CH 103

Since this was a title, it didn’t require mana to activate. It protected Ji-Cheok just by existing. Together with his overpowered [Beginner’s Skill: Steady Heart], this title would make it impossible for him to be influenced mentally or inflicted with Fear in any dungeon.

‘I heard there were a lot of monsters attacking the mind of the Hunters in three-star or above dungeons. I remember when I had to collect the dead bodies of mentally-controlled Hunters in those dungeons.’

«Yes, Master. That is why you need to have a lot of mental defense items for three-star dungeons.»

‘I still have to check the other titles I got earlier, but… I’ll do that later. I need to finish the stream first.’

-Wow, I can’t believe he already got that title.

-Fun Fact: There are a lot of Hunters who didn’t get that title until they reached level 56.

↳2222

↳33333

-No but, what’s up with Jung Ji-Han? He also got the same ranking as Umji. But Umji performed so well, did Ji-Han also perform that well?

↳I was watching a stream of a Hunter who was on Ji-Han’s team, and I can assure you that he deserved that first place.

↳I second this. It was like something from a horror movie.

-Umji!! You did it!! I’m crying right now!!

-Strongest Umji! All hail Umji!! 乃乃乃乃乃乃乃 Strongest Umji!!! 乃乃乃乃乃乃乃乃乃乃

-Umji just showed that the best defense is a good offense. He just ran to the Portal and killed every monster.

‘That comment about Ji-Han caught my eyes in the sea of comments. What did he do to make the viewers think about a horror movie? I’ll have to find the video and watch it later.’

“Whew~ Well, if you exterminate the attackers at the source, you don’t need to defend anymore, am I right? This dungeon has also been successfully completed. I am going to turn off the stream and regroup with the team.”

-No!!! I need more of your stream!!

-NOOOO!! Just ten more minutes! No, five!

“I will see you next time! Cheok-Liang!”

Bark! Bark!

Cheok-Liang barked cutely and took a kung-fu stance. Ji-Cheok also did a kung-fu pose with one leg up, right next to Cheok-Liang. Ji-Byeok took the same pose next to him and Ha-Na jumped onto the shoulder of Ji-Byeok.

‘Did they practice this before the dungeon?’

-Wow~ Kung-fu pose!

-Did you guys think of this closing ceremony?

“Well, I will see you guys later~!”

Ji-Cheok could feel the sadness of the viewers in the chat.

‘It’s good to cut the stream short like this. It makes the viewers want more. If I spent time explaining all the titles, I know for a fact that my subscriber numbers are going to go down.’

As soon as the stream ended, a message popped up to everyone.

[You have cleared the dungeon.]

A Portal to the outside world opened.

* * *

“Wow, the live stream was very successful!”

“Were you two planning on joining the closing ceremony? Or was it a spur of the moment? I was surprised,” Ji-Cheok said.

“You didn’t like it?”

“No, no. It was great. I was just surprised.”

Ji-Byeok and Ha-Na looked at each other and smiled.

“It looked fun, so I tried it. I didn’t know Ha-Na was going to join in, but it was still fun,” Ji-Byeok said.

After saying that, Ji-Byeok stretched her body like a cat—though her muscular body made it look more like a large tiger. As the three continued with their conversation, Ji-Han, Mu-Cheok, and Seong Kwang came out of the Portal as well.

‘Seong Kwang seems happy.’

“Great job, brothers!” Seong Kwang said.

“I saw that all of you got into the top three in your team!” Ji-Cheok said.

“Of course! Who do you think we are? Anyway, I watched Brother Ji-Cheok’s stream whenever I could, and you were amazing! I never thought of going to the Portal and killing the Ants as they spawned.”

[Zealot Seong Kwang is amazed at your skills and ideas.]

[You have received 2 Likes!]

‘He seems genuinely impressed. Thanks for the Likes.’

Everyone on the outside congratulated the team. Even the Hunter Assistants who were carrying chainsaws, driving tractors with big trailers hitched behind them, and carrying various tools were happy to see them.

“Your stream was amazing, Mr. Um!”

“Hey! Mr. Kim! Long time no see.”

“We were watching you from the outside, and we were so surprised!”

Mr. Kim tapped Ji-Cheok’s shoulder.

“Thanks to you, the recognition of Hunter Assistants has improved, and other Hunters are definitely treating us better,” Mr. Kim said.

‘Ah, I remember the Assistants were also in my mushroom forest dungeon video. I was too busy fighting the monsters, but I remember the Hunter Assistants were very helpful and they were captured in my video. I heard after the incident, other GodTubers made videos about them, and there were also a few articles about their heroic contribution.’

“I loved your stream today, Mr. Um!”

“Of course! Um Ji-Cheok is the best!”

[Hunter Assistants greatly support your live stream.]

[You have received 52 Likes.]

Ji-Cheok could hear people calling the Hunter Assistants from the other side.

“Damn. They’re gonna steal my loot if I stay here any longer.”

“We need to go in before the other Hunter Assistants. Otherwise, there is going to be nothing left for us.”

This was one of the major problems with Defense Dungeons. Because there were so many Hunters, it was difficult to determine exactly who killed the monsters. Usually, the head of staff was there to determine the owner of the loot, but it wasn’t always easy. That was why it was advantageous to grab the loot with an unclear owner as quickly as possible.

“We better get going. You take a good rest, Mr. Um! We don’t want to lose to the Yum Ra-Du’s Hunter Assistants!” Mr. Kim said.

He handed Ji-Cheok a hot cup of Americano.

“Oh, I’m okay…” Ji-Cheok said.

“I didn’t buy it. It was handed out by your supporters. They even brought a coffee truck in your name.”

Apparently, Gumjis had actually brought in a coffee truck to hand out coffee to people. Thanks to them, the Hunter Assistants could warm themselves up with a hot cup of coffee while watching his stream.

“Thank you, Mr. Kim!” Ji-Cheok said.

“No, thank you. I think we’re gonna get a bonus thanks to the number of monsters you’ve killed in there.”

All the Hunter Assistants headed to the Portal. They didn’t forget to support him by giving him a thumbs-up.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

‘Wow, this feels weird.’

«This is all thanks to your socializing abilities, Master. The world is yours! Take it with both hands, Master!»

‘There is no way he is the spirit of Zhuge Liang. He is more like the [Twisted Underworld’s Zhuge Liang #8]. The real Zhuge Liang can’t have been this mischievous.’

Stroking Cheok-Liang’s head, Ji-Cheok headed to the chairs for Hunters. He felt tired after one battle. The coffee he was sipping reminded him of his Hunter Assistant days, and he felt nostalgic.

‘I should just think about work.’

[Fortress of Hope] was a very unusual dungeon. Since there were several Portals to enter the dungeon, Hunters could use different Portals to get into the dungeon. However, for administrative convenience, rules were set so that only one company could use one Portal. The one that Ji-Cheok was using was used by Jungjin Company for now, but he knew that the other company was going to use it for the next defense.

Ji-Cheok looked at his brother, and he hadn’t said a word for a while. Contrary to Seong Kwang’s bright expression, Mu-Cheok seemed like he didn't want to talk at all.

‘What the hell happened in that dungeon?’

“Good job, everyone,” Ji-Han said.

Ji-Han approached the team and greeted them.

“You were great too, Director.”

“Everyone did a good job~”

After exchanging business-like greetings, everyone sat down and took a sip of their drinks.

“Everyone must be tired today, so we will take care of the other things in three days. Let us gather in the meeting room at 1 p.m. With that said… Well done, everyone.”

After saying that, Ji-Han politely bowed, turned around, and started to give instructions to the staff and Hunter Assistants.

‘Isn’t he tired? He never takes a break. It’s like he is on a different level.’

“Hyung, let’s go home.”

Mu-Cheok leaned on his brother with his big body.

“Huh? Yeah, sure,” Ji-Cheok said.

Mu-Cheok looked like he had seen a dead body. Ji-Cheok felt that his brother wanted to leave as soon as possible. They said their goodbyes to other teammates and left.

‘What the hell is going on?’

* * *

Equipment usually had a lot of body fluids or flesh from monsters after a battle. Normally, Ji-Cheok would wipe them off at the exit of the dungeon, but it was best to put them in the dedicated equipment box at home and clean them properly. This was the reason why special vehicles existed for Hunters to move around after the ‘battle was finished.’ A small amount of venom was easy to wipe off, but nobody wanted to get orc blood on their luxurious car seats. That’s why these huge limousine buses with beds and shower rooms existed. Ji-Cheok and Mu-Cheok took a quick shower and put their armor in the special washing machine.

“Look, hyung. Look at what I recorded.”

He put up a video in front of Ji-Cheok. Mu-Cheok used his [Comfortable Viewer Life] skill that he had bought earlier. [Comfortable Viewer Life] was a concept opposite to Ji-Cheok’s [360° Video Shooting] skill. Mu-Cheok could watch many types of channels at any time, not just GodTube. If he wanted, he could also make his skill window pop up and show it to others.

“What am I looking at?” Ji-Cheok said.

⌜Hey chat, do you see where I am? I am at the Fortress of Hope! Huh? Um Ji-Cheok is also streaming? Hey~ You don’t need to go there~ You can find what you want from my stream~ I’m gonna be sad if you guys went to his stream~⌟

Ji-Cheok didn’t know who this streamer was, but the latter appeared to be very conscious of him. Ji-Cheok felt the impatience in his voice as he was trying way too hard to keep his viewers.

⌜You want to see Um Ji-Cheok? You guys are so mean! How about Ji-Cheok’s boss, Jung Ji-Han? Do you see him? He is on my team!⌟

«Master… I do not think this streamer has any good content. I am worried about his future in streaming.»

‘That’s because there has already been so much content on Fortress of Hope. It’s not easy to come up with something new. Still, since it’s a Defense Dungeon, it is guaranteed to get more than their average viewership. The problem with this person is that he started his stream while I was also streaming. 

⌜So, if you look closely, you see Jung Ji-Han. I’m going to zoom in on him!⌟

Ji-Cheok saw a small dot outside of the fortress, and he knew that it was Ji-Han. When the streamer zoomed in, Ji-Han’s image appeared quite clear and large. He was walking in the wilderness outside the fortress walls with Seong Kwang and Mu-Cheok. It looked like Seong Kwang was applying various buffs to Ji-Han, and as a [Chronicler], Mu-Cheok was also buffing Ji-Han.

⌜It seems like the supporters are taking their time to cast buff skills because the Ant monsters have not yet appeared. Oh, speak of the devil, the Ants are starting to come out! Those three have already left their formation and are alone against the monsters! This could get ugly.⌟

Just like the streamer said, this was crazy. Even Ji-Cheok had killed some Ants from the wall before driving to the Portal. However, Ji-Han was preparing to use his skills from outside of the fortress from the get-go. The Ants swarmed in, and soon, they were surrounded. Seong Kwang and Mu-Cheok looked nervous. However, it was difficult for Ji-Cheok to understand the next scene that followed.

The moment Ji-Han put his hand up with an icy expression, illusory gears flashed past his back.

⌜Barrel.⌟

With that, everything in Ji-Han’s view disappeared. It disappeared altogether, as if the world in front of him was cut out.

‘What the hell is this…?’