Leveling Up Alone

The Void Demon did not respond any further after that.

Han-Yeol only summoned the Void Demon specialized in range attacks for now. Oddly enough, both of the Void Demons possessed multiple skills, but the one that specialized in range attacks only possessed one attacking skill, which was ‘Void Storm’. Its other two skills were a debuff and a defensive skill.

Anyway, the second half of the battle started after the Void Demon made its appearance.

The twelve Phantoms fell one by one, quickly splitting into twenty-four. Now, the raid party had to fight against a total of thirty-six Phantoms in one battle.

Puk! Puk! Kaboom!

Han-Yeol and the Void Demon displayed a combo that would have been unimaginable when it had been a Shadow Demon. Maybe a ranking existed among demons of the same rank, but Han-Yeol had found it difficult to coordinate with the Shadow Demon in combat as it lacked battle IQ.

On the other hand, the Void Demon possessed higher intelligence and a better understanding of tactics. It was able to follow whatever command Han-Yeol gave it during combat, and it even moved on its own to cover and protect whatever exposed opening he had after using his chain.

‘Chain Smite!’

Pukeok!

Han-Yeol threw his chain and killed one of the two remaining Phantoms after hitting it in the face. Meanwhile, the other remaining Phantom was killed by the Void Demon’s ‘Void Storm’.

The combat prowess Han-Yeol displayed was so different from what he had initially shown that the Egyptian Hunters found it absurd.

[Wow, that’s really awesome…]

[Why does it feel like the Vice Leader-nim is getting stronger the longer we hunt?]

[What if that is indeed the case? What if he does get stronger over time?]

[No way, do you really think that’s possible?]

In the end, the Egyptian Hunters decided to think that they were probably just mistaken and Han-Yeol was only showing his full ability now. That was probably the most logical explanation for them as Han-Yeol’s growth was something that transcended what the world knew about Hunters.

***

The Horus raid party’s hunting speed explosively increased after Han-Yeol proactively started to hunt, and they hunted for a week with only minimal rest in between. Most of the Egyptian Hunters cursed and grumbled at the increased intensity of the hunt, but they held their tongue and toughened it out by focusing on the profit they were going to gain at the end of it.

It had been a long time since they hunted this intensely. Of course, Tayarana was someone who enjoyed fighting, so her raid party was already known for going on intense hunts. However, this was still the first time that they hunted so quickly and intensely.

It would not have been an issue if the Horus raid party took adequate rests in between their hunts like they were used to, but Tayarana was basically pushing them to their very limits by significantly cutting their breaks short. It was such a drastic change that the Egyptian Hunters could not help but wonder if their leader had caught some kind of a bug or something.

There were many factors that contributed to their increased hunting speed, but the fact that they did not have to wait for the Porters to dismember the monster corpses in this specific hunting ground was the biggest factor of them all.

“Huff… Huff… Huff…”

When the Horus raid party was getting quite exhausted, Tayarana stopped luring monsters and descended to the ground. Well, the reason she stopped luring monsters was only that they had already massacred the monsters in their surroundings and there were no more monsters to lure…

[Thank you for your hard work,] Mariam said as she ran up to Tayarana with a towel.

[Thanks,] Tayarana replied nonchalantly while taking off her helmet.

Mariam had prepared the steam-disinfected pure cotton towel for Tayarana to wipe her sweat as flying in the Horus Suit consumed a tremendous amount of mana and stamina.

By the way, the used towel would immediately be given to a servant to dispose of as letting someone of her stature reuse a towel should not ever happen. In fact, the only thing that Tayarana probably reused in her life was her hunting gears.

[Please have a refreshing drink,] offered the Egyptian Porters, who looked quite free on this particular hunt, as they handed out chilled drinks to the Hunters.

Han-Yeol watched the Egyptian Porters hand out drinks before he looked up at the drone flying overhead. He thought, ‘The Korean Porters will probably be expected to start handing out drinks more often from now on… It’s probably going to be tiring for them.’

Han-Yeol could not help but feel apologetic toward the Korean Porters as he had been a Porter in the past. He was probably going to one day slowly become indifferent toward the plight of the Porters, but his memories and experiences from being a Porter were still fresh in his heart.

[Is that the end of our hunt?] Han-Yeol asked Tayarana and Mariam.

[Ah, yes, this is the end. The promised seven days have passed and the other Hunters are starting to reach their limits, so it is probably better for us to let them rest than continue hunting.] Mariam gave a response that was befitting of her position as Tayarana’s trusted adjutant.

She not only concerned herself with strategizing and commanding the raid party, but she was also hands-on when it came to maintaining the raid party’s condition and efficiency.

In fact, the only reason the Horus raid party probably grew this big while having an impressive track record of zero casualties, despite having a combat-loving leader like Tayarana, was all thanks to Mariam.

Of course, most people praised her for being the pillar of the Horus raid party, but she would always deflect such praises and give credit to Tayarana instead.

[Ughh… I guess that’s understandable… I’m slowly starting to get exhausted as well…] Han-Yeol grumbled.

[I’m surprised you managed to fight for so long. You basically ran around the entire battlefield and fought harder than anyone else,] Tayarana commented.

[Hahaha! I had my reasons for doing that,] Han-Yeol replied with a laugh.

Actually, the reason that Han-Yeol had run around so diligently was purely out of his own interest. He had noticed in their previous hunts that he was not gaining much experience points, but he had accidentally stumbled upon the fact, while testing out his skills, that he gained much more experience points the more actively he participated in the hunt.

He immediately understood that, despite his ability being similar to that of a game system, this was the real world and not a game. There was no such thing as experience points being shared among party members. The only thing that mattered when calculating the experience points he gained was how active he was and how much he contributed to killing the monster.

In the end, he could not sit still and relax after understanding how his ability worked. After all, he wanted to level up as fast as he could, which in turn motivated him to push himself to his limits and actively participate in the hunt.

‘I guess the only upside in hunting with a party is that I can go after stronger monsters… Well, there’s also the part that it’s more fun…’

Han-Yeol thought that while solo-hunting and monopolizing all of the profit was nice, it was also good for him to hunt with a party and go after stronger monsters that he would otherwise not dare to hunt alone, which in turn would offset whatever reduction in the experience points he would gain.

‘Oh… right…’ Han-Yeol suddenly remembered something.

[Tara, I have a favor to ask.]

[What is it? Ask me anything you need,] Tayarana coolly replied.

[You do know that’s quite a dangerous thing to say, right?] Han-Yeol joked in response. He had somehow managed to get close enough to the Egyptian Princess that he could joke with her.

Tayarana remained expressionless while listening to Han-Yeol’s banter, and this scene was live broadcasted by the main camera not only to the V Ticket viewers but also to the normal viewers.

The pair might have been speaking in Arabic, but the chill vibe between them was easily picked up on by the viewers.

[H-He is chatting with the goddess-nim as if they are acquainted…]

[AAGHHHH! I’M SO JEALOUS!]

[I wish I could get a whiff of the goddess-nim’s scent…]

[Get lost, you pervert!]

[No! I would make the same wish if it’s the goddess-nim’s scent!]

Han-Yeol’s stream had gone live for all seven days, and even the part where they were camping at the safe zone with a few of the Egyptian Hunters standing watch had been broadcasted around the world through the special antenna. Surprisingly enough, word seemed to have somehow spread as there were quite a lot of Arabs joining the chat.

Egypt was far more developed compared to the rest of Africa, thanks to them catapulting themselves into the ranks of first-world countries. Their internet was also quite excellent thanks to their partnership with South Korea and importing its IT technology.

In addition to that, all eyes were already on South Korea the moment Tayarana had set foot here, so it was only a matter of time before the Egyptian viewers were going to find Han-Yeol’s broadcast.

It was quite challenging for the Egyptian viewers to watch Han-Yeol’s stream as there was a lag with the live broadcast coupled with the time and language barrier. However, that did not stop them from forking out money just to get a firsthand glimpse of their goddess, Tayarana.

Needless to say, all eyes in Egypt were always focused on where and what their goddess was doing or something close to that.

Anyway, Han-Yeol asked the favor that he had already prepared to ask Tayarana, [I was hoping that you could pay my share of the hunt with the loot and not with money.]

[Isn’t it going to be a hassle?]

[Still.]

Tayarana could not understand why Han-Yeol was making such a request despite its troublesome nature. After some thought, she asked, [Do you have a factory to sell the monster parts by any chance?]

[Yes, I do.]

Tayarana somehow suspected that Han-Yeol was probably making such a request to sell his share of the loot to his choice of factory instead of selling it to whichever factory the raid party dealt with. However, she decided to not pry further into his affairs since it did not matter to her whether she paid him with the loot or in cash.

[Alright, I will ask Mariam to make arrangements for you.]

[No need to trouble yourself. I will go and speak to her.]

[Alright then.]

Han-Yeol then went over and explained to Mariam after receiving Tayarana’s permission.

As expected, Mariam immediately agreed after hearing that Tayarana had given her permission. She commanded the managers in charge of the Porters to prepare Han-Yeol’s share of the loot.

[How should I pack it?]

[Oh right, may you please tell Yoo-Bi to bring a bag for the mana stones using your telepathic ability?] Han-Yeol asked.

Strangely enough, he spoke quite formally to Mariam despite speaking informally to her master, Tayarana.

[As you wish.]

Han-Yeol also possessed a telepathy skill, but he could only use it exclusively to communicate with demons. In short, he did not have the ability to speak directly into a human’s mind like Mariam did.

‘Who knows? Maybe my skill will one day evolve to become like Mariam’s skill…’ Han-Yeol wished, but he did not really expect it to happen since telepathy was quite a useful and powerful skill.

Mariam instructed Yoo-Bi through telepathy just as Han-Yeol had requested, and Yoo-Bi immediately came over with a bag to store his share of the mana stones.

“Here you go, oppa,” Yoo-Bi said as she extended the bag toward Han-Yeol.

“Ah, thank you, Yoo-Bi.”

“But why do you need this?”

“Ah, I asked for the mana stones and monster parts instead of cash.”

“Ohh, do you plan to sell it to Sung Jin Factory?”

“Yeah, I probably should since I have an exclusive agreement with them, right?”

“I guess…”

Yoo-Bi did not really mind if Han-Yeol received his share in loot or cash as long as she got paid for her work.

Mariam waited until Han-Yeol was finished talking to Yoo-Bi before she voiced out her curiosity. [Do you plan to sell the monster parts to the factory you are dealing with?]

[Yes, that is correct.]

[Then there should not be any problems. We ourselves do not have a particular factory we deal with here. In fact, we were hoping that the association would introduce us to a suitable factory later on since we do not really care who we deal with. However, it is now a different story if you already have a factory you deal with, since they are probably more than qualified if someone like you has been dealing with them.]

[Oh, is it really alright for you?]

[Certainly, but under the condition that I personally go and negotiate the sale myself.]

[Yes, you may do that. What matters to me is selling the monster parts to that particular factory, so it does not matter if you or I go there.]

[Please provide me with the factory’s name and address once we leave the hunting ground.]

[Alright.]

In the end, Han-Yeol collected only his share of the mana stones after somehow bridging the Horus raid party and the small Sung Jin Factory.

Dddruuk!

The amount of mana stones that Han-Yeol received after intensely hunting for seven days was not a joke.

‘Ah… How cruel can life be…? Why do my stats and skills have to use these precious mana stones instead of something else…? How much are all of these worth…?’ Han-Yeol lamented inwardly at the sight of the motherlode.

In fact, this was a feeling that he was probably not going to get used to anytime soon.