Chapter 132

After a long discussion, our clan finally decided to participate in the large-scale expedition.

Of course, such a massive expedition couldn’t be done haphazardly, so key figures from the participating clans needed to gather.

From Eternity, it was decided that I, Seo Yoo-ju, and Wi Ho-yeon would go.

I didn’t expect to attend the meeting since I’m neither the Clan Master nor the Deputy Master, but Seo Yoo-ju decided to take me along.

Of course, my bodyguard, Wi Ho-yeon, was also coming along as a bonus.

“How long has it been since I last visited the Royal Palace, and now I’m going back again…”

Although the Royal Palace issued the official order for this matter, it didn’t seem like they intended to interfere much.

Only players were gathering for this meeting.

It seemed the Royal Palace wanted the clans to coordinate their opinions and proceed smoothly.

“…Are we the first ones here?”

It looked like our clan was the only one that had arrived at the meeting hall so far.

“…It seems we’re the first ones here.”

“Looks like it. We did arrive a bit early.”

Seo Yoo-ju, the Clan Master, sat and waited, while Wi Ho-yeon and I stood beside her for a while.

Then, Ha Yu-ri and a man entered the meeting hall.

“Looks like the Mardan Clan decided to participate too.”

I didn’t have any particular thoughts when I saw Ha Yu-ri, but she seemed to feel differently.

She froze in place upon seeing me as she was about to sit down.

Feeling mischievous, I mouthed some words at her.

*Woof! Woof!*

Ha Yu-ri saw my mouth move and stiffened, trembling as she sat down across from me.

The man standing next to her seemed to be her newly appointed deputy.

From the moment Ha Yu-ri entered the meeting hall, Seo Yoo-ju’s gaze turned icy cold.

“…Is the Mardan Clan Master also participating in this expedition?”

“Ah… yes…”

Seo Yoo-ju looked suspicious at Ha Yu-ri’s attitude.

It wasn’t like Ha Yu-ri’s usual arrogant tone.

Unlike her usual rude demeanor, Ha Yu-ri now seemed somewhat frightened.

“…What’s wrong? Is something going on?”

“…W-what do you mean?”

“Are you feeling unwell?”

Seo Yoo-ju seemed puzzled by Ha Yu-ri’s behavior.

She was staring at Ha Yu-ri with a strange expression.

“N-no, I’m fine.”

The man next to Ha Yu-ri, presumably her deputy, looked concerned and spoke up.

“Master, are you okay? Are you feeling unwell…”

“Ah, no. I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Ah… okay.”

I almost burst out laughing at the situation.

If Ha Yu-ri had known Eternity was participating in this expedition, she probably wouldn’t have come so early.

From her perspective, she likely didn’t expect a clan mostly made up of first-year newcomers like Eternity to participate.

“…I heard there was some unpleasant incident in your clan recently. I hope you’re taking care of yourself.”

I was startled. I never expected such a provocation to come from Seo Yoo-ju.

Not just me, but Wi Ho-yeon also looked surprised. Given Seo Yoo-ju’s usual demeanor, this was quite unusual.

‘She must really dislike Ha Yu-ri.’

I glanced at Ha Yu-ri, but she seemed too focused on me to react much to Seo Yoo-ju’s words.

“Ah… yes, yes…”

Her attitude was completely different from before.

When I looked at Ha Yu-ri, she immediately lowered her eyes and seemed to shrink.

If she used to act like an arrogant queen, now she seemed completely deflated.

Seo Yoo-ju didn’t speak to Ha Yu-ri after that, and Ha Yu-ri didn’t either.

An uncomfortable silence lingered for a short while, and soon, representatives from other clans began to enter the meeting hall.

“…Quite a lot of people are gathering.”

There were no small clans. It seemed most medium-sized clans and above were participating.

At the very least, the current top three clans—Mardan, Myth, and Veritas—were present.

Yoon Yeon noticed me and waved lightly to greet me.

Since she greeted me first, it was only polite to respond. I nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

‘…With this, two out of the three top clans are on Eternity’s side.’

I couldn’t sense Veritas Clan being on our side, but Myth and Mardan were effectively with us.

It wasn’t 100% control, but I could somewhat influence their decisions.

I wasn’t sure how this expedition would unfold, but since Seo Yoo-ju had expressed her intent to participate, she must have a plan in mind.

‘I’ve set the stage. Do as you wish.’

With Mardan and Myth Clans on our side, even if not overtly, Eternity’s opinions could be reflected beneath the surface during this expedition.

Once everyone seemed to have gathered, Yoon Yeon, sitting in her chair, opened her mouth to speak.

“Hmm… how should we start? Ahn Yeon-ho, Ha Yu-ri?”

Ahn Yeon-ho is the name of the Veritas Clan Master.

“Well, I’m not really good at leading these things, so why don’t you or Ha Yu-ri do it?”

“I… I don’t have any particular thoughts. Maybe the Myth Clan Master should lead…”

“…Um, Ha Yu-ri. I’m sorry to say this, but are you feeling unwell?”

“Ah, no.”

“Well, if you’re fine, that’s good. Anyway, I’ll take the lead then? If anyone has any objections, please speak up.”

There were no objections. It was only natural that Yoon Yeon, the Master of one of the top three clans, would lead.

“…Since there are no objections, I’ll proceed. If anyone has any opinions or suggestions during the discussion, please raise your hand and speak.”

Everyone nodded.

“For those who may not know, the uncharted territory we’re about to explore is the same area where Baronia failed to establish a foothold three years ago.”

This was news to me. I hadn’t heard that the area had been a failed expedition before.

“Aside from the Eastern Alliance, each country still has large uncharted territories. The first one is the collapsed spirit world, Arkium, located in Sunguk.”



“Is there a trick to it?”

“Second, there’s the Cave of Suffocation in the Kingdom of Tayos. And…”

“…”

“Lastly, there’s the Swamp of Oblivion in Baronia, Secanda.”

The names of the three large unexplored areas alone were anything but ordinary.

“Fortunately, the exploration logs from three years ago, which ended in failure, contain some reference-worthy information.”

A man spoke up.

“As for reference materials…”

“One of the biggest reasons for the failure back then was that, after entering the Swamp of Oblivion, important memories gradually disappeared or got mixed up.”

‘…What?’

“And there are also eyewitness accounts of residents living in the Swamp of Oblivion.”

“…Eyewitness accounts?”

“Yes. Of course, they’re not people from Eras like us. But whether they’ve assimilated into the Swamp of Oblivion or something else, those people can’t leave the swamp. They can think and speak like us, though many are not in a normal state.”

‘This is too complicated.’

I thought it would be as simple as conquering a dungeon, but the information Yoon Yeon was sharing was making my head spin.

“And among us, there’s someone who actually went to the Swamp of Oblivion three years ago.”

At Yoon Yeon’s words, Ha Yu-ri flinched and responded.

“…Are you talking about me?”

“Yes, Ha Yu-ri. For some reason, most of the people who went to the Swamp of Oblivion in the past refused to participate in this exploration. But you decided to join.”

“…That’s right.”

“Is there a reason?”

“…Most people who have been to the Swamp of Oblivion forget one important memory.”

‘What?’

The meeting room buzzed. What Ha Yu-ri said was that shocking.

“For some reason, most people who have been to the Swamp of Oblivion aren’t even aware that they’ve lost a memory. But…”

Ha Yu-ri’s expression looked desperate.

“I… I know I’ve forgotten something. I don’t know what memory it is, but I’m participating in this exploration to try and recover it.”

It was surprising that Ha Yu-ri had such a story, but that wasn’t the important part.

‘Damn… Yoo Ju noona. This is going to work out, right?’

The part about “people who have been to the Swamp of Oblivion forget one important memory” made me uneasy.

Just the thought of some unknown place taking my memory was enough to make me anxious.

‘Damn… is the reward worth it?’

And honestly, from my perspective, it didn’t even make sense.

Even if it’s not Earth, how is it possible to lose a memory just by visiting a place?

‘Well, with Returners existing, nothing’s impossible… damn.’

As I was cursing internally, Ha Yu-ri continued.

“…The scary thing about the Swamp of Oblivion isn’t monsters or anything like that. There’s the issue of losing or mixing up memories, but another important point is that the deeper you go, the more you lose one of your five senses.”

‘What the hell is this nonsense?’

“Losing a sense… what do you mean by that?”

“…Humans are said to have five main senses: sight, taste, hearing, touch, and smell. After entering to a certain extent, you lose one of these senses.”

“What…?”

Everyone listening was stunned.

“Does that mean you permanently lose that sense?”

Fortunately, Ha Yu-ri shook her head and answered.

“No. You don’t permanently lose the sense. It recovers once you move away from the center of the Swamp of Oblivion.”

‘…A small mercy.’

If you permanently lost a sense, the risk of failure in the exploration would be too high.

In that case, it would be better to not participate in the exploration at all, regardless of the rewards.

But even if you don’t permanently lose a sense, it’s still an absurd situation.

After all, losing a sense during exploration would cause serious problems.

‘Losing sight would be the worst.’

A fighter, or even an ordinary person, can’t do anything without sight.

But fighters losing their sight? That’s not something you can overcome with willpower.

‘It’s not just a loss of strength. It’s a negative.’

You can’t just abandon someone who’s lost their sight, and someone with relatively intact senses would have to take care of them.

In other words, it ties up the hands and feet of others.

‘…We can’t afford to lose sight.’

If we have to lose a sense, smell or taste would be the best. Touch would be next, and hearing and sight would be the worst.

And among the worst, sight is the absolute worst.

‘Damn… isn’t the difficulty too high?’

There’s a reason why it failed three years ago.

Honestly, I couldn’t help but feel resentment toward Yoo Ju, who had casually decided to participate in this exploration.

After Ha Yu-ri finished speaking, Yoon Yeon spoke up again.

“The Swamp of Oblivion, Secanda, is broadly divided into three areas. They don’t have specific names, but since the area is large, it’s divided into three. The participating clans will be split into these three areas for the exploration.”

“Then how do you plan to divide them, Myth Clan Master?”

“Since there are exactly three areas, we plan to divide them among the three major clans. It doesn’t really matter which area we take, so the Myth Clan will take Area 1, the Mardan Clan will take Area 2, and the Veritas Clan will take Area 3.”