Chapter 28

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons — Episode 28

After finishing the meal, Yoo Sungwoon led Gio to Cheonggyecheon.

“...”

But sure enough, it was quite different from the Cheonggyecheon in Seoul that Gio remembered.

“Now, this is Cheonggyecheon.”

“It is an exceedingly natural sight.”

“Right?”

“To think flowers are blooming even though it’s winter.”

Is it insane.

‘Has Earth finally started to break down because it couldn’t endure humans anymore.’

Fortunately, Yoo Sungwoon added an explanation.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but they just took separate measures and made it like a greenhouse.”

“What measures?”

“There’s a department in the city that’s in charge of urban landscaping.

When they build the city, they make sure a certain amount of plants remain.”

“So they make it a greenhouse even in winter, like this?”

“That’s right, look.

The air is extremely mild, isn’t it?”

Yoo Sungwoon waved his hand through the air and pointed at Cheonggyecheon.

“It has magical processing, so anyone can enter except Grade 5 citizens that include criminals, or threatening monsters.

It’s a truly greenhouse-like system—blocking the cold winter air and letting only sunlight pass through.”

“...”

“Wasn’t it pretty warm even in front of our company?

In the case of places near companies with money, or public places where people gather often, they’ve got this kind of magic processing.

In the former case, the company owner installs it privately, and in the latter case, the government funds and installs it...”

Turning over Yoo Sungwoon’s words, Gio asked,

“When you say ‘threatening monsters’... can non-threatening monsters enter?”

“Ah...”

After thinking for a moment, Yoo Sungwoon nodded.

“I suppose they have no choice.

Even if they’re monsters, they’re already part of Earth’s ecosystem and play a role in nature’s cycle, so you can’t just reject them outright.”

At those words, Gio could tell monsters were being treated half like stray cats or feral pigeons.

“So monsters aren’t something you only see when a dungeon erupts.”

“Hm?

Ah, well, no matter what, humans aren’t competent enough to go that far.”

Yoo Sungwoon continued his explanation.

“When I was a kid, there were a lot of people insisting we had to exterminate all monsters.

But no matter how many hunters there are, there aren’t enough to protect all humanity, and even if there’s an extremely strong hunter, having that person chase down and handle every single monster is inhumane.”

He shrugged.

“More than anything, if a hunter that strong causes a terror incident from stress, how would you handle it?

And it’s the same even if they aren’t a strong hunter.

Hunters are people too—how could they do nothing but work?”

“I see.”

“I heard that most of the native monsters settled on Earth are because they couldn’t be dealt with in the early days of the Great Catastrophe.”

“In the beginning?”

“Back then, hunters were much weaker than now, the system was flimsy, and there were few people with pursuit skills, so it’s only natural.”

“Then the monsters that were left behind because they couldn’t be killed then...”

“They became part of Earth.”

As he said that, Yoo Sungwoon flicked his eyes toward the stream where clear water was flowing.

“Like that one.”

Pru-ruruk—.

In the middle of the stream, a round bird was preening its feathers.

“That one’s a monster, too.”

“...”

It was certainly a bird Gio didn’t know.

But the system knew.

Cotton Puff Bird

It was named by Koreans because it resembles a puff of cotton.

Though it has a spherical form in which wings and torso, head and neck are not distinguished, this is merely due to its fluffed feathers; its actual build is structured similarly to an ordinary bird.

If you boil Cotton Puff Bird eggs and then draw out the thread, you can make bandages.

“...”

A silkworm cocoon?

‘It looks almost like a ball.’

Anyway, Gio accepted it.

“So the Cotton Puff Bird isn’t threatening.”

“...You know that thing?”

“I just learned.”

According to what the system explained, it was almost like a silkworm cocoon in the shape of a bird, and watching slightly large cotton puffs preen their feathers in the stream made his mind feel calm.

Yoo Sungwoon, who had been staring at Gio, soon continued.

“...Mm, yeah, those kinds.

The ones that are numerous and small, and judged not to have a major negative effect on humans or the ecosystem—most of them have settled in as Earth’s native monsters.”

“It is cute.”

“It doesn’t look cute at all, but you like things like that?”

“If it’s small and round, doesn’t it look astonishingly harmless?”

“Somehow your waterfowl was round like that too...”

Yoo Sungwoon laughed hollowly.

“Even so, we leave the current native monsters alone because they’ve already entered the cycle, but the recently introduced invasive species are all being dealt with.

To begin with, monsters as a whole really hate Earthlings.”

“Is that so?”

“Usually, yes.

Even if they aren’t hostile, they can still be a sufficient threat to humans.

The native monsters that remain now are ones that have already passed safety inspections by the Association and are managed at the government level.”

Yoo Sungwoon pointed at the Cotton Puff Bird once more.

“Those guys too—maybe they adapted after staying on Earth for a long time—their hostility toward humans has eased to the level of ordinary wild animals.

They say that at the start of the Great Catastrophe, they were monsters dangerous enough to eat human flesh, but now they’re about as harmless as pigeons.”

“Ah-ha.”

“As monsters, it’s illegal to touch them or raise them privately... but it means coexistence is possible.

Since dungeons and Earth are inseparable, it seems they judged that this would be better than unconditional rejection.”

Coexistence with monsters—without him noticing, Earthlings seemed to have gotten quite tough.

“That’s enough explanation, and shall we walk around a bit?

The water quality is thoroughly managed, so there won’t be anything harmful.

The monsters and animals here are all on the harmless side, too.”

“...”

Gio, who had been looking at the clear, gently rippling stream, soon moved his feet.

‘Clear like liquid glass.’

Up close, the stream was even more beautiful as the sunlight shattered across it.

Weather mild like spring, large trees and vines filling the place like a vast greenhouse, and flowers.

Pastel-toned butterflies perched on petals, and a squirrel-like creature gnawed at fruit on a tree.

Why were sparrow-like birds pecking at the tree’s flowers?

It could be for fun, or it could be to eat the nectar inside the flowers.

“...If you change the seasons at people’s whim like this, is there no problem at all for the ecosystem?”

“There was a time when people talked a lot about that, but I heard they’ve adjusted everything somehow now.

More than anything, there are many cases where they deliberately create seasons so that Earth’s original animals won’t go extinct because of monsters.”

“I see.”

In many ways, it’s different from the time Gio lived.

“If it’s okay, try dipping your feet in.”

“May I do that?”

“There are rules like don’t pick the fruit or pull out the flowers, but there isn’t really any regulation about that.

In summer, when there are lots of people, plenty come here and enjoy playing in the water.”

“For something like that, there’s no one here today.”

“During peak working hours, and it’s neither vacation nor a holiday—who’s going to play in the water.

And in winter, there are many people who don’t really want to get their body wet.”

“Mr. Yoo Sungwoon is right.”

Gio took off his dress shoes and socks, and just like that—

He dipped his feet into the running water.

“...”

It was cool.

‘And soft.’

It smells sweet.

He couldn’t tell if it was the scent of flowers, the scent of trees, or the scent given off by monsters settled in this water.

Or perhaps, unlike the past water that had been colorless and odorless, the stream water itself had evolved.

But the sight of pebbles rolling along in the water like a summer valley...

“...”

Tiny life forms, moving in small, small motions.

Made Giovanni glad.

“...It is pretty water.”

His black eyes held the color of the water.

“Clear, and deep.”

“...”

“It’s deeper than I thought.”

“...”

“Why does it smell like the sea here?”

Yoo Sungwoon sensed some kind of change.

“...Gio?”

“It smells like the sea.

A little fishy like the surface of iron, cool like pine needles, and like a fierce wind that scatters sand...”

“Gio.”

“It resembles that place.”

A gentle, yet emotionless voice.

“The color of the sea.”

In that moment.

“...”

“The color of a mermaid.”

Without a word, all sorts of aquatic creatures gathered at Giovanni’s feet.

“Cared for by the deep sea...”

Before he knew it, his feet had turned into transparent waterlight...

“—Gio.”

“...”

The voice of a ‘friend.’

He blinked twice.

“...Yes.”

“...You...”

“Did you call for me?”

Gio turned to look at Yoo Sungwoon.

“...”

“...”

“...Seo Gio, right?”

“That’s right.”

He nodded.

“My name is Gio.”

Yoo Sungwoon’s face twisted strangely.

* * *

A little time later, in front of the hotel room.

Yoo Sungwoon handed Gio a card key that said ‘Room 4501.’

“Here, this is yours.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll be in the room right next door, so call me if you need anything.”

“Yes.”

“Dinner is reserved for 6:30... so we can just meet at 6.”

Gio asked him,

“What is the dinner menu?”

“French.

It’s a restaurant with a fixed course, so we just go and eat.”

“I understand.”

“Then get some good rest.”

And then Yoo Sungwoon, who went into his room alone—

“...”

Was breaking out in a cold sweat.

“...Clearly, earlier...”

When they were at Cheonggyecheon.

“...That wasn’t ‘Gio.’”

Something changed.

Whether he is conscious of being in Korea, normally Gio introduced himself as ‘Seo Gio.’

Even though Yoo Sungwoon had pointed that out, at Cheonggyecheon, he defined himself as ‘Gio.’

‘Then what exactly was the change that happened?’

Yoo Sungwoon still remembered the black cloak at Cheonggyecheon.

It began the moment Gio’s bare feet touched the water of the stream.

An indescribable sense of wrongness came over him, something strangely rippled, and Gio’s eyes, which had been an ordinary black all along, changed into the color of the sea.

When Yoo Sungwoon spoke to him after clearly recognizing that change, the Gio who formed a slow smile felt as if his very personality had changed.

‘What color was his hair...?

Was it silver?

Or platinum blond?

It was covered by the hood, so I couldn’t confirm well.’

It began to slowly dye here and there, and soon his body transformed to the point you couldn’t distinguish between water and foot.

The shape remained the same, but that was clearly not a human foot, but water’s.

Even when he saw minnows naturally climbing up that transparent ankle, Yoo Sungwoon couldn’t hold back from calling Gio.

That was—

“...”

Not human.

It didn’t seem alive, but he could tell it wasn’t dead, either.

It did not breathe, yet it held life.

The sight of what had been a human you could touch and converse with just minutes ago transforming into something that was not that, but something more... close to nature, was not something you could endure with a clear mind.

“...Haa...”

How stupid.

‘Did I let my guard down because his rank had dropped.’

An existence of the Origin could never become human.

Especially if it was an existence like Gio that couldn’t even be defined as a monster.

‘No matter how closely it is made to resemble a human, it can never become an existence like us.’

It was only that Gio was too human-like and kind, so he couldn’t stay on guard.

“I need to get a grip.”

At this rate, I’ll be stripped of my qualification as a gardener.

“...Well, still, it went far more smoothly than I expected.”

He tried letting out a breath for no reason.

Yoo Sungwoon tossed a bag of basic necessities onto the bed and sat beside it himself.

Then he reviewed everything from the start of today to just now.

“...”

There was nothing that would become a problem.

‘...There were a few awkward points, but as expected, perhaps thanks to having human memories, Gio is also skilled with the rules of human society.

It’s a level that can’t be compared to other monsters.’

With an ordinary monster, no matter how high its intelligence is, it wouldn’t understand why it needs to pay a set price to obtain something.

‘In fact, that’s what’s normal.

When humans watch an ant nest, do they consider the ants’ circumstances while digging it up?’

It was the same logic.

From a monster’s standpoint, if there were meals or luxuries lying around openly, they could just take them.

If it didn’t exist, that would be one thing, but if it existed, there was no need to refrain from taking it and go back.

That was their natural daily life and their rule.

So from Gio’s standpoint, Yoo Sungwoon’s behavior of paying money to receive a meal would have been hard to understand.

“Still, seeing that he let it pass without trouble, is he trying in his own way to imitate being human...”

Of course, if you examined it strictly, there were still many immature points even for that.

“The way he’s so curious, you can tell at a glance.”

Things a human would already know, or understand and move past just by reading the room.

Gio asked Yoo Sungwoon about each and every one of those.

What is this, what is that, can I have this, how was that made...

“It’s hard to call Gio a monster, but in this respect, he’s definitely similar to humanoid monsters too.”

They always had curiosity about human items and rules.

“...Mm, could that also be one of the points where he’s too light to be human.”

His rank had been lowered to almost human level, but it didn’t seem his body itself had become completely human.

On the way to the hotel, Gio had almost been blown away by the wind.

‘Even if it was only a momentary float, with that height and build, it’s unbelievable.’

Even originally, Gio was so light that you couldn’t hear his footsteps.

Today, he’d thought he’d become heavier, about as heavy as a human, but it seemed that was only because the dress shoes and clothes added weight—he still seemed excessively light for a human.

“...”

Recalling Gio almost being blown away, even though the wind had been a bit strong...

Honestly, it was chilling.

“...He really isn’t human.”

Gio was not human.

‘His usual light weight, and at Cheonggyecheon too.’

A human couldn’t be that light.

There is the weight of the clothes you wear, and the weight of organs and bones, and the weight of blood circulating inside.

A human cannot be so soundless like a leaf that has been casually dropped.

And small minnows couldn’t climb up inside that body.

“...”

The sight of pale skin slowly turning into transparent water just because his feet touched water.

The sight of fish and air bubbles burrowing into it was a moment so mysterious and bizarre that it was hard for the brain to process.

“But that isn’t even a monster...”

Nature imitating humans.

“...”

That would be the more accurate expression.

“...It’s scary.”

Existences of the Origin are, of course, classified as self-aware nature, but for some reason, Gio seemed different even from that, and it stirred a baseless fear.

It felt like receiving the favor of an existence that should not exist.

* * *

At that time, Gio.

“45th floor.”

“Ggururuk!”

Together with Honey, whom he had secretly smuggled in, he was enjoying the top floor of a five-star hotel.

That’s right, he wasn’t thinking about anything at all.

Fantasy, modern,