Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 74: Getting Ready To Film (4)

    Fwaaaaa!

“Kyaaahk!”

“Euaaaak!”

An enormous flame shot out from the terrorist and flew toward Han-Yeol and the people behind him. Those who valued their lives immediately ran away from Han-Yeol, but it was too late.

‘These guys are really the worst evil bastards...’ Han-Yeol muttered inwardly as he gritted his teeth.

Even a five-year-old kid would know that a terrorist was a bad person, and the fact that the one in front of Han-Yeol intentionally aimed at the civilians only proved that stereotype true.

Some people might give the terrorists the benefit of the doubt when they carried out their acts because of their hatred for the United States or to bring attention to their causes, just like how the Koreans acted under the Japanese occupation, but their actions this time were nothing of that sort. These terrorists were only using the cover of their beliefs as a pretense to fulfill their hideous desires.

However, Han-Yeol did not seem to be taken aback even though the flame was right in front of him. In fact, he had an angry look instead of a nervous one. He muttered inwardly, ‘Force Shield.’

Bzzt!

A large shield made out of mana appeared on Han-Yeol’s left hand, and that was not all.

‘Heup!’ he let out a groan as he gathered his mana from all over his body and infused it into his shield.

[‘Mana Strengthening’ has been activated.]

[The effect of ‘Force Shield’ has been amplified.]

‘Huh?’ Han-Yeol muttered in surprise at the sudden message that popped up. He did not expect his new skill, Mana Strengthening amplifying Force Shield, to activate.

Also...

Tak!

Han-Yeol kicked off the ground and jumped toward the flame.

[How foolish! You can’t block my flames with cheap tricks like that!] the terrorist shouted with a hint of arrogance in his voice.

He had just used one of his three skills, Fire Storm, and his two other skills were passive skills that amplified the firepower of Fire Storm.

Numerous Tankers in the Middle East had tried to face his Fire Storm head-on, and the number of Tankers he had burnt to a crisp for their arrogance was enough to circle a football field three times over.

‘What the hell is that bastard saying?’ Han-Yeol grumbled inwardly. He could not respond to what the terrorist was saying since he did not understand Arabic.

Han-Yeol raised his Force Shield, which was quite enlarged now, and faced the Fire Storm head-on.

Just as Fire Storm was about to collide with his shield, a thought suddenly crossed Han-Yeol’s mind, ‘Will it be possible for me to absorb this with Mana Absorption...?’

He was suddenly curious.

Han-Yeol was the type of person who needed to satisfy their curiosity the moment he felt it, and that was why he decided to change his plan at the last second when the Fire Storm was right in front of his face.

‘Mana Absorption!’  Han-Yeol instantly activated his skill, which he previously used over and over again to absorb the mana stones and the Demon’s Eyes.

Force Shield suddenly started to shine brightly.

[W-What the hell?!]

[What the hell did that bastard do this time?!]

The three terrorists grimaced at the same time when the Korean Hunter’s shield started to shine.

A normal person might think that the shield was simply shining, but it was different in the eyes of the awakened. The victory or defeat in a battle between the awakened could be decided based on a minuscule difference in the amount of mana, mana control, or skills used, and that was the reason why the awakened were very sensitive to small changes that occurred while in combat.

[Still! Nothing can stop my Fire Storm!] Mahmoud shouted with confidence.

Baaaaaaam!

“Kyaaaahk!” 

The civilians in the area screamed in horror when a loud blast thundered in the surroundings the moment the terrorist’s Fire Storm and Han-Yeol’s Force Shield collided. They were in despair, feeling certain that the Hunter was burnt to a crisp by the explosion.

However,

Fwaaaaaa!

“L-Look over there!” one of the civilians shouted while pointing toward where the blast had occurred.

Han-Yeol was standing with a barrier protecting him, and the brightly shining barrier around him had seemingly absorbed the flames from the terrorist.

[H-How is this possible?!] Mahmoud exclaimed in disbelief.

The terrorists were baffled when their most powerful skill had been absorbed by the Korean Hunter, and the fact that it happened right in front of them made them doubt their own eyes.

[T-This is impossible!] Mahmoud shouted from anger and surprise.

There were plenty of awakened who had managed to avoid his attack, but none of them had faced it head-on like what the Korean Hunter did. Mahmoud completely trusted that nothing could stop the destructive power of his Fire Storm, so he could not help but feel despair when his belief was shattered in an instant.

[Mahmoud! Mahmoud! Damn it!] the other terrorist called out.

It was normal for a person to be disoriented once a strong belief of theirs had been shattered so suddenly. Mahmoud, who was a psychopath, could not recover from the shock. His skill, one that he thought was the most powerful skill in the world, was useless in front of the Korean Hunter... His companions tried to make him come back to his senses, but he was no longer responding to their words.

While the terrorists were trying to regroup themselves, a message popped up in front of Han-Yeol.

Ding!

[‘Force Shield’ has successfully absorbed ‘Fire Storm’ with the help of your other skills.]

[The absorption efficiency has been reduced since the skill contained the mana of another being.]

[However, you may infuse your own mana and launch an even more powerful version of the skill you have absorbed.]

[Do you wish to proceed?]

[The rank of ‘Force Shield’ has risen from (E) to (D).]

‘Huh? Why is it even asking me? Of course it’s a yes,’ Han-Yeol immediately thought.

[You are returning ‘Fire Storm’ to your attacker.]

The Fire Storm skill that Han-Yeol’s shield had absorbed suddenly reappeared as soon as the message ended. The new flame, much more powerful than the one before, flew toward the terrorists.

Fwaaaaaaaaaa!

[Huh?! Huh?! What the hell?!]

The terrorists were taken aback when their most powerful skill was reflected back to them. They were so flustered that they forgot to take Mahmoud with them as the two others immediately dodged to save their own skin.

[That’s right, come to daddy Fire Storm! You are mine!] Mahmoud exclaimed, having lost his mind from the shock.

Han-Yeol’s version of Fire Storm, which was greatly amplified with his mana, swallowed the insane terrorist whole and did not even leave a bone behind.

[Gwaaaaaaaaaah!] Mahmoud screamed for the final time before disappearing without a single trace.

[H-How is this possible?!]

[M-Mahmoud is dead...!]

The remaining terrorists, Jebreel and Hussain, were stupefied at the sudden turn of events.

They always faced quite a lot of Hunters while operating as terrorists in the Middle East, but this was the first time that they were so helpless against one. Of course, most of the strong Hunters in the Middle East had been poached away by developed countries, so the ones who remained in their part of the world were the unskilled ones.

Nevertheless, the three of them had been up against a single Hunter, who they initially did not feel was strong at all. In fact, they would have immediately run away with their tails between their legs, like they always did in the desert, if they had sensed that the Korean Hunter was stronger than them.

However, Mahmoud had been helplessly killed by the Hunter who they initially thought was weak.

[Damn it!] Jebreel and Hussain cursed at the same time.

The two terrorists were busy doing their own thing when Han-Yeol read the description of his new skill. He was in awe.

[Reflect (F)]

Type: Active

Description: A skill created by combining Force Shield and Mana Absorption. It enables the user to absorb an enemy’s attack made out of mana and amplify it with the user’s own mana before reflecting it back to the attacker. The user may reflect much more powerful attacks the higher this skill’s level is.

‘So I can create this kind of skill too...’ Han-Yeol thought in awe. He felt that the newly obtained skill was the same as the skill the protagonist from one cartoon that he had watched when he was younger had used.

Anyway, Han-Yeol was on cloud nine after obtaining a cheat skill.

“Wow...”

“Did you see that? Did you see that just now?”

“Amazing!”

Han-Yeol’s production crew could not help but exclaim at what they were witnessing and filming just now. They had filmed numerous things in their career, but this was the first time that they were filming something so amazing and awe-inspiring. In fact, they could not believe what they were seeing with their own eyes.

A lot of things might have changed after the Dimensional Gates appeared, but the lives of the normal people did not really change except for the fact that they had to be nervous about the possibility of a Dimensional Gate appearing where they were at.

The war against the monsters was the responsibility of the Hunters and the Porters, so it did not really concern civilians. The normal people lived just as they historically did. They lived normal lives, going about their mundane days.

The production crew that Han-Yeol hired this time studied really hard with dreams of becoming a producer in their respective fields one day. They had been enticed by Han-Yeol’s offer to provide them with lucrative pay and a new experience when they had applied for the position, and they were selected after emerging victorious from the fierce competition.

They were currently filming their first project after being hired.

“Awesome!”

“Kyaaah! This is really awesome!”

“How did he even come up with the idea to film this?”

“I know right?”

The videos that Han-Yeol transmitted to the production crew through the action camera blew them away. The part where he had emerged unscathed from the terrorist’s attack covered in his blue barrier was a beautiful sight that would surely garner a lot of attention.

The production crew might have applied because of the lucrative pay and working conditions, but all of them possessed a burning passion for making a good film. They could not help but be excited when the first video that they captured as soon as they started working was such a beautiful and cool one.

Just as the production crew were thinking that they made the right choice working for the Hunter, Han-Yeol himself thought, ‘Shall I wrap it up now?’

Han-Yeol made a move to dispose of the other two terrorists after he had successfully neutralized the main Dealer.

It was not difficult for Han-Yeol to deal with the two remaining terrorists, who did not possess a flashy skill like Fire Storm. The only skill they possessed was to tie down their opponent or attack them in close combat.

It was then.

Swooooosh... Bam!

[Gwuaaaah!]

[Y-You are!]

Something suddenly flew from the sky and smashed one of the terrorists into a bloody pulp. Then, the remaining terrorist seemed to exclaim something as he trembled in fear.

‘That is...?’ Han-Yeol thought the moment he saw the thing that smashed the terrorist. It was a being dressed in a suit that resembled Horus, the mythical ancient Egyptian god. However, something else was on Han-Yeol’s mind as he wondered, ‘What the hell are Egyptians doing in our country...?’

South Korea did not have a close-knit relationship with African countries. Of course, there were a lot of efforts, such as the Korea – Africa International Conference, to build stronger ties between the two, but most African countries were more inclined toward building a relationship with either Japan or China.

That fact only puzzled Han-Yeol even more when he saw an Egyptian warrior on Korean soil.

[Damn it! What the hell are you doing here?!] the last remaining terrorist exclaimed before he pulled out his Shamshir and charged toward the Egyptian warrior.

However, the Horus Warrior extended its right arm and said, [Die.]

Fshwooo... Bam!

[Kwuaaak!] The terrorist screamed in agony when a burst of light shot out from the Horus Warrior’s right hand and hit him in the chest before triggering an explosion.

Baaaam!

A corpse with its chest burnt to a crisp was lying on the ground.

‘It’s strong...’ Han-Yeol thought.

Of course, Han-Yeol was strong enough to get rid of the two remaining terrorists after killing the stronger one among them, but he could tell that the Horus Warrior was quite strong from the short display of power it showed.

Dudududududududu...!

The sound of helicopters and sirens blaring filled the air when the terrorists were finally neutralized. The government officials were just arriving after everything was over.

The Horus Warrior turned around and looked at Han-Yeol for a while. At the same time, Han-Yeol looked back at the suit-wearing warrior. They made eye contact before the Horus Warrior activated its booster and flew right beside Han-Yeol.

When the suit-wearing warrior took off their helmet, Han-Yeol was surprised. He thought, ‘Huh? It’s a woman?’ 

To Han-Yeol’s surprise, the person who emerged from underneath the suit was not a man but a woman. She was a beautiful dark-skinned woman with tattoos of ancient Egyptian texts on her face.

Han-Yeol was not sexist. He was only taken aback because he expected the Egyptian warrior to be a man, just like the ones he had seen in the movie, ‘The Mummy’, where ancient Egyptian men wielded their Shamshi while wearing just an undergarment covering the lower half of their body.

The Egyptian beauty extended her hand and said, [It is nice to meet you, Korean Warrior. My name is Tayarana, I am a proud warrior and guardian Hunter of Egypt.]

“Oh, I don’t speak Arabic,” Han-Yeol replied.

There was no way that Han-Yeol could speak Arabic since it was a very difficult language to learn, and he had not been the studious type back in his school days. In fact, there were plenty of Koreans out there who could not speak English, which was a commonly used language all over the world. So, how many people would actually think of learning Arabic when it was a language only spoken in the Middle East?

Of course, that excluded those people who had some sort of connection to that specific region.

However, Han-Yeol shook her hand nevertheless, since a handshake was a common greeting both in Korean and in Arabic.