Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 101: The True Path to Wealth (3)

Han-Yeol immediately scrapped all delusions that he had what it took to be rich. After seeing Tayarana, he realized that he had to have a bit more experience and work harder to be able to truly say that he had the potential to be rich.

In the end, being rich was not all about having a lot of money. It was also a matter of how comfortable their life was, how gutsy one was, and how used to the money one was. Han-Yeol immediately realized that he had none of these right now.

[I will be sending you some helpers too,] Tayarana said.

[Helpers?] Han-Yeol asked in response.

Mariam was the one to answer his question. [The mansion will be too big for just you and your father to manage. Also, I do not believe that Han-Yeol-nim has the ability to hire a good helper, and that is why we will be sending you two helpers who know how to speak Korean and five helpers who do not but are very good at what they do. We will be paying for them, so please do not be burdened by them.]

[T-That is…]

[Why? Is it not enough?]

[N-Not at all! Thank you!]

[Good. Don’t be burdened by it.]

[T-Thanks again, Tara.]

Tayarana turned her face away after Han-Yeol sincerely thanked her. She did not know how to react as this was her first time being sincerely thanked by someone. In the end, she decided to act indifferent.

[Don’t worry about it. I just didn’t want the Vice Leader of my raid party to live in such a shabby place.]

[Shabby… Anyway, thank you, Tara.]

Han-Yeol sincerely thanked Tayarana once again. The gift was a bit burdensome since he got something so expensive that he would have probably thought twice before even buying it with his own money for free.

[Also, I think you need to study a bit about what being rich is, Han-Yeol.]

[Huh…?]

***

After the helicopter landed at the mansion’s helipad, the group walked in to see the interior. Han-Yeol was able to roughly check the layout with his skill, but it was still better to check it with his own two eyes just in case there were some damages or repairs needed.

[Well, I think it looks good,] Tayarana said.

[I agree, Tayarana-nim. The interior is quite well done and it does not require a lot of repairs. Not to mention, there are numerous buildings outside so it is not going to feel too crowded. On top of that, there is a swimming pool, tennis court, and other spaces for outdoor activities. It won’t be boring living here,] Mariam added.

Tayarana and Mariam diligently looked around the house as if they were going to be the ones living in it.

[Excuse me, ladies? I think this is my house, but why are you guys so much more excited…?] Han-Yeol asked.

[That is because you cannot be trusted, Han-Yeol-nim,] Mariam replied.

[Hey… Aren’t you being too mean? Anyway, how much does this house cost?]

[I have no idea, but I don’t think this is going to cost much, so I didn’t bother looking into how much it is,] Tayarana replied.

[Oh…really?]

[Yes.]

Han-Yeol could not help but shake his head in disbelief. He no longer felt like discussing anything related to money with Tayarana from now on.

[Oh, I have something I wanted to ask,] Han-Yeol said.

[I will answer your questions,] Mariam replied.

Tayarana was not someone who concerned herself with minor details, so answering mundane questions was Mariam’s job.

[There are a lot of mansions in Seoul too, but why do we have to come all the way to the outskirts? I think most chairmen of conglomerates already live in mansions in Seoul…?]

Han-Yeol could not help but question their decision. There were plenty of mansions in Cheongdam-dong or Itaewon, which was currently an up-and-coming hot place, so he did not understand why they would come all the way out here where a helicopter was required.

[Ah, I apologize, but…] Mariam hesitated.

[Yes?]

[Do you call those houses mansions too…?]

[Oh… That is…] Han-Yeol was rendered speechless at Mariam’s response.

[I had no idea that they would call those small houses as mansions in this country. I think the people of this country have not been exposed to what true wealth is… Oh, I think I learned this while studying Korean. Your ancestors practiced something called Confucianism, so minimalism has been ingrained in you? I did not expect that culture to be still practiced.]

[I… I guess…?]

Mariam managed to instantly downgrade the seventeen billion won mansion of the S Group chairman into a normal house.

Han-Yeol decided to zip his mouth from now on. He felt that he was the one who was going to turn into an oddball in their eyes if he continued talking about money. He grumbled inwardly, ‘Today is a very long day…’?

***

The realtor came huffing and puffing to the mansion twenty minutes after the helicopter had landed, and they smoothly finished all of the complex processes required thanks to him.

Han-Yeol felt a bit uneasy by the fact that everything seemed to have been rushed, but he did not really see anything that might be a cause for concern. After all, he did have the experience of buying his own apartment, so he sort of knew how things worked.

Right after all of the processes were finished, Tayarana and Mariam stood up from their seats. [We’ll get going now.]

[Oh, are you going already?] Han-Yeol asked.

He could not help but feel disappointed that it was now time for him to say goodbye to the two beauties. At the same time, another part of him wanted nothing more than to roll around in bed and sleep due to the amount of stress he had received today.

[We have no reason to stay anymore.]

[Tayarana-nim is correct.]

[Well, I guess you’re right, Tara. Thank you very much once again.]

[I only acted accordingly and treated you as befitting of our raid party’s Vice Leader.]

[Yeah, I’m thanking you for that.]

[Ehem…]

Tayarana seemed to be slightly shy from Han-Yeol’s sincere gratitude, but she did not even take a single second to compose herself and straighten her posture. Then, she walked out of the mansion.

Mariam bowed toward Han-Yeol before following after her master.

Thud…!

Han-Yeol sat back down on the sofa.

The house had not been used for a long time, but the original owner had built it with the intention of using it as his vacation house. Thanks to that, most of the furniture in the mansion was high-end, and they were in tip-top condition due to someone having consistently taken care of them.

From where he sat on the sofa, Han-Yeol looked around his new home. He asked himself in disbelief, ‘Is this really my house…?’?

Everything felt so surreal to him right now.

It only felt like yesterday when he had spent hundreds of millions of won to buy his own apartment, but who would have known that someone was going to gift him a mansion? Not only that, but this was not a mansion simply due to its large area. It was a proper mansion built atop a huge plot of land that was going to fetch at least tens of billions of won just from the land price itself.

Pinch!

Han-Yeol pinched his cheek to check if he was dreaming or not… It hurt.

‘This is real… I’m not dreaming right now… This is reality! I should let father know about this right away!’?Han-Yeol exclaimed inwardly, feeling rejuvenated just from looking at his new house.

He finally felt that he had entered the ranks of wealthy individuals. He still saw his bank account filling up like how game money would steadily increase, but it felt entirely different now that he was able to live in a house that he used to only see on the TV.

‘I wasn’t properly using my money all this while…’?Han-Yeol thought while looking down at his hand.

He originally planned to set up his own raid party after his contract with the Horus raid party expired. However, the terms offered to him were not bad at all; he was able to act independently, hunt on his own after whatever hunts were planned by the raid party, and even use the Egyptian Hunters on his own accord.

Ding… Dong!

‘Hmm? Who’s that?’?Han-Yeol wondered when the doorbell rang.

He did not really feel like getting up right now, so he used Psychokinesis to open the door instead. He marveled, ‘Wow… that’s convenient…’?

It was his first time trying it, and he found it to be surprisingly convenient.

The door opened and a middle-aged couple walked in. They walked toward Han-Yeol and greeted him with a bow.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Ah, hello, sir. We have been the ones maintaining this mansion, and we came here after hearing that the mansion has been sold.”

“Ah, I see. Please have a seat. I apologize for not being able to serve you anything. As you can see, I just bought the place, so it’s still quite empty.”

“W-We are fine! Thank you!” the couple waved their hands before sitting down on the sofa that Han-Yeol had motioned them toward.

“So, why did you want to see me?” Han-Yeol asked.

“Actually, we have been managing this mansion all this while. However, our contract only lasted until this mansion was sold to a new owner. We were wondering what we should do now that you have purchased this place, Hunter-nim…”

‘What are they talking about…?’?Han-Yeol wondered, not understanding why they would come to him with this concern.

“Both of you may leave the mansion now. I will be getting my own people to maintain it,” he nonchalantly replied with a hint of irritation in his voice.

He could not help but feel annoyed that someone was going to ask him such an obvious question especially after he had a long tiring day.

Han-Yeol might be someone who strove to be fair and compassionate to others, but he was not a fool who would thoughtlessly take strangers into his own household. He knew himself very well. He was someone who would not hesitate to take the shorter end of the stick for his trusted friends, but he was quite indifferent to people who had no ties to him.

This could be considered a good or bad thing by others, but Han-Yeol liked the way he was.

“S-Sir!”

“Where will we stay if we get kicked out of this place? Please! I beg you! Please let us continue working here!”

Thud!

The couple got down on their knees and begged Han-Yeol.

Looking at this sight, others might feel bad for the couple. Unfortunately, what they were doing now only further annoyed Han-Yeol.

“I have no reason to hire the both of you. First of all, I don’t trust strangers. Please leave the premises if your contract has expired,” Han-Yeol said in a stern voice.

He had no reason to hire them as Tayarana had already arranged for seven people to maintain his new mansion on his behalf.

‘Besides, how can I trust them when I don’t know them at all?’?he thought.

Han-Yeol was the type to wholeheartedly trust someone once he decided to trust them, but it was going to take a very long time for him to give his trust to someone.

The middle-aged couple begged Han-Yeol a few times in hopes of convincing him. However, in the end, they had no choice but to leave the mansion after he gave them the cold shoulder.

‘Tsk… so annoying…’?Han-Yeol grumbled inwardly after sending the couple out.

After some time, he then asked himself, ‘But how am I going to go home…?’

His van was at the association, and this mansion was on the outskirts of the city, so hailing a taxi was going to be impossible.

‘Well, I doubt a taxi is going to refuse?to come?here despite the distance if I offer them?four times?the normal rate, right?’?Han-Yeol nonchalantly thought as he called a taxi company to request for a taxi.

Everyone was working to earn a living, so nobody was going to refuse such a good deal in the first place. But surprisingly, the taxi company sent him a message that a taxi had been assigned to him even before he was able to propose quadrupling the rate.

‘Wow… Taxis have become much better now…’?Han-Yeol was amazed at how convenient hailing a taxi had become.

Anyway, he took the taxi all the way to the Hunters’ Association and drove his van back home.

Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep!

“I’m home.”

“Why are you so late?” his father asked.

It was currently 8:30 pm, which was not that late at night, to be honest.

“Ah, how was business today, father?”

“Haha! It was quite good! Don’t you know how good your father is?”

His father was quite lively recently. It was understandable that he would feel rejuvenated after seeing his business do so well, since it had been his lifelong dream to have his own business since the day that he worked for someone else.

Han-Yeol went straight to the point after greeting his father.

“Father.”

“What is it?”

“Do you want to move someplace else?”

“Why are you talking about moving all of a sudden?”

“Ah, actually, it is not sudden. I felt that the house is a bit small, so I recently bought a house since there was a good one on the market.”

“It’s not that there is a good house on the market, but there was?a good house on the market and you bought it already?”

“Yes.”

“What’s the point of asking me then?”

“Just for formality's sake?”

The father and son duo were quite straightforward with each other, and other people might misunderstand that they were arguing with each other or something based on how rough they spoke. However, others would not understand that this was just how they showed affection to each other.

Han-Yeol’s father grimaced for a while before he asked, “Is it good?”

“It’s damn good.”

“I’m in.”

“Shall we go have a look tomorrow?”

“Alright.”

***

Han-Yeol woke up quite early in the morning to take his father to their new ‘house’ on the outskirts of Seoul.

“H-Hey… D-Don’t tell me this house is…our house…?”

“Yes, that is correct, father.”

“Are you lying right now? Is this a prank?”

“No, I am not lying.”

“Wow…”

Han-Yeol’s father had his mouth agape as he stared at the mansion for quite a while, and it seemed that his mouth was not going to close anytime soon.