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 by monsters, or perhaps a rogue monarch had come to exact revenge. Years of trauma kicked in as he leaped out of bed in a fighting stance, his hands glowing faintly with the remnants of his power.
"Come at me, you bastards!" he shouted, only to realize that the room was suspiciously... normal.
The cozy confines of his bedroom greeted him—the rumpled sheets, the half-empty ramen cup from last night, and the questionable motivational poster on the wall that read, "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," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. He flopped back onto the bed with a sigh, his heartbeat slowly returning to a non-combat rhythm.
"What kind of nightmare logic was that?" He groaned. "Monsters don't knock. They just explode stuff."
But before he could drift back to sleep, the door banged again.
"Oi! Get up already!" a familiar voice shouted from the other side of the door.
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, memories flooded back to him—memories of a life that felt both distant and all too real. His time in another world had been anything but smooth. He had been thrown into a world of magic and monsters with nothing but the clothes on his back. No money, no documents, nothing. Just a clueless man dumped in Germany of all places, during a dungeon break, no less.
And not just any dungeon break—a 'Run-For-Your-Life-Or-Be-Eaten' kind of break.
"Oh look, a lost survivor!" they had cheered. Little did they know, Eric was neither a survivor nor German
At first, he thought he was doomed. Illegal immigrant from another world? Yeah, that's not going to end well.
But luck—if he could call it that—had been on his side. Since the first major dungeon break had caused global chaos, a lot of records had been lost. This meant the authorities weren't too strict when it came to background checks. So, he was conveniently mistaken for a survivor and given a new identity, along with a bit of compensation money.
Unfortunately, "a bit" was just another way of saying "barely enough to survive." For a month, he had practically lived on the streets, scavenging for food and questioning every life decision that had led him to this moment.
Then, just when he was about to consider the fine art of dumpster diving, his so-called system finally decided to do something useful and bestowed upon him his "Newbie Gift Package."
Inside? Three Identity Swap Cards.
[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.
[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 yet unlocked his power. One card swipe later, and Eric was the proud, 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 rollercoaster of horrifying dungeon crawls, impossible battles, and enough emotional damage to warrant a therapist.
"Monarch of Destruction? Check. Giant kaiju fight? Check.
But somehow, through sheer determination (and possibly dumb luck), he survived. The events of Solo Leveling changed significantly, but the endgame was still 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 that Outer Gods were lurking beyond the void, waiting for their chance to attack. If he weakened the world now, he'd only be making things worse in the long run.
So instead of turning back the clock, he made a global announcement, warning the world about the impending war against the Outer Gods.
After making sure the world knew the truth and advised them to start preparing for interdimensional terror, he peaced out.
"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 also experienced some of the most thrilling moments.
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, that world would be doomed.
Eric wasn't heartless—he will return once he was strong enough to wipe the floor with the Outer Gods.
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.
Eric sighed dramatically, stretching his arms. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."
But suddenly a voice sounded in his head.
[System has been upgraded.]