Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 131

“Activate [Eye of Insight]!”

[Ghoul]

[Level: 65

Attribute: Undead / Cold / Contagion / Poison

Weakness: Divine power / Head

A terrible Undead species, the evolved form of a zombie that killed many living creatures and consumed their essence. Referred to as intermediate-level Undead, its withered skin and half-rotten body are reinforced with the energy of death, giving it strong resistance to physical attacks.

Its strength and agility are greatly improved compared to normal zombies, making it stronger than most living things. With barbaric impetus, it runs around hunting everything alive.

There are very few Ghouls who regain their sanity, but that does not mean they are good. The living who see them are bound to be struck with dread, become their prey and be eaten.

*Those who see the Ghoul will be affected by [Fear].

‘Oh, it feels like my [Eye of Insight] skill has become more detailed than last time. Is this because of my proficiency? Or is it because I killed so many Undead monsters?’

?Master, forget about that! Those are real Ghouls! They only appear in three-star dungeons!?

‘I know, Cheok-Liang. Calm down.’

The Ghouls started pouring down like a waterfall.

‘Wow. How many are coming out of the Gate? It wasn’t like this when the Goblins popped out!’

While Ji-Cheok was feeling shocked, the Ghouls fell onto the roof and got to the ground. They started screeching in a bizarre tone.

“Kaaa!!!”

The children who saw them burst into tears. It was because of the Ghouls’ psychic debuff, [Fear], which affected the children.

‘Damn it.’

Ji-Cheok opened the driver’s door, left the bus, and activated his skill.

“Shadow Pouch!”

He put his hand in the shadow and took out an object. It was a huge shining shield that hovered in the sky.

As the [Guardian of Hope] radiated strength, the children’s crying stopped. The children themselves seemed to be confused by the sudden change in their emotions.

“Uh…Huh?”

“Wh…what…”

‘I removed the [Fear] debuff, but I guess I can’t remove their natural fear. Wait, now is not the time to care about that.’

“Cheok-Liang, attack the Ghouls!”

?Yes, Master!?

The number of Ghouls that had descended to the ground had already exceeded twenty, and it only continued to grow. Cheok-Liang immediately ran toward the Ghouls.

“Kiaaaa!”

‘Shit, out of all the places for the Gate to be opened, it had to be on top of a building.’

“Seong Kwang! I need you to get on the bus and get away quickly,” Ji-Cheok said.

“Brother Ji-Cheok, I can’t do that. There are still children and staff in the orphanage.”

‘Crap, I forgot about that. Seong Kwang wouldn’t be running the orphanage alone.’

“Then, hold on tight!”

He got in the driver’s seat, activated his driving skills, and used his Qi to cover the bus.

“Everyone from the orphanage, get out of the front door!”

As Ji-Cheok amplified his shout using Qi, all the Ghouls turned their heads toward him.

Vroom!

He stepped on the gas and rushed toward the orphanage!

Baam!

A few Ghouls collided with the bus, but he didn’t care. As he sensed Seong Kwang holding onto the children at the back, he slammed into the front door of the orphanage.

Booom.

The wall was smashed. Seong Kwang was already opening the door of the old bus.

“Hurry! Come in!”

The children inside the orphanage and two adult staff members got on the bus with frightened faces. It seemed like they had been waiting for the bus to come.

“Everyone on board?”

“Yes!”

“Then, let’s go! Everyone hold tight!”

Ji-Cheok drove the bus in reverse.

Crunch!

He drove out of the building, crushing several Ghouls.

It was an old bus, but thanks to his driving skills and his Qi, it was still intact. Also, the reinforced exterior, which Ji-Cheok thought was tacky and weird at first, helped tremendously.

Screech!

He turned the steering wheel to the left and drove away. Cheok-Liang, who was providing cover, was full of large and small wounds, but the cover was brilliantly successful.

“Wow, look at the fox! It’s so big!”

“It’s the same as the one I saw on GodTube!”

Mere moments ago, they had been crying because the world was collapsing. It seemed like they were freed from the Ghouls’ skill by Seong Kwang’s healing skill. There were still frightened kids that were crying, but others were already in sightseeing mode.

‘Hm... I see some future Hunters here.’

He didn’t know if the kids were crazy or if the world was crazy. Or maybe it was GodTube that made them crazy. Cheok-Liang immediately became small, climbed through the window, and landed on his arms.

“Activate [Cthugha’s Steps] and [Blaze Walk].”

Flames appeared along the trail of the bus, burning the Ghouls that followed them. He could see through the side and rearview mirrors that the Ghouls were following the bus, but then they suddenly scattered.

‘Shit. I wish they would have kept following me and burned to death!’

?Master! The number of Ghouls has already exceeded one hundred. It keeps growing!?

‘I thought this area was protected by Warding Stones… Are there not enough Warding Stones, since we are on the outskirts of Seoul?’

Fortunately, they were faster than the monsters. Ghouls were powerful monsters, but that didn’t mean they were faster than a bus that could run up to a hundred kilometers per hour.

“Ji-Cheok, I need to tell you something,” Seong-Kwang said as he moved to the passenger seat.

“Is everything okay?”

“I am okay, but I need you to stop the bus. I have to go back.”

“Excuse me?”

“I just got a call and there are people left at the ranch. It seems that they went to repair a broken drone and got stuck there. They were supposed to leave work hours ago…”

Screech.

Ji-Cheok hit the brakes right away.

“Let’s get off.”

“...Huh?”

“Let’s get off. Can anyone drive the bus?”

At Ji-Cheok’s request, one of the orphanage workers who rode with him raised his hand. After getting out of the driver’s seat and watching him sit in it, Ji-Cheok summoned the Mono Bike G.

“Brother Ji-Cheok… You don’t need to help me… They are my workers, this is my job…”

“Just get on.”

‘Be quiet! Minors shouldn’t talk about a sacrifice! Do you think I would be able to sleep if a minor went alone and died heroically?’

“Aren’t they your employees, Seong Kwang? We have to save them.”

Of course, Ji-Cheok wanted to help, it was the natural thing to do. Ji-Cheok continued to talk, just in case Seong Kwang felt burdened.

“I’ve been recording since we got on the bus, and I’m going to post this on my GodTube channel. I think this is gonna be solid content.”

Seong Kwang laughed as if he thought Ji-Cheok was crazy.

“Brother Ji-Cheok surely is crazy about GodTube.”

He could see Seong Kwang was getting a little more relaxed.

‘Thank god.’

“Brother Ji-Cheok is a GodTube idiot,” Seong Kwang said.

[Zealot Seong Kwang is greatly, greatly, greatly moved by your words.]

[You have received 50 Likes.]

‘Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen ‘greatly’ three times in a message. I guess he’s pretty impressed…’

“Thank…you…” Seong Kwang said.

“Come on, get on.”

“Okay.”

He climbed behind Ji-Cheok.

“If you put your feet there, they will stay in place. It’s a device that keeps you from falling even during battle, so take note.”

“Got it.”

Click.

Seong Kwang’s shoes were held in place by the back seat safety device. After that, they set off straight for the ranch. The distance between the orphanage and the ranch was only a few hundred meters. From the Gate that appeared above the roof of the orphanage, Ghouls continued to pour down and scattered in all directions. As the monsters were not coming close to the flames that Ji-Cheok made, he came to the conclusion that these Ghouls had some intelligence.

“Cheok-Liang! Go around the orphanage and make a wall of fire!”

If they left the monster alone, the Ghouls would get out of there and head for a city or a village. They didn’t like coming close to the flames so Ji-Cheok thought that the fire could buy him some time.

‘I can’t believe there would be people at the ranch at a time like this.’

Even though the ranch was run by drones, Ji-Cheok knew that didn’t mean there were no workers at all. It appeared that some of those workers were at the ranch right now.

?Yes, Master.?

Cheok-Liang started running. Behind his footsteps, walls of flames soared.

‘Don’t let any monster out of here!’

While Cheok-Liang was making a flame barrier around the orphanage, Ji-Cheok ran straight to the ranch.

“Seong Kwang! Where are your workers… There they are! Was it three workers?!”

“Yes!”

“That’s good.”

There were a number of buildings at the ranch apart from the actual farm building, such as sheds for livestock, warehouses for storing food, and so forth. Ji-Cheok noticed three people on top of a warehouse. The warehouse was about four meters tall. Even the Ghouls seemed unable to jump up that high, so they were just lingering around at the bottom of the warehouse. Moreover, it was made of fairly thick concrete, so it seemed difficult to break it, even if the Ghouls were level 65. Ji-Cheok wondered if the reason why the warehouse was built like a fortress was to prepare for this kind of attack.

Fortunately, the workers had left the barn door open, so all the livestock had run away and the barn was empty. The Ghouls were spreading all over the place, and some of them started running toward him at the sound of the bike.

‘Alright. I’m going to drive into them.’

“Oh, apostle of the great chicken! Thou art the great saint who saveth mankind by frying his own body!”

Seong Kwang activated his priest skill behind him. An illusory apostle in the shape of a chicken appeared and cast light upon the two of them.

[Zealot, Seong Kwang, cleansed the entire area for 10 minutes with his purification skill.]

Purifying power spread over the surrounding area. The Ghouls that were running toward them were actually lit on fire as they were struck by the holy power! However, the monsters did not collapse. They just rushed to attack the two while still burning.

“Acceleration!”

Vroom!

“Soul Telekinesis!”

Ji-Cheok used [Acceleration] and [Soul Telekinesis] at the same time. Ectoplasm formed a path in front of him as he took to the skies!

“Kiaaa!”

A Ghoul jumped up below them and swung its claws but narrowly missed. The bike ran straight through the air and landed on the roof of the warehouse.

Screech!

The three employees looked at them in amazement.

“Is everyone okay?”

Seong Kwang jumped out of the bike and all three of them approached him.

“Sir! What about the children from the orphanage?”

“Are the kids okay?”

“Brothers! I came here to save your lives, but the first thing you ask is about the children?” Seong Kwang asked.

“We’re fine, we’re adults. But they are just kids. Of course, we’re worried about them.”

Seong Kwang seemed to get emotional as he wiped the tears from his reddened eyes.

“Everyone evacuated. Now all I have to do is get you guys out of here.”

“That’s great!”

The workers looked relieved.

“Wait,” Ji-Cheok said.

He stopped Seong Kwang.

“You guys get out of here without me. My summoned beast will take you there.”

In the distance, he saw Cheok-Liang making a full circle around the orphanage and coming toward them. Ji-Cheok wanted to send them off on Cheok-Liang’s back.

“What about you, Ji-Cheok?”

“I need to deal with those monsters. If I leave them alone, they will spread in all directions and harm people,” Ji-Cheok said.

He had never gotten the chance to fight Ghouls, but he had a sense that it was worth trying. If possible, he wanted to finish them off right here, right now.

“Ji-Cheok, you are really… Then, I must stay with you,” Seong Kwang said.

[You have received 5 Likes.]

Without saying a word, Ji-Cheok just looked at him for a moment and nodded. This was Seong-Kwang’s ranch, and he was also a member of Ji-Cheok’s party. Ji-Cheok was willing to trust him with his life.

“I see. Then, I want the three of you to get on the back of this guy and get out of here.”

Cheok-Liang jumped up from the ground and landed on the roof.

“Wow…”