Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 79

Ji-Cheok smiled as he gazed at the heated chat window with joy.

-[Ssun_Ju_Ran] has donated 100,000 won.

[Ssun_Ju_Ran]: Show me. If you show me, I’ll give you one million won.

‘Oh, damn!’

“Thank you, Ssun_Ju_Ran! I didn’t expect you would make it to my live stream!”

He rubbed his hands and made cute gestures with Cheok-Liang’s paws.

Such was life.

-[A/B] has donated 200,000 won.

[A/B]: If you stop your stream now and send the video only to me, I will give you 10 million won.

‘Hm? [A/B]?’

The chat stopped. It was a simple username with only two letters of the alphabet, [A/B]. However, there was no one in the chat who didn’t know who that was.

-Wait, [A/B] means that he is the ABM master! Why is he…

-Isn’t that the GOF’s rival guild in the U.S.?

-That username is the?ABM guild master! Why is he here?

Everyone went crazy for a moment. ABM was an abbreviation of the economics term, ‘agent-based model’. Ji-Cheok did not know what that meant, nor did most of the viewers, but one thing was certain: the ABM Guild Master was a representative of the U.S. stock market.

After the Dungeon Wave crisis in the past, the global market had naturally been disrupted. The supply of rice and wheat was limited, the communication network was cut, and the administrative offices were busy dealing with the casualties and the survivors.

During those three hellish years, American stockbrokers profited from the instability to increase their wealth. As a result, a few large corporations collapsed and disbanded, and unemployment skyrocketed. As a direct result, angry Americans broke into the stock exchange building with weapons, demanding that the pigs of the stock market be slaughtered. It was like a modern French revolution—they even brought a shiny chainsaw to replace the guillotine. Among those furious Americans, there were people who had just become Awakened. No matter how many armed mercenaries the stock exchange hired, it was not easy to defeat the Awakened.

When the mob broke into the building, however, a man was waiting for them on the second floor. He threw money bags and weed at the angry protesters, successfully causing them to fight among themselves.

The man’s name was Adam Bronze, A.B. for short: the current ABM Guild Master. His username was [A/B], but the reason for using ‘/’ as a divider was unknown. He was the son of the Bronze family, a powerful family in the US stock market, and he had been a weirdo—in a genius way, as it turned out—from an early age. He was said to have made a huge profit by shorting stocks right before the monster wave exploded. It was precisely this money that was used to disrupt the stock exchange invasion. It was possible for him to get hit by a ricochet bullet and survive, since he was Awakened.

People assumed that he was quite old when they found out about his exploits, but that was not the case. He was just a crazy guy in his twenties.

Ji-Cheok didn’t know why the guild name was an economic term, but it did look fancy. When Korean chaebols got older, their hobbies commonly included hiking, driving, or playing golf. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Adam’s pastime list consisted of watching GodTube videos, arguing vigorously with politicians on social media, going on dungeon runs, and shopping for magic stones.

The very picture of a true American, Adam lived a very free life indeed. He was repeatedly rumored to be dating Hollywood celebrities. As a self-proclaimed celibate and a guy who didn’t believe in monogamy, he would rent out an entire luxurious hotel in Las Vegas and drink martinis. There were reports of him doing drugs, being friends with Black rappers, and uploading videos of himself shooting guns with gang members. He was even sued by the U.S. Department of Defense for trying to get on a new military submarine and taking pictures of it.

Not surprisingly, he was really close with Jung Bi-Ga. Adam loved her new drones very much.

This prodigal avatar of capitalism and troublemaker of the Bronze family was famous for creating a mess, but also cleaning up his mess.

-Why is he watching this stream?

-I bet it’s a fake donation. A fake donation that’s worth 200,000 won.

-Well, [A/B] follows a lot of newbie streams. It’s not that strange.

-Umji is rising in popularity. 乃 Of course, he is here to see our Umji.

Ji-Cheok felt like his heart was about to explode.

‘If I screw this up, am I fucked?’

After staring blankly at the chat for a while, his mind came back. He knew that if he acted just from looking at the size of donations, he would not be able to build a solid reputation on GodTube. It was a pity, but there was nothing he could do.

“Uh…Since Ssun_Ju_Ran asked for it first, I will make it public.”

-[A/B] has donated 5,000,000 won.

[A/B]: Oh? I guess the order of the donations is important to you. That’s interesting.

‘Why are you donating more?? I refused it the first time!’

The chat became very chaotic.

-Holy shit! He donated 5 million won!

-The shit just got real!

-Is [A/B] here just to manipulate his stock price again?

-His stock price is already pretty high, and so is the Jungha Group’s stock price…

-[A/B] just does whatever the fuck he wants. Remember last time when he donated 20 million won on a raccoon channel?

-I guess 1 raccoon = 4 Umji.

‘Thanks a lot, chat. I’m going to call my younger brother and tell him to buy the rest of the [Tachi of Heaviness].’

?Master, Ji-Han just sent a text. He told me not to worry because he has already bought all of the [Tachi of Heaviness].? Cheok-Liang whispered.

‘...That was fast. Is he watching my stream? Whew… Anyways, let’s relax, let’s relax.’

After the news that [A/B] was watching the stream broke out, the views went up rapidly.

-[A/B] has donated 100,000 won.

[A/B]: If you are going to show it, stop wasting time and show it quickly.

“......?!”

‘He previously donated five million won, now he is donating one hundred thousand won. Is this bastard trying to train me with money?’

It was thanks to [Beginner’s Skill: Steady Heart] that Ji-Cheok wasn’t having a heart attack from all the donations.

‘I’m still using the skill that’s for level 1 beginners with no compunction, but that’s okay. ‘No compunction’ is my middle name! Yeees, all of this is for the sake of getting more Likes. I mean, I make a living from popularity, so I have to do this.’

“Alright! I will show you right away. First, I’m going to put the Tachi here.”

Ji-Cheok put the saber at the foot of a massive rock. He also didn’t forget to put two stones underneath.

“Now! I am going to climb to the top of this rock and jump off. I’m going to smash that saber with the momentum of my fall! Let’s begin!”

Ji-Cheok took out the Berserker potion. He deliberately took a pose and showed it to the viewers, and started to drink it.

Gulp, gulp.

He felt a surge of power flowing in his body.

[Lizardman? Berserker↗Medicine]

[Class: B-

It will greatly increase all abilities while heavily using up stamina. Overusing this substance will cause death.

Duration of effect: 30 seconds.]

[All stats have increased by 200%.]

[Your health is decreasing rapidly!]

[You will die in 30 seconds. Please cancel the effect within that time frame!]

‘Ugh, I feel stronger already, but I am literally about to die. My stamina is depleting at the speed of light. I believe in you, goddamn [☆★◇◆ Scrooge's Alchemy ◇◆☆★]! Alright, now I’m on the Mono Bike G, and the [Heaven and Earth Chaotic Divine Art] is also good to go!’

A steamy smoke flowed out of Ji-Cheok and dispersed all over his body. With the power of the Berserker potion and the [Heaven and Earth Chaotic Divine Art], his heart was beating like a locomotive engine. Then, he synced his power with the Mono Bike G!

Vroom!

“Activate Rapid Acceleration!”

VROOOOM!

The front wheel instantly left the ground, but Ji-Cheok brought the motorcycle under control, took some distance, then drove straight toward the rock and once more popped a wheelie.

‘Okay, now I have to jump at the right time!’

Thud.

Vroom!

Ji-Cheok actually rode across the rock vertically! It felt like the wind was cutting his cheeks. Mono Bike G soared in a matter of seconds.

In the same fluid motion, Ji-Cheok dove toward the ground. He took his both hands off the handle, holding the seat tight between his thighs, and pulled out only one of the Monoblades. Then, he activated his biggest and strongest attack move, combining the [Heaven and Earth Chaotic Divine Art], [Heaven and Earth Chaotic Sword Art], and [Heaven and Earth Creation] together. The Sword Qi was glowing like a flame. With all this massive momentum driving him downward, Ji-Cheok dove right onto the tachi with his Mono Bike G.

BOOM!!!

The shock was nothing short of an earthquake. The ground cracked and a cloud of dust rose from the area. Ji-Cheok bounced off from the recoil, and the Mono Bike G also flew far away and fell to the ground.

Ji-Cheok did a flip in the air and landed smoothly. With all the experience he had, landing on his feet was a piece of cake.

“Wow~ That was pretty hard. Let’s see what the result is~”

He started talking to the viewers as soon as he landed.

‘Did it break? If it didn’t break, I need to continue with my ‘clumsy act’.’

Ji-Cheok knew that he had done his best and there was nothing more he could do.

“Shit, I almost forgot! Cancel the [Berserker Potion] effect!”

Ji-Cheok canceled the skill at the last moment, as if it was on purpose. He deliberately showed his stamina bar to the viewers—only 10 points were left.

“Whew, that was close.”

-Wow, Umji. How could you forget such an important thing? You almost died!

-Classic Umji. 乃 You could’ve become the first GodTuber to die of forgetfulness.

Ji-Cheok pretended not to notice the countless comments in the chat as he waited for the dust to clear.

-Look at him, just waiting for the dust to clear on purpose.

-*drum rolls*. Let’s see what happened!

“You need some suspense for it to be more dramatic! Just wait for a bit!”

Eventually, the dust settled, and what was behind it but an ordinary [Tachi of Heaviness]? Even the stones he had placed under the saber were still intact.

‘What? But I felt it break.’

-LOLOL! I can’t believe the stream is about to end because he couldn’t break it! Hahahahah!

-Umji can’t even break a saber!! LOLOL!!

-Forget about the donations, he can’t do it bcuz of his lack of skills!! Hahahahahaha.

-I knew he was bluffing from the start! Lol.

“Nooooo!! It can’t be!!!”

Ji-Cheok ran toward the saber with his exaggerated acting. Since he thought the stream was ruined anyway, he wanted to be comedic about it.

Just as he picked up the tachi to make a joke about it…

Crack!

…the saber broke in half, like something from a cartoon.

“Oooh! Look! It’s broken, everyone! It’s broken!!!”

-Total luck. I can feel it.

-I think Cheok-Liang secretly broke it out of pity.

-Good job, Umji. T_T T_T My baby. 乃 乃 乃 乃乃 乃 乃 乃

The tachi shattered and the shards began to shine.

Ding!

[You have successfully broken apart the [Tachi of Heaviness].]

[You have found the hidden essence of the item.]

‘Essence?

Right then, a pure white marble appeared.

[Elixir of Heaviness]

[Class: B

Type: Elixir (Summoned Beast)

The ability of the tachi was distilled into an elixir. This elixir can imbue a summoned beast with the power of [Tachi of Heaviness].]

[Self-healing: Even without recovery magic, the user’s stamina continues to fill up. Low-level recovery ability.]

[Instant Mass Boost: The user can temporarily increase their body mass when striking an enemy.]

“Huh?”

The class of [Tachi of Heaviness] was C. However, what he now had in front of him was a B-Class elixir for summoned beasts, which was considered the most valuable of all B-Class elixirs.

“I can transfer the ability of the saber to my summoned beast?”

Even though it was a B-Class, the elixirs that could strengthen summoned beasts were very rare—high-level Hunters also wanted to strengthen their summoned beasts, so it was a seller’s market.

‘A low-level recovery ability AND a mass boosting ability? This is amazing!’

At that moment, the GodTube chat was quickly filled up with comments.

-Show me! SHOW ME!

-Please show me Cheok-Liang taking it…

Ji-Cheok decided to end the stream here.

“So, today’s live stream ends here. See you next time~!” Ji-Cheok said hastily.

He pretended to be cool and turned off the stream. On his special phone for Hunters, there was a text from Ji-Han saying that he had stocked up on two hundred of the sabers, and a text from his brother saying that there were no sabers in the market anymore.

Ji-Cheok hugged Cheok-Liang and cried.

“Holy shit. This… This is amazing…!”

THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM