Duo Leveling LITRPG | Post Apocalyptic | SYSTEM-Chapter 192 - 247+248

Exodia.

A dungeon apocalypse game turned reality, its service shut down six months ago.

It was supposed to be over…

Jhin let out a low sigh as he gazed across the desolate, lifeless horizon.

Even thinking about it again—it made no sense.

It wasn't enough that the game became real… I ended up inside the game itself.

In a world already teeming with the unreal, this marked yet another absurd high point.

He exhaled, letting himself feel every sensation that surrounded him.

"This place… feels real too."

Nothing here felt artificial.

Everything he could see looked real.

The damp, musty scent. The bitter taste lingering on his tongue.

Even the raw sting of pain—all of it was vivid.

Well, drawing a line between "game" and "reality" didn't mean much anymore.

What mattered now was something else entirely.

What day was it today?

"Did I… go back in time?"

"Huh? Chosen One. What kind of crap are you talking about?"

"It doesn't make sense. The game was clearly shut down, and yet it's here. Running."

When the dungeon was rolled back due to a bug, all the NPCs shut down like someone had yanked their power cords.

By that logic, this shut-down game world should've stopped too.

The game, not just the dungeon, had ceased to function. Everything here should've halted.

Which means…

This might be Exodia 1, before the shutdown ever happened.

"…No. That can't be it."

He recalled that rolled-back spaces didn't follow normal time flow.

So maybe time regression was possible.

But this time, he could say for sure—it wasn't.

Because…

There was someone here he didn't recognize.

Jhin pressed his fingers hard against his temples as he recalled the unknown being that had annihilated Cerberus and the one-eyed gargoyle like toys.

That unidentified entity—

It had never appeared in any version of Exodia he knew.

A total stranger.

"Which means this is the world after the shutdown."

How long had passed since then?

He didn't have enough information to judge based on real-world time.

Time here might flow differently, after all.

Even without that consideration, this world is dangerously far gone.

A level 300 monster like the hellhound Cerberus roamed freely.

The gatekeeper of the A-rank dungeon "Hell's Border," Cerberus was strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Hatchling Marguerite at her peak.

And the one-eyed gargoyle?

That monster guarded the A-rank dungeon "Demon King's Castle." Not a pushover either.

The fact that these monsters were roaming the field could mean only one thing:

This is a world where S-rank dungeons exist.

A-rank dungeons had broken open, letting level 300 monsters wander the land.

And me…?

Jhin couldn't even conquer a B-rank dungeon.

How did he end up here?

This entire situation had exploded just because he failed to clear a C-rank dungeon on time.

He was pathetically weak.

A world where just brushing against the wrong thing means actual death.

That's why Jhin forced himself to stay razor sharp, dedicating all focus to survival.

He did everything possible to avoid running into monsters.

"Chosen One. The wind's dancing like blades."

"Yeah. We should start getting ready."

Wrapping his hands with mana, Jhin began digging into the dry ground.

With the help of the Hundred Ghosts, he quickly carved out a shelter large enough for two.

Just as Aurora said—

Soon, the "wind" turned to "blades."

A vicious shearing noise tore through the land, loud enough to rip the sky in two.

Blade-storm.

The most frequent disaster in this region.

It sliced through everything it touched with terrifying force—

winds so sharp they could match the damage of an A-rank monster's attack.

If they hadn't dug into the ground and sealed the entrance tight, they'd be sliced apart instantly.

"Chosen One. At this rate, we're going to dry up and die first."

"I know. But what else can we do?"

These blade-storms hit five to six times a day, each lasting about an hour.

That meant he'd lose at least five hours of movement daily.

And blade-storms aren't the only disasters here.

Poison rain that even Hyper Regeneration struggles to heal from.

Earthquakes that periodically change the terrain.

Sometimes lava even bursts from the ground.

All of that was common in this region.

And on top of that—we have to avoid monsters too.

This place didn't just slap you with "hell difficulty."

It punched you in the face with it.

Naturally, progress was excruciatingly slow.

Jhin exhaled, glancing toward Aurora.

"At least we can rest a little, thanks to this."

"…Well, that's true."

In the midst of a blade-storm, even monsters didn't dare move.

This was the only time they could relax.

"Try to get some sleep."

"…Mmm… Okay."

He watched as Aurora curled up in the narrow shelter, slowly dozing off.

He'd pretended things were fine for her sake, but in truth—

the situation was worsening by the day.

We have to escape before we run out of food.

Thankfully, he had a rough idea of where they were.

A place of constant disasters.

A land where hell-type monsters ruled supreme.

There was only one place that matched.

The Far East of the Alon Empire: Black Ground.

So he also knew which direction they needed to go.

If we head west—toward the setting sun—we should reach the Alon Empire.

That nation sat on the border of Black Ground, with NPCs on the frontline.

Those NPCs should be able to handle A-rank monsters without breaking a sweat.

That was their destination.

If they could make it there, he could finally breathe a little.

And I need to find the NPC named Ike, too.

That was the only clue given by the administrator who'd left the backdoor behind.

Whoever Ike was, finding him would likely be the only way Jhin could survive here.

Yeah. Let's just focus on surviving for now.

The Alon Empire.

The NPC named Ike.

One thing at a time.

Even the Administrator of this world...

They would have to leave this place.

The Black Ground—where disasters tore through without warning, and hell-born monsters ruled the land.

Only then, could anything truly begin.

Twenty-three days had passed since then.

[You have exited the 'Black Ground'.]

[You have entered the 'Borderlands of the Alon Empire'.]

[!]

[A low-tier player has survived in a recklessly dangerous area. Your tenacity surpasses that of a cockroach.]

[Title acquired: 'Master of Survival (A)'.]

[Survived in a zone beyond your level. Stamina increased by 20.]

Jhin had moved like a mole, digging and hiding and dodging at every step.

In the end, he had managed to escape the Black Ground without encountering a single monster.

That escape had cost him everything—every skill, every trick, every ounce of focus.

Soft skills, Spirit Eyes, Phantom Step, Blanc, Kimmy… every bit of his power was poured into staying alive.

And all those hard-earned skills… wasted on just hiding. How pitiful.

But really, what choice did he have?

The world around him was far beyond what he could handle.

Making it this far alive was already a miracle.

In RPGs, the limitations of a low-level character were always crystal clear.

"Still, Adapter… are you sure this is the place?"

"…I think so?"

Jhin frowned, surveying the borderlands of the Alon Empire.

Honestly, he'd thought that once he got out of the Black Ground, things would somehow get better.

Sure, the monsters here would still be higher level than him—but at least this place was supposed to be a lush, forested region.

There should have been plenty of food, plenty of cover.

But this?

"This doesn't feel any different from the Black Ground."

The trees were dried out and broken.

Everywhere bore the signs of destruction.

Dusty winds blew grit into his mouth.

No forest in sight.

"Let's keep going."

"…Okay."

Jhin kept his guard up.

As they made their way closer to the heart of the Empire, the damage only worsened.

Whatever had happened here—it wasn't good.

This is bad…

Eventually, they reached Kanubis—the Empire's front-line city.

"Looks like a war hit this place."

"…Adapter. Unless my eyes are mistaken—are those dragon tracks?"

"Your eyes are right."

Beneath a shattered section of the city wall were massive, crisscrossing footprints.

Signs that a dragon had rampaged through here.

Activating Phantom Step, Jhin climbed up the wall—one of the few sections still standing.

From there, he could see the entire city.

"…Not just a dragon. There were other monsters, too."

Kanubis had been decimated.

Buildings leveled.

Signs of monster rampages everywhere.

As for NPCs? Even finding a living person would've been a miracle.

Jhin swallowed hard.

"A ruined city… and yet it's silent."

That was the strange part.

The place looked like it had been through hell—noisy, chaotic, apocalyptic.

Crumbling towers, shattered walls, collapsed streets.

But not a single monster's cry could be heard.

Why?

He could only think of two possibilities.

One:

It had been a long, long time since the monsters invaded. So long that no one had come here since.

Two:

Even the monsters didn't survive.

Jhin held in another sigh and began combing through the ruins.

He looked for any trace—NPCs, monsters, anyone—but came up empty.

And that could only mean one thing.

Goddamn it. They were all erased.

Tracks—both monster and human—disappeared in one single area.

Even the dragon's enormous footprints vanished halfway through.

How could that happen?

And then it hit him.

That thing… it must've appeared here too.

The floating eye—

The strange orb that had instantly erased both Cerberus and the one-eyed gargoyle.

If it had shown up in Kanubis, then this destruction made sense.

Just like the others, everyone here had been wiped out.

"…Adapter. So what do we do now?"

"We keep searching. There's no way all the NPCs are gone."

It was a sliver of hope—but he clung to it.

Somewhere, someone had to have survived.

Because human tenacity—especially in this world—was always stronger than any monster.

The NPCs of the Alon Empire, as he remembered them, were a people hardened by war.

They wouldn't die that easily.

"Wait…"

He had been searching for a while when he finally reached a narrow alley in a forgotten corner of the city.

"…This fire's recent."

A campfire.

Still glowing with faint embers, tucked away in a quiet bend of the alley.

Jhin crouched beside it. He could still feel the warmth.

"…Someone's nearby."

He activated Soft skills to track whoever had left it behind.

From the footprints, it wasn't just one person.

"Aurora. Stay here."

"…Huh?"

He surged forward, pushing Phantom Step to its limit, bounding up the outer walls of the buildings.

It didn't take long to find another trail.

Someone's being chased.

He spotted it between two buildings: several figures giving pursuit.

They moved fast—probably had decent agility skills.

Hmph…

The one being chased soon hit a dead end.

From atop a high building, Jhin watched it all unfold.

Humans. First time in a while.

A strange sense of nostalgia washed over him.

"…Hmm?"

But something didn't sit right.

"You persistent bastard. Stop running!"

"Everyone stay alert!"

A man had been cornered by a group of armed attackers.

His shirt was torn. His hair was a mess.

Jhin stared at him, stunned.

The group snarled down at the lone man:

"You nameless player—accept your fate!"

He was wearing a school uniform.