So Much for Being an Art Major
Once the introductions were finished, the tour of the vault began in earnest.
"Please take your time looking around, starting from this side. Just refrain from touching the items."
I followed the butler inside.
The space was easily as grand as any national museum.
Just walking along the display cases to complete a single loop took a considerable amount of time.
Swords with razor-sharp edges.
Scale armor as tall as a man.
Celadon porcelain radiating a cool spiritual energy.
Every single item was an extraordinary masterpiece, obvious at a glance.
My steps slowed of their own accord whenever I passed by anything made of metal.
...The forging pattern on that sword is incredible. It must have been hammered tens of thousands of times.
My curiosity was piqued.
Since we had been told not to touch, I couldn't lay a hand on them.
I slightly loosened the suppressor hidden inside my clothes and gathered spiritual power at my fingertips.
Then, I gently brought my fingers to my eyes.
Whoosh—
The moment my vision blurred and then cleared,
bright blue circuit patterns, invisible to the naked eye, pierced through the surfaces of the objects and stood out in sharp relief.
The more I worked at the forge, the more accustomed I became to manipulating spiritual power.
...Oh?
The spells engraved on them were completely different for every single item.
On the display case over there sat a gracefully curved *hwando*.
A path was laid out for energy to cascade like a waterfall from the spine to the tip of the blade.
It was a structure specialized for slashing, channeling killing intent directly to the edge.
The dagger next to it had a circuit spiraling from the hilt, designed to concentrate energy into a single point and drive it deep.
It was undoubtedly a circuit designed for assassination.
The porcelain lined up on the floor had chain-like barrier circuits wrapping around their surfaces to prevent whatever was inside from escaping.
A wide variety of circuits were engraved, each tailored to a specific purpose.
...This is actually quite a sight.
It was highly entertaining to decipher the intentions behind which circuits were engraved for what purposes.
After all, even to achieve a single goal, there were always multiple ways to go about it.
It was the same in the game.
Depending on the continent's region, climate, and racial characteristics, the styles of mana circuits engraved on weapons varied wildly.
Warriors of the scorching desert preferred structures that quickly dissipated heat and prevented the circuits from melting.
Meanwhile, the gear of jungle tribes, which were plagued by poisonous insects and humidity, came standard with spiral circuits to prevent corrosion and vent toxic miasma.
These minor differences could create gaps in performance or completely alter how a weapon was utilized.
This one... looks like a structure used in the desert.
It was designed to let the flow run in one direction so sand wouldn't stick along the spine of the blade.
...Is that a machete?
A thick, resilient circuit pattern, perfect for slicing through moisture-laden vines in a single stroke.
These were the traces of artisans from different eras and schools, all pondering fiercely in their own ways.
Reading through them one by one, a pleasant thrill of craftsmanship welled up in a corner of my chest.
I felt like I finally understood why people frequented art galleries and museums so much.
...By the way.
As I looked around for a while, something else caught my attention.
From the porcelain and hanging scrolls to a common inkstone.
Among the countless items in the display cases, not a single one was a normal antique.
Every single one was a spiritual item imbued with spiritual power or engraved with complex spells.
Was the previous patriarch perhaps... a sorcerer?
Otherwise, there was no way.
There was no reason to collect only artifacts engraved with circuits like this.
Well, their family affairs are none of my business.
I turned my gaze back to the display cases.
There were many excellent pieces.
But at the same time...
Hmm. I can see quite a few shortcomings.
This was an occupational hazard that was practically an incurable disease for me.
The habit of unconsciously calculating, *How can I improve this to make it even more perfect?* whenever a finished product was right in front of me.
My steps stopped in front of an ornate silver ornamental knife.
The decorations were lavish and the finish of the blade was superb, but the flow of the spell engraved inside was terribly sloppy.
"What a shame. If only they had raised the starting point of the circuit by just half a joint..."
The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.
"Ha!"
Jin Muyeong, who had snuck up beside me at some point, let out a scoff.
"Look at you, pretending to know something."
...But why has this guy been tailing me this whole time?
Everyone else had scattered to look at their own display cases, but he was the only one ignoring the artifacts and sticking close to my side, doing nothing but picking fights.
Well, whatever.
He was probably brought along just to perform exorcisms anyway, so looking at these wouldn't be of much help to him.
I lightly ignored him and moved on.
"...Damn it. I'm talking to you."
I heard a frustrated mutter from behind, but that was it.
The moment we stepped into the inner room.
"...Oh!"
Yoo Seon-woo, who was walking ahead, let out an exclamation of awe.
It was a sort of gallery, with the walls packed with paintings on all sides.
Yoo Seon-woo's gaze was pinned to one of them.
Sunflowers in full, glorious bloom filled the canvas.
Sunlight seemed to shatter across each bright yellow petal, making it a strangely captivating painting.
"Is this... a painting by Master Cheongram?!"
Yoo Seon-woo pointed at the painting with a trembling hand.
"My goodness, to think I would lay my own eyes on such an authentic masterpiece...!"
"Oh. As expected, Mr. Yoo recognizes it at a single glance."
The butler standing beside him smiled faintly.
"Of course I do! Any Spell Painter who doesn't know Master Cheongram is practically living under a rock! And this one is...!"
Overwhelmed with excitement, Yoo Seon-woo took another step closer to the painting.
"One of the limited seven sunflower paintings Master Cheongram created after reaching his peak! Is this not the very masterpiece that prominent tycoons scrambled to acquire, believing that merely keeping it nearby would bring rolling fortunes?!"
Master Cheongram.
He was said to be the most renowned artisan in the Spell Painter community, someone everyone knew.
Keep a sunflower painting close, and wealth would gather.
Some paintings brought good luck.
Others brought love.
And yet others were said to ward off misfortune.
From the sound of it, the paintings created by a Spell Painter were objects imbued with spells that triggered specific effects in those who viewed them.
...So it's like a type of talisman.
It wasn't hard to understand.
After all, there was a painter class in the game as well.
Even there, paintings created by painters would grant buffs that raised the viewer's luck stat or temporarily boosted their courage or mana.
...But what is up with this guy's attitude?
The man who had been acting so haughty and arrogant just moments ago...
...was now making a massive fuss, looking like a rabid fan meeting their idol at a concert.
Suddenly, he whipped around to face me.
"Hey, blacksmith. What does this painting look like to your eyes?"
...I don't really know much about art, though.
When I didn't answer right away.
"Ha! A painting like this, you see..."
Yoo Seon-woo raised his voice.
"...is only complete when you weave together what to use as a symbol, which pigments to dissolve where, and what thoughts to infuse into every single brushstroke."
Yoo Seon-woo held his chin high, showing off in front of the painting.
"Well, not that someone who just pounds iron would understand any of this."
With that, he snorted and turned away.
...What is his problem?
He hadn't even painted it himself, yet his shoulders were puffed up with pride.
What a bizarre fellow.
Without replying, I quietly stared at the sunflower painting that supposedly "attracted wealth."
To the naked eye, it was just a painting, but when I channeled my spiritual power...
...minute engravings flowed densely along the patterns across the canvas.
Even the paper's texture was unusual. It had been treated to hold spiritual power, much like the yellow paper used for talismans.
The pigments applied to it.
The circuits embedded in each and every drawn shape.
Down to the flow created by every single brushstroke.
All of these elements layered and harmonized.
The entire canvas formed one massive circuit.
...I see. So that's how it works.
Although the style was quite different from engraving on metal, it shared the same core principles when broken down.
After all, a circuit was still a circuit.
It was right then, while I was staring intently at the painting.
*Ssshh—*
Suddenly.
The air in the room grew subtly heavy.
...Huh?
The moment I sensed something was off,
the sunflowers inside the canvas swayed as if fluttering in the wind.
"...Huh?"
Someone muttered blankly.
And in the next instant,
*Whoosh!*
the yellow field inside the painting suddenly spilled out of the frame.
Our vision distorted, and the ground beneath our feet surged.
In the blink of an eye,
we were standing in the middle of an endless field of sunflowers.
"W-what is this...!"
Yoo Seon-woo shrieked, his face turning pale.
We were clearly in the gallery just a moment ago. Now, the entire world consisted of nothing but a bright blue sky and vivid yellow sunflowers.
The smell of dirt beneath our feet, the breeze brushing past our cheeks—none of it felt fake.
"It's an illusion! We're trapped inside the painting!"
The woman holding a sword hurriedly drew her blade.
But there was nothing to cut. Surrounded by an endless field of flowers, swinging her sword only sliced through empty air.
At that moment, everyone's eyes gathered on one person.
It was Yoo Seon-woo.
"Hey, you! You said art was your major!"
Jin Muyeong shouted urgently.
"This is your field! Do something, quick!"
The sword-wielding woman also turned to him desperately.
He was a Spell Painter, after all. When it came to painting spells, he should know the most out of everyone here.
Everyone stared at Yoo Seon-woo with expectant eyes.
However.
"I-I...!"
The mouth that had been boasting about Master Cheongram just moments ago...
"How on earth should I know?!"
...shrieked in sheer terror, his face white.
"...What?"
A dumbfounded sound escaped Jin Muyeong's mouth.
"P-painting something and escaping from a painting are two completely different things! I've never seen anything like this before either!"
After making such a massive fuss earlier.
"Aaargh!"
Just then, Yoo Seon-woo screamed.
The sunflower stems were turning pitch black, wrapping around his ankles like living snakes.
*Rustle, rustle—*
Blackened vines slithered toward us from all directions.
The flower field that had been so beautiful just moments ago instantly bared its vicious fangs.
"Let go! Let me go!"
Yoo Seon-woo frantically fumbled in his pockets to pull out brushes and scrolls, but it was already too late.
The black vines had already wrapped tightly around his arms and legs, pinning him completely.
The man who claimed art as his major could do nothing but struggle helplessly inside the painting.
The woman with the sword held her ground by slashing at the vines, but two new vines sprouted for every one she cut.
It became utter chaos in an instant.
...?
But it was strange.
Despite the dire situation of being trapped inside a painting.
Even while everyone else was floundering in panic, I felt abnormally calm.
Even though this was my first time experiencing such a thing, it didn't feel particularly threatening.
It felt just like the time I encountered that troublemaker covered in Hellfire Talismans at Cheonhwadang.
Why...? Ah.
I soon realized the reason.
The circuits of everything here were laid bare to my eyes.
Just like when I was looking around the collection earlier.
When I focused my spiritual power, the endless field, the black vines—all of it.
Every single bit of it was flowing along the dense patterns of the circuits.
Right... in the end, this is just a circuit too.
That guy earlier said symbols, pigments, and thoughts were what mattered.
But in reality, the foundation was the underlying circuit.
The spell extending from the painting was simply binding our minds.
No matter how real it seemed, we were ultimately just seeing and feeling the spiritual power emanating from a structured circuit.
If so, the answer was simple.
Because engraving circuits was my specialty.
Let's see...
Usually, traps like this were designed with an escape route built in.
Besides, back when I was wandering the continent searching for various secret techniques, I had bypassed traps like this more than a few times.
However, seeing it and reading it were two different things.
The style was completely different from the spells engraved on equipment.
Where a single strand started and where it went, where a branching path tangled with another...
The circuit itself was a chaotic mess, impossible to pin down.
...Well, I don't need to read the whole thing.
Ultimately, a circuit was just a path made for something to flow through.
I lightly grabbed a strand of the black vine wrapped around my foot.
I slightly loosened the suppressor inside my clothes and channeled a handful of spiritual power through my fingertips.
*Hummm—*
A single line of blue light slowly spread along the inside of the vine.
It traced the complex, tangled branches before eventually converging and flowing in one direction.
Oh.
I grabbed another vine and sent another pulse through it.
It went in the same direction.
Another branch, and the one after that too.
No matter how they twisted and turned, all the patterns were ultimately sucked toward a single point.
...So basically.
It was a structure that sucked life force into a single point.
This entire illusion was gathering nutrients toward that spot.
Which meant that point was the heart of this painting.
I slowly raised my eyes and traced the direction where the spiritual power was flowing.
Among the countless thrashing sunflowers.
Right in the center, there was a single sunflower facing a different direction.
While all the other flowers craned their necks toward us, that one alone had its back turned, looking the opposite way.
...That's it.
The problem was the distance.
Even if I wanted to get close, the blackened vines surged from all directions, blocking the path.
Hmm... then engraving it directly with my hands is out of the question.
Let's see... something to engrave it on.
It would be great if it was something I could throw.
Just then.
The sword held by the woman caught my eye.
"Excuse me."
I pushed through the vines and approached the woman with the sword.
"Let me borrow that sword for a second."
"...What?"
The woman flinched and hurriedly pulled the drawn sword to her chest.
"N-no! Absolutely not!"
It was an almost instinctive reaction.
Even as her entire body was being seized by the vines, she looked as if she wouldn't surrender the sword even if it killed her.
Clutching the sword tightly with both arms, she glared at me warily.
...What's with her? To go that far.
She must cherish it dearly.
I didn't know her reasons, but I couldn't force it from her if she refused to lend it.
Just as I turned my gaze to look for another piece of metal.
A dagger caught my eye, hanging from the waist of Jin Muyeong, who had collapsed a short distance away.
I strode over and snatched the dagger.
"Whoa, whoa! Hey, what do you think you're...!"
Jin Muyeong reached out in panic, but...
"Let me use this for a moment."
...I had already turned around with the dagger in hand.
*Slide.*
I placed the dagger on my palm and quietly examined the blade.
This seemed sufficient to throw.
While keeping an eye on the sunflower's circuit, I gathered spiritual power in my index finger and began engraving a circuit onto the blade.
*Ssssszt—! Crackle!*
Bright blue sparks flew off the blade, and the sharp smell of burning metal wafted up.
Wherever my fingertip passed, a vivid blue spell was engraved without a single millimeter of error.
Before long, it was complete.
That sunflower over there, emitting this entire illusion.
The densest point from which this illusion originated.
Right toward that spot, which was practically a keyhole.
"Begone."
I threw the dagger.
*Swish—!*
It struck dead center.
At that moment, as I sent mana flowing through the thread of spiritual power...
*Crackle!*
The circuit engraved on the blade locked with the illusion's spell, spewing sparks in all directions.
*Crack, crack—*
Cracks spread across the blue sky.
The endless field of sunflowers shattered like a windowpane.
And then,
*Shatter—!*
the illusion broke into pieces and collapsed.
"...Gasp!"
"Pant, pant...!"
When we came to our senses,
we were standing right back in the middle of the gallery.
The vines wrapping around our ankles, the endless flower field—all of it had vanished as if it had been a lie.
Only the dagger I had thrown remained, vibrating slightly where it was embedded in the gallery's marble floor.
The sunflower painting hung quietly on the wall, as if nothing had happened.
"..."
I pulled the dagger out of the floor and lightly brushed off the blade.
...I guess this is enough.
It was easier than I thought.
I should return this to its owner.
The moment I raised my head with the dagger in hand...
"...?"
I froze.
Every single person was staring at me with their mouths hanging wide open.
The woman clutching her sword was frozen in that exact posture.
Yoo Seon-woo's eyes were stretched so wide they looked ready to tear, his jaw trembling.
"H-how did you...?"
And Jin Muyeong, who had lent me the dagger, was looking up at me from his collapsed position on the floor, looking as if he had just seen a ghost.
"T-that just now... No way..."
"He just... shattered the illusion...?"
...What's with those expressions?
Somehow, they looked very familiar.
When I thought about it...
Ah.
At the hotel.
It was the exact same dumbfounded expression Jin Muyeong had made when he first saw me.
The only difference was that now, it wasn't just Jin Muyeong. Everyone here...
"..."
...was wearing the exact same face.