Chapter 64

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons — Episode 64

While writing something fluently with a quill carved from emerald, she soon set it down and lifted her head.

Hair that rippled black and chilly like the deep sea fell loose like waves.

She wore a smile like a savage deep sea.

“Among all the dimensions I know, the species called humans really is the most diverse.

Even the skill of using the brain varies greatly from individual to individual, and their range is broad, starting from their appearance to their emotions.”

“You truly do like humans, Sister.”

“How far do humans’ limits go?

Just when I thought this was the end, in yet another dimension, a crazy individual that surpasses that limit pops out... I can’t bring myself to stop researching.”

“Then in the end, doesn’t the species called humans have no limits?”

“In some dimensions, there are even humans who became gods.

Even so, I can’t affirm that gods are humanity’s final point, so one way or another, it’s important to gather samples, isn’t it?”

“Certainly so.”

Iser’s sister wanted to learn everything about humans.

She even directly molded a creation of the sun with a mermaid’s cold hand.

Of course, it more often departed from human form.

To mold a complete form—she too hated humans, after all.

“But it’s so strange.”

“...”

“Only one person in particular, I can’t recreate...”

Iser knew.

His sister was a genius who made the impossible possible, but only one.

Giovanni—she could neither revive him nor make a duplicate of him.

In Iser’s view, it seemed she herself was refusing.

“...”

A Giovanni that had been made could no longer be called their mentor.

“...It seems the name of this dimension is called Earth.

More precisely, it seems to be the name of the planet, though.”

Iser wore a calm smile as always.

At times, it was a benevolent smile that resembled that human named Giovanni very much, bringing longing and displeasure to both siblings at once.

“Will there be a role for me to play this time?”

“If things proceed well, probably not.

I’ll have a separate Earth seed made to play the role of opening the door, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

“I wasn’t worried.”

He gave a small laugh.

“If anything, I’d be worried about you, Sister.”

“I’m the same.”

Over her deep blue-green dress, the older sister wore an alien doctor’s coat, and her eyes curved deeply.

“Where do you think the end of humans is?”

“How could I know what even you do not know, Sister?”

“Sometimes I feel short of breath.

It’s because I’ve run too far.”

“Even if you say that, you’ll never rest, will you?”

“Curiosity can’t be helped, but still...”

Red lips parted.

“Someday, I’ll be able to stop.”

From a very young age, she had wanted to see humanity’s limits.

Now it seemed a purpose had been added to that.

“...”

“Isn’t that so?”

If she learned humanity’s limits.

Within them, surely, Giovanni would exist—the human who had been nobler than anyone...

“...Yes.”

We were silently longing for him.

“I think so too.”

To ask the world to let us see our dead mentor, only to see him again in the end—would mean he could no longer be called Giovanni after all.

That was why the siblings never spoke that name.

Because they knew that making him their purpose was a vicious contradiction.

“...”

“...”

Even so, desire welled up.

“...”

“Good morning.”

As when the sun was trapped in the deep sea, like that.

* * *

“...”

“Hey, wait...”

“Don’t come any closer.”

“Sorry, but Gio is my companion.”

“I said don’t come.”

“You’re not listening.”

Yoo Sungwoon wore an awkward smile.

He didn’t know what kind of reaction he was supposed to have in this embarrassing situation.

‘It’s not like some mother bird protecting her chick.’

Their builds were the complete opposite, but for some reason, Eunha—who had the body of about an elementary schooler—was tightly hugging the collapsed Gio.

‘With a body that small, no matter how hard you try, there’s no way you can cover him.’

It was a truly desperate 모습.

“...”

Yoo Sungwoon soon finished judging the situation as well.

‘...Judging by that kid’s overly sensitive reaction, it’s probably a situation connected to one of Gio’s personalities.’

It was already expected that around the center called ‘Gio’s Portrait,’ there would be many of his personalities across countless dimensions.

Considering that, this guy, too, who was wrapping Gio and showing it off like this, seemed to be a humanoid monster from another dimension.

‘Seeing the way his teeth are transforming, he definitely isn’t human.

Then this means that some personality of Gio and the monster in front of me know each other...’

He didn’t know whether to call this luck or misfortune.

‘If he looks like the owner of this dungeon, but isn’t attacking at all, is it luck?’

Yoo Sungwoon looked at Eunha hugging the collapsed Gio with a sour gaze.

“This doesn’t look like you intend to explain the situation.

You, what’s your name?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m displeased.

A mere human—please don’t speak to me.”

“Yeah, this is the proper reaction for a monster.

Thanks to you, I feel my sense of reality coming back.”

Monsters are, basically, beasts that hate humans, so Gio—who had always responded like a gentleman to humans—was the strange one.

‘Even the way Eunha is reacting to my words right now is quite mild, if you think about it.’

For the bewildering situation of being snatched into a virtual dungeon, wasn’t an escape route fairly visible?

Yoo Sungwoon felt hope.

“Anyway, the name Eunha is probably an alias.

What should I call you?”

“It is not an alias.”

“Then it’s your real name?”

“Borrowing Earth’s format, it was made by taking the meaning of my name...”

“That’s an alias.”

The contradictory reaction of answering diligently and faithfully even while baring his teeth was extremely interesting.

‘Doesn’t seem like it’s because his hatred for humans is low.

Then is he answering because of Gio after all?’

Yoo Sungwoon, who had once been the head of the Association’s research team, swept the other party without it being unpleasant.

Feeling such interest in a situation that puts even his own life at risk was the chronic habit of Yoo Sungwoon the gardener.

‘I don’t know what relationship Gio and this monster had built in the past, but...’

This guy has eyes too—he would know that Yoo Sungwoon and Gio were acting together on Earth.

‘Even a passerby wouldn’t find it strange; we looked close enough.’

Taking that into account, it seemed he was enduring.

‘In that case, it means this monster is watching Gio’s mood.’

In other words, it meant that in terms of relationship, Gio ranked higher than this monster.

“...Ah, I’m tired.”

He desperately wanted to clock out.

‘Time has passed and people are gradually calming down, but they still seem anxious, like they know they’ve been dragged into a dungeon.

A lot of the people I saw at the event aren’t here either...’

After looking around, Yoo Sungwoon asked.

“Did you drag everyone from the event here?”

There was no reason for him to pretend not to know at this point.

‘For a mere human, he even made fairly monster-like noises too.’

Right after causing the incident, perhaps he intended to reveal his identity; Eunha was blatantly giving off the impression that he was the owner of this place.

‘The others are too confused about being dragged here to even think of checking this side.’

But at the very least, he couldn’t fool the eyes of Yoo Sungwoon, an A-rank hunter.

The owner of this virtual dungeon—and the main culprit who suddenly dragged the people from the event here—was that blue-haired kid in front of him.

“Was the condition everyone who was inside the Sun Temple?”

“...”

“...Ugh...”

So a monster is a monster, after all.

‘That killing intent is insane.’

An aura of murder, enough to make you wonder how he’d acted like such a gentle kid on Earth.

His pearl-white eyes were so bloodshot they looked red, and just meeting his gaze was enough to exhaust Yoo Sungwoon’s mind.

He felt troubled.

‘I don’t want to mess with the temperament of someone who’s the owner of such a terrifying dungeon...’

Unfortunately, among the hunters here, there was one A-rank—Yoo Sungwoon—one C-rank man, and one woman not quite reaching C.

If Yoo Sungwoon the all-rounder had to cover everything, it wasn’t that he couldn’t, but...

‘No, I can’t.’

At this rate, everyone’s going to die.

‘Escaping alone would be possible, but I can’t leave Gio behind and do that.’

He wasn’t worrying about Gio’s safety, of course.

Yoo Sungwoon wasn’t in a position to worry about the safety of this unconscious portrait.

He simply didn’t want to see Bisabeol’s scream if he lost a work, he didn’t want to lose Gio, a special sample tied to the Origin, and finally, he was worried what kind of ridiculous disaster ‘Gio’s Portrait’ might cause while Yoo Sungwoon wasn’t watching.

‘You can’t just run away leaving a measuring-unfathomable, bizarre existence of the Origin inside this insane dungeon.

It’s like leaving a bomb installed.’

The one fortunate thing was that after confirming Gio’s face, this monster’s killing intent eased noticeably.

‘The dungeon’s unique oppression also seems a bit better...’

He had to find a way out of this dungeon, but he couldn’t disturb the owner’s mood when he’d finally calmed down.

“...”

Since it was hard to expect cooperation from a monster, Yoo Sungwoon used Gio as a weapon and said more indirectly.

“...You seem to know Gio, but do you know this?

Gio hates evil and rude existences.”

“...”

“I don’t know how you and Gio know each other, but the current Gio is like that.

If Gio had that temperament back then too, then it means you... weren’t that evil or rude at the time.”

“But right now I am evil and rude.”

The monster continued in an expressionless face that would make anyone shiver.

“I do not think this person will affirm who I am now.

Because I am not arrogant like you.”

“Uh, sure.

It seems Gio was like that back then too—since things have come to this, do you have any intention of trying to be a bit kind to humans?”

“...”

The monster, answering with silence, raised its head to face Yoo Sungwoon.

He looked into the monster’s eyes, which resembled pearls.

Those eyes had vertically slit pupils, proclaiming it as a predator, and were also jagged, like a diamond struck by sunlight.

‘Ah, damn.’

A hunter’s instinct, perhaps.

Yoo Sungwoon sensed what it meant instinctively.

‘He’s considering killing me.’

Before Gio woke up, kill everyone—so, in other words... he was clearly thinking of causing the accident first, then worrying about cleaning it up later.

‘Interesting.’

It was like earlier—now, those pearl-colored eyes glittered even more vividly.

It resembled a beast’s eyes flashing in the evening.

It seemed this monster had a habit where if it grew angry or held killing intent, its eyes shimmered like water-scales.

‘...Then on this side too.’

He couldn’t just sit and die.

‘No matter how many die, all I have to do is recover Gio from here.’

As Yoo Sungwoon gathered chill in his hand, anticipating how many would die from here on—

“...Ugh...”

“!

Gio.”

“!

Teacher!”

Teacher?

“Ah, that...”

Eunha seemed flustered, even after speaking.

It was a face that belatedly realized the current him wasn’t in a position to call Gio ‘teacher’ in any sense.

‘What the hell is this shoddiness.’

In a face that looked foolish but earnest, completely unlike the vicious one from just before, Yoo Sungwoon felt his already nonexistent trust hit rock bottom.

“G-Gio-ssi.”

“...”

“Are you alright?

You just lost consciousness...”

This monster is putting on an act?

‘...Humanoid monsters basically do put on an act toward humans, but that’s part of a scheme to make prey let its guard down so they can kill it...’

Staring at a kid’s face like a devout priest, Yoo Sungwoon felt what little energy he had drain away even further.

The killing intent that had suddenly softened completely deflated him.

Gio, wobbling as if his head hurt, raised his upper body and looked around.

“...”

“...”

“...?”

Because it was hidden by the hood he couldn’t see well, but judging by the black hair that slipped into view, the current Gio was definitely ‘Seo Gio.’

He seemed to be wondering where this was and why he had collapsed.

Eunha seemed to notice that too, and with a child’s face, asked Gio,

“Gio-ssi, this is a dungeon.

Do you remember what happened before you collapsed?”

“...Before I collapsed...”

Surprisingly, Gio nodded.

“I spoke to Eunha-student.”

“Ah...”

Eunha looked a little disappointed, yet also partly relieved.

Yoo Sungwoon roughly grasped the situation too.

‘...Looks like he got confused with personalities.’

Gio remembered the fact that he spoke to Eunha itself, but called Eunha ‘student.’

That was Seo Gio’s way, so it seemed he had the memory, but his personality was not the ‘Gio’ Eunha knew.

“...”

Gio sat holding his head for a long while.

At this extremely exceptional situation for a being whose essence was a portrait, Yoo Sungwoon asked with worry,

“...Does your head hurt?”

“...Yes.”

In a rare, dim tone, Gio answered.

“My body and mind are both dizzy.”

At those words, Yoo Sungwoon recalled the situation from when they were dragged into the dungeon.

‘...At that moment, Gio carried the high standing he showed in the portrait.’

Had the standing that had been restricted during the process of moving from dimension to dimension been released?

‘And now it’s restricted again?’

He still hadn’t even identified his true nature, so of course it was hard to interpret Gio’s condition precisely, but there was one fact Yoo Sungwoon could be sure of.

“...”

“...”

Yoo Sungwoon and Eunha’s gazes crossed.

‘...This kid, or the dungeon environment, seems to be affecting Gio’s personality...’

To be honest, it was not a welcome story for Yoo Sungwoon.

‘I don’t know what kind of connection Gio and Eunha built in the past, but...’

Because of a vicious dungeon like this, it was impossible to welcome changes in Gio’s personality—Gio, who was already a disaster itself.

‘If we mess up, people might break Gio’s rules when he’s grown sensitive and get attacked, or even if not, Gio might favor Eunha, a monster, because of old ties.

Either way, it’ll be a situation extremely unfavorable to humans.’

Eunha had surely thought something similar.

“...”

“C’mon, now?”

Eunha used that small body to burrow into Gio’s arms.

He clearly knew Gio is especially weak to small living things, and was using that.

“Eunha-gun, aren’t you going to get off?

I thought you were a proper kid, but I didn’t know you were this shameless.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I’ve never had my neck strain like this while fighting guys like you.”

“That’s rather immature of you.”

“I’m going crazy.”

Anyway, one thing was certain.

‘The longer we stay here, the closer we keep this kid... Gio’s personality changes.’

A goal had formed.

As soon as possible, he had to escape with the time bomb called Gio.

Fantasy, modern,