Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 133: The Black Dragon Mavros (5)

Standing in front of the reporters, Han-Yeol looked completely different from the nervous self he had been a while ago. Mariam emerged alongside him.

Tayarana was also supposed to make an appearance, but they had decided not to go to that extent. After all, the Horus raid party and their country Egypt had their reputation to uphold.

“Hello. I am Lee Han-Yeol, the Vice Leader of the Horus raid party,” Han-Yeol greeted the reporters.

Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash!?

The reporters busily took many photographs with their cameras as soon as Han-Yeol spoke, and the flashes from their cameras were far more blinding than any skill a Hunter could use.

Both Han-Yeol and Mariam were not wearing sunglasses, but their pride as Hunters did not allow them to grimace even a bit in front of the parade of camera flashes. If they even squinted due to the flashes, they would be ashamed to call themselves Veteran Hunters.

Han-Yeol and Mariam took their seats after briefly greeting the reporters present for the press conference.

An Egyptian Hunter of the Horus raid party who was fluent in Korean hosted the press conference.

“We will now start the press conference of Lee Han-Yeol Hunter-nim. I wish to remind the reporters who are present today to be mindful and maintain order. Anyone who wishes to speak or ask questions will be required to raise their hand, be given the chance to speak, and then ask whatever they wish. You will only be entitled to one question per turn, and the press conference will last for an hour.”

It was exactly after the Egyptian Hunter finished speaking that all of the reporters simultaneously raised their hands.

Seuk! Seuk! Seuk! Seuk! Seuk!?

‘W-What the hell is wrong with their eyes…?’?The Egyptian Hunter was taken aback after seeing the reporters’ fiery eyes, and this was the first time after awakening that he felt fear toward ordinary people.

The reporters’ eyes were filled with a hostility that seemed to threaten to butcher him to pieces if he did not give them their turn. However, there was no way that he could let all of the reporters speak, so he decided to give the first chance to ask a question to the reporter in the front row.

“The reporter at the front,” he said.

“Thank you. Hello, my name is Sung Yoo-Ra, and I am with JBY Media.”

Most amateur reporters would have already stuttered and made a mistake, but the reporter seemed to be a veteran judging by how she was able to speak confidently. Well, the fact that she was able to get front-row seats at the press conference was probably a testament to her experience.

“I would like to congratulate you, Lee Han-Yeol Hunter-nim, before I ask my question,” she said.

“Thank you,” Han-Yeol replied with a nod.

“I am certain that not only us journalists but everyone else tuning into this press conference is wondering how your monster-taming skill works. How does it work, and did you possess this skill all along?” she asked.

“Excuse me…” the Egyptian Hunter immediately tried to cut her off as the question was quite a sensitive one.

However…

“Ah, it’s fine. It’s a bit surprising that a reporter would ask two questions in a single turn from the get-go, but I’ll let it slide just this once since the question isn’t that difficult to answer,” Han-Yeol replied.

“Hahaha!” the reporters burst out into laughter at Han-Yeol’s witty remarks.

Anyone else who asked such a question and had been put under the spotlight was bound to feel embarrassed, but Sung Yoo-Ra was not a normal woman who would get flustered by something like this. In fact, she triumphantly smirked after Han-Yeol had said that he was going to answer both of her questions.

“Taming monsters is quite simple. You will find monster eggs on hunting grounds. Most of these eggs are unfertilized, but you can fertilize them by combining them with another material found on the hunting grounds. Then, you can make a monster hatch out of the monster egg by taking care of it and infusing mana into it, but even I have no idea what kind of monster is going to hatch from it.

“The monster will think of me as its master after hatching since it will hatch from my mana, but I have a skill that allows me to give it to someone else. Then, the monster will acknowledge that person as its new master,” Han-Yeol gave a lengthy explanation.

The reporters nodded in understanding and started to busily type away on their laptops. Nobody suspected or was skeptical of anything Han-Yeol said as he was the first person in the world to succeed in taming a monster. Instead, everyone focused on not missing a single word he said.

“Oh, for your other question, I only recently obtained this skill,” Han-Yeol suddenly added.

All of the reporters simultaneously stopped typing, froze, and looked up at Han-Yeol after hearing what he had said just now.

What Han-Yeol had just said was basically no different from dousing gasoline onto the reporters’ curiosity. Right now, there was only one reaction a reporter could give due to their curiosity.

Seuk! Seuk! Seuk! Seuk! Seuk! Seuk!?

“P-Please!”

“P-Pick me!”

“No! Please pick me!”

Some of the reporters completely disregarded the press conference rules after getting worked up, and it went without saying that those reporters were not picked by the host.

Meanwhile, the reporter who had asked the first question, Yoo-Ra, looked quite disgruntled. ‘Damn it… I risked breaking the rules to grab attention, but he managed to stir up an even bigger issue! Nobody even remembers me now!’?

Feeling extremely annoyed, she ended up raising her hand for the second time. She had done so despite being aware that it was against the rules.

‘Greedy bitch.’

‘That damn bitch…’

The other reporters around Yoo-Ra cussed her under their breaths.

Sung Yoo-Ra was an infamous journalist who not only wrote all sorts of nasty articles but even kicked up a fuss at press conferences if she did not have her way. It was unknown if her time as a journalist had caused her to become like this or if she just had a bad personality, but she was someone who most journalists avoided. The ones who tolerated her were her juniors, who were forced to tolerate her due to their lower positions in the company hierarchy.

It went without saying that the host picked someone else this time, and the chosen reporter was on the second row. The reporter had his hand calmly raised and did not utter a word while waiting to be called.

“The reporter wearing a gray suit on the second row. Please ask your question,” the host said.

“Thank you. My name is Kim Han-Su, and I am with NBS. You just mentioned that you recently acquired your skill. As far as I am aware, most Hunters awakened with three or fewer skills, and the number of skills they awakened with will stay the same forever. If what you said a while ago is true, then does that mean that it is possible for you to acquire skills even after awakening?” the reporter asked.

The reporter this time had asked his question in a manner completely different from how Sung Yoo-Ra had asked hers a while ago. He had gone straight to the point.

Han-Yeol smiled after hearing the reporter’s straightforward question. He nodded and grabbed the microphone to say, “Yes, that is correct.”

Murmur…! Murmur…! Murmur…! Murmur…! Murmur…!?

He had dropped a bombshell.

[W-What did he say just now?]

[Did he just admit that it’s possible for him to learn skills after awakening…?]

[Wow…]

[I thought he possessed more skills than other Hunters, but he’s able to obtain new skills after awakening…?]

[Amazing… Isn’t that cheating…?]

[Huh? Then those raid parties that tried to play smart with him when he had auctioned his services look like fools now, no?]

[Kekeke! Serves them right!]

[Idiots. Keke!]

[What can I say? Our politicians and high-ranking Hunters are truly birds of the same feather.]

[Sigh… That’s quite the frustrating thing to hear…]

The press conference was being live-streamed to the whole world right now, and staffers from every TV outlet, both major and minor, were present here today.

Of course, even Han-Yeol’s personal channel was live-streaming this event as well, and they had a tremendous number of viewers as they occupied the best spot in the room. Their cameras were close to the stage, while other cameras had to be quite a distance away.

The chat room was in an uproar once again after someone had brought up the raid parties that had tried to collude and bring Han-Yeol’s value down.

Seuk! Seuk! Seuk! Seuk! Seuk! Seuk!?

All of the reporters in the room raised their hands once again. Sung Yoo-Ra raised her hand for the third time.

As for the reporter who had asked the question a while ago, Kim Han-Su, he kept his hand down. Instead, he started to busily type away at his laptop to write an article on the spot. His heart was pounding right now. Instinctively, he knew something. ‘An exclusive! This is definitely going to be a hit!’?

He had been feeling quite frustrated these days as there hadn’t been many newsworthy stories about Hunters, but he was certain that this news of Han-Yeol was definitely going to be a hit.

‘Bonus! Promotion!’?he screamed inwardly as he typed away at his laptop with fervor.

After all, he was definitely going to need either one of those if he wanted his wife to stop nagging.

“Will you be able to show us a monster you’ve successfully tamed?” the next reporter asked.

“Hmm…” Han-Yeol rubbed his chin and muttered.

‘Should I show Mavros to the world…?’?he pondered.

It was quite a dilemma. He did not see any problem with it as Mavros had already appeared on his channel, but he was concerned that Mavros was not going to like being at the center of attention in a place so crowded. Also, there was a part of him that was hesitant to openly expose his pet to the world.

Just as Han-Yeol was stuck in a dilemma, Mariam used her ability and transmitted a message to the host.

Wooong…

[Pass this question. Han-Yeol Hunter-nim is not comfortable with it.]

The Egyptian Hunter nodded in response and spoke into the microphone. “I apologize, but the monster that has recently hatched is less than a week old, so we are not sure what could happen with so many people around. Therefore, we will not be able to show the monster due to safety concerns.”

Han-Yeol nodded in agreement as he was thinking along the same lines. He was fine with showing Mavros on his channel as his companion, but the idea of showing him in front of all of these reporters like he was some sort of lab specimen did not sit well with him. No, he actually felt angry at the idea of it.

The reporters were disgruntled after the host had blocked the question, but they could not complain when Han-Yeol nodded in agreement to the decision. However, all of them shared the same thought, ‘Tsk… Such a shame… It was going to be even more amazing if we got a picture of that monster…’

The press conference was on fire thanks to the bombshell Han-Yeol had dropped, but once the hour that he had set was over, he got up and left without any hesitation.

Then, the host announced, “That will conclude our press conference.”

“W-Wait a minute!”

“Just a bit more! Continue just a bit more!”

“H-Han-Yeol Hunter-nim!”

The reporters were not able to ask everything they had wanted to ask, because they had to abide by the rules in such a short period of time. All of them screamed at the top of their lungs like a bunch of chicks asking for a worm, but their desperate pleas fell on deaf ears as Han-Yeol ignored them. Some of the reporters even tried to go after him, but they were immediately blocked by the security staffers.

“Fuck!”

“What a stingy guy! Will it kill him to answer a few more questions?”

“Isn’t he being too much?!”

The reporters started to outwardly express their discontent, but that was the only thing they could do. They cursed Han-Yeol and the Horus raid party for not answering any further questions before immediately taking out their laptops and calling their news desk to inform them of this hit piece.

It had been quite a while since South Korea had any internationally-worthy piece of news, and it seemed that this piece of news was going to keep giving them headline after headline from now on.

[Thank you for your hard work, Han-Yeol-nim.]

[I didn’t do much. Besides, I wouldn’t have been able to go through that without you by my side, Mariam.]

[I am embarrassed to hear such praises when I did not do anything to deserve them.]

[There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.]

Speaking the truth, Han-Yeol knew that he had only been able to get out of those sticky situations thanks to Mariam, who had reacted accordingly with her ability. Of course, there was no way he would have known what exactly she had done, but his sensitive senses had picked up on the movements of her mana whenever he had been faced with a tricky question. He had been able to feel her mana as he knew how to use telepathy himself.

Han-Yeol and Mariam were welcomed back to the Horus raid party’s mansion by Tayarana.

[Great work.]

[Thanks, Tara. I seem to only trouble you these days.]

[Not at all. It’s only right to help since you are one of us.]

[Haha, is that how it goes?]

[Yes.]

Just as the three of them were leisurely chatting while on the way to the meeting room, an Egyptian Hunter rushed after them and shouted, [Tayarana-nim!]

[What is it?]

[Heok… Heok…!?His Excellency Phaophator is on the way here!]

[F-Father is on the way here?]

[Y-Yes! I just received the news and rushed over here as fast as I could.]

Tayarana grimaced. [Why would Father suddenly visit?]

What kind of person was President Phaophator in Egypt? He was the mastermind behind turning the Egypt which had been on the brink of destruction after the Dimensional Gates had appeared into a powerhouse that proudly stood shoulder to shoulder with other developed countries. He had done so with his leadership and wisdom. He was not done with his work yet as he was rapidly developing Egypt to grow stronger and stronger.

Not to mention, he also proved himself to be a true leader by abolishing various discriminatory barriers and stabilizing the nation that had been on the brink of civil war with his political craftiness. In fact, he had achieved all of this without shedding a single drop of blood. He was the living legend of Egypt who had brought the entire continent of Africa under his country’s feet.

Phaophator was also Egypt’s one and only Ra Rank Hunter, which was the rank that Egypt used to describe a Master Rank Hunter. In short, the man was worshiped as the country’s modern-day pharaoh.

But for someone like him to suddenly come to South Korea unannounced? That was more than enough to cause all of the Egyptian Hunters to panic and even Mariam to nearly faint from surprise.

1. Ra is the Sun God of Egypt, hence their decision to use it as the name of a hunter's rank.