The Limits of Humanity
“Sister.”
“Yes, my foolish little brother.”
“Indeed. Your foolish little brother has arrived. Is the research progressing well?”
“Not badly.”
She had been writing something with fluid elegance using a quill carved from emerald. Setting it down at last, she lifted her head. Hair that shimmered black and cold like the deep sea spilled in waves. She wore a smile as fierce as the abyssal ocean itself.
“Among every dimension I know, humans truly are the most fascinating species. The way they use their brains varies wildly from individual to individual, and the range—from appearance to emotion—is vast.”
“You really do love humans, Sister.”
“Just how far do human limits stretch? I keep thinking this must be the end, only for some insane specimen in another dimension to shatter that ceiling… I simply cannot stop my research.”
“Then doesn’t that mean the human species has no limits at all?”
“There are dimensions where humans have become gods, after all. But I cannot declare that godhood is humanity’s final form, so collecting specimens in every possible way remains essential, don’t you agree?”
“Certainly so.”
Iser’s sister wanted to understand every facet of humanity. She had even shaped the Sun’s creations with her own cold mermaid hands. Of course, those creations more often than not escaped human form. Hatred for humanity still ran too deep in her for her to craft anything whole.
“And yet it’s strange.”
“……”
“There is one person alone I can never remake…”
Iser understood.
His sister was a genius who made the impossible possible, yet there was a single exception. Giovanni alone could neither be revived nor duplicated. In Iser’s estimation, she herself was the one refusing to allow it.
“……”
Any Giovanni she created would no longer be their teacher.
“…This dimension appears to call itself Earth. More precisely, that is the name of the planet.”
Iser wore his usual calm smile—the gentle, benevolent expression that so closely resembled the human named Giovanni, the one who sometimes stirred longing and revulsion in both siblings at once.
“Is there a role for me this time?”
“If everything proceeds smoothly, probably not. I will fashion a separate seed of Earth to open the gate, so you need not worry.”
“I was not worried.”
He gave a small laugh.
“If I had been, it would have been for you, Sister.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
Above her deep-blue dress she wore an incongruous doctor’s coat; her eyes curved into crescent moons.
“Where do you think the end of humanity lies?”
“How could I know something even you do not, Sister?”
“There are times when I find it hard to breathe. I’ve run too far, I suppose.”
“Even if you say that, you will never rest.”
“Curiosity cannot be helped, but still…”
Her crimson lips moved.
“Someday I will be able to stop.”
From earliest childhood she had wanted to witness the limits of humanity. Now it seemed that desire had gained a purpose.
“……”
“Isn’t that so?”
If she learned the limits of humanity, then within those limits Giovanni—the noblest human of all—would surely exist…
“…Yes.”
We were missing him in silence.
“I think so as well.”
They might cry out to the world for a chance to see their dead teacher again, yet if they ever did meet him once more, he would no longer be someone they could call Giovanni. That was why the siblings never spoke the name. They understood that making him their goal was a cruel contradiction.
“……”
“……”
And still, desire stirred.
“……”
“Good morning.”
Just as it had been when they imprisoned the sun in the deep sea.
“……”
“Hey, wait a second…”
“Do not come any closer.”
“Sorry, but Ji-oh is with me.”
“I told you to stay away.”
“We’re not getting anywhere.”
Yu Seong-un offered an awkward smile. He had no idea how to react to this awkward predicament.
It’s not like he’s a mother bird protecting her chick.
Judging by size alone the opposite should have been true, yet Eun-ha—whose body was no larger than an elementary-schooler’s—was clutching the collapsed Ji-oh tightly against himself.
No matter how hard he tries with that tiny frame, he can’t possibly cover everything.
The desperation was almost pitiful.
“……”
Yu Seong-un quickly assessed the situation.
…Judging by how hypersensitive this kid is, this is probably connected to one of Ji-oh’s personas.
He had already expected that countless dimensions held branches of personality orbiting the core that was “Ji-oh’s Portrait.” Taking that into account, the creature baring its teeth while shielding Ji-oh so absurdly was almost certainly a humanoid monster from another dimension.
The way the teeth transform makes it clear he isn’t human. Which means some persona of Ji-oh’s is acquainted with this monster standing in front of me…
Whether that counted as luck or misfortune, he couldn’t decide.
The fact that he looks like the master of this dungeon yet hasn’t attacked at all… maybe that’s the lucky part.
Yu Seong-un cast a dubious glance at Eun-ha still hugging the unconscious Ji-oh.
“You don’t seem inclined to explain the situation. What’s your name?”
“I apologize, but I find this unpleasant. Please do not address me, you insignificant human.”
“Right, that’s the proper reaction for a monster. Helps me get my sense of reality back.”
Monsters were, by nature, creatures that hated humans. Ji-oh, who had always treated humans with gentlemanly courtesy, was the strange one.
Even the fact that Eun-ha is responding to me at all is already remarkably mild.
Considering the bewildering situation of being dragged into a virtual dungeon out of nowhere, a possible exit was starting to appear. Yu Seong-un allowed himself a flicker of hope.
“Anyway, ‘Eun-ha’ is clearly an alias. What should I call you?”
“It is not an alias.”
“So it’s your real name?”
“I borrowed Earth’s conventions and formed it from the meaning of my true name, so…”
“That’s still an alias.”
Even while baring his teeth, the creature answered every question with diligent thoroughness. The contradictory reaction was fascinating.
It doesn’t seem like his hatred for humans is particularly low. Which means he’s answering for Ji-oh’s sake.
Once the research team leader of the Association, Yu Seong-un studied the other without letting the scrutiny turn offensive. Feeling curiosity even while his own life and the lives of others hung in the balance was an occupational hazard of being a Gardener.
I don’t know what kind of relationship this monster once had with Ji-oh…
The kid had eyes; he would already know that Yu Seong-un and Ji-oh had been operating together on Earth.
They looked close enough that even a random passerby wouldn’t have found it strange.
That was probably why the monster was holding himself back.
In that case, this monster is gauging Ji-oh’s mood.
In short, Ji-oh ranked higher in their relationship than the monster did.
“…I’m so tired.”
He desperately wanted to clock out.
Time has passed and people are gradually calming down, but the uneasy atmosphere remains—they still know they’ve been dragged into a dungeon. A lot of the faces I saw at the event are missing, too…
Yu Seong-un scanned the surroundings and asked,
“Did you drag every single person from the event here?”
There was no point pretending ignorance now.
For an ‘insignificant human,’ he already spouted some pretty monstrous lines.
Right after triggering the incident, Eun-ha had made no effort to hide that he was the master of this place—as if he had always planned to reveal his identity.
The others are still too confused by the sudden abduction to even think of checking over here.
But he could never fool the eyes of an A-class hunter like Yu Seong-un. The master of this virtual dungeon, the culprit who had yanked the entire event venue into this place, was unmistakably the blue-haired brat in front of him.
“The condition was every person who had been inside the Temple of the Sun?”
“……”
“…Ugh…”
A monster was a monster, after all.
The killing intent is enormous.
How had he managed to play such a soft-spoken child on Earth? The murderous aura was so thick it made the question almost absurd. Pearl-white eyes were bloodshot enough to look red; merely meeting that gaze was enough to exhaust Yu Seong-un’s mind.
He felt the difficulty of the situation keenly.
I really don’t want to provoke the temper of a dungeon master this terrifying…
Unfortunately, the only hunters present in this space were A-class Yu Seong-un himself, one C-class man, and one woman who fell a little short of C-class. As an all-rounder, Yu Seong-un could theoretically cover for everyone if he had to, but…
No. I can’t.
They were all going to die.
I could escape alone if I wanted, but I can’t leave Ji-oh behind.
It wasn’t that he was worried about Ji-oh’s safety. Yu Seong-un had no right to worry over the well-being of this unconscious portrait. He simply did not want to witness Bi Sa-beol’s howling after losing a single work of art, did not want to lose Ji-oh—who was special data connected to the Source—and, finally, he was worried about what absurd catastrophe “Ji-oh’s Portrait” might unleash if left unsupervised.
I can’t just plant an unmeasurable, bizarre fragment of the Source in this insane dungeon and walk away. That would be like arming a bomb and leaving it ticking.
The one silver lining was that the moment the monster confirmed Ji-oh’s face, the killing intent had clearly softened.
Even the dungeon’s oppressive pressure seems to have eased a little…
He needed to find a way out of this dungeon, and he could not afford to ruffle the feathers of a master who had only just calmed down.
“……”
Expecting cooperation from a monster was unrealistic, so Yu Seong-un used Ji-oh as leverage and spoke more indirectly.
“…You seem to know Ji-oh. Did you know this? Ji-oh detests wicked and rude beings.”
“……”
“I don’t know how the two of you know each other, but the current Ji-oh is like that. If he already had that disposition back then, it probably means you… weren’t so wicked or rude at the time.”
“But now I am wicked and rude.”
The monster continued in a blank face that would chill anyone who saw it.
“I do not imagine this person would approve of the present me. I am not arrogant like the rest of you.”
“Uh, right. Sounds like Ji-oh was the same back then. Since things have already turned out this way, any chance you’d consider being a little kinder to the humans?”
“……”
Answering with silence, the monster lifted his head and met Yu Seong-un’s eyes.
Yu Seong-un looked into those pearl-like eyes. The pupils were slit vertically like a predator’s, and they fractured the light like a diamond struck by sunlight.
Ah, damn.
Call it a hunter’s instinct. Yu Seong-un realized at once what it meant.
He’s debating whether to kill us.
Kill everyone before Ji-oh woke up—cause the accident first, then figure out how to clean it up afterward. That was clearly the plan.
Strange.
Just like earlier, those pearl-colored eyes now gleamed even more vividly, like a beast’s eyes flashing at dusk. Apparently the monster’s eyes shone like water scales whenever he grew angry or harbored killing intent.
…If it comes to that, then on our side—
He was not going to sit still and die.
No matter how many die, all I need to do is recover Ji-oh from this place.
Anticipating how many would perish here, Yu Seong-un began gathering cold energy in his hand—when a small groan cut through the air.
“…Ugh…”
“! Ji-oh.”
“! Teacher!”
Teacher?
“Ah, that…”
Eun-ha faltered, clearly flustered by the word that had slipped out. The expression said he had realized too late that the present situation gave him no grounds to call Ji-oh “Teacher” in any sense.
What is with this clumsiness?
The face that had been so venomous moments ago now looked simply earnest and a little dull. Yu Seong-un felt whatever scrap of trust he had left hit rock bottom.
“J-Ji-oh-ssi.”
“……”
“Are you all right? You just lost consciousness a moment ago…”
Was this monster putting on an act?
…Humanoid monsters do have a basic habit of fawning over humans, but that’s usually a tactic to lower a prey’s guard before the kill…
Looking at the boy’s face, which could have belonged to a devout priest, Yu Seong-un felt his already depleted energy drain further. The sudden drop in killing intent left him completely deflated.
Ji-oh staggered upright, clutching his head as if it ached, and looked around.
“……”
“……”
“……?”
Though the hood hid most of it, a glimpse of black hair confirmed that the present Ji-oh was definitely Seo Ji-oh. He seemed to be wondering where he was and why he had collapsed.
Eun-ha appeared to notice as well; he asked in a child’s voice,
“Ji-oh-ssi, this is a dungeon. Do you remember anything from before you collapsed?”
“…Before I collapsed…”
Surprisingly, Ji-oh nodded.
“I spoke to Student Eun-ha.”
“Ah…”
Eun-ha looked a little disappointed, yet also partly relieved. Yu Seong-un roughly grasped the situation as well.
…His personality seems to have been thrown into confusion.
Ji-oh remembered the fact that he had spoken to Eun-ha, yet he called him “Student.” That was Seo Ji-oh’s manner of speech, which meant the memories were present but the personality was not the “Ji-oh” Eun-ha knew.
“……”
Ji-oh sat for a long while with his head in his hands. For a being whose essence was a portrait, the sight was extremely unusual; Yu Seong-un asked with concern,
“…Does your head hurt?”
“…Yes.”
Ji-oh answered in a rare, cloudy tone.
“Both body and mind are spinning.”
At those words, Yu Seong-un recalled the moment they had been pulled into the dungeon.
…In that instant Ji-oh had worn the elevated presence I once saw in the portrait.
Had the restrictions on his rank loosened while he was moving between dimensions?
And now those restrictions are back in place?
He still did not even understand Ji-oh’s true nature, so of course he could not interpret the current state with precision. Yet one fact was clear to Yu Seong-un.
“……”
“……”
Yu Seong-un’s and Eun-ha’s gazes crossed.
…Either this brat or the environment of the dungeon itself is affecting Ji-oh’s personality…
To be honest, that was not welcome news for Yu Seong-un.
I don’t know what kind of bond Ji-oh and Eun-ha once shared.
A vicious dungeon crawling with humanoid monsters was already a disaster; the last thing he needed was for that disaster to alter Ji-oh’s already catastrophic personality.
If people accidentally break one of the rules of a more sensitive Ji-oh, they’ll be attacked. Even if that doesn’t happen, a Ji-oh who favors old ties might side with the monster Eun-ha. Either way, the situation becomes extremely unfavorable for humans.
Eun-ha had clearly reached a similar conclusion.
“……”
“Oh-ho?”
Using that small body, Eun-ha burrowed into Ji-oh’s arms. He clearly knew Ji-oh was especially soft on young creatures and intended to exploit that weakness.
“Eun-ha, get off. I thought you were a decent kid, but your acting is seriously next-level.”
“I do not understand what you mean.”
“I’ve never had my neck grab me this hard fighting bastards like you.”
“How immature of you.”
“I’m going insane.”
One thing, at least, was certain.
The longer we stay here, and the closer this brat remains… the more Ji-oh’s personality will change.
He now had a clear objective.
As soon as possible, he had to escape—while dragging along the time bomb named Ji-oh.
(To be continued)