Chapter 46
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 46
Gio returned to his cabin.
"..."
Only now, after belatedly assessing the danger posed by the young man at Gyeongbokgung, did he finally turn his attention to the reward he’d received from the System.
"I was busy."
Reward: Seal
"Busy eating," he added.
He knew the System didn’t have a consciousness, but he found himself making excuses anyway.
"So, I was wondering what this 'Seal' was..."
Gio stared at the stamp, which looked as if it had been carved from marble.
"..."
He held the stamp up to the softly glowing lamp. It shone with a clear, beautiful light, like sunlight filtering through a thin sheet of fabric.
It resembled marble, but its composition felt entirely different. Looking down at the small pillar, which seemed to pulse with a faint, living heartbeat, Gio muttered, "Where have I seen this before?"
"Kururuk?"
"This is absolutely not food, so don’t give me those greedy eyes, Honey. No matter how much you love gems, this is going too far. If you really want marble, go to the spring where the trees have bark like stone."
"Kkoong-kkoong-kkoong..."
"Acting cute won’t work, either."
The System was capable of evolving Gio from an utterly ordinary human into his current, incomprehensible state. There was no way a seal granted by such an entity would be ordinary, so he couldn’t just let Honey gobble it up.
"Hmm..."
After examining it from various angles, Gio reached a conclusion.
"Is it a sealing wax stamp?"
Sealing wax—an item used to secure letters, chosen more for aesthetics than anything else. This appeared to be a stamp used to press into melted wax, leaving behind a beautiful, elegant design. In other words, a type of seal.
In the era Gio came from, it was an item valued more for its aesthetic sentimentality than any practical use. But that aside...
"I don’t have any wax."
"Kkuk?"
"And I don’t have anyone to send a carefully decorated letter to, either."
"...Kuru..."
"It brings tears to my eyes."
A lonely firefly, that’s me.
"No friends at all."
"..."
"...Maybe it’s telling me to find a pen pal."
He had no idea why the System had given him such an item, but since he was clueless anyway, Gio decided to interpret it however he pleased.
This was undoubtedly the System’s way of looking out for him, encouraging the friendless Gio to make new connections.
"Then, for starters, I’ll send a letter to Mr. Yoo Seong-un."
His easiest target: Yoo Seong-un.
And so, Yoo Seong-un, a tired and weary modern man, was once again subjected to an unexpected ordeal out of the blue.
* * *
"..."
Returning home after work, Yoo Seong-un nearly had a heart attack.
"...A letter? Why is a letter..."
An unfamiliar letter was sitting on his living room table.
"..."
Looking around, he muttered, "There are no signs of a break-in."
Thanks to Guild Master Bisabeol, who was meticulous about his employees' safety, the security on Seong-un’s residence was tight enough that anyone below S-Rank would have no hope of infiltrating it. Finding a strange letter sitting in the open in such a secure home was naturally shocking.
Exhaling a short sigh, Yoo Seong-un calmly collected his thoughts and sat on the sofa beside the table.
"Let’s see what this is."
Rustle.
The envelope rustled like dried grass.
"..."
Dried grass.
"...Gio?"
For some reason, he had a strong feeling he knew who the sender was.
I’m not entirely sure, but it feels like him.
The envelope felt similar to traditional Korean paper, hanji, but it was much drier. And far softer. As Yoo Seong-un stared at the outer envelope, which was as pitch-black as Gio’s eyes, his gaze soon fell upon the seal holding it shut.
It had the texture of a glittering gemstone.
"Oh..."
It was definitely Gio’s.
...It looks like he melted a gemstone as if it were candle wax while keeping its crystalline structure intact to press the seal. I have no idea how such a bizarre feat is even possible, but it’s dreamlike and beautiful, like something out of a fairy tale.
This kind of bizarre quality was uniquely characteristic of Gio. One might say he possessed a strange, poetic sensibility.
"A seal..."
It was a pattern he had never seen before.
"...Does it look a bit like... the portrait?"
Plants spread outward from a rectangular border, with a stylized, star-like pattern inside. For some reason, the seal reminded him of 'Gio’s Portrait' hanging in Bisabeol’s Gallery.
"He certainly has a distinct taste."
From his actions to his style, Gio gave off the strong vibe of a medieval fantasy noble.
Or perhaps a fairy-tale-like sensibility.
He recalled Gio mentioning he lived in a cabin, which made him seem like quite a peaceful fellow.
"Well, let’s see what’s inside."
He carefully peeled back the seal—which felt worthy of scientific study—to avoid damaging it, revealing the pure white letter inside. Pulling it out, Yoo Seong-un slowly read the pitch-black handwriting.
"..."
And then, he let out a deep sigh.
"...I can’t read a single word of this..."
If he was going to send a letter, he should have written it in an Earth language.
...I thought he knew a bit about Korean culture, so I expected the letter to be in Korean. I guess that was asking too much. It’s not like Gio is an actual Korean.
He stared at it again, wondering if he could decipher it, but the text was entirely unrecognizable. It didn’t even seem to have the consistent structure of a real language, leaving Yoo Seong-un utterly baffled.
"It’ll be a real headache if this is some kind of cursed letter."
He didn’t think Gio would suddenly send him something malicious, but Existences of the Origin weren’t entities one could make assumptions about. If it was an item that inflicted a curse upon failing to decipher it, that would be a major problem.
"..."
Sensing no such ominous energy, Yoo Seong-un relaxed slightly.
"...I was planning to go see him tomorrow anyway, so I’ll just ask him then."
As long as it wasn’t a bomb set to detonate immediately, it didn’t matter much.
Yoo Seong-un carefully replaced the letter in the envelope to keep it from getting creased. The blue gem seal, which possessed absolutely no stickiness, was cold and smooth, but its weight held the flap down without slipping.
"I really can’t figure him out."
Was he supposed to consider this a 'Fragment of the Work' too?
"He certainly has a knack for giving people heart attacks..."
He wondered when he would finally learn Gio’s true identity.
The thought was exhausting.
* * *
"Gio."
At dawn the next day, Yoo Seong-un went to see Gio.
"This... is this the letter you sent?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"I knew it was you."
"..."
The portrait’s face remained expressionless, but he asked as if puzzled, "I wrote my name on the letter. Did you not check it?"
"Ah, about that..."
Yoo Seong-un pulled out the letter with an awkward expression.
"I’m sorry, especially since you went through the trouble of sending it, but how am I supposed to read a letter written in a language I don’t know? If it’s not in an Earth language, I can’t understand it."
"...I see."
Pausing for a moment, Gio continued, "But to my recollection, I wrote the letter to you in Korean."
"Huh? Really?"
"Yes. I believe an unexpected issue occurred during the delivery process. Much like how you all perceive the resolution of this portrait to be distorted."
"Oh... Well, that... certainly makes sense..."
It was a plausible explanation.
The language in the letter didn’t have any discernible pattern, after all.
Gio’s letter was like something typed on a broken typewriter; while the outward format appeared neat, the actual language and syntax were utterly chaotic.
In this regard, Gio’s explanation might very well be correct.
If he means 'resolution,' he’s probably referring to Gio’s stature that we discussed before...
Just like the immense pressure and dread one felt from the Gio outside the portrait.
Looking at it that way, the frame holding this portrait definitely seems to act as a sort of filter... A filter meant to contain an existence like Gio, whom humans cannot comprehend.
If the language had been scrambled and distorted while passing through that filter, the current state of the letter made sense. If the frame could suppress even Gio’s stature, then a mere language would undoubtedly undergo even greater distortion.
"That’s a bit unfortunate for the sender," Gio remarked.
"I apologize for startling you."
"It’s fine, but what did the letter actually say?"
"Nothing special. Just a brief expression of gratitude and a casual greeting."
"...But didn’t you have your own rules?"
A sudden question occurred to Yoo Seong-un, and he asked casually, "To bring an object out of a painting, someone has to pay a price. But I don’t recall giving you any compensation."
"I thought about that as well, but it seems the Seal allowed me to bypass that rule."
"The Seal?"
"It is a seal I obtained by chance. It seems that if I stamp something with that mark, I do not need to receive compensation."
"Hmm, really?"
As expected, the 1:1 Rule didn’t seem to be something Gio had established by choice.
Seeing how he even figured out a way to bypass the rule...
If so, Gio’s rules were likely a sort of defense mechanism to prevent his massive stature from overflowing and destroying reality. It was probably the result of the 'frame' acting as a filter, just as he had thought.
But if he’s devised a way to bypass that suppression using something like a seal...
From the perspective of a fragile Earthling, that was actually quite terrifying.
...Even if Gio isn’t the type to enjoy tormenting others, an existence of his stature can unintentionally crush people. If the rules imposed on him exist to protect Earthlings, then his tendency to casually bypass them is something I must watch out for.
In any case, he was somewhat relieved. He had lost sleep after receiving that bizarrely creepy letter, but as expected, it wasn’t a dangerous bomb meant to harm him.
"You really startled me. I came home from work and suddenly found an unfamiliar letter sitting there..."
"I apologize. I did not expect the letter to be delivered in such a manner either."
"I take it you don’t usually send letters?"
"Yes, however..."
Gio uncharacteristically trailed off.
"I was hoping to make a new friend."
"..."
Taking a slow, deep breath, Yoo Seong-un asked in his usual tone, "...A new friend?"
"It is somewhat embarrassing to admit, but you are the only one I converse with, Mr. Yoo Seong-un. I wanted to send a letter to you first before attempting to forge new connections."
"That was... a very wise decision."
Though Yoo Seong-un tended to coddle Gio because he was an Existence of the Origin, that didn’t mean he was blind to how dangerous Gio truly was.
Yoo Seong-un had handled it calmly, but an ordinary person would have been terrified by a letter radiating such a bizarre aura. Especially if they were a civilian rather than a Hunter.
"Other people might get really scared, so I’d appreciate it if you could be a bit mindful of that."
"I will be more careful next time."
"I’d appreciate that."
Rubbing the back of his neck, Yoo Seong-un followed up, "But how do you plan on finding this 'new connection'?"
How was Gio, who remained confined inside his portrait, going to make a 'new friend'? An ordinary person would move around or make friends online, but none of those options applied to Gio.
"Is that letter delivered randomly to anyone?"
"No. The recipient must be precise for the delivery to succeed."
"Which was the case with me."
"I believe I will need to think a bit more about how to make a new friend."
"Hmm..."
Was this the perfect opening?
Recalling his conversation with Guild Master Bisabeol, Yoo Seong-un asked Gio, "Gio, by any chance, can you move to other dungeons?"
"Not just outside the portrait, but to a dungeon?"
"Yes."
"..."
Gio blinked twice, seemingly lost in thought for a moment before replying, "In the case of a world I have painted..."
"Hmm?"
A painted world?
"Did you just say, 'a world you have painted'..."
"Yes. In the case of a world I have painted, I can move to it without much difficulty."
"Huh?"
"However, the dungeons you speak of, Mr. Yoo Seong-un, do not seem to refer to spaces I have painted. Are you referring to dungeons whose entrances already exist on Earth, which Earthlings can also visit?"
"...Uh, yes..."
Though his mind was reeling, Yoo Seong-un maintained as calm a demeanor as possible as he answered.
"Right. I mean dungeons that already have entrances on Earth, which Hunters like me can visit."
Mentally upgrading Gio’s danger rating yet again, Yoo Seong-un continued, "You’ve created portraits here and there to move around the company building, right? So I was wondering if your portrait could be found in other dungeons as well. If so, that would mean you could visit those dungeons too."
"I have not attempted that yet."
Having said that, Gio quickly added, "But it sounds like it would be fun."
Gio showed interest.
I’m glad I anticipated this.
'Gio’s Portrait' was surprisingly driven by curiosity and entertainment. He had already predicted that if he asked such a question, Gio might get highly intrigued and immediately try it.
Perhaps because he possesses intelligence on par with or superior to humans, it’s a bit difficult to read his behavioral patterns. But since he’s shown this much interest... it’s best to make a proposal within a manageable scope.
As Bisabeol had said, a mere human like Yoo Seong-un couldn’t control Gio’s actions. Even putting aside any personal feelings, that was simply a fact.
There was objectively no way to stop Gio, who considered himself human, from venturing out into society. He could go anywhere and create anything simply by painting.
In that case, it’s better to at least guide his direction. Even if I can’t stop him from traveling, I can at least recommend places for him to go.
Yoo Seong-un pulled a sheet of paper from his briefcase.
"Then how about places like these?"
"What is this?"
"I’ve compiled a list of dungeons where your presence wouldn’t cause a massive uproar."
He had chosen locations where potential casualties would be minimized.
"They have low rewards and low popularity, so Hunters rarely visit them. And they aren’t terrifying enough to pose any danger to you..."
"..."
"I thought this might be a good option if you want to experience the environment outside your portrait. If you move around actively like this, you might run into other Hunters when you visit these dungeons. That would also increase your chances of making new friends."
Perhaps Yoo Seong-un’s proposal didn’t sound offensive, as Gio nodded.
"Thank you."
"I hope it helps."
"Yes. As a token of my gratitude, I have something to give you."
"A gift?"
"The jerky I made previously has dried nicely."
"...I see..."
He never imagined Gio would go as far as making jerky.
There’s no way it’s ordinary jerky.
He felt that if he kept living like this, he might not live out his natural lifespan—though in a completely different sense.
I hope I don’t become so healthy that I end up living forever and becoming immortal...
A sudden chill ran down Yoo Seong-un’s spine.
* * *
After Yoo Seong-un departed with the jerky, Gio pondered as he looked over the list of dungeons he had been given.
"Honey, let’s pick one."
"Kururuk."
"We’ll go to whichever dungeon the gem you spit out lands on."
"Kkukkuru-rururuk."
"I knew you’d like that."
The dungeon list Yoo Seong-un had handed him included photos of the interiors. It seemed these were dungeons that the people called Hunters had already finished exploring.
Soon, Honey spat out a gem with a soft plop.
"..."
"..."
"This is the place."
Vein of Jewels
"..."
Jewels?
"A Vein of Jewels."
"Kururu."
"...I get it."
"Kurururururururururu."
"I said I get it, so stop..."
"Kururururururu..."
"Stop it."
He really couldn’t resist anything shiny.
Does he actually know how to read Korean?
Gio became highly suspicious that Honey had spat it there on purpose.