Duo Leveling LITRPG | Post Apocalyptic | SYSTEM-Chapter 195 - 252+253 - The Suitable One

If so, then the idea of a mere player—or just any ordinary monster—defeating that thing was as close to impossible as it got.

'Yeah… close to impossible.'

There had to be a strategy.

After all, how had he made it this far?

He had uncovered a "backdoor" within the Lost Dungeon, a place the system itself had tried to wipe clean, andPowerged to break through into Exodia 1.

The system wasn't omnipotent.

There were always holes somewhere.

'Maybe there's no such thing as perfection in this world at all.'

He simply hadn't found it yet.

With a furrowed brow, Jhin soared high above the skies of Kanubis. Countless ideas ran through his mind in parallel.

A strategy.

A way to nullify the functions of the system itself.

He surged forward with renewed speed and veered toward the magic tower that loomed taller than any other structure in Kanubis.

Half of it had already collapsed.

Descending into the lower levels, Jhin confirmed that the orb was following him inside.

'…Now!'

He sent a mental signal to Atlas and Lykan—one they had discussed beforehand.

They had already partially demolished parts of the magic tower, leaving only a few support columns intact.

One such column still stood.

Jhin activated Fire Explosion, directing it at the base.

The column crumbled instantly, and like falling dominoes, the remaining supports began to collapse. The ceiling above him threatened to cave in.

[Activating skill: Soft skills (S).]

With a burst of acrobatic flight, Jhin slipped through falling debris and shot out of the tower.

Would it work?

Had the plan to crush the orb under the collapsing building succeeded?

Frowning, Jhin turned to the inside of the tower and locked eyes on the orb, still gliding along effortlessly amid the debris.

But rather than despair, his lips curled faintly.

He had been right.

'…There's a limit to what it can erase.'

It was a simple problem—if you thought of it like a computer program. The more data there was to erase, the more time the deletion process would require.

To pass through collapsing rubble while erasing every stone… it needed time.

'This thing can be defeated.'

Of course, a collapsing tower alone wasn't enough to stop it. He needed to overload it with even more data.

That's when his eyes landed on a lake.

'Alright. It's all or nothing.'

Folding his wings, Jhin dove.

Behind him, the orb emerged from the ruins and chased him with ferocious speed.

A few of its beams struck the lake, punching holes straight through.

'I've got three minutes left on the Dragon Fang's wings.'

He took a deep breath—and plunged into the water.

And just as he'd hoped, the orb followed him in.

'Guess it's not exactly a genius.'

Holding his breath, Jhin kicked harder. Channeling power through his legs, he shot forward even faster beneath the surface.

[Dragon Fang's Wings are active.]

The wings allowed him to fly for ten uninterrupted minutes—regardless of the environment.

Even underwater, he moved as if soaring through air. And with power bolstering him, there was no reason for his speed to falter.

He raced through the depths for a while.

Then, with golden eyes gleaming, Jhin spotted the orb trailing behind… noticeably slower now.

Just as he thought—the orb was trying to erase all the water around it as it moved. That constant effort was causing it to lag.

'This is it.'

He began circling around the orb, faster and faster.

A whirlpool formed, pulling currents into a vortex that directed more and more water toward the orb in concentrated torrents.

Soon enough, the orb stopped moving entirely.

[Equipment effect: Dragon Fang's Wings has ended.]

Jhin surfaced, water up to his knees, and finally drew a full breath.

The waterlogged orb floated in place, completely inert.

But—

"…Even this isn't enough."

It had only paused.

The faintest twitch signaled it was starting to stir again. Clearly, it wasn't something that could be killed so easily.

'That should've been enough. I need to get out of—'

And then:

Analyzing situation…

3, 2, 1… Analysis complete.

Adjusting to Phase 3.

The orb began to stretch—lengthening vertically, top and bottom.

The once-perfect sphere distorted.

Where the orb had been, a face took shape. Below it, a body emerged.

It was a humanoid shadow—drenched in dark gray, almost black.

The creature rose slowly, a single eye glowing.

Phase 3 had begun.

The water that had slowed it moments before no longer seemed to matter. Its movements were growing swift and fluid once again.

Gritting his teeth, Jhin hurled another fireball.

Shhhh…

"…Don't you even need to catch your breath?"

Most creatures on Exodia were vulnerable while transforming.

Not this one.

No openings. No delays.

What even was its weakness?

Then came something even more shocking.

Impressive, player.

Phase 3.

Its new humanoid form had brought something unexpected: intelligence.

The creature opened its mouth slowly.

Kyle. I underestimated you.

Gone was the mindless beam-spraying machine. In its place stood something composed. Measured.

And intelligent.

Jhin realized he couldn't even afford to consider escape anymore.

The power gap was enormous.

If he turned his back on that thing now—he'd be erased.

'Obliterated.'

He bit down on his lip.

"…Just what are you?"

Still speaking in a calm tone, the creature answered.

I am the one who calibrates. I was created to judge corrupted code and purge contaminated residue.

It raised one hand slowly. The energy gathering at its fingertips was unmistakable.

Could he dodge it?

He imagined countless evasive maneuvers—but it felt like being trapped in an endless ocean. There was no escape route.

The creature seemed to know that, and gave him a smug, knowing smile.

I am this world's 'Back'.

And then—

BANG!

Something crashed in, out of nowhere.

Whatever it was—it struck the creature's nape. A perfect hit.

Even the thing that had erased everything it touched… had just been hit.

[Connecting...]

[Connecting...]

[Connecting...]

A man stood overlooking the ruined city, brow deeply furrowed.

"Still no response?"

"No, sir... I'll try again."

He bit his lip over and over, the low rumble of distant explosions echoing through what should have been a silent, fallen city.

It was an unexpected turn of events.

The fanatics had detected the player's connection signal a step earlier than they had.

And because of that, the players they had placed as guides were ambushed—scattered before they could regroup.

"He'll be fine. That kid... he controls the spirit of wind, doesn't he? He's better at escaping than anyone I've seen."

"That may be true, but…"

"Besides, he may be young, but he's been in this world longer than we have. Try not to worry too much."

Even so, the man's frown didn't ease.

Because if Hyden had successfully escaped the fanatics chasing him, there was no reason he'd be ignoring their messages.

Nor would the sound of explosions still be ringing out from the city ruins.

'The only relief is that the GPS signal is coming from the opposite direction of the blasts…'

The man turned to the others.

"Let's move. If the signal's stationary, he's probably hiding."

Following the GPS trail through the area didn't take long. Soon enough, they came upon a scene.

But there was a problem.

"…A monster? A lizardman?"

A large lizard glared at them, tense and watchful—its stance protective.

And beside it stood an unfamiliar woman.

Her clothes and appearance clearly marked her as Corelandsn. Had she recently arrived in the area as a new player?

She was the first to speak.

"Who are you people?"

"…And who exactly are you?"

That's when the man spotted Hyden, collapsed and bloodied on the lizardman's back. He looked so beaten it was hard to tell if he was still alive.

"Is that child... is he alive?"

"Oh, this guy? He's with you?"

"Yes, he's our companion."

"I see. Rocket, looks like he's fine."

She patted the lizard on the head. Surprisingly, the monster seemed to understand, nodding in response.

It then lowered its tail and crouched, flattening its body.

The woman said, "Well? Aren't you going to take him?"

"Ah."

The man hurried forward and gently took Hyden into his arms. Fortunately, the bleeding wounds were all minor.

Potions would be enough to treat him.

After handing Hyden over to his team, the man turned back to the woman, cautiously asking,

"Are you the player who recently connected to this area?"

"Huh?"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Michael—assigned to search and recon here."

"Hold on a sec."

She cut him off, eyes scanning their group. Her expression turned serious as she spoke.

"More important than that... I need your help."

"…?"

"Just look at this lizard's face. Doesn't it look like he's on the verge of crapping his tail?"

"…Sorry?"

She didn't waste time.

"Save the introductions for later. First, help me. And then I'll lead you to that 'recently connected player' you're looking for."

"What are you—?"

"My name's Aurora. And as you can see, I'm not really the type who knows how to lie."

Without waiting, she leapt onto Rocket's back. The lizard moved quickly, bounding over debris.

She paused a short distance ahead, turned back, and called out,

"Hurry. We don't have time."

The man decided to follow her for now.

BOOM!

CRASH!

BOOOOM!

And now—

Having followed the mysterious woman Aurora through the ruined city, the man found himself standing before a lake.

He and his team wore dazed expressions.

"…Did you see that?"

"Yeah. That was definitely Phase Two."

"How the hell did Phase Two appear?"

The man couldn't even begin to answer—he let out a hollow laugh instead. Just who was that man to provoke the system into escalating to Phase Two?

'Phase Two is something that only starts showing up around level 400…'

There he was—diving into the lake. And behind him, the creature, now in Phase Two, followed.

And what happened next was even more absurd.

"…Can't believe that old-school tactic actually worked."

"Well, the mechanics are sound."

It was honestly impressive.

To counter an entity that deletes data, the only method was to overload it—feed it so much data that it can't keep up.

That exact theory had been weaponized into one of the latest strategic developments among Exodia's players.

And yet that man…

'He must be the newest arrival.'

He had figured it out within mere days—something it had taken countless players working together to discover.

"Ha… and it actually worked."

One of them exhaled as he looked over the lake, the water level dramatically lowered.

The soaked orb no longer moved.

Proof that it was on the brink of overload.

The man furrowed his brow, observing carefully. The old-school tactic had worked, sure—but it didn't feel like the battle was over.

"Wait—wait, is that…?!"

"…Phase Three?"

The orb began to transform, taking human shape. The fact that it entered Phase Three meant one thing—it was taking the opponent seriously.

It had identified him as a threat worthy of transformation.

'This thing only ever went to Phase Three when fighting dragons… just who is that man?'

Then, the creature spoke.

Kyle. I underestimated you.

The moment those words rang out, the man's breath caught.

Eyes wide, he stared at the player. The outfit. The face…

Yes. Without a doubt.

'I've never seen him in person, but that's him. That matches all the intel we've heard.'

And suddenly—everything made sense.

Phase Two? Phase Three?

It all checked out if the opponent was Kyle.

The man reached into his inventory and drew a long rifle. The moment the creature in Phase Three stretched out its hand—

I am the one who calibrates. A being made to judge corrupted programs and purge tangled remnants.

He loaded a special bullet, preparing for battle.

One mistake, and he, along with every player present, could be annihilated in an instant—but he didn't hesitate.

Because he knew—

'He's worth the risk.'

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