Thumbs Up, Level Up

“Both Reable and Ji-Han are out now?”

When Ji-Cheok came to eat, both of them were gone. They told him that Reable had left first followed by Ji-Han.

“That’s what I heard.”

Mu-Cheok informed Ji-Cheok about the two as he was taking a bite of the Philippines’ most popular dish, adobo[1]. The dish was made with chicken or pork with coconut milk added to it, making it a variation of the classic, and the flavor varied depending on the seasoning. Of course, this was a high-end hotel, so it was very tasty.

That was not all. Their table was lined with food that would have made any gourmet drool. Among the many famous Filipino dishes, there were also Western and Korean dishes. Ji-Cheok assumed they brought out Korean food because his team was Korean.

“Mhm, Ji-Han left to talk to the local government.”

“Well… I guess he’ll take care of it.”

Ji-Cheok just felt that it was odd that Reable was out too.

‘I’m supposed to be a God, but I have no idea what the two are doing… This sucks.’

«That is because the Gods are great and powerful, but they are not omniscient»

‘I guess so. It sounds like the polytheistic worldview of Greco-Roman mythology to me.’

«Isn’t that true, Master?»

‘You’re right.’

“By the way, Ji-Cheok, how did you become a God? I didn’t say anything because I was busy taking a break, but I’m really curious right now. Ah, is it okay if I ask you this?” Ha-Na said.

If they had been at a party, she would have definitely been the heart of the party. She was a smooth talker, and she always seemed fearless, but not over the top. She was definitely a social butterfly.

“It’s because of my job,” Ji-Cheok answered.

“You mean your job as a ‘GodTube Influencer,” Seong Kwang also chimed in.

“I didn’t ask because Hunters often keep their jobs a secret, but what exactly is that job?”

“I’m curious too, Ji-Cheok,” Ji-Byeok asked while standing next to Ha-Na.

Ji-Cheok told them about his job in general.

“Ehh?! You… can buy skills with Likes? Even items?”

“My God…”

“Huh…”

Ha-Na, Ji-Byeok, and Seong Kwang were all in shock and awe.

‘I know. I was freaking out at first, too.’

“I can give away items that I’ve bought with my Likes, but I can’t do that with my skills. I guess that’s the only downside to it.”

“Wait, Seong Kwang and Mu-Cheok also learned cultivation from you. How did you do that?”

“That’s not a skill. I actually taught them cultivation the way I learned it myself.”

“Eek?!”

“I’d like to hear more about that!”

Ha-Na was surprised, and Ji-Byeok’s eyes flashed with interest.

“Well, I met the God of War, and that…”

As he told the story of his encounter with the God of War and his teachings, everyone’s eyes sparkled in amazement, including Seong Kwang.

“I’m jealous. I wish my God would call upon me too…”

‘No wonder he is a Zealot.’

“To have a God himself teach you… What a dream. Is that why you are now able to pass on your cultivation skills?”

“I was able to do that to some extent before, but now that I’ve been taught by the God of War, I can do it even better. On that note, do you two want to learn cultivation as well?”

“That would be great!”

“Me too!”

Ji-Byeok and Ha-Na were very enthusiastic.

‘Well, if they got stronger, it would be easier to protect the world.’

“So that means you can learn magic spells too?”

“Magic spells are actually teachable. But not all skills can be learned that way.”

“What do you mean?”

“For example, telekinesis. You can use spells that imitate telekinesis, but that’s magic you are using, not actual telekinesis.”

“I see….”

Now that Ji-Cheok was a God, he could tell the difference. It was because he knew how the [skills] worked.

“By the way, did everyone get their rewards?”

The rewards this time were absolutely amazing: the three Legendary Skills Vouchers were already impressive, and on top of that, the dungeon also gave him three random chests and three Guaranteed Enchantment Stones. It was probably because Ji-Cheok had defeated a God and destroyed the dungeon.

The Legendary skills in the Likes Shop ranged from a minimum of one million Likes all the way up to tens of millions, so he was not sure which one he should choose.

“Of course, we got the rewards. I got three Legendary Skill Vouchers, which is pretty great, plus a random chest and an Enchantment Stone.”

‘Hm... That’s less than me. It does seem a little cheap for clearing a dungeon that difficult. But I’m sure they are more interested in the three Legendary Skill Vouchers.’

“What skills do you plan to get with the Vouchers, Ji-Cheok?”

Ji-Byeok asked a sharp question.

“Well, I’m still thinking about it.”

“But you are a God. Do you even need skills?”

“That’s… a little more complicated.”

Ji-Byeok was right. He was a God. He had gone from mortal to immortal. However, that didn’t mean he had gotten exponentially stronger. Of course, the more he got used to being a God, the more powerful he would become, but that took time.

“I know I became [GodTube_superstar]... but I didn’t actually gain much of an increase in combat ability.”

“Huh?”

It was true. He had become a God, and he definitely transcended humanity… However, the unique essence and abilities he obtained when he became a God didn’t have much to do with combat. This was understandable, since his power increased only with the number of Likes he received.

Before Ji-Cheok got one Like point for every Like he received, but now he got two points. In a nutshell, it had become more efficient to capture people’s faith and reverence. Of course, this was a big improvement as the number of Likes he would now receive increased exponentially. However, the problem was that he could not directly use this power to destroy things or anything like that.

“It’s more of a support-type power, which is why I need skills for other things,” Ji-Cheok said.

“I see. Since you are a God, can’t you create new skills?”

“Well, I suppose I could, but it’s easier to buy something made by other Gods.”

Everyone looked interested in his answer.

“My main attack skills belong to the God of War, but I actually bought these skills, so it’s like a product made by the Gods to sell.”

“Wow… That’s what they were…”

“That’s surprising.”

Ha-Na and Ji-Byeok looked surprised.

“The Gods sell lesser copies of their powers, and in return, the Hunters pay them Karma.”

Skills didn’t disappear once the Hunters obtained them, because what they were actually buying were not unique powers, but rather copies of a God’s power. Ji-Cheok hadn’t realized this before, but now that he had become a God, he had found out how things worked.

Normally, Hunters earned points in the Hunter Store for killing monsters. They used them to buy skills in the Hunter Store, but their purchases were limited to skills related to their jobs. Leveling up with experience points was separate from these Karma points and was also done by killing monsters. This would accumulate and when the experience points reached a threshold, Hunters leveled up and moved up in the ranks.

‘The System is really smart.’

However, Ji-Cheok had it differently. Namely, he got neither experience points nor Karma for killing monsters—all he got was Likes. In other words, the only Karma he got was from people admiring him and being in awe of him.

‘That’s why all I care about is Likes! And I will keep doing that in the future!’

From a broader perspective, the other Hunters were the norm, and Ji-Cheok was the weird one.

Karma Points were used by the System to quantify Karma, which appeared as a result of the Law of Causality. Namely, when a Hunter killed a monster, they would be subject to this Causality, which was basically what fed the Gods.

If a skill cost fifty Karma to make, then the Gods would sell it for one hundred Karma through the System. The platform, which was the System, took about twenty Karma, and the God who created the skill would take the rest, which was around eighty Karma.

The whole process seemed rather unfair, and the Hunters seemed to be getting ripped off, but there was nothing they could do in this monopolized business.

However, Ji-Cheok still had no idea how jobs were determined among Hunters.

‘Maybe the Gods who built the System in the early days might know…’

The so-called Super Rookies had Fragments of Gods inside them, but Ji-Cheok also didn’t know if the Super Rookies were picked by the Gods or just randomly stumbled upon those Fragments.

‘Would Reable know?’

“In that sense, these Legendary Skill Vouchers are pretty great items. If you play your cards right, you can even get a skill worth one hundred million points.”

Ha-Na was dumbfounded by his words. Mu-Cheok didn’t react because he already knew that there was a skill Ji-Cheok could buy that was worth one hundred million points. Rather, Mu-Cheok seemed to be worried about his older brother, because he was on a different path from everyone else.

Ji-Byeok nodded seriously, and Seong Kwang looked like he was thinking about something else.

Ji-Cheok took a bite from his cheese biscuit.

‘Whoever made this, it’s delicious.’

“That’s why I’m torn. I have a lot of options, but… I need to get the best skills for me and my team,” Ji-Cheok said.

“Hm… That’s definitely a problem. It’s one thing to empower yourself and another to empower your team as a whole. But If I could give you some advice…”

“Advice?”

“I think it would be better for you to get stronger yourself, Ji-Cheok,” Ji-Byeok answered in a serious tone.

“Hm… Is there a reason why you say that?”

“Because you are a God, and your growth rate is probably way beyond that of a normal Hunter, so strategically, it is better for you to get stronger quickly. But that would mean that it is going to be harder for us to do things with you.”

Ji-Cheok thought about what she said.

‘Harder for us to do things with you, you say… I certainly played a role in the victory of this dungeon. But I didn’t do it alone, did I? Ha-Na’s arrows, Ji-Byeok’s barriers, Mu-Cheok’s mana bullets, plus Ji-Han’s time manipulation skills and Reable’s Undead… You all helped me tremendously. And that’s not all. If the Tama Clan hadn’t been there to help me, I might have lacked just that last bit to take down the God.’

It was a miracle made possible by the combined power of all participants. The clearing of [Forest of the Twisted God] was only possible because of that.

“Ah~ That’s a shame. Ji-Byeok is right, though. Considering your growth rate, you should prioritize strengthening yourself.”

“You’re saying that would be more efficient, right?” Ji-Cheok asked both Ha-Na and Ji-Byeok.

“Yes.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Well, I will definitely think about it. How about you? Have you guys decided on a skill?”

“Of course! There is one skill I’ve been wanting to get anyway, called [Star Power], where you get your power directly from the stars…”

As Ji-Cheok listened to Ha-Na, he thought to himself about strengthening his abilities, and how there was only one year left to do that. He needed to find a way to save the world.

Then, a thought flashed through his mind. He realized that there was a third path he could take besides burning mana and building dimensional barriers.

‘Wow, am I a genius?’

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1. Adobo is a dish consisting of meat, seafood, or vegetables marinated in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, and black peppercorns. They are cooked using the marinade and usually served with rice. ☜