062. 사막
Seo Dan-bi had finished the desert helper bestiary. The model was the Devoted Hero Ellis. The helper using the nickname SquishSquish.
"It's hard to draw it exactly the same... but from memory, it felt something like this."
She muttered as she held up the drawing. Then Ellis's chat popped up.
"Yeah. Does it not look like you at all?"
Luckily, there didn't seem to be much difference between the freshly drawn picture and Ellis's actual appearance.
I've got a surprisingly good memory.
The other helpers couldn't hide their surprise upon seeing Ellis's drawing.
"Just 'cause. Got bored."
I gave a casual answer. Truth was, drawing calmed my mind, so I wanted to sketch something. Nothing came to mind, so I went with Ellis.
Creating from scratch was tougher. Having a model let me move the brush without overthinking. Cleared my head and soothed my heart.
Come to think of it, she had a half-sister with the hero title. I suddenly wondered how she was doing.
"Ellis. Your... sister... she's still alive, right?"
I hesitated a bit before asking carefully. Most strong folks from Elemen西亚 were dead, she'd said. I hoped her sister had survived.
"...Good to hear."
The helpers chimed in one after another. They had great empathy.
The helpers kept chatting among themselves for a while. Then out of nowhere.
Starting with Ha Yu-mi's message,
The rest started demanding portraits too.
It felt like watching a protest. Pruru was especially rowdy, like a one-woman demo.
Anyway, if they wanted drawings, I'd oblige. No favoritism.
Though I had no intention of drawing now.
"I'll draw you all later."
"When I feel like it."
"Too tough right now. I drew Ellis so intensely my hand's fatigued."
Surprisingly, Pruru defended me. For the record, I wasn't fatigued at all. Just too lazy to draw more.
"When I have time, I'll draw everyone. Send a photo each in the meantime."
"What photo? Selfie, obviously."
"Yumi, you too."
"Nope. So send it."
Of course I remembered Ha Yu-mi's face. Shin So-mang's vaguely too. It'd only been under three years.
But like with Ellis, not crystal clear, so photos would help for detailed drawings.
Looked like it'd take a while for photos.
I zoomed in on Iris's fourth squad screen.
Kinogine Arachne. Azeras.
The two SS-grade monsters were slowly approaching the massive door at the end of Cave 2.
As the helpers discussed threat levels, Squad 4 had reached the massive door.
Kinogine caressed the door, then looked at Iris.
"Yeah. Might be dangerous, so be careful."
Kinogine nodded.
The massive door creaked open, slicing through the cave's darkness. A deep rumble echoed off the walls, shattering the silence.
Light streamed through the widening gap, revealing a dazzling sight beyond: an endless expanse of golden sand desert.