Thumbs Up, Level Up

“Okay, good. So I guess we are done here?” Adam said.

“Yes.”

“Then the problem is how to stop the monsters from pouring out. How many do you think will come out?”

Unusually, Ji-Cheok’s Divine Intuition actually had a clear answer for Adam. Ji-Cheok could sense the unchangeable future, perhaps because he had already confirmed what would happen thanks to the Three Goddesses of Fate.

“There will be a Dungeon Break at least every hundred meters, in almost every land.”

A/B’s face turned ghastly pale.

“That’s insane…. So, how much time do we have?”

‘We have one year,’ Ji-Cheok’s Divine Intuition whispered.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Cheok-Liang!”

«Yes, Master.»

Cheok-Liang was using his nine tails and two front paws to type on eleven keyboards, while looking at one screen for each tail and another screen for his two adorable front paws, totaling ten screens. There were a bunch of blueprints, orders, and paperwork scattered around him.

There was multitasking…and then, there was Cheok-Liang.

“You seem busy…But why are you working so inefficiently? I thought you could do all of this in your head since you are an electronic spirit.”

«For simple tasks, you are right, but for multitasking, this is more comfortable.»

“I see. Well, anyway, I came here with some answers.”

«I already got it, Master. We can share our memories, and I already checked it out. It looks like something big is going to happen.»

“Right, so you know that the dimensional barrier will be temporarily neutralized, right?”

The dimensional barrier he had created was put together with the assistance of the System. So if they locked it down with the power of the System, he could not do anything to stop that from happening.

That was the final quest.

So, Ji-Cheok had to think of a way to protect people apart from the dimensional barrier. He needed a blender that would turn the spilling monsters into mincemeat as soon as they came out.

«We have one year, so let’s start with the basics. We need to install automated defense turrets throughout the world.»

“You mean those attacking towers created by Bi-Ga?”

«Yes.»

“Then, we should make shields while we are at it.”

«That is not a bad idea, but the problem is the budget. You are making a lot of money, but it is not enough to protect the whole world. It is not impossible if you just want to protect Korea, but…»

“We just have to persuade the political powers in each country.”

Humanity needed to do whatever it took to survive. The bastards who ran the countries had to be made aware of that, and he needed to make sure they knew it.

“I need to acquire some mental skills.”

«You are good, Master. Brainwashing is a great ploy too!»

“No… Not like that… You’re scaring me…”

‘Cheok-Liang can be so hardcore sometimes…’

“Where the hell is Ji-Han?”

«I cannot reach him.»

“What about Reable?”

«I cannot reach him either.»

‘What the hell are the two up to? I am sure both of them already know what the final quest looks like..’

“We will take care of things for now. Let the team and the Tama Clan know.”

«Yes, Master. I will hasten the fortification of Kunlun Mountain while you contact the South Korean administration. Do you mind telling me what you are going to do?»

“It’s simple. I am going to do what I always do.”

He was planning on turning on his livestream.

‘With that, I will sound the alarm in people’s minds.’

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Ji-Cheok had the skill to persuade people as long as he was telling the truth. He also had the skill of conjuring memories into videos, and he had something called the Scales of Truth.

Thanks to these assets, he was ready for this livestream.

“Hello, everyone. This is Um Ji-Cheok. Today we are going to talk about something a bit more serious than other videos, so I’m sorry, but you won’t see me smile this time. This is a similar situation to the last incident we faced, and I hope you guys will listen carefully to what I am about to say,” said Ji-Cheok with a serious face.

His livestream background was just a white wall, and he was wearing a business suit instead of his usual costume. He was sitting on a small chair, and his eyes were fixed on the screen. Next to his right shoulder, the Scales of Truth were held up by his telekinetic power.

His livestream thus began, and he could immediately see viewers starting to trickle in.

-Umji! Hi Hi!

-Umji is livestreaming again?

-Umji is live! Yes!

-I’ve been waiting for you, Umji!

-What’s going on? Umji is wearing a suit!

-No… I don’t like it when he wears a suit. That means something bad is going to happen.

-He wore a suit when he told us about that Mount Kunlun thing… Wait, does that mean...

-I’m getting a little scared…

There were mixed reactions. However, instead of reacting to the viewers as usual, Ji-Cheok simply kept looking at the screen with a serious look on his face.

“First of all, before I start the livestream, I want to tell you that I am using a special skill for broadcasting this time. It is called the Power of Truth. I will post the description on the screen.”

[Power of Truth]

[Class: Legendary (Non-Upgradable)

The power bestowed by the God of Truth upon their apostle.

The truth is powerful in and of itself.

Function: As long as the user speaks the truth, others will trust them unconditionally.

Function: This power is lost if a lie is spoken even once.]

-What kind of skill is that?

-Others will trust them unconditionally? That sounds powerful.

-Sounds good for running scams, IMO.

↳ It says you have to tell the truth.

↳You can tell the truth and still scam people.

↳ What kind of cartoon shit is that? How would that ever work in real life?

-Wait, what is going on? What’s with the whole confession?

-And what is that thing over that? Is that a scale?

↳That looks like a weird scale.

Instead of responding to their reactions, he continued to speak.

“This thing floating next to me is called the Scales of Truth, and it is supposed to tip if I am lying.”

-I had no idea something like that even existed!

-So let me get this straight. He has a skill called the Power of Truth, and an item called the Scales of Truth?

-I guess he is here to tell us the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

-Umji, you really are telling us the truth, right? …Right?

↳I just thought of a Star Wars meme best suited for this occasion.

“Everything I say here is the truth, and I am livestreaming it because you all need to know,” Ji-Cheok said solemnly.

“There are people, like the so-called secret societies, who kill and sacrifice people to their Gods, and this Mount Kunlun was one of them. So why did they practice human sacrifice, and why did they pressure the Chinese government to declare war on South Korea?”

Everyone waited for his answer, as they knew it was a rhetorical question.

“The reason is simple. One year from now, the world will end.”

A timer appeared beside him on the screen.

8,748 hours.

A literal doomsday clock.

“Actually, time is already passing. A year is 8,760 hours, and we are already 12 hours into it.”

There was a pause in the chat. It was hard for everyone to process what he was saying, but they instinctively knew he was telling the truth because of the Power of Truth.

“I have a skill that allows me to bring out memories on video. I am about to show you a video about what would happen if the world ended. I want everyone who is planning on watching this video to be careful. It is very gory and brutal.”

With this warning, he pulled out the memories of the world sent by Despair.

-Ah!! What the hell is that?! What am I watching!

-Fuck! Fuck this! ASDASDKFHKJEQWOIEU

-What the fuck is that? Is that for real? Are you serious?

-The world is going to end? In just one year? What the fuck!

-Tell me it’s a lie, Umji! Please, tell me it’s a lie!

The chat was more chaotic than usual. He turned off the memories broadcast and said solemnly, “Everyone. All of this is true.”

He pulled up a video of Kunlun Mountain.

“However, I can at least reassure the South Koreans, please rest assured. I can protect our country.”

-Ohhhh!!! I was counting on you, Umji! Thank God!

-Umji! I love you!!

-Umji is a God! Umji is a God!

“But even to the best of my abilities, I can only save South Korea and the Philippines, where we have established a strong friendship. As far as other countries are concerned, the way this will go is up to their governments.”

-What? Is he serious?

-What’s going to happen to Japan? I love their hot springs.

↳Found a Japanophile.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

↳I am not a Japanophile!

-China must be going crazy right now…

↳You think they’re the only ones going crazy? Every other country in the world is!

-I think he is lying. It has to be a lie.

“We found that most of the top brass knew about the end of the world, and that is why they formed secret societies and did things like human sacrifices. It was to make sure they survived the apocalypse.”

-A… conspiracy theory?

-No way, Umji said he was telling the truth, and that scale isn’t moving…

↳How can we believe that?

↳How can we not? When did you see him do something normal?

↳Umji is a God! Umji is a God!

“So, everyone, starting tomorrow, I am going to start a massive operation to protect my country. As for the other countries, I am warning you. You have one year. One year from now, the Gates will open on a scale beyond your wildest imagination, so please prepare yourselves. This is the end of today’s livestream.”

The stream thus ended. The fact that the Scales of Truth had not moved throughout the entire video could only mean one of two things.

1. Ji-Cheok was crazy.

2. Ji-Cheok was telling the truth.

No one knew what to believe.

‘But I dropped a massive bomb on the world today. Now… we will just have to see what happens.’

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“This is insane…”

The president of South Korea broke out in a cold sweat as he watched the livestream.

Obviously, since he was the president of a country, he was bound to know about the apocalypse. However, the President of South Korea tended to treat it as a silly conspiracy theory.

It was because he was not a Hunter, and the idea of the end of the world did not make sense to him. Humans were unsurprisingly prone to believe that only their experiential memories were real. Anything they had not experienced was either fictitious or of very low value.

The President, being a human himself, was no different.

However, as he watched the horrible and grotesque video broadcast by Ji-Cheok, a terrifying idea took over his mind.

It was all true. That young Ji-Cheok guy really was telling the truth.

“Mr. Kim, Come here.”

The President summoned his Chief of Staff, and Mr. Kim immediately rushed into the office.

“Did you see the livestream?”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“I think it might be true…”

“There was some talk about the end of the world in the National Intelligence Service report, but…”

“Why don’t we have those secret societies in our country?”

“We did, sir. But they fled to the old North Korea after committing human sacrifices and other such crimes. I believe they also fought each other beforehand, because many of their members died.”