Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 127

“There are things you can say, and there are things you can’t say. Do you understand, Hunter Yum Ra-Du?”

Ji-Cheok’s voice was rather lower than usual, and he spoke slowly. Ra-Du wondered why. Still, the goosebumps didn’t go away. However, if he was going to back off now, he wouldn’t have started it in the first place.

“Shut the fuck up! I’m going to kill yo—”

Boom!

In that instant, Ra-Du lost sight of Ji-Cheok. Only when Ji-Cheok split the waves of flame and appeared a meter away from him, Ra-Du regained his senses and tried to quickly move the flame power he had gathered. Fortunately, he had finished stacking all the flames and the power had started to really kick in.

“I won!”

Ra-Du deliberately screamed loudly.

“Sun Explosion!”

He used the skill with all his might, maybe because he felt a sense of urgency. As the name of the skill suggested, the condensed power of flame exploded out of his body with tremendous momentum. It was like a nuclear blast—not just pure heat, but quite literally explosive.?It pulverized everything around it and burned the particles to ashes.

Booom!!!

‘This is the last skill you’ll ever see. You will pay the price for disrespecting the power of the sun!’

However, Ra-Du saw something unbelievable happening right in front of him.

It was just a line at first, but then countless lines intersected at an incredible speed, and then merged to become one surface. It was a hemispherical barrier created by the Sword Qi.

‘What was that called again? Ah, yes. It was called the Sword Qi Veil. Damn it. But isn’t that skill used by cultivators at level 100 and higher?’

Ji-Cheok was approaching him, under the protection of the Sword Veil. He simply tore apart the Sun Explosion and stabbed Ra-Du with his sword.

Slash!

“ARGGHHH!!!”

The sword covered in Sword Qi pierced right through Ra-Du’s shoulder. Not only did it go through the shoulder as if it was tofu, but it also left two entrance and two exit holes instead of one. Ji-Cheok had activated his Double Strike!

Ra-Du tried to step back, screaming in pain, but another sword stabbed him out of nowhere. This one pierced through his left thigh, also resulting in two tunnel-like holes.

“IT HURTS!!!!”

Yum Ra-Du rolled on the ground in pain. Since he had been raised without any hardship and rarely suffered any kind of wound, he now had to endure pain the likes of which he had never felt before.

“Hmm… Hunter Yum Ra-Du. How can you complain so much about this little pain? Just a minute ago, I was being burned alive.”

Ra-Du could hear his low whisper. Without pulling out the sword, Ji-Cheok crouched down and showed his face to Ra-Du. The latter could hear a sizzling sound, and as he struggled to pull himself back, he groaned again in pain, because his body was being skewered by Ji-Cheok's swords.

“Ah… You crazy bastard… You…your face….” Ra-Du stuttered.

“Ah, this? It’s okay. It hurts like hell, but it’s going to be fine. I don’t know if you know, but there’s a skill which grants you a troll’s regenerative power, and this ring I’m wearing grants me precisely that skill. Burns or otherwise, they’ll be healed soon enough.”

Half of Ji-Cheok’s face was distorted by the severe burn. His skin was red and swollen, and there was even a sizzling sound. However, just as Ji-Cheok said, the skin started to wiggle as it visibly regenerated.

“My face is very important to me, so… it’s a bit troublesome. It’s okay though, don’t worry. I mean, there is no need for you to be worried, is there? When we get out of here, our bodies will be back to normal anyway.”

Ji-Cheok smiled creepily.

“Also, it was you, Hunter Yum Ra-Du, who made my face like this. Out of all people, you shouldn’t be surprised.”

While saying that, Ji-Cheok pulled out the sword from Ra-Du’s shoulder. The pain made Ra-Du scream once more as the sword left his body.

“AHHHH!! YOU BITCH!! STOP IT!!”

“I don’t know…. I’ve been thinking about it, Hunter Yum Ra-Du. I don’t think my problem is going to be fixed by cutting your throat here and winning the fight. What did you say earlier? About my brother?”

“You… You little… AH!”

Ji-Cheok put his finger right in front of Ra-Du’s eyes.

“I’ve been thinking about how I should teach you a lesson. Even if the wound heals, the pain will remain with you forever. You see, I just felt what it’s like to be burned alive, and I think I will remember that for the rest of my life.”

Ji-Cheok’s white hand brushed Ra-Du’s eyes.

“If you had your eyeballs plucked out, how would you feel? It would be okay, though, I mean… everything is going to be back to normal as soon as we leave [The Arena].”

“You… You crazy bastard…”

“You never should have talked about my family.”

Ra-Du closed his eyes so tight they almost hurt. He tried to struggle, but before he knew it, another hand was holding his neck. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t move.

“It’s called Qi Point. I just pressed an acupuncture point on one of your energy meridians and made you kinda paralyzed. And when I say ‘kinda,’ what I mean is that you can’t move. As for pain and such, you can certainly feel every bit. Okay, then…”

Ji-Cheok gently pressed down on Ra-Du’s eyeballs.

“HEY! STOP!! STOP!! AHHHH!!! Stop it, please…. You crazy bastard... Please stop…”

Ra-Du burst into tears and started crying obscenely. Then, Ji-Cheok moved his fingers away.

“Hahaha. I’m just joking. I can’t do that! I’m streaming right now! But let me be clear…”

Ji-Cheok brought his mouth close to the ear of the paralyzed Ra-Du.

“...even if it’s not in a dungeon, I can find you and dig out your eyes whenever I want to. So try not to provoke me next time. Got it, Mr. Yum?”

Fear and pain took over Ra-Du’s whole body. Just like that, he fainted on the spot.

* * *

Streamer Choco was at a loss for words.

He hadn’t expected the match to turn out like this. The chat also went silent for a while. But eventually, the comments started to come up.

-What the fuck? What did I just see?

-Holy shit, he is so charismatic.

-I knew it. I thought he was a sociopath, but he was actually a psychopath!

?Okay. I hope you don’t do anything when someone is threatening your family.

?And Ra-Du burned him alive too.

-Honestly, I thought Ra-Du crossed the line by bringing up his family, I was so relieved when Ji-Cheok beat the crap out of him.

-I’m sure he said that because he had his grandpa and parents backing him. You will never set foot in Korea? Who wouldn’t go mad after hearing that?

-That’s it. In conclusion, Ra-Du was pettier than we thought, and Ji-Cheok was stronger than we thought.

And these were comments from people who weren’t his fans.

-UMJI!!!!!

?Our Umji!!!

?Strongest Umji!!!!

-Did he just use the Sword Curtain?

?Yupp. I saw Li Wu use it before.

?When you say Li Wu, do you mean that level 100 cultivator from China?

?Yeah, he is the most famous cultivation Hunter.

-That’s so crazy! It’s been less than a year since Umji became a Hunter, but he is already at that level. How did he get so strong so quickly?

?Most Super Rookies become strong really quickly. It only takes them a few years to reach a high level.

?That’s not true. There are tiers between Hunters too depending on their job and skills. Even becoming a Super Rookie requires good basics and strong determination…

-Umji, you work really hard. T_T T_T You fought well without being intimated. Bbbbbb

-Umji, you are always full of surprises!! T_T

-Do not threaten Umji and his brother ever again! T_T Or I’ll be the one to gauge out your eyes.

‘The chat is pretty crazy, don’t you think, Cheok-Liang? I feel like I’ve made a mistake.’

?Hunters eventually return to the law of power. It was always about ‘winner takes all.’ If Ra-Du had won, what he said about your family would also be forgotten by the public.?

‘The chat would be all like ‘why are you being so sensitive about what Ra-Du said’?’

?Yes, Master. As long as you are the winner, no one can question your actions. Also, you did not really?gauge out his eyeballs anyway.?

.

‘That’s true. At that moment, I wasn't thinking straight. If he hadn’t fainted, I might have really plucked them out.’

?The pain of the burns combined with your anger could have led to momentary cultivation deviation. I have no words to say other than that it was thanks to your superhuman self-control that you found your composure.?

‘You think so? I guess I was lucky. If he hadn’t fainted, I might have been a bit dangerous too. So cultivators have to live with the risk of cultivation deviation, right?’

?Yes, Master. That is exactly it. But usually, there are not many cases where you end up actually burning while spewing out your bloodlust to your enemy. ?

‘Do you think I taught him a lesson?’

?It is going to be a lifelong trauma for Ra-Du.?

‘Next time, I’m really going to pluck his eyeballs.’

?Yes, Master. You did warn him.?

‘This is such a crazy world. Am I weird? Or is it the world that’s weird? Or maybe dungeons and the Awakening are driving people crazy. I dunno.’

?Looking at that little man’s temper, I do not think he will bother you in the future, but…?

‘But what?’

?The problem is with his family. A family is, after all, a group, and can be considered a small country in a sense. If they want to, they can continue to be a nuisance to you. So, you need to turn their attention elsewhere. In the meantime, Master, you should come up with a plan for yourself.?

‘Turn their attention? How? And what kind of plan should I come up with?

?First you need to play them off against someone else. With the help of Jung Ji-Han, you can try and cause a dispute between the Jungha Group and Yum Family.?

‘Wouldn’t that just be acting arrogantly through borrowed authority? Like an ass in a lion’s skin.’

?There is a difference, Master. The Jungha Group is the faction that Master currently belongs to, but they are not one hundred percent your ally, are they??

‘I guess so. I mean Ji-Han is friendly to me, but that doesn’t mean that his whole family and I are close.’

?The answer is your skills, Master. There will be times when, in case of an emergency, you will have to cut off social attention and slaughter your enemies. It would be helpful to have skills related to communication blocking and stealth.?

‘So you want me to be the ultimate jack of all trades? Great, let’s do that. First, let’s finish the stream. Look, the final announcement is coming out.’

[Participant Um Ji-Cheok: Victory]

[The fight ends.]

Just like he had heard, [The Arena] closed without any hassle. He couldn’t see anything in front of him, then in an instant, he saw the familiar surroundings. He had jumped out of [The Arena]. The injuries on his face were gone, and he didn’t feel any pain. This was the power of the God.

[[Heart_of_a_warmonger] has shown interest in you.]

[The Gods have shown interest in you.]

[You have received 1,100 Likes!]

[You have received 1,100 Likes!]

[You have received 1,100…]

They were the Likes sent by the Gods. It was clear that Gods’ fake names were being exposed more often than before. He had been able to feel the System window changing little by little ever since he had been contacted by the [He_who_denies_death].

?It’s because the System is also evolving.?

‘If you look at how the messages have been simplified, you can see how the System is evolving. Also, even if you don’t look at the simplified messages, you can feel the System is upgrading on its own. Do you think I can know each and every fake name of the Gods who give me Likes? Perhaps the day will come when the real name of the Gods will be revealed.’