⥛ second player ⥚ ☔︎ solo leveling ☔︎

1

"Give up and die!" A man shouted as he chased her, "You should've walked away after seeing us, but you just had to be a hero, haha!" She ran into an alleyway she knew well, but instead of finding her shortcut home, she was met with a dead end.

'What happened to my route?!' She panicked, her eyes darting everywhere, confirming that this was her usual route, but instead of the gate she always climbs to reach home, there was a wall that reached the heavens.

"Oh no, is little miss hero at a dead end?" The man asked mockingly once he caught up to her with his knife in hand. Warily, she took a step back, calculating moves she should take in order to beat him- you know what they say, if they're gonna bring you down, might as well take them down with you. Mistaking her thinking expression as regret, he laughed, "There's no room for regrets anymore!"

The woman's eyes sharply gazed at him, "I don't regret the things that I've done. I'll do it once more if I have to." He rolled his eyes, starting to get annoyed by her heroism. "If it weren't for you, I'd be having a fun time with that lady," The man growled, lunging towards her with his knife pointed forward.

Her hands shook and she cursed at herself for being weak. The man in front of her was a higher-ranked hunter, so even with her E-rank body that's practiced martial arts, she's no match for him.

The only chance to actually inflict lethal damage to the criminal in front of her was to let him get close enough to her so she can snap his neck. So that's what she did; as the knife plunged into her stomach, she quickly grabbed the sides of his head before he could back away and whispered with the remaining strength she had, "Rot in hell, bastard." Then...

SNAP!

The man's shocked face caused her to laugh before the dead body fell forward, pushing her down as well which in turn pushed the knife deeper into her stomach. Coughing out blood, she looked up at the sky, 'Well... at least I managed to save a life before I died...' she let out a breathless chuckle at her own thought.

As she was about to close her eyes, a pop-up message appeared in front of her eyes, just like a game, making her eyes widen in shock despite being a hair away from death.

[Requirements of secret quest 'Relaying Justice' has been met.]

[You have earned the right to become a player.]

[You do not have much time remaining.]

[If you refuse, your heart will stop after approximately 2 seconds. Will you accept?]

Her eyes ran over the words, confusion etched in her expression. 'Is this real?' She thought, 'Well, whether it's real or not, nothing could really go wrong... I'll accept...' Her eyes closed afterwards, the loss of blood getting to her head.

The sound of an ambulance's siren rang through the air, edging closer towards her as she passed out.

[Welcome, Player.]