“Have you ever seen a text like this?” San asked.

“I’ve seen something similar in the Clan’s storage warehouse,” Gibin answered.

“Is that right?”

San’s eyes shifted to the buildings that could be seen through the gate. As the scorching afternoon sun heated the ground, a mirage refraction gave the buildings a hazy look, giving the illusion that they were moving.

The road that stretched past the gate was well paved, and huge pyramid-shaped buildings with flat tops were lined up along the road.

A breeze of dust gently swept past them.

The group advanced carefully, following San’s lead.

***

[Please be careful.] Biyeon, who had already climbed up the gate, warned.

[Any updates on changes?]

[The wind direction, wind speed, and horizontal airflow are somewhat awkward and irregular. The haze caused by mirage refraction is distorting vision, so I’m not able to get a clear picture of the buildings. Also, the dust is blowing from the left to right.]

[Probable cause?]

[There are optical illusions and atmospheric instability due to temperature differences. Overall, there seem to be some forces at work to conceal something.]

[That’s interesting… Should we give it a shot?]

[That would be… a good decision.]

San stood in the middle of the road after striding forward, ahead of the group, at a brisk...