Leveling Up Alone

“Please wire it to my account,” Han-Yeol said.

“Yes, I understand,” the female staffer replied.

Ding dong!

[5,240,000,000 won has been deposited into your account.]

“I received it,” Han-Yeol acknowledged.

“I understand, Hunter-nim. Is there anything else I can assist you with?” the female staffer asked while flaunting her voluptuous chest and sparkling doe-like eyes as she tried to seduce Han-Yeol. It was because she thought that it would be fun to go out on a date with a man like Han-Yeol even if she wouldn’t be in a relationship with him.

‘She is pretty,’ Han-Yeol thought.

However, Han-Yeol was oblivious to the staffer’s intentions. He just stood there appreciating her beauty before he turned around and left. Of course, Han-Yeol was not a eunuch or anything like that. It was just that nobody had ever tried to seduce him so he was oblivious to what was going on.

“Tsk… How can he not even show an ounce of interest in me?” the female staffer grumbled. She thought that Han-Yeol was just another arrogant Hunter who was full of himself.

“Keke! Didn’t I tell you to just give up on dating a Hunter? We can date any guy we want out there since we work at the association anyway, so why are you reaching for the stars and trying to marry a Hunter?” one of the female staffers said while laughing out loud.

“They say that a normal guy can’t hold a candle against a Hunter when it comes to their performance in bed. You should compare something that’s comparable at least,” another female staffer chimed in.

“Hey! You degenerate woman!” the female staffer who Han-Yeol ignored simply shouted.

“Kekekeke!” the rest of the female staffers cackled.

The female staffers at the Hunters’ Association relieved the stress and boredom they got from the repetitive and tedious work they did by using any handsome Hunters who came by as fodder for their gossip.

On the other hand, Han-Yeol came home after having an astronomical sum of money deposited into his bank account.

Beep beep beep…

Han-Yeol pressed the passcode onto the electronic door lock and entered his house. The lights were all switched off and there were also no signs of anyone home. Looking around the house, he thought, ‘Is father still out?’

Han-Yeol came home once in a while during his hunts to check up on his father, but his father was not in whenever he dropped by. He thought, ‘Well, he should be home soon.’

Han-Yeol had been aware this entire time that his father loved to spend time with his friends but hadn’t been able to since he had to devote himself to raising Han-Yeol on his own. His father was probably catching up on the time he had lost back then right now.

Lacking the energy to wash up, Han-Yeol just took off his shirt and plopped down onto his bed. He thought as he fell asleep like a married man just returning from working overtime, ‘Ah, I’m tired. I’ll just wash up tomorrow.’

Of course, the biggest difference Han-Yeol had with those married men was the fact that he did not have a wife as they did. Slowly dozing off, he thought, ‘That’s the saddest part…’

Beep beep beep…

After falling asleep for a while, Han-Yeol was woken up by the sound of the electronic door lock beeping. He thought while half awake, ‘Mmmm… is that father…?’

The only person who would come to their place was none other than his father. Han-Yeol forced himself to wake up and dragged his exhausted body to the living room, since he had to check up on his father’s health. He greeted, “Welcome back, father.”

“Hahaha! Why look who’s here? Isn’t it my filial son, Lee Han-Yeol Hunter!” his father exclaimed.

“You seem quite drunk, father,” Han-Yeol said.

His father staggered while exuding the smell of alcohol and meat. He almost slipped while trying to take his shoes off. Fortunately for Han-Yeol’s reflexes, which were worthy of being called that of a Hunter, kicking in, his father was caught before the fall.

Han-Yeol’s father was so drunk that he did not even realize that he had slipped and almost fell. He slurred, “My son Han-Yeol… My precious son…”

“Father…” Han-Yeol said under his breath while looking at his drunken father. He felt the tip of his nose tingling when he heard that he had been on his father’s mind even though his father was drunk. He was always thankful for all the sacrifices his father had made for him, and he would never be able to repay everything his father had done for him even if he lived a hundred times over.

He helped his father to the bed and helped to take off his clothes. He soaked a towel and wiped his father’s body down just as he used to do at the hospital.

‘I always thought that I was going to be doing this at the hospital forever, but who’d have guessed that I would get the chance to do this at home while father is drunk? I’m really a lucky guy,’ Han-Yeol looked back at the past months while wiping his father’s body down, and realized that he was indeed a lucky guy. His teenage years had been quite turbulent and harsh, and he had always felt that he was the unluckiest person in the world. However, that was no longer the case.

Han-Yeol finished wiping his father down and helped him change into his sleepwear. Then, he held his father’s hand and used his skill, ‘Heal!’

Wooooong…!

His mana, which was incomparable to his mana before his most recent hunt, shot out from his hand and enveloped his father in a beautiful, warm, and blue light. However…

‘Keu…! Damn it…!’ Han-Yeol cursed inwardly, trying not to wake his father up.

He quickly went up to their apartment’s roof because he could no longer keep the frustration welling up inside of him. He yelled, “Damn it! Why! Why won’t father’s illness be cured?!”

His ‘Heal’ skill’s growth had already hit a plateau, but his father’s illness was not showing any signs of being cured.

[Han-Yeol-nim, there is one other way.]

Karvis suddenly said while Han-Yeol was agonizing over his problem. The Ego system did not have a marvelous idea, but Karvis had something that she wanted to tell him. That was why Karvis, who usually did not say anything unless Han-Yeol called for her, decided to speak to him first.

“Another way?” Han-Yeol said.

[You increased your skill level by reading medical textbooks early on, but you stopped reading books after that. There are many ways to increase a skill’s level, and the fact that it no longer increases through the same method means that you would have to look for another method. I suggest you try reading medical textbooks once again and see if it helps.] Karvis said.

“Ah…” Han-Yeol was stunned. He had been forgetting that there was another method to increase the level of his skill. His turbulent heart calmed down and he soon said, “Thank you, Karvis.”

[You are most welcome, Han-Yeol-nim.] Karvis replied.

Han-Yeol ran to the library as soon as it opened and went straight to where the medical textbooks were. He scoured the library for medical textbooks and read every single one of them that he got his hands on, but he failed to make any progress in leveling up his skill. He thought, ‘No… There’s a limit with the books at the library.’

The library’s medical textbooks were not the professional ones read by doctors, and these were not even the textbooks that students in medical school used. The public library was severely limited when it came to specialized books, and that was why Han-Yeol decided to leave the library and go to a bookshop instead.

Han-Yeol searched for translated foreign medical textbooks that were related to the black lump of mana that was clinging to his father’s heart. He read every single book he could get his hands on, but the books were riddled with words that were too difficult for him to comprehend. He barely managed to understand the contents, thanks to the basic medical textbooks he had read until now, and also because of his cheat skill ‘Infinite Library’ which allowed him to remember most of the things he read.

Han-Yeol sat at the same place for over six hours and read three medical textbooks from cover to cover.

Ding!

[The rank of ‘Heal’ has risen from (A) to (M).]

[‘Heal’ has reached Master Rank.]

[There is a possibility of the skill evolving if certain conditions are met.]

‘Finally!’ Han-Yeol rejoiced inwardly. His skill finally leveled up from A-Rank to M-Rank, which was the Master Rank. He then thought, ‘Will I finally be able to get a skill to cure father once it evolves?’

Han-Yeol was not satisfied with his skill reaching M-Rank, so he decided to keep reading medical textbooks just as Karvis suggested. He did not eat anything for the whole day, simply immersing himself in books.

It was now eleven in the evening, and time for the bookstore to close.

‘Well, I guess I have no choice,’ Han-Yeol thought before he called the bookstore's staffers.

“How may I help you, customer-nim?” one of the staffers tilted her head in confusion and asked Han-Yeol.

Han-Yeol pointed at the rows of medical textbooks related to the human heart before saying, “Please pack all of these for me.”

“D-Do you mean all of these…?” the staffer asked.

“Yes, you can deliver them, right?” Han-Yeol asked in response.

“Y-Yes we can customer-nim. We can deliver it to you,” the staffer replied.

Han-Yeol nodded and wrote down his home address on his name card. While passing the name card to the staffer, he said, “Please deliver it to this address one hour later. I will pay you handsomely for the delivery.”

The staffer looked at the name card Han-Yeol had handed over. Unable to hide her shock, she gasped, “Eep!”

The staffer realized that Han-Yeol was not an ordinary customer, but that he was a Hunter, which was one of the most prestigious people in this day and age. Feeling a lot more alert now, she said, “Yes, customer-nim. We will deliver it as fast as we can.”

“Then, I will be expecting the delivery one hour from now,” Han-Yeol replied. He paid for the books and left the bookstore.

However, the bookstore was now in an uproar after Han-Yeol left. The staffers reported what had happened to the manager. Then, one of the staffers asked, “Manager-nim, we do not have a delivery vehicle. What should we do?”

“What do you mean what should we do?! Don’t any of you have a car that can fit all of these books?!” the manager shouted urgently.

One of the staffers raised his hand and replied, “I-It will fit in my car. I have a van with me.”

“Alright! Everyone, load up the books in Seung-Woo’s van! Hurry up! That Hunter is expecting us to deliver it within an hour!” the manager shouted with even more urgency.

“Yes sir!” the staffers replied as they quickly moved.

***

K-Bookstore was in an uproar at a Hunter’s sudden large order, but they were able to skillfully take care of the matter thanks to their able-bodied manager and their position as the country’s largest bookstore. They successfully managed to deliver the books to the address Han-Yeol provided in fifty minutes which was just ten minutes shy of the delivery time he had requested.

“Thank you very much. It might not be much, but please have a meal with your team,” Han-Yeol said.

Han-Yeol, who was a stingy miser, surprisingly took out a check worth a million won and paid it as the delivery fee.

“Heok! T-Thank you very much!” the staffer exclaimed.

The reason why Han-Yeol paid an enormous sum of one million won as a delivery fee was because he was aware that while it was possible to have books purchased online delivered, it was not possible to have books purchased from an offline store be delivered, and the reason why he had stubbornly requested for it to be delivered was that he did not want to wait before being able to read these books. Also, he recently earned an astronomical sum of five billion two hundred million won, so he felt a bit of leeway in his finances.

‘One million won is no longer an amount that can affect my finances, but it is enough to let them end their day in happiness,’ Han-Yeol thought that it was not bad to splurge and make someone’s day better once in a while now had the luxury to.

Han-Yeol was no longer a poor person, but rather, he could now be considered an affluent Hunter who could earn five billion two hundred million won in just fifteen days—although he had worked himself like a horse for that.

The K-Bookstore’s staffers bowed and thanked Han-Yeol before they left, and Han-Yeol went to the kitchen to make a cup of strong coffee before going to his room and sitting at his desk. He stretched his neck a few times before he opened the medical textbooks that cost him one million four hundred thirty-five thousand won.

***

“Ughh…” Han-Yeol groaned after taking twenty days to read the medical textbooks he had purchased for one million four hundred thirty-five thousand won. Of course, he did not sit and read for twenty-four hours a day. He had gone to use ‘Heal’ on his father from time to time, and he had consistently gone to the Hunter Gym to train his body as well.

His stats no longer increased just by working out, and he needed to push his body to the limits to barely increase his stats. In fact, he had to train until his muscles ripped and forcefully healed to increase his stats. The Hunter Gym’s manager fainted at the sight of Han-Yeol’s clothes that got all bloodied up from him forcefully ripping his muscles.

Flip…

Han-Yeol flipped to the last page, and he was finally done with the medical textbooks that he had bought from K-Bookstore.

Ding!

[You have successfully fulfilled the requirements to evolve the skill ‘Heal’.]

[The skill has started to evolve.]

[Heal (M) has disappeared.]

[A new skill has been created – Restore (F).]

[A new skill has been created – Healing Bullet (F).]

[A new skill has been created – Enhance Healing (F).]

‘What… What in the world…?’ Han-Yeol thought in disbelief. He only expected the skill to be more effective once it evolved, but he never expected the Master-Ranked skill to disappear and conjure a miracle of creating three different skills. He muttered inwardly, ‘S-Skill…’

[Restore (F)]

Type: Active

Description: A more powerful healing skill. It does not only heal physical injuries, but it also has the ability to heal illnesses. It is also a high-grade skill that can heal any diseases from contaminated mana.

[Healing Bullet (F)]

Type: Active

Description: Allows the user to infuse healing mana into projectiles such as bullets or shots and fire it to a target. The target hit by the projectile will be healed instead of taking damage.

[Enhance Healing (F)]

Type: Passive

Description: All healing effects are enhanced.

‘T-This is awesome! No, this is amazing!’ Han-Yeol exclaimed inwardly. The Master-Ranked skill might have disappeared, but the three skills that took its place were far greater than the skill he had lost.