Chapter 214. A Dream Within a Dream (2) (1/2)

Seol Jihu froze up on the spot. Standing around with a dazed expression, he scanned the area with a dumbfounded look.

‘There are… two colors?’

Right. Seol Jihu’s eyes were showing him two colors — yellow and blue. The two colors mixed together like paint dissolved in water and undulated in front of Seol Jihu’s sight.

This wasn’t the first time an object shone in the color of the right direction. He had experienced the same thing twice before, once at the valley fortress and once at the ancient emperor’s villa.

The problem was that this was the first time that two colors showed up simultaneously. Setting ‘Attention Required’ aside, how was he supposed to interpret ‘Choice of Destiny’ blending with it?

Just as Seol Jihu’s mind was thrown into disarray, he heard someone call out his name.

“What do you want to do?”

It was Chohong’s voice. Seol Jihu sighed inwardly and touched his pendant.

‘Maybe there’s some sort of a mechanism in place to help whoever came to find the inheritance.’

For example, a safety measure of some sort.

‘Maybe that’s why this place is shining blue.’

As this was something only Seol Jihu knew, he couldn’t be blamed for thinking this. However, he shook his head in the next moment.

Being optimistic in such a dangerous, uncertain situation couldn’t be good. Flone only said that the pendant stored the coordinates of the hidden inheritance. She didn’t say anything more.

In the end, there was only one pathway left.

After deliberating for a long time, he decided to follow through with last night’s decision.

“We’ll proceed.”

A look of unease flashed across everyone’s face. Phi Sora looked especially tense, still not having overcome her trauma. Seol Jihu quietly watched his comrades getting ready to enter before speaking.

“I’ll add one more condition. If you don’t feel at ease, you’re free to wait outside. I won’t fault you or pick a problem with it. I promise.”

The seven members of the expedition team, excluding Seol Jihu, exchanged glances. Chohong then snorted.

“The hell is that? Now that we’re on an expedition, we gotta act together. That’s how it is, isn’t it? Members of an expedition share the same fate!”

Kazuki chimed in.

“You’re not wrong, but you have to understand, given the uniqueness of this ruin.”

“But still—”

“I won’t argue since the leader gave his approval. Anyone’s free to stay out. But don’t forget, you won’t be included in sharing any of the loot.”

Kazuki put the nail in the coffin by flicking in a stimulant he got from Seol Jihu into his mouth. Then, the signs of hesitation vanished. Everyone took the stimulant, put on the Flower Robe, and lit up their eagerness to go ahead.

It was easy to see that everyone was anxious. But they were clearly shaking their fears off because of Seol Jihu’s declaration to proceed. After all, he had turned nearly impossible missions into dazzling successes several times.

Seol Jihu didn’t reveal anything on the outside, but his team members’ expectations felt heavier on his shoulders than usual. At last, seeing Phi Sora getting ready to enter, Seol Jihu turned back to the front.

‘I should thank my lucky stars it isn’t orange or worse.’

No matter how much he tried to maintain his focus, he couldn’t deny feeling anxious. This was the first time he was carrying out an expedition without a single clue.

Kazuki walked to the front.

“Can I go?”

Seol Jihu nodded his head.

“I wish you luck.”

With Yuirel’s parting words behind, the expedition team marched forward.

*

The conquering of the Pagoda of Dreams began.

Just like Yuirel said, the expedition team found traces of the Sky Fairies’ attempted communication soon after marching in. Because nothing seemed out of the ordinary, the team simply passed by it.

The forest was eerily silent, and the expedition team’s mood sunk more the deeper they went in. Maria, who was looking around the greenery, rubbed her arms and shuddered.

“What a creepy place…”

Chohong retorted, continually wetting her lips with her saliva.

“Fuck, I’d rather risk my life to fight Parasites than this.”

Two extremes were more or less the same. An area swarming with monsters was bad, but so was an area that was too bleak and desolate.

Given the forest’s current atmosphere, no one would be surprised if something suddenly popped out of the woods. As the expedition team walked further in, the indescribable anxiousness they were feeling exhausted their tense minds.

The severity of the atmosphere made it seem as if whoever created this place was aiming for this effect. Chohong raised her voice in an attempt to shake off this pressure.

“Kazuki! Can you sense anything?”

“Nothing.”

Kazuki gave a short reply.

“If what the Federation said is true, there should be nothing in this area.”

“Not even the undead?”

“Unsightly Humility should be recuperating, so it’s unlikely that the undead army is here. Plus, we can’t eliminate the possibility of the undead being able to dream. As long as they have their own will, that is.”

“What? Undeads don’t even sleep!”

“Then you force them to dream.”

Kazuki spoke firmly.

He had a point. Since animals other than humans could also dream, it wasn’t so impossible for the undead to dream.

But that wasn’t something the expedition team should be happy about. The Pagoda’s curse had already reached them and was enveloping their bodies. Their half-burnt Flower Robes were more than enough evidence.

Seol Jihu activated the Blessing of the Circum just in case and immediately furrowed his brows. The tri-circular shield shattered just four seconds after it was produced. It was clear that the curse was getting stronger the closer they got to its source.

The forest grew darker the deeper they marched into it. Large trees blocked the sunlight from shining down, making the tree trunks and leaves look dark.

The biggest problem, however, was a hazy, fog-like smoke that impaired their vision. Would it be right to describe this as walking between clouds? Perhaps Seol Jihu was mistaken, but he felt his mind growing dim and struggled to keep himself sharp.

The stimulant must be doing its job as he could quickly clear up his foggy mind. Trying not to let his guard down, Seol Jihu chanted inwardly.

‘Please let us get out of here safely…!’

How much time went by?

Kazuki suddenly gave the stop signal after walking nonstop for a long time.

“…Seol.”

Seol Jihu stepped forward, calming his beating heart down.

“What’s up?”

Kazuki didn’t say anything for a while even though he was the one who called Seol Jihu. He narrowed his eyes, then murmured quietly.

“…Something’s strange. Presence… No. Even though they’re not moving, I feel a large number of something surrounding us.”

What he said sounded strange if one only heard it briefly. He said they were surrounded by unmoving things, but Seol Jihu couldn’t see anything when he scoured the area.

“Almost like statues…”

Kazuki muttered to himself before biting down on his lip. His slightly distorted expression clearly showed that he was vexed.

It would have been nice to tell everyone about it more clearly. He was the expedition’s header, so he was frustrated at himself for being unable to even relay information properly when they entrusted the role to him.

His ability was lacking, strictly speaking, but no one mocked Kazuki for it.

Kazuki was one of the best Pathfinders in Haramark. If even Kazuki was confused, the result would have been similar no matter who they brought along.

Kazuki grit his teeth and continued.

“That’s not all. I feel a powerful aura up ahead.”

This was something even Seol Jihu could sense. To be more precise, he had been feeling it ever since Kazuki began to speak.

“…Hold on, everyone. Wait here.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“Let me walk up just a little bit.”

Seol Jihu walked forward by himself. It was extremely dangerous given their severe lack of information, but he had something he wanted to try.

Before anyone noticed, the fog had gotten so dense that it was severely impairing everyone’s vision. Seol Jihu couldn’t see anything either, but he tapped on his pendant. A black smoke flowed out as if it had been waiting.

[Un!]

Seol Jihu asked quietly.

“Flone, can you feel anything?”

After a moment, the top of the smoke shook. She seemed to be saying‘No’. Seol Jihu asked again.

“Then… can you fly forward and see what’s up ahead? Just a little bit is fine.”

Seol Jihu couldn’t help but be sorry as he carefully made this request. In a way, he was using the fact that Flone was a ghost to dump a dangerous task at her.

[That should be easy.]

Flone must have been listening to Kazuki’s explanation as she accepted without any unnecessary questions.