Leveling Up Alone

The news was live, but one would have to be living under a rock not to know how to pause it.

No matter how many times he looked at it, the monster resembled the distinctive seal used by hyenas, a monster that the Demon King’s army dealt with. The photo was blurry and difficult to see, but Han-Yeol’s eyes were that of a Transcendent Master, so analyzing the image down to the micrometer was something he was capable of.

Snap!

Han-Yeol snapped his fingers as he thought of a good idea.

‘Hehe, I see, so that’s how it is. I’ve got a good idea.’

Han-Yeol immediately rushed to prepare for a trip to China.

“When are you going to leave?” asked Tia.

“I’ll have to stay for a while, so not right this second, but I’ll leave tomorrow morning.”

“Alone again?”

Han-Yeol shook his head at her.

“No, not alone this time. I’m trying to increase the scale.”

“Scale?”

“Yes.”

Tia cocked her head as she didn’t understand what he meant by increasing the scale. This only made her already breathtaking beauty shine even more, capable of stealing the hearts of anyone looking at her, although Han-Yeol was already used to it.

“Is that really necessary?”

“Hahaha, just wait and see. The biggest bait in the world will appear.”

“Well, if you say so.”

“Hahahaha.”

Han-Yeol’s smile was quite crooked.

After getting ready to leave for China, Han-Yeol took a break.

That night…

Tsss tsss!

Han-Yeol’s mansion was in the middle of nowhere, just outside of Seoul. It wasn’t a geopolitically important spot, so no outside traffic passed by. So as long as there was no business going on, it was a peaceful place that didn't generate much noise, as even the sound of grasshoppers could be heard.

“Hey, do you have a cigarette?”

“What, you’re done already?”

“Yeah, I was supposed to go buy some earlier, but I forgot.”

“Tsk tsk, you can’t start forgetting things already.”

“I know. I should go to a doctor even though I’m still young.”

The two members of the Gurkha squad in charge of the southern perimeter of Han-Yeol’s mansion were leisurely sharing a cigarette and chatting as usual.

They were standing guard at the perimeter of Han Yue's mansion as per their orders, but they weren't particularly wary. This made sense. After all, who would dare to invade Han-Yeol’s mansion? Only someone out of their mind would attempt such an impossible feat.

Rustle.

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you not hear that just now?”

“Hear what?”

“Just now, I heard a bush moving over there. Didn’t you?”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

One of the Gurkhas didn’t hear anything, but the first rule of wariness was never to miss the slightest sound of movement. However, a slight rustling in the bushes was not something to report to the situation room.

“Let’s check.”

“Cover me.”

“Ugh, do I really need to cover you… Okay.”

He thought his coworker was being a little dramatic, but as a soldier, it was the right thing to do to leave no room for danger.

Shhh.

They unsheathed their Kukri greatswords and one of them moved toward the bush where the sound had come from, and the other took cover from behind with his hand on the radio just in case. It wasn’t to contact anyone, but rather to press the emergency button on the radio, which would immediately set off sirens throughout the mansion.

“Hmph!”

Shaaa!

The Gurkhas quickly moved to clear the bush.

“...”

But as expected, there was nothing there.

“Nothing’s there, right?”

“Tsk, yeah. It must’ve been the wind or something.”

They didn’t think it was an animal because if it was, there was no way they wouldn’t have noticed it with their senses as Hunters.

“Okay then. Let’s get back to what we were talking about. So how are things going with that girl?”

Recently, the Gurkhas had been spending a lot of time in downtown Seoul as they had received some time off, and they had gotten to know a lot of Korean women. The Nepalese Gurkhas possessed Southeast Asian physical features, which Koreans somewhat looked down upon. However, as Hunters, they had already overcome such prejudices. The KKK in the United States, who were racist against black people, and the skinheads in Russia, who were extremely racist as well, became nothing but meek sheep in the presence of Hunters.

The Gurkhas were actually quite popular since they appeared in downtown Seoul. These days, it was uncommon to see Hunters mingling freely with the general public since people tended to stick to those who were similar to themselves.

“Where did I end off?”

“You were sharing a table.”

“Ah, right. So I was sharing a table with this girl named Hye-Yoon…”

“Okay, but what’s that thing on your neck?”

The Gurkha looked puzzled as his coworker pointed at his neck.

“Huh, what?”

He had never worn any type of accessory in his life except for a chain with a military serial number, so there was no way there could be anything on his neck.

“A red line…”

“...”

However, the two couldn’t continue talking because at the same time, both of their heads fell off as a large red line appeared around their necks.

Pshhhh!

Crimson blood gushed out of their headless necks like a fountain.

Thud.

In an instant, two lifeless bodies fell helplessly to the left and right.

[Khahaha, the guys guarding the mansion are so weak even though they claim to be the strongest on Earth.]

Thud.

One by one, mysterious beings started to gather.

[Khahaha.]

[Hehehe.]

A few things the beings had in common were that their eyes were bright red and their upper fangs were visible through their upper lips. Other than that, they were all different in skin color, attire, and everything else.

Swoosh! Squeak!

A swarm of bats then flew into the center of all of them and transformed into a handsome man with long white hair, pale skin, and golden eyes.

[Welcome, lord!]

After he appeared, the red-eyed beings around him simultaneously parted to the side and bowed in respect.

[So this is Mr. Lee’s mansion.]

However, the white-haired man didn’t pay them a single glance. Instead, his eyes looked hazy as if he were high, as he scanned the walls of the mansion, or even beyond them.

[That’s right.]

[Haaa.]

He took a deep breath in and out, and a thick scent of blood spread around him. Then, the people inside the mansion started to react.

Boom!

From within the mansion, two gigantic auras rose high above the roof.

[Huh?]

The white-haired man was a bit puzzled at the unexpected situation.

‘Why are there two auras?’

He had come here to target Han-Yeol, so this unexpected situation was a bit annoying, but he was still confident.

He clenched his fist.

‘Well, it doesn't matter. With this insane power flowing through my body, I’ll destroy them all, whether it's two or three of them. I’ll make the two of them my own so that no living thing on this planet can ever resist me as my servants!’

He squinted his eyes slightly as he thought that.

‘Who is he?’

Han-Yeol looked down from the air with a baffled expression.

“Hahaha, Master, this is the first time an enemy is attacking the mansion.”

Han-Yeol looked around and groaned, “Ugh, yeah. I had taken good care of it till now.”

The white-haired man and the dozens of beings weren’t the only ones who invaded the mansion. More than a thousand Hunters were circling the mansion, climbing over the walls.

Boom!

The battle had already begun.

“But what kind of grudge does he have against me to break in here?”

“Oh, do you know him?”

“We’re not close, but we’re both pretty famous… So I guess you could say we’ve both heard of each other?”

“Haha, really?”

“Yeah. That’s Count Dracula, the British lord of vampires.”

“Hmm?”

Tia was in the sky, holding onto Han-Yeol’s side. She looked down at Count Dracula with an intrigued expression.

[Khahaha! Mr.Lee, I, the great vampire lord, Count Dracula, will hold a blood festival tonight to defeat you and prove once and for all who is the strongest in the whole world. Then I will put the whole world under my feet.]

“What the hell is this bastard saying?”

Han-Yeol hated this type of guy, and based on how his eyes looked, he didn’t look normal, so Han-Yeol didn’t even want to bother dealing with him.

‘It’s no fun dealing with someone who’s on drugs anyway.’

Getting provoked was only fun when his opponent was normal and sober.

“Wait a minute, Master.”

“Why?”

Tia grabbed his clothes and said, “I’ll deal with him.”

“Huh, will you be okay?”

“Hey, do you think I’m incapable?”

The corners of Tia’s eyes rose slightly.

Han-Yeol flinched.

“N-No, t-that’s not it…”

Han-Yeol knew better than anyone that Tia had evolved into the Arachnid Queen and was at the level of a Transcendent Master. However, he sensed that the vampire lord in front of him was just as powerful.

‘It seems like just anyone can become a Transcendent Master-Rank at this point. Is this the power of the second dimension?’

He didn’t really understand, but since his opponent was also a Transcendent Master-Rank, he didn’t feel like he could leave this to Tia alone. But since Tia was acting like this, he had to trust her.

“O-Okay. I-I’ll leave it to you.”

“Haha, Master, you’re the only one who trusts me.”

Tia gave Han-Yeol a deadly, charming wink.

“Leave it to me, haha.”

Swoosh!

As soon as she got permission, Tia broke free from Han-Yeol’s side and launched herself at the vampire lord.

[Khahaha, how absurd. You dare to take me on alone when it won’t be enough even if the two of you attacked at once?]

Count Dracula sneered at Tia’s thoughtless behavior.

‘You're mistaken to think of this body as an ordinary Hunter body. This insane burst of power is real. A power that’ll be able to destroy everything, kahahaha!’

He was actually a Hunter in the peacekeeping force sent to China as a representative of the United Kingdom. But while he was there, he met a being who provided him with a strange drug that allowed him to reach what he felt was an impossible barrier, surpassing the Master-Rank into a Transcendent Master-Rank, and gaining powers beyond that. As a result, his own power, as well as the power of his Hunter servants, had grown much stronger.

[My children, attack! We will drink every last drop of the blood of the beings here and turn them into our vampire blood!]

[Yes, lord!]

[Khaaaa!]

Step, step, step!

As soon as Count Dracula gave his order, the vampire servants, mostly S and A-Rank Hunters, started running and hopping over the mansion's walls. On the other hand, the vampires who were elsewhere had already managed to climb over the wall and enter the mansion.

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