Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I've never written a Solo Leveling fic before, much less a reaction fic... However, seeing how little Solo Leveling reaction fics there are, I decided to try my hand at making one. If people end up actually enjoying this, I might continue it! Comments are extremely appreciated and genuinely help me write faster, so if you like what you're seeing, please comment something, even a dot! I respond to every comment!

Timeline for all characters:
Just after Jinwoo is officially announced as an S-Rank, after he defeats the gate with the orcs inside.

During Reactions, characters will be speaking as if they're texting, they will each have an emoji corresponding to their name, and they will speak after their emoji. Characters may be added in future chapters, and any character added will appear at the top of each chapter they are in for easy access. Characters may be added upon request or depending on the episode.
Characters:
👻: Jinwoo
💜: Jinah
🛡️: Jinho
👃: Cha
🦁: Baek
🔥: Choi
🕶: Jinchul
👴: Go Gunhee
🩺: Joohee
💪: Song

Chapter Text

'Ugh, where am I..?' Jinwoo thought to himself. He hadn't felt this disoriented in a while, and already he was beginning to feel concerned. Surveying the room quickly for any possible threats, his heart dropped when he saw the unmoving figure of his sister next to him.
"Jinah!" He scrambled over to his sister. Something about this place made him feel... weird. He felt defenseless, more prone to the emotions he thought he had been losing. The same pressure that he felt in the double dungeon was back, leaving the hairs on the back of his neck standing as he held his sister protectively, checking her pulse on instinct.
"Whuuguh? Oppa..?" Jinah yawned. She was okay, thank the System. As if her awakening had triggered something, the other inhabitants of the room began waking as well, albeit more gracefully as the majority were high-ranking hunters. Jinwoo studied the room again, realizing that Jinho was there as well, being protected by Choi, much to his embarrassment. Jinwoo honestly felt a little guilty for not reaching out to him and protecting him as instinctually as he had his sister. As the hunters began to realize that there wasn't an immediate threat, they began to test out their abilities, only to recoil in shock when they simply... didn't work. Chae's jaw dropped as she realized she hadn't needed to cover her nose at all despite being in a room densely populated by hunters, Baek grit his teeth as he tried (and failed) to transform, and even Jinwoo himself widened his eyes as he tried in vain to call out to his shadow soldiers.
'Is this... Is this force preventing our abilities from activating the reason my emotions feel more prevalent? Did it undo the System's work? How are we going to get out without our abilities? How am I going to protect Jinah? Most importantly, though... Why do I suddenly feel like crying?'
Suddenly, the oppressive silence brought upon by the realization of the hunters' suppressed abilities was broken with a loud tearing noise coming from above. The hunters braced themselves despite having no abilities, and thus were extremely confused when the only thing that came out of the seemingly RIP OF TIME AND SPACE was a tall woman resembling a pixie with lavender hair and a simple white chiton that seemed to glimmer in the soft light, complete with large, bug-like wings on her back. Her eyes were covered by a similar white blindfold. Sensing the room's attention was on her, she smiled, showing fangs not dissimilar to a spider's.
"Hello, all! I apologize for the rude awakening. I didn't think any of you would wake up as fast as you did. My bad!" She tapped the side of her head with a fist and stuck her tongue out, the childish gesture feeling foreign and odd coming from the large woman (creature?) before them.
"Think nothing of it," Chairman Go responded genially, the first to recover. "Though I must ask, what exactly are we here for? My senses aren't quite as well as they used to be, but even I can tell that you're the orchestrator of all this."
'Really laying down the old man card thick, aren't you chairman?' Jinchul sweatdropped.
"Oh, right! I completely forgot!" She replied.
'How can you just forget having hostages?' Baek thought, eye twitching.
"My name is Orchid, well, not actually, but it's the closest a human can get to pronouncing my name without bleeding from the throat. Anyways, you're all here to react to our wonderful Jinwoo Sung's past, present, and future! Sounds fun, no?"
"I cannot think of a less fun experience, actually." Jinwoo deadpanned, somehow already over everything. Feeling all the emotions both he and the System tried so hard to repress all at once was not exactly doing wonders for his mental state, which was already held together by silly string, dry instant ramyun, and a dream.
"Tough. It's happening anyway because I get my kicks out of making poor saps like you actually confront your emotions and get a support system for once in your life. Those secrets you're holding will only hurt yourself and others in the long run."
'It's not every day that you see your older brother figure get chewed out by a eldritch pixie thingy.' Jinho thought, somehow already mentally checked out of the entire experience.

"Anyways," the pixie continued, "There are chairs over there, snacks over there, and personal rooms over there for when you feel like you need to take a break," pointing at each thing she says. "I'm gonna leave you with the remote so you can pause the 'episodes', so to speak, but you can't leave this building until you've watched everything."

"Some of us actually have guilds to run and can't be wasting time like this." Choi, finally out of patience, snaps.
The pixie's mouth widens at that remark, cheeks stretching unnaturally in a facsimile of a smile, as if whatever 'skin' Orchid had chosen to wear didn't fully fit the expression she wore.
"Don't worry," she said, immediately worrying everyone, "Time has been completely stopped outside this building. Once you're done, you'll go right back to the exact second you were taken. Of course, this also means that nobody is coming to save you. Are there any more questions before we start?"
With that frankly disturbing monologue, the smile (if you could call it that) on her face completely disappeared, leaving her still and questioning. The hunters look at each other, and seeing a lack of objections, nod to the woman in permission. She smiles, normally this time, claps her hands, and deposits the remote in Jinwoo's hands, warning the entire room that spoilers will not be permitted. With that ominous warning, she uses her sharpened pointer finger to slice away at the fabric of spacetime again and departs, leaving a sense of vague unease.
Jinwoo sighs as he looks at the remote.
'So much for not being labeled as a crazy person.' He thought.
After waiting for everyone to take a seat, he sighed deeply, and pressed play.

Chapter Text

[SEOUL, KOREA]

My name is Jinwoo Sung, and I’m an E-Rank Hunter. I’m just a bit stronger and faster at recovering than the average person– Honestly, it’s embarrassing to call myself a hunter.

Everybody in the room knew of Jinwoo’s previous rank, it was hard not to, considering the press’s tendency to dissect anything that caught their interest. However, almost everyone knew Jinwoo as a calm, confident, highly competent, and unshakeable individual. To hear the self-loathing tone and bitter words coming from their own Jinwoo was a bit of a shock.

🩺: “Jinwoo… Did you really think that way about yourself?”

👻 : “...”

Jinwoo didn’t answer. The lighthearted air in the room dissipated just the slightest bit.

Not only do I get hurt all the time, near-death experiences are nothing new to me. I really don’t enjoy being a hunter. It’s dangerous work, and I have to risk my life with every job I take. I only stick with it because the Hunter’s Association helps cover my sick mother’s hospital bills. 

🧓: ‘ I see. You’ve been a responsible young man since the start, haven’t you, Hunter Sung? ’

🩺 : “So that’s the reason… It really wasn’t just a hobby to you. Why didn't you tell me?”

👻: “It’s embarrassing to share my personal business. I didn’t want to give anyone more reasons to look down on me than I already had.”

🕶️: “You said your mother is sick. Apologies for intruding, but may I ask what sickness she has? I assume it will be easier to pay for treatment with your new S-Rank salary, but if you require any assistance-”

👻: “Thank you, but she has Eternal Sleep disease. Nothing you could do would help. I’ve been fine on payments.”
If that wasn’t a clear shut-down of the conversation, Jinchul doesn’t know what is. He shut his mouth.

As a high-school graduate with no special skills or training, it was simply the only option left for me. Walking into the construction site, I am immediately greeted warmly by my fellow hunters.

🔥: “Hm. Suspicious.”

Jinah privately agreed. No matter how much her brother tried to shield her from things, he couldn’t hide the bone-deep exhaustion in his eyes after every raid. Nobody with the amount of friends shown on screen would look so hopeless.

“Yo, Sung!”, “Hello Sung!”, “Sung, nice to see you!”

I smile wryly. I already know why they greet me the way they do, so I can’t find it in me to be happy with the niceties. 

Everyone was slightly confused, but mostly curious.

Walking towards the sign-in sheet for today’s raid, I hear Mr. Kim, a hunter who I’ve raided with many times before, and a new guy speak to each other in low tones.

“Is he a strong hunter?” the man asks, “Everyone seems happy to see him.”

🛡️: “‘Strong hunter’ might be an understatement. My bro is out of this world!”

Jinwoo felt his lips turn slightly upwards unbidden. Reliving his humiliation hasn’t exactly been a great time for him, but he was secretly glad his self-proclaimed younger brother believed in him, even if that belief was entirely unfounded at this point of his journey.

“Guess you wouldn’t know since you’ve been gone for a while, Park.” Mr. Kim responds, “His nickname is “The Weakest Hunter of All Mankind”.”

🔥: “Is that… A play on my nickname?” Choi asked.

Song sighed, weary.

💪: “I told them to stop with that damn playground insult…” Song growled.

The lack of answer from Jinwoo was more incriminating than anything, and when Choi turned to face him, Jinwoo was staunchly looking away from his direction. Choi let out a defeated puff of air.

🔥: ‘ Damn, ’ he thought, ‘ No wonder he gave me the cold shoulder after the rank assessment. There has to be some lingering resentment there. I guess I can say goodbye to my plans of convincing him to join my guild. ’

🦁: “Looks like the White Tiger Guild might just get its next S-Rank soon~” Baek whispered teasingly.

🔥: ‘ Be that as it may, I simply cannot allow Baek to get his hands on Hunter Sung. I’d rather the Association get him, his smugness may destroy the world. ’

“The weakest..? Not some ultimate weapon?”

“Ultimate Weapon? Come on man, that’s what they call Jongin Choi, the S-Rank Hunter Sung is the weakest hunter. He was hospitalized after an E-Rank Gate, so…” Mr. Kim trails off.

The hunters in the room winced. Being hospitalized in an E-Rank gate was basically unheard of.

💜: “Is that… bad?”

Silence.

👃: “It certainly isn’t good …”

Realizing she said that out loud, Chae’s face erupted in flames as she profusely apologized.

Jinwoo let out the smallest huff of amusement escape his lips.

👻: “It’s okay.”

👃: ‘ Very tactful, Chae, very tactful… At least he didn’t seem too upset by it… I really need to upgrade my people skills… ’

🔥: ‘ Those hunters even name-dropped me? Called it. Definitely some resentment in Hunter Sung. ’

“He’s that bad?”

“Yeah, so him being here means today’s dungeon isn’t that dangerous.”

🕶️: ‘ That… Isn’t the attitude hunters should have. ’

“Oh, I see!”

Mr. Kim and Park share a laugh together, and then, seeing me walk in their direction, Mr. Kim hurriedly shushes his friend.

“Shhh, he might hear us!” he giggles.

💜: “How dare they treat my brother like a joke… Only I can do that!!” Jinah growled.

Jinwoo snorted softly, eyes softening at his little sister.

👻: “Thanks for the support.” He ruffled her hair, acting annoyed.

‘ Too late, ’ I thought, sweatdropping, ‘ I already heard everything, old man. ’

Finally making my way to the coffee stand, I ask for a cup of coffee before I head inside.

“Oh, Hunter Sung, I’m sorry, I just ran out…”

🛡️: “Okay, THAT’S just diabolical!”

🕶️: ‘ No coffee… ’ Jinchul internally despaired, making sure to keep up his poker face.

‘ Fantastic ,’ I thought, ‘ Even the coffee let me down. Tragic. ’

Suddenly, a voice interrupted my (totally not) moping.

“Jinwoo! You got hurt again!?”

🩺: “O-oh! It’s me!”

It’s Joohee, my only (sort-of) friend. 

🩺: “Oh.”

Jinho frowns. His brother just seems so… lonely, in this show.

That might sound sad, but it’s just the truth. She’s a B-Class healer, and she’s saved my skin more times than I could count. I will forever be grateful to her for the amount of times she’s healed me, but even I sometimes can’t help but wonder if she’s only my friend out of pity.

🩺: “ Oh. Oh no, Jinwoo…”

👻: “...”

It isn’t exactly easy to find friends as an E-Rank, and the other E-Ranks I’ve met seem much more interested in punching down to feel better about themselves than making friends. It isn’t easy being the very bottom of the barrel.

💜: “Oppa…”

👻: “It’s fine , Jinah. Leave it.”

Jinwoo’s sister seemed to be the only one able to make him talk anymore. Seeing himself back at the bottom after all the work he’s done to grow, having to watch as everyone saw his weakest moments gave him a lump in his throat that he could barely speak around. It certainly wasn’t the first time he’s seen his old self, his fight with Igris being the main example, but it was much easier to write off mean words being said to him than it was to watch just how pathetic he used to be. (How pathetic he still was.)

“Oh, Joohee. You’re joining the raid too?” I asked.

“Of course, but never mind me, what happened to your face!?”

“Oh, y’know… Stuff…” I laughed awkwardly. I wasn’t exactly excited to air out the reason I was injured, but Joohee eventually pushed me enough that I relented.

“You got injured enough to get hospitalized in an E-Rank dungeon?! How could that even happen?” She exclaimed.

“Aah, well, the other hunters were high-rank, so they didn’t bring a healer…”

🦁: “Tch. Irresponsible.”

🔥: “For once, I find myself agreeing with you. Even if there was a shortage of healers in that area, allowing one of your team members to get that hurt in a dungeon, barring an emergency, is just negligent.”

Chairman Go just shook his head in sadness. It seems no matter how hard the Association tries to crack down on safety policies, there will always be some lizards who cut corners in sake of their own greed.

“They didn’t bring a healer!? Agh, how selfish can they be?”

I sighed in long-accepted resignation.

“It’s fine, Joohee. It’s not their fault I’m so weak. Besides, I’m used to it anyway.”

👃: “Used to it…” Chae mutters, “Nobody should have to be used to it.” She grips her handkerchief tightly, well aware of the things some people have to “get used to” just to make a living.

Jinwoo sends her a grateful half-smile, but it crumples at his own next words.

“J-Jinwoo…”

“Well,” I said, shaking it off, “It doesn’t really matter anyway. It looks like everyone’s here, so it’s just about time to head into the dungeon.”

The self-appointed leader for today’s raid is Mr. Song, a C-Rank mage-type hunter. He’s always been very kind to me and has given me advice when I had just started out, and since he’s very capable and fair, the others seem to like him as well.

Song, who has been relatively quiet thus far, seems to both preen and shrivel at the mixture of Jinwoo’s words and the memories of that fateful day.

“I can do this.” I mutter.

After taking a moment to steel my nerves, Joohee and I walk into the glowing blue Gate last, as the weakest of the team and the healer of the time.

The television fades to black, signaling the end of the episode. Jinwoo is about to just click the button for the next episode, but he spots Joohee already starting to shake. It seems that, while her retirement and more peaceful life in her new rural village helped, it didn’t truly wipe away the memories of what happened that day. Jinwoo can relate, though his PTSD isn’t nearly as bad as Joohee’s, who ended up in the psychiatric ward and left with a prescription, he still often finds himself trapped in night terrors, sweating through his sheets at the darkest of nights. Glancing at Mr. Song’s slightly emaciated face, complete with ever-growing eyebags confirms that he hasn’t truly gotten over it either.

“Let’s take a break for fifteen minutes,” Jinwoo speaks, a commanding force much unlike the one they’d been watching on screen, “It would do everyone good to unwind and brace themselves for the next part. After all,” he smirks slightly, dampened by the visible dread in his eyes, “The next episode will be covering the infamous ‘Double-Dungeon Incident’.”