Chapter 174
Ji-Cheok hurriedly pushed Giltheon’s party away with his [Soul Telekinesis].?Then, he ran to the last victim. He tried to use his healing skills, but…
?Master, he is dead.?
‘I know. I’m not a doctor, but I think we can confirm he is dead, given that his body is right here and his head is five meters away.’
A young part-time staff member who was watching everything crouched down and started crying.
“No… Please… I miss my mom…”
The panic spread quickly.
‘Cheok-Liang, what about the emergency resuscitation skill?’
?Master, the [Emergency Resuscitation of the Church of Milainon] skill requires the brain and heart to be intact, so both of these people… ?
Ji-Cheok looked at Giltheon.
“Telekinesis… Hunter Um Ji-Cheok, how many skills do you have?” Giltheon said.
“This is your last warning. If you so much as touch someone else, you are dead. This is a promise.”
“Haha! Who died and made you the boss here? And what are you going to do with that, since you’re so awesome?” Giltheon pointed at the fangs of the God.
Ji-Cheock closed the dead man’s eyes and stood up.
“ I will take care of it.”
“What?”
Ji-Cheok had already decided that he didn’t want to be the pawn in this evil God’s game. He stepped forward.
“Um Ji-Cheok, where are you going?”
“... I told you. I will take care of it.”
“What?”
Everyone looked at him. Ji-Cheok was looking at the divine statue.
“You guys, just watch from a distance,” Ji-Cheok said.
“Hyung.”
Mu-Cheok grabbed his shoulder.
“Are you crazy?” Mu-Cheok said.
“I’m not crazy. Just trust me.”
Mu-Cheok stared at his brother for a moment. He sighed.
“Okay, do you need anything from me?”
“Every buff you have.”
“Okay…”
“Wow~ Mr. Um~ Are you really gonna do it? Really? Just like that?” Reable said.
“Yes, just watch me.”
‘Cheok-Liang, wait for me here. If the Crushing Power comes in full force, I cannot protect everyone.’
?Yes, Master.?
Cheok-Liang came down from his neck. All alone now, Ji-Cheok buffed himself with everything he had, and Mu-Cheok also added his own buffs.
“Hunter Um Ji-Cheok, you’re not going to…”
Shin Ju-Ran looked at him and started to say something, but eventually decided against it. Then, she also applied a buff.
[You have received the [Command of Brilliance].]
[All of your stats have increased by 10%.]
‘This is a huge buff! Ten percent increase in all stats?’
Just as he was surprised by the effects, an unexpected voice rang.
“Hey, Um Ji-Cheok… I won’t stop you if you want to try something stupid. Well, even if I tried to stop you, you’d still do it, right?”
Surprisingly, Giltheon also put a buff on Ji-Cheok.
[You have received the [Protection of the Steel God].]
[Your body is now covered in steel!]
Ji-Cheok felt his entire body hardening. It wasn’t just on the surface; his whole body had become as hard as metal!
‘This is also a great buff!’
One by one, other Hunters gave him all the buffs that they had. Everyone’s hope and strength gathered in him. After he was ready, he drank the Berserker potion, took out the two auction items, held them in his hands, and collected all of his Qi. At the same time, he activated the Mana Combat Art. It looked like steam was coming out of his body from combining Qi and Mana, and his body was so hot that he felt as if he were taking a bath in lava.
‘Win this or die trying.’
In the heat of the moment, he raised his shield, charging at the statue.
Pow!
His movement was literally faster than sound, as proven by the sonic boom. The surrounding space seemed to shrink, and a mere instant later, he had already reached the radius of the Crushing Power emitted by the statue.
Bam!
He could feel the Crushing Power coming down. As it descended upon him, however, it was blocked by the Guardian of Hope.
Boom! His indestructible shield ricocheted away from the tremendous impact.
Four meters left!
He regained his balance and moved forward again. When the second wave of Crushing Power started to overwhelm him, he activated the skill of the King’s Jade Belt right before the Crushing Power touched him.
‘Absolute Defense!’
Clang!
The Crushing Power was repelled.
In that short window, he had only advanced a little further, with three meters to go. One hundredth of a second later, he had to activate the Absolute Defense of the King’s Jade Belt again against the Crushing Power.
In mere seconds, Ji-Cheok used the remaining Absolute Defense, and he found himself standing one meter away from the statue. He could reach it if he so much as reached out his hand.
He held out the Heirloom Seal of the Realm. But before he could smash the statue with the seal, another wave of Crushing Power tore his body apart. In pain, he used another skill of the King’s Jade Belt.
‘Full Recovery!’
His body was fully restored with a flash of light. He gnashed his teeth and struck down the statue with the seal.
‘Fuck this goddamn statue of a God! Eat this Absolute Command!’
[You have activated the Absolute Command.]
[You can make a request to an otherworldly being. Your wish is their absolute command.]
[Beep!]
[Divine Statues are excluded.]
‘WHAAAT?!?!?!’
Boom!
“ARGH!!”
Thanks to the next wave of Crushing Power, Ji-Cheok’s entire body was in pain. Patches of his flesh had fallen off, and the bones were clearly visible. He felt his entire nervous system burning. His body simmered as if it had been dumped into boiling oil. However, there was nothing he could do.
“Ungh!”
He had no choice but to clench his teeth and endure.
Crack.
Blood oozed from between his teeth, but he didn’t have time to cry. The only reason why he hadn’t been squashed into a burger patty was the buffs he had gotten!
‘But if I get hit one more time, I’m definitely going to die. So… Here we go! Full Recovery!’
Psh!
The skill of the King’s Jade Belt was activated and his body was restored.
‘Now I only have one Full Recovery left. So you’re telling me the Absolute Command won’t work on the statute… I came here thinking that this would work… Are you saying this can’t be destroyed? Then…’
The Crushing Power struck again. While his body was in excruciating pain, he took out a fairly large object from the [Shadow Pouch].
[Weak and Young World Tree]
[Class:?
Type: Tree
This is a weak and young World Tree. A young World Tree that has just sprouted. It purifies the surroundings and generates high-purity mana.
Function: It designates the 100 meters surrounding it as a ‘Sacred Site’.
Function: In the Sacred Site, the stamina recovery rate is increased by 100%.
Function: In the Sacred Site, the mana recovery rate is increased by 200%.
Function: In the Sacred Site, it cancels lower-intermediate level curses.
Function: In the Sacred Site, the appearance of dungeons is prohibited.
Function: In the Sacred Site, negative power is weakened.
Function: In the Sacred Site, the power of Spirits is increased.]
“W-what is that thing?!”
Everyone was shocked.
“No way… Is that the World Tree?”
Amazingly enough, some people actually recognized it.
‘Is it because it made an appearance on my stream? Anyway, the best ability of the World Tree is this one…’
[Function: In the Sacred Site, the appearance of dungeons is prohibited.]
When he took out the World Tree, which had the power to make dungeons disappear, he saw that the divine statue began to vibrate.
‘Is it working?’
Woong!
‘Damn it! Is this not enough?’
The Crushing Power was emitted from the divine statue again. Immediately, using the last Full Recovery of the King’s Jade Belt, he stepped onto the World Tree and got hit by the Crushing Power.
Crack!
His body looked like a ragged cloth, and he felt as if he were on fire again. But he could feel that the power of the attack had definitely decreased. How did he know this? It felt more like a light simmer than a hot sear. It was definitely because of the World Tree.
‘This is not enough. I need something more to destroy that thing… What should I do…’
Woong!
‘Fuck that Crushing Power!’
Using his Qi and Mana Body, he swung his fists like crazy.
Tss.?
His force and the force of the statue collided in the air. However, the Crushing Power rushed in like a wave and tore into his body. Adding to the previous injury, he no longer had the energy to move. He didn’t have any Full Recovery left…
Even though it was hard to lift even his finger, he stood still without collapsing.
‘Ha… I’m really pissed off. Should I have grown more? Wait, growth… THIS IS IT! Use all my Likes to grow the [Weak and Young World Tree]!’
Even his cultivation could be raised by using Likes, so why not a tree?
?You are a genius, Master! Collecting Likes is a bitch, but they are a real cheat when you need them!?
‘With this…’
[You have used all of your Likes.]
[The [Weak and Young World Tree] has begun to grow.]
As System messages popped up, the roots of the World Tree broke out of the massive clay pot. Then, it took root into the God’s tongue. The tongue began to tremble, and another wave of Crushing Power was emitted again, aiming for the World Tree.
Ji-Cheok’s body was not in good condition. He had found out today what his bones looked like. His skin was filled with so many scars that he wondered whether this part would have to be edited out for his stream.
“Haha…” Ji-Cheok laughed.
He could still move. He knew this feeling very well. He had already felt this during the Trial of Despair. If he hadn’t had that…experience, he would’ve died a long time ago. This was nothing compared to the Trial of Despair.
“I can still move!”
He felt death approaching. He had been killed hundreds of times already, so he could sense it rather well. However, in the [Training Space of the God of War], he had an infinite amount of lives.
But not here.
‘Is this the end?’
It was a pretty shitty life. He tried to close his eyes, but then he opened them wide once more. He wanted the face of the bastard who was trying to kill him to be the last thing that he saw.
“Wow~ Really. I’m really impressed. Mr. Um Ji-Cheok.”
Ji-Cheok saw a broad back blocking the way.
Bam!
The Crushing Power hit Reable. His blood spewed everywhere, but he was still standing with a potato chip in his mouth. He smiled and turned his head to look at Ji-Cheok. For some reason, his face was intact.
‘This Demon… Did he just cover his face?’
“So, this is my gift for you,” Reable said.
He turned back. His suit was already ruined, and he was bleeding black blood. In that state, he reached out to Ji-Cheok’s side and put his finger on the World Tree pot. Under Ji-Cheok’s curious gaze, the blood of Reable ran down his hand to the roots protruding from the pot.
[The holy blood of a God is given to the young World Tree.]
[The [Weak and Young World Tree] has begun to grow faster.]
The roots stretched out in an instant and wrapped around the divine statue at once. The indestructible statue was eroded by the roots and began to break into pieces.
Crack. Crack.
It was a majestic and wonderful sight. It was as if…something inside the divine statue was broken and was being eaten by the World Tree. Ji-Cheok felt it instinctively.
[You have received 1,100 Likes.]
[You have received 1,100 Likes.]
[You have received 1,100 Likes.]
[You have received 1,100 Likes.]
[You have received…]
‘What… is this?!’
Messages began to fill his vision. He couldn’t even count how many Gods were watching him.
[Dozens… No… Hundreds… Wait… Thousands?]
“Look! Look at how many Gods are blessing the growth of the World Tree~” Reable said.
Rumble.
The entire dungeon started to shake.
[How dare an insignificant mortal interfere with my plans!! I will remember the name of you, foolish one!]
As the voice of [Eight_legged_wanderer] echoed in the sky, Ji-Cheok stood up with his thumbs up in the air.
‘If Thousands of Gods are watching me, I have to do this.’
“If you’re gonna remember my name, don’t forget to Like and subscribe to my channel! This was your one and only GodTuber, Um Ji-Cheok~”
[The Gods burst into laughter at your action!]
[You have received 3,300 Likes.]
[You have received 4,400 Likes.]
[You have received 2,200 Likes.]
[You have received 3,300 Likes.]
[You have received 6,600 Likes.]
[You have received 2,200….]
It seemed like the Gods enjoyed it—the number of Likes they gave him multiplied instantly.
His heart at peace, he looked at the World Tree growing rapidly as it ate the divine statue.