I Became an Artist in a Romantic Comedy-Chapter 98

"Then again, this is technically my fault."

Scratching my head awkwardly, I looked around.

The mountains were barren and empty, not even a single leaf to be seen. The sight was desolate.

It was unsettling to even look at, but I had no choice but to keep moving forward.

This illusory world had no particular landmarks, nothing extraordinary about it.

However, there was one place that the dog particularly liked.

"Aha, I knew you’d be here, you mutt."

A beast with three heads. Some might call it grotesque, others might think it looked cool.

To me? It was nothing more than an oversized, adorable dog.

"Woof! Woof!"

The middle head noticed me first, and soon the other two heads followed suit, barking in unison.

If this were my first encounter, the sheer volume of those barks might’ve scared me. But who am I?

"Long time no see, you rascal!"

I ran toward the massive dog, easily three times my size, and threw my arms around it.

Feeling its fur again after so long, I eagerly petted it.

This texture—how could anyone forget it? Once you get hooked, there’s no going back.

"Slurp, slurp, slurp!"

The creature stuck out its tongues, all three of them, and began licking my face.

I knew it’d be happy to see me too, but having three tongues at once was... a bit much.

Though I wanted to chat with it, it wasn’t exactly possible.

"Sit. Stand. Bang!"

Could a beast and a human even hold a conversation? If that were possible, the human would no longer be human but a beast.

Still, it remembered its old training. It flipped onto its back and panted happily, wagging its tail. The sight was irresistibly cute.

"Good boy."

I scratched its belly, eliciting a pleased growl. Smiling, I spoke.

"By the way, where’s Master? I’m sure he’s here."

"Woof!"

At once, Cerberus stood up and barked loudly, as if telling me to follow.

Trailing behind it, I scanned the surroundings.

This world was entirely different from the one tied to Sara.

If that world represented a post-apocalyptic collapse, this one was a land already burnt to ashes—a literal hellscape.

"Good grief, there’s so much to fix."

Though I grumbled, a man’s word is his bond. I couldn’t leave a promise unfulfilled.

After some time, Cerberus howled toward a certain spot ahead.

I scratched its neck a few times, prompting it to purr like a cat. Was it part feline or something?

This time, I took the lead as we approached.

The spot Cerberus led me to was a cave in the mountain—a shallow one, the kind that a bear or some other wild animal might use as shelter.

Its openness made it an unlikely hiding spot for anyone.

"......"

"......"

Inside the cave, I locked eyes with a boy.

He looked about my age and furrowed his brows at me.

"Who are you?"

"What is this? Some kind of hidden camera prank?"

I let out a short laugh at the absurdity of the situation, which made the boy growl.

"Get lost."

"Charming personality you’ve got there."

His demeanor reminded me of a certain someone with a notoriously bad attitude. No, it wasn’t me, though.

"You’re Rou Hua, aren’t you?"

"I said, get lost."

"Shouldn’t you at least show up to school? Teacher Xiao is worried about you."

"Not my problem."

What was this kid? A complete social outcast?

...Okay, maybe I wasn’t in any position to judge, but at least I wasn’t this bad.

"Master, you’re really testing my patience."

"What the hell are you talking about? Have you lost your mind?"

Even though this wasn’t quite what I expected, it wasn’t anything catastrophic either.

We’d figure things out through conversation—or so I hoped. But with his attitude, even starting a proper dialogue seemed impossible.

"Cerby, bite him."

I had a Pokémon, and I was confident I could win.

Cerberus lowered itself into an attack stance, ready to charge like a mad dog.

"Hmm. Guess I can’t even joke around."

"Stop that!"

The dog skidded to a halt, looking confused as it turned to me, then obediently sat back down at my side.

I scratched its neck again. Or at least I tried. Where was I supposed to scratch this thing?

Anyway, after giving it a good rub, I turned back to the boy.

"Master, I think your concept is a bit off."

"Didn’t you find it amusing? I was hoping to rile you up a bit, my dear disciple."

Seeing him pout like a sulky child, I almost lost my composure.

What was his game here? Even if he was my master, the teacher-student dynamic could always shift.

There’s a reason the saying “blue surpasses blue” exists, right?

…Though I wasn’t sure if this was the right context for it.

In any case, the boy, who looked almost like my peer, carried an air of wisdom far beyond his appearance.

This was Rou Hua—my master.

"What is this? Did you go on some martial arts pilgrimage? You look like you’ve been reborn or something."

"Martial arts pilgrimage? It’s called rejuvenation, you fool."

Ah, so that’s what it was. I wasn’t familiar with martial arts terms, so my bad.

Still, this novel-loving old man hadn’t changed a bit.

"How have you been?"

"Not great. Thanks to you, I’ve been running myself ragged."

"Heh. Life never goes the way you want it to, does it?"

"Yeah, but could you drop that tone? It doesn’t match your face at all."

"You little brat. You don’t understand true style."

What was his deal? I didn’t come all this way just to argue with him.

Sighing, Rou Hua gestured for me and Cerberus to follow him deeper into the cave.

It wasn’t spacious, but it was enough for the three of us to sit.

"Hmm. You must have a lot of questions."

"Please start explaining. I’ve been feeling like crap lately."

Holding my head, I lowered it in frustration.

Rou Hua scratched his head apologetically.

"First, let’s catch up. I’ll explain everything as we go."

"There you go again with your stories."

"What? Stories are always interesting."

Hearing such mature words from such a youthful face was seriously jarring.

"You’ve changed a bit, haven’t you?"

"What are you talking about? When was I ever not human?"

"Oh, you were barely human at best."

"Shouldn’t you be retiring by now?"

"I’m still healthier than you."

With a cough, he gave me a serious look, and I decided to drop my playful attitude.

"I’m sorry."

"Uh... What? All of a sudden?"

"Yeah. My greed caused you to deal with unintended consequences."

"I wasn’t planning to blame you, though..."

Initially, I’d wanted to question him about some things, but now, I mostly felt happy to see him again.

After all, he was like a father to me.

The Angel doodles I’d seen, the figure of Sanya in those sketches—if Rou Hua had been my father, I’d have been content.

Whether past or present, his presence in my life was a precious connection.

He was, essentially, family.

"Art can contain everything. That applies to writing, too."

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"Where are you going with this?"

"If you add drawings to writing, they become illustrations, right?"

"Uh... sure, I guess."

Listening to his ramblings was enough to make my head spin.

"So I wanted to do the reverse—bring a world to life through art, not as mere illustrations, but as entire realms."

"And...?"

"Along the way, I thought I’d help out my dear disciple, maybe salvage some of the legacy you left behind."

Wait. Something sounded off. Salvage?

That’s just another way of saying he was looting my work!

Frowning, I glared at him, and Rou Hua laughed sheepishly.

"Ultimately, I just didn’t want to waste my disciple’s talents."

"You’ve got to be kidding me."

Forget family—this man was my mortal enemy.

"Anyway, it wasn’t easy. I devoted the rest of my life to this."

Great, but all I saw when I looked up was a gray sky.

"But in the end, I succeeded. I managed something even my disciple couldn’t."

"And then you died, I guess?"

"Heh. Life has a beginning and an end, after all."

"Can we cut the philosophical crap? I’m getting a headache."

As I tried to stand, he quickly stopped me.

"Come on, it’s been decades since you’ve seen your master."

"You don’t exactly act like one!"

When I reluctantly sat back down, he started acting all serious again.

Even after his long-winded explanations, I couldn’t make much sense of it.

"Wait, hold on. I’ve got some questions."

"Go ahead. Ask anything."

I’ll never get used to that tone of his.

"So, you’re responsible for Angel and this world, fine. But why scatter the masterpieces all over the place?"

"Oh, that? Power should always be distributed evenly."

"...Paintings are power?"

"Your artwork, Sanya, is powerful enough to incite wars."

Could he not say such things so seriously? It was starting to irritate me.

"And that body of yours? What’s up with that?"

"Didn’t I tell you? I’m already dead."

"Then who’s standing in front of me right now?"

"Same as you. I reincarnated. It wasn’t part of the plan, but I wanted to see my disciple live a happy life."

So he really had died of old age and then reincarnated like me.

...Why did I even bother trying to understand this man?

I sighed, massaging my temples.

"How much do you remember?"

"About a month’s worth."

So he’d been living as a kid named Rou Hua and only recently regained his memories of his past life.

What an absolutely insane person.

I had a mountain of things I wanted to say, but for now...

"I missed you, Master."

At least I owed him that much.