Memorize

"I'll conclude my report on the girl's self-consolation."

"...."

"Oh, by the way, self-consolation, in short, is masturbation, also known as self-pleasure or jerking off. Commonly, people might say 'fap fap fap'… Oh, for women, maybe 'squish squish squish' would be more fitting."

"You can stop there."

I raised my hand as I spoke, and she immediately shut her mouth. Feeling uneasy, I slipped my hand into my pocket. My fingers brushed against a single, round cigarette. Go Yeon-Joo also looked awkward. It seemed she'd tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but my serious reaction had caught her off guard.

"Um, can I add one more thing?"

"As long as it's not something weird."

"Well, while she was… consoling herself, I had a chance to look into her eyes."

I spat out the cigarette I'd just put in my mouth. Come to think of it, Go Yeon-Joo always had a habit of looking into people's eyes when assessing them. Given her sharp senses, it was worth hearing her out, so I focused on what she'd say next.

"Honestly, I did similar things once or twice when I was in high school. Okay, fine, maybe more than once or twice. Anyway, unless someone's tastes are particularly unusual, they usually think about someone they like when they do it. Like a celebrity or a crush, you know."

"Yeah, I get what you mean."

"But when I looked into that girl's eyes… how should I put it? They seemed incredibly tender."

"The word 'tender' implies feeling sorry or regretful, like your heart's aching. That doesn't sound too strange, does it?"

Yeon-Joo paused for a moment and stared at me intently. I didn't avoid her gaze. But she didn't speak further. It was as if I was silently urging her to stop sugarcoating and just say it as it was.

Perhaps reading my expression, Yeon-Joo let out a heavy sigh and continued.

"Fine. I said 'tender' to put it nicely. To be honest…"

"...."

"They looked desperate. I often saw her belittling herself, even abusing herself. To be blunt, I couldn't shake the feeling that she seemed like a lunatic."

"A lunatic…"

I leaned back deeply into my chair. I picked up the cigarette I'd spat out. I'd vaguely sensed she wasn't entirely normal. After all, why would a 20-year-old act so childishly otherwise? Everything else about her just made her seem normal by comparison.

At first, I thought it might be an act, a persona. But her behavior had been consistent ever since. In a life-or-death situation like the Hall Plain, most people wouldn't keep up such a facade. That meant there was genuinely something wrong with her personality. All I could do was sigh.

"You seem pretty disturbed."

"Well, it's not something to just brush off lightly."

"Ho ho. But thinking too heavily about it isn't good either. If you want, I could use my ability to help."

"As I've said before, that ability is on the level of mental corruption. It's fine to use on enemies, but on allies—especially someone like An-Sol, who has almost no resistance—it's like poison. Absolutely not."

The moment Yeon-Joo brought it up, I shot her down. Honestly, I was a little tempted. Trauma can only be resolved if the person has the will to address it. But for someone like An-Hyun or An-Sol, who keeps it bottled up and hides it, things get extremely complicated.

Still, no matter how I thought about it, I didn't want to use a method that tampered with the mind. Once that door is opened, it leaves a mark. The more you affect someone's mind, the easier it becomes to manipulate them later.

Hearing my response, Yeon-Joo nodded once and took a step back. But her slightly pouting lips suggested she was a bit hurt. I realized then that I'd been too harsh—my expression and tone sharper than necessary. She'd gone through the trouble of gathering information and offering helpful insights. It felt like I'd unfairly taken out my frustration on her.

"Hm. Anyway, I'll think more about An-Sol's issue later."

"Alright."

"You've worked hard. I'll go through the records you brought later. You can go rest now."

"Hmph. Really? I can rest?"

Yeon-Joo let out a playful huff and glanced at me. When I nodded and said, "Of course," her expression shifted to something more subtle.

"Well, I have been working hard these past few days, so I could use some recharging. So, you're really giving me permission?"

"Player Go Yeon-Joo, why are you acting like this today?"

"No reason~! Alright, I'm off to rest~."

Yeon-Joo waved both hands as she responded. I took a drag from the lit cigarette and exhaled sharply. For now, I decided to be satisfied with grasping the gist of An-Sol's issue. To move forward, I'd have to wait for the right opportunity.

Just as I was organizing my thoughts and about to look back at the records—

"Phew. Guess I'll take a break then."

"Hm?"

Suddenly, something surged up beside me and burrowed into my arms. Glancing down, I saw Go Yeon-Joo, who had somehow pushed half my butt off the chair and buried her face in my chest. Despite booking the best room, the cheap inn's chair creaked noisily under the strain.

"What are you doing?"

"What? You told me to rest. This is how I rest. Ahh, I can feel the energy flowing back into my body."

"…There's also the option of lying down on the bed."

"Oh? I'm always up for that."

"...."

I was at a loss for words.

*

By tonight, six out of the planned seven days would have passed. The rescue operations were also nearing completion. Though communications were still coming in sporadically, it was safe to say we were in the final stages.

Babara—no, the entire North Continent—was in turmoil. My clan members and I were relatively unaffected, so we were at ease, but the clans that had suffered losses were in an uproar.

The information Go Yeon-Joo brought was detailed in its own way. And most of it aligned with my expectations. Her report made me chuckle a bit because she'd written it in the form of a letter addressed to me.

Here's a brief rundown of the situation:

(Expedition Participation Status)

Golden Lion (Representative Clan of Babara, Northern Capital): Approximately 1,000 members participated in the expedition.

Notable Details: Three of the Top 10 participated. One of them, the clan leader, has been confirmed alive but is critically injured and in a life-threatening condition. Currently unconscious and receiving treatment. One of the other two is confirmed dead, and the third is missing.

SSUN (Representative Clan of Halo, Western General City): Approximately 200 members participated.

Notable Details: Suffered the heaviest losses in the prior Vagrant Extermination Plan, with the clan nearly cut in half. Despite that, they recklessly sent nearly half of their remaining forces—200 members. Pretty foolish. One of their Top 10 participated and is confirmed dead.

Crescent Moon (Representative Clan of Dorothy, Western Small City): Approximately 380 members participated.

Balhae (Representative Clan of Beth, Southwestern Small City): Approximately 400 members participated.

Notable Details: Two of the Top 10 participated and are confirmed dead. Tsk tsk.

Northern (Representative Clan of Pamela, Northern General City): Approximately 500 members participated.

Stella (Former Representative Clan of Mule, Northeastern Small City): Approximately 290 members participated.

Notable Details: This clan went all-in on this expedition. They handed over their operations to the Beech Tree Clan. According to survivors' testimonies, most of their members were part of the vanguard, and they're presumed entirely wiped out. In terms of proportion, they suffered some of the heaviest losses.

Flame Extinguishers (Representative Clan of Montana, Northwestern Small City): Approximately 330 members participated.

(Other Notable Friendly Clans' Status)

Iris: Approximately 150 members participated.

Across Byno: Approximately 220 members participated.

Sky Keeper: Approximately 100 members participated. Notable Details: One of their Top 10 participated and is confirmed dead.

Zmun Garak: Approximately 150 members participated.

Mir: Approximately 100 members participated.

Hanul: Approximately 150 members participated.

Ihyang Performance Troupe: Approximately 100 members participated.

Magic Cloud: Approximately 140 members participated.

High Wind: Approximately 190 members participated.

Saul Avi: Approximately 210 members participated.

Starlight: Approximately 90 members participated.

The above was the status report on the clans that participated in the Iron Mountain Range expedition, as provided by Go Yeon-Joo. While the specific damages couldn't be fully tallied, the overall results gave a rough estimate.

The future hadn't been altered. The damage aligned closely with what I remembered from the first life. Of course, it wasn't exactly the same. If I had to pinpoint the biggest difference, it was that only one of the Top 10 had survived this time. In my memory, three of the Top 10 who participated had made it back. But this time, all but one were either confirmed dead or missing. On reflection, it wasn't entirely implausible, but what bothered me was that the sole survivor was the leader of the Golden Lion Clan.

However, the additional details made it understandable. Though he returned alive, he was said to have sustained critical injuries. I looked into it further, and apparently, one of his arms was completely gone, and his body was riddled with holes. They said it wouldn't be surprising if he died at any moment. Since he made it back to Babara, he likely wouldn't die, but given that he was unconscious, the physical and mental shock must have been immense.

With this, most matters were more or less settled. Only two rescue requests had come in after the fourth or fifth day. An interesting tidbit was that tensions among the clans were rising faster than expected.

The participating clans were demanding that non-participating clans search the interior of the Iron Mountain Range, but of course, they were met with refusal. Four or five years ago, the expedition to conquer Babara consisted of nearly 3,000 members. This time, they mobilized over 5,000—almost double the previous force—yet they failed to conquer the Iron Mountain Range. No, it wasn't just failure; they suffered near-total annihilation in less than a week.

Even if the purpose was rescue, with parts of the Iron Mountain Range now revealed, no player was willing to risk their life going in. As a result, the non-participating clans responded with, "We've done our part. You've had time to regroup, so if you want to do it, go in yourselves." Naturally, the participating clans were left speechless.

Everything was proceeding as planned, except for one detail. Judging by the uneasy atmosphere in Babara, it seemed likely that the Golden Lion Clan would issue a summons tomorrow. If so, all we had to do was listen to the summons, gauge the initial reactions, and then leave.

I folded the report and twisted my neck to loosen it. Looking out the window, I saw the dim twilight filtering through. I'd been so absorbed in reading the report and lost in thought that I hadn't noticed dawn approaching.

Since tomorrow would be busy, I decided to turn in early. This wasn't Mule, and rather than wandering out under the moonlight to exercise, it was a hundred times better to force myself to sleep. So, I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes.

...…. ...…. ...….

A commotion woke me.

I must have dozed off briefly, but the sudden noise made me open my eyes. The cheap inn's poor soundproofing let the clamor from outside pour in.

Wondering what was going on, I opened the door and saw countless players rushing down the stairs, shouting loudly.

And on every one of their faces was a look of unmistakable excitement.

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