Thumbs Up, Level Up
CH 19
n putting it back together, over and over again.
When the pain finally subsided, the weird dream came along.
It was Mu-Cheok’s hyung, Ji-Cheok.
“Hehehe, you brought some ham!” Mu-Cheok said aloud in delight.
Like other countries, when the Monster Wave occurred, the entire country of Korea was in chaos.
Of course, it was respectable that the country stayed together and rode it out, but it didn’t stop all those people from becoming poor.
Ji-Cheok tried to hide his bruised hand with the cuff of his long-sleeve shirt and cut up the ham.
Well, technically, it wasn’t really ham.
It was starch mixed with meat that was ground into powder, kind of like canned cooked pork.
In any case, the thing was cheap and dense, so every time Ji-Cheok brought a chunk home, it took a long time for them to finish it.
The two really thought it was ham, and when Ji-Cheok realized that it actually wasn’t, he was too embarrassed to say anything about it.
That was the struggle of being poor.
Others bought food and water without thinking twice, but for Ji-Cheok, it was a struggle he had to deal with every day.
Mu-Cheok looked at Ji-Cheok, who went on cutting the ham.
[Ham]
Suddenly the ham disappeared and the word “Ham” appeared where Ji-Cheok was cutting.
“Hey Hyung, this isn’t…” Mu-Cheok’s couldn’t finish his sentence.
As he looked over at his brother’s seat, his brother suddenly wasn’t there anymore.
[Brother]
Letters appeared where Ji-Cheok should have been standing.
The letters almost seemed as if they were alive with how they pulsated, and they startled Mu-Cheok.
He bolted out of the house and then looked back to see if anything was following him outside.
The house wasn’t there, however.
Instead, there was something else.
[Shack]
[40 days remaining]
That was the time left before the run-down shack was to be demolished.
Mu-Cheok frantically looked left and right.
Everything around him was disappearing and was being replaced by words.
[Ground]
[Dirty]
[Ice cream bag]
[Ant]
[Ant]
[Child]
[Adult]
Mu-Cheok felt like throwing up, as all this nonsensical information overwhelmed his mind.
Still wearing the skin of his younger self, he kept running and running.
After running for a while, he suddenly saw an old man wearing a worn-out robe standing in front of him.
This old man didn’t get replaced by letters.
Instead, he scratched his chin with his frail hands.
— How is this possible? I can’t believe a child was able to access the Akashic Records.
Ahh, it looks like they used a shortcut, the old man spoke while looking at the boy.
[Who are you?]
Mu-Cheok couldn’t actually pronounce the words.
Instead, they floated into the air, just like the letters that had replaced the other things.
It looked like a cartoon speech bubble.
— Yeah, it’s because of the child.
That child has been constantly trying to access the River of Truth.
We’ve been monitoring him, but to think he would be this quick… The troublesome presence of the ‘tower’…
[Where are we?]
— Fascinating.
Aware of the power of language, and with great physical potential.
The old man appeared to be commenting about Mu-Cheok, but he didn’t seem to listen to what Mu-Cheok was saying.
Instead, he stretched out his fingers and formed a ball of light.
— Those who see a glimpse of the truth are entitled to a gift.
Is there a gift that you want? The old man asked.
Mu-Cheok didn’t hesitate and spoke,
[What I need right now is to help my older brother.
Anything to help him…]
— You want to protect your family? That’s pretty simple, and a great direction to choose.
It won’t affect the principles of causality too much.
Unfortunately, you are a man of letters; it won’t be easy to help someone so unique… Now take this and leave.
This place is the end of the world, the deep sea of meditation.
You’ll only go insane if you stay here for long.
The old man lightly tapped Mu-Cheok’s body, which shot off into the distance.
— Go back safely, child of a doomed world.
The old man bid Mu-Cheok farewell as Mu-Cheok was rapidly flying away from him.
‘A doomed world? Is the world going to end?’ Mu-Cheok found the old man’s words confusing.
Mu-Cheok woke up to a stabbing pain that throbbed throughout his body.
He heard the sound of something mechanical moving nearby.
“The surgery went well.” Mu-Cheok could hear Bi-Ga chuckling to herself.
The first thing that Mu-Cheok saw when he opened his eyes was Ji-Cheok’s concerned face.
“Well, did you say hi to the old geezer?” Bi-Ga asked.
She was clearly referring to the old man that Mu-Cheok had just met.
As he woke up, he had no idea what was going on with his body.
While she asked this weird question, Ji-Cheok walked toward Mu-Cheok and gave him a big hug.
“Hyung.”
“Are you okay…?” There was a concerned look on Ji-Cheok’s face.
“Yeah, I am.
Can you stop hugging me so tightly? It hurts,” Mu-Cheok complained, and Ji-Cheok quickly let go.
Bi-Ga closed her charts,“You did it, little boy.
Congratulations on being a Rank A Awakened.”
“I’m a Rank A???” Mu-Cheok was stunned, and so was everyone else.
* * *
[Chronicler
Rank: A
You wield the power of words that can change the world.
These words are retrieved from the Library of the Abyss, and they will strengthen the caster while destroying the enemy.]
“Holy cow, is this what happens when we awaken a prestigious law school student?” Ji-Han was impressed and took the time to admire Mu-Cheok’s skills.
It was a whole other story whether these skills actually worked well or not, but Ji-Cheok guessed that Ji-Han was just excited about Mu-Cheok being a Rank A Awakened.
Ji-Cheok began to tell him what he missed out on as Mu-Cheok listened attentively.
He then came closer to his brother and said, ”Chronicler, strengthen.”
Suddenly, Ji-Cheok’s skin hardened and became tough as steel.
“Whoa, this… Isn’t this like the impenetrable defense skill that Shelton used?” Ji-Cheok said as he slammed his fist into the wall.
Even though it was a special wall made to withstand Hunter attacks, Ji-Cheok’s fist did not hurt at all.
He punched the wall hard one more time…
Smash!
A fist-shaped hole appeared in the wall.
‘Oh no, I don’t have to pay for the damages, right?’ Ji-Cheok thought.
“Ha ha ha…” Mu-Cheok chuckled at the sight of his brother’s confused face.
“How far can you go with this?”
“Because it’s a beginner
’s skill, there aren’t many words I can use yet.
‘Enhance’, ‘accelerate’, ‘heavy’, ‘light’, these are the only ones I can pronounce right now.” Mu-Cheok explained.
Ji-Han listened carefully and asked, “Is that it so far?”
“Yes, that’s all for now,” Mu-Cheok replied.
“Of course, it’s great that you are in Rank A, but what you’ve shown me is not enough.” Ji-Han wearily said.
“I don’t know about that, but I’ll try to do better.”
Mu-Cheok answered calmly, but Ji-Cheok knew what he was doing.
His little brother was playing dumb… for now.
1.
Korean law schools have separate educational pathways for becoming a lawyer, prosecutor, or judge.
2.
In law school, 1L refers to first year, 2L to second year, 3L to third year

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