Meanwhile, the staff of the collection store who received the same official document as Cha Ara were very confused.

“……?”

“What is this?”

“Is the guild leader joking…?”

“He’s not the type to joke around with official documents.”

It’s true that Bisabal often jokes around, but surprisingly, he was a person who had a solid sense of duty. If it weren’t for his collecting habit, Bisabal, who always maintained a gentlemanly attitude, would never joke around with official documents.

“Is this some kind of ghost story?”

“Is this the story about the black cloak?”

The staff were confused.

“So ‘Geo’ is a person or a ghost….”

1. The name of the man wearing the black cloak is Geo.

2. Geo is a member of the early morning shift. Don’t ask for his identity.

3. If Geo wants his full name, tell him your name. There’s no problem.

4. Respond kindly and politely to any conversation Geo makes. If the conversation is successful, you will receive a gift from Geo.

5. Rule 4 is exaggerated, so you don’t have to follow it.

6. Ignore Rule 5. Always be polite to customers and colleagues.

7. You can give Geo a gift. In this case, be sure to receive a gift in return from Geo.

8. If there is a picture frame hanging inside the building that you haven’t seen before, ignore it. It will be removed before dawn due to the experimental installation of the early morning shift. Do not touch or scratch the artwork.

9. Bad people cannot go to the portrait on the 5th basement floor. Be especially careful not to visit the portrait at dawn.

The official document says to treat people like people, but the nuance is that it means, ‘This kid is definitely not human, but don’t show it and behave yourself.’

“…….”

“…….”

The employees foresaw a future where they would be tired. They looked at each other.

“How should we interpret this?”

“…Let’s first gather our teams and figure out the situation.”

“Oh, guild leader….”

As expected of a guild of cynical people, they stopped being squeamish and gathered among themselves to discuss things coolly. They knew that there was nothing they could do if they were just confused.

“First of all, this is a discussion on whether this is a joke or serious. If you have any opinions, please feel free to share them.”

“First of all, I don’t think it’s a joke. Our guild leader knows how much he can manipulate the staff with a single official document. When it comes to works and art, he often ruins people, but he usually maintains a clean attitude.”

“I agree. However, I think rules 4 and 5 are jokes. It’s as if someone has tampered with the rules that the guild leader has set up….”

One employee said to him.

“Isn’t it possible that someone else messed with the rules that the guild master had organized? The most likely one would be ‘Geo’, or ‘Black Cloak’, who is mentioned in these rules. The ghost that is presumed to be a humanoid monster.”

“Ah… I said it was a joke, including that. This official document wasn’t shared in real time, and it could have been easily modified, but it was sent like this. I think the guild master is enjoying this kind of ghost story-like atmosphere.”

“That makes sense.”

Even if Bisabyeol had organized the rules in this way, where the two selves check each other, it was a joke, and even if ‘Geo’ had tampered with the rules that Bisabyeol had organized, it was still a joke because he didn’t modify them and just spread them.

“However, in that case, we can say that these rules are worth knowing.”

“After looking into it, I found out that the official document was sent to all employees except for irregular workers who had been employed for less than 6 months. Judging from the fact that you took measures to prevent the official document from leaking outside the guild, we can see that this incident is quite important.”

“Then let’s conclude the ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ first discussion with ‘It’s sincere.’”

“I agree.”

“I agree.”

Second, the staff examined the contents of the rules.

“This rule is definitely targeting the ‘Black Cloak’ we knew. The name Geo was also secretly known thanks to several sightings. However, the fact that it introduces its identity in the first sentence seems to be to let us know about its existence.”

“It says that we are employees of the dawn shift and not to ask for their identity. This is probably because Black Cloak hates being asked about their identity. I don’t know why….”

A staff member asked.

“In the first place, is Black Cloak a human or a monster? Shouldn’t we make that clear first?”

“But you even sent us this official document in the form of a ghost story. It seems like the guild leader is saying indirectly that he has no intention of telling us the exact identity of Black Cloak.”

“But we can still guess.”

“No, think again.”

The employee shook his head.

“The more we know, the more likely we are to be assigned a troublesome task.”

“You’re wise. Then it would be best to treat Black Cloak as Schrödinger’s human. Until we find out for ourselves, everyone should think of Black Cloak as a member of the early morning shift that the guild master secretly brought in.”

“Yes, the official document also says to treat ‘Geo’ as a human. If the guild master tells you to do so, it’s the virtue of a good subordinate to follow.”

The employees who had no intention of taking on additional work, whether it was virtue or self-interest, nodded in unison. The guild could not help but be in a very precarious state.

However, not a single employee wanted to know the details of the incident that Bisabael was so happy about and worried about, whether it was a ghost story, a human, a ghost, or self-interest.

“The more we know, the more work he’ll do.”

“But he’ll give us more allowance.”

“I won’t work without receiving it. I have to go home and take my Choco for a walk.”

“Well….”

They were serious about work-life balance.

“Anyway, if you tell me not to ask for my ID, doesn’t that employee Geo hate being asked about my identity?”

“The more this goes on, the more I feel like I’m a human, a monster, or something….”

“Oh, if you don’t want to be given extra work, keep quiet. But since you said there’s no disadvantage to giving your full name, at least you’re not a being who plays around with contracts.”

“The team leader is treating you like a monster right now.”

“You’re telling me to keep quiet.”

Unless it was a very special situation, there was no way that Bisabal would do something that would tarnish the employees who were part of my collection. So it seemed true that giving your full name would not cause any disadvantages.

“But the fact that the word full name appeared in the official document means that Black Cloak tries to give your full name that often, right?”

“Everyone else does it.”

“But if it’s even on official documents, it means that Black Cloak is quite unnaturally doing it. No matter how I look at it, it’s a monster imitating a person….”

“It’s quiet.”

“I’m sorry, it’s so ridiculous.”

The analysis continued.

“No matter what conversation you have, you always say kindly and politely…”

“After that, it says, ‘Let’s always be polite to customers and colleagues.’”

“Since it’s emphasized twice, it seems that Black Cloak hates rude people.”

“And bad people too.”

One employee pointed out rule number 9.

“‘Bad people cannot go in front of the portrait on the 5th basement floor. Be especially careful not to visit the portrait at dawn.’”

“…….”

“This part seems to block access, so we can see that the Black Cloak’s penalty for ‘evilness’ is greater than ‘rudeness’. I think it would be better to prevent hunters with criminal records from entering as much as possible.”

“No, really.”

The young employee who had been grumbling since earlier washed his face dry.

“Fuck, even if I tried to treat him like a human being, this guild master’s words are just….”

“Calm down, this guy is also a guild master and that’s how he is. He probably signed the contract without knowing, but everyone knows now.”

“You’re right.”

“However, it’s become clear that the Black Cloak has a deep connection to the portrait on the 5th floor of the underground gallery. I heard that there’s a portrait of a man that the guild master bought at an auction in the 5th floor gallery recently. Um, yeah.”

“…….”

“Let’s stop here.”

No matter how much they figured out the identity, the truth was of no use to the employees who extremely hated extra work. They gritted their teeth and ignored the identity of ‘Geo’ while analyzing the official document in order not to make a mistake.

“Let’s go back to rule number 4. Not only does it simply emphasize courtesy, but it also says ‘If the conversation was successful, you will receive a gift from Geo.’”

“Then, if you have a conversation that doesn’t satisfy Geo and you don’t receive a gift, is there a separate punishment? Like being sick all day…?”

“Since the guild leader just left the black cloak alone, it doesn’t seem like there will be any problems that will seriously affect your life or daily life. However, since the black cloak seems to hate rude people, ‘unsatisfactory conversation’ can also be considered a form of rudeness.”

“Then, if it’s not the time when you didn’t receive the gift, but if such ‘rudeness’ piles up, you might incur Black Cloak’s enmity. That part could definitely be dangerous, so we should be careful not to fail to receive the gift more than three times.”

“I don’t know if Black Cloak’s patience will last three times… but I understand.”

The employees who saw Rule 5 exchanged glances.

“This is also….”

“It must have been Black Cloak.”

“It’s exaggerated, so don’t follow the rules. What does that mean?”

“It could be that they’re waiting for us to let our guard down according to Rule 4.”

“That’s creepy.”

There were many monsters like that. They deliberately made people break their rules, and then when humans broke the rules, they would use that as an excuse to attack or harass them.

“So that means they know Korean, right?”

“According to the accounts of the dawn guards, he introduced himself as ‘Sergio’. Probably in the Korean style. It’s the same, but I think he must have been familiar with Korean culture to that extent.”

“If we treat him like Schrödinger’s man, Team Leader.”

“Ah, um… yes, even among humans, there are those who are ignorant of different cultures.”

The Team Leader waved his hand as if to brush it off.

“Rule 7 isn’t hard to understand either. If you want to give something to Black Cloak, you must receive a gift in return. I think this is probably Black Cloak’s rule.”

“So this is just a monster…”

“Shh. There are people who value rules everywhere in the world. I don’t know how much direct interaction we’ll have with Black Cloak in the future, but if you do give Black Cloak something, make sure to receive a gift in return.”

“I guess he’s someone who really likes to repay favors with favors.”

“That’s right, he’s really kind.”

They were still gritting their teeth and turning away from the truth.

“Isn’t Rule 9 hard to achieve in the first place? The fifth basement floor gallery, which is the last floor, has a limited number of people allowed in. Is this a rule for the curators?”

“I think it’s more likely.”

After they had roughly finished organizing, the staff dispersed on their own.

“We should buy the curators a meal soon…”

They sympathized with the curator, who was the gallery manager.

At that moment, many curators were holding back tears.

“It’s not just me.”

“‘Portrait of Geo’ isn’t our responsibility anyway.”

“We have to do it on days when Yoo Seong-woon is busy and can’t come.”

“Ah…”

The same goes for the morning guards.

“… They say it’s that scary.”

“… We have to be careful, huh… .”

Anyway, if I just follow the rules, it won’t affect my life, right?

The staff accepted it calmly, saying that was fine.

“… The situation has turned out like this again… .”

Yoo Seong-woon nodded.

“I think you’ve chosen your employees well.”

“They’re all so indifferent. It’s just like our collection members who hate extra work more than dying.”

“Anyway, I guess I’ll adapt well.”

Bisabal said there was no way to keep ‘Portrait of Geo’ locked up, and he himself didn’t want his work to be abused like that.

With the gardener Yoo Seong-woon’s opinion added, they came up with a way for ‘Black Cloak’ to properly blend into the human world.

This could be considered a kind of vaccination. Bisabal laughed, saying that it wasn’t a judgment that would be detrimental even on a pan-human scale. The way he said that it didn’t matter if some people died was truly shameless, worthy of an S-class.

“And the Cha Ara Hunter I saw last time.”

“Oh, is there something wrong with that guy?”

“That….”

Yoo Seong-un scratched his neck.

“I think Geo and that family will meet soon.”

“Oh my.”

Bisabal’s face brightened.

“Is Geo going out again?”

“I wrote in my last report that he’s going to watch the Taeyanggyo initiation ceremony.”

“Since he doesn’t like noisy things, I thought he might change his mind.”

“I was worried about that too, so I asked him again, but he said he still wants to go out.”

“The first outing seemed to go very smoothly, but I don’t know if he’ll be able to do it the second time.”

“Strictly speaking, isn’t this his third outing? Geo has already met Hunter Cha-ara in ‘The Vein of Jewels.’”

“To be exact, you could say he’s the official human impersonation of the portrait. It’s fun.”

“…fun….”

“Has the sea been noisy lately? You said Geo’s personality has changed too… Hmm.”

“… … .”

Yoo Seong-un became ominous.

“… It seems a bit strange to hear you say this. Have you seen anything? The future, for example?”

“My skill is emotion. Please refrain from making strange empty promises, Yoo Seong-un Curator.”

Bisabal laughed.

“But it seems fun.”

“… … .”

Yoo Seong-un clenched his teeth.

Bisabal, who was famous for his good eyesight, said, ‘It seems fun,’ which was a remark that shortened his lifespan.