Leveling Up Alone

The RC Squad members were not demons like Stewart, so they could not absorb negative emotions. Instead, they were suppressed by the negative emotions causing them to feel as if their lives were in danger.

They clenched their necks and struggled to breathe, but Han-Yeol failed to notice their struggle as he was immersed in his emotions. He was the type who would fail to notice things around him once he started reminiscing.

Thud...! Thud...!

The RC Squad members dropped one by one.

Aarghh...! Bleurgh...!

Some of them puked while some of them started foaming from their mouths. At this rate, the RC Squad would get annihilated before the mission even started.

[Oh no!]

P only watched from a distance, as he knew the RC Squad members disrespected Han-Yeol, but he soon realized the gravity of the situation after the agents were about to die.

Thud!

[Stop it, Han-Yeol! Get a grip!]

“Ah,” Han-Yeol looked back after P grabbed his shoulder.

Then, the negative emotion created from his mana dissipated.

Huff...! Huff...!

[W-What was... that...?]

Red One, Red Two, and the rest of the RC Squad members were at a loss as to what just happened. They really thought they were going to die.

‘W-What just happened? What was that?’

‘I couldn’t break free no matter how hard I struggled!’

They mustered all of their strength and mana to break free from whatever was overwhelming them, yet they were helpless against it–no, the invisible power completely restricted them and they could not even channel their mana.

[Are you on a picnic?!]

[N-No, we apologize, Sir P.]

The RC Squad members instantly got up and fixed their attire after P rebuked them. P was clearly higher ranking than them, so they did not dare disrespect him the same way they did to Han-Yeol.

They started walking once again, but judging by their expression, they obviously feared Han-Yeol on now. Even the agents who favorably approached him seemed to be scared of him as well.

‘Keke! I guess I like this better,’ Han-Yeol thought while snickering inwardly even though he could no longer mend his relationship with the RC Squad.

However, he had no reason to have any sort of relationship with them, as he would never see them ever again after this mission was over.

Pssh!

[We are almost there. There is a Venezuelan army camp up ahead, and we will be entering their scouting range if we advance five kilometers from here.]

[R-Roger, we will proceed with caution from now on.]

[A-Alright.]

“I’ll take the lead from here.”

[Y-You don’t have to–]

One of the RC Squad members wanted to refuse the offer, but he instantly zipped his mouth after Han-Yeol glared at him. The agent no longer dared to go against Han-Yeol, as the suffocating sensation a while ago would come back even if he just glared at them.

Cough! Cough!

Red One and Red Two gnashed their teeth and glared at Han-Yeol after seeing their subordinates traumatized by him.

Crack!

‘Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!’

The fact that they were subjected to this humiliation solely due to the fact they were weak angered them. However, what angered them even more was the fact that they knew there was nothing they could do against him.

“I guess it’s decided. Move out!”

[Yes, sir...]

The RC Squad could only respond to the order.

‘Tsk... Why did you pick a fight with Han-Yeol and cause this mess?’

P was technically a third party in this whole mess, but could not help but shake his head at the idiocy of the RC Squad.

***

[E-Enemy–!]

Bam!

Kuheok!

The camp was defended by Venezuelan soldiers and low-ranking Hunters. It was difficult to tell if they were searching for something or if they were trying to protect something, but one thing was certain: their perimeters were airtight.

Unfortunately, they were up against an enemy that could easily break their airtight defenses.

Ziiing!

Argh!

The soldiers tried to scream, but an invisible force prevented them from doing so, and the force squeezed their necks until they lost consciousness. Then, the force lifted them up and buried them in the ground.

The chances of them surviving heavily depended on whether they woke up in time or not. Han-Yeol did not have the luxury of ensuring they survived–no, it was more like he did not want to trouble himself with making sure his enemies survived.

Chwak!

The RC Squad members’ jaws dropped after witnessing Han-Yeol in action with their very own eyes.

‘T-This is...!’

‘I-Is he really a Hunter–no, is he even human?’

‘Monster! That guy is a monster!’

The RC Squad would not have attacked this camp so recklessly if it was only them and P. They would have moved in a clandestine manner under the cover of darkness, assassinating only those they absolutely had to get rid of while avoiding the Hunters as much as possible.

However, what Han-Yeol did after taking charge was completely different from their plans. He used his formless mana to bind them up before they could even lay their eyes on him, and most of the sentries standing watch were instantly eliminated without a single trace.

The speed at which they penetrated through the enemy camp was ridiculously fast. To give an idea of how fast it was, it would have normally taken them twelve hours if they chose to face this camp head on, but it only took ten minutes for them to do so thanks to Han-Yeol.

“Well, that was easy, right?” Han-Yeol asked with a mischievous grin.

[Ah, yes, good for you. I’m so jealous. Wow.]

“You should be. It’s me, after all! Kekeke!”

The American agents were stunned after seeing the camp decimated in just ten minutes. The Venezuelan army was known to be quite resilient that even the United States government had trouble dealing with them. However, Han-Yeol single-handedly destroyed them in record time, all without allowing them to send a single radio transmission to report the attack.

The agents had completed countless missions successfully, but this was the first time they were completing one with brute force while being covert at the same time.

‘I-Impossible...!’

The agents felt ashamed of themselves. They did not sign up to become special agents just to see some upstart outshine them on a mission, but there was nothing they could do about the situation other than accept the cruel reality.

If they were to find any consolation from this incident, then that was the fact that Han-Yeol was without an equal in this world. The only other person aside from him who could put on such a display of dominance was probably the new Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter, Tayarana.

However, none of those things mattered to the RC Squad as the only thing on their minds right now was what they were witnessing with their own eyes.

‘Whoa... To think the gap would be this big...! I should be grateful I was born in the United States. At least they gave a Hunter like me the opportunity to serve my country...’

The United States was the only country in the world that would invest their time and resources to train Hunters like them, who were incapable of hunting monsters, into special agents. Yes, there were a lot of countries with Hunters acting as special agents, but most of them were recruited after they proved themselves and they were not trained by their countries.

The United States was a big country and there were endless opportunities for Hunters to make a good living from hunting monsters. Thus, there was no reason for them to work for the government. Fortunately, with most of the Hunters unwilling to work for the government, this gave opportunities for Hunters like the RC Squad members to be hired and trained by the government.

There was no longer any threat in sight, and the agents finally had the time to come back to their senses.

“Is it here?” Han-Yeol asked.

[Yes, it is... sir.]

Red One’s voice was shaky, as everything he did to Han-Yeol so far flashed in front of his eyes.

‘I... I think I’m dead...’

He might be a Hunter working for the United States government, but Han-Yeol was someone the president had officially invited for the world to see their friendship.

In other words, Han-Yeol had the influence to exile a bottom of the barrel Hunter like Red One to some backwater rural province for the rest of his life. He did not even have to cause a scene or anything to achieve that. All Han-Yeol had to do was return from this mission and say the RC Squad was a disappointment, and that would send the entire squad packing within the same hour.

‘Ah... Why did I do that? You moron!’ Red One’s inferiority complex and envy toward Han-Yeol clouded his judgment, and that caused him to do things he would soon regret.

Han-Yeol ignored the profusely sweating agent and continued walking until he reached the underground bunker.

Creak...! Creak...!

He grabbed the handle and spun it.

Bzzzt! Zaaaap!

He seemed to have triggered some sort of defense mechanism as a surge of powerful electricity suddenly flowed from the door to Han-Yeol’s hands before making its way straight to his heart. However, there was something strange about the electricity surging into Han-Yeol’s body. A normal electric shock would spread all over its victim’s body, but this one surged straight to his heart as if it was aiming for it from the start.

The only plausible explanation was that a Hunter set up a trap with their skill to zap the heart of anyone who dared to touch the door and instantly kill them by forcing a cardiac arrest.

The victim would survive if they received first aid in time, but this was a trap that could kill most Master-Rank Hunters if they were careless and did not receive treatment in time.

‘Oh? I must say that this is quite impressive. This must be the reason those soldiers and Hunters did not dare to force their way into the bunker and instead chose to set up camp nearby. They clearly had the upper hand if this turned into a battle of attrition, so waiting for them to come out was definitely the wiser choice rather than forcing their way in and suffering casualties. I don’t see any other exits either.’

Building such a bunker in a rocky mountain was definitely not an easy job, so digging a hidden passageway leading to another exit would indeed be nearly impossible. Han-Yeol had a feeling that the Hunter standing watch near the door, which was the only entrance and exit to the bunker, was none other than the Venezuelan Master-Rank Hunter, Adal.

‘Yeah, only a Master-Rank Hunter can defend a bunker to this extent. Hmm, it seems like this guy is more useful than I presumed him to be,’ Han-Yeol thought while rubbing his chin. He had no idea if Adal was talented from the start or if Earth entering the second dimension enhanced him, but he would find out soon once they met.

Han-Yeol spared no praises to the defense mechanisms Adal had placed on the bunker. He could easily penetrate through all of them with brute force if he wanted to, but that did not change the fact that Adal’s ability to secure the door was indeed rare.

He inspected the door for quite a while, as he found whatever Adal did to be quite fascinating.

Ironically, what he was doing out of fascination caused the others to completely misunderstand him.

‘Heh... I guess even a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter has things he can’t do.’

They foolishly thought that Han-Yeol could not get past the defense mechanisms placed on the door and was stuck.

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