Chapter 9

Late evening.

The attic, the top floor of the cabin.

Soft lighting.

The flowing scent of the forest.

A black wooden desk placed in front of a round window.

There, I was organizing the rules I had discovered.

“So….”

I continued.

“You could say it’s 1:1.”

I could do anything in this picture.

I hadn’t really tried ‘anything and everything,’ but that’s what it felt like.

In a world where I could even create a warm corpse, I had to assume there was nothing impossible for me.

‘But the story changes when reality gets involved.’

Asking Yu Seong-un to draw an apple was also part of the process to confirm this.

‘A picture I draw or a picture someone else draws is the same picture from my perspective, so I can enjoy it without any issue, but the moment it’s taken outside, it becomes reality. I thought it would be too much if there were no restrictions at all….’

The suspicion started from there.

“I’m glad Mr. Yu Seong-un is kind.”

I was touched that he readily agreed when I suddenly asked him to draw an apple.

“He’s a very mature person, playing along well even when a portrait says nonsensical things.”

Thus, thanks to the kind consideration of the manager and the trials of the past few days, I was able to grasp my situation.

If I go outside the picture, my form disappears from within it and the frame becomes a simple landscape painting.

If I want to give a gift to someone outside the picture, I must receive something from that person.

For the most part, it was a 1:1 rule of give and take.

“…….”

Of course, the snacks I had handed out to the 17 employees I met before were just a gesture of goodwill.

‘Everyone was so scared, so I thought giving them snacks might lighten the mood.’

As a result, the mood did lighten.

It changed from fear to bewilderment, I should say.

Yes, I suppose even I would be flustered if a jet-black lump popped out of a picture and suddenly handed me a cookie.

‘It’s also true that those people helped me.’

In conclusion, I was just being polite.

My grandmother used to say that if I received something from someone or if I had something to apologize for, I should give them a physical object along with elegant words that would captivate them. She said that was the basic etiquette of human life.

‘She said that thanks and apologies of only words are corpses.’

Speaking beautifully is a given, and she told me to give a gift, no matter how small, whether I could afford it or not.

For me, Seo Jio, whose facial muscles had degenerated to be worse than a pony’s, this was advice that became my flesh and blood.

Therefore, the good potato Seo Jio was still faithfully following the words of his life mentor, his grandmother, even at the age of 29.

If not for that, I would not have been able to become a teacher loved by students.

Anyway, so.

“I can’t just receive help.”

That was my ironclad rule.

“In that sense, I have to say the rules of this world suit me quite well. It might be a result that reflects my tendencies, like the animals of the forest.”

I liked it.

“For me to transfer something to reality while I am a picture, I must also receive something.”

I could do quite a lot of things freely.

It was a given within this picture where I enjoyed almost the authority of a creator and I could also act outside in reality without being bound by separate rules.

‘I can even create a passage with a picture to go to other floors without taking the elevator.’

However, when I was in a picture and the other side was in reality, I could not break this 1:1 rule.

This was a fact I learned while conversing with the employee who manages the portrait, Yu Seong-un.

“When I asked him to draw an apple, a system explanation appeared.”

It was an explanation telling me to give a gift in return, and there was even a time limit.

‘Was it about a week?’

I’m still not sure what problem would arise if I don’t give something in return to the other person within a week.

But it didn’t seem like anything good would happen, so I gave Yu Seong-un a gift the very next day.

“…….”

I rolled the trinkets next to the desk with my finger.

A clattering sound was made as they hit the wooden desk.

“Jewels….”

Among them were also jewels of various colors.

“I didn’t know I could make these either.”

I like various painting styles.

They say that a proper artist has their own worldview, but since I was just a mere teacher and not such an artist, I drew in various styles and so, I, Seo Jio, was also skilled in hyperrealism.

The jewels he was touching now were created in such a way.

“Making paints with these made it easier to draw the jewel I gave to Mr. Yu Seong-un, too.”

A feeling as if the paint, the picture, the result itself was a living creature.

“…….”

It was a feeling of life dwelling in something that clearly could not breathe.

“This is a specialness that goes very well with this amazing potato who has no limits to his thoughts….”

I had never felt such freedom, as if I had thrown off even my underwear, at the age of 29, but anyway, it was good that there were many things I could do.

As a result, it seemed I had evolved into a potato boasting even more diverse charms.

Having finished organizing to some extent, I continued my thoughts, which were no different from an unemployed person’s.

‘…Let’s sleep outside tonight. It’ll feel good to sleep while looking at the stars. What should I make for breakfast tomorrow? Just roasting potatoes and dipping them in salt would be delicious, right? And if I get bored, it would be fine to do some farming. If I ask Mr. Yu Seong-un….’

The weather is good, so the crops will grow well.

It will feel refreshing to find seedlings I like and farm them.

I’ll have meals with the crops grown that way, and I should also give a gift to Mr. Yu Seong-un who is outside the picture.

I also had the thought of wanting to bring and raise honeybees if there were any somewhere.

“Let’s wander around a lot.”

Then I’ll come back to the cabin and draw.

If I draw….

“…….”

I, who was half-dozing in the languid spring air, quietly opened my eyes.

“I need a pet.”

The scale has gotten a bit bigger, but isn't this also country life?

“Having a pet in a house with a yard is like having soju with pork belly. And I am a healthy son of the Republic of Korea who drinks soju with pork belly…. Therefore, the conclusion is that I need a new family member.”

The creatures of this forest are favorable to me, but perhaps because the basic wariness of wild animals remains, I could not touch them easily.

‘I wanted to knead them like sticky rice cakes, but I was firmly rejected.’

And I, a gentleman myself, did not molest a rabbit that didn't want it.

The friends of the forest were just wild animals that approached me easily and left just as easily. Becoming friends with them would surely be a joyful thing, but I had other methods.

“If I draw a picture….”

I cannot create humans, nor do I have any intention to.

For humans, taking responsibility for this one life was already enough.

But an animal?

“…Can I make one?”

I headed to the workshop on the second floor.

***

Everything I had drawn until now were all objects.

“They had no ego.”

I had drawn fruits, vegetables, food, plates, furniture, and many others, but they were not living, breathing beings.

Separate from the life force I vaguely felt from them.

“…….”

I was sitting in front of a canvas.

“…Will it work?”

I had failed with humans, but a small animal, would it be possible?

“…There are no other people here, but there are other animals….”

It seemed possible.

“…….”

I got up from the chair and approached the small drawers that filled the wall.

It had the form of a medicine cabinet that one might see in an old oriental medicine clinic.

Their number was countless, but I knew what was where.

“…Here, surely….”

Click.

I opened one drawer.

“There it is.”

There was a blue and transparent jewel.

I do not even know what the exact identity of this jewel is.

But the jewel was cool.

It was refreshing rather than cold and it was hard to the touch, but its inside swayed fluidly as if water were flowing.

“…….”

That which sparkled and flowed within one form was a liquid in a solid state and it was no different from a living creature that clumps together and breathes.

“Let’s use this.”

Besides this, I, Seo Jio, brought out a few more jewels, dried leaves, and minerals.

I break the jewel with an awl and a hammer.

The leaves, which hold a vivid color despite being well-dried, and the minerals, which hold various colors, are all ground into powder.

That, which was made into a fine powder like flour, was born as paint in my hands.

“…….”

I give it substance with the sap of a tree found in the forest.

“…….”

And I give it gradations there, to find a suitable viscosity.

“…….”

The finely ground paint on the glass plate, where the color is clearly visible, glowed faintly like a firefly.

‘…Pale like the Milky Way, but….’

It gave an equally cool feeling.

“Done.”

I began to draw.

This forest had no lake.

It was perhaps a natural thing, but I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

I had wished for those things—a small pond, a grand lake or a vast sea, endlessly transparent—to give off the scent of water.

Recalling the cool breeze that would blow from a vast pool of water, I moved my brush.

“…….”

A round body.

A small head, large wings.

The beak will only sing songs, so it doesn't need to be that big.

They would build a house where water exists, and that house itself would become them.

“…….”

A bird that is water itself.

“…….”

What kind of bird would that be?

“…They seem like they would flock together.”

They will live in groups.

They can stay anywhere there is water and even where there is no water, they can create a pond, a lake, a sea at any time.

They, who embrace life and breathe, are transparent water and at the same time, birds that create a cool breeze.

“Their colors will each be different.”

Because water is transparent, they, who have egos, will think.

‘I want to have a color to express myself.’

They will be cute friends.

To decorate their transparent selves, they put all sorts of treasures into their bodies.

Just as all birds preserve their feathers, they will choose treasures that suit their bodies with their small beaks and put them inside their transparent bodies to adorn themselves.

It could be a flower.

It could be a jewel, it could be a fruit hanging from a tree, or leftover food from a person.

Perhaps they might even hold a very old relic or a small fish.

“Everything….”

It is up to you.

You who are water, and a bird, could do anything freely.

It's okay to fall asleep in a flowing stream and it's okay to fly freely in the vast sky.

They had freedom.

“…….”

I drew a very small bird.

The body is round, the wings are just the size of that torso, the tail feathers are long and the beak is short.

Small in stature, they can hide anywhere and know that they themselves are water.

Water with life.

“…….”

When jewels, flowers and fruits enter that transparent body and shine in various ways….

It was beautiful.

“…….”

When I carefully tapped the bird’s beak with my fingertip.

“Ah.”

—Flutter!

“…….”

A bird, holding its own treasure in its body, sat on my shoulder.

“…Hello.”

Rustle.

“Nice to meet you.”

Rustle, rustle!

“Yes, me too.”

Instead of a cry, the bird rustled, making a sound with the flower inside its body.

It was a quiet but noisy friend.

“You were a chatterbox.”

The flower petals trapped in the small, transparent body made a faint noise and cried out playfully.

“Amazing.”

Before I knew it, my room was filled with transparent, sparkling birds.

They hovered around me for a moment, then flew out in a rush through the open window.

The wind created by the flapping wings of the living water droplets was greater than imagined.

The picturesque scene, like watching cherry blossom petals scatter in a clear spring breeze, was truly beautiful.

“…….”

After staring blankly for a moment, I soon moved my feet and stood on the terrace.

“…Ah.”

They’re there.

“They didn’t go far.”

They had formed a small pond next to my cabin.

I rested my chin on the terrace railing and leaned my body against it.

“Good creatures.”

The pond, or lake, that wound its way long around the cabin, was flowing gently.

Beneath it, countless ‘treasures’ were laid out like sand on a beach or pebbles by a river.

The lake, with a host of flowers, jewels and fruits sunk in it, sparkled enchantingly in the moonlight.

They would become one and flow gently, then suddenly pop! up to the surface and look around. Then they would hide inside again and form a pond with their friends.

“…….”

I closed my eyes.

When the sparkling water, moving here and there with life, disappeared from my sight, I could soon hear the sound of their breathing.

Instead of chirping cries, I heard the faint noise of jewels clattering, flower petals brushing and small stones or sand rustling.

That was how those friends conversed and cried.

It was just like the sound of insects in midsummer….

“…I should sleep.”

I grabbed only a pillow and went outside the cabin.

Then I lay down between the cabin and the pond.

“…….”

Rustle—.

As I lay down to sleep, I heard the sound of animals approaching.

‘For creatures that all ran away when I tried to touch them, they’re approaching pretty quickly, aren’t they?’

The birds that had been tilting their heads on the tree branches flew down with a flutter and sat on my chest.

The deer that had been sniffing at the shallow, wide pond also moved its long legs and came next to me.

The squirrels that had been flinching among the bushes dropped acorns or small fruits into the pond and then gathered by my side.

“…….”

At that sight, I muttered.

“…A toll?”

Is it a tollgate fee?

Anyway, both the squirrels and the birds of the pond seemed satisfied.

‘Then that’s fine.’

Isn’t it peaceful, anyway?

If the friends I created were not beings that deserved to be ostracized, if they could blend and harmonize with the existing ones as much as they wanted, then I was more than satisfied with just that.

Around that point, I thought.

“…….”

That it would be fun to decorate this portrait.

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