Leveling Up Alone

If the riot was instigated by civilians, then it wasn’t much to worry about. However, it was a completely different story if the Hunters were a part of this riot as well.

China had a diverse population of Hunters. Therefore, in order to efficiently control the Hunters, their biological weapons, the Chinese government used a small number of the stronger Hunters to suppress the majority of the Hunters, who were discontent with how they were being utilized.

Nevertheless, the war had left many of the most powerful Hunters dead. Moreover, discrimination against ethnic minorities shifted the focus of the suppression away from the Hunters, leading to the Hunters joining the riot.

Warlords were born across the provinces, threatening the central government. The never-ending threat of monsters was over, but China’s real crisis was just beginning.

***

“Ahh, this is nice!”

Plop.

Even though Han-Yeol had already gotten three days of rest, it still felt good every time he lay down on his bed.

“Mmm, every time I lie down, it feels refreshing. It’s great!”

He didn’t realize it when he had been living a hard life, but Han-Yeol had a talent for staying in his room. He preferred staying in and watching movies or playing games over going outside. If he could, he would stay in his mansion for a whole year and do nothing but play games.

In his mansion, there was a separate building dedicated to gaming and a movie theater. It was a state-of-the-art facility with a lot of money invested in it. This was too glamorous a building for Han-Yeol to use alone.

Knock, knock.

“Come in,” Han-Yeol said.

The door opened, and Sahas walked in.

“Hunter Han-Yeol-nim, there are quite a number of people who made appointments to see you. What would you like me to do about them?”

“Huh? How many are there?” Han-Yeol asked Sahas without much thought, surprised to hear that there were people who wanted to see him.

“So far, 1645 people have made appointments.”

“Huhhh!?”

“Ah, sorry, I made a mistake. That’s not the right number”

“Of course you did. There’s no way there’s that many…”

“There are 1645 Koreans alone, and 8443 including foreigners.”

“Cough!”

Han-Yeol wasn’t eating anything, but he still couldn’t help but choke. He was so shocked and horrified that his face turned pale.

Han-Yeol stammered, “P-Pack. I mean pass! That’s so crazy, I can’t even speak properly.”

“Sorry?”

“I’m not meeting them!”

“B-But…”

Han-Yeol freaked out and adamantly refused to attend the appointments, leaving Sahas at a loss as to what he should do.

Out of the eight thousand people who wanted to meet Han-Yeol, there was not a single unimportant figure. They were all high-ranking people, the top one percent of their respective countries.

“I’m. Not. Meeting. Them!”

“Yes, sir.”

Nevertheless, Han-Yeol’s firm answer quickly brought Sahas back to his senses, and he gave a salute.

While the social status of the eight thousand people put Sahas under a lot of pressure, his loyalty was not to the top one percent but to Hunter Lee Han-Yeol.

Sahas’ head was spinning at the mere thought of what they would do to Sahas upon hearing that Han-Yeol had refused to meet them. Nonetheless, to Sahas, carrying out Han-Yeol’s orders was more important.

“Good, good. Oh, by the way.”

“Yes, Hunter Han-Yeol-nim.”

“I have no intention of meeting with anyone in private, so don’t make such appointments.”

“Yes, I understand.”

‘Phew, Han-Yeol-nim’s straightforward decision is going to make my life a lot easier,’ Sahas thought.

After all, when employers were indecisive, their employees would suffer.

Han-Yeol’s refusal to accept all appointments made Sahas feel a little more at ease. He could now decline the appointment requests without a second thought.

“Ah, by the way, Hunter Han-Yeol-nim…”

“Yes?”

“Tayarana-nim is going to be visiting in three days.”

“Oh, really?”

Han-Yeol’s attitude was totally different from before, when he heard about the thousands of people who wanted to see him. His expression brightened at the thought of seeing Tayarana again for the first time in a while.

“Yes.”

“Okay, got it.”

“I’ll take my leave now,” Sahas said, saluting again.

“Okay, thanks.”

Sahas bowed and walked out the door.

Thump, thump.

Han-Yeol’s heart was beating fast.

He didn’t realize it when he had been spending a lot of time with Tayarana, but his longing for her was growing stronger now that they were apart. The thought of being reunited with her made his heart beat wildly.

“Ah, right, I’m meeting Tara for the first time in a while, so I should look my best!”

For the first time in a long time, Han-Yeol left the mansion on a personal errand.

“Albert.”

“Yes, Han-Yeol-nim,” Albert replied.

Nowadays, Albert almost always stood by Han-Yeol’s side, leaving most of the work to the sub-butler.

“Please get ready to go out right away.”

“Yes, sir.”

Han-Yeol’s outings weren’t particularly glamorous or spectacular for someone of his stature.

As the strongest Hunter on Earth, there was no need for him to prepare for a terrorist attack or raid. All the bulletproof vehicles and strongest bodyguards in the world were useless even against Han-Yeol's mana alone, which he unconsciously released with every breath he took.

He just needed to pick a vehicle and an entourage, and he was ready for his outing.

“We’re ready,” Albert told Han-Yeol.

Han-Yeol replied, “Let’s get going then. Today’s agenda is shopping and hair!”

“Alright.”

‘Hoohoo, he looks like he’s enjoying himself.’ Albert felt happy to see Han-Yeol so excited about something personal. ‘I must be getting old, seeing as I’m getting sentimental so easily.’

Thanks to a steady stream of Restore from Han-Yeol, Albert was in much better health than most seniors his age. However, he was mentally exhausted and old, so he was thinking of retiring soon. No amount of treatment could help his weathered mind.

“Where shall we head to?” Albert asked.

“The S Group’s department store!”

“Alright.”

At the department store, Han-Yeol spent loads of money on clothes.

That day, the S Group’s department store hit its highest sales records in history, a record that would not be broken until Han-Yeol visited again. He’d bought every single kind of clothing in the store, causing a small(?) incident where the manager fainted.

After getting his hair done at a top-notch hair salon, Han-Yeol waited happily for Tayarana.

***

[Hi, Han-Yeol.]

“Tara!”

Han-Yeol had been waiting for Tayarana in the VIP lounge at the airport and immediately hugged her as soon as he saw her.

Despite the rough hug, Tayarana’s face remained expressionless, no different from her usual demeanor. Instead, she patted Han-Yeol on the back.

In a normal place, this would have caused a scene, but fortunately, the only people looking at them were the Egyptian guards.

“Ahem, Han-Yeol-nim?” Mariam said.

“Ah, sorry. Haha. I was just so happy to see Tara again, so I couldn’t help myself,” Han-Yeol replied, scratching his head sheepishly.

Standing right next to Tayarana was Mariam. Seeing her stare at him like she was going to kill him, Han-Yeol quickly broke from Tayarana’s embrace.

[...]

As Han-Yeol backed up, Tayarana looked slightly disappointed for a moment. Nevertheless, the disappointment in her expression quickly disappeared, and no one saw the split-second change in her expression.

Finally reuniting after a long time, the three people caught up with each other at Han-Yeol’s mansion.

“By the way, did Mujahid not come?” Han-Yeol asked.

[Yeah, he’s taking imperial classes full time,] Tayarana answered.

“Oh, that’s something to celebrate!”

[Yeah, it is, although he hates it a lot.]

“Hahaha.”

‘Nothing’s changed about him,’ Han-Yeol thought.

Even when Mujahid had been with Han-Yeol, he had complained many times that he didn’t want to be king.

[I’ve been very frustrated for a while.]

“Really?”

[You’ve been having fun without me.]

“Fun?”

[Yeah, monsters.]

“Ah.”

Han-Yeol smirked as he understood Tayarana’s shortened, insincere remarks.

Tayarana had a stronger hunger for victory than Han-Yeol. She was a strong and vigorous woman who didn’t think twice about putting her life on the line for battle, and she especially liked fighting against the strong. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that she was even more battle-crazy than Han-Yeol had been during his time as Harkan.

Of course, Tayarana’s personality put a lot of stress on Mariam, who assisted her. While they were in Egypt, it was fortunate that Tayarana hadn’t encountered any danger, but now that she was reunited with Han-Yeol, Mariam’s peaceful days were over.

‘Ha, no matter how much I try to stop her, Tayarana-nim will probably follow Han-Yeol-nim,’ Mariam thought.

If she could, she wanted to slap Tayarana if that would stop her. However, Mariam didn’t have the guts to do that.

On top of that, Tayarana was a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter, so it wasn’t possible to manipulate her psychologically. All Mariam could do was help her stay safe as much as possible.

[Han-Yeol,] Tayarana said.

“Yeah?”

[I’m looking forward to it.]

“O-Okay.”

‘Looking forward to what?’

Han-Yeol cocked his head and tried to think of the meaning behind her words, but nothing came to mind.

A moment later, he realized what she meant.

“You’re really going to come with me?”

[Yes,] Tayarana answered without the slightest hesitation.

Her innocent eyes shone brightly as she nodded in a way that made his head hurt.

“This will be completely different to when we’re in Korea! I have to go all around the world to find the stone.”

Tayarana gave a very calm response. [That’s okay.]

“No! I-It’s not like that!”

[I said it’s okay.]

“Ugh!”

‘This is so frustrating!’

Han-Yeol felt like he was dying of frustration. Tayarana did not seem to understand the seriousness of the situation no matter how much he explained it.

He would be traveling the world nonstop in search of the remaining three mana stones. The shamans of the roe deer race were doing their best to track the three mana stones down, but even if they failed to do so, Han-Yeol would scan with his Demonic Eyes and find the mana stones. He had seen the Black and Grey Stone already with his own eyes, so it wasn’t going to be too difficult for him to find a gem with a similar wavelength of mana.

Nonetheless, things would be different if Tayarana came along; it would become a much more complicated matter.

‘It’s one thing to have an Egyptian princess in Korea, where it’s safe except for the threat of monsters, but it’s another to have her traveling around the world where there are way more dangers!’

Han-Yeol's head throbbed with pain. It had been a long time since he last had a headache.

[I’m going.]

Tayarana was adamant.

‘Ha, I guess there’s nothing I can do.’

Han-Yeol could already imagine President Phaophator having a fit in Egypt.

However, since Tayarana was so adamant about going and Han-Yeol didn’t mind being with her, Han-Yeol didn’t want to keep saying no.

“Okay, fine.”

[Okay, thanks Han-Yeol.]

“Haaa, we’ll be in your care, Han-Yeol-nim,” Mariam said resignedly.

Normally, Mariam would’ve objected more than anyone else, but she had already surrendered to Tayarana’s stubbornness. All she could do at this point was make sure Tayarana was as safe as she could be.

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