In reality, our protagonist is just a rock and there’s no demon. The rock was seen as unfit by the painter, abandoned by gods, for the painting; so it was placed carelessly on a dirt patch upon the hill next to the river. The painter also pushed some soil and stones into the river to make it a bit more like rapids instead of a calm river. The remaining stones on the beachside were organized into various patterns appealing to the eyes.

Then the painter took out a brush and a pot full of various paint colors, using it to start painting on the canvas held up by the easel. As the painter started his work, finally doing something worthy of his name, he became absorbed in it and ignored everything else. As he was distracted, the rock’s awkward angle allowed it to slowly shift until the dirt beneath it gave away.

The rock, taken by gravity, rolled down the hill and hit the painter in the foot, which made the painter mess up his painting. He then tried to amend it by painting over, but that just made things worse. So he reached up to the right side of his head, which was bald. and rubbed it. Which did nothing to abate his rage, so he switched over to the other side and tore a chunk of his hair out.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

This explained his strange hairstyle, it was to cover up how terrible his hair looked after tearing it out from frustration. If only he had been smart enough to include the rock in the painting, even if he wasn’t worthy, it would have averted the whole situation. 

The painter took a look at the torn out hair and let out a groan. His rage had disappeared and soil regret remained in its place. So he decided to run away, not even bothering to take his easel and other artistic tools with him. The rock was simply left on the ground, a few centimeters away from the easel from bouncing off the painter’s foot.