âBut itâs such a waste to give up this spatial attribute...â
As much as he hated being lonely, he was just as obsessed with gaining new attributes and skills, especially when it was one of the two things heâd always been looking for: space and time attributes.
âThen Iâll see you in a month.â
Shh.
Just like that, Stewart left for the demon world, and Han-Yeol was left with no one to go to the United States with.
âDamn it! Whatever.â
Han-Yeol sat on a bench in the backyard for a while, thinking to himself, and finally made up his mind.
âIâll go by myself!â
No matter how lonely he was and how much he hated it, this was a golden opportunity to get his hands on the spatial attribute he so desperately wanted. He didnât want to make the mistake of passing up this opportunity just because he didnât like being alone.
âWhat am I, a five-year-old, to miss out on this great opportunity for such a stupid reason?â
There was no way he was going to let this happen. Han-Yeol immediately returned to P and his interpreter.
[Youâre back.]
âYes, letâs get going right away.â
[What about your things... Ah!]
P stopped himself. For a moment, P had forgotten who Han-Yeol was, but because Han-Yeol was used to this kind of reaction, he just let it slide.
âThen shall we get going?â
[Ah, yes...]
Step step.
P walked up to Han-Yeolâs side with his entourage. He then unbuttoned the cuffs of his suit and rolled up his sleeves, revealing an oddly shaped tattoo on his arms.
To Han-Yeol, that tattoo seemed like the medium through which P could use his powers. His eyes sparkled at this sight. Han-Yeol was able to guess what that was since it was common for non-combatants with special abilities to have some sort of medium.
[Iâll open the portal now.]
âAlright...â
âI knew it! Itâs a portal. This means that he can control space.â
He was definitely someone Han-Yeol had been looking for. Han-Yeol secretly smiled to himself.
âThen thereâs only one thing I need to do.â
Han-Yeol felt the need to change everything he had planned.
âIâm definitely not cut out for just resting.â
Originally, he had planned to drink and have fun to his heartâs content in the United States, but that had all turned into a pipe dream now that he had met someone who could manipulate space. Moreover, the biggest reason was that he couldnât have any fun alone. This was all useless, and he would much rather find a way to gain spatial attributes using P.
âIâm going to owe the US a big favor this time.â
But this didnât mean Han-Yeol felt grateful or was going to repay the favor. This was merely a simple transaction since it wasnât like the United States knew they were helping him with anything in particular.
Han-Yeol had a vague idea of why the President of the United States was going to such lengthsâby revealing the United States most treasured and top-secret portal user to himâto get him into the White House.
âNext year is the US election, right?â
It didnât seem like it had been that long since this president had been voted into office, but time had flown by.
âI heard his approval rating wasn't great. I guess itâs time to start preparing for the re-election.â
Han-Yeol wasnât smart compared to geniuses, but with the power of an Infinite Library and an enormous amount of reading, guessing the reason behind this kind of thing was too easy.
âIâll gain the spatial attribute, and the president will increase his approval ratings. Itâll just be a give-and-take, right?â
In a give-and-take relationship, there was no reason for Han-Yeol to be grateful to the United States.
Chuck!
P threw his arm in the air, emphasizing the symbols on his wrist, and shouted something in English.
[Open my portal!]
Then, blue mana concentrated out of thin air, and a typical oval-shaped portal that was about two meters tall and one meter wide appeared.
âThis is... the portal that Iâve been searching for all this time!â
This was a different kind of door compared to typical gates. Opening a portal was a skill that allowed one to travel long distances without being limited by space.
[Letâs go, Hunter Han-Yeol-nim.]
âAh, right...â
âHaha.â
Han-Yeol was looking forward to this, but he couldn't help but feel nervous since this was his first time using a portal.
[Fortunately, this isnât some sort of trap.]
âOf course itâs not. Do you think I wouldâve gotten caught in it if it was?â
[You might have. Who knows?]
âNo. Never.â
[Hmph.]
Karvis was just worried about him, which is why she analyzed the portal and informed him, but now she felt a little disappointed since she felt like her sincerity had been ignored.
However, Han-Yeol didnât care how she felt.
Now, their way of being flustered had become more or less similar to that of the master and the Ego.
âThen Iâll go in first.â
P saw Han-Yeol's slightly tense expression, and as a way of easing his nerves, he and his entourage stepped through the portal first to the other side.
Zingg!
âLetâs go, Karvis.â n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
[Yes, Han-Yeol-nim.]
Even though everyone else turned him down, Han-Yeol didnât feel too lonely. Although Karvis wasnât there physically, he could still have a conversation with her.
Han-Yeol walked up to the portal and walked through it like he was walking through a gate.
Zngg!
He felt that the portal was definitely different from a gate, and the tip of his nose caught a peculiar smell that was different from Korea.
âThis is...â
Step.
[Mr. Lee, welcome to the United States of America, a freedom-loving nation of great responsibility.]
When he walked through the portal, he was surprised to see the president of the United States walking up to him, smiling and ready to shake hands. However, the surrounding bodyguards didnât look too happy. Perhaps it was because Han-Yeol was late.
âI didnât even ask them to wait for me.â
Han-Yeol thought this was a bit absurd, but he didnât let his emotions show.
âAh, thank you for welcoming me, Mr. President.â
[Hahaha, Iâve finally invited you to the US. I finally feel a little relieved and proud. As a Hunter fan, Iâve always wanted to meet Mr. Lee, the strongest Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter on Earth. Haha.]
The president was a more pleasant man in person than on video call. The white man had sharp features and was wearing a suit with a red tieâthis outfit suited his sharp image very well.
âIs that so?â
[Of course. Now, why donât we move somewhere else and continue our conversation there? Iâve got a place ready for us.]
âYes, Mr. President.â
Han-Yeol then spent some private time with the president and only made his public appearance a few hours later, creating a somewhat plausible alibi.
Since the United States had to hide the man who could use portals, they couldnât show that Han-Yeol had traveled from South Korea to the United States too quickly. His first visit to the United States was a meeting of the strongest with the strongest, and the United States and international media watched closely.
Flash, flash, flash!
[Hunter Han-Yeol-nim, what level of friendship do you intend to establish with the United States?]
âIâm not sure. We will have to see as things go along, and thatâs something that HY Group is in charge of. Iâm only the owner of HY Group, not the chairman, hahaha.â
HY Group was definitely a privately held company that was a hundred percent owned by Han-Yeol and was not listed on the stock market.
Although Han-Yeol owned this private company, he never interfered with it or told the executives how to run it. Jason was a genius who could do better than anyone else, even if Han-Yeol didn't interfere in the first place. On the contrary, Han-Yeol had a lot to learn from him. All Han-Yeol had to do was keep an eye out for any possible corruption.
[Did you always have a good relationship with the president of the United States?]
âYes, I guess you could say that. Weâve always been in touch, and we always talked about meeting up one day, but that didnât happen until now. As you all know, I was recently in an accident, so this time, I paid special attention to coming to the United States.â
At Han-Yeolâs kind words, the president could already envision himself winning the reelection and returning to the White House.
âHehehe, Iâm building a strategic partnership with the worldâs strongest Hunter, so my approval rating is definitely going to go up!â
Of course, if Han-Yeol hadnât been so cooperative, he wasnât sure what wouldâve happened. Although the language Han-Yeol used in his interviews was cautious and ambiguous, his attitude toward the United States was favorable.
The public valued the speaker's demeanor rather than the language, and they could easily be fooled into thinking that Han-Yeol was on absolute terms with the United States.
The journalists' expressions in the interview made this clear. The American journalists had good expressions, while the foreign journalists didnât.
[Now, letâs end the interview here. Hunter Han-Yeol hasnât had much time to rest since coming to the US, so he needs to get some rest now.]
The end of the interview was an unfortunate thing regardless of the country, since interviewing Han-Yeol in the United States or any other country was a big deal in itself.
âLetâs go this way, Hunter Han-Yeol-nim.â
âAh, yes.â
Han-Yeol was escorted off the stage by a Korean-speaking entourage. He had already spent the day in the White House, so he didnât need any more rest, but this was a shallow ploy by the White House to keep the media on their toes.
[Hahaha, Mr. Lee, thanks to your cooperation, the interview ended on a good note.]
âSpeaking of which, I have a favor to ask you.â
[Please go ahead. Iâll do anything in my power to help you. Hahaha!]
âGreat.â
One of the president's downsides was that he tended to be very thoughtless in private. Han-Yeol felt this when he was with the president. The president was incredibly meticulous in careful situations yet equally prone to carelessness when he let his guard down.