Solo Panicking

Of All Places to be Isekai'd too

Some Spoilers and some cursing

Waking up in a different place is disorienting at best—terrifying at worst. When my eyes fluttered open, I expected to find myself in my bed, with the same dull surroundings of my small apartment. Instead, the sights and sounds that greeted me were foreign. I wasn't home. Not even close.

The first thing that struck me was the noise—a constant hum of bustling people, honking cars, and distant chatter. I sat up abruptly, anxiety sprung in my chest as I scanned the area. Tall skyscrapers towered over me, casting long shadows across the streets. People brushed past me as though I was invisible, too busy with their lives to notice the girl sitting on a bench, staring blankly at her surroundings.

'Where am I? Did I get kidnapped and ditched somewhere random?'

Panic gnawed at my thoughts.

'What the hell!'

I tried to recall the last thing I'd done before waking up here, but the memories were foggy. I remember finishing reading a web novel and then going to bed. There was nothing about leaving my apartment and traveling to a different city. I didn't seem to be kidnapped. Who ditches their napped person. I rose to my feet shakily, brushing the dust off my jeans as my mind raced for answers. Thankfully I hadn't changed into my sleepwear last night, that would've been a bit more embarrassing and caught unwanted attention. My hands trembled as I pulled out my phone, hoping that I could use it to figure out where I was. Nothing, it's dead, great. Just a blank screen staring back at me. I do notice a gray backpack next to me, I open it up to find some papers, a key and a wallet.

Opening up the wallet I looked through it and found an ID which had a picture of me, some bills, a few cards, and a paper slip with an address.

'At least I'm not totally abandoned' I thought, thankful for small mercies.

I then looked at the papers, it looked like important documents that would hopefully help me. I'll take a look at them later when I'm in a more private spot.
Biting my lip, I started walking. The street I found myself on was crowded with people and vendors. I moved carefully through the crowd, trying to keep myself calm. The last thing I needed was to freak out in front of hundreds of strangers.

After a few minutes, I noticed something familiar. A billboard, flashing advertisements for Hunter-related news. My stomach dropped. Oh no, no no no no. That was Choi Jong-in and some of his Hunters guild members! They were characters from Solo Leveling! But that doesn't make sense, they were fictional characters!
This couldn't be real. It was impossible. The world of Solo Leveling was fictional. It wasn't supposed to exist. Don't tell me...
Yet here I was, standing in the middle of Seoul, Korea, in a world where dungeons and hunters were real. A world where Sung Jin-Woo existed.
"No, no, no..." I whispered under my breath, feeling the panic rise again but still trying to keep calm. How could this happen? How could I be in a place like this? I'm literally going to die!! Why did it have to be here and not some other modern but monster less story!

...

Better than Attack on Titan I guess

And more importantly, what did this mean for me?

I continued walking for a bit before stopping at a nearby news stand and cautiously grabbed a local newspaper. The headline at the top confirmed it, "Third Raid for Jeju Island Failed" I was in at most a year before Solo Leveling officially starts, before Jin-Woo's fateful reawakening. Before things got really dangerous. The other columns talked about hunters and a growing threat of dungeon outbreaks. There was a heavy lump in my throat. This was no longer fiction nor even a dream. This was real life. And that meant every dangerous, terrifying event that had happened in the story was going to happen again. Oh fuck, the Monarchs. I'm so fucking dead.

Ok! Let's make a plan. 1. avoid the plot. Stay as far away from Sung Jin-Woo, hunters, and dungeons as possible. After all, I am most likely not a hunter. I am not powerful. I'm not supposed to exist here. If I could just stay out of the way, maybe I could live a quiet life until I figured out how to get back to my world. Or until Jinwoo uses the cup of reincarnation. But could I really do that with all this knowledge at my disposal.

But as I walked through the crowded streets, my mind raced. Could I really leave others to their fates? Easily avoidable fates. I mean it all gets restarted anyways so would it be so bad if I just let the story play out. Plus, how could I avoid someone like Sung Jin-Woo? He would eventually become one of the most powerful beings in this world, someone I couldn't ignore even if I wanted to. Since I am also someone who's not of this world, what would happen to me?
I sighed heavily, having wandered into a park area. I sit on a bench and stare at the trees. Everything felt surreal, like I was stuck in some kind of fever dream. But the exhaustion tugging at my limbs told me otherwise. This was real. I was here, whether I wanted to be or not. I want to cry. Grabbing the paper with the address written on it I stare at it for a few moments and ponder,

'This could be a clue for why I'm here. It might not be accidental since there were things with my name on them.'

After gathering the courage to talk to a local (I can talk Korean all of a sudden??) and getting directions for the address (apartment building???), I head off. Thankfully it's not too far from the park and I start walking again. Upon arriving I dig through the backpack and see a lease form for an apartment, and I also grab the key with the room number. After a rushed meeting with the landlord, I was ushered up some stairs and pushed in front of a door with a plaque next to it with the same numbers as the key.

Entering the apartment was like entering my old one back when I first moved into it, barren with some boxes. The landlord clears his throat before speaking,

"The movers finished just this afternoon, and everything is ready for ya. Your down payment has already been covered for the first two months but after that you'll need to start paying again. Have a good night!"

I wave him goodbye and I'm finally all alone. I walk around the apartment, 1 bedroom with a bed, 1 bath, nice little kitchenette but no table and no couch. Next, I look through the boxes, clothes, toiletries, bedding and other stuff you would find in a kitchen. I might still be lacking but it's a start.

I grab the stuff for the bathroom and go to take a shower, it's nice and warm. Its familiar... If I cry no one would know I live alone...again and the droplets leaving my face are from the shower obviously.

"What am I going to do?

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