The Artist Who Paints Dungeon-Chapter 352

Yoo Seong-Woon approached Gio and whispered softly—quiet enough that others couldn’t hear—at the sight of Cha Eun-Hyeok, completely dazed while holding his sister in his arms.

“...What was that? Did you give him a gift?”

“? No?”

“You’re saying that wasn’t a gift?”

“Are you supposed to treat people like gifts?”

“Oh...”

Yoo Seong-Woon looked at Gio with an odd gaze. It was the look of someone thinking, ‘What’s with him suddenly admitting it for once?’ Gio, sensing this, immediately denied it more assertively than usual.

“That wasn’t something I did.”

“Sure, sure. It wasn’t you—it was Lord Black Cloak, right? His grace is truly magnificent.”

“I said I didn’t do it.”

Gio was feeling wronged. He was glad the Cha siblings had such an emotional reunion, but he had no idea why everyone was attributing it to him. Was it the timing? Was it because of that perfect, uncanny timing?

‘Was it just because I-Sol showed up the moment we were talking about her?’

Even Gio had been startled. Right when he spoke to a grief-stricken Cha Eun-Hyeok, exhausted from his siblings’ repeated disappearances, Cha I-Sol had shown up. It was enough to make one believe that blessings truly come to kind people.

“If anything, I think you should be thanking the god of fate.”

“...Do you raise those too?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll keep that in mind, then.”

“Keep what in mind?”

I don’t raise anything.

‘What was that even supposed to mean?’

Whatever it was, Gio definitely didn’t raise it. He wanted to make that clear, but Yoo Seong-Woon’s gaze had already shifted to his guild master. Having missed the timing to argue back, Gio watched him with lingering discomfort.

Yoo Seong-Woon asked something similar to Bisa Beul.

“Did you say all that because you knew Cha I-Sol was on her way?”

“What do you mean ‘all that’?”

“You really got under Cha Eun-Hyeok’s skin, didn’t you? Like you knew she’d show up and everything would resolve, so you pushed him harder beforehand...”

“It’s outrageous to frame me like that.”

“So it was a misunderstanding on my part?”

“I was speaking from a place of pure intentions.”

Bisa Beul smiled crookedly, his snake-like face unchanged.

“I didn’t know Cha I-Sol was coming, either.”

“......”

Yoo Seong-Woon looked oddly convinced. Gio figured it must be a realization about the guild master’s personality. He was thinking the same thing.

The fact that even Yoo Seong-Woon—who had accepted Gio’s haunted-portrait identity—reacted that way... That was its own kind of talent. Bisa Beul, enjoying Seong-Woon’s expression, added after a beat.

“I had taken an interest in Apprentice Priest Cha I-Sol as a promising talent, and had been keeping her in mind, but strangely enough, I couldn’t see her in this dungeon at all.”

“You couldn’t see her?”

“Yes. It’s not like I was intentionally avoiding it, though.”

“A disturbance that could block even your eyes... That’s impressive.”

“I imagine Hunter Sergio is in a similar position...”

“Oh, seriously?”

Yoo Seong-Woon turned to Gio with a surprised look. Sensing a chance to clear his name, Gio nodded repeatedly. His calm demeanor as Giovanni masked his desperation, but the nodding was earnest.

“Yes, I didn’t know either. I really didn’t.”

“...Ah—sorry for the misunderstanding?”

“I’m just glad that’s been cleared up.”

“Even those sharp eyes being blocked... is there some kind of curse here?”

“I never thought my vision was that exceptional, to be honest...”

Gio touched the corner of his eye and continued.

“Well, this space does unsettle the mind. It’s a bit overwhelming in various ways.”

The Cha family was one Gio personally liked. They were like a ray of light in this desolate society. Their rare kindness and diligence were something he genuinely admired.

He wasn’t someone who believed he had to help every good person in the world, but with the Cha family, there was a personal connection. That’s why he hadn’t wanted to keep watching them suffer over their missing siblings. He’d wanted to help, somehow...

“I can’t even draw in here. I suppose it’s partly because there are no materials like there are at home.”

“......” 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Yoo Seong-Woon blinked, dazed.

“...? Wait a second, isn’t that... kind of dangerous?”

“I thought it was a rare situation, too.”

A haunted portrait unable to paint? That was a crisis of identity. Gio had even considered supplying food filled with personal sentiment via painting—but that was now out the window.

“Similarly, the door to my house has become tangled.”

“The door’s tangled, not shut? What does that mean exactly?”

“It means that instead of the frame I intended to draw, something completely unrelated gets summoned.”

“Ah... well, given this dungeon’s nature, that’s not surprising.”

This dungeon twisted even virtue and righteousness into mockery.

“But your paintings are usually safe, aren’t they?”

“They’re good kids.”

“Then can’t # Nоvеlight # you just keep summoning until the correct door appears? Even if it’s probability-based, eventually it should come up, right?”

“Hm, I considered that, but...”

“So there’s a reason it won’t work.”

“For some reason, all my children are angry.”

“......”

Yoo Seong-Woon went speechless for a moment.

“...What do you mean, angry?”

“I don’t know if they’re angry or agitated, but they wouldn’t even listen to me.”

“...Are you saying Earth might be in danger?”

“I’ve considered that. I’ve closed all the door-paintings for now, just in case.”

“Oh, good. Thanks.”

“I also thought calling them in during this situation might make things worse, so I stopped.”

“Thank you for that too.”

Nodding, Yoo Seong-Woon paused, then asked,

“...Do you have any idea why it’s like this?”

“I think it might be Zeorge’s influence.”

“You mean... he did something?”

“That’s possible too. But it feels more like how antibodies attack a virus.”

“You mean your children see Zeorge as a foreign contaminant?”

“Yes, and because of that, persuading them seems unlikely. Since their actions are to protect me, that makes them harder to reason with.”

ERROR

ERROR

ERROR

ERR—

“...It feels like things have slipped out of my hands.”

They were children who always listened well. Even if he called them “children,” Gio knew they obeyed him absolutely. And yet, this was happening.

That meant another force was at play. Gio suspected that the other force... was the System. In other words, “Mr. Sergio.”

‘I’ve always wondered... Does Mr. Sergio not have emotions?’

They shared similar inclinations and views, but sometimes Gio sensed that the System judged purely by logic and right-or-wrong. To the System, Zeorge likely appeared as a being that needed to be eliminated.

‘But I’ve grown attached. Even if he’s an insufferable 21-year-old brat, I thought maybe with a little beating and effort he could still be useful...’

So Gio didn’t agree with the System. Because of that, while Gio himself remained unaffected, his children were furious. As if they were expressing all the aversion that Gio should have felt.

“Anyway, I think it’ll take a while for them to calm down.”

“How long, roughly?”

“Ah, I misspoke. I think it’ll stay this way until we leave the dungeon. So for now, it’ll be hard to rely on my earlier paintings.”

“Well, it’s not like I was expecting to rely on that, but it is a bit unsettling. I just hope nothing serious happens to you because of it.”

“I’m not so incompetent that I’d end up gravely injured. No need to worry.”

Divine power was Gio’s trait as “Giovanni,” and physical strength could be supplemented via “Argio.” Even if Sergio couldn’t paint right now, there didn’t seem to be any major problems.

“It’s just that Honey...”

“Oh dear.”

Honey, curled up tightly in Gio’s hands, was visibly fuming. Steam practically bubbled off their form from the heat. Gio placed another hand over them protectively.

“...Has become quite sensitive.”

“Well, Honey is your child too.”

Strictly speaking, Honey counted among the “children Gio had drawn.” Other family members like the teddy bear father or Dana—those Gio hadn’t drawn—seemed unaffected. Still, it was hard to call this a safe situation.

Gio momentarily lost his words at the strange sensation in his palm.

“......”

“What’s wrong?”

“...It might be better if you didn’t know.”

“Did I ask something?”

“Ah, wise choice.”

For some reason, Honey’s form inside Gio’s hands was shifting. Gio’s eldest child had always tried to appear cute for him, but now, with their form hidden from view, that cuteness was unraveling.

‘I knew he wanted to be adorable, but I didn’t realize it was such an extreme compulsion.’

Keeping Honey in his line of sight seemed like the better option.

“Honey, do you want to sit on my shoulder?”

“Grrrr...”

“What’s got our boy in such a mood?”

“Grmbl.”

“Still cute.”

As father and son shared this quiet moment—

When it became clear Cha Eun-Hyeok had no intention of letting go of his sister, Kang Seodam approached Gio and Bisa Beul. He, too, looked pretty worn out.

“May I interrupt for a moment?”

“Oh, of course. It’s been a while.”

“Bit embarrassing to show up like this, but as you can see, we need help.”

Despite the exhaustion on his face, Kang Seodam remained the same responsible man. Seeing Cha I-Sol clinging timidly to her brother and Iru Da floundering nearby, he spoke again.

“...It’s shameful, but the Church of the Sun team among the advance party has been nearly wiped out. Some managed to flee during the incident, but they’re scattered and can’t be found.”

“Can you tell us what exactly happened?”

“Internal conflict was the root cause. Our sect has always struggled with generational discord. That, along with other small issues, escalated until things collapsed entirely.”

“We’d expected something like that, but for the Church of the Sun to be all but wiped out...”

“Fortunately, we do have some excuse.”

Kang Seodam held up an earring.

“There was a clown attack.”

An invisible one.

***

Putting off the full info-sharing for now, the Collector focused on caring for the other hunter they’d encountered for the first time in this dungeon. Their condition was clearly not good.

“If you wish, we can store the earring safely at the Collector.”

“It’s not that I doubt the Collector’s ability... I just can’t be sure I’m not still under distortion. Could you give me some time?”

“That’s best. For now, rest.”

Bisa Beul didn’t pressure him.

“The fact that you haven’t left this place is proof enough you have some clarity left.”

“...Yes. We’re a team with a skilled priest and gardener, after all. The distortion likely had little effect. Still, I can’t rule out the possibility that what I see and hear is all a hallucination.”

Kang Seodam nodded. With Hunter Sergio in the group, he didn’t believe their words or actions were distorted. The problem would be if the Collector team’s very existence was distorted. That would take more time to confirm.

Seeing his caution, Gio asked gently.

“Then... are you not eating?”

“Ah...”

Kang Seodam hesitated for a moment, then straightened and replied formally.

“...I’m responsible for the two apprentice priests. I believe it’s best to remove myself from as many variables as possible, just in case. If something happens to me, I can’t guarantee their safety.”

The guide must remain the safest. There were cases of this being exploited, but when one had to protect young hunters, it was an unspoken rule. Like how an adult must act first during a plane crash before tending to children.

“Of course, if a meal is prepared, I’ll test it first.”

“You’re worried the food might be dangerous?”

“If I try a little and it seems fine, then the apprentices can eat.”

“Hmm, we’d better prepare something you can eat without worry.”

“...Please don’t go overboard.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

Thus, a brief rest began.