Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 123: A New Generation (5)

The monster egg stopped reacting after absorbing mana from the Nutritious Fruit.

“Huh? What’s going on?” Han-Yeol muttered as he tilted his head in confusion.

He inspected the monster egg for a while before he decided to use his skill once again. ‘Item Appraisal.’

[Monster Egg]: Fertilized

Type: Hatching Egg

Description: A monster egg getting ready to hatch after receiving nutritious mana. The monster hatching out of the egg will be more powerful the better its environment is before hatching. It is recommended to keep the egg in an environment with suitable temperature and humidity.

“Oh… So this is how it works,” said Han-Yeol with a sigh of relief after reading the monster egg’s description.

He was quite relieved after finding out that there was nothing wrong with the monster egg, which was already undergoing the next step. However, he could not help but ask himself how well he should be taking care of the monster egg.

The first thing he did was to call an interior renovation company and the animal association to ask for a bird specialist. Then, he hired a university professor specializing in birds to provide consultation services in exchange for a handsome pay.

He later called Albert and told him to get started working on a room that could have its temperature and humidity controlled to great precision.

Albert simply smiled and replied without asking any questions.

Then…

Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!?

‘Hmm? It’s Sung-Jin?’ Han-Yeol looked at his phone, which was ringing.

“Hey, what’s up?”

[We’re done taking care of things over here, and I remembered that I haven’t thanked you yet.]

“Come on, we don’t need that between us. What’s there to be grateful for when I just helped my friend’s father?”

[I guess…]

Then, Sung-Jin suddenly whispered, [Father said he’s going to kill me if I don’t thank you, so just play along with it, will you?]

[What are you whispering about?]

When he heard Sung-Jin’s father’s voice in the background, Han-Yeol burst out in laughter. “Keke!”

[Ah, nothing. Anyway, I’m thanking you from the bottom of my heart so please accept it. Our factory and my father is safe thanks to you.]

“Keke! Alright. I’m always going to be here to help you, but the best thing would be for you to awaken as soon as possible.”

[You don’t have to remind me, punk.]

Pukeok!

[Argh!?Why are you hitting me?!]

[How dare you call our savior a punk?!]

[Han-Yeol is my friend!]

[He is also our savior!]

[Father!]

[Shut up!]

Then, Sung-Jin’s father took the phone and said, [Han-Yeol.]

“Yes, ahjussi?”

[Thank you so much.]

“Please do not mention it.”

[I will definitely pay you back one day.]

“Ah! I think you do not have to wait till one day.”

[What do you mean by that?]

Han-Yeol smirked after thinking of a great idea. He casually said, “I think I will need your help right now.”

[Tell me. I’ll help if I can.]

Their phone call ended after exchanging a few words.

“Hmm… I’m not well-versed in running a business, so I should ask for ahjussi’s help,” Han-Yeol muttered while thinking of Yoo-Bi.

He had to help Yoo-Bi figure out her abilities as soon as possible for his own sake. He could tell that her ability was a growth-type one, just like his, but the main difference was that she did not gain skills for committing actions like him. Rather, she gained experience and knowledge by creating more and more machinery.

In other words, her potential was basically limitless, and her abilities had to be kept confidential.

“I still lack strength and influence. I might be affiliated with the Horus raid party, but I’m just an average B Rank Hunter without them.”

The Horus raid party was a very good organization to be affiliated with, but Han-Yeol could not depend on them forever.

“I should consider forming my own raid party…”

Han-Yeol initially thought that being the Vice Leader of the Horus raid party was more than enough for him, but he soon realized that the world of the Hunters was not a forgiving place. There were hyenas lurking all over the place, ready to pounce the moment he showed any openings. In fact, the Hyena raid party was a prime example of this.

The Hyena raid party was quite easy to pick out as they were infamous for targeting other Hunters, but the other raid parties or guilds that pretended to be righteous while plotting something from behind the scenes were the real problem.

In short, Han-Yeol had to become stronger to survive in this world. He had to form his own organization, which was going to become his strength. He could not expect to continue being sheltered by someone else and by his personal strength alone.

The Horus raid party was an excellent shelter, but he could not tell for certain that they were not going to return to Egypt one day. After all, they were a foreign raid party, so it was quite obvious that they were not going to be staying in Korea forever.

What started as a simple thought slowly started to snowball, so Han-Yeol decided to go for a walk to clear his mind. Just as he did so…

Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!?

His smartphone rang.

He checked the caller and muttered, “Huh? Who’s this?”

Han-Yeol had a habit of not answering any calls from numbers he did not know before he awakened as a Hunter. After all, Korea had an issue with spam calls from telemarketers to the point that it was getting on his nerves.

However, he was now able to have 100% of such spam calls filtered after having obtained a Hunter smartphone. This helped him be certain that any calls he received were not going to be a spam call.

The problem was, Han-Yeol could not remember the last time that an unknown number had called him.

He hesitated for a moment before he decided to just answer it. “Hello?”

[Hello, Lee Han-Yeol Hunter-nim. My name is Team Leader Kim Hee-Ae from the Team 1 of the Hunter Management Department under the Hunters’ Association.]

Listening to the clear female voice that was on the other end of the line, Han-Yeol asked, “Ah, hello. But what business does the Hunter Management Department have with me?”

[We were investigating the recently summoned demons that took care of the monsters in Seoul, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, and Chungbuk, and we found that you were the one who had summoned them. We would like to request you to come to the association to discuss some things relating to that incident.]

It was a sudden invitation from the Hunters’ Association.

Most Hunters would think of it as an honor to be personally invited by the association, but…

“No thanks, I don’t see a point in my going all the way there,” Han-Yeol replied.

He couldn't care less if he was invited by the Blue House or by the Hunters’ Association.

The Hunters’ Association technically did not have any other roles aside from supporting the Hunters, so there was no reason for Han-Yeol to get too close to them or even cultivate a good relationship. This was the reason why he instantly shot down the offer.

[W-Wait!] The woman hurriedly shouted after Han-Yeol tried to hang up. She continued urgently, [Wait a second! W-We will hold an official ceremony to thank you and award you with a certificate of commendation! Also, we have prepared a special gift for you! We should prepare at least this much after inviting someone so special, right?]

“Hmm… A certificate and a gift?”

[Yes, we know that time is gold for Hunters, so we cannot simply ask you to give us your time for free, right?]

Kim Hee-Ae sounded quite desperate to Han-Yeol, but he decided to cut her some slack. He then said, “Well, I guess I should drop you a visit if you’ve prepared something. When and where should I go?”

[Ah, I will be sending you an SMS with the specific details.]

“Okay.”

[Thank you, and have a nice day.]

“You too.”

Beep!

The call ended.

The average Hunter would have already fainted after receiving such a call. Unbeknownst to Han-Yeol, the woman who had called him was actually not an ordinary office worker.

She was an awakened being as well, but she was working for the Hunters’ Association as her ability was not related to combat. Also, she went out on hunts with a few parties formed by the association because her ability was quite useful as a support ability.

On top of that, she was quite famous with the male Hunters thanks to her pretty face, slim body, bountiful breasts, and beautiful voice.

However, she was also known to be quite haughty and rude, so not a lot of people dared to make a move on her.

That was the reason that most Hunters who had been shot down by her would be in shock if they had heard her almost beg on the call.

Well, none of this actually mattered right now as Han-Yeol had no idea who she was.

Ring!

Han-Yeol received a message.

[Time: Tomorrow 03:00 pm]

[Location: LTC Hotel, 2nd Floor, OO Café, Seat 12.]

“Wow, that’s quite straightforward,” Han-Yeol muttered after reading the message.

The message carried the characteristic that the Hunters’ Association was well known for, which was the ‘can’t be bothered to elaborate’ style.

Han-Yeol prepared to go to Sung Jin Factory after checking the message.

He could have just run all the way there, but he decided to call a taxi instead. He felt lazy to run all that long distance, and it was technically illegal for a Hunter to use their ability when there were no monsters.

“I should probably go buy a supercar after visiting the factory,” he muttered.

He needed to buy a new car now that his van was out of commission. He could temporarily rent a car, but he did not feel like renting one.

“Why should I rent a car when I’m a Hunter? I have my image to take care of as well…” he grumbled.

He shouldn’t be saying when he had been driving a van this entire time instead of a flashy supercar just because he hadn’t been bothered enough to change it…

Anyway, he soon arrived at Sung Jin Factory. He exchanged greetings with Sung-Jin and his father before going up to their office.

“So, what can I help you with?” Sung-Jin’s father asked.

“Actually… I am thinking of starting a business,” Han-Yeol replied.

“A business?”

“Yes. Ah, please do not be worried as I do not plan to do anything related to monster parts.”

“Haha, don’t worry about that. I’ll be supporting you even if you decide to be in the same industry.”

“Hahaha… Really?”

Han-Yeol could not help but laugh awkwardly at the response. Sung-Jin’s father was an easy-going man, after all.

“So, what business do you plan to start?”

“I am thinking of manufacturing Hunter equipment using mana-coated materials.”

“Oh, Hunter equipment you say?”

“Yes.”

Sung-Jin’s father rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

After all, manufacturing Hunter equipment was something that any businessman would be interested in. However, most of them would simply remain interested and not get involved. After all, it was merely an interest and curiosity.

Manufacturing Hunter equipment required a lot of skills, and there was also the obstacle of having to compete with American goods even if one successfully manufactured the equipment. On top of that, the Hunters’ Association was already in the business of manufacturing Hunter equipment, so fierce competition should be expected both domestically and internationally.

The Hunter equipment industry was a prime example of a ‘Red Ocean’ business.

The United States had quite a lot of private companies manufacturing Hunter equipment, and this was made possible simply because their Hunters’ Association distributed whatever technology they developed to support these companies.

On the contrary, the Korean Hunters’ Association was the complete opposite of them. They monopolized whatever technology they developed and were quite unforgiving when it came to anything related to the industry.

There had been a lot of criticism because of their attitude toward the manufacturing industry, but the association simply did not have any plans to change their stance on the matter.

“The competition will be quite fierce.”

“Haha… I am aware of that since I had worked as a Porter as well. Still, I believe it is going to be worth a shot.”

“Well, I guess there won’t be any significant damage if you fail, so it is worth a shot…”

“Haha, I did not realize that until you mentioned it.”

Han-Yeol made more money than a medium-sized corporation, and most of his earnings were in pure profit, so it was true that he was not going to suffer any setback even if his business venture ended up failing.

“I’m so jealous…” Sung-Jin’s father grumbled.

“Haha…” Han-Yeol laughed awkwardly in response.

“Nothing I can do about that since that’s one of the perks of being a Hunter… Anyway, how can I help you then?”

“You can start by crafting machine parts from the monster parts you process and supply it to me.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, I am not asking for it for free. I will be paying for them.”

“Hoo…” Sung-Jin’s father muttered as his interest was piqued.

Han-Yeol might have asked for his help, but this was a great opportunity for the Sung Jin Factory to grow as well.

“I will pay you above the market rates,” Han-Yeol added.

“Hmm…” Sung-Jin’s father muttered and rubbed his chin.