Thumbs Up, Level Up

Ji-Cheok walked forward.

The Likes within him gave him more and more strength. It was the combination of people’s feelings of wonder, joy, excitement, and happiness. People’s awe had become the very source of strength in him.

This was Ji-Cheok’s essence.

“I am [GodTube_superstar].”

The enemy attacked with all their power. The Hunters from the Tama Clan and the rest of the team blocked the attack.

Meanwhile, Ji-Cheok was getting stronger and stronger.

“I am the God that entertains people. And now I shall slay you, [Apostles_that_became_immortal], for the entertainment of the people,” Ji-Cheok said.

He raised his swords, and with all his heart, he slashed downward.

At once, the body and soul of the God, made of thousands of souls condensed and distorted, were split in half.

Their power scattered, and the bound souls scattered with it, finally finding their way to the place where they were supposed to be.

[You… You imbecile… This disgrace will not be forgotten…]

[We will surely take revenge…]

[We are God… We will come back…]

[We can never be destroyed… Let us meet again in thousands of years.]

With that, the body of the God began to turn to dust and disappear, leaving behind the cursed words.

‘Those bastards. I guess they weren’t lying about being immortal… I will just have to find a way to destroy them once and for all.’

Ji-Cheok was not inside a dungeon, so there were no quests or rewards.

However, he was a God. And the enemy he had just defeated was also a God.

He saw what his enemy had left behind as they disappeared. Fragments of their power remained, and so did several S-Class items.

[Talisman of Kunlun]

[Class: S+

[Type: Artifact

A key and a talisman that can control the eternal and mobile fortress of Kunlun Mountain.

Ownerless.]

This was the most useful item of the several S-Class items.

He reached out and grabbed the Talisman of Kunlun.

To read the uncut version, go to pawread dot com.

Tick!

Immediately, he could hear the System notification.

[You have acquired Kunlun Mountain.]

[You have become the owner of Kunlun Mountain.]

‘Owner of Kunlun Mountain? What does that mean?’

Just as he was thinking, the next System notification popped up.

[Kunlun Mountain]

[Class: SS

Type: Structure / Site

A sacred mountain that has long attracted the attention of cultivators. It consists of several peaks, and the mountain itself is both a Treasure Item and a building structure.

It can be controlled by the Talisman of Kunlun.

Function: Flight.

Function: Wide-area shield.

Function: Terracotta Soldiers.

Function: Increases all abilities of the allies by 30%.

Function: Kunlun Spirit Cannon.]

Kunlun Mountain was now in Ji-Cheok’s possession.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Mu-Cheok checked the messages that had popped up in front of him.

[You have greatly contributed to defeating the God.]

[You have earned the title [God Slayer].]

[You have earned the title [God Hunter].]

[[You have acquired a portion of the unique powers of the God [Apostles_that_became_immportal].]

[You have acquired the skill [Sacrificial Offering].]

[You have acquired the skill [Immortal Cultivation].]

[From now on, you can purchase the skills of [Apostles_that_became_immortal] in the Hunter Store.]

[God Slayer]

[Class: Epic

A title given to those who have defeated a God.

Grants the power of [Holy Slaughter].]

[God Hunter]

[Class: Epic

A title given to those who have killed a God at least twice.

Increases the effectiveness of Holy Slaughter.

Increases the user’s base damage by 50%.]

[Sacrificial Offering]

[Class: Epic

Permanently increases the user’s Stats by sacrificing something.

The user must choose their sacrifice carefully.]

[Immortal Cultivation]

[Class: Epic

A secret cultivation technique paving the way to becoming an Immortal.

Whoever cultivates using this technique will be able to walk the path of immortality and reach the realm of immortality.

However, the path is long and arduous.

Function: Permanently increases the user’s stats when cultivated.]

Mu-Cheok’s level had increased drastically. He was already a high-level Hunter, but now he had gained a whopping 10 levels in one go. Unlike the lower levels, leveling up at high levels did not end with just a small increase in power. Even by increasing one Stat, he would gain an incredible amount of power. In addition, the new titles, skills, and the power of the God that he had gained were anything but ordinary.

A particularly useful skill was the Sacrificial Offering.

It was a skill that allowed him to increase his power by making a sacrifice of some sort. It seemed like he could use inanimate objects as a sacrifice, and it looked like he could get a significant Stats increase by doing so.

‘Oh my God! We did it!’

The pleasant voice of Ha-Na came through telepathically.

‘This is the second time that we have killed a God… and I think it was harder than the first time. Good job, everyone!’

Seong Kwang’s voice sounded tired but bright.

‘It was hard because Reable was not here. Where the hell is he, by the way?’

‘He didn’t answer my summon. I think he is busy with something else…’

Rather than reveling in a sense of accomplishment, Ji-Byeok was busy criticizing Reable’s unfaithfulness to the team. Ji-Cheok also pitched in on the conversation.

As he watched the whole process unfold, Mu-Cheok breathed a sigh of relief.

Nobody from his team had died in today’s battle. He had always prayed and fought that no one would die, so this was a relief. Of course, he knew that quite a few people had died in the other battles on this giant floating mountain.

‘Life is always cruel…’

However, the people who had died were strangers to him. Their deaths were tragic, but not personal enough for him to shed tears.

His team members gathered around him. Now, they were talking out loud rather than telepathically.

“I’m being serious! Ji-Cheok is the reason that we are alive. If we hadn’t practiced cultivation and learned all these skills, we would have been in so much trouble!”

“She is right. We were able to defeat this God because of Ji-Cheok.”

“May you be willed with his grace, Brother Ji-Cheok…”

It looked like oddballs having an oddball conversation.

One by one, some other people joined, people who were not in the original team but worked together as comrades of Ji-Cheok. They also started cheering and praising Ji-Cheok.

“Mr. Ji-Cheok! We have won!”

“Huhu. No need to make such a fuss, Daniel.”

“But, Mr. Macaw, shouldn’t we enjoy this victory?”

“Mr. Macaw is right, Daniel. You’re too loud.”

“But… but… look around! Everyone is cheering!”

The fanatically cheering Daniel Enzo, the leader of the Tama Clan Macaw, and his assistant Bernade Itum were all gathering around Ji-Cheok. The rest of the Tama Clan also gathered around him, their faces beaming with joy.

They all started to chant for Ji-Cheok.

“Long live Ji-Cheok!”

“Here goes to our great God!”

The chants were not formal, nor were they traditional, but everyone was enjoying it.

As Mu-Cheok watched from behind, he smiled wryly.

“Wow~ Are you trying to go for the classic role of ‘younger brother standing in the back and smiling thoughtfully’? It’s nice to see you are being thoughtful~”

From behind, someone grabbed his shoulder.

“Where the hell have you been? Do you realize that we were fighting for our lives?”

“Oh, of course, I know! I was watching the whole thing~ I just want you to know that I was not just slacking off. I had to stop and take care of other business.”

“Other business?”

“Mount Kunlun is not the only secret society, you know~ I had to deal with the remnants of Lake of Dawn, and I was also busy dealing with the things that Sephiroth Zohar were secretly doing.”

Mu-Cheok glared at Reable. Then he turned and looked at his older brother in the distance.

“Are you saying your ‘other business’ was more important than helping us?”

“Well, no. But I thought you guys were strong enough to destroy Mount Kunlun. Besides, this is not the end.”

“What do you mean, this is not the end?”

“I’m pretty sure there is still one left~,” Reable said as he laughed and stepped back.

“Come on~ Enjoy the moment with your team. I will see you in the final battle.”

Then, Reable disappeared into a black mass of darkness.

Mu-Cheok stared at the spot for a long time.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Well… This is fucking awkward…”

A/B looked down from the sky.

The superweapon he had created, the spaceship into which he had poured so much of his fortune, was waiting to descend from the atmosphere. Built using the power of his skills and money, the ship was designed so that once it was in space, it did not even need to go down to Earth for survival. It captured sunlight energy and transformed it as mana, and it had built-in machines that produced food using skills.

That was not all. It was an all-weather warship that had its own restoration and repair capabilities, produced its own combat drones, and had a battery of powerful artillery pieces.

However, he was too late.

Ji-Cheok had wiped out everything before he arrived!

“Bos… I think we’re too late…”

“How the hell did they finish so quickly? Don’t you think it is a bit much for them to end a war in a few hours?”

“I heard that it’s a Korean tradition to do their job really fast, boss.”

A/B’s closest aides were now giving him a look that said ‘what are we going to do?’

“Why are you looking at me like that? Go home,” A/B said.

“What?”

“Everyone, just get out! The party's over!”

“Uh… So you mean you want us to go down with the warship, boss?”

“No, I mean get out! You guys have teleportation skills. I… want to be alone for a while.”

A/B wanted to hide his tears of embarrassment, so he asked everyone on the warship to leave him alone.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The war with China was over. The Chinese sent someone to negotiate the end of the war.

The Koreans knew they had come on top, so they wanted to take whatever they could get from China without pushing it to start another war.

Of course, with that said, when Kunlun Mountain started flying toward Beijing, China had no choice but to surrender unconditionally. Even if South Korea fired its artillery from its own soil, China would suffer catastrophic damage, and it was an undeniable truth that Kunlun Mountain had been captured by South Korea.

As a result, Korea was victorious on all fronts.

It horrified Japan, alarmed the United States, and did a solid job of instilling in the rest of the world the perception that if they messed with Korea, they would get fucked.

As Korea became the victor, China was forced to make a number of concessions—from lowering tariffs to allowing South Korea to take over a number of business areas where China had interest. Nevertheless, the world at large thought it was a good thing that things had ended at that. If the war had continued as it was, Beijing would have been in ruins.

One of the most important results of the peace treaty was that Jungjin had entered China.

It was not uncommon for foreign companies to face many obstacles in China. That was why most foreign companies did not even bother to start a business there. However, Jungjin and Jungha Group had done just that! It was partly because Korea was victorious in the Korea-China War, but mostly because Jungjin was under the protection of Ji-Cheok.

Just like that, the situation was settled.