Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 264

“Our Lord had saved me from being captured and melted to death by the evil forest God… I am so grateful. So I asked for forgiveness from [Bird_that_tricked_the_sky_and_the_sea], whom I served first, and now I am devoting all my energy to [GodTube_superstar].”

Daniel was serving two Gods at the same time! He even asked for forgiveness from the one he served first! It was an amazing story.

Some of these Gods were incredibly good, but just like mortals, the vast majority were wicked or self-centered. If the truly evil and the truly good were in the minority, the vast majority of the Gods lived their lives doing what they wanted to do. That could be either good or bad by mortal standards, depending on the situation.

In any case, regardless of their inclinations otherwise, the majority of the Gods would punish apostates. And yet, Daniel was fortunate enough to have two good Gods!

‘I didn’t know hyung was such a generous God.’

‘If he is talking about [Bird_that_tricked_the_sky_and_the_sea], surely the God has to be Kalt, the bird from the Filipino creation myth that took the form of a giant eagle…’

The team was stunned by Daniel’s words. They turned to Bernade.

“I have been graced by [GodTube_superstar] and am under his power,” Bernade said, “but for me it is not a problem, as I have never served a God in the first place.”

The entire team nodded.

“Very well. Do you mind if we don’t introduce ourselves?” Mu-Cheok asked.

He had somehow become something of a team leader. It was probably because his strategic and tactical judgment was by far the best on the team. No one knew if it was the effect of the body modifications, or if he was just naturally smart and cunning.

Regardless of the reason, the fact of the matter was that when they had entered the dungeon as a four-man team, Mu-Cheok had done a lot of work and had become the de facto leader.

“Oh, the blood relative of our God. Also, the avatar of the Earth, the avatar of the Stars, and the apostle of the God who hid himself. I’ve already learned a lot about you.”

Bernade sounded like she knew more than just general information about the team.

“Wow~ How did you know all that?” Ha-Na said as she was surprised.

“We are trying our best to repay the favor of our Lord. Through hard work, we can gain such information.”

This time, it was Daniel who answered.

“Then… I guess the only thing left here to do is to see if our chemistry is good as a team. The current leader of our team is Um Mu-Cheok here. Will you obey your leader’s instructions?”

Bernade nodded slightly at Ji-Byeok’s tough question.

“Of course, we are here to help you, to assist our Lord in his work, and we are obedient. You can give us any instructions as you wish.”

The team’s expressions turned a little strange at Bernade’s words.

“It’s almost like we’re seeing Seong Kwang’s old self…”

“I wasn’t like that!”

“Nah, you were exactly like that.”

The team chatted for a bit and then discussed each other’s abilities in order to maximize their team coordination. Team Alpha wanted a second Tank that could taunt monsters and another Damage Dealer with as much explosive power as possible.

Daniel was chosen to be the second Tank. He had great defense, and he also buffed and healed his allies. While his buffing abilities were not as high as that of an actual Priest like Seong Kwang, his defense was just as powerful as any other Tank, thanks to his divine power protecting him.

The reason why he could not be the main Tank was that his ability to taunt enemies was not as good as a specialist’s, but since they had Ji-Byeok, that was not a problem. Thus, he was the best choice for the second Tank role.

Bernade was a specialized class, Druid Wizard, naturally skilled in all manner of destructive magic and also capable of many different arcane spells and enchantments. She could bring creatures to life, heal wounds, and break curses. Conversely, she could also curse their opponents and burn them with destructive power.

With such a wide range of powers, one might think she would be weaker than a professional destruction Wizard, but they would be wrong. She was one of the few wizards in the world who truly understood magic.

After talking about their powers and practicing their teamwork for a bit, they decided to enter the next dungeon.

It was the last dungeon Ji-Han had instructed them to enter— the [Land of Boundless Time].

? ? ?

There were some very deep waters off the coast of Antarctica.

Ji-Cheok was down in one of these trenches.

?The water pressure is tremendous, Master.?

‘Well, the deep sea pressure is supposed to be like that. Normal life cannot exist here. But that does not matter to me.’

?You are right, Master.?

‘The immunity to physical attacks also works against water pressure.’

Since the water pressure was not some magical attack and just physical pressure, it was fine. Building Golems that were immune to normal physical attacks was also not that hard for him.

Drrrrrrr~

Around him, Golems of his own creation were roaming, digging into the ground, and mining minerals. There was even a factory that he had set up in the depths. He didn’t even remember how he had built it, due to the urgency of the matter. However, it was working properly, so he assumed he didn’t do a bad job. It was completely unmanned, of course, and it was refining the minerals mined there and making the things he wanted.

He was doing this so that he could mine his own resources and craft his own products.

The ocean floor was a treasure trove of resources!

What he was crafting was not that complicated. He was about to put up a bunch of Mana Ignition Pillars.

‘It’s all because of this fuckin’ thing right here.’

Next to him was a black wall.

The depths of the ocean were naturally lightless, but the equipment he had built illuminated the surroundings. However, there was one part that light didn’t go through—the pitch-black barrier. The black dome that covered Antarctica actually extended all the way into the ocean.

Ji-Cheok assumed that the barrier was a full sphere rather than a hemisphere, and that if he dug into the ground, he would find that the barrier extended there as well.

He did not know what the hell it was doing or how it had appeared, but he had a hunch that it was going to prove deadly if left alone. This was all thanks to his Divine Intuition.

?The pillars are being built, Master.?

“Begin installation.”

Rumble!

The Golems dragged out the Mana Ignition Pillar from the undersea factory and drove it into the sea floor. As it began to function, it drew in mana from the surrounding area and dissipated it. The powerful energy released was converted into a spell of Ji-Cheok’s choice—Dismantle.

This was one of the most important spells in battles between Wizards.

The reason he had programmed the pillar this way was that he wanted to tear that dark curtain to shreds. From his observations, this black shroud was made up of densely packed mana.

[Dark Shroud of the Dimensional Divide]

[Class: SS+

A magical barrier that separates the dimensions themselves. Those who pass through must cross the twisted dimension.]

The black barrier was a dimensional divide spell, apparently. And magic spells relied on mana. For magic to continue to work, mana had to be present.

Some transcended magic was permanent—these spells worked without the need for additional mana. However, that did not mean that zero mana was required to initiate such magic. What made them transcendent was that the mana invested into the spell initially remained unexpended. It was a power that defied the laws of thermodynamics! A power that was nothing short of miraculous!

However, they also had a weakness. If someone took away that constant amount of mana that made the magic work—in other words, the energy that kept it going—the spell would eventually stop working. This was how Ji-Cheok planned on destroying what he assumed was an Artifact that emitted magical power in perpetuity.

Of course, he already had the best way to get rid of that mana.

Boom!

It was the object operating next to him. The Mana Ignition Pillar forcibly drained the surrounding mana and burned it. It then used Dismantle on the black shroud. Of course, there was only one pillar right now, so it had very little effect.

‘Let’s see who will win the fight, me or the black shroud.’

“Continue.”

?Of course, Master!?

The resource of the deep sea was plentiful, and so was his tank of Likes.

‘Antarctica is certainly a large continent, but let’s see how long your barrier can survive with a shitload of pillars surrounding it.’

Ji-Cheok sent an intense glare to the shroud and stood his ground. Other than the Mana Ignition Pillars set up with Dismantle, he also continued to install the shield generator and the unmanned attacking tower that he had taken from Bi-Ga.

Monsters did not just roam the land, they were also underwater. And he could not let them ruin his production site.

That was why no one would know he was doing this in the depths of the ocean. No one on land knew what was going on down in the deep sea.

“Cheok-Liang, I need you to stay down here. Without you, I can’t use my skills.”

?Yes, Master. Then do you intend to carry out your second plan??

“Yes. I don’t know how strong the enemy is going to be. I need to do everything I can while I still have time.”

?I will stay here and do what Master commands.?

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

With more work to do, Ji-Cheok decided to move quickly.

? ? ?

Gods were connected to their retainers and apostles. If Ji-Cheok wanted to know where they were, he could always find out. However, if he did not pay attention, they could do whatever they wanted without him being any the wiser.

And now, while he had been distracted, it seemed like Mu-Cheok and the gang had gone to another dungeon.

“So you don’t know which dungeon they went to?”

Ji-Cheok was inside the Director’s office at Jungjin headquarters, and he was talking to Ji-Han’s secretary. There were only two people in the room. It seemed like Ji-Han was out.

“Yes, Director. Director Jung has been working on something very secretive…”

“You can’t reach Ji-Han?”

“No, he is currently not reachable…”

“I guess everyone is busy.”

It was not like they were going to die in the middle of nowhere, but it was frustrating not being able to reach them since Ji-Cheok had some work planned out for them.

“Tsk.?That’s fine. Just call the Director of Operations.”

“Yes, sir.”

In Jungjin, there were three directors: Ji-Han, Ji-Cheok, and another person who was the Director of Operations. Ji-Han was the president, while Ji-Cheok and the Director of Operations were the vice presidents of the company. It seemed strange to have two vice presidents, but Ji-Cheok was told that it was necessary because the company was now growing “transcendentally.”

He was also told that the Director of Operations was also a member of the Jung family. He recalled the name was Jung Gyeong-Yeong.

‘Man… this family sure has a lot of great people.’

He sat down on a guest chair, not Ji-Han’s chair, and waited for a while. Finally, the Director of Operations opened the door and came in. This was not the first time they had met; they had exchanged pleasantries before.

“It’s been a long time, Director Um.”

“It really has, Director Jung.”

Jung Gyeong-Yeong, age 35, was a Hunter herself. She allegedly had a unique job called [Godly Manager].

‘If she’s a director of a company, does that company get buffs or something?’

Originally, she had been running the headquarters with Chairman Jung Man-Deuk, but she had come to work at Jungjin about a year ago.

Dressed in a formal suit, she came to the chair next to him, sat down, and crossed her legs. It didn’t seem like she was trying to be cocky, but rather just a habit.

She pushed a button next to her and called the secretary. “A cup of espresso, please.”

After she ordered her coffee, she looked at him.

“So what’s going on? Let’s get to the point. We don’t have much time.”

‘Time is gold, my friend~’

1. Gyeong Yeong (??) means “management” in Korean.

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