Solo Leveling: Banishment of the Anomaly

Joo-Hee's consciousness was slipping away like a dust in the wind, but her body remained rooted to the earthy ground of the cave dungeon, completely still.

Her other companions, unaware of the transformation taking place within her, could only continue running without looking back.

Seeing the state Joo-Hee was in, Song Chi-Yul rushed to her side, urgency etched into his every move.

"Joo-Hee, we need to go now! There's no time—" he said, grabbing her arm to pull her along.

But no matter how much strength he exerted, Joo-Hee's body refused to budge.

Her frame was unnaturally heavy, as if she had become one with the ground, a pillar anchored to the very foundation of the dungeon.

"Why won't she budge? Joo-Hee, stop this nonsense right now!"

Chi-Yul muttered, his face paling as he tugged again, harder this time.

Suddenly, Joo-Hee's eyes snapped open.

The glow of vibrant green light emanated from her irises, devoid of pupils, shining with an ethereal brilliance that illuminated the dim cave.

Her glowing eyes radiated an otherworldly aura, giving the impression that her body was no longer human.

Instinctively, Chi-Yul stumbled back, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

His thoughts raced.

'What the hell is happening right now? First, it was Tae-Shik and Jin-Woo… and now this?!'

Moments later, Kim Sang-Shik and Kang Jeonho came running back, alarmed that Chi-Yul and Joo-Hee hadn't caught up.

"Old man Song, why did you stop—"

Sang-Shik hurriedly uttered, but his words caught in his throat as his gaze fell on Joo-Hee.

Both Sang-Shik and Jeonho froze, their eyes widening in shock.

"What the—why is kid Joo-Hee in that state?!" Sang-Shik exclaimed, his voice trembling.

"I don't know!" Chi-Yul snapped, keeping his distance from Joo-Hee as a strange energy radiated from her body.

"It happened all of a sudden. Her eyes started glowing, and now she's releasing this… this aura."

Jeonho's face turned pale, and he stammered, "I-it can't be…"

"I think Joo-Hee is reawakening! This is exactly how it's described in the international news and the hunter forums!"

Sang-Shik's expression darkened with a mixture of awe and fear.

"A reawakening… Hunters on the brink of death, pushed to the edge of their potential, sometimes gain newfound strength. To think I'd see it with my own eyes in my lifetime… How envious…"

Chi-Yul's gaze remained fixed on Joo-Hee, his face unreadable.

He muttered under his breath, "If what you're saying is true, then... we're witnessing the second coming of Min Byung-Gyu, a new S-Rank Healer!"

He tilted his head upward, staring at the rocky ceiling of the dungeon as a bitter chuckle escaped his lips.

"She's already a B-Rank, so she'll surely awaken as an S-Rank next," Jeonho remarked.

"Hahaha! I guess the heavens haven't abandoned us yet," Chi-Yul muttered, his voice brimming with excitement.

"But what do we do now? We can't leave Joo-Hee in this state. If Jin-Woo can't hold Kang Tae-Shik back, that murderer will follow this path—and Joo-Hee will be defenseless. Worse, he might kill a potential S-Rank hunter." Sang-Shik uttered, his voice full of concern.

Jeonho's eyes filled with dread. "If that happens... even if a few of us survive, we'd be condemned by the association and all of South Korea for failing to protect her."

The gravity of the situation weighed heavily on the group as the possibility of dying is evident.

They glanced at each other nervously, each of them silently acknowledging the impossible choice they faced.

Sang-Shik wiped his forehead, the sweat pouring down like rain. "So… what's the plan?"

Chi-Yul's eyes narrowed. "Both of you, don't you dare leave again like last time. We can't leave her here. We have to protect her until this—whatever it is—finishes."

Unbeknownst to the three, however, this wasn't a second awakening.

It was something far more profound: the effects of Joo-Hee's personal system upgrade, a transformation that marked the next step in her path.

...

While the three hunters debated what to do outside, a very different scene unfolded within the depths of Joo-Hee's soul—a realm of utter darkness.

Joo-Hee finally opened her eyes just to find herself floating in the endless void.

The first thing she noticed was her appearance.

She was no longer in Lee Joo-Hee's form.

Instead, she had reverted to her original body, Jake Garcia—though not completely.

His form was translucent, glowing faintly with a blue hue, like the ethereal spirit of a ghost.

"What… is happening right now?" Jake muttered, inspecting himself.

His husky voice echoed faintly in the void, and a smile tugged at his lips.

"My voice…" he whispered, almost disbelieving.

Then, the realization hit him fully.

"I'm finally back—back to myself!"

He glanced down at his glowing form and realized, with an embarrassed laugh, that it was utterly bare.

"No clothes, huh? I missed you buddy!" he mumbled, brushing aside the awkwardness to focus on the more pressing questions.

"Where even am I? The last thing I remember was the system notification… saying the upgrade was complete."

As he examine himself more, Jake felt something unusual—his hair.

He reached up, brushing his fingers through the strands.

It wasn't the short, two-block style he remembered.

Instead, it was long, flowing, and unmistakably Lee Joo-Hee's iconic hairstyle, complete with her signature bangs.

Jake frowned deeply, running his fingers through the unfamiliar yet familiar hair.

"This is really weird… My body didn't change, so why my hair? Is this some sort of lingering effect?"

Then, it hit him like a lightning strike.

His eyes widened as he clutched at his chest.

"That fragment! It's must be because of her fragment!"

The memory rushed back: the moment he had absorbed a piece of Lee Joo-Hee's soul into his own.

He froze in place, hands trembling as the weight of realization settled on him.

"My soul… It's changing. Because I absorbed her fragment, it's not just my body that's been affected—it's my soul."

"I thought it would just help me inherit her dormant mana and lost memories, but it's become so much more than that..." Jake muttered, his voice heavy with a mix of dread and frustration.

"If I absorb more of her… I-I'll lose myself entirely."

"My identity, my memories—everything that makes me 'me' will be consumed."

He sighed, dragging his hands down his face, feeling the weight of his predicament.

"This must be why I feel more attached to Jin-Woo now, compared to when I was just pretending to get close to him before."

"Damn it... although I foolishly wished to become like her, but not like this."

"I need to be careful now; who knows what will happen if I absorb more of her. If this continues, my conscience won't be at ease, knowing she won't be able to rest in peace..."

As he wrestled with his thoughts, the void around him shifted.

The darkness rippled, and glowing green stone blocks began to materialize in front of him, one after the other.

Slowly, they formed a path that stretched endlessly into the unknown.

Jake stared at the path, his brows furrowed.

He stepped closer, hesitating as the faint light from the stones cast an eerie glow on his translucent form.

"What now? Is this some kind of trial? A test?" he murmured, his voice echoing faintly in the silence.

His gaze trailed along the path before him.

"I'm inside my soul. There shouldn't be any danger here… right?"

Despite his apprehension, Jake knew there was only one choice.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself as he stepped forward onto the path.

Each step felt heavy, not because of the physical act, but because of the uncertainty of what lay ahead.

As he ventured forward, the void around him pulsed with a sea of vague, past memories.

And so with countless questions in his mind, he walked, each step echoing in the vast emptiness, toward whatever awaited him at the path's end.