The Artist Who Paints Dungeon-Chapter 209
“So you came to see me?”
Sanarae asked with his characteristic smile.
“You’re worried because your way of thinking is too different from other people?”
“It’s not exactly a worry.”
“Then why did you come?”
“I just thought it was a fun topic to talk about...”
“Wow, how fun.”
“Please don’t try to end the conversation already.”
Gio had come to visit the Haryeong Guild.
“After coming all this way, are you really going to coldly kick out a comrade who shared the battlefield with you?”
“Hmm, of course not. Do you know how much I like you, Sergio Hunter? This place is a wretched dump, but if Sergio Hunter wants it, I could give up a corner of my room.”
“Rather than that, would you care to go shopping with me?”
“...Shopping?”
For the first time, Sanarae showed genuine interest.
“Hm, clothes? Accessories? Gear?”
“All of it.”
“Deal.”
Just like that, Sanarae fled the Haryeong Guild, leaving behind only a single note that read: ‘I have kidnapped Sergio Hunter.’ The guild erupted in chaos over the ridiculous message, but neither Gio nor Sanarae cared in the slightest.
Sanarae rented a private shopping room.
“Tada~ In here, nothing leaks out no matter what we say. And even if we die, I’ll be the only one who dies, right?”
“I’ll ignore that last part. Hmm, I think I was right to come find you, Sanarae Hunter.”
“If ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) you want to shop, you have to come to me. No one’s better at picking outfits than I am.”
“I don’t have many clothes, so I really needed someone to help me. I’m glad.”
“Huh? You don’t have many clothes?”
“Well, since I just draw portraits...”
“Oh, come on.”
Sanarae, who had picked up a flashy suit, put it back on the rack.
“No matter how soundproof the room is, isn’t this a bit too relaxed?”
“There’s no point pretending modesty when we already know everything about each other, is there?”
“Your face changed completely. That red-haired person I saw before must’ve been you, huh?”
“You meet all kinds of people in life, some of them change colors just like that.”
“If I argue with everything you say, I’ll just tire myself out, so I’ll let it slide for now.”
Silence was half the victory anyway.
“I always thought you were just imitating humans really well, but I didn’t realize you actually thought of yourself as one.”
“Did you really not know?”
“Uh, I kinda guessed? I thought you were just really into the act of mimicking humans. Or maybe you still are? Anyway, what’s the point? Are you upset your friends don’t understand your true intentions?”
“I have a mouth, so I might as well say something: we already understand each other’s sincerity. I just came to explore solutions.”
“You’re asking me, whose every human relationship is a trainwreck? Sergio Hunter, you’re truly incredible—what a unique way of thinking. I should learn from you.”
But it was intriguing, to be sure.
“Well, none of my kids are here right now.”
“So you were intimidated by the Haryeong Guild members last time.”
“If you say it so directly, it makes me feel like they’ll retaliate, and now I’m scared again. Can’t you at least promise, even in vague terms, that you won’t hold a grudge against my family if I get a bit cocky? Oh, and you do know that humans die if you tap them too hard, right?”
“I have no intention of taking revenge on the Haryeong Guild. I’m just an ordinary human.”
“Thanks for the first part, but the second part is the wildest thing I’ve heard all year.”
“The year just started, hasn’t it?”
“Spring’s already here. What are you talking about?”
Sanarae rested his chin on his hand.
“So you’re saying your power or divinity or whatever isn’t a big deal to you? It’s just a quirk, and people overrate it?”
“To sum it up, yes.”
“Sorry, but it really is a big deal.”
What exactly was the problem with this unknowable mystery?
“Do you hate being extraordinary?”
“I don’t hate being ordinary either.”
“Oh, in that kind of context...”
“It’s not my fault I’m exceptional, is it?”
“If we really had to assign blame, wouldn’t it technically be your fault, Sergio Hunter?”
“Are you failing to read the room?”
“You promised not to torment my guild members, right? Still, no matter how I think about it, I end up concluding that you’re just really bad at self-objectivity.”
Or maybe he was just not doing it on purpose.
“It’s a fact that you’re tremendously incredible. And humans are wired to respond differently depending on the being’s rank or power. From where I stand, the one being unreasonable is you, Sergio Hunter.”
“That’s a fair assessment.”
“Aha.”
So that was it.
“You’re basically telling me to shut up and play along, huh?”
“You just figured that out?”
“Spare me.”
“I won’t kill you.”
“Spare me gently.”
He didn’t want to end up half-dead over something other than battle. But since Gio had promised not to mess with his family anymore, Sanarae wasn’t as scared as he used to be. He assessed the situation as objectively as he could.
“But if you really want to live among humans, you do have to care somewhat about how they see you. Otherwise, you’ll have to go around altering their perceptions or brainwashing them...”
“How barbaric.”
“Cleaning up after barbarism is Haryeong’s specialty. Anyway, I do get that you truly care about humans, Sergio Hunter. I understand your point.”
Sanarae winked.
“So you really did come here just to hang out?”
“You understood correctly.”
Gio clapped with a smile, as if to say, ‘Good job.’
Yes—Gio hadn’t come for any serious counseling. He’d just found a fun topic to chat about and decided to bring it up out of boredom.
“There’s no reason to worry seriously about something that’s already concluded.”
To him, his status and powers were nothing more than traits—but he also understood why people around him would fear or revere them. So it was fine to live the rest of life thinking differently from others.
After all, it’s absurd to think all humans could share the same thoughts. There was no such obligation—and no such possibility. That was the idea.
“In other words, I didn’t think it was a big enough issue to require a solution.”
“If that’s how you feel, then so be it.”
Sanarae thought:
That guy Yoo Seong-Woon must be absolutely exhausted.
And that manager called Joo-Hyun, too.
This terrifying enigma understood all his peculiarities yet still insisted on seeing himself as human—while most humans never could. The errors born from that difference in perception were plainly inevitable.
But...
“So you’re saying both this and that are fine?”
“Not every viewpoint has to be correct.”
“There must be more than a few people who see you as some kind of divine entity.”
“I’m strong enough to handle that.”
“Is this a ‘Let the dogs bark, I walk my path’ sort of thing? I mean, people naturally gather around whoever dances first.”
“That’s... a strange misrepresentation. I don’t ask people to bark.”
“Hmmm, you’re so stubborn in such a weird way.”
To summarize: ‘You’re right, and I’m right, so let’s just live this way.’ It was an absurdly vast form of acceptance. He welcomed everyone—dogs, cows, whatever—and still lived however he liked.
“Are you sure it won’t become a problem?”
“Isn’t that ambiguity what makes it fun? Every story is more thrilling when it includes hardship and adversity.”
“Your personality is bizarrely nasty...”
“You’re too kind.”
“No wonder people say you’re the guild leader’s son.”
“My father and I do have quite a bit in common.”
“......”
These days, even divine beings were talented liars.
What a terrifying world.
Originally, sacred beings—living nature, destiny incarnate—were bad at lying. Lies clashed with their nature of harmony. Though, maybe things were different for evil gods.
Still, Kang Seodam treats him respectfully, so he doesn’t seem like a malicious deity...
Truly a unique kind of enigma.
“Anyway, you really do a good job pretending to be human.”
“How many times do I have to tell you—I am human?”
“Sure, I get it. A perfectly normal person with dazzling quirks.”
“Thank you for pretending not to see.”
“I’m thrilled.”
“You know, Yoo Seong-Woon used to feel like this too, but these days he doesn’t just agree with me anymore. He used to go, ‘Yeah yeah, if that’s what you think~’ but now it’s more like, ‘Even so, wrong is still wrong.’”
“Hmm... maybe that’s just a different kind of respect?”
“I do feel like he treats me more comfortably.”
“Then why even ask if you already know?”
To Sanarae, it was like the difference between a curator cherishing a piece of art and a person cherishing a friend.
“I don’t think either is bad.”
“Same here.”
“Then what’s bothering you?”
“There are advantages to being endlessly indulged...”
“Greedy.”
“Isn’t it natural to want all the joys the world has to offer?”
“Most people don’t even try to make that happen.”
Those who tried to turn delusional ideals into reality were usually unhinged. From a human perspective, anyway. But Sergio Hunter wasn’t human, so it made sense.
“So are you venting now?”
“I just finished.”
“Then want to look at some clothes? This place is pretty nice.”
“I’d like something flashy—like a crow.”
“You mean sparkly and shiny, right? Hmm, that’d suit you.”
“If anything doesn’t fit, I’ll compensate with my face.”
“I totally agree with that. Love the confidence.”
The two laughed and shopped cheerfully.
On the way back, a thug tried to attack Sergio Hunter, so Sanarae stomped him into a crippled mess—and Gio then healed the man and packaged him in front of a police station. But anyway, that happened.
***
“Some strange rumors seem to be spreading.”
Joo-Hyun reported, looking pale.
“Something about Sergio Hunter being a saint...”
“That one came from our side, I believe.”
“Well, now there’s a rumor going around that if you eat Mr. Gio, you can live forever.”
“Why on earth...?”
“Probably because a mermaid abducted him herself. That part must’ve inflated the story. Thankfully, the Church seems to be doing a good job of suppressing things for Cha I-Sol...”
Since Cha I-Sol was fine, Gio wasn’t too surprised.
“Similar things have happened before.”
“I can almost understand that... was it during your Giovanni days?”
“No, it was back when I was Argio...”
“......?”
Joo-Hyun gave him a look like, ‘Did I just mishear that?’
“Mr. Argio? Why?”
“What about me, exactly?”
“From what I heard, you didn’t seem like the type people would turn into a deity...”
“Well, there are different types of deification, aren’t there?”
Argio shrugged.
“If you say ‘beast of the black forest,’ it sounds terrifying—but in another sense, it also means ‘special.’ The black forest was packed with rare herbs and gems, and I was the most brutal beast there. So rumors about achieving immortality by eating me weren’t totally unfounded.”
“Ah... yes... in that kind of... sense...”
It sounded less like purifying oneself with sacred saintly blood and more like hunting a beast to use as rare medicine. Joo-Hyun grew even more exhausted.
“I say this out of real concern, but... couldn’t you be a bit more careful?”
“There’s no danger of me getting hurt.”
“That’s not the point.”
Joo-Hyun simply hated everything about this.
“I really don’t want to see you involved in such vile incidents. Even if there’s no visible harm, this kind of thing damages your dignity, Mr. Gio. It’s honestly hard to just sit back and watch.”
Gio smiled.
“Aren’t you all here to protect me?”
“...I’m not sure we’re qualified for that.”
“When I’m struggling or in pain, you’ll comfort me.”
“If it looks like you need it...”
“In that case, I don’t see any problems.”
“You’re way too optimistic.”
“Well, it does make life easier.”
And so, once again, Gio won over his friends.
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