Leveling Up Alone

[Hohoho!]

It would be perfectly normal for the old woman to take offense at Mariam’s actions, but she just laughed.

[And what is so funny?]

[Hohoho! How can I not find this amusing? Why would a young lady like you be so suspicious of everything?]

[Do you even know who this person is? How dare you try peddling your suspicious wares to her!]

Mariam seemed on the edge right now, which made perfect sense as the whole thing looked very suspicious indeed.

[Hohoho! So, what are you going to do? Are you just going to walk away? Well, it doesn’t matter to me if you do.]

‘Hmm… It really looks like she’s got nothing to lose. I have no idea who she is or what she’s saying, but there’s something fishy about her. I can’t help but find that to be intriguing too,’ Han-Yeol thought while observing the old woman.

In the end, he decided to trust his instincts once again.

“Han-Yeol-nim!”

Mariam knew there was no stopping Tayarana now that Han-Yeol had agreed to buy the suspicious old woman’s wares.

‘This is driving me nuts!’

She rarely expressed her emotions, but it was a different story when Tayarana’s safety was on the line. Tayarana acted as the key to the emotions she kept locked up inside her, and any event involving Tayarana could trigger her to unleash her emotions.

[I want to buy one too.]

[T-Tayarana-nim!]

Mariam was now on the verge of tears.

“Alright, then what if I go first? If I buy from her and nothing happens to me, then Tayarana should be safe too, right?”

[B-But still…!]

Mariam did not want that either. Han-Yeol might get lucky and avoid harm, but there was no guarantee that Tayarana would have the same luck as him.

“Then you go second, Mariam. There’s no way both of us will be safe then something will happen to her when she goes third, right?”

[A-Alright…]

Mariam knew there was no stopping the two of them after they made up their minds. In the end, she decided her job was to go for the safest option.

[Hoho! Take your pick. It doesn’t matter what you choose, as every item has its respective owner.]

‘Ugh… That’s making this even stranger…’ Han-Yeol grumbled inwardly.

The old woman basically meant that they could pick whichever item they wanted, but the outcome was already pre-decided.

‘Then I guess there’s no point hesitating.’

Han-Yeol shrugged and decided to go for it. He figured the random draw was already fun by itself, but knowing that something had already been prepared for him made it even more intriguing.

[Oh?]

The old woman’s eyes grew bigger the moment Han-Yeol grabbed an item.

‘Hohoho… So things are going exactly according to their destiny…’ she thought.

Among the products on display, such as a mirror, watch, and kerosene lighter, Han-Yeol chose a compass.

“Huh? Excuse me, there’s something strange about this compass’ bearings,” Han-Yeol said.

Compasses were usually set up to point north and south at all times, but the needle of the compass he picked kept spinning, stopping, or pointing randomly even though he was not moving.

‘Tsk… Is it broken? Oh well, I guess it’s to be expected from a shabby stall like this. Han-Yeol thought there was a reason nobody was interested in this shabby street stall on such a busy road.

‘I guess she’s a scammer using mysterious vibes to con people,’ Han-Yeol concluded after seeing the broken compass.

[Hohoho! That’s not broken.]

“Oh really? Then please explain why a compass that should be pointing north and south is pointing all over the place as it pleases.”

[Hoho… That’s quite simple. It’s because you still haven’t decided where you want to go.]

“Huh?” Han-Yeol muttered, baffled by what the old woman said.

‘I haven’t decided where I want to go? What does she mean by that?’ he wondered.

[That compass is not an object that points north or south. It is an item that will guide its user to one object they are searching for. Once you’re set on what you’re searching for, then the compass will continue to point toward it until you find it.]

“What?! I-Is that even possible?!” Han-Yeol exclaimed. He could not believe what he was hearing—he looked at the compass with eyes full of skepticism.

‘Is she lying? I want to test it out immediately, but I can’t just use it like that…’

[Hoho? Alright, I'll throw in something extra. I’ll add another charge to it so you can use it two times.]

“Huh?”

Han-Yeol tilted his head in confusion. Was this old woman saying she could alter the effects of an item at will?

‘Ah! Don’t tell me…?!’ Han-Yeol realized something. Then, he asked, “Are you the one who created this compass?”

[Hohoho! Since I am the one who created everything you see here, it is not too difficult to modify their effects to some extent. In return, I’ll have to charge you extra for that.]

“Ah, I understand. Then I’ll test it since you increased its charge to two.”

[Tsk… Why are you youngsters these days so skeptical of everything?]

The old woman clicked her tongue, but Han-Yeol paid no attention to her. Instead, he immediately tested the compass to see if it worked as she claimed.

“Oh? It’s true?” Han-Yeol muttered in surprise.

[Hohoho! You won’t live a long life if you’re so skeptical of everything, young one.]

“I do not care about things like that. Anyway, Tara and Mariam, why don’t you guys pick something too? Ah, you too, Noras.”

[We are fine.]

“Really?”

[Yes.]

Noras did not seem to be that interested in the old woman’s wares.

‘Hmph! What help will objects made by humans be?’

They might worship and follow Han-Yeol, but that did not mean they were fond of humans. In fact, it was safe to say that they disliked humans. The Bastrolings and humans could be said to be polar opposites, so it was inevitable for them to dislike each other even though they did not cause any harm to one another.

[Hmm, I’ll go with this.]

Tayarana picked a dagger with a golden hilt and a green jewel embedded in it. Judging by its sharpness, the dagger did not seem to be ordinary.

[I choose this.]

Mariam chose a hand mirror with a bronze frame.

“Oh? Both of them look quite good,” Han-Yeol said.

The items they chose indeed looked quite valuable, even in Han-Yeol’s eyes. It was without a doubt that they would choose something of value, as Han-Yeol might be a commoner but Tayarana was a royal, and Mariam was someone who served the Egyptian royal family, so their views would surely be different from his.

“Alright, please calculate the cost of these and let us know how much we owe you–eh?”

[What?]

[W-What’s going on?]

[Hmm…!]

Han-Yeol and the others turned around to pay for the items, but the old woman and her stall were nowhere to be seen.

Mariam scowled and clicked her tongue when everyone was in shock over what had happened.

‘Tsk… I already knew something was up with that old woman, but I didn’t expect she could deceive even Han-Yeol-nim’s senses!’

The fact that the old woman could evade Han-Yeol’s keen senses meant that she was an extremely powerful individual.

Suddenly, the old woman’s voice rang like an echo in their ears.

[Hohoho! I will come to collect your payments one day, and we shall meet again on that day.]

“W-What in the world is that old woman?!” Han-Yeol exclaimed. He could not help but be shocked that not only did the old woman escape his senses, but she even managed to speak directly into his mind when she was nowhere in sight.

It felt as if the old woman was a ghost.

‘Hold on! There’s no such thing as ghosts, right?!’ he exclaimed inwardly.

Of course, necromancers could summon ghost-type undead minions, but they were different from the ghosts that would haunt people as depicted in mainstream media. Hunters specializing in necromancy would always search for ghosts in places that were rumored to be haunted, but their hunt for a real ghost would always end up in vain.

Most importantly, even a ghost could not fool Han-Yeol’s senses.

‘Then what about the…?!’ Han-Yeol hurriedly looked at his hand just in case the compass had disappeared, but the compass was still there.

‘Oh, it’s still here.’

He was unsure if this was fortunate or unfortunate, but it seemed that the compass he bought did not disappear with the old woman.

‘Hmm… It’s a bit eerie, but I guess it’s fine since I already checked this thing works.’

He had no plans to throw the compass away just because he felt eerie about the old woman.

‘Demon Eyes. Karvis.’

[I have scanned this object, but there is nothing out of the ordinary. If this was a demonic artifact that could potentially harm you, then I would have found something strange about it. But it seems like an ordinary item no matter how many times I scan it.]

‘An ordinary item? But I don’t think it’s ordinary.’

[That is indeed true. You might only be able to use it once, but the fact that it will locate whatever you desire is definitely not something ordinary.]

‘Well, I guess there’s no problem since you said it’s fine.’

[Thank you.]

‘No need to thank me. Who can I trust in this world if not you, Karvis?’

[...]

Karvis did not respond to Han-Yeol’s praises. She recently started developing emotions after being with Han-Yeol for so long that it was only normal for her to be speechless in these kinds of situations.

‘Hehe.’ Han-Yeol laughed after finding her silence funny.

Karvis was like an AI initially, but she slowly started becoming cuter the more time he spent with her.

Han-Yeol proceeded to share what he found out from his analysis with Tayarana and Mariam in hopes of reassuring them. Tayarana easily believed whatever Han-Yeol said, but Mariam was still suspicious of the hand mirror she picked.

They decided to put behind them the strange encounter they had in Mexico and made their way back to South Korea.

‘I should go travel around the world after everything is over,’ Han-Yeol thought. He found his trip around Mexico to be quite pleasant, and he found traveling to be an alright hobby.

Thus, a sense of wanderlust slowly grew inside of him.

***

‘Tsk… Who am I kidding? I don’t have the luxury to take a vacation and travel around the world…’ Han-Yeol grumbled.

He found all five stones and even finally killed Dr. Santinora, but that did not mean everything was over. The Freemason still existed, and the hyenas were still a threat lurking around the corner, as they were not the type to be satisfied with conquering only the Bastro Dimension.

Han-Yeol’s rest was short.

‘I’m sure Riru and Kandir are fine, but those hyenas have grown stronger and they also possess Harkan’s body… It will be difficult for them without my help. Ah, I hope they’re doing alright…’

Han-Yeol believed in their abilities, but their opponent was simply far too strong. Thus, he was worried about them.

‘Geez… I guess the Dragon of Destruction is quite amazing. That thing turned those hyenas in hiding into the masters of the dimension, all while it was still sealed.’

Slurp!

Han-Yeol was enjoying a glass of expensive whiskey in the living room of his mansion. He could have crossed over to the Bastro Dimension as soon as he got back, but the Bastro Dimension was a place where his safety was not guaranteed, even though he was the most powerful individual on Earth.

‘Dragon of Destruction… I’m going to end you this time and put an end to our long history.’

Naturally, the Dragon of Destruction would not disappear if it was slain—like a resilient cockroach, it would reappear whenever the dimension evolved.

How did Han-Yeol know that?

Because a god really existed in the Bastro Dimension.

The Bastro Dimension might lag behind Earth in quickly relaying information to others, but it possessed a supernatural occurrence that Earth did not. This supernatural occurrence was none other than the prophecies they received, and they could not be explained with science.

All of the prophecies told in the Bastro Dimension were kept in the Temple Library.