…Darkness. Calm. Emptiness.
And suddenly — light. Not soft and warm, but sharp, blinding to the eyes. Like a screen.
In front of his eyes appeared a translucent window with cold, clear letters:
[Welcome, Player.]
You have been chosen by the "Level Up Alone" system. Do you wish to activate the system? [Yes] / [No]
Nix Kaiser didn't immediately understand what was happening. His body felt heavy, as if he had just been pulled from under debris. He was lying on an old leather chair in an unfamiliar apartment. The room was dark, but a lamp was glowing on the table.
"Is this... a dream?" he whispered.
But the text didn't disappear. It seemed to wait for his decision. Cold, yet alive.
Nix sat up, pressing his fingers to his temples. The pulse in his head grew stronger with each beat of his heart. Everything felt too real. Now he was here. Alive. And in front of him — a choice.
"Is this a trap? An illusion? What if I press it — I won't be able to go back…"
The thought flickered like a shadow.
"Damn it... If this is my second chance, I won't refuse."
"I accept."
As soon as his finger touched [Yes], everything around him seemed to freeze.
The screen flashed brighter, blinding Nix for a moment. A faint, but distinct sound echoed in his ears — like a soft bell tolling in the void.
Then a new window appeared:
[Activation complete.] Welcome to the "Level Up Alone" system, Player. Initializing status...
Lines of text began to appear before him, as if being typed directly into the air:
Name: Nix Kaiser
Level: 1
Health (HP): 120 / 120
Mana (MP): 80 / 80
Strength: 9
Agility: 12
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 14
Luck: 7
Experience: 0 / 100
Status: Active
Stat points: 0 (You may allocate them to stats)
Skills:
• No active skills
Passive Skills:
• Calmness - Allows you to maintain absolute composure when receiving important information or in extreme situations. Effects: suppression of panic, increased clarity of thought, accelerated logical data processing.
Nix continued to stare at the lines of text that smoothly appeared before him when suddenly his gaze froze on one moment. He felt a familiar feeling, as if all of this had already happened to someone else. His heart beat a little faster, and his mind paused for a moment.
"This system… just like Son Gi Woo's…"
He remembered the novel and manhwa about Son Gi Woo and his incredible journey in the world of Solo Leveling. Nix had never believed it was possible, but now, as part of this system, everything seemed much more real.
He felt his brain rapidly processing this information. The system he saw now was almost identical to the one Son Gi Woo had. The same interface, the same stats, the same structure. Skills, levels, experience. Everything, like the hero who once fought monsters and grew stronger with each passing day.
"This looks like Son Gi Woo's system. If it really is the same, I can get stronger, but it will take effort. And probably, not just effort…"
For a moment, everything became frighteningly clear. He wasn't the one controlling the system… at least, not entirely. It was alive. It had a purpose. And now, Nix was part of it.
Nix felt a slight unease, but it was more curiosity than fear.
He studied each line, trying to understand what it meant.
Name: Nix Kaiser — it was him, his true name, now written into the system. He felt a strange sense — uncertainty, but at the same time determination.
Level: 1 — he was just beginning, as always when facing something new. But there was one detail that immediately caught his attention.
Calmness. A passive skill that had just been added. It was like a hidden gift from the system.
He began to examine the other stats. Health and mana — standard for survival and power use. Strength, agility, endurance — everything he could expect from his physical state. However, more important were Intelligence and Wisdom, which he believed could be key to a strategic approach in this world.
Calmness — Nix thought deeply. This skill could give him an advantage, especially in stressful moments. He didn't know what he would face, but he knew that he would remain calm as much as possible.
Experience: 0 / 100 — he understood that he would need to level up not only his stats but also his skills, gain experience. And most likely, everything would depend on how he used this system.
Stat points... — he thought, running through all possible scenarios in his head. Now he could increase his stats as needed.
As soon as Nix sank into his thoughts, the system suddenly emitted a quiet but distinct sound — a signal that made his attention snap back into focus. The sound was like a gentle bell, as if something was ready to activate. In the next second, a new message appeared on the screen.
Quest: Explore the World
Quest activated. Complete basic trials to understand the world you've entered. You must learn the basic rules and laws that govern this world.
Note:
Quest rewards:
150 experience
3 stat points (can be allocated to stats)
Newbie gift (Unique item for first steps in the world)
When Nix saw the line about the newbie gift, his attention was immediately drawn to this unexpected message. He knew that such a gift was usually given to newcomers to help them take their first steps in the new world. Such items could be crucial for survival or just a significant advantage at the beginning.
"A newbie gift... I wonder what it could be?" — he pondered. He imagined a weapon, skills, armor, or some potion that could make his journey easier. Not knowing exactly what it was, he decided to be ready to use whatever he received once he opened the gift.
Next, his gaze fell on the stat points. He was slightly surprised to see that he was given a total of 3 points to allocate to his stats. Nix quickly realized that this was a significant moment and needed to carefully consider how to use them.
"Three points... How much can I improve with that? Maybe I should increase intelligence and wisdom or focus on agility to be more agile in combat?" — he thought, considering how to best distribute these points.
Then his gaze returned to the line showing 150 experience. That was unexpectedly high for the first quest, and Nix felt his confidence rise. He understood that this experience would help him level up quickly, improve his stats, and acquire new skills, which might be crucial in this world.
"150 experience... That's enough to level up quickly and increase my strength. I have a chance to become stronger, faster, and smarter than I expected." — he noted to himself, feeling that these 150 points were a real boost to his development.
"Newbie gift, stat points, and experience… This is my chance not only to survive but to become strong in this world. I need to use everything as effectively as possible."
Nix struggled to get out of bed, feeling weakness in his legs, but supporting himself against the wall, step by step, he made his way to the TV standing in the corner of the room. His body was still not fully recovered from the events he had gone through, and each step felt heavy. He pressed the power button, and the screen flickered for a moment.
The screen flashed with footage of some event — bright lights, cameras, and crowds of people. The noise in the hall was almost deafening, and then the camera zoomed in on the face of a young man standing on stage with a microphone in his hand. Nix squinted, not immediately realizing what he was seeing. A man in a suit, with a confident expression, seemed calm despite the tense atmosphere around him.
"Robert Downey Jr..." — Nix thought, trying to remember who he was. He had seen his name in movies and news, but now it was hard to connect that to what was happening. He continued watching, feeling that something didn't quite add up in this moment. Nix knew Robert Downey was an actor, but why was he standing on stage among the crowd? Why did he look so... not like an actor?
The man on the screen began speaking, but his words were not immediately clear. The sound on the TV was too low, and Nix, moving closer, could only make out his movements. It seemed like some sort of press conference or event where the man was talking about "innovative projects" and "the future." But the content of his speech wasn't as important as the fact that Nix still couldn't understand where he was.
Seconds seemed like an eternity when suddenly a reporter's face appeared on the screen, and his tense voice immediately caught Nix's attention. The screen flashed with footage of a tense crowd, destruction, and explosions in the distance.
"Tony Stark… Tony Stark!" — the reporter shouted, his voice filled with panic and anxiety.
Nix froze. He realized that he couldn't be mistaken: this name — Tony Stark. He watched as the actor's face on stage blurred in the frame, but the reporter's words echoed in his head. He felt a cold chill touch his consciousness.
The phone was lying near the TV, almost unnoticed, as usual, in the corner of the table. Nix reached for it without taking his eyes off the screen and quickly grabbed it. The fatigue still lingered inside him, but his mind wasn't yielding. He instinctively began searching for information, typing in the search engine the phrase: "Tony Stark." The results appeared almost immediately, and Nix began scrolling through them, trying to find something that could explain what was happening.
"Military technologies..." — he read, absorbed by the new facts. It all seemed like the beginning of something big, but what was happening at this moment, he couldn't understand. But one article caught his attention. It talked about Captain America, the man who had become a symbol of freedom but whose body had never been found after World War II.
"Captain America..." — Nix whispered, scrolling through pictures of this hero, whose story remained unexplored and mysterious. The article said that his body had never been found after the catastrophe, and his fate remained unknown. But despite that, the legend of Captain America lived on, and his image was part of history.
This time, instinctively, he typed in a search query: "Mutants." He knew that in this world, there were people with superpowers called mutants. But what he saw didn't look like what he expected.
Only a few links popped up in the results. Most of them were unverified blog posts, conspiracy theories, and alarming headlines in tabloid press.
Nix felt something snap in his mind. He froze, and a cold shiver ran down his spine.
"I… I'm in the Marvel world," he realized.