Duo Leveling LITRPG | Post Apocalyptic | SYSTEM-Chapter 203 - 266+267

Michael bit his lip hard as he snapped back with a faint trace of bitterness.

"But there's just too much that doesn't sit right. If the kill switch really exists…"

"Come on. I told you—it doesn't."

"Mr. Tim. This isn't something to take personally."

"You're the one who needs to snap out of it, Captain. Don't tell me you actually plan to open another portal because of some vague nonsense you saw in a dream?"

Tim looked around the group as he spoke.

"Didn't you all feel it this time? Next time, we won't survive."

With each invasion, the number of Vaccines increased—

and their strength was now beyond what anyone could reasonably handle.

They had survived this round only thanks to a stroke of sheer luck.

Had it not been for that...

Tim's voice sank into gloom.

"If that monster of a Vaccine hadn't suddenly pulled back for whatever reason, we'd all be dead. Tell me I'm wrong."

Silence filled the room.

But even in silence, everyone's agreement was clear.

That was how overwhelming the Emperor's power had been.

"Even if the kill switch is real, I don't want to die chasing it. I'd rather not know. I'd rather just... drop dead one day without warning..."

They say the end of despair is acceptance.

He had already come to terms with dying.

And many of the other players were starting to feel the same.

Some even nodded quietly in agreement.

A heavy sense of defeat settled in.

'So this is it,'

Jhin thought.

'Now I understand what's truly wrong with Paradise.'

Why all these arguments never seemed to go anywhere.

Why the debates just kept looping in place.

'Because they're all asking the wrong question.'

Was it really the Vaccines that were the problem?

Was it because their world had been suddenly overwritten by another?

Because this world was doomed to be deleted?

Because they could die here?

Thousands of possible reasons came to mind,

and Jhin could refute every single one of them.

'There's only one reason.'

He stepped forward and spoke.

"You're wrong. All of you gave up a long time ago."

"...What?"

"There's no point arguing with people who already decided to die. You're all hopeless."

Now that he thought about it—

Not a single one of them had ever said they wanted to return to Earth.

Even Michael's first words to him had been about adapting—about learning to survive here.

None of them had the will to go home.

They had all given up.

"You're clinging to a paradise built on sand, not knowing when it'll all collapse. You've mistaken surrender for peace."

And now, he finally understood what Aurora had meant when she called Paradise a village built on lies.

There was no truth here.

NPCs, players—they were all just existing, without conviction or hope.

Tim flared up at his words.

"Who do you think you are, saying that? You've only just shown up in this world—

what could you possibly know about what we've been through, what it's like to live here?!"

He didn't stop.

"I ended up here on my way to work, you know. I just blinked and suddenly—I was here. And that wasn't even the worst part. The moment I arrived, I died. Just like that. Do you even understand what that feels like?!"

It seemed he, like Hyden, had been pulled into this world early on—right at launch.

And he'd died the moment he arrived.

He'd only survived by enduring countless threats since then.

Jhin shrugged, calm.

"Do I need to understand?"

"...What?"

"Stop whining. You think the end of the world happened only to you?"

Tim looked like he wanted to say something more—

but Jhin's rapid-fire next words left no room.

"You said fifteen people died yesterday."

The sudden disappearance of elite warriors—each capable of facing a hundred alone—was devastating.

Of course the loss of comrades was painful.

But still—

"You should count yourselves lucky. Only fifteen of you have died—so far."

"You—! How dare you say that with your mouth wide open—!"

"New Capital."

Jhin's voice was low, his emotions barely held back.

"In one day, thousands died."

He suddenly remembered Chance—

the newly hired employee who had died in Bey World.

He hadn't evenPowerged to log in, despite having a Exodia 1 account.

He'd died screaming.

And he wasn't the only one.

Countless people had vanished without a trace, without even a handful of ashes left behind—

without ever being given a chance to fight for their lives.

"They never got a second chance. But you did. Didn't you?"

Here, you had multiple lives.

Each time you died, Exodia 1's stats were fully restored.

The Vaccines might be absurd in their power—but wasn't it also absurd that these people had been given something like a cheat code?

"Take a good look around. Is this place really your 'Paradise'?

Are you really okay with dying here?"

Jhin met the eyes of every person staring back at him.

"I'm not like you. I have no intention of dying in a place like this."

Even if the place he called home was a moldy, half-basement room.

Even if he had lived a life devoid of achievement or success.

"I'm going back. Back to my life."

And he didn't mean Exodia 1.

Jhin's goal had never once changed since the moment this world fell apart.

Tim's voice, when it came, was soaked in despair.

"But even you, Mr. Kyle... in the end, you died too.

We have no way of fighting that monster. In the end... we're all just..."

Yeah. That had happened.

Jhin had died—

sliced clean through in a single stroke.

But even so—

"Did you forget?"

"...What?"

"What happens when you die?

You get your entire account restored."

Having left behind the makeshift Paradise, Jhin was now making his way through the ruins of a broken city.

Several players, without hesitation, followed in his footsteps, matching his pace. Among them, Michael glanced sideways at Tim and spoke.

"Didn't you say you were staying in Paradise?"

"What?"

"Didn't you say you'd rather die?"

At that, several players flinched, their expressions uneasy. Tim gave a sheepish laugh.

"Ahem… come on, you knew I didn't mean that."

Fiddling awkwardly with his weapon, Tim looked off into the distance.

Jhin gave a bitter smile.

The image of him screaming back in Paradise came to mind.

"It's better not to know… to just suddenly die one day…!"

But now, while he seemed a little deflated, his face no longer bore the same desperate despair.

"Back then… it felt like there was no way out."

That's what hope is like.

It looks completely gone, snuffed out to nothing—until someone finds just one spark.

Then, suddenly, it flares up like wildfire.

All it took was the knowledge that Jhin's data had been restored. That alone had been enough to revive their spirits.

'There's no way they ever really wanted to die.'

They had simply bowed their heads in the face of an impossible question.

Give them even the smallest clue, and they'd rise up again, burning with resolve.

Trying to shift the topic, Tim asked a question while still gazing into the distance.

"So… why did we come here? I thought the kill switch was in the Black Ground?"

"It is. But we're not ready yet."

"Huh? Not ready?"

"Mr. Tim. Do you know what the most important thing is when tackling a dungeon?"

He thought for a moment.

"Well… maybe level?"

Not a bad answer.

In RPGs, level was certainly important.

With high enough stats, conquering a dungeon became much easier.

But that wasn't the answer Jhin was looking for.

Even if you were high-level, it didn't guarantee success—especially if you didn't know what you were dealing with.

He explained patiently.

"It's information. No matter how strong you are, if you don't know what you're facing, you'll die."

Just like the time he'd been wiped out in the S-rank dungeon, "Dragon's Tomb."

If he'd just known about the weapon of the dragon…

Aside from its immortality, it would've been a winnable fight.

"But right now, our intel is far too weak. Felix—if we go into the Black Ground like this, do you really think we'll find the kill switch?"

"...That would be a shot in the dark."

"Exactly. So we need to gather more information first."

Even finding it would be dangerous.

Imagine messing up because they didn't know how it worked.

If the kill switch activated on its own... they'd be the ones who erased the world.

'And the Black Ground is the only region where monsters still remain. It's crawling with disasters so bad, even the Vaccines hesitate to enter.'

Of course, with the strength Jhin had now, he didn't feel afraid…

Still, he finally arrived at their destination and looked up.

A tower tilted at a 30-degree angle.

"That's why we came here."

It resembled the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy—tilted so far it looked like it should collapse at any moment.

It was called the "Tower of Sorcery."

"Despite how it looks, it won't actually fall. Everyone, follow me carefully."

"Got it."

Without a moment of hesitation, Jhin stepped into the ruinous remnants of the tower.

Just as he expected, there were signs that someone had been here recently.

The players instantly tensed.

"Could this place be…?"

"Most likely the base of the fanatics. But looks like they left in a hurry."

That was troubling.

'Let's hope they didn't take him with them.'

One man lay collapsed in a corner—lifeless.

No other prisoners remained.

'Good. They didn't take him.'

A man sprawled on the floor like a corpse.

Jhin frowned and walked up to the iron bars.

"Mr. Ike…"

At the sound of his name, Ike—who hadn't quite become a corpse yet—slowly lifted his head.

His hazy eyes focused on him.

"...Kyle?"

"I've come to take you. Let's go." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Even after being moved to Paradise, Ike remained unconscious for a long time.

Maybe it was the aftermath of the prolonged torture.

His body just wouldn't recover.

"Still… is he really the Administrator?"

"...Hard to say. Not when he won't even open his eyes."

"Hmm…"

Thankfully, the next day, Ike finally opened his eyes.

When Jhin heard the news, he immediately brought Aurora and hurried to his side.

'If it's Aurora… she'll be able to tell if he's lying.'

In a comfortably furnished room tucked away in one corner of Paradise, Ike sat up—his face visibly full of irritation.

"I gave you the information. Why are you still here? You should've already been in the Black Ground by now…"

"We stayed to save you."

"Is that supposed to matter?"

"Yes. I think it does."

Ike scowled, clearly frustrated, and then let out a cough.

It must have still hurt—thankfully, he didn't cough up blood.

"The kill switch… they figured it out. The bastards found the clue and went to the Black Ground on their own. Mr. Kyle. Don't you get it yet?"

"Get what?"

"There's no time to waste!"

Each time Ike raised his voice in panic, his fear seemed to ripple through the players as well.

Everyone had their own way of showing it—

but they were all uneasy now.