Chapter 50

The late seniors said: never trust monsters.

‘Not wrong.’

Cha Ara was someone who acknowledged the monster distrust carved deep into the bones of the hunter world.

In fact, the word “distrust” is a bit strange too—after all, no one “trusts” a wild boar that came down from the mountains, do they?

‘Trusting them is what’s stupid.’

Before you even get into relationships like trust or whatever, hunters and monsters were a relationship that threatened each other’s right to survive by their very existence.

The monsters being referred to here mainly lived in dungeons, though there were also those that had settled on Earth in modern times.

From their size to their tastes, monsters varied in every way, but what they all had in common was that they were dangerous.

‘Because monsters basically harbor hostility toward Earth’s living creatures.’

It didn’t matter how pathetic their abilities were, or how strong.

Being unilaterally hated by something that wasn’t human—that alone desolated a person’s mind.

“...”

In that context, Cha Ara found it hard to accept her current situation.

“You should watch your step.”

“Ah, yes?”

“There’s a drop right in front of you.”

“Ah...”

“Your eyes are dim.”

No, your eyes are bright.

‘He wouldn’t understand even if I said it to a monster.’

The bird the black cloak had called “Honey” lit up the world brightly only for a moment, then returned to a faint glow and hid back inside the cloak’s hood.

Thanks to that, Cha Ara was following the black cloak by the light of the Anti-cat.

‘Maybe because the body itself is so black, I can’t see it well even up close.

If it weren’t for the Anti-cat, I might really not have been able to follow...’

Anyway, she could tell that “Seo Gio” was being considerate of her.

‘Separate from the fact that he’s a little clumsy at imitating humans...’

In the first place, what kind of person comes barefoot into a cold cave like this?

In fact, Gio had his own reason.

The reason he sometimes walked barefoot outside the portrait was because he lived at home with his shoes off.

Since he drew passages and entrances, the place he moved from was usually the cabin’s studio, and Gio, coming straight to the dungeon from there, didn’t bother to bring shoes.

‘Jewel Ley Lines’ was dark, so he figured that even if he ran into someone, surely they wouldn’t look at his feet.

“...”

But from Cha Ara’s standpoint, it felt like he was clumsily imitating a human’s outfit.

“Um, but... this ‘home’...”

“We’re almost there.”

“H-huh, really?”

With such kind treatment, Cha Ara felt a little reassured.

‘...If he answers me properly, it doesn’t seem like he has bad feelings toward me.’

An ordinary monster wouldn’t have intelligence at this level, so there was no comparison to be made.

But basically, monsters had almost no reason and the moment they saw a person they wanted to see the color of their innards.

‘I heard humanoid monsters aren’t all that different, either...’

Even if a monster shows goodwill to humans, from a human perspective it’s a calamity.

So even though she couldn’t understand this polite treatment, Cha Ara forced herself to endure her fear and followed behind the black cloak.

‘Anyway, if I stayed like that, I’d just starve to death.

Better to try something.’

As Cha Ara steeled herself, the black cloak, which had stopped in place, opened its mouth.

He pointed at the wall.

“Here.”

“...”

A frame?

‘...It’s an empty frame with nothing but a forest background—no people at all.’

If so, you could just call it a “landscape painting,” and yet, because something felt lacking, Cha Ara sensed that this wasn’t a complete work.

“...Ah.”

She soon realized it felt familiar.

“Is this maybe the one I saw last time...”

“Yes, this is where I’m staying.”

“...Ah, I see.”

A painting with a person drawn in it.

She didn’t know the details, but she understood that the black cloak’s essence was a portrait.

‘When I ran into him before, was he also in the form of a portrait?’

The black cloak held out his hand.

“Come in.”

“...”

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t scared, but.

‘...Even if I stay here, I’ll only starve to death anyway.’

She was already sick of waiting in the darkness where nothing could be seen, trembling with hunger, for new hunters who might or might not come.

Someone could call it a foolish decision, but Cha Ara didn’t want to miss the chance placed before her.

“Hoo...”

With a slightly trembling hand, she grabbed him.

“...Ah...!”

And then, for a moment, her mind went blank.

Cha Ara felt as if her body were entering into the painting.

She didn’t feel like herself, and in a hazy sensation of floating, after dozens—hundreds—of bizarre sensations brushed past, she was finally able to come to her senses.

“...”

As if that brief confusion had never happened, gentle, clear air greeted Cha Ara’s reason.

“...”

“Are you alright?”

“...Yes, yes.”

It happened in an instant.

‘...Just now, something...’

But she had definitely felt an eerie, distant vertigo as she passed through the frame.

“...”

That was fear.

Or was it loneliness.

Cha Ara, who had never even gone to school and didn’t have good expression, pondered how she should describe what she’d felt in that moment.

After quite some time, if she had to judge it, it was a creepy, strange sensation—as if she’d been left alone in the universe for a brief moment.

“...This is...”

“This is the home where I’m staying.”

The black cloak said that, then set down the cat he’d been holding in his arms, the Anti-cat.

“Honey, it’ll be your younger sibling, so take care of it.”

“Ggurururuk.”

“Good.”

The sight of him speaking to a bird made of water felt like a scene from a fairy tale.

“...”

This space was like that too.

Drawer cabinets packed tightly, filling the walls.

Paint that held nature’s scent, and a canvas hung on an easel carved from wood...

“...A studio?”

But.

‘Why is it empty?’

Not a single canvas had a drawing on it.

The air was gentle.

The scene was peaceful.

But somehow, seeing one by one the parts that were broadly similar to humans’ way of life yet slightly different, Cha Ara felt a chill without realizing it.

“Yes, it is my studio.”

“It may be an impertinent question... but there aren’t any paintings.”

“I am always painting.”

“...”

“It’s just that now they are no longer paintings.”

It was a hard-to-understand story that made her spine feel even colder.

“Completed paintings leave on their own, or else... they remain like this.”

“...It wasn’t a passage?

This—uh, was this a painting?”

“It is both a passage and a painting.”

Answering bluntly, the monster covered the framed ‘Jewel Ley Lines’—the passage Cha Ara had come through—with a black cloth.

Only then did Cha Ara realize there were several frames around the studio covered with cloth like this.

“...”

“Would you like to look around?”

“Ah, no.”

“Well, you must be hungry.”

At his words, Cha Ara blinked.

‘...Did his voice change?’

No, the voice itself wasn’t different from just now.

But...

“Are you no longer afraid of me?”

“...Pardon?

Ah, yes?”

“I asked because you seem less tense than before.”

“Well, uh, th-that, th-that is...”

“...”

Even as Cha Ara stammered, the monster tilted his head and still waited for her.

Reading consideration in that again, Cha Ara soon calmed herself and was able to continue.

“...Yes, I feel... less scared than before...”

“That is a relief.”

The black cloak’s voice was polite and quiet.

“When I go outside, people are afraid of me.

I think it is a problem that occurs because I am a portrait.”

He opened the studio door.

“The kitchen is on the first floor.”

“A kitchen...”

A word too domestic to hear in a monster’s lair.

Cha Ara felt a strange awkwardness, but mustered courage and asked,

“C-can I... go with you?”

“Of course.”

“Th-thank you...”

Cha Ara followed behind the monster, just as she had in Jewel Ley Lines.

Though the atmosphere was completely different from then.

‘...It’s very bright.’

More precisely, rather than bright, it would be correct to say gentle.

This place, filled with warm air, softly loosened her limbs, yet it also had a calm, sunken side that didn’t feel light.

“...”

Why?

‘It looks like a fairy tale.’

The wooden walls gave off a fragrant scent.

Even though the stairs were hard material, they felt soft enough to be an illusion, and inside the cabin where sunlight lay languidly, there was a fluffy atmosphere like you’d smell from well-dried bedding.

‘And yet, strangely...’

Cha Ara felt as if this place were a grave.

“...”

“You may look around.”

“...Pardon?”

“It seems it will take a little time to prepare a meal.”

The black cloak’s voice, saying so, held an aristocratic dignity.

“In the meantime, it would be good for you to rest while looking around the cabin.”

“C-can I... do that?”

“How about carrying fruit tea with you?

I will brew it for you.”

“Ah.”

Fruit tea.

‘Isn’t that really expensive?’

While she hesitated, the black cloak went into the kitchen and soon came out holding a glass.

The tea, with a mysterious color rippling like sunset, looked like a magic potion, and perhaps because of the round ice, it was cool.

“You may sit on the sofa and drink.”

“Th-thank you.”

Do all humanoid monsters act this human?

‘Well, the word “humanoid” is there, so in a way, maybe it’s only natural...’

Taking the glass, Cha Ara cautiously sat on the sofa.

“!”

It was incredibly soft.

‘Must be an expensive sofa.’

She thought so, but then realized that a monster wouldn’t buy furniture according to human rules, and felt a little awkward.

Trying to understand a monster’s rules from a human standpoint had been a stupid thing to do in the first place.

“...The scent is really nice...”

It looked more like a work of art than food, but it smelled very soft and sweet.

“...”

When she took a sip.

A gentle sweetness wrapped around her mouth.

“Whoa...”

Cha Ara’s pale cheeks faintly reddened.

‘...What, it’s insanely good.

Is fruit tea always like this...?’

Because sugar itself was so precious, Cha Ara had never properly eaten even a single fruit, let alone fruit tea.

So for a moment she wondered if all fruit tea was like this—but only briefly; sipping her tea, Cha Ara realized something tremendous.

“...”

I’m not hungry.

‘No, I’m still hungry, but...’

That terrible emptiness, like scraping her stomach with a fork, had vanished.

‘What is it?

Was it really a potion?’

Well, this was fruit tea obtained in a humanoid monster’s dwelling.

Maybe she shouldn’t compare it to humans’ ordinary fruit tea.

As she fumbled her way through understanding the situation, Cha Ara pressed her lips tightly together.

“...Mmm...”

Strangely, she felt good.

Not to the point she’d grin, but her insides felt ticklish, and she could tell her tension had eased on its own.

It felt as though the stress she’d received while working lately and the resentment toward the team members who’d abandoned her were fading a little.

“...”

She finished the fruit tea quickly.

‘...My body feels really light.’

Whether the tea had a special effect, even the injury and fatigue she’d still had were washed away.

And with her tension loosening as well, Cha Ara could look around with a bit more leisure.

“The ceiling is really high.”

She hadn’t noticed because she’d been so tense, but thinking back now, it had taken quite a while to come down the stairs.

It was only a two-story building, but the scale itself was enormous.

‘But even so, it doesn’t feel like the rich-house vibe you see in dramas—maybe because this is also a kind of dungeon.

Anyway, since a monster is living here, this would be a dungeon if it’s a dungeon...’

Cha Ara slowly blinked her eyes.

A clattering sound, and the slow wind unique to spring.

The birdsong from beyond the window was clear and ringing, like round beads vibrating.

“I’m kind of sleepy...”

She kept thinking it, but it really was like a fairy tale.

“...”

And.

It resembled a funeral.

“...Is it because it’s quiet.”

It wasn’t like sorrow or grief.

It didn’t resemble someone’s mournful wailing.

It didn’t resemble visitors calmly paying respects.

It just felt abundant and heavy—like many white chrysanthemums quietly placed before a photo of the deceased.

“Mm...”

It was hard to describe the air.

‘It isn’t uncomfortable.’

It was simply calm.

So calm it felt almost intense.

“Cha Ara-ssi.”

“...”

“Cha Ara-ssi.”

“Ah—yes, yes!!

Hunter Cha Ara is here!!”

“I know you are, so you do not need to be that tense.”

The monster that came out of the kitchen had, at some point, taken off its cloak.

“...”

“Do you have trouble moving?”

“Ah, no.”

‘Crazy.’

A person can look like that?

‘Ah, no, it’s a monster, so I shouldn’t call it a person... but still, it really is handsome.’

Why is something that belongs in a museum preparing a meal in a cabin like this.

It was so handsome it made her feel distance instead.

In many ways, it didn’t feel human.

Not knowing what Cha Ara was thinking, the monster spoke with its usual blunt expression and voice.

“I prepared a light meal, and I wondered how it would be.”

“Ah, thank you.”

And Cha Ara saw an unexpected scene.

“...”

“Do you like white rice?”

“I can’t eat it even if I want to.

I can’t eat it even if I want to, but...”

“Do you dislike any side dishes?”

“As someone being fed, I won’t complain.

But, no.

Th-that...”

“Is there a problem?”

“...Were you Korean?”

What is this seven-dish table setting?

“I introduced myself as Seo Gio.

Does that not sound like a Korean name?”

“Ah, I see.”

She’d been scared to death—she hadn’t even had room to think about whether it was a Korean name, and she also hadn’t expected a neat and gloomy face like a noble’s to lay out such a cozy meal.

‘So that’s why it was Seo Gio.’

Only now did she understand for the first time that the reason the name was three syllables was to borrow a Korean feel.

Before her were snowy white rice and all sorts of side dishes she normally couldn’t eat, yet Cha Ara felt a sense of déjà vu.

‘...Why do I feel my late grandma’s presence?’

Cha Ara’s mood turned a little subtle.

Considering the refined atmosphere of a humanoid monster named Seo Gio, it shouldn’t match at all, and yet it looked too natural, which made her feel even more dissonance.

“...”

Cha Ara suddenly realized one of her feelings.

“Please eat comfortably.”

“...Yes.”

It was very faint, and in this peaceful atmosphere it would be quite a foreign impression, but.

It was a kind of “awe.”

“Thank you.”

An emotion you could feel toward something that wasn’t human.

‘...Even though it’s ridiculous to say this after receiving such a familiar meal...’

Cha Ara suddenly lifted her head and looked into Seo Gio’s eyes.

She could see ordinary black eyes.

“...”

“Is there a problem?”

“...No.”

What she was seeing now looked quite human.

“Thank you for the meal.”

In other words, it meant it didn’t feel human at all.

Since it wasn’t fear, she could only call it awe.

Fantasy, modern,