A pungent, rotting stench was the first thing to assault my senses. A sharp mix of damp moss, dried blood, and raw ammonia. I tried to rub my nose, but my movement was restricted. My arm felt far too short, and my spine curved at an unnatural angle. The mossy cave floor felt way too close to my face.

I opened my eyes. The pale blue bioluminescence from the cave walls revealed two small, light-brown furry legs with tiny claws pressing against the damp stone.

Wait.

I tried to curse, but the sound that escaped my throat betrayed every last shred of my dignity as a grown man.

"Arf?"

The sound was high-pitched and pathetic. I stumbled backward, tripping over my own feet. I suddenly realized I had four of them, and then I fell flat on my rear in front of a small puddle. The calm surface of the water reflected a brutal truth.

Oversized bat-like ears. Bulging eyes that looked like they were suffering a perpetual existential crisis. A tiny, trembling snout.

This wasn't just any dog. This was Biscuit, my boss's Chihuahua.

My memories suddenly rushed back with a sickening spin. The Abyssal anomaly explosion that day... a blinding flash of energy that left my entire body numb. Biscuit went flying, sucked into a Gate that looked like a localized black hole.

Unfortunately, that yappy dog's leash was still wrapped tightly around my wrist. When the anomaly forcefully pulled Biscuit's body in, an incredibly devastating surge of energy slammed into my arm. The pain felt as if it were tearing my very soul apart. After that, my vision went black and I completely lost consciousness.

[System Warning]
[Reboot Complete. Earth Server Connection: FAILED.]
[Fatal Error: Original vessel disconnected.]
[Earth Hunter Parameters Invalid. Foreign Dimension Laws detected.]
[Warning: Abyssal Anomaly infiltrating User's soul.]
[Rewriting system root. Assimilating Abyssal Energy...]
[Soul synchronization with nearest biological host: Successful. (Species: Canis Lupus Familiaris, Chihuahua Mutation).]

Damn system. So only my soul got dragged in and stuck inside this dog?

[Status Window]
Name: Luke (Host: Biscuit) | Level: 1
Physical Condition: Healthy | Mana: 50/50
Race: Abyssal Chihuahua
Strength: 1 | Agility: 6 | Stamina: 2 | Intelligence: 12
Status: Highly Vulnerable. Easily stepped on.

Easily stepped on?!

In my previous life, I was a Hunter. Sure, I was only Rank-E, but seeing my Strength stat at a measly '1' stabbed at my pride. At least... my mind was still intact.

Before I could curse the floating blue screen any further, the sound of dragging footsteps echoed from the dark tunnel ahead.

Scrape... Cough! Scrape...

My canine sense of smell caught an incredibly dense stench. From out of the shadows, a figure stepped forward. It was emaciated, its spine severely hunched, and its green skin was covered in deep wrinkles and scabs. A Goblin. But this wasn't a fierce Goblin warrior; this was an old Goblin, coughing violently while leaning heavily on a rotting femur bone as a makeshift cane.

Goblins are never alone. That was basic Hunter knowledge. But this old geezer in front of me was scabbed, crippled, and covered in old scars. Clearly an outcast. A crippled elder thrown away by its pack to rot and die in this cave.

Its half-blind yellow eyes locked onto me. It grunted harshly, its snout twitching as it caught my scent. Saliva dripped from its jaw onto the mossy stone, driven entirely by feral hunger at the sight of a furry little snack appearing in its lair.

It raised a dull, jagged bone knife with a trembling hand. My instincts screamed at me to run, but before I could turn, it swung the blade.

I tried to leap out of the way, forgetting that my legs were now the length of an index finger.

Slash!

The blade grazed my hip. An agonizing pain burned through my nerves. I was thrown back, tumbling over the slippery moss before slamming hard into the cave wall. My breath hitched. Before I could even attempt to stand, a rough, bony hand choked my neck, lifting me into the air.

I thrashed wildly, suffocating. The knife in its left hand was raised, ready to gut me.

No! I refuse to die a pathetic death as a dog!

In blind panic, I struggled with everything I had and scratched frantically at its face. By pure luck, one of my tiny claws pierced directly into its good yellow eye.

The Goblin shrieked hoarsely. It released its grip and stumbled backward, clutching its face. Blinded and in sheer agony, its foot caught on the slick moss. It slipped horribly and fell backward. Its head smashed against the stone floor with a sickening crack.

It lay there, dazed. With what little strength I had left, and blood dripping from my hip, I lunged and sank my teeth directly into its wrinkled neck. I locked my jaw, refusing to let go even as it thrashed and beat against me, until its main artery finally tore open and the green body stopped moving.

Shitty luck.

I panted heavily, releasing my bite. In front of me, a Goblin lay dead... killed by me.

[Target Neutralized: Goblin (Elder), Level 9]

Wait a minute... if my soul is here, then what happened to my original body? Was it pulverized and swallowed by the anomaly?

My head began to throb. I shook my tiny head, trying to chase away the creeping panic. There was no point dwelling on that right now. My current priority was simple: survive.

A new notification panel materialized.

[Unique Skill Unlocked]
Abyssal Parasite (Rank Unknown): The ability to plant a seed of consciousness into the corpse of a newly deceased creature. The host will rise again as a Vassal.

I read the lines of glowing blue text. Back on Earth, Hunters with Necromancy or Puppetry classes were the absolute elite, guaranteed a life of wealth and luxury. In this hellhole? At least this skill gave me a chance to not end up as monster feces tonight.

Without wasting a second, I crawled closer to the still-warm Goblin corpse. Thick green blood stained my brown fur. Time to experiment.

'Arise,' I muttered in my mind, focusing my intent on the skill.

A foreign, freezing sensation flowed from the depths of my chest, traveling down to my front paws. A clump of dark purple energy glowing faintly like melting, toxic shadows seeped out from my footpads. It swept across the mossy stone and slithered directly into the gaping wound in the old Goblin's neck.

My body jerked backward the moment the energy fully entered. A mental link was forged. It didn't feel like I was controlling it by force. It felt... deeper. An absolute dominance embedded directly into its consciousness.

With the sound of popping joints, the Vassal Goblin reacted. It stood up. Its movements weren't stiff. Its shoulders still hunched slightly, exactly as it had in life. Without waiting for a command, it picked up its bone knife from the floor, then looked down at me. Its gaze shifted briefly as if assessing our surroundings, then returned to me, waiting.

[Host #1 Successfully Bound]
Species: Goblin (Elder)
Vessel Integrity: Critical (Warning: If vessel integrity is destroyed, the host will perish permanently).

Seeing the screen, a soft snort escaped my canine snout. The fatal neck wound meant this corpse's vessel integrity was already half-destroyed, but this would do.

My dog body suddenly shivered in response to the cave's chill. My stomach growled loudly. My head throbbed violently, and my vision briefly swam. Something inside of me had been completely drained, leaving an uncomfortable, hollow coldness in my chest. The thick stench of blood from this fight would definitely attract other predators soon.

I took a step forward into the darkness of the tunnel. The old Goblin responded instantly. It walked faithfully by my side, its eyes scanning every dark corner ahead.

This place wasn't safe yet. Time to move.