Thumbs Up, Level Up

Ji-Cheok peeled some serious rubber with his Mono Bike G. Like a meteor, he hurtled through the air, passing over the construction site. Underneath, people were already laying roads.

‘After the road, they’ll probably install water and sewage, then the electricity lines.’

He saw a huge number of people being mobilized.

«It is a joint venture between the government and private companies. Several large corporations have also joined in.»

‘If that’s the case, I’m sure they will do a good job. Yeah… Knowing the leadership of those companies, they are going to do a great job. Especially Ji-Han, he’s not the kind of person to half-ass things. Alright then, let’s proceed to some deforestation!’’

Vroom!

He reached the Manaforming Forest in a flash and drove straight down. As he fell, he put the Mono Bike G back in its pocket dimension and drew his swords.

Kieeeaa!

Kaaaieook!

All sorts of monsters that lived in the Manaforming forest jumped out. However, they were not very strong on their own. A level 50 Hunter could take them one-on-one. By this point in time, these monsters were ants to Ji-Cheok.

It only took one thought.

Everything within his perception instantly split in half. Everything was cut down and fell—the nameless trees that had flown in from another dimension as seeds and had taken root, sprouted, and blossomed; the velociraptor-like monsters called Kelohad; and the monsters that looked like a mix of insect parts.

Everything, even the grass, was mowed down from the roots, and a moment later, they all started to wither, as if time had suddenly accelerated a thousand times.

This was because Ji-Cheok had combined the Mind Sword with his Spontaneous Absorption. The latter was meant to be a secondary means of restoring mana, but given Ji-Cheok’s reality-defying abilities, he was able to make it work like this.

«That is impressive, Master. I cannot sense any living creatures within a one-kilometer radius.»

Cheok-Liang used his detection spell to search for any remaining monsters.

‘I didn’t expect much from it, but I guess it works.’

This was the way he thought of killing many monsters with a single attack—a cultivation skill that could kill everything in a large area in one fell swoop, without the need to use skills like [Cthugha’s Steps].

‘It looks like my training has paid off.’

«I think you should continue with the teachings of the God of War.»

“I agree. I think the God of War would like that too. It’s a win-win.”

Now that a God was following and using the power of the God of War, the latter’s influence would only increase. Ji-Cheok became powerful by gathering Likes, but the God of War became stronger as the martial factor in a world gained momentum. He was fundamentally different from Ji-Cheok.

“Then, shall we try the second experiment?”

«I am looking forward to it, Master.»

“Me too, Cheok-Liang.”

‘Steps of Hermes.’

In one swift motion, he moved beyond the area he had destroyed. He raised his dual swords and activated Mind Sword once more, along with Spontaneous Absorption.

Slash!

The world was cut apart. The life force was sucked out of everything that had been cut and into Ji-Cheok. The effect of the Northern Darkness Divine Art was also activated, and the life force was converted into Qi and stored into his body. An enormous amount of Qi built up inside him, compressed until it looked as if it would explode.

However, his body could never actually explode, thanks to the effects of the Heaven Martial Body, Human, and True Human. Most importantly, he was now a God, and he was nearly indestructible by human standards.

Whoop!

He felt his body turning into something else—as if his every cell abandoned its mortal coil and transcended into a whole new level of existence.

«This is amazing. I cannot believe this actually worked…»

“Sigh. Yeah… I feel like I have a nuclear reactor running inside me.”

He calculated his internal energy tank to be at three thousand Gapja, or even more. He almost could not believe the rate at which his strength was increasing.

However, Ji-Cheok knew that he could not let his guard down. Even with his current abilities, he was not sure whether he would be able to defeat the monsters of the future world that Despair had shown him. Based on his Minor Intuition, he did not think he could kill those monsters with a single blow of his Mind Sword.

Even before he could use the Mind Sword, he had an incredibly difficult time taking down even one of those monsters. He knew this because he often fought one in the Training Space of the God of War.

The problem was that, in the future he had seen, there would be countless numbers of those monsters.

“I will clear the Manaforming forest and become stronger. And all those who stand in my way better wash their necks, because I’ll be shaving them clean.”

He moved forward once more. He slashed with his Mind Sword, absorbed with his Spontaneous Absorption, and used the Northern Darkness Divine Art to transform the energy into his own Qi.

Ordinarily, he would have gotten Cultivation Deviation, but he was a God, and he had many overpowered skills, so he could keep going. After doing that overnight, he was able to take out the entire Manaforming Forest, which had covered half of the Hwanghae Province of former North Korea.

[The Gods are watching you!]

[You have received 5,500 Likes!]

[You have received 5,500 Likes!]

[You have received 5,500 Likes!]

[You have received 5,500…]

The Gods’ Likes were just the cherry on top.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Did the Jungha Group say they’re going to do it?”

«Yes, Master.»

Ji-Cheok and Cheok-Liang were back home, resting. They had cleared half of the Hwanghae Province, but the job was not fully done yet. All the flora and fauna from the other dimensions were dead, but their energy-drained corpses still remained, and Ji-Cheok had not destroyed the dungeons yet.

«They said that they need dungeon destruction experience.»

“Ah, that’s true.”

Even though he was using his clones to destroy dungeons, they were not as fast as he had hoped. However, what if all the Hunters in Korea joined in?

«They said they have also prepared quite a few items with features that allow them to destroy the indestructible. I heard that one of the Crafting Hunters succeeded in crafting those items.»

“Is it like that claw hammer that Ha-Na told me about?”

«Yes, Master.»

‘One of her team members used that claw hammer to destroy a dungeon Core, but it was at the speed of a paralyzed murderer finishing off his victims with a wooden spatula. Is it better than that now?’

“It’s going to take a long time to destroy dungeons if they use that.”

«I believe it is better than the claw hammer that Ha-Na told us about.»

“Check the description for me.”

«I am currently hacking it. Yes, I got it. Here you go.»

Cheok-Liang, this treasure of an advisor, butler, accountant, hacker, and cute pet, pulled out the description.

[Claw Hammer of Absolute Destruction +12]

[A claw hammer imbued with the power of Absolute Destruction, forged by Master Park.

It has been successfully enhanced 12 times, and its power has increased by 12 times.]

‘The description is pretty simple. It was probably posted after an appraisal by someone with weak appraisal skills. But this enhancement ability…’

«There are abilities that can enhance items. After +5 it solely depends on your Luck, and if you fail, the item is destroyed.»

“I know that. I just never thought about it because Hunters with enhancing abilities are so rare. Also, I have heard stories of some Gods gambling with the enhancement.”

«There are definitely a lot of crooked Gods out there, and the ones with a guilty conscience have created a system called the Ceiling… They are all crazy.»

“Yeah… Anyway, enhancement… That means up to +4 is safe, right?”

«Yes, Master. Aha! That is a great idea! So you are thinking of doing the enhancement yourself, right? If you buy all the enhancement-related skills, it will cost you about 150 million Likes.»

Cheok-Liang pondered for a moment.

«If you upgrade all those skills up to S-Rank, it will cost about 500 million Likes, but I believe that it is worth a try.»

“What happens if I use 500 million Likes?”

«You can safely enhance up to +8.»

“Wow… Let’s do it right now.”

At his master’s order, Cheok-Liang pulled out a bunch of skills.

[Touch of the Golden Rule], [Transcendent Enhancement], [Causality Interference], [Power of Luck], [Fragment of the Falling Sun], [All-Purpose Portrait], [Twisting Fate], [Shadow of the World]

The name of these skills all sounded a bit strange.

“Is this legit?”

«Yes, Master. Luck is all about twisting your fate by manipulating causality. And with these, you will be able to go +8 without fail. Furthermore, their effects will provide intangible help in your battles.»

‘That’s true. My pendant also boosted my Luck, and I had some benefits from that.’

‘Then, purchase them all.”

Flash!

A whole bunch of skills were infused into his mind.

“Let’s try these out.”

He changed his outfit and put on his shoes. Then, he space-jumped to the factory.

Swoosh.

Ji-Cheok arrived at the factory that was working nonstop.

“Move that over here!”

“Hey, you there! Stop taking a break and help me out!”

Employees were busy carrying things to and from the giant piece of machinery that looked like something out of an old cartoon.

One of the employees spotted him.

“Hey, you! How did you get— Oh my god, Director!”

He looked like the workshop leader, and he wore a badge that said ‘Bae Seung-Hyun, Production Manager.’

Ji-Cheok bowed slightly.

“Please continue your work.”

“Ah, okay.”

Ji-Cheok let the employee work and walked over to the machine. It was the one known as the [Um Ji-Cheok’s Universal Production Machine MK4].

“Transcendent Enhancement.”

His skills were essentially fragments of the powers of other Gods. When he used that power, the God that was related to the skill noticed him. In turn, Ji-Cheok also found out who the owner of the skill was.

This specific skill was from a God named [One_that_permeates_into_all_things]. He could sense that they were a very powerful God.

‘I had no idea such a powerful God had been watching over Earth.’

[You have started the enhancement!]

[Your enhancement was successful!]

His machine had been renamed to [Um Ji-Cheok’s Universal Product Machine MK4 +1], and the performance had improved slightly.

‘Alright, let’s get serious!’

“Transcendent Enhancement. Transcendent Enhancement. Transcendent…”

Ji-Cheok enhanced it seven times in a row!

The machine began to emit a brilliant, colorful light. Its appearance had not changed, but the energy that it radiated was absolutely incredible.

‘Let’s see how much it has improved!’

[Um Ji-Cheok’s Universal Production Machine MK4 +8]

[Class: S++

[Type: Crafting Machine / Summoned Entity (Artifact)

A mythical crafting machine created by Um Ji-Cheok by combining the [Divine Alkahestry and Alchemy] and various crafting skills. It is a transcendent item that can handle both mass production and small-scale diverse production. It is also capable of processing and producing everything from chemical substances to metals.

It has been successfully enhanced 8 times, and its power has increased by 8 times.

Feature: Increase production by 4500%.

Feature: Guaranteed quality of S and above for all produced items.

Feature: Increase crafting success rate by 2700%.

Feature: No mana cost for maintaining the summoned entity.

Feature: No other cost for maintaining the summoned entity.

Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original.

Feature: No mana cost when fixed to A-Class or lower production.

Feature: +3 enhancement when fixed to A-Class or lower production.]

‘This is insane…There is no other way to describe this. I didn’t expect it to actually be enhanced.’

This machine was completely overpowered. If he used it to craft an item, it would get +3 enhancement by default. Each enhancement increased the power by one hundred percent of the original, so if it was +3, it meant quadruple the power. He could now mass-produce items with powerful abilities.

‘Wow…’

«The synergy effect is amazing, Master.»

‘Cheok-Liang…’

«Yes, Master.»

“There is hope after all… I can see it.”

«It is all thanks to your skills!»

“I dunno about that… Anyway, the important thing is that there is still hope.”

«Then, Master, why don’t you speed up your plan?»

‘Speed up? How?’

«We can adopt the American method. A round of low-orbit bombardment should do away with the Manaforming Forest rather quickly.»

‘That’s a good idea. Let’s do it now!’