Leveling Up Alone

“Huff, huff, huff!”

Drip, drip!

After some time passed, Han-Yeol’s entire body was covered in blood. Even as a Transcendent Master, his ragged breath tasted like blood, and he was on the verge of exhaustion.

The fight against Andras the Demon King was truly a do-or-die situation. Han-Yeol had faced many difficult opponents in his life, but the fight with Andras was on another level. Against Andras, it was all about blocking as many of his attacks as possible and making one meaningless counterattack out of every hundred blocks.

If there was no time limit, Han-Yeol would have surely died.

[Hahahahaha!]

Whether he knew about Han-Yeol’s feelings or not, Andras laughed aloud, relieved to be able to fight with all his might for the first time in a while. Though, he couldn't fully enjoy it since his powers had been sealed.

Crack!

With a stretch of his neck, he let out the little bit of frustration that remained.

‘Damn it, I almost died!’

His time was finally up and Han-Yeol barely managed to contain the urge to curse at him, just in case he wanted to fight again.

[Human.]

Han-Yeol was cursing Andras in his mind when he was caught off guard by the sudden mention.

“A-Ah, y-yes!”

[Why are you so surprised? It’s as if you had been caught cursing at me in your head. Hahaha!]

“A-Ahaha… Right.”

‘He’s necessarily sharp, damn it.’

Andras had said so as a joke, but Han-Yeol actually cursed at him, so he couldn’t help but feel attacked.

[Here, take it.]

Tap!

“Thank you.”

[Hehehe. No need to thank me. I’ve been going insane because I wanted to fight so badly, so as long as I can do that, this is nothing.]

Andras gently tossed the Black Stone to Han-Yeol as promised. Andras would not hesitate to use manipulative and deceitful ways to trick humans. However, the demon race was an honorable race that never broke any promises.

[I’ll take my leave now.]

“G-Great work.”

[Khaha, let’s have more fun next time, human.]

“A-Ahaha.”

‘Screw you, I’m never doing this again!’

Although he was smiling on the outside, Han-Yeol really didn’t want to face Andras ever again.

‘I need to get to level one thousand before I can take on Andras.’

He had never felt so frustrated in combat since he had become a Hunter.

Poof!

Thankfully, Andras retreated to the demon world like he said he would.

Han-Yeol, covered in blood, waited for more than ten minutes after Andras disappeared. After confirming that his aura had disappeared completely, Han-Yeol finally let out a sigh of relief and lay down on the ground.

“Phew, I survived!”

Thud.

The sandy, rocky ground wasn’t exactly clean to sit on, but it didn’t matter since Han-Yeol was dirtier right now.

The first person to approach Han-Yeol was Stewart, who best understood his feelings.

“Good work.”

“Ha, I feel like dying, Stewart.”

“I understand. When a Demon King who is worshiped by us lords reaches peak boredom, all the lords have to join forces to relieve him.”

“Ugh!”

Han-Yeol was horrified even just thinking about it.

“Does he get bored once every thousand years?”

“No, it happens about once every ten years.”

“I’m already so annoyed dealing with him just this once, but he pulls this crap once every ten years?!”

Han-Yeol frowned.

Stewart’s answer was firm.

“That’s right.”

“Ew, that’s awful, but it was comforting!”

Han-Yeol lay on the filthy ground with his even filthier body, and he rose as if he were a terminally ill cancer patient who had just received a miracle.

Stewart looked at him with a very complicated expression.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Huh? Oh, some beings have worse luck than me, so I feel a bit better knowing that!”

Happiness and misery were relative. Han-Yeol was comforted by the fact that Stewart had a more miserable life than him.

Stewart frowned. He was notoriously known as one of the worst lords in the demon world, and he never expressed his emotions. Yet somehow, whenever he spoke to Han-Yeol, he became very expressive.

“Why don’t you change that nasty personality of yours? Why do you find comfort in other people’s misery?”

“Ehh, that’s so out of character for a demon to complain about personality.”

“Haa, whatever, that’s enough.”

Stewart stopped arguing as he realized that he would lose his patience if he continued.

Shaaa!

Then, he quickly disappeared.

“Hehehe, isn’t he playing hard to get?”

“Master, don’t be so mean. Our demon lord is a hardworking person.”

“Oh, stop it. I know you enjoyed it the most.”

“Ah, you caught me.”

“Hahaha.”

“Haha.”

Han-Yeol and Tia looked at each other and exchanged laughs, except the problem was that the content of their conversation was a bit frightening.

Demons and monsters were races that shared the same world. However, demons dominated the demon world and status differences were made very clear in their world, so the relationship between demons and monsters was not good like water and oil.

“I’m so tired. I’m going to rest for two days and then get moving.”

“Up to you, Master.”

“I’ve got the Black Stone that I needed anyway.”

Han-Yeol held the Black Stone at eye level and took a closer look at it.

Ting!

[Analysis failed.]

‘Tsk!’

However, he couldn’t classify the gem because the analysis skill didn’t work at all.

Karvis commented, [I have a feeling that the analysis skill will only work once you’ve collected the sword and all the gems.]

‘Yeah, I think so too. It’s good that the four gems we need to collect are on Earth and not in the Bastro Dimension. The Bastro Dimension is so big and unexplored, and the guardians who protect it are so strong that even the hyena sorcerers are afraid of them. If the gems were in the Bastro Dimension, I probably would’ve given up trying to collect the treasures altogether.’

[I agree with you on that one.]

Han-Yeol wanted to go and destroy Emperor Qin’s army right now, but contrary to what he wanted, his body was not in great condition. He was drained of mana, so even lifting a finger took a lot of effort.

“I’ll be able to sleep well for the first time in a while.”

***

Just like he said, Han-Yeol slept really well.

In terms of how well he slept, his original plan was to rest for two days, and after that, he was going to destroy Emperor Qin’s army. However, he slept so soundly until the third night that his plan was extended to four days.

“Huh! I slept for three days?”

To Han-Yeol’s disbelief, Stewart simply replied in a cool tone. “That’s right.”

“Oh my god!”

‘Three days!’

The stronger his abilities became, the faster he recovered, so now he just got three hours of sleep every other night and still felt refreshed. But this time, he didn’t just sleep for three or thirty hours, but for three whole days. So, it only made sense that Han-Yeol was shocked.

But Stewart couldn't really understand what all the fuss was about.

“Hasn’t it been your wish to get a good night’s sleep for a while now? You slept for three days. Isn’t this something to celebrate, not something to make a big deal out of?”

“I know, but why did it have to be this time!”

‘I have to take the Gray Stone from Emperor Qin as soon as possible!’

This treasure that could kill the Dragon of Destruction couldn’t fall into the hands of the hyenas.

During his days as Harkan, Han-Yeol had fought the dragon once. Thus, he knew firsthand how strong it was, and the power of the gem could become the best or worst weapon depending on how someone used it.

‘Those who serve the Dragon of Destruction can destroy or seal the treasure, but depending on how they use it, this power to kill the dragon can also be used to protect it. If this unlimited power falls into their hands, I might not be able to handle them even if I level up and increase my skills.’

Han-Yeol was determined to prevent such a terrible thing from happening.

[I guess we’ll have to collect the gems on Earth as soon as possible.]

‘That’s right.’

There was no time to waste sleeping like this.

Despite the fact that he was not a night owl, Han-Yeol ordered everyone to prepare for battle. As a result, the Black Orc army bustled again.

The battle with the Demon King’s army caused the Black Orc army to lose a whopping thirty percent of their power. They went from a hundred thousand members to seventy thousand.

“Ha! Time for war again!”

“Kwaaa!”

“We’re still hungry. Ha!”

Despite their heavy losses, the Black Orc army cheered at the sound of war. The deaths of their comrades were unfortunate, but to them, dying in battle was an infinite honor, not something to mourn.

Many members of the Black Orc army had died, but the effects of the predation skill had made the survivors significantly stronger, compensating for their loss. It was natural for orcs to lose their lives in order to become stronger.

They cheered once at Han-Yeol’s declaration of war and quickly started to prepare.

“Master, you’re actually starting at night? You never do that.”

Han-Yeol responded to Tia with a very annoyed look.

“Yeah, I still don’t like going out at night even as a Hunter, but this isn’t something I can push back just because I’m lazy. So, I’ll have to start even though I don’t want to.”

Even when the feudal lord’s army was attacking Southeast Asian countries and countless people were dying, Han-Yeol never moved at night. The time of day didn’t matter during battle, but he never started anything at night.

“Haha, well, aren’t you one diligent master.”

“Eh, it’s still a bit much to call me diligent.”

Even Han-Yeol had at least some conscience.

“Then, let’s say that you’re diligent just for today.”

Snap!

At Tia’s somewhat accurate remark, Han-Yeol snapped his fingers and pointed at her with a bright expression.

“That sounds good.”

“Hahaha.”

“Ha.”

Stewart had to deal with another headache.

[...]

Noras watched all of this unfold, unable to understand the language being spoken. Instead, he focused on meditating, preparing himself for the battle to come.