Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 419: I Will Show You Who’s Boss (1)

Han-Yeol pushed his chair back, got up, and left his office with Stewart following right behind him.

I am here to help you, Han-Yeol-nim.

Oh? Thats quite reassuring.

Yes, I do have that effect on others.

Hahaha!

Stewart knew that Han-Yeol was the lazy type who preferred to avoid making any decisions since he would have work to do after making one. However, he would undoubtedly stir up a storm once he made up his mind.

The demon still had no idea what Han-Yeol planned to do, but he had already started feeling sorry for Han-Yeols targetwhoever they might be.

The first thing Han-Yeol did after he seized power and became the acting president of the country was root out the Freemason members in South Korea. He executed it after the death of Woo Han-Jong and the arrest of numerous high-profile government and association people.

Things were moving so fast because Han-Yeol was currently not only the acting president of the country, but he held another position which was none other than the acting chairman of the Hunters Association.

Another storm was brewing on the horizon, and the future of South Korea would depend on Han-Yeols actions.

In other words, the fate of millions rested in his hands.

***

Han-Yeol started checking the country's current situation, but he never imagined in his wildest dreams that mere documents could emit the stench of rotting trash.

Haha he laughed in disbelief while flipping through the pages. His eyes ceaselessly read each word on the document as he flipped through the pages.

Then, he let out a sigh and said, Sigh I knew there was corruption, but I didnt imagine it would be like this

Tsk. This is indeed really bad. I believe it is rare even for the demon world to have this level of corruption. Well, the demon world is what you humans would call a jungle, where an individual's strength supersedes any form of authority, and the winner takes everything for themselves, but you humans seem to have the tendency to rely on money and power to exploit others as much as you can. I think even the demons would find this dishonorable, and theyd shake their heads in disapproval.

Yeah, youre absolutely correct.

I know I am.

Stewart was reviewing the documents along with Han-Yeol, and even he, a demon, shook his head after seeing the level of corruption South Korea was suffering from. The corruption involved an entire chain of networks, and simply cutting one part out would not solve the problem.

I guess our only choice is to throw out the entire chain if we cant fix it by cutting one part, Han-Yeol said with a shrug.

Stewart nodded in agreement and added, That does seem like the best course of action. Ah, I have been going through what you humans follow as your laws. While it is nice that you have created such laws that protect the weak, I believe those are rarely enforced to actually help the weak.

In fact, I have seen numerous cases where the law dealt heavier punishment to the weak rather than the strong, and it seemed more like an instrument used by the strong to suppress the weak. Hmm. Just in this document alone, I can see numerous instances of how the strong exploited your laws to further enrich themselves at the cost of the weak.

Really?

Han-Yeol had read many books after obtaining his skill Infinite Library, but he rarely touched upon the subject of law, as most of them were boring and did not benefit him in any way.

Well, I can think of numerous things, but the biggest one would be the cost of hiring a lawyer. It seems like the average cost is four to five million won, so what part of that is actually beneficial for the weak?

To be honest, I have no idea what youre talking about, but I do know that theres this thing called pro-bono or something like that where lawyers represent people for free in case they cant afford it.

Sigh...

Han-Yeol flinched after seeing the small demon let out a sigh as if he had found something pathetic. His instincts, honed by countless nagging sessions from Tayarana and Mariam, alerted him that Stewart was on the verge of launching into one.

W-What?! Did I say something wrong?! Han-Yeol exclaimed.

That thing you mentioned I have reviewed your courts' data and found that only one in one thousand cases actually received proper representation. Also, those were only due to the fact that a few righteous lawyers gathered together to help the weak out of a sense of responsibility to the public. The other instances of proper representation were if the case attracted a lot of media attention, and high-profile lawyers used that to make their names known by winning the case.

In other words, the poor will never get the same representation as the rich. I am sure you are aware of how the rich and powerful get away with suspended sentences even after committing rape, murder, corruption, and various other despicable crimes just because they can afford to hire a whole army of high-profile lawyers.

But can you say the same for the poor? A person caught stealing one piece of bread from a convenience store due to extreme poverty and hunger will be sentenced to three years in jail, and it says here that an elderly woman in her sixties was sentenced to two years in jail for stealing a few cups of rice.

What? Really? Han-Yeol exclaimed.

Yes, it says so right here.

Damn it Thats a bit too much

Han-Yeol enjoyed watching the news and expanding his knowledge, but he did not really bother paying attention to news related to legal matters as that was not his area of interest. However, what Stewart said just now was shocking to him, and he could not help but think it was a bit too much.

Ah, if you also look here then Stewart said as he flipped the pages and showed the document to Han-Yeol.

Whats that?

It says that a relative of a big-shot politician is a repeat offender for drug-related charges. The law states that a repeat drug offender will be sentenced to no less than four years and no greater than nine and a half years in prison, but this fellow seems to have received a suspended sentence for some reason. Tsk, tsk. I am starting to think South Korea is a hopeless place, but

But?

This place is like heaven to us demons.

Ah

Han-Yeol thought that what Stewart said made perfect sense. It was widely believed that demons fed off the negative energy of humans, and the negative energy they gathered would turn into mana that would make them all the more powerful.

Hold on. Then isnt it bad for you demons if I improve things in this country?

Hmm I guess it can be good or bad depending on how you look at it?

Huh? How so?

To understand this, you must be aware that hell is a unique dimension, and there are no other dimensions like it. On the other hand, this dimension you inhabit, along with the dimension that those Bastrolings came from, is not that unique, as there are countless other dimensions with life forms. Just because Earth gets purified from all negative emotions does not affect the demon world in any way, as we have plenty of other places to exploit.

Oh, I think I understand what you mean.

So please do not concern yourself with the affairs of the demon world and focus on what you wish to do. I am certain that is what Lucifer-nim and Astaroth-nim wish for too.

Haha! Alright, I got it. Geez, I didnt expect you to be like this, Stewart.

Are you complaining?

No, not at all.

Good.

Han-Yeol had a good laugh thanks to Stewart, and he went back to going through the stacks of documents. He sort of had an idea of what was going on in the country, but there were numerous things he wanted to know in detail, so he spent more time going through all of the documents.

He stayed up for ten days and nights going through all of the documents in the Blue House, and he even went through the secret documents safeguarded in a secret room too.

Actually, even a president would find it difficult to get access to all documents, and even they had limited access to the secret files kept in the Blue House.

There was something similar during the Joseon Period[1] where kings were forbidden from viewing the records the scribes wrote about them. This measure aimed to prevent them from abusing their power and manipulating historical records to align with their interests.

In modern-day South Korea, the president could similarly try to alter the records to hide their tracks from any corrupt activities they were involved in.

However, those limitations did not exist for Han-Yeol.

What? You have a problem? Stewart asked.

Stewarts eyes were covered by the blinders, making it difficult to see his reaction. Despite his short height, the black blinders with a red magic circle drawn on them made him seem more intimidating.

N-No, sir, not at all.

The security guards in charge of guarding the secret document room felt their lives were in danger, so they did not utter a single word of complaint.

Well, they actually had the right to complain, considering they also spent ten days and nights watching Han-Yeol and Stewart go through the documents.

Han-Yeol was slowly building a reputation within the Blue House for not following the rules, and he would abolish any rule he deemed too out of fashion or simply disliked.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Han-Yeol stretched his arms and cracked his neck after finishing going through the files.

Aaaaah~ That felt good!

Great work, Han-Yeol-nim.

The amount of documents stored in the secret document room was so massive that it was impossible for two people to finish going through them in just ten days. However, Han-Yeol had a habit of making the impossible possible.

[Excellent work, Han-Yeol-nim.]

To be exact, there were three of them, and not two. Karvis was the one who worked the hardest among the three in processing the documents.

Yeah, you too, Karvis.

[Thank you. I think you have gotten used to your skills now.]

You think so?

[Yes, I was surprised when you finished this entire room in just ten days.]

Ah, dont praise me too much. The higher one goes up, the harder the fall.

[Still]

The secret document room contained the records of the entire country ever since it was established, and going through all of the documents in just ten days was an amazing achievement, even if two others were helping him.

Han-Yeol originally focused on speed reading through things, but he realized after four hours that this was a very inefficient method. Thus, he decided to use the Skill Combination ability that he had awakened during the battle with Woo Han-Jong.

Some might wonder why he would go as far as to use his skills when he was just going through documents, but that was because they had no idea how big this place was.

The secret document room was around four thousand square meters wide and nine meters high, filled with documents from top to bottom.

However, that was not the end of itthe room also had more surprises to offer.

1. The Joseon Period is one of the ancient kingdoms of Korea.