The Artist Who Paints Dungeon-Chapter 354

How exactly does this garden identify an individual’s vulnerability?

'If it works like this, it probably doesn’t rely on memories, at least.'

Dan Haera silently looked around.

“......”

Through the dense trees, she could see a school.

It was warped and distorted, but it was clear what the garden was trying to show her. This place was Dan Haera’s alma mater. It was mimicking its appearance before it burned down, before it was abandoned.

'So what’s the criterion?'

While acting separately from the others, Dan Haera had been categorizing this garden’s unique traits. The dungeon operated in a highly unusual manner, likely because it was unlike any she’d encountered before.

This place generated another dungeon within itself to torment participants. The miniature dungeon would form based on someone’s idea of happiness—but twisted into a warped version of it.

'This is the garden’s first and most basic attack.'

In fact, if there had been fewer members in the advance team, it might’ve been easier to conquer.

Next must be the clown’s appearance, then.

So far, every case involved a trigger taking the form of an accessory.

Once discovered, the accessory would curse the wearer based on its type. At the same time, clowns would seep in and, as on Earth, steal people's souls.

'Unlike the way they merely granted happiness in a twisted form on Earth, they’re showing themselves more directly here. And the fact that no one can recognize the uncanny dissonance even when looking right at them—that’s a serious problem...'

An anklet would distort movement, a necklace would distort speech, earrings would distort what one hears. On top of that, the clowns would begin their games. Without a firmly grounded mind, no one could possibly endure it.

Up to this point, the garden’s attack method was very clear.

“...Hmm...”

But what she still didn’t understand was how this miniature dungeon determined whose “personal happiness” to feature.

'Did it pick whoever was most likely to cause conflict?'

Or maybe it was purely random. That, too, seemed plausible. After all, no one is perfect, and everyone has at least one embarrassing kind of happiness they wouldn’t want others to see.

Dan Haera gave a mechanical smile.

“It really is an all-out exposure match.”

She was glad she’d chosen to act alone. If someone at her level had her vulnerability exposed, the teammates with her would crumble quickly. That wasn’t an option yet.

Dan Haera slowly surveyed the area, observing the dungeon that belonged to her. It felt oddly like she’d become the dungeon’s master. She hadn’t made any “Promises” lately, so she was able to experience a broad range of reactions.

“This is kind of fun.”

“Oh, really?”

“At least I’m not bored.”

“If you’re not bored, it must be fun?”

Jeong Hae-Woon, sitting on the front steps of the school, gave a small laugh.

“That’s surprisingly persuasive.”

“Picking a fight the moment we meet again? You must’ve been bored.”

“Not really. I’ve been too troubled to have time for boredom.”

“What’s been troubling you, my friend?”

“Wondering when you’d finally make yourself human.”

Jeong Hae-Woon dusted off his pants and stood up.

“Wanna take a look around?”

“At what?”

“This school.”

“True, I probably won’t get a chance to explore it before clearing the dungeon.”

“Just enjoy it. This is a garden, after all. It’s not like a typical dungeon where you go deeper and eventually meet the boss.”

“That’s... not exactly a comforting thought.”

She’d already heard several reports about this garden. Jeong Hae-Woon had been the only one handling it. Her impression had always been something close to endless nature, and this dungeon seemed to follow that same pattern.

“There’s no real sense of how to conquer something called a garden.”

“Probably just have to beat it down as a whole.”

“Can you even beat down something like nature?”

“I’ve done it plenty. I mean, when there’s a wildfire, it leaves a bare mountain behind, right?”

“But trees and grass keep growing back.”

“Then bulldoze it and build an apartment complex. You can turn the ocean into a landfill and the sky into a wall of ozone.”

“That... actually kind of makes sense.”

Dan Haera smiled with her eyes.

“If I really conquer this place, are you going to regret giving me all this advice?”

In the end, to erase this dungeon—to destroy this garden—they would have to affect its very foundation. The constant stream of accessories gave her a rough idea of how that might be done.

“Aren’t you allied with Mr. Zeorge?”

“Uh... it’s a bit complicated.”

“So one of you can die someday, huh?”

“Who said anything about dying?”

“You or Mr. Zeorge. Neither of you seem particularly attached to life.”

“Well, I don’t know what the future holds either.”

Jeong Hae-Woon gave a rough, crooked smile. It was the same one he always wore around his friends.

“As long as I accomplish what I want while the garden runs wild, that’s enough.”

“...That expression suits you.”

“I’ve realized there’s no need to blend in with people anymore.”

His face now looked somewhere between his twenties and thirties. The face he had when he’d stopped aging. Dan Haera hadn’t seen it in a while, and it felt a little unfamiliar.

But it matched the school perfectly.

“Looking at you like this... you really do seem like a student, Hae-Woon.”

“Say something that makes sense.”

He chuckled and walked into the school. Dan Haera followed behind. She had to figure out what this sly friend was thinking by showing up to meet her now.

“......”

Inside the school, it was very quiet.

“...It used to be livelier, I think.”

“It did.”

“So it’s not built directly on memories?”

“Maybe not.”

Jeong Hae-Woon showed no intention of guiding her. He just wandered around. Maybe because this place had formed from Dan Haera’s own psyche, it held some interest for him as well.

After they walked around for a while, Dan Haera asked,

“What do you want?”

“To smash my head in and die.”

“Hm, poetic.”

“Do you even know what romance is?”

“Maybe I do.”

“The teacher was a good person.”

“I know.”

“You probably don’t...”

Jeong Hae-Woon stopped in front of a classroom.

“......”

“Was this the art room?”

“It was.”

“What’s that?”

The classroom mimicked a late afternoon filled with faint sunlight, casting a warm shadow inside. Dan Haera passed the still-standing Jeong Hae-Woon and stepped into the room. Something tall and lanky beyond the transparent window had caught her eye.

It was a straw doll.

“......”

It was fairly tall and broad-shouldered, but it had no face or clothing. Like a plush toy, it was stuffed with straw inside pale fabric. It was a mess of a doll, really.

As she gazed at it, Dan Haera tilted her head and muttered,

“A cursed doll?”

“Are you nuts?”

“I can guess who it’s supposed to represent. Probably Mr. Sergio?”

“You really couldn’t recreate that handsome face any better than this?”

“What do you want me to do if I can’t remember it?”

Dan Haera stroked the blank fabric where its face should be.

“Huh.”

The doll looked at her.

“It moves?”

“......”

“It can’t talk though.”

There wasn’t a mouth, after all.

“If I cut it open, maybe we could pretend it has one?”

“Please don’t.”

“It’s just a doll.”

“I’m getting uncomfortable just watching.”

“I just... wondered what it would say, if it could speak.”

“That’s... unexpected.”

Jeong Hae-Woon looked at her and asked,

“Has it been a while?”

“If you’re asking about the time I’ve gone without a ‘Promise,’ then probably.”

Dan Haera didn’t even glance at him, continuing to trace the doll’s face. She couldn’t say why, but her hands kept going back to this shabby, unclothed doll. It felt strange, maybe intriguing, maybe fun.

She stroked the area where its mouth should’ve been.

“Can’t speak, huh?”

The doll moved in response.

It didn’t seem to mean harm, and Dan Haera blinked. The doll walked past her, across the art room. Then, from the communal tool shelf, it picked up a pair of scissors.

“...Ah.”

Then it cut its own face.

“There. Now it has a mouth.”

“Haera...”

“And now it can talk.”

Without meaning to, Dan Haera turned to look at Jeong Hae-Woon. His face had gone pale. More than surprise, he looked utterly disgusted.

A sudden question surfaced, and she asked,

“Why did you come here?”

“To see what you would do.”

“And what would change because of that?”

“...I don’t know.”

“Are you going to stay?”

“Getting kind of tired of it.”

“I see.”

Jeong Hae-Woon was just a passing observer. He might act, or he might just watch and leave. But Dan Haera didn’t think he would return to his position as a “Symbol of Eternity.” He wasn’t the type to obey so easily.

'I’ll have to bring Jeong Hae-Woon back eventually, but not now.'

Even if his Promise was broken, that was fine. She believed there must still be a way to bring him back. With that in mind, Dan Haera turned her gaze to the doll—to this doll she’d grown strangely attached to.

She looked at the crudely-cut mouth and asked,

“Why did you do this, teacher?”

“Because you wanted to talk to me.”

“If a student wants it, would you do anything?”

“If I can, and there’s no reason I shouldn’t.”

“You’re so devoted.”

Why would someone like this want to destroy the system?

'Maybe it’s because he discovered he couldn’t—or because he found a reason why he shouldn’t.'

Or perhaps his thoughts had changed after becoming something not quite human.

'It wouldn’t be uncommon, after all.'

It was rare for a human to become something mystical. And when they did, it was common for their thinking to shift. So perhaps that was true of “Mr. Sergio” as well? Had he abandoned this selfless way of thinking to preserve himself?

Dan Haera slowly brushed a finger across the corner of the doll’s mouth.

“......”

...No, maybe not.

'It just doesn’t feel like he did.'

There was no reason for that thought.

It just came to her—without reason.

***

While walking, Gio suddenly furrowed his brow.

“Uh.”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“It felt like someone uppercut me from somewhere.”

“You can sense stuff like that?”

“No, it’s just a feeling.”

Gio wore an unusually subtle expression.

“...What is this?”

Was it a good feeling, or a bad one?

***

At some point, Jeong Hae-Woon had disappeared.

“Lives up to the title of gardener.”

So he truly was the so-called gardener, the one most adept within the garden. His absence left an odd emptiness, but it didn’t last long. Dan Haera looked at the tall doll beside her.

“I believe you’ll stay with me, teacher.”

“It won’t be forever.”

“Maybe it will be.”

She brushed her cheek and said,

“...I guess we really were close?”

Perhaps it was thanks to all the emotions she’d stored up instead of consuming. The attachment she felt toward this crude doll was clear.

'Even if the Promise erased memories, it couldn’t erase affection carved into the soul. That must be what’s influencing me. It’s kind of fun.'

If this weren’t imitating “Mr. Sergio,” such a reaction would’ve been impossible. Strictly speaking, this thing was closer to a monster. There was no reason she should feel any attachment to it. But she did. Her heart moved. Her hand reached out.

Dan Haera held onto the doll’s wrist.

“I hope you won’t run away.”

“I’m always by your side.”

“Are you talking about the system? You have a lot of secrets.”

“They probably weren’t mine to begin with.”

“Then maybe I created them.”

To be honest, Dan Haera found herself coveting this doll. She didn’t realize how much that greed resembled a child’s hunger. It had been too long since she’d lived with emotions and memories.

If she hadn’t greedily hoarded them for so long, she might never have felt this kind of desire. And so, almost stubbornly—but with a refined smile—she asked,

“What would I have to do for you to come with me?”

Once this dungeon collapsed, the doll would disappear as well.

“I don’t want to let you go.”

“Then eat me.”

“......”

In that moment—

“...Eat you?”

Dan Haera felt a completely unfamiliar emotion.

“Just eat me.”

“...What...”

“Eat me.”

“......”

“Me.”

But she couldn’t name that feeling.

What was this... emotion?

“......”

“Eat.”

She couldn’t quite remember.