Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 68: A Thorough Deal (4)

The normal way to hunt golems was to cast an AoE attack on the area that the mana detection device pointed at, and most Porters knew about this method even though golem hunts were rare these days. After all, this was a question that popped up quite often in their theory tests at the academy.

It was difficult for any Porter to forget anything about golems since the theories on how to deal with one were quite complicated, and most would find themselves losing marks on their tests because of it. Thus, it is safe to assume that most Porters would thoroughly study the golems just so that they would not fail the tests.

Rumble… Rumble… Rumble… Rumble…?

A period of time went by after they shot at the same spot. Then, the ground suddenly started to shake.

‘Wow, there really was a golem there? I wonder what kind of detection skill Hunter-nim has…?’?Joo-Hyung wondered to himself, since there was no way that anyone would be able to accurately hit a golem like Han-Yeol did unless they possessed a detection skill.

‘Or…does he have one of those mana detection devices made from the United States’ highly advanced technology…?’?he wondered once again as that was the only other possibility aside from the fact that the Hunter possessed a detection skill.

Just as Joo-Hyung was engrossed in his thoughts, the ground split apart and a Sand Golem rose up from the crevice.

Woooooong…!

The golem let out a deep reverberating sound.

A golem was not a creature, but rather, something that was similar to a robot that moved with mana.

‘Now, shall we get serious and slice it up?’?Han-Yeol thought.

Shwiiik!

Han-Yeol extended his chain, preparing for real combat. At the same time, he thought, ‘They say that the way to hunt these guys is to destroy or pull out their core, right?’

Han-Yeol realized that mana stones and scrap metals were not the only things that he could obtain from golems. He could also obtain the core, which was the main thing that enabled the golems to move.

The golems relied on mana stones to give them power, but it was the core that was in charge of their mobility.

It was possible to be quite handsomely rewarded if Han-Yeol sold the golem cores to the Hunters’ Association, but it was not easy to remove them from the golems in the first place.

The core was hidden somewhere in the golem’s body and surrounded by its thick hard skin. Finding it and destroying it was already difficult enough for an average Hunter to achieve. Taking it out without destroying it was even more difficult, or even impossible, to achieve.

“Keep firing!” Han-Yeol ordered.

“Y-Yes! Roger that!” the two Porters replied.

The Porters were slightly taken aback by Han-Yeol’s order, but they decided to follow it nevertheless. It was their duty to execute whatever the Hunter they were with asked them to.

The two Porters continued firing a barrage of bullets at the golem without ceasing.

Clack!

They immediately changed magazines as soon as they ran out of bullets before they continued firing once again.

Ratatatatata!

The bullets flying from behind Han-Yeol were not a threat at all ever since his Sixth Sense had reached the B Rank. He could easily avoid the bullets, since his skill allowed him to see the bullets’ trajectory.

Woooong!

The golem did not move an inch despite being rained down by a barrage of bullets.

‘I figured as much,’?Han-Yeol thought.

A golem was a very sturdy monster that did not feel pain.

‘Mana Explosion!’?Han-Yeol exclaimed inwardly as he activated his skill.

Plop… Kaboooom!

He fired a grenade from the grenade launcher attached to his HSK-447P at the golem’s face, and he increased the grenade’s firepower by infusing it with Mana Explosion.

A large explosion rocked the mine when the grenade accurately hit the golem’s face.

‘How does my heartfelt greeting taste like?’?Han-Yeol thought with a smirk.

***

Fwaaaa…

The explosion’s smoke cleared away to reveal the golem that was still standing in the midst of it all. Upon seeing the golem, the two Porters cried out, “H-Hunter-nim!”

The explosion looked quite powerful in their eyes, so they were terrified by the sight of the monster withstanding that powerful explosion without taking any damage while only shedding sand from its body.

‘Well, I already knew that golems are tenacious sturdy bastards,’?Han-Yeol thought. Everything was within his calculations. His previous use of Mana Explosion was to signal the start of his hunt and to test how sturdy the golems really were.

However, the Porters, on the other hand, could not read minds. Therefore, they were not aware of what Han-Yeol was thinking right now.

‘W-We are in trouble…!’?the two Porters thought.

The Porters were frozen in fear. They stopped firing their guns despite Han-Yeol ordering them to continue firing without ceasing, and slowly started to retreat backward as if they were ready to make a run for it any second now.

Han-Yeol could not help but react when the sound of gunfire stopped ringing throughout the cave.

‘Hmm… They can keep firing… Why did they stop? Ah… Did I buy too few bullets? Well, I guess it does make sense since I only bought ten thousand bullets and that will only be three thousand three hundred each if we divide it among the three of us.?

‘If a magazine can hold thirty bullets at once, then they will have around a hundred and ten magazines to work with on this hunt. But since they already used up three magazines just for this one golem… that means they are only left with a hundred and seven magazines for the remainder of the hunt. Hmm… It does seem like a stretch. As expected of these Porters! I knew I made the right choice hiring them!’?

Han-Yeol, who was stuck in his own delusion, thought with a satisfied look as he completely misunderstood what was going on.

‘How stupid can I be? I guess I will have to order at least a hundred thousand rounds next time…’?he thought as he noted it for his next hunt.

A Hunter possessed the right to purchase as many firearms and bullets as they wanted. South Korea used to be a gun-free society, but the appearance of the dimensional gates changed all of that as the order of society was thrown into chaos. That was why the country had no choice but to change the law and abolish the ban on firearms, allowing the Hunters to possess the purchased firearms as long as they registered them.

There were a couple of reasons for abolishing the ban on firearms, but the main reason was due to the fact that the Hunters were already much more dangerous than firearms themselves. Therefore, there was no point in banning them.

In fact, the ban on firearms only made it much more difficult for the Hunters to hunt monsters, and that was why there was no reason for the government to continue banning firearms while being at odds with the Hunters’ Association. It made no sense to keep firearms away from the Hunters’ hands when it made hunting monsters much easier and more convenient.

However, some unstable countries were thrown into further chaos when a group of vigilantes armed with firearms had joined forces with Hunters to conduct terrorism. Fortunately, there were no such issues as of yet in South Korea so far.

Thud…!

Now, back to reality.

The four-meter-tall giant golem slowly started to move after absorbing the brunt of the impact dealt by Han-Yeol. The Sand Golem was considered to be the weakest monster in Gold Mine, but its size and brute force should not be underestimated.

‘That doesn’t matter,’?Han-Yeol thought as he jumped.

Tak!

He flew through the air and found something glowing with a bright blue hue embedded within the golem’s body.

‘My eyes can,’?Han-Yeol thought as he spun in mid-air to close the distance with the golem. He threw his chain while using Restraint to immobilize one of the golem’s arms.

The golem possessed quite a large build, which made its movement slow and dull. The golem flinched and wobbled when the chain restrained its arm, since its size also made it difficult for it to maintain its balance while standing up.

It might be a monster being supported by the power of mana, but it was still made out of sand which was not a very tensile material in the first place.

‘See everything!’?Han-Yeol exclaimed inwardly.

Puuuuk… Pukeok!

Han-Yeol fell near the staggering golem’s side and stabbed his sword into the golem. Then, he felt the sensation of digging through the sand before the tip of his sword hit something and broke it.

Guoooh!

The golem staggered for a while more before the light on its eyes went away. It slowly started to crumble. The golem could no longer maintain its form after its core was destroyed.

Ding!

[The rank of ‘Sword Mastery’ has risen from (A) to (M).]

[‘Sword Mastery’ has reached Master-Rank.]

[There is a possibility of the skill evolving if certain conditions are met.]

[You have successfully fulfilled the requirements to evolve the skill ‘Sword Mastery’.]

[The skill has started to evolve.]

[‘Sword Mastery’ has created a sub-skill instead of evolving.]

[A new skill has been created: Flash Strike (F).]

‘Flash Strike…?’?Han-Yeol thought.

[Flash Strike (F)]

Type: Active

Description: A skill created by a swordsman who wanted to strike at the speed of light. It is a skill that strikes faster than light. The user may deal 300% additional damage if they hit their target’s weak spot, and deal 150% additional damage if they do not hit the target’s weak spot.

‘Oh, this is the first time that I’m getting a proper sword skill,’?Han-Yeol thought.

Most of the skills that Han-Yeol used were just skills that indirectly helped out whenever he swung his sword. He never had a proper active sword skill to inflict damage. However, he now had one to add to his arsenal of skills.

‘But…most of my skills will be limited to stabbing from now on… Do I have to go and buy a rapier instead…?’?Han-Yeol wondered.

Just when Han-Yeol was deep in thought, the two Porters, who were scared witless a while ago, were now flustered and dumbfounded. They initially thought ‘what kind of mixed hybrid is that?’ when they saw Han-Yeol take out his sword right after shooting at the golem from a distance, but they never imagined in their wildest dreams that they would see him dispatch the golem in one strike.

They had heard rumors of Hunters who enjoyed solo hunting, but they never thought that a solo-hunting Hunter would be this powerful. They simultaneously thought, ‘But I’m sure that he is an E Rank Hunter!’

Most Porters welcomed the fact that the Hunter they worked with were strong, since that reduced the chances of them dying along with them. However, that did not mean that they could simply accept the ridiculous display of strength that Han-Yeol had shown just now.

These two were experienced enough as Porters to tell how strong a Hunter was simply from observing them.

‘What the hell is that Hunter…?’?Joo-Hyung thought as he looked at Young-Jin.

‘How the hell should I know?’?Young-Jin replied to Joo-Hyung’s incredulous look.

“Can you guys please collect the mana stones and the gold?” Han-Yeol said.

Most of the time, the Porters would immediately collect the spoils as soon as the Hunters were done hunting. However, the two of them simply stood and watched as they were still stunned by what they were seeing. That was why Han-Yeol had to nudge them into taking action, since they seemed to have momentarily forgotten what to do.

“Y-Yes, Hunter-nim!” Joo-Hyung replied.

“I-I am sorry!” Young-Jin replied in a hurry.

The two started to move as soon as Han-Yeol finished speaking.

‘Hmm… They seemed like veteran Porters a while ago, but now they are acting like a bunch of newbies…’?Han-Yeol thought. He could not understand why the Porters were acting this way, since he had been leisurely hunting without any worries. He did notice, however, that the two had been frozen with fear the entire time.

Han-Yeol tilted his head in confusion when he could not figure out why the Porters were so disoriented.

The two collected the mana stone and gold under the pile of sand left behind by the Sand Golem.

“How much gold is there?” Han-Yeol asked.

“We have to weigh it to be certain, but there seems to be around five hundred grams,” Joo-Hyung replied.

“Ah, really?” Han-Yeol muttered in response.

He thought, ‘Ughh… When am I going to collect a hundred kilos of it…?’

Of course, Han-Yeol had the option of buying a hundred kilos of gold since the price of gold had plummeted and it was now slightly more expensive than a normal metal. In fact, he had enough money in his bank account to purchase a hundred kilos of gold in one single transaction.

‘Why would I spend money when I can just hunt for it?’?Han-Yeol thought.

The gold that he obtained from golem hunting could only be sold at the same price as scrap, but Han-Yeol intended to kill a few birds with one stone by hunting the golem to gain experience points for his level and skills while collecting the gold to pay the demon merchant.

This made much more sense to a scrooge like Han-Yeol, who would rather go through difficulty than spend money unnecessarily.

“Alright, let’s get moving. Why don’t we hunt properly now since we have already started the hunt?” Han-Yeol said.

“Ah, yes, Hunter-nim,” the two Porters nonchalantly replied.

These two did not really think much of it, but they were in for a world of surprise.

***

“Huff… Huff… Huff… Huff…”

“E-Enough… Please…!”

“W-Water…!”

Joo-Hyung and Young-Jin were severely disoriented and in an extremely exhausted state. They had hunted for eight hours straight, collecting mana stones and gold without rest. They had repeated the process of moving, hunting, and collecting over and over again. The only time that they had been able to rest was when they were seated in the truck while on the move.

Thud!

Their twelve hours of intense hunting came to an end when they loaded the core of the Metal Golem, which was the final monster of the day.

“Thank you for your hard work. I will certainly pay you more for working really hard today, so please don’t worry about it,” Han-Yeol said.

“Huff… Huff…?T-Thank you, Hunter-nim,” Joo-Hyung replied.

At the same time, he thought, ‘I’m never going to work with you ever again.’

‘Ugh… I think I’m going to go insane from exhaustion…’?Yong-Jin grumbled inwardly.

These two were severely exhausted after experiencing Han-Yeol’s tight hunting pattern, which they had never experienced before. After all, most Hunters preferred to hunt in a relaxed manner.

While the two Porters were too exhausted to do anything, Han-Yeol went to a secluded area. Gold Mine consisted of numerous mine shafts with pockets here and there, so there were plenty of places that he could go to be away from the Porters’ eyes.

Clack… Clack… Clack… Clack… Clack…?

Then, Han-Yeol placed the mana stones he just collected on the floor. He asked, ‘I can absorb these and increase my skill level, right Karvis?’?

[That is correct. There is a limit to how much you can raise your skill level at a single time, but I think absorbing that jewel called the Demon’s Eye or whatever it is called after increasing your skill level is the right decision,] Karvis replied.

‘Alright, then shall we get started?’?Han-Yeol thought as he extended his right hand toward the pile of mana stones.?Then, he used Mana Control to assist him in synchronizing his mana with the mana coming from the mana stones.

When Han-Yeol felt the mana stones’ mana rise up like air, he immediately used the skill he had bought from the demon merchant for a hundred kilos of gold. He cast, ‘Mana Absorption!’?

Wooooong!

Then, the mana stones’ mana reacted to his skill. It started to seep into Han-Yeol’s extended hand.

‘Haap!’?Han-Yeol groaned inwardly.

Badump… Badump… Badump… Badump…!

His heart wildly reacted to the absorbed mana, beating faster and faster.

‘W-What is this sensation I’m feeling…?’?Han-Yeol thought as his heart started to beat even faster. He wondered if this was how it felt to be under the influence of illegal drugs. An unexplainable sensation spread throughout his body while his heart continued beating faster and faster.

Ding!

[The rank of ‘Mana Control’ has risen from (B) to (A).]

[The rank of ‘Mana Mastery’ has risen from (C) to (B).]

When two of his skills leveled up at the same time, Han-Yeol thought with a satisfied look, ‘Heh, it finally reached A Rank.’?

One of the first skills he had obtained upon awakening with his growth-type ability finally became A Rank. Mana Control was a basic skill that controlled the assisted flow of Han-Yeol’s mana so it took quite a while for it to level up.

‘This is just the start,’?Han-Yeol thought as he clenched his fist while feeling his newfound power.