Solo Leveling Chapter 9:

I Alone Level-up: Chapter 9

 

“Did you hurt your head?”

 

His little sister asked from the door .  Jinwoo shook his head .

 

“No . ”

 

Not comforted by his words, his sister’s eyes were filled with concern .

 

“You’re really okay, right?”

 

“I told you, yes . ”

 

His little sister huffed and puffed as she started approaching him with a piercing gaze .  Used to her reactions in situations like this, Jinwoo put up his guard as his little sister started hitting him .

 

“I told you to stop getting hurt! Do you know how much I was worried?!”

 

“…Sorry . ”

 

“Everyone else seems to do just fine, why are you the only one getting hurt all the time!”

 

“…Sorry…”

 

The hands that were striking him slowly lost their strength .  Eventually, Jinah stood with her head hung low, tears falling down her cheeks .  Jinwoo patted his sister on the back, doing his best to comfort her . He held back the tears forming in his own eyes .

 

‘To think I was prepared to die… to leave her behind…’

 

Thank **** he had returned alive .  Looking at this moment, he realized just how many times he came close to death .  It was like being in a nightmare .

 

Jinwoo turned his gaze toward the words suspended in air .

 

You have unread messages .

 

‘And it still feels like I haven’t woken up…’

 

He could not understand the meaning behind the words .  Still, what could he do? The most important thing was the fact that he was able to return to his family alive .

 

“Sniff”

 

Fortunately, his sister had stopped crying .  Unfortunately, her rant at his condition continued for another hour…

 

“-So do you understand? If you get hurt again, I’ll give up my studies and go straight into working, so you won’t be able to work as a Hunter ever again!”

 

A sharp, piercing gaze that was unbecoming of her pretty face, she was truly her brother’s sister .

 

“I got it, I got it . ”

 

Jinwoo nodded in resignation .  After receiving his confirmation multiple times, Jinah got up, satisfied .

 

“Where are you gong?”

 

“School .  I just got permission to leave briefly to come and see you, but I have to go back . ”

 

“Right, right .  The college entrance examinations are next year . ”

 

Although he could not afford to provide a tutor or send her to a private school, Jinah still managed to become one of the top students in the school .  Her goal: to become a doctor . The little girl who could not distance herself from video games suddenly became a fervent student when their mother fell ill few years ago .

 

Jinwoo wanted to make sure her dreams came true .

 

‘Wait… video games?’

 

His eyes suddenly shot open .

 

“I’m going . ”

 

Jinwoo quickly caught his sister, who was leaving,

 

“Jinah . ”

 

“What?”

 

“When you play a game…”

 

Jinah smiled, “I don’t play games these days .  There’s so little time until I’m in my final year . ”

 

“I know, I know, but I still wanted to ask,”

 

“About what? Oppa, have you been playing games lately?”

 

Although she had put them behind, she was very good in her past .  As such, her brother’s question flared her interest . Jinwoo continued to stare at the floating letters and asked,

 

“If I have an unread message in a game, how do I open or access it?”

 

“First, you have to open the message box . ”

 

“Open the message box?”

 

ring~

 

The moment he spoke the words “open”, an electronic beep followed the opening of the message box .

 

You have 2 unread messages .

Welcome to becoming a [Player] . (Unread)

[Daily Quest: The Preparation To Become Powerful] has arrived . (Unread)

 

Jinwoo felt himself being filled with joy .

 

‘It worked!’

 

Surprised by the sudden appearance of happiness in his face, Jinah anxiously asked,

 

“What? What game is it? Do you need my help?”

 

Jinwoo firmly shook his head,

 

“No, I want to try it out alone . ”

 

How would his sister react if he told her everything that was happening to him?

 

‘Don’t want to hear from my own sister that I’m crazy . ’

 

So Jinwoo swallowed the words he wanted to say and bid her goodbye .

 

 

 

After confirming that she went down the elevator out of the hospital, Jinwoo returned to his room .

 

‘Can’t repeat the same mistake . ’

 

click-

 

lock-

 

To avoid any unwanted attention, he locked the doors .  Finishing his preparation, Jinwoo sat on the side of his bed and started reading the messages floating before his eyes .

 

Welcome to becoming a [Player] . (Unread)

[Daily Quest: The Preparation To Become Powerful] has arrived . (Unread)

 

The first message seemed familiar to him .

 

‘Where was it, I’ve definitely heard this one before . ’

 

He started with the first message .

 

‘Open . ’

 

ring~

 

This System will help with the growth of the “Player” . Non-compliance with this System’s instructions may result in a penalty .   Your reward has been received .

 

“Ah…”

 

He remembered now .  It was the words he heard before losing consciousness .

 

‘It said something about a player back then, too…’

 

But just like that time, he had no idea what that meant .

 

System .  Growth . Penalty .  Reward .

 

It was a parade of unclear meanings .

 

‘Just what is it helping grow, and what is it rewarding?’

 

He found it difficult to apply these words that he saw in video games before .

 

Ignoring the meaning of the words for now, he went onto the next message .

 

[Daily Quest: The Preparation To Become Powerful] has arrived . (Unread)

 

Gulp .

 

Jinwoo swallowed at the suspicious title of the message .  His heartbeat sped up .

 

‘Open . ’

 

ring~

 

Daily Quest: The Preparation To Become Powerful

Do 100 Push-ups: (Incomplete) (0/100)   Do 100 Sit-ups: (Incomplete) (0/100)   Do 100 Squats: (Incomplete) (0/100)   Run 10 kilometers: (Incomplete) (0/10)   *Warning: Failing to complete the Daily Quest will result in a Penalty Quest .

 

Jinwoo moaned after confirming the message .

 

“Sigh… what is this…”

 

Daily Quest .  On top of that, a “preparation to become powerful” .  He expected more than just simple exercises with a title like that .  At least, it was certain if he completed the exercises in the quest, his body would probably improve a little .  Was this the growth and reward the System spoke of?

 

‘Now that I think about it…’

 

He recalled reading “those with inner problems should listen to their inner voice” in some book before .

 

‘Guess I’m just hallucinating what my body’s telling me’

 

His urge to become stronger must’ve been so strong that he was now seeing these nonsensical words in the air .  More so than how laughable it was, he was disappointed .

 

“If you can just become strong like this, who wouldn’t have done so already…?”

 

He shook his head in disbelief .  He felt pathetic in the expectation that he would find all the answers in these messages .

 

‘Eh, I don’t care . ’

 

Jinwoo went to lie down in the bed .  He stared up into the ceiling .

 

“ . . . ”

 

Although he was not doing anything in particular, time passed by quickly .  As he began to feel the weight of silence throughout the hospital, he suddenly sat up .

 

‘Still…’

 

What if this did bring about change? Half in anticipation, half in suspicion, the thought of ‘should I just give it a try’ occured in his head .

 

‘Can’t hurt after all . ’

 

What if he just lightly tried out one of the motions?

 

After some thought, he made the decision to give it a try .

 

Lightly stretching after getting off the bed, he attempted do half-hearted push-ups .  Instead of getting on the ground, he stood up at and angle and pushed off the bed .

 

“1, 2, 3…”

 

Starting at 1, he rapidly went down the line .

 

“ . . . 97, 98, 99, 100 . ”

 

Finishing what he started, he reached his 100th “push-up” .  Contrary to his expectation, nothing seemed to change . Except for his slightly sore arms .

 

“ . . . So now what…”

 

He stood up with a smile on his face .

 

Welcome to becoming a [Player] . (Read)

[Daily Quest: The Preparation To Become Powerful] has arrived . (Read)

 

The previously “unread” messages had become “read” .  The words telling him that he had unread messages had disappeared, but he no longer had any intention to continue entertaining these delusions .  He felt he had done enough .

 

Without any regrets, he closed the message window .

 

With a yawn, he returned to his bed .  In response to moving after such a long time, he started feeling sleepy .  The window outside glowed orange from the sunset .

 

‘Is it this late already?’

 

The man from the Hunter Surveillance Department explained earlier that his hospital bills would be footed by the Association .  With that in mind, Jinwoo was not in a rush to be discharged .

 

‘Maybe I’ll have the hospital run some tests, make sure I’m completely healthy . ’

 

He thought as he lay in bed .

 

‘I’m sure the hallucinations should disappear after some time . ’

 

His eyelids slowly closed .  Soon, he fell into deep slumber .

 

tick tick tick

 

As he slept, the clock on the opposite wall continued to tick .  As time passed, the hands of the clock eventually pointed to 11:59:57 .

 

tick

 

58 .

 

tick

 

59 .

 

tick

 

60 .

 

The clock pointed to 12:00:00 .

 

ring~

 

[You’ve failed to complete the Daily Quest .  You will be moved to the ‘Penalty Zone’ for a set duration . ]

 

 

 

SHAKE!~

 

Jinwoo opened his eyes to an intense trembling that shook his entire body .

 

“E-earthquake?!”

 

He shot up and grabbed the bed frame at the foot of the bed .  The trembling was so strong that he found it difficult to hold on .

 

SHAKE!~

 

But with each passing second, the tremors became worse .

 

Suddenly,

 

psssh~

 

The bed frame he held onto for his life broke .  No, it had disappeared from his hands . His checked his hands, there was no sign of the bed frame .  Instead, there was sand on his palms .

 

‘Sand?’

 

psssssh~

 

Rest of the frames on the bed turned to sand, and the trembling became even stronger .

 

SHAKE!~

 

“Uwaaak!”

 

Unable to hold on, he was eventually thrown off the bed .  Jinwoo screamed as he bounced up and down in his room . One by one, all the furniture and items in his room turned into sand .

 

“Uwaaaaaaah!”

 

Crash!

 

Jinwoo suddenly found himself embedded in something .  His fingertips felt the softness of sand around him . The earthshake had stopped .

 

spit spit

 

As he spat out the sand that entered his mouth, he raised his head .

 

“ . . . ?”

 

He found himself in the middle of a vast desert .  Patting the sand off his body, he stood up and looked around . In every direction, he saw an endless field of sand, stretching to the horizon .

 

“A desert…?”

 

There was no logical explanation for this .  Until moments ago, he was resting on a hospital bed in the middle of Seoul .

 

He grabbed a handful of sand and let it fall .  The sand fell in a straight line to the ground .

 

‘There’s no wind . ’

 

Not just wind, looking up, there was no sun, moon or even stars .

 

An empty sky like black ink spilled across a canvas .

 

Even stranger, despite the lack of a visible light source, he had no trouble seeing his surroundings .

 

“Where am I?”