As I crossed the Wall, the [Guild Message] function shut down.
However.
‘I already expected this.’
If it had been some unexpected drop in my stats or something, that would be another story.
But I’m not stupid enough to come all the way here without preparing countermeasures for something I already knew was going to happen.
Maintaining steady communication with home base is more important than anything.
And the reason I deliberately left Ariella near that Demon Realm Gate was exactly this.
‘Corporal Seo Suhyeok can... peek past the Wall to some extent.’
That Wall isn’t visible from far away.
It only suddenly appears when you get close to it.
So if you look from a ridiculously long distance away where the Wall itself isn’t visible...
You can sneak a look at the inside to some extent.
On top of that.
We already confirmed that the radio our unit is transmitting from crosses over to other regions.
So the vampires near the Wall where Ariella is staying can relay my intentions.
And the Legion can send replies back through this radio.
We managed to build... that kind of structure.
‘Honestly, this really does feel like a bug exploit.’
Maybe it just doesn’t have as much impact as physically crossing the Wall.
There was no [Penalty] on this side.
‘Either way, now I know communication is possible.’
I still don’t know how I’ll use this,
Or what exactly I can request from that side.
But it will definitely become a huge weapon.
“Mr. Youngjun?”
While I was thinking that.
A moment later.
“It’s time for the meeting.”
The meeting this group holds on a regular basis.
That time had come.
****
“Since our food production has increased...”
“The next trade will...”
After all sorts of effort, once I’d finally succeeded in earning these people’s trust—
I was now able to participate in their meetings in a sort of advisor role.
Today wasn’t actually the first time.
I had already sat in on a few meetings before this.
But.
‘I’ve never actually said anything, though.’
I was basically just there to listen.
‘Now that I think about it, that was how it was in the Legion too.’
When there are a lot of people smarter than you around.
I usually just showed my face in the meeting, then slipped out halfway through to go cook.
This time was similar, but.
The reason was a little different.
‘Because I need to get a read on the situation.’
I’d only been listening, in order to understand this place in more detail.
And.
After hearing a bunch of different stories, the conclusion I reached was simple.
‘This might be a lot more dangerous than I thought.’
When I first arrived.
Compared to places I’d visited before, like Myoyang Temple, I thought they were in pretty decent shape.
At the very least, everyone had Awakened.
And aside from their mental state, they’d adapted to this world to some degree.
‘They’ve basically unified into a single force... every human has gone through Awakening as a baseline, and recently, as the potential of production-type jobs has been recognized, they’ve started producing equipment.’
Right now, their average combat power might be a bit lacking compared to Gangwon outside the Legion.
But since the human forces here are practically unified—
Under normal circumstances, they had the potential to grow explosively.
The problem was.
“That group over there is about to run out of food rations... but the supply team still hasn’t arrived.”
“Hmm. It’s not easy to push through that blizzard.”
“What do you think happened? Should we send a runner...?”
This.
‘Movement looks extremely difficult.’
The giant Wall put up by some Awakener in another region.
Thanks to the countless fires lit by burning the trees that the Druid had created inside it, the environment on the inside was surprisingly livable, but.
Outside was nothing like that.
Because the cold made movement difficult.
Even though they’d finally managed to unify, exchange between groups was barely happening.
And Awakeners’ activity outside was rare.
In other words.
‘Their growth looks almost completely stalled.’
When winter hit.
Our unit had also found external activity difficult and shifted to internal maintenance.
This was the same.
But.
If this goes on...
‘The monsters are only going to keep getting stronger.’
Maybe holding out for now is fine.
But once the monsters grow stronger at some point—
I had the thought that they might not be able to fight back.
“That source of the cold.”
And.
There was something that had bothered me ever since they first explained the situation to me.
“Do you have any solid information about that place?”
I spoke up in the middle of the ongoing meeting.
At my words.
The leaders looked at one another, then answered awkwardly.
“Mm, it’s a bit embarrassing to admit this, but.”
“We don’t know a single thing about that place. All we know is that the Chair and the elites headed there... and disappeared.”
When I heard that.
I couldn’t help but knit my brows.
‘That’s not good.’
This was only my intuition, but.
That place is the source that wrapped the entirety of Gyeonggi Province in that enormous blizzard.
‘Even if resolving that phenomenon is difficult, to not even know the cause?’
The current situation...
Was extremely dangerous.
“You said you wanted my advice, so I’ll give it to you.”
I opened my mouth seriously.
“You need to investigate the cause of that cold properly.”
“Pardon?”
They’d been so busy adapting to the rapidly changing environment.
They probably hadn’t had the leeway to properly investigate the cause.
Even so, they needed to squeeze out strength they didn’t have.
They needed to investigate that cause.
“Right now, the environment in Gyeonggi Province is blatantly abnormal. At the very least, you need to figure out what’s causing it so you can prepare for the risks to come.”
Right now, they had absolutely no grasp on it.
If they just endure until that Wall opens.
Someday, the Legion might come to help.
If you think about that, maybe there’s no particular need for them to become stronger.
‘But that’s going to take a lot of time.’
There was no certainty that the Wall would open just because the Territory War ended.
And even ending that Territory War would take at least three months at best.
If the cold suddenly grew stronger before that.
Everyone inside this Wall could just end up freezing to death.
“Mm.”
“Even if you put it that way...”
But.
They were skeptical about my suggestion.
“I understand that what I’m saying might sound a bit far-fetched, but this is something you absolutely have to...”
Unlike the people in the Legion who were willing to believe me to some extent, even if my basis was just “intuition”—
These people might have accepted me, but we hadn’t built up that level of trust.
Naturally, my argument lacked persuasive power, and I figured that was why they looked doubtful about my suggestion, but.
“No, it’s not that what you’re saying is strange.”
The one who cut off my attempt to explain further.
Was Park Junggu.
“‘We need to investigate the cause of the cold’—that’s a good proposal. And.”
“And?”
“It’s also a topic that’s come up more than once among us.”
“What?”
When I reacted with a bit of surprise.
Han Iseo and Gang Jaeho spoke awkwardly.
“Well, it’s not like we’re idiots.”
“It’s the place that presumably caused the environment around here to end up like this. Of course we’ve kept thinking that we need to investigate the source. The problem is...”
“It’s impossible for us alone.”
With a heavy expression, Junggu let out a sigh.
“Even after throwing in every elite the Association had, we still failed to attack that place. We don’t know what’s there that made that level of force fail to break through... but with just the strength of our Northern Branch, the odds are high that we can’t conquer that place.”
“Just because they failed doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed to fail too, does it?”
“That’s true, but still.”
Junggu scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed.
“I’m nothing special compared to you, but I am pretty confident in my own skills. At the same time, though, I’m also someone who admits what needs to be admitted.”
“...?”
“In terms of branch-to-branch combat strength, the old Central Branch was on an entirely different level from us. Each one of the Guild executives was a powerhouse on par with me. And that place is the source of the cold where all of them disappeared.”
Since even a place like that Central Branch had failed to break through it.
He was saying that with just their strength, conquering it was impossible.
“Still, to not even consider trying is a bit...”
“We did consider it. To be exact, we tested the waters as soon as we heard the Central Branch elites had gone missing.”
What?
“Back then, we didn’t know if the people who went there were dead or alive. Now we’re more or less resigned, but at the time, we really had no idea.”
The Guild system displayed information about people.
But even if someone died, they weren’t removed from the Guild member list.
“They’ve been treated as missing for a long while since contact was cut off and they never came back, but they might still be alive. When we first found out they’d gone missing, our group suggested at least confirming whether they were dead or alive.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“That was only our group’s opinion. It didn’t seem like the other groups felt the same way. Aside from us, no one was very positive about it. The Central Branch had lost all its combat strength and no longer had any room to spare, and the Eastern Branch said there was no need to deliberately do something so dangerous. The closest thing to neutral was the Southern Branch, but even they said they couldn’t take on something that dangerous unless every group moved together in a large-scale operation.”
I frowned.
“...Weren’t you supposed to be a unified group?”
“We are unified, but the [Association] is closer to a coalition of multiple groups. We do cooperate, but it’s not like there’s no internal friction.”
Looking at Junggu, Han Iseo added an explanation.
“In the first place, this world is far too short on supplies for a lot of people to live all in one place, right? People may have joined the Association as a Guild, but most survivors still operate in the same areas they used to. Even for me, I’ve been in the same group as Uncle Junggu since before. Back then, he’s the one who led us.”
“Yeah. In practice, it’s basically the existing forces forming an alliance, while the native powers in each region keep operating where they already were.”
So they were all practically different factions.
Is that really how you run an organization?
“Of course, up until recently it wasn’t bad enough to put it that way. Because that Chair at Central... the head of our Guild, was there.”
“...”
Now that that Chair.
Had disappeared along with all the elites who should have been at the Central Association headquarters—
This Guild was nothing more than a cooperative organization of multiple groups.
“We are still cooperating.”
“In my case, since I can produce food, we also exchange that food for supplies from other regions.”
“But if we want to confirm the ‘cause of the cold’ you’re talking about, the entire remaining Guild is going to need to move.”
And.
That wasn’t something that could happen just because they wanted it to.
“We’ve tried approaching the other groups several times because we think the same way you do. The Eastern Branch is relatively close by, after all. But.”
“They turned us down every time. Said it was too dangerous a gamble.”
“...”
Contrary to my expectations.
They also thought they needed to conquer the source.
They just couldn’t do it because they didn’t have the conditions for it, and were forced to maintain the status quo.
“...All right. Since the topic’s already come up, I have a proposal.”
“Sir?”
While I was thinking that.
After a bit of hesitation, Junggu opened his mouth.
“I was actually planning to bring this up at some point.”
“What is it, Uncle Junggu?”
“Like Gang Jaeho said, even if our Guild is all running around separately, we do still cooperate. The prime example is trading goods that are lacking by region.”
“Yes.”
“In a few days, we’re scheduled to head to the Association’s Central Branch for that very trade.”
Now that he mentioned it.
I faintly remembered hearing something about leaving soon for trade from the other people.
“Now that all the executives who could share information through the [Guild Message] are gone, they hold a meeting every time we gather for trade. That’s where we share opinions and exchange information.”
“In the case of our Northern Branch, I’m usually the one who goes on those trade runs. Moving outside is dangerous, so the combat classes go.”
After he finished explaining the trade.
Park Junggu folded his arms and said.
“And here’s what I want.”
His gaze.
Fixed itself ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ on me.
“For that trade... and for the Guild meeting there.”
“...?”
“I’d like you to come with us.”
That was what he said.
****
“Mr. Youngjun. Is it true you’re leaving for the Central Branch?”
“Wow... we only just got close, and you’re already going somewhere else?”
After the meeting ended.
I exchanged brief farewells with the group members I’d only just gotten close to.
The dishes I’d fed them were meant to make their minds feel at ease, but.
Just breaking down the psychological walls created by the harsh environment.
Was enough for me to become pretty friendly with them fairly quickly.
And right when I’d managed to grow close to them.
I was leaving.
As far as I was concerned, that was a bit of a shame.
“Come on. It’s not like I’m going away forever, I’m just going to be gone for a bit.”
It was something unavoidable.
We exchanged farewells with promises to meet again someday.
Before leaving on the trip.
I stopped by the kitchen for a moment.
Made the things I needed.
“All right... are you finished getting ready?”
“Yes. Let’s head out.”
Then I joined up with the party: Han Iseo, who was accompanying us for the meeting,
The massive barbarian warrior Park Junggu,
And the combat classes under his command.
Since it was a trade meeting.
We’d be moving together with vehicles loaded with food. It was a pretty large group.
Once the party reached the Wall.
We couldn’t just go straight out; we had to prepare.
“Ignite.”
FOOOOSH...
An environment where a massive blizzard raged.
With snow clouds filling the sky and blocking the sun,
Even though we were moving in broad daylight, we had to light crude torches.
“Buffs.”
“Yes, sir!”
Even though this wasn’t a combat situation.
Priest-type Awakeners and support-type mages—
Buffers with buff skills stepped up and spread buffs.
‘What a mana drain.’
As for me, once I eat food I’ve prepared, I get buffed.
So I usually don’t have my mana run dry just from spreading buffs.
But the outside environment was that harsh.
Most combat classes had to keep buffs up just to be able to move, even with no fighting.
‘In a real battle, the mana they burn here is going to be fatal.’
All of this.
Was a [Penalty] created by the environment.
And the cause that created that environment.
Was something we had to identify no matter what.
“This should be enough preparation. Let’s go!”
At Park Junggu’s declaration—
KUUUUNG...
The gate in the massive Wall opened.
Through the gap of that opened gate, a tremendous blizzard blasted in and snuffed out the torches inside.
“Everyone, advance!”
“Constantly check to make sure the people in front of and behind you haven’t disappeared!”
Pushing through the blizzard.
The party began their advance.
‘A meeting at the Central Branch, huh.’
Blocking the blizzard that struck my face with my arm, I moved forward with them.
And as I did, I thought.
‘Now that their leadership is gone... this is practically the place where the most Association executives will gather.’
For me, it was a place I needed to visit at least once.
But I honestly hadn’t expected...
That they’d be the ones to suggest it first.
-Just as you said, we also think we need to confirm the cause of that cold. But... in terms of strength and influence, the other branches besides Central are all about the same. We couldn’t persuade the other groups by ourselves.
-...So?
-But if you’ve agreed to cooperate with us... and if your opinion matches ours, that we need to investigate the cause of that cold, then things are a bit different.
On the need to conquer the source of that cold.
My opinion and the Northern Branch leaders’ opinion aligned.
-We’d like you to help us persuade them.
-Sir? Help persuade them? You might trust me, but... I only joined recently, so my words won’t mean much to the others.
That trust was the result of me busting my ass to win them over.
I doubted my persuasion would mean anything to people from other branches.
-Of course, your ‘words’ might not. But—
From the perspective of Park Junggu—
A battle maniac who believed everything in this era ran on the logic of power,
And a man who’d been shocked by my combat ability.
The fact that someone like me would be participating in that meeting.
-It’s not like ‘words’ are the only way to persuade people, right?
Seemed to carry quite a bit of weight.
