Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 121: A New Generation (3)

Han-Yeol immediately took out his smartphone and called Yoo-Bi.

Ring… Ring… Ring… Ring…

He could feel his insides churning while waiting for the call to connect. He pleaded inwardly, ‘No… Yoo-Bi… You can’t die…!’?

Aside from being a very good little sister and an excellent comrade, Yoo-Bi was quite talented and someone that Han-Yeol could trust wholeheartedly. It was going to be impossible for him to find someone to replace her.

[Oppa?]

“Yoo-Bi! Haa… That’s a relief… Are you safe?”

[Ah, yes. I was able to fend off the monsters and hide in the monster shelter thanks to the HSK-447P you gave me.]

“Oh, you bought a shelter too?”

[Yes, I bought it for my mother in case of emergencies, and I’m really glad I did!]

“That’s great… That’s really great…”

[But where are you right now, oppa?]

“Ah, I came to see my father, and I ended up helping the fire department with their rescue operations. Then, I suddenly thought about you, so I gave you a call.”

[Ah, I see. Then, it must be difficult to see you right now?]

“No, not at all. Let’s meet right now. I’ll go to your place.”

[No, I’ll go there instead. I just have to go to your father’s shop, right?]

“Y-Yeah…”

Slightly taken aback by Yoo-Bi’s response, Han-Yeol wondered, ‘What’s wrong with her…?’

Han-Yeol, after agreeing to wait for Yoo-Bi, continued helping out with the rescue operations for an hour.

The billiard hall was currently closed. Well, it was pretty impossible to conduct any business when the city was in such a state. Han-Yeol’s father was also not in the shop, since his father had gone to help other people in the building.

It could be risky for his father to go about his business outside after what had happened, but Han-Yeol was not worried as the Void Devils were still protecting him.

Ring…!

“Ah, oppa,” Yoo-Bi called out.

The billiard hall was closed with the door remaining unlocked, so Yoo-Bi was able to enter by herself.

“Wow, you came quite quickly.”

“Yes.”

“Do you want tea or coffee?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

Han-Yeol then shrugged and sat down on the sofa across from where Yoo-Bi was sitting. He was not that thirsty so he decided to skip getting a drink as well.

“So, what’s up?” he asked.

“Oppa… I awakened this time,” Yoo-Bi replied.

Thud!

“A-Are you serious?!” Han-Yeol shouted in surprise as he shot up from his seat and accidentally knocked the table in the process.

He could not help being surprised because Yoo-Bi had awakened much faster than he expected. In his own case, he had waited four whole years before awakening. In addition, he had always wished for Yoo-Bi to awaken as soon as possible since that would mean that he was going to gain a dependable ally.

In other words, the time that he had been waiting for had finally come.

“Yes.”

“That’s great! Congratulations! Then, we can go and hunt together from now on!” Han-Yeol exclaimed in delight.

Of course, he had to find out what abilities Yoo-Bi had awakened with before anything else.

“Ah, you were probably not able to register with the association because of what happened. Shall we go now? Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, that’s not the problem…”

“Hmm?” Han-Yeol was confused.

Sensing that Yoo-Bi was hesitating for some reason, he thought, ‘Did she awaken as an F Rank…?’?

That would be unfortunate, because Han-Yeol wouldn’t be able to hire Yoo-Bi any longer if that was the case. They did have a strong bond together, but Han-Yeol would never let his personal feelings get in the way of business.

An F Rank Hunter was too expensive to use as a Porter or a Manager, so it would be better for him and the F Rank Hunter to go their separate ways.

“That is… My ability is a bit strange…” Yoo-Bi muttered.

“Strange? How so?”

“Hmm… It’s a bit difficult to explain, but I’ll try to explain it nonetheless…”

“Alright, go ahead,” Han-Yeol replied.

He was surprised that Yoo-Bi found something difficult to explain as she was the smart one in the party. He decided to intently listen to her explanation. After all, he was quite curious about what ability she had awakened with.

“That is…” Yoo-Bi started explaining.

***

“…”

“…”

Yoo-Bi finished explaining after thirty minutes.

Gulp…!

Han-Yeol could not help but gulp after listening to Yoo-Bi’s explanation. He asked, “A-Are you sure that’s your ability…?”

“Yes, I know what ability it is, but I have no idea how I should be using it… I did study quite diligently, but I never imagined that I was going to get an ability like this…” Yoo-Bi replied.

“Haa…”?Han-Yeol let out a sigh.

He tried to make sense of the situation, because this was not a light situation that he could simply brush off.

“Yoo-Bi…”

“Yes, oppa?”

“To put it simply… Your ability is an amazing one.”

“R-Really?!”

“Absolutely! But the problem is…you will need someone you can trust to help your ability to blossom. You know about that, right?”

“Y-Yes…” said Yoo-Bi with a nod.

“I highly value your ability and I would love to personally sponsor you. Of course, you can decide if you are going to accept my sponsorship or not, but I really want to become your sponsor.”

“…do you really think my ability is worth sponsoring?” Yoo-Bi asked in an incredibly serious tone.

She had hoped that she was going to awaken with a powerful combat ability if she ever awakened so that she could fight side-by-side with Han-Yeol. This was why she felt disappointed after having awakened with skills that were quite far from a combat ability.

The World of the Hunters was ruled by the law of the survival of the fittest, where the strong took everything. Needless to say, non-combat Hunters did not get the respect they deserved from their combat-oriented peers.

‘Why does my ability have to be crafting and controlling mechanical stuff…’?she lamented inwardly.

Yes, she had awakened with all three abilities related to crafting machinery with her mana.

‘The experience theory was wrong…as expected…’?she grumbled inwardly.

She had never done much related to machinery while working as a Porter or when she was young. In fact, she had never played with Legos in her life. If the experience theory had any merit to it, then she should have awakened with something to do with puzzles or studying instead…

‘Or…did I get this ability because I’m good at puzzles…?’?she wondered before shaking away the never-ending thoughts.

Whatever the reason may be, she was certain that the abilities Hunters awakened with were decided at random.

“Uhm… oppa…”

“Hmm? Yes, Yoo-Bi?”

“Do you think my ability will be helpful in combat if used properly…?”

“Hmm… I can’t say for sure…but I think it’s going to depend on what kind of machinery you develop.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

When Yoo-Bi crossed her arms over her chest and started thinking, Han-Yeol remained quiet to give her space to think in silence.

He browsed the net on his smartphone and read some news articles while waiting for her. It went without saying that the whole internet was in an uproar over what had taken place last night so he thought of browsing to see if there were any interesting articles about it.

‘Hmm…’?Han-Yeol first visited the largest media website, N Company News Site, but he did not find anything interesting there.

The only thing he found on that site were articles saying that numerous dimensional holes had appeared all over Korea and there were many casualties in the process, which was something he was already aware of.

[Another dimensional rift apart from the dimensional holes?!]

[The government’s quick response managed to limit the damage caused by the monsters.]

[A miracle created by the government and the Hunters’ Association’s quick response!]

[Dimensional rift, what is it? Let’s find out.]

.

[Do we have to stabilize the dimensional rifts ourselves?]

Seuk… Seuk…?

Han-Yeol swiped his finger on his smartphone screen to find anything interesting, but all of the articles simply repeated the same thing as if somebody had given them a script to read. He furrowed his brow in frustration and went to the American company, G Company Search Engine, instead.

It was only after he searched on the foreign website that he was able to see videos of the demons he had summoned fighting against the monsters. He then wondered, ‘Wow… It’s right here on foreign websites, but I can’t find any of it on Korean websites. Are the Hunters’ Association and the government pulling the strings from behind?’?

South Korea’s media freedom ranked 72nd, which was two spots behind Japan. Of course, this was still decent when compared to certain countries under dictatorships or regimes that completely censored freedom of speech.

Han-Yeol read the comments on the video.

[Look at this! Someone summoned demons to fight against the monsters. There’s not a single Hunter in sight!]

[But why are our websites singing praises of the government and the Hunters’ Association?]

[Wow… Even the Hunters’ Association is starting to make a fool out of themselves like the government…]

[Is there anything we can do about this country…?]

[But just who in the world has the ability to summon that many demons at once…?]

[Beats me… I don’t think it’s a Korean Hunter though…no matter how much I want this monster of a Hunter to be one of us…]

[Don’t tell me… Is there an underground organization of demon summoners that we aren’t aware of?!]

[Ah! That must be it!]

There were countless comments that exchanged information, spread rumors, and cussed the government. It was going to be impossible for the Korean Government to request a company based in America to take down their website because of free speech.

‘Sigh… What a bunch of morons…’?Han-Yeol sighed and shook his head.

He was quite frustrated that his country’s government had not progressed even in the slightest bit. It was still the same circus that it had been before the dimensional holes appeared on Earth.

Just as Han-Yeol was busy cursing the government inwardly, Yoo-Bi finally said, “I’ve decided, oppa.”

Han-Yeol put his smartphone in his pocket and replied, “Ah, what have you decided?”

“They say that you should trust someone you decided to trust all the way, right? I want to continue working with you, oppa.”

Han-Yeol smirked after hearing the words he wanted to hear. He declared, “Excellent choice. I will help you to become the best in the world.”

“Thanks, oppa.”

Han-Yeol was the one who had first extended his hand toward Yoo-Bi last time, but it was now her turn to extend her hand first. He might have been quite generous to her all this while, but it was now time for them to start a new chapter of working together on equal footing.

Tak!

Han-Yeol grabbed Yoo-Bi’s hand and said, “I look forward to working with you, Ms. Han Yoo-Bi.”

“Likewise, Mr. Lee Han-Yeol.”

The two of them laughed after shaking hands.

Then, they went to the lawyer’s office to annul their old Porter contract as well as come up with a new contract between Hunters.

Han-Yeol was currently affiliated with the Horus raid party, so he couldn’t directly sign a contract with Yoo-Bi. However, that was circumvented by him setting up a company for her to sign a contract with. The contents of the contract were very fair to both parties so neither side was giving more nor receiving less.

Sukeok… Sukeok…!

Each of them kept one copy of the notarized contract, and the lawyer as well as a witness kept one copy each.

“So we ended up signing a contract once again,” Han-Yeol said with a smile.

“Yeah, I think we are bound by fate or something. We somehow seem to keep bumping into each other ever since we met that day,” Yoo-Bi replied.

“It does sound like it, now that you mention it.”

“Anyway, oppa.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s good that we signed a contract, but what are your plans from now on?”

“Hmm… I’m thinking of opening my own business too.”

“Your own business…?”

Yoo-Bi was a bit taken aback when Han-Yeol suddenly mentioned opening his own business.

“Yeah, I’m quite established as a Hunter, but a man should try his luck opening a business at least once in his life, right? I have been thinking of it all this while, but I think I’ve found an excellent product thanks to you, Yoo-Bi. Of course, I will share my plans with you once I map it out, but I have a feeling that you will be the key to it. I will explain my plans at a later date and then you can decide if you’re on board or not.”

“Hmm… I have no idea what’s what, but I’m sure you have thought it through. I won’t mind cooperating with you as long as I benefit from it.”

“Awesome. Thanks, Yoo-Bi.”

“You don’t have to thank me as long as I will be benefiting from it as well. Wait… I will be, right?”

“Absolutely!”

Han-Yeol was not the type of person who was foolish enough to cut open a goose because he was greedy for the golden egg it laid. He was someone who thought in the long term and was not blinded by short-term profits. He also valued personal relationships and connections above anything else.

Simply put, he prided himself in being able to think this way even after he had awakened as a Hunter.

“Yoo-Bi.”

“Yes?”

“I think we should find out more about your ability first. I’m sure you didn’t have the opportunity to test your abilities out, right?”

“Ah, not yet.”

“Alright, I will be with you so feel free to use it to your heart’s content.”

“Okay, oppa.”