Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 59

[Death to the living…]

[Death shall bring thee peace…]

They were the divine undead that Ji-Han was talking about. They were approaching the team. The strange melody felt like a trot song, as if it was some kind of K-Pop of death. As they walked toward the team, the skeletons sang this melody. None of the skeletons appeared to be tone-deaf, but they weren’t singing terribly well either.

Nevertheless, anyone could appreciate their orderliness and discipline just by looking at them. They were elite undead, and they were well-equipped, too. There were five undead soldiers wearing armor and helmets made of solid metal and armed with shields and spears that did not appear worn out at all. They were the Undead Temple Soldiers. In front of these soldiers, there was the Undead Holy Knight. Anybody could guess that it was the Undead Holy Knight just by looking at its armament: it was wearing a full-body armor called “full-plate mail”, held a long sword, and his armor shone like an LED light. It was as if the Undead Holy Knight was advertising that it was indeed an Undead Holy Knight.

‘Just tell the whole world, why don’t you?’

Behind them was a skeleton with a round halo around its head, wearing a white robe and carrying a white cane with a bizarrely shaped mark. It looked like Death depicted in murals from European temples.

It was the Undead Priest.

‘This guy is also advertising himself. Why not just write ‘I’m an Undead Priest’ on your forehead?’

There were a total of seven skeletons. They were menacing at first sight. Unlike the monsters they had met so far, Ji-Cheok felt like these monsters had very good team chemistry.

“Normally, monsters wouldn’t attack us at the starting point! Who the hell are they?!” Ha-Na shouted as she got ready to shoot her arrows.

“Vanguard forward! Ji-Byeok, I need you to buy some time! Seong Kwang, get ready to buff and heal!” Ji-Han ordered the team.

“Leave it to me!”

“Oh, apostle of the great cow! With your milk, you save mankind, and with your flesh, you quench hunger… Please give us the strength to overcome this ordeal…!”

As Seong Kwang prayed, the same thing happened as before: the spirit of a winged cow descended upon Ji-Byeok. Then, Ji-Byeok rushed out and banged her brass knuckles together.

“Look at me!”

Ji-Byeok rushed into the passage like a bull, shouting like a warrior. Then, she ran in front of the skeleton crowd and punched the well next to them.

‘Nice one, Ji-Byeok!’

Bang!

Thud!

Ji-Byeok summoned a wall from the side and blocked the passage in an instant.

“Ahhhh!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As she stepped back, she struck three more times and summoned three more walls, creating a thicker blockade.

“Fall back!” Ji-Han shouted.

Without hesitation, Ji-Byeok retreated.

Crack!

Boom!

A flash of light shattered the wall as the Undead Holy Knight, a.k.a. Mr. Shiny, walked out from the rubble.

‘Huh? Who do you think you are? Lü Bu?’

“Ji-Byeok, listen while you are buying some time! Everyone, listen! The biggest characteristic of this dungeon is that no aggro skill works on them! That includes taunt skills!” Ji-Han informed the team.

“Are you serious?”

“What the…”

“Isn’t that only from 4-star dungeons or higher?”

Everyone panicked. Ji-Cheok’s body was shaking from the shock.

‘Aggro skills don’t work?’

?It seems to be a special dungeon, Master. Aggro skills, after all, are a kind of spiritual magic. There are certainly things that have the power to stop them. Things with the power to resist such skills are usually known to only appear in dungeons 4-star or higher, but…?

‘You are saying this dungeon is exactly that.’

For one–star dungeons, it was recommended that Hunters around level 20 entered, but there were also times when they brought higher-level Hunters with them. However, there were exceptions.

[1-star dungeon - Level limit: 20.]

If the System capped a dungeon like this, there was nothing the Hunters could do. Only Hunters below level 20 could enter this kind of dungeon. Level 20 Hunter could enter the dungeon and reach level 21 while inside, but the Gate wouldn’t let through people who were level 21 in the first place.

In such cases, where the dungeon had a level limit, its difficulty was normally lower compared to other dungeons with the same number of stars, and the monsters were not as strong. However, the fact that higher-level Hunters could not enter to help naturally increased the risk. Also, the monsters from dungeons that had been created recently were, strangely, stronger than those in older dungeons. Therefore, the level-restricted dungeons had started to be called “elite dungeons.”

?Master??

‘Sorry, I was lost in thought. But I’m glad it’s okay.’

?That’s right. You’re here, so you can turn this crisis into an opportunity. Of course, I’m sure Ji-Han is also up to something, but…?

‘Let’s do our job first. Everyone is fighting hard at the moment.’

In a short few seconds, Ji-Cheok and Cheok-Liang exchanged their thoughts.

In the meantime, Ji-Byeok ran in front of the holy knight and blocked its sword with her brass knuckles.

Clang! Clang!

It sounded like two hammers hitting each other, which meant that the power of the Undead Holy Knight’s sword was no joke.

The movement of the skeleton soldiers was slowed down by the remains of the wall created by Ji-Byeok, which was good news. However, no matter how strong she was, she was still a human. It didn’t take long until wounds of various sizes started to appear on her body.

“Oh, please, hear my prayer!” Seong Kwang prayed, healing Ji-Byeok.

As her wounds healed and only bloodstains remained, the other teammates readied themselves. Ji-Cheok also took out his weapon. Unfortunately, the enemy couldn’t be aggroed, but the same held true about Ji-Cheok’s team—they could attack whichever monster they saw fit.

“Activate Mono Bike!”

Woong—

From another dimension, a flash bike that seemed to be a mixture of fantasy and science fiction popped out.

While Ji-Cheok jumped on the motorcycle, Ha-Na activated her skill. Ji-Cheok could see the holy knight’s legs were being tied. At the same time, Mu-Cheok pulled out his gun. His skill-enhanced bullets quickly poured onto the holy knight.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As if the holy light surrounding the Knight reduced the power of Mu-Cheok’s bullets, they could not pierce its armor and fell powerless onto the ground.

[Mortals… Accept your fate…]

Without backing down, the Knight swung its sword not at Ji-Byeok, but toward her teammates at the back. A white flash of light shot from its sword, shattering the remains of the walls.

Rumble.

As the passage was cleared, the Undead Temple Soldiers walked out.

[You cannot deny…]

[Death is coming…]

Ji-Cheok was sick of hearing the stupid things the undead were saying. He started his bike.

“Ji-Byeok, move to the side!” Ji-Cheok said.

“Activate Acceleration!”

Vroom!

The wheels spun with terrifying momentum and accelerated rapidly. Ji-Byeok jumped out to avoid it and at the same time, Ji-Cheok and the bike jumped into the air using the momentum from the acceleration.

‘Eat this! Backspin blow!’

Already in the air, Ji-Cheok flipped the bike backward, and with all the acceleration and centrifugal force, hit the knight’s chest with the back wheel.

Bam!

A strong blow imbued with the mana ability of the Mono Bike hit the Undead Holy Knight.

Whack!

‘Whoah, that had to hurt.’

The knight fell on its back with a loud thud.

Ding!

[Hunters are amazed by your stylish moves.]

[You have received 10 Likes.]

‘Hm, I guess it looked cool to the others.’

The Undead Holy Knight collided with the skeletons that were running out of the passage, but Ji-Cheok knew this was not enough to kill these monsters. The skeletons in the back row cushioned the impact of the holy knight falling down. Then, the soldiers helped the Knight get back up.

Ji-Cheok was amazed by their camaraderie. The undead were helping each other out, which was something even living humans would not do.

“I guess humans need to die in order to know their true worth.”

Ji-Cheok landed with his Mono Bike after hitting the holy knight. That was when Mu-Cheok’s voice resounded in the background.

“Extreme Rapid Fire,” Mu-Cheok said.

When Ji-Cheok looked back, the pistols shot out bullets as if they were machine guns.

‘When did he learn to do that?’

Nevertheless, the bullets were blocked by a translucent black veil that appeared in front of the monsters.

[Death has found you…]

The knight stood up, though now its armor was dented, and the soldiers lined up. Behind him, the skeleton Priest with a halo on its head emerged from the remains.

“It’s a Divine Shield! Just attacking it won’t work!” Seong Kwang shouted.

The skeletons were using the Divine Shield to slowly make their way out of the passage.

“Stay back, Ji-Byeok. And listen, everyone, don’t think of this as a typical raid. Think of it as dealing with humans. We have been training in that area for a long time, we just need to take things slowly,” Ji-Han said.

“My brother and I haven’t received that kind of training yet… If you knew it was a dungeon like this, shouldn’t you have talked to us about it outside the dungeon?” Mu-Cheok asked.

“I had no choice but to do it inside, for security reasons, Mr. Um Mu-Cheok. And you have to be able to handle this. It seems like you are adjusting pretty well already.”

“Hahaha. I really don’t like you, team leader.”

“But it was your brother who signed the contract, so let’s just follow my orders. After all, the situation is not that bad yet.”

Mu-Cheok clicked his tongue.

From his experience as a Hunter Assistant, however, Ji-Cheok agreed with Ji-Han. It was not really that much of a crisis, and all the members gathered here, including Ji-Cheok, had abilities that propelled them far beyond the level of the average rookie.

As the conversation ended, the team got into formation. Ji-Cheok and Ji-Byeok were at the front, while Ha-Na, Seong Kwang, and Mu-Cheok took the rear. Ji-Han was in the middle.

“Mr. Um Mu-Cheok, just attack from a distance. I believe Mr. Um Ji-Cheok will take care of himself,” Ji-Han said.

‘I don’t know what he sees in me.’

?I knew it. He seems to have grasped Master’s abilities to some extent.?

‘So, that’s why?’

?Yes.?

‘Oh, if that’s the case, I have to live up to that expectation, right?’

While Ji-Cheok was thinking, the Divine Shield disappeared, and the Undead Holy Knight and five Temple Soldiers rushed toward the team. The distance between Ji-Byeok and the holy knight was only twenty meters. Any Hunter with some skill to their name could reach it in the blink of an eye. Of course, if the Hunter couldn’t control that speed, death awaited.

Woong!

The Undead Holy Knight charged at them while emitting divine light from its entire body. Ji-Byeok ran toward it, covering her face with both hands like a boxer.

Crash!

Ji-Byeok and the knight collided. Meanwhile, Ji-Cheok activated his Mono Bike skill.

“Activate Acceleration!”

Vroom!

The bike accelerated rapidly and passed Ji-Byeok and the holy knight. Then, he smashed into one of the Temple Soldiers as he headed toward the back of the formation. Ji-Cheok’s target was the Undead Priest. The undead could not be aggroed, but nothing forced Ji-Cheok’s team to attack their holy knight either.

1. This is less of a real-life armor and more of a Diablo II one.

2. Lü Bu was a warlord in the Romance of Three Kingdoms equally known for his impressive battle prowess and for his unstable temperament.