Chapter 29

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons — Episode 29

They traveled by boat for dinner.

“This is the boat we’ll take.”

“Oh.”

Romantic youth Gio’s heart raced.

‘Traveling to the restaurant through the waterways...’

It felt like he’d come to Venice.

“It is a peculiar sight, with roads and waterways together.”

“Is it?

Well, I did hear that Korea before the Great Catastrophe hardly had any waterways.”

“Why did they appear?”

As he boarded the water taxi, Gio asked Yoo Sungwoon.

“To make waterways, you’d need a huge amount of water.”

“It’s the opposite.

They didn’t bring in water to make waterways—there was just too much water, so they made waterways to control it.”

“You mean there was that much water?”

“The water level is quite high compared to the nation’s elevation.”

To think it was at a level they couldn’t endure without making waterways.

Just how far would this hellish Korea go.

Yoo Sungwoon continued explaining.

“Humans still haven’t explored most areas, but there are so many dungeons formed under the sea, and monsters that came out of them, that...

I once heard that because the physical volume inside the sea increased, the water level rose.”

“That would take more than one or two monsters.”

Just how many, and how huge, would the monsters settled on Earth have to be for them not to endure without making waterways?

Understanding Gio’s question, Yoo Sungwoon opened his mouth.

“There are plenty of underwater monsters so big they easily surpass an entire building.”

“I see.”

“And since it’s not just one specimen, but many—many kinds, too—no matter what, the water level must have risen compared to before the Great Catastrophe.

Honestly, I heard Korea wasn’t originally a place where seawater rose this easily...”

“How do they manage the seawater that rose in the provinces?”

“As far as I know, they cut waterways so it doesn’t have a major negative effect on farming or daily life.

They made paths in various ways so the seawater’s salinity can’t push into the land, but since they don’t have the same capital as the city... I guess they can’t farm near the waterways.”

“...”

“So in areas where seawater comes in excessively, they say from the start they do fishing instead of farming.

Fish from some well-known regions are also being imported into the city.”

Even in this situation, it seemed everyone had found a way to live.

‘Humans’ adaptability really is tremendous.’

Anyway, Gio shrank back.

‘I should hole up inside the portrait.’

Now, without practical force, you couldn’t survive on romance, passion, and hope alone.

How strong would you have to become to pay rent on time and live in a world this tough?

Gio clearly couldn’t even dream of reaching that level.

“You said the restaurant itself is floating on the water, I believe.”

“Rather than floating, it’s more like a restaurant built on a small island...”

“I heard it was inside the Han River.”

As he sat in the taxi seat, Gio asked.

“Was there originally an island there?”

Even thirty-one years ago, he did know there were small islands like Nodeul Island.

But Yoo Sungwoon had said there was nothing else there and only the restaurant sat alone, so he grew curious how such a location came to be.

Yoo Sungwoon answered easily.

“Because that place was originally where a fixed-type dungeon was.”

“...A fixed-type dungeon?”

“...Ah, do you not know much about dungeons?”

Judging by his flustered face, he seemed to have assumed Gio would naturally know.

But unfortunately, reality was not so.

In the blink of an eye, Gio had become an ancestor from thirty-one years ago, and he was left behind, unable to develop with the changing era.

‘How did I, who used to inject social skills into the sprouts of Korea, end up like this.’

Kids, I miss you.

Fortunately, Yoo Sungwoon quickly returned to his usual placid expression and began explaining.

“Dungeons are generally divided into fixed-type and mobile-type.

As the name says, dungeons fixed in one place, and dungeons that move, each with their own rules.

In the case of fixed-type dungeons, sometimes they even create terrain that wasn’t originally there.”

“Then the restaurant we’re going to now was built on terrain created like that?”

“Yeah, that’s the restaurant’s theme to begin with.

The dungeon that was there was a place related to cooking, and even though he wasn’t a hunter, an ordinary chef got dragged in by chance, and the dungeon was cleared after being moved by that chef’s food... something like that.”

“Ah-ha.”

The story was tremendously moving.

“And on the site where it was cleared, a grand restaurant remained, and they say the chef who participated in the clear took the restaurant over as-is and runs it.

He’s already 92, but he’s still active on the floor.”

“92?”

“Seems long-lived for a human, right?”

Yoo Sungwoon smiled once and continued.

“Since he awakened as a chef after clearing the dungeon, he’d be less affected by age.

And there’d be support from skills or items too.

If you see him in person, he’ll look about fifty.”

“...”

“He often participates in national-level raids and takes responsibility for the team’s meals, too.

So it means his basic combat ability can’t be bad, either.

I’ve never seen it myself, but I heard his main weapon is a nail-studded baseball bat.”

“A baseball bat...”

“Unexpected, right?

I thought he’d use a kitchen knife.

But they interviewed him, asking how you could use a knife meant for cooking to slice monsters.

Looks like chefs really are different from their mindset up.”

“Oh.”

He felt like he understood the mindset, but anyway, Gio shrank back.

Humanity had grown strong.

“Do awakened ones age more slowly?”

“As far as I know, most do.

At least, if they’re C-rank hunters or above.”

“So the standard for a good hunter is divided starting from C-rank...”

“On average, and in terms of general perception, it’s like that.”

What a terrifying world.

‘Not a single thing Grandma ever said was wrong.

Always be humble and polite.’

He didn’t want to be fine one moment and then get exorcised for being a possessed portrait.

Gio thought.

‘I should plan my survival strategy well too.

If the portrait burns, I don’t know what will happen to my cabin, and just acting diligently doesn’t mean I can prevent every mishap...’

But he also didn’t want to pass as human and live on Earth again.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I was thinking that Earth is a scary place.”

“...Huh?”

It really was too scary.

“Why are you suddenly scared? You aren’t even a subjugation target.”

“That’s true.”

But conversely, it meant that if he became a subjugation target, his limbs could be torn apart.

‘I like things as they are now.’

Was there a way to keep being treated as a possessed portrait, but also avoid criticism and attacks from people?

For the sake of his comfortable survival, Gio decided to think about it.

“...”

After eating first.

“...It smells good.”

“Yeah, even though we can’t even see the restaurant.

Isn’t it interesting?”

“Is it a smell that only comes from this waterway?”

“I think I’ve heard it’s a kind of promotional strategy.”

“I understand.”

It was fascinating that a waterway could give off an intoxicating smell from far away without being unpleasant, but even more fascinating was that he could smell the scent of the sea and the scent of food separately.

‘...In the middle of a city like this, the scent of the sea...’

If he lowered his head a little, he smelled only the sea.

A scent of seawater that pricked the brain sharply.

He felt nostalgic.

“...”

Gio leaned his body closer to the water’s surface.

“Gio, that seems dangerous.”

“I liked the scent of the sea, so I was smelling it for a moment.”

Gio’s voice, sunk deep in old memories, grew gentler.

“Even though it’s a waterway connected to the Han River, it’s remarkable that it smells like the sea.”

“Well, unless it’s a mountain, in a place like this, all rivers and waterways are strongly mixed with seawater...”

“Is that so.”

Giovanni liked this kind of scent.

The scent of the sea.

“...”

The scent of a mermaid.

“...Just once...”

To the point he wanted to sink into that deep place.

It was aching.

“Gio, stop.”

“...”

“...The driver is flustered too.”

At that, Gio looked at the water taxi driver.

“...”

With a very flustered face, and as if somewhat frightened, he was looking at Gio.

“...I see.”

Gio admitted he had behaved rudely.

“I apologize. It is my first time seeing a waterway like this, so my curiosity was stirred.”

“I was worried you might get hurt—I’m not angry, so it’s fine.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

For Yoo Sungwoon it was “worry,” but the driver’s face looked closer to “fear.” Still, Gio decided to pass over it without thinking too much.

It was natural to be scared if a passenger you were carrying looked like they were about to fall into the water.

‘Like a customer suddenly opening a door and trying to jump off the highway...’

Gio successfully accepted it.

‘If it isn’t that, then I must have leaked some strange energy again.’

Like he sometimes did at Yoo Sungwoon’s company without realizing it.

Gio sat back down quietly.

He was reflecting on how he’d been distracted by the strange waterway and caused trouble.

Watching him as if observing him, Yoo Sungwoon hesitated with a face that said ‘Can I ask this,’ then carefully asked.

“Do you like the sea?”

“...Pardon?”

No?

Not particularly?

“I don’t really like it.”

“But earlier too, at Cheonggyecheon, and here in the waterway too, it seemed like you especially liked the smell of the sea.

Of course, if I was mistaken, I’m sorry.”

“There is nothing to apologize for.

I don’t dislike the sea, but I don’t like it either...”

Saying that, Gio soon changed his words.

“...Now that I think about it, that might be so.”

“Hm?”

“I think I’m ordinary, but I do like it as well.”

It sounded strange, but it wasn’t wrong. ‘Gio’ doesn’t have strong feelings about the sea, but ‘Giovanni’ does not.

So to the question of whether he likes the sea, Gio had no choice but to answer yes and no.

Since both were his own thoughts, it was hard to deny either.

But then a thought occurred to him.

“Are there mermaids here as well?”

“...Mermaids.”

Meanwhile, Yoo Sungwoon sensed the anomaly he’d felt at Cheonggyecheon once more.

‘He definitely said “here as well.”’

Gio seemed to have some connection to mermaids.

“Mm...”

After thinking briefly, Yoo Sungwoon slowly nodded.

“Sometimes that kind of monster pops out too.

Even if it isn’t strictly a monster... there are also certain beings that take on that kind of shape.”

“...”

“In a world where idol worship, legends, or myths can create real monsters, mermaid-related monsters appear here and there across Earth.”

“Is that so?”

“The story of an old writer’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ is a famous fairy tale.”

The Little Mermaid.

At the appearance of a familiar word, Gio fell into thought again. It was about Giovanni’s request.

‘Come to think of it, there was a quest related to The Little Mermaid.’

But he decided to set it aside for now.

“It seems we have almost arrived.

It is a splendid restaurant.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“It’s an even finer building than I imagined, so I’m looking forward to it.”

They say you shouldn’t worry at the table.

* * *

A luxurious restaurant that looked as if it were made by mixing ivory and marble.

It was decorated beautifully like a castle, but the structure was inefficient, with multiple rooms, stairs, and lobbies all mixed together, so much so that you could feel it wasn’t made by human hands.

But that oddity, ironically, made this restaurant’s concept more certain.

“...”

White and pink, pale green, sky blue.

Soft pastel colors scattered here and there like patchwork against a base of ivory made people feel hazy, as if they’d stepped into a dream.

It was dazzlingly beautiful.

“There’s something I couldn’t ask earlier...”

And in the meantime, Yoo Sungwoon and Gio’s party took a cream-colored table.

After sitting, Gio asked,

“You said this place was made from the remnants of a fixed-type dungeon.”

“Hm?

Yeah, that’s right.”

“Then do fixed-type dungeons usually leave terrain or buildings like this even after being cleared?

Did that dungeon leave this land and restaurant behind?”

“Ahhhh... uh, yeah.

It’s that sort of feeling.”

Perhaps thinking it would be better to resolve all questions before the main meal came out, Yoo Sungwoon explained with his usual placid smile.

“Dungeons come in many types, fixed or mobile aside.

They’re generally divided into virtual dungeons, villa dungeons, and entry dungeons.”

“There are three types?”

“Actually there are more, but those three are the representative kinds.”

Yoo Sungwoon continued as he folded his fingers one by one.

“In the case of a virtual dungeon, without a clear boundary line, it snatches up people who meet certain arbitrary conditions, and a game proceeds in a virtual world.

For example, using ten men in their thirties who stopped by a convenience store at exactly 9 p.m. as a condition, the raid proceeds on a game board built to resemble a convenience store.”

“It sounds extremely unreasonable.”

“Right, other hunters find this part extremely troublesome too.

How many hunters suitable for clearing a dungeon would there be among those men in their thirties?

Virtual dungeons appear rather rarely, but they’re hard to identify and the damage is large, so they’re one of modern people’s worries.”

Isn’t it a bit chilling that something like this is called a ‘modern person’s worry’?

Thanks to his atrophied facial muscles, Gio freely got startled without Yoo Sungwoon noticing, and Yoo Sungwoon continued explaining calmly.

“Next is a villa dungeon.

It’s when some arbitrary terrain and rules newly appear on Earth.”

“Is that the case with this restaurant?”

“You understood well.

Like you said, this restaurant building appeared as a kind of villa dungeon.

In the middle of the Han River where there was nothing, a restaurant suddenly appeared.”

Yoo Sungwoon rolled his eyes as if recalling it.

“As far as I know, it wasn’t just that only a restaurant sat on newly formed terrain.

It was an overly long restaurant with a basement deep enough to reach the riverbed.

But since the part you can see above the surface is only the restaurant, they called it ‘a restaurant floating on the water’...”

He nodded and continued.

“Like this, a villa dungeon is like an alien dimension’s villa being built on Earth out of nowhere.

Since it’s already been replaced by that terrain, it can’t be restored.

So in most cases, once a villa dungeon appears, even if you clear it, only the rules vanish and it remains as it is.

How to handle and use it becomes Earthlings’ share.”

“...”

“And last is an entry dungeon, I suppose?

This is similar to a game.

Though I do wonder what kind of game you know, and which ones...”

Wiggling his last finger, Yoo Sungwoon said,

“It’s a bit different from a virtual dungeon with no physical boundary, or a villa dungeon where a boundary exists but the line itself is vague.

Only an entry passage appears, and if you go inside, you can proceed with clearing another dimension.”

“Ah-ha...”

It certainly was like a dimensional gate you often see in games.

A gate standing alone, but if you enter, you can move to another map.

Gio completely understood.

As always, Yoo Sungwoon continued kindly.

“But cases of using dungeon remnants as a restaurant, like this place, are rare.”

“It seems unique and good, so that’s unexpected.

Why don’t they use it like this?”

“Humans are fearful creatures.”

Hyung, are you going to keep treating me like a possessed portrait?

“There could be problems if you let ordinary people in, and there aren’t many people gutsy enough to live there and use dungeon remnants, and above all, those remnants tend to be picky about people... so usually they try to demolish it somehow.”

“Picky about people?”

“If someone it doesn’t like comes in, it makes them feel chills, or something?”

“It’s like a haunted house.”

Said the possessed portrait.

“...”

That’s right—Gio was, in fact, admitting his identity inwardly.

‘Because ordinary humans don’t build a cabin inside a portrait and live there while healing.’

Gio, who had never intended to insist strongly that he was human anyway, made a slight excuse.

“...I do not make people feel chills.”

“Sure, sure, Gio is a person.

Right?”

“That is correct.”

He was so grateful for being coddled like a four-year-old cousin that he could have cried.

Fantasy, modern,