Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 121

?This neighborhood is already too expensive, so it is not worth it to buy land here. How about going to a cheaper district? In addition, the plant is small enough to put in a pot for now, but when the World Tree starts growing, it will eventually have to take root outside. When that time comes, you will not be able to grow it indoors.?

‘Hm… So it’s basically creating my own area, just like Seong Kwang’s farm. Of course, it seemed like Seong Kwang kinda expected the Gates to open, his farm animals were as strong as the monsters.’

The World Tree was a giant tree that appeared in myths and legends.

‘If the tree became that big… A yard wouldn’t be able to contain it. I would have to create my own neighborhood. What else should I put there if that happens? I can’t just think about making a profit by flipping lands. I can’t do all that in a month or two, and the world might end soon anyway. Hm…’

“Okay, enough about the World Tree. How many Likes do I have now?”

?The count is increasing steadily. You are now at 1.32 million Likes.?

Ji-Cheok had recorded the Imp Dungeon, but he hadn’t uploaded anything yet. Information regarding hidden dungeons was big money. He was planning to edit and upload the way he was able to enter the dungeon, and auction off the information regarding the hidden dungeon.

‘I guess my popularity skyrocketed, my Likes are still accumulating even though I took a day off.’

?You currently have 602,000 subscribers, Master.?

“That is a lot… How many subscribers does that guy have?”

Ji-Cheok was talking about ‘That Hunter’ that appeared on his live stream out of the blue the other day.

?One hundred and fifty million, Master.?

‘That’s terrifying… Wouldn’t it be enough to save the world if ‘That Hunter’ had the ability to use Likes like me?’

Ji-Cheok felt strange admiration and thought how everything would be simpler if ‘That Hunter’ had his abilities.

?I understand why you are thinking like that, but everything happened by chance…?

‘Ah… I don’t know. Well, I guess everything worked out, since it looks like ‘That Hunter’ doesn’t even receive donations or do advertisements on his streams. He seems to be uploading videos to satisfy himself. But for me, I have to risk my life to get Likes from the viewers.’

?On the contrary, there are Hunters like Kim Choco.?

‘That’s true. He would look at me with the same feelings I have about ‘That Hunter’. If you think about it, Hunters and people in the entertainment industry are pretty similar. I heard ‘That Hunter’ is still in the dungeon, did you receive any response from them?’

?No, Master. And it seems like they are keeping quiet about which dungeon they entered.?

‘I’m sure they went into a dungeon that no Hunters dared to clear.’

?Am I sensing a bit of jealousy from your tone, Master??

‘If I was as powerful as them, I might feel jealous. But the strength difference between myself and them is so large that jealousy didn’t even come to my mind. I just need to do my job.’

?… I think that is one of Master’s strengths.?

‘Hmm?’

Cheok-Liang was deep in thought and continued to talk.

?According to some academic journals, not only does becoming Awakened involve luck, but it also involves specific personality traits. For example, a lot of Tanks are members of the clergy, and conversely, people with depression often become Elementaliststs, Necromancers, and Summoners. Perhaps it is because of your personality that you acquired such a job, Master.?

‘Huh, I never thought of it like that. You may be right. Anyway… Shall we go look for [Tears of a Fairy]?’

?You are not going to wait, Master??

‘There is no way I can wait a year for that thing to grow. Who knows what’s going to happen in that year?’ Also, I have to deal with another thing in the meantime.’

?I am assuming it is about your brother’s situation.?

‘Yes, I need to talk to Jung Bi-Ga about him.’

Ji-Cheok used his Qi Sense to check up on his brother, and Mu-Cheok was still sleeping. He checked the time and it was nine o’clock.

‘I guess it’s time for the good adults to sleep. So this naughty adult is going to start working.’

Ji-Cheok picked up his phone and sent a message to Bi-Ga.

Ji-Cheok: Good evening, CEO Jung Bi-Ga. Sorry for texting you this late at night, but it’s important.

In a matter of seconds, he received a text back.

Bi-Ga: Hey, What’s up? I didn’t think we were close enough to text each other like this. Even when you wanted to use my lab, we only discussed it during business hours.

Ji-Cheok: I am very sorry to disturb you, but it’s really important.

Bi-Ga: What is it?

Ji-Cheok: It’s about Mu-Cheok’s body. Did you mod my brother’s body? I wanted to talk to you about that.

After he sent the message, it was quiet for a while.

?It looks like she is thinking about something, Master.?

‘Seems like it.’

After a while, he got a reply back from her.

Bi-Ga: Mr. Ji-Cheok, you are quite smart. How did you know that?

Ji-Cheok: Cultivators can use their Qi Sense to obtain information about people’s bodies.

Bi-Ga: Wow, I had no idea cultivators could do that. I guess I’ve not studied you enough. It’s my mistake for not knowing. So what do you want to talk about?

Ji-Cheok: Would it be okay if I visited you right now? I think it’s better to speak in person rather than by text.

Bi-Ga: Sure, come to the lab that I lent you last time.

Ji-Cheok: Okay, I will be there soon.

Ji-Cheok put his phone in his pocket and got ready.

* * *

Vroom!!

Ji-Cheok drove through the wind. He had a car that his company provided for going to dungeons, but whenever he was in the city, he liked driving his Mono Bike G. The bike could reach speeds up to six hundred kilometers per hour when it was fully charged with mana. He rarely drove that fast, but the point was, speed wasn’t a problem for the bike. Thanks to this, he was able to get to Bi-Ga’s lab in no time.

The lab was not in some random container, but in the headquarters of Jungbi Heavy Industries. He parked his bike in the parking lot and took the executive elevator, just like before. Then, he got off, walked down the hallway, and found himself at the laboratory he had previously rented.

“Welcome, Um Ji-Cheok. I want to say long time no see, but it’s not. It’s been less than a week since you rented my lab.”

When the laboratory door opened, Bi-Ga was in a formal suit and was waiting for Ji-Cheok.

“Yes, I know. I can’t really say it has been a while,” Ji-Cheok said.

“Let’s skip the formalities. So, what did you come here to talk about?”

“I need to know if you forced my brother into modifying his body.”

Her eyes widened slightly and she began to laugh while hitting the desk next to her.

“HAHAHAHAHAH.”

She laughed for a long time, then she wiped away her tears.

“Ah, I’m sorry. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed this much.”

Ji-Cheok quietly waited. He just looked at her and waited for her to answer.

“I’ve known you two for some time, but your brotherhood is something else. I guess I’m kind of jealous since my family doesn’t have anything like that,” Bi-Ga said.

“...”

Ji-Cheok didn’t feel the need to answer. He just kept staring.

“Wow~ Look at Ji-Cheok. You seem so different from when you are streaming on GodTube.”

She snapped her fingers. Two mechanical arms appeared from the wall. A teacup was held in each hand of the mechanical arm.

“Drink. It’s a herbal tea that I’m currently researching. It has a very small effect of permanently increasing your mana. I made it by researching elixirs used for cultivation.”

She put her fingers on the teacup.

“To put it bluntly, I made the proposal, but I didn’t force it. The Chronicler seems powerful on the outside, but in the end, most of their abilities are for supporting other Hunters. It means that the job has its limits. I’m sure you knew about that.”

“...”

“So that’s what your brother wanted. He asked me to make him ‘stronger’. He told me not to hesitate to resort to ‘extreme’ methods.”

“And what exactly do you mean by ‘extreme methods’?”

A deep aroma emanated from the teacup. It was a tea with an elegant scent, the polar opposite of Bi-Ga’s image of drinking alcohol every day. And she used mechanical arms to make the tea, which was also out of the ordinary.

“Usually, I would keep this kind of information confidential, but as your fan, I am going to tell you. So, everything I am about to say is going to be true,” Bi-Ga said as she put a sugar cube into the tea.

“You don’t seem to believe me at all~ I feel sad,” she continued.

“...Please answer me,” Ji-Cheok said.”

“Oh, you think of me as some kind of a witch. That’s okay, everyone thinks so.”

She smiled bitterly.

“ I don't know if you will believe me or not, but I can promise you that I treated your brother with purely good intentions. Of course, your brother doesn’t believe that either. Hahaha.”

After she said that, she muttered, ‘Well, even I find myself pretty crazy.’

Ji-Cheok didn’t know why she said that to herself. She was the devil who ruled the world from behind while having a love-hate relationship with the stock partners. She was also the embodiment of disobeying the law, but somehow, Ji-Cheok felt a strange sense of loneliness from her.

She then changed her expression and spoke again.

“In principle, I only modified his bones. What I mean is, your brother’s bones are like the essence of Magic Engineering.”

She snapped her fingers again, then a big screen appeared behind her. It was a skeleton made with Magic Engineering.

“This is called ‘Mana-Reactive Shape-Memory Alloy Artificial Skeleton.’ I know, I know, it’s too long. So we just call it MS, the initials of Mana and Skull. A fantastic collaboration between machines and mana. The bones can generate mana by themselves, recover by themselves, and even have several of their own skills,” Bi-Ga said.

“What are the side effects?”

“Well, there are some side effects. If the human mind and body cannot withstand the generated mana power, they may become contaminated or mutated. So it's a high risk, even higher return.”

“I can’t believe you would do—”

She interrupted him and smiled.

“I swear on my name, I didn’t want to do this either. I had no intention of performing surgery to such an extreme degree. It was your little brother who insisted. He was saying something about protecting his older brother,” Bi-Ga said.

Something that resembled an angel’s halo could be seen in Bi-Ga’s eyes.

“You don’t trust me?” Bi-Ga said.

“...”

“If you don’t believe me, that’s okay. Just think of me as your enemy. I’m used to it anyway.”

Suddenly Ji-Cheok started to have doubts as to why she was acting this evil. She could have said everything nicely, but it seemed like she was intentionally saying it in such a way as to provoke him.

‘It’s as if she is trying to act exactly like the villain everybody thinks she is.’

Ji-Cheok seemed to understand why Ji-Byeok was always swearing at her cousin but still cared about her.

Ji-Cheok decided to use his [Minor Intuition] skill.

‘Is Jung Bi-Ga telling the truth?’

“...”

Surprisingly, Ji-Cheok felt his intuition leaning toward her words being true. This meant that she was really his fan, and that she treated his brother in good faith.

‘Huh. I can’t believe that’s true, even though I used the skill.’

It was Bi-Ga’s turn to be curious as Ji-Cheok stood there, deep in his thoughts.

“I thought you were going to slap me or something,” Bi-Ga said.

“Well, actually… I’m kinda surprised myself, but I believe you.”

Ding.

[Master Mechanic Jung Bi-Ga is slightly flustered by your trust.]

[You have received 1 Like.]

‘She kept talking about being used to being a villain… She is one strange woman. I guess you need to be strange to become Master at something, especially Master Mechanic.’

It sounded crazy, but he thought that this queen of parties and mad scientist was, in fact, just a lonely girl who was not good at trusting people.