The Artist Who Paints Dungeon - Chapter 138



Only Noblemtl

Episode 138

Black cloak.

A humanoid monster that was first spotted in the S-class dungeon ‘Deep Sea Country’ last winter and was listed on the Hunter Association’s website. It is famous for tormenting bad humans and giving gifts to good humans.

His characteristics include being very tall, wearing a black cloak, wearing a suit, and being barefoot.

“… … .”

In her dorm room alone, new curator Park Joo-hee gritted her teeth.

“… When I think about it, they’re all similar… .”

I remember when the curator of Yoo Seong-un first explained about a person named ‘Sergio’.

‘It is often misunderstood because it has similar characteristics to the Black Cloak.’

It’s not that Park Joo-hee didn’t think that Sergio and Black Cloak had something in common. However, Sergio was too kind, too human, and had an extremely gentle smile to think that way.

But now that I think about it, it makes me dizzy.

‘It was too idealistic.’

I should have been suspicious.

‘How can someone who smiles as if he’s been stuffed into shape be ordinary?’

Sergio smiled, talked, and cared like an ordinary person, but his actions and expressions were unchanging. She clearly knew that Sergio had an air of non-existence.

“… This… This, is this okay?”

It was confusing.

He felt that the other person was too human, so he could not have thought that he was a monster, and he suspected that he was possessed or deceived by something. There was a high probability that the ‘Sergio’ that the black cloak showed was a kind of mask.

‘We’ve only just met, so I don’t feel betrayed or anything.’

He was someone I had only met twice so far. Even if an acquaintance I had known for over a year had lied to me, I would have let it slide, but now I had no reason to feel betrayed by someone I had only met twice.

‘I’m not angry. I’m not disappointed or anything. There wasn’t that much trust between Sergio and me. But it’s true that I’m confused…’

What should I do with this?

“… I’m not in a position to take action, am I?”

The collection gallery is a place where all kinds of dangerous works are gathered. There will be many protocols for responding to abnormal phenomena, and safety devices and information control will also be in place.

“Besides, it seemed like all the other employees knew.”

Only the new recruits didn’t know that ‘Sergio’ was the black cloak.

“But, it’s not like I’m hiding it too thoroughly… .”

Park Joo-hee herself is so dull that if they had this many things in common, her classmates would have already noticed.

For some reason, the collector simply tolerated the existence of the black cloak.

“… … .”

After thinking about it for quite some time, she soon knocked on the door of another dormitory.

“…What’s going on?”

“Excuse me. I have something to discuss.”

“To me, a fellow newbie?”

“Mr. Binary, have you met Mr. Sergio?”

“… … .”

Binari, one of Park Joo-hee’s classmates, nodded.

“Come in.”

“…excuse me.”

In the deep dawn, the story was getting longer.

* * *

Binary Curator, the only one among the new recruits in this collection to be in charge of the 3rd floor works.

“I knew it.”

“I see… I see. Was I the only one who didn’t know?”

“That’s not it.”

He was one of the first to realize that ‘Sergio’ was the Black Cloak.

“In my case, I had a gut feeling about this guy Sergio ever since Curator Yoo Seong-un first warned me about him. Other than that, I was suspicious of Jeong Eun-byeol, who introduced me to a B-class hunter.”

“ah….”

“Curator Yoo Seong-un also seemed to have noticed that we had noticed something strange. However, he never said anything. It seemed like it was common knowledge within the collection that there was a person called ‘Sergio’ who wore a black cloak.”

Binary added.

“There is no such thing as a dawn shift at the collection center in the first place.”

“… There was definitely no such introduction on the website, but I thought they had hidden it because it was an important person.”

“After asking around among my seniors, I found out that Sergio was the only one working the early morning shift.”

“But it could have been a measure taken for some kind of justification.”

“Yes, you could think of it as a special privilege to take care of very special personnel.”

He shrugged.

“Just like what other classmates are thinking right now.”

“… That’s true. I still think it’s being hidden too sloppily, though… .”

“I think that, as Ms. Park Joo-hee just found out today, she must have decided that it was worth hiding from the new recruits.”

“What happens to people like us who discover Sergio’s true identity?”

“At least I don’t think there will be any disadvantages. We may just see how we adapt.”

“Why in the first place… why is it like this… .”

Park Joo-hee, who had been stuttering, let out a short breath and opened her mouth again.

“There are more than one or two things that are puzzling. Why didn’t they tell the new recruits about the Black Cloak? It’s a humanoid monster, after all.”

“There was definitely nothing about ‘Mr. Sergio’ in the basic training we received. I think it might be because we were interns who would have to leave the company if things went wrong.”

“Because I was an intern… So, you’re saying that you didn’t tell me because you wanted to keep it a secret? You can’t tell important things to an intern who could be fired at any time.”

Park Joo-hee was worried.

“But if we don’t receive safety training and cause an accident, isn’t that a bigger problem? Even the seniors at the gallery keep emphasizing that if we’re going to die, at least the curator should die.”

I’ve heard that when dangerous works cause accidents, they often grow out of control.

“Whether it’s the artwork or the monsters here, the important thing is the rules. If we, who don’t know anything, don’t know Mr. Sergio’s… conditions and end up getting angry, wouldn’t that be a bigger problem?”

“I and Jeong Eun-byeol, who I just mentioned, had similar thoughts for a while. And we came to the conclusion that there would probably be no problem if we treated Sergio as a regular employee.”

Binary sighed.

“I’m sure the collectors have thought about it all. So, if you treat the Black Cloak like a regular employee, it won’t cause any problems, and even if something unusual happens, it won’t be something that will cause a major accident.”

“…Is this a problem that will just lead to our deaths?”

“I was guessing it would be something like that. So I thought it would be a test of sorts. To see if we were worthy of being a collector’s item, a collector’s employee, a Black Cloak’s coworker… .”

“I think that just the fact that we are here qualifies us as a collectible.”

“The collector’s prize is a good one. If we continue to think of them as ordinary early morning shift workers, then it won’t be against the conditions. And if they notice the presence of the black cloak, we can see how well they adapt.”

He smiled awkwardly.

“So we were thinking that the sooner we figured out Mr. Sergio’s identity… the sooner he would be promoted to a regular employee. This is just a guess, though.”

“… Oh, I see. If all the other employees already know the identity of the Black Cloak, well, the prerequisite for becoming a full-time employee is… well, you have to know the identity of the Black Cloak.”

They also knew how devoted Bisabal was to his collection. Once he was promoted to a full-time employee, he could no longer leave Bisabal’s collection, and he could not be kicked out of the collection.

“But if you show that you are adapting well even after learning the identity of the Black Cloak during the internship… ”

Wouldn’t it be possible to embrace it with peace of mind in many ways?

“It means that not only us, but also Black Cloak doesn’t dislike this new recruit, right?”

“That’s right. So this lax security probably seems like a device to confirm the intentions of the two of you, the guild leader and Sergio.”

“No matter what, it would be good if we could know the exact information… such as the monster’s permission conditions.”

“It’s not that our position is important. And it’s not something that can be achieved just by trying hard. It’s something that can only be achieved if Sergio approves.”

“… … .”

Park Joo-hee’s expression distorted subtly.

“… So… why is that?”

“… Certainly, the collector feels more inclined to view the black cloak as a basic component.”

“I guess that’s because they are called basic components, which means they can never be excluded… .”

“… … .”

“…ah.”

I raised my head.

“no way?”

“well.”

“To the gallery?”

“…well.”

“It was a work of art?”

“… Phew… .”

Binary sighed and opened her mouth.

“It is a well-known fact among the general public that the Black Cloak is a portrait. There are even some fans who covet the series of portraits drawn by the portrait artist.”

“I wonder if the guild leader brought it in because he thought it was a work of art? When curator Yoo Seong-yoon explained ‘Mr. Sergio,’ I think he also said that it was one of his collections.”

“There are quite a few monsters in the collector’s gallery that are in the form of artwork. It is obviously illegal to breed monsters, but once they enter the gallery, they are treated as objects… .”

“The black cloak was also treated as part of the guild master’s collection? Really? Does that make sense?”

“I think so. Maybe the guild master brought Sergio here because he didn’t want to leave the collection shop and was wandering around. Well, there are many possibilities.”

But these were not things a newbie would know.

“Anyway, the important thing is that the collector is no different from the gallery of the guildmaster of the Victims’ Guild. I heard that collectors are quite greedy, no matter what damage they incur or what changes they endure… They wouldn’t want to throw away a unique collection that they regularly produce like the Black Cloak.”

Binary made a strange expression.

“Even if I throw it away, I wonder where I should throw it away.”

“Oh, right… .”

“What is certain is that the collectors have already adapted to Sergio’s presence.”

“…Can you think of it as a kind of executive or flower pot…?”

“A flower pot?”

“Something like a flower pot in the hallway….”

“Wouldn’t it be better to think of it as a piece of art hanging in a hallway?”

“That would be more correct, after all, it is a work of art.”

Park Joo-hee barely managed to gather her thoughts.

“So, the work that is currently in the gallery is being circulated around the company.”

“There may be many other works besides Sergio’s that we don’t know about.”

“I think it would be easier to think of this as a manual within the office building rather than a gallery.”

The collection gallery had different activities on each floor, so there was a separate internal manual prepared. For example, knock three times before opening the 39th door on the 2nd floor, or drink water before passing through the 1st hallway on the 4th floor…

“Well, I have a rough idea of ​​how to make the piece appealing.”

All of those manuals were rules to avoid upsetting the numerous works in the gallery. If you think about it, Sergio, who is hiding the fact that he is a black cloak, is similar, it wasn’t that difficult.

“Thank you for helping me understand.”

“We should help and live together with people of the same motive.”

“They say motivation is important.”

“I guess there are times when I need help… .”

But I still felt uneasy.

“… … .”

“… … .”

“… No matter how much I think about it, isn’t it too complacent?”

“… I think that’s the collector’s motto… .”

“Love the work?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

“this….”

It was nothing more than a humanoid monster roaming around, and the collector was in charge with the mindset of, ‘If an accident happens, there’s nothing we can do about it.’ There was no safety training or forced secrecy here.

“… We just don’t know, but surveillance and evaluation will be ongoing. The moment you leave the company, there will be measures taken to maintain confidentiality.”

“That may be true. There may be countermeasures and such, but I’m not sure if there are any means to protect interns like us.”

“We may not be full-time employees yet, but we have already stepped into the collection of the guild leader. I hear the collections are treated so well, so let’s look forward to it.”

Binary asked next.

“But you’re not as flustered as I thought, are you?”

“Oh… So you found out Sergio’s true identity?”

“It’s not like we’ve never met before, you only talked to each other twice.”

“It’s just too unrealistic to react… .”

Park Joo-hee, who had been hesitating, continued speaking.

“… From the first time I saw him, he didn’t seem like a human being at all.”

And their conversation also reached the security management department within the collection center.

* * *

The Safety Management Department is the only department that operates 24 hours a day.

The employees who had finished eavesdropping were in an uproar.

“You figure it out quicker than I thought.”

“It’s because Sergio has been visiting the company a lot these days.”

“It used to only come out late at night… .”

“Yes, I see you often during work hours these days, right?”

“Have you had any change of heart?”

Horok.

The employee who was drinking coffee asked.

“Three people have already noticed this. Should I just promote you to a full-time employee?”

“That’s not for us to decide.”

“The guild leader hasn’t decided yet?”

“I need to check with the black-cloaked doctor too.”

“Well, I think you like this group.”

“First of all, it’s a passing grade if you weren’t immediately dragged into the portrait.”

“It seems like the new recruits this time are all people with good manners and kindness.”

“In the end, it will be Sergio’s standards.”

“Even if you can do that much, you can still pass as a human….”

The employee, sipping coffee of a similar color to poison and staring at the CCTV, opened his mouth.

“But Sergio’s activities have increased significantly recently.”

“It comes out often even when there are a lot of people.”

“Did Curator Yoo Seong-un have anything to say?”

“There was no separate report or request, they just asked me to keep an eye on it.”

“I heard that too. Well, there was no separate document posted…”

“But I know what Sergio has been interested in recently.”

“I don’t know that?”

The safety manager sighed.

“You’re asking about the evil spirits.”

“Why are you suddenly an evil spirit?”

“To be exact, I was asking about the definition and qualifications of an evil spirit.”

“Could this be Sergio’s own story?”

“It’s not impossible.”

“Well, I’m not sure since it’s a work that hasn’t even been tested yet….”

The employee who was about to say something stopped.

“Uh huh.”

“Oh, Mr. Gyeong-woo. That guy is watching the CCTV.”

“Screen 53 on the 14th floor is temporarily closed.”

The employees cut off the screen feed just before the black cloak walking down the hallway turned to the CCTV. As soon as the screen went black, the other employees who were staring at the other screens also breathed a sigh of relief.

The manager then opened his mouth.

“Last time, there was that employee who fainted after kissing Sergio on screen.”

“Not quite fainting… but fainting? Right?”

“Isn’t that it? Anyway, yes, Mr. Haryu. When are you coming back?”

“I’m still going around the counseling room.”

“Isn’t it time? Hey, we’re short on manpower… .”

“He said he couldn’t send it yet because he thought it would make a fake one if he was careful.”

“Oh my, is that it? This is a big problem. We can’t use our vacation days.”

“What the heck… I should get paid for it.”

“I want to take a vacation without receiving any pay.”

“me too.”

The employee turned the screen back on, and in the place where the black cloak had disappeared, only a portrait remained.

The manager spoke, looking at the only portrait in the empty hallway.

“Hey, this is killing the mood.”

The screen is distorted.

In the portrait, Sergio was looking into the ‘eyes’ behind the black paint.