Chapter 64

"Sister."

"Yes, my foolish little brother."

"Yes, your foolish little brother has come."

"Is your research going well?"

"Not badly."

She had been writing something in a graceful hand with a quill carved from emerald, but soon set it down and raised her head.

Her hair, black and coldly rippling like the deep sea, scattered like waves.

She smiled a smile like a savage deep sea.

"As expected, of all the dimensions I know, humans are the most diverse species."

"The techniques they use to utilize their brains differ greatly from individual to individual, and everything from their appearances to their emotions spans such a broad range."

"You truly do like humans, Sister."

"Where do the limits of humanity lie?"

"Just when I think this must be the end, some insane individual pops up in another dimension and surpasses that limit..."

"So how could I possibly stop my research?"

"Then, in the end, does that not mean the human species has no limits?"

"In some dimensions, there are even humans who became gods."

"But even so, I cannot definitively say that godhood is humanity's final point, so is it not important to gather samples, one way or another?"

"That is certainly true."

Iser's sister wanted to learn everything about humans.

She had even used the cold hands of a mermaid to personally shape the creations of the sun.

Of course, more often than not, those creations strayed from human form.

Because to shape a complete form, she too hated humans.

"But it really is strange."

"..."

"Only one person, for some reason, I cannot recreate..."

Iser knew.

His sister was a genius who made the impossible possible, but only one person.

Only Giovanni could not be brought back to life, nor could she make a copy of him.

In Iser's opinion, she herself was probably rejecting it.

"..."

A created Giovanni could no longer be called their mentor.

"... The name of this dimension seems to be Earth."

"More precisely, it seems to be the name of the planet."

Iser smiled calmly, as he always did.

It was a benevolent smile that greatly resembled the human named Giovanni, who sometimes stirred longing and displeasure in the two siblings at once.

"Will there be a role for me to take on this time?"

"If things proceed smoothly, probably not."

"I will create a separate seed of Earth to serve as the one who opens the door, so you need not worry too much."

"I was not worried."

He laughed softly.

"If I were, I would be worried about you, Sister."

"So am I."

Over her dark-blue dress, his sister wore an incongruous doctor's coat, and her eyes curved deeply.

"Where do you think the end of humanity lies?"

"How could I know what even you do not, Sister?"

"Sometimes I feel breathless."

"It is because I have run too far."

"Even if you say that, you will never rest."

"I cannot help being curious, but still..."

Her red lips parted.

"Someday, I will be able to stop."

Ever since she was very young, she had wanted to see humanity's limits.

Now, it seemed a purpose had been added to that.

"..."

"Is that not so?"

If they learned humanity's limits.

Then within them, surely, Giovanni, who had been nobler than anyone, would exist...

"... Yes."

We were missing him without saying a word.

"I think so as well."

They might beg the world to let them see their dead mentor, but if they did see him again in the end, he could not be called Giovanni.

That was why the siblings never brought up that name.

Because they knew that making him their purpose was a terrible contradiction.

"..."

"..."

And yet, desire rose all the same.

"..."

"Good morning."

Just as when the sun had been imprisoned in the deep sea.

* * *

"..."

"Hey, wait..."

"Do not come closer."

"Sorry, but Jio is my companion."

"I told you not to come."

"He's impossible to reason with."

Yu Seongun smiled awkwardly.

He had no idea how to react to this difficult situation.

'What is he, some mother bird protecting its chick?'

Judging by size, it should have been the complete opposite, but for some reason, Eunha, who had the body of an elementary schooler, was hugging the collapsed Jio tightly.

'No matter how hard he tries with that tiny body, there's no way he can cover him completely.'

It was a truly desperate sight.

"..."

Yu Seongun soon finished assessing the situation as well.

'... Judging by that guy's oversensitive reaction, this situation is probably connected to one of Jio's personalities.'

He had already expected that countless dimensions would contain branches of his personalities around the central entity known as the Portrait of Jio.

Considering that, this guy, who was absurdly shielding Jio and baring his teeth, also seemed to be a humanoid monster from another dimension.

'Seeing how his teeth are transforming, he is definitely not human.'

'Then that means some personality of Jio's and the monster in front of me know each other...'

He did not know whether to call this luck or misfortune.

'Is it lucky in the sense that he looks like the master of this dungeon, yet he is not attacking at all?'

Yu Seongun looked with an uneasy gaze at Eunha, who was hugging the fallen Jio.

"It doesn't seem like you intend to explain this situation."

"What is your name?"

"I apologize, but this is unpleasant."

"Please do not speak to me, lowly human that you are."

"Right, this is the proper reaction for a monster."

"Thanks to you, I feel like my sense of reality is coming back."

Monsters were, by nature, beings that hated humans, so Jio, who had always responded to humans in a gentlemanly way, was the strange one.

'Even the fact that Eunha is responding to me in his own way right now means he is being extremely mild.'

For such a bewildering situation, having suddenly been dragged into a Virtual Dungeon, did this not leave him a fairly visible way out?

Yu Seongun found hope.

"Anyway, the name Eunha must be an alias."

"What should I call you?"

"It is not an alias."

"Then it's your real name?"

"I borrowed Earth's format and made it from the meaning of my name, so..."

"That's an alias."

The contradictory reaction of diligently answering every question while baring his teeth was extremely interesting.

'It doesn't seem to be because his hatred toward humans is particularly low.'

'Then is he answering because of Jio after all?'

Yu Seongun, who had once been a research team leader at the Association, looked the other party over to an extent that would not be offensive.

Feeling this kind of interest in a situation where his own life and the lives of others were in danger was a chronic habit of Yu Seongun, a Gardener.

'I don't know what kind of relationship Jio and this monster had...'

This guy had eyes too, so he must know that Yu Seongun and Jio had moved together on Earth.

'We looked close enough that even a passerby who knew nothing would not have found it strange.'

It seemed he was being patient with that part in mind.

'In that case, it means this monster is minding Jio's mood.'

In short, it meant that in terms of their relationship, Jio ranked higher than this monster.

"... Ah, I'm tired."

He desperately wanted to clock out.

'Some time has passed, so the people are gradually calming down, but they know they were dragged into a dungeon, so the uneasy atmosphere is still there.'

'A good number of the people I saw at the event are missing, too...'

Yu Seongun looked around and asked.

"Did you drag in everyone who was at the event?"

There was no way he would pretend not to know at this point.

'He also said something quite monster-like, along the lines of "lowly human."'

Perhaps because he had intended to reveal his identity immediately after causing the incident, Eunha was openly giving off the impression that he was the master of this place.

'The others seem too confused from being dragged here so suddenly to even think about checking this side, though.'

At the very least, he could not fool the eyes of Yu Seongun, an A-class Hunter.

The master of this Virtual Dungeon, and the culprit who had abruptly dragged the people from the event hall here, was definitely the blue-haired brat in front of him.

"And the condition was everyone inside the Temple of the Sun?"

"..."

"... Whoa..."

So a monster was still a monster.

'His killing intent is incredible.'

It was a murderous intent so strong that Yu Seongun wondered how he had managed to act like such a sweet child on Earth.

His pearl-white eyes were so bloodshot they looked red, and merely meeting his gaze was enough to make Yu Seongun feel mentally exhausted.

He felt troubled.

'I don't want to provoke the temper of someone who is master of such a terrifying dungeon...'

Unfortunately, the only Hunters in this hollow were Yu Seongun, an A-class Hunter; one man who was C-class; and one woman who fell a little short of C-class.

As an all-rounder, Yu Seongun could cover them somehow if he had to, but...

'No, I can't.'

Everyone was going to die.

'Escaping alone might be possible, but I can't do that and leave Jio behind.'

Of course, it was not because he was worried about Jio's safety.

Yu Seongun was in no position to worry about the safety of this unconscious portrait.

It was simply that he did not want to see Bi Sabeol's scream after losing one work, did not want to lose Jio, a special piece of data connected to the Root, and lastly, worried about what absurd disaster the Portrait of Jio might cause while Yu Seongun left him unattended.

'I can't leave an immeasurable, bizarre Root entity in this insane dungeon and run away as if it's none of my business.'

'That would be exactly like planting a bomb.'

If there was anything fortunate, it was that the monster's killing intent had clearly softened after he confirmed Jio's face.

'The dungeon's unique pressure seems to have eased a little, too...'

They had to find a way out of this dungeon, but he could not disturb the mood of the master, who had barely regained his stability.

"..."

It was hard to expect cooperation from a monster, so Yu Seongun used Jio as a weapon and spoke a little more indirectly.

"... You seem to know Jio, so do you know this?"

"Jio hates evil and rude beings."

"..."

"I don't know how you and Jio know each other, but the Jio of now is like that."

"If Jio had such a nature in the past as well, then back then, perhaps you were... not that evil or rude."

"But now, I am evil and rude."

The monster continued with an expressionless face that chilled anyone who saw it.

"I do not think this person would approve of me as I am now."

"Because I am not arrogant like you."

"Uh, right."

"Jio must have been like that back then too, so since we're already here, do you have any intention of being a little kind to humans?"

"..."

The monster, who answered with silence, raised his head and faced Yu Seongun.

He looked into the monster's eyes, which somehow resembled pearls.

Those eyes announced that he was a predator, their pupils slit vertically, and they also splintered like diamonds struck by sunlight.

'Ah, this isn't good.'

Should he call it a Hunter's intuition?

Yu Seongun instinctively realized what that meant.

'He's considering whether to kill us.'

He was certainly thinking of killing everyone before Jio woke up, meaning... causing the accident first and then worrying about cleaning it up afterward.

'How unusual.'

It had been like that earlier too, but now those pearl-colored eyes gleamed even more sharply.

They were similar to an animal's eyes flashing at dusk.

Perhaps this monster had a habit of making his eyes shine like fish scales when he was angry or filled with murderous intent.

'... If that is the case, then on this side too.'

He could not simply sit there and die.

'No matter how many die, all I need to do here is recover Jio.'

Yu Seongun was gathering cold energy in his hand, sensing how many people would die here from now on, when it happened.

"... Ugh..."

"! Jio."

"! Teacher!"

Teacher?

"Ah, um..."

Eunha trailed off as if flustered even though he was the one who had spoken.

He looked as though he had belatedly realized that his current self was not in a position to call Jio "Teacher" in any sense.

What was with this sloppiness?

At that dazed but earnest-looking face, utterly different from the spiteful face of a moment ago, Yu Seongun felt as though the trust he had never had hit rock bottom.

"M-Mr. Jio."

"..."

"Are you all right?"

"You lost consciousness just now..."

This monster was playing innocent?

'... Humanoid monsters do basically put on an act for humans, but that is part of a scheme to make their prey lower their guard so they can catch and kill them...'

Seeing the child's face, as though he were some devout priest, Yu Seongun felt what little strength he had drain away.

The killing intent that had suddenly softened took the wind right out of his sails.

Jio, who seemed to have a headache, staggered as he pushed his upper body up and looked around.

"..."

"..."

"...?"

It was hard to see because of the hood, but given the glimpse of black hair, the Jio of now was definitely Seo Jio.

He seemed to be wondering where this was and why he had collapsed.

As if Eunha had noticed that too, he asked Jio with a child's face.

"Mr. Jio, this is a dungeon."

"Do you remember what happened before you collapsed?"

"... Before I collapsed..."

Unexpectedly, Jio nodded.

"I spoke to student Eunha."

"Ah..."

Eunha seemed a little disappointed, but also partly relieved.

Yu Seongun roughly grasped the situation as well.

'... It seems his personality became confused.'

Jio remembered the fact that he had spoken to Eunha, but he called Eunha "student."

Since this was Seo Jio's manner, it likely meant that he had the memory, but his personality was not the "Jio" that Eunha knew.

"..."

Jio sat for a long while, holding his head.

Yu Seongun asked with concern at this extremely unusual state for a being whose essence was a portrait to show.

"... Does your head hurt?"

"... Yes."

Jio answered in a rarely hazy tone.

"Both my body and mind feel unsteady."

At those words, Yu Seongun recalled the situation when they had been drawn into the dungeon just now.

'... Jio at that moment possessed the high level of existence I saw in the portrait.'

Had the level of existence he had restricted been released in the process of moving from one dimension to another?

'And now it has been restricted again?'

Since he had not even figured out Jio's identity yet, it was of course difficult to accurately interpret his condition, but even so, there was one thing that was clear to Yu Seongun.

"..."

"..."

Yu Seongun's and Eunha's gazes crossed.

'... That brat, or the environment of this dungeon, seems to be affecting Jio's personality...'

To be honest, this was not a very welcome story for Yu Seongun.

'I don't know what kind of connection Jio and Eunha had in the past.'

But there was no way he could welcome the fact that a vicious dungeon like this, where a humanoid monster was lurking, was changing Jio's personality, when Jio was already a disaster in and of himself.

'One wrong move, and people may break Jio's sensitive rules and be attacked, or even if not, Jio may favor an old connection and side with Eunha, who is a monster.'

'Either way, the situation will be very unfavorable for humans.'

Eunha must have had similar thoughts.

"..."

"Oh, now look at that."

Eunha used his small body to burrow into Jio's arms.

He clearly knew that Jio was particularly weak to young creatures and was trying to use that.

"Young Eunha, are you not going to let go?"

"I thought you were a well-mannered kid, so I didn't see you that way, but wow, that innocent act of yours is no joke."

"I do not know what you mean."

"I've fought guys like you before, and I've never had my blood pressure rise this much."

"How very inexperienced of you."

"I'm going insane."

In any case, this one thing was certain.

'The longer we stay here, and the longer we keep that brat close...'

'Jio's personality will change.'

He had a goal.

He had to escape as soon as possible, taking with him the ticking time bomb known as Jio.