Chapter 4: The Bug Drawn in the Picture Frame

The AI that had inherited basic knowledge and history from the System, which was essentially its parent, had been assigned the task of managing the dungeons in their world despite having no experience of its own.

That was the Replica as it existed now.

And, rather annoyingly, the System had left behind some irresponsible advice before departing, along the lines of:

[If something troublesome happens in this world, go find Yoon Taehyun. That man found the answer to the endless cycle in the past, so he should be able to handle a minor problem somehow.]

As a result, Replica seemed to regard Taehyun as something like an adoptive parent or teacher. Whenever it did not know what to do, it had apparently learned that asking him would generally result in the problem being resolved somehow.

Compared to the old System, which had interpreted situations however it pleased and then gone on a rampage, this was actually a much better arrangement.

For that reason, whenever something went wrong in a dungeon, Han Seonwook would occasionally come looking for Taehyun and ask him to mediate.

The pay was considerably better than that of most part-time jobs, so Taehyun had to admit that he was secretly rather pleased whenever one of these jobs came up.

There was just one problem.

For some reason, Rigor did not seem to like this particular job very much.

“I don’t like that thing constantly clinging to our Taehyun. It was desperate to kill him in the past, and now look at it.”

As expected, Rigor grumbled disapprovingly.

He had been laughing so cheerfully earlier, but now his expression had turned sour again. He seemed convinced that Replica might be some kind of trap.

Rigor could be strange sometimes.

It was not as though he and Replica were on bad terms. Whenever the two talked, they actually seemed to get along quite well. Yet whenever Replica came looking for Taehyun like this, Rigor would become strangely sharp.

“But that was something the original System did, not Replica. Replica needs our help right now, so it’s not going to lure us into a trap or try to kill us.”

“I know that. But our Taehyun takes especially good care of that Replica. Are you perhaps starting to think that thing is cute or that you’ve grown attached to it?”

“Well, it does have some cute qualities, I guess? It was only born recently, after all. And since it keeps relying on me, I feel like I should take good care of it…. Why are you making that face?”

“No. It’s nothing.”

Trying to reassure him did not seem to work very well.

If anything, it seemed to have the opposite effect.

Had Rigor eaten something strange? He had finished the bean sprout soup Taehyun had made for breakfast without leaving a single drop behind. Perhaps something had upset his stomach…

While Taehyun silently examined Rigor, Kim Hasang joined the conversation, seemingly struggling even harder to suppress his laughter.

“This matter isn’t something Taehyun will be handling alone with Replica, is it? There’s no need to worry about what you’re concerned about, Rigor.”

“No, this has nothing to do with whether there are other people around or not… I know I’m being ridiculous, so stop looking at me like that.”

“As long as you know. Besides, Taehyun doesn’t even seem capable of imagining the situation you’re worried about happening. Now, let’s get back to the actual matter.”

Rigor seemed to calm down only after hearing Kim Hasang say that.

What was going on?

Was there something Taehyun was missing?

He was rather puzzled, but it would be troublesome if the conversation went off on another tangent. Kim Hasang had also suggested returning to the matter at hand.

To put it simply, the matter Han Seonwook had asked Taehyun to handle this time was another one of the many ‘mediation jobs.’

Strictly speaking, however, there were two differences.

The first was that this particular incident involved a conflict(?) between the residents of a dungeon.

And the second was…

“So, Mr. Kim Hasang. We’re going to have to fight this time, right?”

“Apparently. I have no idea how he managed it, but the Spider Painter has locked himself inside the combat hologram and refuses to come out. In order to get him out, we’ll apparently have to clear the combat scenarios one by one.”

The Spider Painter was one of the residents who had chosen not to move to one of the new worlds and instead continued living in a dungeon managed by Replica.

He claimed that after spending such a long time at odds with the world, it simply felt awkward to leave the dungeon and mingle with other people.

And yet, despite saying that, he apparently got along quite well with challengers these days.

Rather than spreading fabrications and wild speculations about challengers as he had in the past, he had apparently earned a good reputation by revealing hidden feelings that even the challengers themselves were unaware of.

The Gatekeeper supposedly visited the Spider Painter’s dungeon from time to time, perhaps because of his lingering affection for his old friend.

Come to think of it, the Gatekeeper had originally been close friends with the Spider Painter. There had even been traces of that friendship in the password the Gatekeeper used.

Sometimes he went there wearing the extravagant dress Taehyun had seen before, while other times he would enter the familiar picture frame and visit together with Choi Jeongyu.

And apparently, this particular incident had occurred when he went there with Choi Jeongyu.

“Several guilds, including the Doyeon Guild, will be accompanying you, Taehyun. Replica will adjust the difficulty, so the actual combat shouldn’t be difficult. Still, there’s a procedure to follow.”

According to the information Han Seonwook had shown him, members of the Doyeon Guild, October Nine, and Dusty Mirror would be joining them.

Baek Hyerin, who had previously been the guild master, had retired from being a Hunter, but October Nine was apparently still doing well after choosing a new guild master.

The new guild master would probably be participating in this operation.

As for Dusty Mirror…

“According to this, the Gatekeeper is still really angry, isn’t he?”

“Yep. Choi Jeongyu has been trying hard to appease him, but apparently it hasn’t worked. The people from his guild initially thought Choi Jeongyu had been kidnapped by the Spider Painter.”

“That’s practically what happened, though. Ever since the Gatekeeper fought with the Spider Painter, he’s been holed up inside the realm of the Thought Police…”

“Strictly speaking, it’s different. Anyway, Taehyun, since things have turned out this way, bring Choi Jeongyu out with you too. His guild members are worried about him.”

If Choi Jeongyu himself wanted to leave, the Gatekeeper could let him out whenever he wished.

But considering the current situation, it was probably difficult for him to do so.

Taehyun gave an ambiguous smile and nodded.

In short, their job was to catch the Spider Painter, drag him in front of the thoroughly sulking Gatekeeper, and get the two of them to make up.

Whether Taehyun was actually capable of doing that was another question.

Still, he might as well try.

****

“Huh? Ms. Baek Hyerin, didn’t you say you weren’t coming to the dungeon anymore?”

“I did, but I was getting restless today. When you’re studying for exams, you spend all day sitting down, you know… I thought our Sita might be bored too, so I brought her along.”

After getting a ride from Kim Hasang, Taehyun arrived at the dungeon and encountered a familiar face.

Baek Hyerin was standing among the members of October Nine, while the tiny dolls sitting in a neat row across her shoulder all waved at Taehyun.

[I wasn’t particularly bored. But she was worried about Choi Jeongyu, so I came along. Honestly, I don’t think it’s anything serious enough to worry about.]

“Don’t say it like that, Sita. If someone hasn’t come out of a dungeon for several days, it’s natural to worry… Wouldn’t you be able to help somehow if you came along too?”

[Then you should have called the Relay instead of me. All I’ll do is make the fighting more intense. I doubt I’ll actually be able to solve anything.]

“The Relay already tried and came back empty-handed. And what matters is what we strengthen, right? Wouldn’t strengthening the feelings they have for each other be a good option?”

[That’s disgustingly romantic.]

The doll’s response was mostly indifferent, but judging by their conversation, it was obvious that the two had become quite close.

Baek Hyerin had gotten remarkably comfortable speaking to the dolls lately.

She even called them by name quite often.

While Taehyun was observing the two, Rigor strode over and addressed them.

“Han Seonwook and the Relay are too busy to come. Looks like we’ll have to enter the dungeon ourselves and calm those troublemakers down.”

[The giant government employee is one thing, but why is the Relay so busy?]

“He went to see his daughter. The Relay’s daughter lives in a new world, remember? Apparently, he went with Fabio.”

[So you’re saying he ran away because he didn’t want to deal with troublesome work. I should have gone to visit the new world created from my dungeon too.]

“Wasn’t it only recently that you got sick of being surrounded by old people constantly doting on you and ran away? Anyway, you like being with Baek Hyerin too, don’t you?”

The dolls stared silently at Rigor before abruptly turning their heads in unison and crawling into Baek Hyerin’s backpack.

Even though this Curse had grown close to Baek Hyerin, it still acted prickly toward Rigor.

In fact, Taehyun suspected it was not entirely because of the grudges they had accumulated in the past.

If one paid attention, Rigor had a rather teasing way of speaking. He often said things that were not really enough to warrant anger, yet somehow managed to make people feel strangely irritated.

Perhaps that was why Q-Type had enjoyed teasing Rigor so much that morning.

…Still, Taehyun knew that Rigor did not actually mean to tease them maliciously.

The dolls probably knew that too.

“Don’t make it so obvious that you dislike it. This is fun in its own way, isn’t it?”

[Come to think of it, you’re surprisingly meddlesome yourself, Ghost. I didn’t know you were the type to enjoy this sort of thing.]

“I enjoy seeing you all living happily. You were always fighting before, weren’t you?”

[…]

“I wanted to get along with you all. I simply never had the opportunity. Now that I do, I might as well meddle.”

The dolls crawled out of the backpack and poked their heads over Baek Hyerin’s shoulder.

They were wooden dolls without expressions, yet the way they seemed embarrassed was surely not just Taehyun’s imagination.

“All right, let’s head inside. This dungeon shouldn’t be that difficult, so let’s treat it like a little field trip.”

Kim Hasang also gestured for everyone to follow with a strangely pleased smile.

Baek Hyerin, wearing a similar smile, carefully tucked the dolls back into her bag before walking toward the dungeon.

[[System (Temporary)] Welcome, challengers, to Arachne’s Large Dungeon, The Bug Drawn in the Picture Frame.]

[[System (Temporary)] A total of 64 entrants confirmed. Updating the dungeon map. Please wait a moment…]

[[System (Temporary)] Entry confirmed for ‘Rigor’ and ‘Yoon Taehyun.’ Hello. Thank you both for coming.]

The moment they stepped into the dungeon, Replica greeted them.

The golden text looked no different from the original System’s, but whenever Taehyun interacted with this being, he always felt as though he were dealing with an innocent child.

Moreover, even without being told what had happened, Taehyun could tell that Replica was rather flustered.

There was a good reason for that.

“Whew. The inside of the dungeon is a complete mess.”

[[System (Temporary)] I initially attempted to clean it. However, after the thirty-first attempt, I determined that doing so was meaningless. I ask for your understanding despite the lack of cleanliness within the dungeon.]

Rigor was right.

The dungeon, which had originally been white and tranquil like an ordinary art museum, was now covered from wall to wall in paint of vivid primary colors, red, blue, yellow, and everything in between.

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