The four of them left the mountain behind and began making their way back toward the main base.
The path stretched across the wasteland, with patches of dead grass breaking through the dry earth.
In the distance, the lights of the base flickered against the darkening sky.
Rui walked beside Mira, occasionally glancing back toward the mountains.
Luma kept his staff resting against his shoulder.
Seojun walked ahead, his hands in his pockets.
For a while, nobody said anything.
Then—
Chime.
A system notification appeared in front of them.
⸻
System Notification
Tribal Unification: REMOVED
Previous objective: Unify the scattered tribes.
Status: Objective completed.
Reward status: Pending evaluation.
Additional Notice: The tribal unification questline has been permanently closed.
⸻
Rui stopped walking.
“…Wait. Removed?”
Luma turned toward the notification.
“Not completed. Removed.”
Mira read through the message again.
“Does that mean we can’t unite any more tribes?”
“Probably,” Seojun replied.
He reached into his inventory and summoned the crystal they’d obtained from the other tribal camp.
It appeared in his palm, its surface reflecting the faint light of the wasteland.
Unlike the fused crystal from their previous encounter, this one carried a rougher appearance.
Faint patterns ran across its surface, resembling the markings they’d seen throughout the tribe’s territory.
Rui leaned closer.
“Didn’t we get this before the unification quest was completed?”
“Yeah,” Seojun answered.
“Then why didn’t the system take it when the quest ended?”
Luma examined the crystal carefully.
“Maybe it wasn’t a quest reward.”
Mira tilted her head.
“Or maybe the quest was only one part of something bigger.”
Seojun turned the crystal over in his hand.
There was no new notification.
No description.
Nothing explaining why he still possessed it.
“Whatever it is, we’re keeping it.”
He returned the crystal to his inventory.
The group continued walking.
⸻
The Base
By the time they reached the base, the surrounding area had become considerably busier.
Players gathered around the central structures, trading equipment, discussing quests, and comparing their latest gains.
A few were preparing to leave for another hunting run, while others had settled near the campfires to recover.
The atmosphere was far livelier than it had been at the Fortress.
As the four entered, several players glanced in their direction.
Some recognized them immediately.
Others seemed more interested in the equipment they carried.
Rui stretched her arms.
“Finally. Somewhere that doesn’t feel like the beginning of a horror movie.”
Mira gave her a sideways glance.
“You were the one who wanted to explore the mountain.”
“I wanted to explore it. I didn’t ask for whatever that was.”
Luma chuckled.
“Sure.”
Before Rui could respond, a familiar voice called out from across the base.
“Oi! You guys are back!”
The Builder stood near one of the newly constructed structures, accompanied by his teammate.
The Builder raised a hand and walked toward them. Get faster updates on g.com.
“Thought you were going to be gone longer.”
Seojun nodded.
“Things got complicated.”
The Builder laughed.
“That’s one way to put it. You should see what happened here while you were gone.”
Rui raised an eyebrow.
“What happened?”
The Builder gestured toward the central area.
“Two major events triggered almost back-to-back. First, the Nightmare Forest finished developing. Then the system announced the Hero Vessels.”
Luma’s expression sharpened.
“We saw the notifications.”
“Then you already know the important part,” the Builder replied.
“Ten Hero Vessels have been summoned on the Kingdom side. All of them are in the Wasteland now.”
His teammate joined the conversation.
“And the forest is active. Players have already started discussing whether it’s worth exploring.”
Mira looked toward the edge of the base.
“Have any of them gone inside?”
“A few have tried getting close,” the teammate answered.
“Nobody seems to have a clear idea of what’s waiting in there yet.”
Seojun nodded slowly.
“Then we shouldn’t assume the system announcement tells us everything.”
“Exactly,” the Builder said.
He glanced at his teammate.
“We’re heading out to hunt players. If the Kingdom side has ten Hero Vessels running around, we need to find out how strong they are before they get too far ahead.”
His teammate nodded.
“We’ll track their movements and see how they’re progressing. If we find an isolated group, we’ll test them.”
Rui smirked.
“Try not to get yourselves flattened.”
The Builder grinned.
“Worry about yourselves.”
He turned to Seojun.
“Good luck with the forest. Something tells me that’s going to be worse than hunting players.”
“Probably,” Seojun replied.
With that, the Builder and his teammate headed toward the base’s exit, already discussing possible hunting routes.
The two groups separated.
One would pursue the players.
The other would investigate the nightmare.
⸻
The Nightmare Forest
Seojun opened the map.
A new region had appeared on its edge.
NIGHTMARE FOREST — ACTIVE DOMAIN
The map offered little else.
No recommended level.
No monster list.
No estimated difficulty.
Just a darkened region spreading across the Wasteland, its borders marked by faint red lines.
Luma leaned over Seojun’s shoulder.
“That’s reassuring.”
Rui folded her arms.
“Maybe the developers forgot to finish the description.”
Mira shook her head.
“I doubt they’d announce an entire domain and forget something that important.”
“Maybe they want us to find out ourselves,” Seojun said.
He closed the map.
“Let’s go.”
The four left the base and followed the marked route across the wasteland.
At first, the journey seemed ordinary.
Dry earth.
Scattered rocks.
The occasional monster wandering in the distance.
Then the environment began to change.
The air became damp.
Thin roots emerged from beneath the soil, spreading across the path like veins.
Farther ahead, dead trees stood in uneven rows, their twisted branches reaching into a sky that seemed strangely dim.
Rui slowed her pace.
“…That’s definitely new.”
Luma summoned his staff.
“Everyone, stay close.”
Mira opened her interface, checking the region information.
“It’s registering as a domain, but I can’t see the usual environmental details.”
Seojun watched the trees.
Something about them bothered him.
Not because they looked dangerous.
Because they looked familiar.
He had seen these patterns before, though he couldn’t remember where.
A faint notification appeared at the edge of his vision.
He opened it.
⸻
System Notification
Nightmare Forest
Domain Status: Active
Exploration: 0%
Domain Influence: Increasing
Warning: Entry may trigger undisclosed conditions.
⸻
Rui stared at the final line.
“Undisclosed conditions? They couldn’t even tell us what those are?”
“Apparently not,” Luma replied.
Mira looked at Seojun.
“Do we continue?”
Seojun stared into the forest.
Beyond the first line of trees, the darkness seemed to move.
Not like a monster passing between the trunks.
More like the entire forest had shifted its attention toward them.
Seojun summoned his weapon.
“Yeah.”
He took the first step across the boundary.
Chime.
⸻
System Notification
Nightmare Forest entered.
Party detected.
Domain interaction initiated.
Condition One: Awaiting evaluation.
⸻
Rui’s expression changed.
“…Seojun?”
He looked at the notification.
For the first time since arriving, the system had given them something more than a warning.
A condition.
But it hadn’t explained what they were supposed to do.
Then, somewhere deep inside the forest, a bell rang.
Once.
Twice.
And a third time.
The trees ahead began to part.
Luma tightened his grip on his staff.
Mira took a step closer to the others.
Rui whispered, “Please tell me that’s normal.”
Seojun didn’t answer.
His attention was fixed on the opening ahead.
Something was waiting for them.
And whatever it was, the Nightmare Forest had already noticed their arrival.