Surviving in my Own Unpublished Failed Novel

Chapter 67 The Moon's Embrace

"The Strayed Dungeon, Cemetery of Oblivion only has one floor compared to others who had two floors at most. This dungeon was discovered a few years ago when a group of adventurers was venturing outside the Orion Continent..."

Amelie, Amery, and the other students were listening to what seemed like a piece of history that Professor Murak was saying as though he was a tour guide working for a foreign land or a famous museum.

Their gazes were focused on what was in front of them right now as Samantha Hall and Han Jiho's group continued their pacing to find a certain gravestone that contained the Poem of Remembrance.

It looked like it was inevitable for someone to die inside the Cemetery of Oblivion because as per the Main Quest warning, a student shouldn't read the texts from various gravestones only when the Moon hanging in the sky has its Eyes opened, so as long as its Eyes were closed, one could read as many texts as possible in the scattered gravestones that seemed contained years of history.

The problem stemmed from there because they didn't know if the Moon's Eyes were open as they couldn't risk taking a look above to check it.

"As you have read the Main Quest details, there's something that is considered a Boss Monster somewhere, but its rank far exceeded the monsters lurking in the fog. Back then, it caused countless disappearance of players who attempted to explore and clear it while lacking information..."

One of the students raised her hand and asked what happened to the Strayed Dungeon.

Professor Murak pondered for a moment as if he remembered something that left a baffling sense of impression in him before answering.

"It was firstly cleared by someone you know very well, Ms. Ayleen."

The professor who seemed to transform from Player Physical Education instructor to History instructor said with a casual tone.

Although it evoked different reactions from the students who were watching the spectacle in the front, there were no further words that followed as everyone cast their gazes on the holographic screen to focus on watching.

pAn,Da n<0,>v,e1 ...

A few hours later, inside the virtual world.

[You have killed a Monkey Fog]

[You have killed a Monkey Fog]

[You have gained 1 point]

[You have gained 1 point]

Han Jiho pulled out his sword from a body that seemed Illusory but somewhat physical in nature. It was a monkey that was made from fog, at least 1.5 meters tall. It has pure white eyes as if it was a representation of a soulless being.

Although it could be attacked physically, it contained no blood as it dissipates quickly after death, returning to the Fog of Oblivion.

"Jiho, how about I sacrifice myself to take a look above?"

Asked a man with black hair and grayish eyes, who has a height of at least 170 cm.

After a few hours of venturing into the forest with countless graves that seemed to tell untold stories, monitoring the scope of their location based on a 1,000-meter radius, Han Jiho came up with deductions according to their current predicament.

First, the haunting feeling that the Moon gave when Tanya read the lines in the gravestone didn't dissipate even now, giving them the impression as if the Moon wasn't closing its Eyes while looking down on them, preparing to erase them from the virtual world.

Due to this haunting feeling, they couldn't risk reading the lines in various gravestones they encountered, as well as looking above the sky.

'If I'm the one who read that lines earlier, I'd be dead and my group would have lost in an instant...'

He couldn't help but thank Tanya half-heartedly for her sacrifice.

'That woman's so annoying. Is this what Chancellor Alex told me about... the malice of society... I should probably complain to him.'

Han Jiho thought before replying to the man who voluntarily wanted to look above.

"No, don't do it."

The man just nodded at his leader's words.

The problem with this action was that they didn't know how long the Moon above was opening its Eyes, and how long it closes them before opening them again.

His second deduction regarding their situation was that their group wouldn't be able to have a head-on fight against Samantha's group because there were two gravestones with the same text containing the Poem of Remembrance.

'Should we just hunt them?'

Han Jiho thought as he didn't want to risk his teammates by allowing them to look above.

Although they have good cooperation, and would probably get good 'individual grades', something that requires sacrifice if there might be a hidden solution would only affect his individual grade as a leader.

He remembered the remark of Professor Murak to Rumia's performance, it was great, but before it ended, she was deceived by the cheeky Princess, Elizabeth.

As they kept their pacing, circling around the 1,000-meter area where graves under the trees were situated, a glimmer of hope suddenly came to mind.

It was just at this moment that Han Jiho thought of something plausible. He looked at his teammates, with Tanya eliminated before saying...

"What if we read the texts engraved on the gravestones 'silently'?"

His teammates showed the light of hope in their eyes.

~ Ding!

Just as Han Jiho would say his next words, their group was interrupted by a Virtual System Notification.

All of them proceed to read it silently, turning the light in their eyes into gloom.

"H-how..?"

Han Jiho muttered as he felt inexplicable emotions surge within him.

...

At Samantha's group side.

After repeating the cycle of walking, fighting, and running for a few hours.

Samantha's voice recited the words inwardly as they were walking in the forest where countless graves were lying under numerous trees.

"Moon of Oblivion

"Vanquisher of Souls

"The White of the Sky

"Its Eyes Opens Wide...

These were the words that were recited by Tanya, a group member of Han Jiho who turned Illusory and died as though she was buried in the river of this virtual world's history.

These words were sent to every one of them by the Virtual System, so they knew where to begin when finding the Poem of Remembrance.

Then after some time, Samantha squatted down in front of one of the gravestones, she read the next lines 'silently', memorizing the texts engraved on it.

She then stood up, looking down at the gravestone where she quickly memorized the few lines of text.

Her voice reverberated in the part of Cemetery of Oblivion, where the Fog was enveloping the surroundings.

Her words caught Freya, Celine, Ethera, and Markin off-guard.

They didn't expect that their leader would recite the incomplete poem without any warning!

"Moon of Oblivion

"Vanquisher of Souls

"The White of the Sky

"Its Eyes Opens Wide..."

After that four lines, Samantha's next action caused her teammates' hearts to jump in inexplicable terror.

Samantha looked above!

"The Passerby Looked at its Eyes

"The Moon then sends its Moonlight

"Responding to the Solemn Eyes

"The Moon formed an Illusory Smile

"Lunaria then entered a Sweet Dream

"Feeling the Moon's Embrace."

After five to six seconds, a notification rang in everyone's ears.

[Your group has successfully cleared the Main Quest!]

[The Data Copy, 'Cemetery of Oblivion', will be sent to your Personal Virtual Capsule.]

[Additional Rewards will be given by the presiding Professor]

[You have won the Virtual War!]

[Erasing the personal data concerning the Stats and Skills of the student named...]

[Logging out of the Virtual World...]

Freya and the others didn't have time to react as their figure turned into pixels, then their consciousness felt the reality.

Samantha's group received good news, while Han Jiho's group received the opposite.

...

"What just happened?"

"How in the hell did she find the right gravestone?"

"What was that just now??"

"As expected of the daughter of the Number 1 Player!"

Reactions depicting myriads of expressions were painted on everyone's face including Professor Murak.

'How??'

He asked inwardly, feeling a sense of wonder.

In the first place, he didn't expect anyone to solve the riddle or the underlying mystery that surrounds the Cemetery of Oblivion.

He believed that both groups would give up on it and resolve themselves in fighting.

Professor Murak clearly recalled that the problem with the Strayed Dungeon was only solved by Ms. Ayleen Mayfield whose Constellation's Cosmic Title was the [Witch of Dreams].

This was also the dungeon where she got her best weapon right now which was called 'Fog of Nightmare Scythe'.

According to the report he read which he qualified for, it was said that the 'being' residing in the Cemetery of Oblivion was a woman named 'Lunaria' who have a human physique, but its hair that reaches her waists was white and her eyes contained silvery pupil, exuding a mystery of fog.

'The way Ms. Ayleen cleared that dungeon was the same... to find and recite the Poem of Remembrance...'

Professor Murak also read the reason for the dungeon's peculiar environment. Ms. Ayleen wrote in the report that 'Lunaria', the womanly figure didn't want to be forgotten. The Poem of Remembrance meant that 'Lunaria' wanted to be remembered.

After countless years of her predicament, she developed the power causing everyone to vanish into oblivion under various conditions, thus it manifested even in the surroundings of the dungeon. The manifestation of this power was called the 'Fog of Oblivion.'

After a few seconds, Professor Murak looked at the lid of Virtual Capsules opening at the same time as another thought surfaced in his mind.

'Should I report this to Ms. Ayleen or the higher-ups?'

After coming to a realization regarding his thought, he dismissed the thought of reporting it as he silently said...

'Right... her father is the highest of the higher-ups.'

Although he was curious how Artorious Hall's daughter knew how to solve the situation, he decided to just let it be to avoid unnecessary conflict.

...

"Hahahaha! Congrats, Samantha!"

It was Elizabeth's voice, she looked at her from the distance as Samantha was sitting beside Freya and the company.

Han Jiho, who returned to his seat beside Elizabeth, looked in Samantha's direction, feeling an indescribable emotion.

...

"Samantha... how did you know that was the right gravestone? And you even looked up at the sky! It freaked us out, you know!"

Freya said with curiosity while feeling grateful inwardly.

With Freya's words, Samantha remembered the out-of-place Virtual System message she received when she entered the virtual world earlier.

[An unknown power has bypassed the rules of the 'Virtual World']