Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 50: Solo Raid (3)

[You have successfully paid 5,000 won.]

A Hunter, who earned 5.2 billion won, actually contemplated whether to pay five thousand won or not. Anyone else who saw Han-Yeol struggling like that would have probably found it strange.

Han-Yeol downloaded the video he bought for five thousand won and thoroughly analyzed Donkey Kong’s attack patterns. His habit from his Porter days where he analyzed monster attack patterns just in case of emergencies had proven to be quite a lot of help time and time again.

After studying the five-hour-long video without fast-forwarding it even once, Han-Yeol repeatedly watched the video three times to perfectly study Donkey Kong’s attack patterns. Then, he checked the raid field since he might lose it to another raid party if he did not manage to get there first on time.

It was rare to see Hunters doing a solo raid, but that did not mean that raid parties were just as rare as that. In fact, raid monsters were quite popular among the Hunters and most of them had their own raid parties just to raid them.

The main reason for their popularity was due to the fact that a raid monster’s mana stone was a much better source of energy compared to a normal monster. Their body parts were also received differently by the factories—in short, expensive. Couple those facts with the fact that a raid monster was not something that you could hunt 24/7 whenever you wanted, their loot became all the more precious.

Han-Yeol scrolled through the website to see if there were any open raid fields but…he soon thought, ‘Ah… There aren’t any suitable ones…’?

The raid fields did not open at the exact same time, so most of the guilds hired people to sit and monitor the raid fields 24/7. Looking at the available ones, Han-Yeol thought to himself, ‘Seoul and Gyeonggi are all gone… and Chungcheon is gone as well. Hmm… Huh? Gangwon?’?

Perhaps it was a stroke of luck, but the Gangwon area did not look as busy as the other regions. Han-Yeol stared at the Gangwon area’s raid fields, which had quite a few green lights on, before he immediately booked a slot.

Click… Click… Tap… Tap… Tap…!

[You have reserved the E Rank raid field, Donkey Kong Field.]

‘Alright!’?Han-Yeol inwardly exclaimed. He had been a tad bit nervous about whether he would get the slot or not, but luck was on his side. He had managed to get the slot and not waste any more time on his computer. Grinning, he thought, ‘Hehehe… I have great luck today.’?

It seemed that the heavens had come to pity the poor boy, deciding to help him out in recent months.

***

Vrooom…!

Han-Yeol got into his RV truck and drove down to Gangwon-do.

‘You gotta strike while the iron is hot,’?Han-Yeol thought. He did not want to delay it until tomorrow only to find the raid field had disappeared or that another guild had cut the queue and snatched it from right under his nose. Of course, cutting the queue and taking someone else’s raid field was practically illegal. However, the Hunters’ world was a dog-eat-dog world and the law was not going to be on the side of a weaker Hunter.

‘A solo raid… I’m getting a bit nervous,’?he thought.

Accidents were more likely to occur during a raid as opposed to a normal hunt, but the rewards were much more tempting than a normal hunt. Therefore, quite a lot of Hunters risked their lives to challenge it for the riches it promised.

However, due to the high fatality in recent months, most guilds and raid parties preferred to lower the difficulty level by a rank to reduce their risks. In fact, a handful of guilds started to monopolize the lower-rank raid fields, and this in turn led the other raid parties and guilds to launch a complaint against them to the Hunters’ Association. However, the Hunters’ Association stayed silent and refused to comment on the matter until now.

Han-Yeol was on the way to Gangwon-do, Yanggu, when he had a thought. ‘Hold on a minute, Yanggu?’?

[Gangwon-do, Yanggu-gun, Dong-myeon, Sate-ri.]

Screeeeeech!

Han-Yeol slammed the brakes as soon as he reached the destination. It was not a smart idea to suddenly slam the brakes like that with a truck traveling 70 kilometers per hour, because it would degrade the brakes faster. However, that was not the important issue right now.

Grabbing his hair, Han-Yeol exclaimed inwardly, ‘Yanggu-gun, Dong-myeon, Sate-ri… That’s in North Korea!’

He had previously heard some rumors that some of the hunting grounds and fields in Gangwon-do on the North Korean side would be mistaken as a South Korean field due to a glitch in the system.

‘No wonder nobody reserved a slot for it! Ahhhh! Damn it! Are you an idiot or what?!’?Han-Yeol cussed himself inwardly.

Han-Yeol had already entered Gangwon-do (the South Korean side) and was deep within the mountains. It was going to be a huge waste of time for him to turn around now and simply go back. Unfortunately, his crazy tendency sprung into action when things went south. His attitude of stubbornly focusing on one thing, which could be seen as an advantage or a disadvantage at times, took over his mind.

‘I heard that some of the raid fields and hunting grounds in Gangwon-do, Yanggu are a part of the South Korean territory because of the effect from the mana wave, so even the North Koreans aren’t aware of its existence in the first place. That’s why most of the raid fields naturally vanish on their own, or our government passes the information to North Korea and lets them get rid of it. If that’s the case, then I can just go and take care of it myself… In secret, of course,’?Han-Yeol reasoned to himself.

That was how Han-Yeol ended up coming up with a very dangerous and risky plan in his head.

***

Complex was the perfect word to describe the current relationship between South Korea and North Korea. The world changed quite a lot after the aliens’ appearance, and the relationship between South Korea and North Korea was not as bad as it had been before, but it was still an awkward and complex one.

Of course, crossing the border was a huge offense. You could not blame either side for thinking that if someone like Han-Yeol, a Hunter who could be considered as a human weapon, crossed their borders, they would see it no different from a declaration of war.

‘I’ll just make a quick visit in secret. Nobody will know, since they will erase the records anyway,’?Han-Yeol justified.

The raid field was designated into the South Korean server by mistake because of the mana waves, but it was a raid field that belonged to North Korea and it was bound to be erased from the records. Also, the South Korean government usually sent a notice to the North, requesting them to clear the raid field just in case it did not naturally disappear and instead blow up only to cause severe damages to the south.

‘I’m just going to quickly go there, kill the raid monster, and leave before anyone notices it,’?Han-Yeol thought. There was not going to be any problem if he just kept his mouth shut.

‘Ahh… But safety first is my life’s motto…’?he grumbled inwardly.

The whole thing started to become a headache now that Han-Yeol thought of it that way. He should not be going ahead with his plan if he had stuck to his usual personality, since it was bound to be a risky thing to do. However, he found it cumbersome to go back empty-handed after coming all the way here. On top of that, the competition to reserve a slot for the raid fields had been so intense a while ago when he was making his booking that he had ended up thinking that he was lucky to get one in the first place. This meant that he had not been sure if he was going to even be able to get a raid field slot later or not.

Beeeeep!

A horn blasted in this rural secluded place, because Han-Yeol slammed his head into his car’s horn out of frustration.

‘Do I bear the risks or wait for another opportunity that who knows when will come…? This is the main issue right now… But how did that Blue Hunter manage to do all this in the first place…?’?Han-Yeol wondered.

It was very bothersome to do a solo raid now that Han-Yeol tried to do so himself. He pondered over and over again before deciding to completely give up on the raid field. He came to the conclusion that it was not worth doing something illegal that could land him in jail no matter how much time he had lost and wasted coming all the way here. Also, the fact that South Korea had an arrest rate of 70% to 80% further supported his decision.

‘Tsk… it’s a shame but what can I do,’?Han-Yeol thought as he prepared to head back. It was at that moment, when he was about to turn his truck that…

“!!”

‘This sensation! Mana Eyes!’?When his senses suddenly tingled, Han-Yeol immediately infused mana into his eyes. He saw that his entire surroundings were covered in mana the moment he activated his skill. He then muttered inwardly, ‘I’m inside the field…’?

Han-Yeol read that a raid field usually occurred in secluded places where nature’s clean mana had the highest concentration. However, there were no further accurate details on it, because nobody from the Hunters’ Association had ever experienced one forming in front of them.

‘The problem is… I have no idea what rank this raid field will be…’?Han-Yeol thought nervously.

He would still attempt to raid the raid field if it was an E Rank one, regardless of whether the Donkey Kong appeared or not, but he was going to run away without looking back if the rank was any higher than that. The Hunters’ Association would send someone to investigate the area once they picked up the mana waves coming from the new raid field anyway.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

‘It’s coming,’?Han-Yeol thought as he readied himself.

The raid field was quite small. That was obvious, since only one monster was going to appear in it, and that was how he heard the earlier footsteps.

Han-Yeol decided to leave his truck and hide in the bushes.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The monster’s footsteps grew louder and signaled that it was getting closer. Then, the raid monster finally made its appearance.

‘Huh? Donkey Kong?’?Han-Yeol muttered inwardly in surprise. There was no way that his luck was going to be so good that the raid field that suddenly appeared just as he was about to turn back would be the raid field for the same monster he was initially targeting.

‘Alright!’?Then, Han-Yeol rejoiced inwardly at the fact that he did not have to illegally cross the border to North Korea, and neither did he have to go back empty-handed.

Also, according to the rules and guidelines set out by the Hunters’ Association, any raid field that an association’s investigator had not visited was fair game for everybody. In short, this meant that a raid field that had not come in contact with the Hunters’ Association was going to be finder’s keepers.

“Hooo…”?Han-Yeol calmed his breathing as the Donkey Kong searched for him in its surroundings.

Sniff…! Sniff…! Sniff…!

The Donkey Kong started to sniff around just like how a gorilla would as it looked for Han-Yeol, its intruder.

Han-Yeol aimed for the Donkey Kong for a moment before he activated his skill, ‘Restrain!’

It was only for a split second, but he took advantage of the opening where Donkey Kong was distracted and threw his chain toward the raid monster’s leg.

Shwiiiiiik!

“Grrruoo!”?The Donkey Kong angrily stomped when a chain flew out of nowhere and bound itself around its leg. It stomped on the ground and pulled on the chain in an attempt to snap the chain off.

Creak… Creak…!

‘How stupid. Do you think a chain worth three billion won is going to snap so easily?’?Han-Yeol confidently thought. He had invested three billion won to coat the chain he was using with mana that explosively increased its toughness, and the chain’s toughness was further reinforced by his Chain Mastery skill as well. It was going to be difficult for a monster to snap the chain no matter how strong it was.

Creak… Clank! Creak… Clank!

At that moment, while the Donkey Kong’s full attention was diverted toward the chain, Han-Yeol took out his M4A2 rifle from within the bushes and placed the butt of the rifle to his shoulder. He activated his skill before pulling the trigger, ‘Power Strike.’?

Ratatatatata!

The bullets, infused with the B Rank Power Strike skill, instantly flew across the air and slammed themselves at the distracted Donkey Kong.

‘It’s as tough as I expected it to be,’?Han-Yeol thought.

The raid monster withstood Power Strike quite well for an E Rank monster, but Han-Yeol was not fazed at all. Power Strike was not his main method of attack anyway.

Clack… Clack…

It was at that moment that Han-Yeol had emptied his magazine and the clicking of his rifle reverberated through the air that the enraged Donkey Kong charged at him without even bothering to free the chain bound on its leg.

“Grrruoo!”?The Donkey Kong roared while rushing toward Han-Yeol.

‘Huh? It’s dumber than it looks I guess?’?Han-Yeol thought. His chain went around a thick tree trunk and formed a ninety-degree angle. This was a trap he had prepared in advance as insurance, just in case things went south.

Clack!

Han-Yeol pulled the chain as hard as he could.

Kwachik! Bam!

“Grrrruoooo!”?The Donkey Kong roared in anger when the chain wrapped around its leg tightened, causing it to fall from its momentum. It did not suffer huge damage despite falling face first with its heavy body weight, since it was surrounded by an innate barrier that absorbed most of the impact.

In fact, the Donkey Kong roared in anger and not pain or anything else. It was annoyed, since it was getting toyed around by a puny human. Also, it was one way for it to reduce its enemy’s morale, but it was nothing but noise pollution to Han-Yeol’s ears.

Han-Yeol aimed his M4A2 rifle at the raid monster once again before he fired a grenade while activating his skill, ‘Mana Explosion.’

Plop… Kaboooom!

“Gruuuaaaaaa!”?The Donkey Kong roared in agony and squirmed when the grenade accurately hit its face directly before exploding. After staggering around, it let out another roar, “GRAAAAAAA!”?

Bam!

The Donkey Kong slammed its fist on the ground in anger, and then it straightened its posture before rushing toward Han-Yeol once again.

1. The Gangwon province makes up the northernmost tip of South Korea and the southernmost tip of North Korea. The province was divided in half when the country was split after the Korean War. To avoid confusion by the foreigners, Gangwon became the English spelling for the South Korean part, and Kangwon became the English spelling for the North Korean part. However, the spelling maintains the same in Korean as ??? which was the reason why Han-Yeol mistook it. I maintained the spelling to be Gangwon since it wouldn’t really make sense if I made it Kangwon.