Chapter 80
Chapter 80
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Essence
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Done?"
"Not yet."
"My arm hurts..."
"Don't exaggerate, Do-hyun."
"Geez..."
I was stroking Han Cheong-ah's soft hair. Her glossy pink locks carried the scent of flowers.
After spending about ten minutes carefully massaging her thread-like tresses, she looked satisfied.
"All done now."
"Good."
Stroking the hair of a girl on the cusp of womanhood felt strangely intimate.
Whether before or after possessing this body, I'd never stroked anyone's hair.
It was unfamiliar, novel. Somewhere between affection and protection, but leaning a bit more toward the former.
The soft texture lingered awkwardly on my fingertips.
"Stroking the hair of a beauty like me is a rare privilege. You should feel honored."
"Yeah, yeah."
Han Cheong-ah fetched a chair from the kitchen.
True to her role as my dedicated live model, she hopped into the chair with practiced ease.
"This makes the third painting, right?"
Croquis in the dim basement, watercolors in the school art room and Maria Girls' Academy.
This time, I planned to return to my main craft.
I connected my prized art supplies, carefully stored in the room, to the computer.
"What's that?"
I flashed a grin at Han Cheong-ah's curiosity.
Ah, she doesn't know.
"It's an illustrator's secret weapon. A tablet."
The tablet looked like a sleek black rectangle.
At first glance, it seemed like an unremarkable gadget, but its potential was endless.
Once connected, the monitor transformed into a pristine white canvas in my atelier.
The drawing software became brushes and paints that could melt my imagination onto the page.
No need to wait for paint to dry or sharpen pencils.
For a modern artist born and raised in that era, it was the ultimate tool.
I spent the most time seated at my computer desk.
That musty, lonely five-pyeong studio was my atelier and home.
After college graduation, with no money to spare, my only art tool was that black rectangular machine.
Gripping the stylus felt like returning to my family home. The cool, solid grip was familiar and nostalgic.
"Do-hyun."
"Yeah?"
"Your expression's lit up. Something good on your mind?"
I touched the corner of my mouth. Then nodded.
Apparently, before being a transmigrator or vampire, I was inescapably an artist at heart.
Uncontainable joy erupted from within like a volcano.
"Drawing's always fun. Especially illustrating at my desk."
As Han Seo-ah had said, creation was the only way to show the world as I saw it.
In painting, if you had the skill, you could honestly depict how beautiful the world looked, the shapes and colors of things.
Nothing beat the thrill when people praised the creator, calling it beautiful or cool, after I shared my vision.
Only those who created could understand that sensation.
And the reason I'd started drawing? My parents' praise.
"Someday, when you get the chance, try making something yourself. Videos, paintings, novels, acting, dramas... Art's simpler and more fun than you think."
"Then after everything's over, maybe I should start a YouTube channel. I've always wanted to try vlogging."
"Trendy choice. With your looks, you'd blow up."
"You get it."
Compliments on looks could make even the fiercest shark dance.
Han Cheong-ah bounced her shoulders like an excited kid, humming a tune.
I began working. Settings like pressure sensitivity were the same as always.
It felt like old times. Though the workshop was bigger now, and even my body had changed.
The mindset and joy of drawing remained unchanged.
The sensation differed from paper.
The pen danced across the hard tablet surface.
Lines began appearing on the monitor's canvas.
Lines connected, overlapped. They softened like clay, molded into shape.
A single line was just a straight or curve.
But united, in their places, they formed shapes.
The collective lines became Han Cheong-ah.
I observed the girl, brighter than before.
I captured the pink-haired girl from my world on the cold digital canvas of zeros and ones.
I was the illustrator tasked with designing Han Cheong-ah.
Cold expression, pink hair, eyes that seemed intellectual yet somehow vacant.
I'd given form and flesh to the text-only girl, dressed her in a uniform.
The same for Yubyeol-ha, Lee Gyeo-ul, Aria, Mimir.
In a way, like Han Seo-ah, I was this world's creator, and the girl before me just a creation.
That's what I'd thought until first playing Red Ark.
If I hadn't possessed Baek Do-hyun... that mindset wouldn't have changed.
But entering this world, becoming the vampire Baek Do-hyun, twisting fate, meeting characters, facing major events—I changed.
I grew bold enough to face powerful foes without hesitation, even enjoying it.
I realized those before me weren't mere "characters," but living, breathing people.
Now was the time to admit it.
I was a skilled illustrator who wanted to capture the girl before me on canvas.
And I was the vampire Baek Do-hyun.
After defeating Zero One and the Society, facing Han Seo-ah beyond the rifts...
Whatever twists my fate might take,
this living, breathing world was real. That fact remained.
"When all this is over."
So I thought of my future in this world.
"Maybe I'll draw a webtoon."
Han Cheong-ah tilted her head.
"Could be a light slice-of-life, or fantasy... Or base it on everything I've been through."
"You want to be a webtoon artist?"
"Yeah. Far from fine art or illustrations, but worth a shot."
"I like the last one."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Adapting real events is common in fiction. Drawing from your experiences should be easy."
Using my real experiences as material.
Vampire protagonists were kinda passé these days.
Not sure if people would like it.
"Do-hyun's webtoon... Sounds fun. Show me first when it's done. I'll give harsh feedback."
"Deal."
I started coloring the finished sketch.
As colors filled the image, the sky outside shifted too.
The clear blue sky turned orange as the sun shyly dipped below the horizon.
Even as sunset faded, my hands stayed busy. The canvas time was still high noon, sun at its peak.
Sunset vanished completely. The vast sky's lights became moon and stars.
Yet my hands didn't stop.
Around 9 p.m., the painting was complete.
Han Cheong-ah gazed at the digital canvas, letting out a soft gasp of admiration.
The canvas season was spring.
Canvas Han Cheong-ah stood on a building rooftop. A gentle spring breeze tickled her.
Pink hair danced a pavane with cherry blossoms.
"Totally different from that last watercolor..."
My collector seemed pleased again today.
This was my most confident style.
"Like it?"
"Yeah..."
Confirming her satisfaction, I quietly saved the file.
"Promise kept."
"Noted. As expected of Do-hyun."
I stood, carefully disconnecting and storing the tablet.
After everything, I'd draw webtoons with this.
I couldn't predict the ending yet.
But I hoped my webtoon wouldn't end as a flop. I wished it silently in my heart.
"Let's eat first. Skipped lunch and dinner just drawing."
I stretched to loosen my stiffened body.
Come to think of it, this body didn't have the turtle neck from my past life.
This time, I'd buy a monitor arm and good chair before it developed.
A beautiful, charming vampire with a turtle neck? That'd be ridiculous.
"Do-hyun."
"Yeah."
"Got a title for the webtoon?"
Unfortunately, I lacked Han Seo-ah's way with words.
No confidence in a title fitting like Red Ark.
But one popped into mind.
"How about 'Vampire Genius of Academy City'?"
"Lame."
"It fits."
"I'll come up with one after reading it."
I smirked at Han Cheong-ah protesting the corny name.