The Artist Who Paints Dungeon - Chapter 71



Only Noblemtl

Episode 71

Going back in time a bit, after Geo returned to the cabin after leaving the ‘Temple of the Deep Sea’.

“I knew that the Earth today was a much more dangerous place than I remembered 30 years ago….”

“Gurrrr… .”

“I never thought that a terrorist attack, not a terrorist attack, would occur at such a large religious event. It was the first terrorist incident I have ever experienced in my life.”

Geo was calming down.

“What a scary world. At the tender age of 29, I almost lost my family.”

It wouldn’t be easy for him to die, having enjoyed a miracle greater than the miracle of becoming one with the Source in a mere human body, but since he himself really doesn’t know anything about it, he’ll just ignore it.

It was surprising that the student Eunha met at the initiation ceremony and the Isser in Giovanni’s memories were the same person, but it was even said that he was the one who led this terrorist incident.

“… … .”

Giovanni became very upset.

“He wasn’t like that originally, so why did he become like that?”

“… … .”

“… If I had to find the cause, it would probably be my fault, right?”

“Kuru.”

“Oh, sun.”

Yeah, honestly, it was a bit too much to die like that. Giovanni also knew his guilt.

“Isser especially thought of me as a father figure. He was such a kind and honest friend, so the incident at that time must have been even more shocking. It’s scary when good kids decide to go astray… ”

He groaned.

“I should at least pack some food for you.”

And these Geos were not the type to think deeply. They were a combination of two guys whose basic creed was ‘What should I do?’

He was a good man, if anything, but he knew how to make objective judgments that were even colder than that. He didn’t blame himself or regret things that weren’t his responsibility. This terrorist incident was no different.

It seemed like it was an incident that happened because the disciple was shocked by his master’s death and went astray, but that doesn’t mean it was the fault of the dead master, Giovanni. There was no reason to be scared when there was someone else who caused the accident.

“This teacher knows everything. He’s just sensitive because he’s hungry.”

“Ugh…?”

“People need to be well-fed themselves to be able to care for others.”

Geo sorted out the state of his disciple, the mermaid Isser, with a considerable degree of guilt.

“Most incidents and accidents that are committed by humans are said to be caused by the mental health of the people who commit the crimes. Most people who are living a stable life do not commit such things.”

Would this have happened if Isser, who originally couldn’t even handle fish, let alone people, had remained happy and mentally healthy?

Geo, who returned with black hair, asked.

“Honey, you should remember this too. There are few people who are irritable when their bodies are healthy and their stomachs are full. If you just fill their stomachs, people tend to become gentle.”

“Kkukkung?”

“People who still get upset are really weird, so just ignore them. If you give them food and they repay the favor with enmity, then either the person who gave them the food killed their parents, or the person who ate the food is weird.”

“Kkuk.”

“Then, now is the most important time for me to deal with it. How should this incompetent teacher react to the disciple who devoured him? It’s really a headache to know that he grew up to be a terrorist, so I could just live the rest of my life without seeing him….”

Of course, Geo couldn’t do that.

“I’ve fed those kids so much, you can’t just look at them once and say you don’t know me.”

He doesn’t care if it’s not something he’s responsible for. The recent Solar Cult initiation ceremony terrorist incident was definitely not his fault, but Giovanni was definitely responsible for his former disciple Isser growing up like that.

“It may have been the best it could have been at the time, but if he hadn’t been eaten alive, Isser wouldn’t have become so twisted.”

“Kururuk.”

Honey nodded. Her face said, ‘I guess you’re right,’ so Geo had nothing more to say.

“… Anyway, so… .”

In an effort to deal with the aftermath of his actions as a human, an adult, and a teacher, he devised a way to meet the mermaid siblings again.

“I remember that ‘The Breathing Sea’ and Isser’s Dungeon had a similar atmosphere.”

But even so, it seemed difficult to find the ‘deep-sea temple’ through the ‘breathing sea’. Who would do something so reckless knowing where and what could be in that vast world? The two might actually be connected.

Geo nodded.

“Fortunately, I have the ability to visit other people’s dungeons at will.”

“Kururuk?”

“Okay, let’s try drawing a picture.”

Didn’t you already experience it once with ‘The Vein of Jewels’? At that time, you failed to achieve your goal of a desirable social life, but thanks to that, you were able to save a young student named Cha Ara.

“This is a pretty useful ability.”

If Yoo Seong-un had heard of it, he would have made a petty comment, saying, “It’s probably not that useful,” but Geo was a reclusive loner.

“You can also eat sweet potatoes… If you put a little butter and salt on top of the sweet potatoes and drizzle honey on them, they’re really delicious.”

“Gurrrrrr!!”

“It’s similar to honey-sweet potato stir-fry, but a little more moist and soft. Oh, and if you add a little whipped cream on top, it’s really fantastic…”

A lonely young man stuck in a shack with no internet access could not possibly know such common sense. To him, his drawing ability was no different from the food truck that filled his stomach.

Geo went to see his father.

“father.”

“Kyuu.”

At some point, a teddy bear version of the sun god began to live in the cabin.

“You were playing with Danawa.”

“Kukuku… .”

“I’m glad it looks good.”

Last time, the jewel cat, Anticat Dana, who I brought from the ‘Jewel Vein’, was cold. So I wondered if she would get along well with the teddy bear that was warm from the sun, but it seemed like a perfect match.

“It’s just that I wanted to meet Isser again.”

“Kyuuu.”

“Thank you for your support. I’m thinking about drawing a picture to make a passage, but I think it’ll take a lot of time… .”

“Kukuku.”

“Thank you for your consideration. I’ve put the snacks in the storage room, so please eat them at your convenience.”

Even during my recent trip to Seoul, I thought, ‘Hehe, I’ll just see the event and come back home right away,’ but I ended up spending a lot of time at the shrine.

In case something similar happens again, Geo has made all the necessary preparations to ensure that the cabin can remain peaceful even without him.

“… … .”

Geo, who was sitting in the studio, blinked his eyes twice. He muttered.

“… Now that I think about it, that temple, maybe… .”

The ‘Temple of the Deep Sea’ that Geo had seen seemed familiar for some reason.

“Is this where I died?”

“Kuruk.”

“I don’t remember that part in detail.”

Fairness rate 94.5%

“… … .”

Still, I remembered exactly what the dungeon looked like.

“Let’s draw.”

Geo started drawing ‘The Temple of the Deep Sea’.

A laboratory with pure white pillars and high ceilings that hold a sense of sacredness, and yet not incongruous.

The air is filled with rippling water scales and countless monsters roaming the streets… .

“… … .”

Geo is absorbed in the painting.

* * *

A warehouse where finished works are covered with black cloth.

“… … .”

The sun god, who was sitting in the middle of the warehouse holding the anti-cat Dana in his arms, raised his head and looked to one side that was emitting a cold light.

“…Kuu.”

“?”

“Kukuku… .”

The ‘Breathing Sea’, which could be called the home of the sun god, was resonating.

“dream.”

May that story come to an end.

The sun immersed in the sea prayed earnestly.

* * *

“… … .”

Geo, wearing a black cloak pulled down low, was in the ‘Temple of the Deep Sea’.

“oh.”

This works.

“I felt this way when I went to the ‘Jewel Vein,’ but it’s a really convenient means of transportation.”

“Kururuk.”

“Let’s take a look around.”

Perhaps because the place itself was so large, he didn’t think of going straight to Isser. Strictly speaking, it was trespassing, so Geo decided to look around a little more cautiously.

I had just come back from painting in my studio, so my feet were still bare, but they weren’t that cold. The shallow seawater on the floor made a pleasant splashing sound.

“… … .”

Giovanni felt a brief sense of guilt as he entered the house of his well-dressed disciple without permission.

“Should I buy another cell phone?”

“Kung… .”

“Yeah, the signal won’t go through.”

It was inevitable due to the nature of portraits, but it was also the case in the gallery of the Collector’s Guild, and Geo was destined to have no choice but to adapt to unauthorized intrusion.

‘No one would expect a living person to jump out of a portrait and bring it into their home.’

Geo humbly accepted his fate of continuing to surprise countless people. It was a bit funny, so it was okay.

“It doesn’t look much different from the last time I saw it.”

“Kururuk.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, finding the way wasn’t that difficult.

“Something… familiar.”

It was all thanks to Giovanni’s memory.

“Because that’s where I worked.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, I see. That’s where I worked. I remember.”

Giovanni nodded.

“I wasn’t originally stationed here, but I did receive training here. Only after I was properly recognized as a priest would I be allowed to go to other regions and conduct my own activities. Until then, I had to receive training at a temple like this.”

“Kuru.”

“Don’t worry, my memory isn’t perfect, but I haven’t forgotten the path itself. I’ve spent time here with other people before, and things have come to mind…”

Geo, who was walking down the street, looked around.

“But it still feels unfamiliar.”

The temple he remembered had no such research facility.

“… … .”

After feeling the difference in time, Giovanni’s temper softened.

“Let’s go to the exit.”

“Kururuk.”

Geo found the stairs to the temple and climbed them.

Then, I met someone.

“… … .”

“… … .”

“… … ?”

Why are you coming out of there?

* * *

“… … .”

Back again, Hunter Jung Da-woon of the Association continued speaking.

“…Does that still sound a little strange?”

“To be honest, yes, I don’t quite understand.”

The researcher nodded.

“But I understand what the gentleman hunter is trying to say. You are saying that even though you clearly know with your mind that the other person is not human, you instinctively feel that the other person is human, right?”

“yes that’s right.”

“Then there’s no chance that it’s that kind of brainwashing?”

Among monsters, especially humanoid ones, there were many with mental skills.

“There are many monsters that try to disguise themselves as humans, even if they are not humanoid monsters. It would make more sense if they covered themselves with a cloak to keep their true identity from being revealed, and used mental skills to make themselves appear human.”

“… I don’t think that would have been the case.”

The hunter shook his head as he recalled the memory.

“It was a dungeon that was created in the sea right after the ‘Temple of the Deep Sea’, which was judged to be a dungeon with a high level of danger. At the time, I didn’t know that the two dungeons were connected, but I tried to enter it, assuming that there would be at least some connection.”

“I guess that means you prepared thoroughly before entering.”

“Yes, among the things we prepared, there was an item for brainwashing. As you’ve already heard, this item is an A-class item that can nullify the mental skills of up to 10 people. Of course, you could say that the ‘Black Cloak’ used a skill higher than A-class… .”

The hunter hesitated for a moment and then continued.

“I’m sure, the item didn’t react to ‘Black Cloak’ in the first place.”

“Not even a little bit?”

“It’s not just that we didn’t defend ourselves, it’s that there was no such thing. ‘Black Cloak’ never used any mental skills against us even once.”

“And yet, you’re saying that the Jeongdaun Hunter felt the other person as a human being? And that was with someone so alienated from him that he felt a sense of alienation.”

“It was a feeling that was almost certain. I thought it was impossible for me to deny it.”

That was absolutely ridiculous.

“For some reason, I felt reassured, as if I were lying in a cozy bed, but at the same time, I was surprised and got goosebumps at the sight of myself. I felt a little more reassured… I’m sorry, I can’t describe it in detail.”

“I understand.”

The researcher, who had offered some simple consolation, continued asking questions.

“Then let’s go back to the topic we had earlier. Instead of focusing on the identity of the ‘Black Cloak’, describe its behavior. How did you first encounter it?”

“… It was after I entered the third stage, the ‘Temple of the Deep Sea’. Since it was a place where people were once eaten in the form of a virtual dungeon, I could definitely see traces of other people. Of course, in the end, there was no one who could be called human… .”

The hunter said, still feeling dizzy.

“While wandering around the temple, I came across a humanoid monster.”

“The report says ‘Mermaid Isser’. Do you think it is the same being as ‘Galaxy’ that Priest Kang Seodam of the Solar Cult reported?”

“I guess that’s inevitable, right? Oh, of course, the being we encountered wasn’t a child, but an adult. It was our first time encountering a humanoid monster, so we were all nervous.”

“Well, it’s been a really long time since a humanoid monster has been officially sighted.”

The hunter nodded as if to express his gratitude for understanding and continued speaking.

“He introduced himself as a mermaid, and his name was Isser. He had pearl-colored eyes and bright blue hair, just like Priest Kang Seodam described. Based on the photo of the ‘Galaxy’ he reported, it seemed to be the same individual.”

The weary-faced hunter folded his arms and leaned back in his chair.

“As you probably already know, the story of the dungeon….”

“The report described it as ‘a monster born from the tragic loss of a dear human being.’”

“Like all monsters, they have a strong hatred for humans. However, they are so good at disguising themselves as humans that at first we thought they were priests who couldn’t escape.”

The way he approached with the priest’s characteristically benevolent smile clearly made him look more human.

“But we didn’t continue the pretense. We were confused for a moment, but we quickly realized that our opponents were monsters, and it seemed that the mermaid Isser didn’t intend to keep acting for too long… The battle began.”

“And you said you escaped safely. Right?”

“For some reason, the enemy entity showed a strange reaction. Our team at the time concluded that there must have been some kind of problem in the dungeon. They made the other monsters in the dungeon fight us and then went off somewhere.”

“But the cause is….”

“yes.”

The hunter nodded as if to say that what you were thinking was correct.

“The reason Yser ran away was probably because of the ‘Black Cloak’… I knew it the moment I saw its existence.”

“I’ll ask again, but how did you meet him?”

“…they asked for our identities.”

I still remember it vividly.

“He asked… what your name was.”

The eeriness at that time was indescribable, Hunter added.

As expected, it was a statement that made Geo feel wronged, saying, “Can’t I even make a statement?”

The painter who draws dungeons