[Hound Scout unit (level 1)]
[Description: A hound with weak defense and power but great speed and stealth. A monster with the vulnerability of a normal dog, but amazing capabilities as a scout]
[Skills: Sense sharing, Recall, Stealth, Dash, Tracking, Hunt]
[Gender: Female]
[Status: Happy, loyal(She is overjoyed that you summoned her!)]
[Currently no Evolutionary paths]
Eun-ho was satisfied with this. The unit ended up being a lot better than he had expected. Although, from his observations, she was weak, it wasn't like he planned to use her for battle anyway.
He was curious about her skills though, specifically, [Recall] and [Sense Sharing].
He activated the second skill, his eyes blacking out before opening to stare at…himself? He quickly realized he was looking at the hounds' perspective. Great, this was an amazing skill!
But jeez…his body really was grotesque. The most positive thing he could say is that he was at least somewhat…humanoid?
Still, that wasn't the most pressing matter. Eun-ho tried to move but nothing happened. The hound was in control and his real body seemed vulnerable while using the skill.
Deactivating it, he stood up from his kneeling position, giving a few gentle pats to his new dog for good measure.
Hesitating a bit, he looked at the twisting branch door.
[Send out scout?]
>(Y/N)
Sending out a scout…to be completely honest, he was scared. After taking the time to think, he remembered what happened. The world was devoured and then exploded..what would he even find out there? Space?
He just summoned the hound scout and was reluctant to part in the case that was the situation…
But the temptation was too much. He had to know. Even if Earth no longer existed, understanding where he was would greatly increase his chances of survival.
"Um..do you…?" He turned to look at the hound. "Bark!" She responded gladly. He could feel her determination. She could very well sense what he wanted from her, perhaps through a link?
Eun-ho took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright..Send out scout!" He exclaimed.
The door rumbled, the branches twisting some more and stretching slightly as the mid section parted. He reached out the moment this happened, but his hand touched an invisible wall.
"Fuck..I should've known…" he cursed, slamming against it hard. He still wanted to see it using his own two eyes. The hound whimpered at his distress.
He sighed. "Nevermind me…please help me gain a better understanding of the situation."
With a brief nod, she easily phased through whatever wall was in his way.
Eun-ho had to hold back any thoughts of envy and closed his eyes, activating [Sense Sharing]. Immediately, he was bombarded by greenery.
Well, that wasn't what he expected.
Feeling his own desires, the hound—he should really give her a name—turned her head left and right to show him the whole area.
They were in a forested space in what seemed to be a mountain. She walked forward, making sure to keep to the shadows.
'So far so good…' he thought, trying to keep calm. Soon enough, they managed to get past the foliage to a cliff overlooking the valley.
A soft breeze blew by. He quickly deactivated [Sense Sharing], staring blankly at his long, clawed fingers. "It's there…"
He mumbled to himself like a madman. The world that had been devoured…the places he grew up in…
"It's there!" He shouted, hands raised. "Seoul is still there!!" Eun-ho stood up in excitement. It wasn't just a hallucination, right? Seoul really was there?
That meant he was probably on one of the mountains surrounding Seoul…he activated the skill again, feeling the hounds confusion and then relief. He would've apologized if he could, but she could feel it.
She continued to explore, finding a path before stopping at a sign that read (Baegundae Peak (836.5m))
That confirmed it. He was in Bukhansan National Park, North of Seoul.
He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Somehow, someway, Earth was still the same. It was alive.
Eun-ho smiled to himself, but then realized something. "Where is everyone?" Bukhansan was an easily accessible tourist location yet there was not a single living soul nearby.
"Krrrick.." an eerie sound followed the end of that thought. He felt a cold sweat from behind his back, urging the hound to slowly, cautiously, turn around.
She followed, trembling.
A wrinkled creature with a disgusting human face that looked like it could be in an analog horror film stared at her with two beady black eyes. Its body looked like a fleshy centipede with hair growing in random places.
"KRIIEEK!!!" Its mouth gaped open, showing a disturbing sight of rows upon rows of flat, human-like teeth, every hurried step of clawed feet shaking the earth.
It was coming in fast. Too fast. Out of instinct, Eun-ho exclaimed a word, hoping it would work. "[Recall]!"
The hound turned into a puff of smoke, reappearing beside him. He turned off [Sense Sharing] again and fell onto his back, legs trembling. He felt her intense fear.
"Are you okay?" He managed to ask, sitting up to pull her a bit closer. "Bark.." she was upset. Not at Eun-ho, but by the fact she couldn't complete her mission and by how easily she lost her cool.
Eun-ho himself managed to smile. "It's fine..I understand," he reassured.
There was something on his mind…several somethings. What the hell was that monster and..not that it harmed him or anything, but why was this hound so intelligent and how was Earth still intact?
He was tempted to have her go out again, but couldn't bring himself to do something so cruel. The next time she left, she might die for real, not to mention her absolute terror.
To drive in the home run, there was a cool down.
[Send out Scout? (Cooldown: 23:45:19)]
>(Y/N)
[Recall (Cooldown: 59:37)]
Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. Even [Recall] was on cooldown.
Silence permeated the near empty space as his thoughts went back to the strange monster.
Tilting his head back and closing his eyes, he ran through his memories. "Bukhansan…monster centipede…Bukhansan…ah!"
Right, there was something like that during the 4th year after [Dungeons] appeared in 2009. It was a major issue that ended up with over 2,000 casualties.
It was categorized between the 10 levels with 1 being the weakest and 10 being the strongest. Eun-ho even suspected that—if the world hadn't been devoured—those numbers would've risen even higher over time.
That [Dungeon] was only [level 3]. The reason the deaths remained at around 2,000 was because it was located on a mountain which was easily quarantined since monsters couldn't go past a certain point from the [Dungeon]. There was also the close proximity to the military and [Guilds] which led to a quick response time.
With a deep, drawn out sigh, Eun-ho got up. The [level 3 Dungeon, Human Centipede]. It was an [Evolving Dungeon], a rare exception among them.
It managed to survive over to the next year, marking a year of survival. Humans were still adjusting at this point in time, so every raid ended in failure. Then the [Dungeon] disappeared one day.
There was only one explanation. There was a stronger [Dungeon Master] nearby…and he was determined to conquer them both.
[Grace Period: 30:19:02:14]
To be continued…
Additional Information:
>The day [Dungeons] appeared is nicknamed the [Armageddon] in the US and England and the [Apocalypse] in the Southeast, East Asian, and Middle Eastern countries.