chapter 115

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons - Episode 115

A certain C-rank hunter who tried to kill a teammate and take the items.

“Kkh?

Ugh... what is it?

Which bastard... huh?”

A civilian who, drunk, committed random violence against a passerby.

“...Is this, could it be the ‘City of Emptiness’?”

A B-rank hunter who was moving forward while throwing his companions out as bait.

It didn’t matter whether they were hunters or civilians.

Each and every one of them followed the same course as Park Eun-gyeom, floundering in the ‘City of Emptiness,’ and since they could not meet the Black Cloak, the owner of this dungeon, they simply became a single painting.

“I, I was invited and went to the ‘City of Emptiness’!!”

And someone returned safely, having been gifted a thrilling experience.

“I was walking down the road at dawn and met the Black Cloak.

I was throwing trash into the trash can, and...”

“You did some small, good deed like that?

A guy who doesn’t usually do it?”

“Fuck, yeah, honestly, I’ve been doing that lately because I wanted to get the snack the Black Cloak gives.”

“You crazy bastard, you really made it back alive.

Should I report this to the Association or not...

So?”

“He asked if I could get invited to the ‘City of Emptiness’ instead of getting a snack, so I went.”

The passerby who received the Black Cloak’s help was able to safely appreciate the ‘City of Emptiness’ and get out.

For a passerby who wasn’t even a hunter, it was an extremely brave challenge, but thanks to it, he came back with something he could boast about for the rest of his life.

“It was fucking awesome, seriously.

Sometimes black suits pop out and just stare at me—hey, do you know Hunter Lee Seongjin?”

“I do, the B-rank hunter who’s presumed to have been dragged into the ‘City of Emptiness’ this time.

Don’t tell me...”

“I’m telling you I saw that hunter in there?

No, he was all blotchy with black... honestly, I couldn’t even tell if he was human.”

Then a black suit with Hunter Lee Seongjin’s voice told him.

“He said it was him.”

Unless the situation required it, the black suit did not imitate the human it had robbed.

It remained in the form of a stylish black suit, and with heavy, polite gestures like a gentleman, and with the voice and face of some human, it requested interaction.

“I was seriously so creeped out.

Totally insane, it’s crazy...!”

“You, you... you went and did something totally fucking insane?

Who crawls into a dungeon on their own, you bastard.”

“But it was worth risking your life for?

That place is basically an art piece!”

Cases like this would pop up once in a while, making people murmur.

Some people were dragged in by force.

Some people got out of the painting at their family’s desperate pleas, but among them, someone committed evil again and became paint, while someone else repented and lived diligently.

“I want to go to the ‘City of Emptiness’ at least once too.”

“They say if you’ve got anything on your conscience, don’t do it.

Are you clean?”

“No, I’m about average, average.”

Among the methods of being invited, the safest was to ask the Black Cloak for an invitation instead of a gift. If you requested an invitation in front of the ‘City of Emptiness,’ you could enter, but if you were judged an evildoer, you would be dragged in on the spot by force.

This wasn’t something happening only among those who enjoyed danger.

“An artwork you can not only look at, but enter and experience yourself—how incredible.”

“I heard that just appreciating the Black Cloak’s works gives you so much to feel.

They say it’s small, yet immense.”

“Have you heard about the safest way to be invited to the ‘City of Emptiness’?”

“They say if you meet the Black Cloak after doing a good deed, you can trade the gift for an invitation...”

Even refined people who enjoyed art spoke about it.

“Who could enter the inside of a work and appreciate it?”

If you could enter one of Vincent van Gogh’s representative works, ‘The Starry Night,’ and observe the world inside it, who could refuse?

Those who prided themselves on enjoying art were thrilled by the Black Cloak’s works.

“I heard the painting style changes depending on the theme of the work.”

“Isn’t that just having no backbone?

If you’re an artist, you should have your own style.”

“No, if the work has plenty to appreciate, can you say the one who drew it isn’t an artist?”

“The Black Cloak is a good painter.

The moment you see his work, you understand what he’s trying to say.”

“That could simply be because he’s a monster.”

“In an era where countless gallery painters use skills to draw their works, what does that matter?”

“Right, that might actually be a merit.”

“If the Black Cloak has a style, it must be in the fact that his paintings are real, existing worlds.”

“If you think of it like that, then certainly...

And the point he’s trying to make is clear as well.”

And as the ‘City of Emptiness’ fully revealed itself to the world, even that world changed a little.

“Uh... what are you doing right now?”

“Looking for trash.”

“Why are you searching for trash so obsessively?”

“This is a place where they say the ‘Black Cloak’ appears often.”

“Ah, the Black Cloak.”

Places where the Black Cloak was frequently sighted were places where it was hard to find trash.

Because street cleaning was the easiest good deed you could do without much effort, and you could do it often.

“We came out again today because we don’t know when the Black Cloak will appear...”

“W-well, work hard.”

“Thank you.

It’s cold, so please be careful on your way in.”

Some people did it to taste the snacks the Black Cloak gave.

Some people did it to be invited to the work called the ‘City of Emptiness.’

And some people continued tiny good deeds to interact with the famous monster these days.

When it was about to become tiring, someone shouted in delight and bragged.

“Hey, look at this!

It’s a gift I got from the Black Cloak?”

“From the Black Cloak?

You’re insane, this isn’t a snack?

What is it—wow, it smells really good.”

“It’s flower tea, flower tea.

I’m the first one I’ve seen who got something like this?”

A woman who, out of pity, secretly bought fish-shaped pastries for the Carnation Child received ‘flower tea’ as a gift.

“What the hell, so it wasn’t all just snacks?”

“So the Black Cloak’s gifts had tiers...”

“They say it’s basically potion-level.”

“It’s too good a gift for a civilian to receive.”

“Fuck, I’m so jealous.”

Some people even approached the woman with bad intentions after hearing how insanely good the flower tea’s effects were, but after being watched by the ‘City of Emptiness’ for a month, they soon gave up.

One in particular, who had almost harmed the woman, was dragged into the frame altogether.

“Clean follow-up, too.”

Civilian or awakened, a situation had formed where there was no reason not to try.

Of course, on the other side, some people who had long done evil things as a habit shrank back.

Since the ‘City of Emptiness’ could appear anywhere, paying attention to it meant constantly checking their own behavior.

“...Fuck, as if some monster matters...”

“My pride won’t let me live like this, you damn thing.”

And yet they couldn’t just swagger around as they pleased, either.

It was due to the bone-deep habit of acting strong toward the weak and weak toward the strong.

Starting with Park Eun-gyeom, they knew how horrific a situation some people had faced.

Sensing that flow, the Association displayed something.

“Huh?

Hey, in front of the Association, that...”

“What is it?

Paint?

Ink?”

“No, the color’s kind of weird.”

It was Park Eun-gyeom, the very first evildoer of the ‘City of Emptiness.’

“...Why does it look like it’s alive?”

“D-don’t talk bullshit.

You’re saying that’s alive?”

“Did the Association really lose its mind... isn’t this a human rights violation?”

“If you want to end up like that too, keep running your mouth.”

“...Holy shit... that’s creepy...”

Those who hadn’t read the Association’s post didn’t know the exact situation, but in any case, it was obvious that it was living paint.

For some reason, you could tell that just by looking.

They were openly showing how horrific a life you would have to continue if you were branded an evildoer by the ‘City of Emptiness.’

“Is it acceptable for the Association to borrow a monster’s power and come out like this?”

“I don’t know what you mean.

We merely intended to inform you of the danger of the ‘City of Emptiness.’”

Anyone could see the obvious scheme: ‘Since the current flow shaped by the Black Cloak isn’t bad, let’s keep it as it is.’

But the Association made excuses, saying it was only because “more people have been rashly approaching the Black Cloak lately, so we wanted to raise awareness.”

The few who knew the existence of the source, and the gardeners, realized that this was the Association’s intent to restrict the Black Cloak’s “story” toward a direction beneficial to human conscience and rules.

“Since the Association has acknowledged it, I wonder what they plan to do if the Black Cloak’s story grows too bloated.”

“It isn’t some monster shoved into a corner, and it’s an existence quite close to the source to be called a mere monster.

This way is better.”

“Yeah, if it’s an existence that keeps appearing among people, the story is bound to grow huge anyway.”

“So are they trying image-making so the Black Cloak can move in a direction beneficial to humans?”

“If they can use this opening to limit the direction of the active Black Cloak, it’s a gain.

I get it.”

“It’s a bold move for that.

They must have been in a hurry because it’s an existence that directly affects humans, even if rarely.”

“It’s better to prepare before something breaks out than to clean up after it.

Especially if it’s a story problem.”

“It could be a strong stimulus to monster-haters.

Some of them will react severely.”

“Well, won’t the Association handle that well too?

They’ve got a lot of capable people on that side.”

Also, even aside from that, there was no one who could strongly rebel against the Association.

“If you have complaints about how the Association is run, please contact me.”

Because the Association president, Dan Hae-ra, stepped forward personally.

It was a world where human rights had been treated as empty words from the start.

Citizens building safe lives in the city with the Association’s help couldn’t even think of rebelling.

Only a few who had been secretly doing things that could be called crimes grumbled under their breath.

“...”

There was someone else who benefited from that flow.

“What the fuck.”

It was F-rank hunter Cha Ara.

“Oppa, I just made money.”

“What nonsense are you talking.”

“The people who left me behind in the dungeon last time gave me compensation.”

“How much?”

“Uh... at least enough to replace the electric heating pad?”

“It’s almost spring and you’re talking about an electric heating pad.”

It wasn’t a common case, but sometimes the Black Cloak judged human good and evil based on victims’ pleas.

As a result, if the Black Cloak judged the perpetrator to be evil, a few times they ended up suffering something bad.

This was why Cha Ara was finally getting compensated for something from long ago.

“Then should we try fixing the ceiling?

The wind was leaking in.”

“Save some of it.

I’m not even going out to sell fish-shaped pastries now, so I need to keep some money for a while.”

“That’s better.

So you’ll keep staying home for a while, oppa?

What are you going to do?”

“I should start managing the garden.

The weather’s warming up...”

“If you say you’re going to try making money farming, I’ll help with the fieldwork for a while too.”

“No, you’re a hunter—do hunter work, why touch dirt.”

“What are you going to plant?”

“Hmm... for now I’m thinking potatoes and lettuce.”

While they chatted, the topic shifted to the youngest.

“What’s Cha Isol doing.”

“Eating well, I guess.”

“Did he get a girlfriend these days?”

“No... it’s like they’re best friends.”

“What a shame, I thought the youngest was learning love.”

“What love is a palm-sized kid learning.”

Cha Eun-hyeok clicked his tongue.

“I heard he’ll be going out for practical training soon.”

“Huh?

Why didn’t I hear?”

“He called the other day, but you weren’t home.”

“Ah, I want to hear the youngest’s voice too... me too, talk to the youngest...”

“You have to stick to the house to talk, or whatever.”

“Our youngest is cotton candy and he’s already going out for practical training.”

“That’s a crush—he’s not cotton-candy level.”

“He melts in water.”

“So do we.”

The Cha clan, for generations, melted if they went into still water.

They were people who found it hard to soak their bodies for long.

“Anyway, I told him if it feels like it’s going to go to hell, summon the Black Cloak.”

“Is oppa crazy, ruining the kid’s life?

That’s like telling him to summon a demon.”

“More gentle than a demon...

Hey.

Still, it’s better for his life to get a little tangled than to die.”

“Honestly, a clean death and a properly tangled life are hard to rank.”

“No, from what I saw last time, the Black Cloak cherishes our youngest.”

“Th... that’s true, but...”

“He might get pissed that you called him for personal reasons, but it’s still better than dying, I’m telling you?”

“...”

Cha Ara, who had kept her lips tightly shut, asked,

“...So what is that man doing these days?”

“I see on the news he seems to be living an interesting life.”

“They say his appearances have gotten a bit less frequent lately, don’t they?”

“Definitely, they say sightings have decreased compared to winter.”

“Feels like everyone’s calming down little by little.”

“More like it’s settling in, which gives me goosebumps.”

“That thing, you know, like a national mandatory vaccination...”

“Yeah, that.

That’s exactly what it feels like.”

The city that had been noisy nonstop with the Black Cloak’s story was gradually returning to its usual 모습.

There were still people running around to meet the Black Cloak, and people restraining themselves so they wouldn’t be marked an evildoer by him, but it felt much calmer, like returning to daily life.

“This planet is going to be with the Black Cloak until it dies...”

“Fuck, when you say it like that it’s twice as creepy.”

“It just feels like everyone adapted, and the Black Cloak is trending toward being less active too.”

Cha Eun-hyeok, who had even eaten with him, asked.

“Then isn’t ‘Mr. Seo Gio’ being active?”

“I don’t even know why you’re asking me in the first place, but ‘Mr. Seo Gio’?”

“The black... uh... that... that person’s... identity, you know. The one from the ‘Deep Sea Temple’...”

“Ah, ahh...”

Cha Ara nodded.

“...Right, huh?”

Did the Black Cloak have no intention of using a human identity?

Fantasy, Modern,