New System AdminJinwoo defeats the Architect and takes control of the system, as the new Admin, he's able to mark new players. He can manifest his own dungeon to train the new players and help them and his shadows gain experience. Seeing Jinwoo's power, various hunters take up the offer and become his players. They can train and level up, growing strong enough to fight the other monarchs. Jinwoo/Baek/Choi/Harem
Chapter 1
Sung Jinwoo had been the weakest Hunter in the world. A title he hadn’t wanted. Then came the events of the Doubl Dungeon and he became the Player, and gained access to the system. He was able to train, boost his stats, get random loot drops, and level up.
The man wanted to get stronger, and he faced trial after trial, but he noticed something seemed off...with the System. Like it was pushing him towards something, and keeping information from him. It didn’t matter at the time, Jinwoo swore to use the system to get stronger and he did.
He gained new skills and equipment, gained access to instant dungeons to gain experience and drops. His level rose higher and higher, but he never lost his instinct of survival. There was a dungeon that was beyond him, but it held a secret treasure Jinwoo could use to save his mother. With this hope in his heart he pushed himself further, growing stronger and stronger, even taking a special test and obtaining a rare job class.
Upon acquiring the job of Necromancer, his feats in the test helped the skill evolve further and further. He began to build an army, his enemies became his soldiers. His stats grew and his army expanded.
Igris, Tank, Iron…
He took on the Demon Dungeon again and conquered it, crafting the Elixir of Life and reviving his mother. He didn’t stop there. His strength grew to the point he got a new rank as a Hunter, becoming the new S Rank.
Jeju Island Raid came and Jinwoo managed to come in clutch to stop a terrifying threat from wreaking havoc on the world. He saved multiple S-Class Hunters and hunted the ants to raise his level. It was on Jeju Island he reached level 100, getting the Key to Cartenon Temple.
There were loses, and Jinwoo wished he’d done more, his mind swam with what ifs. He could have given them weapons, the system store had all sorts of items that he could actually sell, so giving the weapons or gear to someone was an option. Jinwoo was told not to dwell on what ifs, but he did think about it. If the S Classes had access to the system, their potential could only grow.
His shadow army reached new heights.
Kaisel, Tusk, Beru…
Things were changing, Jinwoo could feel it in the air, like something was coming. He continued to prepare, he established his own guild with the help of Yoo Jinho. His reputation had several guilds and powerful hunters trying to merge or join hands.
The Ahjin Guild was founded. Jinho was his Vice President, with Sung serving as President. They needed to get one more member for the official records but they had time. There were a ton of offers Jinhoo was handling the business side of things.
Jinwoo was being considered the One Man Guild, he assisted with a dungeon and dealt with an Orc Dungeon Break at the same time. Beru lead an army of 20, and they crushed the dungeon while supporting the guild who owned the rights to the dungeon. Jinwoo crushed the Orcs, brutally but they had bared their fangs at his sister...so...no mercy!
But…
There was a glaring issue, first the strengths of the dungeons were increasing. Second, the number and random locations of the dungeons were increasing. The Orc Dungeon had appeared in the school, during a leave, so no one knew it was there. This was happening in Korea but from what Chairman Go could figure out there were similar issues all over the world. Frankly there just wasn’t enough skilled hunters to go around.
Some were concerned Jinwoo would leave the country, their were bids from other nations to try and get his services. ‘Are things really that bad?’
Many guilds were led by S Ranks, men with skill and abilities yes, but their drive is what made so many flock to them and seek to become strong. Hunters were awakening every day, but even the ones blessed with a high rank didn’t have the drive or heart to be hunters.
One such example was an actor who awakened as an A Rank shortly before the Jeju Island Raid, he was merely becoming a hunter as a way to side step his recent scandals. He didn’t plan on being one forever, and would go back to acting as soon as the heat died down on his career.
He’d seen some strange things. Jinhoo’s cousin was an A Rank hunter, while he was only D rank. She was a potential option of joining his guild. It seemed odd. If his potential was awakened would he be A Rank?
Jinwoo had seen the boy’s heart for himself. He could have sided with the lizards to save himself, but he stood beside Jinwoo despite being an E Rank. If he could become an a B or A rank he’d save a lot of people.
Second Awakenings were rare, but Jinwoo knew first hand that there could be outside enhancers. The System had changed him, helped him grow stronger and stronger.
Jinwoo’s ability was analyzed. Standard procedure for anyone trying to register a new guild. An A rank gate was chosen, it was massive.
Manager Woo was examining Jinwoo’s shadows. The Shades were all at B rank and higher. Thanks to Shadow Enhancement Jinwoo has been raising their levels making them more formidable. The cap seemed to be at 15 for now, all his named shadows were set to that.
Woo was both stunned and amazed, his army would easily qualify him for an A-Rank Dungeon permit. Permits were required because the dungeons needed to be conquered properly to avoid breaks. The appropriate force was required to take the dungeon swiftly and effectively, also for safety reasons to prevent weak or greedy hunters from claiming a dungeon only to jump into a grinder. Proper parties were needed to defeat certain enemies, and bosses tended to require large numbers to bring down.
The manager was tasked with documenting Jinwoo’s raid, to evaluate their guild’s abilities. The dungeon was full of Naga, a powerful A rank magic beast. Jinwoo’s army was crushing them like they were nothing.
His shadows were immortal, so long as Jinwoo had mana to restore them, even still they were so skilled and so numerous the Nagas were simply being overwhelmed. Igris was wielding a powerful weapon, Demon Monarch’s Dagger, it was Baran’s sword. Beru was fighting with both profound physical and magical combat. Woo didn’t think he could beat either of them in one on one combat.
Not only was Jinwoo dealing with the beasts, collect the resources, he had shadows excavating the essence stones. ‘He’s more than a one man strike squad.’ Woo recognized.
Jinho was keeping busy, cataloging everything, the paperwork would be in top form with everything accounted for. Jinwoo faced the boss alone, keeping his skills sharp. Iron and the worker ants continued mining and gathering.
He beat the boss and reached level 101, Shadow Extraction Level 2, Shadow Storage Level 2, Monarch’s Domain Level 2, Shadow Exchange Level 2. Jinwoo wanted to continue raising his level, to help keep his family safe no matter where he went. “Arise!” His voice commanded the boss to rise up.
He was given the name Jima and through Enhancement he was raised to level 13.
Woo’s report was honest. What he saw wasn’t a raid, it was a massacre. Chairman Go could see it, Jinwoo was a walking Guild.
Jinwoo finished his preparations, reaching level 103 before heading to the Temple. A Double Dungeon had appeared and Jinwoo immediately took over, sending a warning message to stay out.
Inside he faced the Architect. In one final test, he fought without his army, defeating the statues one after another. Jinwoo took great pleasure in crushing the Statue of God from before.
The Architect faced him, but first some Q&A, it felt Jinwoo had earned some answers. So he gave him 3 questions. “What is the system?”
“I designed it, to find and test those who become players.” It was true rumors of double dungeons existed for some time, so there had been other players. “Most fail to reach the heights and obtain a job class. The few who managed to do it, weren’t worthy of the title of Shadow Monarch.”
Not that the Architect believed Jinwoo was, he saw the boy as too weak to be the vessel. Despite all expectations and efforts, here he was. “Had everyone stayed on the alter that day, would we all have been chosen as players.”
The Architect smiled. “Yes, but those cowards failed to prove their faith. Had you been able to leave and left, I’d have moved on to find other players.” Jinwoo stayed, he survived, chosen by the system itself.
“Why would you do this?”
“To create Monarchs.” He simply built and activated it, he had no control over the results. That’s why there were so many failures. Many tried to ignore the system and faced penalties which….didn’t go well for them. Others were too overconfident and failed to pass the trials laid out for them. No one heard about it because anyone who tried to talk about the system got the same glitch effect the monsters got when asked certain questions.
That was three, and the two fought. The clash was felt outside the gate, sending chills down spines. Woo arrived on the scene and immediately called an Emergency alert. Any available S rank had to report here now!
Baek, Choi, and Cha were called in to assist, but they had no idea what they were stepping into.
Jinwoo defeated the Architect but was tricked into looking for answers and accepting the data from storage. It was the Architect’s final trap, he thought Jinwoo would be sacrificed and the old Shadow Monarch would return.
He was looking for answers and he got it, the armies and legions, the war, the bloodshed, the betrayal. Armies of monsters battled the armies in silver armor, but when the monsters fell the Shadow Monarch brought them back.
Shadow soldiers ravaged the enemy, fighting, dying, regenerating. The Monarch was like a one man storm, leaving destruction in his wake. Just when it looked like the monarchs and the monsters were about to win…
Then came the infighting, Balan the demon monarch had betrayed the Shadow Monarch, and he was not alone…
-x-Outside-x-
Baek, Choi, Cha and Woo had arrived with other hunters, and the Architect welcomed them with his puppets. He was preparing for the arrival of his king. “We have to wake him up, no matter what!”
The fight was brutal, the stone statues worked as puppets were difficult to destroy. They had both physical and magical resistances, immune to taunt and other status effects as well.
Trying to get to Jinwoo was proving just as difficult, but the Architect seemed determined to prevent that from happening, so that had to be a good sign. “Don’t interfere with his highness’s sleep!” He went to attack Choi only for Baek to beast out and take a few hits.
“Bring it on you damn monster!” Baek roared and broke 2 of the Architect’s arms, only for them to slowly regenerate, he took pieces of his puppets and used them to repair his body.
Baek and Cha were fighting him, the Architect almost seemed amused. “You’re entertaining, fun...oh so very fun, you’d have made amusing players.” He chuckled. “But now that the King shall rise again, no others are needed.”
Cha used her Sword Dance, and the Architect blocked her, using multiple swords at once, and landed a good hit on her shoulder. “Do not fret humans, I have no use for you but the king will, I’ll present your corpses to him, and he’ll sing my praises as he revives you as shadows!”
Choi blasted him with flames, Baek broke three more arms, Cha managed to land a slash. The other hunters were struggling to survive, all of them were A and B ranks, but this hell proved to be a nightmare even for them.
“All of you will fall, then rise as the new army of the king!” Architect laughed. Then he noticed something, shadows...they were there...they couldn’t come out due to the Temple’s rules. “You...you have been touched by the king...how...how do you know Sung Jinwoo?!”
“We are his friends!” Cha said confidently.
“He saved our guilds!” Choi said.
“He saved our lives!” Baek roared.
“We’ll sacrifice everything to save him!” The other humans cheered. The puppets stopped.
“So it’s not the king’s will?” He sounded disappointed. “Well rejoice, soon one of the supreme beings will rise, and you humans will all die, and be reborn. Your miserable lives will have new purpose!”
“Who says?” Punch! Jinwoo punched the architect shattering his face more.
“I...Impossible...how...how could you be here and not the king. The black heart beats within you, how have you retained yourself.” The Architect had designed the system to test and strip a player of their humanity making it easier for the birth of a new monarch.
The Black Heart rested in Jinwoo’s chest, a second heart which blessed him with a huge boon of magic power.
All the statues activated as the Architect activated his final gambit. He was sure, if the original Shadow Monarch rose, he’d lead the others, with his might and prime vessel they’d follow him until the end. Jinwoo, one not chosen by the Architect was too weak in his eyes to do what needed to be done.
He threatened to kill everyone. “I’ll just crush your puppets after I kill you.”
He threatened to shut down the system, reducing Jinwoo to just an E-Rank. “You think so, go ahead and try!”
He did! The Architect tried to shut down the system only to receive errors,
System Administrator Access Denied
System Administrator Access Denied…
System Administrator Access Denied!
Over and over again. “See, one day...a thought came to me.” He felt the system was using him, needing him for something. A part of him felt like the system was making him a pawn. “So I had to devour the system itself!” Indeed he did. “It looks like your system design sucks big time, I’ll make better improvements.”
The Architect was slain, his puppets crushed. His final prophecy spoke of death for Jinwoo, but the necromancer wasn’t afraid, now that he had control of the system, he was gonna make a new path, a future so bright and dark the Architect couldn’t possibly see it. Jinwoo called on his shadows and got everyone out and with Beru’s help many hunters were saved. ‘He saved us again.’ Choi thought.
‘What a beast?!’ Baek thought, feeling tingly all over after seeing Jinwoo fight like...that!
To be continued...New Players
Time is short, Jinwoo needs to work fast to help prevent a disaster, the many hunters with potential Jinwoo reaches out to them with an offer. Though his top picks come with shadows attached, he sees Baek doing something he shouldn’t have peeked on.