Duo Leveling LITRPG | Post Apocalyptic | SYSTEM-Chapter 173 - 209+210 – The Dungeon Beneath the Ash

After a brief moment of weightlessness, what greeted him was a soft sand dune.

Lutz coughed out gritty sand, wiping his mouth as he looked around.

"This place is…"

Dust was still trickling down from above.

As unbelievable as it seemed, he was now underneath the ash-colored dunes.

"…Underground?"

The panic was short-lived.

Lutz quickly realized where they were.

He had been distracted for a while by Jhin and his companions' battles, but this — this was one of New Capital's no-go zones.

A Level 1 Disaster Zone.

An internal alarm blared in his mind.

I need to get out of here—

Just then—

"Exactly as expected," a calm voice said.

"…Excuse me?"

Turning his head, he saw Jhin, calmly facing one wall.

What was "as expected"?

The answer soon revealed itself.

"Wait… is this a dungeon?"

"Yep. As you can see."

On one side of the underground wall was a steel door, glowing faintly red.

The dungeon of the Level 1 disaster zone, the Ashen Desert, was right here.

Without thinking, Lutz reached out and touched the door.

[Corroded Underground Bunker (D)]

Dungeon Break in: 5 hours

"…A D-rank dungeon."

Somewhat fortunate.

Considering the break had occurred two months ago, it could've evolved into a C-rank.

If it had, the danger level would've spiked.

If it was still a D-rank, they could powerge.

There's only five hours left, but if I contact Ark and summon players, we might still clear it in time…

That's when he saw Jhin.

"…What are you doing?"

No. Surely not?

He looked like he was warming up — ready to step into the dungeon.

He couldn't possibly think he could clear this dungeon alone, could he?

"I'm just going to take a quick look. Will you be waiting out here, Mr. Kim?"

His tone was polite, but it was clear that he wasn't really asking for permission.

And just like that, Jhin opened the dungeon door.

"Mr. Jhin!"

With a flash of light, he disappeared before Lutz's eyes.

Left behind at the entrance, Lutz bit his lip hard and touched the door again.

Reckless… completely reckless!

He knew how impressive Jhin was.

He'd seen him go up against the Giant Horned Lizard. He deserved the title of "K" and was probably the most skilled player out there.

But to solo a dungeon with only five hours left until a break?

This place was classified as a Level 1 disaster zone just from the corrosion beetles alone!

The inside would undoubtedly be swarming with monsters even stronger than those.

Sure, the beetles couldn't scratch Jhin — but the others?

If a horde of higher-tier monsters came charging at him, could evenKylehandle it?

Everyone knew: dungeons on the verge of breaking were death traps.

And his level isn't even past 120 yet…

This dungeon wasn't anything like the City of the Dead Jhin had cleared with low-level players.

Undead dungeons had their weaknesses. This one had none.

Damn it…!

Lutz made his choice.

[Entering Dungeon: Corroded Underground Bunker (D)]

As soon as he stepped inside, the atmosphere changed.

The air outside had been breathable despite being underground — but this was different.

[You have been exposed to radiation.]

[If not neutralized, you will die in 5 minutes.]

The air felt sticky.

His skin started to melt.

It was like stepping into a chemical warfare zone — the air stabbed at his insides with every breath.

It felt like swallowing a thousand needles raw.

"…Kugh!"

Luckily, the pain didn't last long.

HP potions splashed down over him, healing his irradiated body.

And his clothes, soaked in potion, helped reduce exposure.

Lutz gasped, barely able to breathe, and lifted his head.

[Radiation level decreasing.]

[!]

[If not neutralized, you will die in 10 minutes.]

"…Mr. Jhin?"

In front of him, Jhin was calmly slaughtering insects.

He sliced a centipede-like creature in half — one with dozens of legs — and spoke:

"You should've waited outside. Why'd you come in?"

Only then did Lutz realize what was covering him.

It was Jhin's coat — the one he always wore.

It was damp.

Likely soaked in potion beforehand.

Then… what about Mr. Kang—?

Despite fighting with flair, Jhin's condition was far from okay.

His skin, exposed to radiation, had melted off his face. His hands showed bone.

A glance was enough to know: these were critical injuries.

But Jhin spoke without the slightest concern.

"Just rest for now. Unfortunately, this dungeon has a restriction — you can't leave until the boss is defeated."

Indeed, the system message confirmed it:

[You cannot exit the dungeon until the boss monster has been defeated.]

Lutz stared at him, worried.

"…Are you alright?"

Jhin stabbed a spider hanging from the ceiling.

Its body burst, dousing him in glowing green fluid.

Everything it touched melted instantly.

And yet—

"Yeah. I can handle it."

How could he say that?

Jhin shook off the fluid casually. It wasn't just acidic — it was radioactive.

But his skin, which had just melted, began to regenerate.

"Honestly? This place is fantastic. Just breathing here is enough to boost skill levels."

Then he grinned — and dived back into the fray, fighting with an eerie kind of zeal.

Watching him was almost… chilling.

Alright… first things first. Heal up.

Jhin was handling the onslaught alone for now, but who knew how long that would last?

Lutz needed to get his body back in shape, fast.

Let's flush the radiation out entirely.

He could sense every trace of it inside him. His spatial perception abilities made that possible.

[Activating skill: 'Spatial Shift (C)']

The radiation was expelled from his body as green vapor.

He then used potions to quickly heal the now-clean parts.

He repeated the process several times.

Soon, radiation was no longer a threat to him.

Lutz turned his gaze back to the battlefield.

Mr. Jhin is…

Lutz gave a bitter smile as he leapt over the corpse of another monster.

Dozens of them were already scattered like trash on the dungeon floor.

All that in just a short amount of time…

Who's the real monster here?

His eyes stayed locked on Jhin, who continued fighting alone.

Watching him like this — it was hard to believe this was even real.

SKREEEE!

So this is… really a D-rank dungeon right before a dungeon break?

Above Jhin's head, dozens of spiders clung to the ceiling.

At his feet, centipedes the size of fists swarmed the floor.

A complete hellscape of radiation-infected bugs.

Lutz tried imagining himself standing there.

How long would he last? Not ten minutes — probably not even one.

Now and then, invisible blades swept through the air.

How does he even dodge those?

He realized what they were only after seeing one of the corpses.

Invisible mantises — a species he wouldn't have even noticed if Jhin hadn't killed it first.

But Jhin didn't take a single hit.

His fighting skills were like something out of a ghost story.

His level is one thing, but… what's his class? How does he have so many skills?

When Jhin extended his hand, a fireball would shoot out.

Sometimes he even grabbed the fireball with his hand and used it like a fist — was he a mage? A brawler?

And didn't he self-heal earlier too?

Could he even use healing spells?

How do you describe this?

It was like multiple characters had been stuffed into a single body.

Otherwise, how could one person wield so many types of skills so efficiently?

BOOOOM!

In the underground bunker swarming with irradiated insects…

The further down the staircase they went, the more intense the radiation grew — and the more monsters appeared.

And yet, Jhin's pace never slowed.

No — it's actually getting faster.

Was he adjusting to the dungeon? Memorizing all the monsters' patterns?

Or had he just gotten stronger in the short time they'd been here?

At this point, Lutz couldn't even guess anymore.

"We've reached the boss room."

At some point, they had descended all the way to the bottom of the bunker.

Before them stood a vast chamber that, at a glance, was unmistakably the boss room.

Naturally, Jhin stepped forward without hesitation.

But before he could enter—

"Hold on a second."

"…Yes?"

['Dungeon Break' has occurred.]

['Corroded Underground Bunker (D)' enters Breather Mode.]

[Boss Monster 'Radiation Cockroach Quilly (D)' has evolved into 'Death Cockroach Quilly (C)'.]

"Alright, let's go."

In the past, Lutz might've jumped in to stop him.

Now? He just shook his head and followed.

Yeah… now I get it.

Worrying only hurts you.

BOOM! BOOOM!

As expected, Quilly had evolved into a C-rank boss.

But it didn't take long for Jhin to start pounding it into the ground.

Sure, it was in breather mode, but still — the way he was beating it down, it was almost sad.

"…At this rate, is he really going to clear all the Level 1 disaster zones in just a month?"

Oddly enough, it didn't seem impossible anymore.

A week passed.

"You're already finished?"

Jhin, still radiating residual heat, gave a nod.

The dungeon he had just emerged from had formed inside a fire station.

Its boss monster was the Corrupted Fire Elemental.

"Was easier than I expected."

"I see."

That was it.

Lutz nodded and went back to his own work.

At some point, he had stopped following Jhin into the dungeons.

He used to be full of worries, trailing after him with all kinds of nagging advice.

Now, he'd gotten so used to Jhin's pace that he had grown almost indifferent — to the point where it was a little sad.

He's adjusted too much.

"Anyway, that was the last one, right?"

"Yes. With the Spirit Fire Station cleared, all Level 1 disaster zones in New Capital have been conquered."

Jhin slowly nodded.

It wasn't the most appropriate thought, but…

Strange. I feel a little disappointed.

And I didn't even level up as much as I'd hoped.

After a week of non-stop dungeon clearing, he'd only reached level 127 — lower than expected.

I've just been leveling up too fast up to now, that's all.

He'd always hunted in dungeons far beyond his level.

Naturally, that came with huge XP rewards — and leveling multiple times in one go was common.

Now that he was only going up one level at a time… it didn't feel like much at all.

I guess this is what "normal" looks like.

If anything, the problem was Exodia 2's accelerated dungeon schedule.

In Exodia 1, C-rank dungeons wouldn't even appear until a year later.

Jhin clicked his tongue.

"Are there any other dungeons left? If I'm on a roll, I'd rather clear all the backlog now."

"Unfortunately, no. There's still the Bermuda Zone, but… you know how unpredictable that one is."

Venturing into the Bermuda Zone would need careful consideration.

Time wasn't something he had in unlimited supply.

If it turned out to be a place like Bey Tower — a trap he couldn't easily escape — he might end up stuck again.

Just like the Lost Dungeon, where he'd burned through an entire month.

"We've got things to do, after all."

Jhin gave a rueful grin and accepted the logic.

Bzzz.

His phone buzzed.

Checking his messages at the same time, Lutz looked up.

"Call from Ark. Looks like they found something."

It was a message from Millie and Dean — they'd uncovered more concrete information about the spaceship.

Yeah.

We've still got something left to do.

The Moon Dungeon.

Lutz spoke up, almost to himself.

"Are we… really going to the moon?"

Honestly, it still felt unreal.

Even if this world had become a game — the moon?

A while ago, they'd been rewriting résumés, preparing for job interviews, stressing about unpaid rent.

And now they were talking about flying to the moon.

"It really does feel like a movie."

At that, Jhin slowly nodded.

He remembered an old film he'd loved as a kid.

A team of Earth's heroes soaring into space to stop an incoming meteor — a classic setup.

The difference?

"The problem is… this movie's genre is disaster."