Chapter 75

He was lost.

"Fuck, where the hell am I...?"

Maybe the word "country" had not been attached to it for nothing, because even for a dungeon one entered directly, the country of the deep sea was damn huge.

And if asked whether the monsters were weak, that was not true either. He had managed to make it through stages one and two somehow, but from the entrance to stage three, where the shape of the temple began to reveal itself, it became hard even to breathe.

"Map, the map... the map..."

Unfortunately, this was a new dungeon whose basic structure had not even been figured out yet.

"..."

And every one of the companions of the Hunter who was now lost had died.

"... What do I do...?"

What did he mean, what did he do? There was nothing left but to die.

The Hunter mocked himself inwardly and sank down on the roadside. The coldly shimmering water-scale patterns on the cavern ceiling felt like a monster's shadow, and it was unbearably chilling.

"... I shouldn't have said we should come."

Now that he was alone, all sorts of thoughts came to him.

In truth, it had not been him but the team leader who had strongly insisted they come here, but with all his companions dead and him the only one left, there was no way he could avoid blaming himself. The man forced back his tears and moved his feet.

"Fuck, is this a temple or a cave... The paths are complicated too..."

Everything looked similar, but he had never once found the same path again.

He was definitely moving, but rather than an exit, it felt as if he was heading deeper in. But if he stopped walking and hid somewhere, dangerous monsters and traps were spread out on every side.

"Shii..."

He pointlessly huffed and held back his tears.

'I have to make it out alive if I'm going to request recovery, at least.'

When a Hunter belonging to a guild died in a dungeon, that guild usually went in to recover the remains, but freelance Hunters and civilians were different.

If a freelance Hunter wanted their companion's remains recovered, they had to personally prove their identity and submit a request to the Hunter Association.

'I, I don't even have the ability to recover them...'

The only reason the man had survived this far was that one of his skills was stealth.

"I have to get out alive first, right, then I can get paid... anything..."

He was forcing himself to think of the benefits after escape and pulling himself together.

"..."

Then a portrait entered the man's eyes.

"...?"

It was a portrait whose face could not be seen because it had been smeared with black paint.

It was eerie.

"... Wh-what is this?"

If it had been most objects, he would have guessed it was one of the dungeon's decorations, but in the temple scenery that had seemed to repeat the same image until now, a portrait like this was far too out of place.

A portrait whose eyes were hidden and completely invisible, yet for some reason he could feel its gaze.

"..."

He passed it by.

'It could be a dangerous item. Or a monster in the form of a portrait...'

To begin with, its very appearance was a portrait with an atmosphere so heavy it raised goosebumps. Unlike the white stone texture of the temple or the cavern, it was set in a wooden frame.

It looked as though it had been gilded, but a strangely warm heat came from it, giving off an atmosphere opposite to the dungeon's, and because of that warmth, he wanted to approach it even less. The sense of wrongness was too great.

"..."

But when he came to his senses and looked around, the frame was there again.

"... It, it wasn't here..."

It did not happen only once or twice.

"It was in the corridor earlier."

He could still feel its gaze.

It felt as though the portrait was following him.

"..."

Perhaps that might be true.

His hands and feet trembled, and his breath caught in his throat, but even so, in the mind of the Hunter driven to his limit, a single strand of hope surfaced. He knew himself that it was a strange line of thought, but he could not help it.

It was a phenomenon no one could call positive, but he forced himself to think so. It seemed he simply wanted to believe that.

'Maybe... it's some kind of item that's an important key to escaping?'

In dungeons where the story was important, a single item like this sometimes exerted power and helped with the clear. Even if that did not raise the probability of getting out alive by much, the Hunter, whose ability to think had deteriorated, approached the portrait.

"It would have been nice if I had an appraisal skill... What is..."

"Good day."

"..."

He flinched.

The Hunter stepped back.

"... Uh, uh...?"

"I am a portrait."

"Uh...?"

"May I ask your name?"

"..."

"I am curious about your name."

The lips on the lower half of the face, which had not been covered in black paint, asked again.

"Will you speak with me?"

"... Right now..."

What was this?

'The portrait is talking? A portrait?'

Even in a world where supernatural powers had seeped into daily life, talking portraits were not something one saw very often. At least, the Hunter currently trapped in the country of the deep sea had seen a portrait like this for the first time in his life.

"Wh-who..."

"I am a portrait."

The same voice, the same line.

"..."

Goosebumps rose over his skin.

The voice, so perfect that it instead sounded dreadful, was exceedingly sweet and gentle. It was enough to make him wonder if this was how a demon would sound if it spoke, but the Hunter barely came to his senses and answered.

"I'm... Park Yoon-shin..."

It was not that he did not know the danger of saying his True Name, but he was too out of his mind to weigh such things. The only thought he had was that he had to obey the being before him.

He felt fear and mercy.

"Yes, um, I'm Park Yoon-shin. Park Yoon-shin..."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Park Yoon-shin."

"... You are... a portrait, you said?"

"That is correct."

The pale lower face continued speaking.

"I am a portrait."

"..."

Only then did the Hunter realize that not a single monster was approaching nearby.

'... This situation is turning strange...'

He felt as if he had been bewitched by something.

The portrait, which was only a painting, was scattering an atmosphere so heavy it could be called grotesque. It was qualitatively different from the atmosphere of the temple as well. It felt as though he had been invited to the funeral of a pope. That was the strange sensation he had.

"..."

It was around the time he grew dazed like that.

"Excuse me."

"Yes, yes?"

The black-painted portion began to protrude as if wrapping around something.

When the Hunter recoiled in horror and stepped back, a human figure wrapped in a pitch-black cloak appeared right in front of the portrait. The portrait had been hanging halfway up the wall, so the figure came down as if falling, yet not even the sound of its feet touching the floor could be heard.

"Ah..."

Only a soft RUSTLE.

"..."

"It is nice to meet you for the first time, Mr. Park Yoon-shin."

Footsteps sounded.

They were truly like a human's.

"..."

No, with footsteps like that, why did he think it was human?

'Have I gone crazy? Am I under some brainwashing-type skill?'

Around the time he was in confusion, the Hunter remembered something.

"Ah, ah, ah...!"

Black Cloak.

"Bl-Black, Black Clo... Cloak."

"Yes, I am wearing a black cloak."

"... Black Cloak..."

It was definitely the monster the Association had put a bounty on information about.

'... This is a monster?'

Suddenly, a question came to him.

'This...?'

The Hunter hesitantly looked at Black Cloak again.

It had pulled a pitch-black cloak low over itself like a grim reaper. When the cloak slipped slightly near the shoulder, the body revealed inside was also wearing a jet-black suit and shirt, but it was strangely dark.

"..."

It clearly had form, so when it wore a cloak, that round shape of a head must be visible.

'... Its hands too... They are pale, but I can see skin. That means there's a human body inside...'

Nevertheless, it did not feel as though there would be a face inside.

'No, just.'

It felt as though there was nothing there at all.

"..."

"Mr. Park Yoon-shin."

"... Um, yes, I..."

If this being called my name three times, would I die?

'They say if a grim reaper calls your name three times, you die.'

He did not particularly think Black Cloak and a grim reaper were the same being, but it was also true that an atmosphere terrifyingly close to death lingered around it.

Confused by the awe of facing a being he dared not look at, the Hunter bowed his head deeply.

"I-I'm sorry for waking you. I only..."

"You are a good person."

It was a kind of declaration, as if it was bestowing something. It sounded faintly sacred as well, so it felt like a prophecy handed down by a god.

"..."

"Therefore, I will help you."

Black Cloak held something out.

"... Wh-what is..."

It was a round bead that seemed to be made of gold. It was quite heavy, and a powerful sweet scent wafted from it, as if bewitching his brain.

"What is this...?"

"It is an apology for frightening you, and a gift for you, who have suffered."

"A gift...?"

"It is yours."

"... Um..."

"Please eat it."

Eat it?

'This?'

It did not look edible at all. Even so, the desire to put it in his mouth and make it his surged up in him. That was how beautiful the bead's form was.

He wanted to eat it.

"..."

Bewitched by the scent, the Hunter put the bead in his mouth.

'Ah.'

An ecstatic sweetness softly swept through his whole body.

The sensation of every cell stabilizing was vivid. He even felt rapture at the sensation that resembled the spring breeze of a fading afternoon.

The freshness that seemed like a fruit heavy with juice compressed to its limit suited the gentle golden bead exceedingly well.

"... Uh, huh?"

"Has the bleeding stopped?"

"This, this is... Yes, how did this. Why."

"I see."

"..."

Black Cloak looked down at the Hunter with an impersonal gaze, like a researcher who had expected a predetermined value to appear. The sense of wrongness that could never be called human made him shrink back, but at the same time, for some reason he felt honored.

He was glad, as though he had shown the value the other had expected. It was a feeling he did not perceive himself, and also could not understand.

"Do you wish to leave?"

"... Leave?"

His bowed head lifted on its own.

"C-can I... leave?"

"I can let you out."

"Ah..."

Only then did he remember the information that had been posted on the Association website.

'It said the first discoverer also escaped the country of the deep sea with Black Cloak's help.'

It was when he looked up at the part where a face should have been, suddenly filled with hope.

"..."

"..."

Their eyes met.

Eyes?

Yes, eyes. He could see pupils and irises.

But they were not spheres. Were they flat? No, they might have been three-dimensional. But lines were visible. He could see those graceful lines. There was not just one. Several were tangled like the roots of a tree, but at the same time they looked like one.

What color were they? Gold? No, they were dark. They were so dark they looked bright. Then black? But they were close to silver. Where had the thought of silver even come from? They were that dark. They were that bright. What on earth was I looking at right now?

'Should I even be allowed to look at this in the first place?'

He was entranced by that vastness, unable even to feel fear.

"Mr. Park Yoon-shin."

"..."

"I have a question for you."

"... A question...?"

Ah, right, he had something to ask.

"Yes, yes. Yes... anything."

"May I draw you?"

"... Draw me...?"

After that, he did not remember well.

His mind grew far more distant than it had been when he first witnessed Black Cloak. He lost the awareness that he was a living being.

His entire body melted down, but there was no fear in it, and he felt a coziness as though he were lying in the middle of a forest where the spring breeze stirred.

And when he came to his senses, he was in the middle of the city.

"..."

Only then did he realize that this was a miracle.

* * *

"... That is..."

Park Yoon-shin continued speaking in front of the researcher.

"What I experienced."

"It turned a person into paint and painted a picture with that."

"At the time, I could hardly think that it was strange."

Park Yoon-shin spoke in a bewildered voice.

"To begin with, the fact that conversation with a monster was possible itself is... an extremely rare thing, and I know that too, but I was hardly surprised by that point. It just felt like a being so wise and sagacious that it seemed it would know everything in the world, including me..."

The researcher asked.

"Do you feel a desire to revere him?"

"... A little. That person showed me a miracle."

"It was a miracle that turned a person into paint. You said there was no pain involved."

"After I came to my senses... I was very confused."

A human with an intact ego had become paint and a picture, then returned to being human again. He had been forcibly made to perceive a perspective of an inanimate object that he could never have imagined, so there was no way the aftereffects would be small.

"... But I don't feel any bad emotions toward Black Cloak..."

He was simply afraid, overwhelmed, and awestruck.

"It was so, so beautiful..."

Although he could not say he had lived his life close to art, he could tell that this was art and a work of art.

Its vast presence, enough to feel sacred and noble, and its geometric and radiant structure were more than enough to make his heart race.

"Black Cloak is clearly favorable toward humans. No, rather than goodwill, that was closer to mercy. He showed mercy. He received nothing in return."

"Yes, thank you for agreeing to the interview."

The researcher nodded.

"The information you provided about Black Cloak has been a great help. If you go to the counter in the Association lobby, you will be able to receive your reward immediately. If there is anything else you wish to tell us or if you have any questions, please contact the counter at any time."

"Excuse me."

"Yes, Hunter Park Yoon-shin."

"Is that person really a monster?"

"..."

The researcher asked.

"Hunter Park Yoon-shin, you are referring to it as a 'person.'"

The conversation ended there.