The Artist Who Paints Dungeon-Chapter 319

Sergio was a rather popular teacher.

And it wasn’t just because of his surreal looks. He cooked well, had generous hands, and—above all—shared his creations at school. Some students often called him a pig manufacturer.

“......”

Cha Eun-Hye stared at the neatly prepared tiramisu, conflicted.

“I already blacked out and ate some, but... tsk, how much weight is this gonna add.”

“You’re skin and bones, barely dragging yourself around. What are you even worried about?”

“Teacher, you seriously need to stop encouraging people like this. I’m telling you—stop encouraging me.”

“I figured you’d want something sweet after a salty meal, so I brought this. Kind of a shame if you don’t eat it.”

“Still, taking it back after offering it is just plain heartless. We’ll now begin the tasting session, please bear with me.”

Cha Eun-Hye scooped a big bite of the tiramisu and ate it.

“God, this is impossible to resist.”

“You’ve gotten so thin while I was away. Eat more. How hard must things have been for my poor puppy.”

“Honestly, you’re the worst one, Teacher. I mean, I still have to maintain my public image. People these days judge presidents on their looks, you know.”

“What are they gonna do with a president picked for looks? Besides, don’t you think it’s a little late to retire now? From the way I see it, as long as your friends are around, you’ll probably stay president indefinitely. Might as well give in to your desires.”

“Do you realize how much you start talking whenever you’re feeding someone?”

“Well, it’s only natural to talk more when you’re worried about the other person.”

Sergio’s voice, as he said that, was genuinely filled with sympathy. He really seemed to believe that Cha Eun-Hye hadn’t been eating regularly for the past 32 years—even though she was perfectly average in weight.

Cha Eun-Hye smiled, already preparing herself for the familiar resignation. That absurd way of speaking, oddly welcomed, felt unreal, almost dreamlike, because it had been so long since she heard it.

“I heard there’s a report going around saying Curator Yoo Seong-Woon gained weight...”

“Why are there even reports like that?”

“We’ve been keeping close observation since the moment you reappeared.”

“So... it’s legal now to dig into the president’s personal life?”

“Uh... I heard it was always kinda like that, but if not, then forget it.”

“Well, at least I’ve learned how much attention you were all paying to me.”

“N-no... don’t look at me like that.”

As Sergio’s gaze gently dropped, Cha Eun-Hye clutched her tiramisu like it was a shield and explained herself.

“I’m not exactly an ordinary person, right? You think I’d go see your face without any solid reason? I waited until I felt the timing was right. And to figure out that timing, you need information.”

“And that required knowing Mr. Yoo Seong-Woon’s weight, apparently.”

“Those are important clues, too! Especially with someone like you who loves fattening up people around him. I mean, how do you die and come back and still not change? Do you really enjoy watching people gain weight that much?”

“It’s more like... being too thin just seems pitiful.”

“I’ve told you a million times, Teacher, your standards are way too—ugh, I don’t even know if I should say they’re too high or too low. Either way, they’re definitely not normal. Again, I’m average. Average.”

“Kids these days have a sad habit of calling underweight the new average. I don’t really agree with that. A little fat never hurt anyone.”

He then held up a tray.

“Madeleines?”

“Let’s see what you’ve got.”

“You eat so well—it’s such a joy to watch.”

“Are you my grandma or something...”

Next, a variety of fruits, cheeses, and crackers came into view. To anyone else, it would’ve looked like a wine pairing spread—but Cha Eun-Hye knew the truth. Her teacher simply enjoyed snacking on things like that.

...He always did.

Sure enough, there was no alcohol among the offerings.

“Funny how life turns out like this.”

Sergio sat on the sofa across from her as he spoke. Cha Eun-Hye asked,

“...What do you mean, like this?”

“A day when I eat cheese in the presidential office.”

“Did you ever imagine your student would become president?”

“Would I have?”

“You wouldn’t, right? Ugh, it’s so messed up—I didn’t even imagine it myself.”

Pretending to sniffle, Cha Eun-Hye grabbed a cracker.

“Ugh... is there no wine? This kind of food is meant to be eaten with wine, you know.”

“Can’t tell if you’re talking about the cracker or your past.”

“Obviously, I’m venting. Since I’m here, at least hear me out.”

“You’re the only one who remembers, and also the most uninhibited.”

Sergio looked at her quietly.

“By the way, it just came to mind—but how dare you talk about drinking in front of your teacher. I know you’re an adult now, but to me, it feels like the pre-catastrophe days were just yesterday. Watching you act like a proper adult makes my poor liver tremble.”

“Oh... you even have a liver? What happened to being a painting? I thought you didn’t have organs.”

“Being a painting doesn’t mean I can’t have a liver. Though I have no way of confirming unless I open up my own abdomen. Do you happen to know a good surgeon?”

“See, this is the problem—when you say things, it never sounds like a joke. Stop saying stuff like that. I know I’m not the one getting sliced open, but I’m still scared.”

“Alright, let’s say that’s true.”

The impossibly handsome man across from her—who looked like he belonged in a horror movie corpse exhibit—interlaced his fingers and asked,

“Have you been doing okay?”

“No.”

“Yeah, I was just asking to be polite. Must’ve been tough.”

“You used to comfort us when we whined in school.”

“Well, the expiration date on that kindness passed.”

“So cold...”

“In the meantime, I took care of Seo-Hee’s meals. She seemed to like it. Made me happy.”

Cha Eun-Hye had kept her promise to Seo Seo-Hee. She’d asked Sergio to prepare her a lunchbox, and "Hunter Sergio" had obligingly done so, visiting Justitia for the first time in a while. Seo Seo-Hee had been pleased.

Cha Eun-Hye nodded knowingly.

“She likes anything you give her.”

“Nope. She’s secretly picky. Pretends not to be, but she is.”

“She eats everything you offer, though?”

“Unless we’re counting the times she avoids situations where she might have to eat something she dislikes, then yeah—you’ve got a point. If you hand her something directly, she’ll eat it.”

“Why do you sound like you’ve got a lot of pent-up frustration?”

“I’m not here to complain, Eun-Hye. Just stating objective data from observation. It’s not about feelings.”

The man in a pitch-black suit under a black cloak tilted his head with a blank expression. It didn’t seem like he had a specific question—more like a habitual motion when shifting his gaze. Staring into the air, he said,

“I know it’s been hard for you.”

“I’ve been avoiding you just to keep up my skepticism, so I don’t really have the right to say this... but still, couldn’t you have come a little earlier?”

“It wasn’t entirely up to me. And more importantly...”

“More importantly?”

“Are you guys not planning to move out?”

“......”

“Oh... seriously?”

Sergio looked impressed.

“That’s actually surprising.”

“...I mean, we have moved out. That’s why it took me a second to answer. We’re all adults now, aren’t we? What’s the point of calling it moving out? Come on, we’ve been doing fine without you. Look at me—I’m the president. That’s insane, right?”

“It’s hard to call it a joke when your friends basically forced you into the presidency. When I heard the story, I was terrified by how much you’ve all grown. I wanted you to grow, but not like this.”

“Yeah... as someone who still has democratic sensibilities leftover from the pre-catastrophe era... there’s not much I can say about that.”

It was true, and still something she was criticized for. The so-called “Symbols of Eternity” had used their authority to place Cha Eun-Hye—a girl with nothing—into the presidential seat. If that wasn’t a dictatorship, then what was?

Having finished the madeleine, she reached for the cheese and asked,

“Can I make an excuse?”

“An excuse for the cheese?”

“No, an excuse for how I became president...” 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“I always like listening to my students.”

“Alright, here it goes.”

She lifted her chin slightly.

“...Honestly, there’s not much to say. The country was just completely fucked.”

It had gotten to the point where even a former idol trainee with average grades and a regular family could do a better job as president.

“The others were too balanced as ‘Symbols of Eternity.’ They had already established a perfect separation of powers, so there was no room to pile on the presidency as well.”

“I’m listening.”

“It’s not like they planned to put me there from the beginning. But, I don’t know if you heard—our previous government screwed up massively. It drove Haera and Seo-Hee up the wall. Hae-Woon developed near-pathological misanthropy and disappeared for like... two years, I think.”

“Two years?”

Sergio tilted his head. That was an actual question.

“That’s pretty short.”

“Wait, I thought you’d say it was long?”

“For a fully grown adult who’s developed a misanthropic crisis, two years of wandering is short.”

“......”

Cha Eun-Hye smiled.

“...You seem to know our 32 years way too well for someone who wasn’t there.”

“I fed you. I made you fat. How could I not have a good guess? I see it in my mind, even without having to witness it.”

He gave a small shrug.

“Especially Hae-Woon. Once he snaps, he goes all out. His big behavioral patterns haven’t really changed.”

“But he’s never actually caused any major incidents. Even if he seems like he’s barely holding it together... he endures. We should be thankful he never exploded.”

“I can imagine what state he must’ve been in. His heart’s softer than he lets on. Probably wanted to restrain himself before he did something reckless.”

“Exactly. If he hadn’t vanished and stayed by our side, people would’ve died. He didn’t want to be a butcher, so he ran away instead.”

“He must’ve been in real pain.”

“...Me too.”

Cha Eun-Hye awkwardly smiled, cracking a cracker in half.

“I struggled too.”

“You’ve gotten clingier since I last saw you. Even more than the others.”

“Should I stop? Is it creepy? I mean, I’m older than you now.”

“Well, you’re not exactly at the age where you can be considered adorable anymore. That window closes at nineteen.”

“......”

“...What’s wrong with me?”

Sergio blinked twice.

He couldn’t even take his own jokes as jokes. The Cha Eun-Hye he remembered hadn’t been like this. Something had changed. Though unchanged for 32 years, she had changed—and the dissonance was unsettling.

But the discomfort didn’t sit right with him.

“Why haven’t you become an adult yet?”

To be honest, it baffled him.

“I thought you would’ve. I’ve been meeting mostly students who forgot me, so I figured the one who remembered would be different. But lately, I’m realizing there’s not much difference. Did I do something wrong?”

“...You didn’t do anything wrong, Teacher.”

“Then whose fault is it? Because from a teacher’s standpoint, this isn’t ideal.”

“So you tried to ignore it and move on?”

Cha Eun-Hye looked straight at him. Despite the bottomless black gaze staring back, she accepted it. The awkward smile she wore while breaking the cracker had vanished without a trace.

In the end, it was Sergio who blinked first. As always, the gaze was too raw to pretend he didn’t notice. A mix of unease and weariness made him sigh quietly.

“I didn’t leave you. I didn’t abandon you.”

“...I know. You never did, Teacher.”

“I figured you wouldn’t believe it right away. But I thought maybe if I said it out loud, there’d be a higher chance you would.”

“I believe you, Teacher.”

“You say that with such a strange face. Fascinating.”

“Yeah, I guess I don’t believe everything. But I do understand the flow of things.”

Cha Eun-Hye lowered her head and looked at the broken cracker in her hand.

“For some reason, you’ve returned. I don’t know why. And I’m not planning to change anything or try to. So I figured... I might as well enjoy it.”

“That’s wise.”

“But I’m still scared that all of this could collapse. That you’ll disappear again, that the world will fall apart, that these new connections will break.”

“So you keep pretending not to know?”

“Yeah. And I’m grateful that you’re pretending with me. It feels really nice eating snacks made by Teacher again.”

“...Feels like you grew up... sideways.”

Sergio stood up—not to go anywhere, just to move. He picked up a piece of cheese from the table and placed it on Cha Eun-Hye’s broken cracker. Then he gently tapped her hand.

“You’re not supposed to use food for sensory play.”

“It wasn’t really sensory play...”

“Then... a strength test?”

“Let’s go with that...”

The cheese was delicious, of course. Sergio had brought it from the presidential residence. Everything was tailored to her tastes. The soft brie melted perfectly with the cracker.

“Can you visit like this sometimes?”

“To build new trust?”

“Probably.”

“Pretty vague. Your attitude, your request.”

“Teacher.”

Cha Eun-Hye smiled faintly.

“You weren’t planning to look for us, were you?”

“If you were truly adults.”

“If we’d become the kind of adults you «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» wanted... you wouldn’t have seen us at all, right?”

“I’d have given it a lot more thought. Probably built entirely new connections.”

“You know, for someone so gentle... you’re incredibly cruel sometimes. How can anyone be like this?”

A little resentment. A lot of longing. And a massive void.

“...I’ll try to become an adult. Because that’s what you want.”

“Try to become a healthy adult, if you can. You’ve aged, but I worry you haven’t matured.”

“Then drop by more often, please. That’s the deal. It’s a rule the mysterious love to follow, and it’s one of my last remaining stubborn hopes.”

“Come by in secret, like now, when no one’s watching. And chat with me like this.”

“If that’s what builds trust for you, then I will. I’m still your teacher, after all. But please understand...”

Sergio sat back down. He leaned into the sofa and looked at her with lowered eyes.

“...I was supposed to be someone who just passed through.”

Cha Eun-Hye replied without hesitation.

“It’s too late for that.”

“Even 32 years ago, I think I knew that.”

“I keep saying it—Teacher, you’re secretly heartless.”

“And yet I came back.”

Then he asked—

“Was that my choice? Or...”

“......”

“...Was it yours?”

Who had named that vast absence his?

“......”

“......”

Sergio never got his answer.

“It could’ve been either.”

He was still by their side. Still their teacher. And so, a proper answer wasn’t even necessary. Still, he couldn’t help poking at the crying child beside him.

Just curious what kind of mess he’d made in the past to leave these kids so broken. Wondering whether he’d ever truly deserved to lead and teach them.

That was all.

“Shall we stop here for today?”

“Then are you going to ask again tomorrow?”

“No. If you don’t want me to, I never will again. I’m not desperate about the past, and you guys don’t want it dredged back up. Well... except sometimes it really seems like you do...”

“Yeah, well... I’m sure some of us do want that. But it’s not a situation where we can want it. Whatever you’re thinking, Teacher, it’s a dangerous time. It’s hard to hope for miracles right now. So if possible... please keep pretending not to know.”

“A miracle, huh... I think I know what you’re referring to. Maybe. I’ll see how things go. You know me—I’m soft on my students, and who knows what’s ahead.”

He said it casually.

“I don’t know about Earth or the nation’s fate, but if you need a convenient, pretty answer during a chaotic time, call me. That’s what teachers are for. I’ll always be here.”

That was all he could offer.

“How’s that?”

“...Then can you put more cheese on for me?”

“Let’s do that.”

She must’ve been hungrier than she let on.

No wonder she’d been so edgy, hiding behind that scary face.

***

And meanwhile, Jeong Hae-Woon visited Seo Seo-Hee.

“Yo, give me food.”

“The hell? You left something here?”

“Word is you’ve been eating good lately, Brother~”

“Seriously, are you a gangster?”

Just like that, Seo Seo-Hee’s lunchbox was stolen.