CH 31

Mu-Cheok opened the door and entered. A video production crew followed behind him.

“How can I act naturally in front of the camera with this many people here?”

“Eh, you can. These people won’t be in the video anyways.” Mu-Cheok decisively responded.

A makeup artist had touched up Ji-Cheok’s hair and his clothes, but Mu-Cheok didn’t seem to be a fan of what she was doing because he then sent her away.

Mu-Cheok looked at Ji-Cheok for quite some time, tilting his head from side to side. Suddenly, he rolled up his sleeves and got down to business. He removed Ji-Cheok’s makeup and ruffled up his hair a little, then he brought out the pajamas that Ji-Cheok usually wore to bed.

In the mirror, Ji-Cheok looked like a young man who had just woken up and had yet to get out of bed.

“This makes you look way more natural,” Mu-Cheok said.

‘Does it? Wouldn’t it be better to just leave this to an expert? At most, my brother is a fan…’

Could a fan be a better outfit coordinator than a professional? Ji-Cheok snuck a glance to see the reactions of the others around him.

Ring-

[The cameraman thinks that this look of you is better because it isn’t excessive.]

[You have received 1 Like.]

‘So… fans can be better outfit coordinators than professionals.’

“Alright, Hyung. Let’s get started with formally opening the tribute gifts first, and then the Silver Button revealing ceremony,” Mu-Cheok explained.

Both he and Ji-Cheok would appear in the video.

They were trying to make it look like Ji-Cheok had just woken up and was going to open some of the tributes, which was pretty much what had actually happened. The only difference was that the video would show a small and quiet brotherly get-together, while in reality there were a bunch of video production and editing staff present as well. The final edited version of the video would then be uploaded on GodTube.

Mu-Cheok said, “Also, I’m going to register your fandom as official supporters. I think you’ve achieved a large enough following.” Mu-Cheok said.

Ji-Cheok was concerned about the speed that things were going at, but it seemed natural for Mu-Cheok. In the meantime, the total number of Likes Ji-Cheok had accumulated was 132,000 Likes. He had struck gold. In addition to the abundance of Likes, articles about his recovery were taking over the covers of entertainment and gossip columns.

* * *

In a small room, Bi-Ga wore a huge pair of headphones, listening to something with her eyes closed. The drones were set to sleep mode, and it was so quiet that not even the sound of a clock ticking could be heard. The underground laboratory where she was located was filled with test tubes: dissected demons contained in formalin solution, some of them still alive and wriggling around. Bi-Ga started humming softly, only to be abruptly interrupted when the door burst open.

“Jung Bi-Ga!” someone shouted.

“Oh, hey, friend,” Bi-Ga replied.

“Friend? We’re not friends.” The black-haired woman grumbled as she made her way downstairs.

She was Bi-Ga’s longtime best friend and research companion. Because this woman didn’t want to attract attention to herself, all she did was quietly conduct her research, but today was different. She was actually coming back to the lab from a TV appearance—something she hadn’t done in a while.

Just like how Bi-Ga pushed the limits of mechanical engineering, this woman pushed the limits of biotechnology.

Her name was Kim Yeong-Hee. Unlike ‘Jung Bi-Ga’, ‘Kim Yeong-Hee’ was such a common Korean name combination that it was even used as a placeholder name in school textbooks.

“In my laboratory again…” Yeong-Hee started off.

“Shhh,” Bi-Ga hushed as she raised her index finger to her lips.

That index finger sported a colorful jewel ring with a butterfly pattern, only one of the items on Bi-Ga’s hands that cost more than a billion won overall. Contrary to Yeong-Hee's simple fashion, every single thing about Bi-Ga looked stunning. The brand-name glasses that Bi-Ga wore sometimes were custom-made by a fashion designer. Even her frizzy hair looked stylish, as if she was taken right off the cover of a fashion magazine.

She whispered softly, “I’ve managed to capture the sound of the other world expanding and tearing apart.”

“Tearing apart? No way!” Yeong-Hee had serious doubts.

“Yeah, it’s the Dungeon Expansion. The dungeons stuck in this world are expanding and beginning to tear our dimension apart. It sounds a lot like growing cancer cells.” Bi-Ga explained.

“That doesn’t sound promising.”

“Yeah, but there’s nothing we can do to stop it. Everything grows, thrives, and then dies. We might as well enjoy it.”

Bi-Ga waved a glass of champagne and continued.

“Do you want to listen together? I’ve prepared another spot, just for you,” she asked Yeong-Hee as she pulled out another pair of headphones. “You sure love your grayscale life, huh?”

Yeong-Hee sighed. “You’re…”

“Let’s listen together. It’s valuable data that you got while the Dungeon Expansion victims were being transported, right?”.

It had been like that since high school. Bi-Ga always did everything at her own pace, while Yeong-Hee, who was the kind to live a dull and uneventful life, always ended up being swept up in Bi-Ga’s colorful and vibrant momentum.

“You’re such a weirdo.” Yeong-Hee complained.

“Hahaha.”

Bi-Ga laughed for a bit, then she filled up Yeong-Hee’s glass with champagne.

“Cheers to the impending end of the world!” she said, as the champagne glasses made that distinctive clinking sound.

From the headphones, Bi-Ga could hear the sound of something bubbling, as if yeast was rising. There were sounds coming from the dimensional tear, a prelude to the destruction of the world.

“There’s still some time left. Aren’t you going to try to save the world?” Yeong-Hee asked.

Bi-Ga shook her head. “You know me. I’m not a hero. I’m going to take advantage of this impending destruction to make my dreams come true.”

It was an absurd goal, but Yeong-Hee believed that Bi-Ga was the kind of person who could achieve it.

Bi-Ga then asked, “Okay, what about you?”

“I’ve always been the same. I just really want to uncover the secrets of this world, and I’ve been studying life in search of those secrets.” Yeong-Hee replied.

“I’m not sure if you’re just innocent or foolish to be doing this.” Bi-Ga remarked.

“Bi-Ga.”

“What?”

“I’m gonna say it again, but you’re really a weirdo.”

“I know,” Bi-Ga happily agreed.

“Also, your sibling is also a weirdo. Isn’t his name Jung Ji-Han? He just asked me for a strange favor and left. He wanted me to extract some of the demon’s serum for him so he could save somebody,” Yeong-Hee explained.

“Ah.”

“It was weird. Also, how did he know who I was? I haven’t published any papers, and people probably think I’m already dead with how secluded I live.”

It was unimaginable for a normal person to collect serum from the half-divine demon, but Yeong-Hee had completed that difficult task.

“Yeah, I guess Ji-Han is pretty weird,” Bi-Ga replied.

‘What a strange family.’ Yeong-Hee thought. She grumbled and leaned her head on Bi-Ga’s shoulder.

* * *

After uploading a number of videos, Mu-Cheok left for training. He explained that the official approval of Ji-Cheok’s fandom as supporters would be completed by the time he returned.

Ji-Cheok was finally discharged from the hospital, and he laid on his sofa at home. He stared at the ceiling.

‘It’s so high.’

The ceiling looked at least three stories high. When Ji-Cheok was younger, he had frequently moved homes around a shanty town, and when he had gotten older, he had stayed in a small dorm room. Back then, he never would’ve thought that he would be living in such a big, luxurious mansion now.

‘Wow, I can’t get used to this. I really can’t.’ Ji-Cheok thought.

As soon as Ji-Cheok had been discharged from the hospital and gotten home, he had used his [Eye of Insight] to search the room. Luckily, he hadn’t found any bugs. In any case, there wasn’t any harm in being cautious—he was now incidentally involved in Ji-Han’s fight to become the next in line for Jungha Group leadership. When Ji-Han had acquired the house, he had mentioned that he would take care of the cleaning, and it indeed seemed like he had.

‘What are Ji-Han’s real intentions?’ Ji-Cheok wondered.

He wasn’t sure why Ji-Han would come in the middle of the night and administer him the demon’s serum, especially without his consent. In fact, Ji-Cheok hadn’t even known that he had been under a curse since he had slayed the demon in the first place. He hadn’t been aware of any of it. On top of that, he had no clue where the so-called demon’s serum even came from.

‘Only the demon’s blood was on the list of spoils…’

The demon’s body had been processed by the Hunter Assistants and all but Ji-Cheok’s shares went to the auction house.

Ji-Han had pushed himself to help Ji-Cheok by spending all of his pocket money at the auction house. He had bought all the other parts of the monster and given everything to Ji-Cheok. It was something that no one would do even for their own child, much less for someone else.

‘What the heck is this guy expecting in return?’ 

Ji-Cheok was confused at Ji-Han’s intentions, but in any case, he now had all the spoils from the demon’s body. This included his hidden quest reward [Demonic Essence] which he had gulped down.

‘He said I could resell all the demon trophies I have.’ 

Ji-Han was the generous giving tree[1]. The selfless tree. Ji-Cheok wondered whether he had saved Ji-Han in a previous life.

‘Or he’s just fattening me up so he can use me for his succession battle.’

Ji-Han was a man with a lot of secrets.

But Ji-Cheok knew that he himself wasn’t a completely honest person, so he didn’t mind that Ji-Han was giving everything to him.

‘I hope you keep bringing more to me. I’m going to take all of it.’

After Ji-Cheok gathered his thoughts, he opened the Likes Shop.

[Your benevolence has grown! A greater reward is waiting for you! The world is ruled by Likes!]

[Only Likes are righteous!]

[The Likes Shop has been upgraded!]

The Likes shop looked different now: it had become more colorful, and it had a grand intro soundtrack. At the same time, though, Ji-Cheok only needed to search for things, and that feature hadn’t changed at all. He quickly scrolled through the list of skills.

‘I just need to find one overpowering skill.’

His style of fighting involved using multiple skills that worked together seamlessly. This combat tactic was great when his opponent’s skill levels were similar or lower than him. Whether his skills would be effective against an overwhelmingly stronger opponent… that was a different story.

‘It’s the same for everyone, though.’

Obviously, one would die if their enemy was overwhelmingly stronger. Wasn’t that the law of the dungeon? Taking that into account, it would be great if Ji-Cheok had at least one piece of heavy artillery prepared, in case he had to fight another boss monster.

‘That monster was a big one. Would it be better to upgrade my basic skills instead?’

Even if he had the same skills, if he had killer stats, then the amount of the damage they inflict could be bigger.

‘I need some advice. Advice…’

Ji-Cheok turned his phone on and found a community of people with abilities. The world’s largest community of people with abilities, F.I.G. The site’s symbol was a fig, and it was full of information that couldn’t be accessed by the general public. Ji-Cheok signed up with his Hunter ID, which was recognized immediately.

[Um Ji-Cheok

All-rounder (Rank A).

Level White.]

[Loading.]

Ranks and levels were different. Ranks were based on the potential and utilization of one’s abilities, while levels were based on an empirical calculation of XP from the System. This calculation was based on the type and number of enemies he had killed, which in turn determined the XP. Ji-Cheok’s potential and utilization placed him at a high Rank A in the Hunter Association, while his level was ‘White’ which was the lowest. Concretely, White indicated that he was at level 10 or lower. The levels weren’t displayed as numbers to protect Hunters’ privacy.

The machine that had done Ji-Cheok’s first physical examination before his Hunter test could measure his Hunter level, but it hadn’t displayed the exact number. Ji-Cheok thought that this could be because in order to level and rank up, some of the Awakened would rather kill other Awakened than fight monsters, and so knowing their exact level could be dangerous.

What his Hunter ID showed, in a nutshell, was that his potential and skill versatility was strong, but he was still a beginner. Only parts of this information could be found by watching Ji-Cheok’s videos.

‘An article will probably get published soon about how I’m a A-Rank rookie.’

Leveling up was different between A- and D-Rank rookies. It meant that Ji-Cheok was a promising prospect.

‘But I'll always be at level 1.’

Not that it mattered to him. He had already been using the Beginner’s Package without worrying about what anyone else thought, since it looked like he would be level 1 forever anyway.

Being level 1 was sweet.

[Approval is complete.]

[Approved as a full member!]

‘Oh. My Hunter’s ranking just changed.’ Ji-Cheok was finally able to access F.I.G.

The Hunter ranking list was uploaded every month on the site’s main page. There were currently fifty-two SSS-Rank Hunters. The highest rank anyone could awaken at was the A Rank, and even among those A-Rank Awakened, only a handful of people reached the SSS Rank. Their level was also displayed as a color rather than a number, but in their case, it was Black— the highest category. Their abilities were briefly explained, but the important thing was the following description.

‘On this list, there are storm masters, who control powerful storms. There are two people with flame attributes… There are people who were able to reach this rank solely by virtue of their swordsmanship…..’

There was one similarity between all of them. These people were the ones that pushed their one defining ability to the limit.