Chapter 94
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 94
It felt like some deep conversation had taken place last night, but…
"..."
Ta-da.
Gio’s relentlessly positive mindset refused to dwell on such things.
I guess Aria is going through puberty.
It was a phase where one tended to worry about everything.
I should respect that.
It wasn’t that Gio was unaware of how deeply Aria was troubled by his identity and circumstances. To him, however, it wasn’t a serious issue; he simply hoped she would eventually get used to his situation.
Yet, even for someone like Gio, worries were bound to crop up.
"...Hmm..."
"Teacher, is something wrong?"
"I think I might have created a dungeon."
"Oh."
Though the sun had risen, Aria still hadn’t gone home. She let out a sincere exclamation of admiration and spoke with the politeness of a refined gentleman.
"So you do harbor a desire for revenge against those who caused you pain and death, my human teacher."
"I don’t have anything like that."
"If it’s not meant to torment humans, then why did you make a dungeon?"
"I painted it because I wanted to paint."
"Ah."
Aria nodded. "If it’s you, Teacher, that makes sense."
"I really don’t know what kind of being you take me for."
"Let’s just say I have my reasons."
In many ways, Gio was an unpredictable existence. Even to Aria.
He might have unconsciously created a dungeon from fragments of hatred and resentment toward humans. Or, he might have just indulged in his hobby without a single thought, and—poof—a dungeon appeared.
Aria looked at the frame Gio was staring at.
"Are you talking about this painting?"
"I painted it a while ago, but no matter how I look at it..."
"It feels like a dungeon, doesn’t it?" Aria asked, gazing at the painting of a city completely devoid of color. "What’s its name?"
"..."
Gio replied.
"Void City."
That was definitely what the System had called it.
"Though, I wasn’t the one who named it."
"Then we must assume a Construct named it."
"What is a Construct?"
"Ah... on Earth, they call it the Origin."
"The Origin."
It was a name he had occasionally heard from Yoo Seong-un. Unlike how he called himself a Gardener, Yoo Seong-un rarely shared knowledge related to it, but Gio knew a little about the Origin.
The big boss of the Systems...
He’d understood it as the mother of all Systems, the administrator of fate itself.
"I see."
"What do you want to do with this, Teacher?"
"I didn’t want to do anything with it," Gio said, feeling a bit wronged. "I only painted it because I wanted to paint."
After all, what artist paints with utility in mind?
"A painting on a canvas is meant to be appreciated, not chewed on, torn up, or tasted."
You don’t paint a picture to beat someone over the head with it. While it might be traded for its monetary value or other secondary factors, a painting fundamentally existed for appreciation.
Aria fell silent for a moment at his words before asking, "Are you saying you created a dungeon without any intention of doing so?"
"Is there a problem with that?"
"Well, quite a few, actually..."
A dungeon was not something that could be created without intention. It was the creation of a world, of laws—nothing less. No matter how diverse the methods of dungeon formation were, it was impossible for one to manifest without the will of its master.
And yet, he created this simply because he wanted to paint.
Her eyes took in the shimmering gray city.
"..."
Soon, Aria wore her signature languid smile. It was a smile so perfect and beautiful that, if she were to step into high society, she could easily capture the hearts of countless women.
"Well, I suppose that’s possible."
"Right?"
"Of course, of course."
After all, Aria had already given up on fully understanding Gio.
I knew he wasn’t ordinary even when he was human, but to think his true nature was like this...
For someone like Gio, whose status was unfathomably high, creating a world with a single brushstroke was entirely possible. It was only natural for a painter to create a world within a painting.
"So, what exactly is your concern?"
"I was wondering if it’s alright to just leave it like this."
"Hmm..."
"I don’t want to throw the painting away."
"Why would you throw it away? What a waste."
A dungeon was, ultimately, a dungeon—a world that had no choice but to draw things in.
If left like this, people from Earth might end up getting swallowed by it.
Even if Gio had no such intention, so what? When a human stepped on a bug while walking down the street, did they intend to kill it? Even if this was a world Gio had painted aimlessly as a hobby, someone was bound to be dragged into it eventually.
But there’s no need to tell him that right now...
This painting, too, was a world created by Gio.
Which means there’s no way this world would do anything to displease Teacher, who is essentially its master and parent.
What kind of laws and preferences this world possessed would naturally reveal themselves over time.
"...I think we’ll have to leave it for now to find out."
"Is that so?"
"Besides, it’s a newly created dungeon." Aria scanned the gray painting up and down. "And you haven’t created any of your own children for it, right?"
She was referring to the dungeon’s monsters.
"A newborn dungeon doesn’t actively work. Unless you personally egg it on, its growth will be slow. You don’t need to worry too much."
"..."
"Teacher?"
"...Am I its parent?" Gio’s heart sank. "Is this painting alive?"
"...You could look at it that way, yes," Aria explained casually. "Not all dungeons are like that, but the more closely connected a dungeon is to its master, the stronger its tendencies as a living organism become. It has its own ego, and it grows..."
"Is 'Void City' really that closely connected to me?"
"A dungeon’s traits as a living organism become clearer depending on the master’s capability. From what I can see, this is definitely the case here."
"Unbelievable."
He was a deadbeat parent who’d had a child without a second thought and didn’t even know it.
"I am trash."
"I understand what you’re thinking, but calm down. It’s not like that."
Broadly speaking, one might call it a living thing, but strictly speaking, it was a stretch to call a dungeon a true organism.
"If we compare it to Earth, it’s like an artificial intelligence. Think of it like a vast ecosystem—if you look closely, you can see its intricate flows and structures. From a distance, a system without emotion can resemble a single living organism."
It didn’t actually possess life.
"So there’s no need to be so shocked."
"I understand, but still, my heart aches a little."
"To think your heart can still ache even after reaching this state... that’s quite amazing."
Gio’s status was now too ambiguous to be called fully human. The fact that he maintained this unique sensitivity was a miracle that even Aria found difficult to explain.
"Hmm..." Aria examined the painting a bit more before continuing. "...It’s definitely a newly created dungeon, so it’s immature in many ways."
"How did you raise your dungeon, Aria?"
"I told you, it’s not a child... Well, I don’t know if 'raised' is the right word. It was closer to setting up various mechanisms."
"Mechanisms?"
"Like building a game board." Having observed various dungeons over her long life, Aria was able to explain. "In my case, my dungeon grew naturally just by me staying inside it. The environment formed according to my mental imagery, monsters appeared as I conducted research, and at some point, intruders entered, so I set up traps to deal with them..."
It had grown alongside her over a vast span of time. To Aria, her dungeon was more of a close friend than a child.
"I’ve also seen dungeon masters who set up their boards with deliberate intent."
"If they set it up with intent, what was it for?"
"He was a man who focused on how to systematically express his hatred for humanity." Aria nodded. "Ultimately, the most important thing in managing a dungeon is the master’s sense of purpose and mental imagery. When what the master desires from the dungeon is clear, it grows much more naturally."
Of course, this dungeon was an exception in many ways.
"I’m not sure if your dungeon will be like the others, Teacher. Worlds like these are fundamentally built on intense emotions, and the master naturally has a specific purpose..."
"But I don’t have any thoughts on the matter."
"If there’s a problem, I suppose that would be it."
It was different from other dungeons in many ways.
"Unless you intend otherwise, this dungeon is bound to be different. It might have no rules, or no monsters—there are various possibilities."
"Will that be a problem?"
"I don’t know, but it’s an undeniable fact that how you utilize it is entirely up to you, Teacher. That’s just how it goes when you create a world."
No structure would ever dare to go against the will of its creator.
"It’s the same for Honey, whom you created, isn’t it?"
"Ah, is he the same kind of child?"
"Come to think of it, on Earth, they call such things the Children of the Origin..."
"But Honey is Gio’s child."
"..."
Suddenly, Aria realized.
"...Then I guess you must be the Origin, Teacher."
This person might actually be the Origin.
"Isn’t that right?"
A pitch-black canvas that could become anything.
"..."
"If that’s the case, I really won’t have to worry about food expenses anymore."
"...You have absolutely no sense of drama, do you?"
"Above all, escaping the shackles of taxes is a tremendous stroke of luck."
"Is that really all you have to say?"
But that actually made her feel a bit relieved.
"You really don’t change."
Perhaps it was because he had already changed so much, and was capable of changing even more, that he seemed to remain perfectly still.
Aria tilted her head slowly, feeling an ominous, shimmering sense of peace.
"So, how do you plan to use this?"
"A vacation spot?"
"Are you serious?"
"Isn’t it nice?"
"...Well, it is up to you, Teacher."
She had always thought that the most intense and vivid emotions were anger and hatred. That was why countless monsters with deep-seated hatred for humans were able to create such worlds, and because they were the masters, those worlds were tailored to their tastes.
So, if it’s a world that wasn’t created from such emotions in the first place...
No matter how he chose to use it, it was entirely up to Gio.
"..."
However, a thought did cross her mind. "If someone creates a whole, functioning world rather than just a game board, can they still be called human?"
Gio replied with his characteristic blunt expression. "These things happen in life. Aria, your way of thinking is too narrow—"
"Yeah, I knew you’d say that. I’m the fool for asking when I already knew the answer."
He was so consistent it was almost chilling.
* * *
Gio visited 'Void City' for the first time.
"..."
"I see. So this is the world you created, Teacher."
"...Aren’t you busy, Iser?"
He was accompanied by his disciple, Iser, who had grown significantly since they last met.
"Is it really alright for a dungeon master to leave their post so carelessly?"
"In truth, I am only the second master, so my presence or absence doesn’t make a huge difference."
"I see."
Well, of course. A homeowner wasn’t always at home. Besides, even Gio, the master of 'Void City,' was only visiting for the first time now. Expecting a dungeon master to always be busy was probably just a narrow-minded thought on his part.
"..."
Still, he felt a bit strange.
"...Is this what it feels like to be a parent whose grown children refuse to move out?"
"Since when do mermaids worry about marriageable age?"
"I’m getting restless. I wanted you to visit often, but now that you’re here so long, I have mixed feelings."
"And yet you came to drag us back before, complaining that your neighbors never came to visit..."
"That may be true, but..."
Still, he was a little worried.
"A dungeon is a workplace that doubles as a home. Surely you won’t keep leaving it empty?"
"We also thought it would be a bit of a problem if both of us were away..." Iser nodded. "So we decided to take turns visiting."
"I hope you don’t feel pressured, as if you’re obligated to visit."
"We come because we want to, so you don’t have to worry," Iser said with a bitter smile. "To be honest, we’re also a little scared that the place where you are might suddenly disappear."
"Even though the door is wide open?"
But Gio didn’t press the matter further. Regardless of how cheeky they still were, they were students he had raised with plenty of affection.
Above all, the longer they stay at my house, the more at peace Iser’s mind will be, and the more the peace of humanity will be preserved.
In many ways, there was no reason to dislike them visiting frequently.
"As long as it doesn’t interfere with your own lives, I don’t mind either."
"Ah, then we’ll be seeing you often."
"It would be even better if you could bring some clams when you come."
"Clams... How about fish?"
"That’s good too. Since I live in a forest, I’ve been craving seafood."
Nodding, Gio turned his head to look at the gray world.
"So."
"..."
"What are your thoughts?"
Taking in Void City, Iser spoke slowly.
"...There’s nothing here."
Indeed. It was an empty city, perfectly fitting its name.