Chapter 22

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons — Episode 22

Yoo Seongun asked the guildmaster for help.

“Help.”

“Ugh, what is it.”

“I came to practice sharing.”

“Am I the village drum, then?”

The moment it turned 9 a.m., Yoo Seongun went to find Bisabeol, holding a large glass crock in his hands.

It was a crock so huge that even Bisabeol, who had been visited out of the blue, had his gaze stolen at a glance.

“You have an unusual taste, Curator Yoo Seongun.

It’s a rare item.”

“Ah, stop needling me when you already know everything, and help me.”

“Shall I?”

Even though the mouth of the crock was sealed, Bisabeol immediately recognized that fruit syrup was inside, from the sweet scent leaking out.

And that Gio must have given it, as well.

“You appraised it?”

“I did the moment I received it from Gio.”

“And the grade?”

“Still unknown.”

“My.”

Click.

Bisabeol stared at the fruit syrup placed on the table.

“...”

“Do you see anything?”

“It’s very good for the body.”

“It doesn’t seem like it’s only ‘very good,’ but I understand for now.”

“Didn’t you say you couldn’t even finish the cookies from last time?”

“If I eat too much, I can’t sleep.

No matter how much I’m a cog in the capitalist society, even a slave is human, so I have to sleep.”

“If you handed them out to employees working overtime or the guards at dawn, your reputation would be excellent.”

“Then our portrait gets snatched by the Association.

No matter how tight-lipped people are, you never know where information will leak from.”

“I know. I’m restraining myself.”

Bisabeol chuckled softly.

“Above all, we shouldn’t treat Gio like an item dispenser.”

“That part...”

Chewing on Bisabeol’s words, Yoo Seongun soon nodded in satisfaction.

“I’m glad it seems like you’re being cautious.”

‘Gio’s portrait’ was still something whose clear identity he couldn’t be certain of.

Don’t be scared beyond necessity, but be wary and keep it in mind as much as possible—doing so would be a way for humans to extend their lifespans.

“Even setting aside the effect, the appearance itself looks holy, so if you donate it to a temple, you’d earn huge praise.”

“Yes, well, I heard it’s especially outstanding for malnutrition.

I’m not in that state, so I don’t know the degree I can feel it.”

“If you’re talking nutrition, the Temple of the Sun would especially like it.

At this level, you could probably save even beggars on the verge of becoming mummies.”

“If the Sun Church would welcome it, then I understand for sure that it’s an item with a warm energy.

Is it that effective?”

“It’s a concentrate, so even if you only take a spoonful each, wouldn’t it be of great help to a dungeon exploration team?”

Exploration teams are hunters dispatched not to clear a dungeon, but to investigate missing people, the dungeon’s structure, and so on.

Since it’s impossible to get out in a short time, they also consume a lot of food.

The problem is, since a dungeon’s environment is what it is, you can’t carry too much.

Because of that, it’s normal to bring mostly nutritional foods or potions that don’t taste like much.

“Looking at it, it seems it would taste good too, and since it’s a concentrate, even a small amount is enough, and since you drink it in the form of fruit tea, it’s as convenient to take as a potion.”

“...”

“If it became known to the world, it’s the sort that the government would regulate, to the point that it’s burdensome to enjoy privately.”

“So it is.”

“But sadly, on a pan-human level, we must enjoy it privately.”

Bisabeol smiled like an immature youth.

“You can’t sell it, after all.”

“Ah, absolutely not.”

It’s a gift an Origin existence gave in goodwill.

If it hadn’t been permitted to sell, and he learned it was going around at auction, the hatred and resentment Yoo Seongun would have to bear then would not be at a tolerable level.

That was the ‘rule.’

“Every time I think about it, the government’s wariness toward the Origin is too low.”

Thirty-one years since the Great Catastrophe.

It wasn’t a short time, but it wasn’t that long either.

Unlike dungeons, which you can easily sense, the government’s understanding of the Origin—which is indifferent to humans—being markedly low might be unavoidable.

“The current president is paying quite a lot of attention, and it isn’t like there’s no one who doesn’t know about the Origin... but realistically, nothing is reflected in society.”

Yoo Seongun let out a frustrated sigh.

“It would be nice if safety prevention education were implemented not only for dungeons but also for the Origin side.

When I see people who died without even knowing the cause, or their bereaved families, because of children of the Origin, it feels so pitiful.

Even what gardeners can do has its limits.”

“It’s not something fully revealed yet, and right now the greatest threat is only the surface-level dungeons, isn’t it?

Compared to the Origin, which won’t cause trouble if you leave it alone, it can’t be helped that people pay more attention to dungeons that go berserk all the time.

There’s a lack of manpower too.”

“Even though it’s like only gnawing at the rind of a watermelon.”

“That the number of people who can sense the Origin is small also plays a part.”

Unlike dungeons, which any dog or cow can see and recognize, and the monsters that make their homes there, so-called ‘children of the Origin’ are difficult for most people to sense.

Many theories have come out so far, but the most supported is that it’s because they are an ‘area that human physical ability cannot perceive.’

And thus, only a small number of humans—who evolved or were altered as Earth’s environment changed—can see ‘children of the Origin.’

“I heard that even among apt ones, not everyone can see every child of the Origin.”

“Yes, because this is also a kind of talent.

Just as people’s hearing differs, there are children that every apt one can see, and children some can’t see.”

“That side of the story is fascinating no matter how many times I hear it.”

“There’s also a hypothesis that the rarer the number of apt ones who can see a child, the closer that child is to the Origin.

Even I might have a child somewhere that I can’t see.”

“To have danger right at hand, and yet there’s no one who can see it—certainly a chilling story.”

“If you can’t see or sense it, you can’t even touch it in the first place, and as long as you don’t touch it, it won’t get angry...”

Yoo Seongun let out a sigh.

“I threw a tantrum out of impatience, but honestly, even if citizens still don’t know about the Origin, there probably won’t be a big problem.

They’re indifferent to humans.”

“Didn’t you say last time that there are exceptions?”

“Yes, of course there are exceptions... but even then, they aren’t as active as monsters, so the damage is small.”

This rarity was also one of the reasons children of the Origin hadn’t been known so far.

“Well, anyway.”

“Yes.”

“We still have to eat this.”

“Right.”

“It’s a thick concentrate, and there’s a lot, so it’s hard for just us to eat it.”

“...Are you thinking of calling in another sacrifice?”

“I should call the HR team.”

The HR team, like the secretary team, is made up of the most tight-lipped people among the guild members.

Because they have to carry out everything from overall care for guild members to even Bisabeol’s discreet orders.

“At least it won’t spread to other teams.”

“That’s true, but...”

“These days I’ve been out of my mind with overtime, too.”

“Why don’t you just spill my cookies too.”

“This time I’ll lie and say it’s an item I purchased separately.”

“I appreciate that.

Though I don’t know if it’ll work as an excuse against those smart people.”

“Hey, everyone’s sharp, so they’ll keep quiet on their own.

They’re employees who hate extra work more than they hate dying.”

“Well, you only gathered people like that...”

Yoo Seongun let out a sigh of relief.

‘...Even if we share and eat it with coworkers, Gio probably won’t mind.’

Of course, the rules of the Origin aren’t something you can just gloss over like this.

There were often cases where it became poison if someone other than a specially designated counterpart consumed it.

‘But in the first place, Gio...’

He clearly said he wanted to share it with ‘everyone.’

‘He said that.’

Meaning, it was a gift targeting all of this guild’s employees.

“...”

“Still no problem?”

“Yes. I reviewed it, and it is indeed a gift intended for all employees, including me.”

“Well, considering that, he gave you such a huge crock in the first place.

It’s too much for just you to eat alone, Mr. Yoo Seongun.”

“Honestly, I don’t think he thought that far, he just gave it...”

His hands are just big.

“It would be funny if an Origin existence knew what amount is appropriate by human standards.”

“But didn’t Curator Yoo Seongun say he has memories from when he was human?”

“He has them, but I expect they aren’t complete.”

Employees who met ‘Black Cloak’ testified that Gio introduced himself as ‘Seo Gio.’

Gio, a youth of twenty-nine who died, or was set up to have died.

That is likely the memory ‘Gio’s portrait’ possesses.

“But a point to think about here is: if that’s so, then why was the portrait defined as ‘Gio’?”

That wasn’t something humans had named.

“It’s the name the Origin defined.”

All skills used by awakeners—that is, hunters—receive the Origin’s help.

This was the same context.

That the Origin, something like a god or a trans-dimensional system, named a single portrait in the basement of a single building in a single country on a single planet like that.

“So the portrait’s name is not ‘Seo Gio’ but ‘Gio.’

Then isn’t it different from his own claim?”

“Maybe... does it mean what the Origin judged and Gio’s memory don’t match?”

“That’s right.

The name here isn’t something we ourselves, or another human, named onto another human.

It’s a name about our essence.”

It could be said to be the ‘true name’ a parent called the Origin attached.

“In other words, the name written on the system is the essence of the target as evaluated by the Origin, so as mere humans, we can’t easily ignore it.”

“So that kind of name is already attached to Gio?”

“And it’s displayed so anyone can interpret it.

Whether it’s a crappy low-level appraisal skill, or a high-level one like the guildmaster’s, everyone can recognize the name, but...”

“The problem is that you can’t find out anything beyond that.”

“That’s right.”

Yoo Seongun waved his hand as if snipping something with scissors.

“It’s as if the Origin blocked it, saying, ‘You must not read this.’

It only told us one thing: the name ‘Gio.’”

“It sounds like a story about God.”

“They say someone who receives God’s gaze goes mad.”

Yoo Seongun didn’t deny it.

“The Origin is generally favorable to humans.

No—favorable to everything it contains.

That’s why it can look indifferent, too.”

“...”

“If it were favorable only to humans, then a dungeon—one of its children—should never have been born.

However, it is helping all its children fight equally.”

Such distant arrogance was certainly enough to be called ‘god.’

Though the gods of this generation had grown far from omnipotence.

“A portrait with an ego, which the Origin itself defined as dangerous—‘do not dig into this.’”

“...”

“...It really might be god.

Or something beyond even that.

Something mere humans can’t define.”

That ‘something’ that mistakes itself for human.

“...”

“...In a world like this, even if you say it’s something with the traits of a god, I don’t know how surprising it is, but anyway...”

Yoo Seongun let out a deep sigh.

“It’s only one hypothesis.

Since it doesn’t seem to be a monster, an item, or even one of the children of the Origin, I can’t help but come up with all sorts of bizarre hypotheses.”

“I think it’s a hypothesis that’s realistic in its own way.

Priests already serve a god, and there are gods in this world that enjoy amusement.

It could be a god that enjoys interacting with humans.”

“If that’s real, then Earth is in danger, so let’s stop.

The moment Gio realizes he is not human, something beyond a calamity... a miraculous calamity will occur.”

“Hm, will it?”

“We ourselves should think of Gio as a normal human too.

Because the Origin is a ‘living story,’ the danger level changes depending on how people think of the target.”

“That is truly astonishing.”

Bisabeol was very interested.

“In Japan, isn’t it mostly children of the Origin that appear that way?

Maybe because it’s a country with many gentlemen—there are that many varied children of the Origin that affect reality.

If we come to believe in Gio as a god, what change will occur?”

“That’s why I’m telling you not to think that.

Don’t pour terrifying oil called ‘a story about god’ onto a guy who’s already dangerous.”

“Living stories really are scary.

The moment you learn more about it or additional settings get incorporated, it becomes an even scarier existence... they say accidents are especially frequent in cultures that like myths?”

“Don’t think weird thoughts.

What kind of calamity is this old man trying to cause...”

Muttering with a sickened face, Yoo Seongun returned to his usual placid expression.

“Anyway, I think the memories Gio has are incomplete.

Leaving aside his essence related to the Origin and whatever... the fact that he has no agitation at all regarding his own state and abilities even while thinking he’s human proves it.”

No.

Gio just had no thoughts at all.

But the outrageous indifference with which he could wrap up his change as, ‘I was human, but I died, and after coming back to life after 31 years I evolved into a portrait, ta-da,’ supported Yoo Seongun’s claim.

Ordinary people didn’t act that insensitive about their bodies.

“If he were truly a proper human, he would have felt fear about his state.

In the first place, he became a portrait from a human—there’s no way he wouldn’t feel strangeness or disgust at that part.

And the fact that he also wasn’t intoxicated by the omnipotence of being able to create everything except humans inside... that too is a story that doesn’t make sense for a human.”

And that nonsensical story actually happened.

Gio’s miraculous numbness shone in this utterly absurd direction.

“It’s a situation that cannot exist with human sensibilities.”

“He certainly isn’t ordinary.”

“That’s because I also don’t know much about the Origin.

It means I’m not sure whether he was human and then came to belong to the Origin, or whether some Origin existence took on a human form.”

“Hm...”

“But even though Gio answers questions readily, he doesn’t talk much about his own story.”

Again, Gio had no thoughts at all.

He wasn’t the type to worry over the past, and in the same vein, he didn’t even think Yoo Seongun would be curious about his past.

“Even while saying he’s human, Gio accepts things humans can’t do very naturally.”

This is also a misunderstanding.

He was simply still short on grasping the situation because he lived too thoughtlessly.

Gio right now, enjoying a hurricane-like life, didn’t bother with headaches or worries.

He was too busy enjoying life.

Of course, even if he did grasp the situation, Gio was the sort who would be shocked for about five seconds out of politeness and then immediately 고민 lunch.

He was the ironclad man of this era, who didn’t leave room for anyone to splash cold water over his clear, fluffy brain.

“Normally, you can’t be that calm.”

“That’s true.”

“Isn’t it strange that you have the power to commit mass slaughter and cause natural disasters right now, and yet you don’t care at all?”

Even though we keep repeating the same story, he just didn’t think that far.

For Gio, life’s trials and hardships were only the menu of three meals a day.

In the first place, even his superhuman ability—Gio judged it as ‘a power to make food through painting’ at most.

He never even thought this power could threaten humanity.

Gio was a great figure who could say, ‘I can make roasted sweet potatoes with this, so why would I do that?’

“I don’t think humans are beings with bowls that big.”

They were that big.

Gio’s clear way of thinking, which never let in anything wicked, had a talent for letting in only the ‘information’ part of ‘serious information.’

Gio didn’t greatly wonder about anything other than the fact that he evolved into a portrait and the fact that he could live eating and such like this.

He was, in a word, living by muddling through.

Of course, from ordinary people’s standpoint, it was something they couldn’t imagine, so they were still serious.

“He also doesn’t know quite a lot of information humans should know.”

“...”

“Then in many ways, his thoughts and reality will have a gap...”

“And yet Gio claims he is human?”

“He might know reality but be striving to deny it.”

He was simply still not fully adapted to the world after 31 years had passed—like how a ninety-year-old might fumble with a kiosk.

But Yoo Seongun came to his own conclusion.

“In that case, it would be self-brainwashing-level suggestion, so either way, it isn’t good for us to first dig into Gio’s identity.”

“Still interesting.”

Bisabeol looked at Yoo Seongun as if he were envious.

In a subtle tone, like a child who wanted to eat more ice cream from the freezer, he said,

“I want to have a conversation too...”

“I see.”

“Please arrange it.”

“That’s a bit much.”

“Why.”

“Gio dislikes it.”

“He doesn’t hate me, does he?”

“He gets stressed.”

Yoo Seongun shook his head firmly.

“You were the one who entrusted Gio to me, Guildmaster.

I have a duty to protect Gio’s condition.

As long as he thinks of himself as human, Gio needs sufficient care.”

“Are you saying I’m a person not suited to that care?”

“Would you be suited?”

“Indeed, Curator Yoo Seongun.

You never speak nonsense.”

“...Ha...”

So even you don’t deny it.

‘Thank goodness you have at least a shred of conscience.’

Yoo Seongun smiled bitterly.

“The point that we need to learn more about Gio remains the same as before.

We still don’t even know what he is, and we don’t know if he has a precise way of thinking or other rules.”

“Since he’s someone I brought in, be sure to treat him well. For ‘Gio’s portrait’ to be satisfied with the service of my gallery—that is all I want.”

Bisabeol nodded.

“And keep him able to continue thinking of himself as human.”

“It’s terribly burdensome, but for the sake of peace for humanity, I will try.”

That was why Yoo Seongun had an idea.

“...Soon, I plan to take Gio and walk around outside.”

The portrait Gio stayed in was a space far too alien to call a place humans live.

Gio says he is human and does not want to leave that image, and he only says, ‘I am merely staying inside a portrait,’ but... if he stays only in there, someday he will realize his essence.

“That Gio is currently mistaken into thinking he is human is tremendous luck for us.

If possible, we must make it so he can continue that misunderstanding.

To do that, we have to insert Gio among humans.”

“To hide a tree, go to the forest?”

“...Isn’t it a little different?

Anyway, if a humanlike environment is formed, that misunderstanding will be maintained longer.

In that sense, I plan to show Gio the inside of the city.”

“Risk level?”

“...”

Yoo Seongun averted his eyes.

“...We’ll have to be careful.”

“Is that enough?”

“What can we do—better to try something than to wait for Gio to realize his essence and explode.”

“Curator Yoo Seongun’s judgment is so bold I can’t believe it.

Of course, I agree.”

“I’m aware that I’m making a dangerous gamble.

I only judged it necessary.”

Yoo Seongun still didn’t know because he hadn’t properly seen it, but wasn’t it a portrait that could make people faint just by meeting eyes in the first place.

“Gio is very considerate toward humans.

He’s gentlemanly and polite.

There have been no deaths among the employees he has met so far... and in reality, there are a few hunters who give off pressure just like Gio.”

“If an S-rank appears out of nowhere and is revealed to the press, it’ll be a headache.

These days, with public figures and idols and such, each country’s hunter pride has grown strong, so once a rumor starts, it’ll spread in an instant.”

“Rather, that might be better.

It would be easier to disguise him by dressing him up as a hunter.

Either way, we could fit Gio into a human specification.”

“...”

“The danger of a child of the Origin changes according to the size of the story it holds.

If Gio’s ‘story’ is reduced to the human level, safety increases.”

Yoo Seongun let out a sigh.

“...That is, in the situation where Gio permits it.”

“How will it be?”

“Ah, I don’t know, don’t ask me.

My head is about to burst already.”

“That’s why I added extra pay.”

“You damn capitalist society.”

After thinking for a moment, Yoo Seongun said,

“Could you tell the employees not to be too afraid of Gio?”

“Would that work?

Did your brain melt from caffeine?

Did it turn into canned food and stop functioning?”

“Why are you being so cutting.

I meant at least make rules.”

He wore an awkward expression.

“Everyone who meets him gets severely stiff, so Gio felt displeased.

He judged them rude.”

“...”

“We can only do so much by telling Gio not to be displeased, so on the human side too, we have to keep ‘manners’ toward him as much as possible.”

“...Hmm...”

Bisabeol nodded.

“Regulating behavior alone should be doable somehow.”

“Is it possible?”

“Not impossible.”

This was Collectors.

The land of the collector—there was nothing he couldn’t do.

This was the power a guildmaster in modern society could enjoy.

Fantasy, modern,