Chapter 15

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons — Episode 15

Unexpectedly, the portrait answered Yoo Seongun’s questions readily.

“When I go outside, I become reality outside the painting.”

“Right.”

“Then wouldn’t there be a difference in the ‘area’ that the humans watching can perceive.”

Gio, who had opened his eyes after quite a long time, continued speaking with an attitude as if there was nothing to hesitate over.

“I don’t know well because I’ve never looked at a mirror outside the painting, but even though most of the employees here see me directly and speak with me, they grew distant as if facing something unknown.

Even after exchanging names, and even though we’re sharing information with each other, if the fear only grows deeper...”

“You think there was a problem in the process of perceiving you.”

“Yes.”

That’s a good analogy.

‘To think you can express the rank of a soul like this too—if you’d been a teacher, it would’ve suited you quite well.’

Not knowing that Gio was speaking a sincere guess without a trace of falsehood, Yoo Seongun thought this was merely the most plausible analogy the portrait could offer.

Resolution—it was pretty understandable.

‘Come to think of it, did Gio exchange names with everyone he met for the first time?’

At the question that occurred to him, Yoo Seongun asked.

“Do you consider exchanging names important?”

“By exchanging names, you can increase familiarity.

I judged that I would as well.”

“Uh...”

To think it was to increase familiarity.

With a slightly flustered face, Yoo Seongun asked back.

“Have you been exchanging names on purpose to make them feel more familiar with you?”

“That is also manners as a human.

If you want to know the other person, you must introduce yourself first.”

“I see.”

He seemed unaware that in some ways, that could be even more frightening.

‘...If your soul is so enormous that even with you right in front of them, their perception has a problem, and then you ask their name—there’s no way it would be easy to feel intimacy from that.’

To spiritual beings, a true name always becomes an item for trade.

Unless you were some local person or an elder—no, even those people would know the danger of exchanging true names.

‘Besides, Gio is so completely black he looks like a reaper, so they’d be even more on guard.’

Of course, this was a rule that applied between humans and humans.

In practice, exchanging names is a useful technique when drawing out another’s information.

Just by sharing a name, you can build a little trust.

In that sense, it was something he felt every time, but.

‘...Does Gio truly think of himself as human?’

It was a part he needed to be cautious about.

‘If this natural respect and consideration, aligned to humans as its 기준, is coming from that misunderstanding, then we have to maintain it so Gio can keep thinking of himself as human, if possible.’

Otherwise, he didn’t know what kind of calamity might occur.

“Mm... right.”

If he was thinking of himself as human, it would be easier to ask about various things.

“Then how old are you?”

“I’m twenty-nine.”

“...”

But this was a bit unexpected.

“...Twenty-nine?”

“Yes.”

“You’re young.”

“I do often hear that I look old, but that is a hurtful reaction.”

“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant...”

Even Yoo Seongun himself asking because he thought a talking portrait might have an age was funny, but he’d never imagined that a portrait that made you feel distant just by looking at it—so distant you couldn’t even meet its eyes—would be not even thirty.

‘Is this also his own misunderstanding.’

If Gio was recognizing himself as an ordinary twenty-nine-year-old human, it was a statement that could easily come out.

No matter how long this portrait had actually existed.

Yoo Seongun smiled awkwardly.

“I never thought you’d be younger than me.”

“I am curious about Mr. Yoo Seongun’s age.

Can you answer?”

“I’m thirty-three.”

“I thought you would be in your twenties.”

“That’s a really welcome thing to say.”

“You have a youthful face.”

In the portrait’s characteristic blunt tone, it added,

“Then it would be fine if you spoke more comfortably.”

“Ah... is that okay?”

“I do not believe I ever asked you to 반드시 use honorifics.”

“That’s true, but.”

He had been speaking politely on purpose because it seemed like it valued manners, but it didn’t seem to care about that part much.

It might place more weight on respectful actions than on pretty words.

‘Anyway, it seems I’m not someone it dislikes.’

It wouldn’t tell someone it found unpleasant or disliked to drop formality, after all.

“Then I’ll talk a bit more comfortably.”

“As you like.”

“I’ve been speaking politely the whole time, so it feels awkward to speak casually now.”

“For that, you are speaking quite naturally.”

“Ah, well... I’m originally someone who’s used to speaking casually...”

He’d grown accustomed to hierarchical life while working as a curator or researcher, but in truth, back when he was a gardener, he’d been a drifter itself.

Even so, he wasn’t so much of a hoodlum that he went around ignoring all etiquette, but honestly, speaking casually was more comfortable.

“More importantly, looking old—who keeps saying that?”

“I heard it from time to time.”

“You don’t particularly look like an old face.

Wasn’t someone slandering you?”

“There are people who don’t believe me when I say I’m in my twenties...”

“Ah, I can understand that.”

Yoo Seongun nodded.

“You have a heavy sort of vibe. You don’t seem like you’d be in your twenties.”

“That’s something I often heard too.”

“Then that’s definitely it.

Maybe it was because you didn’t have a young vibe.”

Whether this portrait was once human and became a painting, or merely a painting with human memories, if people had told him ‘you don’t seem your age,’ it likely was because of his atmosphere.

“And besides looking old or whatever, you’re just handsome.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“If you’re that handsome, the feeling of maturity doesn’t matter at all.”

His smooth skin, as if white powder would rub off, was like porcelain, and his features were dark-lined yet clear, giving a strong impression.

An expression that looked as if he might be angry, or as if he might simply be calm, also suited that bluntness well.

“You must’ve been popular.”

“I have no dating experience.”

“...”

He hadn’t expected to hear something like this from a portrait.

“...None?

With that face?”

“I also have no experience of being confessed to.”

“Did you ever confess?”

“I had no interest, so I did not.”

“I feel like I understand what kind of situation it was.”

Yoo Seongun laughed hollowly.

It was the same context as before.

His atmosphere was so heavy that even if someone had feelings, they couldn’t confess, or else they assumed he already had a lover with that face and backed off.

‘...Hearing you say things like this, were you once human and then became a portrait after all.’

Considering remarks that seemed to show experience in social life, that was the case.

“W-well...”

But he still didn’t think it was time to ask about that.

‘And I also made him run away last time.’

Yoo Seongun decided to change the topic.

“More than that, you don’t seem to come out much lately?”

“Aren’t we talking right now?”

“Not that—there were times you really came out, too.”

Thanks to that, there were still ominous ghost stories spreading among the curators.

Because Bisabeol had silenced people about this part, Yoo Seongun couldn’t explain the truth behind the ghost stories, either.

“Back then, it looked like you were almost going to go outside the gallery.”

“If I made you misunderstand, I apologize, but even then I did not intend to go out.”

“That’s surprising.

Your range kept expanding, so I thought you wanted to go out of the gallery.”

“I was only curious how far the place I am in extends.”

“So now that you’ve checked all the way up to the 1st floor, there’s no need to go out anymore.”

“There is that, and...”

The portrait looked down at Yoo Seongun.

“I am originally the type to refrain from active adventures in places with many people, and since I thought you would be troubled, I am restraining myself as much as possible.”

“...No, that really was a reason I never even imagined.

So that’s why you haven’t been coming out?

That’s such an overly considerate judgment.”

He wished other monsters or ego weapons would see Gio like this and learn something.

‘I never thought I’d receive this kind of consideration from a nonhuman.

If I reported this to an academic society, it would be an uproar.’

Should he call it fascinating, or impressive.

It was still a portrait whose proper identity hadn’t been identified, but as a gardener, he was grateful for the luck of encountering such a special existence.

Even if it was consideration only possible because it thought of itself as human...

“Then won’t you tell me Mr. Yoo Seongun’s story as well?”

“...My story?”

“Up to now, it feels as if we have only spoken of my story.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Yoo Seongun accepted it.

‘Could this also be seen as the 1:1 rule.’

It was a portrait that truly liked fairness.

Well, he had asked the portrait a ton of questions up to now, so even without calling it a rule or anything, this was a natural flow.

“Where should I start...”

Yoo Seongun blinked as he chose a topic to bring out.

“...First, I’m a curator.

I’m in charge of maintaining and managing the gallery of Bisabeol, the guildmaster here, and besides me there are many curators here too.”

“If it is called a gallery, do you also sell works?”

“Sometimes, yes.

This gallery is a place that gathers the rarest and most dangerous things in the world, so sometimes there are people who try to buy works here for the purpose of subjugation or research.”

Yoo Seongun would deal with such clients and also explain the works to them.

“That’s why any work that no curator can explain is without exception set as not-for-sale.

Even if it’s a gallery that gathers only the most dangerous things in the world, if the customer takes it and harm occurs to them, responsibility will ultimately come back to us.”

“Do you not just pretend you do not know?”

“Even if we want to pretend we don’t know, we can’t.

It can lead not only to legal disputes but even to armed conflict, so things become twice as complicated.

Even if you get them to sign ‘we were informed of the danger and any loss is your fault’... you still can’t completely quell the customers’ dissatisfaction.”

And if something happened, direct retaliation could be inflicted even on curators who, as hunters, didn’t have outstanding combat strength.

In fact, in other companies, assassins had been hired and some curators had died.

“The guildmaster here dotes on his employees, so it’s an impossible thing, but in other places, curators often get retaliated against.”

“Do those companies not prepare countermeasures for it?”

“Why would they bother doing that, when there are overflowing numbers of people who want to work.

In most cases, they just leave it, because the cost of protecting existing employees is more expensive than the price of hiring new ones.”

“That is cold.”

“That’s the world.”

From the standpoint of a monster that seemed to like good things, it might be disillusioning, but in humans’ world, it wasn’t such a big deal.

“Outside the cities, people are already dying.

There’s no manpower to protect them, monsters keep crawling out... and the countryside without proper infrastructure is basically nature itself, you know.”

“...”

“Cities and the countryside differ by about a century in the level of civilization.

Well, because of that, some people say the countryside is better, since you don’t have to suffer these and those shabby things or oppression.”

The portrait said bluntly.

“It is tiring.”

“Did I talk too much?”

“I meant that being inside the painting is good.”

“On that, I agree.”

Even if he didn’t know what it was like inside that painting, it would surely be far more peaceful than this world where you had to live in dirty, pathetic ways.

Soon, the portrait asked.

“Then have you continuously been doing curator work, Mr. Yoo Seongun?”

“Ah... no, that’s not it.

It’s only been a few years since I was hired.”

“If it is not rude, may I ask what work you did before?”

“...”

Is it okay to say even this.

After briefly 고민, Yoo Seongun soon confessed without resistance.

“In the past, I was a researcher.”

“That is an unexpected answer.”

“And before that, I was a gardener.

To be honest, I’m still a gardener too.”

“A gardener who manages a garden overgrown with grass and flowers?”

“No, we manage the Origin.”

In this world, the Origin existed.

“I don’t know how much you know, but on Earth there are things called dungeons.

Nests of monsters made around various themes...”

“...”

“Even though each is clearly a different dimension, sometimes the same vegetation is discovered in separate dungeons.

We call that ‘children of the Origin.’”

In a dungeon full of fire, and in a dungeon made of caves, the same kind of plant is discovered.

Even though they are dungeons with no connection at all, such things happened, and some researchers said it was possible because the plants were derived from the Origin.

“Can you explain the Origin to me?”

“We don’t know in detail either.”

But the Origin was such an existence.

The very lowest, most fundamental concept beneath all dimensions.

“If you compare it to a tree, then dungeons are fruit, and the monsters inside are fruit seeds.

The Origin is the tree’s roots.”

“...”

“In other words, we suspect that the power that creates dungeons is also the Origin’s power.”

“Thank you for telling me something fascinating.”

“I find you fascinating too, though.”

Laughing frankly, Yoo Seongun continued.

“Gardeners analyze, manage, and share events that arise from the Origin.

It’s similar to researchers who analyze the names and powers of new monsters.

And it’s also similar to geographic hunters who wander dungeons and rewrite maps.”

“It does not seem related, so why is the name gardener attached?”

“Mm, well.”

Yoo Seongun blinked eyes tinged in a bluish hue.

That soon took on a slightly brighter shade.

“Partly because we see the Origin as a single garden.”

“...”

“...And because we actually do manage ‘gardens.’”

The portrait asked.

“A garden.”

“Yeah, a garden.”

“Is it different from the Origin?”

“It can be said to be a part of the Origin.”

Yoo Seongun answered faithfully.

“If you call one person the Origin, then what we call a garden is a part of that person, like their blood vessels, fingernails, heart, eyes.”

“...”

“It’s enormous, and there are many of them.

A very small number of gardeners with high aptitude each take responsibility for such a garden, and since it’s quite difficult...”

With a laugh like a sigh, Yoo Seongun said,

“A lot of them die.

It’s a job where it’s hard to take it easy, one way or another.”

“Is it a task that 반드시 someone must do?”

“In the first place, if you’re chosen by the Origin, you must work, and if you neglect the work, the difficulty of multiple dungeons skyrockets, you see.”

“That is frightening.”

“...Even if you say it’s frightening, it doesn’t really feel like you get it, but...”

Scratching at his ear with the feeling he’d heard something absurd, Yoo Seongun continued.

“I’m still a gardener.

Becoming a gardener isn’t something you can choose by your own will, so even if I’m doing curator work right now, I can’t throw away the qualifications of being a gardener.”

“Is it difficult?”

“A little?”

Yoo Seongun shrugged.

“Still, it’s doable.”

When he closes his eyes, a vast snowy mountain appears.

Glaciers appear.

That magnificence entrances people.

“Having a garden of my own is pretty wonderful.”

“...”

Soon, the portrait answered.

“I understand.”

“Yeah?”

“I am the same.”

“I see.”

That day’s conversation ended like that.

He didn’t know how it was for the portrait, but at least for the gardener, it was quite an enjoyable time.

Fantasy, modern,