Chapter 177

Chapter 177

Handling my body was easy enough.

‘Because I have the memories from when I was Argio.’

But the abandoned house was in an extremely old state, and it looked like it would collapse if you pressed down on it even a little. If that was the case, he thought it would be better to go up to the mansion in a way that put no burden on it at all.

That was how Gio had gone up to the third floor through the portrait.

“...”

“...”

Sanarae, who had been staring intently at Gio, asked with his usual smiling face.

“A landscape painting?”

“Yes, it’s here.”

“It’s a painting of a cabin.”

“Isn’t it nice to look at?”

“It is nice to look at.”

“Is it.”

Giovanni, who was skilled at navigating social situations, expertly managed his expression.

“I didn’t expect you to come up this quickly.”

“And yet you didn’t look surprised?”

“I could feel you coming up.”

That wasn’t a lie.

‘It’s just that I felt it the moment I came out of the frame.’

Since Hunter Sanarae seemed to have a contrarian streak, Gio had thought that if he left him alone, he might come up on his own anyway. But he came up faster than expected, and Gio missed the timing to get rid of the frame.

‘It took me a little time to manage my expression.’

That was why Gio didn’t immediately turn to Sanarae and instead kept his gaze on the portrait that had become a landscape painting. In any case, it was a relief that he didn’t seem to have been found out that he was this portrait.

Being found out would be fun in its own way, but...

“Shall we look around the third floor together?”

“Mmm, that’s what I was going to do.”

“It would’ve been nice if you’d come up together from the start.”

“Hunter Seo Gio was so quiet that I got worried.”

“I have a decent stealth skill.”

“That’s what everyone seemed to think.”

“Don’t you think so, Hunter Sanarae?”

“No, I do.”

Sanarae, wearing his characteristic smile, pointed to the three or so rooms on the third floor.

“You haven’t looked around yet?”

“I just came up to the third floor as well.”

“Then we can go together. Wow, how reassuring.”

If it was true that his nose hurt because there was so much dust in the mansion, Sanarae was quite cooperative in searching the ruins, like someone who wanted to get out quickly. On the third floor as well, they mainly found gold and jewels.

Hunter Sanarae reacted as if it was a bit disappointing.

“It would’ve been nice if there were items.”

“Are gold and jewels not enough to satisfy you?”

“Rather than minerals that are only nice to look at, wouldn’t equipment you can use anywhere be better?”

“You’re greedy.”

“More than that, I’m a liar.”

“Mm, Pinocchio?”

“I don’t exactly like that nickname, but...”

Clink.

A rusty metal jewelry box closed.

“Only jewels here too.”

“Don’t hunters like jewelry like this? Jewels that are only nice to look at.”

“A hunter who likes this kind of ordinary haul after coming all the way to an A-rank dungeon isn’t that common, you know...?”

“And why is that?”

“...”

After looking at Gio, Sanarae continued.

“They’re not worth that much. They could help ordinary citizens, but we’re fairly high-rank hunters, right? After coming all the way here, you’d want to make a proper score.”

“I thought glass was quite expensive.”

“That’s because you can melt glass down and use it when making equipment or items. It also takes a lot of work to make, and to raise the transparency, it costs quite a bit. That’s why only glass is uniquely expensive among jewels.”

“Don’t these jewels melt?”

The jewels I drew melt, though.

‘Is that because it’s paint?’

Gio continued.

“I know gold and silver definitely melt. Is there a problem with my common sense?”

“...Of course you can make equipment with gold and silver too, but the limit of what they can hold is much lower than glass. Their nature itself is too rigid, so you can’t make diverse equipment as flexibly as with glass.”

“Thank you for the kind and detailed explanation.”

“Especially because hunters’ income can’t be solved with something like mere jewels or gold. To get equipment that will save your life, it costs an insane amount. There are so many hunters who sell their land deeds and house deeds just to buy equipment.”

“Oh dear.”

Letting out an exclamation, Gio asked.

“Thank you for the detailed explanation. You’re not irritated because I’m too much of a ‘young master,’ are you?”

“Well, are you really a ‘young master’?”

“In some sense, you may have hit it exactly, but I don’t think I ever grew up that comfortably.”

“Is that so. Unexpected.”

“Do you dislike me?”

Gio smiled.

“That’s not it, right?”

“It’s a strange thing to say, but...”

With an expressionless face that showed no emotion, and in an everyday tone, Sanarae said,

“Hunter Seo Gio-nim seems older than he looks.”

“How old do I look to you?”

“It says you’re twenty-nine on the website. Is that not right?”

“That’s right.”

“But you seem older than that.”

“I never thought I’d have to hear such a heartbreaking thing just because I can’t keep up with trends.”

“...That could be it.”

After sweeping through the abandoned house in sequence, they moved to the innermost room.

“Looks like this used to be a bedroom.”

They could see the frame of a bed too ruined to recognize, and a huge portrait of a woman. That, too, was only barely recognizable as a woman; it was in a state as splendidly rotted and decayed as this abandoned house itself.

The haunted portrait felt a strange sense of kinship.

‘Oh, a portrait.’

Hello, I’m a portrait.

‘...They say surprising things happen often in dungeons... but I’ve never seen a haunted portrait like me yet. This portrait also just looks like an ordinary portrait that’s worn out and broken. How pitiful.’

Gio, who liked drawing and was also a painting himself, felt human sympathy.

‘Poor thing.’

If things went well, it seemed like restoration work might be possible.

“...”

“Hunter Seo Gio?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“What’s on that portrait?”

“There’s nothing.”

“Then why do you keep looking only at that?”

“Is that not allowed?”

“Look at me when you talk.”

“Yes.”

Only then did Gio turn his gaze to Sanarae.

“What is it?”

“...”

Sanarae just smiled quietly.

“...”

Around then, the sunset charged in, and with the strange pressure and plausible atmosphere, Gio shrank.

Facing a punk who didn’t seem sane, like he might start spraying bullets while laughing and joking normally, fear came rushing in. With perfect timing, the sun set in an instant and the abandoned house grew dark, and the fear doubled in a surge.

‘...What did I do wrong?’

Instinctively, he realized he’d done something wrong. One meaning of staring at someone like that was an intention to socialize, and the other was a signal flare for war. Right now, it was obviously the latter.

And Gio realized.

‘Ah, this.’

This is the atmosphere from when Mr. Yoo Seong-woon and Ms. Juhyun scold me.

“...Did I do something strange?”

“Well?”

“Did I scare you?”

“I’m not sure.”

“I apologize for everything.”

Flustered, Gio asked,

“Would you like something sweet?”

“...”

“Looks like you don’t like it.”

He suggested it because he thought that if you ate something sweet at an odd timing, you’d be so dumbfounded that even this subtle atmosphere might loosen a bit, but he didn’t get a particularly good reaction.

Gio comforted the sweet chocolate cookie he always kept in his arms.

‘You’re a good cookie.’

It was a sufficiently tasty cookie; it had only met the wrong owner.

“...”

“...”

And he started to feel wronged.

“Don’t people appreciate portraits?”

“No, they do.”

“Then I don’t understand why you’re scolding me with your eyes.”

“...Scolding, huh. You really do talk uniquely.”

“Is something strange?”

“You’re using words that are too everyday even in a situation like this.”

Sanarae said with his characteristic smile curled.

“I’m scared.”

“Are you scared?”

You’re not teasing me again, are you?

“Then please tell me why.”

“Then will you fix it?”

“So I don’t make the same mistake like now.”

“I don’t feel like it. I think Hunter Seo Gio-nim could make more mistakes.”

“I don’t like this kind of atmosphere. I want to get better.”

“So I’m saying it might be fine if you don’t get better.”

“I don’t understand why you’re saying that.”

So what mistake did I make again?

‘Am I not even allowed to look at portraits?’

He was so truly wronged that he wanted to write a complaint in careful strokes. Why is it that when everyone else does it it’s fine, but when I do it everyone gets scared and makes a fuss?

“I think you’re teasing me. You’re a cruel person.”

“I know you’re not saying that because you’re angry.”

Sanarae added,

“You’re just saying it because you think that’s the most appropriate thing to say, right?”

At that, Gio thought,

‘Originally, for humans, it’s polite to run words through your brain once before speaking.’

But he knew that Hunter Sanarae hadn’t brought that up in that context. Gio realized what the problem with the current situation was. It was a long-standing problem that had followed him throughout his life.

“I know I have a scary impression. Even usually, I was often misunderstood.”

It wasn’t like he’d only seen one or two people shriek as if they’d seen a ghost whenever he did anything.

“So I worked hard to smile as I went around, but was it not effective?”

“It probably worked well for most people.”

“Then what is it you are trying to say now, Hunter Sanarae?”

“Like... the more you know, the bigger the fear feels?”

Gio was dumbfounded.

“What do you know, Hunter Sanarae-nim?”

What do you know about me?

‘We’ve barely seen each other’s faces—what do you mean you know more now?’

Even Yoo Seong-woon, the first friend Gio made after becoming a haunted portrait, had never said something like that. With one side not welcoming it and the other side unintentionally showing off hollow familiarity, Gio felt extremely bewildered.

“I don’t think we’re that close...”

“Are they things only close people are qualified to know?”

“Most relationships are like that.”

“Were you displeased?”

“What are you afraid of?”

Pretending it wasn’t so, Sanarae was a little anxious right now. Gio couldn’t understand why the situation had turned out like this. At this rate, the only option was to change his face entirely or live wearing an iron mask.

‘But even that, people in this world would be scared of.’

It was a truly hard era to live in as a scary-looking human.

“You shouldn’t treat a perfectly fine person like a ghost just because you’re scared, Hunter Sanarae.”

“Then why were you looking at that portrait for so long?”

“I was looking at it because I felt sorry for it.”

“...”

Sanarae, who looked like he was about to say more, once again curved his eyes into a crescent moon.

“What do you like, Hunter Seo Gio-nim?”

It was a very bizarrely contextual question, but Gio understood. Originally, crazy bastards’ conversation topics tended to leap around. Giovanni, the kind priest of everyone, respected the diversity of humans.

“I like delicious, filling things.”

“A ghost that died because it couldn’t eat...”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been possessed by a ghost.”

“Other than that, is there nothing else?”

“I like kind people.”

“Ah, this is a big problem.”

Gio’s guess was right.

“I’m not going to suddenly get eaten, am I?”

“As I said again, human flesh probably doesn’t taste very good.”

“So that’s not reassuring at all...”

Sanarae was scared.

For quite a while now.

* * *

When the two of them came out of the mansion, the sun was up again.

“You’ve come out. Were there any particular gains?”

“Mostly accessories.”

“Then it seems there were no special functions. Understood.”

Garasani, who had been waiting for Gio, continued.

“While the two of you were upstairs, we received contact.”

“Did another team contact us?”

“Yes. They say it’s a situation where a healer is needed, so if possible, they want us to gather.”

And this team had two healers: Jung Yeongwon and Seo Gio. Garasani checked the detection equipment and said,

“Fortunately, it’s quite nearby.”

“Is it injuries? Or poison?”

“I heard they ran into a large number of monsters.”

“Then it’s both.”

Gio smiled, feeling like he knew what Garasani wanted to say. It seemed he had failed at making dried fruit for this.

“I think I can help.”

Have you ever heard of blood dumplings made by gathering three suns?

(To be continued in the next episode)