Duo Leveling LITRPG | Post Apocalyptic | SYSTEM-Chapter 22: - Old Companions and New Problems

Chapter 22 - Old Companions and New Problems

The taste in his mouth was somewhat bitter.

The so-called "survivor camp" set up on the subway platform—while they called it a camp—was really no different from a gathering of the homeless.

Newspapers, mats, the bare floor... it didn’t matter what it was. If there was a spot to lie down, that was considered a resting place.

Jhin picked a nearby pillar and decided to settle there.

The hard floor sent a chill straight into his body, but he didn’t pay it any mind. Honestly, this place was still rather comfortable for him.

’Compared to Trial nexus, anything is better...’

At the same time, another thought crossed his mind.

’I miss that damn semi-basement now.’

He had lived through hell in that place, yet now even the idea of going back to it seemed like a luxury.

Now, not even a semi-basement—it had come to lying directly on the underground platform’s cold concrete. The situation felt almost laughable.

He thought he had lived a "nothing" life.

But in hindsight, it hadn’t been all that bad after all.

"Let’s rest for now."

With nothing particular to do, he leaned his body against the pillar and closed his eyes. To be honest, it wasn’t like he wasn’t tired.

His first dungeon. His first kill.

The battles themselves hadn’t been physically exhausting, but mentally, it had been a heavy and burdensome day.

He was a little worn out.

’Ah, come to think of it.’

He suddenly realized that he hadn’t even checked the rewards he got after defeating the dungeon boss.

How busy had he been to forget something like that?

’Might as well check now.’

Jhin opened his inventory.

One item stood out prominently: a "pure white sword."

<The Sword of Master of Chaos’s Resentment>

The sword is imbued with the deep resentment of Master of Chaos, who died unjustly and tragically.

Required Level: 120

Attack Power: 175

Grade: B

<Exclusive Skill> - Frostbite: Imbue the blade with a chilling frost.

Only one thought crossed his mind.

’A pie in the sky.’

No matter how good its stats were, no matter how fancy the exclusive skill sounded...

It was a useless burden if he couldn’t even use it right now.

’Even if I dumped every unused stat point into leveling up, I’d barely get past level 100.’

For equipment, "level restriction" was essentially a shorthand: it meant that your total stat points needed to exceed a certain threshold.

In this case, a level 120 requirement meant you had to accumulate at least 600 total stat points.

Jhin stared at the relatively small and rough longsword tucked into the corner of his inventory.

Looks like he would be relying on that one for a while longer.

’The Tidalcatcher’s Spear was pretty good too.’

For an item requiring level 80, it was rare to have its own exclusive skill. Though it wasn’t high-level gear, the Tidalcatcher’s Spear was immensely valuable due to its rarity.

Well, that’s why it had been given as a server shutdown reward.

Jhin shrugged, letting go of any lingering attachment. Levels could always be raised, and weapons could be upgraded by hunting lower-tier monsters.

’Maybe I should check the other shutdown rewards too.’

Two of the server shutdown rewards he had selected were sitting untouched in his inventory. Items he hadn’t bothered to inspect properly, thinking he wouldn’t be able to use them yet anyway.

But seeing Caleb wield the Tidalcatcher’s Spear despite not even being level 80...

Maybe it was possible to use shutdown rewards even if the level didn’t exactly match.

Sure, you might suffer penalties, like with martial might’s Physique, but...

’The problem is that what I brought back isn’t just a weapon.’

He pulled out one of the rewards from his inventory: a book.

As he checked its information, he couldn’t help but furrow his brows.

<Sealed Book>

Cannot be used without the proper qualifications.

Attack: 0

Grade: L (Legendary)

Breaking the seal requires qualifications.

It was completely unusable for now.

Jhin sighed and carefully put the item back into his inventory.

To be honest, he had somewhat expected this.

After all, it was a Legendary-grade item—one of the main reasons he had climbed to the number one rank.

This level of restriction was only natural.

The silver lining was that, unlike others, Jhin clearly remembered how to break the seal on this book.

’Looks like I’ll have to go through hell again sometime soon.’

He pushed the sealed book aside and moved on to check his remaining shutdown reward.

This one might be an even bigger issue.

Because it wasn’t just an item.

The moment he pulled it out cautiously from his inventory, he saw it was a stuffed toy shaped like a cute squirrel.

"Long time no see."

And then something completely unexpected happened.

[’Kimmy’ responds to its master’s will.]

"...Huh?"

[’Kimmy’ is starving and clamors for food.]

[’Kimmy’ strongly insists on being fed proper nutrition.]

Then the stuffed toy spun around, looking in all directions.

Kimmy spoke in a rather ridiculous tone.

[’Kimmy’ cheers at the delicious smells coming from everywhere.]

The true identity of Kimmy was a magic beast: Gregory.

The one and only pet that had stuck with K in Exodia, never leaving his side for even a moment.

But this didn’t make any sense.

Because there was only one thing that could make Kimmy react.

’A dungeon.’

Kimmy was a magic beast that fed on dungeons.