Leveling Up Alone

“You saw what Ye-Rim did a while ago, right?” Han-Yeol asked.

“Yes, I saw,” Ki-Jang replied.

“Then, I’ll get started right away.”

“Yes, sir!”

Han-Yeol did not feel the need to explain the process once again, so he immediately used his skill to thoroughly check Lee Ki-Jang’s abilities just like he did to Ye-Rim. Of course, Karvis also participated in the process.

Han-Yeol had no idea how to describe what he saw inside Lee Ki-Jang’s mind.

The skill definitely suited Lee Ki-Jang’s background, but it unfortunately had the potential to hold him back in the future.

“Ki-Jang.”

“Yes, sir!”

Han-Yeol decided to tell him honestly. “Congratulations, you have awakened as a Master-Rank Hunter.”

“R-Really?!”

“Yeah.”

“Whoa! Yes! Yes! Yessss!”

Lee Ki-Jang cheered and jumped for joy after hearing that he had awakened as a Master-Rank Hunter, which was a stark contrast to Ye-Rim’s reaction of crying a river.

“Thank you! Thank you so much, Han-Yeol-nim!”

He repeatedly bowed and thanked Han-Yeol, as he knew that all of this was only made possible thanks to him.

“Hahaha… S-Sure…” Han-Yeol replied awkwardly.

Well, he might have replied that way, but he could not help but feel sour right now. They might cooperate and listen to his orders right now, as this island was more than capable of killing a Master-Rank Hunter, but these two would certainly go their own ways after they manage to leave this island.

“Oh, the ability you awakened with is quite unique, so I have decided to nit Gunman for now.”

“Huh? Gunman?”

“Yeah, Gunman.”

“Gunman?”

Ki-Jang could not understand what Han-Yeol meant by Gunman. He knew that it meant a gun and a man combined together, but the problem was that he had no idea what that actually meant.

He thought about it for a while when a thought suddenly flashed in his mind.

“N-No way!”

“Whatever you thought of just now is probably correct.”

Han-Yeol grabbed his hand and channeled his mana once again. Then, whatever information he read in Ki-Jang’s mind a while ago was transmitted directly into Ki-Jang’s mind, so he could take a closer look at it.

“Ah!” Ki-Jang gasped after reading the information Han-Yeol injected into his mind.

He was mentally stronger than Ye-Rim, but he had problems remembering the exact words of the message, as he was distracted a while ago. Fortunately, Han-Yeol was able to retrieve the message from his mind and show it to him once again.

“H-How can this be? A Hunter who freely uses firearms? H-Has there ever been a Hunter like that?”

“No, not that I know of.”

“T-Then…?”

He collapsed on his knees and hands. His mental fortitude was far tougher than most people thanks to his background of coming from a family of soldiers and graduating from the air force academy, but his stern upbringing caused friction with his family. Eventually, he ended up leaving hfor good. Not only that, but he also quit his job as a military officer and joined a commercial airline out of spite.

If there was one thing he loathed more than anything else, then that was definitely soldiers.

Ironically, he awakened as a Hunter only to use firearms like a soldier again. Well, it did not bother him that much, but it still somewhat felt awkward to him still.

“Don’t think that you’re a soldier just because you’re using a gun. I mean, even killers and bodyguards use guns in the movies, right?”

“R-Really…?”

“I think so?”

Han-Yeol tried to console Ki-Jang, but he did not say more than that, as it did not concern him.

“Hey, don’t cry. You’re a man!”

“Y-Yes… sir…”

Anyway, the addition of another Master-Rank Hunter amplified the firepower of Han-Yeol’s party several fold. On top of that, Ye-Rim started to get used to her ability, and she was now able to turn her body into pure flames that were invulnerable to any physical attacks that did not contain any mana.

Thanks to this, their progress in exploring the jungle sped up.

***

Quite a lot of tpassed once again.

“Finally!”

“Oh, we finally found something.”

The island looked small enough to explore in half a day with tto prepare for lunch when Han-Yeol first saw it from the air, but it took them nearly fifteen days just to find the entrance to an ancient ruin hidden at the foot of a waterfall.

Anyone could tell that this ancient ruin was extremely suspicious, but Han-Yeol had a separate reason for wanting to go inside.

“I’m sick and tired of this jungle!”

“I agree.”

The jungle they passed through a while ago was not somewhere a human being could live. Not only was it full of venomous insects and monsters, but it was so hot and humid that even Han-Yeol felt uncomfortable.

If Han-Yeol with all of his skills felt uncomfortable, then it was definitely a living hell for the others.

Tia seemed oblivious to how Han-Yeol felt and voiced out her desire to return to the jungle, but she was immediately shot down by him.

“Go back by yourself then!”

The one who suffered the most throughout this whole expedition was none other than Scarlett.

Of course, he was not suffering because he was tired or anything like that. He was suffering from not being able to progress things further with Scarlett, and the most he could do was pat her soft body like this.

One odd thing about this island was the fact that the sun was always up, and it was bright twenty-four hours every single day, which added to Han-Yeol’s misery. He could snuck out with her to relieve himself when dark, but that was impossible when night never came.

Smight think that they could have snuck out regardless, but the humidity and heat on the island was so murderous that it was impossible during day time, which was the only ton this island. In fact, the heat was so bad that the crew members would have gone crazy if Han-Yeol did not cool them down with his skill—no, they would have died from dehydration or heat stroke by now.

On the other hand, Ye-Rim was looking at Scarlett with eyes full of envy. She wanted to get closer to Han-Yeol and be at the slevel where they could freely touch each other.

“Hey, Scarlett.”

‘Yeah?”

“We will be going inside soon.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Are you ready?”

“I’m always ready.”

Scarlett did not specialize in combat, so she did not have much contribution until now, but she was still a secret agent from the United States. Being ready was one of the most basic requirements as a secret agent.

Han-Yeol’s party was greeted by the sound of water droplets as soon as they entered the ancient ruin. It was so dark that they could not even see what was right in front of them, but they were able to finally escape from the blazing sun, as the ancient ruin’s entrance was located in a cave.

The crew was about to cheer after finally finding shelter from the blistering sun, but their joy was short-lived, as the cave greeted them with walls as hot as the blazing sun. It seemed that there was a source of geothermal energy somewhere within the cave, which heated up the walls to the point that it felt like they were currently in a sauna.

Ki-Jang and Ye-Rim were fine after they awakened, but the other crew members were not so fortunate. They were on the verge of dying from the intense heat, and Han-Yeol was forced to crank up his Frozen Field to bring down the temperature and humidity.

“Han-Yeol-nim.”

“I’m fine. This much is nothing to me.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Stewart seemed concerned that Han-Yeol had been using Frozen Field continuously for days now, but Han-Yeol reassured him that he was fine. The reason Stewart was concerned was that even someone like Han-Yeol would feel burdened by activating a skill of this caliber for days, but it was not that burdensfor him, as he possessed mana recovery skills.

Also, it was not like Han-Yeol beca Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter overnight out of pure coincidence. He worked his way from the bottom and grew his mana capacity numerous times to reach where he was today.

White Dragon flew around Han-Yeol before curling around his neck. The ancient ruin was extremely dark, but they were able to see now without Han-Yeol having to spend a drop of his mana.

How was this possible? It was all thanks to White Dragon.

She had yet to awaken, so she was not that useful in combat, but she was able to conjure a powerful light source that could illuminate five meters around them.

Han-Yeol found White Dragon to be quite helpful even though she could not participate in combat. After all, his party already possessed enough firepower, and not spending mana on things like this was much more helpful to him.

“You’re quite amazing!”

White Dragon proudly raised her head after Han-Yeol praised her.

In fact, he looked exactly the sas he would be whenever Han-Yeol praised her after he saw him praising White Dragon.

Unfortunately, White Dragon completely ignored him despite his efforts to get on her good side.

However, Mavros was quite stubborn, so he was not going to give up easily. He might have failed this time, but he would soon shake it off and try making himself appear attractive to her again soon enough.

Anyway, White Dragon really chandy for Han-Yeol, as using both Frozen Field and another skill would have definitely beca burden for him. As obvious as it might be, Stewart was unable to use Light Attribute magic, so the sole burden of cooling and illuminating their surroundings would have fallen on Han-Yeol alone.

Of course, Han-Yeol would not have minded if he had to use both Frozen Field while illuminating their surroundings if this was still Earth and there were no threats around them, but he had no idea what sort of danger lurked in this place.

Using two or three skills continuously in an unfamiliar place like this was definitely something he did not want to do, and everyone else would be in danger—except for Stewart—if Han-Yeol ended up incapacitated.

Therefore, Han-Yeol had to conserve his mana and be alert at all times so that they all could leave this place in one piece.

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