chapter 94

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons - Episode 94

It feels like some deep conversation passed by last night, but.

“...”

Ta-dah.

Gio’s ultimate positive mindset wasn’t bound by such things.

‘Looks like Aria’s hit puberty.’

It was also a time when you ended up worrying about all sorts of things.

‘I should respect her.’

It wasn’t that Gio didn’t know Aria was doing a lot of thinking because of Gio’s identity and the surrounding environment.

However, to Gio it wasn’t such a serious problem, and he simply hoped Aria could get used to Gio’s situation.

But even for Gio, worries were bound to arise.

“...Mm...”

“Teacher, is there a problem?”

“I think I made a dungeon.”

“Oh.”

Even though the sun had risen, Aria, who still hadn’t gone back home, let out a sincere exclamation and opened her mouth politely as if she were some kind of gentleman.

“So you did have a desire for revenge toward the ones responsible for your pain and death, my human teacher.”

“I don’t have anything like that.”

“If it isn’t for tormenting humans, then why did you make a dungeon?”

“I drew it because I wanted to draw.”

“Ah-ha.”

Aria nodded.

“If it’s you, Teacher, that’s possible.”

“I don’t know what kind of being you think I am.”

“There’s something like that.”

In many ways, Gio was an unpredictable existence.

Even for Aria.

With him, it could be that, supported by the unconscious, he made a dungeon out of fragments of hatred and resentment toward humans, or it could be that he really did nothing but a hobby without any thoughts or worries and—pop—a dungeon appeared.

Aria put the framed picture Gio had been looking at into her eyes as well.

“Are you talking about this painting?”

“It’s something I drew before, but no matter how I think about it...”

“You mean it looks like a dungeon?”

Looking at the picture of a city filled entirely with achromatic colors, Aria asked.

“What’s its name?”

“...”

Gio answered.

“City of Emptiness.”

The system clearly said so.

“It isn’t a name I chose, however.”

“Then we should consider that the construct named it.”

“What is a construct?”

“Ah... on Earth, they call it the source.”

“The source.”

It was a name he’d heard now and then from Yoo Seong-woon.

Though Yoo Seong-woon called himself a gardener, unlike that he didn’t readily share knowledge related to it, but Gio did know a little about the source.

‘The boss of the systems...’

He had understood it as something like the mother body of all systems and the administrator of all fate.

“I see, then.”

“So what do you want to do with this?”

“I didn’t want to do anything.”

Gio felt a bit wronged.

“I only drew it because I wanted to draw.”

What painter would paint hoping for practicality.

“A painting on canvas exists to be viewed, not to be chewed, torn, tasted, and enjoyed.”

For example, you don’t paint a picture in order to beat someone up.

Even if it has monetary value or extra factors and can be traded here and there, fundamentally, a painting exists to be appreciated.

At Gio’s words, Aria fell silent for a moment, then asked.

“Are you saying you made a dungeon even though you had no intention?”

“What is the problem?”

“There are quite a lot, but...”

A dungeon could not be made without intention.

It was none other than creating a single world, a law.

No matter how diverse the ways dungeons formed were, you had to see it as impossible to create one without the dungeon master’s will.

‘But he says he created it just because he wanted to draw.’

The wavering gray city entered her eyes.

“...”

Soon, Aria wore her characteristic languid smile.

A smile so perfect and beautiful that if she stepped into high society at once, she could capture the hearts of countless ladies.

“Well, that could happen.”

“Right?”

“Sure, sure.”

Wasn’t Aria someone who had already completely given up on understanding Gio?

‘Even when he was human, I thought he wasn’t ordinary, but to think his essence was like this.’

If it was Gio of such a lofty rank that couldn’t be interpreted, he could create a world with a single brushstroke.

After all, for a painter to create a world called a painting was an utterly natural thing.

“So what exactly is your worry?”

“I wondered if it was okay to leave it as it is.”

“Mm...”

“I don’t want to throw the painting away.”

“Why would you throw this away? What a waste.”

A dungeon was a dungeon, and it was a world that could not help but draw something in.

‘If it stays like this, Earth people will get eaten too.’

Even if Gio had no such intention, what could he do?

When a human steps on a bug while walking, did he intend that?

Even if it was a world Gio drew as a hobby without meaning, someone would still end up being dragged into the dungeon.

‘But it doesn’t seem like there’s any need to tell him that right now...’

This painting, too, was ultimately a world drawn by Gio.

‘Which means there’s no way a world like that would do something that doesn’t suit the heart of its owner and parent, Teacher.’

What kind of laws and tastes it had would naturally be revealed as time passed.

“...For now, it seems like we need to leave it alone to learn anything at all.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s also a dungeon that was made not long ago.”

Aria scanned the gray painting from top to bottom.

“You didn’t make any separate children either, right, Teacher?”

She meant the dungeon’s monsters.

“It won’t work actively when it’s a dungeon that was just born.

Unless you directly incite it, Teacher, as long as you leave it be, its growth will be slow too, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

“...”

“Teacher?”

“...Am I the parent?”

Gio’s heart dropped.

“Is this painting alive?”

“...It’s not wrong to see it that way.”

Aria explained lightly.

“Not all dungeons are like that, but the more closely connected a dungeon is to its master, the stronger its tendency to become a living creature.

It has its own ego, it grows...”

“Is ‘City of Emptiness’ that closely connected to me?”

“Depending on the owner’s capability, the appearance as a living creature becomes clearer, and from what I see, at this level it’s enough to be in that situation.”

“This can’t be.”

Without thinking, he’d given birth and become a shameless parent who didn’t even know he had a child.

“I am trash.”

“I get what you’re thinking, but calm down. It’s not like that.”

If you look at it roughly on a big scale, you call it a living thing, but strictly speaking, isn’t it too much to call a dungeon an actual living creature?

“If you compare it to Earth, it’s like artificial intelligence.

It’s a vast nature, so if you look closely you can see its detailed flow and structure, and that emotionless system only looks like a living creature when you look at it from far away.”

It didn’t truly possess life.

“I’m saying you don’t need to be so shocked.”

“I understand, but even so, my heart aches a little.”

“For your heart to still ache even after reaching that level—that’s impressive.”

Now Gio was of a rank that made it ambiguous to call him a complete human.

That he maintained such a peculiar sensitivity was, even for Aria, a miracle hard to explain.

“Mm...”

After examining the painting a little more, Aria continued.

“...It’s certainly a dungeon that was created not long ago, so in many ways there are immature parts.”

“How did you grow your dungeon, Aria?”

“I said it isn’t a child...

Well, should I say I grew it—rather, it’s closer to building devices here and there.”

“Building devices?”

“You’re making a game board.”

Since Aria had observed many dungeons up to now, she could explain a little.

“In my dungeon’s case, I just stayed inside it, so it naturally grew.

The environment was created according to my mental image, and as I researched inside it, monsters were born, and at some point impurities entered, and as I searched for ways to deal with them, various traps were installed...”

She meant they grew together over a long time.

To Aria, her dungeon was closer to a friend than a child.

“I’ve also seen dungeon masters who deliberately set up the board.”

“If they deliberately set up the board, what is it for?”

“It was a guy who cared about how to most systematically express his hatred toward humans.”

Aria nodded.

“The most important thing in managing a dungeon is, in the end, the owner’s sense of purpose and mental image.

When what the owner wants from the dungeon is clear, these things grow more naturally.”

Of course, this dungeon did have many exceptions.

“I don’t know whether Teacher’s dungeon will be like other dungeons’ dungeons.

Originally, worlds like this are basically underlaid with intense emotion toward something, and the dungeon master naturally comes to have some purpose...”

“I have no thoughts at all.”

“If that’s the problem, then I suppose it is a problem.”

In many ways, it differed from the situation of other dungeons.

“Unless Teacher intends it, this dungeon can’t help but be different from other dungeons.

It might have no rules, it might have no monsters—there are many possibilities.”

“Is that a problem?”

“I don’t know whether it will become a problem, but it’s clear that how it will be used depends entirely on you, Teacher.

If you created a world, it can’t help but be that way.”

There is no structure that tries to go against the creator’s mood.

“That’s true of Honey you created too.”

“Ah, is it the same case, a child?”

“Come to think of it, on Earth they called this the source’s child...”

“However, Honey is Gio’s child.”

“...”

Suddenly, Aria realized.

“...Then I guess you’re the source, Teacher.”

This person might be the source.

“Isn’t that so?”

A pitch-black blank canvas that can become anything.

“...”

“If that’s the case, then I really won’t have to worry about food expenses anymore.”

“...You really have no sense of tension...”

“Above all, it’s a great fortune to be free of the yoke of taxes.”

“Is that seriously all you have to say?”

So she felt a little reassured.

“You really don’t change.”

He had already changed too much and could change, so perhaps that was why, paradoxically, he looked like he kept staying in the same place.

Feeling an ominously wavering serenity, Aria slowly tilted her head.

“So how are you thinking of using this?”

“A resort?”

“Are you serious?”

“Isn’t it fine?”

“...Well, it is your decision, Teacher.”

She had thought the most violent and clear of emotions were rage and hatred.

That was why countless monsters with deep hatred toward humans could create worlds like this, and because they were its owners, worlds suited to their tastes were created.

‘So if it’s a world not made from that kind of emotion.’

However it was used, it was Gio’s will.

“...”

Still, she had this thought.

“If you created a normal world that isn’t even a game board, can that be called human?”

With his characteristic blunt face, Gio answered.

“Living, that could happen. Aria has too narrow a way of thinking—”

“Yeah, I knew you’d say that.

Knowing it and still asking means I’m the idiot.”

He was so consistent it gave her goosebumps.

* * *

Gio visited ‘City of Emptiness’ for the first time.

“...”

“As expected, this is the world Teacher created.”

Together with his disciple Iser, who had grown so much while he wasn’t looking.

“...Isn’t Iser busy?”

“Is it okay for the dungeon master to leave his seat so freely?”

“Strictly speaking, I am the second master, so whether I am here or not has no great effect.”

“I see.”

Well, the homeowner might not be home, too.

To begin with, even Gio, who was the owner of ‘City of Emptiness,’ was visiting for the first time now, so it might have been Gio’s narrow thinking to say a dungeon master should always be busy.

“...”

Still, his feelings were a bit strange.

“...Is this the heart of a worried parent whose grown children of marriageable age only stay stuck at their childhood home...?”

“What marriageable age does a mermaid have, that you say such a thing.”

“It’s unsettling.

I definitely wanted you to drop by often, but it also feels like you’re staying too stuck here, so my heart is complicated.”

“When was it that you came to catch us because you said your neighbors never came to visit...”

“That is true, but.”

He was still a little worried.

“A dungeon is probably both home and workplace—surely you won’t keep leaving it empty, right?”

“We also thought it would be a problem for both of us to be away, so...”

Iser nodded.

“We decided to take turns coming home.”

“I would rather you not feel burdened by having to visit your parents’ home.”

“We come because we like it, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

Saying that, Iser gave a bitter smile.

“I’m also a little afraid the place where you are might suddenly disappear.”

“Even though the door is perfectly open.”

But Gio did not keep talking.

Even aside from still finding them vexing, they were students he had raised with deep affection, after all.

‘More than anything, the longer Iser stays at my house, the calmer his heart will be, and humanity’s peace will be protected too.’

In many ways, there was no reason to dislike them visiting their own house often.

“As long as it doesn’t interfere with your lives, I also don’t mind.”

“Ah, then I’ll see you often.”

“And if you bring some clams when you come, that would be even better.”

“Clams... how about fish?”

“That would be good too.

Since where I live is a forest, I find myself craving seafood.”

Nodding, Gio turned his head and looked at the gray world.

“So.”

“...”

“How is it?

Your impressions?”

Looking at City of Emptiness, Iser slowly opened his mouth.

“...There’s nothing.”

True to its name, it was an empty city.

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons

Fantasy, Modern,