Looking for New Friends

Through the frame, Ji-oh kept checking on Earth's situation, searching for humans who might become his "new friends."

In the end, Iser asked,

"Why is it that whenever you notice someone, you never simply let them pass? Why speak to them, or hand out gifts?"

Ji-oh answered in a voice both gentle and brimming with confidence.

"If they hadn't seen me, that would be one thing—but they saw me too. When eyes meet, it's a battle. I simply cannot endure leaving without saying a word."

"So if eyes meet, a contest must be settled. Earthlings are more combative than I expected. Are there specific rules?"

"The longer the gaze holds, the more often it is taken as either temptation or a challenge to duel."

"How remarkable. When I previously disguised myself as a child of Earth, I was in such a hurry that I never studied properly. I had no idea such a culture existed."

"Which is why I, too, as a teacher, find myself unable to simply let someone go once our eyes have met."

It wasn't that he failed to consider how startled those people would be. But even for someone like Ji-oh, a perfect match might still exist out there. And that was something one could never know without speaking first.

Finding, by pure chance, someone who would not flinch at the name "Black Cloak" and would greet him with bright, lively cheer—how many years would that take? Yet the young man from a mountain village in Gangwon Province, who had never once dated because he had been chasing a natural, unforced romance all the way to this age, still clung to a peculiar brand of idealism.

"If I keep wasting time like this without a plan, someday I will find a new connection."

"Ah. Yes."

"And once you start speaking to people, you naturally find yourself wanting to give them gifts as well, don't you?"

"Ah… I see."

"It isn't as though I have nothing to give, or no time, or parents filing complaints because I handed out a few presents."

All three conditions lined up perfectly; there was simply no reason not to. No one could stop Ji-oh, who was going wild with the desire to share joy, love, peace, affection, and happiness.

"And more than anything—aren't they just so endearing?"

"So if someone is endearing, you give them a gift?"

"That is a teacher's heart."

"The child just now was not your student, though… I see. I understand."

"Don't leap to conclusions as if you're about to murder someone. Being that hasty at your age is grotesque."

"Yes, Teacher."

"Must they be my students before I can give them gifts?"

Anyone who did something adorable always needed a sweet reward. It was a thoroughly Seo Ji-oh way of thinking—back when he was a high school teacher, he had always carried snacks in his pockets for his students.

"Besides, what I have in abundance right now is time."

Ji-oh was in no hurry.

"Here I have Honey, Dana, Father, and even Iser and Aria, don't I?"

"……"

"That face of yours, pretending otherwise while looking thoroughly satisfied, makes me suspicious. Do you truly dislike that I am looking among humans for potential friends?"

"Yes. I do."

"I see. But even a commendable student like Iser cannot stop me from making pen pals."

Yu Seong-un alone, choking under the overwork of modern life, was far too busy to keep up an exchange of letters. Ji-oh needed new friends.

"Even if I live inside a frame, it feels as though my communication with the world has become far too poor."

In Ji-oh's own estimation, his current position was roughly that of a grandfather living alone in some remote countryside village.

In a mere thirty-one years he had been reduced to the status of an ancestor, and even when he tried to learn about the modern world, he could not communicate with young people at all from this closed-off corner of existence.

"So I have no choice but to go out and make friends myself."

"Could you not simply wait for those vulgar humans who do not know their place to crawl up to you of their own accord?"

"Stop trying to lock your teacher inside this narrow little cabin, Iser."

"It is not particularly narrow."

"It is infinitely small for containing a being such as myself."

"……"

Still wearing his benevolent smile, Iser simply nodded.

"Then how long do you intend to enjoy this friend-hunting?"

"Whenever I get bored, I suppose."

"…And after you have obtained this 'friend'…?"

"I will continue, of course. What am I supposed to do with a single friend—stick them on someone's nose?"

"Ah. You intend to stick them on a nose?"

"I meant that one alone would be woefully insufficient."

The more friends, the better.

"How boring would this long stretch of time be if I did not share it with friends?"

"We, your loyal students, will be at your side."

"Iser needs to cultivate some independence. How long do you plan to keep guarding this inadequate teacher of yours?"

Shut away at home for thousands of years—no wonder the child had turned out so strange. If he would just go make some friends and visit a karaoke room once in a while, Ji-oh would ask for nothing more.

Though Iser is a timid child, so I doubt he would enjoy that kind of active hobby.

Ji-oh nodded to himself.

"Even so, I will keep looking for friends."

"Speaking not from personal bias but from an objective standpoint—if you continue to show yourself like this, the recognition of 'Black Cloak' on Earth will rise considerably."

"You are right. Since the world knows 'Black Cloak' as a monster, it will no doubt cause some confusion here and there. I am aware that I am doing something rather inconsiderate."

"…I do not care what becomes of the humans' confusion. What I fear is that you will attract attention of the wrong kind. Their nature is selfish and fickle. They cannot be trusted."

"There may well be people like that. Earth has so many humans—of course such things can happen. But I already have so many good friends that I cannot bring myself to imagine such an unhappy future. I trust that all of you will protect me."

Above all, Ji-oh intended to craft an image of "Black Cloak" that no one would casually dare to target.

That is why I keep wandering around, openly showing myself, and why I do not bother correcting people even when they mistake me for someone frightening.

As a result, minor incidents involving Ji-oh would occasionally arise, but…

"I am not a particularly deep thinker."

As long as it was fun, that was enough.

Hunter Association conference room.

"With that, we will conclude this portion of the discussion."

"Yes, Association President."

"And next…"

The Association President continued with a composed smile.

"…is the agenda concerning 'Black Cloak.'"

His lips parted smoothly.

"This is the first time it has been raised as a formal agenda item. I am curious to hear what will be said."

"……"

"Since this item has been tabled for the sake of urban stability, we ought first to hear the overall atmosphere of the city on this subject. Team Leader Seo."

"Yes, Association President."

The team leader in charge of collecting and organizing city intelligence opened his mouth.

"As currently assessed, a significant number of citizens have witnessed Black Cloak. The number of witnesses from whom we have secured testimony stands at twenty-six: nine 1st-Class citizens, eleven 2nd-Class citizens, two 3rd-Class citizens, and four 4th-Class citizens."

5th-Class citizens, who were not treated as human, were excluded. Even if they had made contact with Black Cloak, the Association had no means of verifying it. All of them were criminals living in hiding somewhere.

"The common testimony is that Black Cloak shows goodwill when treated with courtesy—or even when a person performs a good deed unrelated to him."

"By goodwill, do you mean the snacks that have been reported before?"

"What has been confirmed so far includes baked goods such as cookies, as well as candies and chocolates. They appear handmade, yet their composition is nearly identical to Earth's food…"

"Even if the taste matches ordinary snacks, their effects are said to be different."

"Yes. Tailored to the recipient, they produced medicinal effects—nutritional supplements, anemia remedies, painkillers, and the like."

"Side effects?"

"If someone other than the intended recipient consumes them, the effect drops to half or less. No other side effects have been detected."

At the intelligence team leader's words, another staff member received permission to speak and asked a question.

"Where have most of the sightings occurred?"

"The only shared location type is the slums of the border districts—and even there, no two sightings have been at the exact same spot."

"It sounds as though there are no restrictions on spatial movement. The scale seems entirely different from ordinary beings of the Source. In that case, have there been any overseas sightings?"

"Ever since the first sighting site, the Abyssal Kingdom, was opened, we have requested cooperation and information from every nation's Association. To date, nothing has been reported."

"Is there a possibility that overseas Associations are withholding information?"

"According to what the Korean Association branch has determined, overseas reports state that Black Cloak has not been sighted. However, given Black Cloak's nature, we cannot rule out the possibility that he has appeared abroad and simply gone unobserved."

Another staff member asked,

"The most important question is whether this harms citizen safety. You said you obtained testimony from twenty-six people. Among them, was there any case of someone being attacked by Black Cloak?"

"There was—though not in the direct testimony of a primary witness."

The intelligence team leader brought up the compiled data on each team leader's monitor.

"Twenty-five of the citizens all concluded their contact by receiving a gift from Black Cloak and parting ways. But as you can see, one case alone was markedly different: a 3rd-Class citizen who encountered Black Cloak in the Vein of Gems."

The dungeon known as the Vein of Gems was not particularly famous among the general public, but among black hunters who sought illegal channels to sell monsters, it was highly favored.

That was because it was the habitat of Anti-Cats, popular for their beautiful, charming appearance—and it was in that Vein of Gems that Black Cloak had been sighted.

"The witness who cooperated with the Association's inquiry is Hunter Lee Seon-hoo, rank F-class, team position: porter. He himself was not the one attacked by Black Cloak."

"Then what is the personal information of the person who was attacked by Black Cloak?"

"The victim attacked by Black Cloak is Hunter Park Eun-gyeom, rank B-class, team position: leader. The witness stated that the victim, Park Eun-gyeom, attempted to abandon him in the dungeon and leave."

"These cases never get old, do they…"

Clearing a dungeon consumed considerable resources in itself. Porters, who contributed nothing in combat, were easily abandoned the moment they could no longer even carry loads.

They were no help, yet they were another mouth to feed.

"This sort of thing almost never happened in the old days."

"A great deal has changed since our time."

"They no longer even see their comrades as comrades…"

Watching the elders' faintly weary expressions, the intelligence team leader continued.

"…The Vein of Gems is a dungeon that other hunters rarely visit. Judging that he would starve to death if abandoned like that, the witness clung to Hunter Park. In the process of shaking him off, Hunter Park Eun-gyeom resorted to violence."

And then—

"It is assessed that Black Cloak witnessed the scene."

The witness practically worshipped Black Cloak.

"According to the testimony, Black Cloak existed in the form of a picture frame. Due to the nature of the Vein of Gems, visibility is poor, so neither of them noticed the frame at first. But when the now-missing Hunter Park Eun-gyeom committed violence, it intervened and exerted its influence."

"Hold on."

An elder, nearly an old man, asked,

"Missing person? Not injured, not found as a corpse—you mean he could not be found at all?"

"Yes. The witness testified that Hunter Park Eun-gyeom was dragged into the frame."

"This is the first I have heard of a person being able to enter the interior of a frame…. How was he dragged in? Did Black Cloak personally grab him by the collar and pull?"

"He says he was unable to directly observe Black Cloak's form. Only that from within the frame…"

The intelligence team leader unconsciously furrowed his brow a little. For someone in his position, he was being forced to report information that was frustratingly vague.

"…a multitude of transparent hands crawled out and abducted the missing person. That is the testimony."

"…A multitude of transparent hands?"

The voice was thick with bewilderment.

"If they were transparent, how did he know there were many—and how did he know they were hands? As an F-class porter, discerning such forms would have been difficult."

"He was only describing what he felt. Even he himself seemed unable to put it into logical language. However, he was certain of one thing: they were wearing suits."

"Suits… so they were clothed, yet the hands were transparent. Is he claiming he saw invisible men?"

At that, the Association President spoke.

"It is not impossible. The Age of Hunters has only been open for a little under thirty-two years. We must not pride ourselves on knowing everything. We will acknowledge the possibility and classify them as monsters."

"Yes, Association President."

"Yes, Association President."

Immediate words of acceptance rose, and the Association President looked again at the intelligence team leader.

"In the process, was Black Cloak himself not sighted?"

"Correct. However, based on the characteristics of the frame and the witness's strong insistence, we have judged that this incident is connected to Black Cloak."

"Is there anything further to report?"

"All reports on the phenomena displayed by Black Cloak are complete. No exceptional situations other than the Park Eun-gyeom case have been identified. Please refer to the written report for details."

"I see. Well done."

The Association President nodded.

"Please offer your opinions freely, without restriction."

One of the staff members gathered in the conference room obtained the floor.

"In that case, I believe we should discuss how to define 'Black Cloak.'"

"He has been displaying out-of-spec characteristics in many respects."

An elder took up the thread.

"On this matter, I would like to hear the thoughts of Kang Woo-ri, who is both a Gardener and the research team leader of the Seoul First Branch."

"…Until this meeting, I researched and investigated from every angle, hoping to reach a conclusion. Unfortunately, I have yet to arrive at a definition."

"…Meaning this is no easy being to pin down…"

"Yes. A contradictory existence that defies judgment."

The research team leader brought up information on each attendee's monitor.

"This is a table organizing ordinary gods, monsters, and Children of the Source. As you can see, Black Cloak could belong to any of these categories—or to none of them."

Too much impurity mixed in for a god. No hatred toward humans whatsoever for a monster. Far too interested in humans for a Child of the Source.

And yet he contained every one of those traits in a single body.

"If there is one thing we can say with certainty, it is only that Black Cloak is a being belonging to the Source. He also possesses rules of his own."

"Rules of his own… you mean that, after all?"

"Yes. Affirming what is good and rejecting what is evil."

"And the standard of good and evil is set by him, I suppose."

"It certainly appears that way, but nothing is certain yet. Judging from the circumstances so far, however, that standard does not seem drastically different from our own as humans."

Even so, the extremity of the response could still be called typical of a Source being. Simply for witnessing a scene of violence, he had abducted the perpetrator and taken him somewhere.

This proved that even if Black Cloak might be favorable toward humans, he ultimately had no interest in the rules humans had made. Given that the current state of the missing person remained unknown, it was a high-risk pattern of behavior.

"What is worth noting here is that Black Cloak's actions do not appear to symbolize punishment."

"If rewarding the good and rejecting the wicked is not punishment, then what is it?"

"It seemed closer to personal preference. Not the authoritarianism or chosen-people mentality of typical humanoid monsters—simply that this is just the way the fellow is built."

The Association President added,

"Certainly a trait closer to a Child of the Source."

"Yes, exactly."

If Black Cloak had approached the wicked with the meaning of "punishment," that would have shown in his bearing. But in the Park Eun-gyeom case, Black Cloak had remained a frame to the end and never revealed his own form.

As if he had simply cleared something unpleasant from before his eyes.

"Among all of Black Cloak's actions so far, no clear intent has ever been revealed. We can only guess, from the direction of those actions, that there is a rule of affirming good and rejecting evil."

In truth, the actual situation was a little different.

Ji-oh had never even known that a frame like the Empty City was roaming freely of its own accord, much less that someone had been dragged into one of his frames.

It was closer to the Empty City—possessing a will of its own—simply clearing away "something" its parent would have disliked.

It was the same principle as when Honey, first set loose in modern society, had swallowed a man of wicked disposition he had seen at Gyeongbokgung. Ji-oh's children wanted their parent to see only good things and always be happy.

"……"

"……"

Of course, to those who knew none of this, everything felt like Black Cloak's own intention.

The fact that Black Cloak had made a person vanish yet still held no malice made several Association staff members feel a chill and a prickle of wariness.

"…No restrictions on movement, either."

Given that he had even been sighted inside a dungeon, Black Cloak could quite literally go anywhere.

"Greatly interested in human life."

"……"

"Blessings for the good, despair for the wicked."

A staff member of smiling countenance continued in a light tone.

"Rather like an Easter egg in a game."

If one were to compare life, dungeon clearing, and such things to a game, that is.

An Easter egg meant content that creators hid as a joke across various media.

Something the "creator" hid as a "joke"—it might or might not relate to the game's content, and finding it was lucky, but failing to find it did not affect progress.

"Doesn't it feel like a rare, amusing little event that appears now and then?"

"With a clear missing person involved, it is difficult to call it an 'amusing event.'"

"From the sound of it, the man was quite the piece of trash… If everyone simply lived decently, there would be no problem."

"Creating good people and punishing the wicked is the work of the Association and the government. We must not rely on some unknown being of the Source."

"Yes. I will restrain myself. I acknowledge the remark was careless."

"And the question that arises again at this point…"

One of the elders continued.

"…is what became of the hunter dragged into the frame."

From that, they would be able to assess the danger of Black Cloak.

(To be continued)