The Artist Who Paints Dungeon - Chapter 117



Only Noblemtl

Episode 117

The woman had trouble sleeping at night.

Even when all the new recruits who had just received their first day of training at the collection center were asleep, the woman couldn’t fall asleep.

In recent years, she has had many sleepless nights due to the anxiety that she might fall behind. The resulting insomnia has been tormenting her terribly. She couldn’t help it.

“… I have time like this. I need to study more… .”

She didn’t have any ambitions, but she had a sense of desperation that stemmed from a not-so-good situation. She didn’t want to be a great person or be noticed, but she was one of those people who longed for ‘ordinary happiness.’

“I have read all the leaflets the collector gave me.”

The girl was from Carnation Eye, and grew up working under a hunter from an illegal guild. For her, who had always been looking for a moment to step out into the light, the hand extended by the collector, Bisabal, was a golden opportunity.

“I’m not the only newbie, and more than anything, I’m the lowest C-rank among my peers… I don’t know if I’ll get hired or not. I can’t just let this opportunity to receive protection from one of the top three guilds in South Korea go to waste.”

The place where the girl is currently is the collector’s dormitory.

“… The company itself was clearly open 24 hours a day… .”

The woman gathered her clothes one by one and headed to the collection center.

It was a little past 4 in the morning. The security guard guarding the entrance opened his eyes wide at the sight of a woman visiting during a rare hour when there were no employees.

He was in charge of the entrance and knew the faces of all the employees. That was no different when dealing with new employees.

“Are you new here?”

“Oh, yes, yes. That’s right.”

“I heard you were assigned to the gallery. Do you already have work to do?”

“Well… I don’t know if this is okay, but I want to try to adapt…”

“So you’re saying there’s no separate work?”

“…Can’t I?”

“Everything that happens from now on is your responsibility, so there’s nothing you can’t do.”

As the guard pointed to the entrance gate, the woman hurriedly scanned her employee ID. After safely entering, she bowed to the guard.

“Thank you.”

“My employees are coming to work, so what do I have to thank them for?”

The friendly-looking security guard, who seemed to be quite witty, spoke to me naturally.

“If you’re going to the gallery, it would be best not to go below the basement level. There are still two people working in the gallery on the first floor, so if you have any questions, ask them.”

“Is that okay? I’m worried I’m bothering you….”

“They are people who come to guard the place even at a time when you are already sleepy. They would rather have someone to talk to. They are kind of on night watch.”

“…Thank you for letting me know.”

“I hope you’ll be hired as a full-time employee soon after working so hard. I know you’re busy, but please take the elevator with some time to spare.”

“… … .”

The woman nodded and went deep into the building.

‘It’s dawn, but the lights are still on so brightly.’

There was no place with the lights off, perhaps for the employees working the night shift.

Even so, the silence of not seeing a single person suddenly gave her chills, but the woman headed straight for the gallery’s elevator. The sound of her shoes walking down the hallway was particularly loud.

The elevator that the meteor curator had told me about during the day was quite a complicated way to get there.

“… … .”

The woman, who had already verified her identity with her employee ID card, pressed the gold button. The elevator door opened a long time later, as if no one had left work.

“… Ah, the attendance list.”

My eyes fell on the paper list hanging on the elevator wall.

“I think I told you to make it a part of your daily life.”

Does that apply to you as a non-regular employee?

“hmm….”

The woman thought for a moment and then wrote her name on the list.

The woman, a non-combat hunter, had no ability to retrieve special items from dungeons, and was born poor and grew up in an illegal guild without any education, so her clerical skills were poor.

‘But the most important thing in a collector’s gallery is the love for the artwork. They said they wouldn’t assign artwork beyond my ability, so if I just put my heart and soul into it, I think I can do well in this gallery.’

The woman wrote down her words one by one, expressing her desire to remain in her current position if possible.

“Destination… Basement, 1st floor… .”

The woman, who had simply stated her purpose, put the gold fountain pen back in its original place.

“… If you don’t tie this up, won’t someone steal it?”

Well, it’s one of the top three guilds in South Korea, so it seems difficult for them to do something so bold.

An elevator with a harmonious blend of ivory and gold. The woman unconsciously took in its elegance before pressing the button.

The elevator, which was bright and clean and kept spotless, had an old-fashioned feel to it.

‘… If you think about it, it’s strange that these elevators in a large company have metal buttons. And the list is made of paper. Is this a design to preserve the classic image of the gallery?’

Then, suddenly, the woman felt a chill.

“… … .”

The atmosphere was much more eerie than when I saw it during the day.

“… Is it because I’m riding alone? It’s definitely scary… .”

When there were a lot of people, it was a bit cramped, but it wasn’t scary.

It is a gallery of collectors that exhibits the most bizarre and dangerous works in the world. If I finish the training period and become a regular employee, I will have to ride alone from then on, so I had to get used to this kind of creepiness in advance.

‘Yeah, if I get assigned my work, I have to build a proper rapport with them. If I get scared from the elevator like this, what am I going to do later?’

It was when I was about to press the elevator button with that determination in mind.

“… … .”

The woman tilted her head.

“… the button…?”

It had four floors in total.

“… Why is this happening? Isn’t this not how it should be?”

Then the woman thought back to the collector’s leaflet that she had memorized in her dorm room. To be exact, it contained instructions for using the gallery.

“ah.”

At 4:44 a.m., we asked people to refrain from using the elevator to the gallery if possible.

He said that there is a work of art on the 4th floor of the gallery that plays with numbers that are considered particularly unlucky in the East. He said that he likes the number 4 so much that even if he moves to a different floor, he continues to appear on the 4th floor.

“Exactly what kind of work was it…?”

I remembered what the security guard had said earlier, “Take your time in the elevator.” I thought it was just a saying to calm my mind, but I felt ashamed that I hadn’t thought of it sooner.

‘Then please stop me…!’

I felt resentful for a moment, but she was none other than a 5th class citizen. In a world where even 1st class citizens die for no reason, no one would feel sorry for her death.

‘But if I have an accident and something goes wrong with the works, isn’t that a bigger problem? No, I need to think about how to deal with it instead of thinking about that.’

But I couldn’t remember it well because I was so anxious.

“What, it was a work that symbolized an elevator button… I thought…”

Blink… .

The lights flashed.

“… … .”

Blink, blink.

The blinking speed gradually increased.

“…uh….”

what?

‘What should I do?’

The woman was so panicked that she couldn’t even lean against the wall.

It’s true that I memorized all the leaflets the company gave me, but when I was in an urgent situation, it was difficult to get the right information out.

The description of this work is like the story of that work, this is like that, that is like this….

“Ugh… .”

Why do I always do stupid things when it matters?

“Father, there must be a device here… that can call for help from the elevator…”

Ki-ki-ki-ki-ki.

The elevator rattles with an ominous sound. It lurches downwards and the elevator doors close and close repeatedly.

It was so noisy inside and outside my body at the same time, thumping loudly. It was a noisy situation that made me feel like crying and I couldn’t do anything about it.

“Please… .”

I was suffocating from the feeling of being suffocated.

This elevator had an emergency call button in case of an emergency.

If you just press the button, a rescue team waiting will come and help you, said Curator Yoo Seong-un, who was in charge of the training during the day.

“… … .”

A creaking sound.

I was about to press the button to request rescue as the elevator started to vibrate strangely, as if it was going to crash at any moment.

But it stopped just before reaching it.

“… … .”

It wasn’t the monster’s work.

“… Me, me… .”

It was because of the woman’s own selfishness.

“Is it getting cut?”

It was quite possible.

He crawled into a dangerous place even though it wasn’t the designated time, bothered the morning guards, and caused an accident that didn’t have to happen by doing something that was clearly written not to do.

What could have gone wrong with this expensive looking elevator?

‘Besides, I’m a C-class hunter.’

C-rank hunters are common in today’s world. Most of my peers are higher rank than me, and those of the same rank have sturdy bodies that clearly show that they are combat-type.

‘I have the worst conditions.’

But if you cause an accident like this and bother people again… .

“… … .”

It couldn’t have caused a bigger accident.

It was at that moment that the woman reached for the button.

“…uh?”

Blink… .

The lights that had been flickering eerily came back on.

“Uh, uh…?”

I haven’t pressed the button yet.

For some reason, the air felt light as if she had returned from a ghost story to reality, and the woman unconsciously checked the buttons on the elevator. The five buttons, which were supposed to be for only four floors, were also in order from the first to the fifth floor.

And let’s check the floor the elevator stopped on.

“… 5th floor?”

Ding-.

The elevator door opened.

“… Ah? 5th floor? No, wait, wait…!!”

The woman fell backwards with a thud, startled by the thought that she had crawled into the worst den without even coming to her senses.

Before I could even groan in excruciating pain, the elevator doors opened completely, revealing a long figure.

“… … .”

“… … .”

A blond man wearing a black cloak.

“hello.”

It was ‘Sergio’, taking the form of Giovanni.

* * *

“… It was like a report ceremony.”

“It would have the feel of an annual event, to be exact.”

The blond man nodded at the woman’s empty question.

“It’s a work that only scares without actually causing any harm, but I heard that new curators who don’t properly understand the rules tend to get hurt when they forget.”

“ah….”

“I think it’s a pretty safe way to tell people that it can be really dangerous if you don’t get the manual down, so I guess not everyone is very proactive about giving advice.”

At those words, the woman remembered the guard at the entrance.

“Well, he just told me to ‘take your time and ride the elevator.’ I thought he was telling me to take my time, but oh… that’s what it was.”

Anyway, fortunately it wasn’t really dangerous.

“I thought it was an unmanageable accident because it was a four-story work.”

“It wasn’t a very dangerous piece, so we tried to move it to the first floor several times, but because it liked the number 4 so much, it kept going back to that spot, so it ended up on the fourth floor.”

“… I was so out of it that I didn’t even think about it… ”

There was an explanation that the work was intended to be moved to a different location, not the 4th floor, in a gallery with only 5 underground floors. It is more likely that the work was intended to be moved to a floor above the 5th floor.

“I still can’t remember, what was your coping mechanism?”

“If someone outside the elevator calls the elevator from outside, the abnormal phenomenon will stop.”

“… All I had to do was press the rescue request button or hold out until morning? It really wasn’t dangerous at all.”

“You don’t have to blame yourself. Even though it was just a joke, it was clearly a mentally draining phenomenon, so if it had stayed that way until the morning, it could have caused trauma.”

“Thank you for your comfort….”

The woman exhaled softly.

“Actually, I… I thought Sergio was one of the strange phenomena at first.”

The first thing he said was a sudden greeting. He said that calm ‘hello’ to a person who was rolling around in a cold sweat.

I can’t tell you how strange it felt, even in the most panicked state, to see such thoughtless consideration, as if exchanging morning greetings with a neighbor.

It was similar to monsters that didn’t care what happened to humans.

‘… I can’t say such rude things to you in front of you… .’

The woman wiped away the cold sweat.

“So right after that, you asked for my name… I thought I had really fallen for the right piece of work. I thought you were forcing me into a terrible and evil contract.”

“This is embarrassing. I thought you were very surprised, so I tried to ease your tension by greeting you and exchanging your name, but I think it ended up scaring you more. I apologize, even though it’s a little late.”

Sergio, who had said so, bowed his head very politely. Although his words and actions were humble, he looked so old-fashioned as if he were from a high place, and the woman blushed. It was too much of a compliment.

“T-Tha… you don’t have to say that. In fact, I was the one who received help.”

I was just a little surprised. The atmosphere was so heavy and the speech was so strangely stiff that I think the woman who had just come out of the play was dizzy.

“Mr. Sergio, you are very polite.”

“I always wanted to be a polite person.”

The man wearing the black cloak laughed.

“That makes me happy.”

“… … .”

“You are a polite and kind person.”

“… Ah, that…”

“Thank you for affirming me.”

There was no lie in those words.

“… … .”

He is a good person.

Her blond hair, warm as if soaked in sunlight, flows down softly. Her smooth, porcelain-like face carries a gentle smile.

Those mysterious eyes, as if they contained the sea of ​​spring, are beautiful. Everything about him is made of kindness.

‘… He’s such a sweet and kind person, but why… .’

…Why is it so creepy?