Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 236

As Ji-Han listened to their conversation, which was an odd mix between stupid jokes and valuable information, he checked the time on his wristwatch.

“Um Ji-Cheok, we have 10,830 hours left until the end of the Tutorial. A year has 8,760 hours, so we have a little over a year to go, but if the Cyclops in New Jersey are successful in their plan, the time left until the end of the Tutorial will be reduced to about 7,000 hours.”

It was a short and surprising explanation, but Ji-Cheok was unfazed. He was expecting this kind of conversation when he arrived here.

“Just as I expected, you know the accurate time for the end of the Tutorial,” Ji-Cheok said.

“It’s because my ability is time manipulation.”

“And is it because of the restrictions that you couldn’t tell me before?”

“That’s correct. And the fact that I can tell you this directly means that the restrictions have been lifted, which means that—”

“The world is going to shit in real time~ That’s what Ji-Han’s trying to say. Oh, and by the way, ‘going to shit’ is not slang. You can find it in the dictionary~”

Ji-Han’s expression did not budge as he listened to Reable’s out-of-context joke.

“As Reable said in rather crude words, the world is already pushing its limits. The restrictions on me are being lifted, but that means the restrictions on other things are being lifted as well.”

“You mean the dungeons will appear more often?”

“It’s not just that. There will be Dungeon Breaks, and there are going to be four or five-star dungeon bosses appearing directly. Like those Cyclops.”

‘I’ve seen Reable act strange like this many times, but look at Ji-Han. His expression hasn’t changed one bit. But those Cyclops…what are the ranks of those monsters, come to think of it?’

?The dungeons where Cyclops appear as a boss monster are four-star at least. The Cyclops that appeared in the United States are more powerful, so they must be monsters from dungeons that are five stars or higher.?

Cheok-Liang quickly informed him.

Ji-Cheok had never been in a five-star dungeon yet. In fact, he had only been in one four-star dungeon once, which was the [Forest of the Twisted God]. Granted, they were an imperfect God and their power had been diminished, but still…the dungeon where a literal God had descended was only a four-star dungeon!

And yet, according to Cheok-Liang, the dungeon that had just emerged and unleashed monsters, causing this massive frenzy, was a five-star dungeon, or even a six-star one!

“Until this point in time, there is never a Dungeon Break where these kinds of high-level monsters pop out. But they are going to happen more and more often, and they are going to make the Tutorial end quicker.”

‘So this is how it is. Even a shitty game developer wouldn’t create a game this one-sided. This is fucked up.’

“The problem is that we don’t have the capability to stop them, at least not without a thousand level 100 Hunters joining in or directly nuking them,” Ji-Han said.

“Have you seen that kind of future?”

“Yes. I have seen it many times.”

‘Many times….’

“I’ll be honest with you, I’ve seen several futures, and there was no Ji-Cheok in any of them.”

‘What the hell is he saying?’

“This isn’t the first time I’ve seen you, Ji-Cheok, but you’ve always been different in your futures. Sometimes you would not Awaken and had no abilities whatsoever, and in other futures, you would have unusual abilities, like being an Illusionist or something like that, but…”

‘But?’

“This is the first time I’ve ever seen a timeline with you having this kind of powerful ability. Just to let you know, there were not many futures where you even survived until this point.”

“Wow…”

Ji-Cheok let out an involuntary gasp.

‘I can’t believe I died so often!’

“In most of the timelines, you would die before the Tutorial ended.”

“What about Mu-Cheok?” Ji-Cheok asked reflexively. “My brother, what happens to him?”

“I’m not sure. He wasn’t really my interest. But I haven’t seen him in any of the futures after the end of the Tutorial, so he probably would become a nameless Hunter or a corpse,” Ji-Han spoke in a low casual voice.

“Why are you telling me this now?” Ji-Cheok asked.

“Stop,” Ji-Han said abruptly. “I can guess why you asked to speak to me. Isn’t it because you don’t think you should leave the Cyclops alone?”

His words left Ji-Cheok speechless. And after a pause, he continued to speak.

“Unfortunately, even the United States would have to make great sacrifices to deal with them, and they’re not willing to make those sacrifices. As a result, they will get an even bigger catastrophe in return.”

“You mean… you want me to let that happen? You want me to just sit here and watch the inevitable doom coming?”

“Let it come. There is no stopping it at this point.”

Ji-Han was adamant. Reable smirked and looked back and forth between Ji-Cheok and Ji-Han. As for Ji-Cheok…he felt very uncomfortable. Very, very uncomfortable.

“Besides, their sacrifice is necessary,” Ji-Han said.

“What?”

“The population of the entire state of New Jersey was close to eight million before the Dungeon Gate Incident, and now it is about four million. It is a bustling area with a lot of people living there even after the Gate Incident.”

“...”

“North of New Jersey, there is New York City, and to the west is Philadelphia, which is also a major city, and if those places get wiped out by the Cyclops, that is when we will be able to build the dimensional barrier that you had in mind.”

Without realizing it, Ji-Cheok balled up his fist.

It was a strange feeling.

‘A necessary sacrifice… Four million people, a number I can’t even comprehend.’

“Mr. Um, you can’t save everyone, especially when saving the world requires sacrifice.”

“And that sacrifice needs to be the citizens of New Jersey?”

Ji-Han nodded at his words.

“Do you really think the leaders of the world’s nations would have the will to build a dimensional barrier if all of New Jersey wasn’t wiped out? They can’t prepare for the catastrophe if they don’t know what they’re going up against.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Yes, I do. I have seen it many times, and I can tell you that is the nature of the human race. From what I’ve seen, the Cyclops are always able to ravage New Jersey and make it their territory.”

Ji-Han closed his eyes and continued.

“And then, a Manaforming Forest appears, the most horrific of all the Manaforming Forests. That’s when the United States tries everything to stop them but fails. The United States calls for international help, but the other countries do next to nothing, which further increases the division between humans.”

What he said sounded like a hopeless prophecy.

“That is when you take up the torch of hope called the dimensional barrier. If you become the hope for the world, then the entire world will bend to your will and support you.”

“Is that the future you saw?”

“No,” Ji-Han said as he shook his head.

‘You’re telling me that the whole ‘hope for the world’ thing isn’t from your divination skill?’

“Your future as of right now is beyond my knowledge, so what I just said is not based on divination, but I will do everything in my power to make it happen.”

It was a very powerful speech. Ji-Han sounded like a very solid, very trustworthy boss.

“It would be much more efficient if we just obeyed and listened to Ji-Han~ After all, humanity has a history of sacrificing the little things for the greater good.”

Reable was right. Ji-Cheok knew that.

.

Both Ji-Han and Reable all thought he would just accept the situation as a matter of course.

And they were not wrong. Even though among those four million people, there were children, grandparents, and ordinary people just living day by day, at the end of the day, they were still just foreigners to Ji-Cheok. Why would he care if four million foreign people died or not? It was more important for people to wake up and realize the apocalypse was going to happen soon.

“I still can’t do that,” Ji-Han refused.

“Are you serious?”

“Very.”

“I can’t let you do something that’s impossible.”

“Sure, it seems impossible now, but we have to do it somehow. And I just realized that if I really do whatever it takes, it might be possible to save those people.”

Ji-Cheok looked into himself. Deep inside, there were his Likes, which were the product of pure awe and faith that people sent him. It was the divine force that was burning within him.

Right now, he had a total of 370 million Likes. In addition to the Likes given by the Gods, the Likes that people gave when watching his past videos continued to replenish his tank.

Among those people, of course, were the people of New Jersey.

-Umji! Thanks for uploading fun videos! :)

-I wish Umji would come to the United States! :->

-Our booth at the Comic-Con will be doing Umji cosplay.

-I heard there’s a booth where they’re doing both Umji and I.L.’s cosplay

-Why don\'t those two meet in person? I heard they are still texting each other.:-C

-Umji! Please come to the United States and do a fan meeting!

His current number of Likes was not quite enough to create a dimensional barrier, but it might be enough to put out the immediate fire. So he decided to use them all.

Ji-Cheok was about to get seriously busy. He was going to get rid of all those damn one-eyed assholes, even if it meant that he had to burn through every last one of his 370 million Likes.

“You must be serious,” Ji-Han said.

“I am always serious.”

“Why would you go to such lengths? Their sacrifice would be more effective in saving our planet!”

Ji-Cheok smiled at his serious face and replied,

“Saving people in crisis. Helping people that no one dares to help…” Ji-Cheok turned away from him. “...That’s how you get more Likes, don’t you agree?”

Ji-Cheok crossed through space in one step.

‘I’m going to do everything to crush you, you one-eyed bastards! Just wait right there. I’ll drive up with Cheok-Liang and blow your damn heads off!’

? ? ?

?I have emailed Ji-Han an outline of our operation. He checked it right away.?

‘Good. Let me know when you hear back. But for now, how do we break in there?’

?Why would we need to break through? You can just call them and they will open up the barrier.?

‘You think so?’

New York City was the most populous city in the United States and home to the infamous Wall Street. Even before the Gate Incident, the city had boasted a population of over eight million, and now it was said to be up to twelve million.

It was a symbol of the plutonomy, and because of that, it was one of the most protected areas in the country, which was why its population had grown so rapidly.

And right now, Ji-Cheok was looking down on New York City from above. More specifically, he was looking down on the house and company of a certain Adam Bronze.

‘Let’s just buy some skills first.’

?I have those ready, Master.?

[Power of Truth]

[Class: Legendary (Non-Upgradable)

The power bestowed by the God of Truth upon their apostle.

The truth is powerful in itself.

Function: As long as the user speaks the truth, others will trust them unconditionally.

Function: This power is lost if a lie is spoken even once.]

[Memory Visualization]

[Class: Rare (Non-Upgradable)

A skill that allows the user to recall memories and make them into videos.

Can be used in conjunction with other broadcasting-related skills, and can also be used in conjunction with GodTube.]

[Scale of Truth]

[Class: A-

An artifact made by the God of Truth.

If the user holds this scale and speaks the truth, it will remain level.

However, if the user speaks a lie, the scale will tilt.]

He could also buy items at the Likes Shop. He didn’t usually buy items because they were not very efficient compared to skills, but this was a special case, so he bought this item. He needed to be well-prepared if he wanted to make others believe in him.

He still didn’t know if this would convince them.

1. He is not kidding

2. The name and class are the same as the item in chapter 223, but the description is different.