original

Solo Leveling: World´s End

นักเขียน: Soulcrystal

บท 1: Prologue: Bargaining

"Man, this novel sure has a nice comic adaptation. The style is breathtaking and very well supplements the story with its given nature."

A young man was talking to himself in front of his computer and stared at the well-lit screen in front of him while leaning back in relaxation on his chair.

"But I have to wonder how the world actually holds out so well if there are so few S rank individuals globally. Just one normal S rank gate made a small island a national threat towards the Asian area near China, Japan, and South Korea."

The young man seemed to be analyzing a comic that he had read and finally came to its first season end. What he thought to be a major plothole to strengthen the importance of the overpowered hero was nothing else but what most stories did anyway.

It just fitted well in it but some things still felt sour in his opinion. After all, he did read some of the novel's material to compare how it was tackled.

"And the S rank guys strengths kinda do vary greatly. But what bothers me most is their arrogance towards small stuff. It's like they forget that people die daily everywhere trying to just keep humanity safe. They just only seem to enjoy the wealth and status they get with that rank."

Sighing somewhat the young man turned his head around to look at the side where his TV was still running as well. On the screen, a certain game was shown playing itself in idle.

"Hmm, the settings are so different yet so similar. Fantasy coupled with modern aspects sure is an appealing genre..."

His eyes stared at the huge sword on the back of the main character in the game.

"I really wonder how hard it really is to wield that humongous thing. Especially in that exaggerated quick manner that he does."

The youth sighed again after thinking about something else.

"He is also kinda like those high tier guys in the comics. Being all arrogant and indifferent. It feels so weird knowing how he thinks now after they made him this way in the remake."

Stretching himself now, he stood up from his chair and went over to the TV and wanted to pull the plug to conserve some energy.

"Guess I actually should start thinking about my own planet a little bit as well..." He stayed quiet for a moment and stared at the TV while holding the remote for it.

"Who am I kidding? We already have fucked our future and global warming is going to be an asshole later...That is unless we go back to day one with a big fat meteor..."

His words made him smirk and chuckle.

"Would the planet really safe the inhabitants like in the original or just plain and simply die to get itself from the parasites called humans...?" He even snorted. "It somehow made Sepiroths move some kind of salvation..."

When he was about to power off the TV he remembered something and changed the channel instead.

"...Been a while since I looked at the news the old fashioned way. So, what dumb corona parties are going on now?" His smirk was still present on his face. He could just not understand how people were so eager to get into contact with people after just a short containment order.

The disease was not something to scoff at and now people start to overdo things like they always use to do. And as if was already the natural outcome the only thing they did with their gatherings was getting it and spreading it further.

Somehow it would be a well-deserved fate if those people get ill from it and suffer a certain amount. The youth didn't even want to imagine how the people actually felt about the stupidity of some in this pandemic. Not to mention the people that actually lost family and friends to it.

*We are interrupting the channel for an emergency broadcast. All citizens are hereby warned and ordered to stay at home immediately! A mutation...*

Just when a news channel was about to report about the daily situation in the world with the pandemic, it was interrupted and a clear warning was shown on the screen in fat letters.

There was also a massive bang sound somewhere outside his house that sent the TV into static the next second.

"What the fuck?", asked the youth himself. Trying to see if other channels worked he had no luck at all.

Then a sudden shockwave slammed the guy against the wall. The windows in his room shattered and glass flew everywhere. Even the youths body was harmed by it.

Coughing heavily he slowly stood up and looked at his shattered window. His face was still full of shock about what happened. But it soon became deadly white after what he saw outside. His mouth only opened up in disbelief.

Some would call it a beautiful scene but most would call the orange fiery mushroom on the horizon the most deadly thing humans came to create. With that scene, a piercing and shrill sound was heard from outside now. An alarm for something, but way too late.

The youth knew what the thing in front of his eyes was. He could only close his gaping mouth and lower his head.

That nuke exploded was way too close to the city. He could already see the burning radiation traveling towards him.

And it really did not take even 10 seconds before he was washed over with that hot energy and was basically barbequed alive.

Just like many others on that day, he would become the victim of a full-out nuclear war after the COVID-19 pandemic got way out of control. The virus seemed to have mutated and was spreading like wildfire. The real factor in this outcome was that the death rate shot up to nearly 100%.

Everyone that was infected died shortly after. And some bastards decided or plain and simply lost it. That it would be best to take everyone else with them and start a war with firing up countless nukes.

But that was not the concern of the youth any longer. He was dead already and floating in some white space with nothing around him.

"Great...I actually got this white tunnel death thing that some of those coma patients sometimes talk about. Looks rather plain to me..." The youth frowned deeply and then tried to massage his sore and painful neck. But he could not touch something that was not there. He had no body here.

"Damn...I cant alleviate the pain I still feel from my death...Great. Fuck that phantom pain shit."

*A lively one, aren't you?* A voice echoed through space.

"Hmm?" The youth immediately became quiet and tried to concentrate on listening. Was he starting to hallucinate now?

*Yes, you hear me correctly, kid. I am the entity responsible for getting you into the reincarnation cycle.*

"Cool. Do I get to chose my stuff for the next life?", asked the youth.

He actually didn't think something like this would happen. He of course wished something like that would be after death but he was also a realist in nature.

*No, I am sorry. But that is not the case...*, answered the voice.

"Lame...Well, then go on with it."

*...Good Luck in your next life, kid*

When the youth seemed to have disappeared, the entity suddenly showed its true form. It was a black cat with sapphire blue slitted eyes.

Sitting there and nodding it started licking its small paws.

Suddenly a green light flashed out in front of it.

The cat even got surprised and jumped up for a short moment after looking cautiously at the thing in front of it. It was another soul right at the get-go.

*Huh!? Why are YOU here again?* The cat was completely confused and cocked its head sideways.

"Urgh! Damn it! I think you messed something up you stupid cat!", screamed the youth after seeing the entity again. Being able to see its true form now made him even rage more. He was a dog person and a cat of all things was his celestial advisor?

"You send me to the world of Final Fantasy and actually straight to the point where Cloud got Mako poisoning! Not only that, but you put me into a weird version where Zack actually failed to protect me!! I don't know how your reincarnation thing works but why did I jump to a random world straight into an existing body!?"

*Wait, that can't be! Let me recheck here...* The cat jumped into mist and disappeared. After a while, it came back and could only sigh.

*You stupid mortals actually blew up your own planet in a glorious fashion with hundreds of hydrogen bombs and thousands of nuclear bombs. The whole rebirth cycle got messed up because of that.*

"And that is my fault? So you sent me to suffer another death straight away!? Do you know how it feels to get shot multiply times until your blood runs dry!?" The youth was still pissed of. "Is this hell or something?"

*Be quiet...*

The black cat looked up and the room became dark and black. But it was not empty like before and a vast amount of stars twinkled around in the void.

"..." The youth stared into the vast and beautiful natural picture he was currently seeing in front of him.

*Okay, kid. Looks like we are going to do this differently this time.*

The cat came back from its second short journey and this time it was a shining white specter in the form of a tiger.

*There are a lot of hiccups in the system so we have to manually fix them. You are one of the many lucky ones to get a gift for your next reincarnation because of this problem.*

"...What exactly do I get?"

*Well, for starters I am in a hurry. So I will let you keep your current body configuration as well as your memories of your previous life. The gift itself is a single wish of your choosing.*

"Then I want to become one of you guys.", stated the youth nearly instantly.

*Huh? Well, I will be damned. This is something no one ever asked before. You know what. I will give you three wishes in exchange if you go back and reincarnate. How about that?*

"...." The youth was suspicious now and thought it through. "Then can I be reincarnated into the world of Solo Leveling with a level-up system?"

*Easy. Since you were supposed to go to the world of Final Fantasy that already had such a system, I will just transfer that system with you and bind it to your soul when you enter your wished world. That's 2 done. What is the last wish?*

"Hey, wait. If I was supposed to get the level up system anyway, should I not have two wishes left?"

*You are really asking a lot here...Fine. But no further bargaining...*

"Okay, then please give me the HP-, and MP-Materia and bind them to my soul. But make them infinite type Materia. Meaning they won't have a level cap of 5 stars and always keep increasing my HP and MP. Is that doable?"

The Tiger was not saying anything and licked its paw again.

*Done, but the Materia will have a weaker boost at the start...*

"Huh? How much weaker?"

*You can see that later in your status menu. Either accept that or chose another wish...*

"So you are actually limiting my wishes now? Then I would rather not reincarnate..."

*You are such a child...FINE, 5% will be the lowered value. You get another small wish that is related to items. Happy now?*

"Sure, give me the Buster Sword since I should look like Cloud right now anyway. And my last wish is...That my system implements every Final Fantasy into one. That includes Jobs, Guardian Force, Materia, Limit Break, and things like Trance, etc."

-You...-

The Tiger felt a vain slowly starting to pop up and pulse on its head. This mortal is trying to trick him to get out too many things. But it soon calmed itself down. In the end, it would win and get this kid back into the cycle.

*...Alright then. I will count your wishes that you have chosen*

-----

+Free: World - Solo Leveling

+Free: Appearance - Cloud Strife

+Free: Memory Transfer

+Wish 1: Final Fantasy Level System

+Wish 2: Celestial Buster Sword

+Wish 3: Soulbound Yin-Yang Materia.

-----

*Is everything listed in the window you see correct? Then sign with that pen over there.*

"Huh? I have to sign this to get reincarnated? Something feels fishy here..." The youth now squinted his imaginary eyes.

*Suit yourself. You could also just plainly float around here in all eternity. Do remember that we are busy and the next being you meet would probably take a long time....* The Tiger was giving back an annoyed response while frowning.

"Why is my wish about the things in Final Fantasy and the Level system mixed together? I do want to have a shop and all that, you know? Is that actually why I get a celestial buster sword out of a sudden? Cat, I get the feeling you are scamming me royally here!"

*...*

-----

+Free: World - Solo Leveling (Mid-Level Realm)

+Free: Appearance - Cloud Strife (21 years old)

+Free: Memory Transfer (Earth Number 47)

+Free: Celestial Buster Sword (Growth Type - Unbreakable)

+Wish 1: Level System (Status+Quest+Inventory+Shop)

+Wish 2: Final Fantasy Hunter Quirk (Jobs, Summons, Abilities)

+Wish 3: Soulbound Yin-Yang Materia (5% HP and MP boost per Materia level.)

-----

The content of the screen changed immediatelly.

*Better? Write already because that is my last offer.*

"I think that´s alright." With that, the youth just signed it. He didn't want to try his luck any more than that.

And with another glorious green light, he has washed away into his next life.

The Tiger sighed out in relief.

*FINALLY. Now to configure the events here a little bit...Alrighty, that should bring him into the cycle back in no time again.* It snorted in contempt when thinking about this greedy guy. *Whoever said that wishes don't have a price? I will make sure you pay for it. Good thing for him I am not in that of a bad mood after I made a fortune with that idiot's signature.*