Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 394 – Survival of The Fittest (3)

Whiiiiiiing!

Sirens started blaring all over Seoul the moment Han-Yeol started getting bored of the uneventful march.

Whiiiiing!

‘Oh, finally! Have they finally declared martial law?’ he wondered while listening to the siren. He had learned in school about the siren that signaled the instatement of martial law, but this was his first time actually hearing it.

Well, he had heard it during his civil defense training, but that was just a mock siren.

‘Ah, they’ve decided to make the first move, just as I hoped,’ Han-Yeol thought with a smile.

Now, it was his turn to send a response to their message.

Vrooom! Creak! Creak! Creak!

“I-It’s a tank!”

“What?!”

“W-Why would the military come when we’re protesting peacefully?!”

“That crazy president!”

“Why is the acting president acting as if he’s the president?!”

The tanks and soldiers were not the only things deployed—even the Capital Defense Command and the Combat Police Forces[1] were deployed as well. This was proof that the acting president was hell-bent on dispersing the protestors by all means necessary.

The protest was without a doubt still peaceful, but the appearance of the armed forces along with the tank should have caused the protestors to flee out of fear. After all, the South Korean government had a history of using CS gas shells[2] against protestors.

However, it was different this time.

“Are they crazy?”

“Oh? Are they picking a fight with us?”

The protestors marching were not only composed of ordinary people but also Hunters who believed in Han-Yeol’s vision for a better country.

The government might have sent the military and the police to disperse the protestors, but they were still ordinary people at the end of the day.

What would happen if ordinary people fought against Hunters? They would be asking for death.

Woooong!

Some of the impatient Hunters flew up with their flight skills. These Hunters specialized in flying in the air and bombarding their enemies with their ranged skills.

It didn’t take much brainpower to figure out that these ordinary soldiers and riot police were going to be burned to ashes if they were hit by the Hunters’ bombardment.

Han-Yeol intervened the moment the Hunters were about to unleash their skills.

He amplified his voice with mana and shouted, “DO NOT KILL THEM!”

“Tsk...”

The Hunters hovering in the air canceled their skills and clicked their tongues out of frustration.

The reason they had immediately stopped was not only Han-Yeol’s intervention. These soldiers and riot police were just ordinary people sent by the government to disperse the protestors, and the Hunters knew deep inside that massacring them was wrong regardless of the situation.

One of the Hunters asked Han-Yeol, “What should we do now?”

“I will take care of it,” Han-Yeol replied.

“But how are you going to—“

Woooong...! Whoosh! Whoosh!

“Ack!”

“Argh!”

“...?!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Some of the soldiers were thrown all over the place like a bunch of ragdolls even before the Hunter finished talking.

The Hunter was shocked at what he witnessed and immediately looked at Han-Yeol.

Han-Yeol was nonchalantly swinging his right hand infused with mana, and the soldiers and riot police were thrown in the air with every swing.

Gulp!

‘I-Is this his famous Psychokinesis skill?’

People were now familiar with some of Han-Yeol’s skills due to his frequent livestreams, and Psychokinesis was one of them.

However, there was a different reason the Hunter was shocked.

‘B-But has his skill always been that strong?’

Kwachik! Bam!

“Aaack!”

Bam!

The tanks, armored vehicles, and police cars blocking the path of the protestors were crushed like tin cans and thrown to the side of the road. The soldiers and riot police agents were also knocked out or slammed hard enough against the ground to break some bones, so they ended up incapacitated.

The path for the protestors was wide open now.

“Oh!”

“As expected of Lee Han-Yeol!”

“He has opened the road for us! March onward!”

“Waaaaah!”

Any Hunter with psychokinetic abilities would be able to move things with mana, but only Han-Yeol could put on such an overwhelming performance. It went without saying that his display of strength had raised the morale of the people following him.

The protestors marched on.

“S-Stop! W-We will open fire if you come any closer!”

The Blue House ordered the soldiers to shoot if any of the protestors dared to cross the police line, so the soldiers tried to warn the protestors to stop.

“Ack!”

Bam!

But they too fell victim to the formless force and were incapacitated just like their comrades.

Han-Yeol used Psychokinesis to incapacitate the soldiers and riot police without killing them, but that did not mean they ended up unscathed.

‘I know you soldiers live and die by the commands given to you, but you should know how to discern between right and wrong, you know? I’m not going to kill you today, but whatever injury you sustain is on you,’ Han-Yeol thought.

These soldiers and riot police would be forcefully discharged once this revolution was successful. They were indeed just following orders, but the fact that they went against the protestors remained the same.

Han-Yeol had no plans to take care of them after the government had been toppled, which meant that no one would reimburse them for the injuries they sustained today.

This was a small punishment he was handing out to them.

‘Be thankful I’m stopping at this.’

He would have loved nothing more than to hand them heavy sentences, but he could not completely blame them for their actions as they were merely following orders.

The defensive measures prepared by the Blue House were rendered useless due to Han-Yeol’s intervention.

“Waaaaah!”

“Charge to the Blue House!”

The protestors started running toward the Blue House, but moments later, they found another group blocking their path.

“Hmm?”

“Who are they?”

[You may not cross this line! Please turn back and return to your homes!]

Another police line had been set up to block the protestors’ march, and there were speakers set up this time warning them to go home.

“Huh? Aren’t they Hunters from the Association?”

“Are they serious? What can they do against Mr. Han-Yeol when all of the remaining Master-Rank Hunters have declared neutrality?”

“That’s right!”

The ones blocking off the road this time were the Hunters from the Hunters’ Association. These Hunters had no choice but to come since the Association ordered them to, and not one of them looked happy to be here.

‘Damn it...’

‘Why did they have to send us?’

‘They want us to buy time? We’re just a bunch of E-Ranks and D-Ranks! What can we do against a Transcended Master-Rank Hunter?!’

It was evident from their expressions that none of them were here willing to stand against Han-Yeol.

“Hey, you guys are going to get hurt if you keep this up.”

“Ugh...!”

The Hunters marching alongside the protestors threatened the ones from the Association.

Then, the Hunters from the Association deliberated for a few seconds before deciding to open the way for the protestors.

The soldiers might have bitterly resisted until they had to be incapacitated, but that was not the case for these Hunters, as they were not as loyal to the government. They had forced themselves to come here because the Association had ordered them to, but even the little remaining courage they mustered disappeared as soon as they faced Han-Yeol.

“Let’s go!”

“Waaaah!”

The protestors marched onward after the Hunters opened the way for them, and the roads leading to the Blue House were filled with the massive crowd participating in the protest.

Numerous people joined this protest, and some companies even declared a non-working day for their employees so that they could participate. The last thing the companies wanted to do was say something along the lines of ‘What? Why would you want a day off? Get back to work!’ when the entire country was protesting and end up as one of the protestors’ targets.

“The Blue House is right in front of us, everyone!”

“Ooooh!”

The protestors could see the familiar gates of the Blue House now.

Badump! Badump!

This was the first time most of the protestors saw the Blue House so close. A protest required the permission of the court to form, but the courts usually rejected any request to protest in front of the Blue House.[3]

However, this was no ordinary protest; it was a revolution, so they hadn’t bothered to apply for a permit from the court.

The same thought flashed in everyone’s minds as soon as they saw the Blue House’s gates.

‘Wow... are we reenacting the 4.19 Revolution from our history books?’

Some were even suspicious of how easily they had been able to reach the gates.

‘The textbooks say blood was shed and parts of the cities were destroyed, but nothing of that sort has happened yet.’

Of course, some were still anxious till the end.

‘I hope nobody says anything stupid and raises a flag...’

Tak!

“I’m first!”

“I will capture the president!”

“No! I will!”

Three Hunters who could not care less about the revolution and just wanted to vent their frustration at the government rushed to the gates while completely ignoring the unspoken rule of Han-Yeol being at the forefront of this revolution.

‘Tsk... Those morons...’

‘I guess they just earned Han-Yeol’s wrath.’

Everyone cursed the Hunters, but none of them bothered to say it out loud. This revolution was as good as over anyway, so they felt no need to stir up trouble.

Unfortunately, it was not over until it was over.

“...!”

Han-Yeol flinched. His senses had just picked up something.

“Huh?”

“E-Eh...?”

Crack...!

The three Hunters stopped in their tracks and turned around.

“H-Help me...”

They stretched out their arms and flailed them wildly.

Sukeok!

However, a red line appeared on their necks before they could finish speaking, and their heads were severed from their bodies.

Thud... Thud... Thud...

Their heads rolled on the ground while their now-headless bodies kept flailing their arms around.

Pshwaaa!

Blood spurted out like a fountain from their decapitated necks.

“Aaaaah!”

“Kyah! W-What happened?!”

“S-Someone died!”

The protestors at the forefront screamed and took a few steps back.

‘Who did that?’ Han-Yeol enhanced his senses and tried to search for the unidentified assailant. He maintained his cool despite the gruesome scene in front of him, as he did not care about those Hunters to begin with.

‘Hmm...’ He used Demon Eyes to search for the assailant.

Meanwhile, the screams from the front caused the protestors to waver as fear and confusion started to grip their hearts.

“Kyaaaaah!”

“Aaaack!”

“W-What’s going on?”

“T-T-Those Hunters just... d-died...!”

Seeing the three Hunters getting killed in such a cruel manner made the protestors continue retreating.

‘Who in the world did that?’ Han-Yeol continued searching, but he could not find the assailant despite using Demon Eyes.

The mana that had killed the three Hunters had come out of nowhere—even Han-Yeol had failed to notice it. If the attack had come from an ordinary Hunter, he could have sensed it, reacted to it, and saved the three Hunters just now. However, he had failed to sense the attack, and he only noticed it after the three had already been killed.

‘I can only tell once we fight, but this person might be stronger than Kim Tae-San. Was there such a Hunter in South Korea?’ Han-Yeol wondered.

Kim Tae-San had been the strongest Hunter in the country right up until Han-Yeol killed him, and the second strongest after him was Master Hee-Yun, who was not an adversary of Han-Yeol.

‘Then who is it? Don’t tell me it’s someone whose second awakening was a Transcended Awakening?’

There was a legend called Transcendent Awakening passed down in the Bastro Dimension.

A person’s second awakening was slightly different from their first awakening. They would not hit their maximum potential right away and stop growing stronger, unlike the first awakening. It varied from person to person depending on their potential and talent, but the second awakening granted them the ability to grow stronger depending on the effort they put into it.

However, some people’s second awakening was known as Transcendent Awakening—it brought out their full potential from the first moment.

Well, this was just a legend, and there were no records of anyone ever having such an awakening.

‘No, I would’ve sensed the explosive mana if it someone had a Transcended Awakening. Could it be that they brought in a foreigner?’ Han-Yeol was on his toes at the emergence of the unidentified assailant.

“Go back! Hurry!”

“Quickly! Get back!”

“Everyone! Please move back! Please!”

1. They’re something like riot police. ?

2. Something like tear gas. More info here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1127513/#:~:text=CS%20gas%20(2%2Dchlorobenzylidene%20malononitrile,alleviating%20hostage%20and%20siege%20situations. ?

3. For those of you not familiar, it is a citizen’s right to protest peacefully against the government in South Korea, but a court permit is required for protests with more than a certain number of people. The court usually grants such requests under certain conditions such as not causing anarchy. ?

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