The Artist Who Paints Dungeon - Chapter 121



Only Noblemtl

Episode 121

“… … .”

“… … .”

In a place where only the two were left, Yoo Seong-un was the first to speak.

“Geo.”

“Yes, Mr. Yoo Seong-un.”

“Your shadow is gone.”

“… … .”

Geo’s head slowly lowered at Yoo Seong-un’s comment.

“Oh, no.”

It’s a very artificial reaction.

‘Did you think that kind of reaction was appropriate in the current situation?’

As soon as he thought that, a shadow appeared beneath Geo’s feet.

Yoo Seong-un was secretly impressed.

‘It feels alive.’

He thought the word ‘bloomed’ was quite accurate.

It is so vivid and colorful that it cannot be considered as a simple shadow created by an object blocking the light.

Shadows spread across the retina.

‘… A school of fish?’

Schools of tiny fish swam about, waves swayed in the wind, and it seemed as if I saw long-horned deer or thick-clawed beasts walking along the ground, or the large wings of gliding birds.

The colorful shapes that passed by in an instant soon grew into a large forest, then became refined again to form a human being.

“… … .”

The long shadow, as if searching for a ‘realistic’ position, settled darkly and small beneath Geo’s feet.

The process of gradually developing a complete form from a crude form like drawing a picture. Considering that Geo has the characteristics of a painter, it was an interesting change.

‘Then can we still call Geo outside the frame a painting?’

Soon Geo opened his mouth.

“I should have been more careful, but I showed you my ugly side.”

“That might happen as you live.”

“I thought there wouldn’t be any problems, but there was this loophole….”

Geo stretched out his words.

“I’m embarrassed.”

“With something like that.”

He clearly said, ‘I didn’t think there would be any problems,’ which was no different from saying he had guessed that there might be problems.

‘That is, Geo is aware that he is imitating a human.’

Yoo Seong-un, who had organized his thoughts to that point, muttered to himself.

‘Surprisingly, it was possible to be objective. I thought Geo would think of himself as a human being, so what kind of attitude should I take if this is the case?’

Could it be that even his previous remarks regarding himself as a human were part of an imitation? If so, Geo was close to imitating at a level that would be difficult to imagine for a human being.

‘It’s a side that is sometimes seen in gods who enjoy playing. Even things that feel like the truth to us humans are sometimes actually lies. Even Geo’s way of thinking about himself as a human could be one of those imitations… .’

If a human truly thinks about it, it becomes a belief, but for beings of a different level like God, even that can be an act. Even though I intentionally left open various possibilities, I felt like I was hit in the back of the head a little.

It was indeed surprising. Yoo Seong-un swallowed an awkward laugh inside.

‘The existence of the source cannot be measured by human standards.’

This is especially true if the thing that Yoo Seong-un is dealing with is the source itself.

“… … .”

Yoo Seong-un, who was quietly catching his breath, asked in a calm voice.

“Unlike before, there are some parts that are a bit awkward now?”

“It would be a great help if you could tell me what part of it was like that.”

“In what part, if you say… .”

Do you want to know how far humans can perceive?

The scope of the original being and the human’s vision were different. Perhaps the flaws in Geo’s imitation that he had just seen came from this difference in vision, or perhaps this was also part of the act.

‘It may be similar to the way humans put robots in to understand the ecology of monsters.’

In the case of monsters or beasts that are wary of humans, robots shaped like them are sometimes deployed to observe the daily lives of those entities.

From a human’s perspective, they would know it was a robot, but to a monster, it would feel like a kindred spirit with a slightly strange side.

‘Geo and our human situation probably isn’t that different from that.’

Yoo Seong-un nodded.

“It’s not difficult.”

As a curator and as a gardener, I could easily tell you about that difference in perspective.

“As I said before, I was a little surprised that there was no shadow.”

“It should have been there, but I forgot for a moment.”

“First of all, the lights are falling on our heads.”

The gallery in Bisabal was brightly lit and had a particularly clean white color.

This was done not only to help visitors fully appreciate the work, but also to help curators quickly spot unusual phenomena like the one just now.

“There was a shadow beneath Nana, the new curator’s feet.”

Only Geo didn’t have it.

“The next strange thing would be the weight.”

“It’s a feeling of weight.”

“I can’t hear you when you move.”

“Can’t you hear me?”

“If I had to put my finger on it, it would be something like the sound of dry grass swaying?”

In fact, this was a chronic problem with Geo’s human imitation.

“When I toured Seoul before, it was pretty light.”

“I thought it was a bit heavy.”

“But that doesn’t mean that a normal person will fly away just because the wind is blowing a little strong.”

“I remember it didn’t fly away.”

“Yeah, my body floated.”

“Wasn’t the wind particularly strong?”

“The winds of the Earth do not blow people away.”

The meteor cloud right next to it was fine, but didn’t Geo almost fly away?

“Similarly, the sound is still very light.”

“It’s light.”

“When I walk like that, I don’t make any sound.”

“That was definitely something I didn’t pay attention to.”

Bam… .

Geo, who was hitting the floor with his bare feet, tilted his head.

“This is hard to fix.”

“Don’t be too hasty, it’ll be hard to fix everything at once.”

From a human perspective, the more detailed Geo is, the faster it is possible to grasp the situation.

“And let me tell you one more thing… .”

“Is there more?”

“I don’t know if this will be interpreted well, though.”

What Yoo Seong-un was pointing to was a piece of art hanging on the wall in the hallway where they were standing.

It was large enough to embrace a standing person, and like most of the paintings on display, it faced people as if it were a mirror.

“You look a little weird.”

A mass that could be called nature is reflected on the cleanly maintained glass.

“Is it because the gallery lights are so bright? We can be seen a little bit through that glass.”

“Why does that look strange?”

“Do you appear human enough in your eyes?”

“Yes, that’s right. It sounds like you’re saying that it doesn’t look like that to Mr. Yoo Seong-un.”

“It’s embarrassing to say that, but it’s true.”

The ‘Portrait of Geo’ reflected in the glass was not a human figure.

“I can see the forest.”

Actually, you couldn’t say it was a forest.

The abundant trees, grass, and flowers that symbolize the forest. Living creatures such as wolves and rabbits that run around inside. And the ecosystem in which they are eaten and live. It is not simply a symbol of nature, but a gigantic figure with a will and destiny… .

It was similar to what we saw in Geo’s ‘shadow’ just now.

‘You can’t just call this a forest.’

It was clearly staring at the meteor and the world. It was the ‘eye’ of something very large.

‘I can feel your gaze.’

However, Geo, who is standing next to him, is not looking at the meteor cloud through the glass of the picture frame.

‘Is this something Geo doesn’t know about?’

Or is it that they know but are pretending not to know in order to ‘imitate’ it?

From a human standpoint, his truth and lies cannot be distinguished, so in reality there was not much difference either way. There was no point in distinguishing between them.

Yoo Seong-un spoke indifferently, as if he had never seen that huge thing.

“I should say that it feels like it’s on a different level.”

“I don’t quite understand what Mr. Yoo Seong-un is saying.”

The blonde portrait smiled gently.

“To me, my reflection in the glass looks sufficiently human.”

“…okay?”

“Do you still see me that way, Mr. Yoo Seong-un?”

“… … .”

When Yoo Seong-un checked the glass again, he was able to confirm the shape of ‘Giovanni’.

There was no ‘forest’ anywhere.

“…oh.”

Is this how it comes out?

“Yes, I can definitely see a person reflected in it.”

“Could it be that the paintings stored behind the glass were confusing my image?”

“That could be the case. The works here are all very assertive.”

Yoo Seong-un didn’t bother to convince her by saying, ‘You are not human.’

‘If you say this even though you already know it well, it probably means that you shouldn’t bother to dig into it any further.’

He had no intention of incurring the resentment of the works I managed.

‘If Geo wants to look human, it’s better to leave him that way.’

Isn’t that what the source wants?

There was no reason not to accommodate Geo, who was trying to act like a human and wanted to. Geo could be human, but he just wasn’t human.

“hmm….”

Yoo Seong-un asked, rubbing his cold neck.

“I asked the same question earlier, but when you were touring Seoul before, weren’t there less abnormalities than this? Did you have any change of heart when you noticed some vulnerabilities that you hadn’t noticed before?”

“I don’t know if I can really put it that way, but there was definitely something similar to a change of heart. It was about me becoming perfect as Giovanni, and I think these ideals came from that.”

Geo continued with a smile.

“I can’t ask for any more help from Giovanni.”

I should say that his speaking style is truly unique.

‘Speaking like this makes it seem like you really have no intention of imitating a human being.’

It could be that he hadn’t realized that his way of speaking was strange, or it could be that he was just revealing his true feelings because Yoo Seong-un was a comfortable partner. Either way, it wasn’t such a bad situation.

Then Yoo Seong-un asked.

“What do you mean it would be difficult to expect Giovanni’s help?”

“It’s true. All this time, Giovanni was not a portrait, so we could count on him for help, but now we can’t.”

“Because the Giovanni in front of me now has become a complete portrait?”

Is that what it means to ‘become perfect as Giovanni’?

“So Geo could receive that kind of help when it wasn’t a perfect portrait.”

It is giving things that should be natural to a human being to a ‘portrait’ that cannot be called human.

‘… In the past, it was speculated that the identity of this portrait was countless deaths and lives.’

This portrait was constantly replaying the life and death of ‘Geo’ somewhere in countless dimensions. Now that he knew that he was the source, Yoo Seong-un was certain.

This entity called ‘Geo’ was originally an ‘eye’ that experienced, understood, and ultimately applied humans.

‘Then, we can explain how the great being called the Source gives us a system that meets human standards.’

That’s why there are so many ‘geos’ that Yoo Seong-un doesn’t know about yet.

“… … .”

When he, whose essence is the source, acts as a human being on one level, I think he also plays a role in helping other humans adapt and function smoothly. That’s what I mean when I hear the usage of this personality called ‘Giovanni’.

‘… But it seems that as time passes, it eventually takes on the character of a portrait.’

Just as a piece of Korean paper gradually turns black when placed in an ink bowl, the self called ‘Giovanni’, who could be called human, was eventually swept away by the status of the origin. Having lost his reference point, Geo will not be able to be certain of his condition as a human.

This was how the gigantic being known as the Source imitated tiny humans.

“…then….”

Yoo Seong-un asked.

“What are you going to do from now on? Are you going to give up your current status as an A-class Hunter?”

“No, I find it very appealing to be active as a proper citizen of this world.”

“But it’s hard to live comfortably with so many creepy loopholes like this.”

“So I guess we’ll need help from another ‘Geo’.”

The portrait was still smiling.

“If there are any results, I will send you a letter.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Yoo Seong-un suddenly noticed another vulnerability.

‘…the expression is the same.’

Like a portrait that was already drawn and could not be changed, Geo always had the same smiling expression.

‘It’s like being stuffed alive.’

It was a very romantic thing.

* * *

“Crunch.”

“… … .”

“Gurr?”

“… I thought there was no problem.”

“Gurrrrrr.”

“There were more loopholes than I thought.”

Back at the cabin, Geo was munching on the squishy honey.

The plump, plump water bird tumbled around softly in Geo’s large hands. Feeling the bouncy texture of his son’s body, which was flexibly and freely twisted, Geo confessed his mistake frankly.

“If Mr. Yoo Seong-un hadn’t told me, I really wouldn’t have known until the end.”

He thought it was fortunate that the new curator he met today didn’t notice his ideals.

The new curator was aware of Geo’s ‘weaknesses’ but he almost gritted his teeth and pretended not to know, but Geo did it anyway. He thought the previous conversations had been successful.

“I was too complacent, thinking that I would have no problem functioning as a fully-integrated Geo.”

“Kung?”

“No, this dad won’t give up. No matter how scared I become, in the end, my home is Earth.”

“Gurrrr.”

“You should sleep in a portrait, but sometimes you should also feel the stimulation of your hometown.”

Moderate brain stimulation is good for preventing dementia.

“I will live a long and healthy life.”

“Kuruk.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to find another Geo… .”

As it turned out, I had a friend who was just right.

List of suitable candidates

Animal Kingdom_Argio

Fairy tale rate 0%

“…Is it time to take out the ‘Animal Kingdom’ that has been stuck in storage?”

It was when I was combining with the second suitable person, ‘Argio’.