Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 197

‘Okay!’

‘Got it.’

As soon as Ji-Cheok heard the answer from both of them, he gathered his Qi in his legs. He used the [Heaven and Earth Warp Steps], an auxiliary skill of the [Heaven and Earth Chaotic Divine Art]. He rushed toward the giant while drawing his swords.

“Whoa, he’s so fast!”

Seong Kwang admired his speed.

The giant that had been pinned to the ground got up and glared at Ji-Cheok. Normally, ordinary people were utterly unable to track Ji-Cheok’s speed, but the giant was following him pretty accurately.

“You’re pretty good,” the giant said in a rough voice.

‘You seem pretty powerful too. Try and stop this! Heaven and Earth Sword Attack!’

The two swords slashed the air one after the other.

Boom!

As the giant smashed the ground with the handle of the hammer, a powerful shockwave hit Ji-Cheok.

Ji-Cheok lost his momentum in an instant, because the shockwave pushed him back. However, he didn’t back down; instead, he pushed Qi into his legs again. Activating the [Wind and Cloud Steps], he stomped the ground and rushed forward. His speed was only half of what it had been, but it was still fast!

Clang!

The giant used the hammer head and the handle to cleverly block Ji-Cheok’s swords.

Just as Ji-Cheok thought ‘He’s pretty skilled!’, the mouth on the giant’s abdomen opened up and Ji-Cheok could see a spark of flame.

“Hahaha! Die, you fool!”

Roar!

Flames shot out of the mouth.

“What?!”

However, his belly fat fire breath was blocked by Ji-Cheok’s shadow and disappeared.

‘So you’re a high-level Hunter, right?’

Ji-Cheok’s shadow spread instantly and penetrated under his enemy’s feet. At the same time, he activated the [Shadow Steal] skill.

[You have stolen the opponent’s shadow.]

[It has temporarily decreased the opponent’s movement speed by 10%.]

[It has temporarily decreased the opponent’s defense by 10%.]

[It has temporarily increased your movement speed by 10%.]

[It has temporarily increased your defense by 10%.]

‘This skill is so useful since it debuffs my opponent but puts buffs on me! Also, while we’re at it, eat some Telekinetic Arrows!’

Pi-pi-ping!

Countless Telekinetic Arrows appeared around him, then plunged straight into the giant. All of this only took one-tenth of a second.

“ARGHHH!”

While dozens of arrows were stuck in the giant, Ji-Cheok manipulated the shadow so that his opponent’s feet were firmly tied to the ground. The giant was confused as to why he couldn’t move as the arrows hit him relentlessly.

Seeing that the giant was bleeding and his skin was starting to crack, Ji-Cheok stepped back. Then, he raised his swords and gathered his Qi into the two blades.

Tsss~

The force was precise and intense. In an instant, the Sword Qi turned into Augmented Qi, and Ji-CHeok swung his swords as he stepped forward.

Slash!

The cutting power of Augmented Qi was truly amazing. It accurately cut the struggling opponent into three pieces.

“Keuk…”

At first, the giant screamed, but his voice slowly diminished as if the air had been blasted out of his lungs. His body melted away and disappeared into nothingness.

‘Wait. Why does he just melt and disappear? The last guy I killed wasn’t like this. Had I known this was going to happen, I would have used the Eye of Insight in advance.’

He didn’t have much time to think. He saw that the rest of the enemies were still fighting against Ha-Na, Mu-Cheok, and Reable’s Ghouls.

‘Hm… I guess I have to check them out before killing them. Okay, let’s do this quickly.’

Ji-Cheok kept riding.

* * *

It didn’t take long to deal with the attackers.

There was one thing Ji-Cheok learned through his Eye of Insight before killing them. It was the fact that these guys had two jobs. One was their original, individual job, and the other was a job that was the same for all of these enemies. This second job was something that seemed to have been acquired in this dungeon.

It was [Cultist of the Twisted God].

‘Wait… I think I’ve heard of this thing somewhere. Didn’t [A/B] mention a Spider Cult or something like that? He said something about people who followed the Gods like absolute fanatics.’

After organizing his thoughts, he looked back and saw Bernade staring at them very calmly.

‘Why are you looking at us like that when you didn’t even help us in the fight?’

‘Hyung, no matter how I look at it, It looks like she’s evaluating us.’

‘Well, since you said it like that, it does look like she’s judging us.’

‘I think you’re right. I think she is judging us.’

Seong Kwang joined in on the improved telepathic conversation. This was perfectly normal; if someone was bound by the [Improved Telepathy], it was just like being in a public voice chat room.

“I’ve heard about the Jungha Group, but I have never heard of you. If you are this strong, there is no way I wouldn’t have known,” Bernade said.

“It’s because we have gotten stronger so fast that we are considered Super Rookies. The alliance offer is still valid. What is your answer?”

“Let’s negotiate first. Follow me.”

She turned and walked in the opposite direction, and they followed her toward the rocky mountain.

* * *

As they climbed the mountain, Ji-Cheok shared with his team members the information about the enemies who attacked them through [Improved Telepathy]. He told them everything about the fact that they had two jobs, one of which was ‘Cultist’. Just as he had finished sharing the information, they arrived at the top of the mountain.

The place appeared to be quite spacious, about the size of two school grounds put together. There was also a farm on one side, and Ji-Cheok could see that they were growing something there.

.

There were quite a lot of people, dozens at least. When Ji-Cheok sneakily used his Eye of Insight, he could see that these were all powerful beings.

[Baret Igo]

[Age: 38

Gender: Male

Level: 87

Race: [Twisted and Mutated Entity]

Class: Elemental Summoner — Wind

An Elemental Summoner who summons the spirit of the wind.

Attribute: Since he has become a monster in the [Forest of the Twisted God], he cannot leave the dungeon except during a Dungeon Break.

Attribute: Regeneration

Attribute: Recovery by Eating.]

The description was simple, but his level was high.

‘Well, if you’re an Elemental Summoner, you’re simply powerful so I shouldn’t ignore that. Anyway… It seems like many of them have unusual and powerful classes and levels like that Druid Wizard, Bernade. Did only the elites gather there? Or is there any other reason?’?

However, they did not have the Cultist job, like the previous enemies.

?Master. It seems that the population here is divided into Cultists and Non-Cultists.?

‘That might be true, but why are there three cities then? There should be three factions instead of two.’

?Two cities can belong to the same faction, Master.?

‘Yeah, I think you’re right.’

He glanced at Ji-Han.

‘I’m sure he knows about this place. He just can’t talk about it right now. I’m just glad that the hints that he throws at us are useful.’

“Come this way.”

Bernade led them to a fairly large wooden hut on one side. The team felt that some of the people here were watching them, but the others did not say a word to the team.

‘Seeing that they are not talking, I guess they are communicating telepathically like us?’

Everyone agreed with Ha-Na.

‘Exactly. It’s a bit strange that they are not talking at all. I understand that they don’t want to come near us, but it doesn’t make sense that they’re not even talking among themselves.’

The team entered the big hut. Inside, the skin of an unknown animal was spread like a carpet, and a campfire was burning in the center.

As they went further, they saw a person sitting down with his back bent. He wore a bizarre-looking mask, something that Ji-Cheok had never seen before.

Ji-Cheok couldn’t see this person’s face, but their body appeared to be severely mutated. It looked as if a myriad of tree branches were twisted to form the body. The person sitting down looked more like a plant than a human, and the color of the tree branches seemed to be somewhere between white and gray.

‘That’s so bizarre…’

?It is a mask worn by an ancient shaman in the Philippines, Master.?

‘Huh? How did you know that?’

?I am continuing to collect information on folk religions and other various regions to assist you, Master.?

‘That’s why you are my advisor, Cheok-Liang! You’re the best!’

“Welcome. I am just an old man who happens to be the boss of this place.”

An old man’s voice came from the masked person. Ji-Cheok quickly used his Eye of Insight.

Ping!

[Your Eye of Insight skill has failed.]

‘What?! My Eye of Insight has failed!’

The old man turned to Ji-Cheok.

“You seem to have a good eye. But there is a reason why I am wearing this mask. Everyone, please sit down.”

‘Does that mask nullify any detection skills? Hm… He is something else.’

The team sat down on the leather rug. Seong Kwang was touching the leather. Ji-Cheok thought it was some kind of his way of dealing with his occupational hazard.

“So you were sent here by a Korean conglomerate called the Jungha Group?” the old man asked.

“That’s right.”

“It looks like our government has put in quite a bit of effort this time. But only sending seven people… Those idiots seem to be ignoring how dangerous this place is.”

“Contrary to what you are worried about, your government is already fully aware of the dangers here.”

“Oh? They know that, but only sent seven people here? I admire your confidence. According to Bernade’s observations, you defeated Ukai in one fell swoop…”

‘Ukai? Is that the giant that I dealt with?’

“And I heard that there is also a person who can shoot stars… Is that the young lady with the bow?”

Ji-Han nodded in agreement.

“Hm… Ah, excuse me. I’m asking too many questions. I should introduce myself.”

The masked old man put his hand into the campfire. Naturally, the hand that appeared to be made of strange twigs started to burn. Ji-Cheok felt a strange power spreading out.

“I am the [He-who-is-firewood]. I am Macaw of the White Charcoal. I am the man who maintains the barriers guarding the fortress.”

Even though his hands were burning, he didn’t seem to be in pain. As his hand burned and ashes flew away, eventually his hand fell off and into the fire. The new hand made of plant stems grew again in the place where it fell. The color which was halfway between white and gray suited the name White Charcoal really well.

“Do Shamans and Priests know that self-sacrifice skills exist? If you sacrifice yourself you can unleash even more power.”

“......”

The old man looked at them and then continued.

“The barriers guarding this fortress also work that way. Haha. Of course, it’s not indestructible. The barriers will break if you keep attacking them. Still, there is a big difference between having something like this and not having a barrier at all.”

This old man… He was telling such a serious story as if it was no big deal.

‘So he’s maintaining this force by sacrificing himself? What the hell…’

“Hey, you guys are very tight-lipped, aren’t you? I see a Necromancer in your group, so you must have a lot of questions for me.”

He seemed to be referring to the wooden palisades on which the skulls were hung.

“Isn’t that because you are fighting another faction? To prevent them from respawning,” Ji-Han asked directly.

“Haha… So you do?know. Then, do you know why we are fighting?”

Ji-Han shook his head lightly.

“I do not.”

“Hm… I can give you the simple explanation, or I can tell you the complicated one… But either way, this place… is hell.”

The old man put his hand into the fire again. He then simply removed his burning hand, threw it into the fire, and started talking.