Leveling Up Alone

Han-Yeol didn’t have the nicest personality, but he wasn’t the most outrageous either. One could say that he was a man of manners who knew not to cross the line.

It wasn’t like he didn’t have outbursts or impatience, but that was only in situations where he didn’t need to hold back.

In this case, he had to put up with it, so he tried his best to hold it in.

[Haha, alright. Mr. Lee is so cooperative with us, the United States, so of course we should do at least that much for you.]

“Oh!”

The president's words clearly flattered Han-Yeol.

[But.]

‘B-But?’

Gulp.

Han-Yeol nervously swallowed, worried that there might be a condition attached to his answer. However, the president didn’t notice Han-Yeol’s reaction as he was too occupied with his own train of thought.

[P can only stay within the US, and our agents must be present at all times. The two of you can’t be alone, and he can never leave the country.]

“Of course. I wasn’t even hoping for that in the first place, haha.”

‘Phew, that’s good. That’s something that’s not too hard to follow.’

Han-Yeol breathed a sigh of relief internally. The president of the United States didn’t understand why Han-Yeol was asking for P or what the consequences of his choice would be. He just couldn’t let go of his desire to be re-elected.

In the unlikely event that Han-Yeol tried to hurt P, the president would lose P to Han-Yeol, a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter, even if they had high-ranked Hunters as P’s bodyguards. Then, the United States would be unable to use the same tactic of importing Master-Rank Hunters from other countries the next time a population powerhouse like China or Idea came back to the table and targeted G1. The United States would be forced to give up the G1 position.

In other words, the president’s individual greed had become more important than the security of the entire country. Of course, the president did have some sort of faith in Han-Yeol since there was no reason for him to harm P and the United States. Nonetheless, the fact that he put his country at risk for his own personal glory didn’t change.

But this didn’t matter, as Han-Yeol was holding a festival of his own in his head.

‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’

At this point, he was almost halfway to fulfilling his purpose of coming to the United States. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Han-Yeol had come to the United States because of the spatial attribute in the first place.

After the president gave his approval, P and his entourage, who had been separated from Han-Yeol for a while, reappeared.

[Haha, I didn’t expect to see you so soon.]

“Good to see you, Mr. P.”

[Hmm, I don’t know why a Hunter of Han-Yeol-nim’s caliber would want a lowly non-combatant like me.]

P tried to put on a cheerful expression, but he couldn’t erase his suspicion for Han-Yeol that was building up inside of him. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out why Han-Yeol had asked him to be in charge.

“Hahaha, I’m just trying to get acquainted with someone who has a rare ability, or no, it’s not just rare, but you’re the only person with such an ability, right?”

[Hmm, that’s right.]

P loved compliments, so he felt happy when Han-Yeol, whom he usually liked, complimented him even though he was suspicious of him. When someone admired another person, there was nothing more satisfying than receiving a compliment from that person.

“Let’s not just stand around. There’s nothing like a drink to bring men closer together. Let’s all go get a drink.”

[Oh, Hunter Han-Yeol-nim, you know a thing or two!]

P was the kind of guy who would wake up in the middle of the night for a drink.

When Han-Yeol opened his subspace storage and took out the finest liquor from Korea, P smiled widely, showing his pearly white teeth as if he had never been suspicious of Han-Yeol in the first place. He started to shower him with kindness as if Han-Yeol was his best friend.

[Hahaha! Isn’t this the heavenly grade ginseng liquor of the East that you can’t even get for three million dollars?]

“Yes. A subordinate who I sent to China happened to find it at an auction, but I didn’t have anyone to drink it with, so I put it in the storage, and I thought Mr. P would like it.”

[I-Is it okay for me to drink that?]

He was a well-paid secret agent, but he wasn’t rich enough to spend three million dollars at an auction on liquor. At best, he had a million-dollar bottle of Diva vodka that he took great care of and savored dearly.

“Of course, that’s why I brought it out.”

Pop!

Han-Yeol popped off the cap of the heavenly grade ginseng, then the sour and bitter aroma of the white ginseng started to fill his surroundings.

[This is it! This is the scent! Hahaha! This scent is why I can’t quit drinking. Since I’ve been treated to such good liquor, I'll buy the snacks.]

Pat.

P put his hand on Han-Yeol's shoulder and really started to treat him like a friend.

‘Nice.’

The corners of Han-Yeol’s mouth rose from an angle that no one could see. Things were finally starting to feel right.

That day, Han-Yeol took out all the fine liquors in the subspace storage he had stashed away and drank like there was no tomorrow with P and his entourage. It was an open secret that when P woke up in the morning, counted the empty bottles, and realized that the liquor he’d consumed overnight was worth eighty-four million dollars at an auction, he passed out immediately upon waking up.

This was what Han-Yeol was going after.

‘Eighty million dollars is nothing for a chance to gain the spatial attribute. I could spend up to one billion if that’s what it takes.’

Han-Yeol’s wealth had grown so much that he had given up on keeping track. This was because when he started developing Hunter-specific weapons that Yoo-Bi created, his wealth grew to tens of billions of dollars per transaction. Also, the Black Orcs and Bastrolings were exporting vast quantities of mana stones gathered from the Atarinia Archipelago, which made a massive amount of money as well. So, Han-Yeol was no longer interested in money.

‘I have enough of it.’

(Lucky bastard...)

*

Men befriended each other over drinks, and after drinking together all night, P and Han-Yeol became close friends. P was somewhat indebted to Han-Yeol, and Han-Yeol had a mission of obtaining P’s spatial attribute. In addition, P had always looked up to Han-Yeol and liked his easygoing personality, and Han-Yeol liked P’s unique sense of humor that black people had.

Ding!

[Interpreting skill level has increased.]

—You are now able to use the language: English, freely.

‘Hmm...’

Even though his interpreting skill had improved, Han-Yeol didn’t seem too happy about it. This was because he thought the interpretation skill was a bit of a waste to use on languages on this planet.

‘What happens after I reach the master level as I gain one more language per level increase?’

When he ran out of levels to climb, it meant that he couldn't increase the number of languages, and even if he met beings from other dimensions, he couldn't learn their language as an interpreting skill.

For languages on Earth, he could just get an interpreter, but he couldn’t do that with beings from other dimensions. That was why he could only rely on telepathy or the interpretation skill, but if that interpretation skill was maxed out, he couldn’t do that either, which is why Han-Yeol didn’t look happy even though he had increased his skill level.

[What’s wrong, Han-Yeol? Why do you look so unhappy?]

After they became friends, they stopped talking formally with each other.

“I-It’s nothing.”

[Huh, Han-Yeol, you know how to speak in English?]

“Yeah, I do now.”

“WHAT?”

P’s expression turned sour at Han-Yeo’s strange, non-joking remark. After spending a few days with Han-Yeol, P realized that Han-Yeol enjoyed joking around and pulling pranks even more than he did.

So naturally, P thought this was one of them, but unfortunately, it wasn’t.

“I have a skill called interpreting. This time, English has been added to that skill, so from now on, we’ll be able to communicate without an interpreter.”

[Woah... I heard that Hunter Han-Yeol had skills like a scammer, but now that I’ve seen it in person, it feels even more like a scam. I may have portal abilities, but that’s nothing compared to you.]

“What? You realized that just now? You weren’t a match for me in the first place.”

[Hey, are you kidding me?]

“What, idiot.”

Neither of them was the type to back down. So, once they started joking around and dissing each other, it tended to last quite a while, and they would laugh and enjoy this. Han-Yeol loved this kind of thing, and for P, who was a very secretive and cautious person, this was the first time in a long time that he could joke around with someone without a worry.

“Kyaahhhh!”

“Oh, I forgot.”

Slash!

Han-Yeol slashed at a bat-like monster that was charging at him. Purple blood spurted out, splattered all over P, and sained his white shoes.

[Ahh, my Dolce & Gabbana shoes! I just bought them yesterday!]

He couldn’t stop cursing. Yesterday, P attended the Dolce & Gabbana fashion show in New York and bought a pair of luxury handmade shoes worth 120 thousand dollars. The designer duo who founded Dolce & Gabbana might have passed away, but their disciples were still at the top of their game, keeping the luxury brand alive.

P was furious, but Han-Yeol looked at him nonchalantly as he swung the Jabberwock Sword over his shoulder.

“Tsk tsk, you shouldn’t have worn designer shoes on the field.”

[Heyyy!]

Han-Yeol’s shameless behavior made P’s blood boil, but he couldn’t afford to fight back against a Transcendant Master-Rank Hunter. Even though he was the United States' top secret weapon, Han-Yeol was Earth’s most powerful weapon.

Currently, Han-Yeol and P, along with his entourage, were traveling across the United States on a field hunt. The president had originally demanded that they be accompanied by Hunters assigned by the United States government.

Han-Yeol agreed, but P, who had gotten close to Han-Yeol and trusted him, sent the Hunters back, saying that they were a hassle. Once he placed his trust in someone, he was the type to trust them completely.

[Hey, Han-Yeol.]

“Yeah?”

[How long are we going to go on this pointless field hunt anyway?]

“Pointless... Huh.”

To Han-Yeol, the field hunt had two purposes (leveling up and staying as close to the spatial attribute user for as long as possible), but for P, who didn’t know this, it just seemed like a waste of time.

‘Hmm, I guess staying here for too long can raise unnecessary suspicions.’

The more chances one took, the more likely they were to get caught.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by (f)reew𝒆b(n)ovel.com