Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 125: Being a Celebrity Is Tiring (2)

Jin-Ah could not help but be extremely curious about what the customer in front of her did for a living. The way he spent money was on a whole different level and his taste for coffee was spot on too. She thought, ‘I wonder who this person is… I should have recognized him if he is an heir to those conglomerates.’

One of her keys to success was to be aware of her potential clients who might walk in one day. Most of her clients were people who struck it rich or those who had inherited their wealth. Regardless of their background, being aware of their personalities and background was a great help for her to close the deal.

Also, Jin-Ah was wondering about Han-Yeol’s identity not only because of his immense wealth but also for his taste in coffee. She was a self-professed coffee lover and the fact that she just met another person who knew about the Geisha was more than enough to pique her interest in him.

“We used to provide the Geisha for our customers, but most people did not seem to be aware of what it was. We ended up deciding to change it to the Luwak,” Jin-Ah explained.

Han-Yeol nodded and replied, “That’s understandable. The Geisha is not a well-known coffee in our country after all, and only those crazy about coffee would have heard of it.”

Once, a famous reality show from M Broadcasting Station had shown a princess drinking Luwak Coffee, and that catapulted the coffee’s image as a luxury coffee in South Korea.

The both of them managed to get comfortable with each other thanks to their common love for coffee, and the atmosphere in the VVIP room was quite relaxed by the time they were about to sign the contract.

Jin-Ah could not help but be extremely happy about Han-Yeol’s purchase. The total amount he had purchased just now was going to be more than enough to satisfy her annual sales target. No, it was actually going to help her exceed her sales target by 50 percent.

However, she was soon shocked again when Han-Yeol requested for all of the vehicles to have all of the best options available.

In the end, she managed to successfully close the deal, which was enough to help her satisfy three years' worth of sales targets.

“Do you have a car I can drive home right now?” Han-Yeol asked.

“Pardon me…?”

“Ah, I don’t have a car with me, so I need one to go home. I was thinking of driving that car over there.”

“Ah… I regret to inform you that the car you wish to drive is a display model and the actual car is in our main branch’s warehouse. Also, all of our cars here are display models, so it will take some time for us to get them ready…”

“Hmm…” Han-Yeol muttered while looking troubled. He liked that specific car out of all of the cars here, but he also needed a car to drive home right now.

As Han-Yeol crossed his arms and started to contemplate his options, Jin-Ah looked slightly nervous.

After some thought, Han-Yeol finally asked, “Do you have a cheap car that I can drive home right now?”

“Yes, we do have one. We just finished clearing our stock for that specific model, so we were planning to sell the display model for cheap. Would you want that one?”

“Well, I guess I don’t have a choice. Please add that car to the contract.”

“Yes, I will get to it immediately.”

That was how Han-Yeol laid waste to the luxury supercar dealership before leaving.

Vroom!

“Wow, is it because this is a foreign brand? This car is really good,” said Han-Yeol in surprise after revving the engine.

The dealership he had swept clean just now was not a place specializing in Hunter vehicles, but rather, it was a normal dealership that specialized in dealing with luxury supercars.

A technological limitation existed when it came to implementing the design and specification of luxury supercars for Hunter vehicles, and that was why it was impossible to find one that could be used by Hunters. However, that did not mean that there was no demand for it. Quite a lot of Hunters were still clamoring for a Hunter-use luxury supercar to be made.

Unfortunately, it was not quite an easy task to achieve as there was another hurdle aside from the technological limitation. A Hunter vehicle from H Company or K Company cost five and a half billion won for their lowest specification model, and that was an indicator that a luxury model was probably going to sell for an astronomical figure if it was ever made.

The reason that Han-Yeol had made the purchase despite these cars not being Hunter vehicles was purely due to the fact that he wanted to start a collection. He was keen to collect these beautiful works of art instead of those rigid and rough-looking Hunter vehicles.

“Hmm… If this car is so good, I wonder how amazing those cars they will be sending in three months’ time are going to be…?” Han-Yeol wondered aloud as he stepped on the pedal.

Vrooom!

His next destination was none other than the LTC Hotel.

***

Han-Yeol looked around after arriving at the OO Café on the hotel’s second floor. Then, he found a man and a woman sitting at the meeting place he had been told to be at.

Upon seeing him, the man and the woman both got up from their seats. Han-Yeol deduced that the woman was probably the team leader who had called him at that time.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Han-Yeol Hunter. My name is Lee Chung-Hee, and I am the manager of the Hunter Management Department of the Hunters’ Association,” the man introduced himself and extended his hand.

He was a tall middle-aged man wearing a neat suit.

“Lee Han-Yeol, it is a pleasure to meet you,” Han-Yeol replied and shook the man’s hand.

“Hello, my name is Kim Hee-Ae. We spoke on the phone previously,” the woman then introduced herself with a bow.

The other Hunters were probably going to be shocked if they saw the witch bowing toward someone.

They sat on their sofa seats after introducing themselves to one another. Only then did Han-Yeol ask, “So, what business does the Hunter Management Department have with me?”

“I would like to ask you a question before we get to the main point. Did you really summon all of those demons by yourself? We happened to stumble upon the summoning video, and we cannot help but find it impossible for a single Hunter to summon so many demons at once,” Lee Chung-Hee asked.

Han-Yeol nodded and replied, “I guess that’s only normal. But you are aware that I can summon demons, right?”

He knew very well that the ability he had used in exchange for paying ten tons of gold was quite absurd.

“Yes, our department has been keeping our eyes on your broadcast, so we have a rough idea of your abilities.”

“Aigoo! I didn’t know you were one of my precious viewers!”

“…”

Han-Yeol tried making a joke to loosen up the mood, but he only ended up looking stupid. However, he was just using it as a cover to buy time to think about how he was going to answer the question. He thought, ‘Hmm… I guess I can tell them that much?’

“Well, one of the demons I summon is a merchant that can sell me stuff from the demon world, and I purchased a single-use magic scroll that allowed me to summon a thousand demons.”

“I-Is that true? Are you serious?!”

Thud!

Lee Chung-Hee stood up from his seat and banged his knee on the table, but he was simply too shocked to even acknowledge the pain and discomfort. He exclaimed in surprise, “Y-You can purchase items from the demon world?! How can this be?!”

The world’s technology might have made great strides in development, but it was still only child’s play when compared to the technology the aliens that had saved the world possessed. Every country on Earth was trying to come up with solutions for sudden events like the dimensional rift that had recently appeared all over the world as they realized that relying on the Hunters alone was not going to be enough.

There were quite a lot of experts who voiced out the need for investments to be made to develop mana-using technologies that ordinary people could use to defend themselves aside from the investments the world had been making to train Hunters.

That was the reason why Han-Yeol’s comment of being able to simply purchase powerful artifacts like the one he had used that day was so shocking to Lee Chung-Hee.

Slurp…!

Han-Yeol took a sip of the coffee that was served, and he grimaced for a split second. It happened so quickly that Lee Chung-Hee and Kim Hee-Ae did not notice it. He grumbled inwardly, ‘They’re using cheap coffee.’

The LTC Hotel was one of the country’s top hotels, so he certainly expected a lot more from their coffee. He could not help but be disappointed that the coffee they had served was a cheap one when they were charging so much for it.

Han-Yeol felt that the taste of the Luwak Coffee he had drunk a while ago was tarnished after taking a sip of this coffee, and he no longer touched the coffee cup after that first sip.

“Yes, I have to pay a heavy price for it, but the items I purchase are quite effective,” Han-Yeol said nonchalantly.

Lee Chung-Hee might have reacted quite strongly, but there was no need for Han-Yeol to show any reaction at all since he was used to dealing with the demons anyway.

“T-That is really amazing… You are not the only Hunter who can summon demons, but the demon world has always been shrouded in mystery. Nothing has been made known about the world that those amazing demons live in, but we know for certain that the items they use over there are quite impressive. We have been trying to study their items but failed to make any progress at all as the demons are not keen on giving their items to humans,” Lee Chung-Hee explained.

When Han-Yeol simply shrugged in response, Lee Chung-Hee continued, “But if what you said is true… We are now going to be able to study their items as much as we want!”

“Who knows?” Han-Yeol nonchalantly replied.

They were only going to be able to study the items the demons used only and only if Han-Yeol allowed them to. He knew very well that he was the only one capable of obtaining the items from the demon world.

‘Ugh… I was supposed to ask him for something else, but I already lost from the get-go…’?Lee Chung-Hee groaned after realizing that the one making the call here was Han-Yeol.

He was a manager and a department head for the most prestigious organization in the country, which meant that he was quite good at his work. He also occupied a very high position, so he would have looked at Han-Yeol in disdain if they had met before Han-Yeol awakened.

Lee Chung-Hee could tell from his instincts and experience that he was most likely going to have to go back empty-handed from this meeting if things continued like this.

‘Lee Han-Yeol Hunter is a more significant person than I expected… Not only does he possess multiple skills, but he can even get his hands on items from the demon world… Haa… It’s so frustrating that he’s being disregarded by the higher-ups simply because he isn’t an S Rank or Master Rank Hunter…’?Lee Chung-Hee thought.

They could promote Han-Yeol to an S Rank Hunter as a favor if various things were taken into consideration as he already possessed the potential to surpass most S Rank Hunters. However, that did not mean that they were going to be able to force him to do anything in return, since the Hunters’ Association was supposed to guarantee a Hunter’s freedom.

However, Lee Chung-Hee could tell that Han-Yeol had the ability to make great contributions to the country if he wanted to.

‘It’s a shame, but I should end the discussion about the demon world’s items,’?Lee Chung-Hee thought.

His main objective today was to talk about Han-Yeol’s demon-summoning ability, so he decided to focus on that instead. He initially had no idea that Han-Yeol could obtain items from the demon world, so he mostly decided to forgo the matter due to his own lack of preparation.

‘Tsk… It’s such a shame that I have to pass up on this…’?he clicked his tongue.

As someone concerned for the future of his country rather than the association, he sincerely lamented the fact that a Hunter like Han-Yeol was not being recognized by the association simply because of his rank.

He would have tried his best to convince Han-Yeol to use his ability for the future of their country and made him an irresistible offer if it was up to him, but unfortunately, the association’s higher-ups were very rigid and stuck-up people. Simply put, he was not going to be able to do that.

Not only that, but Lee Chung-Hee also could not help but feel very embarrassed with the proposal he was about to propose to Han-Yeol, and this was the first time in his career that he was embarrassed to be a part of the association.

Seuk…

When Lee Chung-Hee slid an envelope across the table, Han-Yeol asked, “What is this?”

[Proposal to Form an Emergency Hunter Response Team]

‘An emergency Hunter response team?’?Han-Yeol immediately figured out the agenda behind today’s meeting after reading the words on the envelope.

After all, his abilities were best suited to be used in cases like the incident that had happened a while ago. However…

Tak!

“I’m sorry,” Han-Yeol said.

“H-Huh? We have not even started…”

Just as Lee Chung-Hee responded, Han-Yeol interrupted him and said, “Not even started making the offer, is probably what you want to say. I’m aware it’s not polite to simply refuse without providing a reason, so I will be providing you with my reasons. Firstly, I’m already affiliated with the Horus raid party.”

“But you can still work for the emergency…” Kim Hee-Ae cut in.

Bam!

Han-Yeol slammed the table and stopped Kim Hee-Ae from saying anything else. After shutting her up, he continued, “I have my obligations to the Horus raid party, run my streaming channel, and I recently started a business so I have to work on that as well. My schedule is already packed from having to join our raid part’s hunt, my solo hunts, and my work as a CEO, so I don’t have the time or the reason to join something like this.”

Seuk…

Then, he flipped the page and pointed out, “Also, it says here that my role will be focused on emergency rescue operations, applying first aid, healing, etc., which are completely unrelated to combat.”

“No, t-that is…” Lee Chung-Hee muttered as he broke out in cold sweat.

When Han-Yeol pointed out the biggest flaw in the proposal, he thought in a panic, ‘How did he know when he didn’t even read it?!’

He did not have a handkerchief with him right now, but he would probably have instinctively wiped his face if he had one in his hand right now.

“Yes, I do possess various non-combat skills, but I think you’re forgetting that I’m the Vice Leader of the prestigious Horus raid party. I honestly find this to be a direct insult,” Han-Yeol added the nail to the coffin.