We looked at each other.
We'd already found Yoon Juhyung's dojang in a cave near this temple once, so maybe we shouldn't be this surprised.
But.
"Well," I said. "At least we know who's been here."
Penguin chirped from the floor, then flapped up, landing on my shoulder and leaning forward, trying to peck at the carving. I caught him before he could topple over.
Llewellyn was checking the surrounding walls. "There might be more."
"More what?" Gilded asked, catching up with us. "What are you looking at?"
I pointed at the dojang. "Do you recognize that?"
Gilded blinked. "Should I?"
I took out my phone and scrolled through my photo library until I found the screenshot I took last time.
"Look," I said. "It's Yoon Juhyung's dojang."
Gilded's eyes widened. "His scholarly seal?! What's his seal doing in a god's domain?"
"That's what we'd like to know," Llewellyn said. "This is the second time we've found these in a cave around here."
Gléonwon landed beside us with a heavy thump. "Who's Yoon Juhyung?"
"A very smart person who lived a long time ago," I said. "He liked to study and write."
"Oh!" Gléonwon said. "Like the person who left all those books?"
We all turned to look at him.
"What books?" I asked. I don't know why, but I suddenly got goosebumps.
"In the cave behind the temple," he said. "There were lots of old books, but I couldn't read them. They had funny symbols. Some had pictures of dragons!"
We looked at each other. Well, damn.
That might have also been where his sudden interest in books about dragons came from.
"Korean, probably," Gilded said. "Or Chinese characters. He likely used both. Couldn't you ask the System to translate them for you?"
Gléonwon went still, then sat down on his paws, looking bothered. "I didn't think of it."
I patted his paw.
"It's fine," I said. "You can always ask next time."
"Can you buy skills from the System Shop?" Llewellyn said. "There should be a translation skill, too."
What? Really? That was good to know. I filed that away for later.
Anyway. If we wanted to go and check those books, we had to get out of here first.
"System," I tried again. "Can you at least tell us if we're supposed to do something with this thing?"
[System Notification: Users' interaction with the seal may yield results.]
…That was more than I expected.
I pressed my palm against it, but… nothing happened.
Llewellyn tried next. Still nothing.
"Maybe it needs Magic," Gilded suggested, extending his hand.
The moment his fingers touched the seal, it flared gold. The light spread outward, tracing lines across the wall in what looked almost like...
"Is that a map?" I said, startled.
"Of the cave system, by the look of it," Gilded confirmed, studying it. "Look, that's where we entered. And these must be other chambers."
The golden lines kept spreading, highlighting a path that led deeper into the mountain.
Damn, this place was massive.
"I don't like this," Llewellyn said, frowning. "First the System insists on bringing us here, now we find Juhyung's seal leading us further in?"
"Speak, friend, and enter," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Llewellyn eyed me. "That doesn't make me feel any better."
I grinned.
"We'll start worrying if we hear drums."
"Not helping."
"What are they saying?" Gléonwon said, confused.
"They're enjoying their shared cultural references," Gilded said. "Ignoring us completely. How do you feel about these statues?"
"They're amazing!" Gléonwon said, swishing his tail, excited. "Some of them look like me."
"Huh," Gilded said, looking like he'd only just realized. "You're right."
Penguin suddenly took off from my shoulder, flapping up and hovering near an opening in the wall I hadn't noticed before. It was barely visible unless you knew where to look.
"A secret passage," Gilded said.
...Well. But what about all those platforms and things behind us? Nothing here was making any sense.
Gléonwon stuck his nose into the opening. "I can smell water!" he said. "And... old Magic. Really old."
Water?
"Can we open it, somehow?"
Gilded frowned and tried something, but it didn't work.
I was still baffled by all those lights behind us. Intuitive Drift kept gnawing at me, but… they did seem to be just lights. We'd checked.
Unless… wait.
I tried to look at them properly. There was so much variety it was confusing, but—
There. Those ones.
I walked to a stele jutting out of the floor, one with a revolving head at its top, and managed to turn it with some effort so it pointed toward the wall.
As soon as the ray of light landed on one of the chambers on the map, the whole map changed color.
"Huh," Llewellyn said. "I see." He scanned the area quickly and also noticed the rest of the steles among the other lights. "I'll tackle the ones on the high platforms."
"I'll help!" Gléonwon said.
We worked quickly, Gilded, Penguin, and I at floor level, Llewellyn and Gléonwon on the platforms.
There seemed to be a lot of chambers, but some of the lights weren't obvious.
"Wait!" I said, before Gilded could position the last one. "Let me take a picture of the map."
"Good thinking," Llewellyn said.
We all snapped one, Gilded included, then the last light was in place.
There was a massive rumble, and the wall parted right in front of our eyes.
I was so baffled I almost didn't notice the dragon carvings beyond the opening.
"Wow," Gilded said. "More of Caerwyn's work."
The statues were incredible and looked bathed in moonlight, even though none should be able to filter in here.
We filed into the passage.
Another dojang appeared every few meters, wherever there was a gap between the statues.
"He really wanted someone to follow this path," Gilded said, frowning. "The question is why."
"Or maybe he was just marking the path for himself," I suggested.
"With his dojang?" Gilded said skeptically. "He could have drawn something simpler if that were the case."
The passage opened into another cave, this one also empty. On the other side, three passages opened in three different directions.
I took out my phone to study the map.
"These two meet later on," I showed them, "this one goes in a different direction."
It was difficult trying to decide what to do.
Penguin chirped and ran off toward one of the paths, poking at something with his beak.
"That one has a seal," Gilded said, pointing close to the ground, where Penguin was still pecking.
He was right. It was almost hidden, but it was definitely there. It was also the passage that went in its own direction, though.
"You're really good at this, aren't you?" I told Penguin, picking him up.
Penguin chirped happily, letting himself be petted.
"I'll lead the way," Llewellyn said. "Stay behind me."
We kept going.
We passed more chambers with little or nothing of interest. I'd wondered if we were about to find crystals down here, likely sabotaging Gléonwon's new business venture of ripping Gilded off, but… we didn't find any.
Finally we ended up in a new chamber. The dragon statues were back, decorating the whole cave with reliefs, but… there was nowhere else to go.
"Is this it?" I said, frowning. "Maybe we picked the wrong direction?"
Beside me, Llewellyn had stopped. I followed his gaze to the far wall.
Right there, set into the wall, was a door.
Made entirely of crystal.