Chapter 66

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons — Episode 66

That the Cha family’s situation had ended up like this was, perhaps, only natural.

‘Of all things, a virtual dungeon where you don’t get a choice about participating.’

Hiding under a desk while shielding his two younger siblings, Cha Eunhyuk’s face twisted with disillusionment toward the world.

‘Of the people left, I’m the only one who’s even remotely an adult, but I’m not a hunter, and Cha Ara this flower-pig is obviously going to be useless.

But it’s not like I can ask the remaining preliminary priests to save us either...’

They didn’t know what the condition was this time, but a virtual dungeon forcibly drags in everyone who meets the condition.

Cases where all participants were wiped out were common when, like now, there were no proper hunters.

“...”

“...”

Cha Eunhyuk and Cha Ara, sweating coldly, exchanged looks in silence.

Cha Eunhyuk nodded.

‘You’re the only hunter here.’

‘Ah, I’m fucked.’

‘That’s how it is.’

But there was nothing they could do.

Why do you think they call them “preliminary” priests.

The child priests here were no different from civilians, not like hunters.

Which meant the only hunter in this pupil was Cha Ara.

After confirming there were no monsters nearby, Cha Eunhyuk whispered in a faint voice that wouldn’t carry far.

“Hey, F-rank porter.”

“Fuck, yes, sir.”

“Isn’t there some kind of way to handle this?

The kind of thing hunters learn...”

“I think this is the best we can do right now.”

At the center, they advise that if the situation is very bad, you shouldn’t clump together in one place.

That way, even if the worst happens, you won’t get wiped out all at once, and survival rates go up if you’re spread out here and there.

“...Isn’t that just a bait tactic...”

“Anyway, objectively, it’s the method with the highest survival rate.”

“True, but.”

It felt dogshit.

‘It’s telling us to scatter while praying other people get hit instead of me.’

It didn’t sit well with the Cha family, whose sucker blood ran thick, but that didn’t mean they would move recklessly.

With no ability, the only way to save people was to become bait yourself.

“...”

Feeling again just how utterly dogshit this situation was, Cha Ara shoved the youngest, hiding behind her back, deeper inside.

“Hey, Cha Isol.

Go in more.

More.”

“There’s nowhere left to go...”

“You’re small and you’re whining—hurry up and scrunch in.”

“Nngh...”

“Don’t make noise.”

The place they were hiding was beneath one of the stainless-steel desks installed at regular intervals throughout the pupil.

Maybe because there were quite a lot of them installed, the preliminary priests who were still alive until now also seemed to be hiding under desks just like them.

Even if you hide like this, you don’t know how long you can avoid being found by monsters that roam freely...

‘Still, while I or Oppa make a scene, at least Cha Isol will be safe.’

The youngest, so tiny there wasn’t even anything to eat, would die instantly the moment he got bitten.

It was a selfish thought, but it was an unavoidable wish that her own sibling would live longer than other kids.

“Noona...”

“Ah, stop trying to be cute, seriously.”

“What, I’m not trying to be cute, I’m wronged.”

“Tsk.”

At the outermost edge under the desk, Cha Eunhyuk glanced at his bickering siblings as if dumbfounded.

‘Are these really that shameless.’

In truth, it wasn’t that they lacked tension; he already knew they were so tense they were pretending to be fine, instead.

Cha Eunhyuk, face stiff, sweating coldly, looked around.

A monster was approaching, making a squelching sound.

“...”

“Hun-hungry... hungry... hu, hu...”

“...”

Did some hungry ghost die without getting fed?

‘So this is why they say you need to set out ritual tables.

If we die here, it’s all because the world got so harsh it won’t even set out a single ritual table...’

It was nonsense, but anyway, engraving their ancestors’ wisdom in his heart, Cha Eunhyuk pressed his siblings down hard behind him.

Even if the youngest, already crammed into the very end, had nowhere further to go, apparently Cha Ara did, because he heard a rustling sound as she got squashed.

It was admirable that even though she must have heard the monster approaching, she didn’t make a sound.

“Hungry?

Hungry.

Hun.

Hun, hun, hungry.

I’m hungry... I’m...”

“...”

The monster, which they still hadn’t even seen clearly, came right up close.

Thanks to that, Cha Eunhyuk got to see the wet legs of a monster he had never wanted to see, to his heart’s content.

‘Is it my time to die.’

At the very least, I’ll get the flower-pig and the youngest out alive.

Remember me, the man who baked the cheapest, tastiest bungeoppang in the Republic of Korea.

Just as he steeled his heart, it happened.

“—You worms!!!”

Fwaaaash!!!

The monsters burned, one by one, turning to ash.

“H-huh...?”

It happened so fast it almost felt unreal.

Instead of squelching sounds, he heard the dry sound of ash pattering down, and the desolation of the pupil was forcibly swallowed by the heat of fire.

“...”

“...”

Startled, the Cha family turned toward the pupil’s entrance they hadn’t even known existed.

“Worms...??”

“Worms...”

“Ah, wait.”

Only then did Cha Eunhyuk realize who the owner of that booming “you worms” voice was.

“...Priest Kang Seodam?”

The priest with long, wavy blond hair and pale green eyes that stood out sharply—Kang Seodam—was panting in a disheveled state.

Cha Eunhyuk’s gaze met Kang Seodam’s face, veins bulging as if he was furious, and then the still-sweating Cha Eunhyuk.

It felt like coming face-to-face with a taboo you weren’t supposed to see.

“...”

“...”

Kang Seodam, returning from a demon’s face to a priest’s face, asked in a neat tone,

“Are you alright?”

“No, just now you said worms...”

“Worms are worms. What else would I call them?”

“Wow.”

“I apologize for the fact that you heard my cursing all of a sudden, though you must have been frightened.”

If he hadn’t heard that clearly accented “you worms,” he might have been moved purely by this kind response; Priest Kang Seodam continued calmly.

“I too was dragged into a virtual dungeon out of nowhere, and I’ve been out of my mind in various ways, but still, it pleases me that many survivors seem to remain.”

Perhaps he’d been through quite a lot, because Priest Kang Seodam’s once-clean robes were now in tatters as he looked around.

Only then did Cha Eunhyuk also look around the pupil, but whatever Kang Seodam had done a moment ago, not a single monster remained.

“Mm.”

With his usual cold, expressionless face, Kang Seodam quietly drew the sign of the cross.

“The Goddess has watched over us.”

“...”

It was you who watched over us.

‘Is it that among hunters, aside from our flower-pig, no one is sane.’

A priest capable of overseeing an initiation ceremony had to be at least a B-rank hunter.

Seeing how he burned every monster in the pupil to ash in an instant, he looked more like A-rank or quasi–S-rank, and thanks to that, Cha Eunhyuk also felt a little at ease.

Since he had no strengths beyond being physically sturdy, even if he died, he felt reassured that he’d found someone strong enough to entrust his siblings’ safety to.

‘...Thank goodness.’

Cha Eunhyuk let out a long breath and wiped his face.

He could finally breathe.

“P-priest...”

“Hwaaang...”

“Priest Kang Seodam...!”

Only then did the preliminary priests hiding here and there crawl out.

“Yes, Priest Kang Seodam is here.

If there are surviving brothers and sisters, gather by my side.”

As if used to survivors clinging tearfully, Priest Kang Seodam skillfully organized the situation.

He added a word while looking at Cha Eunhyuk and Cha Ara.

“The guardians of Priest Cha Isol over there as well.”

“Ah, yes...”

Drawn by the stable voice, hard to find in a dungeon, all the survivors in the pupil gathered before Priest Kang Seodam, but the number wasn’t very large.

Most had been bitten to death by monsters, or else had eaten each other afterward.

“...”

As if holding back a heavy sigh, Priest Kang Seodam spoke with a grimace.

“I apologize for having made you endure such an event at an event I hosted.”

“Ah, no.

It was an accident, and...”

“Preventing such accidents beforehand is also my role.

I will provide official compensation for damages as soon as the situation is sorted out.”

After bowing his head to express apology, the priest continued.

“I will set up a barrier, so survivors, enter it and rest.

I will recover the remains of the others.”

“...I will help as well.”

At Cha Eunhyuk’s words, Cha Ara raised her hand.

“Ah, then I’ll... too...”

“If you insist, I will accept only Hunter Cha Ara’s help.”

Priest Kang Seodam looked back at Cha Eunhyuk.

After thinking briefly, he spoke.

“I appreciate your 마음, Guardian Cha Eunhyuk, but these are not tasks to leave to a civilian—and more than anything, you are the only adult left, Mr. Cha Eunhyuk.”

“Ah...”

“Please soothe the younger brothers and sisters so they are not further frightened.

For extending a hand of help even in a difficult situation, I will repay you later in the name of the sun.”

As they approached corpses that had turned into ash by becoming monsters and then being reduced to ash by the sun’s light, Cha Ara asked,

“B-but you know all our names...?

Is that normal?”

“This is an event I hosted. I must not be negligent in my responsibility.

I remember the names of everyone who officially participated after putting their names on the roster.”

“Woooow...”

After meeting nothing but dogshit hunters for so long, it was bizarre how unfamiliar a responsible person like this felt.

‘If I’d only met hunters like this, I wouldn’t have been abandoned in that dogshit cave, fuck.’

Feeling reassured for no reason, Cha Ara kept talking even while collecting the bodies that felt light as if she’d just come back from a crematorium.

“But it feels like it’s been a long time since we got dragged into the dungeon and I saw you again—where have you been until now?”

“I apologize.”

“Ah, no, I’m not saying you should’ve come sooner or anything...”

Fuck, talk.

‘Think before you talk.’

Cursing her own intelligence, Cha Ara kept stammering as she continued.

“This pupil itself is pretty wide, and a lot of people got dragged in, so we thought this was everyone who got pulled in.”

“...I was alone in a different pupil from this one.”

After drawing the sign of the cross over the ashen remains and granting a blessing of rest, Priest Kang Seodam replied.

“There were many monsters, their strength was considerable, and the escape gimmick was complex, so it took time.”

“Alone in a place like that...?”

“If you think about it, it seems the people gathered at the initiation ceremony have been scattered randomly.”

“...Huh?

Ah, then...”

“It didn’t seem like there was no basis at all.”

Wiping the blood on his forehead, Priest Kang Seodam continued.

“As the most threatening force in the dungeon, I was dropped alone in a place crawling with monsters.

On the other hand, in this pupil, all the preliminary priests have gathered.”

“All?

You already confirmed that in the meantime?”

“The brothers and sisters under my charge—I remembered their faces.”

“...Huh?

No, but as far as I remember, clearly...”

“Yes, I understand what you find strange.”

Kang Seodam swung a wand as long as his own height and bestowed a blessing over the entire pupil.

The remains that had taken the shape of ash soon returned to the full shape of a person.

“...”

After showing a small miracle with the power of the sun, Priest Kang Seodam spoke.

“...Brother Eunha is not to be found.”

Among the place where all preliminary priests had gathered, only that one boy could not be found.

“I did not find the corpse of a preliminary priest here, so I believe he is likely elsewhere.”

“...”

“Why he alone was separated can be learned in time.

Hunter Cha Ara, do you still have stamina?

By what I can see, you don’t seem to be injured, but is there anything abnormal?”

“Ah, no, there isn’t.”

“Then we will move.

Because this was the pupil closest to where I was dropped, I came here, but there will likely be survivors elsewhere as well.

There weren’t many hunters attending this event, so if we don’t respond in time, it will become dangerous.”

“The other kids and my oppa...”

At Cha Ara’s words, Kang Seodam checked the survivors near the barrier and nodded.

“We cannot leave them here, so we must take them along.

If the distance grows too far, it becomes hard to maintain, and there is also a time limit.

It would have been better if there were a more skilled priest, but I am not a specialist in barriers.”

“You definitely didn’t seem like a protection specialist either...”

The expression on Priest Kang Seodam’s face, who had turned every monster to ash with a single swing of the wand, truly looked like a demon clawing his way up from hell.

With that impression, it would have been stranger if protection or healing were his specialty.

Without adding further comment, Kang Seodam nodded.

“As for the remains, I have collected them and bestowed blessings, so they should not be disturbed further or rot.”

“Then what do we do now...”

“Fortunately, I have a subspace skill.

I will store them here, so I believe there will be no great issue with later recovery.”

“Yes, yes.”

“If we delay any longer, we don’t know what will happen, so Hunter Cha Ara, please help move the preliminary priests.”

“Ah, understood.”

“Hoo...”

Wiping a face smeared with blood, Kang Seodam looked around.

‘...Could it be the black god’s mischief, the one I saw at the initiation ceremony?’

That man who had pulled down a black cloak over himself.

He certainly felt divine, and even if he wasn’t a monster belonging to this dungeon, if he was a god, he could open a dungeon arbitrarily.

In that case, even for an evil god, it would mean he had quite strong authority, and since the aura he’d felt was close to death, suspicion briefly rose.

‘...No, but the Goddess cast a favorable gaze upon that being.

He seemed to have high understanding of humans, and gentle in building relationships—there’s no way such a god would suddenly carry out a massacre like this.’

Rather, what was suspicious was Eunha, that blue-haired preliminary priest.

“...”

Even if he felt a cold aura, he’d thought, ‘Maybe he’s a child hoping to serve a god that holds chill,’ but now that things had come to this, he had no choice but to suspect.

‘The chill I felt from Eunha-gun and this chill filled with deep-sea energy are extremely similar.

If it’s so obvious even I can recognize it at a glance, then Eunha-gun also had no intention of hiding his identity even after causing the incident.’

Either he planned to kill everyone here anyway, or he planned to stop by Earth once and leave.

‘In this case, it even seems like both.’

It was a fairly dangerous dungeon...

Just as he worried about the situation to come and looked around—

“...?”

The air changed.

‘...It’s the positive kind.’

Unlike the earlier air, as if it was desperate to kill anyone, an oddly warm warmth subtly spread through the entire dungeon.

“Just a moment.”

Leaving the survivors to Cha Ara, Kang Seodam stepped into the corridor.

Not long after he started to scan the area, he saw something beyond the corridor that resembled a shrine sunken into the deep sea.

“...”

“...”

A man in a pitch-black cloak pulled back his hood.

‘...Ah.’

From within that deep shadow that felt like there was nothing there, platinum blond hair resembling sunlight was revealed.

“...”

“Brother Kang Seodam.”

It was ‘Seo Gio,’ the god presumed to be favorable toward humans.

“I was lost because the shrine was wider than I expected, and I’m glad to meet a child of the sun like this.”

“...”

“Do you happen to know where the other survivors are?

You look injured—if I can help you, I would like to.”

“...”

“Brother Kang Seodam?”

“Excuse me.”

To learn it like this after wondering what line of god he might be.

‘So there was a reason the Goddess cast her gaze upon him.

The same line, was it...’

Given the strangely quiet atmosphere, it didn’t seem to be an entirely identical line, but in any case, reassured by the familiar sunlight, Kang Seodam thought,

‘It was an awkward situation to ask for help, but it seems he already worked a miracle even before I could ask.’

That the dungeon had become gentle—Seo Gio must have played a big role.

To call it a miracle is a bit much, but in any case, it wasn’t a wrong guess.

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons

Fantasy, modern,