chapter 83

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons - Episode 83

The highest floor of the Collector’s, Visabel’s office.

“It’s a dangerous disposition.”

“Disposition?”

“You could put it that way, too.”

After hearing Yoo Seong-woon’s report, Visabel asked, rubbing his chin.

“He threatened the mermaids by taking himself hostage?”

“...If I summarize it, that’s what it comes down to.”

“How fiery of him.”

The smile on Visabel’s face as he murmured that looked somehow bitter.

“To think my collectible would walk into hellfire all on its own.”

“That hellfire was the sunlight.

Please refrain from saying anything that could cause friction with the Sun Church.”

“That’s why I’m not saying it in front of them.

That should be enough.”

“You never know where words might leak out.

And something that could be heard as blasphemy at that...”

“Religious fanatics never understand reason, honestly.”

“A priest is originally like that, isn’t he?”

“Our Mr. Giovanni shouldn’t grow up like that...”

“He’s grown up already, that Mr. Giovanni.

Grown up so much he died.”

“Don’t go killing my lovely work on your own, Curator Yoo Seong-woon.”

Perhaps he liked this pointless conversation, because the slumped Visabel soon let out a small laugh.

“One could say he has no attachment whatsoever to his own annihilation and pain.

Even the gods are extremely sensitive about annihilation, so at this point it’s no exaggeration to say the most traditional human response to dealing with calamities has disappeared.”

“In the first place, we shouldn’t create a situation where someone would have to fight ‘Gio’s Portrait.’

If things worsen to the point where we have to find a way to subdue Gio, it won’t be a calamity that ends just by offering a few sacrifices, like with wicked gods.”

“If he were an ordinary god, it would have been a bit easier to prepare.

But Gio isn’t a traditional god—he’s something with the traits of a god—so thinking this way won’t produce an answer.”

“That aside, Gio also possesses human traits.

The fact that he didn’t get swayed by affection even though he was clearly a human personality is also something we need to think about.

We have to keep considering the problem of how to subdue him.”

To that, Visabel asked,

“Since he didn’t kill them outright or punish them, can’t we consider it treatment that took old ties into account, in its own way?”

“That’s a separate matter from what result it produced.

I observed Gio beside him, but that wasn’t a gaze buried in the past.”

It simply seemed that Giovanni made that choice because he thought it was the natural course, and also the right one.

He looked as though he truly believed that tormenting himself would become the greatest punishment for the mermaid.

“Gio seemed to have taken on the most appropriate responsibility he could bear.

By putting Giovanni into the hands of mermaids dulled by being monsters, he gave it meaning and made them agonize without end.”

“So that’s the punishment.”

“As long as Giovanni remains by their side, the mermaids will have to take responsibility for everything they’ve done.

Gio himself seemed to want that, and he tried to do it.”

Yoo Seong-woon said, recalling Giovanni at the time.

“He was extremely resolute.

If his words were true, those mermaids would be the ones Giovanni, when he was human, raised like his own children, but whether he was angry or not...”

“...”

“Even as he bled and his limbs broke, he just kept smiling, and it was pretty eerie.

He was no different from the portrait.

Even when the mermaid called Aria cried and begged, he kept carrying it through.”

“The fact that a mermaid cried is quite interesting, but blackmail?”

“It was a method where Gio suffered along with them, but yes—well, probably.

No matter how you phrase it, it would be hard for the essence to change.”

It was also hard to say it wasn’t blackmail.

“Still, the unusual point is that he took himself hostage.”

“If that incident hadn’t worked out and Giovanni had died in the end, did it look like his personality truly would have reached death?”

“That’s what he said in his own words.

That the personality called Giovanni could die, and if not, he would keep dying tens, hundreds of times in front of her.”

“Either way, it’s chilling.”

“Clearly, that mermaid seemed to think so too.

Maybe because he said it while smiling gently, it sounded even scarier.

Even to me, Giovanni’s words didn’t feel like simple bravado...”

“It would have been a decent punishment for the mermaids.”

Visabel shrugged.

“Though it doesn’t seem like they’ll stop tormenting humans from now on, either.”

“Still, as long as Gio stays by their side, I presume nothing major will happen...”

“Exactly that—only ‘nothing major’—is the part we need to focus on.”

If it wasn’t at the level of mass slaughter, Gio wouldn’t add any words about the mermaids’ cruelty either.

‘Gio’s Portrait’ was a gentlemanly source-being that liked what was good and polite, but he himself was not good.

“He isn’t a hero.

He may have been a hero once, and he may possess a ‘Gio’ with such a nature, but at the very least, ‘Gio’s Portrait’ is one nature, and one fate.”

Visabel continued, smiling.

“As a gardener, Mr. Yoo Seong-woon would know better, but it’s one of the traits of beings close to the source.

Unless it’s due to some special malice, to Gio, human life and death is not much different from flowers blooming and withering.”

The pitch-black portrait, pretending otherwise as it pursued interest, judged the death and pain of himself, his surroundings, and what lay beyond as one state and one piece of information.

He didn’t have any half-baked sympathy for things breaking and collapsing outside his own hands.

Of course, ‘Gio’s Portrait’ loved humans fairly, but to say you love everything is, from the beginning, the same as saying you love nothing.

In a way, it was cold, indifferent.

Unless he grew interested, he left what would flow to flow.

“As proof, the entrance to the ‘Kingdom of the Deep Sea’ still hasn’t closed, has it?

If the mermaids truly reflected on their past and wanted to respect humans, they would have closed that access route and shut down the dungeon so no more humans would be harmed.”

But even after a week, there was no sign of that.

It meant that since the mermaids were monsters, they couldn’t cast off their hatred toward humans, and that Gio also did not unconditionally defend humans.

“If either one had happened, the dungeon would have closed.”

“Source-beings aren’t things humans can control at will.

They are nature.”

“That’s why we ended up buying it.

Because we didn’t know who would die next from the mermaids’ venting.”

Visabel laughed as if amused.

“Of course, there was also the concept of it being a gift for our Seo Gio Hunter!”

“...I assume you’ll handle the media side well, but is the spending all right...”

“This collector, Visabel, won’t take a hit just because I bought a single dungeon.”

“In a capitalistic society like these days, you truly seem reliable.”

“I was always a reliable guildmaster.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Still, it’s that Gio can’t be said to be completely on humanity’s side.”

Visabel smiled at Yoo Seong-woon.

“Just like gardeners such as Mr. Yoo Seong-woon.”

“...”

At the word “gardener,” which came up after so long, Yoo Seong-woon shrugged.

“As far as what’s been revealed so far, the source is closer to a system than a personality.

He is fair to humans and monsters, to all personalities that exist in the universe, like the source’s children...

Then a gardener who manages the veins of such a source must also have a fair perspective.”

A balance that did not take anyone’s side was the gardener’s most important virtue.

They were signposts that maintained the minimum balance, and observers living within the garden.

“In that sense, sometimes I get the feeling Gio resembles a gardener.”

“In what way did you get that feeling?”

“Hunter Cha Ara was the first human to visit the inside of ‘Gio’s Portrait.’

The cabin Gio described by that person looked similar to the garden we manage.”

“Then perhaps Gio might be a gardener devoured by the source.”

“How could a gardener devoured by the source maintain a sense of self...”

Yoo Seong-woon raked through his stark white hair with a sickened expression.

His sky-blue eyes narrowed.

“That’s nonsense.”

Even if a gardener were devoured by the garden, maintaining a sense of self?

That was impossible.

A gardener who became the garden’s possession could no longer even be called an intelligent lifeform.

“Still, thinking from that feeling, it’s clear that Gio won’t precisely take someone’s side between humans and monsters.

Considering that, you can tell that Gio doesn’t merely want to punish the mermaids.”

He simply resolved the problem in front of him.

He shouldered only the portion of responsibility Giovanni had to bear, and placed the minimum restraint upon mermaids who had the ability and ideology to threaten humanity.

That was all.

As Visabel said, Gio was not an enthusiastic being who would force himself to do things he wasn’t interested in, even at a loss.

“Gio loves beings that are good and polite.

That’s the part the portrait finds interesting.”

“The mermaids weren’t exactly good.

Even though Gio hates evil, for him to show that level of mercy may be a kind of favoritism, as Mr. Yoo Seong-woon reported.”

“Saving people was probably something he did lightly, as a side thing.

I can roughly estimate it.”

As if measuring something, Yoo Seong-woon looked into the air and rubbed his neck.

“He likes things proceeding simply and peacefully.

That is the basic attitude with which ‘Gio’s Portrait’ faces the world, and there are about two exceptions.”

“First would be past ties, and second would be a target he takes interest in.”

“And that target of interest would be a good and polite being. ‘Gio’s Portrait’ seems to make these three directions its rules, but that...”

“It’s too early to be definitive.

At best, only the second ‘Gio’ has appeared, hasn’t he?”

“Yes, this time we should consider it good luck. In Giovanni’s case, his nature was gentle and he was a priest overflowing with mercy.

We should also consider the possibility of a ‘Gio’ coming out with a direction hostile to humanity.”

“Since ‘Gio’s Portrait’ itself places importance on peace and has a strong will to interact, I don’t think there will be a big problem.”

“I’m telling you, you can’t treat a source-being like a person.

Anyway, what I mean is, um...”

As if organizing a headache that encouraged overtime, he soon opened his mouth again.

“We have to find a way to coexist with the mermaids going forward.”

“...”

“Guildmaster, I think you need to prepare countermeasures.”

This old guildmaster truly hated doing things unrelated to his collectibles.

Visabel, slumping in his chair, said bitterly.

“...How about we keep the dungeon entrance sealed for life?

Let no one in.”

“Can you do that?

What you purchased, Guildmaster, is the right to enter the dungeon, not the dungeon itself.

More than anything...”

“If we prevent anyone from entering even though we don’t know what resources might be inside, at the very least the Hunters Association won’t stay quiet.”

“Why would you say that when you know so well.”

“Haa...”

Visabel, who had been sunk deep into his chair, dragged himself upright.

“...Even if there are no resources inside, no one would believe it, right?”

“News is already going around that the Collector is trying to find and monopolize special resources in the ‘Kingdom of the Deep Sea,’ so even if you say it that way now, it’ll only look like a deception.”

“That’s right.”

Visabel gave a light smile.

“Then what can we do—just let them go find a place to die on their own.”

“Ah, is that what you’ll do?”

“I’m planning to set the toll soon.

And I’ll respect the brave ones who crawl in there looking for some special resource the Collector found.

Even if they die in there, it’s not really my fault, is it?”

“Then I will understand it that way.”

Since there had been a tug-of-war with Gio, the mermaids inside the ‘Kingdom of the Deep Sea’ wouldn’t come all the way outside the dungeon to cause trouble, but that didn’t mean they would calmly let humans who entered the dungeon alone.

“I don’t think Gio will easily help even that far now.

The reason Gio went in and out of the Kingdom of the Deep Sea so often was to talk with the mermaids, but since he has already achieved that goal... he won’t go all the way there just to help hunters anymore.”

“The ‘Gio’s Portrait’ we saw wasn’t that altruistic and devoted a being, was it?”

“Right, it’s just considerably more friendly and gentlemanly than other source-beings.”

Maybe there would be idiots who crawled into an S-rank dungeon believing only in the existence of the ‘Black Cloak,’ but it was about time they got a taste of something spicy.

“This is the right direction.”

Yoo Seong-woon nodded.

“Hunters now are treating the ‘Black Cloak’ like a convenient vending machine.

Hunters who have such a pathetic mindset weren’t helped much by Gio in the first place, but...”

“Anyway, that kind of easy image can’t possibly help Gio.”

“Yes, so it’s time they learn that the ‘Black Cloak’ is a natural disaster that won’t move as they please. If they die without even catching sight of the ‘Black Cloak’ in the ‘Kingdom of the Deep Sea,’ they’ll realize reality.”

Even now, there were many idiots in the world who thought they could compromise with monsters—meaning source-beings—and use them.

Even though they were clearly calamities, not resources.

“I’ll give Gio a heads-up about this part.

It’s possible Gio, who felt enjoyment in drawing and rescuing humans, might step forward to save more hunters, but since it isn’t a portrait that active, I think the probability is low.”

To that, Visabel said,

“I can talk well, too.”

“No matter how well you talk, what are you going to do when Gio himself refuses?”

“If this keeps up, I might end up laying out a sleeping bag and lying down in front of the portrait.”

“Then Gio gets angry...”

“Tsk.”

Clicking his tongue, Visabel soon changed the subject.

“Come to think of it, how is that probationary priest who was kidnapped back then doing?”

“You’re only asking now.

He said he’s finally moving into the dorm next Monday.”

“The Sun Church must have been in absolute chaos.

Normally they would have accepted and raised students long ago, but of all things he became the mermaids’ prey, so the whole schedule was ruined.”

“Because of that, Priest Kang Seo-dam seems very stressed.

You know, right?

It made the news this time, too...”

“Still, now that things will proceed according to the original schedule, the Sun Church’s situation will get a bit better.”

Yoo Seong-woon nodded.

“That probationary priest you mentioned, Cha Isol, also didn’t seem to have any major psychological issues.”

“That cynicism like a well-ripened fruit—an unclaimed talent of the Collector’s I still haven’t brought in?”

“He’s already a priest of the Sun Church—would he join a private guild that isn’t even his faith?

More than that, he’s far from the kind of cynicism you’re thinking of.

It’s just...”

“Just?”

“His nerves are very thick.”

He had calmly observed the mermaid’s ecology even while knowing he’d been kidnapped, after all.

“Does he have the aptitude to be a sucker?

Or the aptitude for reckless bravado?

Either way, it’s not welcome.

No wonder there was a report that Gio dotes on him.”

“For now, I handled the compensation on that side generously.

No matter how fine he acts, a victim is still a victim.”

And then, at that moment.

“Oh?”

“Did you get a text?”

“Yes, just now—it’s... Cha Eun-hyeok.”

“The older brother of the probationary priest we were just talking about, right?”

“That’s right.”

After checking the text, Yoo Seong-woon fell silent for a moment.

“...”

“Did something happen?”

“...Gio is there.”

“...Where?”

At Visabel’s question, Yoo Seong-woon answered with difficulty.

“At Cha Isol’s house.”

“...”

He had already been thinking there was no way he’d be leaving work on time, but Yoo Seong-woon caught the familiar scent of overtime.

Why are you there again.

* * *

“Th-th-this...”

Cha Ara asked, stammering.

“What is going on?”

“You have to believe me.”

“What is it, then.”

“Well, you know, noona.”

At his sister’s reaction, unable to believe even what she was seeing, Cha Isol answered honestly.

“I drew a picture, and Gio hyung came out...”

“What are you talking about.”

“It’s real. I drew, and Gio hyung came out, I’m telling you.”

“No, what...”

At a loss in her bewilderment, Cha Ara soon turned to the Black Cloak with a subtle expression.

“...”

“Nice to meet you.”

“...Ah, yes...”

Is today the day I die.

He doesn’t seem hostile, but anyway, the Black Cloak was terrifying as hell.

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons

Fantasy, Modern,