Yeah, that was about right. The wording seemed a little bit different, but that was probably just because it was a transcription.
“So, Note, does anything catch your eye looking at the three of these side by side?”
“Um... No, not really. Sorry.”
“That’s fair. I don’t think most people would see it, honestly.”
“Where should I be looking?”
“The key point here is the phrasing. Mapping is the only skill that doesn’t mention ‘this world.’”
I compared the three pieces of paper in my hands again.
“That’s true... But why is that important?”
“Have you ever heard that dungeons are otherworldly places?”
“Well, yeah...”
“In other words, they aren’t part of this world. That’s why they can’t be mapped via World Map or Area Map. But what about Mapping?”
With Jin’s prompting, I could finally see where he was going with this. But the idea that a trash-tier skill like Mapping actually had a use...
“You’re saying you think it’ll work in dungeons?” I asked.
Jin nodded in reply, and a cold chill suddenly ran through me. I got goosebumps. I felt exalted, like all the blood in my body had started pumping at once.
So there’s a way to use this garbage skill after all...
Mapping wasn’t inferior; it just had a specialized purpose. This discovery blew my mind.
“This is the first I’ve heard of this... If Mapping really has an important use like that, why do people think it’s such crap?”
“Because they don’t know any better yet. We only just discovered this by coincidence ourselves.”
“By coincidence?”
“Yeah. We were in the middle of an expedition when we came across the corpses of some adventurers. They were nothing but bones, so we could only assume they’d been there a good while. We wanted to hold a memorial, so we looked through their belongings for anything identifying... and happened to find several maps.”
He paused there to hand me one of them.
“The maps these adventurers had of the early floors are different from the ones we’ve got. They even had a map of the middle floors... And you can’t buy those anywhere. They’re not on the market. Here, look. This is a commercially available map, drawn by someone without the use of a skill.”
Jin handed me another map, and the difference was as clear as day. The dead adventurers’ map was drawn neatly with immense detail. It looked like the maps in my head did.
“And so, Note, we came up with a theory: what if this map was created with a skill?” Jin hypothesized, pointing to the first map. “It’s common knowledge among dungeon delvers that World Map and Area Map don’t work, but when we looked into it, we couldn’t find any records of anyone ever trying to use Mapping. It’s probably never been tested because no one with Mapping is willing to go dungeoneering.”
Yeah, that made sense. Mapping was notorious trash, after all. People who pulled it as a skill rarely went on to become adventurers, much less dungeon delvers. Moreover, Mapping was pointlessly rare, so not many people had it in the first place.
“That said, there presumably are some folks who do know, like the deceased adventurers we found and anyone else who might want to keep it a secret to maximize their profits,” Jin added as a technicality.
“But from the sound of things, there’s no guarantee that Mapping works in dungeons either. I mean, what if those adventurers were just really good at cartography? Or maybe they had someone with a new type of undiscovered skill,” I rattled off possibility after possibility, unable to stop feeling anxious.
In response, Jin scratched at his cheek awkwardly.
“Well, I can’t deny any of that. But we won’t know until we try, right? Our current theory is that World Map and Area Map don’t work in dungeons because of the ‘in this world’ clause. So I think Mapping will work... but I can’t say for sure.”
Yeah, I was kind of hoping for some surety there...
Jin and I spent the rest of our trip talking about things other than Mapping. He told me all about what the Arrivers did, and I shared my sob story with him. He didn’t laugh or even crack a smile. He just listened with a serious expression on his face.
Eventually, some time later, we at last arrived at Puriff. Once we passed through the town gate, I was immediately overwhelmed by the bustle of things. There was so much I’d never seen before. Everything felt so new and different. There were rows and rows of market stalls, wide streets, and tons of people both on foot and in carriages. Captivated by everything, I followed close behind Jin.
Before I knew it, he’d led me to a rather large building. The sign plastered across it said “Arrivers” in big, bright letters. It was... a bold statement, to say the least.
But it was here that Jin turned to me and said, “Welcome to our base of operations, Arrivers HQ!”
Seeing Jin’s proud smile, I finally realized that this was really happening. I was really here on the Arrivers’ doorstep. There was no turning back now.
No, I’d already known I was past the point of no return. Even if I turned back now, all that awaited me was more of the misery I’d be drowning myself in for the past six months. And I was done living like that.
This time... This time I would make it.
My short-lived adventuring career with Miya. The heartbreak that stopped me from keeping up with her... I never wanted to relive such hopeless, pathetic failures again.
Even if the Arrivers had abilities that surpassed Miya’s, I’d follow them to the bitter end. I’d stick with them no matter what bloody battles lay ahead of us. If they needed me, I’d be there for them. I didn’t want to let them down too.
This time, I’d work as hard as I could. I wouldn’t give up. I’d do whatever it took.
That much I vowed to myself.