Leveling Up Alone

‘Hmm? This mana is…?’

Han-Yeol noticed something strange about the mana radiating from inside.

‘But I’m sure I didn’t feel anything earlier…’

The mana was so strong that he could not help but start to feel nervous because of it.

[Han-Yeol…]

“Can you feel it too, Tara?”

[Yes, I think whatever that thing is, it’s quite powerful.]

“And its mana came out of nowhere.”

[I think it’s going to be fun though.]

[It’s a strong opponent. You faced many strong opponents, so you wouldn’t know how I feel. I haven’t gotten the chance to fight anyone strong after awakening as a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter, you know? I’m bored, bored, and bored.]

“...”

‘I guess that makes sense?’ Han-Yeol thought.

Recently, Tayarana had a lot of pent-up frustration, and the only thing keeping her from exploding was massacring the weak enemies she encountered. She wanted to test her powers against an opponent as strong as a Transcendent Master-Rank and fight with her life on the line.

However, finding an opponent of that caliber was nearly impossible, as only a very few managed to reach that realm.

Han-Yeol completely understood how she felt. ‘That’s the path to becoming stronger, so I know exactly how you feel, Tara.’

Bam!

A section of the inner laboratory’s wall crumbled, and a creature emitting a massive amount of mana emerged from it.

‘Hmm?! That is—!’

Click! Click! Click!

Han-Yeol could tell at a single glance from the large pincer the creature possessed that it was another experiment created by fusing a human and a monster.

However, something was very different about this experiment, and that was the fact it looked much more balanced and perfectly combined than the ones he had faced so far.

‘The monsters we’ve faced so far seemed a bit unstable, as if they were forced together, but that’s not the case for this one,’ Han-Yeol thought.

“Kikiki! Welcome! You have visited at the perfect time! You might have destroyed my laboratories, but sacrificing those pieces of trash to perfect this masterpiece was well worth it! I have completed my life’s work! My masterpiece!”

The creature’s mana was so powerful that it shook the entire place just by bellowing its voice, which was Dr. Santinora’s.

Han-Yeol noticed that this was not another one of Dr. Santinora’s avatars, but his real body.

“So you’ve finally shown up in your real body,” Han-Yeol said.

“Hohoho! Precisely! I no longer have to hop around those pathetic, weak bodies! I shall now face you with this masterpiece of mine that I have dedicated my entire life to!” Dr. Santinora exclaimed in response.

Others might think they were having a simple conversation, but Han-Yeol grimaced after he noticed that something was off.

He noticed that the mad scientist’s manner of speech changed while speaking. ‘What the hell is wrong with him? Does he have multiple personality disorder or something?’

“Die! Insignificant human!”

Pshwoong!

‘Hmm?! This mana is… Don’t tell me?!’

Han-Yeol was startled when the large pincer shot out a blade aura toward him and his party, but what surprised him even more was the mana’s characteristic forming the blade aura.

Dr. Santinora’s new body was undoubtedly a monster–no, it was not a normal monster but a very powerful boss monster, even among the top-tier boss monsters such as the Scorpion King.

The Scorpion King was a powerful boss monster that randomly spawned in desert hunting grounds, and it possessed the ability to call forth a massive army to fight on its behalf. It was extremely popular among high-ranking Hunters due to the extremely valuable loot it dropped upon death, but scores of Hunters ended up dying at the hands of its army of monsters before even getting anywhere near it.

However, Han-Yeol was not shocked because of the Scorpion King.

‘I-Is this for real?!’

Shwaaak!

Han-Yeol evaded the blade aura.

Baaaam!

On the other hand, Tayarana chose to block the blade aura with her sword rather than avoid it.

[Madam Mariam! Please stand behind me!]

[Okay!]

[Wall of Fire!]

The sorcerers combined their mana to summon a wall of fire to block the blade aura. It was quick thinking on their part. Noras instantly judged his powers alone would not be enough to stop the blade aura, so the sorcerers pooled their mana together to form an even stronger barrier against it.

Mariam’s abilities were all related to telepathy, so she had no means of defending herself from the incoming aura blade—nor did she possess the physical reflexes like Han-Yeol to evade it.

‘Damn it… That damned Dr. Santinora used that Old Man Woo I failed to kill and turned him into a monster. There’s no way the Scorpion King could be this strong!’ Han-Yeol thought.

That was the main reason he was shocked earlier by the aura blade.

‘A combination between a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter and a top-tier boss monster… Should I be grateful this is all he did?’

Chairman Woo might have lost to Han-Yeol, but he was still a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter on par with Tayarana, whom Ra chose himself. On top of that, his physical abilities had most likely been boosted after he fused with the Scorpion King.

Thus, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Scorpion King was the most powerful monster among all of Dr. Santinora’s creations.

“Hohoho! Do you have any idea what humiliation I suffered because of you lot? It’s still too early for you to be surprised! I will destroy everything and repopulate this world with my creations! And I, Dr. Santinora, will rule as this world’s god! Bwahahaha!”

“You’re crazy.”

“Hmm? Ah, yes, I do agree I’m insane. Who else could do something like this if not for a mad scientist?”

“Damn it… Tara! Mariam! Noras!”

[Yes, Han-Yeol?]

“Yes, Han-Yeol-nim?”

[At your command, Great One!]

“That guy’s too powerful for us to fight separately. We’re going to work together to bring him down, got it?”

[Okay, Han-Yeol.]

“Understood, Han-Yeol-nim.”

[As you command, Great One!]

“Bwahaha! Try all you want! All of you will be dismembered into pieces for my next beloved creation!”

Han-Yeol grimaced and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk…”

‘I haven’t even finished analyzing these monsters–’

[But I am already done.]

‘Huh? Already?’

[Yes.]

‘Alright! Let’s go destroy him!’

[I would not want it any other way.]

Fortunately, Karvis finished analyzing the new monster. Fighting against an opponent Han-Yeol had some idea about was definitely much better than fighting blindly without any information.

However, since Dr. Santinora’s body was made from a very powerful Hunter and monster, any analysis from Karvis would be undoubtedly incomplete.

‘I’ll just have to experience that part head-on!’ Han-Yeol thought.

[A wise choice.]

‘Haha! It’s only obvious since I’m so smart!’

[...]

‘Hey! What’s with that silence?!’

[N.o.t.h.i.n.g.]

A cross-shaped vein bulged on Han-Yeol’s forehead at Karvis’ condescending response.

“You dare to get distracted when you’re up against me? I’m not sure if you’re strange or just foolish,” Dr. Santinora said before spewing out massive amounts of sand from his mouth.

Pwaaaaaah!

The tons of sand surged toward Han-Yeol like a wave, but the problem was that it was not ordinary sand.

‘That’s Red Sand!’ Han-Yeol instantly recognized the sand.

Red Sand, just as its name suggested, was a special kind of sand with a slight red luster. Earth had lots of red-colored sand, but none could be called called Red Sand.

The Scorpion King was infamous for using Red Sand, and it had the ability to absorb everything it touched regardless of whether it was something physical or created with mana.

In other words, anything covered by the Red Sand would have their body absorbed and even their mana sucked dry until they disintegrated into nothing.

Thus, Red Sand was known to be something the Hunters should evade at all costs when raiding the Scorpion King.

‘Damn it! I can’t block that much sand with just my mana!’ Han-Yeol cursed

To make matters worse, the only way to counter Red Sand was to use water. Unfortunately, water was not among the many attributes Han-Yeol could control.

‘Well, that doesn’t mean I can’t evade it!’

Shwak!

Han-Yeol used a mobility skill to evade the Red Sand.

‘That was easy–What?!’

***

Chwaaak!

‘Damn it! Why does everyone have homing skills these days?!’

Han-Yeol used his spatial skill to evade the Red Sand, but the Red Sand instantly turned and followed him.

Contrary to what he thought, homing abilities were not that common. However, it seemed that most Hunters he came across possessed this ability as time passed.

‘Is homing someone’s dog’s name[1]?!’

Han-Yeol was in utter disbelief, but ironically, he possessed the same homing ability too.

“Kikiki! Where do you think you’re going? You can run but you can’t hide!” Dr. Santinora exclaimed while controlling the sands he spewed out.

‘Tsk… So annoying…’ Han-Yeol clicked his tongue out of frustration after realizing that evading the Red Sand was impossible. The mad scientist possessed the homing ability and the laboratory was too cramped for such maneuvers.

‘If that’s the case…’

“Tara!”

[Okay!]

Tayarana unleashed the skill she had been channeling the moment Han-Yeol gave the signal.

Two rays of red aura shot toward Dr. Santinora.

[That is a great offensive skill, but unfortunately, it is useless against me, Princess of Egypt.]

[...?]

Whoosh! Bam!

[...!]

Tayarana had put in quite a lot of mana into the attack, yet Dr. Santinora easily blocked it with his pincer.

The attack was by no means weak. It might not be powerful enough to kill Dr. Santinora, but it would have at least damaged him or forced him to dodge it.

However, contrary to her expectations, all it took was the large pincer to stop the attack.

[Hoho! Both you and Lee Han-Yeol would serve as excellent test subjects, and so I’m having a hard time choosing who to choose! Wait a minute… Why do I have to choose? A genius like me can just absorb both of you into my body! Ah! A body containing all of the Transcendent Master-Rank Hunters in the world?! How beautiful and terrifying is that? Oh, the irony!]

Dr. Santinora was oddly polite in that he would switch languages depending on who he was talking to.

He had yet to win the battle, and he was already acting as if he had won. Some might call him arrogant for doing so, but that was inevitable, as the mana his body was emitting could only be described as overpowering.

Dr. Santinora’s mana was so powerful that ordinary people would mistake him for a god. It was a stark contrast to his old self, who possessed abilities related to his intellect, making him the object of mockery by others for his lack of combat prowess.

Bam!

On the other hand, Han-Yeol was still busy running away from the Red Sand, but that did not last long. The laboratory was small while the Red Sand was growing in size, making it difficult for him to continue running away from it.

‘It’s impossible for me to use Reflect against it when he’s continuously spewing out those sands. Also, Reflect is out of the question since the sand has grown far too big.’

Han-Yeol considered using Reflect, a skill that returned the attack to the attacker, but he realized that was not an option.

‘W-What should I do…?’

1. This means very common. It’s a Korean saying. ☜