Date: Year-2019, Month- March 24th, Time: 10:34 A.M.
Location: Korea, Seoul, Seoul National University Hospital
Day 1 In Solo Leveling.
Inside a hospital room with orange walls, lying on white sheets, a young man with black hair and a youthful appearance could be found resting until his eyes opened and he began looking around frantically.
He was shorter and had a noticeably thinner physique, with long, bushy hair that covered up his ears. His face was very boyish.
(Image here)
"For revenge against the Exis!" He had his hand move almost subconsciously against the wall, cracking it slightly and injuring his hand as blood began to pour onto the floor.
Having moved that bloody hand closer he found himself bitting his lower lip with furious veins popping in his forehead.
(I can feel it! My wrath! One that was weaker when I was just a soul!! But now that I have blood and bone again! I feel it! The fury in my heart! I swear on my soul! I will exterminate every single one of the Exis responsible for this mess! Not a single one will be spared! If they are all guilty, or if it's their nature, then make a genocide! I will NOT allow them to prevail!) His expression was filled with determination, hate, and even madness.
There was no going back or making peace, mercy was only an option for whoever of them ended up deemed innocent, but considering his state, it was unlikely any Exis would ever be given such grace.
Just the memories of the life he never had flashed in his eyes, until his mind became one with them, and overtook everything.
"As expected… I'm Sung Jinwoo… Future Shadow Monarch…" He murmured to himself as he touched his face all over, his hair included.
[Welcome to the system!… &$&$@$&&$&$&$£€¥€£#**¥€¥… Error… Error…] Something odd happened, instead of the purple floating screen that was his system, a blue floating screen appeared and just as quickly malfunctioned.
Rattle!
Before he could focus on whatever that was, the door to his hospital room opened, and two men showed up, an orange-haired man, and a purple-haired man.
"It seems you've regained consciousness. Good, we need to talk to you." The orange-haired man walked up to him and extended an introduction card.
They were members of the hunters assossiation. The entity in charge of hunters, the people who awakened a power known as mana after the appearance of portals known as gates.
"I see, how may I help you?" Jinwoo asked despite knowing exactly what they wanted, as he took the card and looked at it.
(They want to know how powerful I am, trying to find double awakening evidence…) He smiled internally thinking of it.
These agents hoped he had awakened a second time, a rare occurrence among hunters that allows them to grow beyond their initial power.
Hunters awaken to a rank from E the weakest to S the strongest, and though there was power beyond that, it was not something to worry about quite yet.
The reason why this mattered was because without a second awakening, hunters are stuck in whatever rank they awaken for the rest of their lives.
"Apologies if we startled you. As you can see, we are part of the hunter association's surveillance team, and we came to inquire about the double dungeon incident from 4 days ago. I am Woo Jinchul, and this is Kang Taeshik." He pushed the sunglasses he was wearing as his purple-haired partner carried a small device with a big crystal on it.
A mana reader, a machine to read one's mana levels, which are what indicate a hunter's overall power, and rank.
"I guess you probably did double awaken, that or the hospital is cutting on the expenses." Taeshik raised an eyebrow looking at the bloodstain on the cracked wall, before moving his eyes to Jinwoo's injured hand.
(Shit! I fucked up… I let my rage blind me… That's not who I am, I will destroy those cheating bastards, but nothing will be worth wasting my life and everyone's last chance. If the Exis' plan works, even 'fictional worlds' like this won't be spared, everything will end.) Jinwoo shook his head internally and focused on letting his feelings go before letting out a long breath.
"It's ok, I'm just a little tired. Though you do have a point, for a national hospital, they really went for cheap work, even I have done more than this at my construction work back then. Do you know any lawyers I could contact about this?" Jinwoo looked around before leaning in and speaking like it was some secret mission.
There was no comment from Jinchul on the bloody cracked wall, instead, he simply nodded before leaning in as well, and with a straight face said.
"I'll see what I can do. It is a safety risk after all." There was a small smile on his face, before he lowered the sunglasses to get a good look at him, and they had a golden glow to them, then he pushed the glasses back up. "Kang, get his reading."
"Hehehe, and here I thought it was just a boring E-rank, but maybe we're in for something fun." Taeshik walked closer and used the mana reading device.
(They should leave me in peace after this, and then I can focus on figuring out what is going on with the system… Whatever it is, it doesn't seem good…) Jinwoo smiled calmly outwardly while his mind was more focused on the glitched floating screen only visible to him.
Bip! Bip! Bip!
The device resounded as it finished reading his mana.
"Oh… 15?… Wasn't his reading like 10? Hahaha! So you're still so far below the average E-rank! Below 70 mana output even after a double awakening?! Hahaha! You truly deserve to be called the world's weakest hunter after-." Taeshik's eyes widened before he burst into laughter unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Kang! Enough. Mister Sung, we're sorry to have wasted your time, and for my partner's rudeness, please stay well. Oh, and I'll make sure to send that lawyer your way." Jinchul pulled Taeshik by his shoulder and made him bow lightly, before dragging him out.
(15?! How?! That purple assassin guy is right… My mana output right now should be 10… So how? Is this the system's doing?… Maybe, but it might also be just a consequence of my takeover…) Jinwoo began rubbing his chin as he stopped to think.
That was not the end of it, as he began connecting the dots about the lore in his mind.
(Looking back at solo leveling, and Ragnarok lore, it seems like the soul is what determines your potential and mana rank or levels, this would explain why double awakenings are possible but physical training does nothing for your mana levels… ) He mused on the possibility making him smile.
This train of thought pushed him to a conclusion.
(So, if that's the case, we could assume that either my soul had a higher mana level output or, that our souls merging created a higher mana level output… I'm a pretty average guy, so I suspect it's the second option. I'll have to ask the system to confirm.) He nodded to himself before turning his attention to the still glitched floating screen once more, and by now it was half purple, half blue.
His focus was big, and he even tried touching it.
"Jinwoo, you just woke up. What are you doing?" A young girl with purple hair came into the room and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
(Oh, Jinah… I forgot she comes in this soon...) A smile appeared on Jinwoo's face upon seeing her, it was an involuntary action he didn't even notice himself.
It was, Sung Jinah, Jinwoo's sister.
Looking at him with her gray eyes.
(Images here)
"Don't tell me you hit your head, too. I told you to be careful! I was worried sick!" She walked up to him after closing the door, and yelled at his face, though her words carried more concern than anything else.
"Hehehe, sorry, I got a bit careless, but I'll be careful from now on. So don't worry, I treasure my life, after all, besides, who will take care of my favorite sister, if I'm gone?" He chuckles with a smile, then winks at her.
"What?!… Are you sure you didn't hit your head? Since when can you sound sensible? Still! You need to stop getting hurt all the time, Everyone else seems fine!" She leans in with her arms crossed and a slight frown as she complains.
"Ahhh, it lights a man's heart up when a pretty girl cares this much." Jinwoo blushed lightly in satisfaction, letting himself bask in the moment.
Jinah however jumped backwards and took a defensive position. "Eww! What are you on about?! You really hit your head hard this time! I'll call someone to check on that malfunction head of yours!" She yelled with a narrowed eyes, unimpressed by this display of creepiness.
"Don't take it so badly. I'm fine." Jinwoo forced an awkward smile realizing what he had just done.
(It seems I'm not used to having her brother yet… Not that it matters, if the all-named females rule still applies, I'll have to go for her as well... Hehehehe!! Uhum… It's for the sake of stopping the Exis, and the True Ending, and not because I'm a pervert or anything like that.) Jinwoo fake coughed to himself as he tried to shake the blush off, line someone could hear his thoughts.
"Not you're definitely not!" She yelled, and closed the door, going off to presumably call a doctor or nurse.
"Ah… I still need to get used to this. It's not as easy as I thought." He sighed realizing how odd it felt to be someone new, then his eyes widened as he realized something.
His eyes went down to his crotch, and cold sweat began to go down his face.
Then slowly he reached out to it, however…
[Overtaking process complete!] A purple screen with the feminine voice he had grown used to popped up.
"Oh, you're back, good… What was going on with that gitch stuff?" Jinwoo questioned.
[Response! The system was taking over the Architect's monarch vessel system. While you will still get a mission from that inferior system, I am now in full command, and can interact with the user fully undetected.] She explained.
(So the system is more powerful than them?… That's impressive and says a lot about my potential. Also, it truly is evil… Is it still letting the other system control me? Then again, no solo leveling without that.) Jinwoo smiled internally.
"Ohhh… Ok. Humm, what about my mana level? Do you know why it's 50 now?" He raised an eyebrow at this explanation but didn't question it outwardly.
[That's simply because the user and Jinwoo's souls merged, which changed the soul, and increased its power by a small margin.]
"Ok, so just like I thought, cool. What now?" He asked.
[I will present the function acquired from the takeover. They are: Status screen, Inventory, skills, Quests, and Store]
"Got it, show me." He nodded wanting to confirm things despite having an idea of what to expect.
[Store]
[Rank: E
Sections
Items
Equipment
Potions
Materials
Gold: 0]
Each section had a vast selection, but all of it was E rank, as the availability of the store seemed to be connected to his rank.
Moving on to the next one.
[Quests]
[Quests:
Active quests-
Main quest(0): Power, World, and Harem(Hidden)
Completed quests-
None
Failed quests-
None]
Only one quest appeared, and only he could see it, it was hidden from anyone else.
Having nothing more to see there, he advanced.
[Skills]
[Skills: (Unknown) MAX, Tenacity Lv.1, Speed Lv.1]
Those were the only skills available so far.
Having confirmed things were the same there, he moved on to the next.
[Inventory]
[Kim Sangshik's Sword(Rank D Basic Magic Sword)]
The only thing in his inventory was the sword of the old man just like in canon.
That established, finally came the last one.
[Status Screen]
[Name: Sung Jinwoo
Job: None
HP: 150/150
Fatigue: 0
Level-1
Title: None
MP: 15/15
Str: 15
Vit: 15
Agi: 15
Int: 15
Per: 15
Dick size: 100- 10cm(3.94 inches)
AP: 0
-
Char: 5
Luc: 999
Body count: 0
Skills: (Unknown) MAX, Tenacity Lv.1, Speed Lv.1]
(There is a lot to be said, but char? Luc? BODY COUNT? DICK SIZE?!… Hmmm, I… at least luc seems very high! Yes! At least one grace… however…) Jinwoo's expression was conflicted so he did it, he looked down into his pants, and there it was.
Tears rolled down his face, as his son was smaller.
A tragic fate.
The silence went on for minutes as he processed this news.
"… Think positively… At least there is a way to recover, and even go beyond. Yes, it's within my reach!" Jinwoo lifted his head high, and punched into the air, fully determined to make his penis bigger.
[A strong desire has been detected.]
[A quest has been generated.]
[User Quest: Grind to Grind]
[Description: One in the path to becoming a harem god cannot allow himself to wild and inadequate instrument, it is not sufficient to be enough, the user must be exceptional, and beyond measure.
Goal: Reach 250 in the dick size stat.
Penalty: In case of failure, the Netorare route opens up.
Reward: +25 AP, Superpower: Infinite Libido, Full revive(One-time use).]
[Would you like to take this mission?]
[[Yes] or [No]]
(What?! The cuck route?!… My brain… System you evil sick bastard!… I'm cooked if I fail this mission, but look at those sweet sweet rewards…) Jinwoo shivered at the thought of that penalty, but the rewards were like a lullaby pulling him in until he couldn't resist, so, he pressed yes.
[A new quest has been accepted!]
"At least there's no time limit… System, how do I fail?" He raised an eyebrow.
[Death or leaving the solo leveling world in any way before you complete it.] She explained.
"Of course…" He narrowed his eyes letting out a sigh,
[Notice! You have been given a daily quest by the lesser system.]
[Quest Info]
[Daily Quest: The Preparation To Become Powerful
Goals:
100 Push-Ups
100 Sit-Ups
100 Squats
10 Kilometer Run
Time limit: 24 hours
Rewards: Status Recovery, +3 stat points, Random Loot Box
Penalty: Penalty Zone]
"Oh! This one, the Saitama training, hehehe! I'm going to look great after that." Jinwoo flexed his minimal muscles to himself at the thought of how he would end up looking.
However, it didn't end there.
[Notice! You have been appointed a route system, Please select one.]
[Available routes:
1-Nurse route
2-Healer route
3-Jail route
4-Imouto route
Locked routes:
5- Spawnpoint route(Locked)
6- Actress route(Locked)
7- Dancer route(Locked)
8- Demon route(Locked)
9- Office Lady route(Locked)
10- Mage route(Locked)
11- Knight route(Locked)
12- Secretary route(Locked)
13- Seer route(Locked)
14- Plague route(Locked)
15- Fighter route(Locked)
16- Snow route(Locked)
17- Translator route(Locked)
18- Glasses route(Locked)
19- Ice Mage route(Locked)
20- Pink Healer route(Locked)
21- Bunny route(Locked)
22- Wanderer route(Locked)
23- Prankstar route(Locked)
24- Night route(Locked)
25- Mischivous route(Locked)
26- Luck route(Locked)
27- Sinker route(Locked)
28- Slayer route(Locked)
29- Blood route(Locked)
30- Promise route(Locked)
31- Hero route(Locked)
32- White tiger route(Locked)
33- Samurai route(Locked)
34- Bee route(Locked)
…..]
It was a long list.
(Damn… The system wasn't joking… This is going to be a very long journey…) Jinwoo's eyes widened as he looked at the list.
"Huh… Nurse route? Really? Does she even have a name?" He raised an eyebrow.
[The Nurse route has been selected. Target: Choi Yoora]
(Huh…. Live and learn, I guess.) Jinwoo was stunned into silence, simply accepting his fate.
Even so, his hand began banging on the wall again, time and time again, making his hand injury worse, but his eyes were empty.
Rattle!
Just then the door was aggressively opened and Jinah, followed by a black haired young woman, the one the system had just shown him, Choi Yoora, the target of the nurse route.
(Images here)
"See?! I told you he's going insane! He hit his head in that goddamn dungeon! Do something!" Jinah yelled at the nurse in her panic, albeit unintentionally.
"Y- Yes! Of course!" Yoora nodded and ran to him and held his arm to her body, pressing it to her chest, tightly. "Mister! Please don't do that! You're hurting yourself! And damaging the hospital!"
"Ahh… Of course, if you ask me nicely like that, how could I say no?" Jinwoo blushed as his free hand rubbed the back of his head, and a slimy smile of satisfaction took hold of his face.
All the anger and emptiness vanished in one, go, he was a new man, a happy man.
"Jinwoo! What happened to you in that dungeon?! My brother isn't a pervert!" Jinah pointed at him, half-joking but genuinely worried about him.
However before he could answer, he felt a strong acute pain in his hand as the nurse began pressing the right nerves.
"Mister, please tell me, you didn't just harm yourself, and damage hospital property to grope me." Her expression of worry was gone replaced by calm fury, the flames burning inside were evident, but her expression was still leasure.
"Urghj!!… Me? Of course not! It was just a spasm and you pulled me out of it…" He averted her gaze having a hard time facing her like this, especially since she didn't move his hand despite her words.
(She's a normal human, and only able to hurt me like this because of my injury, but if I tried I could shake her off… But if I did that, not only would I hurt her, but I would move my hand, and I'm pretty happy with the current placement! For humanity, of course… Hehehe!) Jinwoo laughed internally, but his external silly smile might have given him off.
When he realized, it was too late, both women had surrounded him, and they didn't look too happy.
"You wouldn't hurt a hospital patient who was in a coma for 4 days just today, right?" Jinwoo did his best puppy eyes, and his boyish face helped out.
"Awwww…" Yoora fell for it.
"In your dreams!" Jinah however was fully immune.
He was doomed.
"Aaaaahhhhh!!!" His screams were said to have decorated the corridors of the hospital for the next hours, because of 'procedure' tests, now that he was awake.
Later, a vegetable of a man could be found lying on his bed with his injured hand, now bandaged.
"They were merciless… women… they are too ruthless to us men... If only I didn't love them so much… Hehehe! They didn't even realize how much they touched me, hahaha! In the end, a true pervert always wins!… Ahem… Not me, of course." He stood up on his bed cackling like an evil witch, before sitting down and looking around to make sure nobody saw him.
After that was passed, he got out of bed and got on the floor, pushing himself up with his hands, as his training to complete the daily quest finally began.
He did the push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and even went outside to finish the 10 km run, which took a lot from him, but knowing there was a tangible reward, and that everything ever was at stake if he failed, he pushed through to complete it.
-Time skip-
In the corridors of the hospital, two nurses could be found having a conversation.
"Aren't you in charge of that patient, Sung Jinwoo? I heard he's a hunter." A nurse asked her colleague.
"Well, yeah! He woke up 4 days ago… and ever since, he exercises like crazy every day, even though his sister yells at him not to." Yoora replied with a bit of a blush on her face as she thought of him now.
"Seriously? And the doctors won't stop him?" The other nurse asked now even more curious.
"No, they say hunters heal faster than average people, and exercise will do him good… I just didn't expect it to have such an… effect on him." Yoora shook her head, a sigh leaving her, as she tried to shake off the thoughts.
"Look! He's running right now, wow! He's fast, must be fit... I bet you have fun taking care of him, huh? Why do you get all the handsome patients? No fair! Hehehe!" The other nurse giggled at her own words.
"Hmph! If only you knew! He's a total pervert! Always makes that perverted face of satisfaction when I touch him, and he's also the annoying type of flirty, all the guts, none of the finesse." Yoora complained even though she was blushing more visibly now.
"Oh really?? Don't you say? No smoothness? I guess he's plenty, looking at you now, you're a tomato. I didn't take you for the type to like perverts, but I guess you can't command the heart." The other nurse laughed at her with a warm smile.
"Tch! As if! I hope the doctors are right and he gets better by tomorrow! Then I won't have to deal with him anymore!" Yoora crossed her arms.
"If you hate that much, I don't mind switching with you, all this talk got me curious about him, plus, I never took care of a hunter because, sounds exclusive." The other nurse leaned on her and suggested with a predatory gaze in her eyes.
"No! I'm not switching!" Yoora yelled louder than she expected.
"Hahahaha! Young people are so cute!" The other nurse pulled on her cheek.
"It's not that! I just don't want to put you through the trouble of a pervert like him! He's the worst!! Trust me!" Yoora shook her head making some distance to escape the cheek grab.
"Hehehehe! Of course, I bet he is. Fine, have him all to yourself. I don't steal from my girls." The other nurse winked at her, and walked ahead, giving her no time to reply.
"No! It's not! That!" Yoora actually as red as a tomato by this point, run after her to solve the supposed misunderstanding.
Meanwhile, downstairs on the ground floor, at the hospital park grounds, Jinwoo was seated after finishing today's training.
"Oof! That was something… I wonder how long until it stops feeling heavy, then again, if I did it like the original and dump my AP into strength, it would probably be faster." He commented as he looked at a floating screen.
[Quest Reward]
[Select your reward:
•Choose a reward from the list below•
Reward 1. Status Recovery
Reward 2. Ability Points(AP) +3
Reward 3. Random Loot Box +1]
[[Accept] or [Decline]]
(I says choice, but I get all three rewards either way.) Jinwoo sighed as he stretched on the bench.
Status recovery would fully heal him from everything so long as he was still alive.
While the random loot box was just that, it could drop valuable items or trash.
"AP…" He chose the reward and pressed accept.
(I even got the same three skills as the original Jinwoo, and they do the same… I expected this, but the longer I spend in this body the more it just feels like me… to think I'll do this in more worlds… Will I ever lose myself… The original me? Is there even such a thing at this point anymore?...) He stopped in silence for minutes on end, before he shook his head, as it was not the time for doubts, he had a mission much greater than himself to fulfill.
"No, it doesn't matter. I'm whoever I choose to be. My life, mission, goals, and awesome self are what I am. I'll question myself when I'm strong enough to afford that. Status screen." He sighed as he called upon the system.
[Status Screen]
[Name: Sung Jinwoo
Job: None
HP: 170/170
Fatigue: 82%
Level-1
Title: None
MP: 17/17
Str: 15 -> 17
Vit: 15 -> 17
Agi: 15 -> 17
Int: 15 -> 17
Per: 15 -> 17
Dick size: 100 -> 105- 10.5cm(4.13 inches)
AP: 15 -> 0
-
Char: 5
Luc: 999
Body count: 0
Skills: (Unknown) MAX, Tenacity Lv.1, Speed Lv.1]
(Ok… 2 AP to every stat except Dick, which got 5 AP allocated to it.) He was satisfied with how things were looking.
"Ok, that works… I already have that E rank dungeon key, so I'd better put it to good use." Jinwoo smiled as he selected the other two rewards.
The full recovery eliminated all his fatigue, and the random loot box gave him another E rank potion.
(In the original the random loot box would give out trash mostly, but it seems my unreasonable luc stat won't let it, the worst I get are E rank potions. It makes sense why I can't allocate AP to Luc… It's the same with Char too… I wonder how broken that one is.) He got up and walked to the reception as he was having such thoughts.
At the reception, he met his assigned nurse.
"Would you look at that, I'm in luck today. So, pretty, is it ok if I go off hospital grounds for a bit today?" He asked with a smile as he leaned onto the reception desk.
"Hmph! Who are you calling pretty? Don't get too comfortable, I'm only doing my job, and where are you even going? You're still in recovery! You're already pushing it with all the exercise you do, and now you want to go outside? Rest for a bit! Your sister will be mad if she hears about this." Yoora crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow not understanding what he could possibly have to do outside in his current state.
"Oh, come on, don't be such a downer, I'm on your side. Only because you're the most beautiful nurse at the hospital, it's hard not to give it a shot. Do me a solid and trust me to know what I'm doing." He winked at her unapologetically.
"No you-… Most… Most beautiful in the hospital… You really think so?… I mean, what are you doing outside. You're in recovery." She began blushing despite her continued refusal.
"It's a surprise, you'll love it, trust me. I won't say more than this, I can't afford to ruin it after all." He shook his head as he explained.
"A surprise?… For me?… Fine! But you better not be lying! Or I'll tell your sister you're up to no good!" She pointed her finger at him.
"You're my angel truly." He clapped his hands together and took his leave.
After that, he made his way to the Hapjeong station's 3rd exit, and pulled a green old-fashioned key from his inventory.
[Item: Dungeon Key]
[Level of difficulty: E
Type: Key
Description: This key enables you to enter an instant dungeon. It can be used at Hapjeong Station's 3rd exit.]
"Time to grind!" Jinwoo smiled widely as he pushed the key forward and a key hole appeared in the middle of the air.
As soon as the key went in, a bright light enveloped him, and him soon found himself in a mirror dimension of the metro station.
The entrance behind com sealed up completely closing off the outside world for good.
"Let's go." Jinwoo said to himself as he pulled out Kim Sangshik's Sword from his inventory, then walked on, ready to face it all.
The D-ranked blade materialized in a shiver of purple static, heavier than he could have imagined when he read or watched the story, but now there it was, cold steel in his very hands, it was real.
Unlike a normal gate dungeon where hunters could leave and even hope for backup to save them, here, he was all alone, and he was going to make the most of it.
"I wonder if I wait 7 days or die here, would the monster also escape onto earth. Like in a normal dungeon? Oh well, guess we'll never since, I would never allow myself to die again. I do value my life after all." He smiled again and dashed in.
The world would see the rise of the hunter, once the weakest to the top, not only for this world but for all of them, he would go full speed ahead!