Solo Leveling: A King Rises

Author's Note: Okay,— here we go!

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| 2018 / 4 Years before the start of canon - During the early morning on Earth, Portugal, near the capital city Lisbon. - Unknown 1st Person Pov:

It's pouring. A relentless, freezing downpour that soaks everything it touches,— including me, standing on the open train platform with nowhere to hide.

The station feels empty, lifeless, just like my motivation.

It's five in the morning, the sun hasn't risen yet, and the cold bites through my clothes. I shiver but end up enduring it.

I have no choice, after all. I'm just an 18 year-old nobody... A guy with a dead-end supermarket job.

Which means? Possibly no future, no hope.

A failure,— a guy who wasted his potential, squandered his teenage years, and now pays the price every single day.

The station around me is mostly deserted, save for a few miserable souls like myself, dragging themselves out of bed for jobs they hate.

No Hunters, though,— not that I expected any.

Those bastards are probably still warm in their beds, living their privileged lives.

And why wouldn't they? Dungeons fill their pockets with riches, while they rake in glory like it's nothing. Meanwhile, I'm here, drenched, shivering, waiting for a train that will take me to another day of monotony.

"God, I hate the rain." I mutter to no one, my words lost in the storm that rages all around me. I pull my hood tighter, hating every decision that led me to this moment.

Then, the faint rumble of the tracks cuts through my thoughts.

5:05 a.m. on the dot.

Great! Another day, another miserable commute.

The train glides into the station, and I step inside, dripping water onto the floor. The carriage is nearly empty from what I can see, its dim lighting doing nothing to lift the dreary mood that hails my existance.

I end up taking a seat by the window, watching as the rain streaks across the glass, droplets racing each other down the pane. My unfocused eyes follow them slowly, and my mind finds it hypnotic, in a way.

The city outside still sleeps, and the faint hum of the train lulls me into a false sense of calm as we start moving.

Then, after a few seconds of gliding silently above the rails, we enter a tunnel.

At first, it's the same as always,— pitch black, broken only by the occasional glow of faint, flickering white lights along the walls.

But then, I see it, a blue light flickering ahead. Faint at first, but surely growing brighter.

Something's wrong, I can feel it. And so, I straighten up, my pulse quickening, instincts,— dull as they may be,— screaming wildly at me in warning.

The train jolts, making me grip the seat as it lurches to an abrupt stop. Pain shoots through my palms, and my head throbs from the sudden movement. "What the...?"

Blue light surges quick, illuminating the tunnel walls with an eerie, unnatural glow, while the train remains dead still.

Passengers all around me exchange confused glances, and the unease in my gut twists into something worse.

Then the first impact hits, and the train shudders violently. I'm unceremoniously thrown against the carriage wall, while sudden pain explodes in my shoulder.

A deafening screech of metal fills the air, and screams follow. Windows shatter, shards of glass rain down as warm blood trickles down my temple, and I, disoriented, force myself onto one knee, my vision swimming.

Looking around, I notice the middle of the carriage is gone,— completly obliterated.

Twisted wreckage lies smashed against the tunnel wall, and confusion shots through my mind. "What... happened?" My voice shakes, struggling to process the destruction.

Then I see them, through the broken windows, shadows emerge from the blue light.

Massive, hulking figures with pig-like heads,— grotesque, supporting muscular bodies.

They hold crude, bloodied weapons in one hand, and,— human bodies in the other...

I freeze as one of them tears a screaming woman in half, teeth sinking into flesh. The crunch is sickening, and I swallow bile.

"Oh God..." My voice cracks, yet my body won't move at all. These monsters,— these orc-like creatures,— they shouldn't be here.

This must be an unraided dungeon,— though dungeons are supposed to be managed,— controlled.

But Portugal barely has a functioning Hunters' Association, no S-Rank hunters, no real infrastructure to deal with high-level threats like this.

And now?

I'm here, trapped, while hopelessness washes over me, and I dread what comes next.

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If you're wondering who this unlucky idiot is... that's me.

Name's Alex,— short for Alexander. Just a guy caught in the worst possible place at the worst possible time.

And before you ask,— yes, this isn't my first life. I'm a reincarnator, as in, I died once back on my old Earth.

That was when I suddenly woke up here,— in the world of Solo Leveling. Eighteen years have gone by since then... and I've done nothing at all.

I received no golden finger, no miraculous awakening, no system,— and certainly no cheat skills. Just living a powerless, normal life in a world where power is kind of... everything.

And now? Now, it seems that I'm about to die again. The monsters outside,— orc-like creatures with pig heads,— are B or even A-Rank at least.

But the cold truth? Portugal doesn't have hunters strong enough to deal with this,— no one's coming to save us in time.

The train is wrecked, the tunnel is a slaughterhouse, and me? I'm nothing more than what you can compare to the lowest of the lowest of an E-Rank,— in a world such as this, that devours the weak, that is a death sentence in many cases.

Fortunately for me, I had never experienced anything like this,— until now. But as I watch the chaos unfold, I can only call this moment the beginning of my story... or rather, the beginning after my supposed end.

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| Solo Leveling |

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