Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 86

“I am Kim Ki-Tae from G Web Magazine. Now, most experts who heard that you were trying to clear this dungeon by yourself are predicting that you will die in this dungeon. There is also a public opinion that the government should not allow you, the future of Korea, to go in there by yourself. What are your thoughts about that?”

‘Wow, that’s one hell of a passive-aggressive question.’

The question itself was phrased to sound like praise, but it essentially meant that Ji-Cheok was going to die in the dungeon.

‘That’s very rude.’

It was like saying to an athlete, ‘since the experts are saying that you’re not going to win a medal, wouldn’t it be better to just give up and take care of your body?’ Ji-Cheok thought that reporters should be more careful about asking the wrong questions to Hunters who were risking their lives in the dungeons.

‘I guess this was why I wasn’t getting any Likes from the reporters.’

He assumed that the reporters had to have some kind of connection for them to get past this controlled area. It wasn’t like there was an official press conference for Ji-Cheok.

“So, you are asking almost the same question as reporter Park. Hahaha. As I said before, this is the only answer that I will give you.”

Ji-Cheok took a deep breath, but this was not to calm his mind or anything. This deep breath was for Ji-Cheok to make the serious facial expression that he had practiced while looking in the mirror. He probably practiced this more than the smile from before. Ji-Cheok realized that it might sound silly to some people, but no matter how much he screamed or cried, the truth would not be as well conveyed as when having a serious facial expression. Even a ten-year-old knew this.

“I hope you will watch me come out after clearing this dungeon. I need you to trust me a little bit more. That is all.”

‘Now, blink once, look straight into the camera. Loosen up. Relax. Look serious. Smile once, as if you’re a bit embarrassed. Good. Now, turn around and walk away.’

[You have received 1 Like.]

[You have received 1 Like.]

[You have received 1 Like.]

[You have received 1 Like.]

….

‘Good. Words cannot make them trust me more, but even a small action can make a difference.’

The reporters’ cameras were flashing as if Ji-Cheok was on the red carpet. He deliberately walked slowly until he finally reached the entrance of the dungeon.

‘The flickering dimensional rift looks like an angel’s charming halo. It seems like the dungeon gates are always waiting for Hunters. Life and death. Dreams and despair. How many lives have been changed by this angelic ring?’

Ji-Cheok looked back. The wind made his hair sway just in time to make him look extra cool. Just then, a message from the System popped up.

Ding!

[Hostile reporters started to admire you!]

[You have received 121 Likes.]

?Master, I am going to activate your live broadcast skills.?

[You have been connected to the live stream by using [360° Video Shooting].]

[Your live stream has now started.]

‘Good stuff. Let’s go in before they find out what’s going on. Keep calm. Don’t let out any emotions. Hunter Um Ji-Cheok is going live.’

* * *

‘It’s still a bit embarrassing.’

?Well, didn’t you promise you would do anything to get more Likes??

‘I guess getting hated on is better than indifference. I’m sure I just made a few more fans thanks to that incident, and a couple more haters too. But that’s okay. It’s my job as a Hunter to grab attention and embrace my fans. For the haters… I guess it’s key to just ignore them and let them hate however much they want. Haters gonna hate.’?

No matter how many Hunters who were doing GodTube flirted with the crowd, in the end, it was their skills and abilities that determined everything.

?To be precise, it’s crucial for you to be alive.?

‘You are right. I guess it’s important to enter a dungeon and actually stay alive. On that note, I wonder if this live stream will cut off like last time. The Hunter teams that went in front of me were the kind that doesn’t stream at all, so I don’t know if I can live stream inside the dungeon. It sucks that some Hunter agencies that are more exclusive don’t share information about the dungeons. That’s why, most of the time, Hunters don’t know what kind of dungeon it is until they enter it. If they went in and died, that was it. The agencies still won’t give out information.’

?That seems so wrong in the eyes of public interest.?

‘Yes. But is it? Unless the agency completely gave up on a dungeon, even if the previous Hunter teams died, the agency has the upper hand in information. Wouldn’t they want to use that information to send their own Hunters to clear it?’

?So this is for their personal gain.?

‘Yupp. That is the true nature of our private Energy and Military companies. Didn’t you notice most members of the National Assembly were bribed with Rolexes from these companies when they started out as junior secretaries? That’s why it will never change.’

Beyond the dimensional boundaries and through the strange darkness, finally, the dungeon appeared as if it was the light at the end of a tunnel.

‘Oooh. I can already smell the stale air.’

The smell was always the same. Ji-Cheok wondered if it was because the dungeons were fragments of another dimension.

A forest appeared. Suddenly, dozens of vines whipped in front of Ji-Cheok.

Whip!

‘Whoah, that’s a fun way of introducing yourself.’

Ji-Cheok took a deep breath. As he tasted the stale air, he sent his Qi to his legs and jumped straight up. Ji-Cheok activated the [Fleeing Shadow] created by the legendary Divine Thief. When he added the [Wind and Cloud Steps] to it, his simple evasion technique improved exponentially.

Crack! Crack!

Dozens of vine whips hit the roots of the bush where Ji-Chok was standing. He felt something soft under his feet: corpses of Hunters from the previous teams. There were six of them.

‘Since there were two teams that went in, it means that four of them could be still alive. Let’s hope that’s the case.’

He didn’t want to see the buds grow and bloom from the corpses. It looked like something from an environmental campaign poster in elementary schools. These flowers would soon spit out new monsters that would start looking for their ‘fertilizer’.

‘Hm… organic fertilizer made of literal organs…. That’s a little bit gross. Don’t you think, my new bean sprout friends?’

Shing!

Ji-Cheok quickly pulled out his Monoblade from his waist. Chaotic Sword Qi was flowing like water on the blades as he cut the vines that were attacking him.

Slash! Slash!

After the vines were cut into pieces in one blow, he landed on the ground. Ji-Cheok thought he looked cool as he landed softly with the [Wind and Cloud Steps].

‘Shall I look around the area now?’

He was in a dense forest. The trees were almost fifty meters tall, and there were plants that he had never seen before. Even though the forest was full of trees and plants, it was strange that he couldn’t hear any birds or insects. He could even see the sun in the sky.

“Is this an Open Dungeon?”

Ji-Cheok talked to himself on purpose for the sake of his stream.

‘Just from the look of it, it looks like the kind of fantasy-like forest where elves and unicorns are running around. But I guess the monsters here are more interested in ‘elf-shaped manure’ and ‘unicorn-shaped manure’ than actual elves and unicorns.’

?I think I understand why Ji-Han told you to get fire-type skills.?

‘Yeah, me too. I guess he already knew that there were going to be plant-type monsters.’

?At least you have the [Blaze Walk] and the [Divine Protection of the Dark Flames].?

‘I’m glad I have these two fire-type skills. And if I’m in a hurry, I can always open up the Likes Shop to buy more skills.’

?These plant-type Open Dungeons always have plant-type monsters like the Ents, the Dryads, and the Maneaters. They are known to be strong and hard to kill.?

‘But they are weak against fire.’

?Yes, Master. Most plant-type monsters are weak against fire. You also have the [Black Flaming Jacket].?

‘You mean the alchemy-fortified leather jacket.’

Conventionally speaking, Ji-Cheok just had to use [Blaze Walk] with his Mono Bike and make the surrounding area into a sea of fire. Any other plans would be seen as supplementary to this plan.

Ding!

[Garden of a Fragment of Mutated World Tree]

[Difficulty: 1-Star Dungeon—Supreme

A fragment of a mutated world tree has grown and created a little garden! Defeat the owner of the garden, or deal with the inhabitants of the garden to clear the dungeon!

Reward: Unique Skill Voucher]

?Master, if it’s an elite dungeon at the one-star supreme level, isn’t that essentially a two-star intermediate or higher dungeon??

‘Well, I can see why the other Hunters couldn’t clear this dungeon. How can a couple of level 10 Hunters clear a top-tier dungeon? I guess there is only one thing for me to do next. Shall I start talking to the viewers?’

Ji-Cheok smiled toward the camera. He was going for a lively smile this time.

“Hello everyone! Um Ji-Cheok is back! Welcome, Gumjis!!”

-UmJiiiiii!!!!

-The action is hot right from the start!

-I can’t believe what I’m seeing! Did you just do a spinning slash move mid-air?

-Why did you enter another dungeon??

-What? Did you go into the dungeon alone again? Where are you?

?Umji went into a special dungeon in Yeouido alone.

?That’s crazy…

-Isn’t that the dungeon with a level limit of 20? I’m sure Umji can clear it by himself.

?LOLLOL! You’re right. That’s a piece of cake for Umji.

-I dunno~ Even if it’s Umji, I don’t think he can do it alone. He’s probably there to rescue the survivors.

-That dungeon looks like it needs to be cleared first. I don’t think he can get out until he clears it.

-But did you see the quest window? What the hell is a mutated world tree?

Ji-Cheok adjusted the camera so that the corpse didn’t get caught on the screen. No matter how good the GodTube editing program was, it was not good to have a lot of blurs in the video.

‘By the way, how can viewers reply to the comments so fast? They must be fast typers.’

?It just means that many people are gathered to see your stream, Master. There are many hate comments about you in the press that are disguised as constructive criticism.?

‘Even though I’m risking my life so that other Hunters don’t have to be the sacrificial lamb?’

?They are saying that you are doing this for viewership when the government can just ‘manage’ after the Dungeon Break. ?

‘So I guess their plan doesn’t involve sacrificing Hunters. Is that possible though? I’m sure the government is going to start ‘managing’ it if the Dungeon Break happens, but I am sure that they are going to send one or two more teams of Hunters before that happens.’

?I agree, Master.?

‘Why would the reporters give me all those Likes if they were going to write articles like that behind my back?’

?It’s been a while since reporters could write articles that they want. That’s why there are many expected deaths of reporters from independent newspapers.?

This was not just a Korean problem. When a human, a single human being, had more power than a small pistol, not everyone was going to use that power righteously. The concept of Justice was a very subjective matter.

‘But, surprisingly, my fans are handling it better than I thought.’

?Yes, they are, Master. For some reason, your fans are reacting well. It seems like they are becoming more and more hardcore fans.?

-These Gumjis are Han-eaters. And they should be banned from society.

?Right back at you! 乃 All hail Umji! 乃 ^^

‘What… is a Han-eater?’

?…I am not sure, Master.?

-These Gumjis make me sick! LOL They’re all Han-eaters!! LOL LOL.

?Right back at you! 乃 All hail Umji! 乃 ^^

?From the context, I think they are just jealous of your fandom, Master.?

‘Yeah, I think so too.’

If Ji-Cheok was familiar with social media or the anonymous website culture, he would know better about these terms, but Mu-Cheok had told him not to get into that. He told Ji-Cheok that Hunters’ main job was to go into dungeons, hunt, and survive, so their mental health was important. And he especially warned Ji-Cheok not to do anything else if he wanted to stick to his own schedule.

‘Anyway… There must have been something about me somewhere I didn’t know about. It’s also not helping that I can’t keep up with these new slang words. But since the number of live stream viewers is increasing rapidly, I guess it’s a good thing. I just need to do my job now.’

-Don’t mind haters that are trying to put the fandom’s name into the gutter. Just report all the troll comments too. 乃 Never. Feed. The. Trolls. 乃

One of his fans nicely summarized what was going on.

‘Well, if that’s the case… breathe, straighten up posture, big smile!’

1. In the raw, it is written as ?????. It’s a slang almost exclusively used in K-Pop idol culture. It can be loosely translated as a persecution complex.

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