The Artist Who Paints Dungeon-Chapter 117

The woman often had trouble sleeping at night.

Even while the new recruits, who had received their first day of training at the Collectors' Guild, were all asleep, the woman could not fall asleep.

In recent years, she had often suffered from insomnia due to a deep-seated fear of falling behind. This insomnia had been tormenting her relentlessly. It was inevitable.

“...I should be studying more instead of lying here...”

She didn't have any grand ambitions, but there was a sense of desperation driven by her poor circumstances. She wasn't seeking to become an exceptional person or to attract attention, but she was one of those who longed for "ordinary happiness."

"I've memorized «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» all the handouts from the Collectors' Guild."

The woman was from Carnation Isle, and she had grown up working under a hunter in an illegal guild. She had always looked for a chance to step into the light. The outstretched hand of Bisa Beul, the collector, was a golden opportunity for her.

"I'm not the only newbie here, and most importantly, I'm the lowest rank, C-class... I don’t even know if I’ll be hired. I can't just let this opportunity to receive the support of the three major guilds of Korea slip away."

The woman was currently at the dormitory of the Collectors' Guild.

"...The company operates 24 hours, right..."

She quickly gathered her things and made her way to the Collectors' Guild.

It was already past 4 AM. When she arrived, the guard standing at the entrance blinked in surprise at the woman.

He was the one responsible for the entrance, and he knew the faces of all the staff. This didn't change even for the new recruits.

"You're the new person, right?"

"Ah, yes, yes. That's right."

"I heard you were assigned to the gallery. Do you already have work to do?"

"Well... I don't know if it's allowed, but I just wanted to try adapting first..."

"So, you're saying you don’t have any specific duties?"

"...Is that not allowed?"

"Anything that happens after this is your responsibility, so there’s no problem."

The guard pointed to the entry gate, and the woman hurriedly scanned her ID card. She bowed her head as she entered the building.

"Thank you."

"You're coming to work, why would you thank me?"

The friendly guard, who seemed to have a good-natured attitude, naturally started talking to her.

"If you're going to the gallery, it’s better to avoid going below the first basement. There are still about two people working on the first floor of the gallery, so if you have any questions, you can ask them."

"Is it okay? I don’t want to be a bother..."

"They’re people who have to stay at their posts even though they’re drowsy. If someone talks to them, they’ll actually be glad. They're on night watch."

"...Thank you for letting me know."

"I hope you’ll be made a permanent staff member soon with all your effort. I know you must be busy, but try to take the elevator with a little more time to spare."

"..."

The woman nodded and entered the building’s depths.

‘Even at this hour, the lights are all brightly on.’

Perhaps due to the night staff, there wasn’t a place where the lights were off.

Despite this, the eerie silence, with no one in sight, made her feel a sudden chill. However, she bravely made her way to the gallery's elevator. Her footsteps echoed unusually loudly in the hallway.

The elevator that Seong-Woon, the curator, had told her about earlier was a bit complicated to reach.

"..."

After verifying her identity with her ID card, the woman pressed the golden button. After quite a while, the elevator doors finally opened.

"...Ah, the entry log."

She noticed a paper log hanging on the elevator wall.

"I think they said to make it a habit."

Was that something that applied to her, even though she wasn't a permanent staff member?

"Mm..."

After a moment of hesitation, the woman wrote her name on the log.

As a non-combatant Hunter, she didn’t have the ability to bring anything special back from dungeons. Born in poverty and raised without proper training in an illegal guild, her office skills were lacking.

"But the most important thing at the collector's gallery is the affection you show towards the artwork. They said they wouldn't assign me any artwork outside of my abilities, so if it's just about putting my heart and soul into it, I should be able to do well in this gallery."

Determined to stay in her current position if possible, the woman carefully wrote down her entry.

"Destination... basement, first floor..."

She briefly described her goal and placed the golden fountain pen back in its original position.

"...Shouldn’t this be tied up? Or is there no risk of someone stealing it?"

Well, this was one of Korea's three major guilds, after all. It seemed unlikely that anyone would dare commit such a bold act.

The elevator, decorated in a harmonious blend of ivory and gold, was both elegant and well-maintained. Before pressing the button again, the woman couldn't help but admire its classy appearance.

The elevator, shining brightly and maintained spotless, had an old-fashioned feel to it.

‘...Now that I think about it, it’s weird that a giant corporation like this would have metal buttons. The paper log too. Is this design meant to preserve the gallery's classic image?’

Just as she thought this, the woman suddenly felt a chill.

"......"

The atmosphere felt even stranger than it had earlier during the day.

"...Is it just because I'm alone? It’s definitely scary..."

When there were more people, it didn’t feel cramped or scary, but now, alone, the eerie feeling intensified.

This was the gallery that displayed the most bizarre and dangerous works in the world. Once she completed her training and was accepted as a permanent employee, she would have to take the elevator alone, so it was better to get used to this unsettling feeling now.

‘Right, if I get assigned a work of my own, I have to build proper relationships. I can't let this fear get to me from the elevator on. How will I handle it later?’

Resolute, the woman reached for the elevator button.

"......"

She tilted her head.

"...The buttons?"

They were all for the fourth floor.

"...Why is this like this? Isn’t this wrong?"

At that moment, the woman recalled the handouts she had memorized earlier in the dormitory, specifically the part that warned about things to be cautious of when using the gallery’s elevators.

"Ah."

She remembered that the handout said to avoid using the elevator going to the gallery at 4:44 AM.

It was said that a work of art using the number 4, a particularly ominous number in East Asian culture, played tricks on the elevator, causing it to keep returning to the fourth floor, even if the location was changed.

"Which piece was it again...?"

She recalled the words of the guard, "Take the elevator at a leisurely pace." She had thought it was just a piece of friendly advice to help her stay calm, but now she realized there was a deeper reason for it.

‘Why didn’t they just tell me...?!’

For a moment, she felt frustrated, but then she remembered that she was a C-class citizen. In a world where even A-class citizens could be killed without reason, no one would care if she died.

‘But if I mess up and something happens to the artwork, that would be a much bigger problem, right? No, I need to think of a way to handle this, not just panic.’

But she was so anxious that nothing useful came to mind.

"What was it, something about a work that shapes an elevator button...?"

Flicker...

The lights began to flicker.

"......"

Flicker, flicker.

The flickering sped up.

"...Uh...?"

What was going on?

‘What should I do?’

The woman panicked, unable to even lean against the wall.

She had memorized all the handouts from the company, but in this pressing situation, she couldn’t recall the information properly.

This work description seemed like another one, and that one seemed like the first one...

"Ugh..."

Why do I always act foolishly when it matters?

"There’s... there should be a... device to request help from the elevator..."

Creak.

The elevator jerked with a foreboding sound. It lurched downward, its door opening and closing repeatedly.

The noise from inside the elevator and the outside were simultaneously deafening. It was so loud, so chaotic, that she could feel a tightness in her chest.

"Please..."

She felt like she couldn’t breathe from the frustration.

The elevator was supposed to have an emergency request button for such situations.

The curator Seong-Woon had mentioned during training that if you press it, a rescue team waiting nearby would come to help.

"......"

The elevator made a creaking sound.

Just as she was about to reach for the emergency button, the elevator abruptly stopped.

"......"

It wasn’t the work of a monster.

"...I... I..."

It was her own selfishness.

"Am I getting fired?"

It was entirely possible.

She had entered a dangerous area without permission, disturbing the night guards and causing a mishap by doing something she had been specifically told not to do.

Had she broken something in this expensive elevator?

‘And I’m just a C-class Hunter.’

A C-class Hunter, so common in these times. Most of her peers were ranked higher, and even those who were the same rank had tough, battle-ready bodies.

‘I have the worst possible conditions.’

And now she had caused a disturbance and was bothering everyone...

"......"

She couldn’t let a bigger accident happen.

Just as her hand reached for the button, it happened.

"...Uh?"

Flicker...

The flickering lights stopped.

"Uh, uh...?"

The lights had changed, but the buttons were still set to 4.

She hadn’t pressed anything yet.

Without realizing it, in the eerie atmosphere, the woman checked the elevator buttons. Now, instead of just the 4th floor, there were buttons for all five floors from 1 to 5.

And when the elevator stopped and she checked the floor number...

"...Fifth floor?"

Ding.

The elevator doors opened.

"...Huh? Fifth floor? No, wait...!!"

Before she could even collect her thoughts, she was startled, thinking she had ended up in the worst place.

Without realizing it, she stumbled backward.

Before she could even groan from the pain, the elevator doors fully opened, revealing a long figure.

"......"

"......"

A blonde man dressed in a black cloak.

"Hello."

It was "Sergio," taking the form of Giovanni.

"...That was some kind of initiation ceremony?"

"To be precise, it was more like an annual event."

The blonde man nodded at the woman's exhausted question.

"They say it's a piece that doesn't actually cause harm, but it only frightens those new curators who forget the rules."

"Ah..."

"It’s a safe way to show them the risks of not fully understanding the manual, so I guess people don’t actively warn them."

The woman recalled the guard at the entrance.

"Well, they just told me to ‘take the elevator leisurely.’ I thought it was just advice to stay calm, but... it was for this reason?"

At least, it wasn’t something truly dangerous.