The Artist Who Paints Dungeon-Chapter 108

A few days later.

“Are you awake, Geo?”

Yoo Seong-woon found ‘Geo’s Portrait’.

“I brought the seedlings I told you about last time.”

“I’m awake.”

“Yes, check if they are the ones you want.”

Inside the frame, what Geo asked for in exchange for guaranteeing Yoo Seong-woon’s life was a flower and a tree.

They were ‘Honey Pot’ and ‘Salt Tree’, and as the names suggest, they could provide honey and salt respectively.

‘Geo prefers such pastoral things.’

Honestly, he said that his own house was a cabin in the forest. He had also asked for various seeds for farming.

‘Your tastes are definitely set.’

Yoo Seong-woon went into the frame and looked at the honey pot and salt tree seedlings that had become paintings.

“.......”

“.......”

Geo was caressing them as if they were newborn animals.

‘... or the skill of communicating with plants... .’

Since it wasn’t a skill that humans didn’t have at all, he thought so.

I don’t know exactly what it was, but Geo definitely liked things that were rewarding to take care of, like plants and animals or children.

The portrait soon gave an answer.

“This is exactly what I wanted. Thank you for accepting my request, Mr. Yoo Seong-woon.”

“I’m glad you’re satisfied with that. I’ll organize the edible plants on Earth and in the dungeon later and hand them over, so if there’s anything you want, let me know.”

“I’ll also prepare a gift that will be helpful to Mr. Yoo Seong-woon.”

Geo asked, still holding the tender seedling in his arms.

“Is that all for today?”

“Well, I just... thought I’d chat about this and that.”

“Good. I wonder how student Chaisol is doing.”

“Chaisol? You’ve entered the temple now.”

Yoo Seong-woon brought a nearby chair and sat down in front of the portrait as he continued.

“It’s quite late. Originally, we should have gone in right after the initiation ceremony and prepared to become priests, but Father Kang Seo-dam said he was tired because of the ‘Deep Sea Country’ incident and time was running out.”

“I apologize for causing trouble to our disciples. I tried to persuade them several times, but they still hate humans. I will let you know if there are any results soon.”

“There is no monster that doesn’t hate humans, so it doesn’t matter. There is no way to deny the emotions that form the basis of their power and reason. Still, I feel reassured that Geo-ne is by their side.”

As he said that, Yoo Seong-woon thought of the stories of the mermaids that were being seen in the ‘Deep Sea Country.’

“They are said to be incredibly ferocious.”

The exact cause is unknown, but it has been reported that the mermaids that have been seen recently are more dangerous than the ones that were seen in the early days. He said that his anger and hatred were out of control.

‘Did Geo tell you not to hate humans, so his ill feelings grew even bigger? However, even though I didn’t see it directly, I heard that his despair and sadness were even bigger.’

Judging from Geo’s reaction, he seemed to be normal when he met him.

‘I don’t know how this happened...’

However, it wasn’t uncommon for monsters to display creepy duplicity. There was no need for Yoo Seong-woon to worry about the affairs of a monster that wasn’t even a child of the Origin.

“...And Mr. Chaisol...”

Yoo Seong-woon immediately recalled the recent situation of the cheerful child.

“The partner you gave him at the temple was Eunha-gun, right? The young form of Iser.”

“Yes, I remember. Now that Iser is gone, I guess Mr. Chaisol has no partner.”

“So there was a bit of confusion, but somehow I think I found a good partner.”

This ‘Deep Sea Temple’ incident had a big impact.

“Since they experienced such a terrible thing when they were a trainee priest, there must have been a few kids who left the temple because they thought they couldn’t do something this dangerous. Since there happened to be an even number of trainee priests left, they reorganized their partners from the beginning.”

Yoo Seong-woon shrugged.

“Priests are basically a team of two, so there’s nothing we can do.”

“I heard that a priest’s partner is for life, so it doesn’t # Nоvеlight # change?”

“You can change a few times when you’re a trainee priest, but when you become a registered priest in the temple, your partner is for life.”

“I wonder what happens if one of them can no longer do the work of a priest due to unavoidable circumstances.”

“I think the priests who lost their partners might agree to form a new team, but I think they usually work alone.”

A typical example was priest Kang Seo-dam, who even showed up alone at the initiation ceremony.

‘It’s a common occurrence.’

Priests in their 40s usually didn’t look for new partners. It must have been quite tiring to collaborate with someone other than the partner they had worked with their whole lives.

“From the perspective of an ordinary office worker, I wonder why they created such a tiring structure....”

“I wonder why priests are usually paired up. Is there a reason other than tradition?”

“First of all, tradition is a big part of it. What is it? The religious world doesn’t change easily in the first place.”

But that wasn’t the only reason.

“They say that the power that priests can use is most effective when they cooperate with others.”

“Is that the power of all priests?”

“At least from what I know. There are exceptions, but priests who serve evil spirits are most powerful when they are alone.”

No priest knew the exact reason.

“But if I were to guess, it’s probably because each god they worship pursues different virtues. Most gods value friendship and peace, but evil gods require destruction and suffering.”

Yoo Seong-woon nodded.

“In particular, the Sun Church refers to each priest as a ‘small light.’ Even if it’s a faint light, if they all gather together, it becomes a large light, and if they gather together like that, it becomes hotter, so they especially value cooperation.”

“That’s why the power of the spirit increases when they cooperate. The more they gather together, the hotter they become. The Sun Church’s temple was warm and pleasant, and now I understand why.”

It was a ‘Portrait of Geo’ painted in black paint, so the eyes couldn’t be seen, but Yoo Seong-woon could tell that he was staring at him. The portrait soon continued.

“What kind of child is Chae Sol’s partner?”

“I don’t know the details, but I do know that he’s a first-class citizen.”

“He’s a first-class citizen.”

“Considering that they are young, they must be quite wealthy.”

The biggest difference between 1st and 2nd class people living together in the city was their economic power. If they were 1st class even though they were young enough to have just enlisted, it was highly likely that my parents had been 1st class citizens for generations.

“That’s not how they usually pair up. In order for priests to be partners, they have to share a dormitory room, so they have to be of the same sex, and they are grouped into similar classes to make it easier for them to understand and rely on each other... This is rare.”

Yoo Seong-woon laughed awkwardly.

“Cha I-sol’s partner was of a different gender and class. Well, Cha I-sol would become a 2nd class citizen when he becomes a full priest....”

“Isn’t that a problem?”

“Why not? But I guess the number has decreased significantly because so many prospective priests escaped due to this incident.”

“It must have been difficult for the priests to match children with partners.”

“So this time, they took into consideration the opinions of the prospective priests a lot.”

This was the result.

“I heard that kid made a fuss about becoming Chaisol’s partner.”

“I see, he’s a very confident student. I think it’ll be fun to meet Chaisol later.”

“He’s already getting a good evaluation from you without even seeing his face. He’s going to be a great kid.”

There were boys among the remaining prospective priests, and there were also third-class citizens. Even so, it would have been difficult to force the kids of different genders and classes to stick together if they hadn’t expressed their strong will.

“When I met Cha Eun-hyeok to buy bungeoppang, he told me with a very tired face.”

“That’s really unusual. So are those two students satisfied with each other becoming partners?”

“Chaisol says he doesn’t have any particular thoughts, but... wouldn’t the other side like it anyway?”

That’s what he had insisted on.

“Of course, we each have separate rooms, but I think the Taeyanggyo decided to merge the dormitories because of this incident. They’ll be divided into men’s rooms and women’s rooms. Chaisol won’t be lonely.”

Yoo Seong-woon rubbed his tired eyes as if he didn’t have to worry.

“...Oh, I’m so sleepy....”

“You didn’t get off work?”

“...I couldn’t sleep because I was looking into this and that.”

He mostly looked into things related to the ‘Empty City.’

“.......”

The atmosphere was considerably relaxed thanks to the story about Chaisol, who Geo had shown to be particularly fond of.

Yoo Seong-woon, who had been watching the situation, then carefully opened his mouth.

“...Thank you for releasing Hunter Park Eun-gyeom.”

Among the people he looked into was Park Eun-gyeom, who was at the center of this missing person’s case.

“I found out that he returned home safely.”

“Thank goodness.”

“I knew that, but you’re still so indifferent.”

Geo really didn’t care what happened to the sinner who entered his stomach.

‘It was probably just a quarantine to make the average human good.’

Yoo Seong-woon understood Geo’s indifference.

However, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand how he viewed humans or how he viewed himself.

He couldn’t get to the main point, so he brought up Park Eun-gyeom’s story for no reason and continued talking.

“Of course, he was caught by the association as soon as he got home. There’s clear evidence that he abused and abandoned his colleagues, and what happened in the ‘Empty City’ is important data for the association.”

Yoo Seong-woon also contributed a lot to that ‘important data.’

“That guy Park Eun-gyeom seems to be careful these days because he found out why he was taken away.”

“Well, that’s good. But I’m not expecting much.”

“Well, humans don’t change that easily. But the people from the association are watching, so it’s not a big deal. I don’t think it will happen.”

“If you do something bad again while the association is watching, that alone will be truly great.”

“I think so too.”

Yoo Seong-woon chose his words again.

“... Do you know? Your name has become very famous lately.”

“How did you become famous?”

“First of all, congratulations. You have a fan. I think they like your drawings.”

“I’m grateful that you love my lacking work.”

“Isn’t that too humble of a reaction?”

Geo’s ‘works’ had great artistic value.

There are two works by ‘Black Cloak’ that are known so far. They are ‘Breathing Sea’ and ‘City of Emptiness.’

The former was just a painting of the sea, but there were many stories that said that people’s gazes and breaths could be felt, and the latter made people feel lonely and sad just by looking at it, and they wanted to go back to their family and friends.

“You made the paint yourself, right?”

“Yes. There are many materials in this forest that help me with my work. I get help from them.”

“He said he liked the color because it was very unique. It’s your own color that’s hard to imitate. Some people even try to imitate it...”

“It would be hard if there weren’t materials where I am.”

“Anyway, I was saying that your work is popular.”

Some people were fascinated by Geo’s work as if a painter had appeared. Just appreciating it would take a whole day, and they even said that there was a world inside it and were ecstatic.

It’s not just Bisabal who is blinded by art.

‘I hope this doesn’t lead to a dangerous atmosphere.’

Geo had an exceptional ability to captivate and shake people.

‘There was a time when I thought it was just Giovanni’s ability, but even when it was just a portrait, it had a tremendous ripple effect... .’

I thought about it when I was first taken to the ‘Temple of the Deep Sea,’ but if a pseudo-religion were to form targeting this guy, it would be a real headache.

“Anyway, right now, everyone seems to be lightly enjoying the city’s new event.”

“Is that so....”

“Oh, you didn’t like it? I did tell you that it was a real story.”

“I don’t like crowds.”

“That’s... Yeah, if you cover your face, it will be covered to some extent.”

Yoo Seong-woon, who had been smiling slightly as if it was okay, couldn’t hold back the question that came up and asked.

“That’s why I was curious.”

“... ... .”

“Who are you?”

I had to know that.

“... What should we do?”

That’s how coexistence was possible.

We could live.