Chapter 77

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons — Episode 77

While eating rice cooked with vegetable stock made from various vegetables from the garden patch and plump grilled fish, Gio said,

“A ghost story?”

“Ggururuk.”

“It wasn’t bad.”

Honey had shown something like worry about the fact that a ghost story called ‘Black Cloak’ had sprung up around Gio, but Gio didn’t really mind.

It wasn’t only because his personality was easygoing by nature.

“If people see me as a ghost story, then I’ll worry a little less about being attacked too.”

That was why Gio tolerated the collector’s little scheme that wasn’t quite a scheme.

“After going back to Earth a few times, I realized this—no matter how Earth got flipped once and the environment was reorganized worldwide, a haunted portrait is still a rare existence.

Not as a joke—seriously, it wouldn’t be strange if I got dragged to a lab and tortured.”

He considered himself “an Awakened person who’s a slightly unusual case.”

Unlike ordinary hunters who touch the Origin through the system, he had fused directly with the Origin, so you couldn’t say he was completely wrong—but the problem was that the people of the world wouldn’t see it that way.

“I felt that the Republic of Korea has become even closer to hell in the 31 years I haven’t seen.

Boneless, soft chicken like me would fall into the abyss without lasting even a day.”

“Gguruk?”

“Yeah, I’m not chicken, but that’s not Dad’s point.

The problem is that a weak portrait like me would quickly get dragged into a lab full of mad scientists and experimented on.”

In that sense, the ‘Black Cloak ghost story’ wasn’t a bad thing.

“At least I won’t look like an easy mark.

And it leaves lots of room for imagination too.”

Not only did the Black Cloak side look far more combat-capable than the real Gio, but the name itself had style.

A nickname like this filled something like a man’s romance.

“More than anything, if it’s called a ghost story, then even if you can observe it, you can’t research it... it strongly feels like smoke you can’t grab.

I don’t know how it’ll be in a harsh world like today, but it should lower the odds that I’ll get attacked by dogs and cows, at least.”

“Ggu, gguruk...”

“As expected, Mr. Yoo Sungwoon.

To recognize my weakness and suggest this path—truly an all-rounder.

The kind of human I should learn from.

From now on, I should give him meals and snacks and get even closer.

And someday I’ll kidnap him.”

Gio said something that would make Yoo Sungwoon faint without batting an eye, then flaked apart fish flesh that wasn’t even castella and gave it to Dana as he continued.

“So having a ghost story about Black Cloak is something to welcome, rather.

Should I call it swagger for survival?”

He hadn’t introduced himself to the hunters he met in ‘The Country of the Deep Sea’ by saying, ‘I’m a portrait.’

“At first, I couldn’t bring myself to introduce myself by my real name, so I used portrait instead, but it worked well.”

“Ggur...”

“To survive in this eccentric world, I, too, will have to lend a hand to this ghost story.”

“Kkuk?”

“How I’ll lend a hand... I think I need to think about it a little more.”

It should be a ghost story worthy of the fame of being a haunted portrait.

“Usually haunted portraits are often hung in schools, aren’t they.”

“...?

Ggu...?”

“Right, you wouldn’t know Earth’s culture well.

Or is it that I can’t think of anything but schools because I was a teacher?”

“Ggu, ggugguggu.”

“Ah, do you have some advice for me?”

The teddy bear nodded.

Since in the world he originally lived in public education wasn’t widespread, there were few school-related ghost stories, but there were apparently a few stories about ghost stories related to mansions as well.

“A mansion, huh...”

Gio listened with deep interest and nodded.

“Certainly, a portrait hung in an abandoned mansion is also a popular ghost-story material.

I understand what you mean.”

“Kkuuuu.”

“Yes, each and every bit of information like this will someday let me be reborn as a great ghost story.

The ‘Black Cloak’ known to the public right now has many insufficient parts to call it a ghost story, but...”

Gio nodded.

“If we don’t give up and keep working like this, someday we’ll become an excellent ghost story and be able to instill fear in people.”

“Ggu...?”

“That way, we’ll be able to make a living too, Father.

People these days are very scary, so if you don’t even have swagger like this, it’s easy to not survive in the middle of it.”

It didn’t feel like something a portrait as harmless as Gio should be saying, but anyway, the sun god said he understood and let it pass.

Because he knew that even if Gio talked like that, he wasn’t someone who would truly harm humans.

Anyway, Gio resolved to solidify his concept as a ghost story.

“It was fortunate that the first person I met was Guildmaster Bisabeol.”

Even just looking at that mouth that rattled on like a machine gun was enough to drain you, so he was still refusing to talk, but Bisabeol was a good person.

The fact that he treated Gio, a haunted portrait, as a person proved his noble character.

“...”

“Why, Honey.”

“Kung.”

Honey thought, ‘Isn’t that more a matter of taste than character,’ but didn’t say it out loud.

Because Honey knew Bisabeol wasn’t harmless to humans, but he was a human utterly devoted to art.

If nothing else, Bisabeol had at least become extremely harmless to his own collection.

That much was true.

“Ggururu, kkukkung.”

“So you wanted to eat fish too.

Want me to flake it for you?”

“Ggurrrrrr.”

“Cute little thing.”

After tearing off a thick piece of steaming flesh, Gio said,

“Anyway, soon, I’m going to proceed with the plan I mentioned. I’m sick of wandering around ‘The Country of the Deep Sea’ with no results, nurturing a half-baked ghost story.”

“Mmmmeung.”

“Can you even eat the bones?

Here.

Eat carefully.”

After giving Dana a fish bone, Gio continued.

“Is there anyone who would like to come along?”

“Ggururuk.”

“As expected, it’s only you, Honey.

You know Dad loves you a lot, right?”

“Kkuk.”

Honey had no intention at all of letting soft, gooey Gio go out into the world alone.

“Honey...!”

“Ggurur.”

Moved by the warm-heartedness of the son he’d given birth to with his hand, Gio covered his mouth to show how deeply touched he was, and the sun god decided in silence to eat fish.

Dana had already lost interest.

As I keep saying, it was a friendly family.

* * *

And Gio wasn’t the only one planning something for their meeting.

Very coincidentally, the mermaids had also finished their own preparations.

“Hey, flower-pig.”

“What.”

“Where’d the youngest go.”

“Isn’t he in the garden patch?”

“I don’t see him.”

“Are you insane.”

Cha Isol was kidnapped.

“No, he hasn’t even had time to rest...”

Normally, a preliminary priest who finished the initiation ceremony would have to enter the dormitory temple, but because of this ‘Temple of the Deep Sea’ incident, there was a short rest period.

In other words, he was kidnapped while at home.

“Is resting what matters right now?”

“Right.”

This news was also delivered immediately to Yoo Sungwoon, who was in the collectors’ guild office.

“Huh?

Kidnapped?”

“Yes.”

“Why...?

Who?

Where, how...?”

“We don’t really know the intent either, but...”

The Cha family’s eldest, Cha Eunhyuk, said while offering bungeoppang as a bribe.

“There was seawater splashed in the garden patch.”

“If you put it that way, anyone would say the culprit is a mermaid.

No, but what’s with this bungeoppang.”

“Right?”

“You don’t need to give me more bungeoppang.

Stop, it’s overflowing.”

“Give some to Mr. Gio too.”

“Uh...”

“I received the official notice and read it together with Cha Ara.”

With a haggard face, Cha Eunhyuk continued.

“Mr. Seo Gio has a one-to-one rule, yes?

I heard that if he receives goodwill from humans he responds with goodwill, and if he receives rudeness he responds with rudeness.”

“...So...”

Yoo Sungwoon asked seriously.

“You’re going to offer bungeoppang and ask him to save your younger brother?”

“...I thought the probability of Isol coming back alive would be higher than if I offered nothing... and even if Mr. Seo Gio doesn’t step up, doing this much would make me feel more at ease.”

“It’s basically like offering a sacrifice before a god.

And with bungeoppang, at that.”

“I have nothing to say.”

“No, Gio likes bungeoppang a lot.

Sometimes he gives something kind of scary in return, though...”

In today’s world where faith had become widespread, there were many people who went to temples and offered small sacrifices.

Even if nothing truly came back, doing it made them feel better.

“I hate to put it this way, but Gio can’t really be called a proper god.

He’s just something with godlike traits.

Unlike traditional gods that may bestow mercy when it’s a believer’s business, the odds that he won’t meet your expectations are also high.”

“That’s fine.

I brought it as the meaning of a gift too.”

“I’ll pass it along, but...”

That’s right—Gio had rules.

‘Could he be hired with bungeoppang.’

Judging by the reaction he’d shown before, Yoo Sungwoon knew Gio was bound by rules.

Even when he made food and shared it, he tried to find a ‘price’ from Yoo Sungwoon.

Cha Eunhyuk said,

“It’s fine even if it isn’t necessarily Mr. Seo Gio’s, Black Cloak’s help.

But if the seawater we found really is a trace of the mermaids belonging to ‘The Country of the Deep Sea’...”

“Yeah.”

“Isn’t this interesting even from the perspective of a big guild like the collectors?”

With his usual blunt face, but desperately, Cha Eunhyuk persuaded Yoo Sungwoon.

“Until now, the monsters of ‘The Country of the Deep Sea’ have never come out beyond the entrance.

It could be some kind of sign, and I think we could learn even more information through this too.

So...”

“Calm down, Mr. Cha Eunhyuk.”

Yoo Sungwoon soothed the young man.

“Even if you hadn’t said that, I was already planning to go rescue Cha Isol-gun. ‘The Country of the Deep Sea’ is also a dungeon I have many connections to, and Black Cloak also seems to have a lot of interest in that side... I was planning to visit soon anyway.”

“...”

“Just think of it as going a little earlier.”

“...Thank you.”

“Alright, then...”

Trailing off, Yoo Sungwoon turned toward Cha Ara, who had gone pale.

“Would Hunter Cha Ara like to come as well?”

“...M-me, m-me... can I really come too?

I’m only F-rank...”

“If you sign a contract saying you’re prepared to die, I can bring you.”

“...It’s shameless, but please.”

Bringing an F-rank hunter along to a B-rank-or-higher dungeon, unless you’re using them as a meat shield, is a huge burden on other hunters.

You end up becoming manpower to protect the F-rank hunter.

So this was Yoo Sungwoon’s consideration.

Cha Ara knew she wouldn’t be much help even if she went, but even so, she asked to come along.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s a family matter, so I understand how you feel.

You don’t need to be sorry.”

Fortunately, the collectors’ guild had a fairly high degree of freedom for its affiliated hunters, so even if Yoo Sungwoon left for a while, no one would say anything.

It just meant Yoo Sungwoon would have more overtime days.

And for Gio and Earth’s peace, Yoo Sungwoon endured it.

“I want to go too, but that’d be shameless, right??”

“Your physical ability is at F-rank level—what are you saying.

Stay behind.”

“What a shame.”

Only Bisabeol would say something for different reasons; the support itself was abundant.

“...”

“...?

Why is Priest Kang Seodam here?”

“Collector Guildmaster requested assistance from our temple.”

“They’re supporting us better than I expected.”

“Even if it hadn’t been a request, I would have had to step up.

Cha Isol is my student whom I must take responsibility for.”

With a tired face, Kang Seodam said,

“Even if, because of the accident, he isn’t formally receiving lessons yet, that fact doesn’t change.”

“Wow, reliable.”

“Rather than that...”

Kang Seodam looked at ‘Seo Gio’ gathered at the harbor.

“...Hunter Seo Gio is... coming along too?”

“Cha Isol-student and I have a connection. In ‘The Temple of the Deep Sea’ as well, didn’t many people receive emotional help thanks to lively Cha Isol-student?

This is repayment for how he lightened my burden as a doctor and as a believer.”

“Ah-ha...”

“And Cha Isol-student’s guardians also gave me bungeoppang.”

“Bungeoppang.”

Kang Seodam had also received an official notice from the collectors’ guild about ‘Black Cloak.’

He also knew the rules could be summarized as ‘one-to-one,’ so thanks to that, he could quickly accept Gio’s participation with the word ‘repayment.’

Still, he was worried.

‘Could humans exploit this?’

They call it one-to-one, but if things went wrong, many humans might try to force a ‘price’ on Black Cloak.

‘If he gets angry... then...’

Worried about a future calamity, Kang Seodam nodded.

“I understand.

Thank you for accompanying us.”

“There is nothing to thank.

I’m simply doing what I can.”

“I see.

Then where is that yellow bird I saw last time?”

“Here it is.”

As in the previous ‘Temple of the Deep Sea,’ Honey peeked his face out from the hood of Gio, who wore the black cloak.

Honey stared intently at Kang Seodam, from whom the energy of the sun could be strongly felt.

“...”

“...”

“...?”

Just as Kang Seodam showed confusion, Yoo Sungwoon, who sensed something, stopped Honey.

“No, Honey, that’s not food.”

“...Food?”

Gio shook his head.

“I won’t eat him.”

“But just now Mr. Yoo Sungwoon...”

“The meal I make would be tastier, so why would I eat a person with no seasoning.”

“...”

“ Honey is a gourmet, so he doesn’t eat just anything.”

Ggur.

From inside the hood came a cry of agreement.

“...I see.”

It wasn’t reassuring at all.

‘He was looking at me with very sparkling eyes.’

Kang Seodam only felt more creeped out as he recalled Honey’s greedy gaze.

“...”

“Then shall we go.”

“...Yes.”

Thus, with A-rank Yoo Sungwoon at the head, Kang Seodam, Cha Ara, and Seo Gio formed the Cha Isol rescue team.

In truth, it’s not like this portrait is an existence that needs anyone’s help, but...

‘...Helping Gio’s social life...’

Yoo Sungwoon thought it was a bit funny.

“...”

Yes, it was sarcasm.

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons

Fantasy, modern,