The Artist Who Paints Dungeon

Gio spoke as soon as he woke up.

“…Fruit tea….”

He wanted warm and sweet fruit tea.

“Let's make syrup.”¹

That's how today's activity was decided.

Making syrup wasn't that difficult. It was enough with tools sterilized with love, fruits grown with affection, and an equal amount of sugar.

'Ahh, it seems like I need a lot of sugar, enough to think I would get diabetes.'

And most fruits could be turned into syrup. It was fine to use more than one type of fruit as long as it went well together.

The first fruit Gio chose was the Goby fruit.

“But this might be too sweet.”

To successfully make fruit syrup, which is essentially sugar water imbued with the flavour of the fruit, the necessary flavours are, first, sourness, and second, bitterness.

Sugar alone would already be sweet enough to make the tongue tingle, and adding sweet fruit to it would turn it into no different from canned fruit. Gio learned this fact after trying to make syrup with fully ripened, super-sweet tangerines.

“It does have its own taste, though.”

However, what Gio wanted now was a fruit tea with a bitter taste, accented by sourness with sweetness as the base.

It wasn't a particularly difficult combination.

“I'll need some sour and bitter fruit to go with the Goby fruit.”

The combinations often made in real life were mainly strawberry and lemon.

Strawberries aren't completely devoid of sourness, but they are generally soft and sweet. On the other hand, lemons, with their sour flesh and bitter peels, added depth to the one-dimensional sweetness of strawberries.

It was similar this time.

“Although Goby fruit has some sourness, it is generally sweet.”

And since the sweetness would be so intense because of that, it seemed best paired with fruits that were sour like lemons or astringent like yuzu. Such fruit syrup with a variety of flavours was particularly satisfying when enjoyed as a warm tea.

“Honey.”

“Coooo.”

“Let's go.”

Gio, with a golden waterfowl on his shoulder, bravely embarked on an adventure.

He told Honey, who had moved into the basket before he knew it.

“I could just paint and create something like lemon or yuzu, but all the foods made that way end up tasting mediocre … so it's better to harvest directly like this.”

“Cococoo?”

“It's for my better satisfaction, and it's good for the fruit syrup I'll be making in the future. I'd rather use unique fruits from this forest than weaker-flavored ones if possible.”

Gio could paint and create food to eat. However, strangely, the foods and ingredients produced this way were all somewhat bland.

They were okay to snack on when he was just a little peckish, but he didn't want to use them in any serious cooking. In honour of his grandmother, who was a prominent figure in the village, Gio vowed to create a fantasy-like fruit syrup.

“Thinking about it, farming doesn't seem like a bad choice either.”

“Coo.”

“From what I've seen as a newly harvested potato from the Gangwon province, the soil here is very suitable for farming. It's always mild spring weather here, but that doesn't mean there's no wind, and though it has never rained, the soil is always moist, and there are streams everywhere. It's a good environment for watering.”

“Chooo…”

“There are no seeds or seedlings, but we can get help from Mr. Yoo Sung-woon with that part. If I want to receive something from beyond the painting, I'll have to give something in return, but I can certainly afford that…”

Human life with guaranteed unlimited activities had such an onion-like charm. Even if it didn't seem like it, once you peel it, something would always come out.

“Nice.”

Excellent. Such freedom was indeed the greatest joy of being unemployed.

“It would be difficult for crops grown by my hands, filled with the spirit of the Gangwon province mountains, to taste bad, right?”

“Coooooo.”

“I really feel like I'm living a countryside life, like I've returned to farming. I should have lived such a peaceful and warm life long ago ….”

For Gio, born in a remote mountain village in Gangwon province, it might have felt like a homecoming.

“I've always enjoyed helping out with various tasks since I was young. Thanks to the wide range of activities the elders had set up, I had tried beekeeping, dug up wild ginseng, and even encountered wild boars…”

“Choo?”

“I'm not talking about poaching. We literally just ran into each other, and no one got hurt or killed, we parted ways peacefully. I think we met thanks to the person who was wandering around the mountain, collecting mushrooms and ginseng.”

There was no one who didn't have a vegetable garden, and some even raised chickens, ducks, or quails on a small scale. He recalled the joy of making cheese from fresh milk obtained from an acquaintance's ranch across the street or simply mixing it with honey.

Gio was someone who had tried almost everything a person could do with the land.

“There's no way someone like me wouldn't be able to farm.”

Grandma, please watch over me.

“I'll prove my talent in the name of our village.”

“Cooo?”

“I learned that you don't have to stake your name on things like this.”

If it seemed impossible, use the name of an elder in the household—that was Grandma's principle.

“Of course, I don't think she meant it for this kind of context.”

Interpretation was a matter of personal freedom.

“Then what seeds should I ask for….”

“Coo?”

“… First of all, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn are essential.”

Gio started his speech.

“It's not for nothing that it's one of the world's staple crops, so it's good to grow it in case of emergencies. And I want to grow radishes too. It's so delicious especially when you pick the tender young radish sprouts and mix them with rice, sauce, and oil.”

“Coo, chooo.”

“Pumpkins? Pumpkins sounds good. Large, mature pumpkins are great for making porridge, and small, sweet pumpkins taste good simply boiled and drizzled with honey, while long, plump zucchini adds a savoury flavour to soups, making it very fulfilling. You know quite a bit.”

Many other things came to his mind.

“How about lettuce?”

“Coo coo coo …”

“It's surprisingly good. It's easy to grow, and just pulling up well-grown leaves to eat with rice and soy sauce makes a quick meal. Or something like bok choy tastes good when boiled in clear broth.”

“Coocoo.”

“Peas would be nice too. Ah, cherry tomatoes… I like that too. In any vegetable garden, it's essential to grow at least one tomato plant.”

Gio, who spoke so far, then looked down at the basket in his hand.

“Cooo.”

“Aha.”

Inside the basket, he saw Honey spread out like a spilt liquid monster.

“Well.”

It's cute so it's alright.

Honey was a bird that typically carried gems. It was quite a treat to see the jewels filled in the basket, with shiny golden liquid as if it was flowing thick honey water. It seemed like he wouldn't be bored whenever they were together.

As Gio was talking about his future farming plans, he soon stopped in front of a certain tree.

“Ah….”

A pitch-black tree.

It was a tree made of obsidian.

“I found this first.”

Starflower Tree

A living obsidian tree. It grows by absorbing starlight reflected on its body. The flowers of the Starflower Tree bloom every dawn, nourished by the absorbed light and obsidian remnants, and are effective in treating burns and frostbite. The sap and bark of the tree are mainly used as materials for artwork.

Refinement Method: Buds right before blooming are good for frostbite, while fully bloomed flowers are good for burns. To use it, boil it in boiling water until it softened, then soak it in Salasala leaf juice for ten days. Consuming the flowers without the process above can cause burns and frostbite, so be careful.

Gio blinked twice as he looked at the automatically displayed description.

“Did I use too much obsidian paint last time?”

During the process of creating a habitat for the waterfowls, a significant amount of obsidian powder was consumed. It was a material often used to create a transparent texture like water or glass, so this would be a good opportunity to collect it.

Gio found a chisel and hammer in the basket. It was tools that didn't seem to match the word gathering at all, but there was no better helper for harvesting the Starflower Tree.

“Time to get up, son. Your lazy appearance is quite adorable, but Dad has to work.”

“Coooo.”

“This isn't even your type of thing. Give it to me. That's right.”

After gently coaxing Honey, who was playing around with the tools, Gio retrieved the items, placed the basket down on the ground and approached the obsidian tree. He touched the obsidian tree branches to check their temperature and moisture.

As if to prove that it was alive, he felt a faint warmth and the sap flowing like blood in between.

“Maybe…”

Gio found a dead branch among them.

“This one.”

It had an unusually chilly aura, and it reflected light sharply instead of sparkling, and the branch was hard—seemingly devoid of any moisture.

Gio fiddled with the branch attachment to confirm, then brought the chisel and hammer closer together.

Then, tap, tap.

Cling…!

“Done.”

The obsidian branch easily fell off with a clear sound.

Branches that were still alive couldn't be detached so easily. They were excessively hard, and due to the sticky sap intertwined inside, they didn't break easily.

'Such hard obsidian is also inconvenient when making paint.'

It was difficult to turn living branches with sticky sap into clean powder. Unless the goal wasn't to make sharp knives or arrowheads or extract sap, it was best to only pick out as many dead branches as possible.

“That would be better for the tree too.”

Although the obsidian tree has a glassy texture, it is definitely alive. Since this tree produces flowers that serve as excellent medicinal herbs, removing the dead branches would also be much more beneficial for the tree.

Gio split the long branches into pieces, careful to not shatter the weakened dead branches. The obsidian pieces imbued with the chilly energy of the stars in the night sky, all ended up in Honey's belly inside the basket.

“Are you going to take care of it?”

“Cooooooo!”

“Alright, let's do that.”

It seemed as though Honey was collecting an independence fund in advance, or perhaps it was just the bird's penchant for shiny stones, yet it looked like an embodiment of greed, which didn't match its clear and pure face.

'Can't resist shiny stones, did you?'

If it commits a crime, it will at least not be blamed. Gio looked up at the Starflower Tree again.

The pitch-black tree stood, reflecting the sunlight clearly like a mirror.

The chilling black obsidian, which was so chilling that it seemed like it could only be seen on a snowy mountain, blended well with the vibrant spring environment where flowers and grass bloomed vividly, perhaps because it was alive. Occasionally, a forest butterfly, an embodiment of light, would alight on it.

Gio, who had been admiring the sharp and hard tree for a while, moved his feet again.

“… I need to find some fruits.”

“Choo.”

“I hope there are some good fruits.”

Fortunately, it didn't take long for Gio to find a fruit that he liked.

Drought Jar

A tangerine fruit with light brown peel and cracked skin-like field in a drought. It won't rot for nearly a year even after harvest, making it a preservation food during drought seasons. It is sour and bitter when eaten raw, but eating it over a fire or leaving it under the hot sun for 3 days makes it sweet like honey. Rich in nutrients, canned goods or soup made from these can serve as an excellent nutritional supplement, capable of saving even those on the brink of starvation.

Refinement Method: Process the Drought Jar into an edible form to consume it.

“It's a nutritional supplement.”

That part is also very interesting.

“…  Sour and bitter?”

Gio was drawn to this point more than anything else.

'Since there's no mention of it being poisonous, it seems safe eating it raw, but I wonder how sour and bitter it is that there's even a separate way to eat it sweetly.'

He bravely plucked the fruit.

About the size of a Korean tangerine with a bit of tougher skin, but otherwise, it was similar in shape. Except for the dark yellow pulp inside like honey, it resembled a tangerine in all respects.

Chomp, Gio, smelling the sour scent, chewed one fruit without hesitation.

Gulp.

Gio decisively swallowed the fruit.

“Coo, cooo… Cocoo…”

“Well.”

In response to Honey's nervous reaction, Gio nodded with his characteristic blunt face. His facial muscles, which had long since degenerated, did not succumb to the hardship and ordeal that occurred on his tongue.

“It's sour and bitter.”

It was a taste that made him understand why the refinement method was simply 'process into an edible form to consume'.

'Even the historical poisons probably tasted sweeter than this.'

It was a shockingly intense sensation, enough to make his head spin.

Barely holding onto his fading sense of clarity, he realized that the texture was firmer and less juicy than a tangerine. However, compared to the astonishing taste, these details were hardly significant. He took deep breaths for a while.

Why did he not dislike it? Gio felt more confident.

“At this level, it wouldn't be overshadowed by the sweetness of the Goby fruit.”

Honey, who was in the basket, wriggled out with disgust. The taste seemed too shocking for the sweet Honey to handle.

¹: it wasn't normal syrup as in the picture (or at least in my area 'syrup' wasn't sth like that), it was actually 'cheong'. cheong (청; 淸) is a name for various sweetened foods in the form of syrups, marmalades, and fruit preserves. in Korean cuisine, cheong is used as a tea base, as a honey-or-sugar-substitute in cooking, as a condiment, and also as an alternative medicine to treat the common cold and other minor illnesses (from Wikipedia).

also 가뭄 단지. drought jar/drought complex/drought area, all seems like a very weird fruit name tbh.