* * *

"..."

"Would you like to visit?"

Ju-hyeon blinked at the white frame that had appeared before him.

"... Is it heaven?"

"As I just explained, it is simply a home."

"It's lovely."

And yet this house I'm in now feels so lonely.

Ju-hyeon was profoundly grateful for the spacious, luxurious house Collector had kindly provided, but he also found himself remembering the dirty, noisy orphanage. He had only lived there until he was sixteen, yet it had always been his "home."

'Didn't they say everyone young and good was in here?'

He gently ran a hand over the frame.

"..."

Ju-hyeon had received a letter from Jio today.

"... So that's why you sent me an invitation."

The letter was as difficult to decipher as ever, but amid the intricate patterns tangled together like a painting, Ju-hyeon had managed to make out the word "invitation." Did that mean Jio's Portrait was growing more human? Perhaps it did.

He had waited with a little excitement and rather more apprehension, and this pure-white frame had appeared. Jio was waiting for him not in the usual peaceful forest, but inside an empty frame with nothing painted in it.

"Jio, do you want me to visit this place?"

"The choice is always yours."

"Come to think of it, you've always been like that. You've never forced anything on anyone."

"I have never felt the need."

"Even though this is a gravestone you made for me?"

That day, the day Jio had called forth Ju-hyeon's dead friends.

"... Haha..."

I'd wondered where my family had gone after Dana swallowed them.

"... So you were all here."

"Would you like to visit?"

The exact same words as before. The same intonation, the same voice.

"... No."

Ju-hyeon felt a vast sense of detachment, yet at the same time, the whole situation struck him as funny.

"I'm fine."

"Are you?"

"It's far too big a gift."

Jio had made all this simply "for a friend."

What an innocent person. How simple and straightforward he was. Whenever Jio pressed a gift Ju-hyeon couldn't possibly handle into his hands like this, Ju-hyeon couldn't help laughing.

"You really are incredible."

Childishly, he felt grateful for that unmistakable kindness.

"When did you make this, anyway? I haven't heard anything about a new work by Black Cloak."

"It has been some time. However, Mr. Yu Seongun told me that prominent figures in the government and the Association seem to be suppressing the information out of concern that it could cause problems on several fronts."

"I suppose they would. Good grief, of all things, you went and created an afterlife. What are they supposed to do about that...?"

Jio folded his arms, as though to express his displeasure.

"But I could not keep your family inside Dana's body forever."

"Stop being so diligent about the strangest things. Every time you are, something happens that's a nightmare to clean up."

"I will bear that in mind."

"Is that all you're going to do with my advice, too?"

"Everyone teases me about that."

"I was joking."

The human kindness this immense mystery showed gave Ju-hyeon fresh strength to laugh every time. This forthright gift was twisted in its execution, but simple at its heart.

And Ju-hyeon had always looked at what lay within rather than at appearances. It was no different with Jio's Portrait. Though at a loss over the pure, innocent gift Jio offered, he was grateful in the end.

"Thank you. It's a truly beautiful home."

If Jio had truly been a mystery even at his core, there would have been no gift like this.

"You're not going to cause trouble with this, are you?"

"Of course not."

"I trust you, Jio."

"I will repay that trust."

"All right..."

There had been so much weighing on him that his head ached, but he felt a little better now.

"..."

Once I've lived through all the chances I've been given, someday I'll enter this place too. If Jio allows it.

'... That's enough.'

The living and breathing had no need of heaven.

There was still a long way he could walk.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Underground Four-Legged Rainforest.

"..."

RUSTLE.

"... Uh..."

RATTLE, RATTLE, RATTLE!!

"Oh boy..."

Yu Seongun blinked.

"Hunter Yu, is something wrong?"

"No, I just spotted a new monster here that looks familiar for some reason..."

"What are you talking about? Is the heat getting to you? How can it be new if it's familiar?"

"It can happen."

Yu Seongun gave a hollow laugh at the "water birds' nest" he had encountered in such an unexpected place.

'Nice to see you here.'

Apparently, Jio was planning to swallow the Earth.

(To be continued)