Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 100

‘I guess the only thing left for me to do is start my stream.’

As soon as the stream was turned on, people who had been waiting since the live stream announcement clicked it one by one.

-First~!

-Umji~ Where are you today? Oh? Fortress of Hope??

-Looks like he is here to do tower defense. It was about time for my Umji to go into this dungeon.

-Umji-pooh! Let’s get some titles!

-This place is very popular though. Can he get a title?

?I don’t care about getting titles. I just want him to come back safely.

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The chat was popping up so fast that Ji-Cheok couldn’t keep up with it.

“Hello, everyone! Umji Gumji! This is Um Ji-Cheok. Today, I am at the Fortress of Hope. Many of you probably know this place, it’s already pretty famous and there are many videos about it on GodTube.”

-This is a place that famous GodTubers have to go to at least once in their career.

-Fortress of Hope has been cleared by many Hunters. I wonder if Umji’s version is going to be different from the rest.

-If he doesn’t stand out, there’s no point in watching this stream.

-Umji! Just come back alive! You don’t need to feel pressured!

An old song went like ‘Warm spring breeze blows now and again, the spinning sewing machine keeps a-running’. However, in the modern days, things had changed a bit. Since using drones was cheaper than human labor, drones were now running the textile industry and humans steamed on GodTube instead. Even if people’s lives were at stake, the world was still hungry for entertainment. The death of a Hunter was used as clickbait even at this moment, and the sadness that came with it was also consumed as content. As a result, some fans were worried that the Hunter they supported would die while trying too hard for their videos.

“Hahaha. Today we are going to have a special team with three members. I’d like to introduce the other members who will be fighting with me today! First, a tank of steel! No enemy can break through her walls! Juuung Ji-Byeok!”

Then, as if Ji-Byeok had been waiting for it, with a strict and serious face, she crossed her arms and put one foot on the wall.

‘What? When did she practice that cool pose? And that facial expression?’

This was not something that could be done by looking in the mirror once or twice after taking a shower. She had to have been practicing every day.

‘I guess Ji-Byeok really wanted to be on my stream.’

-Ji-Byeok unnie!! Your presence alone just tore the Fortress apart!

-Wow… How much do you have to lift to build that kind of muscle?

?You just need to train your lower body, and sometimes your upper body.

?What kind of tip is that? Should I just stop eating if I want to lose weight?

-Jung Ji-Byeok: The rising star of the Jungha Group. Although technically a tank, she is a warrior with excellent qualities as a melee dealer. Her favorite food is meat in every shape and form. She got first place in the popularity vote for two consecutive years in [Muscle of the Year], one of the professional Hunter magazines. She is also placed 46th in the Super Rookie TOP 100 with high potential.

‘Wow, I didn’t even know that [Muscle of the Year] did a popularity vote.’

It seemed like she was already famous among gym enthusiasts. Even now, the viewers were discussing how to make their lats wider, and what kind of exercise to make their deltoid muscles bigger. On one side, the chat was saying that she was interracial and that if she was fully Asian, she couldn’t gain that much muscle. The other side of the chat was saying that if she didn’t exercise like she did, she would just be a regular gym rat.

‘Whoah, these gym rats are intense.’

“Alright, next up is a Hunter who can figure out any map in an instant! An excellent scout and range dealer, Byul Ha-Na!”

Byul Ha-Na put her hands on her solar plexus and looked into the distance with the expression of an elf that had just lost her home.

Sorrow could be read on her face as she was staring at the distant sky. She was holding her bow as if it was part of her body. In addition to that, her Hunter camouflage suit gave off faint mana light as she used the slightest bit of mana.

‘I guess Ha-Na also prepared special equipment. I was worried that I couldn’t capture her with her camouflage suit. Does the mana light have special abilities?’

?Master, I think that mana light is equivalent to the LED lights on PC towers, mice, and keyboards.?

‘Oh, so it’s just for the show. At night, if you look at it with tired eyes, your retina may tingle a little.’

?I think that is exactly why she’s wearing it.?

Ji-Cheok realized that Ji-Byeok and Ha-Na had practiced their entrance together. Otherwise, there would be no way they could pose like this without laughing at each other.

‘...Great. I wonder what would happen if I laughed here…’

?If you laugh in this situation, they will be embarrassed for the rest of their lives. Oh, and they might kill you, Master.?

‘You’re right.’

Ding!

[[Beginner Skill: Steady Heart] has been activated.]

‘I can’t believe this skill was activated. I’m assuming the System also thinks of this situation as wartime. The system is right. This is wartime. If I laugh here, I die. But what if the viewers laugh? I’m kind of worried.’

-Byul Ha-Na! Is she a goddess? Byul Ha-Na! Is she a goddess? Byul Ha-Na! Is she a goddess? Byul Ha-Na! Is she a goddess? Byul Ha-Na! Is she a goddess? Byul Ha-Na! Is she a goddess? Byul Ha-Na! Is she a goddess? Byul Ha-Na! Is she a goddess?

-Byul Ha-Na: A dealer/support belonging to Jungjin, a company affiliated with the Jungha Group. Great as both a dealer and a support. She likes [things of value]. She was voted the most popular on [Chef’s Survival], a survival magazine specializing in Hunters. She was also voted 67th in the Super Rookie TOP 100 with high potential.

?Where in the hell do you get this kind of information?

?Everything is on Wonkypedia.

‘Oh? Everyone is taking them seriously. I see! I’ve always seen the two of them when they were being themselves. That’s why I almost burst out laughing. The viewers, however, were taking them seriously because they only ever saw the two through the screen.’

-Omg… Why is her name Ha-Na…

?This is great, Master. Saying ‘Why is her name XX’ is the first step of stanning a Hunter. She is going to be very satisfied with the result.?

‘.... That’s great. Then shall I also smile with the help of the whitening skill [Prince Charming]? Smileofausedcarsalesman?, formation alpha!’

“Okay, so from now on, we are going to start defending this fortress. Hope everyone is going to enjoy the stream and cheer for us as we are defending the Fortress of Hope!”

‘I am the sunshine. I am the Sun. I am one with the sunshine, and anyone who refutes it will be considered my enemy.’

?You are doing great, Master! Your I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude is showing a good reaction from the viewers!?

‘Really? That’s good to hear. I am Umji-sunshine. I am Umji-torade. I am Umji-refreshing.’

With that attitude, Ji-Cheok approached Ha-Na and Ji-Byeok. Both of them still posed in a strict and serious way, but when Ji-Cheok got close, they started to relax. When Ji-Byeok asked if Ji-Cheok was okay, due to his weird smile, he gave her a thumbs up instead of answering. After that, the two of them looked at each other and did a fist bump. Ji-Cheok assumed they practiced that too.

“We practiced it in the sauna.”

Ha-Na whispered so softly that only he could hear it.

‘Wouldn’t it be better if this side of her appeared on stream? It’s kind of cute, and it’s also her real self.’

?They just want to look cool to the viewers, Master. We should just let them do their thing.?

‘Okay.’

Even with all the practice, they were still more down to earth than Ji-Han, who didn’t waste a second and always wore the same clothes. Compared to Ji-Han, who was wearing his usual three-piece, the two of them at least looked human

. Ji-Cheok couldn’t tell if his employer was hunting monsters or riding a limousine on his way to the office.

“That’s Jung Ji-Byeok. I heard that she is a blood relative of the owner of the Jungha Group.”

“Isn’t that son of a bitch Um Ji-Cheok? Why is that attention whore here?”

“Damn it. I think those bastards are gonna be in my way of my Title Hunt.”

‘As opposed to the cheering fans, the reactions of other Hunters are very cold. But it’s okay~ I’m the sunshine~ I’ll smile for now~’

?If you show signs of being depressed or hurt here, the fans will become anxious again, Master!?

‘I see. The fans will probably be depressed with me if I become depressed. As a Hunter, risking your life to fight monsters is unavoidable, but fans would get upset if I got hurt just because of some random insults thrown at me by senior Hunters.’

?Yes, Master. That is exactly it.?

‘All the more reason for me to keep smiling then. I don’t want to be seen as the ugly duckling Umji, but as a bright and strong Umji, right? Everything is fine. I am the omnipotent sunshine and the candy from hell. I’m sure things are going to be back to normal if I smash a few monster heads instead of human heads, right?”

?The definition of sunshine…seems to be falling apart, but you look great on stream, Master! There are comments saying that you look refreshing!?

‘The viewers have keen eyes. I am the Umji-refresh of this era. By the way, since I have the Qi Sense as a cultivator, I can hear when people are talking behind my back.’

?I think you can hear better because you are fighting for individual ranking, even though, on the surface, this is a team tower defense.?

‘Yeah. We also split into two teams so that we can get all of the first, second, and third places. No Hunter is going to like that.’

“Look at Um Ji-Cheok. I bet he raked in the bucks from GodTube. Look at his equipment!”

‘No, you guys are mistaken. I bought the cheapest equipment and reforged it with my alchemy. And I got this pendant from a dungeon, you idiots. If you’re that salty, you should get the title of [First No-death Conqueror of the Special Dungeon] and the pendant with +5 luck.’

?These two items have a synergistic effect, which makes it easier to get special items from dungeons. The drop rate is also increased thanks to the Beginner’s Package itself. This is why you were able to obtain the [Very Small Branch of the World Tree.]?

Ji-Cheok agreed with Cheok-Liang. The item drop rate overlapped with his skills and items. But perhaps in the eyes of these people, Ji-Cheok was lucky enough to have randomly awakened while sleeping on the bus, and he also randomly caught the attention of the Jungha Group while saving some random people, so he was hired. The reason why these Hunters didn’t openly argue with Ji-Cheok was probably that they were aware of one fact: the most important thing right now was to clear this dungeon.

“Ha-Na, Ji-Byeok, are you two ready?”

“I am!”

“Of course!”

These two answers couldn’t be more reassuring.

[Enemies appeared at the Fortress of Hope.]

[To protect the Fortress of Hope, you must successfully defend the walls for an hour.]

One hour. With his current Mana and Cultivation rank, it would be enough to use his Sword Qi for an hour. The question was how strong the enemy was, though. He didn’t know how strong the monsters were just from the briefing. The briefing said that a level 50 dealer could kill one monster in one hit. That was clear enough in general, but Ji-Cheok couldn’t really tell what that meant for himself.

Dudududududududu.

While he was immersed in his thoughts, a Portal opened some distance away from the Fortress of Hope. There was nothing surrounding the Fortress of Hope, but suddenly, a huge Portal had risen like the morning sun.

The Hunters felt a pang of fear. The Portal was in plain sight, but it was also just outside the range of both arrows and spells. And from there, the monsters Ji-Cheok had seen at the briefing started pouring out in frightening numbers.