Thumbs Up, Level Up

“Reable, how much time do you need to smash this dungeon?”

“About an hour. I think, but you don’t have to protect me~”

“Really?”

When you're just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“Yes! I’ve got all my cute little underlings!”

Reable threw out his arms again in an exaggerated motion. Then, one by one, the Undead began to burst out from the ground of the gray world below. They were the same Undead that normally came out of Reable’s darkness.

They vastly outnumbered the insect and snake monsters advancing from the lava field.

‘Good. Our numbers are overwhelming.’

“But I don’t think I can handle that,” Reable said.

“I guess there was more than one.”

“Looks like it~”

In the distance, three giant monsters were jutting out of the lava sea. They were the same species as the snake-headed monster that now lay dead somewhere. Unlike the monster that had tried to come out through the Gate, Ji-Cheok was able to see the newcomers in their entirety.

The monsters' head and neck were a cross between a snake and a dragon, and their torso was of a leopard. Their four legs, however, had the hooves of a deer, and they had six tails, with scorpion’s stingers dangling from the end of the tails. They looked like some kind of chimera, but Ji-Cheok soon found out that they were not technically chimeras. Now that he had entered the dungeon, he could see information about the monster.

[Questing Beast]

[Level: 200

Attribute: Chaos

Weakness: ???

A mythical species that appears to announce a nation’s demise. It is said to be an incarnation of chaos, created by incest and despicable violence, and the embodiment of lies and immorality. It is said to sing a song of destruction for all that lies ahead of it.]

‘Level 200? I’ve never seen that before.’

Level was by far not the only factor when it came to analyzing how strong someone was. With that said…if one’s opponent was level 200, that opponent was bound to be strong.

“Kieeeak!”

“Siiieek!”

“Death… is… here!!”

“Hehehehehe!”

“Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!”

While Ji-Cheok was looking at the Questing Beasts, the enemies that had entered the gray zone were already clashing with the Undead army. Each one of the Undead was weaker individually than those monsters, but they were using black magic and other ominous-looking skills to push their foes back and kill them.

‘Good. I just need to do my part.’

There were three Questing Beasts.

‘I’ll just have to kill them one by one!’

“Reable, I’ll need you to take care of the other monsters!”

“I got you!”

With Reable’s cheerful voice behind him, Ji-Cheok executed the Heaven and Earth Warp Steps.

He turned into a bolt of lightning and flew forward, holding his swords in front of him. The dual swords locked together, and he infused Augmented Qi into the blades, also activating the Mind Sword.

‘Heaven and Earth Chaotic Sun Spear!’

Boom!

In one fell swoop, Ji-Cheok had pierced through the head of the Questing Beast.

[Muuuoooh!]

‘How the hell is this thing still able to scream when its head just exploded?’

The creature screamed and collapsed, landing into the lava. Then, it tried to kick Ji-Cheok. Its leg was so gigantic that it looked like an apartment block flying at him.

‘As if something like that is enough to scare me off!’

“Hmph!”

‘Cosmic Fracture!’

His swords, energized with Augmented Qi and the power of Mind Sword, sliced through the giant hoofed leg. Blood poured out like a fountain, turning into poisonous insects and snakes.

“Soul Telekinesis! Maximum power!”

Crack!

Veins were bulging on his forehead. Everything around him was instantly twisted, crushed, and torn apart as if it were being ground up in a blender.

Meanwhile, the headless body of the monster drowned in the sea of lava. Ji-Cheok’s Divine Intuition told him that it was well and truly dead. However, the corpse continued to spew out poisonous insects and snakes. They swam through the lava and crawled out, seemingly unaffected by the heat due to the nature of this dungeon.

Roar!

“Huh?”

‘What is this intense mana?

Ji-Cheok turned around to see two Questing Beasts staring back at him, their gigantic mouths open wide.

‘Bastards! Are they getting ready for their breath attack?!’

Clang!

He thrust his swords forward, deploying a defensive stance. The two swords formed a shield in front of him.

Boom!

A fraction of a second later, two intense beams of light struck at him, slamming into the shield.

Boom!

The attack sounded like the ocean swirling, and his shield began to struggle against the beams, which seemed to be made of some kind of poisonous magic.

‘Ugh, you bastards! You’re pretty strong, aren’t you?’

Crack!

“Keuk!”

His muscles shuddered under strain.

‘Unfortunately, your attack is not enough to hurt me!’

Woong~

‘Soul Telekinesis! Extreme power!’

He grabbed the monsters by the head and snapped them with a hard twist to the side.

Crack!

Their snake heads spun 360 degrees, which, of course, was incompatible with activities such as living and breathing.

‘Didn’t see that coming, did you, buddy?’

Boom!

Ji-Cheok lunged forward, activating the same Heaven and Earth Chaotic Sun Spear he had used moments before. He watched the Questing Beast’s eyes widen as the swords infused with Augmented Qi and Mind Sword turned into a gigantic lance and stabbed it in the forehead.

Boom!

The Sun Spear pierced right through the monster’s skull and popped out on the other side.

‘One more down. Only one left!’

Turning sideways, Ji-Cheok unleashed the Heaven and Earth Chaotic Sun Spear once more on the last Questing Beast. The distance did not matter—he reached it in a millionth of a second, piercing through its head in just as little time.

Boom!

Thud.

The lava was swirling like tidal waves.

“Good…”

‘I took care of the big monsters. There are still a lot of monsters that are going to come out of their bodies, and a lot more from inside the dungeon, but…’

Ji-Cheok glanced up. High in the sky, Reable’s Dark Moon was getting bigger and bigger.

The sky in this dungeon was full of dark clouds with red lightning constantly flashing through them. It was a bizarre dimension where it was both dark and bright at the same time. As for the Dark Moon, it looked less like a celestial body and more like a hole in the sky. The darkness around it was growing larger and larger, and with its growth, the ground was dying at an equal pace.

The dark realm was expanding, stealing the power of the dungeon itself and turning it into a dead land.

As the darkness engulfed the monsters, they shriveled down, turned lifeless, and collapsed, only to rise up once more as Undead.

When Ji-Cheok saw that, he thought to himself, ‘Could Reable cause the end of the world?’

Rumble!

In the distance, a mountain erupted, with a massive shockwave. Lava burst into the sky as the crater spit up huge clouds of burning gas.

“That’s…”

His Divine Intuition was telling him that this was the dungeon Core. The fact that the dungeon Core, which should have remained hidden until he found it himself, popped out on its own, meant…

‘Those goddamn Gods are pretty serious about ending the world. How can the mid-level boss be a freakin’ Questing Beast and then have the dungeon Core look like an inanimate object?’

Rumble~

The mountain stood up and started walking.

It was taller than the Questing Beast, by far. It basically looked like Everest had grown legs and gone on a stroll. It looked like some sort of lizard, but it was entirely made of lava and rock.

[Dungeon Core — Giant Mountain Dragon]

He could not see any other information.

‘Maybe the Gods are interfering… But that’s not going to stop me!’

“Reable!”

“The dungeon is ready to be destroyed~”

“Do it!”

“Roger that!” Reable cheerfully replied to Ji-Cheok’s command.

The Dark Moon in the sky moved with a frightening speed that completely belied its enormous size. The dungeon Core, the behemoth named Giant Mountain Dragon, sprung into action.

The rocky head that looked like the head of a turtle or lizard opened its mouth and powerful mana began to form in front of it.

‘It's a breath attack again?! Then…’

“Soul Telekinesis!”

He poured all his mana and energy into the skill. Thanks to the properties of the skill, Ji-Cheok was able to generate a mass of extremely sticky and also extremely tough ectoplasm.

A moment later, the mass of ectoplasm caught the Giant Mountain Dragon’s maw like an angry octopus holding on for dear life.

Bang!

With a loud snap, the creature’s mouth was closed shut. It panicked, shifting and scrambling around.

From where he was, Ji-Cheok could see powerful mana flowing through the monster’s body as it tried to get rid of the ectoplasm. Its limbs were actually too short and stiff to reach its mouth!

‘Hahaha! Who designed you with those baby arms?!’

Roar!

As Ji-Cheok laughed, the creature’s mana started burning away at the ectoplasm.

“Hmph!”

With a harrumph, Ji-Cheok also proceeded to infuse the ectoplasm with extra mana.

‘I hope I bought Reable enough time…’

Zoom~

‘It’s here!’

The Dark Moon moved toward the dungeon Core. In mere moments, it was only a few kilometers away.

Crunch!

“Damn it!”

In that short time, the Giant Mountain Dragon had ripped off the ectoplasm and opened its mouth once more.

Just then, however, the Dark Moon was right in front of its face. As the beam of light exploded from the creature’s mouth and struck the Dark Moon, Ji-Cheok’s Divine Intuition rang every alarm bell it had at full throttle.

Ji-Cheok felt chills down his spine.

‘Wait, Reable! Are you crazy? I didn’t know that thing was so dangerous!’

He heard something crack. No…he felt something crack.

He turned back immediately and moved like lightning toward Reable. He could see the Demon smiling in the distance.

In spite of Reable’s reassuring smile, Ji-Cheok still felt his hair stand on end. He grabbed Reable by the waist and kept going.

As the chilling feeling reached crazy intensity, Ji-Cheok put Reable on his back, drew his swords, and used his best defensive skills and cultivation techniques at the same time.

“Guardian of Hope! Summon Toy! Soul Telekinesis!”

As he used his skills, he concentrated on creating a shield through his swords.

In the distance, a supernova exploded.

There was nothing but pure white light.

Pure white light cracked the black “eggshell” that was the Dark Moon.

Pure white light encompassed the Giant Mountain Dragon and erased it from existence. It bathed everything around it, and then erased all of that as well.

“Reable! You crazy bastard!”

The light finally reached Ji-Cheok. He felt something invisible pressing down on him. His Qi was being sucked out of him at breakneck speed, and he felt like his head was about to explode.

‘Damn it. I think my mind is feeling the damage that the Guardian of Hope is taking from that light.’

Still, Ji-Cheok endured it.

Woong~

“Whew.”

The light faded, and they found themselves floating in the weightlessness of nothingness.

“Reable! What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you even freakin’ human?!”

“Nope~”

“If you are going to use something like that, at least use it safely! You almost killed us!”

“Oh, come on. I knew you would take care of that. And you actually did!”

‘God, that guy is insane.’

Ji-Cheok was furious, but Reable was still smiling like always.

“This is the best way to get rid of them. Otherwise, the monsters in there would have been taken back by their God, and the God could use that power to open another dungeon somewhere else.”