Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 81: Special Member of A Raid Party (2)

“Hmm…” Han-Yeol muttered as he looked around.

“How do you like it? Isn’t it neat and tidy? In fact, there is no other place in this area that can satisfy your needs, Han-Yeol Hunter-nim. It was a common trend to split the space into smaller rooms and rent it out parcel by parcel, which makes it very difficult to find a place with this amount of space,” the agency owner said.

“Hmm…” Han-Yeol muttered.

Han-Yeol followed the agency owner around, looking at every nook and cranny of the office. He liked that the office was spacious, but he did not like the place itself. The ceiling was too high and the silver cylinder-like vent was too noticeable, and he did not like that the bathroom walls were made from cement walls.

‘I can always just renovate the interior of this place,’?Han-Yeol thought. He did not like the place a hundred percent, but he still had to make his decision soon. After all, the agency owner had told him that it was not easy to find these kinds of places.

“By the way, did you say that the deposit of this place is three hundred million won?” Han-Yeol asked the agency owner.

“Ah yes. Let me explain once again, the deposit for the space is three hundred million won, the monthly rent is thirteen million won, with an added utility fee of around two million four hundred thousand won. That is the original price, but the owner of the building is asking for a deposit of five hundred million, not three hundred million won, just because business was good this past year…” the agency owner explained.

It was ridiculous for the building’s owner to raise the deposit by an additional two hundred million won from the original three hundred million won just because business was good the past year.?Unfortunately, it was quite common to find landowners pulling these kinds of stunts.

“Then, please proceed with that,” Han-Yeol said nonchalantly.

“What?” the agency owner blurted out. It was a good thing for him, since he was going to close the deal immediately. He just could not help but be taken aback by Han-Yeol’s cool response.

Curious if he had heard Han-Yeol properly or not, the agency owner stuttered and explained everything once again. “T-The owner of the building is not asking for two hundred million won. The owner is asking for five hundred million by adding two hundred million won on top of the three hundred million won.”

“Yes, I understand. I know that the deposit is five hundred million won,” Han-Yeol replied, confirming what the agency owner said.

“A-Are you sure?” the agency owner asked again.

“Yes,” Han-Yeol said.

‘H-Hunters sure are generous with their money,’?the agency owner thought to himself.

The real estate company president was surprised by Han-Yeol’s calm demeanor toward the huge sum, but to Han-Yeol, two hundred million won was just Yoo-Bi’s weekly salary.

‘I’m going to get the money back anyway, right?’?Han-Yeol thought.

The reason why he did not bat an eye at the increase was that he was going to receive the deposit back anyway.

“Then, let us proceed on making a contract with these conditions…” the agency owner said.

“By the way.”

Startled by Han-Yeol’s sudden interruption, the agency owner said, “Yes, Hunter-nim?”

“Do you know any interior design company?” Han-Yeol asked.

The agency owner’s eyes flashed when he heard Han-Yeol’s question. Han-Yeol had decided to entrust everything to him, since he was now asking about an interior design company on top of erecting a building. He did not really have to meet every single one of Han-Yeol’s demands, but a customer was still a customer in the end, so he tried his best to satisfy the Hunter’s requests.

“Of course, Hunter-nim. I have been working in this industry for nearly twenty years, so I have connections within that field too! Haha! I can get a draft design ready and send it to you if you tell me what it is that you are looking for,” the agency owner confidently said.

“What I want is…” Han-Yeol said before he proceeded to explain.

Han-Yeol spoke enthusiastically about his ideal type of office for nearly thirty minutes on the spot. The conversation was not boring or difficult at all for him, because it was to create the dream office that he had been thinking about until now. Rather than being bored, it made him explain more and more passionately in order to design the most stylish and the most beautiful office he could imagine.

The agency owner carefully recorded everything Han-Yeol said in order to make the final product reflect Han-Yeol’s criteria as much as possible.

The agency owner was able to take the top spot in the fiercely competitive Hongdae real estate market thanks to his diligent attitude towards his work. He left the small dealings to his employees when his company grew, but he personally handled high-value clients himself.

“Hmm, I see… Then, firstly, I will hand this over to the interior design company and create a draft with everything Hunter-nim asked for. We can talk again after you have seen the draft,” the agency owner said.

“Yes, I understand,” Han-Yeol said.

Han-Yeol did not expect everything he had said to be reflected in the interior design company’s draft, just like how one’s ideal type for a woman would be different from the woman who would eventually be one’s wife.

“I will leave everything to you,” Han-Yeol said.

“Are we not going to leave together?” the agency owner asked. He thought that they were going to go back to the office in his car since they had come together.

“No, I need to go someplace else,” Han-Yeol said.

“Ah yes, I understand. Then, goodbye, Hunter-nim,” the agency owner said while bowing his head toward Han-Yeol.

“Thank you for your hard work,” Han-Yeol thanked the agency owner. His business with the agency owner had finished anyway, so there was no reason for him to return to the agency.

Then, Han-Yeol went to a nearby phone dealership and bought another mobile phone under his name. In the past, it would take more than a day to get a new phone. But now, one could get a new phone almost immediately thanks to the advancement in IT technology.

Han-Yeol got his new cell phone within an hour, and the first thing he did was to open the K-Talk app and contact the few people around him whom he personally knew. He told them about the situation and gave them his new phone number.

[Wow, you have become quite famous, Han-Yeol. I could not watch your live broadcast since I was busy, but I watched the recorded one. Geez… I never knew that you are such an amazing Hunter. Watching you really motivated me. I would love to have a drink with you, but I’m going out on a hunt soon so I won’t have the time to do that. Let’s definitely catch up and have a drink next time,] Sung-Jin said.

“Alright,” Han-Yeol replied.

‘Tsk, I wanted to go out for drinks with Sung-Jin,’ Han-Yeol thought.

He was slightly disappointed, since he wanted to stop by and have a drink with Sung-Jin. He wanted to talk about his problems and share stories of what had happened during the filming before going home. Unfortunately, it seemed that Sung-Jin was very busy.

‘Figures. I heard that the bastard’s running two to three jobs at the same time,’ Han-Yeol thought.

It was a difficult and dangerous thing to do, but it was a surefire way to quickly become a Hunter.

‘It’s just like him to do?such a thing?though,’?Han-Yeol thought about the most amusing quality of his friend.

Sung-Jin had always been a very goal-oriented person ever since his schooling days. He never looked back or got distracted after he had set a goal for himself. He also never once slacked off before reaching his goal. That was the reason why he was the only one among Han-Yeol’s friends, which had been a bunch of disinterested students, who had gotten into university and had worked in the finance industry.

‘If it’s that guy, he will awaken very soon. Who knows…?He might become a stronger Hunter than me when he awakens into one…’?Han-Yeol thought to himself.

That was a possibility, since Sung-Jin possessed an incredibly strong will and luck. Besides, a Hunter’s abilities were decided at random, and Sung-Jin’s luck was bound to help him out one way or another.

‘Hmm, so what should I do now?’ Han-Yeol wondered. He had nothing to do after finishing most of the things that he had to do. After his plans to have a drink with his friend had fallen through, he thought, ‘I don't want to go home yet…’

He did not have much to do even if he went home, so he decided to go for a stroll instead.

At first, he just tried to walk around aimlessly, but he soon had many thoughts in his mind. Thankfully, the thoughts he had were positive ones.

‘Hmm, I almost forgot that I have to hire a financial manager now that I've almost reached a trillion won in my account,’?Han-Yeol suddenly remembered while he was walking.

Yoo-Bi had advised that it was necessary for Han-Yeol to hire a financial manager, because his assets would keep growing until it went beyond his control.

‘I think I should also?hire my?own personal lawyer as well,’?Han-Yeol thought.

Han-Yeol realized that the more he thought about it, the more people he needed to hire. It was going to cost a lot of money, but that did not bother him at all, since he could recoup all of his costs by going out to hunt. In fact, he could earn hundreds or even thousands of times more than his cost if he went out hunting.

‘I need to increase the amount of money I spend,’ Han-Yeol thought.

He initially thought that he was already spending a lot of money, but he was actually living a very simple life when compared to the amount he was earning. His main problem was that he did not know how to simply waste money on extravagant things because he never once had money to waste in his life.

‘Hmm…?That’s right… I should spend money on what a Hunter can easily spend money on. I should go and upgrade my equipment,’?Han-Yeol thought.

Just as he was about to move, a message suddenly popped up.

Ding!

[The rank of ‘Walking’ has risen from A to M.]

[‘Walking’ 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 ‘Walking’.]

[The skill has started to evolve.]

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

[A new skill has been created: Mana Pouch (F).]

‘Huh? Why is the reward for mastering the Walking skill the Mana Pouch skill?’?Han-Yeol thought in confusion.

Han-Yeol opened his status window.

Name: Lee Han-Yeol

Level: 103

Points: 0

STR: 177

VIT: 164

AGI: 151

MAG: 275+71

LCK: 10

Invoke: 150

Skills: Dismember (C), [Sword Mastery (M) : Flash Strike (D), Head Cutter (F)], [Walking (M) : Mana Pouch (F)], Mana Control (A), Mana Mastery (A), Sixth Sense (B), Restrain (A), Body Strengthening (A), Mana Eyes (A), Stab (A), Dagger Mastery (E), Chain Mastery (M), Infinite Library (M), Shield Bash (A), Fire Attribute (A), Mana Explosion (B), Chain Smite (A), Marksmanship (B), Martial Arts (A), Enchant (C), Sword Breath (B), Restore (D), Healing Bullet (E), Enhance Healing (D), Summon Demon (D), Telepathy (B), Power Meditation (D), Psychokinesis (D), Force Shield (C), Cat Walk (D), Mana Absorption (C), Demon Eyes (C), Mana Strengthening (F), Mana Bullet (F).

‘It certainly seems like the reward for mastering Walking… Hmm…?Let's see… Mana Pouch,’?Han-Yeol thought as he looked at the skill's description.

[Mana Pouch (F)]

Type: Active / Passive

Description: The excess mana produced by ‘Walking’ will not be dispersed into the air when the user’s mana capacity is maxed out. Instead, this skill will store the excess mana. The stored mana may be given to another person or used by the user to activate a skill in case of emergency. The mana stored by this skill will be up to two thousand, and its capacity will increase by an increment of two thousand whenever this skill levels up.

‘Wow, is this for real?’?Han-Yeol thought in amazement. Looking at its name alone, he initially thought that the skill was not going to be a big deal. After all, its name ‘Mana Pouch’ didn’t make it sound too valuable, but he soon changed his mind after he read the skill’s description.

‘Storing?the excess mana is one thing, but I can give the mana to someone else?’?he thought in astonishment.

This was basically a way to cheat when hunting. It was not a skill that directly benefited Han-Yeol, but he could give his mana to a Porter, who had no mana capabilities to use mana attacks, or even a party member, who was unable to use their skills due to running out of mana. The potential that this skill had…made it an understatement to even classify this as an S Rank support skill.

‘If I continue at this rate, it may not be just a dream to become the best hunter in Korea or maybe even in the entire world…’?Han-Yeol thought to himself.

Han-Yeol was easily motivated to go out and hunt, since he grew stronger the more effort he put into himself.

It was quite common to see Hunters ending up in a rut, becoming selfish, and losing passion for becoming stronger these days. When one would ask them for the reason why they turned out like this, they would reply by saying that it was because every day was just an endless repetition of the day before.

After all, it was not that they would get stronger just by working hard like Han-Yeol did, since they had awakened with three predetermined skills that would remain until the day they died.

It was unavoidable for someone to end up in a rut and lose passion if there was no progress in whatever they were doing. This was true no matter how passionate someone was about their occupation.

That was why it was quite common to see Hunters lose their passion for hunting and work just to make a quick buck, and they would avoid risking their lives. This explained why no Hunters would be present when there were disasters happening in civilian areas.

‘Well, that has nothing to do with me,’ Han-Yeol thought as he shrugged his shoulders.

Han-Yeol was proud of the fact that he had grown stronger even though the skill he just got was not a combat skill.

‘But first… let’s fill Mana Pouch with Mana,’?Han-Yeol thought as he immediately started to make a move.

Step…! Step…! Step…!?

Han-Yeol began to walk at a brisk pace. He was not going to gain more mana or quickly gain mana the faster he walked, but his quicker speed was his way of expressing the happiness and joy he felt at the moment.

“Humm…!?Hummm…! Humm…! Humm…!”?Han-Yeol hummed as he walked in a good mood.

Ding!

‘Huh?’?Han-Yeol muttered in surprise at the system notification.

[Happiness has increased.]

[A new skill has been created: Amplify.]

‘Again?’?Han-Yeol muttered inwardly in surprise.

This was his first time learning two skills in a row in this manner.

‘Amplify…?’?he thought as he checked the skill description.

[Amplify (F)]

Type: Active

Skill Description: The user may temporarily amplify their mana or skill. However, the user will have to offer one mana stone as an offering, and the amplification rate will be 40% the offered mana stone’s purity. The amplification rate will increase by 10% every time this skill increases in rank.

‘What does this even mean?’?Han-Yeol wondered as he was confused by the description.

The skill seemingly worked in a similar fashion to a certain once popular card game that required the user to sacrifice their mana stone to amplify their mana.

‘It will be difficult to frequently use this skill,’?Han-Yeol thought.

It was already stomach-churning to waste the mana stones by absorbing them, but the thought of using it to amplify his mana made it even worse. In fact, he was starting to think that his skills were getting more demanding as they appeared.

Leaving those thoughts at the back of his mind, Han-Yeol made his way toward Hunter’s Workshop street and invested fifty billion won at the Dwarf's Workshop to craft another sword and chain. He then went to the Hunter Mall, where he brought protective equipment for the first time since becoming a hunter. He purchased a set of equipment to protect his chest, arms, legs, and neck.

That was how Han-Yeol had spent the entire day alone.

Time passed, and it was finally the day that not only he but even the public long awaited for. It was the day for Han-Yeol to publicly choose his raid party.