Memorize Chapter 251

Naturally, it’s hard to pinpoint a single moment, but the timing can roughly be divided into three phases: before entering the Plateau of Delusion, while in the Plateau of Delusion, and after finishing everything and leaving the Plateau of Delusion. In terms of likelihood, the second phase is the least probable, while the first and third are about equally likely.

“If it’s the third… things might get interesting.”

The moment that thought crossed my mind, a faint, silly chuckle escaped me. It’s not certain yet. But if my current guess is correct, and it’s the third phase, my ears are probably going to itch quite a bit until we leave the Plateau of Delusion.

“Hyung! We’re ready!”

“Oh.”

Lost in thought for a while, I heard An-Hyun’s voice calling me from up ahead. It seemed they’d finished preparing, as everyone was standing at their designated spots, looking at me. The clan members’ expressions were uniformly peculiar, and I suddenly felt a pang of embarrassment. I must’ve looked like some pervert lost in daydreams, grinning to myself.

I quickly composed my expression and spoke in my usual calm tone.

“Ahem. We will now proceed into the Mountain of Delirium.”

“Hehe.”

Seeing me smile, An-Sol, seemingly delighted for no reason, burst into a bright grin and mimicked my laughter. I gazed at her face for a moment before turning toward the Mountain of Delirium and continuing.

“The Mountain of Delirium. Here, ‘Delirium’ is a term used in modern medicine. It carries many meanings, but in Hall Plain, it can be summed up as a single field effect.”

“You’re talking about consciousness disturbance, right?”

“Yes. Correct.”

“What’s the prize?”

Go Yeon-Joo responded instantly and gave me a playful wink. Meeting her gaze, I somehow got a rough sense of what kind of “prize” she might want.

Sighing inwardly, I began walking slowly toward the front of the formation.

“The Mountain of Delirium, the Plateau of Delusion, and the Gorge of Hallucination. What’s terrifying about these three places is that the deeper you go, the more the field effects stack. In other words, they’re all organically connected.”

“Uh…”

Standing next to An-Hyun, he glanced at An-Sol, then at Baek Hangeol and Kim Han-Byeol, before turning back to me. His face was filled with worry. Sensing his concern, I continued.

“Compared to the other two places, the field effect of the Mountain of Delirium is relatively mild. Some players might show behavior similar to hyperactivity, but most should be able to manage it. If it feels unbearable, just let me know. I’ll get the Mind-Clearing Pill out right away.”

“Okay…!”

Seemingly reassured by my words, An-Hyun’s expression brightened slightly as he responded.

With me taking the first step, we began our journey toward our primary destination, the Plateau of Delusion.

---

The Plateau of Delusion can be classified as an intermontane plateau (a plateau surrounded by mountains). Strictly speaking, the Mountain of Delirium isn’t a single mountain. The reason the first mountain you see upon reaching the plains is called the Mountain of Delirium is because it’s so majestic that it stands out like a crane among chickens compared to the surrounding mountains. Of course, the fact that the field effect disappears outside the mountain range surrounding the plateau also plays a role.

The Mountain of Delirium didn’t have the gloomy atmosphere of the Midnight Forest. If anything, it was quite the opposite.

With every step, the sound of crunching leaves echoed beneath our feet. We’d long since passed the mountain’s entrance. Before us now stood massive trees scattered about, their fallen leaves covering the soft, earthy ground.

After climbing a sloping dirt path for 30 minutes and emerging from the shaded trees, an open sky finally came into view. Back on the plains, the blazing sunlight had felt a bit hot, but now, thanks to the cool mountain breeze, it didn’t feel oppressive.

“Huff! Huff!”

“Haa…! Haa…!”

Perhaps because this was the fastest march we’d done so far, the clan members trailing behind were losing stamina faster than expected. Even An-Hyun and Yun-Jung, who were melee types, were breathing heavily, so it went without saying for the others, except Go Yeon-Joo.

It suddenly struck me that Yun-Jung’s grunts or moans were particularly distinctive. Even if I could tolerate An-Hyun’s heavy breathing, Yun-Jung’s sounds were hard to get used to. I wasn’t the only one who felt that way—some of the players walking ahead of her had subtly shifting expressions.

“Let’s take a break.”

“Phew, phew. Thank goodness.”

“Don’t sit. Just catch your breath; we’re moving soon. Stay alert.”

“Oh. Yes, yes!”

Startled by my words, most of the group, who had been about to sit, awkwardly stood back up. I leaned against a curved rock to my left, focusing on sensing the surroundings. Go Yeon-Joo, not forgetting our earlier conversation, was subtly scanning the area with her eyes.

The kids’ faces still looked lively. They’d been a bit nervous about the field effect when we started climbing, but realizing they could handle it, they soon regained their usual confidence.

“The problem is that the moment we enter the Plateau of Delusion, the stacking effect amplifies its power.”

I was pondering when would be the best time to use the Mind-Clearing Pill to make it worthwhile when I heard someone approaching unsteadily.

“Um… Oppa. I have a question.”

“Hm? What is it?”

Looking up, I saw Kim Han-Byeol staring at me with a pale face. She took a few deep breaths to steady herself, swallowed hard, and asked.

“Are there monsters in the Mountain of Delirium?”

“Of course there are. Why do you ask?”

“We’ve been climbing for a while, but we haven’t encountered any yet. Could you tell us what kind of monsters appear? If I know their characteristics, I can prepare which spells to use.”

“Oh. Crows?”

“Huh?”

“No, sorry, my mistake.”

I misspoke, and Go Yeon-Joo burst into laughter. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I scratched my cheek and began explaining slowly.

This place is home to avian monsters. These creatures treat the mountain as their domain, and their proper name is Black-Headed Eagle. Their characteristics include sharp talons, high intelligence, and a tendency to swoop down to snatch prey or attack. As a side note, some players casually call them “crows.”

I wondered if my verbal explanation was clear enough, but the clever Kim Han-Byeol nodded immediately. Seeing her fall into deep thought, I decided to delay our departure and wait another five minutes.

After a sweet break, we started moving again. The mountain grew steeper the higher we climbed, and eventually, we had to grab onto surrounding terrain to keep going. But I didn’t change the path. This was the fastest route to the Plateau of Delusion, and more importantly, traces of the previous expedition were scattered along the way. If we were lucky, we might find something useful before entering.

My senses were currently heightened to their limit, particularly my hearing, which I was channeling magic into. As we rounded a bend, I faintly caught the sound of flowing water. Following it up the steep path, the incline gradually leveled out. After advancing another 200 meters, the moment came.

“Hold up.”

Having entered much flatter terrain compared to where we’d just been, I raised my hand to halt the clan members’ advance.

“Su-Hyeon, what’s wrong?”

“Player Go Yeon-Joo, come here for a second.”

At my words, she darted over like a shot and let out a low hum as she followed my pointing finger. The spot I indicated showed traces splitting into two distinct paths.

“Hmm… they diverged.”

“One group went straight up, and the other detoured.”

“This is a bit tricky. Should we just keep going up? At this pace, we’ll probably reach the Plateau of Delusion in an hour or two.”

“Hm. Hold on a sec.”

As Go Yeon-Joo said, either path would do. But just to be safe, I turned to An-Sol. By now, she was used to situations like this. Catching my gaze, she wore a slightly pensive expression before glancing to the right. I immediately turned my steps in the direction she was looking.

“Let’s take the detour.”

---

After deciding to detour, we marched along a semicircular mountain path. But the further we went, the stranger the atmosphere felt. The crisp, refreshing air from earlier was gradually becoming damp and sticky.

The clear trees and bushes grew sparser, and the soft dirt underfoot hardened bit by bit. Yet, the traces continued.

That’s when it happened. While I was focused on tracking the signs, I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks at a sight that felt completely out of place with the surrounding scenery.

“Huh. What’s that?”

“It looks… like flowers.”

I signaled An-Hyun and Yun-Jung, who were whispering, to be quiet and closely examine the spot. Something was definitely off. About 70 meters ahead, a pile of flowers was scattered across the ground. The issue wasn’t that flowers were blooming—it was that the stems were snapped, and the flowers were heaped up in a pile, as if someone had deliberately gathered them there.

“There’s got to be a reason An-Sol pointed us this way… Direction sense? Or danger detection?”

Since I’d given the signal, a deathly silence had fallen over the group. I slightly bent my hand forward to signal them to advance. The faint sound of weapons being drawn as quietly as possible followed, and we began to move forward slowly.

I couldn’t sense any hostility in the surroundings. But what was this strange undercurrent in the air?

Instead of the brisk pace we’d kept up until now, I moved forward cautiously, on high alert. Yet, even as we reached the pile of flowers, nothing happened. Just to be sure, I scanned the area with my eyes, then nodded and spoke.

“Let’s clear the flowers first.”

“Got it.”

An-Hyun stepped forward at my command and began sweeping the flowers aside with his spear. After a few swings, he suddenly furrowed his brow, peering closely at something before letting out a startled “Hup” and quickly stepping back.

“Hyung, there’s something inside…”

“Su-Hyeon, hold on.”

Just as Go Yeon-Joo spoke, a few dark shadows swept across the ground, scattering the remaining flowers. The moment we saw what was revealed beneath the pile, the clan members gasped sharply.

But before I could get a good look, something hidden in the flower pile shot out a gleaming burst of light. Reflexively, I summoned my magic to resist it and soon identified the glowing object.

It was a crystal orb. Not a communication crystal, but a recording crystal. And it was cradled in the embrace of a completely decayed corpse.

“One body found. Ugh, I was trying to check the traces, but the corpse is badly mangled.”

“Well, for now…”

At Go Yeon-Joo’s words, I subtly bent down to pick up the crystal, avoiding the folded abdomen of the corpse, and finished her sentence.

“We should probably take a look at this first, right?”

I immediately infused the crystal with magic. The screen flickered with static for a moment before stabilizing, and a middle-aged man’s low, resonant voice came through.

(I don’t know if anyone will ever find this crystal. But if someone does, I have one shameless request, despite us being strangers. Please, take this crystal to the southern city of Monica.)

“…”

(Just a heads-up, I recommend checking your surroundings first. If you found this crystal in the middle of the grim Mountain of Delirium… Well, that’s likely, isn’t it? Haha. Are you part of a rescue team? Whether you’re a rescuer or an explorer, it doesn’t matter. For now…)

I brought the crystal closer to listen. On the screen, a man wearing thick armor leaned against a tree, collapsed. Analyzing the faintly visible terrain in the background, I realized it was strikingly similar to this place.

One thing caught my attention: the man had streaks of blood trickling from his mouth. After coughing three times, he struggled to continue.

(Get out of this damned mountain right now. Right now—don’t look back. Hurry!)