Eric woke up to the sound of a loud, earth-shaking BANG on his door.
For a split second, his half-conscious mind assumed he was under attack—maybe a horde of monsters had finally tracked him down, or a rogue Monarch had come for revenge.
Years of hard-earned trauma kicked in like muscle memory.
He leaped out of bed in a perfect fighting stance, hands glowing faintly with shadowy energy, ready to summon an entire army if needed.
“Come at me, you bastards!” he shouted, voice hoarse from sleep but full of battle-ready determination.
…Only to realize the room was suspiciously, blissfully normal.
The cozy confines of his bedroom greeted him like an old friend: rumpled sheets tangled around his legs, a half-empty ramen cup from last night sitting on the nightstand, and that questionable motivational poster on the wall proudly declaring, “I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade, and try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.”
“Oh.
Right.
I’m back,” Eric mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
The glowing energy in his hands fizzled out harmlessly.
He flopped back onto the bed with a heavy sigh, his racing heartbeat slowly returning to a non-combat rhythm.
“What kind of nightmare logic was that?
Monsters don’t knock.
They just explode stuff.”
But before he could drift back into the sweet embrace of sleep, the door banged again—louder this time.
“Oi!
Get up already!” a very familiar, very impatient voice shouted from the other side.
Eric groaned.
It was Rebecca.
“Alright, alright!
I’m awake!” he yelled back, rubbing his temples.
I swear, she has no chill.
As he sat on the edge of his bed, stretching out the kinks from a year of sleeping on dungeon floors and shadow realms, memories flooded back to him—memories of a life that felt both distant and all too real.
His time in that other world had been anything but smooth.
He’d been thrown into a world of magic, monsters, and constant life-or-death situations with nothing but the clothes on his back.
No money, no documents, no backup plan.
Just a clueless guy dumped in Germany of all places, right in the middle of a dungeon break.
And not just any dungeon break—a full-blown “Run-For-Your-Life-Or-Be-Eaten” kind of break.
“Oh look, a lost survivor!” the locals had cheered at first.
Little did they know, Eric was neither a survivor nor German.
Illegal immigrant from another world?
Yeah, that wasn’t going to end well.
But luck—if you could even call it that—had been on his side.
The first major dungeon break had caused global chaos, and a lot of records got lost in the shuffle.
Authorities weren’t too strict with background checks during the panic.
So he was conveniently mistaken for a survivor and given a new identity, along with a bit of compensation money.
Unfortunately, “a bit” meant “barely enough to survive on.” For a whole month, he’d practically lived on the streets, scavenging for food and quietly questioning every life decision that had led him to that point.
Then, just when he was about to consider the fine art of professional dumpster diving, his so-called System finally decided to be useful and bestowed upon him his “Newbie Gift Package.”
[Ding!
Congratulations, Host!
You have received 3 Identity Swap Cards!]
“Great!
What does it do?”
[Identity Swap Card – Swap roles with the protagonist of a world.
Past remains unchanged, but the future becomes yours to rewrite!]
“Wait, so I get all their future powers?” Eric’s eyes had practically sparkled with hope back then.
[Correct!
Except if they’ve already acquired them.
Then you get… nothing.]
“…Useless piece of crap!”
Still, Eric knew the gamble was better than nothing.
And lucky for him, the famed protagonist Sung Jin-Woo hadn’t unlocked his power yet.
One card swipe later, and Eric was the proud new soon-to-be Shadow Monarch candidate.
“Cue the endless suffering.”
Did this make his life easier?
Absolutely not.
Now, on top of worrying about where to sleep and what to eat, he also had to deal with Monarchs—insanely powerful beings that wanted to turn him into a stain on the pavement.
The Solo Leveling world had been a nonstop rollercoaster of horrifying dungeon crawls, impossible battles, and enough emotional damage to warrant a full-time therapist.
“Monarch of Destruction?
Giant kaiju fight?
Check.”
But somehow, through sheer determination (and possibly a truckload of dumb luck), he survived.
The events of that world had changed significantly under his influence, but the endgame stayed mostly the same.
With the help of the Rulers, he defeated the Monarch of Destruction.
Unlike Jin-Woo, however, Eric had no intention of resetting time.
Why?
Because he had no one he particularly cared about in that world.
Besides, he knew the Outer Gods were lurking beyond the void, waiting for their chance.
Weakening the world now would only make things worse later.
So instead of turning back the clock, he made a global announcement, warning everyone about the impending war against the Outer Gods.
“Good luck, guys!
Try not to explode!”
His feelings about that world were complicated.
He had suffered through some of the worst days of his life there.
But at the same time, he had experienced some of the most thrilling, adrenaline-pumping moments imaginable.
Still, he had unfinished business.
One day, he would return.
After all, he had stolen their strongest power.
If he didn’t go back to deal with the Outer Gods eventually, that world would be doomed.
Eric wasn’t heartless—he’d return once he was strong enough to wipe the floor with them.
But for now, there was something even more important to deal with.
BANG BANG BANG!
“I SAID, GET UP ALREADY!” Rebecca’s voice pierced through the door again, full of that signature mom energy.
Eric sighed dramatically, stretching his arms overhead.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”
But suddenly, a mechanical voice sounded in his head, clear and unexpected.
[System has been upgraded.]