Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 165: The Reason for Leaders of Society (4)

Han-Yeol rolled down the window after the car came to a halt.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!?

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!?

The sound of cymbals and drums, causing a ruckus, filled the air, and Han-Yeol immediately recognized the cause of the protest.

"K University should ensure the survival of local businesses by halting the expansion of their dormitory!"

“Stop the expansion!”

“Stop the expansion!”

“Stop the expansion!”

“What do you want us to do if you build more dormitories?”

“How will we feed our kids?!”

“Listen up, everybody! Let’s scream on the count of three!”

“One!”

“Two!”

“Three!”

“WAAAAAHHHH!”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!?

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!?

Despite all the commotion around him, Han-Yeol's sensitive ears caught snippets of a conversation between a university couple on the other side of the road.

"Ah, aren't they being unreasonable?"

"Yeah, the university wants to construct dorms for the students on campus, so what's their problem?"

"If they care about the survival of businesses, they should lower the rent. Even a small, rundown room in this area costs five hundred thousand won per month. It's outrageous."

"Oppa, if I don't get into a dorm, I might consider taking a year off... What do you think?"

"Me too... Maybe we should take a gap year and work part-time to save up..."

"Ah... Being a university student is so challenging..."

‘As expected.’?

After listening to the couple's conversation, Han-Yeol's certainty solidified. He remembered reading online about real estate owners in the vicinity of universities forming unions to hinder the construction of new dormitories for students. These owners even resorted to threats against local politicians when the universities refused to comply.

Recalling the articles, Han-Yeol felt a surge of anger. These individuals argued that their survival and livelihood were at stake, yet they charged exorbitant rents to students. Their audacity to claim concern for their own livelihood while exploiting every last penny from students was truly shameless.

As Han-Yeol witnessed the protest firsthand, his anger reached its boiling point.

‘I knew these protests happened, but this is the first time I'm seeing one in person,’?he thought, feeling his anger surge to the top of his head.

‘This is the main reason why kids these days no longer want to be Porters or Hunters,’?he reflected bitterly. ‘They're being squeezed dry by these shameless adults to the point where they can't even afford to have dreams. One can only dream when their basic needs are fulfilled.’

His own decision to become a Porter had been driven solely by the desperate need to pay his father's hospital bills. If he had the means, he would have undoubtedly chosen a safer career path.

‘This can't continue. At this rate, the country will be ruined,’?he seethed with anger, determined to take action.

“Secretary Kim.”

“Yes, Han-Yeol Hunter-nim?”

“I’ll be going to Lawyer Han, so please give him a call.”

“Yes, I will see to it at once.”

Then, Han-Yeol suddenly wondered, ‘I wonder what Tara would do if she were in my shoes…?’

Han-Yeol couldn't help but miss Tayarana, thinking of her clear and mysteriously charming eyes. He wondered how the immensely wealthy princess would handle situations like the protests he had just witnessed.

Upon receiving a call about Han-Yeol's arrival, Lawyer Han went down to the entrance of the law firm's building to greet him. "Hahaha! It's quite a fortunate coincidence to have spoken to you in the morning and now meet you in the afternoon."

"I see no reason why not," Han-Yeol replied, accepting Lawyer Han's invitation.

"Let's go inside," Lawyer Han suggested, leading Han-Yeol into the law firm's building.

“Kyu!”

It was inevitable that Han-Yeol would attract a lot of attention from the people around them. He was already extremely popular, but with Mavros perched on top of his head, he became even more eye-catching to onlookers.

"Hey, look! Isn't that Hunter Han-Yeol and Mavros?"

"Wow! This is my first time seeing him in person!"

"I heard he awakened as a Hunter a little over a year ago, and his assets have already exceeded four trillion won. No one knows how much stronger he'll become as the world's first growth-type Hunter. He's even the Vice Leader of that raid party representing Egypt, the one owned by the goddess!"

"Wow! I never thought I'd get to see the country's top Hunter like this."

"Come on, he's still just an S Rank Hunter after all. You can't compare him to the Master Rank Hunters. Those monsters can bring down mountains and split the ground with their power. How can you compare someone like him to them?"

Flinch…!

Those last few words got on Han-Yeol’s nerves.

"Hey, you can't just look at combat power, you know? Besides, he's a growth-type, so he will become stronger as time passes, and he's the only one who can tame monsters! Things might be quiet now, but I heard every single wealthy person is eyeing to buy a monster pet from him. Also, I heard he sold the monster pets to the Egyptians for one trillion won each! That means he can make thirty trillion won if he sells just thirty of them! That's almost our country's annual budget!"

"Yeah... That's quite amazing..."

However, the rest of the conversation was more than enough to calm Han-Yeol down.

It was quite normal for people to talk about him whenever he passed by, and that only meant that he was indeed quite famous now. After all, he was probably the first Hunter that the media was so obsessed with in the first place.

Only a few minutes had passed since Han-Yeol appeared, but a group of reporters with cameras was already on his tail.

"Where's Hunter Han-Yeol?!"

"They say he is the owner of the L Law Firm, renting the thirtieth floor all the way up to the thirty-fifth floor here. I think he has some business there."

"Alright, we're not going to let him go this time! This building doesn't have a helipad, right?"

"Yes, it doesn't."

"Hoho! I'm definitely going to score an interview with you this time!"

It seemed that the reporters were determined this time.

Han-Yeol was currently the hottest topic among everyone in South Korea, and people were much more interested in him than any celebrity, athlete, Hunter, or politician. However, nobody had been able to land an exclusive interview with him until now.

This fact alone was more than enough to incite the reporters to try and become the first person to land an exclusive interview with him.

In fact, some news outlets even announced that they were going to give a double promotion plus one hundred million won as a reward to whoever could land an exclusive interview with him.

"Let's go!"

"Yes, senior-nim!"

The dozens of reporters rushed to the elevator and went up to the thirtieth floor where the L Law Firm was located. The thirty-first floor to the thirty-fifth floor was blocked as per the L Law Firm's request, so it was mandatory for everyone to go to the thirtieth floor first.

Some reporters tried to be clever and went up to the thirty-sixth floor instead, but the staircase was designed to only be opened from the inside. In the end, they had to walk all the way down to the thirtieth floor just like the others.

The L Law Firm was in chaos after the reporters appeared.

"You cannot do this! This place is a private law firm!"

"So what?! We know Hunter Han-Yeol is here! Open up so we can have an interview with him!"

"N-No, you cannot do this!"

"Ha! Stop whining and open up!"

Every staffer in the law firm, excluding the lawyers, rushed to the door to try and block the reporters from coming in.

Of course, the ruckus was so loud that both Lawyer Han and Han-Yeol heard what was going on, but Lawyer Han did not seem to be bothered at all. He was a seasoned lawyer who had gone through all sorts of troubles in life, and he knew the natural instincts of reporters better than anyone through his experience.

"Hahaha! I guess those reporters came swarming in after hearing that you were here. I think our staff is going to suffer today," Lawyer Han said with a laugh.

"Those guys must be quite free. Why would they want to follow a boring Hunter like me...?" Han-Yeol joked.

Of course, he was indeed joking. Han-Yeol was not stupid, so he knew his position in society.

"Hahaha! I know you are joking, but hearing you say that so seriously is going to make average people like me look like I am living a worthless boring life!"

Lawyer Han gave quite a big reaction as he laughed. It was true that what Han-Yeol said was quite funny, but the bigger reason was that Han-Yeol was his employer, after all. He might be earning a lot and getting a share of the profits, but he was still an employee at the end of the day.

Still, it was indisputable that Lawyer Han was personally a huge fan of Han-Yeol.

Most people would think that Hunters are brave and valiant, but in reality, most of the Hunters in this day and age placed great importance on their own safety, so they were not as adventurous or brave as they used to be.

"A lot of normal people, myself included, admired Hunters. They risked their lives out in the open, defeating monsters that appeared from the dimensional gates, and some even went as far as to defeat boss monsters. Hunters were really cool when I was young, but they no longer look the same now. The Hunters place great emphasis on safety and money, so anyone who tries to kill a boss monster is called stupid..."

"People are now exhausted hearing about them. Hunters are no longer the once-looked-up-to adventurers, but they are nothing more than a greedy bunch that risks their lives for money. However, it is different for you, Han-Yeol Hunter-nim. You are the first growth-type Hunter, possess numerous skills, and even tamed a monster as your pet! Your existence alone has rekindled the admiration most of us had for Hunters!"

"No, forget about normal people, even low-ranking Hunters look up to you now! In fact, quite a lot of Hunters come to our law firm simply because they look up to you. Oh my, it seems that I accidentally admitted our revenue is not because we are good but solely because of your popularity! Hahaha!" Lawyer Han gave a long explanation.

What Lawyer Han said about Han-Yeol was all true, and those were indeed the main secrets behind his explosive popularity.

"Well, it might be because of my popularity, but successfully running it is all thanks to you. I hope that you will continue to take care of this place for me," Han-Yeol replied.

"Please leave it to me! I will work myself to death to make the L Law Firm the best law firm in South Korea!"

“Hahaha…” Han-Yeol responded with a laugh.

He thought, ‘You really don’t have to go that far…but I guess it’s not a bad thing for me.’

Han-Yeol was planning to use the L Law Firm as the legal department of the group he was going to establish in the future, so he thought it was not a bad thing if the law firm grew bigger. After all, there was nothing wrong with having too much money.

“Oh right, I knew you were coming, but I was not informed why you came today. Is there something else you require aside from what you requested this morning?” Lawyer Han asked.

Han-Yeol was not an easily accessible person. He received most of the reports through written files, and he was the first to contact the law firm if he needed anything from them. However, Han-Yeol suddenly contacted them twice in a single day and even went as far as to pay them a visit.

“What happened to the thing I asked you to do this morning?”

“Ah, it usually takes at least two months, but there is nothing we cannot do with money. I finished filing the paperwork, and we just need approval from the tax office to finalize it. Do you need it urgently by any chance?”

Donating twelve billion won a year was far from ordinary, but Lawyer Han knew that it was just a drop in the bucket for Han-Yeol. His total net worth was something only he and his financial advisers would know, but the media estimated that he was worth at least five to six trillion won.

The richest man in Korea was the chairman of S Group with a net worth of twenty-one trillion won, and after him in second place was Kim Tae-San Hunter with a net worth of thirteen trillion won. Some might think that Han-Yeol still had a long way to go to catch up to them, but they were probably overlooking the fact that he amassed his wealth in less than a year.

The S Group chairman amassed his wealth by inheriting his business and running it for decades, while Kim Tae-San was one of the first awakened beings when the dimensional gates appeared.

In particular, Kim Tae-San was able to amass his wealth thanks to all sorts of privileges from the government and from running his own guild.

Han-Yeol was definitely earning money at the 'speed of light' when those things were taken into consideration.

“I was thinking of doing a non-profit business aside from donating to children and the elderly in need. Something that can make a bit of money while helping others,” Han-Yeol said.

“Ah, that is still a business in the end, right? A charity focuses on not leaving a single penny as profit,” Lawyer Han replied.

“I will ensure that all profit goes toward supporting other charitable works.”

“Oh, then that will definitely qualify... but what business do you plan to do?”

“I will choose five universities every year and build a large studio-unit complex in their vicinity. Then, I will rent out the rooms to any university student who studies in the nearby university.”

“Haha…”

Lawyer Han was flabbergasted after hearing Han-Yeol’s plan. He knew that Han-Yeol was a good person, but he never knew he was 'this' good.

‘He’s stronger, more famous, and kinder than most Hunters. Who would’ve known that such a Hunter was going to appear in South Korea? I have a feeling people will start calling him a ‘hero’ from now on…’?Lawyer Han thought.

South Korea was currently embroiled in all sorts of corruption and scandals in every aspect of its society, and many of its citizens were struggling with depression due to the media's constant reporting of these negative events.

Things were looking incredibly grim for the country, to the point where experts suggested that even a small piece of good news had the potential to lift numerous people out of their depression.

What if Han-Yeol's act of kindness suddenly appeared in such a situation?

‘All of South Korea is going to call him a hero, and he might even be treated as its king…’?Lawyer Han thought.

There had always been a figure who instilled hope and patriotism in the hearts of Koreans whenever the country faced peril, and Han-Yeol's acts of kindness were undoubtedly going to evoke the same sense of hope and patriotism in their hearts.

Meanwhile, Lawyer Han was fully aware that he was a part of this "movement," and he understood precisely what his role entailed.

‘I have to make sure this goes according to what he plans,’?he thought with determination in his eyes.

“Yes, please leave it to me. I will definitely see to it that it gets done without any problems.”