Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 52: Solo Raid (5)

People engaged in a hobby to relieve themselves of the stress they got from their main occupation, but Han-Yeol was not getting any stress from his main job at all. However, after getting stuck in a rut, he did feel empty these days and felt that he had no reason to work hard. Of course, the people around him did not really notice this, since he did not go around making it obvious to them.

When Han-Yeol was looking up ways to get out of the rut, one particular piece of advice stood out to him.

[Meeting someone new could also help from getting out of a rut.]

‘Someone new…’?Han-Yeol thought. He suddenly realized that he hadn’t really expanded his social circle despite having more leeway than he had before. The only person he spent time with was his father, and that only expanded to Yoo-Bi recently even though he did not have to work like a donkey to make ends meet like before.

‘Did I get used to not having people around me…?’?Han-Yeol wondered.

The fact that he got used to loneliness and being alone was a bitter pill to swallow. It was understandable for him to be a loner, since he had spent most of his time working and trying to make ends meet. But now, he was very well off thanks to awakening as a Hunter.

Han-Yeol realized that it was now time for him to take a step forward away from being a loner.

“Thank you for your hard work today, Yoo-Bi,” Han-Yeol said.

“Ah, thank you for your hard work too, oppa,” Yoo-Bi replied.

“Alright, see you next time,” Han-Yeol said goodbye.

“Alright, bye,” Yoo-Bi responded goodbye.

Han-Yeol went home after parting from Yoo-Bi.

He took out a box that he never thought he would ever open from the corner of his closet. The box was filled with his middle school and high school graduation certificates and graduation album, along with some pictures and some stuff he used to use back then.

Now that he thought of it, this box was holding his memories from his happiest days— of course, excluding his present memories as a Hunter that was. The box had been sealed up and stashed in a corner ever since his father had fallen ill.

‘So I’m finally opening this once again…’?Han-Yeol thought.

He had sealed the box up while telling himself that he would open it once again as soon as possible. A year passed, then another, and then another year passed before his longing for friends had dried up, and loneliness naturally took its place. In the end, he had actively avoided opening this box for fear of his old emotions springing up.

He finally opened the box again today. The old mobile phone that he used to use and had saved all of his friend’s contact details was at the top of the box. He thought, ‘A lot of time has passed, so I’m not sure if their numbers still stayed the same.’?

Four years had passed, almost five when also counting the months. It was highly likely that they had changed their phone numbers over the years. Still, Han-Yeol tried his luck and dialed one of his friend’s phone numbers on his smartphone.

Ring… Ring… Ring… Ring…

[Hello?]

“Ah, is this Sung-Jin’s phone by any chance?” Han-Yeol asked.

[Yes, that is me, but may I ask who is on the line?]?

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“It’s me, Han-Yeol,” Han-Yeol replied.

[…]

Only silence could be heard over the line after Han-Yeol told the person who he was.

[Hey! You son of a xxxxx!]

Crude cuss words came flying out from the other end of the call.

Sung-Jin, who had been Han-Yeol’s childhood friend and best friend from high school, spat out quite a strong combo of cuss words. However, Han-Yeol quietly stood there, taking all of his old friend’s cussing. No, rather, he seemed to be smiling instead.

[Hey! Where the hell are you right now, you asshole? My anger won’t be vented if I don’t see you in person and smack you in the face!]

“Let’s meet there,” Han-Yeol said.

[Now?]

“Yeah, now,” Han-Yeol replied.

[Alright, you are dead.]

Beep…!

After the call disconnected without even a word of goodbye or anything, Han-Yeol immediately prepared to go out. He headed for the place that was quite familiar to him.

***

Ring…!

The sound of a bell, which had stayed the same since his high school days, rang when Han-Yeol opened the door. He thought, ‘This place hasn’t changed at all.’

He was currently at a pub near the high school he had gone to. It seemed cringy now that he thought about it, but his high school self had thought it cool to go to a pub. They did not drink or anything, but they had still made this pub their gathering spot as he and his friends had found it cool. Also, the pub was owned by a former gangster, so the owner had no qualms about letting Han-Yeol and his friends hang around.

“Welcome… Huh? You, are you Han-Yeol by any chance?” the pub owner asked.

“Yes, ahjussi. It has been a long time,” Han-Yeol replied.

“Wow, how long has it been? I thought you died in a ditch or something since you never bothered to show up after graduating. It’s a rough world out there these days after all. So, what made you come here again?” the pub owner asked.

“I agreed to meet with Sung-Jin here,” Han-Yeol replied.

“Ah, he stopped coming here around the same time you did. How are you two doing? Are you guys doing well?” the pub owner asked.

The pub owner was as nice as Han-Yeol remembered him to be. He looked quite rough and scary with the scars on his face, but he was quite nice to them.

“I am not sure about Sung-Jin as well. This will be the first time we are meeting after five years,” Han-Yeol replied.

“Wow, that is a long time. Alright, one appetizer will be on the house today!” the pub owner exclaimed.

“Haha, thank you, boss hyung-nim,” Han-Yeol replied.

“How long has it been since someone called me that? Kids these days are no fun, you know? Forget about boss hyung-nim, they call me owner-nim. No fun I tell you, they are no fun,” the pub owner grumbled.

“Haha, I know right?” Han-Yeol replied with a laugh.

Nostalgia filled Han-Yeol’s senses as the memories he had kept hidden in a corner of his mind slowly started to come out. He also felt like this was helping him get out of the rut he was stuck in recently. Was this the reason why people placed importance on memories?

Perhaps it was still a bit early for patrons to come and drink at the pub, because Han-Yeol’s ‘spot’ in the pub was still empty when he visited. A few minutes passed after he sat down on his usual spot before the familiar bell rang loudly as someone swung the door open.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Step… Step… Step…

A man walked toward Han-Yeol without any hesitation in his footsteps.

Han-Yeol got up from his seat and greeted the man, “Hey, Sung-Jin. It has been a…”

Pukeok!

The two-meter-tall man who weighed more than a hundred and thirty kilos walked toward Han-Yeol and punched him in the face. His fist was as hard as a rock.

Han-Yeol did not avoid the punch, letting the fist greet his face. However, there was no impact or damage to him as a barrier automatically sprung into action and protected his face. Ever since awakening into a Hunter, he could take more than a hit.

“Kyaaahk!?What’s that? Is there a fight?”

“Should we go and stop them?”

“But look at that man. Can you even muster the courage to go and stop him?”

“P-Police…! Should we call the police or something?”

The few customers in the pub nervously murmured among themselves while staring at Sung-Jin and Han-Yeol. Their reactions were normal, since a huge gangster-like man had just punched a small man, who did not look strong at all, directly in the face.

“Calm down now, everybody. Those guys are friends. They are just venting it out since they are meeting after a long time so you don’t have to mind them at all. Hey you, lady. Can you stop filming them?” the pub owner said.

The atmosphere calmed down thanks to the pub owner’s intervention. He also made sure to prevent any future uproar by stopping the woman from filming the fiasco, since it could be posted on social media and trigger a witch hunt for Sung-Jin.

“You asshole. You call after five years and all you have to say is ‘it’s been a long time’?” Sung-Jin said with obvious anger in his voice.

“I’m sorry,” Han-Yeol replied.

“You asshole…” Sung-Jin muttered while glaring at Han-Yeol before he continued, “You… You… Do you know how sorry I felt after I found out that your father’s terminally ill?”

“Sung-Jin…” Han-Yeol muttered.

The atmosphere drastically changed at Sung-Jin’s words.

“You asshole… Do you know how useless I felt when I heard that your father’s terminally ill but I couldn’t help in any way because you bastard changed your phone number, moved houses, and couldn’t be contacted?” Sung-Jin complained.

“I’m really sorry,” Han-Yeol said. He had no idea at that moment. Back then, he had been ashamed to meet his friends, scared of them finding out how pitiful his life was.

He had despised going through what he had to at that time and had hated the fact that he could only despise the heavens and no one else. Back then, he had been too young to manage the burden he had.

He was certain that he would be knee-deep in an emotion he refused to even think about if he had never awakened as a Hunter and his father had passed away.

He could not help but feel sentimental after meeting his old friend after five years.

Glug… Glug… Glug… Glug…

Sung-Jin was the first to pour soju into Han-Yeol’s glass, and Han-Yeol reciprocated by filling Sung-Jin’s. Then, they clinked their glasses and drank the soju bottoms up.

Sung-Jin was the first to open his mouth to ask, “So, your father is well now?”

“Yeah. My father’s illness is all cured now. What about you? What have you been up to?” Han-Yeol asked. He was curious about what his friend, who looked like a grizzly bear but had feminine hobbies since they had been in school, was up to.

Sung-Jin had also been quite a studious student, unlike Han-Yeol and his other friends, although their school was only a technical high school in the end.

***

Perhaps it was because Han-Yeol had asked about life, but Sung-Jin’s eyes turned dark all of a sudden. He suddenly poured the soju into a beer mug and downed it in one go.

“Why? Is there something going on?” Han-Yeol asked.

“Hoo… Don’t even mention it. I’m currently working at a bank, you see,” Sung-Jin explained.

“Oh! As expected from the only elite from our school! So you are working at a bank?” Han-Yeol exclaimed.

“That’s not the important thing… I’m working at a bank, but there was a memo circular that instructed us not to lend any money to my father’s company. I think those bigger corporations had a hand in it or something…” Sung-Jin grumbled.

“Really?” Han-Yeol asked.

Sung-Jin poured another mug of soju and downed it once again before explaining. “Yeah, that’s why my father’s on the verge of going insane as well. Thankfully, there were some Hunters that we continuously dealt with, so our factory is managing to stay afloat. However, I heard that those corporations have started to make a move on those Hunters as well. Thankfully, the bank is not aware that I’m the son of the owner of that company so I can still pass on some information to my father in advance… but things are looking bleak at the moment. I think those corporation bastards are trying to snatch my father’s factory away.”

“Hmm…” Han-Yeol muttered.

He was familiar with the modus operandi of these big corporations on how they killed their competitors. That was the reason why the big corporations still maintained their dominance over the market even after the era of oil had ended and the era of mana stones had started. Well, the politicians and the rich people stayed the same, so there was no reason for the legislation favoring the rich to stop after all.

The big corporations usually waited until a good medium-sized company grew to a certain extent before pressuring the bank to force that company to service their loans or luring them with an attractive contract before paying them with a promissory note that only matures after a year. Another method they used is to lure the key employees of the company with higher salaries.

The financial pressure coupled with key employees leaving would mount up and force the owners into selling it off to them. It might cost them a lot to do these, but it was well worth the money spent for these big corporations since they could get their hands on the technology of these companies while getting rid of competition from the market at the same time.

It seemed that no matter how much time had passed, the tactics of these big corporations remained the same. Thanks to that, the Republic of Korea had gained the infamous title of the Republic of Conglomerates.

“That must be frustrating,” Han-Yeol said.

“It is. Those corporation bastards… They won’t have a problem making a living even if they don’t do this, but why are they trying to steal my father’s factory? I would have gone and blown their offices if I was a Hunter…” Sung-Jin grumbled.

“Yeah, yeah, come and have another drink,” Han-Yeol said as he poured another glass of soju while listening to Sung-Jin’s unrealistic grumblings.

Glug… Glug… Glug…

A few hours passed and daybreak came. Sung-Jin was slumped over the table, drunk. He had higher tolerance to alcohol compared to Han-Yeol when they had been younger, but Han-Yeol was now no different from a cheat when it came to drinking. It was basically impossible to intoxicate him with alcohol.

“So you have it rough too,” Han-Yeol muttered.

It seemed that Sung-Jin, who Han-Yeol had thought would be the most well-off among his friends, was struggling with his own issues as well.

“What? How the hell are you the last one standing? I was sure that Sung-Jin would be the one awake,” the pub owner said after coming to their table.

Han-Yeol had always been the first to pass out and be carried home, and Sung-Jin had been the one that always stayed behind and helped the pub owner clean up, but it seemed that the roles were reversed today.

“It seems that he is having it rough these days. He complained quite a lot today, and he drank like there is no tomorrow,” Han-Yeol explained while looking at his friend with a bitter look.

1. Hyung-nim means older brother, but this is also what gangsters call their bosses or superiors. So Han-Yeol was referring to the pub owner as owner hyung-nim, but that doesn’t sound nice, does it?