Chapter 115

Park Eun-gyeom was not the only person dragged into the City of Emptiness.

“Huh...? Huh, w-where am I...?”

A certain C-class Hunter who had tried to kill his teammate and take his items.

“Ghk? Ugh... What is this? What bastard... Huh?”

A civilian who had gotten drunk and committed a random assault on a passing pedestrian.

“... Is this the City of Emptiness, by any chance?”

A B-class Hunter who had been advancing by throwing his companions out as bait.

It did not matter whether they were Hunters or civilians.

Every one of them followed the same course as Park Eun-gyeom, floundered in the City of Emptiness, and, because they never met Black Cloak, the dungeon master, simply became a painting.

“I-I was invited to the City of Emptiness and came back!!”

And some people returned safely after being gifted a thrilling experience.

“I ran into Black Cloak while I was walking around at dawn. I was throwing trash into a trash can...”

“You did some tiny little good deed like that? You, who never do anything like that?”

“Fuck, yeah, honestly, I’ve been doing stuff like that lately because I wanted the snacks Black Cloak gives out.”

“You crazy bastard, I can’t believe you made it back alive. Should I report this to the Association or not...? So?”

“I asked if I could get invited to the City of Emptiness instead of getting a snack, and I went.”

The passerby who received Black Cloak’s help was able to safely appreciate the City of Emptiness and leave.

For a passerby who was not a Hunter, it had been an extremely brave challenge, but thanks to that, he had brought back something to brag about for the rest of his life.

“It was fucking awesome, seriously. Sometimes black suits would pop out and just stare at me... Do you know Hunter Lee Seong-jin?”

“I do. He’s the B-class Hunter they think got dragged into the City of Emptiness this time. Don’t tell me you...”

“I saw that Hunter there, I’m telling you. No, he was all mottled black... Honestly, I couldn’t even really tell if he was human.”

At that moment, the black suit with Hunter Lee Seong-jin’s voice told him.

“It said that was him.”

Unless the situation required it, the black suit did not imitate the human it had seized.

It merely remained in the form of a stylish black suit, with heavy, courteous gestures like a gentleman, and requested interaction while possessing some human’s voice and face.

“I seriously got such chills. It was totally insane, absolutely amazing...!”

“You, you... You went and did something completely fucking crazy. Who crawls into a dungeon on their own two feet, you bastard?”

“But I’m telling you, it was worth risking my life for. That place is practically a work of art!”

Cases like this would pop up just when people had nearly forgotten, setting them abuzz.

Some people were dragged in by force.

Some people came out of the painting at their family’s pleas, but among them, some committed evil deeds again and became paint, while others reflected and lived diligent lives.

“I kind of want to visit the City of Emptiness too.”

“They say you shouldn’t do it if you have anything weighing on your conscience. Are you innocent?”

“No, I’d say I’m about average. Average.”

The safest way to be invited was to ask Black Cloak for an invitation instead of a gift.

One could request an invitation in front of the City of Emptiness and enter, but if one was judged evil, one would be dragged in by force on the spot.

This was not something that happened only among those who enjoyed danger.

“A work you can not only view, but actually enter? How incredible.”

“I hear Black Cloak’s works give you an enormous amount to feel just by appreciating them. They say they are small, yet vast.”

“Have you heard about the safest way to be invited to the City of Emptiness?”

“They say if you encounter Black Cloak after doing a good deed, you can change the gift into an invitation...”

Refined people who enjoyed art also discussed it.

“Who else could enter the inside of a work and appreciate it?”

If one could enter Vincent van Gogh’s representative work, The Starry Night, and tour the world of that piece, who would be able to refuse?

Those who took pride in enjoying art were excited by Black Cloak’s works.

“I heard the painting style changes depending on the theme of the work.”

“Does that not mean he has no backbone? An artist ought to have a style of his own.”

“No, if there is plenty to appreciate when you see the work, can you really say the one who painted it is not an artist?”

“Black Cloak is a good painter. The moment you see his work, you understand what Black Cloak is trying to say.”

“That may simply be because he is a monster.”

“In an age where countless painters in galleries use skills to create their works, what does that matter?”

“Exactly. That point may actually be an advantage.”

“If Black Cloak has a painting style, it would be that his paintings are existing worlds.”

“When you put it that way, certainly... And they are works with clear messages too.”

As the City of Emptiness fully revealed itself to the world, a small change occurred even in that world.

“Uh... What are you doing right now?”

“I’m looking for trash.”

“Why are you so desperate to find trash?”

“This is a place where Black Cloak often appears.”

“Ahh, Black Cloak.”

In places where Black Cloak was witnessed particularly often, it was hard to find trash.

That was because cleaning the streets was the easiest good deed one could do without much effort, and one could do it often.

“I don’t know when Black Cloak will show up, so I came out again today...”

“Well, uh, keep up the good work.”

“Yes, thank you. It’s cold out, so get home safely.”

Some people continued tiny good deeds to taste the snacks Black Cloak gave.

Some did it to be invited to the work called the City of Emptiness.

And others did it to interact with the famous monster of recent days.

Just when that began to wear on them, someone cheered and bragged.

“Hey, look at this! It’s a gift I got from Black Cloak!”

“Black Cloak? Holy shit, this isn’t a snack. What is it? It smells amazing.”

“He said it’s flower tea, flower tea. I’m the first person you know who got something like this, right?”

A woman who had secretly bought fish-shaped bread for a carnation child out of pity had received “flower tea” as a gift.

“What the hell, snacks weren’t everything?”

“So Black Cloak’s gifts had tiers...”

“I hear it’s practically potion-grade.”

“That’s way too good a gift for a civilian to receive.”

“Fuck, I’m so damn jealous.”

Several people even heard that the flower tea’s effects were mind-bogglingly good and approached the woman with bad intentions, but after receiving the gaze of the City of Emptiness for a month, they soon gave up.

In particular, the one who had almost harmed the woman was even dragged straight into the frame.

“The follow-up is clean too.”

Whether one was a civilian or an Awakened, a situation had been created where there was no reason not to try.

Of course, on another side, some of the people who had habitually done evil things in their daily lives shrank back.

Once they began worrying about the City of Emptiness, which could appear anywhere, they found themselves constantly checking their own behavior.

“... Fuck, what’s some monster supposed to be...”

“This hurts my pride too much to keep doing anything, damn it.”

That did not mean they could run wild as they pleased either.

It was because of the habit etched into their bones, acting strong toward the weak and weak toward the strong.

Starting with Park Eun-gyeom, they knew what horrifying situations several people had met.

Sensing that trend, the Association put something on display.

“Huh? Hey, that thing in front of the Association...”

“What is that? Paint? Ink?”

“No, the color’s kind of weird.”

It was Park Eun-gyeom, the first person to become an evil man of the City of Emptiness.

“... Why does that look alive?”

“D-don’t talk bullshit. You’re saying that thing is alive?”

“Has the Association seriously lost its mind...? Isn’t this a human rights violation?”

“If you want to end up like that too, keep running your mouth.”

“... Holy crap... That’s creepy...”

Those who had not read the Association’s post did not know the exact circumstances, but in any case, it was obvious that it was living paint.

For some reason, one could know that fact just by looking at it.

It was, in the truest sense, an open display of just how horrific a life one would continue to live if branded evil by the City of Emptiness.

“Is it all right for the Association to borrow a monster’s power and act like this?”

“I’m not sure what you mean. We merely wished to inform everyone of the dangers of the City of Emptiness.”

It was an obvious ploy anyone could see through, with the clear hidden motive of “the current trend created by Black Cloak is not bad, so let us maintain it as it is.”

But the Association feigned innocence, saying it had “only meant to instill caution because more people have been recklessly approaching Black Cloak lately.”

The few who knew of the Root entity, and the Gardeners, realized that this was the Association’s intention to restrict Black Cloak’s “story” in a direction beneficial to human conscience and rules.

“I do wonder what they plan to do if Black Cloak’s story grows too enormous because the Association recognized it.”

“He is not some monster stuck in a corner somewhere, and for a simple monster, he is quite close to the Root. This way is better.”

“Yes, if he is an existence that keeps appearing among people anyway, the story is bound to grow enormous.”

“So are they trying to shape Black Cloak’s image so he can move in a direction beneficial to humans instead?”

“If they can take this chance to restrict the direction of the highly active Black Cloak, that is a gain. I understand it.”

“Even so, it is quite a bold move. They must have felt pressed because he is an existence that rarely has a direct influence on humans.”

“And it would be better to prepare before something happens than clean up after it does. Especially if it is an issue of story.”

“It may be a strong stimulus to monster haters. Some will show severe backlash.”

“Well, will the Association not handle that well too? There are many capable people on that side.”

Also, even if that were not the case, there was no one who could strongly rebel against the Association.

“If you have complaints about the Association’s operations, please contact me.”

Because Association President Dan Hae-ra had stepped forward personally.

It was a world where human rights had always been treated as mere lip service.

The citizens, who were building safe lives in cities with the Association’s help, could not even think of rebelling against them.

Only a few who had secretly committed acts that could be called crimes huffed in anger.

“...”

There was one other person who benefited from that trend.

“What the fuck.”

It was F-class Hunter Cha A-ra.

“Bro, I just brought in money.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“The people who abandoned me in that dungeon last time gave me compensation.”

“How much?”

“Uh... Enough to replace the electric blanket, at least?”

“Spring’s almost here, and you’re talking about electric blankets.”

“Then should we fix the ceiling? There’s a draft.”

“Save it a little. I’m not going out to sell fish-shaped bread anymore, so we need to hold on to some money for a while.”

“That would be better. Then you’ll be home for a while, right? What are you going to do?”

“I should start tending the vegetable garden soon. The weather’s warming up...”

“If you’re going to try making money through farming, I’ll help with the fieldwork for a while too.”

“Forget it. A Hunter should do Hunter work. Why would you go touching dirt?”

“What are you going to plant?”

“Hmm... For now, I’m thinking potatoes and lettuce.”

As they chatted back and forth, the topic shifted to the youngest.

“What is Cha Yi-sol doing?”

“He’s probably eating well.”

“Did he get a girlfriend lately?”

“No... It looked like she was a close friend.”

“Damn, I thought our youngest was learning love too.”

“What love is a palm-sized kid supposed to learn?”

Cha Eun-hyuk clicked his tongue.

“I heard he’s going out for field practice soon.”

“Huh? Why didn’t I hear that?”

“He called the day before yesterday or so, but you weren’t home.”

“Ah, I wanted to hear our youngest’s voice too... I wanted to talk to our youngest too...”

“You have to actually stay home if you want to get calls.”

“Our youngest is cotton candy, but he’s already going out for field practice.”

“That’s rose-colored glasses. He is not at cotton-candy level.”

“He melts in water.”

“So do we.”

For generations, the Cha family melted if they entered stagnant water.

They were people who had a hard time soaking in water for long.

“Anyway, I told him to summon Black Cloak if he thinks everything’s about to go to shit.”

“Have you lost your mind, bro? You’re going to ruin the kid’s life? That’s basically telling him to summon a demon.”

“He’s milder than a demon... Hey. Still, a slightly messed-up life is better than dying.”

“Honestly, a clean death and a properly ruined life are hard to rank.”

“No, from what I saw last time, Black Cloak cherishes our youngest.”

“Th-that’s true, but...”

“He’d probably be offended that he was called for personal reasons, but I’m telling you, that’s better than really dying.”

“...”

Cha A-ra, who had pressed her mouth shut, asked.

“... So what has that man been doing these days?”

“From what I see in the news, he seems to be living an amusing life.”

“Hasn’t he been appearing a little less often lately?”

“They do say there are fewer sightings than in winter.”

“Does it feel like everyone is finally calming down?”

“More than that, it creeps me out because it feels like he’s settling into place.”

“You know, like national mandatory vaccinations...”

“Yeah, that. That’s exactly what it feels like.”

The city, which had been noisy with stories of Black Cloak all along, was gradually regaining its usual appearance.

There were still people running around to meet Black Cloak, and there were still people restraining themselves so they would not be branded evil by him, but it felt much calmer, as though life had returned to normal.

“This planet is going to live with Black Cloak until the day it dies...”

“Fuck, when you put it that way, it’s twice as creepy.”

“It just feels like everyone adapted to him, and Black Cloak is tending to be less active too.”

Cha Eun-hyuk, who had even eaten with him, asked.

“By the way, is Mr. Seo Jio not going to do anything?”

“Setting aside the fact that I don’t know why you’re asking me that, Mr. Seo Jio?”

“Black... That... You know, that person’s... identity. The one from the Temple of the Deep Sea...”

“Ah, aah...”

Cha A-ra nodded.

“... You’re right.”

Did Black Cloak have no intention of using his human identity?