Chapter 9
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 9
Late in the evening, in the attic on the top floor of the Cabin. Soft light filled the room, and the scent of the forest drifted through the air. A black wooden desk sat before a round window.
Gio was at the desk, organizing the rules he had discovered.
"So…"
He continued his thoughts.
"It’s basically a 1:1 Rule."
Gio could do anything inside this Painting.
He hadn’t literally tried everything yet, but it certainly felt that way. In a world where he could create something like a Warm Corpse, it was safe to assume nothing was impossible for him.
But once reality gets involved, it’s a different story.
Asking Yoo Seong-un to draw an apple had been part of his effort to confirm this.
From my perspective, a drawing is just a drawing, whether I create it or someone else does. I can enjoy it without a second thought. But the moment it’s taken outside, it becomes real. I figured it would be too unfair if there were absolutely no restrictions…
That was where his suspicion had started.
"It’s a relief Mr. Yoo Seong-un is so kind."
He had been touched when Seong-un readily agreed to draw an apple out of the blue.
"He’s a very mature person, to humor a Portrait even when it spouts nonsense."
Thanks to the kind curator’s consideration and his own trials over the past few days, Gio was finally able to grasp his situation.
When he stepped outside the Painting, his figure vanished from within it, and the Frame became a simple Landscape Painting. If Gio wanted to give a gift to someone in the outside world, he had to receive something from them first.
Essentially, it was a give-and-take—the 1:1 Rule.
"..."
Of course, the snacks he had handed out to the seventeen employees he’d met earlier were just a gesture of goodwill.
They all seemed so terrified, so I thought giving them some snacks might break the ice.
As a result, the ice had indeed broken. Or rather, the atmosphere had shifted from terror to sheer bewilderment. Then again, even Gio would be flabbergasted if a pitch-black mass popped out of a Painting and suddenly shoved a cookie into his hand.
And it’s true those people helped me, too.
In the end, he was simply being polite.
His grandmother used to say that if you receive something from someone, or if you have cause to apologize, you should offer a physical gift along with smooth, charming words to win them over. That, she said, was basic human decency.
She said that gratitude and apologies in words alone are nothing but corpses.
Speaking kindly was a given, but she had also told him to always give a gift, no matter how small, whether he could afford it or not. For Seo Gio, whose facial muscles had degenerated to a state worse than a pony’s, this was invaluable, life-giving advice.
Thus, even now at twenty-nine, the "good potato" Seo Gio faithfully followed the words of his grandmother, his life mentor. If he hadn’t, he would never have become a teacher so beloved by his students.
Anyway, because of that.
"I can’t just keep receiving help."
That was Seo Gio’s golden rule.
"In that sense, the rules of this world suit me quite well. Maybe, like the forest animals, they’re a reflection of my own personality."
He liked it.
"For me to pass something into reality while remaining a Painting, I must receive something in return."
Gio was free to do quite a lot of things.
It went without saying inside this Painting, where he enjoyed powers akin to a Creator, but even when he stepped out into reality, he could act without being bound by any special rules.
I can even use paintings as passages to travel to other floors without taking the elevator.
However, when Gio was inside the Painting and the other party was in reality, he could not violate this 1:1 Rule. This was a fact he had learned while conversing with Yoo Seong-un, the curator in charge of his Portrait.
"When I asked him to draw the apple, a System explanation popped up."
It was an instruction to return the favor, and it even came with a time limit.
Was it about a week?
He still didn’t know what kind of trouble would arise if he failed to compensate the other party within that time. But since it didn’t sound like anything good would happen, he had given Yoo Seong-un a gift the very next day.
"..."
Gio rolled a few trinkets across his desk with his fingers. They made a clattering sound as they bumped against the wood.
"Gems…"
Among them were several multi-colored gems.
"I didn’t expect I’d be able to make these, too."
Gio liked various painting styles.
They say proper painters have their own distinct worldviews, but perhaps because Gio was just an ordinary teacher rather than a professional artist, he painted in all sorts of styles. He was even skilled in hyperrealism.
The gems he was touching now were born in that very manner.
"Since I made Paint out of these, it was much easier to draw the gem I gave to Mr. Yoo Seong-un."
It felt as though the Paint, the drawing, and the final product were all part of a single living organism.
"..."
It was the distinct sensation of life being breathed into something that shouldn’t be alive.
"This is a special quality that perfectly suits this wonderful potato with limitless imagination…"
He had never felt such a liberating sense of freedom—as if he had stripped down completely—in all his twenty-nine years, but in any case, he was glad there was so much he could do. As a result, Gio seemed to have evolved into a potato boasting an even more colorful charm.
Having finished organizing his thoughts, Gio indulged in the lazy daydreams of an unemployed slacker.
...Let’s sleep outside tonight. It’ll feel great to sleep under the stars. What should I make for breakfast tomorrow? A roasted potato dipped in salt would be delicious, right? And if I get bored, I could start farming. I could ask Mr. Yoo Seong-un…
The weather was nice, so crops would grow well. Finding some seedlings he liked and planting them would be refreshing.
He could eat what he grew and gift some to Mr. Yoo Seong-un outside the Painting. And if there were honeybees somewhere, he wanted to bring them in and raise them, too.
"Let’s explore a lot."
And then, he would return to the Cabin and paint.
And if he painted…
"..."
Gio, who had been half-dozing in the lazy spring warmth, quietly opened his eyes.
"I need a pet."
The scale was a bit large, but wasn’t this technically country living?
"Keeping a pet in a house with a yard is a classic combination, like pork belly and soju. And I am a healthy young South Korean man who enjoys pork belly with soju… Therefore, the logical conclusion is that I need a new family member."
Although the creatures of this forest were friendly toward Gio, they still possessed the basic wariness of wild animals, so he couldn’t easily touch them.
I wanted to squish them like soft rice cakes, but I was flatly rejected.
And Gio, being a perfect gentleman, did not force his affection on a rabbit that didn’t want it.
The forest friends were, after all, just wild animals that approached Gio easily and left just as easily. While becoming friends with them would certainly be fun, Gio had another option.
"If I paint…"
He couldn’t create humans, nor did he have any intention to. Taking responsibility for himself—a single human—was already more than enough.
But what about an animal?
"…Can I make one?"
Gio headed to his Studio on the second floor.
*
Everything Gio had painted so far had been inanimate objects.
"They didn’t have a sense of self."
Fruits, vegetables, food, plates, furniture, and many other things, but none of them were living, breathing entities—regardless of the faint sense of vitality Gio felt from them.
"..."
Gio sat in front of the canvas.
"…Will it work?"
He had failed when he tried to create a human, but would a small animal be possible?
There are no other humans here, but there are other animals…
It felt possible.
"..."
Gio stood up from his chair and approached the small drawers that lined the entire wall, shaped like an apothecary chest one might see in an old traditional clinic.
Though there were countless drawers, Gio knew exactly what was where.
"…In here, surely…"
Click.
He opened one of the drawers.
"Here it is."
Inside was a transparent blue gem.
Even Gio didn’t know exactly what it was. It felt cool to the touch—not freezing, but refreshing. It was solid when held, yet its interior shifted fluidly, as if water were flowing within it.
"..."
Sparkling and flowing within its defined shape, it was a liquid in solid form, no different from a concentration of living, breathing life force.
"Let’s go with this."
In addition to this, Seo Gio took out a few other gems, dried leaves, and minerals.
He crushed the gems with an awl and a hammer. He ground the vividly colored, well-dried leaves and minerals of various hues into powder. Once it was as fine as flour, it transformed into Paint in Gio’s hands.
"..."
He added liquid properties using tree sap from the forest.
"..."
He adjusted the proportions to find the perfect viscosity.
"..."
Ground finely upon a glass plate that showed its colors clearly, the Paint began to glow softly, like a swarm of fireflies.
…Pale like the Milky Way, but…
It gave off an equally cool, refreshing feeling.
"Done."
Gio began to paint.
There was no Lake in this forest. Perhaps it was only natural, but he couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. He wished for something endlessly transparent—be it a cozy pond, a grand Lake, or a vast Sea—to exude the scent of water.
Picturing the cool breeze that would blow from a vast body of water, Gio moved his brush.
"..."
A round body.
A small head, large wings. The beak didn’t need to be very big, as it would only be used for singing. They would make their homes wherever water existed, and that home itself would become who they were.
"..."
A bird made of water itself.
"..."
What kind of bird would that be?
"…I think they’d form flocks."
They would live in flocks.
They could stay anywhere there was water, and even in places without water, they could create a pond, a Lake, or a Sea at any time.
Breathing with life, they were transparent water and, at the same time, birds that stirred up a cool breeze.
"Their colors will all be different."
Since water is transparent, they would possess consciousness and think:
I want to have a color to show myself.
They would be adorable friends.
To decorate their transparent selves, they would tuck all kinds of treasures inside their bodies. Just as other birds preen their feathers, these would use their tiny beaks to choose treasures that suited them, placing them inside their transparent forms as adornments.
It could be a flower, a gem, a fruit from a tree, or even leftover food. Perhaps one might even harbor an ancient relic or a tiny fish.
"Everything…"
"…is up to you."
Being both water and birds, they were free to do whatever they pleased.
They could sleep in a flowing stream or fly freely through the vast sky. They possessed absolute freedom.
"..."
Gio painted a very tiny bird.
Its body was round, its wings were just the size of its torso, its tail feathers were long, and its beak was short. Being small, they could hide anywhere, and they knew they were water itself.
Living water.
"..."
With gems, flowers, and fruit tucked inside their transparent bodies, they would shine with myriad colors…
It was beautiful.
"..."
When Gio gently tapped the bird’s beak with the tip of his finger—
"Ah."
—Flutter!
"..."
The bird, harboring its own unique treasure within its body, flew up and perched on Gio’s shoulder.
"…Hello."
Rustle.
"Nice to meet you."
Rustle, rustle!
"Yeah, me too."
Instead of chirping, the bird rustled, the flower inside its body creating the sound.
It was a quiet yet noisy friend.
"You’re a chatterbox."
The petals trapped inside its tiny, transparent body made faint noises, chirping playfully.
"Amazing."
Before he knew it, his room was filled with transparent, sparkling birds.
They hovered around him for a moment, then poured out of the open window in a flurry. The wind stirred by the flapping wings of these living water droplets was far grander than he had imagined.
The sight was picturesque, like cherry blossom petals scattering in a crisp spring breeze.
"..."
After standing in a daze for a moment, Gio walked over to the terrace.
"…Ah."
There they were.
"They didn’t go far."
They had formed a small pond next to Gio’s Cabin. He rested his chin on the terrace railing and leaned forward.
"Good little things."
The pond—or perhaps a lake—that now stretched around the Cabin flowed gently.
Beneath the surface lay countless "treasures," like sand on a beach or pebbles in a river. With flowers, gems, and fruit settled at the bottom, the lake sparkled enchantingly in the moonlight.
They flowed gently as one, but would occasionally pop up with a plop! to look around before hiding again, merging with their friends to form the pond once more.
"..."
Gio closed his eyes. As the living, shimmering water faded from his sight, he could hear the sound of their breathing.
Instead of chirping, there was a faint rustling—the sound of clinking gems, brushing petals, and shifting pebbles. That was how these new friends conversed and cried out.
It sounded like the chirping of insects on a midsummer night…
"…Time to sleep."
Gio grabbed just a single pillow and walked out of the Cabin. Then, he lay down between the Cabin and the pond.
"..."
Rustle—
As he lay down to sleep, he heard the sounds of animals approaching.
For creatures that ran away whenever I tried to touch them, they sure are quick to approach.
Birds that had been tilting their heads on the tree branches fluttered down to perch on Seo Gio’s chest. A deer that had been sniffing the shallow, wide pond moved its long legs and approached his side.
Squirrels that had been twitching in the bushes dropped acorns or small berries into the pond and gathered around him.
"..."
Gio muttered at the sight.
"…A toll?"
At any rate, both the squirrels and the pond-birds seemed satisfied.
Then that’s fine.
After all, it was peaceful.
As long as the friends Gio created weren’t beings that deserved to be shunned, and as long as they could mingle and harmonize with the existing creatures, he was more than satisfied.
Just then, a thought occurred to Gio.
"..."
It would be quite fun to decorate this Portrait.