The Artist Who Paints Dungeon-Chapter 222
This place weirdly reminds me of the Four-Legged Rainforest...”
Gio looked around.
“It really does resemble it.”
“Ppiing.”
“Even echoing me like that—you’ve got the makings of a good friend.”
“Ppiiii...”
“Yes, yes.”
At their back-and-forth exchange, Honey popped out from inside the hood.
“Kurrrrk?”
“You’re my child, Honey.”
“Kurr.”
Satisfied, Honey slipped back into the hood.
Were animals always this common in my life?
Even back in that peaceful mountain village in Gangwon Province, he used to run into boars and deer now and then. But somehow, ever since he became a portrait, animals seemed to flock to him even more.
“This too must be part of nature’s cycle.”
Spouting off nonsense, Gio thought to himself:
Was the Four-Legged Rainforest perhaps derived from here? It really is strikingly similar...
But Gio—as Argio—knew better than anyone that the Four-Legged Rainforest existed in a completely different dimension. Still, he was impressed at how his long-forgotten homeland now looked as if it had been painted into ruin.
“...What on earth happened here?”
The Black Forest had always been thick with trees. That much hadn’t changed. But the dense canopy soaked up the rainwater and unleashed toxic mist at random intervals—its infamous trademark. That very structure only worked if the forest touched the sky.
The more he observed, the more questions he had.
Gio looked up at the ceiling.
The Four-Legged Rainforest was dragged into a cave during dimensional transition, but this time, I can’t even guess. This place was simply destroyed—it never moved to another dimension, nor received one.
He had no choice but to keep looking around.
“Will you come with me?”
The deer tilted its head, then vanished.
“Hmph.”
A shy friend.
“Leaving without even saying goodbye.”
A word would’ve been nice.
“Looks like it’s just us again today, Honey.”
“Kurrururuk.”
Honey cried like he didn’t mind so long as his dad was there. Gio stroked the tiny bird perched on his shoulder with a light touch, then started walking again. The more he saw, the more he would understand.
Unlike the vibrant greenery of the Four-Legged Rainforest, the Black Forest was steeped in shadows. As its name implied, every plant was stained in deep greens and blacks, their overlapping leaves casting crushing shadows.
“This part’s the same.”
The Black Forest made it impossible to distinguish day from night.
“At least back then, we could tell time by the shifting cold and heat. But now that we’re underground, even that’s hard to figure out. Don’t you think?”
“Kurr...”
“So is it just going to stay cold forever now? We’ll need more time to tell... And even if time passes, who knows how warmth could exist underground?”
Unlike the Four-Legged Rainforest, where the plants had shapes you could still call plantlike, here grotesque and metaphysical aberrations were densely packed. To Argio, they were familiar companions.
“Good to see you again.”
That one, if eaten, would tear your insides and make you vomit blood.
That one, if touched, would cover your body in hives and make you laugh uncontrollably for weeks.
That one, if left alone, would release spores that took root in your respiratory system.
Plants were supposed to grow under the sun. The fact that these thrived in shadow had made him wonder more than once if they were some species of demon. That impression hadn’t changed.
Gio blinked.
“...Still, I can definitely see better than I used to. It’s like back in the Gem’s Waterway—darkness that should’ve been impenetrable, but somehow, I could see through it.”
“Kkungkung?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t see this well before. Ever since I gained corrupted divinity, I’ve been mixing with other personalities and holding varied powers, so darkness doesn’t hinder me anymore... Or so I thought. I figured I was more human now, but maybe not?”
Hmm, maybe it’s because I’m still a painting.
“Nice to be able to see clearly, though!”
As always, Gio remained cheerful.
“When the world felt heavy and silent, I never knew how to respond. Of course, I’ve got you, Honey, but I can’t always rely on you—that wouldn’t be proper parenting.”
“Kkungkkungkkung...”
Honey grumbled, wondering why his dad didn’t just use him in the first place. But even a father had his pride.
Not to mention, some plants explode when exposed to light.
Argio, who once lived in the Black Forest, welcomed the brighter world.
“But still, something’s off.”
He’d walked quite a distance.
“Why don’t I see any beasts?”
“Kurrurrr?”
“Where did all my Black Forest family go?”
They said the forest had been destroyed—had all the living beings vanished, leaving only these silent, wordless plants? That couldn’t be. If that were true, beasts wouldn’t keep leaking in from beyond the ‘Kingdom of Beasts.’
Then maybe they’re hiding somewhere?
But hiding didn’t suit the Black Forest creatures. This was a place where you had to grow stronger and more savage every second to survive. Hiding only delayed death.
“......”
Things really had changed while he was away.
“This is frustrating.”
Like this, he couldn’t even find whoever had summoned Argio. Perhaps these sentient dark plants had called him—but they showed no response.
Someone with reason definitely called me here.
There was even a pang of nostalgia.
“For now... heading deeper seems like the best option. I had a home I shared with my family before. It was riddled with traps and poison, not the coziest place, but still the best we had.”
“Kurr?”
“Yes, it was a home. An ancient ruin, long worn and partially collapsed...”
If you call it home, it becomes one.
The path to the sanctified ruin of the Black Forest saints was rough, but with Argio’s lifetime of survival experience here and little Honey—who purified everything like a tiny sun—it wasn’t too daunting.
“Here we are.”
They soon arrived.
“Surprisingly, it’s still intact. I thought it might have crumbled in the descent underground, but I guess it was sturdier than I expected. Then again, it has stayed in this shape even after I died...”
Argio had once perished in a fire attack. The entire Black Forest had burned. And yet, the plants grew back stronger, and this ruin stood firm. It was almost awe-inspiring.
“Surely more heroes came and destroyed parts afterward.”
“Kurrurur...”
“You like it too, huh? Yeah. It’s a ruin worth admiring.”
Argio stroked one of the unyielding stone pillars.
“......”
There were traces of young human lives growing here.
“...I wonder what happened to them.”
Sometimes when he ventured out for raiding or amusement, people would be brought to him—some begging with clasped hands to be taken, others kidnapped simply because they caught his eye.
This place had been both a haven for beasts and a prison for discarded humans.
From what I recall, they all fled.
The outsiders had made a fuss about plagues and whatnot, so they were probably killed as soon as they left the forest. Or maybe they never even made it out.
They were too weak to survive the forest’s poison and beasts.
Feeling sorrowful, Argio frowned.
“Since I’m here... I ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) should at least make them a gravestone.”
“Kkurrk?”
“Even if, by some miracle, they escaped the forest and its armies, they still would’ve perished in this dying dimension. Whether by time, sickness, or something else—their end should be acknowledged.”
He lifted the edge of his cloak and called out from the shadows.
“Dana, are you awake?”
“Ank.”
“Go find the lost children who never made it home.”
“......”
The cat, whose eyes mirrored the cosmos, blinked once.
“Meow.”
Then she slipped into another shadow, spreading out across the Black Forest.
“Well then, Honey, shall we keep searching until your sister finds the strays? Since beasts were able to come through the frame, some of my family must still be around here...”
“Kurrururururu!”
Honey chirped joyfully. Exploring Dad’s old homeland was fun, and meeting new friends was always welcome. Argio, caught up in that excitement, smiled.
“Where could my friends be?”
And then, Gio encountered something.
“......”
“...What are you? A fox kin?”
“......”
“...No, wait. Not a fox...?”
A wolf the size of a house.
“...A ghost?!”
“No, it’s alive.”
“It’s a ghost!!”
A talking cowardly wolf, no less.
Were beasts always this disappointing, or is this a recent thing?
Argio found himself thinking like an old man.
***
He already knew that the beasts of his homeland had acquired “language.” Even right before the evil divinity named “Argio” was sealed by heroes, the animals had laughed, spoken, and told stories.
But to actually converse with one—it’s strange.
Back then, overcome by rage and hatred, divinity had no interest in chatting with some talking beast. He didn’t even have the mental clarity for it.
If he ever spoke as the evil god after Argio the human had died, it was only to curse the heroes who came for him.
If that was the extent of my ‘communication,’ then... I was an idiot.
What a joke.
“......”
“...H-h-h-hum... man?”
“Yeah, I’m human. Can’t you tell I’m alive?”
“I’m not sure...”
The wolf, as big as a truck, flinched and shrank as it stared at Gio. It could’ve come closer, but stayed well away, just tilting its head from afar.
Argio stared, exasperated.
“How are you supposed to know if I’m alive or dead from way over there? Come closer—I’m not someone you need to fear.”
“...Why do you get to decide that?”
The wolf scowled in disbelief, yet slowly approached.
“...Can I sniff you?”
“By all means.”
“Okay, just a sec...”
The huge wolf cautiously lowered its snout to the much smaller Argio and sniffed. Then, as if reassured—or maybe catching a delicious scent—it gently pressed its nose against him.
“Oh dear, are you planning to eat me?”
“...?! N-no! No, I’m not!!”
“Then why the dramatic jump? You’ve got energy, I’ll give you that.”
“I-it’s just that you smelled nice...”
“A delicious smell?”
“Not like that!!”
The wolf sounded deeply wronged.
“You smelled... nutty and sweet. Like soft, fluffy warmth.”
“...Ah, are you talking about sunlight?”
“...Sunlight?”
Its voice shot up in pitch.
The wolf stepped closer again, wagging its tail. Its sharp eyes widened with surprise and delight. Argio realized it might still be quite young.
The hesitant wolf asked,
“Did you... come from the sunlight?”
“Never heard that before.”
Gio pointed upward, puzzled.
“There’s a sun up there, isn’t there?”
“That one’s fake.”
“Fake?”
“...You are a ghost!!”
“Can’t you hear my heartbeat? Are you even really a wolf?”
“If you know everything, why are you the only one who doesn’t know this?!”
The wolf looked crushed.
“Humans are extinct!”
“Ah... as expected.”
He’d figured as much—but it still stung a little.
“Smarter beings really are the most foolish.”
Always. Everywhere.
Surely, it could’ve been different.
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