Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 468 - Trap (1)

Things that might mean something to Han-Yeol would not mean anything to others if he repeatedly did them. In fact, his stubborn persistence would only cause them to doubt him.

‘I need to change things, but what change can I make?’ Han-Yeol could not get any clues related to spatial property.

One of the agents carefully approached Han-Yeol and P around the time they finished hunting and returned to their assigned accommodations. The agent seemed to have something he wished to discuss with P and kept stealing glances at Han-Yeol.

Then, the agent finally decided to speak up.

[Excuse me, Han-Yeol? Can you excuse us for a second?]

“Alright.”

Han-Yeol was curious about what they were going to talk about, but he was not brazen enough to tell them to have their conversation in front of him. He went ahead to the accommodation and washed up before enjoying a can of cold beer on the sofa, and P entered around thirty minutes later.

“What’s up, P?”

[Ah, that is... I think I won’t be able to guide you anymore.]

Han-Yeol shot up from the sofa and asked, “W-What? Why?”

Separating from P was out of the question right now. He had yet to obtain a hint on how the spatial property worked, and all of his efforts would be for naught if he was separated from P now.

[Hmm...]

P seemed to be hesitating whether he could divulge the information he heard just now to Han-Yeol or not. He contemplated for quite a while but eventually decided to share what he learned with Han-Yeol, as he was not the kind of person who would go around blabbering about things to others.

[I received a mission. I usually don’t get any missions, but one country recently started having problems, so they are sending me there to exfiltrate someone.]

“A mission?”

[Yeah.]

After hearing P’s response, Han-Yeol thought for a while before finally snapping his fingers.

Snap!

“Let me tag along with you.”

[W-What?!]

P was shocked after hearing Han-Yeol’s suggestion.

“Why? Shouldn’t you be grateful if a Transcendent-Master Rank Hunter offers to help?”

[T-That’s not the problem right now!]

P ended up shouting after hearing that a Korean Hunter was offering to accompany an American secret agent on a mission issued by the United States government. This was preposterous.

“Ah, forget about it. I think it will be faster if I speak to your president directly.”

[H-Hey!]

P tried his best to stop Han-Yeol, but it was too late. Han-Yeol had already taken out the special phone immune to wiretapping that could directly call the President of the United States.

He pressed the call button and said, “Can you let me tag along in this mission?”

[What?]

Even the president of the United States had the same response as P.

[Oh dear...]

P let out a sigh and shook his head. He had already figured out that Han-Yeol was the impulsive type after spending a few days with him, but he had not expected him to be this impulsive. However, Han-Yeol was not tagging along for fun. He had a good reason for wanting to join the mission this time, and that reason was...

‘If it means I can get my hands on that secret, then I don’t mind being called thick-faced.’

He was desperate to get his hands on the secret.

***

Meanwhile, the White House was completely turned upside down by the bomb that Han-Yeol dropped.

[This cannot be, Mr. President! How can an outsider join our secret operation?]

[I beg to differ, Mr. President. This might not be as bad as we think it is. We are talking about a South Korean here! South Korea is our ally, and this will not be the first time our governments have worked together.]

[Still! Is this mission just another mission?!]

[If I may add, we can guarantee the success of this mission if Lee Han-Yeol joins. As you said, this mission is extremely important to us, right?]

[T-That is—!]

There was a heated discussion among the two factions of the president's high-ranking government officials present at the meeting. One side was adamant that they should not let an outsider join the mission regardless of whether he was a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter or not, while the other side argued that South Korea was a crucial ally of the United States and his inclusion would guarantee the success of their mission.

[Hmm...]

In the end, the president was left with a huge dilemma, as he knew that both sides had a point.

***

Knock! Knock!

[...]

The president knocked on the table twice, and all eyes in the room shifted to him.

[I considered your opinions and I have made my decision.]

In the end, he was the decision-maker in this room, and he finally made up his mind after deliberating on it for a while.

Then, his decision was relayed to Han-Yeol and P.

“Hohoho! See? What did I tell you?”

[Impossible...]

The president authorized Han-Yeol to join the secret mission. He allowed it mainly because South Korea was an important ally of the United States, and there were already numerous cases of Hunters from both countries who had worked together on various missions.

“I’ll be in your care, my friend.”

[Well, I guess I have no choice...]

Both of them smirked and bumped fists.

“Hehehe~” Han-Yeol grinned stupidly.

P could not understand why Han-Yeol was so desperate to spend time with him, but he did not sense any ill intention from him, so he decided not to think about it. Instead, P was starting to learn from Han-Yeol that geniuses like him had a completely different way of thinking.

***

Thanks to the little trick he pulled off, Han-Yeol's time with P was extended. However, they were now carrying out a secret mission issued by the United States government, so he could not do whatever he wanted with P.

[I will repeat myself. You must swear to keep whatever you witness during this mission confidential.]

“Hey, what do you think of me? I already told you I swear on my honor as a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter.”

[Hmm... Alright, if you say so.]

“Ah! You’re so frustrating at times, you know that?” Han-Yeol grumbled while banging his chest out of frustration in plain sight of the other agents.

However, the agents still seemed to be skeptical of him.

‘Tsk... These guys are too sharp for their own good...’ Han-Yeol grumbled inwardly this time. He had no plans to divulge whatever he saw during the secret mission. Yes, he might not be a very good person, but he was the type who placed great importance on his word. He would not betray or break his word unless the other party did something to him first.

He clicked his tongue and grumbled because he had to swear on his honor just to convince them. Well, his honor did not mean much to him in the first place, as he was a realist who placed more importance on his own benefit rather than superficial things like honor.

Han-Yeol preferred to be called dishonorable rather than be taken for a fool by others. In other words, he was lying when he swore on his honor, and the agents were right to be skeptical of him.

The one who resolved this entire situation was none other than P.

[Alright, we don’t have much time left, so let’s head straight to the briefing. I only heard some of the details, but I believe the one I have to exfiltrate is a Master-Rank Hunter from South America?]

[Yes, that is correct.]

The agents turned their focus back to P and took out the classified documents they had brought with them to start the briefing.

[Our mission, Adalbertopena, a Master-Rank Hunter from Venezuela, has sought asylum from our government. Venezuela has strong anti-American sentiments, and two out of their three Master-Rank Hunters share these sentiments as well. However, our government has successfully managed to convince Adalberto... We will call him Adal for short. He has been our informant since then. However, the country-wide purge occurring in Venezuela has branded Adal as a traitor, causing him to seek asylum from our government.]

[But what’s the big problem that required me to be deployed?]

P could not see any problem that warranted him to be included in this mission. Venezuela was situated close to the United States, so the government’s influence could easily reach them.

In other words, this was not a mission that would require someone like him to be deployed. It was not that he could not be bothered to go, but he was only deployed to missions the United States government deemed impossible.

The only other plausible explanation that P could think of was that the United States government had come to the conclusion that exfiltrating this Venezuelan Master-Rank Hunter was indeed an impossible mission.

[T-That is...]

The agent pressed a button on the remote control.

Beep!

[W-What?!]

A horrible scene was displayed on the screen. A helicopter was burning on the ground, and there were human remains all over the place. The human remains were ripped apart viciously, and they seemed to consist of American Hunters judging by the American flag on their clothing.

[The original mission was quite simple. We were to meet Adal at Puerto La Cruz and exfiltrate him to the United States. We have no idea how, but the Venezuelan military was already waiting in an ambush at Puerto La Cruz. And they attacked the moment we met up with him.]

[Does that mean our plans were leaked?]

[That seems to be the case, but we do not believe the leak was from our end... We believe it is highly likely the leak came from Adal’s side, as he was not the only one coming to the exfil point–we were exfiltrating his entire guild too.]

[Ah...]

P finally understood what had happened and let out a gasp. However, someone else showed a completely different reaction to P’s reaction.

“Tsk... Tsk... How stupid. You should have brought Adal out first, then moved his entire guild after you safely secured him. You lost all those lives because you wanted to bring everyone out at the same time.”

Just a few days ago, Han-Yeol could not understand a single word of English without someone translating for him, but thanks to his translation skill leveling up, he now understood what others were saying.

This was the reason he could understand everything in this briefing where complicated English words were thrown all over the place. However, the agents were not amused by his sudden improvement. Instead, they all gritted their teeth and glared at him in anger.

“Whatcha looking at? Did I say something wrong?” Han-Yeol taunted while digging his ear. Then, he blew the ear wax off of his finger and smirked at them before saying in a threatening manner, “Tell me I’m wrong. I dare you.”

[N-No, you are not...]

The agents tried to retort at him, but they soon cowered like a bunch of mice in front of a lion when Han-Yeol got a bit serious. They might be secret agents of the most powerful government in the world, but they were just C-Rank Hunters at best.

They were insignificant beings in front of Han-Yeol, and if he exaggerated a little bit, then he could easily blow them away just by blowing with his mouth.