A New Dungeon in the Sea

"Isn't that nothing short of a miracle?"

Bi Sa-beol greeted Yu Seong-un with a bright smile.

"……."

"Whoa, whoa—don't turn around and walk out. Come right in. You can't do that to someone's face."

"Ugh, I really don't want to go in…."

"I trust you know I'm the one who signs your paychecks. Isn't that right?"

"I know, which is why I at least made it as far as the door."

"If you know, then why aren't you coming the rest of the way already, Curator Yu Seong-un? The guild leader is waiting."

In the end Yu Seong-un stepped into the office, sank onto the staff sofa, and muttered,

"I really need to save up and quit."

"Do you honestly think that would even be possible?"

"If I have a legitimate reason, aren't you supposed to accept a resignation?"

"Just remember that a hurt-feeling me might accidentally forget to process it."

"Corruption…."

"When has South Korea ever been free of corruption? How can you say something so naive?"

"I seriously hate this."

Yu Seong-un scrubbed his tired face roughly with both hands, let out a sigh deep enough to empty his soul, and only then slowly lifted his head. The hollows under his eyes were as dark as a panda's.

"So what exactly is it you want to know? I already submitted a full written report just yesterday. What more could possibly be so urgent that you had to call in this poor, overworked employee?"

Bi Sa-beol cut straight to the point.

"From the report, it seems Ji-oh regrettably never managed to cause any casualties."

"Regrettably?"

"A little of my true feelings slipped out by accident. I was curious how that portrait actually functions."

"What kind of reaction are you hoping for from me? Should I clap?"

"So let's set that part aside for now. I've developed some questions about Ji-oh's portrait."

"I figured as much. Go ahead."

"The part about it reacting to dungeons and monsters and becoming corrupted was extremely interesting, but—so who exactly is Giovanni?"

"That…."

That particular detail had indeed never made it into the written report.

"As you know, anything concerning 'Ji-oh's Portrait' is classified even within our own guild, so I left it out of the report to prevent any possible leaks. I hope that didn't come across as disrespectful."

"Forget disrespect—who is Giovanni?"

"Right. This is the kind of person you are."

"Giovanni is…."

"I'll explain, so give me a moment. I need to organize my thoughts as well."

Yu Seong-un scratched the back of his neck, then continued.

"…I believe he is one of the 'Ji-ohs' from another dimension. While I was wandering through that virtual dungeon I was pulled into—the Abyssal Temple—I managed to obtain several materials that confirmed it."

When he had gone looking for any other survivors who might have been dropped elsewhere, Yu Seong-un had not been searching for people alone. Conducting a basic investigation upon discovering a new dungeon was simply basic hunter competence.

"As a result, I was able to find traces of someone named Giovanni. He would have been in his early thirties, a priest who served the Sun God as well as a doctor, platinum blond hair and blue eyes… it matched one of the appearances of Ji-oh I previously reported to you."

"Then Ji-oh must indeed be deeply connected to the Source. That would put him on an entirely different qualitative level from ordinary Source entities or monsters."

"That is currently my working assessment. After reincarnating as another 'Ji-oh' in a different dimension, living out a human life, then returning to the portrait once that life ends for a period of reorganization… and once every adjustment is complete, reincarnating again. That is the cycle I suspect, at least for now."

It was also possible the process was not bound by linear time and was occurring simultaneously. After all, it would be something unfolding between dimensions.

Which meant "Ji-oh's Portrait" was neither human, nor monster, nor item—not even one of those most veiled of beings, a Child of the Source.

Nor could it simply be called a god.

"'Ji-oh's Portrait' can become anything."

Like a painter who can express all things with paint and sculpture.

"And something like that is, well… how should I put it…."

"I know it's a hasty judgment, but wouldn't the word 'Source' suit it best of all?"

"…It might."

If there were no close connection to the Source—the greatest secret of the world—Ji-oh could never have maintained such an immense rank.

"And yet he has refused to abandon even the faint humanity that remains. Whether we should call that remarkable willpower, or whether it is simply part of the Source's system, I still can't say…."

Yu Seong-un stroked his chin and asked,

"Is there anything else you wanted to know?"

"Oh? Is that already the end?"

"I'm not a parent telling bedtime fairy tales. If you're bored, find someone else to talk to. I may not look it, but I'm busy cleaning up the aftermath of that virtual dungeon."

"My apologies."

Bi Sa-beol offered his characteristic thin smile.

"You've been run ragged creating an identity for Ji-oh, haven't you? It's not every day you have to conjure an A-class hunter out of thin air."

"Even if we are the Collector Guild, which has more than its share of unofficial hunters, the number of things that still need explaining is overflowing. The Association will have to be persuaded somehow as well."

"I'll handle the Association side. Just take care of the basics. They won't be completely ignorant of 'Ji-oh's Portrait' either."

"Thank you for lightening the load. Thanks to that, I might actually get to sleep in my own bed tonight for the first time in ages."

At the center of the entire incident—the dungeon now named the Abyssal Temple—Ji-oh had been openly active. Only Priest Kang Seo-dam had recognized the divinity itself, but that did not mean the holy power could be hidden.

"At that point it became impossible to claim the person didn't exist…."

"With that many witnesses, what choice was there? If he had just killed every last one of them from the start, the cleanup would have been far simpler."

"Are you telling me to become a Red Hunter? To fall to a 5th-Class Citizen? Just like that?"

"No, I was thinking of Ji-oh. Then I would have gotten to watch his attack methods as well, wouldn't I?"

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. For some reason Ji-oh seems to think of you as a reasonably decent human being, so please manage your image."

"That is one of the things I do best. One of the weapons that let this weak body build one of the top three guilds."

"But there really are a lot of witnesses. Because the atmosphere was so harmonious, the survivors' accounts are spreading even more actively…."

The survivors must have felt deeply comforted inside the dungeon; expressions of gratitude toward "Hunter Seo Ji-oh" kept arriving at the Collector Guild.

In a situation like that, it was impossible to claim a person named "Seo Ji-oh" did not exist.

"Because of it the staff are a little shaken as well. The official notice you circulated clearly listed an employee named 'Ji-oh'… and now they're wondering if it could be the same person."

"Well of course it's the same person. I don't remember hiring employees quite that oblivious."

"Everyone has already guessed. No one wants to act like they know because it would make the work more complicated, but at the very least they understand that the 'Ji-oh' in the notice and the 'Seo Ji-oh' from this whole uproar are the same being."

"So everyone knows and not a single person is coming to talk to me about it?"

"They don't want extra work."

Yu Seong-un let out a long sigh.

"Just like me."

"I pay you, don't I?"

"Damn capitalist society."

In a world where even a proper lifespan could be bought with enough money, labor rights were never going to exist. Yu Seong-un kneaded the back of his neck, stiff with fatigue, and continued.

"Still, because you already introduced him as an employee in the notice, some people are just going, 'Oh, so he really was an employee then,' and moving on. Most of them, though, think the guild leader is planning to hire a monster instead of a human…."

"While we're on the subject, should I try it next time?"

"This is exactly why distrust among the staff keeps growing. There's a reason people say, 'The moment anything art-related comes up, that lunatic loses his mind.' Please look after your dignity as guild leader. I'm begging you."

"I'm very sorry to say this, but I have none. What an entertaining person you are."

"At your age you ought to have some. Why don't you? Seriously, why?"

Yu Seong-un scrubbed his face again and pressed on.

"Anyway, Ji-oh will be formally listed on the Collector Guild website soon. Since he's already known with blond hair and blue eyes, if he wants to operate without the cloak he'll have to move as 'Giovanni'… but I think even Ji-oh will understand that much."

Ji-oh did not seem particularly averse to shifts in his own personality. That very fact made one nod and think it was typical of a Source entity, but since it placed no great burden on him either, it would be permitted.

"In short, Ji-oh is now… going to be openly active in human society."

"So we can't go to an amusement park together?"

"…'Ji-oh's Portrait' dislikes anything noisy and chaotic, so I would appreciate it if you refrained. He remains unbelievably gentlemanly toward humans, but that does not mean he has stopped disliking the rude and the wicked."

"Of course I know. That's why I was thinking of renting the whole place out."

"Please do that sort of thing for your partner…."

"Partner? Who would go to an amusement park with an old man like me?"

"Then why did you think Ji-oh would go with you? That doesn't even make sense."

He knew perfectly well these were nonsense remarks tossed out just so Bi Sa-beol could enjoy the reaction of one of his collectibles, Yu Seong-un—but they were still exhausting to listen to. He was already tired; now his energy was being completely drained.

"Anyway, if you have nothing more to ask, I'm leaving. I still have to deliver the hunter ID we just made to Ji-oh, and there are textbooks and all sorts of other things I need to explain…."

"Ah, wait a moment."

"What is it."

"Something has gone wrong with the sea."

"……."

Yu Seong-un pressed a hand to his forehead.

"When you say 'the sea'… are you referring to that anomalous phenomenon I investigated a while back? Right now? Right when I was about to stand up after listening to a whole string of pointless chatter?"

Bi Sa-beol nodded lightly.

"I just forgot for a second."

"Don't lie. It makes me want to explode."

But Bi Sa-beol would never stop these little games; enjoying Yu Seong-un's reactions was half the point. An eternal truth: giving up was easier.

Having wisely resigned himself, Yu Seong-un sat back down on the sofa.

"So what happened?"

"There won't be an official announcement yet, but if there's one advantage to the power of Korea's top three guilds, it's the speed of our information."

"Ah. Yes."

"I just obtained some piping-hot intel the Association only just confirmed."

"So what is it."

"They observed a new dungeon forming in the sea."

"…A new dungeon… in the sea…."

Yu Seong-un went pale.

"…At a time like this?"

"At a time like this."

Bi Sa-beol smirked.

"Does anything come to mind?"

"Don't tell me… it's connected to the Abyssal Temple?"

"It appears to be the same dungeon."

Bi Sa-beol confirmed it.

"A few brave Association hunters checked the interior. They report that the deeper they went, the more the environment began to resemble a temple."

"Same as what I saw inside the Abyssal Temple, then. So there was another connected dungeon all along."

A sigh escaped him of its own accord.

"If it's causing anomalies in the sea itself, could it be a villa dungeon? Did the temple just… appear?"

"No. It's an ordinary entry-type dungeon."

"It's going to be disgustingly vast."

One of the characteristics of entry-type dungeons was that their range had no limits. Among those confirmed so far, the widest interior was the size of an entire country—Russia-sized, in fact.

Because of that, entry-type dungeons were known as the most stable yet simultaneously the most bothersome and tedious to clear. Especially when one was expected to be this enormous.

"The Abyssal Temple I confirmed seemed to be a mix of temple and research facility. Since those hunters' reports stopped at the temple structure, the place we saw was probably much farther in… deep underground."

If that was the case, then that kid Eun-ha had thrown people into a place where they were practically meant to die.

It's basic knowledge that the deeper you go into a dungeon, the lower the survival rate.

No matter how many times he received a monster's hatred and malice, he never got used to it.

"Ah, about the child I reported as Eun-ha…."

"We haven't been able to find him since your group returned. He probably remained inside the dungeon or changed his form. At the initiation ceremony he almost certainly took the shape of a human child in order to play the part of a priest candidate."

"So it was like that after all."

Having decided it would now be difficult to keep pretending to be human, "Eun-ha" had vanished.

Bi Sa-beol asked,

"Did Ji-oh show any particular confusion about that part? He seemed to have taken some care with the child and grown attached."

"……."

"It can't have been easy learning that the actual cause of this whole incident was that child Eun-ha."

"That part… he seemed fine."

"Hmm."

Bi Sa-beol tilted his head, interest flickering.

"So he already knew, then?"

"…We have no way of knowing how far he has organized his personalities, so I can't say for certain, but given that he showed no special shock or surprise afterward…."

"Ji-oh knew from the beginning what kind of being Eun-ha was?"

"How else can we interpret it?"

No—he hadn't known.

Inside the dungeon Ji-oh had simply not been thinking about anything, and once he was out and learned Eun-ha's true identity, his stiff facial muscles simply failed to show the confusion.

Even the certainty that Iser from Giovanni's memories and Eun-ha were the same person had only come after he left the dungeon.

"Since it is a dungeon whose master is a humanoid monster, it would be helpful to learn a little more about 'Giovanni,' who seems to be the key to peace there. Would that be possible?"

"I'll try."

"Ah, and also…."

"What now."

"……."

Bi Sa-beol looked at Yu Seong-un with feigned pity.

"According to the Association hunters, they spotted 'Ji-oh's Portrait' inside that new sea dungeon I just mentioned."

"…What?"

"More precisely, not as 'Seo Ji-oh' but in the form of the 'Black Cloak.' The Association hunters said a tall man wearing a black cloak helped them escape…."

"Oh for the love of—"

Yu Seong-un clutched his head.

"Please just stay within the range of what I can clean up…."

"My, how pitiful."

"Uwaaaaaaah…."

A future of overtime appeared before his eyes of its own accord.

Of course Ji-oh had not gone looking for trouble just for fun.

"I only went into that dungeon because I wanted to see my mermaid students' faces. I never expected other people would be there."

"Kkurururuk."

"Even a dad talented enough to roast sweet potatoes with paint can't predict every future, you know."

Ji-oh recalled the sturdy hunters he had run into head-on in a place he had visited thinking, Obviously no one will still be there by now.

They had looked thoroughly terrified.

"Exactly the way the Collector Guild staff look when they run into me at dawn."

"Kkung."

"They seem like such smart elites, and yet those healthy employees get so frightened…."

"Kkung-kkung."

"…Frightened…."

"Kkung-kkung-kkung."

"……."

To be clear, Ji-oh was capable of grasping reality.

And he also knew that a ghost story about the "Black Cloak" had taken root inside the Collector Guild. Bi Sa-beol's teasing played a part, but the main reason was that the employees who took it seriously had worked themselves into a state of pure terror.

"…Ah."

A black-cloaked figure standing alone in a company hallway after everyone had gone home, and a black-cloaked figure abruptly appearing inside a dungeon that should have been empty and pointing out the path to survival.

The synchronization rate was so high that Ji-oh felt déjà vu. Only then did his sense of reality return, and he realized.

"…Did I just mess up?"

"Kkur."

"Oh gods of heaven and earth."

And that was how it happened.

To be continued.