Chapter 25

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons — Episode 25

8 a.m.

Seeing the black cloak in front of the revealed frame, Yoo Sungwoon blinked his mint-colored eyes.

“...”

Huh.

‘It feels a little different.’

It wasn’t just his imagination.

The pitch-black figure standing before the portrait no longer gave off the same bizarre atmosphere as before.

As if it had gone from a monster to a human.

“Gio.”

“Have you come?”

“Did I come too late?”

“No, I came out early.”

“Yeah?”

Answering blandly, Yoo Sungwoon thought to himself,

‘...Even his voice is different from usual.’

Unlike before, when he spoke in a neatly arranged tone that felt eerie, Gio now didn’t feel strange—though it did make him think, ‘He’s being a bit overly polite.’

It felt like something a person with an innocent disposition could be like.

‘It might be that the “rank” changes between when he’s inside the portrait and when he’s outside...’

But then, the testimonies from witnesses up to now weighed on him.

“...”

After rolling his eyes for a moment, Yoo Sungwoon smiled and asked.

“Are you perhaps in a good mood?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Mm... you look lighter than usual, somehow.”

“I was light even normally.”

“Then let’s say you were.”

It really is different from usual.

‘And I don’t really feel that oppressive pressure, either.’

Even though Yoo Sungwoon had only seen his back, he knew how frightening Gio was outside the portrait.

Even without sensing hostility or killing intent, that feeling where your breath gets stuck and your mind grows dizzy wasn’t something you could feel easily.

‘Even in a world like this, full of all kinds of monsters—human and otherwise.’

He’d heard that the sensation was worse when you faced Gio head-on, but it was truly strange.

Right now, Gio just felt like an ordinary human.

“...”

“...”

As if he sensed the doubt, Gio spoke first.

“I took measures.”

“Measures?”

“So that others would not be startled when they see me, I tried adjusting the resolution.

Seeing your reaction, Mr. Yoo Sungwoon, it seems my attempt was not bad.”

“Ah, I see.

No wonder.”

He was quite human-like.

Yoo Sungwoon nodded as if it were nothing, but his inner thoughts were not so calm.

‘If that’s the case... does that mean he can adjust the rank of his own soul at will?’

In the past, Gio’s rank had been twisted beyond what a human system could express, but now his rank felt like it could be considered around an A-rank hunter.

Being able to adjust the soul’s rank freely sounded like a truly nasty joke.

“...Is it not too hard on your body?”

If you forcibly lowered your rank, the fatigue would be enormous.

‘It’s the same as putting a curse on yourself.’

He asked it gently as ‘Is it not too hard on you,’ but adjusting rank like this would bring more pain than fatigue.

At Yoo Sungwoon’s question, Gio looked down at his hands, then shook his head.

“It’s fine.”

“Then that’s a relief, but...”

How can he do something this insane and still be this calm?

Yoo Sungwoon quietly went pale.

‘For self-harm, you’re far too composed.

If you want to imitate being ordinary, be more meticulous.’

Even a ten-year-old would understand how serious this situation was.

Compared to a civilian, it was like cutting off all your limbs and gouging out both eyes.

‘It’s no different from putting a collar on someone crawling around with only their torso, and hanging weights on it...’

Of course, Gio wasn’t thinking about any of that.

‘I’m hungry.’

To begin with, as far as he could feel, he’d been living as an ordinary human until recently.

A body that didn’t thirst, didn’t get sleepy, and was neither hungry nor full was certainly convenient, but... he didn’t feel any aversion to his current state.

He’d lived like this originally, so what aversion was there to feel.

Rather, it was familiar.

“...”

“Then where should we move to now?”

“...Ah, right.”

Yoo Sungwoon answered, forcing a placid expression.

It would be rude to keep wearing a worried face at someone who came out to enjoy himself.

With an existence of the Origin, you had to be careful even with reactions like that.

“Since it’s morning, I’m thinking we eat first.”

“What kind will it be?”

“The place I go to is a home-style set-meal place.”

Gio was someone who had expressed himself in Korean style as ‘Seo Gio.’

He didn’t know if it was truly modeled after Korea’s ways, but since Gio knew Korea well in many respects, he chose a home-style set-meal place for breakfast.

Just in case, he added an explanation.

“It’s a meal where side dishes, rice, and soup come out as a full spread.

You can also order fish, or spicy stir-fried pork.”

“...”

“It won’t be too strong overall, but since it’s morning, I looked for a place that would sit easy on the stomach.”

“It seems good.”

Gio would eat just about anything, but having been raised under a grandmother who always served home-style meals, he liked food like this that sat easy.

It was comfortable for both body and mind.

Yoo Sungwoon nodded.

“That’s good.

Then shall we go?”

Gio followed behind him.

‘...I can hear his footsteps.’

It felt like he’d been barefoot before, but now Gio was wearing dress shoes.

But separate from that, Yoo Sungwoon was a little surprised at hearing footsteps that carried the weight of a person.

‘Did he really lower his rank to a human level?

I still can’t believe it.’

Starting from how it was even possible, and why he would do something so awful, he felt strange.

‘It seems like he did this deliberately to spare other humans, but...’

Before he even had time to feel embarrassed about having been plotting excuses in case there was damage, an uncanny guilt rose instead.

It was hard to bear this impossible kindness of cutting off your limbs and soul.

And yet, the fact that he gave such out-of-the-ordinary kindness as if it were nothing made him feel even less human, too.

“Mm...”

Regaining his senses, Yoo Sungwoon led Gio to the elevator.

“Get on.”

“This seems to be my first time.”

“What is.

This elevator?”

“I usually moved through paintings.”

“So you really did move through paintings.”

He’d already suspected it, but it explained the mysterious portrait in the hallway that the night guards sometimes found.

Even so, the ‘black cloak’ ghost story had already taken root in this guild.

“I even gave you an access card—why didn’t you take the elevator?”

“I thought it would be troublesome if I met other people in such a confined space.”

“...I see.”

True—just meeting him in a wide hallway was enough to make the guards need vacation time, so in a space this narrow, they might have foamed at the mouth and collapsed.

However, Gio hadn’t meant it in that way.

‘Like I’d get in a narrow space with them without knowing what kind of people the staff here might be.’

Gio, who knew when to be cautious, was scared.

Thirty-one years of time with a fantasy twist was enough to make even his homeland feel like an unknown terror.

‘The culture might have changed a lot. From the perspective of a haunted portrait, it’s dangerous to act rashly.

Moving by painting is faster, too.’

So it was a choice made for his own convenience in many ways, but...

“...”

To Yoo Sungwoon, it couldn’t help but be interpreted differently.

‘...Isn’t he excessively kind?

Was I worrying about the wrong things?’

He was starting to worry.

‘He moves through paintings instead of the elevator because he’s worried others will be crushed by his rank, and he cut down his own rank because he’s worried something unpleasant might happen during the trip...’

There were other suspicious signs.

‘Come to think of it, liking to give gifts so much is an unsettling trait, too.’

He’d prepared the sightseeing while worrying the portrait might cause an incident, but if Gio was harmed by humans, that would be an incident in a different sense.

‘I think I may have been watching the wrong target.

Rather than worrying about Gio’s sudden actions, should I have been worrying about humans approaching who might provoke him...’

Yoo Sungwoon couldn’t shake his suspicion even as he lamented whether this was the right direction for worry.

“...Alright, let’s get off.”

“It takes quite a while.”

“The gallery is deep underground.”

Yoo Sungwoon gave a small laugh as he explained.

“The works in the guildmaster’s gallery gather from all over the world.

There are items the guildmaster bought personally, items guild members identified and purchased to deliver, and items so dangerous that people ask us to keep them in storage on commission...”

In other words, it was a demon’s den.

“The restricted access to the gallery is to prevent theft, but also because if you slip up, it’s easy for ten or so people to die.

A collector’s gallery where all kinds of bizarre works run rampant is a famous story.

So when a ghost story pops up, the gallery is usually the origin.”

“I see.”

“So the gallery is deliberately so deep that it might seem excessive.

If some unknown bomb were to go off down there, it would be easier to handle, or... it’s a design meant to reduce damage as much as possible.”

Having said that, Yoo Sungwoon turned back to Gio.

“Mm, yeah.”

“...Is there some problem?”

“Keep the hood on.”

Even if the oppressive pressure had lessened after lowering his rank, he was far from harmless, and more than anything, Gio’s face asserted itself too strongly.

If he walked around showing it, he would get dragged into all sorts of annoying things.

‘If his face is hidden, I can claim he’s an unofficial hunter.

Collectors’ guilds tend to have quite a lot of unofficial hunters, so others won’t suspect much.’

A staff member at the first-floor lobby entrance greeted Yoo Sungwoon.

“Are you heading out right away?”

“As if. I’m on a business trip.

I just came in—there’s no way I’d be clocking out already.”

“I was about to envy you, so this is a relief.

Let’s suffer together.”

The guard, who joked boldly, looked at Gio standing behind Yoo Sungwoon.

“And this person is...”

“A guest of the guildmaster.”

“Are they about to come in as a new recruit?”

“That’s possible.”

Seeming to have good social skills, the guard spoke to Gio familiarly as if they already knew each other, even though it was likely the first time he’d seen him.

“Then it’d be fine to change the cloak’s color a bit.

A new ghost story has been going around our guild lately, and as you know... we’re people who get swayed by those kinds of rumors a lot.”

To that, Yoo Sungwoon asked.

“Are there still people who get startled by the black-cloak story these days?”

“Well, with so many witnesses, what can you do.

Since it seems to actually exist, everyone keeps a certain level of caution.”

“Wow, that’s troublesome.”

Smiling blandly as he murmured, Yoo Sungwoon dipped his head.

“Then I suppose I’ll see you in a few days.”

“Sounds like a long business trip?”

“Well, I suppose I’ll have to see once I’m there...”

“Then good luck.”

After giving a polite farewell, the guard quickly lost interest in Yoo Sungwoon and Gio.

The massive glass doors in the lobby opened.

Stepping out of the collector’s guild, Yoo Sungwoon spoke.

“As you can see, there are some rumors spreading about you.

I told the guildmaster in advance about the inconvenience you’re experiencing, but it’ll probably take some time before it’s reflected...”

Yoo Sungwoon spoke as if making excuses.

“I’ll say you’re the guildmaster’s guest.

How is that?”

“I understand.”

“No other questions?”

“I am curious why the guard was certain I would become a colleague.”

“Ah, that.”

Yoo Sungwoon nodded.

“It’s the guildmaster’s habit to pick people up from somewhere.”

“He picks them up?

The guildmaster must be a person of uncommon convictions.”

“He even tries to scout subcontractors who came to assassinate him.”

“To win over someone who tried to kill you is bold.

He seems very embracing.”

“His tastes are so unusual that if there’s someone in the guild we haven’t seen before, there’s a high chance they’re the guildmaster’s guest.

It wasn’t once or twice that he invited someone to the guild to try to tempt them.”

“...”

Only so much can be wrapped up nicely.

Gio, who didn’t know that wrapping it up like that made him seem even more inhuman, quietly resigned himself to the endlessly continuing strange-legend chronicle of Bisabeol.

‘The stamina heaven and earth have permitted me is limited—this is an overwhelming presence I can’t handle.’

He didn’t seem like a bad person, but in that you couldn’t predict where he’d bounce next, he was the number one type Gio never wanted to talk to.

‘If I ever even became close with him, he’d drag me out of my room, dump me in the middle of an extroverts’ gathering, and offer me as the party’s sacrifice...’

It was horrifying.

“Then we have to take the elevated rail now—are you okay with that?”

“...Elevated rail?”

Not the subway?

Thanks to Gio having lowered his rank, Yoo Sungwoon could read his confusion more clearly, and he explained.

“Mm, it’s a railway that runs above ground.

Like a bus, the route is fixed, but it’s faster, and it runs at quite a high altitude.”

As he said that, Yoo Sungwoon raised a finger and pointed to the sky.

“See that?”

Rails that pierced through high-rise buildings, or passed between them.

You couldn’t see the entire rail—only parts of it.

It seemed they’d made parts of it transparent with separate measures, perhaps for the city view.

It stimulated Gio’s SF sensibilities.

“It’s quite high.”

“In terms of buildings, it runs at around the 60th floor.”

Gio nodded inwardly.

‘They say even rivers and mountains change in ten years, but the world has changed in thirty.’

It was probably more pronounced because this was the capital region, but even accounting for that, buildings and facilities had advanced a lot.

Gio could truly feel that he had become an ancestor.

Buildings basically rose past thirty floors, and the elevated rail passing between them even looked like a roller coaster.

‘It probably isn’t as intense as that in route or speed, but...’

In the futuristic design, Gio felt romance.

“Gio, this way.”

“...”

People’s fashion was also quite different from before.

There were people in armor, people with huge greatswords slung across their backs, and even people with wings or tails.

They say trends go around and around—somewhere along the line, an invasive species clearly got mixed in.

Everyone was so distinctive that Gio, wearing a cloak, looked plain.

He even saw people here and there exchanging jewels or weapons.

Jewels were one thing, but weapons with menacing edges...

“...”

Ugh.

Gio could feel himself shrinking endlessly, like thinly sliced pork belly roasted over high heat.

‘Seeing this, it makes me laugh at how I was worrying that a haunted portrait like me might look harmful.’

Unlike his thoughts, some quick-witted people were glancing at Gio.

‘His presence is heavy...

A hunter?

Judging by how disciplined his movements are, a knight... or a priest?’

‘At least A-rank, maybe.

That feeling’s new, so he’s likely an unofficial hunter.’

‘He’s all black.

Maybe he has a skill that values color, or maybe it’s all a set item...’

Yoo Sungwoon also knew those gazes.

‘Please don’t talk to him.’

As expected, but thanks to Gio’s help, he was drawing less attention than that.

He was earnestly praying that no one would speak to Gio, newly emerged into human society, and cause an incident.

“This is the elevated rail entrance.”

Yoo Sungwoon drew Gio’s attention so his gaze wouldn’t land on others.

“See here?

If you tap a card here, you can pay the fare.”

“Do you pay the fee in front of the elevator?”

With his hands clasped behind his back out of habit, Gio looked at the elevated rail entrance with interest.

It looked like the elevator you could see in subways or some overpasses.

Instead of being hidden inside a building, the elevator jutted out and stretched high, connecting to the elevated rail line.

‘Is there no separate station?’

Seeing bare rails without buildings, it seemed there wasn’t really a station, and only small spaces here and there like bus stops.

It seemed they really used it like a bus.

“I’ll give you my card.

If there’s something you want to buy, use this—there’s no limit.”

“...”

Gio shrank back.

‘I don’t even know how many times I’ve shrunk back today.’

Outside the blanket is dangerous.

‘Why are you giving me a card with no limit.’

It’s scary, so I’ll call you big bro for now, big bro.

Of course, selectively introverted Gio wasn’t going to call Yoo Sungwoon, whom he’d known for only a few months at most, big bro.

Maintaining his courtesy, Gio used the card and took the elevated rail elevator.

“...”

“What is it?”

“I have something I’m curious about.”

Gio asked.

“The elevator is not very fast, but I don’t understand why there is only one.

If a lot of people gather, won’t operation be delayed?”

“Ah...”

Yoo Sungwoon smiled awkwardly.

“It seems they only installed one because not many people ride it anyway.”

“It looks like a useful means of transportation—why are there not many riders?”

How could they leave such an interesting new invention alone?

“There’s no great reason.”

Yoo Sungwoon told him the reality.

“Because it’s expensive.”

“...”

Ah-ha.

‘So that’s how it is.’

As a capitalist society, it was something Gio knew very well.

‘But is that guy still alive?’

He’s long-lived?

Fantasy, modern,