Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 73: Getting Ready To Film (3)

‘Is it North Korea?’ Han-Yeol thought upon hearing the explosion.

North Korea was the only plausible cause of the terrorist attack if this was before the Dimensional Gates appeared. However, North Korea did not really display any act of hostility toward South Korea ever since the Dimensional Gates appeared, and this was due to the shift of energy dependency from fossil fuels to mana stones.

The emergence of mana stones as an alternative energy source enabled North Korea to be self-sufficient. They no longer needed to threaten the United States and the United Nations by developing nuclear weapons just so that they could get some food or supplies in return.

They also no longer had any intentions of provoking the entire world by threatening an attack on South Korea, since they now just focused on protecting the seat of power of the Kim family.

‘I don’t know who's doing this is, but I can’t simply turn a blind eye after what they did,’ Han-Yeol thought. Once he made his decision to intervene, he made his move.

Tak!

Han-Yeol’s skill, Cat Walk, which was D Rank now, opened the skies to him as he jumped from one building to another at an incredible speed.

“L-Look over there!”

“There’s a Hunter going over there!”

Of course, it was impossible for Han-Yeol to not stick out like a sore thumb as he jumped from one building to another, and the onlookers all took out their mobile phones to film him.

Thud...!

Han-Yeol landed on one of the floors of the building where the explosion occurred.

[What the hell? Is that a Korean Hunter?]

[Who cares, I was getting bored of killing civilians and destroying buildings anyway. Let’s kill at least that Hunter before we fall back. I won’t be satisfied if we go back like this.]

‘Arabic...? So they are from the Middle East then,’ Han-Yeol thought the moment he heard them speak. Then he gritted his teeth as he thought, ‘These sons of bitches. They weren’t satisfied doing their crazy stuff in their own country so they came all the way to Korea to cause a scene?’

There was no way that Han-Yeol would not recognize these people when he spent most of his time watching the news. Of course, he could not be certain of their identities, but he was certain of one thing. Recalling a recent news story, he thought, ‘Terrorists.’ 

The terrorists were threatening South Korea for carrying out relief efforts and missionary work in the Middle East. They threatened that South Korea was not going to be safe from terrorism, but the majority of the people were not concerned about their threats since there had been no cases of terrorism happening on South Korean soil before and after the Dimensional Gates appeared.

The people were thinking that it was impossible for terrorism to occur with how secure the country was, but they realized today that it had all been a delusion.

‘Tsk... It would’ve been safer if I brought my chain with me,’ Han-Yeol thought as he clicked his tongue in regret.

Unfortunately, Han-Yeol’s chain was still in his van.

However, that did not mean that Han-Yeol was currently weak or anything. The only reason why he thought of his chain was that it was a very efficient tool to use.

Swoosh!

[Goodbye, kiddo,] said one of the terrorists with a raised hand. He spoke in Arabic, a language that Han-Yeol could not understand.

Fwaaaaa!

The fire that was devouring a police car suddenly rose up and threateningly looked down on Han-Yeol, who could feel the heat right in his face. But surprisingly, Han-Yeol simply smiled and pulled his sword out.

***

Murmur... Murmur... 

A Hunter had gone into the building where the explosion occurred, so the crowd gathered outside started to murmur while expectantly waiting for what was going to happen next. The crowd started to get louder when another explosion occurred and the fire started to grow stronger.

“What? What the hell is going on?”

“Is it a terrorist attack or an accident?”

“Crazy, do you still think that it’s just an accident after seeing fire being shot at that police car?!”

“S-Still...”

Weewoo Weewoo...!

Fwaaaa...!

The firemen who just arrived at the scene immediately moved to douse the burning police car. However, they could not carelessly approach the police car since the fire was too strong and the gasoline in the fuel tank might catch fire and cause another explosion.

The entire area was cordoned off by the police, but the problem was that these perpetrators were suspected to be awakened beings. Needless to say, the police could not carelessly rush in.

The entire police force and fire department were currently waiting around for a team of Hunters to be sent before they could proceed any further.

“What did the Hunter’s Association say?!” the police in charge of the scene asked.

“They say that they currently lack manpower because of the chain of explosions that occurred in Gangnam, so they told us to conscript Hunters ourselves by using the association’s name...” his deputy replied with grim news.

Bam!

Lieutenant Cha Seung-Im, who was in charge of the scene, slammed his fist on his vehicle’s hood. He shouted angrily, “Is that something those bastards sitting comfortably in their offices should say?!”

“I apologize, sir...” his deputy replied apologetically. He wasn’t at fault, but he did not want to incur any further wrath from his enraged lieutenant.

“Hoo... So, are there any Hunters that we can conscript right now in the area?” Lieutenant Cha asked.

“Uhmm... That is... I don’t know where the rumor spread from, but there were no Hunters in the vicinity when we checked. There are only civilians in this place except for the single Hunter who went into the building twenty minutes ago, sir,” the deputy replied.

“What did you say?! Ugh...!” Lieutenant Cha groaned as a headache struck him.

Lieutenant Cha has observed the Hunters for the past twenty years, and he was well aware of how selfish they were. His observation and bias toward them proved to be right once again as the Hunters seemed to have fled the area in fear of being conscripted when they were needed the most.

”So the only Hunter we can trust is the one who went up there a while ago...” Lieutenant Cha muttered.

“I am afraid to say this, but I believe that you are correct, sir,” the deputy replied.

“Damn it!” Lieutenant Cha shouted in frustration.

The police became utterly useless whenever these kinds of incidents happened, and Lieutenant Cha could not help but feel his pride as a policeman shatter whenever he was in this position. However, he could not simply stand around and do nothing.

“Make sure to cordon off the scene, keep the civilians away, and thoroughly check to see if there are any civilians trapped inside the building. Also, let the people in the nearby areas know that it’s dangerous and tell them to evacuate for the time being until the situation is under control!” Lieutenant Cha ordered.

His subordinates immediately got into action as soon as he gave the command.

“Damn it... I should also awaken or something rather than rely on these good-for-nothing Hunters,” Lieutenant Cha grumbled.

Just as Lieutenant Cha was distracted by his own resentful thoughts of what he could do if he were a Hunter...

Bam! Crack... Clang!

“Keuk!” 

Another explosion occurred as the window of the office on the ground floor shattered, and a person suddenly fell from the higher floors of the building. Looking at the person who was falling from the building, the onlookers screamed in horror.

“Kyaaaaah!”

The person was falling at an incredible speed, and it was impossible for anyone to survive a fall from thirty stories up.

However,

“Keuk!” Han-Yeol let out a groan before landing on the ground and rolling a few times to absorb the impact. He then stood up without suffering any injuries.

“Huh? Han-Yeol Hunter-nim!”

When somebody suddenly called out his name, Han-Yeol turned around in surprise and saw that the one who called him was carrying a camera. However, what surprised him even more was the fact that he recognized the person and the group who stood with them. They were none other than the production crew that he recently hired.

“Huh?!” Han-Yeol exclaimed in surprise when he saw his production crew by pure coincidence.

‘What a strange turn of events...’ he muttered inwardly.

It felt as if someone had set the stage for him and let everything fall in place, but Han-Yeol was aware that such a thing was not possible.

‘Ah, I can do that instead,’ Han-Yeol thought as a brilliant idea suddenly popped up in his mind.

He called over his production crew and said, “Let’s start working from today.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that...?” Moon Soo-In said.

The production crew did not have a leader yet, but Moon Soo-In, who was the eldest among them, assumed that role for now.

However, the entire production crew was surprised when Han-Yeol suddenly told them that they would be starting their work from today.

Of course, it was a given that they should do as they were told since they were now employed by Han-Yeol, but they were taken aback due to the abruptness of his schedule. In fact, they were at a loss since they had no idea what they were going to do today.

“Do you have an action camera with you by any chance?” Han-Yeol asked.

“Yes, I always carry one around with me, but... Don’t tell me?!” Soo-In exclaimed in surprise all of a sudden.

Han-Yeol smiled in response and said, “You catch on quite quickly.”

“H-Han-Yeol Hunter-nim... Are you by any chance...planning to record this...?” Soo-In asked with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

Han-Yeol shrugged before he said, “Well, there’s nothing wrong with it, right? It’s not like it’s illegal or something. I’m just starting out my channel, so I need something big to attract a lot of attention, right? Well, there might be some sensitive parts, but we can always edit after we record it. I will get the approval from the government and the association, so please just focus on recording it for now.”

“Yes... I understand,” Soo-In replied.

That was how they ended up deciding to film the entire thing, and Han-Yeol took two action cameras from Soo-In and placed one on each shoulder. He thought, ‘It’s not a special camera...’ 

The Hunters usually used cameras that were coated in mana so that they would not get destroyed by the rough fighting that Hunters usually engaged in. Of course, some cameras still ended up breaking even after being coated with mana, but the coating reduced the chances of that happening.

‘Well, I don’t have a choice now, do I? I will just have to be careful not to break it while fighting,’ Han-Yeol thought.

While Han-Yeol was still concerned about his cameras, the terrorists finally started to make a move.

“O-Over there!” one of the onlookers exclaimed while pointing toward the building.

Everyone looked up and saw three people jumping down from the building.

[Damn it, kill that bastard!]

[Gwaaaah! That bastard is making me mad!]

[I will rip him to pieces!]

Han-Yeol might have fallen from the building first, but the three terrorists were in a worse shape compared to him. They had burn marks all over their bodies, and their clothes were in tatters from being cut by Han-Yeol.

Tak... Chwaaak!

Han-Yeol grabbed his shirt and ripped it apart. His shirt was in tatters after being burnt by the fire-casting terrorist, so he found his shirt to be a hindrance. His perfectly sculpted body appeared the moment he took his shirt off.

His body was a testament to the effort he put into working out at the Hunter Gym whenever he had time, since it was impossible for anybody to have such a perfect physique unless they put a great deal of effort into exercising.

‘Omo...’ Soo-In thought while being slightly flustered.

In fact, the entire production crew blushed the moment they laid their eyes on Han-Yeol’s body. This was unsurprising, since most of them might have seen such a body on TV before, but none of them had actually seen one in real life and at such a close distance.

Han-Yeol was currently shirtless with one action camera on each of his shoulders. Then, he activated his skill, ‘Sword Breath.’

Fwaaaaa!

Han-Yeol was finally going to fight seriously as he activated his main melee skill, Sword Breath. Then, he immediately drew his newly purchased handgun, the MP0-113K, and shot multiple rounds aimed at the terrorists' faces.

His Marksmanship skill was enhanced thanks to Demon Eyes, and he was now able to clearly read his opponents’ movements.

‘Power Strike,’ Han-Yeol muttered inwardly before letting the bullets fly.

Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! 

The terrorists somehow managed to deflect Han-Yeol’s bullets, but they were not able to come out of it unscathed. The sheer force behind the Power Strike reinforced bullets was astonishingly powerful.

[What kind of ability does that bastard possess?!]

[How the hell is his gun so strong?!]

The terrorists gritted their teeth while barely managing to survive Han-Yeol’s attack.

Ding!

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

[‘Power Strike’ has reached Master-Rank.]

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

‘Huh?’ Han-Yeol muttered in confusion.

It had been quite a while since Power Strike reached A Rank, but it showed no signs of having any more progress, so Han-Yeol figured that it was the end of the line for it. However, he was quite surprised to see that the stagnating skill finally leveled up, and the skill was starting to evolve as soon as it reached Master Rank.

[You have successfully fulfilled the requirements to evolve the skill ‘Power Strike’.]

[The skill has started to evolve.]

[Power Strike (M) has disappeared.]

[A new skill has been created – Mana Strengthening (F).]

[A new skill has been created – Mana Bullet (F).]

‘Wow... I have no idea what these skills are...but I think I hit the jackpot!’ Han-Yeol inwardly rejoiced and exclaimed, since he kind of got the gist of what these skills did based on their names alone.

Just as Han-Yeol was distracted for a split second, due to his skill leveling up and evolving, one of the terrorists cast his flames, which Han-Yeol was sick and tired of by now, toward him. The terrorist yelled, “Fire Storm!”

[The civilians are right behind him! Let’s see how he handles this!]

The terrorists said with a triumphant smile.

Han-Yeol was forced into a situation that was highly favored by all terrorists. The three terrorists expectantly watched as they wondered if Han-Yeol was going to sacrifice himself to block the fire or save himself and sacrifice the civilians behind him. This was an exhilarating moment that they could not get enough of.

[You are really an evil bastard.]

[I’m just living up to our titles, kekeke.]

[Kekekeke!]

Mahmoud, who was also an awakened being known as the Flame of Terror, was the most evil one among the three terrorists. He had no interest in the ideology or beliefs of the terror organization he was currently affiliated with, and the only reason he was working together with them was solely due to the fact that he was just a madman with great bloodthirst. In short, he joined the terrorists so that he could freely enjoy taking the lives of innocents.

He was a terrorist who mainly operated in the Middle East, where high religious and geopolitical tensions always sparked various conflicts. However, he immediately volunteered for this mission the moment he heard of the opportunity to paint South Korea, which was a country that had never experienced a terrorist attack before, with blood.