Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 140: Boss Monster Raid (3)

A few days after he had discussed business with Yoo-Bi, Han-Yeol received a call from his lawyer.

[I have received word that the Shine raid party has successfully completed your request.]

“Oh, really?”

[Yes, would you like to check it?]

“Are you certain it’s real gold?”

[It is without a doubt. I hired ten different gold experts, all of whom inspected the gold for two days. All of them reached the same conclusion that the gold was one hundred percent twenty-four karat pure gold.]

“That’s excellent news. Please proceed to pay the remaining balance to the Shine raid party and deliver the gold to my place.”

[Yes, I will see to it immediately.]

Beep.

‘Phew… At least that’s one thing ticked off my list…’

Han-Yeol had been quite worried as the promised date with Delchant was nearing.

Of course, it had been highly unlikely that the Shine raid party was going to not uphold their end of the bargain. After all, Han-Yeol had made sure that they were going to be legally held liable. However, there had still been a chance that unforeseen circumstances could occur.

One prime example of this would be the raid party dying in the Gold Mine hunting ground. Fortunately, that did not happen and the Shine raid party had successfully completed his request without a hitch.

‘I think I can hire them if I need something next time,’?thought Han-Yeol as he was quite satisfied with their performance.

He was glad that he had found a trustworthy raid party to place his request next time, since he planned to continue doing business with Delchant.

Most Hunters, raid parties, and guilds did not hop around various hunting grounds like Han-Yeol did. Hunting was just a livelihood for them, so they preferred to safely hunt in familiar environments rather than risk venturing to new places.

Of course, Han-Yeol’s deep pockets when it came to rewarding them for their services would definitely be welcomed by them. It more than made up for the fact that the golems in the Gold Mine were not easy opponents.

Han-Yeol’s reward of ten billion won for ten tons of gold would have been scoffed at by everyone if it had been before the appearance of the Dimensional Gates. South Korea had tried to increase their gold reserves back in 2013 by investing one billion dollars to purchase twenty tons of gold.

One billion dollars in 2013 would have been roughly one trillion won, and this was the amount they had spent to purchase not one hundred tons of gold but only twenty tons of gold. It was known at that time that South Korea had bolstered their gold reserves in 2013 from eighty-four tons to one hundred four tons after purchasing twenty tons of gold, and they had moved two ranks up the gold reserve ranking from the thirty-sixth rank to the thirty-fourth.

However, Han-Yeol had just purchased ten tons of gold for only ten billion won, so it could be understood that gold prices had absolutely crashed after the Dimensional Gates incident. The emergence of mana stones as a replacement for gold had sent gold prices crashing, and quite a lot of wealthy individuals who possessed gold had gone bankrupt that day.

The most famous example would be the Rothschild Family’s fall from grace. They had possessed roughly three to four trillion dollars in assets, and quite a significant portion of their wealth had been stashed in gold in secret. However, the sudden crash of gold had turned their sturdy hidden stash into a pile of dung overnight.

Of course, they had also possessed a lot of other liquid assets so they did not go completely bankrupt, but the damage had been so significant that they were never the same after that.

The mineral that had been the symbol of wealth back then, gold, was no longer desired by anyone. However, one individual was certainly still very much obsessed with gold.

[Kihihihi! I will never get sick of looking at all of this shiny gold! Excellent!]

It was the Demon Merchant, Delchant.

[Are you satisfied?]

[Yes, I am! Just call me if you ever need something again! I will be delighted to do business with you any time! Kihihihi!] Delchant let out his trademark insane laughter after seeing the ten tons of gold in front of him.

It was funny to describe his laughter as insane, since he generally appeared to be insane from the first time Han-Yeol had met him.

Delchant looked quite satisfied with the ten tons of gold as he made his way back to the demon world.

Some might say that he had paid quite a hefty price for the transaction, but Han-Yeol possessed a lot of money. He decided to think of it as placing a large donation and shrugging it off. Well, it was indeed a donation as he had successfully saved countless lives thanks to the one thousand demon legion he had summoned. However, it was true that he did not directly benefit from it.

‘Tsk… They would have given me a medal if this was in America…’?Han-Yeol grumbled inwardly.

The United States was quite generous when it came to awarding various medals to Hunters for their services.

In fact, the recent emergence of dimensional holes and dimensional rifts required the active participation of Hunters to restore peace in their country, which was massive in land mass. One such example was the desert region of the United States where only a few households lived, but there were at least one or two Hunters stationed there to be their protector.

The government of the United States bestowed merits and medals to the Hunters in return for their services, and this in turn created a more public-friendly image for the Hunters. In fact, this propaganda initiated by the United States proved quite effective as most Hunters in the country were now viewed as heroes like Captain America.

Of course, there were still a few bad apples in the bunch, but those were rare cases.

‘The South Korean government should learn from the Americans… These bastards in power keep trying to cause a divide between people and Hunters for their own benefit, and they don’t give a rat’s ass about the country’s future…’?Han-Yeol grumbled once again.

The Hunters were going to be welcomed by a lot of places if, and only if, in the rare chance that the country was conquered by an invader. However, that was not going to be the case for the general populace. In short, the ones who were going to suffer in the end were the normal people and not the elites.

‘I’ll do everything in my power to take care of my people if I become someone influential and powerful.’?Han-Yeol clenched his fist and made his resolve.

He was not a benevolent person nor was he a saint, so he did not have the responsibility to help everyone. The resolve he made was purely for those who worked for him in the numerous companies he planned to establish from now on.

***

A few days later, Han-Yeol received a call from Mariam. He then went to the Horus raid party mansion by helicopter.

The monster pet incident had shone the spotlight on Han-Yeol. There were numerous researchers, experts, governments, and insidious organizations that were interested in him, and the Horus raid party, Egypt, and the United States did their best to protect him.

It went without saying that having these three giants as his protectors made it quite difficult for anyone with bad intent to make any move on him.

Dudududu!

There were fewer reporters lurking outside the Horus raid party mansion after the initial media frenzy had subsided, but Han-Yeol still chose to use a helicopter as his mode of transportation.

The helicopter he was on right now hadn’t been sent by the Horus raid party. It was a personalized helicopter he had bought with his own money.

His helicopter was the civilian version of the most powerful helicopter in the past, the Apache Helicopter, and it still packed quite the punch for a civilian helicopter. Han-Yeol did not need the firepower the helicopter carried, but he saw no reason to forgo the weapons it came with since he was legally allowed to mount such weapons on his private helicopter.

‘I mean, it looks really cool, right?’?he shrugged.

Han-Yeol had initially wanted to purchase a new Apache Helicopter, but it was near impossible to get one these days. The demand for such vehicles of destruction were scarce after the emergence of Hunters. In the end, he had to purchase a used Apache Helicopter that had been wasting away in the Korean Army’s garage for nine billion won.

A new Apache Helicopter usually went for thirty-five billion won, but this one had been used for more than a decade and then had simply been parked in the garage. Han-Yeol had emphasized the fact that it was going to be a liability for the army to keep the helicopter around without having any use for it, and he had heavily negotiated to bring down the price to nine billion won.

Were you wondering about why he was so stingy despite being so rich?

‘Giving even one cent to those corrupted military bastards is a waste.’

It was exactly as Han-Yeol said.

The Ministry of Defense had lost a lot of their power after the emergence of Hunters, but that did not deter them from purchasing bunk beds only worth one hundred thousand won for two million won. Those corrupted vermin never changed their habit of purchasing products with crazy markups, just as they had done for decades.

It went without saying that the one purchasing and the one selling these crazily marked-up products were either related to them or in cahoots.

This was a classic case of corruption in the government.

‘Paying them nine billion is already annoying me…’?Han-Yeol loathed the fact that he had given money to those corrupt individuals, but that was the only way he could have gotten his hands on an Apache Helicopter.

South Korea was a small country, so there were not a lot of civilian helicopters in the market. He could have made a request to a foreign company to supply him with one, but he was going to have to wait a long time so he eventually decided against it.

Han-Yeol wanted one immediately not out of need but out of want.

“We are almost there, Han-Yeol Hunter-nim.”

“Okay.”

Han-Yeol arrived at the Horus raid party mansion and attended the second meeting, which had been requested by the Hunters’ Association.

This time, the Hunters’ Association sent a pot-bellied bald middle-aged man in his forties instead of the manager they previously sent.

“Ehem…?My name is Kim Cha-Il, and I am a manager from the main branch of the Hunters’ Association. I would like to deeply apologize for the problem our staff has caused in the previous meeting,” Kim Cha-Il said with a bow.

He seemed to be used to kowtowing to other people, as expected of a seasoned office worker.

‘Hmm… He’s probably not a Hunter. There’s no way a Hunter’s pride is going to allow them to do something like this. He’s probably here as the scapegoat if things go wrong,’?Han-Yeol deduced.

There were a lot of ordinary people working at the Hunters’ Association, and it was quite common for ordinary people to be in charge of administrative work just like Manager Kim Cha-Il.

The guy they sent the last time had been chased out by the Horus raid party, so they had to send someone else in hopes of appeasing them. However, the Hunters were simply too proud to do something like this, which eventually forced the Hunters’ Association to send a normal person.

“So, did you come bearing fresh terms?” Han-Yeol asked.

It was best for Han-Yeol to initiate the conversation as he was Korean and also the Vice Leader of the Horus raid party. It was best to deal with a fellow compatriot, after all.

“Ah, yes, of course. The Hunters’ Association is willing to give you one of the unique items we possess and 1.2 trillion won.”

“Hmm… That doesn’t sound bad at all…” Han-Yeol muttered before he looked at Mariam.

The Leader and Vice Leader of the Horus raid party were Tayarana and Han-Yeol, but the brains behind the raid party was none other than Mariam. In fact, most of the decisions Tayarana made were actually Mariam’s idea, and the very few times they were not was all due to Tayarana’s stubbornness.

Mariam nodded and replied, [I think it is a reasonable offer. The money is not important, but the unique item is quite enticing.]

Han-Yeol might have spoken in Korean, but Mariam had replied in Arabic.

She was a MENSA member with an IQ of one hundred sixty, and she was fluent in not only Arabic and Korean but also in English, German, French, and Spanish. A lot of people commented when she had awakened with telepathic abilities that it really suited her.

However, the reason that she had replied in Arabic instead of Korean was simply due to her own stubbornness. Her pride did not allow her to use another language when Han-Yeol obviously spoke Arabic fluently.

[Then, shall we accept the request?]

[Yes.]

[Alright.]

Han-Yeol looked at Manager Kim Cha-Il, who was profusely sweating from the nervousness. He felt a bit bad that he was treating someone his father’s age this way, but he couldn’t let his personal feelings get in the way of official matters.

“The Horus raid party has made a decision regarding the request the Hunters’ Association made,” Han-Yeol said.

Gulp…!

Manager Kim Cha-Il nervously gulped as he was worried that he was going to get kicked out by the Horus raid party, which would be detrimental to his career as well. He started to worry about how he was going to feed his wife and kids from now on if he were ever to get fired because of this.

‘Please…! Please…! Please…!’

“We accept the request,” Han-Yeol said.

“YES!” Manager Kim Cha-Il blurted out the words he was supposed to keep inside his head and swung his fist in an uppercut motion.

“…” Everyone in the meeting room looked at Manager Kim Cha-Il as if he was a madman.

Manager Kim Cha-Il immediately realized his mistake and cleared his throat in embarrassment. He said, “T-Then… Shall we sign the contract…?”

Hunters certainly signed contracts between them for any work they agreed on. It would be ideal if there were no need for such contracts and that everyone honored their words, but that was not the case. This made contracts a natural requirement. Not to mention, a contract between Hunters usually involved large sums of money, so a legally binding contract was definitely required.

Han-Yeol glanced at Mariam, who nodded in response since this was the part she was going to take over. He then told Manager Kim Cha-Il, “Okay, you will have to discuss with Mariam about that from now on.”

“Haha… I see…”

Manager Kim Cha-Il seemed to have heard of Mariam’s infamy as he seemed quite burdened by the idea of working with her.

‘I kind of understand how he feels. There was an earlier rumor that Mariam had gone to the Hunters’ Association alone after all of the Horus raid party executives returned to Egypt for some business, but she did not give an inch despite being outnumbered in the meeting,’?Han-Yeol thought.

Mariam was quite courteous to him since he was above her in terms of hierarchy, but even Han-Yeol felt nervous whenever she got serious. However, Manager Kim Chae-Il was currently dealing with her on equal footing, and Han-Yeol was certain that the man was definitely going to have a nervous breakdown soon enough.

‘They probably have no idea that she can read minds as well…’?Han-Yeol was sincerely worried for the man.

Mariam did not dare attempt to read Han-Yeol’s mind as he ranked higher than her, but there was no stopping her from doing that to someone else. Besides, the outcome was as good as decided since they were basically playing poker with their hands fully exposed to her.

Han-Yeol decided to say a short prayer for the man before getting up.

[Aaaah! I’m late! I’m late!]

‘Ah… It’s so early in the morning to have to deal with this…’?Han-Yeol grimaced after sensing the incoming headache.

Once the meeting ended, Tayarana and Han-Yeol were about to leave when the door swung wide open and Mujahid came running in. Unfortunately, he came face to face with Tayarana the moment he entered the room.

[G-Good morning… N-Noonim…]

[Silence,] Tayarana shot down Mujahid’s greeting and left the room.

Han-Yeol motioned for the ones behind him to pass first, and all of them snickered after passing Mujahid.

They could have been punished under lese-majeste if Egypt was a kingdom, but fortunately, the country was still a pseudo-democracy as they held elections and had a congress. That was the reason that Mujahid could be openly laughed at by others despite him being a prince.

This was a stark difference to how some royals in the region ruled their nations with an iron fist.

[Hey Mujahid, why does it feel like you’re intentionally doing only the things your sister hates?]

Han-Yeol initially felt burdened dealing with Mujahid as the man was a prince after all, but he soon realized that he was more like a mischievous younger brother than a prince.

[Hahaha! I overslept today, so…]

[I’m pretty sure we were informed last night that there was going to be an important meeting with the Hunters’ Association today at eight in the morning.]

[I was aware of it too but…the video game you taught me was so fun that I accidentally ended up playing it until five in the morning. I also accidentally forgot to set an alarm, and accidentally overslept…]

[Haa… You are such a handful…]