When the plan of the Rulers fails and they see that the only chance of victory is through the Shadow Monarch, one of them decides to stack the deck in their favor and does something drastic. This time, the Shadow Monarch will have a White Ruler to accompany him in his quest.
"Doctor! He is waking up!"
Huh? Why is there a woman in my house? And why is she shouting?
"Impossible! That kid had been in Eternal Slumber for years!"
Eternal Slumber? you bastard, are you cursing me to die?
Wait a minute. Why can't I move?
Panic surged through me as I tried to move but my body refused to do so.
What is this? What's going on?
"His vitals are spiking!"
"Quick get the anesthetics-"
"But he is just waking up from an Eternal Slumber. There is no way to tell what will happen if we use anesthetics!"
"I know but If we don't do anything to stabilize him, he will die!"
Fuck anesthetics! I aint going to sleep again!
With great difficulty, I opened my eyes and all I saw was a blur.
Then, I felt a needle pierce my arm and everything started to go blank again.
No! I will not go to sleep again.
With sheer will, I tried to keep awake but my concentration failed when a sound similar to a notification bell on an old browser went off in my head.
With my concentration gone, I quickly fell asleep. But even in slumber, all I saw was light, like my eyes were being blasted with flood lights. And within that light, I could make out a figure that looked like an angel that was wearing cloth and armor.
I don't know how long I was asleep, but soon, I felt my consciousness return as I slowly opened my eyes.
It was still a little blurry but I was able to see that I was in some kind of a hospital. But there was one problem.
This place was much more advanced compared to anything that I ever saw before. And everything was in Korean.
How did I know it was Korean? And why the hell am I able to read it when the only language my monkey brain is able to understand is English? Just what the hell is going on here?
"Ah, you are finally awake"
The voice I recognized as the same so-called Doctor from my semi-conscious state from before asked. With a bit of effort, I managed to look in the direction of the Doctor and found him to be an Asian man that was suspiciously good-looking and well-built for a doctor.
There it is again. How did I understand his words when he clearly spoke Korean?
First things first, I need to know where I am and what happened.
With a bit of concentration, I spoke in fluent Korean.
"Where am I?"
"Mr. Sung. You are in the Central Hospital in Seol. How do you feel? Any dizziness? Headaches? Any unnatural urges?"
"I feel a bit weak and I do have a headache but otherwise, I feel fine"
I am definitely not fine. Who the hell is Mr.Sung? Why are you calling me that? And how the hell did I get from New York to Seoul? Just what happened?
"Why am I in the hospital?"
At my question, the doctor gave me a contemplative look and answered.
"You fell into an Eternal Slumber a few months after your mother did. I….There is no easy way to say this but it has been 4 years since you fell into slumber"
What the fuck is an eternal slumber? And my mother? My mother died a few years ago. And can you not look at me with pity? I am a grown-ass man so I don't need your-
Wait a minute. Something is wrong.
Where are my back pains?
Why am I able to see so clearly even without my glasses?
Why is there no pain in my right leg from my old injury?
With growing panic that I managed to suppress with my sheer will, I slowly looked around the room and my eyes finally landed on a glass case that reflected my appearance.
What I saw was a young man that was in his twenties, clearly a Korean, with black hair and eyes, and a face that was probably handsome. I don't know the beauty standard of Koreans so I can't really say.
…..How? Just how?
Is this a dream? Probably not since I've never experienced such a detailed dream. Some kind of a mind control experiment from good old CIA? But why me? I am just an unremarkable man working in the hospitality industry. No, something tells me this is not some twisted experiment.
"Mr.Sung? Are you ok?"
"…Yes Doctor. I think so."
"I understand that this must be quite a shock to you. I will leave you, for now, to come to terms with it. Oh, we also contacted your family, they will be here soon. Once we go through the formalities you can be released. Also, we will be shifting you into your mother's room so that your siblings can easily find you"
I ignored his words about my family since I had no idea what he meant. I live alone in New York, working during the day and drinking myself to sleep at night. I have no relatives that actually matter since Mom and Dad died when I was 20. That was five years ago.
I need to play dumb until I can figure out just what is going in here.
I simply got up with effort and sat down on the wheelchair as they pushed me out of the room.
When I caught my full reflection in a mirror that we passed by, I was finally able to see just how withered and emancipated my body looked. It was like I had my blood sucked by a particularly hungry vampire.
Soon, we arrived at another room where a bed was already prepared for me. Within minutes, the nurse attached the cables to my injections for fluid intake and left me alone in the room with the other occupant, probably the 'mother' that the doctor was speaking about.
After gathering my courage for a while, I finally turned to look at the woman sleeping on the bed beside mine, and I immediately felt my headache multiply.
Flashes of images, and memories, inserted themselves into my mind as I felt like someone took a white-hot rod and stabbed it into my brain.
The woman, Park Kyung-Hye, my mother.
After what felt like an eternity, I slowly started to understand the situation.
I have been reborn.
The woman is indeed my mother. I have two siblings. Sung Jin-Woo is a year younger than me. Sung Jinah is 8 years younger than me.
And I am, Sung Changmin. The eldest of the siblings.
After I slowly pulled myself from the overwhelming amount of memories and emotions associated with them, I had one realization that started to make me panic for real now.
I am in Solo leveling. A death world of the highest rank where you can randomly die if you get on the bad side of a hunter and no one will bat an eye at such things.
Seriously, Fuck my life.