’s scallops and shrimp, right?

“I’m going to take a bite!”

-Quickly! Quickly!

-Be sure to give us a review.

-[Doggy_Foodie] has donated 1,000 won.

[Doggy_Foodie]: Please give us another pet recipe! My dog can’t get enough of it!

Mu-Cheok was a very talented cook. Not only were his recipes for humans popular, but there was no one like him when it came to food for pets. His recipes, which focused on both nutrition and taste, were great enough for even the picky old dog to stand up and eat.

“Today’s recipe is for cats…”

-[Catty_Foodie] has donated 1,000 won.

[Catty_Foodie]: Oh yassss!!!!!

“...I’m sure dogs can eat it too. Let me just finish my meal first.”

Ji-Cheok started eating with excitement in his eyes. The texture of the rice in his mouth, the savory and chewy taste of salmon sashimi, and the spiciness of the chojang made the dish taste even better.

“The salmon is melting in my mouth! It’s so tasty that it brings tears to my eyes.”

Ji-Cheok pretended to cry and wiped his fake tears with his sleeves.

“This time, I’m going to try rockfish sashimi! Rockfish sashimi goes so well with rice. Wow, it’s so chewy. Can you see this?” Ji-Cheok said to the viewers.

Then, he put a large piece of rockfish sashimi on top of a spoonful of rice and showed it to the viewers.

-Ah… I guess I’m eating a sashimi rice bowl for lunch.

-222222222.

-333333333.

-444444444.

-I already ordered one乃

-I’m going to a restaurant right now.

-My manager suddenly asked me to eat a sashimi rice bowl, it seems like we are watching the same stream.乃乃乃

As the number of Likes increased, the number of subscribers also increased. It was the only comforting thing while the training slowed down.

-[Hongik_Sashimi_Restaurant] has donated 10,000 won.

[Hongik_Sashimi_Restaurant]: There is nothing like a bowl of sashimi rice bowl in this season!

Then, a notification popped up from an unexpected place.

Ding!

[The Gods have shown interest in you!]

[You have received 1,000 Likes from God!]

‘You see this, Mu-Cheok. Your older brother might change his career.’

1. Literally “fire meat”, bulgogi is Korean-style grilled meat, usually beef but sometimes pork as well.

2. Spicy Korean sauce made from red peppers, sugar, and vinegar.