Oh Jae-won stood among a crowd of people, all wearing unique gear. He, himself, held onto a short sword along with a pair of gauntlets that exuded a cold aura.
Well, the sword wasn't for him, though. "When will he get here..?" He muttered nervously.
At the request of his junior, Go Hyun-jin, he had specially requested a favor from his guildmaster to bring him along. Of course, that entire ordeal made him very uncomfortable.
"Hyun-jin..you brat.." He was half hoping the man wouldn't show up, but knowing his personality, Jae-won didn't hold much hope.
It was then he spotted a familiar head of messy black hair. "Hey, Hyun-jin! Over here!" He quickly waved him over as the man slowly maneuvered around the people.
"Jae-won, thank you so much!" Hyun-jin immediately bowed. He knew how scary the Aegis Guild's guildmaster could be.
To bring along a level 1 to a level 4 dungeon? That was a big stretch. Especially because the Player Association recently announced the uniqueness of this particular one.
"Don't thank me, you suicidal bastard!" Jae-won smacked him over the head before handing him the shortsword. "Look, remember…you're to stay in the back lines. That was the compromise. Never, and I mean never engage in combat. That sword is only for self-defense."
Hyun-jin groaned. "Ow..whatever hyung, I got it…" A loud, resounding clap stopped everyone in their tracks, silence permeating the air.
Then, someone spoke. "I'm grateful to all of you here for coming to the safety of the people as guardians. I speak for all of us at Doseonsa when I say this!" A deep voice resonated with the crowd.
Looking over, a man who looked somewhere in his mid to late 30s, stood at the forefront in Buddhist attire. "Hey, it's Kim Hyeonmu.." someone in the group quietly murmured.
Although he wasn't very famous, he was still a level 4 powerhouse. He had joined the initial first and second raids, so the man knew more about the dungeon than everyone else here.
A few were relieved at the prospect of having someone knowledgeable, but others were concerned. Both raids had failed, Kim Hyeonmu being the raid leader for the first one and the recently announced dead level 5 player, Kang Hajin, being the second.
At the moment, the Aegis Guild's guildmaster, Min Yoo-bin, a level 6, was at the head of this operation with the Slicer, Turtleshell guild and several others as support.
Right at the end of that thought, Min Yoo-bin stepped up. "The raid will soon begin! Everyone, prepare and get into formation!" She announced.
"Can you even believe that old hag is 70?" Hyun-jin grumbled. Jae-won froze, turning around with a dark expression. "Don't ever say that again, you're going to get us both killed before the raid even begins!"
"Hey, we're so far back. How is she gonna hear-?" Hyun-jin had to pause, feeling a shiver run down his spine. 'Killing intent? Who-!?' He noticed Aegis's guildmaster glaring at him.
He flinched, only heaving a sigh of relief when she turned around.
Jae-won rolled his eyes. "Idiot.."
Behind them, hiding within the bushes, was a hound with frighteningly glowing crimson eyes. "Okay Dami, good job." Eun-ho exclaimed, though he knew she couldn't hear him. Dami, the hound scout, understood his intent anyway.
The hound was no longer the same as the one Eun-ho first summoned. Not only did he give her a name, through the influence of the training grounds—a new facility that became available after leveling up [Labyrinth Creation]—she became a level 4 unit.
Perhaps it was talent or hard work, but compared to all the others who were stuck at level 2 and 3, she was growing the fastest and he didn't even realize until taking a glance at her status one day.
Among these changes was her appearance. She was larger, with dazzling fur, as fast as a race car, much more intimidating, and more than that, powerful and intelligent.
In fact, she was so strong to the point it was unnatural. The system description had said that hound scouts were weak all around except in speed, but Dami was more of a speed tank than anyone else, not to mention, high biting power.
None of his other units were like this. He even summoned several more hounds to see if they were like her, but no meaningful results came out.
She was obviously the alpha of the group. Nobody besides him could refuse her commands. She was the one that kept them in check in his stead.
But getting back on track, Eun-ho watched through [Sense Share] as the raid group began their march further through the mountain, taking down any centipedes along the way.
This…was an ideal situation.
[Grace Period: 00:00:15:03]
Fate or coincidence, it didn't matter, once that ended, it would be time to start a sneak attack.
He prepared all he could in the last 31 days. Currently, he could say he was at a debt of around 6,000 or so points. Although he didn't manage to grab onto that level increase in time, this much was good enough.
No, it wasn't actually..still, as long as everything goes as planned, then it should be alright.
[Dungeon Masters] didn't often do outright clashes like these very often because of the risks.
Either side could take down the masters of the [Dungeon] fair game, but there was another function of the system for them. [Dueling].
With this, it guaranteed their safety until the end of the match.
Eun-ho wanted to take advantage of this scenario. The [Dungeon Master] of the human centipedes wouldn't know of his existence or where he was. Perhaps a little on edge at a potential threat from a normal [Dungeon] that also [Surged] nearby after seeing Dami the first time, but they wouldn't imagine there to be him.
The main reason? Well…
Would a newborn know much about the outside world?
On the human side, they were beginning their first few steps to fully adjusting to this new world with the presence of [Evolving Dungeons].
For the [Dungeon Masters], they were busy trying to survive with their meager chances.
Yoon Eun-Ho? Well…he was simply trying to figure out what the system is, the being that was devouring Earth a lifetime ago, and conquering the enemies standing in his way.
Afterall, isn't life all about dogfights?
The raid begins. Now.
To be continued…
Additional Information:
>With every level up, the harder it becomes to break through each wall. Level 1-3 is the easiest, but there is a harsh threshold between 3 to 4, 4 to 5 and so on and so forth. From there, all humans, animals, and monsters are separated by talent and hard work.