Solo Leveling: Banishment of the Anomaly

Joo-Hee slapped herself hard, the sound echoing in the devastated cave.

Her palm stung, and her voice trembled as she murmured, "I-It hurts… so it's not a dream?"

She froze, her wide eyes scanning the chaos around her once again—tattered giant flowers, dried-up corpses of the criminals and Kang Tae-Shik, and the eerie remnants of someone's rampage.

'What the hell happened here while I was gone?' she thought, her face a mask of confusion.

Her mind raced, trying to piece together the fractured memories.

'I'm certain my consciousness faded as the enhancements began… But my body—how is it here? I should've been near the entrance of the cave intersection by now.'

Countless possibilities flooded her mind, but one stood out, clear and troubling.

Her jaw tightened, and she bit her tongue to ground herself as a bitter realization dawned on her.

'Don't tell me... did the system...' she thought, closing her eyes tightly.

'When it said "body possession will now be disabled"—did it mean possessing my body while I was out?'

The pieces began to fall into place, and with them came a surge of frustration.

If what she thought was correct, she would undoubtedly have to clean up what the system did without her permission.

'And I'm the only one here with such control over nature magic, but this…'

She looked at the remnants of destruction around her, her heart pounding.

'The sheer scale of this power… The precision of these skills… That system must have taken over and done something while I was out.'

Before she could delve further into her thoughts, a gentle tug on her arm brought her back to reality.

Jin-Woo was there, his dark grey eyes filled with concern, his wounds seemingly forgotten.

"Joo-Hee, are you really okay? Why did you slap yourself all of a sudden?" he asked, his voice tinged with worry.

But when he saw the confusion in her eyes, it felt like some of his questions were answered.

Joo-Hee acted fast and simply responded, "I'm really okay, look."

With that, she moved and turned around, causing Jin-Woo to feel slightly more at ease.

'The look on her face earlier... She really doesn't know what happened here,' he realized, watching her closely.

'Now, I'm halfway sure...'

'But wait, if she really does have a system of her own, what if the other survivors have one as well?'

'If she's the only one—and knowing her—then maybe we could figure things out together... But if it's the other way, then that would be a problem...'

'First, I need to get to the bottom of this.'

Without hesitation, Jin-Woo reached out and gently grabbed both her cheeks, the motion so natural and smooth that anyone watching would think they'd been in a relationship for years.

His thumbs brushed against her skin, his touch warm yet firm as he gazed at her with a soft smile.

"Hey," he said teasingly, "aren't you going to apologize? I almost died trying to wake you up, you know."

Joo-Hee pouted as her cheeks were squeezed, her eyes narrowing in adorable anger.

"Jin-Woo, you've gotten mischievous, huh? Quit pulling my cheeks—it hurts!" she huffed, though her tone betrayed a hint of playfulness.

But inside, Joo-Hee was far from calm.

Her thoughts raced in a storm of panic and realization.

'Waking me up? This bastard system! All of this happened because I was fighting Jin-Woo?! And it's a miracle I'm still alive!'

'If I hadn't returned up just earlier, I'd be staring at my funeral right now instead of his face! Huhu…'

Jin-Woo chuckled softly at her reaction, finding her bickering surprisingly adorable.

'How cute…' he thought, though he quickly caught himself, his smile faltering as a blush crept across his cheeks.

Realizing what he'd just done, he let go of her cheeks, stepping back and awkwardly clearing his throat.

Joo-Hee rubbed her sore cheeks, glaring at him half-heartedly like an angry chipmunk.

Still flustered, Jin-Woo turned his back to her, his ears burning red.

He quickly pondered with deep embarrassment, 'What was I doing just now?! And to think... I found her cute all of a sudden...'

"Ahem... Tidy up now," he said, his voice carrying a mix of authority and embarrassment.

"Maybe… clear out these roots and plants. We can't leave this mess here. If the association inspects the area, they might see you as a dangerous second awakener who can't control her powers."

He paused briefly, the weight of his next words lingering in the air.

"We also need to talk… later."

Joo-Hee flinched at his statement, her hands freezing mid-rub on her cheeks.

'Huh?! What second awakener? Did they just conclude I reawakened?!' she thought, biting her lip in frustration.

'It's all because of this bastard system! If it hadn't taken over my body—'

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt as her gaze landed on the dried-up corpse of Kang Tae-Shik, covered in moss and glowing ferns.

Both eyes widened in horror, and she instinctively grabbed her head as a wave of dread washed over her.

'Crap! The association… they... they'll think I did this! They're going to assume I'm the one who killed that jerk, Tae-Shik!'

Her mind spiraled into chaos as she imagined herself being interrogated and possibly imprisoned.

'I'm really fucked!'

'Shit! Should I just run away or smuggle myself into another country?'

All this overthinking made Joo-Hee sigh heavily, trying to push away the growing panic in her chest.

'I-I need to organize my thoughts properly,' she decided.

'Let's start with my status.'

'Status!' she called out mentally, expecting the familiar interface to appear.

But… nothing happened.

Her brow furrowed as confusion set in.

'Didn't the new upgrade include a mental link for the system? Why isn't the status window showing up?'

She glanced over at Jin-Woo, noticing he was busy cleaning himself.

Lowering her voice to a barely audible murmur, she tried again but this time verbally.

"Status."

This time, the interface appeared, but it wasn't what she expected.

The usual blue panel was gone, replaced by a green interface adorned with majestic, curling roots that seemed alive.

The edges of the panel shimmered with golden leaves, pulsating softly as though they were breathing.

Her lips parted slightly as a single word escaped her mouth, "Beautiful."

For a brief moment, her worries melted away as she gazed at the intricate design.

Her eyes traced the glowing roots and leaves, the subtle movements captivating her.

As a former computer science student back on Earth, specializing in front-end development, she couldn't help but admire the artistry.

'This interface feels alive... almost 3D-like. It even reflects the essence of my class itself.'

She began skimming through the panel, marveling at the clean layout.

_______________________

[Sage Enlightenment System V.2.0]

.

Name: Lee Joo-Hee (Jake Garcia)

Class: Sage of Eternal Leaf

Title: None

.

Level: 3 (126/200)

HP: 560/560

MP: 3,000/3,000

.

[ Stats ]

[ Skills ]

[ Quests ]

[ Notifications (+5) ]

_______________________

Her mood lightened, though the five unread notifications tugged at her curiosity.

'What could those be about?'

Joo-Hee clicked the notification button, and to her surprise, five additional panels materialized before her, each brimming with tantalizing information:

_______________________

Notifications:

— The first system upgrade has been successfully completed. Would you like to claim the upgrade reward?

— The remaining energy of the Artificial Sagefruit of Nigh-Omniscience and the Nine Orifices Black Meteor Needle has been fully absorbed. Gained +22 Strength, +20 Dexterity, +24 Magic Power, +37 Intelligence, +41 Wisdom.

— Your Magic Power has reached the current pinnacle body limit. Stat Evolution Quest is now available. Would you like to accept the quest?

— The absorption of the Artificial Sagefruit of Nigh-Omniscience has increased all Basic Skills by one level.

— Would you like to enable the Mental Link Connection?

_______________________

Her eyes sparkled with delight as she skimmed through the notifications, her expectations far surpassed.

'Rewards, stat boosts, and—wait, what?!'

'Meteor needle?'

'First, it was that fruit, but now a needle? When the hell did I even acquire that?'

Another mystery had dropped into her lap—one she wasn't sure she had the means to solve.

'Even if I ask the system, it'll just ignore me or give some cryptic answer,' she thought with a sigh.

Crossing her arms, she bit her lip in contemplation.

'Sigh. Well... whatever. One thing at a time. I'll figure it out later.'

Letting go of her frustrations, she closed the notification panel for now and focused her attention back on her surroundings.

There was still too much to deal with.

Glancing around once more, Jin-Woo was still busy tidying himself up in the corner, borrowing the clothes of the late Tae-Shik.

Taking a deep breath, she exited all but the first and third notifications, saving those for later.

Her gaze lingered on the last notification.

'There you are,' she thought, a glint of mischief in her eyes.

'I almost thought you'd malfunctioned again and become usele—uh, I mean, nonchalant.'

With a quick flick, she tapped the notification and swiped the off button to the right.

The familiar mechanical voice resonated in her mind, smooth and authoritative:

[Mind Link Connection enabled. System queries are now allowed.]

Joo-Hee's heart skipped a beat.

'Finally!'

She almost broke into a celebratory jump right then and there but managed to rein herself in.

'Time to test this out properly,' she mused.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she thought firmly.

'Open stats.'

The response was instantaneous as a sleek, translucent panel appeared in her vision after the main panel vanished without a trace.

The ease and speed of the mental link brought a sense of satisfaction that she hadn't expected.

_______________________

Basic Stats:

— Strength [42/200]

— Dexterity [41/200]

— Vitality [56/200]

— Magic Power [100/200] (Quest Available)

— Intelligence [74/200]

— Wisdom [81/200] 

_______________________

The mental link was smooth and responsive, a far cry from her earlier struggles.

She clasped her hands together, closing her eyes as if in prayer.

"Finally!" she whispered inwardly, her relief almost palpable.

'People will no longer think I've lost my mind anymore when they see me muttering random words to thin air!'

It felt as though an immense weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

She could already imagine the freedom this upgrade would bring.

No more awkward stares. No more muttered incantations.

But her moment of triumph was short-lived as the system's voice echoed again:

[The system query keyword has yet to be set. Would you like to set it now?]

Her eyelid twitched, and she almost facepalmed as she mulled over her options.

'A keyword, huh?'

'Something simple, short, and rare enough that I won't accidentally trigger it in a random conversation…'

Her gaze flickered to Jin-Woo momentarily.

'Jin-Woo's 'Arise' is iconic, but I'm not about to copy that.'

'I need something unique, something that feels like mine in this Worldview.'

Her mind wandered briefly to the origins of her system—Alphaterium Cell.

The name popped into her head.

'Alphaterium? Ugh, no. Too clunky and long.'

'Imagine mentally yelling that out in battle—what a nightmare and how distracting that would be.'

As Joo-Hee mulled over potential keywords, her thoughts drifted back to the Stats Panel she had seen earlier.

Her memory instinctively zeroed in on one of her highest stats: Wisdom.

Lips curled into a thoughtful smile.

"U—"