chapter 105

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons - Episode 105

The moment he regained his senses.

“...”

Yoo Seong-woon was inside the ‘City of Emptiness.’

“...As expected, I can’t really remember what happened the moment I entered the painting.”

Once, in the ‘Kingdom of the Deep Sea,’ Gio had a record of turning the people he met into paint and helping them escape.

It seemed something similar had happened this time too, but as those people had testified back then, Yoo Seong-woon also couldn’t remember much from the time he had become paint.

‘It felt like becoming a living inanimate object, I guess.’

Since it was such a contradictory expression, it wasn’t a very clear impression.

“By the way, did Gio confirm me?”

Yoo Seong-woon remembered the situation right before he entered the ‘City of Emptiness.’

‘Transparent hands reached toward me.’

With pitch-black suit cuffs standing out, something that wasn’t actually visible yet could be recognized as ‘transparent hands’ welcomed Yoo Seong-woon.

Unlike the Park Eun-gyeom Hunter incident described in the official document, it was an extremely polite gesture.

‘Somehow, it resembled Gio’s behavior...’

Gio’s manner was tidy, like someone who had undergone strong education or training.

It was a movement similar to a noble or a soldier, and the gesture the ‘City of Emptiness’ held out looked exactly like that.

“...It won’t be Gio himself.”

It didn’t feel familiar.

“Did ‘City of Emptiness’ extend its hand itself?”

He thought that for a moment, but it seemed more reasonable to view it as the hand of a monster belonging to the ‘City of Emptiness.’

Because the many hands that kidnapped Park Eun-gyeom in the official document had the same appearance.

“...”

Yoo Seong-woon let out a breath.

“...It’s more bearable than I expected.”

The pressure the ‘City of Emptiness’ gave off wasn’t as strong as he had imagined.

“Even considering I’m an A-rank hunter, it’s quite comfortable.”

There was a slight stifling feeling.

There was certainly an incongruity like someone pressing down on his solar plexus, and there were parts that gave him goosebumps like fingers tracing down his spine.

‘But only about that much.’

The kidnapped hunter was B-rank.

He didn’t know exactly what level of B-rank he was, but he was a fairly strong one.

For a dungeon where such a hunter was helplessly dragged away and then went missing, the weight Yoo Seong-woon felt as an A-rank was less than expected.

“Am I being accommodated?”

From the start, even the route by which he entered the ‘City of Emptiness’ was different.

‘That guy was dragged in, but I came escorted.’

Since the treatment itself was the difference between heaven and earth, perhaps the burden he felt was also differentiated.

“...”

Yoo Seong-woon muttered without realizing it.

“How is that even possible...?”

People often say “the dungeon’s master,” but in reality, there were hardly any masters who could knead a dungeon to their liking.

Even in Yoo Seong-woon’s eyes, the mermaid siblings—humanoid monsters—could not completely control the ‘Kingdom of the Deep Sea.’

In particular, the dungeon’s master, that dungeon’s monsters, and its environment were completely separate existences.

The greater the master’s capabilities, the larger their authority might be, but he had never once heard of a master who could control monsters’ actions to this extent and even adjust the pressure itself.

‘It’s hard to call it a monster, after all.’

Then what, exactly, was this dungeon?

He couldn’t help doubting it.

‘Unless it’s a wicked god treated as a monster, no matter how strong a god is, they can’t create a dungeon.

Because they’re beings that can’t possess emotions large enough to create a dungeon.’

The same was true for children of the source—they couldn’t create dungeons either.

‘They’re merely children that can exist anywhere; they don’t have the ability to create a dungeon.

They can barely exert physical influence, and they can’t even think properly—there’s no way they could make such a gigantic game board.’

Gio was truly an out-of-spec existence.

“...”

Scratching his neck, Yoo Seong-woon looked around.

“...It’s exactly like the painting.”

A broad boulevard opened wide, and along both sides, buildings of diverse shapes lined up.

Even though it didn’t seem like the colors were intentionally limited, only achromatic objects had gathered to form a gray world.

“And the fog is thick too—something I couldn’t tell beyond the frame.”

It wasn’t so thick he couldn’t see ahead, but if it could grow any thicker than this, it seemed his visibility would become a major issue.

He took a slight sniff, but there was no exhaust smell like you’d commonly find in a city.

“Just water vapor...?”

Maybe it was his imagination, but he felt as if he could sense the phytoncides unique to a forest.

‘Is it because Gio lives in a forest?’

He wasn’t sure.

‘Anyway, it’s ironic.’

It clearly looked like a city, and yet the scent in the fog reminded him of a forest.

It was a harmony that created incongruity precisely because it didn’t feel jarring at all.

“...Are there no monsters?”

Step...

Yoo Seong-woon slowly moved his feet.

“At the very least, I thought there would be the monster that escorted me in here.”

Besides, by nature, a dungeon was a place where monsters existed.

It could have no traps or no various additional factors, but the monsters that rushed to kill invading humans were the indispensable, essential elements of a dungeon.

‘Well, it’s hard to compare a dungeon Gio drew to an ordinary dungeon.’

Just the fact that a monster had personally invited Yoo Seong-woon was already far from “normal.”

“Are there no other rules...?”

Some scholars defined even dungeons as a single monster, and Yoo Seong-woon, a gardener, agreed with that to some extent.

Just as there is no monster without rules, dungeons should be the same.

“There has to be a taste, at least.”

Virtual dungeons.

Entry dungeons.

Villa dungeons.

All of them swallowed humans under certain conditions.

Beyond virtual dungeons, which were driven by concrete conditions, entry dungeons had the condition of “you must find the entrance,” and villa dungeons had the condition of “you must be in the place where the villa is located.”

‘And beyond that, the detailed conditions differ by dungeon.’

So if this had, in its own way, taken on the form of a dungeon, then it would certainly also have such conditions or tastes.

“...”

Well, the dungeon master did have tastes.

‘Affirm good and deny evil.’

If that was a rule, it could indeed be called a rule.

“...Then what happens when an evildoer enters?”

He suddenly recalled the black dot that seemed to have become one with the painting—likely Hunter Park Eun-gyeom.

Yoo Seong-woon felt like he could roughly guess how this ‘City of Emptiness’ would deny an evildoer.

‘...Does it deny that they are a living human?’

By turning the human into a painting.

“It’s chilling.”

A whistle slipped out without him meaning to.

It was an attempt to erase the chill by acting lightly.

‘As expected, those who belong to the source have clear lines.’

Humanoid monsters that possessed high-level thought and could feel intense emotions might be a bit different, but most other existences had simple, clear rules.

As a gardener, Yoo Seong-woon could watch that appearance of the source with a satisfied feeling.

‘If I hadn’t met Gio, when would I ever get to meet another dungeon like this?’

If he couldn’t enjoy that thrill, he didn’t deserve to manage a garden.

“...”

Still, even such a gardener felt a threat to his life.

“...Ah, damn.”

Yoo Seong-woon turned around.

“Looks like I’m not the only one here after all.”

“...”

“Should I call this an invisible man...?”

What entered his eyes was a black suit standing in the shape of an adult man.

Long limbs that suited a build neither too thick nor too thin.

The suit’s detailed shape was a little different from what Gio wore, and the shoes it wore were the same.

But in the suit’s pose with its hands clasped behind its back, Yoo Seong-woon felt a sense of déjà vu.

“...It resembles Gio a bit too.”

“...”

The empty suit bowed in a refined gesture.

From that movement, Yoo Seong-woon could feel gratitude, and for a moment he pondered what it was grateful about.

‘Don’t tell me, just because I said it resembled Gio?’

They were full of affection and respect for their master.

“So... can you communicate?

I’ve never met a monster capable of peaceful communication besides Gio in my life, so I don’t really know, but is conversation possible?”

“...”

The black suit took a posture like it was propping its chin, then soon expressed a triangle with its arms.

“...So it might be, and it might not be.

Is that right?”

“...”

“Okay, right.

It feels like playing twenty questions.”

If it were an ordinary dungeon monster, he wouldn’t even have considered trying communication, but this was a highly abnormal dungeon.

Yoo Seong-woon continued communicating with the black suit with the most open mind possible.

“Why might it not be?

Do you suddenly rush at me or something?”

“...”

“No.

Then... could it be that some other individual besides you might attack?”

“...”

“Ah, good, you mean yes.

Then are there many of those aggressive individuals?”

This time, the suit drew a circle with its arms to answer “yes.”

Maybe because fingers weren’t visible, it bent its arms largely over its head like it was drawing a sloppy heart, and seeing that, Yoo Seong-woon silently handed the gloves he was holding to it.

“Could you perhaps put these on and indicate with your fingers?”

“...”

The black suit drew an X with its arms. It meant “no.”

“...Ah.”

From that, Yoo Seong-woon could tell this wasn’t something with some transparent ‘something’ inside it, but the black suit itself moving as it was.

As if to show him proof, the black suit tapped the glove in Yoo Seong-woon’s hand with its sleeves.

If it had real hands, it couldn’t show such a movement.

‘Then how do I explain the transparent hands I felt?’

It was a rude impression to direct at such a polite suit, but honestly, it was a bit creepy.

Yoo Seong-woon continued without showing his inner thoughts.

“I see, my apologies.”

“...”

“I’m glad you’re not bothered by it.”

“...”

“Then are there other individuals besides you that are not aggressive?

Suits that can communicate peacefully with me like this.”

“...”

“There are... that’s a relief.”

Some individuals seemed aggressive, and others seemed peaceful.

‘...How that’s possible, I’ll think about it later.’

Anyway, it was obvious he’d end up at the conclusion of “because it’s Gio,” so from repeated learning, Yoo Seong-woon could already foresee the ending of that agony.

He put his gloves back on and looked around.

“...”

Without him noticing, the black suit had increased to three.

“...Those two suits—are they not aggressive toward me?”

“...”

“Ah, no.

But they’re not attacking right now—are they the type that aims for a delayed attack.”

“...”

“A triangle... I mean, yes, thank you for your kind answer.”

It seemed to mean they would attack in some way.

‘This is dangerous.’

The suit that had politely extended a hand from the ‘City of Emptiness’ frame was likely this one in front of him, or a similar peaceful individual.

But it was hard to rely on them, because he could see the number of black suits gradually increasing.

‘Do the number of black suits increase the longer you stay in the dungeon?’

The speed was quite slow, but Yoo Seong-woon gradually felt a peculiar impatience.

“...”

“...”

All the black suits were staring at Yoo Seong-woon.

‘...It’s not just those two suits standing on the sidewalk.’

A gaze he hadn’t been able to feel earlier was now felt from inside the buildings.

He felt it from between alleys, and even from inside the car rolling down the road, where there had been nothing until just now.

Yoo Seong-woon instinctively realized it.

‘These aren’t things I can deal with by fighting using my skills.’

This wasn’t something you could resolve through simple slaughter—only by reconciling according to the opponent’s rules and habits, something that truly felt like a child of the source.

But he didn’t know how much they would multiply, nor what influence they would have on Yoo Seong-woon then.

And that not knowing awakened fear in Yoo Seong-woon, whose disposition was usually unbothered.

‘...When dealing with the source, fear of the unknown is quite dangerous...’

As a gardener, he could tell.

‘This is a dungeon, but it also isn’t.’

Whether a hunter’s ability—something the source hands out kindly to anyone—could even have practical effect here.

Even that basic thing, he couldn’t guarantee his own life and death, and it felt like a kind of “garden.”

And unless you were the owner, you weren’t supposed to enter another person’s garden.

“...This...”

Before they increased further, should he run away—just as he thought that.

“Yoo Seong-woon.”

“...”

“Yoo Seong-woon.”

“...Uh, Gio.”

Yoo Seong-woon very nearly ran away.

‘He’s scarier when I see him here.’

With the Black Cloak’s appearance, the heart that had almost dropped thudded violently.

Since he was doing something that went against Gio’s will, he’d wanted to resolve it without seeing his face if possible.

Unfortunately, he failed to loot an empty house and things had reached this point, so Yoo Seong-woon quickly resigned himself.

“Save me, please.”

He attempted a tailored deal.

“I’ll bring you seedlings next time.”

“No one is going to kill Yoo Seong-woon.”

“That’s very reassuring.”

In a dungeon, what was safer than a dungeon master’s protection?

Fantasy, Modern,