Leveling Up Alone

The flames and magma slowly dissipated long after Han-Yeol left.

Squirm… Squirm…!

Even though Han-Yeol thoroughly destroyed everything, a creature resembling a slime crawled out from the ashes.

‘Hahaha! Did you really think I’d die so easily, Lee Han-Yeol?’

The slime-like creature was none other than Dr. Santinora.

After countless experiments, he realized that controlling a body from afar was not ideal for combat. Thus, he created a slime to serve as a vessel, and all he had to do was impart a small piece of the slime into a body he created to take control of it. The slime might look weak and hopeless, but it was more than enough to fool Han-Yeol and make him leave without destroying it.

‘Hohoho! You might have destroyed everything I have, but I can always start anew as long as I have time to do so! I will come back to life while you won’t! You’re just a human, so you can’t live for hundreds or thousands of years, but I can! I will just live quietly in hiding until the day you die, and then I shall appear unto this world and rule over it!’

Dr. Santinora learned a few things from the battle earlier, but the most important thing he realized was the fact that he had no way to win against Han-Yeol. Thus, he decided to use his ability to hop from one body to another, technically granting him immortality, and live in hiding until Han-Yeol died.

Still, that did not mean he was without problems right now, as the slime was highly unstable for him to stay in for too long.

Dr. Santinora’s main ability was not related to his physical capabilities but his intelligence. He could turn himself into a slime to survive because he believed he could make a comeback as long as he had his intelligence intact.

‘Alright, I should hurry and go there–’

Bam!

‘Kuheok! Ugh…!’

Unfortunately, even his last resort was nothing but a fleeting dream. Someone suddenly appeared and stepped on the slime’s core, shattering it along with his hopes and dreams.

Thus, the mad scientist dreaming of ruling the world met his demise.

“Kikiki! A loser like you should just quietly disappear! How dare you dream of the future?”

Slurp!

Dr. Santinora’s brain stored in the slime splattered all over the place, but the assailant scooped them up and slurped them up like a snack. The brain matter indeed looked like jelly from afar, but it was not edible or even appetizing.

The fact that the assailant slurped the brain matter up without an ounce of hesitation meant that they were either crazy or a monster.

“Ughh… That tastes disgusting… Kikiki! But I get to see what Lee Han-Yeol did in combat through this, so it’s a small price to pay!”

Shockingly, the assailant turned out to be someone Han-Yeol had met before. They only met once, but this assailant left quite the impression on him that even Han-Yeol probably would remember them. The assailant was none other than the clown that appeared before during the duel against Woo Han-Jong.

“Kikiki! Entertain me more, Lee Han-Yeol! Good things might come to you if you do!” the clown exclaimed with an insidious grin.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind blew past him, and the clown instantly vanished from sight.

***

“A-Achooo!” Han-Yeol sneezed so loudly that snot came flying out from his nose.

[Hmm? Why is a Hunter sneezing?]

A Hunter’s body was immune to most diseases known to man, so it was only normal for Tayarana to be amazed at a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter sneezing all of a sudden. Ironically, she was a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter too.

“Hmm… I’m sure someone powerful is talking bad about me right now!” Han-Yeol said.

As soon as he said those words, Mariam replied, “Sigh… there’s nobody else as strong as you, Han-Yeol-nim. Also, who in the world would dare to talk bad about you?”

Although he was on the receiving end of Mariam’s gaze, he was unrelenting.

“No, my instincts are never wrong. Besides, Dr. Santinora might have been dealt with, but the Freemason is still out there, right?”

“Hmm… I believe it will be difficult for the Freemason to recover from having a laboratory of this size destroyed.”

“No, I don’t think so. Based on the information my network and the American Hunters dealing with the Freemason have collected, the true power of the Freemason comes from the group directly controlled by their leader, Mr. Freemason. Of course, Dr. Santinora was a valuable asset to them, but he was just one of their assets.”

“I still think they no longer have the capacity to go against you, Han-Yeol-nim.”

“Hmm… I guess you’re right.”

Dr. Santinora conducted experiments that should have been impossible but were made possible thanks to the Purple Stone. How else could they win against Han-Yeol if they failed to do so after making the impossible possible?

“I think I can finally go to the Bastro Dimension without worrying about this place,” Han-Yeol said.

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Good.”

[A wise choice indeed, Great One! You have collected all five treasures, so all that is left is for you to find the treasured sword. Once you have collected all the items, you will finally be able to slay the Dragon of Destruction!]

“Ah… I really can’t get used to you guys…”

[My apologies, Great One.]

Noras immediately apologized the moment Han-Yeol showed he was uncomfortable with the way they were worshiping him.

‘Hey, this is even more awkward!’ Han-Yeol exclaimed inwardly.

In the end, he had no choice but to shake his head and give up.

[Look at this, Han-Yeol. They call this food taco and it’s really good.]

“Oh, really?”

[Yeah.]

Tayarana’s eyes sparkled as she showed the traditional Mexican food called a taco, which was a round tortilla folded in half with meat, vegetables, and sauce sandwiched in between.

The freshly made taco looked scrumptious even to Han-Yeol.

“I haven’t tried Mexican food either. I guess it’s worth trying since we’re in Mexico.”

[Yeah, so I bought a few for us.]

Tayarana passed another taco to Han-Yeol.

“Thank you.”

Han-Yeol felt slightly hungry, so the taco came at the perfect time. He took the taco from her and immediately bit into it.

Crunch!

“Oh! It’s good!”

[Right?]

Han-Yeol nodded in response before continuing to devour the taco.

This was his first time trying Mexican food and the taco tasted nothing like he had ever tasted before.

On the other hand, Mariam simply watched them enjoy their tacos.

‘That’s actually an American-style taco… I guess there’s no need to tell them that,’ she thought.

It did not matter whether the taco was Mexican or American. What mattered to her was that Tayarana and Han-Yeol were getting along while sharing the tacos.

Han-Yeol’s party was currently on a city tour around Mexico City.

South America experienced the worst disaster in its history when the dimensional gates appeared. The monster that emerged from the dimension gates ran rampant across the continent, razing numerous cities to the ground. Along with the cities razed, countless civilian lives were also lost.

It was safe to say that nearly seventy percent of South America had been uninhabited for many years, and the cities standing today were all reconstructed by the survivors who banded up after the monsters were repelled. Their efforts turned South America into a hot destination for Hunters to come on hunting trips, and the American Hunters were one of their biggest visitors due to their close proximity.

In other words, South America was not dependent on the United States for its survival.

[It’s quite amazing how this city is so full of life.]

“Hmm… It says here that South America has more nature and monsters than cities and humans. The Amazon Rainforest has been completely overrun by monsters, and it has a higher concentration of mana compared to other places. I guess that’s probably why their cities are so full of life?” Han-Yeol explained while browsing through the tourist booklet provided by the South America Tourism Association.

[That’s amazing…]

The world had definitely made significant advancements in terms of technology after the emergence of mana stones, but the air in the cities was still far more polluted compared to the air in nature.

Of course, the pollution was not as bad as it was when the world relied on fossil fuels, but there was still some pollution in the cities nonetheless.

Tayarana had lived her entire life in the desert, so she was amazed to see a city with such well-preserved nature.

Han-Yeol’s party continued their vacation around Mexico, searching for gourmet food to try.

“Hmm? This is…”

[Why? What’s wrong?]

Han-Yeol stopped in front of a shabby street vendor stall manned by an old woman. Many people traveled along the street, but this specific stall seemed very out of place for some reason.

He could not really put a finger on why he felt it was out of place, but there was definitely something off about it.

He scanned the products displayed on the stall and thought, ‘There’s nothing special here, but what’s this strange feeling I’m getting?’

[Hohoho! It has been a long time since I have had a customer. So, do you fancy any of my products?]

‘W-What?! Telepathy?!’ Han-Yeol was shocked.

Mariam instantly jumped in front of Tayarana to protect her from any potential danger.

[Please get away from her! She’s a very skilled telepathy user!]

‘What?’

Han-Yeol was baffled by Mariam’s warning. Then, he looked back at the old woman and decided to inspect her.

‘Demon Eyes.’

However, a powerful force stopped him from inspecting the old woman.

“Argh!” Han-Yeol groaned.

After his Demon Eyes were deflected, he felt a sharp pain.

It felt as if a hammer had struck his head. The pain was so sudden that it left him breathless for a few seconds.

‘H-How can this be?!’

This was the first time someone had nullified Demon Eyes.

[Hoho! You can’t see through me with those kinds of skills.]

‘W-Who are you?’

[Why is that important? What matters more is what we are about to do together from now on.]

‘...And what is that thing we have to do together?’

[Geez… Have you already gone senile at your age? Where do you think you are right now?]

‘Huh?’ Han-Yeol was at a loss. The flow of the conversation was so strange that he had no idea what was going on, and he was not a fan of these kinds of conversations.

[Where are you, and what did you come here for? You’re at a street vendor looking to buy something, right?]

‘Ah…’

The old woman was right. The strange sensation from the stall attracted him and he walked toward it to see what it was selling.

[Hohoho! Welcome, everyone. My products might seem shabby at first glance, but they can be quite useful. Why don’t you take your time and pick one each? However, let me warn you that I’m only going to sell one product per person, and I get to set the price. Do you understand?]

The old woman used telepathy to greet all of them, so everyone heard what she said.

[Okay, I’m in.]

[We have no idea who that old woman is, Tayarana-nim. She seems very suspicious, and it is highly possible that her products are cursed!]

Mariam had long accepted her purpose in life was to serve and protect Tayarana, so she would never let her go anywhere near something so suspicious like the shabby street stall manned by an old woman highly adept at telepathy.