chapter 112

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons - Episode 112

Anyway, Yoo Seong-woon’s words—“I felt a threat to my identity as a human”—were sincere.

‘So this is what it feels like, being in a realm humans can’t bear.’

Yoo Seong-woon was someone who, while managing gardens, had trained his senses again and again for the “realm beyond limits.”

But even for him, this meal this time had a side that made him a little chilled.

‘Just one meal...’

And it wasn’t as if it was even easy to think, “I’m going to get eaten,” either.

‘...This situation, where I can’t call it a joke, is absurd.’

Gio treated Yoo Seong-woon to a meal with truly pure intentions.

It didn’t seem to have much meaning for him.

Since he was a guy who originally enjoyed giving gifts, setting out one meal wasn’t a big deal.

But when peace is too intense, it becomes close to death, and when pleasure is excessive, it turns into pain.

From Gio’s point of view, he was thinking of treating a guest, but from a human’s point of view, it was goodwill that was hard to bear.

“...”

Still, there was something fortunate.

“HYAAAAAAAH―...”

“Looks like I’m still human.”

If the anti-cat hated him this much, Yoo Seong-woon was still human.

‘This is the first time I’ve ever had a meal that’s this comfortable and satisfying, and yet also scary and uneasy.’

For some reason, it felt bitter.

‘This is why they say you mustn’t be invited to a gods’ banquet.’

There was a saying that you must not covet even the smallest thing belonging to a god.

Gio was not so much a god as a source with godlike traits, but precisely because of that, there were aspects that felt even more burdensome.

As I keep saying, Yoo Seong-woon himself reacting this much to a mere, meaningless meal invitation was ridiculous.

‘No, I mean, it’s not like I was invited to some enormous palace...’

It was just one warm meal in a hut like this, after all.

“...”

Gio’s cabin was still beautiful.

It was pastoral, and resembled a page from an old fairy tale.

A chilling longing was here.

“Were you satisfied with the meal?”

“...I thought a person might die if they become too happy.”

“Mr. Yoo Seong-woon gives praise that is far too much.”

“Th...”

Yeah, if you think that, fine.

Yoo Seong-woon decided to just give up.

“...I really ate well, yeah.”

“That is fortunate.”

Saying that, Gio sat across from Yoo Seong-woon.

“I couldn’t prepare dessert in advance, so I’m setting it in the ice storage.”

“Ice storage?”

“Yes, it would play the role of a refrigerator.

Instead, shall I serve tea first?”

“Ahhh... no, just give me a glass of water.”

He asked for the most ordinary thing, fearing some vicious blessing might fall again, but.

“Here it is.”

[Spring Water of the Source]

Water drawn from the spring of the source.

“...”

The least ordinary thing appeared.

“...?”

An emotion-status window suddenly popped up even though he hadn’t used a skill. Before even suspecting, ‘Did my skill break?’ Yoo Seong-woon felt gratitude toward the shapeless something that showed him this description window.

‘It feels like someone helped me without a sound, as if saying, please live on as a human.’

Yoo Seong-woon asked carefully.

“...Is this water?”

“...Is it not?”

“It is water.”

Damn it, no wonder everything I ate felt chilling.

‘All the water used in the food I ate came from the source.’

No wonder his instincts had sensed crisis.

Yoo Seong-woon quietly put strength into his tightly closed lips.

‘Amazingly, I’m still human.

What a miracle.’

One of the basic requirements for a gardener was “Do not consume the garden’s things.”

They were merely labor and managers who managed the garden, not owners.

The moment such a gardener consumes the garden’s things, wherever it may be, they can never leave the garden again.

Because they, too, are treated as part of the garden.

“C-can... can I go home?

I’m fine, right?”

“I do not know why you are like this, but I am not a ruffian who detains guests...”

“Are you flustered?

You look like it, so that must be it.

Sorry for making you flustered, but I’m really scared.”

“What did I do wrong?

I apologize for frightening you.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, but... but...”

“Mr. Yoo Seong-woon?”

“...”

What was I thinking, coming in here.

‘...Well, until I came in, I didn’t know this place was the source, so for me, needing to identify it, it was unavoidable, but...’

Even taking that into account, it was too bold a choice. You could call it the fate of someone who approached ‘Gio’s Portrait’ as though it were just another gardener’s garden.

Yoo Seong-woon admitted it had been far too hasty an approach.

‘I needed the kind of preparation you’d have when entering an unmeasurable dungeon.’

Even so, no matter how much fear and anxiety he’d shaken with, as long as he could return to Earth as a human, it didn’t matter.

He decided to try trusting Gio’s words that he could return home at any time.

“...”

He desperately wanted a cigarette he’d quit, but since it felt like Gio would give him ‘something’ in the shape of a cigarette, he decided to endure for now.

Yoo Seong-woon recovered his reason with difficulty.

“...Sorry. This is my first time having this kind of experience, so I think I panicked a lot.”

“If you do not adapt well to an unfamiliar environment, that can happen.”

“Thanks for saying that...”

Yoo Seong-woon looked at the water in the glass with strange eyes.

[Spring Water of the Source]

Water drawn from the spring of the source.

“...”

That is something in the shape of water.

The explanation is strangely short so he doesn’t know details, but at least he can tell it’s not water meant for humans to drink.

Yoo Seong-woon sank into thought.

‘...Come to think of it, all the gifts Gio gave had the same sentence.’

Namely: “Gio, the forest’s owner, personally processed it so that even the human body can accept it.”

Up until now, all the gifts Gio gave—meaning, food—had that kind of explanation.

‘But this doesn’t have that explanation.’

Yoo Seong-woon quietly set the glass down.

“...Sorry to take it back, but...”

After a moment, Yoo Seong-woon asked.

“Could you give me some tea?”

“There isn’t much tea already made—would the flower tea I gave you before be all right?”

“The pale-blue tea, right?

That one is good.”

Yoo Seong-woon realized.

‘If you didn’t personally process it, I can’t eat anything.’

A chill ran down his spine.

‘If I remember that even the garden we manage is part of the source, it’s only natural.

I don’t know the exact process by which it becomes safe, but I mustn’t carelessly consume the raw things of this garden.’

Yoo Seong-woon steeled his heart, recalling previous-generation gardeners who had become part of the garden and lived on, unable to die.

And this place was the source itself.

It might not even end with losing his identity as a human.

After organizing his thoughts, Yoo Seong-woon emphasized again.

“If it’s something you made yourself, I’ll take anything.”

He meant it.

“I’d feel bad just taking—should I help?”

“Treating a guest is my joy.

Please sit.”

“Th-then... okay...”

Gio soon brought ‘Forest Butterfly Flower Tea.’

“It is bybamnile tea.”

“...Bybamnile?

Is that the flower’s name?”

“Yes. If you blanch it in boiling water and eat it as is, it tastes good.”

“What a surprising way to take it.”

“It’s a snack with a good texture, like namul.”

“Namul.”

After drinking the tea, Yoo Seong-woon found himself in a situation where blood vessels that had already been fine regenerated, cells were reconstructed, and immunity against minor diseases had to last for six months.

“...”

I’m telling you, if I spend three days here with room and board, I really will become immortal.

‘It feels like my lifespan increased.’

By about fifty years.

‘Of course, Forest Butterfly Flower Tea doesn’t have that kind of efficacy, so it’s obviously just how it feels, but still, there are uneasy parts.

Is it because Gio brewed it himself?

The efficacy shouldn’t change depending on who brews it... it can’t.’

Yoo Seong-woon wanted to live as a human and die as a human.

That was the greatest desire any gardener could dream of.

“...Other than me, who else received this kind of hospitality?

Hunter Cha Ara?”

“Other than you two, I have not received guests living on Earth.”

“Oh, then is it those mermaid siblings?

You said they come by sometimes.”

“They stop by to eat every two or three days.”

“So that’s how it is.”

Indeed, it meant those monsters were no ordinary grade either.

‘To be able to accept a meal like this without batting an eye.’

It meant they held at least a wicked-god level of rank, didn’t it?

“...”

“...”

“...Uh, wait.”

At Gio’s movement to pour more tea, Yoo Seong-woon stopped him.

“I think I drank a lot.”

“In my view, the cup seemed small—did you feel that way?”

“I want to digest a bit.

How about we take a break?”

“Weren’t we resting?”

“Yeah—so, to digest, how about taking a walk?”

It seemed that to Gio, eating something was the same as resting.

But it wasn’t like that at all for Yoo Seong-woon, who ate while feeling anxious that he might leave the realm of humans.

“Could you show me around the house?”

“A house tour.”

“Ah, sorry if that was rude.

I just...”

“No, it is not.”

Gio nodded.

“After touring the house, we can go out to the forest and spend time.”

“...Can I go into that forest?”

“I do not intend to treat this wide forest as private property.”

“...”

That wasn’t what he was asking for permission about.

‘What I meant was, if I go into that forest, won’t I die.’

Anyway, Gio had already risen.

“It will take a little more time for the dessert to set.

May I introduce this house to you?”

“...If you personally guide me, I’d be honored.”

Rising as well, Yoo Seong-woon asked.

“Then what about our cat friend—can we leave it like this?”

A translucent cat monster with jeweled fur puffed up.

Though the hissing had stopped, Dana was still wary of Yoo Seong-woon.

“When my eyes meet hers, she silently opens her mouth wide.”

“You will not be eaten.”

“You don’t know that, Gio.

Monsters are very scary these days.”

“Our Dana is a small eater, so you do not need to worry.”

“You’re not saying she won’t eat me?”

“She is a monster.”

With his characteristic calm face, Gio continued.

“But she is a good child, and I am here, so she will not.”

“I’m really only trusting you.”

Honey, whom Gio said he drew, looked at Yoo Seong-woon with a gaze that was neither hostility nor goodwill, like her parent, but monsters were different.

Since the anti-cat was also a monster, it wasn’t strange that Yoo Seong-woon was uneasy.

More than anything.

“Anti-cats aren’t usually that big.”

“She gained some weight after being fed various things.”

“Is it really just weight?”

Just imagining how a monster lavishly loved by the source might have evolved sent a chill down his spine.

As Yoo Seong-woon still looked uneasy, the teddy bear with the sun god stepped in.

For some reason, Dana, who had been bristling and irritated at Yoo Seong-woon, was soon held in the teddy bear’s arms and petted.

“Oh...”

Dana set aside her visible irritation and calmed down.

“You two get along.”

“We do.”

Then Yoo Seong-woon received a tour of the cabin.

First was the ice storage.

Yoo Seong-woon was flustered that the storage Gio called a refrigerator was this deep, but soon he showed interest upon seeing the sight of an ice storage that wouldn’t be strange to call a growing cave.

“That ice pearl you gave me last time was this.”

“That is correct.

It does not grow commonly even in this ice storage.”

“It’s interesting that water pools even though it’s this cold.”

Next was the studio.

He was flustered at the sight of canvases scattered around with nothing drawn on them, but soon recalled Gio’s traits and steadied himself.

Since Gio’s paintings became reality, there was no reason the canvases would be packed full.

“Oh, the studio has a connected storage too?”

“Yes, it is mainly where I keep the landscape paintings I have completed.”

“What’s that black cloth covering the canvas?”

“If I do not cover it, an entrance opens without me noticing, so I am being careful.”

“...Mm... mm, yeah?

Oh. Right.

I see.”

Next was the garden behind the cabin.

“A kitchen garden?”

“I would appreciate it if you call it that.”

“...Is this the result of planting the seeds I gave you?”

“That is correct.”

“...”

Seeing the crops that were so robust they had selves and grew, Yoo Seong-woon swallowed a groan.

The shock and fear he felt right now were because he was standing before an overwhelming nature.

‘Well, these guys must have grown drinking spring water of the source too.’

Even humans with selves become part of the garden if they consume the garden’s things—these seeds were growing in the source, no less.

Even if they were Earth’s, they couldn’t resist this overwhelming evolution.

What should you call this.

Feeling a strange pity born of fear, Yoo Seong-woon muttered.

“I think my digestion is already done.”

“Then shall we look around the forest after eating dessert?”

“Uh, yeah... the forest.

Yeah, should we.”

Right after returning to the cabin like that.

“...”

“Well, how surprising.”

Yoo Seong-woon faced a mermaid in a dress.

“Why is there a human here?”

Killing intent dripped.

“...”

“...”

Yoo Seong-woon nodded.

“I’m going home.”

Save me.

Fantasy, Modern,