Amon slowly walked toward that place.

Each step he took was careful, cautious. His grip on the wooden torch tightened slightly as the firelight swayed with his movement. Shadows danced across the walls, stretching and twisting like living things, but he forced himself not to stop.

The closer he got, the brighter the fire made the area.

And then he saw it clearly.

In the center of that part of the hall stood a small rectangular stone stand. It rose up to his waist, firmly planted into the floor, as if it had been part of the temple since the very beginning.

The stone was dark, similar to the rest of the temple, but smoother. Time had worn its edges down, rounding them slightly. Strange carvings ran along its sides. Symbols and patterns that Amon didn't recognize. They weren't letters. More like marks… ritualistic and deliberate.

On top of the stand rested a large, flat stone slab.

It was wide and thick, perfectly cut, with a smooth surface. Dust covered it, but unlike the floor around it, there were no cracks. No signs of collapse. It looked… preserved.

Amon stopped a few steps away.

"This looks important," he muttered quietly.

His instincts told him this wasn't just decoration. This place had purpose.

He raised the torch higher.

The firelight revealed faint carvings etched into the surface of the slab itself.

Amon extended his hand and cleaned the dust off the stone slab.

Slowly, the dust fell from it, revealing clearer outlines carved onto it.

He brought the torch closer to it.

Amon observed with narrowed eyes.

Then he understood what it was. It made his eyes shoot wide in surprise.

Because the thing that was on it was really important. Something that he never thought he would ever find. Rather, he didn't even think something like this might exist.

"Th-This is a map! This is a map of this damn place."

His heart started to beat faster in excitement.

Amon leaned closer, his breath held.

The dust continued to fall as his fingers traced the lines on the stone slab. The carvings grew clearer with every wipe, the shapes sharp and deliberate, as if they had been etched with great care. He brought the torch even closer, the firelight licking across the surface and revealing the full image.

It was indeed a map.

Not a rough sketch, but a detailed carving of land.

Amon's excitement froze for a moment as he studied it.

The land carved on the slab was completely surrounded by water.

"…An island?" he murmured.

His brows knitted together. From all sides, curved lines represented the sea, enclosing the landmass entirely. There was no connection to any other land. No bridges. No paths beyond the water.

Amon felt a strange chill crawl up his spine.

"So… I was stuck on an island this whole time."

He swallowed. But when he observed the map more, he noticed something.

'But this island… why is it so huge… it looks as big as some kingdom.'

But this explained a lot. The endless forest. The lack of any sign of civilization beyond ruins. The feeling of isolation that had followed him since the beginning.

His eyes moved to the center of the map.

There, carved deeper than everything else, stood the symbol of a tree.

Not just any tree.

It was enormous.

The tree symbol towered over the rest of the carvings, far larger than the mountain ranges drawn nearby. Its roots spread wide, reaching across much of the land. Even compared to the mountains, it looked unnaturally large.

Amon stared at it.

"Why is a tree bigger than mountains…?" he whispered.

He didn't understand its meaning, but one thing was clear, the tree was important. More important than anything else on the island.

His gaze shifted again.

Scattered across certain areas of the map were small triangle-like symbols. They were clustered together in some places and isolated in others.

"Buildings…?" Amon guessed.

Settlements. Ruins. Or maybe places of interest.

Further along, jagged lines formed mountain ranges, stretching across part of the land. They looked steep and rough, marking dangerous terrain. And in one far corner of the island.

Amon's eyes widened slightly.

A massive symbol rose from the stone.

A volcano.

Its carved shape was unmistakable. Wide at the base, sharp at the top, with lines flowing downward like molten lava. Even on stone, it looked violent.

"…A volcano too," Amon muttered.

An island surrounded by water. A giant mysterious tree at its heart. Mountains, ruins, and a volcano.

Also, there were other weird signs here and there. He couldn't tell what they were. There were also a few mysterious-looking places on this map.

This place was far more dangerous and far more significant. Than he had imagined.

Amon stepped back a little, torch still raised.

His excitement slowly mixed with confusion.

"…Then where am I in all this?" he asked quietly.

His eyes scanned the map again and again, searching for any sign. A marker. A symbol. Anything that could indicate his current location.

But there was nothing obvious.

No dot. No carving that said you are here.

Only the silent stone map stared back at him.

Amon clenched his free hand.

"If this is a map," he muttered under his breath, "then this temple must be one of these places."

But which one?

Then another thing he noticed while observing it. All the triangular signs which might represent buildings or temples were just carved, so they were naturally black.

But among all of them, one sign was different.

It had a color. It was colored red.

Amon stared at that triangle for a while.

'Is it possible that this temple… is actually this red-colored triangle?'

After all, it was only natural. Since he was at a temple and there was a map, then it should also show its location to point out where they were currently at.

Amon licked his lips and took out his pager.

Though this pager was mostly useless here, the only thing it could do was record photos.

So he did that. He took a few pictures of it.

Then he looked at that sign again, the one where this temple might be.

Just near the temple, there were a few mountains shown.

Beyond the mountains… after some distance, the sea started.

Amon's eyes lit up.

'If what I thought is really true, then I can travel toward the seaside. Maybe… I might find some help there… or might see some ships in the sea, and then send a signal to them.'

As much as he was getting excited, he also knew that he needed to confirm it first.

"Let's see if there are really any mountains—"

A sudden realization came. In the direction where he was coming from, it was the same direction that led to those mountains he saw on the map.

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