The Artist Who Paints Dungeon

“…….”

“Hm? What's wrong?”

“…Oppa, you bastard…”

“H m?”

“What is that.”

At Cha Ara's question, her older brother, Cha Eun-hyuk, tilted his head.

“…A gem?”

“No, even I can tell it's a gem just by looking. How did you get it?”

“Ah, that…”

It seemed he was preparing to make an excuse, but drawn-out explanations were not Cha Ara's style.

“Look at this.”

“…lt's a gem.”

“I got this as a gift from a humanoid monster.”

“…….”

The eldest, Cha Eun-hyuk, silently pressed his hand to his forehead, while the youngest, Cha Yi-sol, dropped his spoon.

Cha Eun-hyuk, releasing a deep sigh, spoke.

“…I'm sorry for trying to brush it off with a lie, let's talk things through honestly step by step.”

This happened two days before the youngest's initiation ceremony.

***

“Ah, So….”

Cha Eun-hyuk, the eldest son of the Cha family, nodded his head.

“Oh, so that insurance money or whatever you kept going on about was that?”

“Yeah, it's money the Collection Guild gave as a sort of damage compensation.”

“Thanks to that, we can buy the youngest's priest robes, but why are you telling us this now?”

“No, because I fucking didn't plan to tell you….”

“Do you think we're that untrustworthy?”

“What are you talking about? You're all just ordinary people who'd bruise if I poked you.”

Cha Ara grumbled with her habitually sharp tone. She wasn't particularly angry or upset, but acting like an overly cautious wildcat was simply Cha Ara's nature-a habit she herself was unaware of. 𝑅𝓪ℕ𝐨βЁṠ

Though since the other party was family, Cha Ara continued speaking with a slightly softened expression.

“Originally, I had no intention of telling you. The youngest has manifested his profession, but he's still a non-combatant… not a field worker but an office worker… the kind who doesn't know when he might be chosen. And you're a complete civilian.”

“That's true.”

“The Collection Guild also seemed to want to avoid disclosing it as much as possible. Even though I blabbered thoughtlessly like this, it actually felt like a really important secret.”

“But for something like that, isn't it strange that they didn't make you sign a non-disclosure agreement?”

“That's what's a bit strange. They'd prefer if we didn't disclose it, but since it's something that will eventually spread anyway, if your mouth really itches-go ahead and try talking… that kind of vibe? Turns out big companies are more slipshod than I imagined.”

“What are you talking about.”

Cha Eun-hyuk pressed firmly on his throbbing temples.

“So in the midst of that, you told me because you saw that I have that… that gem?”

“They said there's only one gem in the world with that crystal structure. So what else could it mean? You've already encountered that monster, right? If that's the case, I thought there was no point in hiding it anymore, so I told you.”

“The youngest is listening too.”

“Then should we leave this kid out? Hey, why are you making him feel left out?”

“No, that's not what I meant….”

Cha Eun-hyuk, who was trying to say something, instead nodded his head.

“Yi-sol.”

“Yes, hyung.”

“You shouldn't talk about things like this anywhere else, understand?”

“I'm good at that.”

“1, but anyway, I'm proud of you. Still, if things go wrong even so slightly, your hyung and nuna might taken by some big guild in Seoul and end up living as test subjects, you know?”

“Then I definitely won't tell anyone!”

“How cool.”

Watching the youngest brat cheerfully giving a thumbs up and the older brother brat praising him, Cha Ara briefly reflected on her life. What karma did she accumulate in her past lives to end up gathering such shitty idiots?

'I have to protect them.'

Unaware that every family member saw each other as someone to protect, Cha Ara mumbled while pushing around her rice.

“Ugh, this isn't the taste….”

“You said you got dragged off by a monster and feasted on a seven-course banquet, but all it did was make you pickier. Look at my younger sibling here-no complaints, eats whatever's given. How admirable.”

“This is so fucking unfair. When have I ever been picky? And he's my younger sibling too, okay? Why aren't I admirable? I rolled around here and there to bring back the insurance money!”

“lt may have helped with the household expenses, but you should have realized that my sense of guilt grewjust as much. I'd rather starve than live off your insurance money.”

“You damn pushover, are you trying to starve the youngest? Think money will rain from the sky if you live so naively? What's next-Grandpa's ghost handing us lottery numbers from the afterlife?”

“Who do you think you are, acting all high and mighty.”

The Cha family had been pushovers for generations. None of them were in a position to claim superiority.

Cha Eun-hyuk and Cha Ara were worried that their youngest Cha Yi-sol might get scammed somewhere, but Cha Ara herself was only slightly better, and Cha Eun-hyuk was only a bit better than that. It was like measuring acorns' height.

“Didn't you give away the scarf the youngest knitted for you to a complete stranger last time?”

“Ah, fuck, was I supposed to just watch when she looked like she was freezing to death?! Are you a fucking psychopath?!”

“Then why didn't you huddle together like penguins without spending money, Hunter Cha Ara-nim! That would have been much more economical!”

“What's with the creepy huddling with a complete stranger? Stop with the fucking nonsense!”

“Yeah, and you gave that complete stranger the scarf the youngest knitted, right?!”

Watching the two family members like that, the youngest Cha Yi-sol simply devoured the rice meal he hadn't had in a long time with relish.

“This is really delicious.”

“That was made by your hyung.”

“I simmered the broth.”

“Yeah, it's delicious! Amazing!”

At the sight of the youngest giving a thumbs-up with pure delight, the two heads of the household gained strength and could stop their meaningless fight.

“lf our youngest goes to the dorm, we won't be able to see his face.”

“lt'll be tough.”

“Cha Yi-sol, don't you miss your nuna'sface already?”

“I'm looking at it right now, nuna.”

“Fuck, you're impossible to talk to.”

Cha Eun-hyuk scolded his younger sister.

“Don't swear at the youngest.”

“When the youngest enters the dormitory, I'll be the youngest.”

“Did meeting a monster put a hole in your head? The middle child is always the middle, and the youngest will always be the youngest….”

“Let's fight.”

Amidst the incoming chaos, the youngest Cha Yi-sol just ate his meal.

“Hehe.”

The rice meal he hadn't had in a long while tasted very delicious. It seemed the monster his sister had met was a very kind monster.

***

“…….”

Cha Eun-hyuk, who had stepped outside for a moment, was lost in thought.

'… So the person I saw that day was a monster?'

It had been strange from the beginning.

'Well, when I met him at dawn, I thought he was some kind of… creature.'

In the dark and deserted dawn, the man who appeared wrapped entirely in a pitch-black cloak did not look human at all.

'He had an atmosphere similar to those phantom-like beings only visible to my eyes, so I assumed he was one of that kind, but…'

But he was visible not only to Cha Eun-hyuk but also to others' eyes. Though he was excessively blunt, that was just his personal trait, and he thought the sense of incongruity he felt was simply due to the divine power of a devout believer.

- A661 A…….”

But what if he was merely a humanoid monster?

“… Still, wouldn't that make no sense?”

Something felt off.

Tve seen monsters before, too.'

In this world, there were not only monsters that could be seen inside dungeons, but also monsters that one could encounter just by staying still on Earth. Even if they were weak enough to be caught by ordinary people, their ferocity remained unchanged.

Cha Eun-hyuk was not a hunter but a civilian, yet he had hunted monsters before and thus could discern that the energy emanating from them differed from that of the black cloak.

'That wasn't the energy of a monster.'

Cha Eun-hyuk, sitting in the yard, gazed up at the gloomy sky.

“…….”

He could see something like a huge black snake slithering beyond the dark clouds. It had human limbs, moving sluggishly and towering in size.

“…lt was clearly one of those things.”

Yet he couldn't figure out the black cloak's identity.

'Objectively analyzing the situation, it's correct to view him as a humanoid monster. It was said that he even has his own personal dungeon. But its energy itself is strange… yet to categorize him as that kind of creature, too….'

It behaved too much like a human.

“lt's like a jumbled mix of this and that.”

It seemed like a monster, like the creatures visible only to his eyes, and also somewhat human. Yet with so many different characteristics blended together, it paradoxically felt more natural.

It felt as though the black cloak was the origin of all things.

“…What nonsense am I…”

If it was the source that spawned monsters, creatures, and humans, it would be no different from a god.

'No, even gods wouldn't be capable of such a thing.'

It was a preposterous thought.

'While looking into things here and there for the youngest, it turns out that even the so-called gods aren't as omniscient and omnipotent as one might think….'

Cha Eun-hyuk thought to himself.

'In that sense, should I consider the black cloak that Cha Ara and I saw an existence higher than the gods worshipped by priests?'

However.

“…….”

Thinking about it that way.

“Hmm….”

The divine power he had felt last time was bothering him.

Even if he was an ordinary person, Cha Eun-hyuk, with his various experiences, should be able to distinguish a god's divine power. That was clearly the energy of a god.

It was something different from the energy Cha Eun-hyuk felt from the black cloak.

“… Considering how warm it was, it must have been related to the sun or fire…”

Since there was the Temple of the Sun nearby, he had thought that the man must be a follower of the Sun God. There was no way someone with the profession of trainer could have a second profession as a priest, so he must have gained divine power as a devout believer.

But if the opponent was neither a believer nor a human, then what on earth was that energy at that time?

“The energy of a god….”

There's no way a mere monster could possess it, right?

“…….”

The more he thought about it, the more Cha Eun-hyuk felt it wasn't a matter for him to ponder.

“…First of all, it's certain that it's not just a simple monster. Even Collection only confirmed that it's definitely not human.”

A monster capable of wielding the energy of a god could no longer be called a monster.

'If I had to choose the most plausible explanation, it would be those creatures I usually see.'

While he knew a lot about monsters or humans within common sense, he knew little about those 'creatures.' Perhaps there were creatures among them that could use god's energy.

'Though I've never seen one before.'

A creature with such a gentlemanly attitude. Even if it wasn't that kind of creature and was a humanoid monster, it was still a remarkably benevolent being-as he had personally picked up his lost and abandoned younger sibling, fed her, and sent her home.

'But thinking this way, he could be a being superior even to Earth's gods. The black cloak I saw that day carried the energy of a god, but gods couldn't possess the black cloak's energy…'

His train of thought stopped abruptly at that point. He didn't want to lose his energy for no reason.

“…There's nothing more to find out about its identity no matter how much I agonize over it.”

Instead, Cha Eun-hyuk turned his mind to the future ahead.

“Cha Ara mentioned she even visited that person's dungeon.”

Though Cha Ara openly treated the black cloak as a monster, for some reason, Cha Eun-hyuk kept referring to him as a 'person'. Even Cha Eun-hyuk himself hadn't realized this.

“Does that mean we might encounter him again someday?”

For now, Cha Eun-hyuk had also invited him to the initiation ceremony. Since the youngest's initiation ceremony had been decided, the probability of meeting again was high.

'Since he seemed quite interested, it's unlikely he wouldn't come.'

Now, the misunderstanding that he was a Sun God's believer had vanished-but regardless, he was someone who wielded divine power close to the sun. They would undoubtedly encounter each other at the initiation ceremony.

“…I just hope I didn't invite too dangerous of a being….”

And so, after a sleepless night spent only worrying, the next morning.

“…….”

“…….”

Cha Eun-hyuk momentarily felt dizzy.

“…Hello.”

“Yes, hello.”

The entire Cha family, who had come to Seoul together for the first time in their lives, encountered none other than Gio.

That is, the strange man wrapped in the pitch-black cloak.

“lt's been a while.”

It was a calm greeting.

'I knew the possibility was high, but I didn't expect we'd meet again this quickly.'

The black cloak they encountered again still exuded that eerie aura. It wasn't for nothing that Cha Eun-hyuk had thought 'this isn't human' at their first meeting.

Meanwhile, the white-haired man beside the black cloak also greeted them.

“Nice to see you again. It seems the whole family has come up together?”

“What, Mr. Yoo Sung-woon and oppa knew each other?”

“We've met occasionally while buying fish-shaped buns.”

“Ah, fish-shaped buns….”

Cha Ara, who had nodded, soon glanced at the black-cloaked man with a subtle gaze.

“…….”

“ls there a problem?”

“…I'II buy you fish-shaped buns later too.”

Cha Eun-hyuk finally thought the flower pig of his family had gone crazy. To openly give fish-shaped buns as a gift to such an intimidating opponent-of course, the black cloak had personally bought fish-shaped buns from Cha Eun-hyuk before, but that was likely part of a social experience….

However, surprisingly, the black cloak meekly accepted it.

“l don't quite understand the reason, but thank you.”

“Well… okay.”

Does he like fish-shaped buns?

'…lt's more humble than I expected…?'

With that kind of atmosphere?

'It feels like he's about to send a sinner to the gallows for judgment.'

The black cloak was a being shrouded in a noticeable aura. Perhaps due to his pitch-black cloak, he resembled a malevolent spirit or a grim reaper.

So much so that he resembled a ghost more than a human, somehow ominous, chilling, hollow-at times appearing as exquisitely crafted as an ornament yet simultaneously giving off a strange eerieness.

It wasn't just Cha Eun-hyuk who felt that way.

“…….”

Looking around, he noticed the gazes of people commuting to work were occasionally fixed toward the black cloak.

“Don't worry too much about it.”

“…Ah, yes.”

“He's always had that kind of atmosphere.”

“I see.”

At Yoo Sung-woon's words, Cha Eun-hyuk felt a strange sense of unease.

'It's the youngest's initiation ceremony.'

Would this end well…?