Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 126: Being a Celebrity Is Tiring (3)

Han-Yeol’s relaxed expression suddenly changed into a scary one.

He was someone who sincerely wanted to become the strongest Hunter. Of course, he also wanted to become rich, but his main goal was to become the strongest Hunter on Earth.

Yet, the Hunters’ Association was asking him, who now took great pride in his abilities, to join the emergency response team that was formed with a bunch of non-combatants? That was no different from cursing him directly to his face.

Han-Yeol would have cussed Lee Chung-Hee and Kim Hee-Ae to their faces if he hadn’t become mature after having worked as a Porter.

“T-That is not it… Y-You can get t-tax benefits if you join this team, and you will have the freedom to do other things as well. May you kindly think about it one more time?” Lee Chung-Hee said, trying his best to appease and convince Han-Yeol.

Ironically, Lee Chung-Hee did not really want to try and convince Han-Yeol. A person could try and convince someone if the offer somewhat made sense to a certain level, but his current proposal was no different from asking a lion to put on sheep’s clothing. He could not help but feel frustrated from having to force himself to convince Han-Yeol to consider the offer.

Bam!

Han-Yeol slammed the table one more time and said, “I will repeat myself. I have no intention of joining whatever that emergency team is. I will help whoever is around me whenever something happens based on my own judgment, so don’t ever try to bring such insulting offers to me ever again. Also, you mentioned tax, right? I will be a good taxpayer and diligently pay my taxes, so go and mind your own business.”

“O… Okay…” Lee Chung-Hee did not have a choice but to back off after Han-Yeol showed his absolute resolve to not even consider the offer.

As for Kim Hee-Ae, she glared at Han-Yeol and thought, ‘He looked down on non-combatants just now.’

She was angry at Han-Yeol’s remarks since she was a non-combatant Hunter herself. However, she could not express her anger or retort against those remarks. She might be infamous for her temper at the Hunters’ Association, but she was not a match for Han-Yeol, who was already quite famous and strong. After all, even her superior was currently staying mute with his tail tucked between his legs.

“Hmm… I suppose that’s the end of the discussion for the emergency response team. What about the A Rank item? Will I still get it?” Han-Yeol asked.

In truth, he had already given up on receiving the item after his earlier outburst. After all, the Hunters’ Association had probably offered the A Rank item as bait to reel him in and make him join the emergency response team.

‘Well, it’s better for me to give up on the item than to join that emergency response team,’?he thought.

Ranked items were only found on hunting grounds or from monsters, so they were relatively rare and difficult to find. Still, Han-Yeol found it quite easy to give up the item. An A Rank item might be expensive, but he had the possibility of buying one for himself as long as he had the money for it.

Besides, he was never going to give up his freedom and honor in exchange for something that money could buy.

However, Lee Chung-Hee’s response was quite the opposite of what Han-Yeol had expected. The man explained, “N-No, the A Rank item and the issue with the emergency response team are different matters. We are going to host an awarding ceremony in a week’s time, and we are giving you the item in exchange for your attendance. As you might be aware…a lot of people died in the recent incident, so…”

Han-Yeol grimaced at the mention of the dimensional rift incident, being reminded of the horrible sights he had witnessed. That incident was truly something that he did not wish to experience ever again.

“It is an event that we have organized to uplift the gloomy atmosphere after the incident, and you are the best Hunter for the event. You have quite the following thanks to your personal broadcast, and various news outlets have aired images of you helping out the firefighters,” Lee Chung-Hee added.

Most ordinary people loathed the Hunters, but the public sentiment toward Han-Yeol was quite favorable. In fact, it could be said that the general populace actually respected him for his actions.

There were a lot of articles and news stories about Han-Yeol helping the firefighters out. The news outlets published romanticized and even exaggerated reports of Han-Yeol as there were no Hunters in sight in any of the images and videos they had taken.

Thanks to this, the debate over the perception of Hunters in today’s society flared up once again.

Some of the Hunters took the opportunity to ride on Han-Yeol’s coattails. They demanded the general populace to stop bad-mouthing Hunters since they were risking their lives to protect them. However, most of the Hunters kept their mouths shut and simply observed the situation as they knew very well why they were hated by the public.

‘Most Hunters are known to be quite selfish and arrogant, and a lot of them consider the ordinary people to be beneath them,’?Han-Yeol thought.

Han-Yeol was also a Hunter, but he hated the mentality that most Hunters had. He loathed how the Hunters acted as if they were nobles and demanded the public’s respect while doing the exact opposite of what could be considered respectable.

After taking a moment, Han-Yeol asked, “Oh, so I can get two A Rank items for free if I attend the event?”

“That is correct,” Lee Chung-Hee replied.

“Hmm… Is it possible for me to know what the items are?” Han-Yeol asked while seemingly having his interest piqued.

“I apologize, but I honestly have no idea. Actually, I requested for that information prior to coming here as I wanted to inform you as well, but my superiors told me to just focus on inviting you. They said that you will get to know about it once you attend the event. I truly apologize for this…” Lee Chung-Hee said while bowing his head.

He had nothing to apologize for, but he had decided to bow his head nevertheless as Han-Yeol had felt quite offended by today’s unexpected revelations.

He had always felt proud to be a part of the Hunters’ Association, but he felt incredibly ashamed to be a part of them today. In fact, he felt that he was going to die from shame if he did not at least bow his head to Han-Yeol.

“You shouldn’t be the one apologizing, Manager Lee. Hmm… It does sound intriguing not knowing what they’re going to give. I guess I should attend the event if I want to know what they’ve prepared for me. Haha!” Han-Yeol said with a laugh.

“Oh! Thank you very much! I will not be getting an earful from above thanks to you, Hunter-nim!” Lee Chung-Hee exclaimed in response.

He bowed his head once more, but out of gratitude this time.

“Is that so?”

When both men laughed heartily, Kim Hee-Ae could not understand what was going on. The tense and uncomfortable atmosphere from just a minute ago had disappeared, changing into quite a cozy one. With a subtle grimace, she grumbled inwardly, ‘What is manager-nim laughing about?’

She did not have a good opinion of Han-Yeol. She could not understand how someone would not even consider an offer made by the Hunters’ Association and flat-out reject it on the spot. She continued grumbling inwardly, ‘We’re not asking you to do this for our own personal benefit, right? This is all for the good of our country and for us Hunters.’

“Then, I suppose you will be sending me by SMS the date and location of the event?” Han-Yeol asked.

“Yes, of course!” Lee Chung-Hee enthusiastically replied.

“Then, I will excuse myself now as I have another appointment,” Han-Yeol lied.

He did not have any other appointments after this, but he had nothing else to discuss with the people from the association. Finding it boring and a complete waste of time just sitting around to chat with them, he had told a lie to escape from the situation.

“Aigoo…! I apologize for taking up so much of your time!” Lee Chung-Hee exclaimed.

Han-Yeol got up from his seat, and Lee Chung-Hee and Kim Hee-Ae followed suit.

“It was a pleasure to meet you,” Han-Yeol said as he extended his hand first this time.

Lee Chung-Hee grabbed Han-Yeol’s hand with both hands and replied, “Aigoo… The pleasure was mine. I hope that I can treat you to a meal next time.”

“I will not say no to that,” Han-Yeol replied with a smile.

Asking or offering to treat someone to a meal was a common greeting in Korean culture, and it was general knowledge that such offers were made only out of courtesy. Both parties did not really intend to follow up on the offer.

The same could be said in this case. Han-Yeol had no intention of ever accepting such an offer from anyone from the association.

When Han-Yeol bid them goodbye and finally left the café, Lee Chung-Hee and Kim Hee-Ae were left all alone at the table. Only then did Lee Chung-Hee stop smiling and sink into the sofa. Then, he loosened his necktie and chugged down the ice cappuccino in front of him.

Glug! Glug!

“Ah! That hit the spot. I swear the coffee at expensive cafés tastes different!” he exclaimed.

He was a regular here at the LTC Hotel’s OO café as he was a coffee lover himself.

“Manager-nim,” Kim Hee-Ae called out.

“What?”

“I personally don’t like that Hunter.”

“Haha… I already somewhat expected for you not to.”

“The Hunters’ Association not only protects the rights of Hunters but it also safeguards society as a whole. We protect the public from monsters and we keep our society’s economic engine running by gathering its fuel, the mana stones, while risking our lives. But how is it possible for someone to simply reject an offer made by the association when they should be honored to even be offered one? I cannot help but feel that he is a rude and selfish person.”

This was the witch’s real personality.

She was called obnoxious and rude by others simply because she stuck to the rules rigidly. She was extremely loyal to the Hunters’ Association, and this made every single word that came out of her mouth a criticism toward other people.

Not only that, but she also did not have any reservations about forcing her thoughts on other people. This made her the number one person to avoid within the association despite her beautiful face and figure.

“You are not wrong per se, but you have to remember that everyone is different. I have already taught you that looking at everything from your own point of view is quite a dangerous thing, right?” Lee Chung-Hee replied.

“…” Kim Hee-Ae remained silent, still not quite understanding what he meant.

‘Haa… Today is quite a frustrating day…’?

He liked his currently peaceful lifestyle of working behind a desk, but he often missed the days when he used to passionately go out on hunts.

“Anyway, there’s no point crying over spilled milk. Let’s go back.”

“Yes, manager-nim.”

When Lee Chung-Hee and Kim Hee-Ae walked up to the counter to pay, the cashier surprised them by saying, “The Hunter who sat at your table has already settled the bill.”

“Really?” Lee Chung-Hee asked in response.

“Yes, customer-nim.”

“Geez…” He could not help but feel embarrassed by the fact that Han-Yeol had paid the bill when they were the ones who had invited him. He mumbled to the cashier, “Okay then.”

“Thank you very much, and we hope to see you again.”

Both of them left the café.

“Hmm?” Lee Chung-Hee muttered.

He spotted Han-Yeol standing in the parking lot. He also noticed that Han-Yeol was not alone but had a Western woman talking to him.

“Team Leader Kim, call!” Lee Chung-Hee gave the signal they had between them.

“Yes, sir!” Kim Hee-Ae replied and infused her mana into him.

Ziiing!

Lee Chung-Hee’s eyes turned white and vascular once he activated his ability, ‘Eye of Space’.

Eye of Space was an ability that helped him see everything within five hundred meters of distance. The distance was increased to one kilometer if he was buffed by Kim Hee-Ae’s support ability.

Lee Chung-Hee attempted to spy on Han-Yeol, who was around seven hundred meters away from him. However…

Seuk…

The Western woman crossed her arms over her chest and channeled her mana.

Ziiing!

“Kuheok!”

“Manager-nim!”

Lee Chung-Hee’s eyes turned bloodshot and started bleeding after his skill was instantly dispelled by the woman. Suffering from the repercussions of having his skill dispelled, he was forced to get down on his knees.

Kim Hee-Ae helped Lee Chung-Hee back to his feet.

“I-I’m alright. Damn it… I think she’s from the CIA. They already caught the whiff of Han-Yeol Hunter!”

“What? Already?!”

“No, it could be said that they’re late since he is broadcasting and marketing himself so openly.”

“But it doesn’t matter, right?”

“What?”

Lee Chung-Hee looked quite worried about the CIA agent meeting Han-Yeol, but Kim Hee-Ae looked quite relaxed.

“I know how amazing he is from what you told me, but he lacks patriotism if he decides to join them. In my opinion, our country is better off without people like him,” she nonchalantly said.

“Haa…”?Lee Chung-Hee let out a sigh and shook his head.

‘This nonchalant attitude is the reason why our country’s association is slowly getting ruined…’?he thought after feeling frustrated at her remark.

Lee Chung-Hee was someone who strongly believed that the conservative and old-school mentality like what Kim Hee-Ae had displayed should disappear if South Korea had any chance of making advancements and being a world leader for Hunters.