Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 172: Hunter Assembly And (3)

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"Han-Yeol-nim?" Purva called out with a worried look from the front seat after overhearing the phone call.

He was in charge of the mansion's security, and he could not simply turn a blind eye to the fact that his employer had received a threat just now. He believed that they should cooperate with local law enforcement forces to catch the culprit and bolster the security of the mansion until the culprit was caught.

"It's quite the hassle. I wonder why those terrorist bastards even bother to come all the way to Korea? Tsk... Tsk..." Han-Yeol clicked his tongue.

The culprit did not reveal who he was over the phone, but Han-Yeol could easily tell judging from the way the threat was delivered that he was probably a member of some extremist terrorist group. In fact, Han-Yeol could even pinpoint, from the various facts, that the culprit probably belonged to the same religious extremist bunch as the terrorists he fought against the first time he met Tayarana.

Egypt changed its stance to secularism in recent years, and this angered quite a lot of religious fanatics since the rest of Africa started to follow suit and adopt secularism just like Egypt.

The religious extremists were up in arms over Africa's conversion to secularism as they knew that they were going to lose their foothold in the region once people started to think for themselves.

That was the reason these extremists were currently trying their best to hamper the further growth and development of Egypt, and that was probably the reason why they started being active in South Korea since it was an allied country of Egypt now.

"Hmm... It's quite concerning, I must say. I heard that there are a few awakened beings mixed in among those extremists, but the Gurkha Mercenaries are all normal people, right?"

"I apologize," Purva said with his head down.

They were in charge of guarding the mansion, but even he knew very well that he was not a match against the awakened beings, no matter how well-trained they were. After all, an F Rank Hunter was already far stronger than a normal human being, and even a well-trained soldier was not going to last a minute against them.

"It's not your fault, Purva. The notion of a normal person fighting against an awakened being is absurd in the first place."

Purva did not fully understand what Han-Yeol said, but he got the gist of what he was trying to say. Still, that did not make him feel any better as he was ashamed for being useless against the awakened beings.

Although, Han-Yeol was not really bothered by the whole thing...

‘Hmm… Should I start that project earlier than expected?’?

Han-Yeol had come up with many ideas in his head. However, he had to delay all of them as he was busy hunting and setting up his business. But now, he was thinking of implementing those ideas after getting threatened by the terrorists.

"Purva."

"Yes, Han-Yeol-nim!"

"There are many strong and loyal men in your country who are looking for work, right?"

"Huh...? Ah, yes!"

Purva was slightly taken aback by the sudden unexpected question, but he immediately regained his composure and responded.

Nepal was one of the countries that had failed to properly adapt to the age of the mana stones, and its GDP was still one of the lowest in the world.

"Hmm..." Han-Yeol pondered for a while.

Tap…! Tap…! Tap…! Tap…! Tap…!?

Han-Yeol took out the laptop in the car and started typing something on it, and Purva kept quiet so as not to bother Han-Yeol.

After a few minutes passed, Purva said, "We are almost at the P Resort in Ganghwa Island, Han-Yeol-nim.”

Han-Yeol stopped typing and looked around his surroundings. He had to meet up with the Mulan team first, so he did not directly go to the resort.

Ganghwa Island was a huge island with an area of three hundred and two square kilometers, but there were only sixty thousand people inhabiting it. Moreover, P Resort was located quite far away from residential areas, so the roads leading to it were practically empty.

Dududududu!

Also, the Hunters participating in the Hunter Assembly event were all famous individuals in Korea, so all of them chose to fly in a helicopter instead of taking the road.

‘Hmm… Maybe I should’ve used my helicopter as well…?’?Han-Yeol belatedly realized that the resort had a helipad he could have used.

“The Mulan team is coming over there, Han-Yeol-nim.”

“Yeah, I see them.”

Han-Yeol and the Mulan team exchanged short greetings before heading to P Resort, but they were soon stopped by the armed security at the resort's gates.

The security, armed with a K2 rifle, approached the vehicle. He asked, "Which news outlet are you from?"

It seemed that they mistook Han-Yeol for a journalist instead of a Hunter. They could not be blamed for that as all two hundred Hunters participating in this event flew in with their helicopters, and the only ones that came by road were the journalists from various news outlets.

It was at that moment when one of the security guards walked toward Han-Yeol that someone from the guardhouse suddenly shouted, "Hey! I thought all the invited news outlets had already arrived?"

"Yes, that is correct. All thirty-nine media, comprising five broadcasting stations, twenty-four channels, and thirty news outlets, have already arrived. It seems that some tabloid heard the rumors and decided to try their luck, just like a while ago."

"Ah, this is so annoying. I thought we already told those tabloids not to come here?"

"Maybe they're acting on their own accord? There are always those morons trying to be a superhero from time to time. You know, those idiots who argue that the public has the right to know and other bullshit like that when all they want is a scoop to help their careers. These morons always find another way in if we chase them out, so what should we do?"

"What else? Just chase them out. We were instructed to only let the invited media outlets come in and send the rest back. Can you imagine what's going to happen if we get on the Hunter Assembly's bad side?"

"Yes, sir. I will chase them out this instant!"

The armed security guards were from a security company that the Hunter Assembly frequently hired. It was illegal for an individual to possess firearms in South Korea, but this company used a loophole to arm their guards with the K2 rifle since their CEO was a Hunter.

These guards were well aware that the Hunters' Association and Hunter Assembly were not ones to mess with, and the security company they worked for was going to close down in the blink of an eye if they messed up on the job.

The guard who seemed to be the leader of the group signaled the guards to chase Han-Yeol's party away, and the guard talking to Purva nodded in response.

"I don't know which media outlet you're from, but all the invited outlets have already arrived. Please go back," the security guard said.

It was obvious from how the guards acted that the Hunter Assembly's statement to make it an open event was not as open as they made it sound to be.

The public's right to know? The Hunter Assembly probably thought that the public should be satisfied with whatever information they threw at them.

"This person here is one of the Hunters invited to this event. He is Mr. Lee Han-Yeol, and we are not from a news outlet," Purva replied.

However, the security guard did not seem to be convinced. After all, there were always numerous journalists who tried to lie their way into important events like this, and this group was not the first one that tried to lie their way in today.

What happened to those who tried to lie their way into the event? The security guards beat them up and chased them away.

Of course, nothing was going to change this time.

"Nice try. There's no way that someone like him is going to drive all the way here. Do you know how rich he is? Do you really think he's going to use a shitty car like... heok!" the security guard gasped in horror after seeing Han-Yeol in the back seat.

"L-Lee Han-Yeol Hunter-nim?!"

He immediately recognized Han-Yeol since he was all over the news and TV these days, and even those people not interested in the news had seen him a few times since he was often photographed together with Tayarana.

It was rather strange for someone not to be able to recognize Han-Yeol these days.

‘I-It’s really him!’?the security guard was flabbergasted.

Flabbergasted, the security guard immediately took out his walkie-talkie and said, “This is Pine Tree. T-The car at the gates is Lee Han-Yeol Hunter-nim’s car. I repeat. The car at the gates is Lee Han-Yeol Hunter-nim’s car. Open the gates now.”

Bzzt!

[…]

There was no response from the other end of the walkie-talkie.

[…]

It was only after two full minutes had passed that a response finally came.

[Are you certain it’s Lee Han-Yeol Hunter-nim?]

“Y-Yes. I’m absolutely certain. I can also see his monster pet, Mavros.”

“Kyu!”?Mavros cried out in response after hearing his name.

His cry was so loud that it was heard over the walkie-talkie as well.

Bzzt!

[Approved. Open the gates.]

“A-Alright. Over.”

The gates finally opened, and the barricade was moved aside.

There might have been a slight commotion, but Han-Yeol and his crew were able to enter the resort's grounds without any further problems. The Mulan crew's car looked quite different from the conventional broadcasting van that other news outlets used, so the guards did not notice them. They were not in the right state of mind to even check the Mulan crew's car as they were simply too stunned to do anything.

After all, the fact that South Korea's currently most popular Hunter came with a car instead of a helicopter, and they almost made the biggest mistake of their life, was simply too big of a surprise for them.

Of course, they were still at fault for failing to check the Mulan crew's car no matter what the circumstances were, and they would probably have been court-martialed for failing to inspect the vehicle if this were the military.

“This is where being famous has its perks,” Han-Yeol said with a smirk.

“I agree, Han-Yeol-nim,” Purva replied.

“But they mentioned that they aren’t letting other news outlets enter, right?”

“Yes, they did.”

“So why didn’t they stop the Mulan crew then?”

“I-I do not know…”

“Hmm… What a strange bunch… Maybe they don’t stop personal channels?”

Han-Yeol could never have imagined in his wildest dreams that the Mulan crew was able to enter simply because of a mistake made by the security guards. The security company contracted by the Hunter Assembly for this event was a renowned company that Han-Yeol himself had heard of.

The company held the top position in the country's security industry and was called G-Force. Its owner was a famous Hunter as well, and he held an executive position within the Hunter Assembly, making him an influential figure.

G-Force, the security company, had managed to maintain its industry dominance for nearly ten years, thanks to its contract with the Hunter Assembly. This was precisely why Han-Yeol hadn't even considered the possibility of the industry leader making such a rookie mistake.

“I will park the car over there,” Purva said.

“Okay.”

The car was parked a few distances away from the media vans, and the Mulan crew's car was parked right beside Han-Yeol's car.

Han-Yeol got out of the car, and...

“Hurry up!”

“Move faster!”

The Mulan crew sprang into action to ensure Han-Yeol didn't have to wait for a long time.

"Do you have any orders for us, Han-Yeol-nim?" Su-In approached him and asked.

As she was in charge of the channel, she placed great importance on Han-Yeol's plans so that she could devise her own filming strategies.

"Let's film the intro here and transition to a livestream once we're inside. What do you think?" Han-Yeol replied.

"Yes, that sounds like a great idea. I will make an announcement that we'll be livestreaming the entire event before we enter. Although I don't expect to have as many viewers as during our hunts, we'll easily surpass fifty thousand viewers since we have our loyal subscribers."

"Well, that sounds good to me. Shall we start filming?"

"Yes, Han-Yeol-nim."

Then, Han-Yeol suddenly thought of something, ‘Han-Yeol Hunter-nim… Han-Yeol-nim… I don’t really like what they’re calling me right now… I should probably tell them to address me as the Chairman once the Mavros Group is established.’

He could not help but be annoyed by the fact that people were addressing him with different names or titles, so he decided to create a single title for everyone to call him.