Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 135: Egypt’s Might (2)

The dinner with the president of Egypt was not that bad. No, it was probably much quieter than his usual meals, and the burdensome dinner surprisingly went without any problems.

‘Hahaha… I don’t think I’ll be able to digest dinner,’?Han-Yeol thought.

The dinner was peaceful, but that did not mean that he was not burdened by dining with the leader of a nation.

However, that did not stop Han-Yeol from thoroughly enjoying his food. He was a gourmand and a gourmet. Of course, he was not like those people who appeared on TV that described food with hundreds of words, but he was someone who enjoyed eating delicious food nonetheless.

Not only that, but he also had a picky palate. Fortunately for him, the delicacies they had prepared today were so outstanding that he did not want to leave any leftovers. In fact, he even used his mana to burn food just so that he could eat more and more.

The finale of the dinner was the dessert, Frozen Oat Chocolate Cake, which was made from premium chocolate from Venezuela.

‘This is a feast!’?Han-Yeol exclaimed inwardly before he quietly enjoyed the dessert.

[So, Han-Yeol.]

Just as Han-Yeol was enjoying the sweetness of the dessert, Phaophator called him.

[Yes, Your Excellency?]

[Why don’t you come to Egypt with Tara sometime soon? It’s unfortunate that our country is not considered as a developed country, but it is a truly beautiful country that most countries would be no comparison against. It might not be as innovative as Korea, but we are a country where you can feel the presence of ancient history.]

[Yes, I have always wanted to go to Egypt. I’ll make sure to visit when I get the chance.]

[Hahaha! Thank you.]

Han-Yeol was not lying when he said that he had always wanted to go visit Egypt. He read that Egypt had been a very famous holiday destination before the Dimensional Gates appeared. There had been a lot of attempts from various terrorist organizations to disrupt their tourism industry, but the country boasted excellent security and had prevented most terrorism attempts in the country.

However, the current Egypt was known to be even better than before as their bolstered financial reserves thanks to the appearance of the Dimensional Gates had been used to repair their historical sites and improve their cities.

Han-Yeol spent some time chatting with Phaophator before flying out in a helicopter. There was no way he was going to be able to leave the place with a car as there were hoards of reporters lurking beyond the walls.

Dudududu…!

“Welcome back, Han-Yeol-nim,” Albert greeted Han-Yeol as soon as he stepped off of the helicopter.

“Ah, hello, Albert.”

Han-Yeol noticed a foreigner standing next to Albert. The foreign man looked like a soldier who was around one hundred seventy centimeters tall with Southeast Asian features. He was short, but he definitely made up for his short height with a sturdy physique.

“This person is?” Han-Yeol asked.

“Ah, he is the Team Leader of the security company you have requested. The entire company is made up of Nepalese Gurkhas, and they are quite the dependable bunch. They have yet to fail a mission assigned to them,” Albert introduced the man.

“Ah, are they the famous Gurkhas?”

“Yes.”

“Oh!”

“Well, their fame is a thing of the past. They might have previously been hired by the British to fight for them, but they are forced to offer their services privately now that Hunters are the measurement of a country’s strength.”

“That’s quite unfortunate, but how are we to communicate? I reckon there’s a language barrier between us, right?”

There was no way that a bodyguard was going to be helpful no matter how skilled they were if they could not communicate with the one they were supposed to protect.

“All of the ones we hired can speak English. The Nepalese Gurkhas are elite, so not only are they physically strong, but they are mentally sharp as well. Also, I asked them to start studying Korean from now on. They seem to be quite motivated to study after I mentioned that their job can be as good as secured if they’re able to speak the language.”

“Ah…” Han-Yeol nodded.

He thought to himself, ‘They’re better than me…’

The only language he knew how to speak was his mother tongue, Korean, and he was only able to speak Arabic thanks to his Interpretation skill.

“I initially contemplated whether to call a private security firm from the United States, but they are unreasonably expensive and their people tend to be quite arrogant as well. That is why I decided to hire these Nepalese Gurkhas, who are quite loyal and also strong. I apologize if I offended you by changing things without consulting you first, Han-Yeol-nim,” Albert bowed and sincerely apologized.

It was quite funny that an American was apologizing in the manner that Koreans would apologize.

Han-Yeol waved his hand and replied, “Ah, don’t worry about it. I’m certain that you did it for my sake, and I don’t really care whether they are Americans or Nepalese. I only mentioned the Americans because I heard that they are famous for their private security firms, but I’m aware of how good the Gurkhas are. Don’t worry about it.”

“Thank you very much,” Albert replied with a bow once again.

Han-Yeol really liked Albert, but he often found him to be quite burdensome whenever he acted too cordially. He was a grandfather who was probably in his sixties, but seeing him bow to a man forty years younger than him was quite burdensome indeed. Not to mention, but the fact that he was older than Han-Yeol’s father did not help at all.

‘Now that I think about it, I felt the presence of these Gurkhas around the mansion when I landed,’?thought Han-Yeol as he noticed that the bodyguards were already doing their work.

‘Yeah, I should invest in securing my place as it could be targeted by someone,’?he thought that it was a good idea to start preparing for any unforeseen circumstances.

***

Han-Yeol spent his time relaxing until he was called for a raid, and he went to Tayarana’s mansion after being called. It went without saying that a helicopter was his mode of transportation once again.

“Please have a safe trip, Han-Yeol-nim,” Albert said.

“Thank you Albert. I’ll be going now,” Han-Yeol replied.

“Have a safe raid, boss!”

Albert was not the only one seeing Han-Yeol off these days. The security team leader, Purva, stood beside the butler and saw Han-Yeol off as well.

He seemed a bit wary of Han-Yeol initially, but all of that changed the moment Han-Yeol had paid them two hundred million won in cash for their services. It went without saying that the absurd amount of cash he had thrown was more than enough to turn these elite soldiers’ loyalty in an instant.

“I’ll leave the mansion in your care, Purva.”

“Yes, boss!”

Purva was not able to form long complicated sentences yet, but he made up for his lack of lingual fluency with his ability. It was true that he was quite good at securing the mansion.

Dududududu!

Han-Yeol hopped onto the helicopter which had been sent by the Horus raid party, because the reporters were still lurking outside the mansion and trying to get a scoop. While looking out the window, he thought, ‘Hmm… I should probably buy a helicopter for my own personal use.’

He had first taken the helicopter just to avoid the reporters, but he soon realized after using it a few times that it was quite convenient. Besides, it was not going to be that difficult for him to get a permit as he was currently one of the most famous Hunters in the country. With that consideration in mind, he decided that it was going to be quite convenient if he had one at his disposal.

‘Well, I have a lot of things I need to buy. I need to buy a yacht for starters, and buying a private jet doesn’t sound bad at all.’

Being rich was definitely a good thing.

[We are almost arriving, Han-Yeol Hunter-nim.]

[Alright.]

Han-Yeol was guided straight to the meeting room as soon as he landed at Tayarana’s mansion. Upon reaching the meeting room, he noticed that there were a few new faces. ‘Hmm?’

There were a few new Egyptians sitting next to the Horus raid party members, and there were even people from the Hunters’ Association as well.

‘What’s going on?’?he wondered.

[Welcome,] Mariam greeted Han-Yeol.

Han-Yeol scanned the room and saw Tayarana, who sat at the head of the table, talking to an Egyptian man he was seeing for the first time. Also noticing her rather serious expression, he turned to Mariam and asked, [Did something happen, Mariam?]

[Oh, that is…] Mariam grabbed Han-Yeol’s arm and dragged him to one corner of the meeting room. She explained, [Actually, we received an official raid request from the Korean Hunters’ Association this morning.]

[An official raid request?]

[Yes.]

Han-Yeol furrowed his brow. A raid request was a term that existed, but it was not something that was typically used. There were an abundance of raid parties these days but not enough hunting fields to accommodate all of them, and the Hunters’ Association could easily find a raid party willing to hunt if there were any vacant hunting fields. He couldn’t help but wonder why they had suddenly thought of making an official raid request.

‘What kind of nonsensical bullshit is this?’?Han-Yeol grimaced.

[They say that the dimensional rift has stabilized, but there have been cases where monsters have been found spawning outside of the hunting grounds.]

[What?!]

Han-Yeol was shocked by what Mariam was saying. He still kept up with the news these days, but he had never heard of anything like this happening anywhere in the world.

‘Has the association been suppressing the press? Hmm… It sounds like a logical thing to do from their standpoint as the affected areas will instantly turn into a ghost town if word got out. The government must be doing anything they can to prevent this from leaking out.’

[I see, then are they requesting us to get rid of the monsters that are outside of the barriers?]

[Yes.]

[That’s strange… They could have just requested one of the local raid parties with S Rank or Master Rank Hunters in them. Why are they making such a request to a foreign raid party?]

A difficult-to-kill monster would be classified as a raid monster, and this meant that their body parts and mana stones were going to be much more valuable than that of a normal monster. The fact that the Korean Hunters’ Association was willing to concede these treasures to a foreign raid party did not make sense at all.

[It seems that the Hunters’ Association is in a pinch.]

[A pinch?]

‘The Hunters’ Association is in a pinch?’?Han-Yeol doubted what he heard just now.

[Our informants told us that the Hunters’ Association has already made requests to other South Korean raid parties with Master Rank Hunters.]

[Really?]

[Yes, and on top of that, we also found that the monster in question is not something that a raid party could easily kill just because they have an S Rank Hunter in their party. I suspect that that is the reason they are making this raid request to us.]

[A monster that can’t be easily killed by an S Rank Hunter…]

The Horus raid party was led by Tayarana, who was an S Rank Hunter, but the quality of their combat skills were quite different from other Korean raid parties. They had a number of A Rank Hunters who were extremely well trained, and even their non-awakened support crew was made up of adept veterans as well.

The Horus raid party was a private raid party, but they were made up of members who could operate as Egypt’s military in a state of war.

That was the reason why they were incomparably stronger than most raid parties, and their teamwork was probably the best in the world thanks to Mariam’s leadership and training.

[Not to mention, Han-Yeol Hunter-nim, you are with us, and His Excellency has supplied us with reinforcements.]

Han-Yeol naturally looked at the man Tayarana was talking to after hearing that Phaophator had sent reinforcements. He then asked, [Ah, are you talking about that guy?]

He could tell that the mana being exuded from the man’s body was not normal.

[Yes, that is Mujahid-nim. He is an Osiris Rank Warrior just like Tayarana-nim, and he is also the son of His Excellency from his second wife, which makes him Tayarana-nim’s half-brother.]

[Ah, so he is her younger brother?]

[Yes, he is.]

[Ah… No wonder they look quite close to each other… Hold on, what you mean by Osiris Rank is what we call S Rank in Korea, right?]

[Yes, that is correct. What you call a Master Rank Hunter in Korea is a Ra Rank Hunter in Egypt, what you call an S Rank Hunter in Korea is an Osiris Rank Hunter in Egypt, and what you call an A Rank Hunter in Korea is an Obelisk Rank Hunter in Egypt.]

[Oh, that sounds better than Korea. Our country is just blindly following the United States these days, so I can’t help but feel jealous of your country’s naming sense.]

Han-Yeol’s political alignment was more similar to the political beliefs of Kim Gu, which was all about putting one’s country first.

He always believed that Korea should be an independent and powerful country capable of standing on its own legs without receiving any help from other countries. That was just like how Kim Gu envisioned Korea to be.

That was the reason why he could not help but be envious of Egypt’s independent political stance. They used to be pro-American before the Dimensional Gates had appeared, but the country rallied behind Phaophator and transformed itself into a powerful and independent country.

This made Han-Yeol all the more curious about the country and made him decide to study it seriously from now on.

[…] Mariam suddenly stopped talking.

“Hmm?” Han-Yeol muttered as he noticed Mujahid walking toward them.

[Wow! It is an honor to meet the great Lee Han-Yeol Hunter-nim! I am the son of the president of Egypt, as well as an Osiris Rank Warrior, Mujahid. It is truly an honor to meet the most famous Hunter not only in Egypt but the rest of the world as well!]

‘Huh?’?Han-Yeol was dumbfounded by Mujahid’s demeanor.

He was certain that his first impression of the man from a distance was a charismatic and serious man. Well, that was what a prince would usually be like, anyway. However, Mujahid looked nothing more than the youngest child in a household judging by his small stature, cute facial features, and bubbly way of speaking.

Mujahid resembled a brown bunny, which made Han-Yeol, who was a man, feel like petting him.

[Ah, it is nice to meet you too. My name is Lee Han-Yeol.]

[Keu!?Your introduction truly befits your image as a great warrior! ‘My name is Lee Han-Yeol.’ Wow! That is a short and powerful self-introduction!]

Also, Mujahid was quite talkative.

This was a classic case of someone’s first impression being completely obliterated after hearing them speak.

It was then that Mariam suddenly transmitted a thought directly into Han-Yeol’s mind. She said, [This is the reason that I dislike Mujahid-nim. He does not act like this all the time, but he often forgets to maintain his image as a prince. Not to mention, he is so talkative that he is a stark contrast to Tayarana-nim. Please beware that he will not be able to stop talking once you initiate a conversation with him.]

[Hahaha… So that’s why you suddenly started acting so cold…]

[Yes, that is correct.]

Mariam was quite straightforward. She might be quite indifferent to most people, but she did not blatantly give the cold shoulder to someone else. However, her eyes immediately turned sharp the moment Mujahid had walked over, and it was quite obvious that she did not like him.

It turned out that the reason Mariam did not like Mujahid was all because he was too carefree and talkative.

[Haha… Some things never change, I guess, judging by how Mariam still does not like me. I wanted to be friends with you, Mariam, and hoped to make you my wife someday, but…]

[Ah, I see… Huh? W-What?!]

Feeling shocked after hearing Mujahid’s words that came out of nowhere, Han-Yeol ended up shouting. He already knew that the prince was the talkative type, but he was not aware that the prince was the type who could fluster someone by speaking utter nonsense.

Who would have known that a prince was going to act this way?!

Mariam then transmitted another thought. [Also, I have no plans to get married, but he keeps stubbornly insisting that I marry him. He is someone that I loathe from the top of his head to the tip of his toes.]

[Hahaha… I see…]

1. A prominent independence activist during the Korean Occupation of Japan. More info here: