Thumbs Up, Level Up

On the other side of the world, a world beyond the reach of the common man, behind the scenes, known only to the highest echelons of vested interests, there were many secret societies. So many, in fact, that a secret society could be formed one day and disappear the next.

The reason for this was simple. It was the interference of the Gods! While most were basically uninterested in humans, there were some who were bored and wanted to play. They were not many, but that was only comparatively—even if it was only one percent of one million, that was still ten thousand. Many more Gods than anyone could have imagined were influencing humans.

And the Gods knew that the restrictions of the Tutorial would be lifted as the concentration of mana in the world increased. It was not allowed for the Gods to tell the mortals what the world would be like after the Tutorial, but they would somehow find a workaround, a way to bypass the rules, and let people know what it looked like. And they would use that ‘truth’ to turn those people into their followers.

[Your world is doomed. But if you follow me, I will save you.]

This was how the followers of the Gods, their worshipers, were born. And if the Gods gave some of the humans a little more power, or made them Champions or Apostles, their influence grew even more.

For the Gods, this was just a fun game, and why would they turn down the opportunity to become more powerful while they were at it?

These secret societies sometimes cooperated, but they also waged war against each other. That was nothing surprising, since their Gods were different. Collusions were common, just like in the Spring and Autumn period, and stabbing others in the back was also common, just like in the madness of World War II.

There were many such secret societies in Korea. Despite its reputation as one of the world’s safest countries, South Korea was home to the lawless Manaforming Forest, after all.

These secret societies had taken over the secret facilities that were keeping North Korea running before the Manaforming Forest came into existence, and they had influence in South Korea, China, and Russia as well. Most of them had since been eliminated, leaving only three groups. Because of the large number of secret societies in the Manaforming Forest in the former North Korea, even they did not know how many of them there were.

However, everyone knew about the three remaining organizations. They were the strongest.

Chornoye Lyot[1]—a secret society with its headquarters in Russia and a branch in the Manaforming Forest.

The Moshan Sect—headquarters in China and a branch in the Manaforming Forest.

Subakdo—the largest secret society in Korea.

These three organizations were still alive and thriving. Some people waged war with other secret societies, but even those people could not afford to touch these three.

And right now, representatives of the three had gathered in a top-secret bunker beneath Pyongyang, the capital of now-defunct North Korea,

“So, you figured it out?”

The one asking was Sergei Arnov, a muscular, white-skinned Russian with a thick cigar in his mouth.

“Yes.”

A man in a black robe with the hood covering his face gave him a curt reply. He was the leader of the Subakdo, and people called him the Dao Master.

“Who is it?”

The third man in the room was an elderly man in black Daoist robes. He was the Black Spirit Sage of the Moshan Sect.

“His name is Jung Ji-Han. He is the youngest grandson of the Jungha Group’s chairman.”

“If he is the youngest grandson of Jung Man-Deuk, then he must be the one helping Um Ji-Cheok behind the scenes.”

“Um Ji-Cheok... I understand that he is favored by the powerful God. Is he the one behind this?”

“How trustworthy is this information?

“Jung Su-Gi, Ji-Han’s half-brother, gave me this information. He also passed along some other information, and it makes sense. We do not have any hard evidence, but since when did we operate based on evidence?”

No matter how powerful they were, they were still part of underground societies. They were the roots of all evil! They were the scum who knew the world was going to end, so they plundered the world’s resources to keep themselves alive.

“Then we will just have to terrorize them.”

“We will have to use the government.”

“We will also have to spend some money, and then it will be easier to influence Korea through this Manaforming Forest.”

“You two, Korea is ours. If you want to use your influence, you know I won’t let you.”

The other two laughed at the Dao Master’s warning.

“That’s funny. You can’t even handle this tiny country by yourself…” Sergei said.

“Haha! He’s right. If we decide on interfering, what can your little Subakdo do to stop us?” The Black Spirit Sage also went along with Sergei.

“I will kill you both right here and now, and I will oust your organizations from this Manaforming Forest.”

“I would love to see you try!”

“Hahaha! You think I’ll fall for that kind of provocation? Well, you’re right! Come at me!”

The mana in the air rumbled as the trio prepared to duke it out.

Or so they thought, but they soon discovered that was not the case as the abandoned bunker started to shake.

Suddenly, the Dao Master jumped back.

“You bastards! You set up a trap!”

“The fuck are y—What the hell?!”

“Damn it! The Law bids thee be swift[2]! Protect me, my Shield!”

All three of them felt the sudden impact of some kind of force and quickly used their skills to protect themselves. A transparent barrier formed around the Black Spirit Sage, while the power of Yin and Yang shielded Subakdo's Dao Master and Sergei’s body suddenly transformed into steel.

And then, disaster struck.

The wall collapsed at once, and a massive, overbearing pressure bore upon them like an industrial trash compactor. Soon after, a terrible, blistering heat melted their surroundings, and the pressure, heat, and explosive force swept all three of them away.

Destruction had come.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“They say one large meteor can wipe out the human race. I guess that’s true.”

«Actually, you have already acquired the power to destroy humanity.»

“Maybe you’re right. It’s good that my abilities can wipe out the monsters, but I don’t think the monsters Despair showed me would die even if I hit them with this…”

That was the cold reality. The closer one got to a mountain, the more one realized how massive it was. That was exactly how Ji-Cheok felt right now.

Those monsters were not average monsters. They were like referees in a game, or like the staff who oversaw the whole game. It felt like they were made for that.

«If the construction of the dimensional barrier is not possible, we will have to find a way to hunt them down in order to survive.»

“I hate thinking of a plan B…”

«As a wise man once said, a sly rabbit always makes three burrows. It is only natural to have a backup plan. In case of an emergency, you may need to mass-produce the elixir and arm all the people for survival.»

“I guess you are right.”

As he discussed the scary future of his world with Cheok-Liang, he looked down at the Korean Peninsula from the stratosphere. The entire Manaforming Forest of North Korea was on fire and the mountains were flattened. Otherworldly plants were being burned to ashes by the special flame generated by the collision of the Spiral Spears.

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The entire Manaforming Forest in North Korea was on fire, and thick, black smoke filled the air.

[Spiral Spear MK2 +3]

[An orbital bombardment weapon crafted by Um Ji-Cheok.

It is made of tungsten and other magical alloys, and it is enchanted with various skills.

It has been successfully enhanced 3 times, increasing its power by 3 times]

Ji-Cheok had made the Spiral Spears using his universal production machine. Only two things had changed from the previous Spiral Spear, but they made a huge difference: the new version was four times stronger than the original and it generated [Cthugha’s Flame] on impact.

Cthugha’s Flame was a greedy flame that continued to spread as long as there was life nearby. While normal flames could be extinguished by the otherworldly vegetation, this flame was not so easily extinguished.

«Come to think of it, I have it on good authority that there are quite a few secret societies in that area…»

“Really? Do you think they survived?”

«It is an attack that even an army of Cyclops could not withstand, so why should some underground rats be able to?»

“Not that I give a damn. I am going to burn the whole forest down anyway, so there won’t be anywhere left for them to hide.”

«That is true, Master.»

“Actually, I’m not really out to get them, but if they happen to be within range, it’s their own damn problem.”

The world was about to end, and these bastards were like ‘I’m the only one with the escape button~’

Had they been planning on pressing the escape button peacefully, it would not have bothered Ji-Cheok this much, but they were ready to kill other people and exploit everyone’s resources for their own personal survival.

‘Well, they have to do that. If they were legitimate, they would open a company like Jung Bi-Ga, and not live in a barren land like this while smuggling and trafficking.’

“By the way… The number of Likes I’m receiving is tremendous!”

Of course, Ji-Cheok was livestreaming the carpet bombing right now. The reason he did not have to communicate with the viewers was that he was focusing his camera on the burning Manaforming Forest under him. Cheok-Liang was also playing some good background music.

Because of this, he was getting a lot of Likes. He had gotten back all the Likes he had used for purchasing the enhancement skills and upgrading those skills to S-Rank. Currently, the total number of Likes was over two billion!

‘It’s scary how fast the Likes are coming in. Maybe getting one hundred billion Likes is not a dream.’

He was still getting more money than Likes. Fundamentally, this was not a bad thing, but the problem with money was that it required much more time to use.

“Let’s leave the rest to Ji-Han.”

«Now what do you want to do first?»

“Well, first I need to check something out. Regarding the dimensional barrier generators… We’re still short on the production of the ultra-small and small ones, aren’t we?”

«Yes, Master. Your machine is capable of producing a million units per day by calculation, but the ingredients are not coming in, so we are only producing and selling one hundred thousand units per day. For the record, this is separate from the sales of various potions.»

‘That’s a bit of a problem… We need to increase the production a bit more…’

Ring. Ring.

The phone in his pocket started to ring. It was Ji-Han.

“Yes, this is Ji-Cheok.”

—That was some performance if I’ve ever seen one.

“Well, I had to do it quickly to keep up with my operations. We are running out of time.”

—You’re right. And there is something I need you to do to save time.

“What is it?”

—I want you to go to the Philippines and set up some of your production machines. If we have some there, we will be able to sell things faster and in greater numbers. We could even put a bunch of dimensional barrier generators in the major cities of the Philippines.

‘Wow. Ji-Han always says the right thing.’

«He is definitely a competent human being.»

“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

—I’ll reach out to the Tama Clan.

“Got it.”

—Good luck.

Ji-Cheok hung up the phone.

‘By the way, where is Reable these days? I haven’t seen him in a while.’

«Do you want me to find out?»

‘No, just let him be. I’m sure he is doing something on his own. Alright, set up the location. Let’s go.’

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“I didn’t think that would work, but… It’s interesting.”

[Kuuuaaaaa!]

It was a horrible-looking mutant. It resembled the giant Abomination that Ji-Cheok had once slain, but it was even uglier and more grotesque than that one.

Its horror was more apparent to Ji-Han as he looked down at the ground from his helicopter. Not only did the mutant have human corpses inside his body, but also various monster corpses.

“I agree. That looks like a failed stew that came to life. Coincidentally, that is my favorite kind of stew~”

Next to Ji-Han sat Reable, grinning from ear to ear.

“That is the result of various curses intertwining with each other~ Ah~ It seems to be a mixture of the powers and curses of at least ten Gods!” Reable said.

“I’m assuming it is a rare occurrence.”

“Yes~ Very rare. Vey, very rare.”

Reable was smiling in delight.

1. This is probably a transliteration of черное льёт, which means something along the lines of “pouring black.” ☜

2. This comes from a phrase attached to the end of legal documents in the Han Dynasty, meaning that the reader should “understand the main purpose of the text and act promptly in accordance with the law.” It then became a phrase commonly encountered in spells used by Daoists and Yin-Yang practitioners, as well as prayer monks, ordering demons to quickly depart. ☜