Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 65

The fans were very enthusiastic and the Likes kept coming in.

“When I entered the dungeon, the broadcasting skill was interrupted, so I couldn’t stream it live. I am deeply sorry about that.”

-You did nothing wrong, Umji-pooh. It’s always the System’s fault. 乃乃乃

-Can we be sure that he cleared the dungeon? Maybe someone else cleared it for him.

-Nope~ Umji cleared it all by himself.

The chat was popping up so fast that no ordinary human could read everything, but Ji-Cheok was, of course, no ordinary human. As he checked all the messages that were coming through, he thought that now was the appropriate time to answer some of the chats.

“Yes, as you can see, the dungeon was successfully cleared. Our director contributed a lot to this raid,” Ji-Cheok said.

Ji-Cheok turned the camera slightly to show Ji-Han. The chat went crazy.

-Look at his forehead, it’s so wide and straight. In the world of physiognomy, that is a forehead of success.

-★Jung Ji-Han and the fifty shades of lawyers★

-So did Umji actually clear the dungeon? Why are you guys ignoring me?

-Just check on the System. The System never lies. If you want to be an internet troll, why don’t you publish a journal about it~

Ji-Cheok had heard rumors that Ji-Han used to be a jerk, but he had been unaware of how widespread the rumors were.

‘Ji-Han doesn’t seem like that type of person now…’

Ji-Cheok put his face back on the screen for the viewers.

“As you can see, Director Ji-Han is being interviewed by the reporters. My teammates and I are going to rest and get ourselves checked for injuries. So, I think this is it for today’s live stream. I am going to edit and post the videos from inside the dungeon later.”

-Umji~ Can you stay a little longer?

-You need to stay longer, in order to prove that you actually cleared the dungeon.

-Just check the freaking System! It’s not that hard. 乃乃乃

-No, he is right. If he is actually cleared it, he needs to stay 10 mins longer. Scratch that, one hour longer!

-Nah~ If he really wanted to prove himself, he needs to stream for the entire day!

-Umji! Don’t listen to them. I’ll give you a donation, you just go ahead and rest!!

-[Protect_Umji乃] has donated 1,000 won.

[Protect_Umji乃]: 乃乃乃乃乃乃 Stop streaming, and take some rest~ I love you~!!

-[Welcome_Back_Umjipooh乃] has donated 30,000 won.

[Welcome_Back_Umjipooh乃]: 乃乃乃乃 Stop looking at the chat and go lie down. It’s okay~乃乃

“Thank you for your support. As I said, I have other teammates here, and I gotta clean up some stuff. So… I’m sorry, but I’ll see you next time!”

Ji-Cheok said his simple goodbyes to the viewers and turned off his stream, but he was still getting Likes from the viewers. Although the stream had ended, viewers were still clicking the Like button. Ji-Cheok couldn’t wait to check later and see how many Likes he received.

“Hyung.”

“What.”

“Finished streaming?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. I think we need to move now.”

Ji-Han had his back turned from the reporters, and two luxurious limousine vans came in.

“I cleaned up the scene more or less. You guys can leave. I’ve made a reservation for the Presidential Suite at a seven-star hotel. You can go there to relax and clean up,” Ji-Han said.

“WoW! As expected from the director! You went all out!”

Ha-Na seemed thrilled and Seong Kwang looked happy as well.

‘He calls himself a priest, but he seems to love luxurious stuff. Is that okay? Though, come to think of it, the cows, chickens, and goats at the farm weren’t ordinary either…’

Compared to the rest, Ji-Byeok wasn’t all that happy. This could be because she was a blood relative of a chaebol family, so this kind of lifestyle was very common for her. As far as Ji-Cheok was concerned, though, he was thrilled to have a great leader like Ji-Han, who would treat the whole team to a presidential suite and pamper them. With that in mind, Ji-Cheok poked Mu-Cheok to grab his attention.

“Mu-Cheok, the Presidential Suite sounds great, doesn’t it?”

Commoners like Ji-Cheok didn’t know what the presidential suite looked like. In the past, videos titled [Let’s check out the Presidential Suite!] had appeared in Ji-Cheok’s GodTube algorithm, but Ji-Cheok wasn’t interested in that kind of stuff, so he hadn’t watched them. Now, the algorithm even stopped bringing them up. That was how much Ji-Cheok knew about the Presidential Suite. Of course, from the name, he could guess that the suite was awesome. He knew that in the capitalist world they were living in, businesses had a habit of attaching English words to luxurious things.

“It’s the most expensive room in the hotel,” Mu-Cheok said.

“Really? I’ve never heard of it.”

“I’ve seen it on GodTube once before. I heard that some Presidential Suites cost ten million won or even twenty million won per night. But there are some Hunters who live there, paying monthly rent.”

Ji-Cheok couldn’t believe the gap between the rich and the poor was this big. In this world, some people had talents that made them rich. There were rich people who saved money or bought real estate, and there were people who enjoyed their lives and were still able to save money.

“Jeez. Even if we made good money, I don’t think I can spend this much money. This is too much,” Ji-Cheok said.

Ji-Cheok’s frugal alarm in his brain was telling him this was not a good idea. He didn’t mind if someone else spent that much money for him, but he didn’t think he would ever be able to go to luxurious places with his own money. Ji-Cheok thought he would rather buy a house, because at least he could sell it later.

“Alright, let’s start moving.”

Everyone was very messy and dirty from the dungeon, so they got in the limo right away. Ji-Cheok was worried about sitting in such an expensive car while being this dirty, but as soon as he sat down, he felt as if he were glued to his seat. He was definitely tired.

As he realized he had cleared the dungeon and stayed alive, his muscles started to relax. The limousine ride was very smooth, and the seat held his tired body softly. His eyes closed as he dozed off, but he kept jerking awake, unable to tell which realm he was in for a moment. Eventually, however, the smoothly running limousine gave him a ride to the land of dreams.

* * *

“This is reporter Kim from R Daily! Please tell us how the dungeon was cleared!”

“I’m from Channel Q News! Please tell us! What did the inside of the dungeon look like?”

“This is reporter Park Min-Jae of A Media! You cleared the dungeon without any major injuries! How did you do it?”

When Ji-Han came out of the dungeon, the police made way for him, and the reporters rushed in. Ji-Han fixed his glasses when he heard Ji-Cheok doing his live stream behind him.

‘As I expected. He is different from before. He never did anything like streaming in the past…’

Ji-Han organized his thoughts and looked forward toward the reporters.

“Right now, our team has just finished the raid. There are no major injuries, but everyone is exhausted. So, with that in mind, I will only be answering three questions. I hope you understand.”

Ji-Han was the bastard grandson of the Jungha Group. And the fact that he was with the super rookie Hunter Ji-Cheok made it that more interesting for the reporters. Although nothing was known about Ji-Han’s abilities, it was a fact that he had Awakened, and rumor had it that he was very powerful. There were quite a few Hunters hiding their abilities, so Ji-Han’s situation wasn’t anything special. That was why the reporters listened to Ji-Han instead of prying. In any case, it was highly likely that the grandchild of the Chairman of Jungha Group had an ability related to his name, just as Jung Su-Gi had an ability related to water and Jung Bi-Ga was known as the Master Mechanic. There were some speculations on what kind of abilities Ji-Han had, but without concrete evidence, the media couldn’t post it anywhere.

Every reporter started to panic, thinking that they had to get something from Ji-Han.

“I will select the person to question me. Please note that detailed information about the dungeon is confidential and cannot be disclosed. Then, let’s start with reporter Park Min-Jae from A Media. Please ask me your question,” Ji-Han said.

Information about a dungeon could be sold for a lot of money. Just because it was cleared, it didn’t mean the dungeon was permanently gone. If it was a ‘regenerating dungeon’, it would be activated again after some time passed. Therefore, no one would easily reveal this kind of information. It was the right of those who risked their lives to clear the dungeon.

.

“Yes, this is Park Min-Jae from A Media. For this raid, you were accompanied by the super rookie, Hunter Um Ji-Cheok. I was wondering what his performance was like inside the dungeon. And is it true that he is an all-around Hunter, like the rumors say?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s two questions, not one,” Ji-Han laughed.

“I will answer this to some extent. Mr. Um Ji-Cheok has very good abilities. Firstly, he was able to perform ‘reconnaissance’ sufficiently because he had a [Mobility] ability. He was not as efficient as professional healers, but he also had a [Healing] ability. I don’t think I need to say anything about his [Combat] ability. He was the center of this raid.”

As Ji-Han over-sold Ji-Cheok, the expression of the reporters also changed. Ji-Han basically just declared that Ji-Cheok was a rare all-rounder.

“Next is… Reporter Lee Sae-Jin from B Daily.”

“Yes! This is Lee Sae-Jin from B Daily. I know the dungeon information is confidential, but I think you could tell us just a little. What kind of monsters were in the dungeon?”

“They were undead. All other information is still confidential.”

As soon as Ji-Han announced that the monsters were undead, the whispers among the reporters got louder.

“Team leader! I think they might find some alchemy ingredients or dark magic items!” One of the reporters shouted on the phone. This showed how valuable undead dungeons were.

Ji-Han’s Hunter Assistants were going into the dungeon. Ji-Han had no idea how high the value of the bones and mana crystals from the dungeon would be. It would be even better if they found some new materials inside. He could already see his stock rising.

“Finally… Reporter Kim Seo-Gi from R Daily.”

“Yes! This is reporter Kim Seo-Gi of R Daily. I have received information that Director Jung Ji-Han’s ability is a ‘chrono-type’ ability, is that true?”

Ji-Han stared at reporter Kim, but not for too long, so as not to look suspicious.

“I don’t know where you got that information, but I’m not going to comment on that. Alright, other details will be officially announced later. Thank you for your time,” Ji-Han said.

“Wait! Director Jung! If it’s not a chrono-type, then—”

“Could you please answer one more question?”

Ji-Han got into the van with the help of the police and people from his company. As he got into the van, the driver started the engine. Ji-Han was deep in thought as the van was driving on the road.

‘I guess my relatives’ plan against me has already been put into motion. The timeline is shifting faster than I thought. I need to push my own plans forward.’

This just meant that Um Ji-Cheok was getting stronger than he could imagine.

‘How the hell did he get that much stronger?’

The more Ji-Han thought about it, the more absurd it was. Ji-Cheok was something out of the norm, and only he didn't know that.

‘His natural instinct—no, it’s not just that. It’s almost like he is predicting his own death, and surviving it.’

Of all the paths that Ji-Cheok could’ve taken, he always took the most dangerous path and somehow survived and even got stronger. Even unimaginable Gods had now begun to pay attention to Ji-Cheok.

‘What does this mean?’

Ji-Han had so many questions.