Eunho looked at the painting and spoke in an admiring voice.
“A cardable item made out of materials obtainable by players in otherworlds. I don’t think aesthetic value is the only thing that makes it valuable.”
I thought about what he meant by ‘map’, but I couldn’t think of anything.
The other tigers’ next words gave me a hint.
“It must be structured in a way that its hidden contents can be seen using intuition skills.”
Hwang Jiho said so and began to fill his eyes with golden energy waves.
Fwaaa…!
It was only after I saw it did I notice.
The tigers were using their glare skills.
‘Eunho is a tiger so he has that skill.’
I felt the energy wave from Eunho’s eyes right when he activated it, so why didn’t I know right away?
Although I accepted and recognized that Eunho is a part of the Tiger Clan, I still have a strong impression of my memory of him as Cheon Sungheon.
I belatedly followed suit and used a glare skill.
<Skill Glare activated.>
As soon as I activated the skill, energy waves rushed to my eyes and my senses were heightened.
I felt a strange feeling that the flow of the surrounding energy waves was changing according to the movement of my eyes.
When I looked at Imoogi’s Exorcism, I definitely saw something that I hadn’t seen before.
‘There’s something in the body of Imoogi.’
Some of the scales in the painting shone, telling me that they contain energy waves.
‘They’re hardly just lines and dots though… How is this a map?’
The only pattern I could recognize is that the shining scales looked like stars in a constellation.
I guess it could be a map if one insists, but something bothered me.
‘How did he see this as a map? Is there another clue?’
I looked closely, but I couldn’t find anything.
I couldn’t tell whether this ‘map’ was just not visible to me because my glare skill is low-leveled, or if Eunho has some other information that made him conclude so.
“A map… Eunho, do you see a map in this painting? What is the reason?”
Hwang Jiho, who certainly has a high-level glare skill, said so, which tells me the true reason is my second guess.
Eunho, who still had energy waves in his eyes, spoke.
“I have the ability to read tianji (the will of heaven), remember?”
Eunho glanced at me.
I remembered the conversation we had on the day Eunho returned to this world.
— Have you read the tianji? This age is different from the age of myth, and there are too many variables too…
— I do not have the ability to see the future anymore. I was punished for a crime for going against what was fated to happen.
Tianji, the important secrets of heaven and this world.
To put it simply, it was the ‘future’
Although, it seemed inconclusive to say that what tianji is would definitely happen in this world.
‘I’m not sure because it wasn’t mentioned in PMH, but academic papers talked about it before.’
Although the word tianji existed in dictionaries, it was difficult to know the details of this ability of Eunho.
He said he no longer has the ability, so it would be of little use to know.
To be honest, rather than tianji, there was something else that caught my attention.
‘…What crime did he do that his ability to see tianji was taken from him?’
I was curious, but I didn’t ask Eunho.
It’s not a normal thing to describe a mistake as a ‘great sin’, so I don’t think I should ask it so casually.
I pushed down the question and decided to stick to what I know.
“I remember you talk about it last time.”
“As expected, you remember it Euishin hyung.”
With a gentle smile, Eunho continued talking.
“You can’t read tianji just by knowing the heavens. One has to master the earth and everything in between to see the will of heaven. In the one, those three are one after all.”
Heaven and earth, and the one in between.
Eunho is talking about Samjae (Three talents).
He paused before floating a hologram next to the painting.
The hologram showed a map of Korea.
“To read tianji, one must know this land well. I also need to know the mountains connecting the full intellectual power of Korea.”
“Don’t tell me what you’re seeing here is…”
Hwang Jiho squinted his eyes and looked alternately at the map and the painting.
Eunho nodded his head slightly and put his hand on the hologram.
“The contiguous line of terrestrial stratum disappeared after the age of myth, so it’s difficult to detect. Like the existence of superior beings and royal lineage, intelligence in this land has become blurred. Until the worldly collisions, that is.”
Eunho’s pale hands moved along the hologram, drawing distinct lines.
“Hwangho-nim, you don’t know all the locations of the terrestrial stratum in Korea, do you?”
“Yes, it’s not on the record. The only one I know is the one in Eungwang High.”
As Eunho and Hwang Jiho said, mythical intelligence on Korea is facing some bumps.
It was difficult to grasp the exact flow of terrestrial strata.
It was only in Eungwang District that the shape of it was properly identified.
‘The government and the association don’t know it well enough, but they must’ve noticed a flow pointing to the development of some Intelligence Terminal.”
One of the projects at the center of the dispute between Korea’s four major conglomerate groups, the Intelligence Terminal in Gwangil, Eungwang.
The four groups had a dark battle over its development.
In this world, the precursor to that battle was seen in the case involving the Eungwang One Light Nursery and Namgung Group.
Hwang Jiho seemed to be thinking of it too.
“The map you’re speaking of is related to the terrestrial lines, Eunho.”
“Yes. It would be faster to understand to see it in person.”
Eunho showed the hologram again, and it looked like constellations were drawn on the map of Korea.
The lines he drew were consistent with what we saw in the painting.
“This line accurately depicts the terrestrial lines in Korea. The person who left this here must’ve mastered intelligence and terrestrial strata as much as I did.”
“According to Jo Euishin, it was the former head of the association who asked for this painting to be painted.”
Painter Hong Kyungbok painted this at the request of the former manager of Players’ Association – Korea.
He had asked very specifically about the size of Imoogi and what materials should be used.
Although paint from Min Geurin was a different variable, painter Hong Kyungbok completed the painting exactly as the manager requested.
“Euishin hyung, you said this painting was a clue left by the former head of the association.”
“…Yes.”
The Dark Age, when there was a lack of manpower, information, and items immediately after the collision between worlds.
At the time when talented players chose to protect themselves, the former head of the association had no choice.
He had to deal with the people of royal lineage trying to play tricks on Korea.
Even when his soul was tied to a contract, he managed to succeed in leaving clues by showing his incredible wit.
‘No, the full credit isn’t his.’
All would’ve been in vain if Painter Hong Kyungbok hadn’t perfected the underlying meaning in the painting.
And if rookie painter Min Geurin hadn’t completed the painting on behalf of Hong Kyungbok who lost motivation…
Without the two painters, Imoogi’s Exorcism couldn’t have existed.
On top of that, students from secret associations in Eungwang High, one to which Sung Gukeon belonged, kept the secret left in the basement of the school from other people of royal lineage.
Because of them, I was able to find the clue left by the former manager without being caught by anyone.
‘One wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the exact coordinates if they don’t know how to read terrestrial lines.’
The former manager left the clue in the hands of Eungwang High.
Perhaps he believed that talented juniors would recognize it someday, but he left it to the school instead of the association.
‘Eunho is going to enter Eungwang High… but he’s a royal lineage so things are going to be difficult.’
In conclusion, it wasn’t the branch manager alone who made this point possible, but it was completed through the hands of numerous people.
“Jo Euishin, you said it was a royal lineage who made frozen-type otherworlds possible, and that there’s a clue about it on this painting.”
Hwang Jiho smiled faintly as he looked at Imoogi’s Exorcism.
He was admiring it in a different sense than when he first saw this masterpiece.
“He was bold and prudent. He left a clue in the Nation’s Painter’s hands and left a plan without others knowing. Indeed, it is a clue left by a righteous man who overcame the Dark Ages.”
“Let’s complete the puzzle.”
Eunho began marking dots above the lines he drew.
When he was finished, dozens of dots were stamped on the map of the Korean Peninsula.
Two of them were stamped on locations that I knew.
‘One in Seokcheon Lake and another around Joo-Oh Island… This is the location from that time.’
The frozen otherworld around Seokcheon Lake found by Kwon Jein using coordinates from Nabiryeong.
Another frozen otherworld found by Year Three Class Zero students during their boot camp near Joo-Oh Island, the one that was dealt with by the Strong Homeroom Teacher Im Yeonhwa.
The positions on the map completely coincide with those two incidents.
This map was pointing to the coordinates of the frozen-type otherworlds.
“There’s no doubt. It matches the location of the two frozen otherworlds we’ve discovered. It’ll be clear once we check the other places.”
Hwang Jiho pressed his temple.
He must be moving one of his alter egos.
Eunho looked over the map again without saying a word, and he stared at it for a long time, seemingly thinking about which point we should be most concerned about.
“Hwangho-nim, can you check this point first? Three dots are drawn very closely here.”
“There’s a high possibility that three frozen-type otherworlds are lurking… Wait.”
Hwang Jiho stopped talking.
Looking at the dot Eunho was pointing at, I was also startled.
“…This is the location of TC Research Institute.”
“You’re right, Jo Euishin.”
Beep.
It became clear when Eunho posted local information next to that hologram.
The area near the TC Research Institute indicates three frozen-type otherworlds.
“How peculiar.”
Hwang Jiho seemed to have something else in mind.
“Do you remember that I met Jecheon Daesung at the Special Luncheon?”
“Yeah.”
How can I forget when Jecheondaesung, head of the Monkey Clan, handed him the gingoju as a collateral.
“I was looking for the whereabouts of his younger brother based on the clues he gave.”
Hwang Jiho floated some holograms.
Records of migratory birds moving with the changing weather and observations of energy waves were posted.
In the end, there were coordinates attached, and they were pointing to…
“The clues point to TC Research Institute.”
