Chapter 121

"..."

"..."

With only the two of them left there, Yu Seongun was the first to speak.

"Jio."

"Yes, Yu Seongun."

"Your shadow is gone."

"..."

At Yu Seongun's comment, Jio's head slowly dropped.

"Ah, dear."

That was an extremely artificial reaction.

'Did he decide that reaction was appropriate in the current situation?'

No sooner had Yu Seongun thought that than a shadow bloomed beneath Jio's feet.

Yu Seongun was inwardly impressed.

'It looks alive.'

He thought the word "bloomed" was perfectly accurate.

It was too vivid and full of varied forms to be considered a mere shade created when an object blocked the light.

The shadow spread across his vision.

'... A school of fish?'

A small school of fish swam by in a group, waves swayed in the wind, and he thought he saw a long-horned deer walking over the ground, or a beast with thick claws.

Or perhaps they were the great wings of a gliding bird.

The countless forms that flashed past in an instant soon grew dense like a single enormous forest, then became neat again and shaped themselves into a human.

"..."

The shadow that had stretched long settled beneath Jio's feet, dark and small, as though finding a "realistic" position.

The process of going from an awkward shape to a complete one, as if painting a picture.

Considering that Jio carried the traits of a painter, it was an interesting change.

'In that case, can the Jio outside the frame still be called a painting?'

Soon, Jio spoke.

"I should have paid attention, but I have shown you an unsightly side of myself."

"Things like that happen in life."

"I thought there would be no problem at all, but to think there was a flaw like this..."

Jio trailed off.

"I am ashamed."

"Over something like that?"

He had clearly said, "I thought there would be no problem at all."

That was no different from saying he had guessed there was a possibility a problem might occur.

'In other words, Jio is aware that he is imitating humans.'

Having organized his thoughts to that point, Yu Seongun muttered inwardly.

'So he was unexpectedly capable of objectifying himself. I thought Jio considered himself human, but if so, what sort of attitude should I take on this side?'

Had even his statements up until now about considering himself human been part of the imitation?

If so, Jio was closer to performing an impossibly high-level imitation that would be hard for a human to imagine.

'It is a trait occasionally seen in gods who enjoy play. From our human perspective, even things that feel like the truth are sometimes actually lies. Even thoughts like Jio considering himself human could be one of those imitations...'

When humans sincerely think something, it becomes belief, but for beings on a different level, like gods, even that can be an act.

Even though he had intentionally left several possibilities open, he felt as though he had been struck on the back of the head.

It was astonishing, perhaps.

Yu Seongun swallowed a troubled laugh inwardly.

'I should not measure a Root entity by human standards.'

All the more so if what Yu Seongun was dealing with was The Root itself.

"..."

Yu Seongun quietly steadied his breath and asked in an even voice.

"Compared to before, you're a little clumsy in some areas now, aren't you?"

"It would be a great help if you told me what areas those were."

"If you ask what areas..."

Did he want to know how much humans could perceive?

The sight of a Root entity and that of a human differed in scope.

The flaws in the imitation Jio had just shown were probably from that difference in sight, or else this too could be assumed to be part of the act.

'It may be roughly the same principle as humans putting in robots to understand monster ecology.'

In the case of monsters or beasts wary of humans, they sometimes deployed robots made to imitate those creatures' forms in order to observe the individuals' everyday behavior.

From a human perspective, they knew it was a robot, but to a monster, it would feel like a fellow member of its kind with some slightly strange parts.

'The situation between Jio and us humans probably is not much different from that.'

Yu Seongun nodded.

"It isn't difficult."

As a Curator and as a Gardener, he could tell him about that difference in perspective as much as needed.

"As I said earlier, the fact that you didn't have a shadow was a little surprising to begin with."

"It is something that should obviously have been there, but I forgot it for a moment."

"More than anything, the lighting is coming down from above our heads right now."

Bi Sabeol's gallery was particularly clean and white, and the lighting was bright.

That helped visitors appreciate the works in full, but it was also a measure so that Curators could quickly notice abnormal phenomena like what had just happened.

"There were shadows under my feet and under the new Curator's feet."

Only Jio had none.

"The next strange part would be your weight."

"My weight?"

"I don't hear anything when you move."

"You cannot hear it?"

"If I had to put my finger on it, maybe about the sound of dry grass swaying?"

In truth, this was a chronic problem with Jio's human imitation.

"Even when we toured Seoul before, you were fairly light."

"I thought I had become rather heavier."

"Even so, ordinary people don't get blown away just because the wind is a little strong."

"I remember that I was not blown away."

"Right, your body floated up."

"Was the wind not unusually strong?"

"Earth's wind doesn't pick and choose people to blow away."

Yu Seongun, who had been right next to him, was perfectly fine, while only Jio had nearly gone flying.

"Similar to that, even now, the sound is extremely light."

"It is light."

"You don't have the sound of footsteps like I do."

"That was certainly an area I did not pay attention to."

THUD...

Jio struck the floor with his bare foot and tilted his head.

"This is difficult to fix."

"It'll be hard to fix everything at once, so don't be too impatient."

From a human perspective, the more Jio lacked detail, the faster they could grasp the situation.

"And if I were to mention one more thing..."

"There is more?"

"I don't know if this will be interpreted well."

What Yu Seongun pointed at was a work hanging on the wall of the corridor where they stood.

It was large enough to wrap around a standing person, and like most of the paintings on display, it faced people like a mirror.

"Your reflection is a little strange."

A mass that could be called nature was reflected on the clean, well-maintained glass.

"The gallery lighting is sharp, so we show up a little on that glass."

"Why does that look strange?"

"In your eyes, do you appear reflected in enough of a human shape?"

"Yes, I do. I take that to mean that is not how I appear to you, Yu Seongun."

"It's embarrassing when you put it that way, but yes, that's really the case."

"Jio's Portrait" reflected in the glass was not in the shape of a human.

"I see a forest."

In truth, it could not be called a forest.

The lush trees, grass, and flowers that symbolized a forest.

Living creatures like wolves and rabbits playing within it.

And an ecosystem where those beings were eaten and went on living.

It was not simply a representation of nature, but an enormous form with will and fate...

It was similar to what he had seen in Jio's "shadow" just a moment ago.

'I cannot simply call this a forest.'

It was clearly gazing at Yu Seongun and the world.

It was the "eye" of some extremely enormous being.

'I feel a gaze.'

Even though Jio, standing beside him, was not looking at Yu Seongun through the glass of the frame.

'Is this also something Jio does not know?'

Or was he pretending not to know in order to "imitate" despite knowing it?

From a human perspective, there was no way to distinguish his truth from his lies, so in reality, there was no great difference either way.

There was no meaning in distinguishing them.

As if he had not seen that enormous thing, Yu Seongun said evenly.

"I suppose I should say I can feel that your level is different."

"I do not quite understand what you mean, Yu Seongun."

The blond portrait smiled gently.

"To me, my form reflected in the glass looks sufficiently human."

"... Really?"

"Do I still look that way to you now, Yu Seongun?"

"..."

When Yu Seongun checked the glass again, he could see Giovanni's form.

There was no "forest" anywhere.

"... Oh."

So this was how he was going to play it.

"You're right. I can clearly see a person reflected there too."

"Could the painting stored beyond the glass have confused my shape?"

"It could have. The works here are all very assertive."

Yu Seongun did not go out of his way to persuade him by saying, "You are not human."

'If he is acting like this even though he already knows it well, it probably means I should not pry any further.'

He had no intention of earning the resentment of the work he managed.

'If Jio wants to look human, it is better to leave him that way.'

Was that not what The Root wished?

He knew Jio himself was trying to act human and wanted to do so, so there was no reason not to play along.

Jio could be human as much as he wanted; he simply was not human.

"Hm..."

Rubbing his chilled throat, Yu Seongun asked.

"I asked the same question earlier, but wasn't there less wrong with you than this when we toured Seoul before? A few flaws have appeared while I haven't seen you. Did you have some kind of change of heart?"

"I do not know whether it is appropriate to express it that way, but there certainly was something similar to a change of heart. It was the matter of becoming complete as Giovanni, and these abnormalities seem to have come from that."

Jio continued with a smile.

"It will be difficult to hope for Giovanni's help any further."

His way of speaking was truly unique, one might say.

'Speaking this way makes it seem as though he truly has no will to imitate humans.'

It was possible he had not yet realized his way of speaking was strange, or perhaps he was simply revealing his true thoughts because Yu Seongun was someone he felt comfortable with.

Either way, it was not such a bad situation.

Yu Seongun soon asked.

"What do you mean, it will be difficult to hope for Giovanni's help?"

"I mean it literally. Until now, Giovanni was not a portrait, so I could expect his help, but now that is no longer possible."

"Because the Giovanni in front of my eyes has become a complete portrait?"

Was that what he meant by "becoming complete as Giovanni"?

"So when Jio was not a complete portrait, you could receive that kind of help."

It granted things that a human should obviously have to the "portrait" that could not be called human.

'... I once guessed before that this portrait's true nature was countless deaths and lives.'

That this portrait was endlessly reviewing the lives and deaths of "Jio" somewhere in countless dimensions.

Now that he knew Jio was The Root, Yu Seongun could be certain.

This being called "Jio" was likely the "eye" through which The Root experienced humans, understood them, and ultimately applied that understanding.

'If so, it also becomes possible to explain how the enormous being called The Root grants a System adjusted to human standards.'

For that reason, the countless "Jios" that Yu Seongun still did not know were.

"..."

When he, whose essence was The Root, acted as a human in one dimension, they probably also played the role of helping him adapt and function smoothly among other humans.

That was what came to mind when listening to the purpose of this personality called Giovanni.

'... Though it seems that if too much time passes, even that is eventually stained by the level of the portrait.'

Like hanji laid over a bowl of ink gradually turning black, the ego called "Giovanni," which could once be called human, had ultimately been swept away by The Root's level.

Jio, having lost that point of reference, would become unable to be certain of the conditions for being human.

This was how the enormous being called The Root imitated tiny humans.

"... Then..."

Yu Seongun asked.

"What will you do from now on? Are you going to discard your current identity as an A-class Hunter?"

"No. I feel a great appeal in acting as a proper resident of this world."

"But with so many chilling flaws like now, it will be difficult to live comfortably."

"That is why I think I must receive the help of another 'Jio.'"

The portrait was still smiling.

"If there are results, I will send you a letter."

"Yes, that sounds good."

Yu Seongun suddenly noticed another flaw.

'... His expression is the same.'

Like a portrait already painted and unable to change, Jio was always smiling with the exact same expression.

'It is as if he has been taxidermied while still alive.'

It was an extremely romantic thing.

"Gurgle."

"..."

"Gurr?"

"... I thought there was no problem."

"Gurrrrr."

"There were more flaws than I expected."

After returning to the cabin, Jio kneaded the squishy Honey.

The plump, well-fattened waterbird was softly mixed around in Jio's large hands.

Feeling the springy texture of his son, who was being flexibly squashed at will, Jio frankly confessed his mistake.

"If Yu Seongun had not told me, I truly would not have known until the end."

He thought it was fortunate that the new Curator he met today had not noticed his abnormalities.

In truth, the new Curator had noticed all of Jio's "flaws" and had merely gritted her teeth and pretended not to know, but in any case, that was how Jio saw it.

He considered his conversations up until then to have been relatively successful.

"I was far too complacent to think there would be no problem functioning even as a fully assimilated Jio."

"Mm?"

"No, your dad will not give up. No matter how frightening I have become, Earth is still my home in the end."

"Gurrrr."

"I may sleep in the portrait, but every now and then I should feel the stimulation of my home too."

Appropriate stimulation of the brain was good for preventing dementia.

"I am going to live a long and healthy life."

"Gurgle."

"Then now I need to find another Jio..."

As it happened, there was just the right friend.

"... Has the time come to take out Animal Kingdom, which had been shoved into storage?"

It was time to combine with the second suitable one, "Arjio."