Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 12

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Among the rumors about Ji-Han, there was one positive story where he had beaten the crap out of a school bully. He couldn’t stand seeing the victim having to change schools as the bully was from a chaebol family and they convinced the school to blame the victim as the perpetrator. The bully had eventually moved to another school, as their family couldn’t compare to the wealth of the Jungha Group. It appeared that the Jungha Group had bribed the school and media to cover up the rumors about his violence, despite the fact that he had done it to help the victim.

‘Without knowing his past, he looks like a guy who would stay quiet and not act against injustice.’?

Ji-Cheok wondered whether Ji-Han could have actually changed this much, because Choi Hyun-Jin’s description of Ji-Han was the complete opposite of what Ji-Cheok thought of him.

‘Oh, well. He must’ve matured, I guess.’

Ji-Cheok turned off his phone. Ji-Han had said that he would provide the Awakening Stone the following week. Due to how valuable this item was, it seemed that it would take a while for them to hand it over. Meanwhile, Mu-Cheok decided that this was the time to set his goals straight.

“Hyung, I’m going to drop out.”

When Ji-Cheok asked him if he was crazy, Mu-Cheok replied,

“A B-Rank Awakened being a lawyer is crazier. There’s a massive difference in how much they earn, so why would I do that?”

‘Didn’t you really really want to be a lawyer though?’?Ji-Cheok thought.

“How about your dream, then?” He asked.

Mu-Cheok tilted his head.

“Dream? What dream? My dream is to own buildings.”

Mu-Cheok was a fairly realistic guy, and he decided to drop out of school without hesitation when he saw the opportunity to earn more money. Ji-Cheok begged him to take a gap year instead, since he thought that all his hard work would go to waste. Mu-Cheok agreed with a sour face.

Ji-Han told Mu-Cheok to work on his body before using the Awakening Stone, since the better the body, the better the awakening prospects. Therefore, Mu-Cheok was determined to work out a lot. Ji-Han said he would give Mu-Cheok permission to use his workplace gym, and emphasized that maintaining a healthy diet and training at the same time could be harsh. He added with a smile that Mu-Cheok could give up at any point, but the latter just laughed. He would never give up, because all of this was for the sake of his brother.

“Hyung, if they try to offer you an additional contract while I’m gone, you must not accept it no matter how small it is. Okay? Don’t ever sign or stamp your seal on any contract.” Mu-Cheok seemed to consider Ji-Han the kind of asshole that would pull a dick move.

After handling all that, he left, and Ji-Cheok was left in his dormitory thinking over his own problems. He fidgeted with the square box that Jung Ji-Han had given him.

“I’m supposed to open it when I get home?”

Ji-Cheok wondered what was in there, and since there were runic characters embedded in the box, it was definitely not some commercial product. After all, Ji-Han had appraised Ji-Cheok’s worth at eight billion won and a Class B Awakening Stone.

Ji-Cheok hesitated for a bit and then opened the box. Inside was a watch with a leather strap and a round plate. It looked like any ordinary analog watch, with the second, minute and hour hands moving. It displayed the date in the middle and seemed to be set to the correct time. The back of the watch was transparent, and Ji-Cheok could see the watch movement inside.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock

It was a regular watch, but it looked luxurious. There was no logo, no removable lid for a battery, and no crown to wind the watch.

“Wait… It should at least have the Jungha Group logo if he gave it to me to commemorate signing the contract.”

There had to be a meaning behind the watch.

“Oh, right, I should have plenty of Likes by now. Hmm… Should I buy an appraisal skill?”

The most important thing in a Hunter’s life was money. Although one could earn items in a dungeon, they were useless if the owner couldn’t determine what they did and what their value was. Ji-Cheok needed an appraisal skill to know what things were worth and get ahead of the game.

“Open store.”

Ring-

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[You have opened the store.]

[Benevolence is the future in this cruel world! Receive more Likes by building up more connections!]

The store opened up with another ad full of nonsense.

“Huh?”

The appearance of the store seemed different from the past. It used to look like a small newsstand before, but it was bigger now.

‘Huh? Is it just me…? No, the design of the store really does look a little bit different.’

Ji-Cheok decided to leave the store design update aside for now and focus on what he needed to do first.

“Search for an appraisal skill.”

Ring-

[1,267 search results.]

“Approximately ten seconds of activation time and something I can use with the current skills I have.”

[Searching…]

[121 search results.]

Ji-Cheok noticed it wasn’t easy to find a decent skill and realized why professional appraisers earned so much money by only having appraisal skills. It seemed like appraising some things required lots of Stamina and Mana. Others, for him, required lots of Likes.

‘Sage’s Eyes requires a hundred thousand Likes? What the heck?’

Ji-Cheok had a hundred eight thousand Likes so far, and those were precious funds that he had to use for combat, recovery and defense skills in the future. He needed to spend the absolute minimum number of Likes on the appraisal skill.

‘Hmm… There should be a better way.’

Then, he thought of a good idea.

“Filter the appraisal skills to ones that are Upgradable Types.’

[1 search result.]

[Eye of Observation]

Class: Normal (Upgradable, Rank F)

Understands the essence of the subject. As the proficiency increases, the skill level increases and evolves into a higher skill.

Evolved Skill: Eye of Insight (Upgradable, Rank D)

Price: 1,580 Likes]

“This is it.”

Ji-Cheok thought he could afford this. Ordinary item ranks started at Normal, and continued with Rare, Epic, Unique and Legendary. On top of that, it was an Upgradable Type. The effect would not be anything special in the beginning, but it would develop over time, and its rank would increase as well. Skills that didn’t evolve over time were considered ‘Non-Upgradable Type.’

In spite of having dealt with many monsters already, Ji-Cheok was still technically a beginner. He was still a level 1 Hunter, so he could keep using the Beginner’s Package items. Moreover, his level would stay the same no matter how many monsters he killed, since he didn’t actually gain level XP from fighting. Even if he gained adjusted XP or his upgrading rates increased, it would still not increase his level. The only things that helped him level up were Likes and the skill XP bonuses obtained from using skills.

‘Hold on. If I use it properly, this will give me a massive advantage!?Jackpot!’

As long as Ji-Cheok was at level 1, the Beginner’s Package would keep giving him great benefits.

“Purchase the Eye of Observation!”

[You have purchased the Eye of Observation.]

A skill book popped up in his hands. When Ji-Cheok opened it, it disappeared into the light and the knowledge of its use filled his mind. He just needed to either speak or think of the word ‘observation’ whilst looking at an object.

“Observation.”

He tested the skill on the watch.

[Accurate Watch]

[Class: S

Type: Artifact

An ordinary and durable watch made by a craftsman from another dimension. It can be used even in the depths of the ocean, as it is perfectly waterproof. Indicates time accurately in any circumstance.]

Appraisal skills were supposed to show the item’s stats, including attack and defense power, but nothing appeared about this watch.

‘So… this thing doesn’t have any skills other than showing the correct time, ugh.’

Ji-Cheok tried multiple times, but nothing else happened.

‘They must have gotten this from a dungeon, since it’s from another dimension.’

There was no guarantee that an item obtained from a dungeon would be useful, and indeed most of them were worthless. However, dungeon artifacts were considered much more valuable, and therefore priced much higher, than designer label products. That was only fair, since the items were from a different dimension, not from overseas or even from another planet in the same universe.

“Well, it’s perfect for a gift.”

When Ji-Cheok put it on his wrist, it fit perfectly, as if it was made specifically for him. He shone a light on it, and noticed that there was a pattern on the surface of the dial. The outline was so thin that he barely noticed.

‘Now, shall I open the proficiency window to see if my hypothesis was correct?’

He opened the window and searched through the experience point log.

[The Eye of Observation proficiency has increased by 3.]

[Due to the Beginner’s Bonus, proficiency has increased by 1.]

‘Alright!’

This proved that Ji-Cheok’s hypothesis was right.

‘Wooh, it’s all gravy. I should take all the advantages from the Beginner’s Package.’

* * *

Sharing way too much personal information on social media was a trend these days. Anyone could know how much pyeong a hunter had bought and how much he got caught for tax evasion. Surfing the overseas websites, one could get information regarding the items sold in foreign Hunter Stores. The items were slightly different depending on the hunters’ career and their Patron. People even made illustrations, and Ji-Cheok compared the items he saw with the ones sold in the Likes Shop.

‘Hmm…the Likes Shop seems to have everything that the normal Hunter Store sells.’

On the contrary, there were products that were sold only at the Likes Shop, and they were labeled as [Exclusive].

“Then, what does [Early Exclusive] mean?”

Ji-Cheok realized it indicated items that were first released at the Likes Shop, then sold at the Hunter Store after a while. In conclusion, there were more rare and unique items at the Likes Shop than at the regular Hunter Store. Also…

‘I don't have a window that tracks my level-ups at all.’

Ji-Cheok had studied the level system that other Hunters shared before, but it didn’t seem to apply to him. He became dispirited.

‘Ugh, I have to buy those stats with Likes.’

As he just looked around without buying anything, another commercial text popped up.

[Popularity equals power! Popularity is the future! Receive more Likes by building up more connections!]

Ji-Cheok looked at it with distaste and wondered who in their right mind would design the System this way.

‘My Awakened ability is just… ugh.’

He had around 106,000 Likes.

‘Now that I’ve signed the contract, I have to fight in battles.’

He was afraid of fighting, but he thought he could handle it, as he had completed dangerous tasks while working as a Hunter Assistant and had actually dealt with goblins. The problem was something else.

‘I’m not like the other Hunters that get stronger by killing monsters. In the end, I’ll need to get people's attention for more Likes.’

He needed to create fierce and impressive battle scenes to earn Likes, and realized that his only way to survive with his special System was attracting the attention of the public.

‘106,000 Likes are my capital.’

He still had to be careful in spending Likes, which led him to his next problem…

‘How can I earn more Likes?’

He put his brain to work and found popular Godtubers. Some of their contents were focused on hunting, but other occupations like cooking and production were also popular.

‘Some content about support would be nice.’

‘Support’ referred to a set of abilities that could assist combat, including production, appraisal, tracking and precognition skills. Precognition, in particular, could make one tremendously famous, as subscribers paid close attention to those who predicted the future of celebrities or even countries.

“Search for a Precognition skill.”

[Searching…]

[2,310 search results.]

“The cheapest one is fifty thousand Likes???”

The effect of skill was not terribly impressive either.

[Predicts tomorrow’s weather with eighty percent accuracy.]

“Whoa…”

Ji-Cheok thought he would rather watch the weather forecast, and realized precognition skills were way too expensive.

“Then, what about appraisal skills?”

Channels that ran the Authentic Masterpieces program or appraised values of artifacts like a pawnshop were popular these days. The dungeon items wouldn’t be used without being appraised, because who knew if they had some sort of curse on them? In addition, special appraisal skills could discover and elicit an item’s hidden power.

“Mmm…No. I’ve already bought one appraisal skill, and it’s upgradable too, so it’ll be good enough in the future.”

Appraisal skills were expensive, and necessary items and auxiliary skills seemed to be high-priced as well. Ji-Cheok thought he had collected enough Likes, but it looked like he needed more.

‘Okay, What do I need right now?’