Chapter 72
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 72
Of course, exchanging names was a common and convenient way to socialize.
"But… how should I put this? Have you ever gotten the feeling that something that isn’t human at all is pretending to be one?"
"Monsters often attempt mimicry to lure humans," the researcher replied. "For instance, the Jangsanbeom, a monster that has yet to be subjugated, mimics human voices. Among overseas monsters, there are specimens that wear human skin or learn human language."
The hunter shook her head at the researcher’s words.
"It wasn’t that clumsy. Like I said, even though it was obvious he wasn’t human, on some deep level, I felt certain he was."
"Yes, you did say that."
"It’s a similar context." With a troubled expression, the hunter struggled to find the right words. "The 'Black Cloak' was definitely not human. But there was no awkwardness in how he acted like one. In the case of the monsters you just mentioned, a single aspect might seem perfect… but they don’t look like a complete, perfect human, do they?"
"..."
"On the other hand, there was no such dissonance with the 'Black Cloak.' The sense of incongruity was overwhelming, but at the same time, he was a perfect human. That was…"
"A perfect human?" the researcher interjected, staring straight at the hunter. "Humans cannot be perfect."
"That’s the problem," the hunter said, nodding. "He was too perfect."
The Black Cloak’s behavior that day hadn’t felt unnatural for a human, yet the uncanny sense of wrongness had been immense.
"It was as if he wasn’t born human, but became human later…"
"That’s not a very concrete description."
"You know what they call a hunter’s intuition? A gut feeling? It’s that sense you get, even without clear evidence, that tells you, 'Wow, this is truly bizarre. I can’t just let this slide.' I think that’s the kind of feeling I got."
The hunter let out a dry laugh. "Though, calling it 'intuition' is a bit of a stretch, since anyone would have seen he wasn’t human. If you put anyone, regardless of age or gender, in front of him, they would immediately think, Oh, that’s not a human. So it shouldn’t be defined by a vague sense like intuition."
He was exceedingly polite. His voice, which seeped into the ears with a didactic quality, felt more like a whisper directly to the brain than a sound produced by a mouth. It was so quiet that calling it a "sound" felt embarrassing. He was like a peaceful grave.
"I just mean that the sensation I felt was that contradictory and vague. It’s so hard to explain. If you saw the 'Black Cloak' yourself, you’d probably understand what I mean."
"Hmm…" the researcher mused, sounding puzzled. "You seem surprisingly favorable toward the 'Black Cloak'."
"…What? Me? Do I?"
"You might not realize it, but what you just said sounded less like 'I hope you get a taste of this too' and more like 'I want to introduce him to you.' Did I misunderstand?"
"..."
After hesitating for a long time, the hunter spoke with difficulty. "…I suppose you’re right. I am favorable toward him."
"I’m not criticizing you; it’s a genuine question, so there’s no need to be defensive. I’m simply curious how you could harbor such goodwill toward an obvious object of terror."
"Ah… this is so hard…" Sighing, the hunter continued, "…I don’t know if this is a sufficient answer, but I think it’s because he was incredibly kind to us."
"A monster, to humans?"
"Didn’t I write that in the report?"
"I understand how he acted, but that alone doesn’t make sense to me. Could you explain?"
"..." After a moment of thought, the hunter nodded. "It would be best to start from when we first met."
She recalled what had happened in the 'Deep Sea Kingdom.'
That black, massive cloak.
* * *
"Team Leader."
It was right after they had fled from the humanoid monster 'Iser' and the creatures he had brought with him.
"There are no other monsters nearby."
"Are you sure? Any traps?"
"None of those either. We all checked together, so it’s certain."
"That’s a bit strange…" Hunter Jeong Da-un, the team leader, knew the situation was bizarre. "It’s not like the master of the Dungeon is unaware of our location. It makes no sense for there to be no monsters in this area. It’s not like this is a Safe Zone."
"It definitely doesn’t look like one…"
A Safe Zone was a literally 'safe area' that existed in some Dungeons. Sometimes, when a Dungeon had multiple masters, monsters would avoid a certain spot to prevent conflict between factions, creating such a zone.
There are exceptional cases where a Safe Zone just exists, unrelated to territorial disputes, but this doesn’t feel like that either.
Furthermore, there was objective evidence. "There are too many traces of monsters passing through for this to be a Safe Zone."
"An area that was originally crawling with monsters suddenly cleared out?"
It was not a good sign.
"Then the only explanation is that an even stronger monster has intruded…?"
Thinking about it that way, the reaction of 'Iser,' whom they had faced just moments ago, was also strange.
"He seemed flustered, as if something had gone wrong with the Dungeon."
"Yes, considering how the very air of the entire Dungeon shook, there must have been a problem. This Dungeon seems closely linked to its master."
"For a humanoid monster to be shaken like that, it would have to be a monster far stronger than him. But if that’s the case…"
"…We won’t be safe either."
"Ah, we are completely screwed."
In their panicked flight, they hadn’t realized just how dangerous this place was.
"We walked right into the tiger’s den."
The space where a monster strong enough to rattle the humanoid 'Iser' had intruded was likely the very place they were in now.
"At the very least, it must be nearby."
"…We were just so out of it…"
"Yeah, well, we would have died anyway if we hadn’t come here."
It wasn’t that they hadn’t suspected something was off on their way here, but they had no choice. In their battered, exhausted state, they wouldn’t have been able to defeat the other monsters and clear the Dungeon.
"…Whew…" Jeong Da-un forced a smile. "Well, maybe it’s a monster we can reason with."
"True."
Even though they knew the chances of that were slim to none, the hunters chuckled among themselves. They had realized long ago that they might die here, and because of that, they had already prepared themselves mentally.
"Who knows? Maybe if we beg on our knees, it’ll spare us."
Joking like that, the hunters took a rest.
"Hey, rest up. Once we leave here, it’s war again anyway."
"Right… I mean, if we don’t rest now, when will we?"
"Ugh, my legs… Anyone got a potion?"
This allowed them to regroup, but as time passed, their anxiety grew.
"…Why isn’t the monster coming?"
"…Just how strong is this thing that it’s ignoring a free meal laid right in front of it?"
The time monsters attacked most frequently was, of course, when hunters were forced to regroup. Hunters who had reached their limits, their equipment weakened, made for excellent snacks.
"And yet, it’s still not coming?"
Even the humanoid monster they had been facing had fled in a panic. They couldn’t even begin to guess what on earth was happening in this Dungeon.
"We can’t just sit still."
"But if we move rashly, we might anger both monsters at the same time."
"Staying here is its own problem, though."
"You’re right, but…"
"..."
"…Ah."
While soothing her teammate, Hunter Jeong Da-un’s gaze landed on something.
"Team Leader? What is—"
"..."
"..."
Something pitch black entered the hunters' field of vision.
"A-A person?"
"Is it a survivor?"
"No, that’s…"
It was a man draped in a black cloak.
"Hello."
"..."
"I am a portrait."
"…Uh…"
"What are your names?"
"U-Uh…"
"I am curious about your names."
That was their first meeting with the Black Cloak.
"Would you like to converse with me?"
* * *
"..."
The researcher shrugged. "Just hearing that, I don’t feel any goodwill at all."
"That’s true. In the first place, something that isn’t human asking for a human’s name is terrifying in itself. It was the same for me and my teammates."
"..."
"But maybe we felt a little relieved just by the fact that communication seemed possible." Unlike 'Iser,' whose desire to tear humans apart was as vivid as a color, the 'Black Cloak,' who approached silently and requested a conversation, didn’t exude even a shred of hostility. "If you’re asking if his very existence wasn’t terrifying, that’s absolutely not the case, but…"
Even so, they felt relieved.
"…How should I put it? It felt like receiving a favor from a being of incredibly high status."
"…By 'incredibly high status,' do you mean a god? If so, it becomes difficult to call it a monster. Though rare, there are gods who visit Dungeons in forms that humans can perceive, so please keep that in mind when you answer."
"No, I know what gods are like. They are beings close to nature or destiny, possessing a will of their own. But speaking as a follower of the Sun God myself, that was absolutely not a god. I felt divinity from him, but it wasn’t that."
Perhaps he was an even higher existence.
"I felt the energy of the sun from him. It was truly warm. Yet, he was as cold as a corpse. I definitely felt the energy of death as well. But it wasn’t harsh, and all of that was just a mere shell… No, no, rather than that, it was just…"
"..."
"…To the 'Black Cloak,' things like rank or authority seemed completely useless. We describe gods as destiny and nature with a will, but he didn’t even seem to have a will. He thinks and moves… but can we really call that a 'will'?"
"What do you mean?"
"It felt like he simply… existed."
He had no intention to save anyone, nor any intention to harm. He showed no desire to be pure, nor any desire to be greedy. Yet, he was clearly thinking and capable of conversation.
"..."
"..."
"…I don’t know how to explain this either."
Birth and death. Animate and inanimate. A colossal status and a presence so immense that even trying to find a 'will' in his thoughts and actions felt impure. It was a sensation that could not possibly be explained from a human perspective, yet was agonizingly vivid.
"And his… eyes…"
Ah, those.
"…Those…"
"…What were they like?"
"..." She answered after a long pause. "It felt like they could become anything."
She didn’t know how vast, how grand a scale was contained within those small eyes. It couldn’t be expressed with a cliché word like 'universe.' Between those endless black and blue spaces, connections like densely scattered stars, nature, and destiny moved as if they possessed a will, only to fall as silent as mere inanimate objects.
How could a human possibly express that? They couldn’t. They shouldn’t even try.
"At least, I can’t. It was a realm humans were never meant to look upon."
"It was as if he was existence itself."
"..."
"So… maybe we can’t call him a god. He was closer to a construct."
"…Or the System? Or maybe… No, I don’t really know."
"…I see," the researcher said, nodding. "But in the end, thanks to his goodwill, you all made it back alive."
"Yes. He didn’t even seem to realize we were terrified, but he was still quite gentlemanly. I understand that from the perspective of something non-human, it must be hard to read human emotions."
"The 'Black Cloak' introduced himself as a portrait…"
"That actually felt like the most fitting introduction." A portrait that is human but not human, which could be real or an illusion, and might contain someone’s death or life. The 'Black Cloak’s' introduction was highly appropriate.
"Um, and…"
"And?"
"He also used that kind of method."
They returned alive through a painting.
* * *
To the hunters, who had calmed down slightly, the 'Black Cloak' asked, "Then you must want to leave. Is that not so?"
"T-That’s obvious…"
"I shall help you."
He brought out a frame from somewhere and held it up to the hunters.
"..."
"Do you know this place?"
It was a landscape painting depicting an alley deep within a city. It looked like a slum, but none of the hunters present were familiar with the complex, labyrinthine structure.
"..."
"Do you know this place?"
He disliked it when they didn’t answer in time, it seemed; since he asked twice in the exact same tone, they couldn’t help but reply. Jeong Da-un cast a questioning glance at her teammates, but they all shook their heads.
Anxiety set in. It felt like they had to solve this mysterious riddle to escape alive. But even putting that aside, for some reason, Jeong Da-un wanted to meet the expectations of the being before her. She wanted to catch his eye.
"..."
And because of that, she couldn’t lie. Amidst an awe and terror so profound that she couldn’t even fathom doing such a thing, Jeong Da-un shook her head.
"…I’m sorry, we… don’t really know."
"You do not need to apologize."
It was a stable voice, devoid of any emotion, yet not cold either. The 'Black Cloak' swept his pale, long hand over the frame.
With that, the landscape painting changed.
"Do you know this place?"
"Ah." This time, she definitely recognized the picture. "Yes, yes, I know it. That’s… the Collector Guild Station… the elevated train, yes, the elevated train station."
"Correct."
"Sigh…" Jeong Da-un let out a massive sigh of relief.
Although his hands were visible, the figure, completely shrouded in a black cloak with only shadows underneath, didn’t even feel like he had a physical form.
"T-Then… will you send us back?"
"You do not need to be afraid."
"..."
"Yes, I shall help you."
The black cloak, which looked like the personification of a funeral, caressed the painting.
"May I paint you?"
The 'Black Cloak' dissolved the hunters into paint and painted them into the landscape.
"..."
"…Uh…"
"…No way…"
When they opened their eyes, they were at the elevated train station.
It was an abrupt return.
* * *
"..."
"..."
"Is this enough of an answer?"
"…Yes, for now," the researcher said, nodding. "I will report this to the Association."
It was the moment the 'Black Cloak' was officially registered in the world.