chapter 122

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons - Episode 122

Argio is not a name.

『Ar』

Cruel.

『Gio』

Beast.

“So I’m a monster?”

It meant ‘cruel beast.’

* * *

“In quite a lot of dungeons, wicked gods exist.”

Within a dungeon steeped in the color of primitive religion, Sun Church Priest Kang Seo-dam explained.

“Compared to traditional gods who value peace and mercy, their numbers are tremendously higher.

Is there a sibling who knows the reason?”

“Unlike traditional gods, wicked gods can be manufactured artificially with ease.”

“That was a good answer, Sister Iruda.”

Kang Seo-dam set his wand down on the mossy marble floor and said,

“Turning white clothes stained with black paint even blacker is not difficult.

You can smear on charcoal, crush it with dirty shoes, or throw it into a mud pit.

However, from the moment black paint stains white clothes, they can no longer be called ‘white clothes.’”

Around Kang Seo-dam and the probationary priests, monsters’ corpses were burning away.

“Keeping clothes white is far harder than making them black.

Falling into corruption is far easier than maintaining noble mystery.

Because there are far more ways to become dirty than there are ways to remain pure.”

When the monsters’ corpses had completely turned to ash, Kang Seo-dam looked around.

“Indeed, this place seems safe enough.

We will take a short rest and continue the lesson.

All probationary priests, make yourselves comfortable.”

“Yes, Priest.”

Child priests around ten years old huddled together and sat near the old altar.

It looked like a place where offerings had been made; blood was splattered here and there, and bones lay about, but there were no children here who would be frightened by that.

After confirming all the priests were seated, Kang Seo-dam continued speaking as he stood.

“Likewise, compared to traditional gods, there are vastly more ways for wicked gods to be made.

Just like the dungeon we visited now.

This was a place where living sacrifices were offered to a wicked god.”

“Wasn’t it something that happened on Earth?”

“Yes, the Sun Church understands it to be history from another dimension.

The name of this religion was Sankalut, and it tortured newborns and the elderly in creative ways, then tied them to an altar and left them there until they died.”

It was a horrific story for children to hear, but though some looked sickened, none looked afraid.

It was proof that the people of Earth today lived lives very close to death and pain.

Kang Seo-dam, too, continued his gentle explanation.

“What’s interesting is that the wicked god worshiped by the Sankalut religion was a created existence.”

His gaze swept over the probationary priests.

“Is there a sibling who can explain how a god is born?”

“There is a singular god who has existed since the beginning of a dimension, and there are traditional gods who, while not singular gods, were born within nature and fate after the dimension’s existence.”

“And gods other than those?”

“There are cases where one escapes mortal fate, gains divinity, and becomes an existence called a god.

I’ve heard it can be divided into becoming a descendant of an existing god, or walking the path of a wicked god.”

“You answered well, Sister Iruda.”

Kang Seo-dam nodded.

“We call gods who maintain the dimension’s providence and pursue coexistence ‘traditional gods.’

The singular god that existed from the beginning is also one of them.

All gods born not from mortality but from nature and fate can be called ‘traditional gods.’”

He looked at the girl with her hair tied low and said,

“Also, as Sister Iruda said, there are cases where one escapes mortal fate and gains divinity.

More than 99% of those who twist fate and gain divinity become wicked gods.”

“Why do beings who gain divinity from mortality become wicked gods?”

“First, those who gain divinity by stepping outside the natural order are highly likely to have a rough, rebellious will in itself.

If you think about how most traditional gods value obedience and harmony, you will understand why they become wicked gods.”

There was another reason as well.

“Second, mortals cannot understand immortals.

Unlike traditional gods who are born immortal—unchanging and eternal—those born from mortality change and think, so they are easily corrupted by negative emotions.”

That was why, in this vast array of dimensions, there were more evil gods than good gods.

“Third, as Sister Iruda said, it is possible to create wicked gods artificially.

What kind of process is meant by the term ‘artificial’ here?”

“It means thinking life forms gathering faith in one place.”

“Exactly.

There are existences that were not originally worshiped because they were gods, but became gods—gaining divinity or being born—because they were worshiped as gods.

The Sankalut religion is such a case.”

Kang Seo-dam pointed to the marble pupil that was old but ornately decorated.

“If you look at the murals, you can read how the Sankalut religion worshiped as a god a red jewel that could not even think, praised the jewel’s redness, and offered the blood of newborns and the elderly to maintain it.”

“Did that jewel truly become a wicked god?”

“It was a nation-level religion and its faith was also deep in color, so the jewel truly became a wicked god.

This dungeon was discovered in the early days of the Great Catastrophe and was fully conquered, and now it remains as material to study the origin of gods’ existence and their influence.”

At that, the girl from Lowtail asked again,

“If the conquest is complete, where is that jewel-shaped wicked god now?”

“After assessing the danger level, it is currently stored at the Korea Hunters Association research institute.”

At Kang Seo-dam’s words, the probationary priests murmured.

“Association research institute...?”

“So there’s a place like that.”

“I thought it’d be in the Collector’s gallery.”

“Isn’t a research institute not a warehouse?”

At the probationary priests’ reaction, Kang Seo-dam explained as if used to it.

“The Collector’s gallery allows visits by outsiders if conditions are met, and even purchases are possible, but the Association’s research institute is not like that.

Only Association employees manage the items there, sales are forbidden, and even leaking information to the outside is strictly prohibited.”

Kang Seo-dam spoke as if he understood.

“To probationary priests, the Collector’s gallery will feel familiar.”

“Yes, they hold a parade when spring comes too... it’s cool.”

“If you become full priests and belong to a church, the Association research institute will become more familiar.”

“Why is that?”

“Because dangerous, sensitive items related to gods require strict management and storage.”

It was hard to expect such strictness from the Collector, whose very identity was a ‘gallery.’

The guildmaster himself goes around shouting “Love the 작품,” after all.

“Do you have any other questions related to storing wicked gods?”

“...”

“Yes, none.

Good.”

Kang Seo-dam moved back so the marble altar could be seen clearly.

“Right here is where the Sankalut religion’s divinity was forged.

Did you feel anything?”

“I felt that we must not hold faith carelessly.”

“Thank you for showing such an active attitude, Sister Iruda.”

Kang Seo-dam nodded as if to say well done.

“You do not know which god you will serve, nor which church you will devote yourselves to.

But you must never forget that even gods are beings swayed by faith.”

At that, the probationary priest named Iruda raised her hand once more.

“I have a question, Priest.”

“Please speak.”

“Have there been cases where a human, not a jewel, was revered as a wicked god?”

“It has been confirmed not infrequently.”

Kang Seo-dam rolled his eyes as if recalling something.

“As I said earlier, quite a lot of dungeons have wicked gods.

It is also the reason wicked gods, unlike traditional gods, are classified as a type of monster.

Because they are easily made, they are also easily sealed and destroyed.”

They were different from traditional gods, who are nature itself and fate itself, and therefore even destruction is difficult.

“Most of those who became wicked gods with human bodies have physical forms.

Because the root itself differs between those born immortal and those born mortal, and because they can think as humans, they collide with various limitations.”

“...”

“Therefore, those who became wicked gods with human bodies are, without exception, either slain or sealed, and are stored on Earth.

Most of them, even if faintly, have something like thought, hold emotions, and seek to eat, drink, and covet something.

This, too, becomes a limitation that catches their ankle.”

Those who are bound cannot become true gods.

“Because we can embrace anything, we call them gods.

If they do not have the capacity to contain at least one dimension, then they are nothing more than monsters that will someday be slain.

So in truth, the distinction between wicked gods and monsters is blurred.”

“...Then what if one becomes a god with a mortal body and can embrace everything?”

“It is a case discovered only twice so far, but it is, of course, a real story.

Both of them wished to abandon the intellect of a living creature and become a single system that harmonizes nature and fate.”

“Then are there no gods with will and self?”

“They exist.

Because gods with will and self exist, even now, gods who enjoy amusement are sometimes found on Earth.

However, remember that it is only ‘will’ and ‘self’ as humans can express it.”

A god is nature and fate.

“To us, what looked like will might have been only a single breath exhaled by a god, and the gentle personality we thought was a self might have been no more than a single strand of hair to a god.”

“I can’t understand.”

“That is an extremely dangerous thing to say.

As someone who has entered the arms of a god, there is something you must keep in mind.

We must not understand gods, must not calculate them, and must not expect anything from them.”

That is what a god is.

“Do not try to measure them.”

You must not analyze them either.

“If that were possible, it would mean you have already become something other than human.”

“...Was I rude?”

“As a probationary priest, there is no problem at all.

However, keep in mind that even merely looking while following the gaze in an attempt to understand can bring a calamity like divine punishment.”

“Just by looking to understand, you receive divine punishment?”

“Not divine punishment—only a calamity like it.

Because even though a god has no emotion of wishing to punish you, in the end it will become so.”

“Thank you for the advice.”

“I’m glad you accepted it.”

Kang Seo-dam continued.

“There is a saying that you must not look into a god’s eyes.”

“Because you’ll go mad if you do, so don’t...”

“It is a matter outside the realm humans can perceive.”

There is a photo that contains the entire view of Earth without omission.

It would easily exceed hundreds, thousands of pages, and to take all of that in at a glance is impossible, yet you try to do it—so your eyeballs burst and your brain rots away.

That is what it means to see a god.

“Do you have any other questions?”

At Kang Seo-dam’s words, the curly-haired boy, Cha Isol, raised his hand.

“Is a wicked god that harbors pure evil treated as a monster?”

“...Pure evil...”

He drew out the words slowly.

“Our Sun Church does not treat a pure existence as a monster.”

However, interpretations differed by religion.

It was still an era where the line between gods and monsters was blurred.

“In some religions, they say the result of evil cannot be pure.”

“Ah...”

“The standards of justice and nobility are similar for everyone, but the standard of evil differs from person to person.”

“...”

“In the first place, perhaps such a thing as pure evil can exist at all.”

It was a difference of viewpoint.

“That is also why there are so many wicked gods.”

It would be a clear ‘evil’ to the vast majority, but to some minority someone, it might be ‘good.’

Who could set an absolute standard for good and evil?

Fantasy, Modern,