Chapter 119

Some time passed, and the initial training for the new curators came to an end.

“You have worked with your designated curators, encountered various artworks, and learned the attitude a curator of The Collectors should have towards artworks and clients. Thank you for your hard work over the past three weeks.”

However, this didn't mean they were immediately hired as full-time employees.

“From now on, each of you will be in charge of the artwork. We have selected the most suitable artworks based on your performance over the past three weeks, and if you are deemed unable to manage the assigned artwork, you will be dismissed.”

“……”

“Even if you are dismissed, it’s a dismissal from the gallery; unless you cause a significant incident, you will be assigned to an office or field position at The Collectors. This is literally just about selecting talented individuals who can show a stable performance in the gallery, so you don't need to worry too much.”

Yu Seong-un stood before the five new curators and continued.

“We gave you a period of three weeks, but since you did not raise any objections or express any intention to change paths, I believe you all consent to becoming curators for The Collectors. If you wish to continue working in the gallery, please fill out the consent form placed before you.”

All five newbies filled out the consent form.

It stated that they would do their best with the artwork they were in charge of in the gallery and take a certain degree of responsibility for any problems that might arise from it.

It was similar to a body-forfeiture pledge, but the newbies were not the type to be scared by such things at this point.

It was enough that they were not responsible for all the problems that occurred.

Having seen the rock bottom in illegal guilds, they wanted to work for one of the top three guilds in the Republic of Korea, which had at least a minimum safety net, and among them, being a curator at The Collectors was highly prestigious.

“You have all consented.”

Yu Seong-un nodded his head.

“Some of you may have already checked, but on the back of the consent form, there is information about the artwork you will be in charge of from now on.”

“…Ah….”

“The Collectors is a warehouse and a research institute where the most dangerous and sensitive objects on Earth come in. Naturally, there are many unidentified artworks whose identities and countermeasures have not been figured out, but….”

“……”

“To you, the newbies, we have assigned artworks for which almost all information has been identified. They are artworks that will not cause problems if you just do as you’ve learned and as the manual says.”

The longer a curator works in the gallery and the more artworks they are in charge of, the more dangerous the artworks they will handle.

But this was not a problem for the newbies who had just begun to adapt to the gallery.

“For the next year.”

Yu Seong-un said.

“We will give you a period of one year. During that time, there will be those who want to leave because they can't stand it, and you may find an artwork that suits you well. I hope you will try working as a curator for The Collectors during this long yet short time.”

“…Th-then… can the artwork I’m in charge of change in the middle?”

“There are many artworks with a firm will, so even if we placed you with the utmost care, there will be parts that don’t fit. If it is determined to be harmful to both the artwork and the curator, the assigned artwork can be changed even during the one-year period.”

That might not just be a problem for the curator.

No matter how much the curator pays attention, the state of the artwork can sometimes change.

“Then, we look forward to working with you.”

With Yu Seong-un’s words, the basic training for the curators was finished.

“I’d like to say let’s greet each other if we see each other around, but I’m usually in charge of the 5th-floor artworks and have frequent business trips, so it will be difficult to meet easily.”

“Thank you for everything so far.”

“On the contrary, thank you for following the training well. Please, none of you cause any accidents. You’ve probably heard it throughout the training period, but if you cause an accident, not only you but quite a lot of people will die.”

After throwing out those chilling words, Yu Seong-un gave his characteristic calm smile.

“Once again, welcome to The Collectors’ Gallery.”

And so, the new curators were thrown into the wild.

“……”

“……”

A rather creepy wild, at that.

***

The artwork the man was put in charge of was a set of porcelain dolls.

“……”

Its official name was 『The Sweet Tea Party』, and it consisted of three porcelain dolls smaller than an adult man's hand, gathered together.

‘Danger level 6.’

The artworks in The Collectors’ Gallery were classified by a danger level from 1 to 10, and the higher the number, the safer it was.

Among them, the one the man who had just finished his basic training was in charge of was an artwork corresponding to level 6 on the 3rd floor.

‘The danger level is higher compared to the other newbies who were assigned artworks of level 10 to 8.’

He couldn’t tell if he should be happy about being recognized, or scared about being in danger.

Even Curator Yu Seong-un had said in passing, ‘If it really doesn’t work out, request to be assigned a different artwork.’

However.

“…There’s no need for that already.”

The porcelain doll set, 『The Sweet Tea Party』, depicted three girls in voluminous dresses.

All he had to do was give them the tea and snacks they requested at the exact time, and have the next snack they would mention after finishing ready in advance.

‘Other than having to be punctual to the second, the countermeasures aren't difficult.’

The margin of error was within 5 seconds.

If he gave the snack faster or slower than that, he would turn into a porcelain doll.

It was a terrifying penalty of death for a single mistake, but it was the same when he was active in the field as a combat-type A-Class hunter.

“In the first place, for a hunter, 5 seconds is a very generous amount of time….”

Especially for him, an A-Class hunter, judgment and action were possible within 0.01 seconds.

It was a much safer situation than a dungeon where he had to exert a lot of effort and risk injury.

“……”

『The Sweet Tea Party』 was located in the 28th corridor on the 3rd floor.

The man’s face relaxed a little after confirming that it was openly placed in a public area.

The fact that it was in a corridor where any curator could walk, and not stored separately, was enough to confirm its safety.

‘Though it's an artwork on the 3rd floor, so it must be quite dangerous to be called safe, but still, at this level….’

It was reassuring.

“…It’s small and cute.”

A porcelain doll wearing a dress with lots of voluminous frills, looking like white powder would come off if touched.

Her cheeks, painted a ripe peach color, her apricot-colored eyes, and her finely grown eyelashes stood out.

Perhaps because they were made with embedded jewels, their eyes sparkled in purple, yellow, and green, respectively.

‘Since the entire eyeball is a jewel, the sclera and cornea are not distinguished. It would be difficult to notice if they were looking at me.’

If it weren’t for the strange atmosphere that emanated along with the unsettling feeling of not being able to confirm their gaze, it seemed it would have been very popular among collectors who had a hobby of collecting such dolls.

“Today’s snack was star candy, I believe.”

They had each requested purple, yellow, and green star candy.

“……”

He waited for the promised tea party time, 4 AM, and then placed the star candy the porcelain dolls wanted on a tiny plate.

The star candy on the tiny plate, made to match the dolls' size, looked enormous.

Then, the dolls moved.

“…Oh….”

Rustle, clatter.

Using knives with no sharp edges at all, the dolls broke and ate the star candy as if sharing a piece of cake.

The sight of the star candy being cut as smoothly as a mousse cake felt quite fascinating.

“It’s a good sweetness.”

“It’s a good tea party.”

“It was a good time.”

The dolls, having finished their tea party, each gave an evaluation, and it was said that the day's fortune was determined by the number of bad evaluations received among them.

Recalling that, the man breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Today’s fortune won’t be bad.’

At that moment, an anomaly was detected.

“It’s crunchy.”

“It’s a good hardness.”

“It has a good scent.”

“It’s a good dawn.”

“It was a good snack.”

“It’s a good choice.”

“It is a good gift.”

A total of 7 additional remarks.

“……”

It was a clear anomaly.

“…In the manual, there’s no explanation for this….”

As if they couldn't even see the man hastily re-reading the manual, the dolls opened their mouths again.

“Godfather.”

“The Godfather is coming.”

“Let’s adorn ourselves sweetly.”

The porcelain girls added remarks that were completely different from the manual.

“…There was no information about this.”

The porcelain doll set 『The Sweet Tea Party』 speaks a total of 3 times in one tea party.

All sentences start with ‘Good-’ or ‘Bad-’, and there was no existence to be called ‘Godfather’ like now.

“What on earth….”

It was when he picked up the radio to request help.

“……”

“……”

“……”

The dolls were looking at the same place.

“……”

When the man looked behind him.

The sea.

The sun.

The deer.

The bird.

The cloud.

The flower.

The fog.

The spring water.

A sigh.

A touch.

A tooth.

An eyeball.

An eye.

Eye.

“……”

A human?

“…Ah….”

It was visible.

A blond man with a kind smile came into view.

“Wh-who are you…?”

The man, though a little flustered, stood so as to hide the porcelain dolls. It was to prevent any potential danger.

‘I’m sure there was no presence?’

He was confused.

‘…If I, who am confident in detecting presences, am like this, then anyone B-Class or below wouldn’t even be able to perceive him. I haven’t heard any stories about a new S-Class appearing in Korea. It’s a face I’ve never seen before, too… Is he an unofficial hunter close to S-Class?’

He was already in a tense state.

He was flustered after witnessing an anomaly from the very first day of working alone.

The man, while confused, gradually organized his thoughts and observed the other person, who was just smiling silently as if waiting for him to calm down.

He was a person characterized by his softly wavy, bright blond hair and a smile that matched it.

Soon, the other person opened his mouth.

“Hello.”

“…Ah, yes.”

The daily, gentle tone naturally made his body relax.

“It is a good dawn.”

“My name is Seo Jio.”

“Seo Jio….”

The man clenched and unclenched his fist.

For some reason, cold sweat beaded on his skin.

“So you’re ‘Mr. Seo Jio’.”

He was the one even Curator Yu Seong-un had warned him about.

The one whom a C-Class newbie had encountered, and about whom other employees smiled strangely and were reluctant to describe in detail.

He was the dawn shift team’s ‘Seo Jio’, called The Collectors’ unofficial special force.

“I’ve heard the stories.”

“What is your name?”

“……”

“I’m curious about your name.”

Is he even listening to me?

‘…His tone is so clipped, it’s strangely confusing.’

The man said his name.

“…I am Binari.”

“Nari?”

“No, it’s just Binari, without a surname.”

“I see.”

“You can call me whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“I understand.”

The blue eyes curved gently.

“Will you speak with me?”

“……”

The man checked his watch without realizing it.

“……”

4:51 AM.

‘…51 minutes.’

The time he had managed the artwork was 4 o’clock sharp and the current time, 4:51.

A gap of about an hour.

“…Yes, it would be… nice to talk.”

The man nodded his head.

It wasn't like he could go back right away anyway.

Even if they talked, there would be no problem.

“I don’t think I can go home right away.”

“It would be good to pass the time by talking.”

“Yes, you’re right….”

The man sighed and looked back at the porcelain dolls again.

“……”

“……”

“……”

They were sitting demurely in their fine postures.

“…Excuse me, Mr. Seo Jio?”

“Yes, please speak.”

“I heard that you also occasionally take on the management of the gallery.”

“That’s right, there are many wonderful and beautiful artworks in this gallery.”

“Then….”

He would have to report it separately before any potential problems arose, but apart from that, he wanted to hear ‘Mr. Seo Jio’s’ opinion.

He recalled the word ‘Godfather’ that the dolls had whispered.

“Could you perhaps take a look at these dolls?”

The man moved aside a little, revealing the dolls with their gentle and cute faces.

They were motionless porcelain dolls, but perhaps thanks to the tea party having just ended, they seemed to be in a rather good mood.

The man described the anomaly that had just occurred.

“I understand them to be artworks that speak one sentence each, for a total of three sentences per tea party. But just now, for some reason, they spoke an additional 10 sentences, 7 plus 3.”

“Were they bad words?”

“No, they weren’t. They were good words. They were sentences that seemed to be sufficiently satisfied with this tea party. However, I didn’t expect them to become verbose like this….”

“It means that a fortune that cannot be contained within a 24-hour scale is about to arrive.”

“……”

The man made a subtle expression.

“Isn’t that just a disaster?”

“That’s a new perspective.”

“I like a moderate amount of luck.”

“I will take that into consideration.”

“…Ah, yes.”

He was a peculiar person.

‘The melody of his speech is quite soft… but the form is rigid.’

Yet, he wasn't as awkward as a foreigner who wasn't used to Korean.

This soft yet blunt tone suited him very well, but when thought of rationally, there was a strange sense of incongruity.

“May I take a look at those children for a moment?”

“…Of course, you’d be better than a newbie like me at anything.”

“Thank you for your permission.”

Seo Jio approached with quiet movements and examined the porcelain dolls.

Although it was written in the manual that there was no penalty for touching them as long as they weren't destroyed, he was stroking the dolls with a benevolent touch, like an old man caressing his grandson.

There was affection in his touch.

It was a noble and fairy-tale-like scene, as if from a masterpiece painting, but….

“……”

It was a little eerie.

‘…The atmosphere itself is definitely gentle….’

It was hard to breathe.

As if someone had died, the air was heavy.

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