36

Chapter 36

It was not that Gio disliked having fun, but the energy available to him was rather limited.

“……”

“……”

“…Honey, if Dad is sprawled out like this, you should at least nag him.”

“…Kkungkkungkkungkkung….”

“If both of us are sprawled out, there’s no hope for us.”

His reunion with the frantic bustle of modern society had completely drained Gio’s stamina.

‘Even having my blood sucked by a vampire probably wouldn’t tire me out this badly.’

As he remembered it, the country had never been all that peaceful or mild to begin with. Yet after thirty-one years, South Korea had become Hell Korea. The fragile Gio had been thoroughly intimidated.

Sprawled across the bed like a twenty-nine-year-old rag, Gio kneaded Honey, who had spread out like a liquid monster.

“As far as I know… I should still be synchronizing with Giovanni.”

“Kkuruk?”

“I feel it much less when I’m inside than when I’m outside.”

“Kkururu?”

“The rate of Synchronization has slowed down too.”

Synchronization Rate: 14.8%

“I think I filled almost six percent when I dipped my feet in Cheonggyecheon.”

“Kkuk.”

“And nearly four percent while traveling to the restaurant along the waterway….”

The common factor was that both actions involved water.

“Maybe it’s because he has so many ties to water.”

He was talking about Giovanni.

In any case, Synchronization progressed much faster when Gio was in reality than when he remained still inside the painting.

“It must be a characteristic of the world inside the Portrait.”

“Kkurururu….”

While synchronizing, he experienced his former patterns of life exactly as before. He became hungry when enough time passed, had to sleep after working hard, and his body, which had once been strangely light, grew heavy….

However, after returning from his tour of Seoul, Gio had noticed that those sensations were somewhat duller inside the Portrait.

“Maybe it’s because, even while I’m synchronizing, the inside of the Portrait treats me as a painting rather than a human. When I’m here, even the emotions I feel are treated as a ‘painting.’”

When Gio was the subject, it seemed that even something intangible was judged to be a ‘painting.’

Just as it had caused no problem with the one-to-one System when he felt grateful to Yoo Seongwoon and freely gifted him fruit cheong in the past.

“……”

Once the Synchronization ended, would he return to being a ‘Portrait’?

“What is a human who can only be a Portrait unless he synchronizes with someone else?”

“……”

“Truly stylish.”

“Kkuru….”

“There can’t be another Portrait like me anywhere in the world. I shall have confidence.”

Today, too, Gio’s self-esteem soared without knowing the sky was the limit.

“As expected, I’m remarkable.”

Gio’s humanity would not yield to an identity as nothing more than a haunted Portrait. His sense of self was far too strong for such a minor issue to throw his identity into confusion.

“Let’s eat.”

“Kkururuk.”

The subject of their conversation eventually shifted to food. They were a pair of pigs.

“Heave-ho.”

Gio did not raise himself from the bed until exactly twenty-nine hours and thirty-six minutes had passed.

Honey apparently had no intention of doing the same and remained sprawled out. He was a pampered young master of a fine household who knew perfectly well that Gio would carry him.

“Do you have any idea how obnoxious and adorable you are when you behave like that?”

“Kkung.”

“Do you think being cute is everything? That’s right. In this world, it is.”

“Kkurururururu.”

“You’re already fulfilling your entire purpose by being cute.”

As Gio saw it, there was no feeling that brought humanity more peace than cuteness.

“I will preside over today’s meal.”

As he always did.

“Shall we visit the vegetable patch for the first time in a while and see how much everything has grown?”

“Kkungkkungkkung….”

“You’re too lazy even to fly that far? Your laziness has reached the heavens. I’ll put you in a basket, so stay still.”

“Kkuuuuuuungkkururu!”

“Where do you think you’re sending me alone? Now, now. No. You’re coming with me. Dad gets lonely.”

Gio swept the limp liquid monster into the basket. Although Honey cried kkungkkungkkung in protest, he flowed right in. Looking satisfied, Gio picked up the basket and left the cabin.

Then he witnessed the grandeur of nature.

“What is this?”

Where had his humble vegetable patch gone, and when had the Amazon moved in?

“What in the world happened to my small, precious vegetable patch?”

“Kku, kkuru….”

“My vegetable patch wasn’t like this.”

He had expected a few sprouts at most, but there was not a cute little sprout in sight. The cherry tomato plants alone stood roughly three meters tall.

“No, can a three-meter-tall cherry tomato still be called a ‘cherry’ tomato?”

No.

“Is it even a tomato in the first place?”

The tomatoes he knew had never been the size of small watermelons.

Gio, who had tried his hand at every kind of farming at least once, was bewildered by a result unlike anything he had seen in his life. He had not left the patch unattended for very long, and the seeds and seedlings had certainly been ordinary when he planted them. So why had it produced a monster field, let alone a vegetable patch?

“As for the lettuce….”

“……”

“It is Cthulhu incarnate.”

“Kkururuk?”

“There is such a thing.”

There was an octopus-like monster god capable of driving even perfectly sane people mad enough to buy five thousand won’s worth of bungeoppang.

“It looks exactly like that.”

And Gio knew that this was where he had planted the lettuce.

“I must have planted an octopus instead of lettuce.”

“Kkuruk.”

“Don’t agree with me, Honey. Dad is easily hurt.”

The lettuce, with leaves more substantial than autumn cabbages, towered proudly toward the sky. Its bearing was so imposing that Gio felt as though he had been rejected without even confessing.

“What an unimaginable reality.”

Then there was the corn.

“……”

“……”

“I’m afraid.”

Gio was intimidated.

“Is that a tree?”

The stalks were far too thick, and the kernels thicker still. It was extremely frightening.

The potatoes and sweet potatoes hiding beneath the ground inspired even greater terror. Although they had yet to reveal their full forms, the vines crawling above the ground looked like something from a horror movie.

“Such powerful vitality… They’re alive.”

“Kkuruk.”

“Don’t ruin the mood by saying they were alive to begin with, Honey. Dad knows that much.”

“Kkuk?”

“I meant they look like they’ll start crawling around on their own soon. They aren’t normally supposed to do that.”

What was this if not a horror movie?

“The peas….”

“……”

“…Even a zombie crawling up from hell wouldn’t be that tenacious.”

The pea vines had attached themselves almost parasitically to the nearby plants. Their long, slender forms doubled the grotesque effect. At this rate, they would soon start eating insects. Like spiders.

“So what in the world is all this?”

What had he done?

“As expected, I’m incredible.”

No, that was not the point.

“At this point, it’s funny.”

“…Kkuk?”

“Yes, that’s what I wanted to say.”

Faced with a situation this far beyond his expectations, he simply found it entertaining.

“Surely the flavor hasn’t changed.”

If not, then it was fine.

“It may have become such a strapping vegetable patch that it looks ready to start a conversation with me….”

“……”

“Even so, let us continue calling this place a vegetable patch. I was embarrassed even as I said it, but we know how humble its beginnings were. We must preserve that identity for it.”

“Kkuru…?”

“Think carefully, Honey. Those things look ready to come alive any moment. We must get on their good side before then, so they don’t eat us.”

He was half joking and half serious.

‘In a world that can even evolve a human into a Portrait, maybe self-aware plants would be nothing extraordinary.’

Grandmother had always said that mere humans could never know when disaster would strike, so they must live with humility and wisdom at all times.

Today, too, Gio proved himself a good grandson and faithfully followed the wisdom of his elder.

…Read only on MUGEX…

“……”

Yet it was human instinct to want to shift the blame to someone else whenever disaster struck.

“…Could Mr. Yoo Seongwoon have given me monster seeds from the start?”

“Kkung.”

“Yes, the seeds themselves looked ordinary to me too. It seems this world really is the problem.”

Which made Gio tremendously curious as to whether they tasted good.

“Let’s have a taste….”

“……”

“……”

“…?”

After entering the monster field, Gio doubted his own eyes.

‘Am I becoming farsighted with age?’

Or was he hallucinating?

“If this is real, might our safety be in danger, Honey?”

“…Kkurururuk….”

“Why is there a dead deer here?”

Gio was extremely intimidated.

“Spirits of heaven and earth.”

Please watch over this pitiful Portrait.

“But really, why is it here?”

“Kkururuk, kkuruk, kkuruk.”

“You could do that too? No, don’t compete with it. So who brought this here? Where did this deer even come from? Dad is terribly confused right now, so Honey, please stop climbing out of the basket to promote yourself….”

The monster field was so overgrown that Gio had failed to see it at first, but once he went farther inside, he found a deer lying there in an unmistakably dead yet remarkably fresh state.

Judging by its exceptionally robust and sturdy appearance, it was not originally from the forest around Gio’s cabin. The animals here were all small and charming to suit his tastes.

“……”

Wood-Horned Deer

A herbivorous animal that camouflages itself by growing flowers or fallen leaves on its antlers according to the season. It ordinarily avoids fights with other animals, but if its camouflage is discovered, it enters a state of extreme excitement and rampages. Its metallic antlers, teeth, and hooves can easily break animal bones. As part of its camouflage, it gives off the scent of nuts, flowers, or fruit.

Elixir Refining Method: Meat cut from the bones and dried in the sun provides powerful satiety and removes minor abrasions.

Habitat: Destroyed Avilas Rainforest_Animal Kingdom

Gio shuddered.

“I’ve finally gone and caused an accident.”

No one could see even an inch into the future of this life. Gio had expected the final day to arrive eventually if he continued living so thoughtlessly, but the end had come far sooner than anticipated.

“The day of destruction will soon be upon us.”

“Kkung?”

“An invasive species has entered.”

Gio’s only means of protecting himself was a painting ability that could produce potatoes. He was clearly not going to survive.

“Kkururuk, kkurururururu.”

“Honey?”

“Kkukkukkuk. Kkuru, kkuk.”

“……”

Watching Honey, who seemed desperate to tell him something, Gio carefully examined the situation and came to a realization.

“…This….”

“Kkuk!”

“There’s a hole in its forehead.”

Then he found blood on a nearby sweet-potato vine.

“……”

“Kkururuk?”

“Are you telling me that the sweet-potato vine came alive, pierced the forehead of an invasive species that leaped through the dimensional gate I created, and killed it instantly?”

“Kkuk.”

“I see.”

Gio pondered.

‘Which one should I be afraid of?’

A violent invasive species that had drifted in from an unknown dimension

VS

A sweet potato that moved on its own and could pierce a hard skull in an instant

“Spirits of heaven and earth preserve me.”

Both were frightening. Gio had already been intimidated for the third time that day.

“Honey, can a fragile being like me survive in this wilderness?”

“……”

“Don’t look at me like that. Dad is serious. I think I’m far too weak to survive in the grandeur of nature.”

“Kkung.”

“How can you suggest there’s anyone as pathetically all-show-and-no-substance as Dad?”

After a lengthy exchange, Gio received Honey’s assurance that every living creature in the monster field would be friendly toward him. Just as all the plants and animals in the forest were, the crops he had raised would be much the same.

There was no concrete basis for that claim, but….

“Then it’s fine.”

Gio’s ultimate optimism freed him from his trifling fears.

Most importantly, had he not been about to prepare a meal?

“We have meat now.”

“Kkururuk.”

“Meat….”

Come to think of it, the Elixir Refining Method had said ‘processed meat.’

“…Excellent.”

And so the day’s activity was decided.

For reference, Gio had learned how to butcher an animal.

Click, click….

“……”

Tap.

“…How strange.”

In an alley of a quiet slum,

a woman with navy-blue hair that undulated leisurely like the deep sea murmured,

“For the trail to end here….”

She had been terribly worried when the presence of her dear human helper vanished, yet what an absurd situation this was.

“There are no signs of a fight.”

She had carefully chosen a suitable one and slipped him beneath the Sun.

He should have been reasonably skilled both at infiltration and combat. If there were neither traces of a fight nor even signs that he had fled, the situation could only be incomprehensible.

But she did not deny what had already occurred.

“Was he defeated?”

She did not know by whom.

“I’ll have to investigate further.”

The woman hummed, reciting the words as though singing.

“The temple seems troubled, the press hasn’t learned of it, and no one knows what happened despite the fact that it occurred in the slums. How utterly ridiculous this situation is….”

She could understand the temple’s position.

“Where would the caution of people who have always loved hiding everything away go? How devious.”

With their ceremony about to begin, it was only natural for them to be troubled.

“I was planning to ruin the Festival of the Sun.”

“……”

“But the person meant to ruin it has gone and disappeared.”

The woman spoke to the child.

“Iser, the only galaxy at my side.”

“Yes.”

“You will have to do the work for me.”

“I will not disappoint you.”

“Don’t take it so seriously.”

The woman smiled, revealing sharklike teeth.

“We’re doing this so everyone can have fun.”

Her sea-like dress fluttered.

“……”

Before long, only a single blue-haired child remained there.

The child wore a benevolent smile.

(To be continued)