The Artist Who Paints Dungeon - Chapter 119



Only Noblemtl

Episode 119

After some time, the initial training of new curators was over.

“You worked with the curator in charge, encountered various works, and learned the attitude that a curator of a collection should have toward works and customers. Thank you for your hard work for three weeks.”

However, that doesn’t mean I was hired as a full-time employee right away.

“From now on, each of you will be in charge of a piece of work. Based on what you have shown us over the past three weeks, we have selected the piece that we believe is the most suitable. If we determine that the piece is difficult to manage, you will be removed.”

“… … .”

“Even if you are being kicked out, it is just being kicked out of the gallery. You will be assigned to an office or field position at the collection store unless you cause any serious trouble. We are literally just selecting people who can show a stable presence at the gallery, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

Yoo Seong-un continued speaking in front of five new curators.

“I gave you a three-week period, but since you have not raised any objections or expressed any intention to change, I think you will agree to become a curator of the collection. If you wish to continue working at the gallery, please fill out the consent form in front of you.”

All five new recruits signed a consent form, which stated that they would do their best on the work assigned to them at the gallery and take some responsibility for any problems that might arise as a result.

It was similar to a body waiver, but the new recruits weren’t afraid of such things anymore. It was enough to know that they weren’t responsible for all the problems that occurred.

Having seen the bottom of the illegal guilds, they wanted to work in one of the three major guilds in South Korea with minimal safety measures, and among them, the position of curator of the collection was highly prestigious.

“Everyone agrees.”

Yoo Seong-un nodded.

“As some of you may have already checked, on the back of the consent form there is information about the work you will be working on.”

“…ah….”

“The Collector’s Office is a warehouse and laboratory where the most dangerous and sensitive items on Earth come in. Naturally, there are many unidentified items whose identities and methods of dealing with them are unknown… .”

“… … .”

“The newbies have been assigned works that have almost all the information about them. If you do them as you have learned and according to the manual, there will be no problems.”

As curators work longer at a gallery and are given more and more work to work with, they are given more risky pieces to work with. But this is not something that newcomers who are just starting to adapt to the gallery need to worry about.

“One year from now.”

Yoo Seong-un said.

“We will give you a period of one year. During that time, there will be people who can’t stand it and want to leave, and there will also be people who find a piece that suits them. I hope you will work as a curator of the collection for a long but short period of time.”

“… Then, is it possible that the work I’m assigned to change in the middle of the project?”

“Because there are many works with strong intentions, even if we arrange them with the utmost care, there will be parts that don’t fit. If it is judged to be detrimental to both the work and the curator, the work in charge can change even during the year.”

It may not be just the curator’s problem. No matter how much the curator cares, the state of the work sometimes changes.

“Then I will ask for your help.”

With Yoo Seong-un’s words, the basic training of curators was concluded.

“I’d like to say hello when I see you, but I’m usually in charge of the 5th floor works and I travel a lot for business, so it wouldn’t be easy to meet you.”

“Thank you for everything.”

“I am the one who is grateful for following the training well. Please, everyone, don’t cause accidents. As you probably heard throughout the training, if you cause an accident, not only you but many other people will die.”

Yoo Seong-un, who had said those creepy words, smiled his characteristically innocent smile.

“Once again, welcome to the Collector’s Gallery.”

So the new curators were thrown into the wild.

“… … .”

“… … .”

In a somewhat creepy wilderness.

* * *

The work the man was assigned to do was a set of porcelain dolls.

“… … .”

The official name was “Sweet Tea Party,” and it consisted of three porcelain dolls smaller than an adult male’s hand.

‘The risk level is 6.’

The works in the collection gallery were classified into risk levels from 1 to 10, with higher numbers indicating greater safety. Among them, the work that the man who had just completed basic training was assigned to was a level 6 work on the third floor.

‘Higher risk compared to other new recruits who were assigned works rated 8 out of 10.’

I couldn’t tell whether I should be happy that this was acknowledged, or scared that it had become dangerous.

Curator Yoo Seong-yoon also passed by and said, “If it doesn’t work out, ask them to assign a different piece.”

but.

“… There’s no need to do that already.”

The porcelain doll set, “Sweet Tea Party,” depicts three girls in elaborate dresses.

All you had to do was give them the snacks they requested at the exact time, and then prepare the snacks they asked for after they finished eating them.

‘There is no difficult way to deal with it, other than having to be careful with time.’

The margin of error is within 5 seconds. If you give them a snack too quickly or too slowly, they will turn into porcelain humans.

It was a terrible penalty that could result in death with one mistake, but it was the same when I was active in the field as a combat-type A-class hunter.

“In the first place, 5 seconds is a lot of time for a hunter… .”

In particular, as a Class A Hunter, he was able to make decisions and take action within 0.01 seconds. Rather, it was a much safer situation than a dungeon where you had to exert a lot of strength and be prepared to get injured.

“… … .”

“Sweet Tea Party” was displayed in the 28th hallway on the 3rd floor. The man’s face relaxed a little when he saw it displayed in plain sight in a public place.

The safety of the artifacts could be confirmed simply by the fact that they were not stored separately and were in a hallway that any curator could walk through.

‘It’s quite dangerous to call it safe, considering it’s a three-story work, but still… .’

I feel reassured.

“… So cute and adorable.”

A porcelain doll wearing a dress with lots of rich frills, so white that it looked like it would ooze out if you touched it. Her cheeks were painted the color of a ripe peach, her eyes were yellow, and her eyelashes were long and finely grown.

Their eyes were each sparkling purple, yellow, and green, as if they were made of jewels.

‘Since the entire eyeball is made of a jewel, the sclera and cornea are not separated. If this were the case, it would be difficult to tell even if someone were looking at me.’

If it weren’t for the strange atmosphere that came with the sense of discomfort of not being able to confirm the gaze, it would have been well-received by collectors who have a hobby of collecting such dolls.

“Today’s snack was star candy.”

Each of them asked for a purple, yellow, and green star candy.

“… … .”

After waiting for 4:00 AM, the appointed tea party time, I placed the star candies that the porcelain dolls wanted on a small bowl. The star candies on the small bowl, which were small enough to fit the dolls’ bodies, looked huge.

Then the dolls moved.

“…oh….”

Square, square, round.

Using knives that were not sharp at all, the dolls broke the star candies into pieces as if they were dividing them into pieces of cake.

The sight of the star candies being cut so smoothly like a mousse cake felt quite novel.

“It’s a nice sweetness.”

“It’s a nice tea party.”

“It was a good time.”

The dolls that finished the tea party each gave their own evaluations, and the number of bad evaluations they received would determine their fortune for the day. The man sighed in relief as he recalled that.

‘Today’s fortune will not be bad.’

At that moment, an abnormality was detected.

“It has a nice crunch.”

“It’s a good firmness.”

“It smells good.”

“Good morning.”

“It was a good snack.”

“Good choice.”

“It’s a good gift.”

A total of 7 additional remarks.

“… … .”

It was an obvious anomaly.

“… In the manual, it says this… .”

The dolls opened their mouths again, seemingly out of sight of the man who was hastily rereading the manual.

“Godfather.”

“The godfather is coming.”

“Let’s dress up sweetly.”

The porcelain girls added remarks that were completely different from the manual.

“… There was no such information?”

The porcelain doll set 『Sweet Tea Party』 opens its mouth a total of three times during one tea party. All sentences begin with ‘good-‘ or ‘bad-‘, and there was no one who could be called ‘godfather’ like now.

“What on earth is….”

It was when I picked up the radio to call for help.

“… … .”

“… … .”

“… … .”

The dolls were looking at the same place.

“… … .”

Let the man look back.

The sea.

The sun.

Deer.

The bird.

Clouds.

Flowers.

Fog.

Spring water.

Sigh.

The touch.

Teeth.

The eyeball.

Eyes.

eye.

“… … .”

Human?

“…ah….”

It was seen.

A blond man with a kind smile came into view.

“Who, who are you…?”

The man stood there, looking a little embarrassed, trying to keep the porcelain dolls out of sight, to avoid any possible danger.

‘There was definitely no sound?’

It was confusing.

‘… If I’m confident enough to detect presences, then I wouldn’t be able to detect anything below B-class. I’ve never heard of a new S-class appearing in Korea. It’s my first time seeing this face… Is it an unofficial hunter close to S-class?’

I was already nervous. I was so out of it because I witnessed something strange on the first day I started working alone.

The man looked confused, but gradually collected his thoughts and looked at the person who was silently smiling as if waiting for him to be flustered. He was a person with softly curled, bright blond hair and a matching smile.

Soon the other person opened his mouth.

“hello.”

“… Ah, yes.”

The everyday, gentle tone made me lose strength in my body.

“Good morning.”

“My name is Sergio.”

“Sergio… .”

The man clenched and unclenched his fist. For some reason, a cold sweat broke out.

“It’s ‘Mr. Sergio’.”

He was also someone who received attention from curator Yoo Seong-un.

One of the new recruits of the C-class encountered a person who the other employees also laughed strangely at and were reluctant to describe in detail. It was Sergio, the unofficial special force of the collector, who was part of the early morning shift.

“I heard the story.”

“What is your name?”

“… … .”

“I wonder what your name is.”

Are you listening to my story?

‘… It’s strangely confusing because the tone is so abrupt.’

The man spat out my name.

“… I am Binary.”

“lily?”

“No, it’s a binary without a gender.”

“okay.”

“You can call me whatever you want.”

“All right.”

The blue eyes curved gently.

“Would you like to talk to me?”

“… … .”

The man checked his watch without realizing it.

“… … .”

4:51 a.m.

‘… 51 minutes.’

The time when the work was managed was 4 o’clock sharp. And the current time is 4:51.

A gap of about an hour.

“… Yes, if we talk… that would be good.”

The man nodded.

It wasn’t like I could go back right away anyway. Even if I did talk, it wouldn’t be a problem.

“I don’t think I can go home right away.”

“I think it would be nice to spend some time talking.”

“Yes, that’s right… .”

The man sighed and turned around to look at the porcelain dolls again.

“… … .”

“… … .”

“… … .”

They sat quietly with a lovely appearance.

“… Mr. Sergio?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“I heard that Mr. Sergio also often takes care of gallery management.”

“Yes, there are many wonderful and beautiful works of art in this gallery.”

“then….”

He should report it separately before any problems arise, but he wanted to hear Mr. Sergio’s opinion separately. He thought of the word ‘godfather’ that the dolls had been whispering.

“Could you please take a look at these dolls?”

The man stepped aside a little to show the dolls, who had innocent and cute faces. They were porcelain dolls that didn’t move at all, but they looked quite happy, perhaps because the tea party had just ended.

The man described the strange phenomenon that had just occurred.

“I know that it is a piece where each person uses one sentence at a tea party, a total of three sentences. But just now, for some reason, you used an additional sentence of 10, adding 3 more sentences to 7.”

“Was that a bad thing?”

“That’s not it. They were good words. They seemed to be sufficiently satisfying sentences for this tea party. However, I didn’t expect the speech to become this long… .”

“It means that good fortune that cannot be contained in a 24-hour period is coming to you.”

“… … .”

The man made a subtle expression.

“Isn’t that just a disaster?”

“That’s a new perspective.”

“I like a little luck.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“… Ah, yes.”

He was a unique person.

‘The tone of the words is quite soft… but the form is stiff.’

However, it was not awkward, like a foreigner who is not familiar with Korean. This soft yet blunt tone suits me very well, but when I think about it rationally, there is a strange sense of incongruity.

“Can I watch those kids for a moment?”

“… Of course, because you’ll be better than me as a newbie at anything.”

“Thank you for your permission.”

Sergio approached quietly and examined the porcelain dolls.

Although the manual said that there was no harm in touching it as long as you didn’t destroy it, he was caressing the doll with kind hands like an old man holding his grandson. There was affection in his touch.

It was a noble, fairytale-like scene, as if it came out of a famous painting… .

“… … .”

It was a little creepy.

‘… The atmosphere itself is definitely gentle… .’

It was difficult to breathe.

The air was heavy, as if someone had died.