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Chapter 165: Chapter 165

Ju-hyeon often pitied that great mystery.

"..."

Jio’s Portrait.

"...Haaa...."

That it was an absurd thought, Ju-hyeon himself knew well.

Ju-hyeon, who had been lying in a large, plush bed unbefitting his station, eventually couldn’t fall asleep and got up.

His mind was clear, but just in case sleep might come, he went to the kitchen and drank water without turning on the lights.

"..."

Clack.

He set the glass down.

"...I’m not in a position to be like this."

Even though he drank cool water, the stuffiness in his chest didn’t go away.

’To dare to pity a mystery.’

A divinity was an existence that could, as a result of showing pure affection to a beloved priest, trap him in eternity, or, for the reason of wishing for wisdom, make him lose all his knowledge and become an idiot.

If the target of Ju-hyeon’s pity hadn’t been Jio, and if he hadn’t considered himself human and bestowed mercy, it wouldn’t have been strange for him (Ju-hyeon) to receive divine punishment for being presumptuous.

’But if it hadn’t been Mr. Jio in the first place, I wouldn’t even be having these thoughts.’

The reason humans don’t pity great mysteries is also to avoid offending them or standing out and suffering disaster, but it was also because, in the first place, they couldn’t harbor the emotion of pity.

Who would pity a typhoon and a tsunami that devoured countless people?

Who would feel sorry for the Milky Way shining far away, saying it’s lonely?

However, to think only that way, this person named Jio....

"..."

He isn’t even a person, yet he feels so much like a being just like me.

"...Please, let’s not do anything presumptuous."

The reason Ju-hyeon started things without caring that he was from the looked-down-on Gita Orphanage was because he was confident it would make more people happy.

But Jio? Can I make him happy?

’He’s already happy.’

I know from hearing his stories.

I know from seeing his face.

I know from his voice, his gestures.

The countless ’Jios’ that the portrait holds lived satisfying lives and died accordingly.

I shouldn’t dare to pity that.

"..."

And yet.

"I must be crazy."

How can I not feel sorry for him?

’He was only 24.’

The more he tried not to think about it, the more the anguish clung to him persistently.

’He was only 29, and 32.’

The human lifespan varies depending on the dimension.

Ju-hyeon, who had been an Association researcher, knew this.

There were places where the average lifespan was 50, and places where it was 500.

But that wasn’t what was important.

From their 20s to their early 30s.

I don’t know if all ’Jios’ are like that, but so far, they have been.

They met their deaths just as they were getting used to human life and about to bloom and bear fruit.

’How can this not be pitiful?’

How is that possible?

’People who died the most miserable deaths, in none other than the most familiar embrace....’

Ju-hyeon consciously exhaled.

"..."

4 AM.

"...Did Mr. Yu Seong-un say he has a meeting around this time?"

He unnecessarily turns his thoughts elsewhere.

’Right, let’s think about Mr. Yu Seong-un. I must learn from him.’

A mystery is a mystery.

No matter how much it takes a human form, its essence is not the same.

Even if it mimics human life, that is merely amusement, nothing more than the fleeting pleasure of a passing moment.

Yu Seong-un was someone who knew that very well.

That is why, no matter what past ’Jio’s Portrait’ had, no matter what problems arose, he respects and loves it.

As a single ’work of art’.

"..."

But if that feels repulsive, am I the one who’s crazy?

"...Really...."

Yu Seong-un said that portrait is one part of the massive system called the Source.

That in human terms, it corresponds to the eyes, and also, because the Source loves all living things equally, ’Jio’ continuously experiences life.

Is that perhaps why Jio always experiences the highest sky and the lowest mire?

’So that the Source can acquire information about humans more efficiently?’

A jet-black drawing paper that can become anything.

"...Really, it’s not easy."

Becoming a mystery’s friend was a truly difficult thing.

"I can’t even worry about him easily."

Ju-hyeon is grateful to Jio.

He is not ignorant about mysteries.

He knows well about divinities.

Nevertheless, Jio asked to become friends as a person and, at the same time, showed goodwill as a friend. Ju-hyeon was thankful for that.

At times, Jio acts childishly and laughs like a young man of that age.

’If it’s this much when we haven’t even known each other for long, just how much more stifling will it get later?’

If I feel this stifled just from seeing him act ’human’ a few times.

"..."

Ju-hyeon, who let out a deep sigh, muttered as he returned to the bedroom.

"...Is it time to seek expert help?"

It seemed he would have to ask for Mr. Yu Seong-un’s advice.

***

"This is the data on the A-Class Dungeon, ’Underground Four-legged Rainforest’."

Yu Seong-un held out the document to Bisabeol.

"The type is a Villa Dungeon, the location is underground at Hwanseongul Cave in Samcheok, Gangwon-do, and the participating Guilds, excluding the Solar Cult and The Collectors, are three in total. They have been identified as Eunwol, Haeryeong, and Daecheong."

"Perhaps because it’s an event organized by the Solar Cult, they’re all respectable places."

"They’re famous for having a good attitude. Especially Eunwol, as it is a Guild that has already collaborated with the Solar Cult several times, so their reliability is likely even higher. It is also a Guild that makes up 12% of the religious order’s internal personnel."

Just because it’s the religious order’s headquarters doesn’t mean there are only priests.

There were also attendants and maidservants who helped with their daily lives, as well as kitchen staff in charge of meals and managers for various facilities.

The Guild ’Eunwol’ had consistently played the role of supplying such personnel to the Solar Cult and the Lady Moon Cult.

They had that many followers related to religion, and it was a famous Guild that basically had a large number of Healers.

"Because Eunwol stepped up, I looked into whether there was an issue related to the Lady Moon Cult, but that side isn’t showing any particular interest. It seems they have no intention of getting involved in this subjugation."

"If it’s about the Lady Moon Cult’s recent situation, I know a little."

Bisabeol smiled faintly and continued.

"A problem arose with their Saintess."

"That doesn’t seem like a problem I should know about."

"They say madness is coming...."

"Please don’t tell me, I can’t even forget it."

"I don’t recall having a guild member with such a bad memory."

"That’s what I’m saying."

Yu Seong-un was fed up.

"Even if I’m studying a bit these days, I’m not a religion expert, you know that."

"It’s not that I’m asking you to resolve it."

"I know full well you wouldn’t have mentioned it in the first place if you didn’t expect anything from me."

"Well, let’s move past that part for a moment."

"We’re moving past it?"

"The Lady Moon Cult’s Saintess isn’t what’s important right now, is it?"

Bisabeol asked.

"What’s the atmosphere of the other two Guilds?"

"Haeryeong, as you well know, is excited at the news that there’s a fun fight to be had...."

"They’re famous moths."

Haeryeong was famous as a Guild whose members were, without exception, full of vitality.

’Full of vitality’ was putting it nicely; to put it bluntly, it was a Guild where fighting cocks gathered.

As such, it was a gathering place for tenacious warriors with good pain tolerance and poison immunity, who didn’t die easily.

Yu Seong-un continued.

"Daecheong is taciturn. It’s a feeling of being satisfied with bringing in a stable job."

"Because Daecheong is a typically competent Guild."

Daecheong was not a particularly conspicuous Guild.

Even though it was a fairly high-ranked Guild, it was at a level that fell far short compared to the other Guilds participating this time, but their strength was precisely in their ’sense of stability’.

"They do the basics wherever they go."

They didn’t have monstrously capable people like the 3 Great Guilds, nor did they have the incredible mental armament of Eunwol, nor were they a Guild crazy for battle like Haeryeong, but they do the basics wherever they go.

That was Daecheong’s strength.

Bisabeol smiled.

"It seems the cult put a lot of thought into it."

"It means they want an equally stable conquest."

"Because it’s a dungeon they failed to clear despite taking decent personnel."

"It seems there are also internal concerns about whether they are trying to commit excessively large personnel."

"There was that terror incident just last year, so they should be excessive."

The Solar Cult and the Lady Moon Cult were the two pillars representing the religious world, in a symbiotic and competitive relationship.

However, with last year’s ’Kingdom of the Deep Sea’ incident, the Solar Cult staggered once and its prestige was greatly broken, so the Solar Cult would also want to avoid failing a conquest twice as much as possible.

At that, Yu Seong-un nodded.

"Yes, I looked into it... and apart from its grade, it’s quite a tricky dungeon."

A fake moon and sun repeatedly appearing and disappearing as they please, making it difficult to distinguish the time of day, and most of the overgrown vegetation attacks the conquerors or emits poison.

Moreover, their forms are sharp, so they say just grazing them will slice your flesh.

"The plants are one thing, but the four-legged beast-form monsters that appear here are said to be very aggressive. They say they are hostile to everything that walks on two legs and try to eliminate them."

"If humans walk on all fours, do they let them off?"

"Instead of letting them off, they say they turn them into a fellow four-legged beast. They said the form of the beast it changes into differs depending on what actions the target took and what ideology they held in life, which was interesting."

"It has quite a strong assertion; it might be a dungeon close to the Source."

"So, they say one Gardener is going along this time. This is something I found out through my personal connections; it’s a Gardener belonging to Eunwol."

Gardeners seem like they belong to the government and the Association, but strictly speaking, they are not under their control.

They inherited their gardens from their respective masters and were living their own lives, taking responsibility in their own ways, like a kind of family business.

The Gardener belonging to Eunwol was one of them.

Just as Yu Seong-un was a Curator belonging to The Collectors, she, too, was a guild member belonging to the Eunwol Guild.

Gardeners were rare to see, but they existed everywhere.

"Because if it’s a dungeon close to the Source, they might be able to find valuable data."

"I seem to recall that the Eunwol guild leader doesn’t know Gardener’s identity."

"It’s a bit much to call it an identity... It’s not that big of a deal, it’s just like a side job, isn’t it."

For most guild members, having two jobs or three jobs was legal.

There were cases like Yu Seong-un, who revealed he was a Gardener himself so those around him knew, but most, like the Gardener from Eunwol, didn’t bother to announce they were Gardeners.

In the first place, few people know about the Source, so why would they explain everything just to suffer some troublesome hassle.

If not for Bisabeol’s obsession, Yu Seong-un wouldn’t have revealed it either.

"Well, I think it’s a good opportunity."

Yu Seong-un spoke as a Gardener.

"It’s a stable environment in many ways, isn’t it? For Jio’s first conquest."

"I fully agree with Curator Yu Seong-un’s words."

Bisabeol had a bored face.

"This is putting in a lot of thought."

"We’re sending the eyes of the Source among humans; frankly, even this isn’t enough."

"But Mr. Seo Jio doesn’t have the personality to cause trouble somewhere, does he?"

He clicked his tongue, tsk.

"With so many competent workers, I don’t know if it’ll even be an environment where our Seo Jio Hunter can run wild."

"I’m telling you, we’re not sending him out to relieve a fierce beast’s stress."

"How stifled must Mr. Argio be? When we haven’t even procured a proper battlefield for him...."

"I’m telling you that’s not the situation?"

But the purpose of this conquest was clear.

Argio was to establish himself in the human world as ’Seo Jio Hunter,’ and The Collectors were to observe ’Jio’s Portrait’ and analyze his condition.

To what extent is his violence, how is his goodwill expressed, in what way will he collaborate with humans, and in the end, what is the extent of the battle Argio wants.

Is he satisfied with sparring, is a prepared battle alright. Or is there truly no answer but a pure, bloody battle, and so on....

"Don’t you also feel like you want to go along to such an interesting event, Curator Yu Seong-un?"

"Of course, I want to go, I do. It’s none other than Jio’s first conquest, but...."

But the situation was not so favorable.

As a competent hunter and gardener, Yu Seong-un always had many people seeking his help, and because of that, it was already the 5th day he had stayed up all night.

"Even if I try to participate in the conquest in this terrible condition, the religious order won’t accept me."

"It seems like it’d work out somehow if you recover with Jio’s gift, but I also think this opportunity isn’t bad."

Bisabeol gave a sullen smile.

"Isn’t it about time Mr. Seo Jio became independent from Curator Yu Seong-un’s embrace?"

"A work of art must not become independent from its Curator. As if we need to collapse this already precarious Earth."

"Anyway, since it’s come to this, The Collectors can’t just send Seo Jio Hunter alone, either."

"Why do you say something so obvious as if you’re doing a great favor...."

Yu Seong-un was dumbfounded.

"You’re sending out the Source; were you really planning to send him alone?"

"I know it’s dangerous, too, that’s why I’m trying to attach them now. Escort personnel."

"Shouldn’t that be surveillance personnel, not escorts?"

"It’s probably closer to attendant personnel, though...."

"If you show too much favoritism, Jio will feel burdened instead."

"That’s why I’m thinking of putting in just one Curator."

"Ah."

Yu Seong-un nodded.

"Are you thinking of sending the 5th Floor Manager?"

"Among the floor managers, he’s the most finely mad."

"He’s someone whose love for art is outstanding."

"I’ll look for the rest from the Resolution Team and the Field Staff."

"That’s just right."

"Isn’t it?"

Bisabeol grinned.

He was already looking forward to what kind of appearance the portrait would show.

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