Duo Leveling LITRPG | Post Apocalyptic | SYSTEM-Chapter 200 - 260+261 - The Man with the Virus

"Huh?"

At his comrade's bewildered reaction, Michael just gave a bitter smile—recalling the absurd training session he had witnessed two days ago.

At that very moment.

Player Hyden was stationed with the evacuation guidance team.

Their role was to escort NPCs and non-combatant civilians to the shelters—those with no means to protect themselves.

Evacuation team.

They moved swiftly and methodically, guiding people to safety as quickly as possible.

"Please stay in line, everyone!"

"We'll all make it out alive! Just stay calm—we'll get you to safety!"

"It's okay! We're going to be okay!"

The team was skilled, and even those who looked confused or alarmed were now following their lead, trusting in their composed voices.

That's when Hyden spotted someone unexpected.

"Huh? You're…?"

"Hm? You are—?"

Back in Kanubis, when he'd been chased by a fanatic, someone had saved him. A player whose name he hadn't caught.

But he remembered the story. Someone had pulled him from the jaws of danger.

He couldn't recall the name, but he knew what to say.

"I didn't get the chance to thank you properly last time. I heard you saved me. Thank you—truly."

"No need to thank me."

"Are you evacuating too? Please, follow me. I'll take you somewhere safe."

"Hm?"

Hyden recalled what little he knew of the man.

A newly-arrived player, not long in this world. Someone they had tracked down after hearing news of a recent transfer.

Given how little time had passed, there was no way he'd had time to master virus combat.

Which explained why he was among the civilians instead of on the front lines.

That was the conclusion Hyden came to as he began to guide the man aside.

Technically, cutting the line like this wasn't allowed, but surely a small favor for a savior wasn't too much.

But the man didn't budge easily.

"…Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Just… you seem awfully used to all this."

Hyden shrugged and said proudly,

"I may be young, but I've been here a while. They put me on evacuation detail because of my age, but honestly, I'd hold my own just fine in a real fight."

"You look like you would."

"Exactly. So don't worry—come with me to the shelter. If anything happens, I'll protect you."

But the man didn't respond.

Instead, he looked up at the sky.

Hyden followed his gaze—and spotted it too.

A hole.

…A hole?

"Huh? What is that?"

KRA-KRA-KRA-KROOM!

It was absurd.

But from that tear in the sky, Phase One orb-vaccines began pouring down like rain.

A portal had opened—right above the town.

"Monsters!"

"Aaaah! Get out of the way!"

"Please—save us!"

The town turned into chaos in an instant. Screams echoed. People ran in every direction.

Hyden gritted his teeth and slammed a fresh magazine into his gun.

The evacuation team around him fell into formation.

"Damn it—there's too many!"

"Just shoot!"

Tatata-tang!

Some of the vaccines disintegrated under fire—but most stayed intact.

Unfortunate, but not surprising. The evacuation team hadn't mastered virus combat like the front-line units had.

"Get the civilians out first!"

"This way! Everyone this way!"

They had drilled for this. Even in the panic, their training took over.

Hyden glanced at the man who still hadn't left.

"You need to run too! We'll hold them off!"

"…Your name was Hyden, wasn't it?"

"Yes?"

"Then fall back. This is where grownups take over."

"…What are you talking abou—?"

The man ruffled Hyden's hair with a grin, then pulled a handgun from his inventory.

Hyden frowned.

"With that? Don't be ridiculous. You've only been here a couple days—don't get reckless!"

The man shrugged.

"Hm… more like half a day."

"…What?"

"Virus handling. I learned it in half a day."

Hyden reached to grab his collar in disbelief, but the man was already moving—charging straight at the vaccines.

"Wait—! What are you doing?! Are you insane?! Do you want to die?!"

As he sprinted after him, Hyden saw it.

One of the vaccines reacted.

Zeeeeing!

It was instant.

Hyden raised his gun in a panic, watching as the vaccine released a glowing beam straight toward the man.

He couldn't breathe.

The beam was going to hit—

…Is he smiling?

Was he so terrified he'd gone mad?

No—he was smiling.

What… is he?

Before Hyden could process the thought, the man moved.

With graceful ease, he dodged the beam and raised his gun.

A single pull of the trigger.

The virus round struck the vaccine cleanly.

And what happened next was beyond belief.

"…He took it down in one shot?"

But it didn't stop there.

The man kept moving—dashing through the battlefield, firing in every direction.

Every shot landed.

Every vaccine he hit vanished.

It was a ridiculous display of firepower and precision.

"Who is that guy? What the hell is he doing?"

"Is that even possible?!"

"Did he get some kind of universal virus?!"

Someone near Hyden let out a hushed gasp, just loud enough for him to hear.

"Huh? Wait, isn't that…?"

"Who?"

"That guy—it's him!"

"Who?"

"Kyle."

"…Kyle?"

That name.

Who didn't know it?

Even among NPCs, it was spoken of like legend.

BANG!

The man moved through a storm of annihilation beams, dodging every last one while never once missing a shot.

His every movement, every pull of the trigger—it was unreal.

Was he even human?

"Is that really… the Kyle?"

Hyden swallowed hard, gaze locked in disbelief.

Bang! 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

With every pull of the trigger, a vaccine vanished into nothing.

Without hesitation, Jhin reloaded a virus round and aimed at the next target. That one, too, disintegrated effortlessly.

"Glad this method works."

Virus combat technique.

Normally, you'd need to match each vaccine with the precise virus type it was vulnerable to.

Until you found that match, no attack would work. That was the norm.

But Jhin was anything but normal.

He could see it—those invisible knots of energy hidden within the vaccine's body. The subtle currents, the clustered flows.

"So that's their weakness…"

According to Michael's theory, those flow clusters were the vaccines' vulnerabilities.

And it made perfect sense.

Aiming for those flow points with virus rounds—regardless of type—resulted in an instant kill every time.

"It even works in real combat…"

He kept his gun trained on the vaccines pouring through the rift, unleashing relentless fire.

Their numbers were overwhelming, yet oddly, he didn't find them all that difficult to deal with.

In fact, it was baffling how easily they crumbled once their weak points were exposed.

"They're… weaker than I thought."

Supposedly, even Phase One vaccines were equivalent to B-grade monsters.

Just by level, they should have been too much for him to handle.

Bang! Bang!

Jhin continued to unload on the surrounding enemies, ducking their beams as he moved.

This is strange…

The fact that he had the leisure to reflect mid-battle was strange in itself.

"I'm not even afraid."

It was eerie.

When he'd first faced Cerberus in the Black Ground, or fled the one-eyed gargoyle, even looking at those monsters had made his heart seize in fear.

But now?

Not an ounce of tension. Not even a whisper of fear.

What changed?

- User identified… Confirmed as player "Kyle." Identification code: 0. Listed as highest-priority deletion target.

- Adjusting target response level to minimum Phase Two.

One by one, the vaccines began to react to him.

Their forms changed—some sprouted wings, others grew in size—as all of them evolved simultaneously into Phase Two, targeting him alone.

Jhin furrowed his brow.

"So you're acknowledging me as a Phase Two opponent."

Which meant they considered him equivalent to a level 400 entity.

- Initiating data deletion.

The battle began again—but it didn't feel much different.

If they evolved, he would just evolve in turn.

[Activating exclusive skill of equipment 'Crown of the Goblin King': 'Spectral Form'.]

Transformed into a goblin, his body moved with even greater speed. He precisely delivered viral shots into the clustered flows inside each vaccine.

"Strange. They're Phase Two… but…"

Even against stronger versions, his attacks landed cleanly. His combat was sharper. His body moved faster.

"Is this just in my head?"

No—it wasn't a feeling. He was actually getting stronger.

His golden eyes shone bright as he eliminated vaccine after vaccine with unerring accuracy.

He hadn't taken a single hit—not even a scratch.

"It's like I've activated a cheat."

But when he checked his status window… his stats hadn't changed.

Even though he had slain dozens of vaccines, he hadn't gained any experience points.

His level was frozen.

"Wait… there's no change at all?"

He narrowed his eyes.

That's not right. I did gain something…

"I should've received a bonus stat after escaping Black Ground…"

Troubled, he paused just long enough to aim at the final vaccine emerging from the rift and fired.

Bang!

A single bullet. One hit. It disappeared instantly.

Exhaling long and slow, Jhin surveyed the aftermath of the battle.

Thankfully, Hyden and the other players had prioritized evacuating civilians.

There were almost no casualties.

"That should be enough for now."

Hyden ran up to him, slightly breathless.

"So it really is you,Kyle."

Then, with a sheepish grin, he added,

"Guess I got too full of myself. Said I'd protect you and all… Sorry about that."

"No need to apologize."

"You can leave this area to us now. If you want, you can check on the other fronts."

"…Are you sure?"

"Don't treat me like a kid. I've been here longer than you, you know."

"Hmph…"

Jhin ruffled his hair again and turned his gaze toward the shoreline.

That direction… it felt far more pressing.

That's where the real force of the vaccine army would be.

"Phase Twos should be popping up there by now."

The reason he hadn't gone straight to the battlefield earlier was simple: his presence alone caused the vaccines to evolve.

Back in the village, they hadn't evolved one by one—they had all jumped to Phase Two.

"There's something off about me… This sudden strength. And my frozen status window…"

Whatever the case, now that some time had passed, there was no need to hold back anymore.

He nodded toward Hyden.

"I'll leave it to you, then."

"Don't worry."

Leaving the evacuation to them, Jhin activated Stealth Step and leapt onto the rooftop.

With martial arts-style movement skills, darting from rooftop to rooftop was nothing.

It didn't take long for him to reach the main battlefield.

And what he saw was…

"Strange."

A battlefield with not a single drop of blood.

Fierce battles. Sharpened hostility. Every clash was deadly.

And yet, nothing remained.

Bang! Bang!

Beams and bullets filled the air—more like a scene from a sci-fi film than a fantasy game.

A place where only erasure happened, regardless of which side fell.

"Mr. Jhin!"

Even amidst the chaos, Michael spotted him—and fired off a few covering shots in his direction.

Jumping into the trench, Jhin found himself surrounded by players with exhausted expressions.

Michael looked over and asked,

"What about the town? Why are you here?"

"Wiped them all out. It's fine now."

"…I see."

Michael gave a short nod and raised his gun again, firing another shot into a vaccine.

His motions were fluid. Precise.

There was no waste in his movement—clearly, a man who had repeated this process hundreds of times.

Even his virus selection was near perfect.

He had found the right strain in just two shots.