1. Death & Chance

Death, something inevitable for all living beings. No one can escape death and no one knows when death will come. One could be the healthiest person alive and suddenly die. While one can be very sick and suffer from pain every second but death won't die even after a very long time.

This young man is the example of the 1st case. A 23-year-old man with a very fit body without any disease and lives a very healthy life. Yet here he is, floating in a soul form on top of his dead body that's lying on the roadside with blood coming out of the wound on his chest.

The medics that had just arrived tried to save his life, but nothing happened. They tried, but nothing could bring back the dead. Maybe it's a good thing that he died though, because he can't feel the pain anymore. Just looking at the wound on his dead body is enough to make him shiver even though he's just a soul now.

Though he is still very curious about why that asshole suddenly killed him. He didn't even know that guy, yet that guy suddenly approached him and stabbed his chest with a knife. Then he ran away and people were too scared to catch him because he swung his bloody knife around, so he escaped.

"Damn, will I become a ghost now because I get killed?"

"You can be a ghost if you want."

The young man's soul suddenly hears an old man's voice from behind and everything suddenly turns white. He turns around and sees a muscular old man with long white hair & beard sitting on a beach chair while only wearing short pants.

"You... This setting... No way! Are you a God who will offer me a reincarnation?"

"..... Is this setting too cliche?"

"Yeah, there are too many reincarnation stories lately, so I have a hunch."

"Tsk, I guess you're right. Well, it saves me a lot of time because I don't need to explain the basics to you."

"So, is this about reincarnation."

"Yeah, happy?"

"HELL YEAH, I'M HAPPY! There's no way I won't be happy to live again after dying so suddenly at a young age. I still have a lot of things I want to do in life, like getting married and having kids."

"You haven't even heard what kind of world that'll be your next home. It may be a very dangerous world, you know."

"At least I can still live even if it's dangerous. Also, these reincarnation stories usually happen in dangerous worlds. It's just that some authors just decided to give their MCs absurd powers to make those dangerous worlds into playgrounds. I don't know if you'll give me absurdly powerful abilities, but I'm sure you'll give me something very helpful to live in that world."

"Hmm, I like your attitude. Well, you're right. I need you to do something for me there, so I will give you power. As much as I want to make you absurdly powerful from the beginning, it's just impossible. My influence is limited in that world. If not, then I would have done this myself without involving a human like you."

"So there is really a mission. As I thought, those stories where the MCs are free to do whatever they want are bullshits. Alright then, what do you want me to do?"

"You know Solo Leveling? I want you to save that world."

"..... Huh?"

"I know what you think. That world is saved in the story after Jin Woo returns to the past. Well, that is true, for a while."

The God then tells the young man's soul that even after Jin Woo defeats the Monarchs, Earth keeps getting attacked by supernatural beings. Its coordinate has been exposed to these beings' worlds since the Monarchs tried to conquer it and many beings tried to conquer Earth for different reasons.

The most common reason is they want to enslave the humans. Jin Woo obviously tried to stop them all and he managed to defend Earth for many years together with his shadow army and descendants. However, these enemies kept coming and they kept getting stronger too.

"After almost 300 years defending Earth, Jin Woo finally reached his limit. Very strong enemies that even he can't stop appeared. His wife, son & some of his grandchildren were killed. Even the immortal shadow army was crumbling. He almost died too, but I saved him. In the last 300 years, the ones that came to Earth weren't just enemies. He also made some friends, including me."

Jin Woo failed to protect Earth and now it has turned into a battlefield of powerful beings. The humans are powerless, so they can't do anything to protect themselves. They are caught and turned into slaves by these beings.

"After I saved him, Jin Woo told me that he was the one causing this. He made a big mistake by not letting humans and Earth grow stronger with magic."

"You mean the Hunters?"

"Yeah, the era of Hunters before he turns back the time using Cup of Reincarnation. He said that if he just let the era of Hunters continue, then humans would have the power to protect themselves now."

"Really? Aren't hunters in that world unable to grow stronger and there are only a few percent of S-Class hunters? They all are much weaker than even Sung Jin Woo before he became Shadow Monarch. Won't it be the same because they all are weak?"

"Well, that's actually just the case for the 1st generation Hunters. The next generations would be able to grow, unlike the 1st generation that has fixed power forever."

When Earth started turning into a battlefield half a century ago, Hunters appeared again on Earth because magic power started filling the Earth. Just like the Hunters in Solo Leveling story, they were unable to grow stronger. Their power was decided from the start.

But at least they have power and they could fight the invaders even with their weak power. Then after years, the 2nd generation Hunters that can grow appeared. They are people who were born after Earth had been filled with magic power.

"The 1st generation couldn't grow because their bodies weren't made to hold magic power. That's why there are some people who couldn't adapt to magic power and got sick. But the 2nd generation is different. Their parents have adapted with magic power and magic power has seeped into their bodies since they were in their mothers' wombs. That's why every human born in the magic power era can grow stronger. The only difference is their potential."

"Then it shouldn't be a problem, right? There must be some people with incredible potential that can help Jin Woo fight those invaders."

"Didn't you hear me? The hunters only started appearing again 50 years ago. There wasn't enough time for humans to have that many powerful people. To begin with, the number of living humans was already too low and it kept getting lower after Hunters appeared because those invaders kept killing the strong ones before they could pose a threat."

".... So the problem was time and number?"

"Yeah. That's why Jin Woo regrets his decision. If only he let humans grow even after turning back the time, then they would be very powerful by now and would have the power to protect themselves. He managed to save his father and a lot of humans of that era, but it ruined the humans' future."

"Ok, I understand the gist of it. So what do you want me to do? Fighting those invaders?"

"No! I can't give you that much power. If I had, then I would have done it myself because that means I am strong enough to do that, but I'm not. They have some beings stronger than me, after all."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"I will send you to the past."

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