Leveling Up Alone

Clench.

He clenched his fist and thought, ‘As expected… I can’t get enough of this feeling. It’s so addictive.’

The Hunters slowly gathered one by one in front of Han-Yeol while he was still drunk on the ecstatic sensation of distributing his bonus stat points.

“Uhmm…” They carefully called for Han-Yeol’s attention.

“What’s the matter?” Han-Yeol asked.

“You were really cool when you were swinging your chain at the Troll! Uhmm… Can we take a selfie with you, if that’s okay with you?” they asked.

“What?” Han-Yeol exclaimed in surprise. He was well aware of what a selfie was, even though he was antisocial. He wondered, ‘They say it’s a trend to take selfies with strong and cool Hunters these days… But me?’

“Me too! Me too! Can I take a selfie with you as well?”

“You’re a Healer, but you can use a chain as well! You were really cool!”

It was only difficult for the first Hunter to request a selfie with him, but the others soon readily followed suit in the wake of the first. A total of four Hunters, male and female, asked for selfies with Han-Yeol. Han-Yeol was taken aback by the situation, but he granted their requests and calmly took selfies with them.

“Thank you!”

“Thank you very much!”

The Hunters bowed and thanked him.

“Ah, yes,” Han-Yeol awkwardly muttered in response.

The Hunters were delighted while looking at the selfies they had taken together with Han-Yeol.

“I’ll upload this to my social media account once I’m back from the hunting ground!”

“Ah… It’s such a shame that we can’t use the Internet in hunting grounds because of the signal disruption…’

“I know, right?”

The Hunters murmured among themselves.

‘Well… There’s no harm in it, I guess?’?Han-Yeol thought.

He was still taken aback by the whole situation, but he knew it was not a bad thing at all, so he just laughed his nervousness off. Then, he went to Cheol-Jin, whom he had stopped healing for a while to fight against the Troll. Cheol-Jin had regained consciousness due to the first aid treatment Han-Yeol had performed.

“Are you alright?” Han-Yeol asked.

“Ah, Healer-nim. I am fine now. Thank you for healing me,” Cheol-Jin replied.

“No problem. I was just doing my job as the Healer of the party,” Han-Yeol said. It was certainly something he had to do, as his share of the profit would be 1.8 times larger due to his role as a Healer.

Cheol-Jin smiled, seemingly aware of what Han-Yeol meant, and replied, “Well, the profit share is not something I care about anyway. What is important is the fact that I could have died if Healer-nim were not here.”

“Is that so?” Han-Yeol asked.

“Of course,” Cheol-Jin replied.

“Alright, if you say so,” Han-Yeol said, ending the conversation. He then placed his hand on Cheol-Jin’s chest and used Heal again.

Woooong…

A bright blue stream of mana that felt pure and warm spread around the area, healing Cheol-Jin’s leftover injuries from the battle.

“Hoo… I realized how awesome Healer-nim’s skill was after experiencing it firsthand like this,” Cheol-Jin said with a smile.

However, Han-Yeol did not reply, as he was busy focusing on using Heal.

***

That was how they won against two Trolls without suffering any fatalities. Afterward, the Onyx Party kicked up the pace further and went out to hunt even more Trolls. Of course, that did not mean they were drunk on their victory and went around looking for pairs of Trolls; rather, they stuck to their original plan to safely hunt one Troll at a time. Instead, the speed at which they hunted lone Trolls significantly increased, and Han-Yeol did not have any reservations about using his chain skills.

Shhwwiiiik!

Han-Yeol’s chain bound a Troll’s leg.

“Grwuuoohhhh!”?The Troll let out a roar as it tried to escape the chain.

However…

“Mega Charge!” Ji-Pyung shouted. He was a Tank, but that did not mean he had no offensive skills at all. He used a skill that would let him charge at the monster with a shield-shaped barrier, rushing toward the Troll.

Thud!

“Guek!”?

The Tank’s skill did not deal a lot of damage, but the blunt force of the shield charge was more than enough to push back the Troll. 𝒃𝒆𝒅𝙣𝒐𝒗𝙚𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝒎

Han-Yeol did not miss the opportunity, and quickly pulled his chain that was binding the Troll’s leg. The Troll lost its balance due to having its leg pulled while it was being pushed back by the Tank, and it wobbled for a moment before falling backward.

Thud…!

“Now! All forces, attack!” Ji-Pyung bellowed out a command.

“Uryaaaaaah!”?

The Onyx Party Hunters did what they did best when it came to a Troll that had fallen to the ground, and they unleashed a barrage of attacks at it. It was basically a group lynching at that point…

Bam! Bam! Bam! Puk! Puk! Booom!

“Die! Die! Die!”

“Wahahaha! Melee attacks are the best when it comes to ganging up on a monster!”

The Hunters unleashed the strongest attacks they could muster whenever a Troll fell to the ground. It was difficult for the Trolls to withstand such an onslaught of attacks even though they had cheat-like regenerative abilities. Hwan’s spear, infused with Lightning Enchant, soon dealt the final blow to the Troll’s heart and ended the battle.

The Onyx Party kept hunting in the same pattern for three days with near-minimal rest.

Ding!

[Your level has risen.]

[The rank of ‘Chain Smite’ has risen from (D) to (C).]

[The rank of ‘Chain Mastery’ has risen from (C) to (B).]

[The rank of ‘Restrain’ has risen from (D) to (C).]

Name: Lee?Han-Yeol

Level: 30

Points: 35

STR: 59

VIT: 57

AGI: 50

MAG: 60

LCK: 10

Skills: Dismember (D), Sword Mastery (C), Walking (C), Mana Control (D), Mana Mastery (E), Power Strike (C), Mana Shield (D), Sixth Sense (D), Restrain (C), Body Strengthening (E), Mana Eyes (E), Heal (A), Jumping (D), Stab (D), Dagger Mastery (F), Chain Mastery (B), Infinite Library (M), Shield Bash (D), Fire Attribute (E), Mana Explosion (D), Chain Smite (C), Marksmanship (E).

Han-Yeol’s level had increased by a whopping seven levels after powerleveling day and night with the Onyx Party. However, only three of his skills had increased in rank. He had initially joined the party as a Hunter who used chains, which meant he had to consistently use just his chain throughout the hunt. As a result, only his chain skills had ended up improving.

“Thank you very much for all of your hard work!”

The party members all exchanged greetings after the grueling three-day hunt ended.

“Hahahaha! Wahahahaha!” Maniacal laughter rang out.

The laughter came from the biggest beneficiary of the hunt. One of the eight Porters had successfully managed to awaken. He could not stop laughing in joy, his mouth seemingly fixed in a Joker-like grin. The other Porters sincerely congratulated him for awakening, but it was visibly evident that they felt jealous deep down.

“Hunter-nims. We will be distributing the shares when we reach the Hunters’ Association,” one of the managers said.

“Alright!”

Most parties usually distributed the shares on the spot after the hunt ended, but this hunt was a special case. It had lasted for three days, and they had accumulated a huge amount of loot, so the final amount was quite large. However, none of the Hunters had any qualms about that, as the calculations of the Hunters’ Association were the most accurate and trustworthy, and the Association’s decisions could always be considered the final say on the matter.

The pre-contracted factory came right on time as they were about to end the hunt, promptly shipping the Troll corpses the party had collected over the course of the hunt to their factory.

Finally, it was all over. The party members all boarded the ship heading back to Port Incheon.

Han-Yeol leaned against a rail on the main deck of the ship while staring out into the open, thinking, ‘I’m glad I was able to significantly raise my level, but I have to maintain a balanced growth pattern…’

His main goal was still to obtain a new healing skill that was capable of treating his father’s illness. However, it was difficult for him to fulfill that goal, as he had no idea what the prerequisite for leveling up his Heal skill was. It would definitely not help him to keep joining parties like this while only using his chain skills.

‘Do I have to go back to hunting solo…?’?he wondered.

It was right when Han-Yeol was seriously considering going back to hunting solo that the leader of the Onyx Party, who was a type of Hunter as rare as a Healer, approached him and asked, “What are you looking at out in the distance?”

“Ah, nothing. I was just thinking of a few things on my mind,” Han-Yeol replied, leaning forward on the ship’s rail.

Ji-Pyung, on the other hand, leaned back against the rail and said, “I have been watching Mr. Han-Yeol for the past three days, and I was greatly amazed by your strange chain skills and your ability to heal most kinds of injuries.”

“Is that so?” Han-Yeol replied with a smile.

It did not matter what the other person’s intention was; it was customary to smile at someone who was giving one praise, and nobody ever felt bad from being praised.

“So what I am trying to say is… Would you consider joining us from now on?” Ji-Pyung asked.

“Ah, is this a party recruitment offer?” Han-Yeol asked.

A party recruitment offer was something quite common among Hunters. They usually recruited Hunters who matched well with them into a party by extending such an offer, and if that offer were to be accepted, they would begin hunting together as a party from then on.

However, that was slightly different from the way standard parties worked. The Onyx Party was made up of three original members including Ji-Pyung, but they had recruited five outsiders to join this hunt.

‘A party… Do I need that right now?’?Han-Yeol wondered for a moment. However, the answer was simple.

“I am sorry, but I do not have any plans to commit to a single party right now,” Han-Yeol replied.

It was an obvious decision, if anyone were to think of it. Hunters awakened with three preset skills, and they could develop those skills in terms of quality, but it would normally be impossible to increase the quantity of said skills.

However, Han-Yeol was a Hunter who could increase his level while increasing the number of skills he had. In short, he was an Awakened who could grow both quality and quantity-wise. These Hunters would probably be hunting Trolls, or monsters of a similar level, for the rest of their lives, but Han-Yeol would need to keep aiming for higher goals if he grew stronger bit by bit.

“Ah… That is a shame. I did expect it, but I cannot but feel hurt a bit after being rejected so straightforwardly like this,” Ji-Pyung said, but he kept a smile on his face.

“Haha, I am sorry,” Han-Yeol replied.

“No, it is alright. It is an obvious decision. Someone with the skills of Mr. Han-Yeol would be wasted in a small party like ours. You could easily join a larger raid party or even aim to join a guild with your skills,” Ji-Pyung said.

Ji-Pyung had tried his luck even though he knew it would not work, just in case Han-Yeol accepted. However, the reason he was thinking of and the reason Han-Yeol had rejected the offer were different.

“Then, I will let you have your space,” Ji-Pyung said with a slight bow, then returned to his cabin.

Han-Yeol was left deep in thought once again. He had realized what path he should take after talking to Ji-Pyung just then. He thought, ‘I should start solo hunting again for now, and join a party whenever the need arises.’

He had realized that there was no reason for him to stick to either solo hunting or joining a party when he could do both. The wise choice would be to first assess his situation and move according to what he needed at that time.

He facepalmed after he reached that conclusion, thinking, ‘Euhhh… Dumbass… Why did you even have to think so seriously about something so simple…?’

From time to time, Han-Yeol really thought that he had a stupid head on his shoulders.

Right as he finally made up his mind about the issue, he heard the announcement that they were close to reaching port. When the party disembarked, Han-Yeol boarded a bus that had been pre-arranged for them, heading to the Hunters’ Association.

“…”

It was right when Han-Yeol closed his eyes while riding the bus that the others began murmuring among themselves.

“Eh? Why is a Hunter on this bus?”

“I know, right? Doesn’t he have his own car when he’s earning so much?”

“Euh…?What a miser. Ew.”

In fact, the bus was the pre-arranged transport for the Porters and the managers. Seven out of the eight Hunters who had joined the Troll hunt had driven their own cars to the Hunters’ Association.

The Porters’ expression crumpled when they saw Han-Yeol, who was the only Hunter to have arrived by public transportation, board the bus. They knew exactly how much money a Hunter made, but here he was trying to hitch a ride for free. There was no way they would ever see him in a good light for taking the same public transportation they did.

He could call it being frugal, but the poor had no choice but to be frugal because they did not have much. However, here was a rich man trying to save money by taking public transportation, and a free ride on top of that!

Han-Yeol opened his eyes and glared at the Porters who were gossiping about him.

“Heup!”?One of the Porters who locked eyes with him immediately averted his gaze and looked down, and the other Porters who had been cursing him acted coy, feigning innocence.

‘How stupid,’?Han-Yeol thought. Hunters’ bodies were overwhelmingly superior to that of an average human, but here they were thinking he would not hear them from this distance. However, he also thought, ‘I guess buying a car won’t be a bad idea, though…’

He had not really felt the need to buy a car, as no other country in the world had a public transportation infrastructure as developed as Korea’s. However, Han-Yeol decided to purchase his own car after being made aware of how inconvenient it would be to travel on the same bus as the Porters. His father was using the car he had bought on a lease the last time, so he technically had no car of his own at the moment.

When Han-Yeol finally arrived at the Hunters’ Association, the amount he received as his share from the hunt added up to six hundred million won. He had initially been supposed to receive only four hundred million won, but the total had been increased to seven hundred twenty million before taxes due to the 1.8 times share he was offered.

‘Hehe, this is why it’s good to be a Healer,’?he thought happily.

Of course, that was only the amount he had received from the mana stones.

The party leader, Ji-Pyung, had already notified them beforehand that the profit from the sale of Troll corpses would be deposited at a later date.