'Life works in strange ways...'
I thought as I lay in a hospital bed in the same room as a muscular dark haired young man with black hair and gray eyes who was currently doing pushups at a swift pace.
"98, 99, 100" the youth said standing up just as he finished as he looked up his eyes meeting mine as he looked a bit embarrassed.
"Oh you're awake after all this time..." He said as memories suddenly filled my mind.
I clenched my fist in pain letting out a pained grunt as the young man looked at me worried. That's when the memories became so much clearer.
"W-We're going to die here Sukuna....those bastards left us behind...we have people to take care of too! We wanted to go home too, damnit!"
The image of this young man, albeit much less muscular flashed through my mind, his leg gone as he struggled to hold up a sword at the massive statues walking towards us.
In the memory my vision seemed blurred red with blood as I myself was also missing a leg. After that more memories appeared of me and him fighting together through the years both childhood friends with similar circumstances leading them down the same path together.
It was then that words came out of my mouth against my will.
"Jin Woo...did we survive?"
"Yeah, they say that they found us both unconscious back in the double dungeon and came to retrieve us and the remains of the others... A few days ago some guys from the Hunter Association came by to see if we reawakened but you were still sleeping" he said drying himself off with a towel.
If these memories, and his words are true then I've definitely been reborn in the world of... Solo Leveling.
And with that notion and the memories I have I should be an E-Rank Hunter just like Jin Woo before the system. It's strange though, why would the system save both of us if the only reason it was there was to give Ashborn a successor?
There was only one system and everyone else was free to die as they pleased even if they stayed hypothetically at least.
[Ding!]
Both me and Jin Woo froze as both our eyes widened. Floating in front of both of us were two system panels.
Jin Woo's panel was a bright blue with a black background and white letters, however mine was a Crimson Red with a white background and Black letters.
Yet what shocked us both the most was that not only could we see each other other's panels but they both read the same thing.
[Warning! You are in the presence of the Monarch Of Shadow! Please escape the area!]
[Warning! You are in the presence of the Monarch of Slaughter! Please Escape the area!]
Both panels began pinging the both of us again and again as we stared at each other, eyes wide in shock.
"You also have a system?" Jin Woo asked surprised as he thought he was a unique existence after he gained the system and found nothing similar online after searching thoroughly.
"I-I don't know..." I say once again out of habit instead of thought. It seems this body and Jin Woo speak casually to each other like brothers so much so that I don't hesitate to speak openly with the guy.
Looking back at the messages once more Jin Woo mutters out a quiet, "What's a Monarch?" before the panels glitch and vanish from sight once more.
I sit up on the bed and decide to open my system directly and that same crimson panel reappears.
– Congratulations on becoming a [Player] (unread)
– [Weekly Quest: Origins of Slaughter] is now available. (unread)
'Wow, it was just like Jin Woo's system, though the quest is different and has a different timer too.' I thought to myself.
Opening the first message I saw exactly what I remembered from the novel.
[This System will support the growth of the 'Player.']
[Failing to comply with the System's instructions will result in potential penalties.]
[Your rewards have been delivered.]
Yep exactly as the novel.
As for the second message...
[Weekly Quest: Origins of Slaughter]
Kill 50 Beings (0/50)
*Warning: Incompletion of Weekly Quest will result in immediate termination of the [Player].
I damn near had a heart attack reading that message. Isn't that a bit extreme? Jin Woo's quest is much easier than this or at least has a much lower penalty!
"Dang your quest is different from mines" Jin Woo said looking over my shoulder as I jumped a bit.
"Yeah but if I don't do it I'll just up and die apparently..." I say as Jin Woo nods whispering to me.
"Take my advice and just do the quest, I found out the hard way the those penalties are for real man"
I sigh as this means I either have to become a criminal or enter a dungeon to kill some things before the time is up. Speaking of, how much time did he have left anyway?
[Time Remaining for Weekly Quest: 12:34:21]
"Damn only 12.5 hours left to finish this quest or I'm dead..."
I open my stats and just like Jin Woo I was very weak compared to other hunters.
Name: Ryomen Sukuna
Level: 1
Class: None
Title: None
HP: 100
MP: 15
Tiredness: 0
[Stat]
Strength: 11
Stamina: 11
Agility: 11
Intelligence: 11
Perception: 13
(Available points to distribute: 0)
[Skills]
Passive Skills:
- (Unknown) Lv. Max
- Cold Blooded Lv. 1
Active Skills:
Cleave X Dismantle Lv. 1
My stats are only just barely higher than that of Jin Woo's at the start of his journey. The difference is basically negligible at best but I'll take what I can.
[Skill: Cold Blooded Lv. 1]
Passive skill.
Mana required to activate: None.
You're a being of pure Slaughter. When your stamina drops below 50%, this skill will automatically activate and increase your damage by 5% and damage received will reduce by 2.5%. For every subsequent 10% in stamina loss gain another 5% in damage and 2.5% in damage reduction.
Wow, basically a berserker skill that makes me stronger the more tired I am, not bad though Jin Woo's 50% damage reduction at below 30% stamina may currently be better in a way.
[Skill: Cleave X Dismantle Lv. 1]
Active skill.
Mana Required to activate: 1
As a being of Pure Slaughter you have the ability to cleave and Dismantle the world around you. The Cleave of this ability allows the [Player] to CLEAVE through any target they are touching. The Dismantle of this ability allows the [Player] to DISMANTLE targets at a range cutting through them. Cleave automatically adjusts to the targets durability at the cost of relative stamina and Dismantle has higher range in exchange for not being able to automatically adjust to durability of the target.
'Oh, so I'm starting with Sukuna's basic attacks eh. My start is way better than Jin Woo's then, he still has to unlock all his skills, although with his daily quest training he can definitely insta kill me right now due to his strength stat.' I think to myself as I stand getting dressed in some clothes.
"Welp Jin Woo, I'm off to a dungeon to complete my quest. Don't want to die after all haha, see ya around" I say my tone naturally friendly due to the memories of friendship I have of him despite my mind having two different memories to go off of.
"Yeah, you should get on that before you croak haha" he says as I leave ignoring the nurse saying I shouldn't head out in my condition.
All my wounds were basically gone and I had no obligation to stay so that's that. It's time to begin my journey in this new world, as a hunter and apparently a Monarch of Slaughter?