Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 107: Balrog the Fire Shield (4)

Everyone tilted their heads in confusion at Han-Yeol’s command, but they decided to follow it nevertheless.

Soo-In walked up to Han-Yeol.

“Hmm?” Han-Yeol muttered when he noticed Soo-In walking toward him while he was busy talking to Balrog.

He could not think of a reason for Soo-In to approach him right now. Yoo-Bi was doing a talk show on the livestream, so he was not needed there.

Han-Yeol might be the protagonist when he was hunting, but Yoo-Bi was hands down the center of attraction when a hunt was not going on. Besides, she was really good at managing the viewers, so he was not really needed.

‘Hmm… I can’t help but be really grateful for Yoo-Bi. Becoming a celebrity might’ve been her dream, but it’s still my channel, after all…’?

Of course, it was not that Yoo-Bi did not benefit from it at all. In fact, she was starting to get popular enough for some people to recognize her on the street. She would even get interview requests, get scouted by talent agencies, and even get offers to film an advertisement.

“What’s the matter, Soo-In?” Han-Yeol asked.

“Ah, I wanted to ask… Are we going underground by any chance?” Soo-In asked.

“Why are you asking that?” Han-Yeol asked in surprise.

He did not mention anything else aside from asking them to check their equipment, so he thought that Soo-In’s intuition seemed quite sharp.

“I had a feeling that we were going to go somewhere closed and narrow like a basement for some reason. Anyway, we will have to install another mana antenna if we are going underground, so that’s why I am asking.”

“We need to install another mana antenna?” Han-Yeol tilted his head in confusion before Soo-In explained how the mana antenna worked.

He did not particularly care how the broadcast worked, but Soo-In always insisted that he listened to her explanations as they were using his money, after all. That was the reason why he was aware of what the mana antenna was and what it did, but he had no idea why they had to install another one.

“Yes, we will have to install another one. It is not so often that we will have to install another antenna, but there are cases where we will have to if we are moving to another place. You do remember that we purchased two mana antennas last time, right?”

“Yes, I remember, but we bought that as a backup just in case something happened to the one we’re using, right?”

It might be quite obvious, but Soo-In made sure to report any expenses above a certain amount to Han-Yeol whenever she made a purchase. Han-Yeol emphasized that she did not have to do that since she was in charge of the Mulan film crew, but she insisted on providing detailed accounts and reports to him.

Han-Yeol’s memory dramatically improved after awakening, so he remembered all of the reports Soo-In had made.

“Yes, that was our original intent as mana antennas are quite fragile equipment and they break down quite frequently. However, we may use them as a relay point as well. Most hunting grounds are open-type ones, so we do not really need to use another antenna, but it is a whole different story if we are going underground,” Soo-In explained.

“Oh, I see…” Han-Yeol nodded in amazement, and then he said, “Yes, we are going underground, so please install the relay point.”

“Yes, Hunter-nim!” Soo-In saluted as a joke before she sped toward the rest of the Mulan crew and instructed them to install a mana antenna.

The Mulan film crew immediately installed the mana antenna after hearing that they were going to be venturing underground.

“Hurry up! We are going underground!”

“What?! Underground?! That’s making me nervous…”

“Yeah, I never imagined the Paradise Field had an underground space as well…”

“That’s quite amazing…”

The girls had fully adjusted to their new job after leaving the safety of their regular job, where they did not have to risk their lives. It was most likely that they were going to find a job at another guild or raid party in the event that they were fired from their current one.

However, to do that, they had to not only accumulate enough experience but also possess quite a lot of knowledge about Hunters. This was the reason that they had been diligently studying about the Hunter industry.

The only thing required for them to join the Mulan crew was for them to have skills and a good personality, but they soon found out that it was not that easy for them to join other raid parties or guilds. After all, those places tended to be quite picky with hiring people.

The hiring requirements of other guilds or raid parties were so absurd that they even expected whoever they hired to have a good TOEIC score.

‘I can only get these kinds of shots working for Hunters!’?

Working in the film industry was all about filming boring things and layering them with CG to make the various scenes come to life. However, working with Han-Yeol had opened up a whole new world for them where all sorts of flashy things happened without having to use CG, and they could not help but feel addicted to it.

‘We are quite lucky to be able to work here…’

Quite a lot of their peers were already asking them how they had managed to join the Mulan film crew and if they could help them join the crew as well. However, a lot of their peers found it hard to believe that all they had done to join the Mulan film crew was to take a personality test and show their portfolio.

‘I only did an interview and I passed.’

‘I really didn’t do anything much, why are they talking as if I have a secret that I’m not sharing?’

It was a given that they could not say much about the hiring process as there had really been nothing special about it.

Click… Clack!

“It’s finally finished!”

The mana antenna installation was finally completed.

“Han-Yeol Hunter-nim! The installation is finished!” Soo-In shouted loudly.

Han-Yeol nodded in response before he stood up and said, “Let’s get moving now. Our destination is the library’s basement. Bring only the equipment you can carry and leave the rest here, but make sure to put a camouflage cover over it so nobody steals it.”

“Yes, Hunter-nim!”

Everyone helped Yoo-Bi place camouflage netting over the truck.

This technology had been developed thirty years ago, but its energy requirements made it difficult to commercialize. However, the appearance of mana stones as an energy source had made it possible for this technology to finally be commercialized.

The emergence of mana stones made it possible for technology that would otherwise only be seen in sci-fi movies to be used in real life, and the camouflage netting was a prime example of it.

“That’s perfect. Anyway, it’s officially known that there’s nothing in this place, so I doubt anyone is going to come and steal these.”

“Y-Yeah…”

Han-Yeol sounded quite nonchalant about it, but Soo-In could not help but feel anxious about leaving all of these expensive equipment behind unattended. All of these equipment were extremely expensive. She would not be able to afford a tenth of it even if she worked for her entire life.

“These equipment are insured. They are also not that expensive for me, so please don’t worry about it,” Han-Yeol said.

“Ah, yes, Hunter-nim!”

In the end, Soo-In had to stop worrying about it. After all, she could not afford to get on her employer’s bad side.

They made their way into the library, which had a messy interior. There were furniture littered all over the ground, the window panes were shattered, and there were trails of blood all over.

‘It feels like a scene out of a zombie movie…’?Han-Yeol thought.

He was a fan of zombie movies, which frequently featured scenes just like the sight in front of him.

Of course, it only looked like a scene out of a zombie movie. There were no zombies in this area. However, what did exist here were monsters that were far more vicious than zombies.

‘Where should we go, Balrog-nim?’?Han-Yeol asked.

[Follow me.]

Balrog continued walking.

The broadcast was not live as of right now. They told the viewers that the live stream was going to resume after they took a break, but that was just an excuse as they made their way here. It was a precaution they took to deter anyone from stealing their equipment or trailing them and exposing the location of the secret area.

Thud! Thud! Thud!?

The sound of Balrog’s footsteps led the way toward the basement, which was quite dark.

Fwaaa!

However, Balrog engulfed his body in flames to illuminate their surroundings, and the Mulan crew members took out their lighting equipment as well.

The dark basement was soon brightly illuminated. A restaurant, shop, and lounge area could be seen, and Balrog made his way toward the restaurant first.

‘What is he trying to find here?’?Han-Yeol wondered.

“Euk…!?It stinks!”

“What smell is this?”

The restaurant was emitting a foul odor, but it was not the stench of rotting food. This place had been abandoned for more than thirty years, so any trace of food would have long decomposed by now.

They said there was no smoke without fire, so there was bound to be a reason behind this foul stench.

‘Does this smell mean that this is another hunting ground?’?Han-Yeol wondered.

If his deduction was correct, then the Paradise Field was not a hunting ground where only Banshees, Trappers, and Phantoms appeared. There could be more monsters inhabiting it.

‘I am looking forward to this, Balrog-nim,’?Han-Yeol said.

[Kwahahaha! You should! There’s nothing as exciting as a bloodfest!]

At the thought of being able to fight to his heart’s content, Balrog started to get excited once again.

When they entered the restaurant and stood in front of the storeroom, Han-Yeol asked, ‘Is there something in here?’?

[Kehehe! To think that they would call something like this a secret. I don’t know who did this, but this is quite pitiful!]

‘What do you mean by that, Balrog-nim?’

[Just watch.]

Balrog took a step back before stabbing his spear into the ground and gathering his mana into his fist.

Thud!

Woooong!

As an absurd amount of mana concentrated in his right fist, a black flame that resembled the flames of hell appeared on it.

[Kwahahaha! Eat this! Hellfire Punch!]

Whooosh… Kwaaaaang!

Balrog swung his fist at the speed of light, smashing it into the restaurant’s storeroom wall.

“Kyahk!”

“W-What was that?!”

“Was that an earthquake?”

“What do you mean by an earthquake? You do know we are in a hunting ground, right? That was definitely caused by someone or something.”

“The Paradise Field is not an S Rank hunting ground and there are no Master Rank Hunters here, so that tremor just now is definitely not caused by someone!”

The raid parties hunting in the Paradise Field immediately stopped what they were doing and put their guards up at the sudden unexplainable phenomena. However, nothing much happened afterward, even though they waited for an hour.

“Oh, nothing happened.”

“We just wasted our time.”

“We could’ve hunted one more time in that hour!”

“Today is a bust as well…”

The Hunters started to grumble about the tremor after nothing happened, but the culprit behind it was…

[Kwahahaha! What do you think? Do you like the taste of this Balrog-nim’s fist?!]

Balrog’s fist carried such a tremendous amount of force that it broke down a portion of a wall large enough for two people to enter at the same time. Nothing else was damaged aside from that.

“W-What was that?”

“That was a huge tremor, but that’s it…?”

“Huh?”

“That’s quite surprising in its own way… I guess?”

Everyone had a lackluster expression after seeing the hole dug by the tremendous force.

However, Han-Yeol had a different reaction.

‘This place must have been made and hidden on purpose, judging by the fact?that?only a portion of it was revealed after that powerful punch.’

[Kehehe! As expected of the human who summoned me! You aren’t stupid! It is exactly as you said, this pathway was created and hidden by someone on purpose. Nobody previously found it because it was quite well-hidden, but the mana seeping out of this hole is going to start attracting humans within twenty-four hours. What we need to do now is to start fighting before that twenty-four hours is up!]

‘It’s going to get busy around here…’

[Exactly!]

The carefree smile on Balrog’s face disappeared.

Crumble… Crumble…?

The debris from the wall fell to the ground.

“Wow…” the Mulan crew members muttered in amazement as their hearts pounded in anticipation of what laid beyond the wall.