Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 170

Crush!

The spider boss picked itself up and quickly thrust one of its legs at a summoned priest. The move was incredibly fast, so much so that the priest had no time to react and was pierced right through.

?ARGH! Glory to the kingdom, Princess! Please stay strong until the next summon!?

The summoned priest became one with the blue light and disappeared.

“So God help me, I will fucking pop that bastard’s head!” the heavy-armored Hunter yelled in reply, evading the attack by rolling to the side.

The problem with her tactic was that, unlike in the case of normal monsters, aggro skills didn’t work on this particular spider boss. Usually, the Tank just needed to taunt the enemies and block their attacks, but she was unable to do that right now. At the slightest opportunity, the spider boss immediately aimed for the wizards and the priest in the back.

‘And the Undead soldiers sent by Reable were all destroyed in the meantime.’

?No matter how you look at it, Master, Reable seems to be on strike. He is not taking this fight seriously!?

Ji-Cheok had figured that out for himself when he had witnessed Reable ordering his Undead soldiers to tear off their own heads and throw them at the enemy.

‘Damn that evil God.’

“Cheok-Liang.”

?Yes, Master!?

“Let’s throw Reable at the spider boss and try to save the injured while the enemy is occupied.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, Cheok-Liang charged toward Reable like a water buffalo and headbutted him.

Boom.

“AHHH!!”

Reable flew straight at the spider boss, and the enemy tried to stab him with a face that said ‘Is this guy crazy?’

“You guys are so mean~ I even made them dance for your stream!”

‘I have to edit everything out because of your dance. You sneaky evil God!’

Surprisingly, even while Reable was talking nonsense, he still had the spare energy to dodge the enemy’s attacks, fluttering about casually in his unmistakable paper-doll-like style.

“Kyaaa!! How can you push this weak necromancer into close combat?”

?He is definitely not taking this seriously, Master.? Cheok-Liang remarked as he watched Reable fight the boss monster while spewing nonsense.

“I need you to pull out the injured while the monster is busy! I will handle your share of [Soul Telekinesis]!”

?But… that will put too much pressure on you, Master!?

“Don’t worry about me! Just go!”

?I will be back as soon as possible, Master.?

Cheok-Liang headed for those who were unconscious and those who could not move properly due to injuries inside the messy banquet ball.

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Thankfully, due to their skill synchronization, Cheok-Liang could also use the massage skill, and he went on to offer first aid to those who couldn’t wait for an ambulance. The people who gained consciousness thanked Ji-Cheok for saving their lives.

“Mu-Cheok, how’s your mana?” Ji-Cheok asked his brother.

“It’s almost full.”

“Then, I need you to cover me. Bring out the big guns, big boy!”

Click.

Mu-Cheok reloaded his weapon.

“We don’t need any more casualties,” Ji-Cheok said.

Ji-Cheok had already taken the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, and he was also carrying the King’s Jade Belt. This meant that he could use the [Absolute defense] three times, and the [Full recovery] three times. Practically, he could survive six big attacks.

‘Alight, let’s take a deep breath and circulate my Qi…’

He knew that if he stood still and kept being on the defensive like this, he would definitely lose to the boss monster. He needed to do something. As he took a deep breath, he drank a mana potion and felt his heart heat up.

“Viewers… Get ready…”

He could feel his mana fill up. He took another deep breath.

“...And fire!”

Boom!

He rushed toward the enemy like a soaring rocket. At the same time, the spider boss also noticed him coming.

[I bring forth a sacrifice to thee! Please grant me thy power!]

One of the terrorist corpses around it suddenly caught on fire and was instantly incinerated.

‘That bastard! He sacrificed his teammates?!’

The energy that covered his spider legs instantly became more powerful.

Slash!

The spider boss swung its leg horizontally, slicing all the knights in its path, along with their weapons and armor, in half. The power was terrifying! Fortunately, the Hunter in heavy armor was unharmed, as one of the summoned knights had thrown himself at her and pushed the Hunter to safety. But now, there were no soldiers to help her.

[Die! Shin Ju-Ran!]

‘What? That Hunter is Shin Ju-Ran?!’

While Ji-Cheok was taken aback by the revelation, the spider boss swung his sword at Ju-Ran.

“You fucking spider! Why the fuck would you reveal my identity!” Ju-Ran shouted.

?Your majesty, your greatsword has arrived! Please make your name known all over the world!?

A summoned soldier threw a greatsword the size of a human body at her. However, the greatsword was flying toward her so slowly that Ji-Cheok felt she was going to get killed before she could grab her weapon and get into position.

Roar.

He forcefully compressed his mana and imbued it into his body. As his skin was being covered with a layer of mana, he realized that time was slowing down at a terrifying rate.

‘Ah, this is it. This is the world that Reable sees.’

Ji-Cheok realized that this was how Reable was able to dodge the enemy’s attack so easily while looking like a piece of paper blown by the wind. As he injected mana into his body with a level of concentration he had never had in his life, he vividly felt the movement of mana from the soles of his feet to his knees, hips, groin, dantian, and spine.

Just then, Ji-Cheok noticed Reable was looking at him. Reable’s lips moved. He was definitely talking in a quiet voice, but for some reason, Ji-Cheok could hear him clearly.

“Told you, the Mana Combat Art is fun~,” Reable said.

‘So this is the Mana Combat Art. The thing that I practiced before was just something that resembled the Mana Combat Art.’

As he achieved enlightenment, he found himself already standing in front of Shin Ju-Ran as the enemy’s sword struck down. Ji-Cheok swung his own weapon quite leisurely—something that he himself felt was pretty odd in this tense situation.

Clang!

His swords blocked the enemy’s attack. The strike was so powerful that the floor tiles cracked and his feet were simply pushed into the floor, and yet, even under such a mighty blow, Ji-Cheok was completely unharmed.

[How is it that you are able to take my attack and still not die? Who… are you?]

Shin Ju-Ran was also shocked, her eyes like saucers. She was so surprised that she didn’t even realize when the greatsword thrown by her summoned soldier landed right in front of her feet. She seemed to have forgotten about it.

“Excuse me. I need some content for my video… Is it okay if I fight him?” Ji-Cheok asked Ju-Ran.

“That’s the craziest shit I’ve heard in a fight. Okay, go make your content, Mr. Streamer,” Ju-Ran replied.

“Please Like and subscribe! Oh, take a mana potion. It should be enough to help you recover your mana.”

Ji-Cheok said his lines without even turning his head, keeping the boss monster at bay. He even took out a mana potion from his [Shadow Pouch].

“I was just about to run out of mana because I summoned so many soldiers. Thanks for this.”

She accepted the potion without hesitation. The amount of mana she had in reserve was directly proportional to her chance at survival, so she had to recover it as quickly as possible.

“You seemed to be advertising your potions well, even in this kind of situation,” Ju-Ran said.

“I’ll take that as a compliment~”

He fought with both his telekinetic power and his swords. It was the most difficult fight he had ever fought.

?Master, forgive me, but ARE YOU TAKING ON THAT THING ALONE JUST FOR THE CONTENT?!?!?

‘Now, now, calm down. If it gets dangerous, I’ll ask for help. But this is a one-on-one battle with a boss monster! I need the content for the video, I mean, I have to edit out so many things because of Reable!’

That was not the only reason, either.

‘I saw blood coming out of Ju-Ran’s heavy armor.’

She wasn’t technically a tank. Nevertheless, she had fought from the beginning as if she were one. There could only be one reason she kept rolling to dodge attacks: she was fighting with a major injury.

‘Is she trying to hide a heavy wound?’

There was no way of knowing. One of the common problems that summoning-type Hunters had was that they never seemed to have enough mana. Under such circumstances, someone had to fight while Ju-Ran recovered.

Bang! Boom!

Suddenly two large holes were punched through the enemy’s leg and torso.

‘Nice one, Mu-Cheok!’

[Kwaaaaagh!!]

The spider boss screamed and collapsed. Even as it was down on the ground, it violently swung its swords.

Ji-Cheok knew that he had to throw everything he had at the enemy in the short period of time that his brother had earned. His Sword Qi was overflowing, as if it was going to explode, and he activated the ultimate skill of his sword, [Mono Blade].

[Mono Blade: Combines light and darkness when attacking and completely ignores the opponent\'s defense.

Can be used once per hour for 10 seconds.]

He had exactly ten seconds.

Light and darkness fused together into the swords. At that moment, without the slightest hesitation, Ji-Cheok crossed the two swords and swung them diagonally.

Slash!

In spite of the sharpness of the strike, the enemy’s hard chitinous armor actually blocked the Sword Path!

The spider was not the kind of soft radish that could be sliced in half just like that. Even so, Ji-Cheok knew that if this attack wasn’t successful, everyone was going to die.

‘Please! Let’s goooo!!’

His muscles grew visibly larger and his power was briefly amplified to the highest it had ever been. As the Mana Combat Art was combined with his cultivation that had reached the peak, his Sword Path became even clearer.

Slash!

Finally, the strike passed right through the spider boss’s armor and its abdomen, almost cleaving the monster in twain. Even so, it still tried to put up a fight.

“Activate [Double Strike]!”

Slash! Slash!

Thankfully, the [Double Strike] had a one hundred percent chance of activating. If even this didn’t kill the boss, then Ji-Cheok really couldn’t do anything else.

Pant. Pant.

Ji-Cheok had no strength left in his body. He almost fell over.

Suddenly, the spider boss spoke.

[...Why am I… You and I… Something is different… If so, my God… My soul… Right here…]

Slash!

Ji-Cheok used the last of his remaining strength and cut off its head. Eventually, the light disappeared from the enemy’s eyes. The spider boss didn’t move anymore, and its body started to cool down. Realizing that it was dead, Ji-Cheok struggled to get himself up.

He looked around and saw everyone was looking at him, including the hotel staff helping with the event, non-Hunters who attended as agents of VIPs, and even the Hunters who got injured while fighting the terrorists. Then, they looked at the fallen enemy. When they saw the spider boss’s head under Ji-Cheok’s foot, they let out sighs of relief.

“We’re alive!!” someone shouted.

Everyone was screaming and crying in joy.

“I’m alive! I am alive!!”

“YES!!! I thought I was gonna die!”

“Does anyone have a phone? I need to call my mom. Does anyone have a phone?”

There were some who wanted to contact their families.

“That thing’s dead right? The monster is dead?”

“Yes, the spider boss is dead,” Ji-Cheok replied.

Nobody could buy ‘tomorrow’ with money. It didn’t matter that the auction house basically sold everything, no one could auction ‘tomorrow’. That was something that even the VIPs couldn’t afford. And today, they had bought that ‘tomorrow’ from Ji-Cheok.

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……

Likes kept coming in different numbers.

‘That’s a pretty good price for saving their lives. I can’t buy Likes with money either.’

However, Ji-Cheok knew that this was not the end. He had other things to finish.