Chapter 165

Chapter 165

Juhyeon sometimes pitied that vast mystery.

“...”

Gio’s Portrait.

“...Haa...”

Juhyeon knew full well that it was an absurd thought.

Lying in an oversized, plush bed that didn’t suit her station, Juhyeon ultimately couldn’t fall asleep and got up. Her mind was clear, but just in case sleep might come, she left the lights off, went to the kitchen, and drank some water.

“...”

Clink.

She set the glass down.

“...I’m not in a position to be like this.”

Even after drinking cool water, the tightness in her chest didn’t go away.

‘To dare pity a mystery.’

Divinity was an existence that, as a result of expressing pure affection toward a beloved priest, could trap him in eternity—or, simply because someone sought wisdom, strip them of all knowledge and turn them into an idiot.

If the object of Juhyeon’s pity hadn’t been Gio, if he hadn’t regarded himself as human and extended mercy, it wouldn’t have been strange for him to receive divine punishment for his arrogance.

‘But if it wasn’t Mr. Gio in the first place, I wouldn’t even be thinking this.’

The reason humans do not pity a vast mystery is partly to avoid offending their temperaments, or to avoid drawing attention and suffering disaster—but also because they cannot, in the first place, hold an emotion called pity toward them.

Who would pity a typhoon and tidal wave that devoured countless people? Who would find the distant, shining Milky Way lonely and feel sorry for it? And yet, to think of it as only that—this person called Gio...

“...”

He isn’t even a person, and yet he feels like an existence just like me.

“...Please, don’t do something so presumptuous.”

Even though Juhyeon was from the disregarded Gita Orphanage, she had gone ahead and caused a stir because she was certain it would make more people happy. But Gio? Could she make him happy?

‘He’s already happy.’

You can tell if you hear his stories. You can tell if you look at his face. You can tell from that voice, from those gestures. The many “Gios” held within that portrait lived satisfying lives, and accordingly, they died.

She must not dare to pity that.

“...”

And yet.

“I’m the crazy one.”

How could she not feel sorry for him?

‘He was only twenty-four.’

The more she tried not to think, the more stubbornly the anguish clung to her.

‘He was only twenty-nine, and thirty-two.’

Human lifespan varies by dimension. As a former Association researcher, Juhyeon knew that. There were places where the average lifespan was fifty, and places where it was five hundred. But that wasn’t the point.

Twenties to early thirties. She didn’t know if every “Gio” would be like that, but so far, it was. They met death just as they were finally growing accustomed to human life, just as they were about to bloom and bear fruit.

‘How could that not be pitiful?’

How is that possible?

‘People who died most miserably in the most familiar embrace, of all things...’

Juhyeon consciously let out a breath.

“...”

4 a.m.

“...Did Yoo Seong-woon say he meets around this time?”

She pointlessly tried to turn her thoughts elsewhere.

‘Right, let’s think about Yoo Seong-woon. I should take him as my example.’

A mystery is a mystery. No matter how much it takes on human form, its essence is not the same. Even if it imitates human life, it is merely play—no more than a passing moment’s pleasure.

Yoo Seong-woon was someone who understood that very well. That is why, no matter what past “Gio’s Portrait” had, and no matter what problem arose, he respected and loved it. As a single “work.”

“...”

But if that feels revolting, am I the crazy one after all?

“...Seriously...”

Yoo Seong-woon said that portrait was a part of the immense system called the Origin. In human terms, it corresponded to an eye—and the Origin loves all living beings fairly, so “Gio” continues to experience lives.

Is that why Gio always experiences the highest sky and the lowest mire?

‘So the Origin can acquire information about humans more efficiently?’

A pitch-black canvas that can become anything.

“...Really, it isn’t easy.”

Becoming friends with a mystery was truly difficult.

“I can’t even worry easily.”

Juhyeon was grateful to Gio.

She wasn’t ignorant of mysteries. She knew divinity well. And yet Gio asked to become friends as a person, and at the same time, extended goodwill as a friend. Juhyeon was grateful for that.

At times, Gio acts childish and laughs like a young man of that age.

‘If it’s this suffocating already when we haven’t even known each other long, how much more bleak will it be later?’

Just from seeing him act “like a person” a few times, her insides had clogged up like this.

“...”

Letting out a deep sigh, Juhyeon muttered as she returned to the bedroom.

“...Is it time I needed an expert’s help.”

She would have to seek Yoo Seong-woon’s advice.

* * *

“This is the 자료 on the A-rank dungeon, ‘Underground Four-Legged Rainforest.’”

Yoo Seong-woon held out documents to Visabel.

“The type is a villa dungeon, the location is beneath Hwanseon Cave in Samcheok, Gangwon Province, and excluding the Sun Church and the Collector, there are three participating guilds in total. They appear to be Eunwol, Haeryeong, and Daecheong.”

“It seems they’re all quite respectable places, as expected of an event hosted by the Sun Church.”

“They’re known for good manners. In particular, Eunwol has already collaborated with the Sun Church several times, so its reliability seems even higher. It’s also a guild that makes up 12% of the personnel within the order.”

Even though it was the order’s headquarters, it wasn’t only priests. There were also attendants who helped with their daily lives, kitchen staff responsible for meals, and managers of various facilities.

The guild “Eunwol” had consistently played the role of supplying such personnel to the Sun Church and the Moon Church. Accordingly, there were many believers connected to religion, and it was a famous guild with, fundamentally, many healers.

“Because Eunwol stepped in, I looked into whether there might be some problem entangled with the Moon Church, but that side doesn’t seem particularly interested. They don’t seem to be thinking of doing anything with this subjugation.”

“I know a little about the Moon Church’s circumstances these days.”

Visabel spoke with a faint smile.

“There’s been a problem with their saintess.”

“Doesn’t seem like a matter I should know.”

“They say she’s coming down with madness...”

“Please don’t tell me. I won’t be able to forget it.”

“I don’t remember having a guild member with such a bad memory.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Yoo Seong-woon was fed up.

“Even if I’ve been studying lately, I’m not a religion specialist. You know that.”

“I’m not asking you to solve it.”

“If you weren’t expecting anything from me, I know you wouldn’t have brought it up in the first place.”

“Well, let’s set that aside for a moment.”

“We’re setting it aside?”

“The Moon Church’s saintess isn’t what matters right now, is she?”

Visabel asked.

“How’s the 분위기 of the other two guilds?”

“Haeryeong is excited, as you well know, because they heard there’s an interesting brawl...”

“They’re famous moths to a flame.”

Haeryeong was known as a guild where every member overflowed with vitality. It sounded nice to put it that way, but to say it bluntly, it was a guild where fighting cocks gathered. Accordingly, their pain tolerance and poison immunity were excellent; it was a collection of vicious warriors who didn’t die easily.

Yoo Seong-woon continued.

“Daecheong is quiet. It feels like they’re satisfied to have been asked for stable work.”

“Daecheong is the archetypal capable guild, after all.”

Daecheong wasn’t a guild that stood out particularly. Even though it was fairly high-ranked, compared to the other guilds participating this time, it was far lacking—but their strength lay in “stability.”

“Wherever they go, they do the basics.”

They didn’t have freakish powerhouses like the top three guilds, nor the formidable mental discipline of Eunwol, nor were they battle-crazed like Haeryeong—but wherever they went, they did the basics. That was Daecheong’s strength.

Visabel smiled.

“Looks like the church put a lot of care into it.”

“That means they want a stable strategy.”

“It’s a dungeon they failed to clear even after bringing in decent manpower.”

“There seems to be concern internally that they’re trying to投入 manpower too excessively.”

“There was also that terror incident just last year, so they should be excessive.”

The Sun Church and the Moon Church were the two pillars representing the religious world—partners in mutual growth and also rivals.

However, since the Sun Church staggered once in last year’s “Nation of the Deep Sea” incident and its power was greatly dampened, the Sun Church would want to avoid two failed clears as much as possible.

Yoo Seong-woon nodded.

“Yes. I looked into it... and it’s a rather tricky dungeon regardless of rank.”

A fake moon and sun rise and vanish at will, making it hard to distinguish time of day, and most of the dense vegetation attacks raiders or spews poison. Moreover, their forms are sharp, so even brushing against them slices flesh.

“Plants are one thing, but the four-legged-beast-type monsters that appear here are extremely aggressive. They view everything that walks on two legs as an enemy and try to eliminate it.”

“Do they spare humans if they walk on all fours?”

“Instead of sparing them, they turn them into the same kind of four-legged beast. They say the beast form changes depending on what the target did in life and what ideology they held—it was interesting.”

“That’s quite a strong claim. It might be a dungeon close to the Origin.”

“So this time, I hear a gardener will be going along as well. This is something I learned through a personal connection—an Eunwol-affiliated gardener.”

Gardeners may seem to belong to the government or the Association, but strictly speaking, they are not controlled by them. They inherited gardens from their respective masters, and like a family business, lived their lives in their own ways, bearing responsibility in their own ways.

An Eunwol-affiliated gardener was one of them. Just as Yoo Seong-woon was a curator affiliated with the Collector, she too was a guild member affiliated with the Eunwol guild. Gardeners were rare, but existed everywhere.

“If it’s a dungeon close to the Origin, they might be able to find valuable 자료.”

“I thought the Eunwol guildmaster said he doesn’t know that gardener’s identity.”

“Calling it an identity is a bit... it’s not that grand. It’s just like a side job.”

Most guild members could legally have two or three jobs. Like Yoo Seong-woon, there were cases where one revealed oneself as a gardener and those around knew it, but most, like the Eunwol-affiliated gardener, didn’t bother to publicize that they were a gardener.

In the first place, few people know about the Origin, so why would they explain everything just to invite troublesome things? Yoo Seong-woon, too, would not have revealed it if not for Visabel’s obsession.

“Anyway, I think it’s a good opportunity.”

Yoo Seong-woon said as a gardener.

“In many ways, isn’t it a stable environment for Gio’s first clear?”

“I fully agree with Curator Yoo Seong-woon’s words.”

Visabel looked bored.

“At this level, they put in a lot of care.”

“When sending the Origin’s eye among humans, honestly, even this isn’t enough.”

“But Mr. Seo Gio doesn’t have the personality to go somewhere and cause trouble, does he?”

He clicked his tongue.

“With so many capable workers, I’m not sure it’ll even be an environment where our Hunter Seo Gio can run wild.”

“I’m telling you, we’re not sending him out to relieve a beast’s stress.”

“How frustrated must Mr. Argio be? We haven’t even found him a proper battlefield...”

“That’s not the situation, even if it were?”

But the purpose of this clear was clear. Argio would establish himself in the human world as “Hunter Seo Gio,” and the Collector would observe that “Gio’s Portrait” and analyze his condition.

How violent was he, how would he show goodwill, how would he cooperate with humans, in the end what level of combat did Argio want? Would sparring satisfy him, would prepared battle be fine, or was there truly no answer but pure bloodshed, and so on...

“In such an interesting event, don’t you feel like Curator Yoo Seong-woon would like to go along as well?”

“Of course I want to go. I do. It’s Gio’s first clear, of all things...”

But circumstances weren’t so accommodating. As a capable hunter and gardener, Yoo Seong-woon always had many people asking for help, and because of that, it was already his fifth day staying up all night.

“Even if I try to participate in the raid in this pathetic state, the order won’t accept me.”

“If you recover with Gio’s gift, I think you could somehow manage, but I don’t think this opportunity is bad, either.”

Visabel smiled thinly.

“Isn’t it about time Mr. Seo Gio slowly becomes independent from Curator Yoo Seong-woon’s embrace?”

“A work must not become independent from its curator. Is there any need to do something that would collapse an already precarious Earth?”

“Anyway, now that it’s come to this, the Collector can’t send only Hunter Seo Gio.”

“Why are you saying something so obvious like you’re doing me a favor...”

Yoo Seong-woon was dumbfounded.

“Were you really thinking of sending the Origin out alone?”

“I know it’s dangerous, that’s why I’m attaching them now. Escort personnel.”

“Shouldn’t you call it surveillance personnel rather than escort?”

“Rather than that, it’s closer to personnel who’ll wait on him...”

“ If you play favorites too much, Gio will feel burdened instead.”

“That’s why I’m only planning to put in one curator.”

“Ah.”

Yoo Seong-woon nodded.

“Are you planning to send the Fifth Floor Chief?”

“Among the floor chiefs, he’s the most nicely crazy.”

“He’s someone with outstanding love for the work.”

“For the rest, we’ll look among the trainee team and on-site staff.”

“That’s just right.”

“Isn’t it?”

Visabel grinned.

He was already looking forward to what the portrait would show.

(To be continued in the next episode)