Chapter 3

I don't own solo leveling or Jujutsu Kaisen

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'I have to live!'

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"Huh?" he questioned the transparent light blue display in front of him as he woke up from his hospital bed.

'What the heck is going on? Is this a dream? Am I dead?' he questioned himself frantically as he started to doubt his reality the more he saw the game-like screen in his line of sight.

The last thing he remembered was a club hitting his face before darkness. Suddenly he woke up in a hospital bed with a hologram staring him the face. He was disoriented to say the least.

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[ Welcome Player]

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"What the hell is this?" he asked out loud.

"What the hell is what?" a smooth voice called out from the entrance of his hospital room. A middle-aged man with gray hair in a crew cut, he wore a blue blazer over a white collared shirt and jeans.

"Uncle Sang Shik...?" he mumbled surprised at his uncle's sudden appearance. "Wait, are you telling you don't see this!?" he exclaimed incredulously referring to the screen in front of him that moved where his line of sight directed.

"Geez, who knew my nephew had a few screws loose. Haha!" Kim Sang Shik laughed joyfully at Kim's antics. "When I heard you were admitted to the hospital after a failed practice raid by the Hunters Guild three days ago. I had to check up on you," he explained clueing in Kim on the amount of time that has passed since high orc attack.

"I've been asleep for 3 days, but I still feel so tired," Bora yawned with a little tear coming from the corner of his eyes. "Have my parents come to visit?" the younger Kim asked, but internally not wanting an answer to that question. He figured it was his mother influence that got him emmited in this luxury hotel of a hospital room. She may have been cold towards him for as long as he can remember, but she was never one to settle for low standards — as she said — for any member of her family.

"Your mother, Choi Jae and my brother, Kim Min Jun are very busy these days, but of course they made time to visit their only child. You have no idea what a parent would do to see their children," his uncle said seriously with a distance, solemn look in his grey eyes.

Bora just turned his head to see out the window and muttered a muted 'whatever' causing his uncle to smile softly.

'I faced death for first time in my life, but all could think about was all the things I didn't do yet. I'm still unsatisfied maybe this 'system' is a second chance. I want to die without...' he pointedly looked down at his clenched fists until they started bleeding.

"Bora?" his uncle questioned in slight alarm at the sight of blood snapping him out of his inner thoughts.

"Oh. Sorry, I guess I was too caught up in my thoughts," he laughed lightly seeing his bleeding palms from his nails digging in so deep into them. "How are your kids doing these days. I heard they're going to be starting school soon," Kim flipped the conversation to something more light hearted.

"Oh! Um, yeah they're doing great, well even. I'm so proud of them, they're going to do great things one day I can just feel it, not like their old man," his uncle said once again gaining that distance look in his eyes, causing him to frown.

He was absentminded and seem way older than he should be like something was weighing heavily on his mind. He would ask what was wrong, but he knew that he wouldn't get a straight answer, it's a Kim family trait to carry things close to their chest.

"Speaking of which, I better get going to fetch them from school. I don't want the wife on my ass!" he flipped the switch from tired old man to goofy uncle in an instant, making his way out the room. However before he said his goodbyes he stopped and turned to give him a serious look.

"Can I give you just one piece of advice from my time as a hunter?" he asked standing at the middle of the door. "Sure?" he replied wondering why was suddenly so... grave.

"Being a hunter is dangerous work so its important to have people you trust so don't be like... Don't abandon your comrades. You're already on the right track so keep it up," Sang Shik told his nephew giving him a curt nod, but in his head knowing how hypocritical that advice sounded coming from him. But he just didn't want his nephew to end up like...

"... Alright, I'll keep that in mind," Kim nodded to his uncle almost uncertainly but still serious. He felt like there he his uncle was eluding to something that happened to him recently or maybe something he has done, but in the end deicide to push to the back of his mind for later inspection.

Bidding his uncle farewell his thoughts then turned to the blue holographic screen in front of him, 'Hmm... Now time to see what you're all about.'

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[This is a system designed to make the player stronger, failure to comply with the system's orders will result in a penalty.]

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"What? What is this?" Kim widened his coal black eyes, overwhelmed by all the multiple screens popping up out of nowhere.

"Uhh...check unread messages?" he pharsed the command more like a question but the 'system' complied regardless.

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[Your rewards have arrived]

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"Rewards? Now that I think about it I do remember seeing a screen before blacking out," Kim flittingly thought back to being stomped out by the high orc. "Now what's this?" he said as he switched the screen to daily quests.

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[Player, the daily quest: the Path to the strongest, has arrived.

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[Quest Instructions:

Daily Quest - The path to the strongest

(Incomplete) Running — 0/10km

(Incomplete) Push-ups — 0/100

(Incomplete) Squats — 0/100

(Incomplete) Sit-ups — 0/100

Warning: Failure to complete daily quest in the allocated time will result in a penalty.]

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"Haha...this is a joke right?" Kim Bora laughed off the system's warnings. "I just woke up it can't surely expect me to complete all this today. I'll just rest for a bit and then come back to it," he dismissed the system's Quest as a complete fool's errand and went to rest for a few more hours.

'Come to think of it I feel weaker than usual maybe I haven't fully recovered, yet. More reason for me to rest for a bit,' were his final thoughts as he fell into blissful slumber.

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[23:57:32]

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[12:22:09]

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[00:00:01]

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Suddenly the silver white haired hunter suddenly felt a tremor in his hospital room and shot up from bed.

"What! An earthquake!?" he exclaimed out loud as his hospital room surroundings shifted to a snowy arctic tundra in mere moments.

"This place? The arctic!?" he shouted out loud as he turned his head frantically looking for escape from the snowy desert. He brought his arms close to himself as he began shivering from the ice cold weather.

He slowly turned his head around to be faced with the most menacing predator he had ever seen.

{Snow-Clawed Giant Ice Hydra}

It was a twenty meter long, two-headed serpent with a 6 meter long tail. The snow white serpent had large, light blue fangs with bloodlusted yellow eyes that glared right into the soul of the hopelessly outmatched hunter, Kim Bora.

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[Quest Instructions:

Goal - Survive or Defeat Hydra in the allocated time frame.

Time allocated: 3 hours

Time remaining: 02:59:56]

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"H-Holy c-crap," Kim uttered out with a incredulous look on his face as he stared at death for a second time in his life.

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