The Artist Who Paints Dungeon-Chapter 105

The moment he came to his senses.

“.......”

Yoo Seong-woon was inside the ‘Empty City’.

“... As expected, I don’t remember the moment I entered the painting.”

At one point, Geo had a history of turning people he encountered in the ‘Deep Sea Country’ into paint and helping them escape.

Perhaps he went through a similar process this time, but just like those people’s testimonies, Yoo Seong-woon didn’t remember the time he became paint.

‘It felt like I became a living inanimate object.’

It wasn’t a very clear impression, as it was a very contradictory expression.

“By the way, did Geo check on me?”

Yoo Seong-woon remembered the situation right before he entered the ‘Empty City’.

‘A transparent hand reached out to me.’

Something that was not visible, but could be recognized as a ‘transparent hand’, with a black suit sleeve standing out, greeted Yoo Seong-woon. Unlike the Park Eun-gyeom Hunter incident that was mentioned in the official document, it was a very polite gesture.

‘It was a gesture that somehow resembled Geo’s behavior...’

Geo’s demeanor was neat, as if he had received strong education or training. It was a movement similar to that of a noble or a soldier, and the gesture that ‘Empty City’ extended was exactly like that.

“...It couldn’t be Geo himself.”

It didn’t feel familiar.

“Did ‘Empty City’ extend its hand directly?”

I thought about that for a moment, but it seemed more reasonable to assume that it was a monster belonging to ‘Empty City’ extending its hand. Many of the hands that kidnapped Park Eun-gyeom in the official document looked like that.

“.......”

Yoo Seong-woon exhaled.

“...It’s more bearable than I thought.”

The pressure from ‘Empty City’ wasn’t as great as I had imagined.

“Considering that I’m an A-class hunter, it’s pretty comfortable.”

There was a bit of a stuffy feeling. It felt like someone was pressing down on my forehead, and there was definitely a creepy part where someone was tracing my spine with their fingers.

‘But that’s about it.’

The kidnapped hunter was a B-class. I don’t know exactly what level of B-class he was, but he was pretty strong. Considering that such a hunter was dragged away and all contact was lost in the dungeon, the burden felt by Yoo Seong-woon, who was an A-class, was less than expected.

“Are you being taken care of?”

The route he took to enter the ‘Empty City’ was different in the first place.

‘That guy was dragged in, and I was escorted.’

Since the treatment itself was like heaven and earth, the burden he felt might be different.

“.......”

Yoo Seong-woon muttered without realizing it.

“How is that possible...?”

People often say, “The Dungeon Master,” but in reality, there were few masters who could control the dungeon as they pleased. In Yoo Seong-woon’s view, even the mermaid siblings, who were humanoid monsters, could not completely control the “Deep Sea Kingdom.”

In particular, the dungeon master, the monsters in the dungeon, and the environment were completely separate entities.

The greater the master’s ability, the greater his authority, but he had never heard of a master who could control the monsters’ behavior and even control their pressure to this extent.

“Is it really difficult to call them monsters?”

Then, he wondered how to explain this dungeon.

“Unless they are evil gods who are treated as monsters, no matter how powerful a god is, they cannot create a dungeon. They are beings who do not have enough emotions to create a dungeon.”

Even the children of the origin could not create a dungeon.

“They are just children who can exist anywhere, and they do not have the ability to create a dungeon. ‘These guys who are almost impossible to physically handle and can’t even think properly could create such a huge game board.’

As expected, Geo was an out-of-spec being.

“.......”

A squeaky-eyed Yoo Seong-un looked around.

“...It’s just like the picture.”

A wide open street and colorful buildings lined up on both sides. Although it didn’t seem to have any particular color restrictions, only colorless objects gathered together to create a gray world.

“The fog is so bad I didn’t notice it when I looked through the frame.”

It wasn’t bad enough to block my vision, but if it got any worse, it would have been a big issue with my vision. I sniffed around, but there was no smoke smell that you often smell in the city.

“Just water vapor...?”

Maybe it was my mood, but I felt like I could sense the phytoncide unique to the forest.

‘Is it because Geo lives in the forest?’

I wasn’t sure.

‘It’s ironic, anyway.’

It looks like a city, but the scent from the fog reminds me of a forest. It was a harmony that didn’t feel out of place at all, but rather made me feel uncomfortable.

“...Aren’t there any monsters?”

Thump...

Yoo Seong-un slowly moved his feet.

“I thought there would be at least a monster that escorted me inside.”

Besides, dungeons were basically filled with monsters.

There might not be traps or various additional elements, but monsters that rush to kill intruders are essential to dungeons.

‘Well, it would be hard to compare the dungeon Geo drew to a normal dungeon.’

The fact that a monster invited Yoo Seong-un himself was far from ‘normal.’

“Aren’t there any other rules...?”

Some scholars defined dungeons as monsters, and gardener Yoo Seong-woon agreed to that to some extent. Just as there are no monsters without rules, dungeons are no different.

“They must have their own preferences.”

Virtual dungeons. Entry dungeons. Villa dungeons. All of these guys swallowed humans with certain conditions.

In addition to the virtual dungeons that mainly had specific conditions, there were also examples of entry dungeons that had the condition of ‘you must find the entrance’ and villa dungeons that had the condition of ‘you must be in the place where the villa is located.’

‘The other detailed conditions are different for each dungeon.’

So if this had the form of a dungeon, there must have been such conditions or preferences.

“.......”

Well, the dungeon owner did have his own preferences.

‘Affirm good and deny evil.’

If that’s a rule, then it can be called a rule.

“...Then what happens when a villain comes in?”

For a moment, he thought of the black dot that seemed to be completely one with the painting, probably Hunter Park Eun-gyeom.

Yoo Seong-woon seemed to have a rough idea of ​​how this ‘city of emptiness’ would deny the villain.

‘... Is it denying that they are living humans?’

By turning humans into paintings.

“It’s creepy.”

I whistled without realizing it. It was an attempt to erase the creepiness by acting lightly.

‘As expected, those who belong to the source are certain to connect and disconnect.’

Humanoid monsters with advanced thinking abilities and strong emotions would be a little different, but most beings who were not like that had simple and clear rules.

As a gardener, Yoo Seong-woon was able to appreciate the appearance of the source with satisfaction.

‘If I hadn’t met ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Geo, when would I have encountered a dungeon like this again?’

If I couldn’t enjoy that thrill, I wasn’t qualified to manage the garden.

“.......”

However, even such a gardener felt a threat to his life.

“...Ah, this is it.”

Yoo Seong-woon turned around.

“I guess I wasn’t the only one.”

“.......”

“Should I call this an invisible man...?”

What caught his eye was a black suit standing in the form of an adult male.

Long arms and legs that matched his body type that was neither too thick nor too thin. The detailed shape of the suit was a little different from what Geo had worn, and the shoes it was wearing were the same.

However, Yoo Seong-woon felt a sense of awkwardness at the sight of the suit carrying a backpack.

“...It looks a little like Geo after all.”

“.......”

The suit, empty inside, bowed with a noble gesture. Yoo Seong-woon could feel gratitude in that gesture, but he thought for a moment about what part he was grateful for.

‘Just because he looks like Geo?’

They were guys who were full of affection and respect for their master.

“So... is it possible to communicate? I’ve never met a monster with whom I could communicate peacefully in my life, except for Geo, so I’m not sure, but is it possible to have a conversation?”

“.......”

The black suit took a pose as if he was holding his chin, and then quickly made a triangle with his arms.

“...It could be and it could not be. Am I right?”

“.......”

“Yes, that’s right. This feels like asking twenty questions.”

If it was a monster in a normal dungeon, I wouldn’t have even thought of trying to communicate, but this was a very abnormal dungeon. Yoo Seong-un communicated with the black suit with the utmost open mind.

“Why is it possible? Are you suddenly going to attack me?”

“.......”

“That’s not it. If not... Are you saying that another entity other than you could attack?”

“.......”

“Oh, that’s good. Then are there many of those aggressive entities?”

This time, the suit drew a circle with his arm and answered ‘yes.’

Since his fingers were not visible, he bent his arms over his head as if he was making a rough heart. Yoo Seong-woon saw this and silently handed him the gloves he had in his hands.

“Could you put these on and mark them with your fingers?”

“.......”

The black suit drew an X with his arms. It meant ‘no.’

“...Ah.”

Yoo Seong-woon could tell that this wasn’t something transparent inside, but just the black suit itself, alive and moving.

As if to show him the proof, the black suit tapped the gloves on Yoo Seong-woon’s hands with his sleeves. If he had real hands, they wouldn’t have been visible.

‘Then how do I explain the transparent hands I felt?’

It was a rude sentiment to say to the friendly suit, but honestly, it gave me goosebumps.

Yoo Seong-woon continued speaking, trying hard not to reveal his true feelings.

“I see, I apologize.”

“.......”

“I’m glad you don’t mind.”

“.......”

“Then, are there any other non-aggressive entities besides you? A suit that can communicate peacefully with me like this?”

“.......”

“There are... That’s fortunate.”

Some entities seemed aggressive, while others seemed peaceful.

‘...Let’s think about how it’s possible later.’

It was obvious that the conclusion would be ‘It’s Geo, so it’ll work’ anyway. Through the repeated learning up until now, Yoo Seong-woon had already anticipated the end of his agony.

He put on his gloves again and looked around.

“.......”

Before he noticed, the number of black suits had increased to three.

“...Are those two suits non-aggressive to me?”

“.......”

“Oh, no. But they’re not attacking right now, so maybe they’re the type that aim for a time-lag attack?”

“.......”

“Triangle... Yes, thank you for your kind answer.”

It seemed like he meant that he would attack in some way.

“It’s dangerous.”

The suit that kindly reached out from the ‘Empty City’ frame was probably this guy in front of him, or a similar peaceful individual.

However, the number of black suits gradually increased, which was too much for them.

‘The longer you stay in the dungeon, the more black suits there are.’

Although the speed was quite slow, Yoo Seong-un gradually felt a strange sense of impatience.

“.......”

“.......”

The black suits were all staring at Yoo Seong-un.

‘... It’s not just those two suits that are out in India.’

He could feel gazes from inside the building that he hadn’t felt before.

He could feel them in the alleys, and he could feel gazes from cars rolling on the road that had been empty until just a moment ago.

Yoo Seong-un instinctively felt it.

‘These are not guys that I can deal with by fighting with my skills.’

He felt like a child of the origin, who could not be resolved by simple slaughter, and who had to reconcile according to the opponent’s rules and habits.

But he didn’t know how much these would grow, or what effect they would have on Yoo Seong-un at that time. And that ‘not knowing’ awakened Yoo Seong-un’s fear, which was his indifferent personality.

‘... When dealing with the source, the fear of the unknown is quite dangerous... .’

As a gardener, he could tell.

‘This is a dungeon, but it’s also not.’

Would the ability of a hunter who kindly gave the source to anyone actually have any effect? ​​Even such basic things felt like a kind of ‘garden’ where one’s life or death could not be guaranteed.

And only the owner could enter someone else’s garden.

“...This....”

He was about to think that he should run away before it grew any further.

“Mr. Yoo Seong-un.”

“.......”

“Mr. Yoo Seong-un.”

“...Uh, Geo.”

Yoo Seong-un really almost ran away.

‘He looks even scarier here.’

The heart that had almost fallen due to the appearance of the black cloak began to pound strongly.

Since he was doing something against Geo’s will, he wanted to resolve it without seeing his face if possible. Unfortunately, the situation had come to this because the house burglary failed, so Yoo Seong-woon quickly gave up.

“Please spare me.”

He tried a customized deal.

“I’ll bring you some seedlings next time.”

“No one kills Yoo Seong-woon.”

“That’s really solid.”

What could be safer in a dungeon than the protection of the dungeon owner?