Chapter 105

The moment he came to his senses.

"..."

Yu Seongun was inside the City of Emptiness.

"... As expected, I don't really remember the moment I entered the painting."

Jio had once turned the people he encountered in the country of the deep sea into paint and helped them escape.

Something similar had probably happened this time too, but just like those people's testimonies back then, Yu Seongun did not really remember the time he had spent as paint.

'It did feel like I'd become a living inanimate object, though.'

Since it was such a contradictory expression, it was not exactly a clear impression.

"Anyway, did Jio confirm it was me?"

Yu Seongun remembered the situation right before he entered the City of Emptiness.

'A transparent hand reached out toward me.'

Something with a pitch-black suit sleeve that stood out, something that was not particularly visible but could be recognized as a "transparent hand," had welcomed Yu Seongun. Unlike during the Park Eun-gyeom Hunter incident described in the official document, it had been an extremely courteous gesture.

'For some reason, the gesture resembled Jio's behavior...'

Jio carried himself with the discipline of someone who had received strong education or training. His movements were similar to those of a noble or a soldier, and the gesture extended by the City of Emptiness resembled exactly that.

"... It probably wasn't Jio himself."

It had not felt familiar.

"Did the City of Emptiness itself reach out its hand?"

He thought that for a moment, but it seemed more reasonable to assume that the hand had belonged to a monster within the City of Emptiness. After all, the many hands that had abducted Park Eun-gyeom in the official document looked the same.

"..."

Yu Seongun let out a breath.

"... It's more bearable than I expected."

The pressure from the City of Emptiness was not as great as he had imagined.

"Even considering that I'm an A-class Hunter, this is fairly comfortable."

There was a slight stuffiness. There was an odd feeling, as if someone were pressing hard against his solar plexus, and there were certainly parts that gave him chills, like fingers tracing down his spine.

'But that's about it.'

The abducted Hunter was B-class. He did not know exactly where within B-class he had stood, but he had been fairly strong. For a dungeon that had dragged such a Hunter away helplessly and cut off all news of him, the weight Yu Seongun felt as an A-class Hunter was less than expected.

"Am I being accommodated?"

To begin with, the route by which he had entered the City of Emptiness had been different.

'That guy was dragged in, and I was escorted in.'

Since the treatment itself was as different as heaven and earth, perhaps there was a difference in the burden he felt as well.

"..."

Yu Seongun muttered without realizing it.

"How is that possible...?"

People commonly said "master of the dungeon," but in reality, there were almost no masters who could manipulate their dungeons however they pleased. In Yu Seongun's eyes, even the humanoid monster mermaid siblings did not completely control the country of the deep sea.

In particular, the dungeon master, the monsters of that dungeon, and the environment were completely separate beings.

The greater the master's ability, the greater their authority would be, but he had never heard of a master who could control a monster's behavior to this extent and even adjust the pressure.

'As expected, it's difficult to call him a monster.'

Then the question was how to explain this dungeon.

'Unless they're an evil god on the level of something treated as a monster, even a god with immense power can't create a dungeon. They're beings that don't possess emotions large enough to create a dungeon.'

The same was true of a child of the Root; they could not create a dungeon either.

'They are merely children who can exist anywhere, but they don't have the ability to create a dungeon. There's no way guys who can barely exercise physical influence and can't even think properly could create such a vast game board.'

Jio was an existence outside the standard after all.

"..."

Yu Seongun scratched his neck and looked around.

"... It's exactly like the painting."

A broad, wide-open boulevard, with buildings of various shapes lined up along both sides. Although it did not seem as if the colors had been deliberately restricted, only achromatic objects had gathered to form a gray world.

"And the fog is heavy, which I couldn't tell when I saw it beyond the frame."

It was not to the point where he could not see ahead, but if it could become worse than this, it seemed likely to cause a major issue with visibility. He sniffed lightly, but there was no exhaust smell commonly found in a city.

"Is it just water vapor...?"

Perhaps it was his imagination, but he also seemed to sense the phytoncides unique to a forest.

'Is it because Jio lives in a forest?'

He was not certain.

'In any case, it's ironic.'

It looked so clearly like a city, yet the scent in the fog reminded him of a forest. The harmony felt strange precisely because it did not feel out of place at all.

"... Are there no monsters?"

STEP.

Yu Seongun slowly moved his feet.

"I thought at least the monster that escorted me inside would be here."

Moreover, dungeons basically tended to have monsters.

There might be no traps, or none of the various additional elements, but monsters that rushed in to kill an invading human were indispensable to a dungeon.

'Then again, it's difficult to compare a dungeon Jio painted to an ordinary dungeon.'

To begin with, the fact that a monster had personally invited Yu Seongun was far from "normal."

"Are there no other rules...?"

Some scholars defined a dungeon itself as a kind of monster, and Yu Seongun, as a Gardener, agreed with that statement to some extent. Just as there were no monsters without rules, dungeons had to be viewed the same way.

"It must have preferences."

Virtual Dungeons. Entry Dungeons. Villa Dungeons. All of these swallowed humans according to certain conditions.

Apart from Virtual Dungeons, which mainly had specific conditions, examples included Entry Dungeons, which had the condition of "you must find the entrance," and Villa Dungeons, which had the condition of "you must be in the place where the villa is located."

'Beyond that, the detailed conditions differ from dungeon to dungeon.'

So if this had taken on the form of a dungeon in its own way, it should definitely have such conditions or preferences too.

"..."

Then again, the dungeon master did have a preference.

'Affirm good and reject evil.'

If that was a rule, it could be called a rule.

"... Then what happens when an evil person enters?"

In that moment, he recalled the black dot that had seemed to have become completely one with the painting, probably presumed to be Hunter Park Eun-gyeom.

Yu Seongun felt like he had a rough idea of how this City of Emptiness would reject evil people.

'... Does it reject the fact that they're living humans?'

By turning humans into paintings, that is.

"That's chilling."

A whistle came out of him without his realizing it. It was an attempt to erase the chill by doing something light.

'As expected, those who belong to the Root are clear about where they draw the line.'

Humanoid monsters with advanced thinking abilities and the capacity to feel intense emotions might be a little different, but most beings that lacked those things had simple and clear rules.

As a Gardener, Yu Seongun could observe such an aspect of the Root with a satisfied feeling.

'If I hadn't met Jio, when would I ever have encountered a dungeon like this again?'

If he could not enjoy that thrill, he had no right to manage a Garden.

"..."

However, even that Gardener sensed a threat to his life.

"... Ah, damn."

Yu Seongun turned around.

"I guess I'm not the only one here after all."

"..."

"Should I call this an invisible man...?"

What entered his sight was a black suit standing in the shape of an adult man.

Long arms and legs that suited a build neither very thick nor thin. The detailed style of the suit was a little different from what Jio wore, and the same went for the shoes it had on.

But Yu Seongun felt a sense of déjà vu from the way the suit stood with its hands behind its back.

"... It does resemble Jio a bit after all."

"..."

The empty suit bowed at the waist with an elegant motion. Yu Seongun could sense gratitude from that gesture, and for a moment, he wondered what part it was grateful for.

'Surely not because I said it resembled Jio?'

They were fellows full of love and respect for their true master.

"Um... is communication possible? I've never met a monster I could peacefully communicate with in my life other than Jio, so I'm not sure, but would conversation be possible?"

"..."

The black suit took a pose as if touching its chin, then expressed a triangle with its arms.

"... So it could be, or it might not be. Is that right?"

"..."

"All right, that's correct. This feels like I'm playing Twenty Questions."

If it had been a monster from an ordinary dungeon, he would not even have thought of trying to communicate or anything else, but this was an extremely abnormal dungeon. Yu Seongun continued communicating with the black suit with as open a mind as possible.

"Why might it not be possible? Are you going to suddenly rush at me?"

"..."

"That's not it. If not that... could another individual besides you attack?"

"..."

"Ah, I'm glad that's right. Then are there many of these aggressive individuals?"

This time too, the suit drew a circle with its arms to answer "yes."

Perhaps because its fingers were not visible, it bent its arms in a large shape above its head as if drawing a clumsy heart, and Yu Seongun silently handed it the glove in his hand.

"Could you perhaps put this on and indicate things with your fingers?"

"..."

The black suit crossed its arms in an X. It meant "no."

"... Ah."

At that, Yu Seongun realized that this was not something transparent inside it, but simply the black suit itself moving as a living being.

As if to show him proof, the black suit tapped the glove in Yu Seongun's hand with its sleeve. It was a sight that could not happen if it had a real hand.

'Then how am I supposed to explain the transparent hand I felt?'

It was a rude impression to have toward a kind suit, but honestly, it gave him a bit of a chill.

Yu Seongun forced himself not to show what he felt and continued speaking.

"I see. My apologies."

"..."

"I'm glad you don't mind."

"..."

"Then are there other individuals besides you who are not aggressive? Suits who can communicate peacefully with me like this, I mean."

"..."

"There are... That's a relief."

It seemed some individuals were aggressive, while others were peaceful.

'... Let's think about how that's possible later.'

The conclusion would obviously be "because it's Jio" anyway. Through repeated learning up to this point, Yu Seongun had already predicted the end of his own anguish in advance.

He put the glove back on and looked around again.

"..."

Before he had noticed, the number of black suits had increased to three.

"... Are those two suits individuals who are not aggressive toward me?"

"..."

"Ah, they're not. But they aren't attacking right away, so are they perhaps types that aim for a delayed attack?"

"..."

"A triangle... Uh, yes. Thank you for the kind answer."

It seemed to mean that they would attack in some way.

'This is dangerous.'

The suit that had kindly reached a hand out from the City of Emptiness frame was probably this one in front of him, or else a similarly peaceful individual.

But he could see that the number of black suits was gradually increasing, making it difficult to rely on them.

'Is this a pattern where the longer I stay in the dungeon, the more black suits there are?'

Although the speed was fairly slow, Yu Seongun gradually felt a strange impatience.

"..."

"..."

All the black suits were staring at Yu Seongun.

'... It isn't just those two suits out on the sidewalk.'

He felt gazes from inside the buildings too, gazes he had not been able to sense earlier.

He felt them between the alleys, and he even felt gazes from inside the cars rolling along the road, where nothing had been until just now.

Yu Seongun instinctively sensed it.

'These aren't the kind of things I can deal with by fighting them with my skills.'

They could not be resolved through simple slaughter; he had to reconcile with them according to the other party's rules and habits. In that sense, they felt truly like Root's children.

But he did not know how many of them would proliferate, or what effect they would have on Yu Seongun then. And that point of "not knowing" awakened fear in Yu Seongun, who had an easygoing personality.

'... When dealing with the Root, fear of the unknown is quite dangerous...'

As a Gardener, he could tell.

'This place is a dungeon, but also not a dungeon.'

Would something like the abilities of a Hunter, which the Root kindly handed out to anyone, have any actual effect here? Even such basic things could not guarantee his survival. It felt like a kind of "Garden."

And unless one was the owner, one was not supposed to enter someone else's Garden.

"... This..."

Just as he was thinking that he should run before they increased any further.

"Mr. Yu Seongun."

"..."

"Mr. Yu Seongun."

"... Oh, Jio."

Yu Seongun had almost truly run away.

'He's even scarier when I see him here.'

With Black Cloak's appearance, his heart, which had nearly dropped, pounded powerfully.

Because he was doing something that went against Jio's will, he had wanted to resolve this without seeing his face if possible. Unfortunately, his attempt to rob an empty house had failed and the situation had reached this point, so Yu Seongun quickly gave up.

"Please save me."

He attempted a customized trade.

"I'll bring you seedlings next time."

"No one is going to kill you, Mr. Yu Seongun."

"That is incredibly reassuring."

After all, what could be safer in a dungeon than the dungeon master's protection?