Duo Leveling LITRPG | Post Apocalyptic | SYSTEM-Chapter 43 - Hans’s Story

Chapter 43 - Hans’s Story

The kobold wearing glasses flared its nostrils and opened its mouth. Its voice carried a mixture of confusion.

«Y-You guys... Kee-ee-! You’re not, ah... collectors?»

The blue, glossy skin.

The jutting molars.

A small monster that brought to mind Dobby from Harry Potter.

Yet, despite its strange imbalance—wearing glasses atop such a figure—Jhin frowned down at the kobold.

This one introduced himself as ’Hans.’

«O-Oh! Misunderstanding Kee-ee-! We’re not monsters!!»

Adjusting his glasses, Hans desperately tried to speak.

Due to the kobold’s oral structure, his pronunciation was slurred, and whimpering seeped into his speech, but it was still perfectly understandable.

Next to him, Caleb, cold sweat pouring down his back, leaned in and whispered cautiously to Jhin.

«C-Can we believe what this guy is saying? He looks exactly like a monster...»

Jhin gave a small nod.

Conveniently, he had proof ready to explain to them.

Pointing at the kobold, Jhin spoke directly.

«You all know that monster names have colors attached, right?»

The color varied depending on the player’s level.

The redder the name, the stronger the monster.

As the difficulty decreased, the color shifted closer to green.

Basic knowledge from Exodia.

Everyone seemed to understand, nodding in affirmation.

Which made the next part quick.

«So, what color is this kobold’s name right now?»

«Huh? ...Ahh!»

Caleb exclaimed in surprise.

Only now did he realize what Jhin was pointing out.

Maybe it was his detective instincts, but his observation skills were sharp.

«It’s white!»

White was the color of players.

A color that monsters could never possess.

Because of that, Jhin had recognized they were humans.

«That’s right. These are players.»

That was why Jhin hadn’t hunted them—and had even poured HP potions on them.

If they had been monsters, it would be different.

But if they were people, he couldn’t just let them die.

Jhin added one more clarification:

«Just to be sure — these guys are different from Grids. Grids also can’t have a white name.»

Grids were classified as ’monsters’ by the system.

They, like any monster, would have colored names based on their attributes.

And that was why Grids could not be turned back into humans.

There had never been a case of a Grid reverting to human form.

’Unless... there’s a method I just haven’t discovered yet.’

But Jhin was the #1 ranker, someone who had cleared more quests than anyone else.

If he didn’t know how, who would?

Shaking off those thoughts, Jhin looked around at his group.

Seeing the trust in their eyes, he noticed the kobolds visibly relaxing.

«Now, let’s properly hear your story.»

Having won over his team, Jhin turned his gaze back to the kobold.

Among the twenty kobolds, only the one wearing glasses—Hans—was capable of speaking.

Only he could communicate.

Scanning the gathered kobolds one last time, Jhin settled his gaze back on Hans.

The kobold was staring up at him, eyes brimming with emotion.

Jhin opened his mouth first.

«Let’s clarify something first. Why did you attack us?»

If their true identities were human, then they had no reason to attack Jhin’s party.

Thus, the conversation needed to start by explaining why they had attacked humans like monsters.

«Are you enemies of humanity?»

All the kobolds frantically shook their heads.

Hans even crossed his arms into an ’X’ to vehemently deny it.

«Then why did you attack us?»

Pressed by Jhin’s question, Hans swallowed hard.

But his eyes burned with fierce resentment.

It didn’t seem like a simple misunderstanding.

Soon, Hans spoke:

«Kee-ee-... It’s all because of the collectors!»

Kobold Hans.

No, the 23-year-old Hans had been freshly discharged from military service and was attending his first TOEIC class when he got caught up in the Dungeonization incident.

It was the day the portal opened.

He was near Eastport Station.

«...Huff!»

The road splitting apart.

Cars crashing into streetlights and stopping.

Smoke rising from buildings.

Monsters of unknown form, barely visible through shattered glass.

Through the whitening of his vision, Hans suddenly noticed a quest notification.

Without knowing why, a word floated into his mind instinctively.

Of course he recognized it — he had played it for so long.

The game interface appeared right before his eyes.

«Exodia?»

Faced with monsters rushing at his jaws first, Hans somehow managed to clear the tutorial quest.

Whether by instinct or luck, he managed to dodge the creatures and escape the initial portal zone.

He even received starting items.

It was just like a game... clutching a crude longsword, he realized the shocking reality.

This world had become a game.

«Hoo...»

In that ridiculous situation, Hans managed to adapt surprisingly fast.

Two years of military service.

He had learned firsthand that adaptation was better than lamenting misfortune.

Thus, Hans became a player.

Somehow, clumsily, he fought to survive in New Capital.

’It’s just a shame I couldn’t claim the server shutdown rewards.’

Before joining the military, Exodia had been the game he obsessively played.

He had been a fairly high-level player, and had many items ready to claim from the shutdown compensation.

His level had been close to 200.

If only he could have brought those items over, his situation would have been much better.

He might have grown far more quickly.

’But Exodia ended while I was in the army.’

By the time he was discharged, it was far too late to claim any rewards.

Even though he was an experienced player, he had to start from scratch.

No — maybe not entirely from scratch.

’At least I had experience.’

Memories from leveling to 200 in Exodia.

He had forgotten much during two years of service, but bit by bit, the memories resurfaced to guide his actions.

That was a powerful weapon.

Thanks to it, Hans was able to clear the tutorial quests, and gather some early achievements.

Experience had made him strong.

Around that time, he encountered a survivor group near Eastport Station.

A group wielding crude longswords, just like him, being chased by monsters.

It was natural for Hans to join them.

«Let’s survive and meet again. All of us.»

At the Trial nexus, Hans — unlike the other Eastport Station survivors — chose Normal difficulty.