Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 273: Cold Love (1)

Han-Yeol retrieved the hyena sorcerer's head from Mujahid and made a brief stop in Switzerland en route to South Korea. Egypt, undoubtedly a beautiful country, couldn't keep him away from his homeland for too long.

Additionally, he had heard rumors that President Phaophator was attempting to arrange his marriage to Tayarana, which left him both happy and concerned.

Upon hearing this news, a flurry of questions flooded his mind. Was it right to abandon Korea for Egypt? What was he hoping to achieve? With these thoughts swirling in his head, he couldn't afford to relax in a foreign land.

Furthermore, he began to feel homesick, missing his father immensely after the exhausting events had concluded. He realized it was time to return and resolved not to leave Korea for an extended period. This decision was typical of his character.

Tak…

“Hmm?”

It was at that moment when Mariam suddenly appeared seemingly out of thin air and grabbed him.

"H-Han-Yeol-nim…!"

"W-What's wrong, Mariam?"

Han-Yeol was slightly taken aback by Mariam’s unexpected action, as it was uncharacteristic of her. He could tell that something was amiss based on her recent actions and her face, which resembled that of a lost kitten.

"T-Tayarana-nim…! Please, you must help her!"

"Huh? Hmm…" Han-Yeol hesitated for a moment.

While he had healed many physical ailments with his newfound skills, addressing mental health issues was an entirely different matter. Despite having read numerous books on psychiatry and mental health, he was not at the level of a professional psychiatrist capable of counseling others.

"Please…"

However, he found himself unable to refuse when Mariam gazed at him with desperation written all over her face. How could he possibly decline when those big kitten-like eyes were fixed on him with such intensity?

"Haa… Alright, let me see what I can do…"

"Thank you, Han-Yeol-nim!" Mariam's expression brightened, and a tear of gratitude rolled down her cheek after he agreed to help.

Although he had yet to take any concrete actions to assist, she believed that if anyone could resolve the situation, it would be him.

‘Haa… This is quite troublesome…’ Han-Yeol let out a sigh as he really wanted to return to Korea.

Han-Yeol went to Tayarana's room and rapped on the door.

Knock! Knock!

[It's me, Tara.]

[...]

There was no response. Han-Yeol exchanged a glance with Mariam, conveying a silent message of ‘See? I told you it wouldn't work.’

However, Mariam still looked at him with hopeful eyes.

‘Ah… Really annoying…’ he grumbled inwardly before reaching for the doorknob and turning it.

Click…!

‘Huh? It's open?’ Han-Yeol was surprised to find the door unlocked.

He slowly pushed the door open. The room was dim, with all the curtains drawn shut, but his eyes quickly adapted to the darkness.

[Why did you come in?]

It seemed that Tayarana did not expect someone to barge into her room. After all, who would dare barge into the room of a princess without permission?

[Tara.]

[Please leave. I want to be alone.]

Tayarana seemed to still be in mourning.

‘It's not that I don't understand her, but…’ Han-Yeol thought that she could not stay like this forever.

He had yet to experience the loss of a loved one, so he could not understand her one hundred percent. However, he believed that continuing to grieve like this was not the right thing to do.

‘I guess I'll need to be a bit harsh this time,’ he thought as he brought up what he had prepared.

[Tara, I'm going back to Korea.]

[…!]

Tayarana’s eyes shook at those words, but Han-Yeol did not notice as she was looking away from him.

[Haa... I'm tired. I want to go back home and rest, so I'm here to say goodbye before leaving. I'm sorry for entering without your permission, but I thought I had to at least say goodbye before leaving.]

[…What will you do in Korea?]

Han-Yeol thought the princess was going to stay silent the entire time, but he was slightly surprised that she finally said something. He decided to push a bit more now that she was slowly coming out of her shell.

[Hmm... I'm not sure. I'll probably go finish the things I started, and maybe get ready for the second dimension too? Wow... I just realized how busy I am after talking about it…]

He purposely chatted away, as he was here to help her come out of her shell, after all.

[So you're really going…]

[Yeah, Egypt isn't my home after all.]

Tayarana slightly flinched at those words, and Han-Yeol noticed it this time.

He really did not want to go this far, as it felt like he was building a wall between them, but what she needed right now more than warmth and gentleness was shock therapy that would help her snap out of her depression.

[You also need to shake it all off and go back to being Egypt's princess, right?]

[…I will, even if you didn't tell me to.]

Han-Yeol could not tell if it worked or not, but he could tell that Tayarana’s voice was slowly starting to change.

[Alright then, I'll be going now.]

[Are you going right away?]

[Hmm... Not really? I'll probably leave for Switzerland tonight before heading to Korea.]

[I see. Okay, goodbye.]

Badump!

Han-Yeol felt pained after hearing how nonchalant she was about his departure.

‘So it's goodbye... Haa... I really wanted to spend more time with her…’ He couldn't help but feel hurt at the fact that he had to leave her because he genuinely liked her.

‘But I have no choice…’

The two of them led extremely different lives, and this was not something he could change, even with his overpowered abilities.

[Okay, see you next time, Tayarana.]

[Sure.]

Clack...!

The door closed.

"Han-Yeol-nim..." Mariam approached him as soon as he closed the door, still looking at him with the same kitten eyes she had a while ago.

Tak...

"Huh?" Mariam was surprised when Han-Yeol patted her head and smiled before walking out of the palace.

She wanted to stop him from leaving, but she knew that asking for more from him was not the right thing to do.

It was at that moment, as Han-Yeol was about to leave the palace, that someone called out to him.

[Are you leaving now, nyang?]

[Hmm?] Han-Yeol looked to where the voice came from and saw a creature that was both familiar and unfamiliar lying on the ground. [And who are you?]

[I’m Mariam’s beloved pet, Pipi! Nyang~!]

[Ah, you managed to reawaken too?]

Han-Yeol finally remembered that Pipi was the cat-like monster pet he had sold to Mariam.

Pipi looked quite different from what she had looked like when she first hatched from the egg. She was now walking on two legs like the beasts in the Bastro Dimension, but she did not resemble a beast like them. Instead, she looked like a human girl with furry ears and a tail often found in Japanese anime.

[Hehe~ Awakening is easy, nyang~,] Pipi replied in a funny way, reminding Han-Yeol of a cartoon he used to watch when he was younger.

[What are you doing here away from your master?]

[Hehe~ I don't like my master right now~ She's paying too much attention to that human.]

[Ah, I guess you could see it that way…]

Han-Yeol recalled hearing somewhere that cats tended to think of their owners as friends or subordinates. He might prefer dogs over cats, but he liked all cute animals, so he often scrolled through cat videos too. He had learned quite a lot about cats from the videos on social media.

[So you're upset?]

[No! I like being alone anyway, nyang~!]

Cats were known to be quite proud creatures.

[Haha! Alright, you should look after Mariam. She's having a tough time because of Tayarana and the loss of her comrades. She loved the Horus raid party members as much as Tayarana did.]

[Okay, nyang~ See you again, nyang~]

[Okay.]

That was the end of Han-Yeol’s encounter with Pipi.

***

Han-Yeol began packing up to return to South Korea. His time here had been short, but he had gone through a lot and had many questions during that brief period.

‘It might be just a month for others, but I technically spent twenty years away from home…’

This was why he was in such a rush to get back to South Korea. While others might wonder why he was in such a hurry after only a little over a month, he had technically been away from home for more than two decades now. Despite the whirlwind of events, he couldn't help but long for his home after everything had settled down.

Of course, that didn't mean he didn't enjoy his stay in Egypt.

[I hoped you would stay a bit longer…]

Han-Yeol's departure was kept a secret because he wanted to leave quietly, unlike how he arrived. The only people on the runway at Cairo International Airport were Han-Yeol, the Mulan crew, the Gurkha mercenaries, President Phaophator, and a few accompanying officials.

Moving discreetly without attracting attention was quite a challenge in this day and age, where social media was prevalent in society. However, it was not difficult for someone like Phaophator, who held absolute power in the country. All he had to do was give the command to block any mentions of Han-Yeol's departure on the internet.

[Hahaha… I apologize, Your Excellency. I just dearly miss my home country.]

[Well, I guess there's nothing I can do about that. It's such a shame that Egypt is not your motherland.]

[Hahaha…] The only thing Han-Yeol could do was awkwardly laugh in response.

[Have you said your goodbyes to the kids?]

[Yes, I did.]

[Ah… That's good…] President Phaophator still had a lot of things he wanted to say, but he suppressed his urge to voice them out.

‘I'm sure we're going to meet again in the future,’ he thought before finally letting Han-Yeol go.

It was at that moment, as Han-Yeol and his entourage were about to leave, that...

[Wait!]

[W-What?!]

[T-Tara?!]

Tayarana and Mariam were making their way toward them.

[Tara!] President Phaophator shouted in joy after seeing that his daughter finally left her room.

He had hoped that Han-Yeol could somehow convince her to leave her room after hearing reports that the young man had gone to visit her, but he was disappointed when she did not show much reaction after that. But now, there was nothing else he could ask for after seeing that she had finally recovered from her grief.

[Father.]

[Ah! Tell me, what is it, my beloved daughter?]

Phaophator felt so happy right now that he would not think twice if she asked for one of the African countries to be given to her. He blamed himself for his daughter's grief, as he felt responsible for the Horus raid party getting annihilated. However, Tayarana seemed to have brought something else rather than grief, and what she said next made Phaophator's jaw drop.

[I will go to South Korea with Han-Yeol.]

[W-What?!]

[WHAAAAAT?!]

President Phaophator, along with the Egyptian officials, was shocked at what she said, as nobody expected her to say something like that.

[B-But T-Taraaa…!]

Some might say that it was not a big deal, as she had previously stayed in South Korea with the Horus raid party, but the situation was entirely different now. She was an Osiris Rank Hunter then, but she was now a Ra Rank Hunter.