《Solo Leveling in Marvel》


 Chapter 1 - Player Number 2

    July 18 of 2016, was the day my mind exploded in a thousand and one different ways.


    A series of memories flooded into my mind, into the deepest part of my brain, and made me finally remember who I was, who I had always been, and who I would become.


    For anyone in the small residential building at 871 220th St and Bronxwood Ave in New York, it was an early morning like any other. But among so many dreams, mine was the only one that could become real.


    Eighteen years ago, I signed a contract I shouldn''t have signed with a complete stranger. A beginner''s mistake in the afterlife.


    At the beginning of this long dream, disconnected flashes were all I could see as I tried to remember my death in my old life. However, these flashes started to grow clearer as I continued down a long corridor. In this way, I began to remember.


    I shot myself in the chest to protect the woman I loved from a... thief? It was too dark. Besides, what was her name again? Well, those were details I wasn''t able to remember. However, I could remember a lot about my life.


    I was a young man who had just graduated from the Faculty of Information Technology. I was excited about the new phase of my life, because I had neglected everything during my teenage years. When I say neglected, it was because I spent many years playing video games and online games. I was always among the best players on the Asian Server. That meant I was from some country in Asia, but I couldn''t remember which one.


    Well, I guess the brain really has a limit to the amount of information it can store. Which is curious, because although I couldn''t remember crucial details about my personal life, I remembered everything I''d consumed in my life: every song, every game, every novel, every manga¡­


    In fact, it was because I was addicted to all this that I ended up in this situation.


    "What situation?" you might be wondering.


    Well, I''ll explain. When I blacked out with my girlfriend crying on my chest, I woke up in a strange world. The walls seemed to be made of pure darkness, but fortunately, there was a table in front of me, not far from the chair opposite it.


    Above me was a white light that I couldn''t figure out where it came from.


    It looked like the setting of an interrogation room.


    *Yeewk*


    A door creaked open, and I looked back over my left shoulder to see a man in a white suit. He was large and had bulky arms, but I wouldn''t say that these simple, superficial features made him stand out. The lion''s head was striking.


    A voluminous lion''s mane with black hair so shiny that it made me want to ask about the brand of shampoo, even though I was in this situation.


    This mysterious being with the lion''s head sat down in the empty chair, leaned an arm on the metal table, and smiled at me.


    "I have a proposition for you," he said plainly.


    "Where am I?" I asked. I needed to ask.


    "Sigh..." He took a deep breath and touched the air next to him, which made a holographic window appear.


    "Here in your file it says that you have the Avid Reader lv10 skill. Why are you asking me a question whose answer is so obvious to you?"


    "I just want to confirm."


    "Right. If you want me to tell you so badly, I''ll gladly tell you... You''re in the Afterlife!" he exclaimed, spreading his arms wide with a broad smile on his face. Then the smile disappeared. "Are you happy now?"


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    I smiled wryly. "What proposal do you have for me?"


    Finally, he smiled sincerely. Probably because I asked no more clich¨¦ questions. Then he crossed his fingers and legs, too.


    "I have a problem, and I need you to solve it for me. Billions of years ago, two of my creations ended up meeting by accident. One of them was called The One Above All and the other was called Absolute Being, both with power bordering on TRUE omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. Their contact happened for only a moment, their paths crossed briefly while they were traveling to their multiverses. However, a second for an ordinary creature is an infinitesimal amount of time for creatures like them."


    "Let me guess: during that contact, they planned something you didn''t want."


    The lion snapped his fingers and pointed at me. "Exactly! I''ve created more Itarims than I can remember, and they all ended up with the same fate as me ¡ª boredom, pure boredom. So my Itarims usually create universes, instigate wars, and then build other universes to entertain themselves and nothing else. Except that The One Above All and Absolute Being are up to something bigger than that. Look at this."


    He touched the holographic screen in front of him, and it floated towards me.


    When I looked at the screen, I saw a bunch of symbols that I couldn''t recognize. Slowly, I raised a half-scowl at the lion, and with that, he realized his mistake.


    "Ah¡ª! Right... I always forget how incapable normal humans are." He snapped his fingers, and the letters became legible.


    "Now I can read. Number Report... Blah, blah, blah! Description: Multi-verse Marvel is on a collision course with Multiverse Solo Leveling. Recommended to avoid joining spheres."


    My eyes widened in surprise. I shook my head, swallowed, and frowned, but none of this helped me process what I''d read any easier.


    "Dude, is this some kind of joke? If it is, I have to say it''s not the least bit funny." I looked at the lion and said firmly.


    "I wish it were... Your universe is a matrix universe, where the Itarim who run your universe have made it so that their humans can catch glimpses of other multiverses. Because of this, most of the works you know really exist, and their authors are the prophets who saw through the multiverses."


    I blinked a few times, still incredulous. "That means Game of Thrones..."


    "Yes, all real. However, the prophet George R. R. Martin is having a bit of trouble envisioning the last book."


    "Stephen King?"


    "Some books yes, and some no. He''s greedy, so he uses his own dreams as references to create some bizarre things... And if you want to know about Tolkien, well, he was just a writing genius. Nothing glimpsed from another universe. He created everything himself."


    I took a deep breath. "Okay, fine... And what do you want from me? Why am I here, in front of the being who created the beings who created all those magnificent things?"


    "Because you''re an ordinary human. Everything you have is ordinary. Your dreams are ordinary, your appearance, and even your..." He looked down suggestively, and I felt invaded.


    "Hey!"


    "Don''t get me wrong, but that''s all true. However, it''s not a bad thing. That''s what I need. Someone ordinary, but with extensive knowledge about the multiversal spheres that will soon collide and need to come into harmony."


    "Soon? You''re the Being who created everything! Why don''t you stop the collision from happening yourself?"


    "Being the original creator of some beings doesn''t give me power over the creations of my creations. My omnipotence ends where another''s omnipotence begins, and there are rules in each omnipotence that don''t allow one omnipotent being to interfere directly and decisively in another''s creation. In short, it''s too complicated to describe in words. That''s where my proposal to you comes in... You will be reincarnated in the Marvel Universe, and on your eighteenth birthday, you will Awaken and recall this conversation.


    "Awakening? That''s not something from the universe..." At that moment, I stopped talking because I finally understood.


    The collision of the spheres that the lion was talking about was not an event similar to the collision of two planets but the fusion of two universes.


    "Looks like you''ve finally figured it out." The lion said, smiling with that exorbitant amount of teeth. "You''ll be my contingency plan. The One Above All and Absolute Being did this as a great form of entertainment, not only for themselves but for all their siblings and parents. However, the other Itarims can get bored quickly with the same old characters, and that''s why you''ll be there. A man from an ordinary universe amid Hunters and Heroes. They will look forward to your next steps."


    Those were the lion''s last words to me. If there were more, I couldn''t remember and probably never could.


    Very cold, I woke up drenched in sweat. There was sweat on my forehead, on my hands, and my shirt was sticking to my chest. But none of this mattered. When I woke up, I didn''t even have time to wonder if it had all been a dream because in front of my eyes was a holographic screen with golden light.


    [System Initialization!]


    [Player Number 2 Identified!]


    [Welcome, Brandon S. Oneal, to the Player System!]


    [First step: Choose your Class]

 Chapter 2 - My Class

    [Available Classes:


    1 - Warrior


    Future specializations: Knight, Gladiator, Berserker.


    2 - Mage


    Future specializations: Archmage, Dark Wizard, Elementalist.


    3 - Rogue


    Future specializations: Ninja, Mercenary, Ghost Swordsman.


    4 - Archer


    Future specializations: Ghost Sniper, Patrolman, Beast Hunter.


    5 - Paladin


    Future specializations: Crusader, Celestial Guardian, Knight of Light.


    6 - Summoner


    Future Specializations: Beast Master, Lord of Spirits, Conjurer of Chaos.]


    I was still in a bit of a daze due to the vast amount of information that had entered my mind all at once. It was July 18, 2016, my 18th birthday. It was supposed to be a happy day, but otherwise as ordinary as any other birthday. Still, I was looking forward to it because it''s natural to be excited about the day you legally become an adult. However, I didn''t expect all my goals and worldview to change drastically from one day to the next.


    For the past eighteen years, I had been living as Brandon S. Oneal, the middle child in a family of three children ¡ª plus my parents, of course.


    My family and I have never been rich, and we''ve always lived in the suburbs of the world''s most dangerous city: New York. So much happens here that it seems insane to stay, but as the mayoral advertisements say, this is the "City of a Thousand Opportunities" or something like that.


    But it''s not because of that silly slogan that we''re still here. My mother is a lawyer known by the locals for fighting famous contractors, and my father manages a dock at the New York port. In other words, we''re stuck here because of their jobs.


    And don''t get me wrong, I never hated New York. I just didn''t think it was the ideal place to be, especially with portals to other dimensions randomly appearing in the past two months.


    As I thought back on this, I realized that everything the lion told me was true. My memories of both worlds were part of the proof, but the greatest proof of all was the system in front of me.


    "Hummm... This isn''t one of those random class choice systems. Well, maybe it''s a perk given to me by that lion. Now, among my options, which one has the best potential?"


    As in every MMORPG, it was necessary to think wisely about which class to choose. There was no information such as skills, attributes, or starting items ¡ªonly the future ''specializations,'' i.e., some of the class evolutions, were provided.


    At first glance, choosing a Warrior tempted me because I didn''t like the style of just watching everything from afar, waiting for fireballs to rain down and destroy the battlefield. So the Mage was certainly out.


    A Warrior could fight with anything resembling a weapon or even their bare fists. As I was someone who had awakened, i.e., a Hunter, I could end up adopting a fighting style similar to that of Hwang Dong-soo or Thomas Andre, focusing entirely on strength and endurance.


    The downside was that someone like Sung Jin-Woo could eventually show up, and I could become a shadow of him. As much as I admired Jin-Woo tremendously, I wouldn''t want to become his shadow if we ever fought.


    For the least reason, I ruled out the Paladin and Archer classes. Rogue was ruled out because Sung Jin-Woo already had skills that could match or even surpass all the Rogue skills I could ever get. And Archer wasn''t an option because of its vulnerabilities, even though Hawkeye was one of my childhood idols.


    With four of my six options ruled out, that left Rogue or Summoner, and I quickly and, obviously, decided to be a Summoner.


    You may shout and ask right now: "Why Summoner?! You just said you''d hate to be in the background, just watching the battle. Isn''t that exactly what a Summoner does?"


    Then I would categorically answer that you''re wrong. A great example is Sung Jin-Woo himself. Okay, he''s a Necromancer, but isn''t a Necromancer basically a Summoner of the dead?


    Besides, if one day I had to fight Sung Jin-Woo, being a Summoner was the only class that could give me a chance, since he had already defeated people from all the classes that were mentioned.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    [Class Selected: Summoner.]


    [Do you confirm your choice? YES/NO.]


    I clicked YES, and the screen flashed, refreshing itself, and a series of new notifications appeared.


    [Player Number 2 chooses the Summoner Class.]


    [Acquiring all the data on the Summoner Class and its Specializations...]


    [Data acquired.]


    [Installation is required. Do you want to install your new class now? YES/NO.]


    My eyebrows rose when I read that last message. An installation process? I was being referred to as Player 2, but I remembered an upgrade wasn''t required for Sung Jin-Woo when he got the system. Or was it? Well, he was unconscious for some time after almost dying in the Double Dungeon and being saved at the last moment by the Player System. Maybe the installation occurred during that time.


    It made me wonder if installing it would make me faint or feel excruciating pain. So, with great trepidation and with only one eye open, at least enough for me to know where I was clicking, I tapped YES once more and closed my eyes.


    "..."


    I expected something to happen, but I felt nothing after tapping.


    I slowly opened an eye and saw the screen showing me something new.


    [Installation in progress: 0%.]


    I looked at this screen for a few moments, and it updated to 1%. It wasn''t a quick update, but it was painless.


    *Grrrr*


    My stomach growled like a rabid street dog. I remembered that I had come home from work the night before and gone straight to bed, without the energy to eat dinner or shower. That also meant I needed to shower and change clothes, so that''s what I did.


    When I got out of the shower, feeling refreshed, I looked at the screen that was always hovering within arm''s reach and saw that the installation had reached 20%.


    I shrugged my shoulders, unconcerned. I wasn''t in a hurry, and it seemed better to analyze my skills later.


    I left my room and found myself in a short corridor with three doors. One of these doors led to my parents'' bedroom, where my little brother also slept. The other door was the bathroom. Following the corridor toward the light, I found the largest room in the apartment, where there was a TV room, a table with four chairs, and a kitchen. There was also a window on the left, illuminating the entire room, and a small entrance hall.


    Everything was empty and quiet, with a little wind and city noise coming through the window¡ªhorns, sirens, and the like.


    I was a little disappointed that my parents had gone to work without wishing me a happy birthday, but as I walked toward the kitchen, my father, mother, and younger brother, between the three of them, suddenly stood up.


    "SURPRISE!" they shouted in unison.


    My mouth dropped open, and a silly, excited smile formed on my face. They hugged me, showed me a chocolate cake they had hidden, and sang happy birthday. For obvious reasons, I felt my chest fill with love.


    "Brother, brother! What do you think of the cake?" My younger brother, Maxwell, asked. He was practically standing on his chair, leaning forward with a bright smile and missing a few teeth. "I chose it! Did you know?!"


    I smiled at him and put another bite of cake in my mouth. "Ehh? Did you choose the cake, Max?"


    Max nodded quickly, waiting anxiously for an answer.


    "Of course, it''s great. You''ve nailed my favorite cake flavor."


    Max''s eyes lit up. He looked at my mother and said: "I told you, Mom! I told you he loved chocolate! He''s just like me!"


    "You really got it right this time because last year, you chose a mint-flavored cake for your father. Do you remember?" my mother replied to Max.


    "That was... That was..." He tried to argue but couldn''t.


    Little Max''s cheeks flushed, and he finally sat up properly in his chair, deciding to focus only on the plate of cake.


    My mother''s name was Fumiko Shibutani Oneal, and she was the daughter of Japanese parents. It was from this part of the family that she had inherited her small eyes and Asian beauty, with long black hair and snow-white skin. Of course, it was also from this part of the family that we all had the surname Shibutani.


    The table became a little quiet after Max had calmed down. It was then that my father said to me:


    "Brandon, I know you want to help us with the bills, but you don''t have to work at the pier today. It''s your birthday. Go meet your friends or visit your college. I know classes haven''t started yet, but there''s a library, isn''t there? You like those things."


    I looked at my father, and normally I would have insisted on working to help with money at home, but I had important things to do.


    "Okay, Dad, thanks for that."


    He smiled and nodded, fiddling with the brim of his cap a little. My father was a classic American man, the kind who likes to watch American football when he gets home from work and who is very devoted to his family¡ªbut who sometimes shows affection in subtle ways. His greatest displays of affection were always through actions, and while we didn''t have a wonderful relationship, it wasn''t strained either. I had always been a library rat, and he hated books.


    John A. Oneal was his name, and I inherited my last name from him.


    After our breakfast of birthday cake and soda, my mother went to take my brother to school and then to work, and my father went to work at the port, leaving the whole apartment to me.


    [Installation in progress: 99%.]


    [Installation in progress: 100%.]


    [Installation Completed!]


    [You have received all the basic skills of the Summoner Class. To check, open your General Window.]

 Chapter 3 - Sister

    "Open General Window?" I asked as I read the last message that appeared before the golden holographic screen disappeared. "How am I supposed to do that?"


    I tried thinking really hard, using my intention, to make the [General Window] appear. But nothing happened. So I tried saying out loud:


    "Open General Window!"


    ¡­


    Nothing, once again. That''s where my references stopped. In all the manhwas, anime, novels, and games, this was exactly how the system opened.


    Well, actually, most of them did. However, there was one among many that didn''t follow this pattern, and I decided to test it. I held up just my index finger and, curiously, when I tried to press something, I felt the touch on the tip of my finger.


    ''So, it''s like in Sword Art Online...''


    Sliding my index finger up, I opened a window with a list of options.


    +


    [General Window]


    - Player


    - Profile


    - Attributes


    - Window


    - Skills Chest


    - Inventory


    +


    When I clicked on [Player Profile], I was surprised by the limited amount of detail about me.


    +


    [Player Profile]


    Name: Brandon S. Oneal


    Age: 18 years and 0 days.


    Level: 1.


    Titles: Player Number 2 (Open to see effect)


    Class: Summoner (Legendary)


    Stigma: ???


    +


    Next to all this information was a mini-hologram of myself, a young man of about six feet - maybe a centimeter or two shorter, in fact - with brown hair and a body that was slim for its size. However, I didn''t pay much attention to the silly hologram. Only to everything that was below my informed level.


    I clicked on the only title, and I had to see what bonus it gave me.


    +


    [Title: Player Number 2]


    Description: Being a player means having the ability to evolve, which is impossible for 99.99% of hunters. There is only one other player besides you.


    Effects:


    Leveling System.Total immunity to poisons, stun and paralyzing effects.


    +


    "Total immunity? That''s what we''re talking about! Now, let''s look at the rest of the things... Legendary Class. Reading this makes me feel relieved I didn''t choose another class. And if I remember correctly, Summoners are very rare in Solo Leveling. Now, that last line here is bothering me... Stigma? What''s that?"


    I tried clicking on the word, but nothing happened. There was no tutorial to explain what each element in these windows meant.


    "Looks like it''s something I''m going to have to find out for myself."


    Without further ado, I went to the next window.


    +


    [Attributes Window]


    Attribute | Value


    HP: 100/100


    MP: 10/10


    Control: 1


    Strength: 5


    Intelligence: 5


    Speed: 4


    Charisma: 4


    Constitution: 5


    Wisdom: 5


    Dexterity: 5


    Perception: 2


    +


    The numbers were really cruel to me. I didn''t have a high number in any of my attributes, which perhaps validated the speech of that damned lion who called me someone completely normal. At least I wasn''t a complete troglodyte with only muscles and no brains, or a nerd chair with a lot of intelligence and no strength. These two attributes of mine were equal, with not a single point of difference between them.


    The sum total of the attribute points I had was 35 - excluding ''Control,'' which I didn''t know, and my MP and HP. It wasn''t impressive, but I''d seen worse beginnings, like a guy in a novel who started with 0 points in all attributes.


    "With the leveling system, I''ll be able to change this reality for my points quickly. Now it''s time to see what weapons I''ll use to do it..." I smiled malevolently, rubbed my hands together, and clicked on [Skill Chest].


    Stolen novel; please report.


    To my surprise, this skill chest was divided into two sections - Normal Skills and Mystical Skills.


    +


    [Skills Chest]


    Normal Skills: <Avid Reader lv10>, <Tenacious Logical Reasoning lv2>, <Wide Knowledge of Multiverses lv10>.


    Mystical Skills: <Summon>.


    +


    It was easy to deduce that the skills cited as normal were abilities that any human being could have, and the level next to them represented your proficiency in that area.


    Apparently, in my two lives so far, I''ve only been able to obtain three normal skills that were worth highlighting.


    ''Okay, okay... But only one Mystical Skill? I expected more from a legendary class.''


    I clicked on the skill in question, and a new window opened, overlaying the previous one.


    +


    [Skill Details!]


    Skill Name: Summon.


    Description: Allows the user to summon one or more supernatural helpers. Your mana and the amount of mana you have will limit the number. Each <Summon> consumes 10 Mana (MP) and 1 Control to be summoned.


    Strength: 5


    Speed: 5


    Physical: 2


    Rank: Iron


    (Iron < Bronze < Silver < Gold < Platinum < ...)


    +


    My smile got wider, and I went to check again how much Mana and Control I had.


    I discovered I had exactly 10 Mana and 1 Control. That was enough to summon just one, but I couldn''t be disappointed because I knew that every start was difficult like this.


    "I''d like to summon it right now, but I don''t know how big it will be or what it will look like. Judging from the low physique, I''m guessing something that looks like a dragon, but it''s a mix I wouldn''t risk."


    All over New York City, even in the suburbs where I was, there were alleys and alleys on every block. This kind of place was the best for me to test my class skills, so I was determined to get somewhere like this quickly.


    However, the moment I went to close the general window, I remembered that I had checked everything except my inventory.


    The logical thing to think was that it was empty, because I hadn''t even entered a dungeon yet. However, there was something.


    +


    [Inventory]


    Beginner''s Lootbox.


    +


    One of my eyebrows rose as I read the name of the item. When I touched it, the holographic screen gave a 3D shape to the LootBox icon, which was literally a small gift box.


    The process was slower than it should have been, so I put my hand on the LootBox and pulled it myself, making it emerge quickly.


    What I was supposed to do was obvious, so I pulled the loop of gift paper from the LootBox, and it opened with a golden glow.


    Looking at this LootBox opening was like trying to look directly into the headlights of a car. So I put my arm a little in front of my eyes and turned away from the powerful glare.


    Low chimes echoed, and when I looked again, I saw golden particles floating in the air. Amid these particles, there was a key floating a few centimeters away from my hand.


    My eyebrows arched instinctively again. While I was still looking at it, a window opened.


    +


    [Item obtained!]


    [Public Library Portal Key]


    Description: A key that opens a portal in a forbidden section of the New York Public Library. It leads to an alternative, decayed version of the same building, where there is a legend that the original version of the Necromonicon was hidden. Nevertheless, it''s a great library to search for a book.


    Effect: Opens a portal to a Rank-E dungeon.


    +


    Once again, that mine wide and grin smile appeared, and I started laughing with myself.


    I had intended to try to enter some hidden portal. After all, there were more portals in the city than the heroes could handle.


    However, a low-level dungeon just for me was perfect!


    "Just fill out this little form, and you''ll be good to go."


    As she asked, I filled in the form, thanked her with a nod, and headed down the white corridors. The elevator took forever to reach my floor. When the doors opened, I pressed the right floor.


    Ward 400-B was silent. Unlike the rest of the hospital, there wasn''t much chatter or noise from patients here. It was a place for the most serious cases. Cases like Emily''s.


    When I reached room 482-B, I stopped for a moment. Then, I turned the knob and entered.


    The first thing I saw was a machine. It was a metal-and-glass monster, covering almost all of my sister''s body, leaving only her head exposed. The only human presence in that room was her face.


    Her short black hair was clean but lifeless. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were closed. I knew she wasn''t asleep ¡ª just resting.


    The sound of the machine humming was constant. A low beep echoed from time to time, accompanied by the rhythmic movement of the metal structure.


    Emily was still alive. But not for long.


    That night, when the news about the portals shocked the entire world, humanity was already seven days behind. The portal breaches that occurred plunged everything into chaos, as we already knew. My family suffered the side effects.


    Except for the house we''d lived in since I was born, the only person at home that early evening was my sister. Debris from a nearby battle hit our house.


    Fortunately, even that wasn''t enough to kill my sister.


    The doctors said that the machine was sustaining her vital functions, but her body was slowly wasting away. The cost of keeping her alive was absurd ¡ª both financially and physically.


    My family had already sold everything they could, including the house that had been destroyed. I worked whenever I could, but the money was never enough.


    I pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down.


    "Hey, Em."


    Her eyes opened slowly, as if it took immense effort. When she saw me, a small smile appeared on her cracked lips.


    "Bran..." she said in a weak voice.


    "How are you feeling today?"


    The machine wheezed as she drew a little air to speak.


    "The same as always... But I''m not in pain."


    That was a lie. But I never contradicted her.


    "And you...? How are... things?"


    "Fine. I''m working at the port, studying... College is starting soon."


    "You''re not giving up on college, are you...? Finish it for me."


    "I haven''t even thought about quitting."


    She laughed briefly. "Liar... I know you don''t want to worry me."


    I looked away. "I just... I''ll get money, Emily. I promise."


    She looked at me with those weak black eyes.


    "I don''t want you to destroy yourself because of me."


    "Shut up."


    She laughed again but then coughed.


    The only way to save my sister was to become strong enough to get real money. And I would do that. At any cost.


    I spent a few more minutes talking to Emily, trying to look optimistic, even though inside, I was falling apart.


    Before I left, I held her hand and said:


    "I''ll be back soon, okay?"


    She smiled slightly. "Don''t do anything stupid, Bran."


    I gave her a forced smile. "I never do."


    She laughed softly, and I stood up, leaving the room before she saw my expression.


    I needed power, and I knew where to get it.