Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 93

“Hyung, what are you staring at?”

Mu-Cheok was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt. He took the carton of milk from the refrigerator and drank straight from it, without pouring it into a cup. Ji-Cheok was just like him. It was customary for men of the Um family to look for something to drink first when they entered the house. His father had always looked for his barley tea, before he had passed away.

“Come over here and sit down,” Ji-Cheok said.

“What’s up?”

Mu-Cheok walked toward his brother like a tiger lurking around and sat on the sofa next to Ji-Cheok.

“What are you doing these days?”

“Me? I met some friends, and I went to the gym with Ji-Byeok. My mana recovery is a bit slow, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t build my muscles.”

He was right. In addition to that, Ji-Byeok was an affiliate of the Jungha Group, and it wouldn’t hurt for Mu-Cheok to have that kind of connection.

‘But… I should tell him about this.’

“You do know that I learned cultivation, right?” Ji-Cheok asked.

“Yes, why?”

“As my cultivation increased, I acquired something called Qi Sense. And with this, I can get a rough idea of how strong the other person is.”

Suddenly, Ji-Cheok could sense a small crack in his brother’s smile. If it wasn’t for his Qi Sense, he wouldn't have sensed it.

“No way… It hasn’t been that long since we cleared the temple dungeon. I’m sure it’s just from recovering my mana,” Mu-Cheok said.

“No, I think it’s more than your mana recovery. I can feel that you’ve gotten stronger.”

“That might be because I have gained more muscles. According to Ji-Byeok, the more muscle you have, the easier it is to develop your skills and increase your strength and endurance,” Mu-Cheok said as he flexed his arm.

Mu-Cheok’s muscles, which had been refined through extreme training, made him look like a human weapon. Those muscles were bound to give people a sense of intimidation just by looking at them. However, it didn’t work on Ji-Cheok. Even though the brothers would fight each other in the past, Ji-Cheok could always sense if something was wrong with his brother. This time, it felt exactly as if Mu-Cheok came back home after doing something bad. It was the same with Ji-Cheok’s dog, Choco. If Choco made eye contact with him while waiting in the corner, when he got home, Ji-Cheok knew that the dog had done something bad.

?Master, I don’t think he is going to give you an answer, no matter how much you interrogate him. How about solving our other business first??

Surely enough, no matter how many times Ji-Cheok asked, his brother kept on ignoring him with a smile on his face. Back in the day, it used to be easy to get answers from Mu-Cheok, but he was all grown up now. Ji-Cheok had to give up. Just like he himself had matured, he had to admit that his little brother had grown up too.

“I’m gonna beat your ass if you are running around doing dangerous shit,” Ji-Cheok said.

“I’m not you, hyung, you have to believe me. I’m not a child anymore.”

“I do believe you. I have to believe you. We are the only family we have,” Ji-Cheok said.

Mu-Cheok smiled brightly.

“Trust me, hyung. Blessed are those who believe, you know?”

“Sigh…?Okay, I get it.”

‘Please understand what I’m telling you, Mu-Cheok. Don’t do anything dangerous.’

“Is that everything, hyung? I want to take a shower,” Mu-Cheok said.

“Wait, I have something else to tell you.”

“Oh? What is it?”

Mu-Cheok sat down again. Ji-Cheok knew that Mu-Cheok was hiding something suspicious, but since he wasn’t willing to tell his older brother… that was that. Ji-Cheok wanted to tell him about the more important topic he had discussed with Cheok-Liang.

“This is the information that I found out. I think you should know too,” Ji-Cheok said.

“Is it important?”

Ji-Cheok nodded and looked directly into Mu-Cheok’s eyes.

“I guess it’s important.”

Mu-Cheok got rid of his grin.

Firstly, Ji-Cheok told him about the facts he had found out. Mu-Cheok couldn’t even take another sip from the milk carton he was holding, and he listened to Ji-Cheok intently. Ji-Cheok knew his brother was a smart guy, so he would understand what he was talking about. Eventually, Mu-Cheok twisted his lips and forced an awkward smile.

“Ha…So you’re saying that the World is going to end?” Mu-Cheok asked.

“Not the world, but the tutorial?

is going to end. The Earth is not going to be destroyed. Only human beings are getting wiped out.”

Mu-Cheok stared at the polar bear on the table.

“I think that is considered world destruction. Why would I care about what happens after we all die?”

?Humans sure are arrogant, Master.?

‘Hahaha, Cheok-Liang. Aren’t you also a relative of Zhuge Liang? Why are you talking as if you were never human?’

?I am a spirit created by the System. Even if my psyche is adapted for humans to work with, my very essence cannot be changed.?

‘Ouch. I guess there’s nothing I can do about that.’

“Well… If you don’t believe me or if it feels like a simple conspiracy theory…” Ji-Cheok said.

“No, I believe you,” Mu-Cheok replied without his customary smile.

“It was true when you told me about not being able to level up, and about having to improve your skills from receiving Likes on GodTube. So I believe you when you say that the world is going to end,” Mu-Cheok said.

‘I would’ve phrased it differently, but I’ll take it.’

Mu-Cheok put the milk carton down on the table and rested his chin on his fists, deep in thought. He looked like Rodin’s sculpture, the Thinker. After a while, Mu-Cheok asked his brother, “So… how long do we have left?”

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

‘What am I supposed to tell you? I don’t know!’

“If I want to know, I have to earn a lot more Likes or get the information from Cheok-Liang by fulfilling certain conditions. But one thing is for sure. Level-limited dungeons have started to occur even within range of the Warding Stones, so if this phenomenon occurs a few more times, Korea is going to be destroyed,” Ji-Cheok said.

“And the world is going to be destroyed as well, right?”

“If there were no Hunters like me, then maybe. There may be Hunters like me in other countries, people who don’t level up or level up slowly, and they could be able to take care of their countries’ level-limited dungeons.”

‘I think I can only help out my country at the moment.’

“Then a country with a large population would have an advantage,” Mu-Cheok said.

“I think so too. A larger population means that there are more Awakened. However, the Regenerative Dungeons are also a problem. It was a good thing that the dungeon I went in last time, with the fake World Tree, was a Single-shot. Imagine if that dungeon was a Regenerative Dungeon… I can’t even…” Ji-Cheok said as Mu-Cheok laughed.

“The temple of [He_who_denies_death] that we cleared is also said to be a Regenerative Dungeon. Fortunately, the recovery cycle for that dungeon is long, so our team can clear it again later, but in one or two more clears, even our team won’t be able to enter that dungeon because of the level limit,” Mu-Cheok said.

“Still, we’ve shared quite a bit of information about that dungeon with the public, so maybe it’ll work out somehow.”

Mu-Cheok took a sip of the milk.

“Maybe you’re right, hyung. But not all dungeons are going to be like that.”

There was a long pause between the brothers. But in the end, there was only one answer.

“So you’re saying that the dungeons will keep on forming and there will be less and less land for humans to live on?” Mu-Cheok asked.

“Yeah.”

Ji-Cheok didn’t know if the destruction of the world would happen exactly in this way. Who was to say the world wasn’t going to end with the seven angels saying ‘The tutorial is over!’ while blowing their trumpets amid fireballs falling from the sky? However, one thing was for sure—the world was about to get even more fucked up.

“I felt like other people won’t believe me. I’ll have to consider myself lucky if people don’t treat me like a conspiracy theory nutjob,” Ji-Cheok said.

His brother nodded in agreement.

“You’re right. There are already too many apocalyptic theories out there. Even the Hunters with clairvoyance abilities say that the human race will one day be destroyed.”

“Yeah.”

That was the world they lived in.

“And the more you tell people about this theory, the more subscribers you will lose. You might get some conspiracy theorists as new subscribers, but the vast majority of people who want pure entertainment are going to unsubscribe for sure.”

That was the problem. Getting more attention and Likes was what Ji-Cheok needed to become stronger. It didn’t take a genius to know that an entertaining rookie Hunter who showed great performance was more popular than a crazy Hunter who spewed apocalyptic theories. He could already imagine the hate comments he would receive if he became a conspiracy theorist.

-Umji~~ LOL. You really have let yourself go!! LOL

-I can’t believe you are talking about that old-ass conspiracy theory just to grab more subscribers. HAHAHAHAH

-You should put more effort into becoming stronger. What are you doing?

-I am very disappointed in you, Umji. I’m going to unsubscribe.

‘The mere thought of it gives me the chills.’

“There are already many other theories about the end of the world besides mine. You have everything from random cults to the Mexican Quetzalcoatl faith. There is not much I can do. I’m just going to do what I need to do,” Ji-Cheok said.

“What do you want to do, hyung?”

“Um, first I need to be more famous. Then, with ten million Likes, I will buy the information on how to completely annihilate dungeons and unlock the secrets of this world.”

“That’s a lot of work,” Mu-Cheok laughed a little.

“Here I am talking very seriously about my plan and you are laughing?”

As Ji-Cheok was about to hit him on the back, Mu-Cheok moaned and replied.

“No, no… It’s just that… you sound like the main character of a movie. Saving the world… That’s pretty cool. I'll give you a Like.”

Ding!

[Hunter Um Mu-Cheok is inspired by your determination.]

[You have received 1 Like.]

‘Wow, he was being serious?’

Mu-Cheok was usually self-conscious about giving his brother Likes, so it was rare for Ji-Cheok to receive a Like from him. However, this time he seemed to be genuinely inspired by Ji-Cheok.

“So you’re sacrificing yourself to save the world?” Mu-Cheok asked.

“It’s not about sacrifice, it’s about trying to become a Super GodTuber. If I don’t do anything, you and I are going to be in serious danger.”

“But… is there really no one else to save the world other than you? Wouldn’t it be better if someone else did it? I just don’t want you?to be the only one dying to save the world.”

Mu-Cheok’s mouth was smiling, but his eyes were everything else but.

‘I would worry about me too if I were in his shoes. It’s just not possible for me to be like an ordinary Hunter. A chill life, earning a steady paycheck, and saving up money for retirement… things like that are now out of the picture. The only thing I could do is to throw myself into the race to stop the apocalypse without even knowing how much time is left.’

Ji-Cheok brushed his brother’s hair. He could feel the anger in him.

‘I know that you’re hating the world and the System right now. I understand.’

“Well, even if it’s not me, there’s a chance that someone else might do it for me. But um…There is also a chance that I am the only one who can do it. I’m not saying that I’m going to bite more than I can chew. I know how precious my life is. I’m just saying I’m going to work in that direction,” Ji-Cheok said.

‘Perhaps, what I’m doing now may be the last piece of the puzzle in the future. I could be the last drop into the glass of water before it overflows.’

“There won’t be a situation where a Hunter Assistant cleans up my corpse,” Ji-Cheok said.

“Can you promise that?”

“I promise.”

“...”

Mu-Cheok closed his eyes for a moment, deep in thought. Ji-Cheok knew that it was hard for any decent human being to allow their loving family to be sacrificed to save the world. But that was life. Moreover, Mu-Cheok had been born as an ordinary human. He wasn’t born as an Awakened. The reason he had awakened was because of Ji-Cheok, and compared to his brother, who had already been in the industry at the time of his awakening, it had definitely been hard for Mu-Cheok to adjust to the world of Hunters.

‘Hyung, the only thing I want is for this year to be better than the last. Will I be able to say that next year?” Mu-Cheok asked.

“Well, we should at least try.”

“Then, what can I do to help?”

‘Has he decided not to be a burden anymore?’

Mu-Cheok smiled with his droopy eyes.

“We should think about that together. But the first thing we need to do right now…”

Ji-Cheok took out the ‘branch’.

“...is to start with mana recovery.”

‘We’re about to clear dungeons twice as fast.’