Chapter 71

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons - Episode 71

Rewinding time a bit, after Gio left ‘the Temple of the Deep Sea’ and returned to the cabin.

“I knew that compared to the Earth I remember from thirty years ago, the Earth of today is quite a dangerous place, but...”

“Gurur...”

“I never imagined that a terror incident—if you can call it that—would break out at such a huge religious event.

It was the first terror incident I ever experienced in my life.”

Gio was steadying his mind.

“What a scary world.

At this bright young age of twenty-nine, I almost went to be with my family already.”

Since he had already enjoyed a miracle beyond miracles—having merged with the Origin with the body of a mere human—he probably wouldn’t be able to die easily, but since he himself truly didn’t know any of that, let’s set it aside.

It was shocking enough that the student Eunha he met at the initiation ceremony and the Iser from Giovanni’s memories were the same person, but on top of that, that kid had led this terror incident.

“...”

Giovanni was extremely unsettled.

“He wasn’t originally like that—why did he become that way?”

“...”

“...If I had to find the cause, I guess it’s my fault?”

“Gguru.”

“O Sun.”

Yeah, honestly, dying like that was a bit too much.

Giovanni knew his own sin.

“Iser especially regarded me like a father.

Since he’s such a good and diligent kid, that incident would have felt far more shocking to him.

Kids who are originally kind—when they set their mind on going crooked, it becomes very scary...”

He let out a groan.

“I should at least feed him a meal.”

And these Gios didn’t have a habit of thinking too deeply. Their basic creed was “So what,” and he was a fusion of two guys like that.

If you could call him kind, then he was kind, but more than that, he knew how to make objective judgments, coldly so.

He didn’t blame himself or regret things that weren’t his responsibility.

This terror incident was the same.

It seemed like a disciple shocked by his teacher’s death had gone crooked and caused it, but even so, there was no way that could be the fault of the teacher who had already died, Giovanni.

The one who caused trouble was someone else, so there was no reason to be scared.

“I know it all, this teacher does.

It’s all because you got sensitive since you were hungry.”

“Kkuk...?”

“People only get the leeway to consider others’ circumstances when their stomachs are full in the first place.”

Gio, in a state quite far from guilt, organized the condition of his disciple, the mermaid Iser.

“Most incidents and accidents that happen as crimes committed by humans occur because the ones causing trouble aren’t mentally healthy.

Most people won’t do something like that if they have stable lives.”

If Iser—who originally couldn’t even dress fish, let alone dress people—had continued to maintain a happy and healthy mind, would this have happened?

Gio, having returned to black hair, added an admonition.

“Honey, you need to remember this too.

There are almost no people who snap when their body is healthy and their stomach is full.

If you just fill their belly, most people become gentle.”

“Kkukkung?”

“And if they still snap even after that, they’re truly weird, so filter them out.

If you fed them and they repay kindness with enmity, then either the one who fed them killed their parents, or the one who ate is the weird one.”

“Kkuk.”

“Then now the most important moment is how I should respond.

What should this pathetic teacher respond with to the disciple who ate me.

The fact that he grew into a terrorist is such a headache that I could just never see him again for the rest of my life...”

Of course, Gio couldn’t do that.

“I fed those kids so many meals—how could I see him just once and then pretend I don’t know him.”

If it’s not something he has to be responsible for, he doesn’t worry about it.

This Sun Church initiation-ceremony terror incident definitely wasn’t his fault, but there was certainly Giovanni’s responsibility in what had made the former disciple Iser grow up that way.

“Back then, that was the best, but if I hadn’t been torn apart and eaten alive, Iser probably wouldn’t have gone as crooked as this.”

“Ggururuk.”

Honey nodded. With a face that said, ‘That seems like you’re right,’ Gio had nothing more to say.

“...Anyway, so...”

As a human, an adult, and a teacher, he devised a way to meet the mermaid siblings again, hoping to do the aftercare.

“As I recall, ‘Breathing Sea’ and Iser’s dungeon felt pretty similar in atmosphere.”

But even so, it seemed like a difficult thing to find ‘the Temple of the Deep Sea’ through ‘Breathing Sea.’

In that vast world, how could he know where something would be to do something so reckless?

And it might not even be connected.

Gio nodded.

“Fortunately, I have the ability to visit other people’s dungeons at will.”

“Ggururuk?”

“Yeah, let’s try drawing.”

Hadn’t he already experienced it once with ‘Jewel Ley Lines’?

Back then, he failed at the desirable social life that had been his goal, but thanks to it, he was able to save the young student named Cha Ara.

“This is a pretty useful ability.”

If Yoo Sungwoon heard, he’d make a small jab, saying, ‘That’s not just “pretty useful,”’ but Gio was a shut-in loner.

“I can even roast sweet potatoes...

If you put a little butter and salt on roasted sweet potatoes and drizzle honey over them, it’s really delicious.”

“Ggurururuk!!”

“It’s similar to honey sweet potato stir-fry, but it’s a bit more moist and soft.

Ah, and if you add a little whipped cream on top, that’s really fantastic...”

There was no way a lonely young man shut up in a cabin with no internet would know such common knowledge.

To him, the power to draw was no different from a meal truck that made his stomach full.

Gio went to find his father.

“Father.”

“Kkuu.”

At some point, the teddy bear ver. sun god had begun squatting in the cabin.

“Looks like you’ve been playing with Dana.”

“Kkuku...”

“I’m glad you look well.”

The jeweled cat, Anti-cat Dana, whom he’d brought back from ‘Jewel Ley Lines’ last time, had a cold body.

So he’d thought it might match well with the teddy bear imbued with the warmth of the sun, and it seemed to have very good compatibility.

“Not to change the subject, but I’m going to try meeting Iser again.”

“Kkuuoo.”

“Thank you for cheering me on.

I’m thinking of drawing and making a passage, but it seems it will take quite a long time in the process, so...”

“Kkuku.”

“Thank you for your consideration.

I left snacks in the storage, so please eat as you like.”

Even this Seoul trip—hadn’t he said, ‘Hehe, I’ll just watch the event and go straight home,’ and yet how much time had he spent in the temple?

Preparing for a similar situation to happen again, Gio faithfully made every preparation so the cabin could remain harmonious even without him.

“...”

Then Gio, seated in the studio, blinked about twice.

He muttered.

“...Come to think of it, that temple, maybe...”

For some reason, the ‘Temple of the Deep Sea’ Gio saw was familiar.

“Was it where I died?”

“Gguruk.”

“I don’t remember that part clearly.”

Assimilation rate 94.5%

“...”

Even so, he clearly remembered what the dungeon looked like.

“Let’s draw it.”

Gio began drawing ‘the Temple of the Deep Sea.’

White pillars holding sanctity and a lofty ceiling, and a laboratory that wasn’t wholly alien.

Countless monsters roaming everywhere, and air rippling with water-scales...

“...”

Gio was immersed in the painting.

* * *

Inside the storage where completed works were covered with black cloth.

“...”

Holding Anti-cat Dana in his arms, the sun god, seated in the middle of the storage, lifted his head and turned toward one side where a cold light was shining.

“...Kkuu.”

“?”

“Kkuku...”

‘Breathing Sea,’ which could be called the sun god’s homeland, was resonating.

“Kku.”

That this story might come to an end.

The sun submerged in the sea prayed earnestly.

* * *

“...”

With his black cloak pulled down low, Gio was in ‘the Temple of the Deep Sea.’

“Oh.”

So it works.

“Just like when I went to ‘Jewel Ley Lines,’ I felt it then too, but it really is a convenient means of travel.”

“Ggururuk.”

“Shall we look around a bit.”

Perhaps because the place itself was so wide, he didn’t feel an urgent need to find Iser right away.

Strictly speaking, he had broken in without permission, so Gio decided to be more cautious and look around first.

He was still barefoot, since he’d come right after drawing in the studio, but it wasn’t that cold either.

The seawater shallowly spread over the floor made a pleasant splashing sound.

“...”

Giovanni, who had become a ruffian who entered his neatly kept disciple’s home without permission, felt a moment of self-loathing.

“Should I buy a phone again.”

“Kung...”

“Yeah, there won’t be any signal.”

Because of the portrait’s nature, it couldn’t be helped, but between what happened at the collector guild’s gallery and this, it seemed Gio was fated to have no choice but to adapt to trespassing.

‘No one would ever expect a living person to pop out of a portrait and come in.’

Gio humbly accepted his fate of startling countless people from now on as well.

It was a bit funny, so it was fine.

“It hasn’t changed that much from what I saw last time.”

“Ggururuk.”

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, it wasn’t very hard to find the way.

“Something... feels familiar, too.”

Giovanni’s memories played a big part.

“Because it was where I worked.”

“Kkuk?”

“Ah, right.

It was where I worked.

I remember now.”

Giovanni nodded.

“I didn’t completely settle down here, but I did receive training here.

Only after being properly recognized as a priest can you go to other regions and carry out independent activities; until then, you have to train in a temple like this.”

“Gguru.”

“Don’t worry, my memory isn’t complete, but it’s not like I forgot the route.

Before, while spending time here with other people, I remembered one thing and another...”

As Gio walked, he looked around.

“But it still feels unfamiliar.”

The temple he remembered did not have research facilities like this.

“...”

Feeling that difference in years, Giovanni’s nature thinned.

“Let’s go to the exit.”

“Ggururuk.”

Gio found the temple’s stairs and climbed up.

And then, he met someone.

“...”

“...”

“...?”

Why are you coming out there?

* * *

“...”

Back again, Association Hunter Jeong Daun continued.

“...Does it sound strange after all?”

“To be frank, yes, it’s hard to understand.”

The researcher nodded.

“However, I understand what Hunter Jeong Daun is trying to say.

Rationally, you clearly recognized that the counterpart was not human, yet instinctively, you felt the counterpart as human—this is what you mean, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then is there not a possibility it was that kind of brainwashing?”

Monsters, especially humanoid monsters, often possessed mental-type skills.

“Even if it isn’t a humanoid monster, there are many monsters that attempt to imitate humans.

If it hid its true form by wrapping its body in a cloak, and through mental-type skills made you regard it as human, then wouldn’t that be more consistent?”

“...I don’t think so.”

Recalling the memory, the hunter shook her head.

“It was a dungeon that formed in the sea right after ‘the Temple of the Deep Sea,’ which was judged to be a highly dangerous dungeon.

Back then, we didn’t know the two were connected dungeons, but we still attempted entry while guessing there would be at least some connection.”

“You’re saying you entered after preparing that thoroughly.”

“Yes. Among what we prepared were items meant to guard against brainwashing.

As you’ve already been informed, that item is A-grade and nullifies mental-type skills for up to ten people.

Of course, you could say that ‘the Black Cloak’ used an A-grade-or-higher skill, but...”

After hesitating briefly, the hunter continued.

“I’m sure. From the start, the item did not react to ‘the Black Cloak.’”

“Not even a little?”

“It doesn’t mean it simply failed to defend; it means it didn’t apply at all. ‘The Black Cloak’ never used a single mental-type skill against us.”

“And yet Hunter Jeong Daun felt the counterpart as human.

Even to the point you yourself felt dissonance, despite the counterpart being so alien, correct?”

“It was even a feeling close to certainty.

To the point I felt that denying it myself was an impossibility.”

That was truly unbelievable.

“For some reason, it reassured me like I was lying in a cozy bed, and I was shocked at myself and got goosebumps.

I felt a little reliant on it... I’m sorry, I can’t describe it in detail.”

“I understand.”

After offering brief comfort, the researcher continued with questions.

“Then let’s return to the previous topic. Rather than focusing on the identity of ‘the Black Cloak,’ please describe the entity’s behavior.

How did you first encounter it?”

“...First, it was after we entered Stage 3, ‘the Temple of the Deep Sea.’

Perhaps because it was a place that had once swallowed people in the form of a virtual dungeon, we could clearly see traces of other people too.

Of course, in the end, there was no existence you could call human, but...”

The hunter spoke as if she still felt dizzy.

“As we wandered around the temple like that, we encountered a humanoid monster.”

“In the report, it is written as ‘the mermaid Iser.’ Do you judge it to be the same existence as ‘Eunha’ reported by Sun Church Priest Kang Seodam?”

“How could it not be?

Ah, of course, the one we encountered was not in the form of a child, but took the form of an adult.

It was our first time encountering a humanoid monster, so we were all tense.”

“Indeed, since it is a humanoid monster officially witnessed for the first time in a long while.”

As if grateful for the understanding, the hunter bowed her head and continued.

“He introduced himself as a mermaid, and said his name was Iser.

Like Priest Kang Seodam described, he had pearl-colored eyes and bright blue hair.

Based on the photo of ‘Eunha’ that he reported, we judged it to be the same individual.”

With a tired face, the hunter folded her arms and leaned back into her chair.

“The dungeon’s story, as you already know...”

“In the report, it was described as ‘a monster born from the tragedy of losing a dear human in a horrific way,’ yes.”

“As with all monsters, his hatred toward humans was enormous.

But his ability to imitate humans was so outstanding that at first, we thought he might be a priest who hadn’t escaped in time.”

The way he approached with a benevolent smile unique to priests was definitely closer to human.

“Even so, he didn’t continue the imitation.

We were confused briefly, but we quickly realized he was a monster, and it seemed Iser had no intention of keeping up the act for long either... because battle began.”

“And you said you escaped safely.

Correct?”

“For some reason, the entity showed a strange reaction.

Our team judged at the time that perhaps something had gone wrong in the dungeon.

He left somewhere after having the dungeon’s other monsters deal with us.”

“But the cause of that...”

“Yes.”

As if to say your thought is correct, the hunter nodded.

“We realized the moment we saw that existence that the reason Iser fled was probably because of ‘the Black Cloak.’”

“I ask again, but how did you come to meet him?”

“...He asked our identities.”

She still remembered it vividly.

“He asked what... our names were.”

The hunter added that the chill of that moment was beyond what could be described.

A line that would make Gio say, ‘Can’t I even exchange names?’ and feel wronged, as always.

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons

Fantasy, modern,