Chapter 51

Having been raised by his grandmother, Seo Jio couldn’t stand to see anyone go hungry.

‘A student who looks to be a high schooler at most can’t even eat properly and has to work?’

Honestly, it felt more terrible than a natural disaster.

A natural disaster was a natural event that the Earth occasionally set off when it was bored, but a child going hungry was a problem for humans.

‘Unforgivable.’

Jio, who had once even been a teacher, felt a heavy sense of responsibility.

“Does it taste alright?”

“It’s soooo delicious…!!”

“It pleases my heart to see you eat with such enjoyment. That is excellent.”

Look at how well she eats.

‘I hope she leaves after gaining about 5kg.’

There was nothing happier than seeing a young student deliciously eat the food I made.

‘She eats so heartily.’

Jio didn’t notice, but in response to the mood of the master of the forest, the air in the cabin also warmed up.

Cha Ara, who was already excited about the first banquet of her life, noticed it right away.

‘…Huh, something feels lighter.’

The atmosphere seemed to have lightened from that of a funeral to that of an intensive care unit.

‘Anyway, this is incredibly delicious….’

An ‘educated Hunter,’ as Cha Ara would call them, would have been more frightened by this strange phenomenon.

Although she vaguely suspected this cabin was a dungeon and the master of the dungeon was the black-caped figure before her, dungeons that changed their environment according to the boss’s mood were not that common.

A dungeon that changed according to the boss’s mood was no different from a living creature.

In other words, Cha Ara was currently eating inside the stomach of a monster called ‘Jio.’

Perhaps if she knew a little more, her thoughts might have reached that far.

But Cha Ara was too preoccupied with the miraculous kindness that had suddenly come her way.

“Just eating the rice is so delicious. Um, is this… is the rice tasty? Or did it become like this because you cooked it well?”

“The rice is ordinary.”

It was, after all, rice made by drawing the packaging of the rice he used to eat when he lived on Earth.

It felt a bit novel, like doing art for a college entrance exam after a long time.

‘Anyway, when it comes to relaxing kids, there’s nothing like good food.’

Actually, this didn’t seem to be a story limited to just kids.

Weren’t even the people who were scared of Jio due to the portrait’s influence a little more relaxed after receiving a tasty snack?

I thought it might be a similar context.

Jio solidified his will to fatten up this skinny student.

“If there is a difference, it is that this rice was cooked with broth.”

“With broth…?”

“I used broth instead of water. It might be a little different in that I used deer bones instead of the commonly used pork or beef, but to be precise, this rice was made with bone broth.”

“…If it’s bone broth….”

Isn’t that very expensive?

‘City people can eat it if they go to a restaurant, but for rural people like us, we can only taste it if we’re lucky when a big cow is butchered in the village….’

To use that for cooking rice of all things felt needlessly extravagant.

‘What am I eating right now.’

I was hungry and the meal was delicious, so I ate without much thought, but could this be a situation far more excessive than I imagined?

To Cha Ara, who was breaking out in a cold sweat inwardly, Jio spoke.

“Even if it’s not bone broth, it also tastes good if you make it with anchovy broth, chicken broth, or even vegetable broth. If you don’t like oily things, that would actually be better.”

“Uh, no, that….”

“There is quite a lot, so you may eat as much as you wish. However, you should be careful not to get indigestion. I wasn’t going to say anything since you seem to be chewing thoroughly, but you will feel unwell if you overeat.”

“…Thank you.”

Even anchovies or chicken were a bit much, but I felt like I could manage to make vegetable broth at home.

We had vegetables growing in our garden, after all.

‘I should make this kind of rice for my little brother before he goes to the dorms.’

Because they lived so hand-to-mouth, even just eating white rice was difficult.

The most common things they ate were roasted potatoes or sweet potatoes, and the eggs the village head occasionally gave them were considered a luxury.

‘I can manage vegetable broth by picking things from the garden, but what about the rice….’

Cha Ara, who had muttered inwardly, soon gave up the thought.

“…….”

First, let’s just enjoy my meal.

‘I thought I’d starve to death or be driven crazy by ghosts, but I never expected such luck.’

Perhaps because her stomach was full, Cha Ara’s tension had eased considerably by now.

She couldn’t fully relax because the other party was a humanoid monster, but she felt more at ease with the thought that a humanoid monster, not bound by its own rules, was unlikely to go through the trouble of poisoning the food.

‘In this respect, monsters are more trustworthy than humans.’

At the very least, monsters did not deny their own rules.

She had more trust in the monster, who had been polite from beginning to end without a single threat, than in humans who lied as easily as they breathed.

Of course, she shouldn’t trust him.

There were monsters who deceived humans by feigning goodwill to make them let their guard down.

If she considered Jio a monster, this was a mistake she shouldn’t have made.

“……?”

“Is there a problem?”

“No, my leg… I think it’s healed….”

“Ah.”

Jio nodded his head.

“Have you broken a bone before?”

“What? Ah, yes, a while ago in a dungeon, my leg was broken when I ran into a monster while moving luggage.”

“The bone broth in the rice you are eating has the effect of healing bone abnormalities.”

“Oh… Ah… Oh….”

“After you finish your meal, I will check if the bone has set properly before you return home. If not, it would be good to pack some soup for you. I did not prepare this meal with such an effect in mind, but I am glad it was helpful.”

“I-I seeee….”

Who cooks rice with a potion.

‘He’s showing off that he’s not human like this.’

I didn’t know because it looked like a perfectly normal meal.

‘To think my bone would heal completely after just a few spoonfuls of rice.’

Cha Ara’s knowledge was limited, so she didn’t know for sure, but that would probably be a considerable grade even among healing potions.

It was absurd enough that its form was bone broth, but to have cooked rice with it was nothing short of astonishing.

I could clearly feel that his way of thinking was fundamentally different from that of humans.

‘Still… I never thought I’d say this, but he seems like a kind monster.’

Cha Ara thought as she ate the rice, which was so well-cooked that it was sticky yet fluffy grain by grain.

Bad people cooked bad rice.

‘They said monsters have their own rules, so as long as I don’t break them, it should be fine.’

Cha Ara decided to ask outright.

“Um, is there anything I should be careful about when I interact with you, Mr. Seo Jio, so that you don’t feel bad?”

“Things to be careful about?”

“Uh, I mean… like ‘don’t mess up the house’… things that you particularly dislike or would like me to observe.”

“Hmm.”

The monster blinked twice and then answered.

“I would be grateful if you would just observe basic etiquette.”

“Really?”

“As long as you do not commit any crimes, I do not mind much.”

“Ah, crimes….”

I felt it back in the ‘Water Vein of Jewels’ we just met in, but it was clear what this monster loathed.

‘He seems to hate rude and bad humans.’

And Cha Ara was confident in that area.

‘I’m not strong enough to bully anyone; if anything, I’m the one who gets bullied.’

She was an F-class porter, the lowest among Hunters, openly called the slave class.

She didn’t have the capacity to commit a crime in the first place.

Cha Ara felt her heart become much lighter upon learning the monster’s rules.

They were things that the weak Cha Ara would never have any connection with.

“…….”

But that didn’t mean she could let go of all her tension.

‘…His actions are very kind and polite, but….’

Strangely, it was hard to treat him comfortably.

‘I know he’s trying to be considerate. And he hasn’t been intimidating at all, so I don’t understand why I’m cowering so much. There’s a strange sense of pressure….’

Still, Cha Ara was steadfast.

“…Just one more bowl of rice….”

“It is good to see you eat well.”

“Ah, likewise.”

Still, the rice was delicious.

‘Is this a monster sent by my late grandmother? His cooking is no joke.’

Our village head should come and learn his cooking skills.

***

“…….”

Yu Seong-un’s mind was reeling.

“I was in a bind, so thank you for your help.”

“…Uh, uh, no. It’s nothing.”

“I am not familiar with the geography of Korea, so I needed assistance.”

“I’m grateful that you called me, really.”

I never thought a perfectly normal human would pop out from beyond this gloomy picture frame.

“Hunter, what was your name again?”

“Cha-cha-cha-cha Ara….”

“Oh my, you’re very nervous.”

Yu Seong-un, who said that, was just as nervous.

Hadn’t he and the Guild Master rashly let Jio loose out of their own greed?

‘…It’s a good thing I was mentally prepared. The situation is also much more peaceful than I imagined.’

Even though it was part of the process of seeking a way to coexist, it was right after he had done something that could be quite harmful to humanity… giving Jio a list of dungeons that would be okay to visit.

He had been staying awake, drinking coffee, thinking that any unexpected situation could occur.

A report could have come in at any moment that some deserted dungeon had exploded.

‘I thought the Association might have to step in if it came to that, but it doesn’t seem to be that big of an incident. Just a single person being spat out of a frame.’

Still, it was surprising.

‘I couldn’t believe it… to think it would be connected so openly like this.’

To Yu Seong-un, who had come after receiving another uninterpretable letter, Jio had said, ‘I went to play in the ‘Water Vein of Jewels’ and found a young human and I am concerned about sending them off alone, so could you see them home.’

When Jio said ‘a young human,’ I momentarily thought of a 10-year-old, but thankfully that wasn’t the case.

‘Well, from Jio’s perspective, it might be hard to tell what’s young.’

Just as it’s difficult for a person to guess a dog’s age, Jio seemed to have been confused.

‘At 18, she’s a proper adult.’

Even if he didn’t know that Hunter Cha Ara was an adult by Earth’s cultural standards, it was a bit of a stretch to call an 18-year-old youth ‘young.’

Yu Seong-un rubbed the back of his neck.

“…It would be right to take Hunter Cha home first. Is there anything I need to know?”

“I do not believe so.”

“Alright, then. Let’s continue our talk after I get back. Thanks for calling me first.”

With Yu Seong-un’s farewell, the portrait closed its eyes.

Since that meant it had nothing more to say, Yu Seong-un turned to Cha Ara without hesitation.

He would have to see this young Hunter home to complete this request-that-wasn’t-a-request.

“Hunter Cha….”

“Yes, yes?!”

“…Ah.”

At the intense reaction, Yu Seong-un was a little taken aback, but he soon realized something.

“If it’s not rude, may I ask what class you are in?”

“…….”

“I’m sure you’re not pleased that I’m suddenly asking for personal information, but I don’t have any bad intentions.”

“…I’m F-Class….”

“Aha, so that’s why.”

I wondered why she was so overly tense, but she was definitely a Hunter too weak to be here.

‘There’s no way an F-Class Hunter could withstand Guild Master Bisabeol’s gallery without issue and this is the 5th basement floor, no less.’

It was Bisabeol’s gallery, full of all sorts of dangerous items.

Entry was permitted to C-Class Hunters at a minimum.

Those below that were restricted from visiting for their own protection.

‘I wasn’t considerate because someone this weak has never come in before. It’s quite different from the atmosphere at the Association’s research institute, which is generally controlled so that even civilian-level researchers can enter.’

As a former research team leader at the Association, Yu Seong-un could make the comparison, but each had its pros and cons.

From the Gardeners’ perspective, they sometimes felt that the Association’s research institute excessively abused the existence of the Source.

Anyway, only staff members who could at least minimally enjoy communicating with such dangerous works became curators, so it would be agonizing for an unrelated F-Class Hunter to endure.

“I’m sorry, this is the first time a Hunter below C-Class has entered this place, so I failed to be considerate.”

“No, no, not at all….”

“Shall we head out for now? There are a few things I’d like to ask, but it seems it would be difficult here.”

“Yesyesyesyesyes….”

“I am the curator here, so you do not need to worry too much. As long as you stick by my side, you won’t get hurt.”

There were a few works that sometimes attacked first, but he had no intention of going near them, so it wasn’t a problem.

Yu Seong-un led the terrified and trembling Hunter Cha Ara towards the elevator.

It was when they arrived on the 1st floor.

“…….”

“…….”

Yu Seong-un almost closed the elevator doors again for a moment, but he managed to stop his muscles from moving by exercising the patience of a capitalist society.

A smirking Bisabeol was visible before him.

Yu Seong-un couldn’t hold back and asked.

“…What are you doing here, Guild Master?”

“I was watching the CCTV, and a very interesting scene was captured, you see.”

Did he really have to say that in front of the pitifully trembling F-Class Hunter?

It would be hard to be that openly delighted, but he was truly a remarkable person.

‘The consideration Guild Master Bisabeol should have shown to humanity clearly went to his own collection instead.’

No matter how far human rights had fallen in this world, this wasn’t right.

For the sake of protecting a guest, Yu Seong-un shook his head.

“I don’t want to hear any more. It is right for me to conduct the interview with Hunter Cha first. She is very tense from just having left the gallery, and it is problematic for you to appear so suddenly like this.”

“It may be a very regrettable fact, but Curator Yu Seong-un does not have the authority to stop my enjoyment. No matter how much you all harass me, am I not the Guild Master?”

“Do I need to get a promotion?”

“No matter how much you get promoted, you’ll never be better than the Guild Master, but you should have taken it when I was offered.”

“Hoo.”

Yu Seong-un felt like biting his tongue, but he couldn’t hand over this terrified and pale young Hunter to this crazy hedonist.

In that case, he’d be at a loss for words with Jio as well.

“…I know, it’s a very exceptional situation and has drawn the Guild Master’s interest. But wouldn’t it be sufficient for me to check first and then report to you? After all, the Guild Master is the face of our guild, and if you were to handle such trivial tasks directly….”

“It would be convenient, wouldn’t it? For all of you?”

“Some dignity, please, just have some dignity.”

He was putting on quite a show in front of a Hunter he’d just met.

‘We’re one of the top 3 guilds in South Korea, and he’s making our image look so cheap.’

Hunter Cha Ara was completely frozen, unable to process the unfolding situation.

It seemed she had decided to become a wisp of air rather than accept this situation, but Bisabeol was not one to leave such a delectable prey alone.

“Very well. You said you were Hunter Cha, correct? What is your full name?”

“Cha, Ara… It’s Cha Ara… Please save me….”

“Oh, my. You’re so scared! No one is going to kill you, Hunter!”

Written all over his face was the thought, ‘Why would I kill such an interesting subject?’

His eyes were not those of a human but of a spectator who had seen a wondrous relic or a meaningful movie.

It seemed Yu Seong-un wasn’t the only one who noticed, as Cha Ara slowly began to hide behind him.

‘…She was wary of me too at first, but she must have thought I was safer than that human. Should I call this wise….’

Yu Seong-un hid her out of pity. Not that it would help them avoid the situation where the Guild Master himself was holding the elevator button in his own building.

“…….”

Now that it had come to this, it would be difficult to sneak this poor Hunter away.

“…We were heading to the interview room….”

“Shall we go together?”

“…Let’s.”

It seemed the only thing Yu Seong-un could do was to block him from the middle as much as possible.

Jio, your big bro tried his best.

***

Bisabeol was excited.

“Now then, Hunter Cha Ara.”

“Yesyesyes.”

“Would you mind telling me what you experienced?”

“I, just, nothing….”

“We are not trying to question you about a crime, Hunter Cha Ara.”

This was a very surprising event.

“I am simply in awe.”

My goodness, a Source embracing a human? And a weak F-Class one at that.

‘Unlike Curator Yu Seong-un’s words that he prefers the appearance of overweight humans, Hunter Cha Ara is on the thin side. No, was she perhaps a choice for fattening up? She’s a porter with nothing much special about her except for a rather innocent look, so maybe that simple side of her caught Jio’s interest.’

Bisabeol’s yellow eyes gleamed.

‘As I thought, he needed an innocent little lamb, not a sinner. Considering Jio’s pure disposition, there would have been no need to offer pure blood as one would to traditional evil gods, but if we had offered a good and young human from the start, we might have gotten a more definitive response….’

Bisabeol recalled Yu Seong-un, who had given his report after the meeting with the portrait and the tour.

He had been a little disappointed that Jio’s first human society experience had ended so ordinarily, but this bait of visiting an Earth dungeon seemed to have been astonishingly successful.

‘Is it because he is a Source that he moves more actively in a dungeon? Jio held an impartial goodwill towards the human race itself, so it might be inevitable that he becomes more active in places with fewer humans who are easily frightened by his stature. That in itself is a delightful story.’

Whatever the meaning, a portrait that dragged humans into its frame at will and then spat them out could only be sweet to a collector.

Bisabeol’s smile deepened.

“You may explain how you came to be a painting beyond the frame, what happened inside… and for what reason you came to meet the monster in the black cape.”

He was already looking forward to what kind of interesting story she would tell.

“You will do that, won’t you?”

“…Yes, ye….”

“Thank you.”

Bisabeol was so very curious as to what artistic miracle allowed this shabby Hunter to come out without dying.

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