A single-player post-apocalyptic game, but with an all-female teammate mod.

Once she picks it up, Aono's auto-pickup function will no longer work.

This simple, crude, and somewhat inexplicable mechanism is consistent with the world's usual style.

11. Stuck on a level?

After figuring out the experience distribution rules, Aono began to officially help the girl level up.

He cut off the limbs of the mycelium zombie he encountered, leaving them for Dudu to finish off.

After she reached level three, I slightly increased the difficulty and left her a perfectly intact mycelium zombie to practice combat.

A mycelium zombie with all its limbs intact is completely different from a crippled one.

This left the newly upgraded Dudu in a sorry state.

The monster that was like an experience point in Aono's hands became exceptionally ferocious in her hands.

Not only is it incredibly strong, it is also exceptionally fast.

She finally managed to take down one, and she was almost exhausted.

The blue and white cheongsam was already covered in dust and bloodstains.

Dudu sat on the ground without any regard for her image, picked up the water bottle and gulped down several large mouthfuls.

After replenishing her water, she subconsciously looked at Aono, who was playing a game of "Mowing Down the Grass" not far ahead.

Having personally fought against the mycelium zombies, she finally understood how exaggerated Aono's performance was.

A perfect combination of speed, power, and skill.

It was a kind of cold-blooded precision that bordered on cruel.

Every axe blow and every spear strike hit the vital points, not a fraction more or less.

Dudu suddenly realized how ridiculous her guard was yesterday.

If Aono really wanted to use force, she wouldn't even have a chance to struggle.

But Aono didn't.

Even though he really wanted to, and even though he had already done whatever he wanted to the identical doll's body before, he still restrained himself in front of her.

Today, I took extra care of her during the battle, trying my best to level her up and increase her combat experience, without actually putting her in danger.

The girl curled up her knees and hugged herself tightly.

Her delicate chin rested on her knees, and her beautiful blue eyes stared blankly at Aono's figure.

The unease of suddenly arriving in this world was still there, as was the fear of facing monsters, but something else quietly began to grow.

Like a lamp suddenly lit in the darkness.

Faint, but it will never be extinguished.

Aono was completely unaware of the girl's changing feelings and emotions, and was only focused on grinding monsters.

I'm just a little bit of experience away from the next level. Killing another ten or so elite monsters should be enough.

Ten minutes later, looking at the giant mycelium zombie that was pinned to the wall by a stone spear but was still struggling, Aono swung his fire axe down hard.

As the cue of increasing experience pulsed, a familiar warm current began to surge through my body.

But unlike before, this warm current is unusually strong and has an unusually fierce momentum.

A surge of scorching air erupted from deep within the spine, blasting through the meridians to the limbs and bones.

The muscle fibers seemed to be repeatedly kneaded and reorganized by an invisible hand, and the bones emitted a series of fine popping sounds, as if some kind of seal had been broken.

Aono instinctively tightened his grip on the axe handle.

The steel axe, which was originally quite heavy, now felt as light as a feather.

He waved it casually.

"laugh!"

The axe blade left a visible shockwave in the air, accompanied by a loud whistling sound.

Not only strength, but also agility, perception and other aspects have been greatly improved.

He tried to move his feet, and his figure blurred for a moment, almost turning into a blur.

At that moment, a mycelium zombie lurking in the shadows suddenly pounced out, its sharp bone claws aimed straight for his back.

Aono didn't even turn around.

With a backhand sweep, the axe slammed heavily onto the monster's head.

"boom!"

The immense impact sent the monster flying more than ten meters like a broken sandbag, embedding itself hard in the wall, its head exploding, killing it instantly.

He then slowly turned around, shook his slightly numb wrist, and opened the panel to check.

------

Name: Qingye

Occupation: Captain (Unique)

Level: 10 (3/∞)

Talent: Resonance (Unique)

Talent effects: 1. Increases experience gain by 50%. 2. Increases combat power by 10% for each teammate.

Combat strength: 58

------

"As expected, I've reached level 10. I didn't expect such a big improvement. It seems that, like most games, level 10 is a significant milestone."

The increase from level 9 to level 10 is no longer just a few points of combat power, but a direct doubling of it.

Subsequent upgrades will certainly not offer such a massive improvement, but they will definitely be much better than before.

The problem is that the experience bar after the current level is locked.

You can continue to gain experience, but you can only accumulate it and cannot level up to level 11.

After staring intently at his personal panel for a moment, Aono quickly came up with a general idea.

The inability to continue upgrading simply means you're stuck on a level or the main storyline.

As a simple post-apocalyptic single-player game, advancing the "game's progress" is nothing more than upgrading the Ark Shelter and defeating level bosses.

The first one, needless to say, was already in his plan.

As for the level bosses...

It all depends on fate, since there's no way to be sure if it will happen right now.

There may be several.

"Since we can continue to gain experience, let's stick to the previous plan and clear out all the mycelium zombies first."

The mycelium zombies no longer pose any threat to him.

Even if he were surrounded, he was absolutely confident that he could break through.

However, there is one more thing to do before taking official action.

Aono's gaze returned to Dudu, who was panting not far away.

So many mycelial zombies, but they're all experience points.

Aono can't level up right now, so it's best to let Dudu handle it.

"Dudu, stick close to me from now on. I'll make the mycelium zombies immobile, and you finish them off with the stone spear."

"Brother Qingye, there's no need for that. You should level up first."

"Isn't it good to have a pro player guide you through leveling up?"

Aono raised an eyebrow, made a joke, and then gave a brief explanation.

"Oh, I see. Well then, thank you so much, Aono-nii~" The girl with long orange-red hair held the stone spear and laughed happily.

Once you've experienced the feeling of leveling up and becoming stronger, no one can help but look forward to the next time.

……

Aono's figure stretched into a blur amidst the dim ruins, each flash of the fire axe accompanied by the muffled sound of bones shattering.

"Crack!"

A swarming mycelium zombie had its right leg severed at the root, causing its massive body to lose its balance and collapse to its knees.

Before it could even lie down, Qingye delivered a side elbow strike, precisely hitting the other monster's knee joint and knocking it to the ground.

He was like a sophisticated killing machine, never greedy with his blade, only responsible for depriving his opponent of their ability to move.

Legs cut off, arms severed.

"Dudu, finish him off!"

Before the words were even finished, a slender figure had already skillfully rushed up from the side and behind.

The girl gripped the stone spear tightly in both hands, her palms sweaty, but her eyes were fierce, and she showed no hesitation.

"Pfft!"

The tip of the stone spear pierced the skull of the one-legged zombie, and thick pus splattered all over her face.

She pushed off forcefully, pulled out the malfunctioning spearhead, turned around, and fired another spear at another wriggling mycelium zombie on the ground.

"puff!"

It enters through the eye socket and exits through the back of the head.

Each strike landed precisely on the head, hitting vital points.

Aono led the way, his axe flashing, leaving monsters incapacitated wherever he went, like harvested crops.

Dudu followed at the end of this death corridor, like a silent little corpse collector.

Her breathing was rapid, and the hem of her blue and white cheongsam was already stained with blood, but she did not stop. The stone spear in her hand fell again and again, completely nailing those monsters that still had a breath left to the ruins.

"Huh...huh..."

After finishing off the last one, Dudu leaned over, supporting himself with the stone spear, and gasped for breath.

Even with continuous level increases, the high intensity of physical exertion still took its toll on her.

She wiped the blood off her face and looked at the man in front of her, who had his back to her and was flicking the sticky substance off his axe.

Sunlight streamed through the cracks in the ruins, shining on him and on the "corpses" he had created.

The inexplicable sense of dependence in the girl's heart deepened with each surge of warmth within her body.

That's enough for today.

After checking the time, Aono decided to head back home.

The rapid increase in experience made Dudu very addicted, but it was also really tiring.

Hearing Aono speak, she felt both reluctant and relieved.

"Dudu, what level are you now?"

"Level 6, almost level 7."

"Hmm, pretty fast. Now try using the flamethrower."

"it is good."

Dudu took the metallic weapon from Qingye's hand, her eyebrows relaxed, and a smile appeared on her face.

"Brother Qingye, I can use it now!"

Unlike this morning when it was difficult to carry, she still finds it a bit heavy, but she can use it now.

12. Trust Rating: 69%

"Alright, tomorrow you can take one of them and find monsters nearby to level up."

"how about you?"