Duo Leveling LITRPG | Post Apocalyptic | SYSTEM-Chapter 169 - 201+202

The situation calmed down quickly.

Nazoral's figure collapsed, unraveling as the magic and arrows scattered away without a focal point.

Jhin finally exhaled the breath he had been holding.

[You have successfully cleared the quest.]

[An unbelievable feat for your level has been achieved. Preparing your rewards.]

[…]

[You have gained a massive amount of experience.]

[Level up.]

[Level up.]

[Level up.]

…(omitted)…

[Level up.]

The endless stream of messages concluded with the "Final Reward" for clearing the C-rank dungeon scenario quest.

Jhin stared at the sigil floating in front of him.

[Special item 'Dragon's Sigil' acquired.]

[Title 'Master of the Lizardman's Well' acquired.]

It was the very 'Dragon's Sigil' that had, albeit briefly, allowed Nazoral to wield unchecked power.

And somehow, neither Atlas nor the Lizard King, but Jhin had become the new master of the dungeon.

"..."

Only then did he notice the mangled scenery around him.

Parts of the colosseum had vanished as if melted by acid, and most structures were submerged under water, leaving the lake without a single intact building.

Was it really over?

Between the scattered remains of Horn Tribe warriors and Lizardmen, their bodies half-erased by arrows, the players from Ark who had fled earlier now cautiously inched closer.

In the stillness of the battlefield, Jhin stood alone.

"Is it… over?"

Adonis muttered something dangerously close to a death flag.

Jhin simply shrugged and shook his head.

Over?

Nazoral, a mass of jealousy, had been erased, and the arrows had vanished like a lie with their purpose lost.

But it wasn't over.

Jhin glanced sideways at the Calamity Meteor Blade, still sucking blood like a leech, then looked elsewhere.

He was already low on blood — there was a reason he hadn't lifted the skill.

"Where do you think you're going?"

[Activating skill 'Transcendence (F)'.]

Leaping across the scattered stone platforms emerging from the water, Jhin accelerated.

His eyes locked onto a single figure darting across the open field.

Boom!

A swift punch sent the figure sprawling to the ground.

Apparently, the guy wasn't all that strong in combat.

It didn't take long to press the Calamity Meteor Blade to his neck.

The man stared in horror.

"…How did you know?"

"Guys like you, the sneaky type, never confront things head-on."

Nazoral never quite fit the bill as the real mastermind behind this scheme.

Because people like them never stood in the spotlight when plotting.

If Nazoral had truly been a core member of the Company, he'd have never taken off his mask.

"And no Extender who ends in catastrophe would act like that, either."

Jhin stared into the man's trembling eyes.

Unfortunately, this guy wasn't the true body of the one he'd been chasing.

But now he could see more than ever before.

[Activating skill 'Soft skills (S)'.]

[Activating skill 'Focus (S)'.]

"So this is what you really look like?"

"…What?"

The two S-rank skills harmonized perfectly, and he succeeded in tracing the man's skill back to its source.

Before, he had only sensed the flow — now, he could see the other side of the spying skill.

Tap, drop. Drop!

The man panicked and hastily disabled his skill, static filling the vision, the image disintegrating.

So Jhin tried to memorize every fleeting detail. Every bit of it was intel.

If he was right, this could help identify the Company's stronghold.

Then it happened.

Zzzzt!

While tracing the skill's flow via Soft skills, he reached the true body — and by chance, caught another subtle ripple.

What was that?

Suddenly, the man's face flickered.

Caught off guard, his face beyond the spying skill — which he hadn't bothered to mask — was revealed.

That's how Jhin knew.

Crackle.

The spying skill deactivated. The vision beyond his eyes faded.

Smoke was seeping from the man's head, ears, and eyes — his use had run out.

Like a machine under overload.

Jhin grimaced.

"…Arman?"

Unbelievable. But the face he had seen — it belonged to a corrupted NPC he had definitely killed back in Exodia 1.

Afterward, Jhin gave an order to the Lizard King: send all Lizardmen eastward.

All thanks to the Dragon's Sigil.

"What a shame. Such a broken ability, and I only get to use it once more."

He clicked his tongue as he watched the Lizard King walk away, tail dragging limply behind him.

Disappointing, yes — but it made sense that an overpowered item like that would have a limitation.

Wasting it on something like "Stop" or "Kneel" — Nazoral had been an idiot.

'At least it still lets me issue a territorial restriction to the Lizardmen and forbid them from leaving the dungeon.'

Without that, things would've gotten troublesome.

…The mere fact that he had one more command left to give might be an incredible stroke of luck.

"By the way, what happens to the dungeon now?"

"…For now, I'd say it's cleared."

There were generally two ways to clear a C-rank dungeon.

Side with the NPCs and win… or side with the monsters and win.

That was what the surface rules said.

But as with all things — exceptions existed.

Like the veterans always said: Exodia never shows you everything.

A player could become the master of a dungeon.

Then what?

'Whatever the player wants.'

He could seal the entrance and prevent any future dungeon upgrades.

Or he could just leave it alone.

Everything changed depending on Jhin's choices.

And he made his choice quickly.

'No need to block it off.'

The Horn Tribe already held goodwill toward Ark's players.

The Lizardmen were a bit of a nuisance, but thanks to the sigil, he'd hard-coded obedience into their command structure.

They wouldn't grow stronger — and they'd never make it to New Capital.

This dungeon posed no threat to the city.

'And if it ever does, I can always shut it down.'

Of course, had he not become the dungeon's master, he wouldn't be thinking so casually.

If the NPCs had won and any of the more malicious ones had gone rogue, it could've turned into a massive headache.

In those cases, the only option was to hunt down the Easter eggs hidden deep within the dungeon and use them to seal the entrance.

To skip all those troublesome steps… being the dungeon master wasn't easy, but it certainly came with its perks.

"Phew… Well, shall we head back too?"

The group, having quickly wrapped up the battlefield, powerged to return to Swansea in just two hours — a journey that normally took five. Millie and Tempah were already there, waiting for them.

"You've all worked so hard."

"Yeah. But… what are those people doing?"

"Some petty squabble. It'll be over soon."

Jhin nodded as he glanced toward the players sparring off in a corner of Swansea.

Bold of them — they were actually pointing their blades at Tempah.

A petty squabble, she said…

Boom! Boom!

"What the hell…?! I'm cutting him and he's not even flinching!"

"Just die already!"

"Aaaaagh!"

Their words were lightheartedly throwing around death, but Tempah looked more exhilarated than angry, clearly still riding the high from the earlier battles.

He almost seemed to be enjoying himself — letting out cheerful roars as he countered.

"C'mon! Is that all you've got?!"

"Ghh…!"

Well, whatever had gone down between them, it was clear the situation would resolve itself soon enough.

There was no way those players could so much as scratch Tempah.

Jhin decided not to get involved.

"For today, let's rest here. Tomorrow, we'll return to Ark."

Once inside Wind's Shelter, the players each went off to enjoy their free time.

Those exhausted from the long battle climbed to the second floor to sleep, while others gathered for a grand drinking party.

Everyone had finally let their guard down.

'Just for tonight… I think that's okay.'

It had been a long, grueling day. Sometimes, you had to forget everything, drown in booze, and drop the burdens off your shoulders for a while.

Besides, there was no more threat here. No need to worry about the Company anymore.

No idiot would dare stir trouble in a place the Horn Tribe now had their eyes on.

Millie gave a nod and asked,

"What about you, Jhin? Any plans?"

"…Hmm. I've still got a few things to take care of."

"Huh?"

"It won't take long. Please, get some rest."

Jhin entered an empty room on the second floor.

A simple space with just a wooden bed under the window. He stood still for a moment, staring into the air, then murmured,

"Come out."

Zzt zzt zzt.

The soul, previously trapped under a command, began to slip out. Flames from his ring connected, and soon, the soul took shape.

A goblin's summoning.

The Company operative Armank had once possessed now stood there with vacant eyes.

"Wait."

[Activating skill 'Soft skills (S)'.]

From the room outward, Jhin scanned the entire flow.

He felt no suspicious magic leaking inward — no signs of interference.

This time, no one would shut things down before he could extract the information.

"Good. Let's begin."

First, he asked for a name.

"Wayne…"

"What did you do for the Company, and what was your mission?"

The man's speech was sluggish, but he calmly began to spill everything he knew.

Maybe it wasn't just that his soul had been resurrected — maybe Armank's spying skill had truly been severed — but this time, nothing interrupted Wayne's testimony.

"…I was part of Virus Team 1 at the Company. We powerged and oversaw the Death Gardens spreading across New Capital. Led by our team leader Felix, we've established seven farms in total…"

Jhin couldn't help but be surprised.

He had guessed that they had a large stock of spore viruses, but still — the number of Death Gardens popping up in New Capital had felt excessive.

'Seven more of them… What a nightmare.'

And this was only Team 1's doing. If there was a Team 2, a Team 3… then there could be even more Death Gardens out there.

Damn Company. Bunch of parasites.

'Alright. I'll have to consult Bellatris about this.'

He kept asking questions, but no more key information came through.

Unfortunate, but it seemed Wayne's clearance level wasn't all that high.

'…Still, this much is a huge gain.'

Shaking off any lingering regrets, Jhin deactivated the skill and burned Wayne's soul away.

Then he took a moment to mentally organize the intel… and finally stepped outside.

"And then the Lizardmen came pouring in, right? Huh? So I said—"

Night had fallen deep over Wind's Shelter. Even the villagers had joined in for the large feast outside.

Oh, they even had a bonfire going.

Face flushed red with drink, Adonis spotted Jhin and quickly came over, still blabbering.

"Where've you been? Come on, have a drink."

Jhin didn't refuse. He tossed back the offered glass in one go.

Thanks to his skill effects, he wasn't actually getting drunk, but with everyone drinking and laughing loudly around him, it was almost like the alcohol was working anyway.

Maybe Millie felt the same.

Suddenly caught up in the mood, she began to sing — a soft, sweet melody.

The noise from the gathered groups slowly died down. Her voice alone filled Swansea.

It was her new song.

"…I wanted to see a festival too," someone whispered.

Was he being sincere?

Adonis, maybe a little drunk, maybe genuinely moved by Millie's voice — was actually wiping away tears.

"The stars sing… and say you were here…"

The night ripened, deep and full.

And so, we brought our conquest of the C-rank dungeon, The Lizardman's Well, to a complete close.