The Artist Who Paints Dungeon

Pure white gallery.

Pure white lighting.

Amidst the artworks sparkling under the light, a lone man in black stands out.

'… It came out.'

Yoo Sung-woon, who was lying in wait at the gallery at the request of the HR department employee, watched the ‘ghost‘ while concealing his presence.

Whether it was good luck or bad, on that very day he received the request, Yoo Sung-woon encountered the subject of the rumours. Indeed, just as he had previously heard, it was a tall man wrapped in a black cloak.

‘Sound of footsteps … there’s none.’

The rumoured ‘ghost‘ was barefoot.

But it wasn’t that he couldn’t hear anything at all.

‘It seems like the previous curators couldn’t hear because they lacked enhanced hearing skills ….’

Yoo Sung-woon closed his eyes.

Rustle, rustle.

Swish….

Very.

It was a very faint noise.

‘…

He opened his eyes again.

‘…It sounds like plants brushing against each other.’

It was an odd comparison, but that’s what it seemed like.

The sound of light vines or dry petals weighing less than 1g, being rolled up and tumbling. This faint yet overly hollow sound was not the kind of noise you’d expect to hear from a man as tall as 188cm.

“….”

Yoo Sung-woon continued to observe from his hiding spot between the artworks and pillars.

‘… It’s admiring them.’

The ‘ghost‘ wandered inside the empty gallery, occasionally stopping in front of artworks protected by glass walls. He spent a particularly long time in front of sculptures and paintings.

What was surprising was that he was truly just ‘looking’ around.

‘With so many dangerous items around, touching just one could cause chaos, but fortunately, that didn’t happen. He must be a high-intelligence type of monster, a rare case indeed.’

That’s not to say he didn’t admire other forms of artwork.

‘I wonder if it was interested in art, killing time … or looking for an item to use.’

The behaviour of the ‘ghost‘ who walked through the gallery with hands clasped behind its back like a noble aristocrat or an educated soldier, had a certain heaviness and precision to his movements.

It was almost enough to make one think he owned the place, and Yoo Sung-woon found himself unexpectedly recalling a story about a vampire from an old castle.

'Vampire Count … a bit childish, isn’t it?'

Considering his corpse-like pale skin and the inhuman aura, the comparison seemed to fit quite well.

As the black cloak continued to circle the gallery for a while ….

“…Ah.”

He looked straight at the hiding Yoo Sung-woon.

Their gazes.

Met with each other.

Black eyes.

At that moment, Yoo Sung-woon felt his consciousness fading.

‘…

What is that?

‘Black.’

Too black.

Yet it was bright.

It seemed warm but was cold, empty yet heavy.

Despite the clearly long distance, he couldn’t look away to the point he could even see the blood vessels in his eyes.

No, it might not have been blood vessels. The thin and elegant branches made of gold and silver were so vast that it was almost like a forest. The black centre, where the pupil could not be distinguished, was dark enough to instil a sense of fear.

It was too immense. So immense that it was too deep for human comprehension. It felt suffocating. He felt anger and awe without any basis.

Even though he wasn’t constricting his breath, there was a power within it that made his breathing stop on its own.  Not dying, not showing off, just there…

Existing.

Two blinks.

Swish….

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With a faint noise, the cloak moved.

A little further away.

More further away.

And then the presence that had stopped even further away disappeared.

Yoo Sung-woon moved his feet.

The place where the presence had been cut off was none other than in front of ‘Gio’s Portrait.’

… Was he pretending to be innocent or just timid?

He closed its distant eyes as if nothing had happened.

“This is driving me crazy.”

Day 1, completed.

***

Even in a world with supernatural powers, not everything about ‘ghosts‘ could be explained. The fact that shamans still existed was proof of that.

Therefore, explaining a moving portrait would be difficult.

4:29 AM.

The portrait opened its eyes.

“…Ah.”

Yoo Sung-woon subconsciously let out an exclamation.

The gloomy-looking man, ‘Gio,’ opened his mouth and spoke.

“Good morning.”

“A good morning to you.”

“Morning, you say…”

At those words, Yoo Sung-woon looked at the background of the portrait.

Ah, indeed.

A forest bathed in bright sunlight.

“… But it’s dawn here.”

“I see.”

With that, ‘Gio’s’ eyes captured Bi Sa-beol’s gallery.

“I didn’t realize it was dawn because it’s always lit with white lights.”

His voice, which gave off a sense of discomfort, was more blunt than he had imagined. He was clearly talking, and Yoo Sung-woon was listening, but for some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was ‘quiet.’

What to call this sense of alienation? It couldn’t be described as mechanical. Rather, it was a bit more…

“I apologize.”

“… There’s no need to apologize for that.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

His tone was steady, as if he knew exactly what he was going to say next. His clear voice, as if it had predefined inputs, strangely resonated easily in his ears.

“But I was surprised.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s rare for someone to see a talking portrait and not be scared.”

His calm voice and blunt face showed no emotion. His claim of being surprised didn’t quite match his reaction.

‘He’s not good at lying.’

Or perhaps he didn’t feel the need to lie convincingly. After all, that gloomy stiff face didn’t seem capable of acting flexibly.

While he was thinking this, the portrait asked again.

“What is your name?”

“I am…”

Even though Yoo Sung-woon was a mere human, a true name could be dangerous anywhere.

‘They say the most important thing in all contracts that bind souls in this world is each other’s names.’

So this portrait, ‘Gio’s Portrait,’ could potentially make a strange contract upon hearing Yoo Sung-woon’s name. For strange beings from all cultures, names were such an important concept.

But he answered obediently.

“It’s Yoo Sung-woon.”

The seventeen employees who had told their names to this portrait had not suffered any harm. It wouldn’t make sense for him to start misbehaving with just Yoo Sung-woon now, given the consistency he had shown so far, so he could afford to reveal that much.

The portrait remained expressionless even after hearing his name. Despite leading the conversation, the portrait did not seem very impressed.

Would it be strange to think that he was arrogant?

“That’s right, Mr. Yoo Sung-woon.”

“From your expression, you seemed to have questions for me.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Would you like to talk with me?”

He was invited to converse.

'It's the same train as the previous seventeen people.'

Yoo Sung-woon felt a strange weight.

‘This must be the weight of rules.’

It was dense enough to make floundering difficult, but not so heavy to feel like sinking into mud.

This air and sensation felt as if a giant whale was controlling the waves out of consideration for mere humans floating in the sea.

Yes.

This is 'consideration'.

“… Then I’d like to ask a question.”

Since it was hard to back down now after coming this far, Yoo Sung-woon decided to have a conversation as the portrait suggested.

“Can you possibly come out of that portrait?”

“Yes, I can come out.”

Monsters hate humans. He thought there would be some hesitation since it was about his own information, but the response was quicker than expected.

Was it obvious that he was flustered? ‘Gio,’ who had been staring at Yoo Sung-woon without blinking, pointed it out.

“You look flustered.”

“I didn’t think you would answer so… willingly.”

“There was no reason I couldn’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“Because you asked.”

“What if I had asked with ill intentions?”

“That would be a lie.”

The portrait spoke in a low, quiet, but clear and firm voice.

“Mr. Yoo Sung-woon is a kind and polite person.”

“… Me?”

“That’s why I spoke to you.”

“Is this a sufficient answer?”

Yoo Sung-woon decided to be cautious.

‘This portrait is sensitive to good and evil.’

And although he didn’t know the standard, he also had the ability to distinguish the good and evil of others. It could even classify someone it had never conversed with before.

‘Then, if someone deemed to be evil speaks to this portrait … would it simply ignore them?’

Or would it attack?

“Do you have any questions?”

“Ah… yes.”

Yoo Sung-woon asked, recalling the recent ‘ghost disturbance.’

“The black cloak I saw yesterday was ‘Gio,’ right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“So, the ‘ghost‘ who was said to be haunting the gallery lately, wearing a pitch-black cloak while handing out delicious gifts … that’s you, isn’t it?”

What was he thinking? ‘Gio’ blinked his eyes twice then murmured.

“A ghost.”

“… I’m sorry if that offended you.”

“No, a talking portrait can certainly be described as being possessed by a ghost.”

The portrait continued in its characteristic blunt tone.

“However, I have never died.”

“Still, the ‘ghost‘ Mr. Yoo Sung-woon mentioned seems to be me.”

“… Was there a reason for you to roam around the gallery?”

“I was curious about where I am.”

His voice was very calm and slow. It was a voice that made it hard to imagine that he felt any interest in anything.

“I was curious because there were rare works on display.”

“I was curious about what kind of place this gallery is, I was curious about the people working here, what kind of lives they lead, what names they had and what tastes they like.”

Although his tone was still dry, the answer was truly monster-like in that it was very interested in human lifestyles.

‘No… it’s not certain, but maybe it’s not a monster.’

In that case, things would become more complicated.

“One tends to look for someone to talk to when alone.”

What was intended to be 'Gio's pitch-black eyes landed on Yoo Sung-woon. It was an artificial gaze movement, as if to let him know, 'I'm watching you.'

“Even more so to a polite person like you.”

“I guess you like polite people?”

“At least, I decided that the employees managing this gallery would be more suitable as conversation partners than the red-headed boss here.”

“The boss … Um, are you talking about Bi Sa-beol, the guild leader?

“He’s a talkative person.”

The portrait’s eyes narrowed slightly. It was a very subtle change that was difficult to notice, but the meaning was clear.

“He talks so much, it’s hard to respond.”

Ah, guild leader.

‘He must have been disliked.’

That’s why he couldn’t even have a conversation.

All the curators on the fifth basement floor knew that Bi Sa-beol was very interested in ‘Gio’s Portrait.’ That was why he often talked to ‘Gio’s Portrait,’ and said that it was a very special portrait.

‘But why didn’t that person say anything about this portrait ….’

Since even though he knew ‘Gio’s Portrait’ could talk and move, he had never actually conversed with ‘Gio.’

Because ‘Gio,’ judging Bi Sa-beol to be rude, deliberately did not respond to his conversation attempts.

‘He got what he deserved.’

He knew he would end up with a loss living like that. Honestly, that person deserves a bit of a loss, but anyway.

Yoo Sung-woon bowed his head politely after sorting out his thoughts.

“I apologize.”

“I apologize on behalf of our guild leader.”

His role was to manage the work here.

Among those works, there were many which have their own consciousness like ‘Gio’s Portrait’. Especially since it was assumed that ‘Gio’ was a humanoid monster, there was nothing to gain by upsetting him by breaking his rules.

‘Especially since he seems to be more sensitive to manners.’

Fortunately, the portrait’s expression was still blunt. He didn’t look pleased, but he wasn’t angry either. He remained gloomy and pale, but only stiff without showing any displeasure.

As expected, the portrait spoke in a calm voice.

“It’s alright.”

“Our guild leader is a bit of an odd person.”

“He didn’t seem like a bad person. So it’s alright.”

Yoo Sung-woon keep in mind the additional information.

‘If they’re not evil, he won’t be hostile even if they lack manners.’

Even thinking about that, he felt suffocated. Because he couldn’t carelessly measure the opponent’s abilities.

‘Does he have an appraisal skill that can judge the good and evil of even guild leader Bi Sa-beol … It’s a monster that’s hard to handle in many ways. That level of appraisal skill would be hard to find anywhere in the world.’

No, to begin with, whether a being with such ‘eyes’ can be defined as a monster is …

After a brief silence, the portrait spoke again.

“Do you have any questions?”

“… Your bluntness surprises me, Gio.”

“I was just being polite.”

“Polite?”

“Shouldn’t humans be polite?”

That’s what makes it seem not human-like.

‘Ordinary humans don’t keep their manners that meticulously.’

Rather, it felt overly thorough, as if a monster with a vague understanding of human life was excessively imitating it awkwardly.

While Yoo Sung-woon was feeling a bit tired, the portrait shifted to another topic.

“It was my first time seeing Mr. Yoo Sung-woon. Is that correct?”

“That’s right. Guild leader Bi Sa-beol said he no longer had time to manage your portrait, and the previous curators were assigned to other works. So I took over the task.”

“I’d like to thank you for keeping the portrait clean. I wanted to thank the previous people too, but I wasn’t ready until now. I thank you again on their behalf.”

“Managing the work is a duty that those people and I naturally have to do, so there’s no need for thanks. But I’ll let them know that you were grateful.”

But now he was curious.

“… Can you tell what people outside are doing even when your eyes are closed? Were you continuously observing us from inside the portrait?”

To his question, ‘Gio’ replied with an inscrutable blunt face.

“You are in the frame, so I have no choice but to watch.”

“Moving pictures are interesting.”

“… Is that so.”

Somehow.

It was a bit creepy.

‘The picture is not itself, but the humans outside … is that what it means?’

Even Yoo Sung-woon himself couldn’t pinpoint exactly what part was creepy.

But if what the portrait said was true, then ‘Gio’ sees everything outside the painting as a picture. Even though to them, the painting is ‘Gio’s Portrait.’

To that painting, we are …..

A painting.

“Is this a sufficient answer?”

“… Yes.”

Indeed, this is a dangerous entity.

“Perhaps.”

Day 2, complete.