The Artist Who Paints Dungeon

Late evening.

Top floor of the cabin, attic. Soft lighting. Scent of the passing forest. A black wooden desk set in front of a round window.

Gio was there, organizing the rules he had discovered.

“So …”

Gio continued speaking.

“It can be said to be 1:1.”

Gio could do anything within this painting.

He hadn’t really tried ‘everything,’ but he felt like he could. In a world where he could even create warm corpses, there seemed to be nothing impossible for Gio.

‘But when reality gets involved, the story changes.’

‘I enjoy the paintings drawn by me or others since all are the same from my perspective, but the moment it was taken outside, it becomes reality. I thought it would be too much if there were no restrictions ….’

That was where the doubt began.

“I’m glad that Mr. Yoo Sung-woon is kind.”

He was so touched that he obediently drew an apple right away when asked out of the blue.

“He’s such a mature person, accommodating it even when the portrait talks nonsense.”

Thanks to the kind manager’s consideration and the attempts over the past few days, Gio was able to understand his situation.

When Gio leaves the painting, his figure disappears from the painting, and it becomes a frame with a simple landscape painting. If Gio wants to give a gift to someone outside the painting, he must receive something from them.

Generally, there is a give and take, a rule of 1:1.

“……”

Of course, the snacks he had distributed to the seventeen employees he met earlier were just a gesture of goodwill.

‘I thought giving them some snacks might lighten the mood since they were all so scared.’

As a result, the atmosphere did lighten. It changed from fear to absurdity. Yeah, even he would have been flustered too if a dark lump that popped out of a painting suddenly handed him a cookie.

‘They did help me, after all.’

In conclusion, it was just a matter of being polite.

If you have received something, or if you have something to apologize for, his grandmother said to give a gift to the other party along with eloquent words that pleased them. That’s the basic courtesy of human interaction.

‘She said that mere verbal thanks and apologies are like corpses.’

Speaking kindly is a given, and whether he could afford it or not, he should give out even a small gift. It was advice that meant life and death to Seo Gio, whose facial muscles had degenerated worse than that of a pony’s.

Thus, even now at the age of 29, the good potato Seo Gio still faithfully follows his life mentor, his grandmother’s, words. Otherwise, Gio wouldn’t have been able to become a teacher loved by his students.

Anyway, that’s why.

“I can’t just receive help.”

That was Seo Gio’s principle.

“In that sense, it seems the rules of this world suit me quite well. It might be a result reflecting my nature, like the animals of the forest.”

He liked it.

“To transfer something to reality while I’m a painting, I also need to receive something.”

Gio could do quite a lot freely.

In the painting, he could naturally enjoy almost the power of the creator, and he could even step outside into reality without being bound by any separate rules.

‘I can even make passages with paintings so I can go to different floors without taking the elevator.’

However, when Gio is a painting and the other side is reality, he cannot break this 1:1 rule. This was a fact he learned through conversations with Yoo Sung-woon, the employee managing the portrait.

“When I asked that person to draw an apple, a system explanation came up.”

It was an instruction to reciprocate, and there was even a time limit.

‘Was it about a week?’

He didn’t know what problems would arise if he didn’t give something in return within a week, but it didn’t seem like anything good would happen, so he gave Yoo Sung-woon a gift the very next day.

“……”

Gio rolled some trinkets next to the desk with his fingers.¹ They made clattering sounds as they hit the wooden desk.

“Gems…”

Among them were gems of various colours.

“I didn’t know I could make these too.”

Gio likes various painting styles.

A proper painter was said to have their own worldview, but Gio, being just a teacher and not such a painter, drew paintings in various styles. Seo Gio was also skilled in hyperrealism.

The gems he touched now were created in that way.

“Using these to make paint made it easy to paint the gem I gave to Mr. Yoo Sung-woon.”

It felt as if the paint, the painting, and the result itself were a living entity.

“……”

It definitely felt as if life was imbued in something that couldn’t breathe.

“This must be a specialness that suits very well with this cool potato with no limits on thought ….”

He was twenty-nine and never felt so much freedom to even throw off his underwear, but it was good to be able to do so many things. As a result, Gio seemed to have evolved into a potato with more diverse charms.

Having finished arranging the things, Gio continued to think like an unemployed person.

‘…Let’s sleep outside tonight. Sleeping while watching the stars will feel good. What should I make for breakfast tomorrow? Just baking potatoes and dipping them in salt would be delicious, right? And if I get bored, it wouldn’t be bad to do some farming. If I ask Mr. Yoo Sung-woon ….’

Since the weather is nice, the crops will grow well. If he finds seedlings he likes and starts farming, it will feel refreshing.

Then he’ll eat the grown crops and also give them as a gift to Mr. Yoo Sung-woon outside the painting. If there are bees somewhere, he’d like to bring them in and raise them.

“Let's go around a lot.”

Afterwards, he’ll return to the cabin and paint a painting.

When he draws a painting …

“……”

Gio, who had been half-asleep in the languid spring air, quietly opened his eyes.

“I need a pet.”

Although the scale has gotten a bit bigger, isn’t this still countryside life?

“Having a pet in a house with a yard is like having pork belly with soju. And I am a robust man from South Korea who drinks soju with pork belly… Therefore, I conclude that I need a new family member.”

Although this forest’s creatures were friendly to Gio, he could not easily touch them, perhaps because they still had the basic wariness of wild animals.

‘I wanted to knead them like sticky rice cake, but I was firmly refused.’

And Gio, being the gentleman he is, did not knead the rabbits that said no.

The forest friends were simply wild animals that easily came and went. It would certainly be fun to be friends with those friends, but Gio had another way.

“If I drew a painting ….”

Humans cannot be created, and he had no intention to do so. It was enough for one human to take responsibility for themself.

But what about animals?

“… Can I make them?”

Gio headed to the studio on the second floor.

***

So far, everything Gio had drawn had been objects.

“They had no consciousness.”

He had drawn fruits, vegetables, food, plates, furniture, and many other things, but they were not living and breathing existences. This is different from the vitality Gio vaguely senses in them.

“……”

Gio sat in front of the canvas.

“… Will it work?”

He had failed with human, but perhaps small animals might be possible?

“… There are no other people here, but there are other animals ….”

It seemed possible.

“……”

Gio got up from the chair and walked towards the small drawers filling the wall. It resembled the shape of a medicine cabinet that one might see in old oriental medicine clinics.

There were too many to count, but Gio knew where everything was.

“… Here, definitely …..”

Click.

He opened a drawer.

“There it is.”

There was a blue and transparent gem.

Gio didn’t exactly know what the gem was. But the gem was cool. It was refreshing rather than cold, and while it felt solid to the touch, its interior seemed to flow and sway like water.

“…….”

Twinkling and flowing within a single form, liquid in the shape of a solid—it was no different from living and breathing creatures that gathered together.

“Let’s go with this.”

In addition, Seo Gio brought out several gems, dried leaves, and minerals.

He breaks the gems with an awl and hammer. Even the well-dried leaves that still hold vivid colors, and minerals that contain various hues, are all grounded into powder. Made into fine powder like flour, it was created as paint in Gio’s hands.

“……”

Using the sap of trees found in the forest, he gave it a form.

“……”

Then, he adjusts it further to find the right viscosity.

“……”

The finely ground paint on the glass pane that showed colours well glowed faintly like fireflies.

'… Pale as the Milky Way, but…’

It gave such a refreshing feeling.

“It’s done.”

Gio began to paint.

This forest had no lake. Perhaps it was something natural, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed. He wished for that endless transparent thing, either something like a quaint pond, a majestic lake, or a vast sea, that will give off the scent of water.

Recalling the cool breeze that would blow from the extensive puddle, Gio moved his brush.

“……”

A round body.

A small head, large wings. With a beak that doesn’t need to be big since it will only sing. They would make homes where there is water, and the home itself would become them.

“……”

A bird that is water itself.

“……”

What kind of bird would that be?

“…It seems like they would flock together.”

They would live in flocks.

They could stay anywhere there is water, and even in places without water, they could create ponds, lakes, or seas at any time.

Living and breathing with life, they are transparent water and at the same time birds that create a cool breeze.

“The colours will be different for each.”

Since water is transparent, those with consciousness will think.

‘They would want to have colours to reveal themselves.’

They will be cute friends.

To decorate their transparent selves, they put all kinds of treasures into their bodies. Like how all birds take care of their feathers, they choose treasures that fit their bodies with their small beaks and put them inside their transparent bodies to adorn themselves.

It could be flowers. It could be gems, or it could be fruits hanging from trees or food left by people. Maybe they could even hold very old relics or a small fish.

“Everything is…”

Up to them.

They, who are water and birds, are free to do anything.

It’s okay to fall asleep in a flowing stream, and it’s okay to fly freely in the vast sky. They had freedom.

“……”

Gio drew a very small bird.

A round body, wings just the size of the torso, long tail feathers, and a short beak. The small-bodied ones could hide anywhere and knew that they were water.

Water with life.

“……”

With gems, flowers, and fruits inside their transparent bodies, shining in various colours ….

It was beautiful.

“……”

When Gio carefully tapped the bird’s beak with his fingertip, knock.

“Ah.”

―Plop!

“……”

A bird with its own treasure on its body landed on Gio’s shoulder.

“…Hello.”

Rustle.

“Nice to meet you.”

Rustle, rustle!

“Yes, me too.”

Instead of a cry, the bird rustled, making sounds with the flowers inside its body.

It was a quiet but noisy friend.

“You’re a chatterbox.”

The petals trapped in the small, transparent body made a faint noise as it playfully cried out.

“That’s amazing.”

Before he knew it, Gio’s room was filled with transparent, twinkling birds.

They lingered around Gio for a while, then quickly flew out through the open window. The wind created by the flapping wings of the living water droplets was greater than he imagined.

The picturesque sight similar to cherry blossoms petals fluttering in the clear spring breeze, was truly beautiful.

“……”

Gio, who was dazed for a moment, soon moved his feet and stood on the terrace.

“… Ah.”

There they are.

“They didn’t go far.”

They formed a small pond next to Gio’s cabin. He rested his chin on the terrace railing, leaning his body against it.

“Praiseworthy ones.”²

The long pond or lake surrounding the cabin was flowing calmly.

Beneath it lay countless ‘treasures’ like beach sand or river pebbles. The lake, filled with flowers, gems, and fruits, sparkled enchantingly under the moonlight.

They became one and flowed quietly, but then suddenly, pop! One came up and looked around. Then it hid again inside, forming a pond with its friends.

“……”

Gio closed his eyes. As the twinkling, moving water disappeared from sight, he soon heard their breathing.

Instead of chirping, he heard faint noises of gems clinking, flower petals brushing, and small stones or sand moving. That was how these friends talked and cried out.

It was like the sound of grass bugs in midsummer ….

“…I should go to sleep.”

Gio went outside the cabin, carrying only a pillow. Then he lay down between the cabin and the pond.

“……”

Rustle―

As he lay down to sleep, he heard the sound of animals approaching.

‘They’re coming quickly considering they all ran away when I tried to touch them.’

The birds that had been tilting their heads on the branches flew over and perched on Seo Gio’s chest. The deer that had been sniffing around the shallow and wide pond moved its long legs and came next to Seo Gio.

The squirrels that had been twitching in the bushes put acorns or small fruits in the pond and then gathered around him.

“……”

Gio muttered at that sight.

“… Toll?”

Was it a tollgate fee?

Anyway, both the squirrels and the pond birds seemed satisfied.

'That's enough.'

Isn’t it peaceful anyway?

Gio would be satisfied with just that if the friends he created were not beings deserving of ostracism, and if they could blend and harmonize with the existing ones.

At that point, Gio thought.

“……”

It would be fun to decorate this portrait.

¹: 잡동사니 was the word used here, it means ‘miscellaneous items’ but thinking about it, using ‘trinkets’ here would probably be better?

²: MC uses 기특한 so here he’s feeling proud of his creation I think. Idk if that was implied correctly so I just wrote it down here.

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