Here's Chapter 1: The SSS-Rank
The Past Life and the Fall
The last thing I remembered from my past life was falling.
The ear-shattering scream of metal, the flashing emergency lights, the futile wails of the other riders—I could still hear them. One instant, I stood in the elevator, on my way to my mother's office for my first day of business school. The next, gravity deceived me. The cables broke. The floor gave way under me.
Twenty stories.
I didn't even get time to scream.
The only thing that went through my mind before I reached rock bottom was, Shit, I never got to watch Season 2 of Solo Leveling.
And then darkness.
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Rebirth and Realization
When I opened my eyes once more, I was an infant.
I first thought it was a hallucination caused by coma. But the days went by, and I understood the reality—this was not my original world. This was Solo Leveling. The world where Hunters battled against Gates. The world where Sung Jin-Woo rose to become the Shadow Monarch.
The first shock was when I saw my mother.
She was just like the woman that I had loved and known from my previous existence. The same smile. The same kind eyes. But she wasn't hers. She wore a different name, a different existence. And unlike my past, she wasn't with a father.
No father.
I would ask him about him when I was young, and she would simply smile sadly and turn the subject away.
I didn't ask anymore.
It was not until I was 15 that my memories of the past life resurfaced. All that I had ever known—all the chapters of the Solo Leveling book, all the battles, every second—I knew it all.
But what made no sense was my own existence.
In every one of my Solo Leveling memories, there was never a Kael Arashi.
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The Forgotten Name
Kael Arashi.
That was the name of my father.
And as soon as I heard it, the room was silent.
I remember that day to this day. I was at the market, buying some food, when I heard two men conversing.
"Did you hear? Another S-Rank Gate appeared yesterday."
"Yeah. Three guilds declined to clear it. The moment they heard the coordinates, they stepped back."
The second man laughed. "A bunch of cowards. What, did they think Kael Arashi was gonna come out of it or something?"
The first man shivered. "Don't even make a joke about that name, dude. My uncle was with the Hunter's Association when he was still around. The way they speak about him… I swear, even the Chairman still has nightmares."
The nonchalant manner they said it. The manner in which his name by itself held an air of sheer terror.
I didn't know my father.
But evidently, the rest of the world did.
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A Gift from the Past
It wasn't long after that my mother summoned me to the apartment.
She sat at the little wooden table, an old wooden box in front of her.
"Manjil," she said quietly, "it's time you had this."
I moved forward, hesitantly raising the lid.
Within lay a lone black dagger.
At first sight, it seemed plain—too plain to be so significant. The blade was jet black, soaking up the poor light instead of bouncing it. The hilt was encased in leather, worn but well-maintained. But the instant I extended my hand and touched it—
I sensed it.
A presence. A whisper.
"Be neither god nor demon. Be human—it's the one thing they can't understand."
My father's voice.
The dagger melted into my flesh, disintegrating in a burst of power that shook my body to its core. My eyes blurred. My wind was caught.
A message seared into my brain.
[«Storm Monarch's Wrath» (Dormant) has been unlocked.]
I fell to my knees, panting.
Something within me had awakened.
And I knew—this was only the start.
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The Hunter's Association Responds
I wasn't alone who sensed it.
Somewhere, deep within the Hunter's Association headquarters, a room full of high-ranking officials were having a closed-door meeting.
A middle-aged man in a suit, his nameplate Go Gun-Hee, let out a deep sigh.
"We need to verify it," one of the executives spoke nervously. "If it's actually… him."
Gun-Hee drummed his fingers on the desk. "It's not possible. Kael Arashi never had a son."
A younger man, white with fear, hesitated. ".That's what we thought. But what if he did?"
The room went quiet.
Gun-Hee let out a breath, rubbing his temples. "If that boy possesses even a fraction of his father's power."
He didn't continue. He didn't have to.
They all knew.
Another Kael Arashi was the last thing this world needed.
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The First Conflict – A Fool's Mistake
A week later, I strolled through the training hall, not bothering anyone, when somebody cut in my path.
Some big guy, a few years older than me, who wore top-of-the-line combat armor. His uniform had a large guild symbol.
"Yep, you're the rookie, aren't you?" he sneered. "Manjil, right?"
I groaned. "Yes. And you are?"
"Jae-Hoon. Son of S-Rank Hunter. Unlike some nobodies, I actually have a future in this business."
Ah. One of those types.
He sneered, eyeing me up and down. "I heard you think you're something special. Got a fancy name or whatever."
I didn't respond.
His smile grew wider. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"
The group behind him laughed.
Then another person passed by—an older Hunter, mid-40s, most likely an A or S-Rank. He hardly gave us a glance—until he overheard my name.
"Oi, kid," he shouted over. "What did you just say his name was?"
Jae-Hoon sneered. "What, this loser? Manjil. Why?"
The older Hunter stopped in his tracks. His face went white. He spun around, eyes wide.
".Did you say Manjil Arashi?"
The room changed in an instant.
Jae-Hoon scowled. "Yeah, so what?"
The man gulped. He breathed more heavily. He stumbled backward.
Jae-Hoon only caught up now. "Wait, why do you have that 'saw a ghost' expression on your face—"
The older Hunter clasped him by the collar. "You fool." His voice quivered. "Do you even know what name you just said?!"
Jae-Hoon stared dumbfounded. "I don't understand. It's some nobody—"
"Nobody?" The man had a look that he wanted to choke him. "That is the name of the son of Kael Arashi!"
There was silence.
Jae-Hoon's arrogant smile disappeared. The laughter in the background fell flat.
And then, for the first time since I was transported to this world, I saw it.
The fear.
True, unadulterated, disabling fear.
They did not know me.
But they knew my father.
And that was sufficient to make them quake.
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To Be Continued…
This was only the tip of the iceberg.
They thought Kael Arashi was gone. They thought his legend had ended.
They were wrong.
And soon, the whole world would know it.
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