Leveling Up Alone

Han-Yeol was not bothered by Barshell’s intense reaction.

[…]

Flames burned in his eyes as he tried to suppress the rage welling up inside him.

Barshell was not particularly interested in seeking revenge for the Bastrolings. He had lost his parents soon after birth, so he didn't have much attachment to the dimension. The only connection he had growing up was with Harkan, the only family figure in his life.

The sole reason he loathed the hyenas was that they had stolen his lord’s remains and toyed with them, but that was no longer a concern as his lord stood alive and well in front of him. Now that he could fight alongside his lord, there was nothing more he could ask for.

Then why was he furious right now? Simply because the hyenas were his lord’s enemies.

“Get up, Barshell.”

[Yes, my lord.]

Han-Yeol pulled Barshell to his feet. It seemed amusing that a human was lifting a Bastro Warrior, much taller than him, to his feet, but Han-Yeol was unfazed by their height difference.

[M-My lord…]

“We will reclaim the Bastro Dimension, and you will follow in my footsteps to become the next Dimension Lord.”

[Yes! My lord!]

Han-Yeol often comforted Barshell when he felt down, even back when he was Harkan, and one of the things he frequently told him was exactly this–"You are the next Dimension Lord." Barshell had gotten used to hearing it, but today, for some reason, the sentence hit him hard.

He was far more ambitious than Han-Yeol knew, but he remained the cute young pup in Han-Yeol’s eyes.

It didn't matter whether Riru, Kandir, Barshell, Taichin, or even Camelot became the Dimension Lord, as all Han-Yeol had to do was reclaim the Bastro Dimension from the hyenas, eliminate the threat of the Dragon of Destruction, and return to Earth to enjoy the rest of his life peacefully.

The dimension was not primitive, and its civilization had made great advancements, but the fact that most of its inhabitants were muscle-brained battle freaks meant that it lacked in numerous ways compared to Earth.

***

Alas, the long-awaited moment had finally arrived.

Mana began gathering in the skies of every country in the world as dimensional gates connecting Earth to the second dimension started appearing. Despite Han-Yeol's ability to seal these gates, this information wasn't widely circulated in mainstream news, with only an explosive reaction in the chat room during the livestream making it known.

In reality, the chat room excitement was attributed to Ha-Yeon’s charms, and many viewers questioned the necessity of sealing the dimensional gates. Ultimately, most people concluded it was a waste of time.

“Oh? You look cooler today, master~”

“Really?”

“Hoho~”

The dimensional gates connecting Earth to the second dimension were the hottest topic globally, but Han-Yeol wasn't that interested. Having crossed over to the Bastro Dimension multiple times and lived there for twenty years as Harkan, and with two thousand Bastrolings at the Atarinia Archipelago, this place was almost no different from the Bastro Dimension itself.

Thus, he directed his focus and time to growing stronger rather than watching the news like the rest of the world.

“Ahh… I’m tired,” Han-Yeol groaned and stretched.

He was walking along the northern coastline alone, where the top-tier hunting ground was inhabited by a certain Japanese folk demon known as Onis. Han-Yeol then sat on top of a mountain of Oni corpses.

“Here, have a cup of coffee, master.”

“Ah, thanks.”

Beside him was none other than his lovely monster pet, Tia. Tia loved being near Han-Yeol after he finished hunting, as the scent of blood emitting from his body enticed her instinct as a monster.

Han-Yeol sipped his coffee while browsing through his smartphone. Usually, it was not possible to use electronics such as mobile phones within a hunting ground due to mana interference. However, Han-Yeol was now able to use his smartphone inside hunting grounds thanks to the special smartphone Yoo-Bi developed, which could pick up signals from the outside despite the mana interference.

[For those of you watching, you are currently witnessing the historic moment of our world getting connected to another dimension! Also, this is the first time we are coming into contact with the residents of the second dimension we are connected to, and these creatures are known as Bastrolings!]

The director-general of the HUN was smiling brightly and shaking hands with a hyena, who seemed to be a high-ranking sorcerer. Surprisingly, both of them were smiling, and the picture painted quite a positive and bright atmosphere.

However, what surprised Han-Yeol the most was the reaction of the humans.

Han-Yeol was currently receiving information from numerous government agencies such as the CIA of the United States, BBI of Egypt, and NCS of South Korea. It went without saying he was receiving help from the United States and Egypt thanks to his excellent relationship with them, while the NCS of South Korea had plenty of his people within.

Han-Yeol might not be a genius with an IQ of 150, but he had numerous geniuses like Jason Kim working for him. It had already been a long time since the Director of the NCS was on Han-Yeol’s payroll, and nearly seventy percent of the NCS was now on his payroll as well. Of course, this was something the South Korean Government had completely no idea about.

He might put it this way, but he actually did not do much to sway them to his side. All he did was diligently hunt and earn money while Jason Kim and the other geniuses he brought from the United States were the ones that worked to rope in these talents within the NCS.

He could feel his head slowly starting to hurt again. He was not very good at using his head, and he would often get headaches if he tried using his head a bit too much.

Yes, he was a Transcended Master Rank Hunter with powerful skills, and he tried taking advantage of his overpowered skill, which made it possible for him to become smarter through reading books. However, there was a stark difference between someone who tried hard and a genius born with the innate talent to analyze things with their brain alone.

Besides, it did not matter how many books Han-Yeol read to become smarter as the most intelligent being in the world, Yulia, was on the Freemason’s side. In other words, there was no way he could win against them with his brain alone.

“Hmm… I don’t like how that hyena looks,” Tia grumbled while clinging to Han-Yeol and watching the news playing on his smartphone.

Han-Yeol looked at her and replied, “Really? It looks the same to me, though…”

“Huh? What’s wrong with her?” Han-Yeol tilted his head in confusion.

Tia was usually not interested in anything aside from Han-Yeol, battles, and hunting. It was probably more accurate to say she rarely reacted to other things aside from these three. However, she showed strong disdain for the plain-looking hyena that crossed over to Earth.

“Is there something I’m missing…?”

Tia only said she did not like how the hyena looked, but this was more than enough to confuse Han-Yeol, as she rarely said anything like that for other creatures—except for the goddess Athena.

An Arachnid’s sense was usually spot-on, so there was no harm in covering his back for now. Anyway, he closed the video playing on his smartphone and called Jason Kim to give him one simple instruction.

“The war against the hyenas is going to start soon. Make sure we’re prepared.”

***

Earth’s reaction to becoming a second dimension was a bit lackluster. It was neither positive nor negative, more like somewhat neutral. It was difficult to put into words, but the reaction was definitely not as strong as what people expected it to be.

Still, life went on for ordinary people, who made up the majority of the world’s population. The cogwheels of life continued to turn without any problems as people returned to their daily life. Office workers went back to the office, while the Hunters went back to the hunting grounds.ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ɴovᴇlꜰɪre.ɴet

However, something seemed off despite everything looking normal on the surface. It felt as if society, in general, did not have the vigor it once had. Of course, this was not a problem, but it could prove to be problematic later on if left alone. Unfortunately, it was not a problem where a clear solution was present.

A woman jumped up and swung her greatsword down to split the five-meter-tall Minotaur.

The Minotaur died a hideous death, but that was only the beginning. Directly after killing the Minotaur, the woman put her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly to send a signal.

Large boulders rolled from out of nowhere and crashed into the group of Centaurs behind the Minotaurs.

The Centaurs possessed the upper body of a human but were unable to speak human language. Instead, they neighed loudly like horses after getting caught up in an ambush. The humans were their prey in the steppes until now, but the tables had turned as the humans suddenly started hunting them down instead.

However, the Centaurs were not going to go down without a fight.

The Centaurs ran at high speeds while shooting arrows, but there was another trap waiting for them.

The Centaurs and Minotaurs were separated now, and the woman flashed a victorious smile after seeing that. Ah, her face was covered with a helmet, so only her lips were visible.

“Gotcha.”

They were currently hunting the Centaurs and Minotaurs at the center of the Korean Peninsula. In other words, they were at the DMZ. The DMZ had mountainous rugged terrains, and there were not that many plains here.

[Inescapable Quagmire!]

The ground suddenly softened as the Centaurs started to get stuck.

The Centaurs looked down at the mushy ground. Their main weapon was their crazy movement speed, but they were soon going to lose their advantage the softer the ground became.

Actually, the Centaurs should have escaped right after seeing one of the Minotaurs sliced in half, but they arrogantly decided to stay as the enemy was all alone.

Anyway, the legs of the Centaurs were already sinking deeper inside the quagmire.

They might be unable to speak human language, but they were definitely able to express themselves in their own way.

While people might view the Centaurs as low-ranking monsters, their prowess as hunters was undeniable, attributed to their intelligence. It's worth noting, however, that their level of intelligence didn't quite match that of human beings.

[Calm down! We will sink faster the more we struggle!]

It was not that amazing in a sense, but it was definitely important, as some of the Centaurs were sinking faster than the others.

The enemy they were up against today was unlike any of the humans they faced.

[Hmm?]

The Centaurs were confused to see the woman, who managed to cut the Minotaur in half, easily walk out of the swamp.

[Did she run away…?]

Some of the Centaurs let out a sigh of relief after seeing the human knight pack her sword and leave. This proved to be extremely confusing for some Hunters, as they could not believe someone was capable of toying with these creatures.