Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 418: South Korea Again (7)

There was a time in the past when the Hunters Association almost faced financial difficulties. The sudden fluctuation in the price of mana stones was revealed to be the cause, but it was actually due to Woo Jin-Cheon exploiting the drop in price to smuggle the mana stones into China.

The fact that the insurance he prepared almost caused the richest organization in the country to face bankruptcy was quite ironic in itself.

I guess its almost time.

A fishing boat was coming to pick him up three hours from now. It would transport him all the way to where a Chinese cargo vessel was waiting, and he would take that to smuggle himself into China.

He already possessed a fake Chinese identity, so he was not going to run into any trouble even if he was stopped and checked.

His preparation was perfect, and all he had to do was reach China and live a new life there.

However, that did not mean the anger raging inside of him was quelled. He gnashed his teeth in anger while thinking of the culprit responsible for his fall from grace.

His voice reverberated throughout the motel. Argh! Lee Han-Yeol! Im never ever going to forgive you! I swear I will have my revenge! Im going to rip you limb by limb and eat your heart raw!

***

Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in capturing one of the prime suspects, Woo Jin-Cheon. He was surprisingly extremely resourceful, and he was always three steps ahead of those tracking him. He was gone by the time the Hunters tracked him down to the motel.

What greeted the Hunters were twenty rotting corpses, presumed to be silenced by the suspect they were after.

The Hunters sent to track Woo Jin-Cheon bowed ninety degrees and apologized to Han-Yeol for their incompetence.

W-We apologize!

Their task was not that difficult. All they had to do was track down one A-Rank Hunter, who already knew everything, and arrest him, but they failed and allowed the criminal to escape to China.

Hmm

Han-Yeol was quite astonished by the turn of events, as he did not expect the incompetent ex-chairman, Woo Jin-Cheon, to smuggle himself to China while being tracked down by expert trackers.

Is he more competent than he looks? He gave it another thought, but he still came to the conclusion that Woo Jin-Cheon was only incompetent and petty.

Han-Yeol did not personally join the hunt for Woo Jin-Cheon because he did not feel his effort was warranted. After all, the Hunters tracking down Woo Jin-Cheon were extremely capable, and they even placed first in international competitions.

Geez Its become quite troublesome, but theres no point crying over spilled milk. Also, I doubt the Chinese government will easily hand him over just because we asked

Han-Yeol let out a sigh and said to the Hunters, Please raise your heads.

W-We apologize!

The leader of the trackers was greatly ashamed. He had confidently told Han-Yeol that they would catch Woo Jin-Cheon and make him kneel in front of him, but he did not imagine in his wildest dreams he would fail.

I mean, theres nothing we can do since hes already gone. But I hope youre not going to let the others get away too, Han-Yeol said.

Yes! We will make sure every single one of them is caught!

Good. Ill leave it to you then.

Yes, sir!

Having the other executives of the association arrested and tried was meaningless unless Woo Jin-Cheon was one of them. The turning point of the Hunters Association was supposed to start with Woo Jin-Cheons arrest, but that was no longer possible.

Hmm I guess I should still tell the Chinese.

Han-Yeol was currently South Koreas acting president. Truth be told, he did not want this position as he found it to be bothersome, but he had no choice but to do it to take responsibility for his actions. After all, he was the one who had toppled the government.

Fortunately, he had one of the brightest minds in the world beside him, so he did not really have to do all the thinking.

Is this really where your countrys government runs things?

Why? Is there a problem?

It is a mess here. I suggest you raze this building to the ground and build a new one.

That bright mind belonged to no one else other than the demon, Stewart.

He was currently wearing a black blinder with a red magic circle drawn on it, so it was difficult to see his expression, but there was really no need to see his face to tell that he was disgruntled by what he was seeing.

Stewart was the one who would be doing the administrative work and running the entire country, while Han-Yeols job was to merely be a symbolic figure.

Actually, Han-Yeol thought of bringing Jason Kim, but he was currently too busy. The mana firearms that Yoo-Bi recently developed and showcased during the Craspio raid became an instant hit, and there were orders piling in from all over the world, forcing the HY Group into a state of emergency.

The firearms used currently were just coated with extract from mana stones, and Porters mostly used them, but the one Yoo-Bi developed created bullets out of the mana from the mana stones. It was somewhat similar in principle to Han-Yeols shoulder cannons.

Yoo-Bi purposely limited the functions of the mana firearms to make them easier to mass produce, but they were still much better than the ones that the Hunters currently used.

The development of firearms to be used by Hunters was something that attracted international attention. Most Hunters wanted a weapon they could use as a means of attacking without using their skills, and the firearms Yoo-Bi developed were extremely easy to use as long as the user could channel mana.

Because of this, the HY Group was currently understaffed, and they could not afford to send a single worker to help Han-Yeol.

Damn it! I shouldnt have done this! Why the hell did I think of starting a coup? Han-Yeol grumbled and rebuked himself.

He was currently stuck in the Blue House the entire day dealing with things, and this was the price he had to pay for his actions. Only a few days had passed since the government had been overturned, but Han-Yeol was already regretting his decision.

I shouldve just lived like a Hunter and relaxed at my new island!

Atarinia was a very vast privateislandwhere he could hunt and relax to his hearts content. Compared to that, the office he was stuck in the Blue House felt so cramped and suffocating.

Haa This is a mess

Meanwhile, Stewart let out a sigh after seeing the piles of documents on the table. He immediately got to work by compiling them into a database so that he could work on them one by one. As tedious as it might sound, it still seemed doable in his eyes, so he did not really find it that troublesome.

This was a stark contrast to how Han-Yeol felt, as he wanted to destroy the entire Blue House and just run away to Atarinia.

Stewart was aware of what Han-Yeol was thinking right now, and he found it intriguing.

Im surprised hes sitting quietly over there.

The time they spent together had not been that long, but it was very easy for him to figure out Han-Yeol as the latter was still a human.

Humans tend to avoid things they find troublesome. Its in their nature.

This human nature of Han-Yeols only caused more work for Stewart, but the demon did not really mind it at all.

Of course, seeing the demon work without grumbling really impressed Han-Yeol.

Han-Yeol sincerely thanked the demon. I think this is manageable thanks to you, Stewart. I wouldve died if I had to tackle all this alone

This is nothing. I am merely carrying out Lucifer-nims command.

Damn it Now Im annoyed! Why did you have to mention that old geezer? Youre making it sound like Im thanking him now!

Kwachik!

A vein bulged on Stewarts forehead after he heard Han-Yeol badmouth Lucifer, but he did not say anything, as it would be strange for him to start a fight over someone who was not here.

Oh right, please take this, Stewart said as he placed a stack of documents on the table.

Whats this? Han-Yeol asked.

These are requests from each ministry asking for quick approval. I could take care of them, but I thought it would be wise for you to deal with them instead. After all, I am a demon, so my standards could be slightly different from what you humans are used to.

Ughh This is so bothersome

Please let me know once you have gone over them.

Han-Yeol grimaced at the stack of documents as if they were a pile of dung on his table.

Stewart raised a brow out of fascination. Hes quite lazy, but he gets things done if he has to?

Then, Han-Yeols eyes instantly changed the moment he started going through the stacks of documents. He was definitely not some sort of genius, but his concentration when it came to reading surpassed most geniuses thanks to his skill, Infinite Library.

Yeah, hes the type to do things properly if he has to.

This was another opinion Stewart had of Han-Yeol. He was the type of person who would focus on the task once he started something, even though he would grumble and even throw a tantrum before doing it.

Is this why my lord is interested in this human? Stewart could not help but wonder.

Of course, there were numerous reasons why Lucifer was interested in Han-Yeol, but this was probably one of those reasons.

The documents Han-Yeol was going through were simple yet extremely important.

Hmm So theyre asking me to approve their additional budget for this year Han-Yeol thought while reading the documents.

To summarize, Congress recently passed an additional thirty-two trillion won budget requested by the previous acting president, and each of the ministries was currently trying to get a slice of that budget.

Their request was not that difficult, but Han-Yeol knew he had to allocate the budget carefully.

But why did this additional budget get approved so easily when the president was only an acting president? Han-Yeol found this to be strange.

There was an incident that happened a long time ago before the president was ousted. He had to go to Congress, fight with them, scream at them, and then finally get the additional budget approved.

However, a mere acting president was able to get thirty-two trillion won as if it was nothing.

In other words, those bastards in Congress are in cahoots together?

That was the only explanation Han-Yeol could think of.

What if the acting president was merely a front, and the ones who really requested the additional budget were actually the political parties? What if the two political parties were actually working together to milk the country?

Ughh My head hurts

Han-Yeol could feel his head pulsating again. He grabbed his head and closed his eyes to calm himself down.

What should I do with them? he pondered.

It went without saying he had no plans to settle this according to the law. There was no reason for him to abide by the law when those bastards did not abide by the law.

What happened to trial by law, the right to a fair trial, and innocent until proven guilty?

They dont deserve those kinds of things.

Han-Yeol sincerely believed that the protection of the law should only be extended to those who abided by it. He also believed that it was pointless to use the law against those who drafted the law according to their benefit, and doing so would only be a massive waste of time for him.

Han-Yeol slammed the table and got up with completely resolute eyes.

Bam!

Have you finally made up your mind? Stewart asked.

Yeah, I think its time to show them whos the real bossno, the only boss in this country, Han-Yeol replied with a smirk.