Outside the camp was a gray haze, and nothing could be seen.
"Lucid dream? Not quite..." Matthew's mind was clear now; it did not feel like he was dreaming.
Focusing, he sensed the situation in his mind. A ring-shaped Metal Disc appeared in his thoughts.
"This isn't a dream. There wouldn't be this many details in a dream, and I can still sense the Metal Disc in my mind." Matthew confirmed that he was not dreaming.
However, through that brief inspection, he could feel that the Metal Disc's traversal function had not been affected, which reassured him slightly.
Holding his wand, Matthew cautiously searched the camp from end to end.
The other members of the Exploration Team had seemingly vanished into thin air. None of their belongings remained either, but wine bottles, bowls, iron pots, sleeping bags, and the like were still where they had been.
The Chocobos and Two-legged Pack Beasts tied beside the stakes had vanished as well.
Matthew returned to where he had been sleeping and sat down. Although the camp's situation was strange too, he had no desire to venture out into the fog. In a horror movie, that would be an utterly suicidal thing to do.
Matthew took an Investigator Badge with a white face and round rim from his pocket, tuned it to Link's Magic Frequency, and activated it. The Badge glowed faintly, but soon dimmed again.
The Investigator Badge's long-range communication connection had failed. He could not contact Link.
"Maybe I should just use up the Metal Disc's energy and traverse back." This place was far too bizarre. With the level of danger unknown, Matthew did not want to take risks.
Just as Matthew hesitated over whether to use his traversal ability to leave, he saw the gray fog outside the camp change.