Chapter 136
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Swamp of Oblivion (5)
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"Ha Yuri."
"W-Why...?"
"Why? You joking right now? You damn..."
She must've realized I was genuinely pissed because Ha Yuri shrank back, but she still looked indignant, like she had something to say.
"W-What?! H-Honestly, you've been pretty harsh to me this whole time! S-So a little joke like that should be fine... right...?"
Yeah, fine. Honestly, I admitted I'd been a bit harsh to her. Just a tiny bit.
"Even so, this crosses the line. What's the point of making up facts that never happened and acting like they're real?"
Ha Yuri looked utterly dumbfounded at my words.
"What...? What did you say? You know deep down in your conscience that you're not exactly innocent here, right?"
"..."
"See? You're making that guilty face. Who was it that framed me as a drug offender...!"
"Enough. No, sigh... That's an order. Puppy pose."
Ha Yuri's body moved on its own, and she stood there with veins bulging in her neck, protesting her innocence.
"Eek! Aah! Seriously! Look at you, doing this because you know you're in the wrong logically! What the hell?!"
"...What do you want me to do about it?"
"Aren't you embarrassed at all?! It's embarrassing!"
"Yeah, no. You're the embarrassing one, Instructor Ha, crawling on all fours with veins popping in your neck."
"Drop that damn 'Instructor' title! It pisses me off!"
"Got it, puppy."
"...You bastard!"
"What was that, puppy?"
"......"
Ha Yuri shut her mouth, realizing it was pointless to argue—she'd just wear out her own lips.
"...... Release the puppy pose."
I obeyed her meekly. Honestly, my conscience was bothering me a little.
"...So, when are we heading out again?"
"Just wait a bit. A few people who've lost their memories are starting to show up."
We hadn't gone too deep yet, so not many had lost their memories, but a tiny number had started to.
I'd found out purely by coincidence.
Those who'd lost their memories truly didn't realize it at first, just like Ha Yuri said.
But their comrades noticed when they couldn't remember their fellow explorers or when conversations didn't make sense.
Thankfully, most accepted it quickly. They knew the traits of this place.
'...Not everyone, though.'
Memories are like the building blocks of a person.
'Lose one, and some people freak out.'
We'd paused our advance briefly because a tiny few couldn't accept it or panicked.
"You're okay, right?"
"Yeah, I mean, maybe I'm not aware of it, but I don't think so?"
"...Good enough. I don't want you glitching out and giving weird orders—that'd just screw me over."
"Doesn't normalizing the Swamp of Oblivion restore all the memories anyway?"
"Exactly. That's why I'm here."
Ha Yuri had mentioned it before.
When I asked how she knew, she said she'd heard it from the swamp's residents.
'Makes sense. If memories were lost forever, who would come here? No one.'
We calmed the panicked ones and resumed the expedition.
What was strangely fascinating was that this white stuff swirling like snow wasn't cold—it was almost exactly like snow.
As we pushed deeper, it piled up thick on the ground, crunching underfoot like real snow.
"Ah... We're almost there."
Ha Yuri muttered in a voice laced with complex emotions, and that's when the expedition spotted a sight.
'Is that it?'
It looked like a village.
Not many buildings, all blanketed in that fake snow.
The structures themselves weren't normal either—just rickety, crumbling ones.
'Those the residents?'
Not many people, a scant few visible. And...
'Are they even alive?'
They had no vitality, no spark of life or will to live.
The eerie part? As we approached the village, they barely glanced at us—no other reaction.
I tried checking a villager's status window, but nothing. It didn't open.
"...This normal?"
"Something's off."
From our perspective, suspicion was inevitable.
No, it was downright creepy.
Ha Yuri approached a woman who looked like a resident and spoke.
"Do you remember me? I was here three years ago..."
"Who are you? I don't think so. Three years ago...?"
Ha Yuri bit her lip and continued.
"...You've lost your memory."
"Ah... Is that so? Sorry for forgetting."
'Do they keep losing memories forever?'
"...No. No need to apologize. It's not like you're forgetting on purpose."
"....."
The villagers showed no reaction to their memory loss.
'That explains the lack of vitality and drive. No hope in a life like this.'
As I'd said before, memories are a key part of what makes a person.
What must it feel like to keep losing them while alive?
'Alive, but not really living.'
They were mentally dead.
"...Is the priest here?"
"Yes. Head to the church behind the village."
Ha Yuri finished talking to the villager and came back to us.
"Only a small group to the church. Village isn't big, so the rest wait outside."
Two per clan entered the village.
From our clan: me and Seo Yu-ju.
I had a question, so on the way to the church, I spoke up.
"A church? Do the residents here believe in a god?"
"Who knows. But this village's priest seems to."
"...This okay? Villagers are that far gone—can the priest even talk properly?"
We weren't alone, so I used polite speech.
The other residents seemed incapable of real conversation due to constant amnesia.
No guarantee this priest was any different.
"This village's priest... has less severe symptoms than the others. At least when I was here before."
"I see."
If Ha Yuri said so, it was probably true.
The building soon came into view—too small and shabby for a church, on the verge of collapse.
"...Let's go in."
Kiiiek—
The rusty hinges creaked as we opened the door and entered.
'That the priest?'
Only his back was visible, but a man knelt with hands clasped in prayer.
Probably the priest Ha Yuri and the villager mentioned.
He sensed us and stood to greet us.
"Ah... It's been so long since we had visitors. Welcome, travelers."
"...Long time no see, Priest Comer."
The priest looked like a neat early-thirties blond man.
His eyes lacked vitality and were somewhat unfocused like the villagers', but less so.
Priest Comer stared intently at Ha Yuri's face for a moment, then his eyes widened.
"Ah... You were definitely here before."
"You haven't forgotten me."
Ha Yuri seemed inwardly relieved at his response.
"How could I forget? But... what brings you back to the Swamp of Oblivion? This is a dangerous place..."
"To reclaim lost memories."
"I see."
While Ha Yuri and Priest Comer talked, I noticed something odd.
Not them—Seo Yu-ju's gaze at Priest Comer was strange.
'What's this?'
Like she was staring at something dangerous.
No open hostility, but clearly different from how she looked at the other villagers.
Worried by her reaction, I tried opening Priest Comer's status window.
It hadn't worked on villagers, but worth a shot.
I didn't expect much, but it opened, surprising me.
'Ha...'
No need to look at anything else—just one thing mattered.
'Puppet of the White Devourer.'
This guy was an enemy we had to take down. The problem? Priest Comer wasn't the real body.
'Just a shell.'
I glanced at Ha Yuri talking to him—she had no idea what he was.
'...Did he fool her three years ago?'
Two possibilities.
One: He tricked them during the expedition three years ago, causing trouble.
Two: He was normal back then, but changed after.
Either way, Priest Comer was our enemy.
'Don't know what the White Devourer is exactly... but it's deeply tied to the Swamp of Oblivion.'
As I sorted my thoughts, I overheard Ha Yuri and Priest Comer's conversation.
"I hope you reclaim your lost memories. If possible... I'd be grateful if you could restore ours too—the villagers' and mine. I wish this eternal oblivion would end."
'Ha...'
I didn't know if the White Devourer was monster or man, but this puppet acting so casually was ridiculous.
"Yes, Father."
Ha Yuri, oblivious, looked deeply moved by his words.
I wanted to smack her upside the head and yell.
The guy in front of you is behind your memory loss.
'...Well, not sure if he caused it.'
I didn't know why the villagers or we were losing memories.
But to normalize the second sector of the Swamp of Oblivion, we had to eliminate the White Devourer. That much was clear.
'...How do we solve this mess?'