Chapter 1
Somewhere inside a hospital, a young man with jet-black hair lay on a bed. His body was wrapped in gauze, and he was dressed in a hospital gown.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open as though he had awakened from a nightmare. His face was pale, his pupils dilated, reflecting the terror he had just seen in his mind.
Covered in cold sweat, the man tried to sit up, but excruciating pain surged through his nerves, forcing him to remain lying on the bed.
Panting heavily, he struggled to piece together what had happened.
The last thing he remembered was riding his motorcycle home from work, as usual. Then, a sudden pain struck his back. Before everything went dark, he heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot.
This man was Allan Atienza, a 26-year-old Filipino purchasing officer at a construction company.
As memories resurfaced, he recalled his motorcycle crashing while speeding at 120 kilometers per hour. Everything afterward was a blur until he woke up in the hospital.
Allan clenched his fists in fury, his anger directed at the assailants who had caused his accident. He turned his gaze to the window, where the night sky loomed dark and foreboding.
"It seems I woke up in the middle of the night," he murmured.
He had no idea who had shot him, but he refused to let it slide. Determined, Allan whispered, "Once I've healed, I'll find those bastards and make sure they pay." His eyes burned with the fire of revenge.
Before blacking out, Allan recalled two teenagers on a motorcycle trailing behind him. Neither wore helmets, and despite the chaos, he distinctly remembered seeing a gun held by the topless boy riding pillion.
"Kids... Even children aren't afraid to commit such heinous crimes," he thought bitterly. No matter how hard he tried, Allan couldn't place their faces or identities. It seemed likely they were strangers.
"But why target me?" he pondered.
The question gnawed at him as he recalled online videos showing motorbike thefts. These attackers would ambush riders, wielding knives or guns, and sometimes even shooting the owners to seize the bikes. Allan shuddered at the thought—he might have just become another victim of such crimes.
As anger and frustration bubbled within him, Allan released a deep sigh, fighting through the whirlwind of helpless emotions: bitterness, sorrow, and disbelief. "The world keeps becoming darker... Even kids no longer fear killing," he murmured.
His gaze returned to the dark sky outside. Though the hours crept into the night, Allan couldn't sleep. The terrifying event still lingered in his mind.
Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by an unfamiliar sound.
[Ding!]
"Huh?" Allan turned his head instinctively, scanning the room for the source of the noise.
But there was nothing unusual—just the standard medical equipment. Then, he noticed something odd in his field of vision: a glowing square with an exclamation mark hovering in the upper-left corner.
It wasn't an illusion. The square displayed a notification—an unread message.
Allan's pulse quickened. Slowly, he raised his trembling hands to his face. His skin appeared lighter. His limbs seemed longer.
"I… I didn't survive the incident, did I?" Allan whispered, his voice trembling with despair. His face darkened as he began to understand his situation.
---
(Early the next morning…)
A doctor hurriedly entered the patient's room to check on him. He froze in place, frowning deeply at what he saw.
The man was exercising. Normally, seeing a patient exercise might be encouraging, but this wasn't a normal case. Just a day ago, this patient was severely injured during a dungeon break, caught in the chaos as monstrous creatures rampaged through the city. He had been rushed to the hospital in critical condition. If it weren't for swift medical intervention, he would have ended up in the morgue.
Yet here the man was, performing squats on the floor as though nothing had happened. His body glistened with sweat from exertion.
"H-Hey…!" The doctor tried to call out but hesitated mid-sentence.
His eyes widened in disbelief as he saw something shocking. The gauze covering the man's injuries was gone. So were the injuries themselves.
The patient's bare torso gleamed in the morning light, fit and healthy. No sign of the wounds that had almost claimed his life the day before.
The doctor's mind raced. He finally managed to ask, "Have you… become awakened?"
---
(Four hours earlier…)
Allan stared blankly at the glowing notification hovering before him.
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for becoming a Player!
You've received the following Starter Pack:
- Raven Alarcon's Memory Crystal
- Rejuvenation Potion x1
- Rune Stone [D]
- Attribute Points +5]
The words seemed unreal. It was as if Allan had stepped into a scene straight out of a video game. Despite the absurdity of it, the pain in his body and the glowing interface in his vision were undeniable. This was real.
"What the hell…?" Allan muttered, his voice low and uncertain. He scanned the list of rewards again, trying to make sense of it.
"The potion and attribute points are self-explanatory," he reasoned. "I'm still in pain, and a potion would definitely help me recover. The attribute points… I guess they'll let me increase my stats, like leveling up in a game." Allan exhaled deeply, attempting to calm the whirlwind of thoughts in his head. But the other items puzzled him.
"A Rune Stone? What's that supposed to do? And who is Raven Alarcon?" he wondered aloud. The name didn't spark any recognition. It wasn't from any game, movie, or book he'd ever come across.
After a moment of hesitation, Allan decided to focus on the item that could potentially give him some answers—the Raven Alarcon Memory Crystal. Without fully understanding what would happen, he reached out, willing the crystal to activate.
The moment he did, a sharp burst of light flared in his mind. His surroundings blurred as a flood of memories surged into his consciousness.
---
Scenes unfolded in Allan's mind, vivid and immersive. He was no longer in the hospital room. Instead, he experienced someone else's life—someone ordinary yet living in an extraordinary world.
Raven Alarcon was a warehouse worker in the Philippines, responsible for tracking and managing construction materials. His life seemed mundane at first glance, but it quickly became clear that his world was anything but ordinary.
Raven lived in a world where dungeons, monsters, and awakened individuals existed. These dungeons would break open, unleashing chaos and destruction upon cities. Hunters—individuals with unique powers—were humanity's last line of defense against the horrors that spilled forth from these dungeons.
The memories intensified. Allan saw glimpses of ferocious monsters, deadly battles, and magical abilities wielded by powerful awakened individuals. Hunters fought valiantly to close dungeon gates and protect ordinary civilians, but the danger was constant, and the losses were devastating.
Among the flood of images, certain names echoed like thunder in Allan's mind—Go Gun-Hee, Thomas Andre. These names sent a shiver down his spine.
"This… this can't be real," Allan whispered, his voice trembling with disbelief. "I'm in Solo Leveling…?"
---
As the memories settled, Allan opened his eyes, returning to the hospital room. He took several deep breaths, trying to process the overwhelming information he had just absorbed.
"So that's why the crystal was part of the starter pack," Allan muttered. "It wasn't just a reward—it was a way to understand the world I've stepped into."
He clenched his fists, the reality of his situation sinking in. This wasn't the world he knew. This was a world teetering on the edge of chaos, where strength and survival were paramount.
His eyes flickered back to the notification interface. The other items in the starter pack suddenly seemed far more significant.
"The potion… I should use it now." With a thought, Allan activated the Rejuvenation Potion. A glowing vial appeared in his hands, its contents shimmering with a golden hue. Hesitant at first, he uncorked the vial and drank it in one swift motion.
Warmth spread through his body immediately. The pain that had been gnawing at him moments earlier vanished like a distant memory. Allan flexed his limbs, astonished at the complete recovery.
"This is insane…" he murmured, inspecting his now-uninjured body.
His attention turned to the Rune Stone and the attribute points. "I'll deal with these next. If this world is as dangerous as Raven's memories suggest, I'll need all the strength I can get."
Determined, Allan began exploring the functions of his newfound system, ready to take his first steps in this unfamiliar yet perilous world.