Chapter 85

Kang Seo-dam, who had been reviewing the curriculum for the prospective priests who would soon be joining, answered the phone.

"Yes, Hunter Yu Seongun."

"Are there any gods who can be summoned by drawing a picture?"

"I do not know what brought this on all of a sudden, but I am busy as well, so to answer you first, yes, it is possible. Letters or patterns often used in rituals are a kind of drawing too."

"It wasn't a very professional drawing."

"How unprofessional was it?"

"On the level of a child's drawing?"

"Even then, it is not impossible. As long as the purpose is clear, even if it is very crude."

Kang Seo-dam wedged the phone between his shoulder and chin and continued speaking while drafting a document.

"What matters most is the intent behind what the subject was trying to do through the ritual. If the will of the person conducting the ritual is strong and clear enough, and the being receiving that offering is tolerant enough to accept such an inadequate ritual, then it is entirely possible."

"Why would that work?"

"Evil gods are generally the ones in cases like this, but... as far as summoning rituals like these go, I understand they can sometimes work even when the target is not necessarily a god. Because mysterious beings with their own summoning rituals exist everywhere. If the being is very receptive, merely calling its name can be enough to receive its gaze."

"No, but why?"

"It is difficult to understand from the perspective of humans, mere lowly creatures, but beings close to gods can know where they are being called and seen. Even if believers pray simultaneously from all over the world, a being that can answer each one individually is what we call a god."

Kang Seo-dam glanced over the document as he shifted his eyes.

"Even if they are not necessarily gods, mysterious beings of a lower rank sometimes spread their own summoning rituals here and there. In any case, when it comes to raising their level of existence and strengthening their divinity, nothing is as effective as the faith of their followers."

"What if the being's level is already noticeably powerful? So powerful it doesn't need faith at all. And the being itself probably doesn't even want its level to rise any further."

"I was trying to keep ignoring this because I am too busy, but this is about that person after all, isn't it? That pitch-black one? The one with the cloak? The one who evaporated the seawater in the dungeon to make stairs and then cleaned it up with a single wave of his hand? Him?"

"Thank you for finally acting like you know what I mean."

"What a disaster."

A being called a will-bearing fate and nature is referred to as a "god." And they know exactly what they exist for and what they want to do. They also know what kind of beings they are to humans.

But "Black Cloak" is not like that.

"If faith piles up without his realizing it, he will be unable to learn how to handle his own level of existence. It seems his summoning ritual is so easy and simple that even a child drawing a picture is enough?"

"That's right."

"Then all we can do is pray that he never gets angry in his life. At the very least, when he is not angry, he will keep himself in check and show consideration for fragile humans, so there will be no great problem then. To begin with, he likes humans so much..."

"What if he gets angry?"

"As you well know, Hunter Yu Seongun, there will be nothing but ruin. Just as someone who has eaten meat knows how to eat it, someone who has gotten angry before knows how to be angry properly. If a god does not know how to be angry safely without hurting anyone, and simply expresses his emotions recklessly, it would truly be a disaster."

Kang Seo-dam thought for a moment before asking again.

"Ordinary gods have a clear reason for existing. Unless they inherited divinity from an existing god, the one who created a god's summoning ritual is, from the start, the god corresponding to that summons. That is to say, the reason summoning rituals and offering rituals came into being in the first place was to raise their level of existence."

"But the being we are talking about is not like that."

"It can happen if he inherited divinity from an existing god and received the relevant rituals along with it. Is the one Hunter Yu Seongun is speaking of such a mysterious being?"

"I can't say he doesn't have traits like that, but he isn't entirely that either. He is qualitatively different from a god."

"..."

Kang Seo-dam took his eyes off the monitor for a moment, then soon continued.

"Though it is extremely rare, there are also those whose level of existence naturally rises within the laws of nature simply because they exist as mysterious beings corresponding to a certain rule. To give an easy example, the very act of people breathing could itself be an act that raises the faith of some mysterious being."

"I'm sorry, but I still don't quite understand. What does that mean?"

"To put it more simply, there are those who become stronger just by existing. Like how, as time passes, past time and history naturally grow deeper as a rule."

Kang Seo-dam's fingers began typing again.

"In the case of our Sun Cult, we do not call such beings gods."

"Then what do you call them?"

"Simply nature. They are rules, and fate."

"Other gods have wills too..."

"They are nature and fate, yes, but this is a different context."

The reason was simple.

"As Hunter Yu Seongun said, those beings have wills and goals. But the kind of mysterious being I am talking about now does not have those things. They never wished to become gods, they do not even know that they have been defined as 'gods,' and they simply... exist, flow, and grow stronger."

"That's a disaster."

"From the perspective of humans, even an earthquake caused by shifts in Earth's crust feels like a disaster. Those beings simply exist. They may or may not have an ego or preferences, and they may or may not recognize humans."

"Hmm..."

After a moment, Yu Seongun asked.

"The Sun Cult can tell me this because it has observed such a mysterious being before, right? Something mighty that cannot even be called a god?"

"That is confidential. Just as Collector has several such confidential matters."

"I understand for now. May I come visit you again later with gifts, priest?"

"Do not come. I am busy."

"I will send a delivery."

The call ended.

"..."

Well, even if he said that.

"... If it is him, I do not think he will become a great disaster."

Kang Seo-dam had definitely sensed divinity from Black Cloak. Judging from the energy he had felt and the various circumstances, it seemed likely that he had inherited it from a previous god, and if so, that meant he had a parent who could teach him how to behave as a god.

Even if he had no parent god, was the Sun God of this Earth not here? His goddess was quite favorable toward Black Cloak, so she might offer him a little help.

"In the end, it was not something for me to worry about. Tsk, when I am already busy."

Kang Seo-dam murmured quietly, then silently resumed reviewing the curriculum.

It was overtime he had grown used to lately.

* * *

And here was another Hunter continuing another round of overtime.

"All right, Jio."

"Good to see you."

"You really are active."

Naturally, it was Yu Seongun.

"So our Cha Yi-sol went and summoned Jio?"

Cha Yi-sol, who had finally begun to grasp the situation, came clean of his own accord.

"I'm sorry for making you work overtime."

"What exactly does that make me if you apologize like that, Cha Yi-sol?"

In truth, the situation was not quite that damaging.

"Well, I usually talk with Jio at around four in the morning anyway..."

"Have you been tired?"

At that, Black Cloak, Jio, made a gesture as if resting his chin on his hand. It seemed like he was mimicking human surprise, but perhaps because his face could not be seen, no emotion could be felt from him at all, which made the back of Yu Seongun's neck ache a little.

"I apologize for causing you inconvenience. You came often at that time, so I thought you liked that hour. If you wish, I will reschedule our conversations."

"No, I have a lot to do before and after that time anyway, so even if we move the conversations, it doesn't mean I'll get to sleep earlier. It just changes the order of what I have to do at that hour."

"That is unfortunate."

"I know..."

In any case, it was now 7:41 p.m.

"Has everyone eaten dinner?"

"W-we were just about to make bulgogi..."

"So that's how things turned out."

She was a Hunter, yes, but how much experience could an F-class Hunter like Cha A-ra possibly have? She looked like she did not even understand why something like this had happened, so Yu Seongun turned to Jio.

"Before we have a serious conversation, Jio."

"Please speak."

"I'd like you to soften the atmosphere a bit."

To put it bluntly, he meant, "Please lower your level of existence a little," but if he said it that way, Jio, who considered himself human, would feel offended.

Having grown even more cautious through his conversation with Priest Kang Seo-dam, Yu Seongun had no intention of doing that. He planned to treat him as he would a god with no awareness of being a god.

But this must have been a difficult thing to understand as well, because Jio expressed confusion.

"I do not understand what you mean."

"You're really scary right now. You don't seem human."

"I understand."

Soon after, Jio pushed his hood back.

"..."

"Will this do?"

What emerged from within was Giovanni, his platinum-blond hair vivid and clear.

"In my experience, doing this tends to improve the atmosphere a little..."

"For now, that's right."

"Perhaps the cloak's color is the problem after all."

"That might be part of it."

Yu Seongun swallowed a private sigh of relief.

'... I'm glad there is a way to lower his level like this, at least. I'm also glad Jio isn't offended by lowering his own level. If he were an ordinary god or child of the Root, he would have felt insulted and torn me to shreds on the spot...'

It was impossible to overstate how fortunate it was that a Jio of this level was human-friendly.

"I'd like to try explaining this phenomenon. Is that all right?"

"You may do as you wish."

"Thanks for understanding."

Yu Seongun finally began to speak.

"It seems Cha Yi-sol summoned Jio."

"... I did think that might be the case, but how is that possible?"

"Mr. Cha Eun-hyuk, your question is reasonable, and I did not understand it well either, so I asked Priest Kang Seo-dam, who has more experience than I do in this area. He said it is something that can sometimes happen."

Of course, out of consideration for Jio, he omitted the parts about levels and gods.

"Extremely rarely, there are mysterious beings who have their own summoning ritual even when they did not intend to. In Jio's case, the condition for that ritual must have been 'drawing Jio.'"

Yu Seongun turned to Jio.

"To begin with, Jio, why did you come here? What did you know when you came?"

"I knew I had been drawn. I also naturally came to know that the person who drew me was Brother Cha Yi-sol. In the midst of that, he was saying something adorable about wanting to be friends with me..."

"And so you appeared like this?"

"I was also curious about how he had been living lately. I had left the dungeon without even exchanging greetings, so I had been worried about Brother Cha Yi-sol, and this seemed like good timing. He had even been kidnapped, after all."

Platinum-blond Jio asked with his characteristic gentle smile.

"Have you been well, Brother Cha Yi-sol? You are not hurt anywhere?"

"B-Black Cloak was you, Jio hyung...?"

"Ah."

Giovanni turned to Yu Seongun.

"..."

"... Even if you look at me like that, it's not like I'll have an answer, Mr. Black Cloak."

"I wanted to protect the innocence of a child in this harsh world, at least."

"Wouldn't his innocence survive this better than learning Santa isn't actually real?"

Cha Yi-sol was shocked.

"Santa isn't real?"

"The two Chas must have raised you with a lot of love. Sorry I ended up being the one to shatter your innocence first."

"I was going to give Santa Grandpa a massage if I ever met him...!"

"Oh my, what a good kid."

"I was going to ask if he could live at our house when he retired...!"

"You have a very definite sense of self."

In any case, Cha Yi-sol was not as shocked as expected by the fact that Jio was Black Cloak.

"But why did you become like that? Jio hyung, do you really give presents to good people?"

"If they are people who need them, I do my best to be considerate and respectful."

"Why?"

"Because I have the leisure and ability to do so, and the people receiving my goodwill must want those gifts, so there is no reason not to grant them."

"Wooow..."

Cha Eun-hyuk thought to himself.

'With him being this innocent, who knows where he'll get sold off to.'

It seemed the eldest son had no choice but to keep his wits about him.

"Um... so did we do something wrong, or..."

"Hm? No, no."

Yu Seongun looked at Cha Yi-sol.

"Cha Yi-sol, you were just drawing Black Cloak because you thought he was cool, with no other intention, right?"

"Yes, because I heard he's really famous these days."

"Really?"

Collector, which had made that ghost story famous, had nothing to say.

"If this ritual hasn't been made known in particular, then it's fine. Jio, if someone draws you, do you necessarily have to know about it or be summoned there?"

"I can know, but as for being summoned... I think that is simply my choice."

"If it is only to that extent, then it really is fine. I rushed over because this incident was so absurd, and because there is a lot of room for abuse."

Cha Yi-sol bowed his head once more.

"I'm sorry for causing trouble."

"Come on, it isn't such a big deal. If you apologize that much, I end up feeling too awkward."

"But..."

"It really is fine. It seems Jio wanted to see you anyway, Cha Yi-sol. Even if nothing happened to you, you were kidnapped by monsters, so everyone was worried."

"I'm fine, though."

"You look it, so that is rather impressive. It's a good mindset. If you already have that kind of mindset at your age, I feel sorry wondering what a big figure you will become, but anyway, everything is fine and there are no problems..."

Yu Seongun was simply dumbfounded.

"... I would just like you not to go around spreading this summoning method anywhere."

Because then a whole lot of people would get tired.

And there was a one-hundred-percent chance Yu Seongun would be included among them.