Now that I think about it, the “City of Void” could, if we really had to categorize it, be seen as sothing close to an entrance dungeon.
"The entrance is clearly present, that's what I'm getting at."
It’s different from virtual dungeons, which don’t even have clear locations, and from villa dungeons, where the physical entity is fully exposed without any concealnt.
Only the passage exists, so Gio’s fra could indeed be called an entrance dungeon.
“There are even moving entrance dungeons among the types, so the structure itself is similar.”
Aside from the three types ntioned above, dungeons can also be categorized into mobile and fixed types. If we were to define them roughly, it could be sothing like ‘moving entrance dungeon.’
“I’ve never seen one in the form of a fra, though...”
In its original form, the entrance of an entrance dungeon doesn’t have a set shape.
"It could be a book, a hole, or even a curtain."
However, most entrance dungeons take the form of a door. Sothing that, upon looking at it, anyone can imdiately recognize as ‘Ah, that’s the entrance.’
If it looks easy to enter, it’s more likely an entrance dungeon.
"...."
Even so, no one typically thinks of a fra as an entrance.
"...If no one had been dragged in, I wouldn’t have thought of it as a dungeon."
I had known that Gio could co in and out of the gallery’s portraits. However, the portrait gave the impression of being Gio’s ‘house,’ so I’d thought of it as a building you couldn’t enter unless he allowed it.
‘It was the sa when Chara Hunter was invited to Gio’s cabin.’
Compared to the dungeons that show the cruelty and harshness of modern capitalist society, ‘Gio’s Portrait,’ with its serene and heavy atmosphere, was quite different.
That’s probably why I hadn’t realized they were similar concepts. Though, that’s just an excuse.
‘I had always thought of Gio as sothing close to an object.’
I had said it was likely a monster, but I hadn’t considered that such a monster would naturally co with a ‘dungeon.’ As the origin of the explanation goes, Gio is clearly a ‘portrait.’
“Does that an I have to treat that portrait as a dungeon...?”
Gio was already creating dungeons by painting. While I might not know whether Gio himself painted ‘Gio’s Portrait,’ people had already witnessed ‘The Breathing Sea’ and ‘The City of Void.’
"...Well, now it’s harder to say it’s not a dungeon."
Seong-Woon thought about the black portrait sleeping in Bisa Beul’s gallery.
It had willingly painted its face black and erased it from the minds of the people. Only a very small number of people who had seen the face before knew what ‘Gio’s Portrait’ looked like.
‘Even they tend to forget it often.’
It had erased history without any sense of unease.
“......”
Isn’t that quite an influence?
“I hope it won’t be hostile to us...”
‘Gio’s Portrait,’ by its re existence, was a threat to humanity. If he were to intentionally oppose humans, finding a disaster of that magnitude would be difficult.
Why is Seong-Woon suddenly talking about this?
"...Sigh..."
Because the ‘City of Void’ lay in front of him.
"It really just appeared out of nowhere."
Seong-Woon had discovered this gray fra at none other than a subway station.
It was a place he had visited with Gio while touring Seoul, and it allowed Seong-Woon to co up with a hypothesis.
“Does this fra appear primarily in places Gio has been?”
Or places Gio might be interested in.
Based on the reports of witnesses, it wasn’t only in places Gio knew. Sotis it appeared in slums, on roads, or in abandoned buildings.
‘For people who aren't hunters, they didn’t realize it was Gio’s painting, so the rumors didn’t spread.’
This fra had surprisingly appeared more often in everyday spaces frequented by ordinary citizens than in dungeons. Among those, the most common were places Gio had actually visited.
Seong-Woon, feeling suddenly exhausted, sat down at the subway station.
"Ah... my body aches."
"At least there are no people."
It was 4:16 AM.
The ti when exhausted modern people all fall asleep as one, so it was no surprise that no one was at the subway station, where people usually have to pay a hefty fee.
‘But since it’s now the 26th, there might still be so remnants of Christmas. And since the subway runs 24 hours, I thought maybe there’d be at least one drunk person heading ho after a long night of partying...'
Thinking this, Seong-Woon nodded.
"...After all, it wasn’t long ago that people died at the ‘Temple of the Deep Sea.’"
It had been an event at the Sun God’s temple. A virtual dungeon had appeared there, swallowing everyone watching the initiation ceremony.
When he thought back to that, he understood why people were still reluctant to gather.
"Thanks to that, fewer people showed up this Christmas."
Whenever more people seed to gather, they would subtly move to different spots, rembering the tragedy at the initiation ceremony.
"Anyway..."
For Seong-Woon, who didn’t want to escalate things, it was a good thing.
‘...Seeing people scared is a good thing? I’ve really been tainted. I hope I don’t beco so narrow-minded that I can’t manage my garden...’
His gaze fell on the ‘City of Void.’
"......"
A bit unsettling, perhaps.
‘...I feel like I’m becoming disillusioned with the city.’
Having lived as a curator for several years, he could feel the sense of atmosphere within the artwork.
The city, with its grotesquely clustered gray buildings, seed to depict chaos and confusion, yet there was an eerie silence in the crowds, as if no one dared speak.
‘But the crowd itself isn’t even visible.’
Staring at the gray fra that made his mind go numb, Seong-Woon muttered quietly.
"...Surely, just seeing the fra doesn’t drag people in."
He had found four witnesses by personally going around. All were ordinary citizens, not even awakened, and none of them had been hard by the ‘City of Void.’
‘They all just thought it was a painting hanging in an odd place.’
Among the four witnesses, there was one alcoholic who wasn’t exactly what you’d call a good person. According to the locals, he lived alone and sotis made a nuisance of himself in front of convenience stores.
‘Maybe that’s not considered a villain.’
Or maybe the painting only attacks if soone commits an evil deed in front of it?
"...I can’t be sure since the sample size is so small."
Seong-Woon had a history of murder.
‘In today’s world, that’s not such a rare experience.’
Of course, he didn’t kill just anyone; it had happened when he had to deal with a level 5 citizen or soone committing equivalent cris.
It was more advantageous to fight with the intent to kill than just to subdue.
‘But that doesn’t an it was the right thing to do.’
In this brutal and harsh era, who hasn’t killed soone? Yet, a mistake is still a mistake. Morally speaking, Seong-Woon had sinned.
Still, the ‘City of Void’ remained silent.
“......”
There were many possibilities.
"...This fra doesn’t seem to have Gio’s presence."
That ans this fra could simply be acting under Gio’s command.
‘So, it lacks the emotional depth that Gio has.’
Gio, with just a glance, could judge the morality of soone.
But this fra, executing simple commands, might only distinguish right from wrong based on what happened in front of it. It could be a degraded version of ‘Gio’s Portrait.’
"...If that’s not the case..."
Perhaps Seong-Woon and the alcoholic weren’t judged as villains by Gio.
Considering that Seong-Woon did what he had to do, and the alcoholic only made a minor nuisance, it’s possible Gio didn’t think them worthy of attacking.
‘If that drunkard had committed cris worse than just being a nuisance, it would have been easier to judge.’
If he had committed sothing worse than a nuisance, the ‘City of Void’ might only collect confird villains committing evil acts.
“......”
But there was one thing for sure.
"...Gio’s sense of right and wrong is decided by his tastes."
If Gio had defined ‘murder’ itself as an evil act, Seong-Woon would have been abducted and disappeared by now.
But the fact that Gio hadn’t done that ant he judged right and wrong based on the situation.
"I’m not sure whether this is a good or bad thing for humans..."
Anyway, what Seong-Woon needed to do now was clear.
"...I’m so tired."
He needed to enter the ‘City of Void’ and check the condition of Hunter Park Eun-Gyeom.
Seong-Woon approached the artwork hanging on the transparent wall.
"How do I get in?"
For a typical entrance dungeon, there weren’t any special conditions to enter. From the dungeon’s perspective, prey would naturally wander in, so there was no need to stop them.
‘But if Gio is still benevolent toward humans, there would definitely be a reason to block it.’
He wouldn’t want people to randomly fall into his dungeon and die.
Staring at the painting that made him feel increasingly suffocated, Seong-Woon noticed sothing in the ‘City of Void.’
"......"
Realizing sothing was off, Seong-Woon looked more carefully.
"...That’s...?"
A long road and buildings lined up on both sides, creating ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) an alley between them.
Sothing dark and faintly gray caught Seong-Woon’s eye.
"...A person?"
It looked like soone huddling.
‘Too small to be sure.’
But the black dot sticking out in the immaculate city was undeniably strange.
It didn’t feel completely out of place, but after focusing on it for a while, Seong-Woon realized it didn’t belong in the ‘City of Void.’
The black dot was faintly trembling.
"......"
Seong-Woon suddenly got goosebumps.
"...Is that Hunter Park Eun-Gyeom?"
If he hadn’t been looking for it, he wouldn’t have noticed.
It was clearly a ‘painting.’
"Chirp?"
"Dad’s busy."
"Chirrup?"
"I’m looking after your younger sibling."
"Chirp?"
Gio was resolute, even as Honey tilted her head repeatedly.
"If only our Void could be comforted now."
He was gently rocking the ‘City of Void’ in a sling, as if cradling it tenderly.
The brief visit to Isher had left with a gentle smile, but Gio instinctively felt that ‘the City of Void’ was quite pleased with his care.
"If our Void had a mouth, I would’ve fed it, but what does it eat, I wonder."
"Chirp..."
"People? Sadly, that’s not sothing it could eat."
"Chirp?"
"I don’t know why all of my kids keep saying such scary things."
While conversing with his eldest, Gio suddenly realized the painting of ‘the City of Void’ had changed.
"What’s this?"
It now bore the shape of Seong-Woon.
"......"
"Chirrup..."
"I don’t know why you’re salivating, but calm down, and what exactly is going on? If you’re watching , give the answer, please..."
The Sun God gave him the answer.
"Chirp, chirp."
"So, are we saying Seong-Woon is actually in front of our Void?"
Is this the new generation intercom?
‘Trends have co full circle, now it’s back to paintings?’
Of course, that was impossible.
Still, since ‘the City of Void’ was sowhat one of Gio’s hos, he was thankful it had the intercom function, even though it wasn’t originally frad.
"I almost couldn’t welco him."
Though Gio didn’t know why the guest was in front of ‘the City of Void,’ it didn’t matter. After all, this joyful face was just as pleasant as ever.
"Long ti no see, Seong-Woon, right?"
"Void, open the door. This is your dad’s friend."
"I swear my kid just answered, is it an auditory hallucination?"
"My clever little one, babbling so well."
No need to worry too deeply about life. For Gio, life’s variables were just new content appearing.
He was ready to embrace this unexpected situation with open arms.
"I’m about to see my brother’s face after a long ti."
As long as it’s fun, that’s all that matters.
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