When the small group of wizards arrived back at the guild; they were immediately swarmed by many members. Most were completely shattered to learn of Natsu's death, more so for others who had a close connection to the dragon slayer. Erza never lost her grip on him, holding him as close as she could to her unarmored chest that she removed for Natsu's comfort. They were bombarded with so many questions.

"Is he okay?!"

"What happened?!"

"I thought he was dead. How is he here?!"

"Natsu..."

Makarov ordered them to move so Erza could take him to the guild's infirmary. Everyone immediately followed suit, making a path for Erza to carry him through. She silently thanked her master with a smile before moving to the wooden steps that led upstairs. Lucy, Wendy, Carla, and Happy were about to follow, but Gray stopped them. "Gray?" Lucy questioned with a frown, confused on why they couldn't follow after Erza.

"Let Erza take it from here. She needs this. They both do. What matters most is he's alive. We'll visit eventually, okay?" He flashed them a small smile, erasing their worries immediately. "Let's just relax and wait for him to wake up."

"That makes sense," Lucy released a sigh as she walked over to the bar top to take a seat. "I'm exhausted."

"Ditto," Gray plopped in the seat next to her with a groan.

Wendy's eyes followed upstairs, biting her lip before she felt a paw on her shoulder. "He'll be fine Wendy, he's in good hands," she nodded at her felines words with a small smile. "Yeah, you're right."

"Master," Mira called out to the old man who sat cross legged on the bar top, taking a sip from his mug of ale. You could tell he was exhausted just from looking into his eyes.

"Hm?" He hummed in acknowledgement that he was listening.

"As much as I'm happy to see Natsu safely returned. You must know we have questions of what happened to lead to his "death." The bar maid put in quotations with her fingers.

"All in due time Mira," Makarov replied, taking a much larger swig of his ale, before wiping the excess foam from his mustache with his sleeve. "For now we wait till Natsu wakes up."

Mira frowned in response, scanning over the small group. As much as she wanted to pry, and question them on what happened, unfortunately it had to wait. Didn't mean she was going to drop the matter, far from it. "Yes master," she bowed her head towards the small olderman before returning to serving the guild members who had seemed to lost their thirst for alchol. Not that she could blame them. Her eyes glanced upstairs, clutching hem of her dress. 'Natsu... please be okay.'

An hour or so passed by. Natsu had yet to even stirr in his cot, much to Erza's dissapointment who sat in a chair she pulled next to his bed. She absent-mindedly stroked the top of his hand, her eyes watching his chest rise and fall in a rhythmic pattern. She was at a loss for how Natsu survived this. She knew he had the power to accomplish of what most would fathom impossible, but escaping death? Could that even be possible? Her brows furrowed in thought, trying to put pieces together in this convoluted puzzle.

A sigh of frustration escaped her lips as she leaned back to stare up at the white ceiling with narrowed eyes. 'What am I doing? He's here isn't he? Why am I trying to question how he survived? I'm such a fool to disregard that fact' she mentally scolded herself with a frown. Erza lowered her head to continue her gaze towards the fire dragon slayer. "Whatever happened," she smiled, reaching down to kiss the top of his hand. "I'm glad you've returned to me."

A yawn escaped her lips as she rubbed her eyes. She scooched her chair right next to Natsu, before laying her head down, enjoying the warmth that slowly returned to his body. She bathed in the feeling, feeling her eye lids grow heavier by the second. "I'll be here Natsu..." her eyes closed. "I promise..." she muttered, feeling her body slump against the best as sleep was too much of a temptation she couldn't defeat. Soft snoring soon followed as her hair absent-mindedly covered her eyes.

No sooner later, Natsu stirred in his cot with a small groan. He slowly opened his eyes, which squinted in discomfort of the bright light above him. He slowly but shortly rose from his cot, stretching his limbs that ached with a dull pain. His eyes looked around the room before they landed on the red head who was currently asleep with her head on his bedside. 'Has she been here this whole time? Wait... what happened? How long have I been out?' His thoughts swarmed with numerous possibilities of what happened. Until an image flashed in his memories. His... death, the last moments of his dying breath. The strange screen that appeared before him that he accepted the offer it gave without hesitation.

"I.. guess it worked," he whispered, lowering his gaze to his chest with wide eyes. His fingers traced over the long horizontal scar that went from the top of his chest, down to his abdomen. "What the hell...?"

Before he could even comprehend anything, an all too familiar blue tinted screen appeared before his very eyes.

[Congratulations on becoming a player]

"Player?" Natsu whispered in confusion, reaching out to touch the screen in front of him. Too his shock it was a solid surface. The screen in front of him changed, stuttering out for a moment before a new message appeared.

This system is designed to help the development of the player

Failure to comply will result in an appropriate penalty

'That's not at all ominous...' Natsu sweat-dropped in thought before another screen appeared before him. 'New messages?' The more he stared at these screens, the more his brain ached in annoyance. "Uh... open?" He ordered in a confused tone. The screen complied with a new message to be displayed.

[Daily Quest: Strength Training has arrived]

GOAL

Push-Ups [0/100]

Sit-Ups [0/100]

Squats [0/100]

Running [0/10km]

WARNING: Failure to complete the daily quest will result in an appropriate penalty

At the bottom of the message was a small round ticking clock. To Natsu's surprise it was already halfway across, ticking by the seconds. Natsu laid his head back with a small groan. "I like training as much as the next guy, but I can barely get out of this bed. The penalty can't be that bad... could it?" He asked himself quietly, narrowing his gaze towards the screen. 'What kind of magic is this? Some type of lost magic like mine? Aaaargh this is so damn confusing!'

The screens then dissapeared Into thin air, leaving Natsu to his thoughts. All of this was too confusing for him. Sometimes he wished he listened to Erza's "lessons" instead of fighting her constantly. His gaze lowered to the sleeping knight with a smile, a small tint of pink to his cheeks. 'I wonder how long she's been here. Not that I'm complaining about her presence.' he reached down to part her scarlet hair from her eyes. Erza looked so peaceful in her slumber, he dared not to wake her.

He rested his hands behind his head with a sigh. "What a night..." Natsu's eyes closed once more. His body was far from rested. "Maybe a little more sleep will do me good..." he muttered the last words, before his mind and body fell to slumber.

Unbeknownst to him, a screen appeared in front of his face. The clock was still ticking. Slowly but shortly.

It reached zero.

The feeling cold wind whipping against Natsu's face made his eyes shoot wide open. His head swiftly raised up in alarm, frantically searching around his surroundings. A snow filled wasteland laid before him. No mountains could be seen in the distance. But do to the harsh winds that whipped snow across the ground, flowing along like a wave in the sea. "Where the hell am I? This definitely isn't Mt. Hakobe, I would've seen a mountain ranger. Wait... wasn't I just in the guild infirmary? Aha!" Natsu couldn't help but smack his face with a chuckle. "Right, just a dream. But did it really have to be a blizzard? I'd rather be in a volcano right now," he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Stupid stripper."

His feet crunched against the snow, raising out his hand to block the snow that blew straight into his face. "Even if this is a dream, thank kami for my unnatural body heat," Natsu couldn't help but chuckle at his thoughts. "Lucy would be hiding in that clock dude, wining about how cold it is. Then maybe dress for it? Thought her ranting never gets old."

Natsu stopped in his tracks with a small frown. "Then there's Erza... we almost.. kissed until Lucy ruined it," he grumbled softly in annoyance of the blonds interruption. "When I wake up, I'm going to tell her how I truly feel. How I've always felt about her... Jellal lost his chance, but it doesn't mean I've lost mine. I know she feels the same way about me. I just know i-" he felt his heart stop when an all too familiar screen appeared before his eyes. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!"

QUEST INFO

[Penalty Quest: Survival]

Survive

04:00:00/4hr

'So this isn't a dream... damn it!' Natsu mentally cursed under his breath with a sigh. "4 hours out in the snowy land? You realize this will be easy right?!" He taunted with a wide toothy grin, pointing his thumb to his chest as he puffed it out in pride. "I'm a fire dragon slayer. The bitter cold won't do shit to me!"

The ground began to shake violently. Natsu nearly lost his balance, but even as he tried to maintain his balance, he fell face-first into the cold snow. He groaned, lifting his head to shake it from his hair like a dog. "Stupid snow!" He smacked at the snow in front of it, causing it to blow right back in his face with a growl. He stood up, brushing his clothes down with a mild grumble. "What was tha-"

ROOOOOOOOAR!!!

Natsu's blood ran cold as the ground shook from the creatures roar. The frequency was enough to make the ground quake beneath his unsteady feet. His head shot in every direction with narrowed eyes. 'Where the hell is it?!' His fists ignited into a flames as they danced along with wind. The ground continued to shake with each step the beast took. He tried his best to look through the harsh blizzard that cut his vision in half. Natsu raised his fists, readying himself with a fighting stance with gritted teeth. "Come on you bastard! I know you're here!"

His ears perked up, whipping his head around to leap into the air as a giant clawed hand emerged from the raging snowstorm. Scales covered it's arm in patches with black razor sharp talons that pierced through the air. Natsu landed a few feet away as the creature retracted it's claw. A large shadow loomed in the mist. Another ear piercing roar split across the landscape, making the snow rise around and whip violently around the dragon slayer. Slowly the shadow emerged, making more of it's features appear to Natsu who could only stare with wide eyes.

"W-what the hell?!" Natsu exclaimed, narrowly dodging another swipe from the creature.

There stood a giant ape-like creature. It's white fur billowed along with the wind. Scale patches were spotted all over it's body with a draconic tail. Its slitted eyes buried deep into Natsu, who shook in the mere presence of the creature. Its feet were adorned with sharp black talons along with its mammoth sized hands that could squish the dragon slayer with very little effort. Its razor fangs grinned, watching Natsu back away slowly. Natsu looked up to see a name above its head. Vulvern, a mixture between a Vulcan and a Wyvern. Its name was in a red letters, confusing Natsu further.

'A hyrbid?! How is that even possible?' Natsu buried his feet into the snow with a snarl. "Alright you overgrown monkey lizard, bring it!" He peeled off the ground, kicking up a patch of snow as he leaped into the air with his fist igniting into a bright, brilliant blame.

Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!

Natsu's fist collided with the beast's scales. A snap was heard as he screamed to the top of his lungs in pain. It felt like his hand had smashed into pure titanium. "I didn't even make a damn dent!" He jumped off it's chest as the creature went to grab him. His leg engulfed Into flames with a feral grin on his lips. "Try this on for size ugly!"

Fire Dragon's Talon!

His body flipped as he spun his foot to make contact with the top of the creatures head. But before he made contact, the Vulvern snatched his leg in a vice-grip, squeezing the life out of Natsu who could only flail in it's grasp helplessly. The beast lifted Natsu's body to meet it's monstrous gaze. "Weak human no fun" it's voice boomed in a vibrating groan. Bored with it's prey, it reeled it's hand back to send Natsu flying across the ground. His body made contact, causing a small crater to form. "F-fuck..." he muttered, spitting out a wad of blood with a chuckle. "Alright, you're tougher than I thought," he slowly raised his body off the ground on shaky legs as the beast approached him. "The warm up is over, time for the real battle!"

The beast let out another ear shattering roar before taking off across the ground. Natsu's feet buried into the snow with narrowed eyes. 'He's fast, even for his size alone' his eyes glanced up at the screen for a short second. "3 hours left," his fists collided together with flames sparking out. "I'll only need one," his body combusted into flames, melting the snow around him.

With a roar, the creature reeled it's hand back in a clenched fist to smash Natsu who jumped off to the side, before leaping up to send a clean uppercut to it's jaw that only made it's head twitch with an annoyed growl. It tried swiping him away, but he used it's height to his advantage. Natsu grabbed a hold of it's arm as he was flung high into the air with a cocky grin. "Bad move monkey!" His cheeks and stomach puffed out as he narrowed his eyes towards the creature who looked up with wide eyes.

Fire Dragon's... ROAR!

A torrent of flames released from his mouth, though to his confusion it was much smaller in size compared to most of his attacks. Regardless the attack made contact, causing a large explosion that pushed the dragon slayer back who skidded across the ground with narrowed eyes. Smoke billowed around the area. His ears perked up with wide eyes. Natsu twisted around as quick as he could, raising his arms up in an X pattern. A giant fist collided with his arms, making him fly back on the balls of his feet, gritting his teeth from the impact that practically shattered the bones in his arms.

Natsu lowered his arms that lay limp to his sides. They were bent slightly in a weird angle as he gazed out into the blizzard. Suddenly his eyes grew wide as dinner plates. Many giant shadows emerged from the storm, their red eyes the only thing he could see in front of him. He attempted to lift his arms with gritted teeth. "You gotta be kidding me... there's more?!"

His heart thumped rapidly in his chest as ragged pants escaped his dry lips that desperately seeked to be clenched with thirst. Natsu raised his head to see the time. "two hours left..." he muttered between pants. His legs were shaking, afraid to buckle under the pressure that was in front of him. Natsu grunted, shoving his arm back into place with a crack. "FUCK! That hurt!" He rotated it with a groan. "Much better."

Suddenly a multitude of roars went off, making Natsu's knees buckle under the impact alone. He gritted his teeth, trying his best to stand up to no avail. "I was just revived! I'm not about to die!" A burst of flames erupted from his body, cloaking over him entirely. "I'm not about to have a bunch of dragon monkeys be my end! I have a woman at home waiting for me!"

Even if the odds were stacked against him. He slowly stood off the ground with his hair shadowing his eyes. His eyes glowed crimson underneath with a snarl. "Playtime is over..." he took off in a blur, arriving towards one of the many creatures as lightning danced across his body, along with his flames.

Lightning Flame Dragon's Firing Hammer!

A large explosion filled the air as a pained roar resonated from one of the creatures who were down on on one knee. Natsu sped towards it in a flash, his hands being devoured his flames as lightning sparked off of his body.

Lightning Flame Dragon's Piercing Claw!

With a swipe of his hand, a large gash was formed on the creature. Before he could do more, another appeared behind him as he grunted on annoyance, leaping back as he twisted his body, aiming his head directly into one of the beasts.

Lightning Flame Dragon's Spiraling Sword Horn!

Natsu's skull made contact, making the beast fall on it's back with a pained roar, clutching it's stomach that's scales had cracked under the pressure. The dragon slayer twisted on his feet to meet the fist of another, pushing hard against the impact with a roar. His flames withered away in that moment. The lightning that once crackled around his body, long gone. He dropped to his knees, panting heavily as sweat dripped from his head. He shakily raised his head to see a small border around his vision. Below what he assumed was his health was his Mp or magical power. 'Zero...' he looked lower to another stat who's percentage was at 10%. "M-my fatigue... fuck..."

One of the Vulverns towered over him with a feral grin. It lifted it's foot above his head, making the ground become pure shadows. Natsu closed his eyes in defeat, lowering his head for the blow that would soon end his life. "I'm sorry... Erza..."

He felt it's foot looming over him, but before he knew it he landed on the hard wood floor with a loud thud. Natsu's eyes shot open to raise his head with a weak grin.

NOTIFICATION

Penalty Quest Completed

Rewards have been sent

"I... I did it..." his head collided with the hard wood floor before he lost consciousness.

Erza stirred in her sleep, lifting her head with a yawn, stretching her limbs over her head. Her eyes went to the bed with wide eyes. "Natsu?!" She shot off the chair, but to her immediate shock he was found on the floor. His body was covered in bruises, bits of snow still in his pink locks. She immediately rounded the bed to lift him off the ground, placing him back on the bed with a deep frown. "He must've woken up and fallen off the bed...

"Curse my carelessness!"

Man, this was one hell of a chapter to write in all honesty. It takes a lot of effort to write out these kind of stories, especially something as complicated to Solo Leveling. To the system messages, to the stats, the gear, percentages, skills. *Chuckles nervously* I have a lot of work cut out for me. But it's been fun so far, and you guys being as supportive as you have been means the world to me.

So to those that have read or watched the anime. You can obviously spot a huge difference from the get go. One, not a desert, two, not the same creature. I kinda made this one up from scratch so I hope you enjoyed that. And for three, unlike Sung Jin Woo who quite literally ran for his life. Natsu stood his ground and fought a force he couldn't beat, not this time at least.

One more thing as you've all clearly noticed. Natsu is significantly weaker than he once was. That's done on purpose for the fact he's become a player. He's at level one. This isn't a fic where Natsu is super overpowered in the very beginning. I personally don't like those stories. Every overpowered main character starts somewhere, but Natsu's journey starts here. As you all read this, there will be notable changes from the Manga and anime for my own spin and twist on it, instead of copy and pasting quite literally everything.

Anyway, that's all for now. I hope you all have an amazing day or night, and I'll see you all in the next chapter. Later :)