Morning came quietly.
Sunlight spilled through thin clouds, painting the streets in soft gold. The sky was clear—unnaturally so for a city that lived under the constant threat of gates. A gentle breeze carried the scent of grass and asphalt, and for a moment, the world almost felt peaceful.
Frey pedaled his bicycle down the familiar road, his white hair catching the light as it fluttered behind him. The rhythm of cycling was steady, almost meditative.
It had been a month since he transferred to this school.
A month since he became Frey Starlight.
He didn't talk much. Didn't try to blend in. He attended classes, submitted assignments, and left without lingering. Some students whispered about the foreign transfer student with pale hair and hollow eyes, but curiosity faded quickly when it met indifference.
Friends required effort.
Frey didn't feel the need for them.
He wasn't lonely. If anything, he was relieved. Emotional distance made things simpler—especially when you were carrying memories that didn't belong to you.
The school building came into view, tall and ordinary. Frey parked his cycle, locked it, and walked inside.
Another normal day.
At least on the surface.
He took his seat near the window, resting his chin against his palm as the classroom slowly filled. The chatter around him blurred into meaningless noise.
This is my last year of high school, he thought. It doesn't really matter.
Grades. Clubs. Social life. None of it would protect him from what waited beyond these walls.
This world was dangerous.
Gates could appear anywhere. Monsters poured out without warning. Hunters died every day—sometimes nameless, sometimes famous.
And he was expected to walk into that world as he was.
Frey glanced down.
Rank F. Stats all F.
A regular human.
Worse than that—an untrained one.
His system wasn't like Sung Jin-Woo's. There were no free skills handed out like candy. No instant weapons. No miraculous growth spurts.
Just a vague template.
And a mission.
Slay a monster.
"How?" he wondered silently.
He didn't know how to fight. He had no techniques, no weapons, no experience. At this stage, even a goblin could kill him.
Powerless, he concluded.
If he rushed forward blindly, he would die. Simple as that.
First, he reasoned, I need to understand the timeline.
Knowing where the world stood was crucial. Events in Solo Leveling escalated fast. If he misjudged even slightly, he'd be crushed between forces he couldn't comprehend.
Second… the reason.
The god had said it didn't matter.
Frey disagreed.
If there's a reason I was pulled out of reincarnation, then it will eventually shape my path.
Class began without him noticing.
The teacher spoke. Chalk scratched the board. Students took notes.
Frey stared out the window, absent-minded, watching clouds drift lazily across the sky—utterly unaware of the chaos they occasionally concealed.
Lunch break.
Instead of heading to the cafeteria immediately, Frey took a slow walk around the campus. The sunlight was warm, the air calm.
That was when he saw her.
Black hair. School uniform. Familiar face.
Sung Jin-Ah.
Sung Jin-Woo's younger sister.
Frey slowed his steps.
So she attends this school.
He didn't approach immediately. He observed as she walked, her posture relaxed, expression gentle. There was no sign that her brother had nearly died not long ago.
Eventually, she headed toward the cafeteria.
Frey followed.
They took their food and sat down at separate tables—until Frey quietly moved and sat across from her.
Jin-Ah stiffened slightly, surprised.
"Oh… you're the transfer student," she said after a moment. "Hello."
"Hello," Frey replied calmly.
Silence stretched between them. Awkward, but not uncomfortable.
Then Frey spoke.
"How is your brother doing?"
Jin-Ah froze.
Her eyes widened slightly as she stared at him, confusion clear on her face.
"…My brother?"
Frey realized how it sounded and clarified immediately."I heard your brother is a hunter," he said evenly. "I'm interested in hunters, so I asked."
She studied him for a moment before answering.
"…You shouldn't take that path," Jin-Ah said quietly. "It's very dangerous."
Her grip tightened slightly around her chopsticks.
"My brother was hospitalized recently," she continued. "He was discharged about a week ago."
Frey listened carefully.
"So… yeah," she concluded. "It's not something you should aim for. You should forget about becoming a hunter."
Frey nodded after a brief pause.
"Thank you for the advice."
Jin-Ah gave a small nod and returned to her meal. The conversation ended there.
Frey looked down at his food, lost in thought.
Discharged a week ago…
That means Sung Jin-Woo should be around C-rank now.
He clenched his fist lightly.
I need to catch up.
After school, Frey returned home, freshened up, and sat on his bed in silence.
Then—
"System."
The familiar black screen appeared.
As he skimmed through it, something new caught his attention.
MISSION: Training Regiment
Description: Train in the system-provided training space for 6 months.
Rewards: Technique: Thousand Steps of Shadow•
Weapon:Balerion – The Black Dread
• All stats +1 rank
Frey stared at the screen.
"…So cool."
The names alone were absurdly grandiose—and undeniably exciting.
Thousand Steps of Shadow… he thought. Is it related to the Shadow Monarch? A fighting style? Something else?
It wasn't in the manhwa.
That made it dangerous.
And interesting.
"Well," Frey murmured, standing up. "Guess we'll find out."
He readied himself.
"Enter training space."
When he opened his eyes, he stood in a forest.
Ancient. Silent.
Ahead, a mountain rose sharply, and atop it stood a massive structure resembling an old monk temple—except it was forged entirely from black, obsidian-like material.
Two statues guarded the entrance.
One wore an expression of rage.The other, sorrow.
Frey swallowed.
What is this place…?
He walked toward the mountain. When he reached the statues, they moved.
Stone shifted.
They parted.
Frey froze.
"…Are they sentient," he muttered, "or is this some kind of mechanism?"
He stepped forward.
The climb was brutal.
Endless stairs carved into stone, stretching upward without mercy. It took nearly thirty minutes to reach the top.
"Damn," Frey panted. "That was a lot of stairs."
The statues continued moving ahead of him, entering the structure.
Inside—
Frey was speechless.
Ancient writings covered the walls—languages he didn't recognize. The interior opened into a vast training ground, empty and overwhelming.
At its center stood a platform.
A sword was embedded within it.
Balerion: The Black Dread.
A straight blade, black as the abyss itself.
Frey took a step forward.
Then stopped.
The angry-faced statue stepped in front of him.
"…Yeah," Frey sighed. "Figures."
He looked up at it."So how does this work?"
A system notification blinked.
MISSION UPDATE: Training Regiment
– Chain Mission
Objective: Land one attack on your opponent.
"What the he—"
Pain exploded across his face.
A punch sent him flying into the wall.
Bones shattered. Muscles tore.
Frey screamed.
What is—
Before he could finish the thought, his body healed.
Instantly.
Then—
A kick slammed into his abdomen, sending him crashing across the floor again.
And again.
And again.
That was how Frey's training began.