I know the feeling of that first crisp line of a map that looks like it was cut from destiny itself. Check the paper’s fiber, the ink’s aging—if the veins look too neat, it’s a prank. If the fibers curve with the same old wind pattern, it might be a real shortcut, but let’s not let our imagination run wild with lost continents just yet. Keep your eyes on the margins; sometimes the clues are in the scratch marks.

I’ll pull out the magnifier and start on the fibers—no room for speculation, just clean evidence. If the margin’s pristine, this shortcut might actually cut the journey in half. Let’s get to it.