It was around 2:30 AM.
Leo sat in front of the computer in his small apartment in Koreatown, Los Angeles. The apartment... well, it couldn't exactly be described as clean. The smell of ramen from yesterday - or two days ago, he wasn't sure - still lingered in the air, mixed with the vape he'd been smoking since morning. RGB lights from the keyboard and three monitors illuminated his face in shifting colors: blue, red, green, purple.
812 viewers. Not a big number, honestly, but it was enough. Enough for him to feel like people were listening.
He wore an old black hoodie with "Solo Leveling" written in Korean. The hoodie was faded from too many washes, with a small soy sauce stain on the left sleeve - he'd tried washing it twice, it wouldn't come out. His black hair was messy, stuck to his forehead with sweat. Not from heat, no, from excitement.
"Okay guys, listen..." He leaned into the microphone, his eyes gleaming, "The system in Solo Leveling Requiem... this isn't just a regular power-up system. No no no. This is a complete philosophy!"
He raised his hand enthusiastically, nearly knocking over the empty coffee cup beside him.
"Imagine with me: someone weak, ordinary, everyone mocks him... suddenly he becomes the only player in the game of reality itself. Every battle equals XP. Every monster he kills equals a new skill. Every drop of blood he loses equals a lesson. This... this is the dream of everyone who's ever felt stuck!"
The chat exploded:
[seoulboy99]: facts bro FACTS [shadowhunter_k]: system supremacy fr fr [copequeen]: lmao liam it's just fiction touch grass [liamfan69]: KING SPEAK YOUR TRUTH
Leo smiled - a wide smile, his slightly chipped side tooth showing (it broke long ago when he was young, playing basketball and someone elbowed him). He looked directly at the camera, raised one eyebrow confidently.
"Honestly?" He said it slowly, cunningly, "If this system came to me... one week. One week and I'd finish the speedrun. I wouldn't waste a single opportunity, not one XP point, not one monster. I'd be the new Sung Jin-Woo, but an upgraded version. With a taste of kimchi and spam musubi."
He laughed loudly - a genuine laugh, but with a bit of exaggeration. He knew it was exaggerated, but he liked believing it.
The viewers typed quickly, some laughing, some chatting, some saying he was arrogant. All normal. This was the art.
And suddenly...
The screen... shuddered.
Not ordinary lag. No. The image itself seemed to tear. Thin red lines - like frozen blood veins - began seeping from the screen's corners. The room's lights dimmed suddenly, as if someone had lowered a dimmer switch, but there was no dimmer switch in the apartment.
"Huh?" Leo stared at the screen intently.
The lighting shifted... to red. Dark red, like emergency lights in cheap horror movies.
"What the..."
Directly above the desk, in the air, something began forming.
A small circle. Red. Spinning slowly at first, as if breathing. Its diameter roughly the size of a personal pizza. Accelerating gradually. A low buzzing sound - like a thousand flies trapped in an iron box - began emanating from it.
Leo froze in place.
The chat exploded:
[seoulboy99]: YO WHAT THE FUCK [copequeen]: LMAOOO hollywood budget huh [liamfan69]: LIAM TURN IT OFF IT'S CREEPY [shadowhunter_k]: bro is this a prank [xXshadowXx]: nah this CGI is TOO GOOD
He slowly raised his hand - trembling slightly - tried bringing his fingers closer to the circle. Not scared yet, no, but... confused. His mind told him this was impossible, his senses told him otherwise.
"Guys I..." His voice came out broken, "I swear I don't know what this is..."
The portal - because he was now certain it was a portal - suddenly expanded.
Like a monster's mouth opening.
Thick red light, blinding, exploded from it. The camera blinded for a moment. He heard the viewers screaming in the headphones - overlapping voices, real panic:
"LIAM?!" "BRO NO—" "WHAT IS HAPPENING—"
And the portal swallowed him.
The fall was...
Strange.
Not painful. Not terrifyingly fast. As if gravity forgot its job. He felt his body stretching and contracting at the same time, like passing through a narrow, elastic tube. Colors rushed past him - red, black, light blue, then... white.
Then everything stopped.
He woke on his back.
First thing he felt: cold. Wet floor beneath him. Light rain falling on his face. A strange smell - rain mixed with... fried kimchi? Car exhaust, something slightly sour.
He slowly opened his eyes.
Gray sky above him. Heavy clouds. Umbrellas hanging over small shops on the sides - closed shops, looking slightly old. Red and blue neon lights reflecting on the wet tiles beneath him.
He lifted his head slightly. A light dizziness hit him, but no pain. No wounds, no blood. His body was fine... but something was wrong.
Something heavy in his chest. Like an extra heart beating inside him.
He tried to sit up. His hands trembling. He looked around - a narrow alley, old buildings, signs... in Korean.
"No..." He whispered to himself, "No no no..."
And then he saw it.
A blue screen.
Transparent.
Floating directly in front of him, as if part of the air itself.
[Welcome, Transmigrated Entity] [Player: Leo Park] [Level: 0] [Class: None] [Unique Trait: Meta-Knowledge (Passive)] [Warning: Survival Rate < 0.1%]
He stared at it.
Long seconds. His eyes moving from line to line.
Read it once. Twice. Three times.
"No..." His voice came out muffled, faint, "This... this isn't real."
He raised his hand, tried to touch the screen. His fingers passed through it like smoke. No texture. But it existed. It existed before him.
"I'm in a dream. Definitely in a dream."
But he knew it wasn't a dream.
The cold wind. The rain on his skin. The street's smell - a real smell, strong, different from any smell he'd experienced in his life. The sound of distant cars. Laughter of young people in another street. A motorcycle bell.
Everything was real.
Painfully real.
He sat on his knees. His breathing became heavy. His heart pounding fast - terrifyingly fast - as if trying to escape his chest.
Fear.
Real fear.
Not the fear you feel when playing a horror game. No. The fear that enters your bones, paralyzes you, makes you feel small, weak, worthless.
"Am I... in Seoul?"
He looked at the signs. All Korean. The buildings narrow, slightly old. The food... he knew this smell. He'd visited Seoul twice with his family, but this... was different.
This was Seoul... but not the real Seoul.
This was Solo Leveling Seoul.
The thought struck him like lightning.
Survival Rate < 0.1%
He laughed.
A short, bitter laugh, almost turning into crying.
"One week... I said one week?" He hit the ground with his fist, a weak, desperate strike. "Oh my God... I'm going to die on the first day."
He raised his head to the sky. The rain washing his face, mixing with tears he didn't feel until they started falling.
He trembled. From cold? From fear? He wasn't sure.
But there was something else... something small, crazy, at the bottom of his chest.
Curiosity.
A sick desire to see... where he could reach.
How far he could reach.
"Alright system..." He whispered, wiping his face with the wet hoodie sleeve, "You want me to play?"
He stood slowly. His knees trembling, but he stood.
"Fine. I'll play."
The alley before him looked like a prison entrance.
And somewhere far in the city, he heard a sound... a low roar.
Like a monster awakening.
He took a deep breath.
And took the first step.