Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 103: The True Path to Wealth (5)

Han-Yeol shook his head after leaving the scene of the accident. He grumbled, “Ah… Do I have a grudge with the Hunters’ Association from my previous life or something…? Why do things keep happening whenever I’m about to go there?”

He had already failed to visit the Hunters’ Association two times now, and that was the reason he had composed himself throughout the accident and called the police and insurance company instead.

Otherwise, he would have crushed the middle-aged man’s car like a tin can and thrown some money as compensation. What if he got into trouble? Simple, he was going to use his position as a Hunter to get out of it.

However, going to the Hunters’ Association was his top priority for today.

‘You better not show up in front of me ever again… or I’m going to bash your head in,’?Han-Yeol grumbled while drinking the soft drink he bought from a vending machine.

Grip…!

Then, he crushed the coin he got as change from the vending machine to the size of a booger.

The taxi driver instantly tensed up after witnessing what Han-Yeol just did through the rear-view mirror. The poor driver had to drive as carefully as he could to not get on the Hunter’s nerve.

Of course, Han-Yeol did not notice how nervous the taxi driver was as he was still enraged by the middle-aged man.

The tense ride continued until they reached the Hunters’ Association.

“Ahh! Finally!” Han-Yeol exclaimed after finally arriving at the Hunters’ Association. He finally made it here after being sidetracked time and time again.

It was not that he was particularly busy today, but what was important was the fact that he had made it.

Han-Yeol looked around his surroundings just in case there was anything else that was going to get in his way, but he didn’t find anything in particular.

Whiiing…

The automatic sliding doors opened and Han-Yeol finally stepped foot into the association building.

Most business establishments that Hunters frequented had a row of employees standing in front of the doors just to greet them, but this was the Hunters’ Association, which was known for being very proud even to Hunters. There were no such services in this place, and even the ordinary people here earned far more than others earned elsewhere.

Han-Yeol went to the receptionist on the first floor and told them that he was there to have his rank adjusted.

“A readjustment of your rank?” the receptionist asked to be sure.

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“Ah, not at all. Please wait a moment.”

A well-dressed staffer appeared and took Han-Yeol’s documents to a room. A while passed before a man, who looked like he was in his thirties, with a strange-looking mustache came out from the room to greet Han-Yeol.

“Oh, you are Lee Han-Yeol Hunter-nim, right?” the mustache man asked.

“Yes, that is me.”

“I apologize for our rudeness for making someone like you stand outside and wait for us.”

“Ah, not at all, I’m fine with it…” Han-Yeol said.

Before he could finish speaking, he was suddenly interrupted by the mustache man’s outburst.

“Not at all!”

Han-Yeol was a rising star who had turned the arrogant Hunters’ Association upside down. Of course, most people were busy focusing on Tayarana as she was the one who was far more famous than him, but anyone who had a deep understanding of Hunters or worked in the industry was more interested in Han-Yeol.

In fact, even the Hunters’ Association were anxiously waiting for the day that Han-Yeol was going to visit them. This was because there was a rule that they were not allowed to force a Hunter to do anything without probable cause.

Anyway, even the chief of the Hunters’ Association’s Gangbuk Branch moved his heavy butt down to the first floor just to shake Han-Yeol’s hands.

“Please come this way. I will personally assist you in readjusting your rank.”

What was even more amazing was that the Gangbuk Branch’s head researcher personally offered to readjust Han-Yeol’s rank. The association researchers were very proud people who would not budge an inch unless there was anything special, and the fact that their head personally attended to Han-Yeol was a shocking thing.

Han-Yeol followed the researcher. Noticing the place they went to was not the same place he had been the last time, he wondered, ‘Hmm? This isn’t the same place as last time.’

That place was located above ground, but they were currently heading underground to the basement.

“Excuse me, I think I did my rank test upstairs last time. Why are we going to the basement this time?” Han-Yeol asked.

“Ah, I forgot to explain to you beforehand. Han-Yeol Hunter-nim is the first Hunter who possesses multiple abilities, right?”

“Well, I guess?”

“Then it will be impossible to gauge your rank with a normal machine. We will need to use the more advanced machine at the lab if we want to accurately gauge your rank.”

When Han-Yeol stopped in his tracks, the head researcher called out to him with a perplexed look on his face. “Han-Yeol Hunter-nim?”

“I decline to have any tests carried out on me. I will just stick to being tested by the previous machine. I didn’t come here to waste my time with this nonsense,” Han-Yeol said sternly.

He thought, ‘You think I will be fooled? I know you’re just trying to find out the secret behind my precious ability.’

Han-Yeol no longer planned to hide his abilities from others, and that was the reason that he had broadcasted his entire hunt live without editing it. However, that did not mean that he was alright with the association dissecting his abilities.

‘Who do they think they are?’?Han-Yeol grumbled inwardly.

The Hunters’ Association might seem like an omnipotent organization, but that was not the case at all. They were able to stand toe-to-toe with the government of the Republic of Korea thanks to the support of the Hunters. This meant that they were going to crumble the moment the Hunters withdrew their support.

The Hunters supported the association because the association guaranteed them freedom as long as they obeyed certain rules, and this ‘freedom’ they offered to the Hunters was the main catalyst that allowed the association to become what it was today.

“H-Han-Yeol Hunter-nim!”

The head researcher was shocked at Han-Yeol’s refusal to cooperate. Han-Yeol might be the first Hunter of his kind, but the head researcher never imagined in his wildest dreams that a mere Hunter would dare to go against the wishes of the association.

The researcher was a scientist who was only interested in his research. He did not care about the relationship between Hunters and the association, and that was also the reason why he lacked understanding of the ‘freedom’ the association guaranteed.

The Gangbuk Branch was turned upside down once again at Han-Yeol’s refusal, and this made the director of research from the main branch come running to this branch.

“L-Look here, Han-Yeol, what do you want? What will make you cooperate with us and let us scan you?” the director asked.

Han-Yeol might be the first Hunter of his kind, but the higher-ups at the Hunters’ Association were not that interested in him. Yes, his ability was quite amazing, but the combat prowess he had shown in the live stream was something that most A Rank and even some B Rank Hunters were capable of doing.

Yes, Hunters who were at the level of B Rank or A Rank were quite useful, but they were not that useful to stir up trouble with whatever organization they were affiliated with.

In short, Han-Yeol did not have enough merit for the association to raise an issue over him.

“I don’t really feel like it. Go get a warrant from the association if you want to force me. The fact that you even tried to scan me without my consent is already pissing me off,” said Han-Yeol who openly expressed his anger.

The researchers might be an important pillar of the Hunters’ Association, but they were nothing other than old men in white gowns to Han-Yeol. Needless to say, he had no reason to give in to their demands.

‘I would have tried at least negotiating some tax benefits if it was the Hunters’ Association dealing with me, but I don’t see any benefit for me if it’s just these old men showing interest in me,’ thought Han-Yeol as he recalled the thirty percent tax that he always had to pay.

The government did mention that quite a lot of European countries were levying a fifty percent tax on Hunters, but the European countries worked closely with their Hunters and made sure that there were near-perfect facilities and benefits that they could use.

For example, the United Kingdom made it possible for Hunters to hire their soldiers as mercenaries to assist them in hunts. The soldiers were not extremely helpful against monsters, but the fact that they were hunting with battle-hardened war veterans greatly increased the efficiency of the hunt.

In short, the European Hunters enjoyed better support from their government and association.

On the other hand, the Korean soldiers had been busy guarding the north-south Korean border before the dimensional gates appeared. After they had appeared, they were busy guarding the perimeters around the hunting grounds.

“Haa… Let’s do it like this,” the research director said after an hour of going back and forth.

Of course, the winner was obviously Han-Yeol, and the research director ended up having to sweeten the deal.

“Hmm?”

“You may take three things from our research center if you agree to let us conduct research on you. The value of what you take does not matter since we will not be able to pay you in cash. We are just researchers getting budgets from the higher-ups, after all… However, you will find quite a lot of things that will be helpful in combat in our laboratory. So, what do you think?”

“Hmm… That offer is a hundred times better than you trying to scan me without my consent,” Han-Yeol replied.

The director of research bowed his head in embarrassment after getting caught by Han-Yeol, and he started to worry that this was going to escalate into an even bigger issue.

***

After much difficulty, the director of research had managed to convince Han-Yeol to agree to the scan. They went to the research center at the Hunters’ Association headquarters in Gangnam. The agreement was to do a scan of Han-Yeol’s body and test some of his abilities.

The result of the test was…

“Congratulations, your rank came out as the upper echelon of B Rank. You are the first one to jump from E to B in a single attempt. I suspect that you started off with three skills, but gained new skills over time… However, that is the surprising part. There has been no instance of a Hunter possessing more than three skills, and I think you are the first of your kind,” the director said.

“Haha! It feels good to be the first, I guess?” Han-Yeol replied.

Being the first in anything was always something to feel good about. Han-Yeol knew he was the first Hunter to possess such an ability, but it did feel good to have it officially acknowledged.

“Alright, shall I go take what I want now?” Han-Yeol said as he rubbed his hands together and licked his lips.

Gulp…!

The researchers nervously gulped and prepared themselves after hearing about the arrangement between Han-Yeol and their director, which was for Han-Yeol to take three pieces of equipment in exchange for allowing them to scan his body.

Having a single equipment breakdown was already painful for them, since they were working with a budget. Needless to say, the fact that Han-Yeol was going to take three pieces of equipment was going to be a huge blow for them. Of course, they did discover a lot of new things thanks to scanning Han-Yeol, but they could not help feeling the pain now that he started choosing.

“What do you think? Feel free to pick anything you like,” Han-Yeol said.

“Wow! Can I really do that?” exclaimed Yoo-Bi, who appeared out of nowhere.

Han-Yeol had called Yoo-Bi over when he was moving from the Gangbuk Branch to the main branch in Gangnam.

“Yeah, I made a deal with them to take three pieces of equipment in exchange for letting them scan me. I kept my end of the bargain, so you can go ahead and choose whatever that might be helpful for you in hunting.”

None of the equipment in the research center really caught Han-Yeol’s eye. It would have been a different story if this was a place researching Hunter equipment worth billions of won, but this was unfortunately not such a place.

However, that did not change the fact that they had a lot of equipment that would be useful for a Porter like Yoo-Bi. This research center developed mana detection devices, mana flashbangs, and other equipment that Porters used, and that was the reason why this place was no different from a shopping center for Yoo-Bi.

Han-Yeol could not help but give this opportunity to Yoo-Bi. After all, he had witnessed how hard she was working for him all this time.

Who would not want to reward such a hardworking staff?

“Hmm… Which one should I choose?” Yoo-Bi wondered aloud while browsing through the list on the tablet PC, which housed the entire database of equipment available in the research center. She soon exclaimed, “Wow! There’s a goggle with both thermal and mana detection functions?”

“Oh, really?” Han-Yeol muttered while looking at the list. He could not help but be instinctively interested as he had been a Porter as well.

Most Hunters who had worked as Porters for only a short while would not feel the same, but the ones like Han-Yeol, who had worked as a Porter for quite a while, were likely to have the same reaction.

Yoo-Bi carefully picked three items from the research center, and she made sure to maximize the opportunity by picking the most valuable and useful things.

“What a haul! Who would have thought we could get these precious equipment for free?” Yoo-Bi exclaimed in delight.

“Keke! Right? You can continue using them until you awaken, as long as you are contracted with me. You know that, right?”

“Of course! I will continue my contract with you just for these babies! Not that I don’t want to awaken as soon as possible, though.”

“Yeah, your first priority as a Porter should be to awaken and awaken alone.”

This was something that Han-Yeol knew very well as he himself had waited four years and worked in the worst working environment just to awaken as a Hunter.