Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 156

Reable’s bloody gaze pierced Ji-Cheok’s soul. He tried to talk but couldn’t, as if he were under a spell that sewed his mouth shut.

“...?!”

“As per our contract, you can only speak of your true desires. So what you were about to say right now was a blatant lie. Now tell me, what do you want? Money? Honor? Freedom? Authority? Or is it love?”

When Reable said that, Ji-Han’s expression showed that he had missed something important.

“Damn it! Did you intend to do that from the start? Let him make a wish that you can grant?” Ji-Han said to Reable.

“Well, most people wish for things like one hundred billion won in their bank account. If I grant that wish, I can move around more freely…”

At that moment, Ji-Cheok felt his throat getting loose and his genuine desire came out.

“I want to protect the…”

“What?” Reable said.

‘This is funny for me too. I can’t believe this insignificant thing is my true desire. Have I become accustomed to planning funerals for others while working as a Hunter Assistant?’

“I want people to survive and not die even after the Tutorial ends,” Ji-Cheok said.

‘...Because I don’t want to see ‘that’ ever again.’

That despair had left a mark.

When Ji-Cheok closed his eyes, he could see that mark inside of him. He could hear it whisper to him that they would meet again soon.

He was not planning to see that hell again.

Reable laughed for a long time, as if his desire was absurd.

“HAHAHAHAHA! Are you crazy? That’s your true desire? Your desire is not related to your basic needs like food or shelter?”

Reable’s face turned red from laughter.

“Where did you find this guy, Mr. Jung?” Reable asked.

His hands were now free.

“This is why I can’t let my guard down with humans. That promise is going to be hard for me to keep, but if I break it, that will be the end of me!”

For some reason, Reable looked strangely amused.

“Okay~ Since you signed the contract, I will grant your wishes. Ah~ This is why the world before the end of the Tutorial is so interesting. There are naive madmen like you~”

“I guess I’ll have to register you with our government. I need to find a way to cheat the Awakened registration,” Ji-Han said.

This was Korea. Everything had to be registered through the government system.

‘I don’t know if I can save the world among these crazy people, Cheok-Liang.’

“I think I should use my family name for you. I will register you as one of my unknown relatives. This will also allow you to hide your ability,” Ji-Han said.

“...?”

This was how Jung Reable was born.

Jung Su-Gi, Jung Nam-Hyang, Jung Bi-Ga, Jung Ji-Han, and Jung Ji-Byeok. Now Jung Reable was added to his family out of nowhere.

‘Would his ability be to organize things?’

* * *

“Wow, even the air of the world before the end of the Tutorial is different~,” Reable said.

He was the Demon that made a deal with Ji-Cheok. Well, at least he called himself a Demon but Ji-Cheok couldn’t find his name in the Ars Goetia or in the old Book of Evil. According to Ji-Han, the term ‘Demon’ was not necessarily the most appropriate; rather, the best word to describe Reable was ‘the Abyss’. The meaning was so deep that an ordinary GodTuber like Ji-Cheok was still confused even after the whole explanation.

As Reable left the barrier, his red eyes turned black and his vertical pupils took on a more human shape. He fluttered his arms about like a paper doll and said things like ‘As I expected, the world before the end of the Tutorial is the best and I should enjoy it before it’s completely destroyed.’

As a human who lived in this world, his words broke Ji-Cheok’s heart.

“I had to be careful about what I said in case it would influence your choice too much, but what you need to get from this person is knowledge rather than strength. Even though he gave up his power and fell from his spiritual realm, he is considered a God, even one with a Demon King-level power. I would advise you to be careful when dealing with him,” Ji-Han said.

‘What is his real name? What is this Demon King-level being looking for in this world before the end of the Tutorial?’

While he was thinking about those questions, he suddenly felt a wave of unusual power.

?Master, this is…?

‘Are there people outside? Are they here to attack us?’

As Ji-Cheok summoned his Qi and got ready to defend himself from the oncoming attack, a beam of light descended from the sky and pierced Reable.

‘What the heck is this?!’

“Wow!”

The pillar of light passed right through Reable, and Ji-Cheok could see the hem of his clothes dancing wildly.

“Moon Power Crystal~ Transformation~★’

‘I thought something serious was going to happen! I was so freaked out! How is this person the Abyss from another dimension?’

Black tattoos were engraved onto his skin, from his fingertips to his toe. The tattoos were shaped like vines, but when Ji-Cheok looked closely, there were long lines of unknown characters.

‘What the hell is this?’

?This is the language of the System. It is an elaborate sealing technique. It says that he is connected to you through a contract and most of his power is sealed according to the law of causality. It is also written that the System holds no responsibility even if he disappears later due to that.?

‘Wow, the System is cold-blooded.’

From the neck down, every inch of Reable’s body was tattooed.

Ji-Han nodded.

“Then, congratulations on getting a God to be on your side. Now I have to work on other things.”

Ji-Han disappeared into the darkness of the temple. He didn’t even look back when Ji-Cheok called out to him.

Ji-Cheok took out his phone to call Ji-Han, but Reable stopped him and said,

“People like that are usually very busy working within their own rules.”

“Yeah, it seems like that.”

“It’s very foolish. Whether an ant dies a thousand times or a hundred thousand times, it is still just an ant~”

After Reable said something so dark, so casually, he turned around.

“Still, the ant finally did something reasonable.”

“You mean a contract with me?”

“Yes. Because you’re a [Fragment of Chaos] that is quite rare.”

“What does that mean?”

Reable climbed over a fallen log and walked slowly.

“Mr. Um, how far do you think your fate is decided?”

“Are you talking about the Four Pillars of Destiny?”

“Fate cannot be easily understood just from knowing one’s fortunes and misfortunes. For example, the average IQ of the human race is one hundred. Actually, it wouldn’t even be strange to say that it’s in the double digits. Those up there?see humans, dolphins, and elephants as similarly intelligent creatures. However, since the population of humans is larger than that of the other creatures, the Gods have granted the test to the human race.”

“...”

“Well, it’s all thanks to your hard work of destroying the environment. Otherwise, the dolphins might have become the main inhabitants of the Earth.”

Reable looked back at Ji-Cheok while nonchalantly roasting humanity.

‘This guy… He said he came from another dimension, but he seems to know Earth a bit too well…’

Reable’s eyes used to be red, but now they were black.

“So that means the options that humans have within their intelligence are very limited. In addition, since they are an organism that forms groups and society, that limits the option even more.”

“But the potential for the human race…”

“...That’s what the media that praises humans says. Even right now, businessmen choose one of two options every day: to go to work or not, and for the latter choice, they have to take a sick leave or take other means of responsibility.”

Ji-Cheok was confused. This being used to be considered a God. But now, he was pretty much a normal human being, albeit one that had fallen from the sky. Even though Reable was from another dimension, for some reason, Ji-Cheok felt like Reable had watched the human race quite thoroughly.

“So, do you think the potential of humans is infinite? The best option for a man in his thirties who has a job, no house under his name, and an IQ that has been decreasing since high school, is to change his job. Well, there are also the options of putting money into stocks and Bitecoins, but even for that, you have to study with limited time and intelligence,” Reable said.

“...Okay, does that mean there is such a thing as fate?”

Ji-Cheok played along with Reable to see what he was talking about.

“Yes. Most of them live in a similar way. But that alone isn’t fun. That’s why the element of ‘luck’ comes into play here. You know what I’m talking about, Mr. Um?”

It seemed like Reable had decided to call him ‘Mr. Um.’

“There’s the lottery. And there’s hitting jackpot on a random stock. Is this what you’re talking about?” Ji-Cheok said.

“Yes, those things are part of what I mean. There’s also a chance for you to meet a person who could change your life. Also, one’s aptitude and genetics play a role in awakening, but that is only on the surface. The actual decisive factor is luck.”

“I understand now.”

“However, the total amount of luck one has throughout their lifetime is fixed. Of course, there is a minimum limit too. So, just as there are no people who are always lucky, there are also no people who are always unlucky.”

“...”

It seemed like Reable was denying the very potential of human beings. As Ji-Cheok stared at him, Reable continued.

“However, sometimes there are outliers. There are beings who have an undetermined total amount and minimum limit of luck. Nobody knows the fate of these beings. They could literally die in the cradle, or they might survive the Tutorial. These beings are very difficult to predict even for the Gods. I call them the [Fragment of Chaos].”

“And you’re saying that’s me?”

“That’s my theory. In fact, it is difficult for even the Gods to immediately recognize the [Fragment of Chaos]. If they live a crazy life for more than ten years, the Gods might say ‘Oh, that bastard was different’, and regret that they didn’t sponsor them.”

‘Hm… So I’m the [Fragment of Chaos].’

“Mr. Jung Ji Han might call you ‘singularity’. He probably doesn’t know about the [Fragment of Chaos]. If you were a die, I could roll you ten thousand times and I wouldn’t get the same number twice in a row.”

“... Is that a good thing? Having no maximum or minimum limit to luck? If we’re talking about stocks, I would be a stock that has no limit. People would be like ants looking for food if they invested in me. Maybe they find a breadcrumb, maybe an anteater.”

Reable laughed.

“That is why Jung Ji-Han is an ant.”

“...”

“You don’t have to understand everything I’m saying. Rather, not understanding is more helpful to a being like you. Because that means you’re not setting any limitations for yourself.”

‘I guess I understand.’

“Now then, let’s see if the Ji-Cheok Stock can reach the upper limit price. I also invested in this stock,” Reable said.

?It is a good thing that we have him on our side, but he is fundamentally different from humans, so I think we need to be careful.?

‘You think so too?’

?Yes, Master. It seems like he is fond of humans but I don’t think he sees things from a human’s point of view.?

‘I get it. When you buy an ant farm and take care of them, it doesn’t mean that you love each and every ant. At most, you might remember the queen ant.’

?It will not be easy to deal with him, even if you made a blood contract, because he is an unidentified God. We have no information about him.?

‘Yeah, we’re just ‘temporary friends’ anyway.’

“By the way, what is your ability?” Ji-Cheok asked.

“Ah~ I guess you’re curious about my ability. Although most of my abilities have been sealed now, I still have my upgradable ability.”

“Upgradable?”

As Reable touched the floor, something began to crawl out from under the ground.

“Kiiiek!”

‘What the hell? Aren’t those the criminals that he killed before?’

The corpses became Zombies and crawled out from under the ground.

“Are you a Necromancer? How did the corpse inside the temple crawl out from under the ground here?”

“Isn’t it said that the dead always return to the earth? The ground is a gate between this shore and the other,” Reable answered.

“You can summon Zombies from the ground?”

‘Can he do that only with the ones that he killed? Or can he do that to any corpses?’

“Isn’t it refreshing to see some nice zombies like those from the movies?”

‘Damn it.’

1. Jung Reable in Korean is ??? and the first two characters ‘??’ mean ‘to organize.’ It’s a play on words, like with all other Jung family members.

2. Chinese astrological concept popular in South Korea and Japan. A person’s destiny can be determined according to their birth year, month, day, and hour within the sexagenary cycle.

3. He refers to the shores of the River of Forgetfulness, which is the Buddhist equivalent of the Styx. In other words, the world of the living and the world of the dead.