The Empty City
Something deep seemed to have passed between them in the night.
“…….”
Ta-da.
Ji-oh’s ultimate positive mindset refused to get hung up on such things.
Looks like Aria’s hit her rebellious phase.
It was also a time when one fretted over every kind of worry imaginable.
I should respect that.
He wasn’t unaware that Aria was troubled by Ji-oh’s true nature and the circumstances surrounding him.
But to Ji-oh it wasn’t that serious a problem; he simply hoped Aria would grow accustomed to his situation.
Even so, worries of his own had a way of cropping up.
“…Hmm….”
“Teacher, is something the matter?”
“I think I may have created a dungeon.”
“Oh.”
Despite the sun having risen, Aria still hadn’t gone home. She let out a genuine sound of admiration and opened her mouth with the solemnity of a gentleman.
“So you do possess a thirst for vengeance against those responsible for your pain and death, my human teacher.”
“I don’t.”
“If not to torment humans, why create a dungeon?”
“I drew it because I wanted to.”
“Ah.”
Aria nodded.
“If it’s you, Teacher, that makes sense.”
“I have no idea what sort of being you take me for.”
“There’s a certain something.”
In many ways, Ji-oh was an unpredictable existence—even for Aria.
He might have created a dungeon from fragments of hatred and resentment toward humans, powered by his subconscious—or he might simply have been pursuing a hobby with no thought or worry whatsoever, and a dungeon had popped into existence.
Aria took in the framed painting Ji-oh had been looking at.
“You mean this painting?”
“I painted it a long time ago, but no matter how I look at it…”
“It looks like a dungeon, right?”
Aria asked as she gazed at the painting of a city filled entirely with monochrome tones.
“What’s its name?”
“…….”
Ji-oh answered.
“Empty City.”
The System had said so, at least.
“I didn’t name it myself, though.”
“Then we should take it that the Structure gave it that name.”
“What is the Structure?”
“Ah… on Earth they call it the Source.”
“The Source.”
He had heard the name occasionally from Yu Seong-un.
Unlike when he called himself a Gardener, Yu Seong-un didn’t freely share knowledge related to it, but Ji-oh knew a little about the Source.
The big boss of the systems…
He understood it roughly as the mother of all systems and the administrator of all fates.
“I see.”
“What do you want to do with this, Teacher?”
“I didn’t want to do anything.”
Ji-oh felt a bit wronged.
“I just painted it because I wanted to paint it.”
What painter drew a picture hoping for practical utility?
“A painting on a canvas is meant to be appreciated, not chewed, torn, tasted, and enjoyed.”
For example, one didn’t paint a picture in order to punch people. It might be traded around for monetary value or other secondary factors, but fundamentally a painting existed to be appreciated.
Aria fell silent for a moment at Ji-oh’s words, then asked,
“So what you’re saying is that you created a dungeon without any intention of doing so?”
“Is there a problem with that?”
“Well, quite a few, actually…”
A dungeon couldn’t be created without intent.
It was creating an entire world, a set of laws—nothing less. No matter how varied the methods of dungeon formation, one had to assume it was impossible to create one without the will of the dungeon master.
And yet he claims he simply created this because he wanted to draw.
The rippling grey city filled her vision.
“…….”
Soon Aria wore her characteristic languid smile—a smile so perfect and beautiful it could captivate every lady in high society the moment she stepped into a ballroom.
“Well, I suppose that’s possible.”
“Right?”
“Of course, of course.”
After all, Aria had already given up on fully understanding Ji-oh.
Even as a human I never thought he was ordinary, but to think his essence was like this.
If Ji-oh possessed an uninterpretable, exalted rank, he could create a world with a single stroke of the brush. For a painter to create a world in the form of a painting was only natural.
“So what exactly is worrying you?”
“I was wondering whether I should just leave it alone.”
“Hmm…”
“I don’t want to throw the painting away.”
“Why would you throw this away? What a waste.”
A dungeon was still a dungeon—a world that inevitably drew things in.
If I leave it like this, Earthlings will get eaten up.
Even if Ji-oh had no such intention, so what? When a human stepped on a bug while walking, had they intended to? Even if this was a world Ji-oh had painted as a meaningless hobby, someone would eventually be dragged into the dungeon.
But there’s no need to tell him that right now…
This painting, too, was ultimately a world he had drawn.
Meaning a world like this would never do something that displeased its master and parent, Teacher.
What laws and preferences it held would become clear with time.
“…For now, I think we have to leave it alone if we want to learn anything about it.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s also a dungeon that hasn’t been around for long.”
Aria scanned the grey painting up and down.
“You haven’t created any children of your own for it, right?”
She meant the dungeon’s monsters.
“A newly born dungeon doesn’t work actively. Unless you personally egg it on, as long as you leave it alone its growth will be slow, so there’s no need to worry too much.”
“…….”
“Teacher?”
“…Am I its parent?”
Ji-oh’s heart sank.
“Is this painting alive?”
“…You could look at it that way.”
Aria explained lightly.
“Not every dungeon is like that, but the more closely a dungeon is linked to its master, the stronger its tendencies as a living thing become. It has a certain self, it grows…”
“Is the ‘Empty City’ that closely connected to me?”
“The appearance as a living being becomes clearer depending on the master’s capabilities, and from what I can see, this is more than enough to qualify.”
“I can’t believe it.”
He had given birth thoughtlessly and become a shameless parent who didn’t even know he had a child.
“I’m trash.”
“I understand what you’re thinking, but calm down. It’s not like that.”
Broadly speaking one might call it a living thing, but strictly speaking it was a stretch to call a dungeon a true life-form.
“In Earth terms, it’s more like artificial intelligence. It’s a vast nature—if you look closely you can see its fine flows and structures, and from a distance that emotionless system just looks like a single living organism.”
It didn’t actually possess life.
“So you don’t need to be that shocked.”
“I understand, but still, a corner of my heart aches.”
“To still have a corner of your heart that can ache even in this state—that’s impressive.”
Ji-oh now had a rank too ambiguous to call fully human. That he maintained this unique sensibility was a miracle even Aria found hard to explain.
“Hmm…”
Aria examined the painting a little more, then continued.
“…It’s definitely a recently created dungeon, so there are immature aspects in various ways.”
“How did you raise your dungeon, Aria?”
“I told you it’s not a child…. Well, can you even call it raising? It’s closer to just setting up mechanisms here and there.”
“Setting up mechanisms?”
“Making a game board.”
Having observed many dungeons, Aria could explain a little.
“In my dungeon’s case, it simply grew naturally as I stayed inside it. The environment was created according to my mental image, monsters were born as I conducted research within it, and at some point foreign matter entered, and as I searched for ways to deal with it, all sorts of traps got installed…”
They had grown together over a long stretch of time. To Aria, her dungeon was closer to a friend than a child.
“I’ve also seen dungeon masters who deliberately set up the board.”
“If they deliberately set up the board, what for?”
“There was one who prioritized how to most systematically express his hatred for humans.”
Aria nodded.
“Ultimately, the most important things in managing a dungeon are the master’s sense of purpose and mental image. When the master has a clear desire for the dungeon, these things grow more naturally.”
Of course, this dungeon had many exceptions.
“I don’t know if Teacher’s dungeon will be the same as other people’s. Fundamentally these worlds are built on intense emotions directed at something, and the dungeon master naturally ends up with some sort of purpose…”
“I don’t have any particular thoughts, though.”
“If anything, that might be the problem.”
In many ways it differed from other dungeons’ situations.
“Unless you intend otherwise, Teacher, this dungeon will inevitably be different from ordinary ones. It might have no rules, no monsters—there are all sorts of possibilities.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Whether it becomes a problem or not, I don’t really know, but the fact that how it’s used depends entirely on you is clear. Once you’ve created a world, that’s how it has to be.”
No structure exists that seeks to go against its creator’s will.
“It’s the same with Honey, whom you created.”
“Ah, so it’s a child of the same sort?”
“Come to think of it, on Earth they call things like this Children of the Source…”
“Honey is Ji-oh’s child, though.”
“…….”
Suddenly Aria realized.
“…Then I suppose Teacher is the Source.”
This person might be the Source.
“Don’t you think?”
A pitch-black canvas that could become anything.
“…….”
“If that’s the case, then I truly no longer need to worry about food expenses.”
“…You really have no sense of tension…”
“More than anything, escaping the yoke of taxes is an incredible stroke of luck.”
“Is that really all you have to say?”
And so she felt a little relieved.
“You really never change.”
Perhaps because he had already changed so much and could change still further, he instead seemed to remain in the same place.
Aria tilted her head slowly, feeling an ominously rippling sense of peace.
“So how do you plan to use this?”
“A vacation spot?”
“Are you serious?”
“Isn’t it fine?”
“…Well, it is up to you, Teacher.”
She had thought that among emotions, the most intense and vivid were anger and hatred.
That was why so many monsters with deep hatred for humans could create such worlds, and because they were the masters, worlds matching their tastes were formed.
So if this isn’t a world born from those emotions at all.
However he used it was up to Ji-oh.
“…….”
Still, a thought occurred to her.
“If you’ve created an intact world that isn’t even a game board, can you still call that person human?”
Ji-oh answered with his characteristic blunt expression.
“These things can happen as you live. Aria, you have too narrow a way of thinking…”
“Right, I knew you’d say that. I’m the idiot for asking when I already knew.”
He was so consistent it gave her goosebumps.
Ji-oh visited the Empty City for the first time.
“…….”
“Indeed, so this is the world Teacher created.”
“…Aren’t you busy, Iser?”
Together with his disciple Iser, who had grown so much in the time they hadn’t seen each other.
“Is it all right for a dungeon master to leave their post this freely?”
“In practice I’m the second master, so whether I’m there or not doesn’t make much difference.”
“I see.”
Well, a homeowner could be away from home, of course.
In the first place, Ji-oh, the master of the Empty City, was visiting for the first time right now; the idea that a dungeon master always had to be busy might just be Ji-oh’s own small-minded thinking.
“…….”
Still, the feeling was a little strange.
“…Is this what parents feel when their fully grown children keep hanging around the family home?”
“What marriageable age is there for merfolk?”
“I’m feeling mixed emotions. I did want you to visit home often, but now that you’re settling in too much, my heart is complicated.”
“And when was it that you came to drag me over because your neighbor never came to play…?”
“That’s true, but.”
Still, he was a little worried.
“A dungeon doubles as both home and workplace, so you won’t keep leaving it empty forever, will you?”
“We also thought it would be a bit of a problem for both of us to be away at the same time…”
Iser nodded.
“We’ve decided to take turns coming home.”
“I hope you don’t feel any burden about having to visit your parents’ home.”
“We’re coming because we want to, so you don’t need to worry about that.”
Having said that, Iser smiled bitterly.
“I’m also a little scared that the place where Teacher is might suddenly disappear.”
“Even though the door is perfectly open?”
But Ji-oh didn’t press further. Aside from still finding them cheeky, these were students he had poured affection into raising, after all.
More than anything, the longer they stay in my house, the more peaceful Iser’s heart will become, and humanity’s peace will be protected.
In many ways, there was no reason to dislike them visiting his home often.
“As long as it doesn’t interfere with your own lives, I don’t mind either.”
“Ah, then we’ll see you often.”
“It would be even better if you brought some clams when you come.”
“Clams… how about fish?”
“That would be good too. Since I live in the forest, seafood is appealing.”
Nodding, Ji-oh turned his head to look at the grey world.
“So.”
“…….”
“What’s your impression?”
Iser, who had taken in the Empty City, slowly opened his mouth.
“…There’s nothing here.”
It was truly an empty city, living up to its name.
(To be continued)