Ch.176high

# 176. Go

“Vice Commander.”

“I already said I don’t want to hear about the reconnaissance team that’s already departed.”

“No, sir. I have no intention of discussing that matter.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I’ve come to report the results of the initial investigation.”

“Hmm.”

The Vice Commander gestured toward a chair. A middle-aged woman in pristine white clothes stained with dried blood spots sat down demurely and began to speak.

“Well, High Priestess. What were the findings?”

“First, the sacred barrier protecting the fortress shows no abnormalities.”

“No abnormalities? That’s a great relief. But how do you explain the excessive monster appearances in Zone 1 near the fortress?”

“Haven’t we occasionally experienced excessive monster appearances before? Though not in the same context, I believe it’s not an unprecedented occurrence.”

“Is that also God’s will?”

“Well… how could I dare to fathom God’s intentions?”

“Isn’t that what priests always say? ‘Everything is according to God’s will.'”

The stern-faced priestess smiled ever so slightly at the Vice Commander’s words.

“Everything is according to God’s will, and how could I dare to fathom God’s intentions? These two sentences are the spear and shield used by nearly all priests, not just myself. Of course, they’re not wrong.”

The High Priestess folded her hands and continued.

“While the reconnaissance team’s report is important, might I suggest focusing on preserving the fortress rather than the seal site for now? The anxiety among your personnel is quite significant.”

**

The edge of Zone 3 wasn’t much different from the edge of that godforsaken forest.

When escaping the forest, I was too busy struggling against the forest itself and its terrible stench to notice… but seeing what appeared to be a signpost suddenly gave me chills.

I looked around at the squad members resting and hydrating themselves, and my eyes met Subin’s. I tapped my mouth and ears, and she sensibly cast a soundproof barrier.

Not wanting to worry the squad members who were finally resting after their ordeal, I pulled Subin slightly aside.

“What’s wrong?”

“We managed to get here somehow, but… it’s a bit late to mention this, but how is it possible that we didn’t encounter a single battle?”

“Because we avoided them well, right?”

“That’s true, but what I mean is…”

“You’re wondering how even we could have gone completely undetected, is that it?”

“…Yeah.”

“What the…”

Subin made an incredulous face. Perhaps because she was quite exhausted, her expressions seemed more pronounced than usual.

“How can the squad leader underestimate the skills of our three scouts and the entire squad’s endurance? Especially right before our final destination.”

“Hey. That’s obviously not what I meant. But everyone said it, right? That something felt off. Especially in that forest-like place…”

“Why did you suddenly stop talking…?”

“Oh.”

“Oh.”

Subin’s eyes widened. I imagine mine did too.

Forest?

Forest??

Forest???

I hastily unfolded the map. Subin was suddenly pressed close beside me.

We examined Zone 3 and the area around the seal site again in detail.

There was no forest marked anywhere on the map. Not a single place.

“Then, what we passed through was…”

“Let’s not say it out loud yet. Think, think.”

What had been an endurance test suddenly turned into a thriller. I wanted to come up with some answers before alerting everyone, but we were in the middle of a danger zone.

There was no need to ask Subin, the deputy squad leader, for her opinion. We understood each other with just a look, and we both ran back to where the squad members were resting. We immediately shared what we had belatedly realized.

The squad members’ reactions were similar. Every one of them opened their eyes wide, covered their mouths, and looked around frantically. Pupils dilated, throats gulped, cold sweat trickled down.

This wasn’t our first encounter with fear, but it was a different kind of fear.

What sent chills down our spines was the fact that until several minutes after passing through the unidentified “forest,” not a single one of us had noticed anything amiss.

This was no simple test of courage or nerve.

“Should we go back now?”

“After finally breaking through that fucking place to get here, again?”

“It’s creepy, very creepy… but if you think about it, we’ve still reached the vicinity of the seal site. Shouldn’t we just keep going?”

“I disagree. This is too unsettling. Can we even be sure that the seal site we see ahead is the real one?”

“Then was the map a trap from the beginning? That bastard reconnaissance captain gave us a wrong map to screw us over. Shit, I should have known from his attitude.”

“Calm down, Yuri. I understand how you feel, but at least the other zones were accurate. Subin, Arang, and I cross-verified everything. Danya, do you have any idea what might be causing this?”

“[Well… I’ve experienced plenty of spirit-based tricks before, but nothing of this magnitude. I didn’t notice anything until you pointed it out, Sunghyun… I’m at a loss.]”

Based on Zones 1 and 2, and the entrance to Zone 3, the map provided by the reconnaissance captain was accurate (no wonder it was called fortress classified information). Subin’s memory was beyond question.

Danya and Yuri’s senses, along with Arang’s awareness and tracking abilities, were superhuman. It would be one thing if just one of them had missed it, but all three?

Moreover, the other four had physical abilities far superior to what they had on Earth.

Unless we all suffered collective short-term amnesia, we must have been under some kind of spell.

And what drove me crazy was that even after realizing we had been enchanted, we still didn’t know the cause. Everyone was mentally drained after suffering for what felt like an eternity, even to Yuri who could estimate time down to the minute without a watch.

Without a single battle.

It felt like my blood was running dry.

And the red dot on the map looked like the eye of a hurricane.

“…”

Go or stop?

This was an age-old dilemma that had spawned countless retrospective analyses and “what if” stories.

“If we turn back now, we’ll report to the Vice Commander, right?”

– We found a strange forest in Zone 3.

– Oh? What was strange about it?

– It wasn’t on the map, but it was there.

– What? Did you all have some kind of collective hallucination?

– I don’t think so.

– You don’t think so…? Then what was it? What caused it? Are you saying there were dangerous entities that forced you to return?

– Well, I’m not sure.

– …? What exactly do you mean?

“If that’s how it goes… to put it bluntly… we’d be no different from that reconnaissance team that withdrew early claiming danger.”

“I… don’t like that.”

“Whether we like it or not, what’s more important is whether this decision affects clearing this floor.”

Everyone’s levels had risen enough to increase their base stats, and with Sister Soyu present, they seemed to have recovered somewhat. But difficult was still difficult. No matter how many hardships we’d endured before, this was a separate issue.

New forms of danger always approached us, making it hard to get used to anything.

‘I can’t make this decision easily. If this were a game, I’d just charge in thinking, hey, if I die, I’ll just respawn!’

My head and heart were at odds.

My head strongly argued that we shouldn’t withdraw now, but my heart pleaded not to lead the squad into unknown danger.

“Sunghyun.”

“Huh? Noona. Go ahead.”

“As we’ve always done… if it’s split, why don’t we remind ourselves of our original purpose and decide by majority vote?”

Sister Yehyun, who had been struggling due to the spirits’ discomfort with the zone’s eerie and ominous energy, spoke up after a long silence.

“The situation seems like a trade-off, doesn’t it? If we risk the danger now, the demon released from the seal might be weaker later, but if we retreat, we’re safe for now but will have to face the demon we knew from the game later.”

“That’s right.”

“Then I’ll have three for breakfast.”

“Hm?”

“I want to take the risk. I really hate scary things… but I think it’ll be okay since I’m not alone. Besides, if we can weaken that terrible nameless demon, it seems like a gamble worth taking.”

It was unexpected. I never thought Sister Yehyun would be the first to offer her opinion.

And I was grateful. She had taken the lead, breaking the ice. She didn’t just express her preference but provided a reasonable basis for it, without putting me in an awkward position.

After Sister Yehyun broke the ice, everyone offered their opinions one by one. It seemed to go in order of age, but the summary was:

Go: 5

Stop: 2

Even excluding my opinion, the squad’s decision was already made. Despite Sister Yehyun’s influence, the squad members chose to swallow their fear and move forward.

“Alright.”

Go.

“Let’s go. I’m not really the type to be scared of haunted houses anyway.”

“Who did you go with? You wouldn’t have gone alone.”

“Right? Your tone sounds like ‘Trust me, oppa? Just trust me.’ Like someone who’s done it before.”

“N-no, it’s not like that!”

The die was cast.