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Chapter 169: Chapter 169

That an evil thing asks for an invitation is common folklore.

There were things that even Divinity, which seems like it would be omniscient and omnipotent, could only accomplish by asking for permission.

Like not being able to enter another’s house carelessly, not being able to come out unless helped, well, such things.

"...."

"...."

The guild members exchanged gazes with each other.

"...Mr. Seo Jio?"

At the resolution team member’s question, the voice outside the door answered.

"Yes, my name is Seo Jio."

The contradictory emptiness of that voice makes one doubt for a moment.

The Collectors where all kinds of bizarre artworks gather was basically a place with many ghost stories.

They were clearly waiting for ’Mr. Seo Jio’, but they came to worry if perhaps their current wrong choice might bring about disaster.

At that time, the 5th Floor Master Curator Garasani rose from his seat.

"Floor Master."

"What is the worry?"

"Ah, that is...."

"...."

"...I am sorry."

"Tsk."

Garasani, who scanned his juniors, soon opened the meeting room door.

"...."

"Welcome, Mr. Seo Jio."

In front of it stood a platinum-haired male.

Hair flowing softly and eyes containing the summer sea.

Garasani did not meet that gaze directly but bowed his waist showing courtesy toward the artwork.

He was a servant of countless artworks.

"We were waiting."

"Am I not late?"

"No, you came right on time."

The current time was 4 PM, the exact promised time.

The resolution team member who had entered the meeting room first saw the large male visible beyond Curator Garasani.

Contrary to that color that seemed like warm sunshine would smear off, it was an expressionless face to the extent of being creepy.

’They said he resembled a funeral.’

Clean without a single speck, but heavier than that, and also of gloomy air....

"...."

Ah.

’...Our eyes met.’

It curved its eyes softly.

"Nice to meet you."

Death resembling a corpse became sunshine in an instant.

One could easily realize that that is a monster imitating a human.

***

The position the Black Cape held within The Collectors was ’artwork under free-range grazing’.

The so-called ’Mr. Seo Jio’ could be encountered within The Collectors building without difficulty.

That was sometimes in human form and sometimes in portrait form.

And the employees refrained from stories regarding him as much as possible.

There is also the reason that they don’t want to receive a curse just in case, but the most representative reason is....

’If caught, I’m fucked.’

’Additional work absolutely declined....’

’As long as it’s not me.’

Yes, they didn’t want to know the complicated circumstances.

"Ah, of all things he is favorable to humans."

"How good would it have been if his sociability was rock bottom...."

No matter if Bisabeol treats his guild members as his collections, that doesn’t mean he treats them below human.

He was strictly distinguishing between collections that are human and artworks that are not human.

Would such Bisabeol be crazy to graze a dangerous ghost story within the office building?

In the same context, this ghost story ’Mr. Seo Jio’ was exceptionally kind to humans, and this meant the more they built friendship with him, the bigger the possibility of them doing additional work became.

"Look at Mr. Yu Seong-un."

There was also a very appropriate example.

"Poor person, he probably can’t even return home."

"But wasn’t Curator Yu Seong-un originally busy too?"

"The fact that he came to undertake various additional tasks related to Mr. Seo Jio doesn’t change."

"Ah, that is indeed so. I must absolutely not get involved."

It had become like that.

Because of that, the guild members of The Collectors pretended not to know even if they saw ’Mr. Seo Jio’ if possible.

While keeping manners to the maximum according to instructions, they truly gritted their teeth and avoided his existence.

They didn’t want to get close to the eye of the typhoon and be swept up in a disaster.

Also, there were many people who feared ’Mr. Seo Jio’ and tried to be careful.

"Being favorable is being favorable, and we don’t know how he might suddenly change later."

"As a guild member of The Collectors, I respect the existence and words and actions of ’Mr. Seo Jio’ but... he is scary though."

"Rather than that, do we necessarily have to pretend to know a ghost story...?"

They did not consider ’Mr. Seo Jio’ as a human needing interaction. That was a type of natural phenomenon, and a ghost story itself that dug into their daily lives quietly and drearily.

There would be few people who want to pretend to know ghost stories like the Red Mask still existing in Korea.

It means one would necessarily want to build personal friendship with a nurse ghost wandering the hospital late at night, or a woman in a white dress on a roadside without human presence.

"No well, if necessary I will do it but."

"If ordered, I will do it."

"If requested, I will do it."

The competent and overflowing with responsibility employees of The Collectors absolutely didn’t do work not ordered, and this matter was the same.

Even if an order fell, they would have accepted it with a feeling like ’Saying good words once to a flowerpot!’.

"But isn’t this bullying within the workplace?"

"...Was that something applied to artworks too?"

"Ah, indeed that is so."

To them, ’Mr. Seo Jio’ was Bisabeol’s eerie artwork.

That was just something in human shape, not a real human, and therefore they didn’t feel the necessity of special interaction either.

If he were really a workplace colleague, they would have tried attaching even affectionate words at least once.

Since The Collectors guild members had severe individualism, not that they couldn’t do social life.

But isn’t ’Mr. Seo Jio’ an artwork?

"I ran into Mr. Seo Jio yesterday."

"You came to work right away today bravely."

"Since he was gentler than I thought, well... it was okay."

"You must have lived kindly usually."

"I exchanged names smoothly and came back receiving a gift."

"That’s clean."

’Mr. Seo Jio Response Policy’ that Bisabeol distributed before also played a part in this atmosphere.

Now to them, ’Mr. Seo Jio’ is a perception around the level of ’an eerie artwork from which one can receive a gift if one converses successfully when encountered with rare probability’.

So although not a workplace colleague, should I call it treatment around the level of a chilling natural phenomenon coexisting within the workplace.

The guild members of The Collectors adapted to ’Mr. Seo Jio’ in their own way.

"...."

"...."

And returning again, the meeting room where the dispatch team gathered.

’...Is this Mr. Seo Jio heard only in words? The Black Cape who gives gifts to kind people....’

’Certainly the coercion is extraordinary, the appearance is a perfect human but so it is more heterogeneous.’

’I heard he is skilled in interaction with intelligent creatures, I wonder how far human imitation is possible.’

A subtle tension lingered in that place.

They became a team with the famous ghost story within the office building, not anything else.

As much as he is an artwork Bisabeol cherishes, there would be few occasions for them to become dangerous, but confirming its existence directly, they couldn’t not be nervous.

’No matter how I look, the impression that he is perfect is strong.’

’Feeling like I am looking at an ideal, something that cannot exist....’

Its appearance was tremendously beautiful, and the physique was neither too thin nor thick.

That figure which seemed to fit the average utopia rather grew his inhuman impression strongly.

’Is he taking such a form because he wants to give a favorable impression to other humans?’

Especially in Korea where people feel great attraction to the opponent’s appearance, it was just the right strategy.

Actually, there were also many guild members who fell for that beauty. As if looking at a tremendously valuable jewel or relic.

"...."

A silver-haired woman with copper skin color scanned the situation.

Since the 5th Floor Master who opened the door for ’Mr. Seo Jio’ stepped back, this was a silent pressure sent to other employees.

’Does it mean to mingle properly.’

Since it is a special situation, I don’t know if I can receive a gift, but according to the action guidelines, the thing to do first was exchanging names with the Black Cape.

The woman who finished organizing her thoughts rose from her seat and welcomed ’Mr. Seo Jio’.

"Mr. Seo Jio?"

"Yes, my name is Seo Jio."

"I was surprised because you are a more handsome man than I heard, you know."

"Is it a face you like?"

"It would be hard not to like?"

She greeted trembling with that characteristic wit of hers.

"Nice to meet you, I am called Yu Ji-na."

"It is Miss Yu Ji-na. What should I call you?"

"You may call me like just now, or call me Ji-na comfortably."

She, a resolution team member, curved her eyes coyly.

"Please take care of me well in this conquest."

Indeed, he was truly like a human.

’...Does he not know that looking a little incomplete looks closer to a human? But he just looks excessively ideally perfect, the rest is just like a human. If it’s mimicry of this degree, people who don’t know the identity of this will be deceived helplessly. It is so skilled that it is rather dangerous.’

From him, there was almost no sense of incongruity that other bizarre mysteries reveal during mimicry.

That sense of incongruity is also just ’excessively ideal’, isn’t it that there is nothing that can be defined clearly.

’They said at first human imitation wasn’t experienced to this extent, maybe he is growing....’

The growth of an unidentified mystery is bound to stimulate human fear.

Yu Ji-na tried hard to shake off the fear she felt and continued the introduction containing goodwill.

"This side is Mr. Kang Neu-ru and Miss Dan-mi!"

To that, the field employees sent gazes to Yu Ji-na as if grateful and opened their mouths.

"Hello, I am Kang Neu-ru, field employee of The Collectors."

"I am also the same affiliation as Mr. Neu-ru. I am called Dan-mi. Please take care of us well."

At the smooth introduction, Yu Ji-na shrugged her shoulders.

"One more person is scheduled to come from our resolution team too, but it seems she is a little late attending to work on the 1st floor."

At that point, the 5th Floor Master stepped forward.

"I am sorry, Mr. Seo Jio. If you permit, I will go and catch her."

If another person saw, they might think ’she might be a little late, isn’t he coming out too low-profile’, but the opponent was the gallery’s artwork.

The number of artworks that were massacred for the reason of breaking the appointment time was not that small.

The reason they didn’t catch the remaining personnel beforehand was in the fact that ’Mr. Seo Jio’s standard is generous.

He revealed only slight displeasure toward rude people, and showed tolerant handling under the premise that the same mistake is not repeated.

’But it is unknown how far he will overlook.’

Therefore, the 5th Floor Master stepped forward first and examined the artwork’s mood.

"If you are very unpleasant...."

"I think she could be busy."

Fortunately, ’Mr. Seo Jio’ did not express unpleasantness.

"Since you said work arose suddenly, it is an unavoidable thing."

"Thank you for understanding."

"I am truly grateful for the utmost treatment, but on one hand, it is a sorry heart."

He folded his gentle eyes and smiled, mimicking ’awkwardness’.

"Are you scared of me?"

"No."

The 5th Floor Master showed a vivid smile like an old man seeing a grown grandson.

"It is just an honor."

That was a smile Curator Garasani showed solely to artworks only.

"We are already faces knowing each other, but for Mr. Seo Jio, we must still be unfamiliar. Since it is a seat to become familiar with each other before the conquest, I hope Mr. Seo Jio also joins us comfortably."

"Thank you for giving much consideration."

"Don’t mention it... Since Mr. Seo Jio mainly works at dawn and shows your face, probably you won’t know these people’s faces well. Let’s try becoming familiar with each other by conversing slowly."

Curator Garasani seated ’Mr. Seo Jio’ safely like that, but he was not relieved.

It was because the employees stiffened due to the coercion and energy close to death this existence of the Source basically possessed.

Although they hid it in their own way, it was visible in Garasani’s eyes.

’And if it is visible to my eyes, naturally it will be more visible to Mr. Seo Jio.’

It was a worrisome part.

’They must match the roleplay Mr. Seo Jio wants well.’

Curator Garasani could cope skillfully as he had many such experiences, but to the resolution team or the field team, it would be a little difficult task.

Doing acting following a bizarre mystery’s claim, that is.

Thinking so, Garasani put down teacups in front of the team members.

"It is Ajanka tea prepared newly this time."

"Oh, the Floor Master’s tea brewing skill is reliable."

"I ask for light appreciation reviews."

Thinking he hopes they adapt to each other safely by all means, Garasani smiled.

***

Rattle─!

A woman opened the meeting room door and entered.

"I am sorry, the resolution became lo...!"

And then she stiffened.

"Ah Mr. Jio is really too funny!"

"You really did that like that? Not a joke?"

"Crazy... the smiling tyrant of the sea village... suits too well...."

"No, how can a person be like that, should I call this amazing?"

A harmonious atmosphere unimaginable.

"...."

"Ah, welcome."

And the platinum-haired priest at the center of it saw the resolution team member who, pitifully, stiffened hard, unable to understand the situation.

He said with a soft beautiful voice likely to melt everyone.

"My name is Seo Jio."

"Eh? Ah, yes."

"How does your name become?"

"It’s... Kim Na-na."

"I see."

The Black Cape asked calmly.

"Will you converse with me?"

"...."

Isn’t this a typical brainwashing scene?

’...Just what did he do to my colleagues?’

Goosebumps rose all over resolution team member Kim Na-na’s spine.

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