Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 485: China, here I come! (4)

He did not do very much to the North Koreans—he gave them just enough to keep them from starving to death. So if Han-Yeol left, they would suffer from hunger again and miss him.

“Haha, Master, you really are evil.”

“That’s right, but that’s what makes me attractive.”

“Haha.”

Tia thought so too.

[Mumble, mumble.]

Lord Kasha was still grumbling as he rubbed his tenth egg over his unhealed bruises.

Han-Yeol’s action, intended solely to attract the attention of the hyenas, shook North Korea, which was already falling apart, to its core.

“You capitalistic dog, die!”

“Who the hell is he?”

Of course, some had been completely brainwashed by the North Korea Juche ideology and fought back without a care in the world. However, they couldn’t reach Han-Yeol.

[Good one!]

Whenever Lord Kasha spotted anyone like that, he would fly up with a glare in his eyes, snatch them up, and bite them in the neck.

Crunch!

“Aghhhh!”

Gush!

Blood spurted out in all directions, soaking his clothes and face, but Lord Kasha didn’t care at all.

‘Blood Drain!’

“Arghhhh!”

The young man, who had challenged Han-Yeol out of love for the North Korean party leadership and the public, regretted everything as excruciating pain shot through his entire body, starting from his neck.

‘W-why me?’

His head became filled with rage against everything.

‘Just kill me already!’

Finally, his eyes turned red, and his fangs and nails grew longer.

He let out a beastly growl. “Khaaa!”

[Congrats on becoming my slave.]

Lord Kasha cleared his throat, utilizing his unique charisma that had been lost for a while.

“It’s an honor to serve you, lord.”

Lee Young-Hwan, a member of the North Korean Patriotic Youth Organization, was no longer a human but a slave member of the Kasha family.

In this way, Han-Yeol let Lord Kasha turn the people who attacked him into his slaves, which enabled Lord Kasha to build up quite a force.

‘Hehehe, I’ll build an even stronger force and kill you, Lee Han-Yeol. Then I’ll take over Earth!’

Lord Kasha had such grand plans.

(Everyone has a plan.)

Pow!

[Agh!]

“I don’t have to read your mind to know what you’re thinking, idiot.”

[Ughhh…!]

Lord Kasha was rendered speechless by a powerful blow to his head from Han Yeol’s knuckles, a pain both dull but undeniable in its intensity.

(Until they get punched in the mouth.)

Mike Tyson was always right.

It was a nearly impossible plan, especially since he had offered his blood allegiance to Han-Yeol.

Just as North Korea was falling apart from within in many ways, Han-yeol made it to the city of Sinuiju. There, he reunited with Stewart, who had finally returned from his errands.

Shaaa!

The air ripped open, and Stewart appeared.

“I’m back, Han-Yeol-nim.”

“Oh, Stewart, it’s been a while. Are you done with your errands?”

“Yes, I am. Huh?”

As Stewart greeted Han-Yeol, he noticed Lord Kasha cowering in the corner.

“Han-Yeol-nim, isn’t that Lord Kasha?”

“Ah, yeah. I just happened to make a contract with him.”

“Hmm, making a contract with him by chance is one thing, but receiving his blood allegiance is…”

Han-Yeol didn’t tell Stewart anything, but he recognized the unique aura of a blood allegiance from Han-Yeol.

“Well, it’s whatever.”

“I guess.”

Stewart quickly understood.

‘How does this make sense to you!’

Honestly, Lord Kasha was expecting Stewart to be on his side as a demon himself and tell Han-Yeol that humans and demons only needed to make a contract and that he should return the blood allegiance as there wasn’t a need for one. However, Stewart had so easily sided with Han-Yeol and understood it, leaving Lord Kasha dumbfounded.

‘Can you still call yourself an overlord of demons, huh?’

These words rose to the top of his throat, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.

Even though he was a high-ranking lord of the Kasha family in the demon world, he was nothing compared to Stewart.

He belonged to one of the many ranks of demons that served the Demon King, but Stewart was one of the four pillars of the Great Demon Lucifer. Lord Kasha was insignificant, but Stewart was a major aspect of the Demon King’s power.

‘Plus, rumor has it that Stewart is a total psycho!’

Instead of having a psychotic personality, Stewart's extreme passion for magic caused many demons to suffer as a result of his experiments, which led to the spread of exaggerated rumors.

So Lord Kasha had been quietly cowering in the corner ever since he felt Stewart’s aura.

‘What’s wrong with him?’ Han-Yeol asked Stewart with a glance.

Stewart also shrugged his shoulders and answered him that way. He was a demon that Stewart wasn’t close with, so there was no way to know what he was thinking.

Han-Yeol felt even more secure now that Stewart had joined him.

‘Stewart on the left, and Tia on the right—wow, could this get any better?’

On the way from Sinuiju City to China, Han-Yeol saw a historical place.

“Oh, is this the famous Wihwando?”

“That’s right. The famous Wihwando Retreat from the end of the Goryeo Dynasty must have happened right here,” Stewart answered, his words flowing with historical knowledge.

Han-Yeol looked at Stewart in disbelief.

“Hey, hey, excuse Mr. Demon, how can a demon know so much about human history?”

Slightly embarrassed, Stewart coughed, covering his mouth slightly with his fist.

“Ahem.”

Although he was a demon, he had spent a lot of time in the human world assisting Han-Yeol and he had come across a lot of information. It was no surprise that this included information about human history.

One day on TV, a lecturer with the surname Seol was teaching a course in liberal arts history. He was so entertaining and well-practiced that Stewart found himself absorbed in the lecture. Since then, Stewart had become a history buff, not only of Korean history but of world history as well. His latest hobby was not only studying the history of the human world, but also researching and recording the history of various unrecorded dimensions, including the demon world.

He kept it a secret from Han-Yeol, but his recent trip was partly related to that.

“Well, whatever the case, let’s go.”

Han-Yeol merely found Stewart’s attitude interesting and amusing.

“Yes, Han-Yeol-nim.”

Now they were really leaving the Korean peninsula and crossing over to China.

Step, step, step!

“Kheee!”

With Han-Yeol on his back, Marvros roared in the sky while the hundred thousand Black Orcs stood in orderly formation and started crossing the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge. The bridge spanned the border between North Korea and China.

Of course, the Chinese were aware of Han-Yeol’s movements. Even if they were having the worst time fighting against Emperor Qin and the demon king army, they were the strongest continental empire among the G3s in terms of the quantity of supplies.

When the Minocentaurs were ravaging the northeast, the central government’s act of pretending not to know what was happening caused some unrest in the region, but unlike North Korea, the central government was still in control.

Nonetheless, this didn’t mean that China had the power to stop Han-Yeol. The northeast was only protected by a minimal number of soldiers and Hunters, and they provided just enough security.

In particular, the Hunters remained in hiding to avoid losing their lives as the Minocentaurs slaughtered civilians and Hunters who dared to try to fight them, wreaking havoc in the northeast. Han-Yeol and his army were much more powerful than the Minocentaurs. Now that they were approaching, were they expected to risk their lives to stop them?

‘Ha, that’s ridiculous. You guys have done nothing for us, so why should we?’

For the people of the northeast, their nation was merely discriminatory, as individuals in this region were often belittled, ignored, and discriminated against for not being Han Chinese. One could transition from being a stranger to a close friend in half an hour if they grabbed a passerby and lamented about their shared experiences of discrimination.

Would such people risk their lives for the government?

No way.

“Hmm, are they not going to stop us either?”

The Chinese soldiers/Hunters had their own defense line, but Han-Yeol could tell from their demeanor that they had no intention of attacking.

“Haha, I think so, Master.”

Tia had a lot of fun as she made her way from North Korea to China. The sight of blood was one of her favorite things, but seeing the fear, helplessness, and despair on human faces was also cathartic. After all, the end of the road Han-Yeol was on now was a war zone filled with carnage and blood. Just because she couldn’t see blood right now didn’t mean she needed to feel disappointed.

Han-Yeol made his way to Beijing, weaving through the frightened Chinese people trembling in fear. Along the way, he passed by places known as the cities of Panjin and Jinzhou, which was quite an emotional experience.

“Wow, I feel like a descendant of Goguryeo, passing through this place with my army!”

Although he felt like he was high on patriotism, Han-Yeol decided to forgive them for today. In doing so, he felt like he was paying back a little of the humiliating history that Joseon had once endured. Of course, he had already paid Japan back for their actions, but he still had a very, very large debt to pay back to China.

So, even though he was playing the villain, Han-Yeol decided to take it easy. He wasn’t that close to China, and what he was about to do was good for them in the end anyway, although it might hurt them in the process.

‘Good medicine tastes bitter.’

***

Upon arriving in Beijing, Han-Yeol was met by the Chinese government, the HUN officials from China, and hyena sorcerers who were sent to Earth.

‘They don’t know me, right?’

[Of course, they don’t. It’s a fact that Han-Yeol-nim was Harkan, but they’re completely different souls. Even the trio, who had spent their entire lives by Harkan’s side, only realized it when you fully unleashed your powers. As long as you don’t unleash your powers like that, the hyenas will never know that you’re Harkan, but be careful. The hyenas may not recognize you as Harkan, but they clearly recognize you as their enemy. After all, you’re thoroughly allied with the Bastrolings from the Light Faction.]

‘I’m aware of that.’

This was why Han-Yeol had made such a fuss and walked (ran) all the way to Beijing in the first place. He would walk leisurely in front of people, but he would run whenever he reached a deserted road.

Despite wearing heavy armor, the Black Orcs were able to run at a very high speed for a long time, showcasing the majesty of a high-level monster.