A Dog Named Pungsan

Without him even realizing it, the characters of Hangul had taken root inside Bennett's mind.

Swallowing hard, he turned his gaze once more to the script written in the Dungeon Language.

The Dungeon Language, an indecipherable riddle mere moments ago, now read as fluidly as the common tongue of his homeland.

Just to be certain, he unfolded the document he had set aside earlier. It was a formal proposal addressed to this research facility from an organization known as the Agency for Defense Development. While the phrase was somewhat foreign to his ears, the underlying meaning was clear enough. It seemed to represent something akin to a national armory.

'If this was classified... did it have something to do with the fall of their world?'

It was strictly conjecture, but it appeared the inhabitants of this dungeon world had made their own desperate stand against the coming annihilation. Perhaps the mechanical dog he had secured from the testing grounds was one of the fruits of those efforts.

"Bennett-nim?"

"Are you all right?"

Bennett put his party at ease by explaining what had just transpired.

"You acquired the Dungeon Language? Just from... whatever that was?"

"Is such a feat even possible, Erika-nim?"

All eyes naturally drifted toward Erika. Catching everyone's sudden scrutiny, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, but she hurried to share what she knew.

"Th-there are similar spells in magic. But because they interfere directly with the brain, they require an extraordinarily high circle... If anything goes wrong, I've heard both the caster and the recipient can die. Even when successful, it often leaves permanent aftereffects, like losing chunks of your memory."

Though her explanation was based on magical theory, the party couldn't help but examine Bennett with deep concern.

"Are you truly unharmed?"

"I'm fine."

Bennett pulled out the booklet he had looted from the office downstairs.

The word "brochure" seemed to originate from a completely different tongue; while he could read the phonetics, its exact nuance eluded him. "Robotics" carried a similar foreignness. Flipping through the pages, his eyes locked onto the spread displaying the mechanical hound.

"Pungsan... Its name is Pungsan."

It was named after an indigenous canine breed from a country called Korea. And what Bennett and his comrades had been calling a mechanical dog was written here as a robot dog.

"Robot... dog. Robot dog."

It felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠awkward on his tongue, but repeating the syllables under his breath gradually smoothed the edges.

"Did you find anything else?"

"We found a few items, though we have no clue what they're for. They were tucked away out of sight in the corner..."

The party neatly laid out the objects they had scavenged. Some possessed relatively obvious purposes, while others remained completely baffling. Bennett concentrated on the latter.

The first was a rectangular box. Dark and muted in color, it featured a small handle on one side sized just right for two fingers, while the opposite end had a shallow recessed groove. For its compact volume, it was surprisingly hefty.

Was it a stroke of luck? This was not the first time he had laid eyes on one. He recalled seeing an identical block seated in the flank of the robot dog. The two-finger handle was far too distinctive to mistake.

'Battery?'

Bennett caught on immediately. This "battery" was the power source that drove Pungsan.

Stowing the pack into his inventory, Bennett shifted his attention to the adjacent item. It was a pole standing roughly as tall as Bennett himself. Made of a metal-like substance that felt remarkably lightweight yet exceptionally rigid, its base unfolded into several small splayed legs to support the shaft. A thick cable made of a completely different material trailed from its lower end, while a flat, square plate was mounted at the top.

Judging its purpose from appearance alone was impossible. Bennett broadened his senses using Detection, scanning for fine engravings until he spotted text stamped in an inconspicuous recess.

"Solar? Sunlight?"

Meaning... this device replenished the battery using ordinary sunlight?

'I knew it drew on a power source other than mana, but harvesting sunlight itself?'

His astonishment lasted only an instant before pragmatic satisfaction took over. Regardless of the underlying principles, he had acquired both a spare power source and the charging apparatus required to operate Pungsan. Whether to sell the hound or retain it for personal use was a choice for later, but a functioning machine was guaranteed to command an incomparably higher value than a dead heap of metal. Working out how to actually operate it, however, would require further experimentation.

This was neither the time nor the place for contemplation. He would test it once they were safely outside.

Donggg—!

Lost in thought, Bennett looked up as the solemn toll of a bell announced the close of the dungeon.

"Pack the gear first."

"Yes, Bennett-nim."

"Don't leave that behind, either."

Bennett pointed to the tablet-like device displaying the termination prompt. Gathering every piece of salvage they could carry, the party moved toward the entrance and paused, waiting to determine their path by the resonance of the chimes.

Kyle paced the landing near the stairs before turning back.

"It seems we need to head downstairs."

"Let's move."

The toll of the bell grew louder with every floor they descended. In contrast, the lively, ringing chime that signaled a secret or conditional exit remained completely silent. Before long, Bennett's party reached the first floor.

"...Could there really be no secret exits at all?"

The party's confusion was entirely justified. Having climbed down from the eighth floor to the ground level, they hadn't heard that telltale chime once. Even with two basement levels unaccounted for, the odds of a hidden exit existing were practically zero.

Yet an even more baffling sight awaited them.

"...This is the exit point?"

Right where Bennett's party had stepped into the dungeon—directly in front of the ground floor entrance—was the public extraction point. Compared to the life-or-death crises they had weathered inside, it was almost anti-climactic, though novel in its own way.

Parties that had arrived earlier were waiting in spaced queues before the entrance. Curiously, none of them vanished immediately upon stepping into the portal; each group lingered for a short while ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠before disappearing.

"Why are they just—"

The pattern held true for every group ahead. Those who stepped into the portal did not leave at once, waiting roughly two minutes before finally dissolving into thin air. Only when Bennett and his comrades crossed into the threshold did the reason reveal itself.

Unlike ordinary public exits, this one enforced a mandatory countdown. Judging by the explicit warning to hold their ground, shifting away risked aborting the extraction entirely.

As the final second elapsed, space pulled at their flesh, and in the next heartbeat, they stood within the Pioneers' Hall.

"Whew...!"

One of the party members exhaled a shuddering breath of relief.

"We made it back alive from another one."

"Indeed we did."

Bennett and his companions adjusted their footing. Having traded frequently with the Sylvia Firm, they were about to head straight for their usual counter when Erika spoke up.

"Say, Bennett-nim?"

"Hmm?"

"How about we try a different merchant guild this time around?"

Casting a discreet glance toward the Sylvia Firm's pavilion, Erika flashed a mischievous little smile.

"It might just be my imagination, but lately it feels like the Sylvia Firm has been trying to lowball us on appraisals."

"Let's do that, then."

The clerks at the Sylvia Firm, already familiar with Bennett's party, brightened and stepped forward with welcoming smiles—only for Bennett and his crew to offer a fleeting glance before turning smoothly toward a rival stall. Watching their prized clients slip away right before their eyes, the Sylvia staff wore expressions as though they had just lost a treasured piece of their lives. Their desolate stares cast a faintly guilty pall over the party's shoulders.

"Welcome to the GL Merchant Guild!"

As the guild clerks sorted through the spoils and tabulated values, Bennett caught the subtle approach of a familiar presence and turned his head.

"Did the expedition treat you well?"

"Yes."

It was Walker, the fifth-grade official from the City Hall Administration Department. His weary eyes swept back and forth between Bennett and the distant portal.

"How did it go this time?"

"...An ordinary dungeon. Nothing resembling what happened last time."

"That is a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠relief."

Letting out a breath he had clearly been holding, Walker smiled with visible relief, though Bennett merely met him with silent observation.

"Nothing else has come to mind regarding that previous research lab incident, has it?"

"Nothing."

"Understood. I'll see you around, then."

Walker turned and strode off alongside his escort of city guards. Kyle drew near and lowered his voice.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, nothing I would call a problem. It's just..." Bennett narrowed his eyes. "More eyes are paying attention to me now."

"I only hope it doesn't bring tedious complications..."

"There's no need to worry. If anyone becomes a nuisance, I'll take care of it myself."

By the time they finished speaking, the tallying and payment were complete. Distributing each member's share of the proceeds, Bennett called an end to the excursion.

"Get plenty of rest. We meet again in two days at the usual spot."

"Thank you for your hard work!"

Bennett turned his steps toward home, where his sister waited.

"Carriage coming through! Make way, clear the road!"

A massive carriage rolled past along the main thoroughfare. Built for long-distance transit, its passenger cabin was unusually cavernous. Pausing for it to clear the crossing, Bennett made brief eye contact with the travelers inside.

Dressed in distinctive, unfamiliar attire seldom seen in this region, the group gazed out at the Dungeon City with open fascination. Following closely behind was another carriage laden with exotic animals and beasts foreign to this continent.

'Travelers from other continents.'

Even along the remainder of his walk home, foreigners wearing alien garbs crossed his path with noticeable frequency. Considering how rare such outsiders had been in the past, a massive wave must have arrived over the course of the last week. Eavesdropping on a few passing conversations, he noted with curiosity that, distinct accents aside, they spoke the exact same common tongue.

'When I was a boy, only two continents were known to exist.'

Now, including their own, five continents had been charted and verified. Though their landmasses, living conditions, and cultural values differed drastically, all five continents shared a single universal language. Nuances naturally varied from realm to realm—certain idioms were substituted and grammatical quirks emerged—yet across broad strokes, communication remained entirely seamless. Scholars had long sought the primordial roots of this unified tongue, but substantive answers remained nonexistent.

"Oppa!"

The moment he stepped through the door, Bella greeted him with a bright smile. Bennett pulled his sister into a gentle embrace.

"Have you eaten yet? I made food ahead of time."

"Did you? I'll enjoy every bite."

The moment he finished his meal, Bennett collapsed into a deep, dreamless sleep, not waking until noon the following day. Stepping out into the courtyard, he opened his sub-space pouch and retrieved the robot dog, Pungsan, along with the battery pack and solar charging equipment.

Bella, who had been taking a light walk and stretching in the yard, stared wide-eyed at the metallic beast.

"Wh-what in the world is that?"

"This is..."

Bennett hesitated. He was genuinely at a loss for how to put it into words.

"Something I brought back from the Dungeon world."

It was an undeniably clumsy explanation, but Bella seemed not to care in the slightest. Her face lit up with pure curiosity as she leaned in to inspect Pungsan. Gently steering his sister back a step, Bennett reached for Pungsan's flank.

Gripping the handle protruding beside the display, he gave it a firm tug. Caught on an internal catch, the battery refused to budge. Wondering if it required a twist, he shifted it left and right. Turning left yielded nothing, but when he twisted to the right—

Click!

With a crisp sound of disengagement, the battery popped forward an inch. Drawing out the depleted pack, Bennett slotted the fresh one into the housing. This time, rotating the handle back to the left locked it securely into the chassis.

Snap!

A latching sound echoed through the yard, subtly different from the first, and a cool glow surged across the once-lifeless display.

With that, the collapsed robot dog, Pungsan, pushed its limbs beneath its chassis and rose steadily to its feet.