The Room You Can't Escape Without Morse Code!!

An operating theater where the ECG sang its steady, measured song.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

I lifted both hands with a delicate flourish. Whiiir— robotic forceps peeled the blood-soaked latex gloves from my fingers.

"Doing a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good deed feels so refreshing~! Hiyohohohohot!!"

That's right. This body of mine!

A living, breathing ethics textbook!

Oh yeah!

I stretched until my spine popped. Sixteen surgeries complete out of seventeen. Parasitic flora excised, neural circuitry restored, suicidal hormone cascades treated, trauma suppressed. Not so much as a scar left behind.

Heh heh heh. I am so, so proud of myself.

"The Apostle of Justice himself! Mes. Sat.!"

At this rate they're going to give me a model-citizen award, aren't they?

"Kyshishishi! Now that would be something to look forward to in its own right."

I shrugged into a fresh white lab coat and clasped my hands behind my back.

"Ahem, ahem! Loo-loo! La-la-laaa!!"

A little tune just slipped out. Maybe I've got a gift for musical theater.

Come to think of it, the heroes should be punching through the front gate any minute now. No need to rush, though. I'll be seeing their faces soon enough.

I was strolling down the corridor when I noticed Hongryeon staring at me from the side. Hard.

...What? Why are you looking at me like that?

"Hmm? Don't tell me there's blood on my coat?"

She pressed a hand to her forehead and shook her head slowly.

"Oh-ho! That would be most inconvenient. These are honored guests who've come all this way! A gentleman could hardly afford such a faux pas. Ksssss."

Hongryeon stepped directly into my path.

Why so suddenly? Did I do something wrong?!

Her hand drifted toward my throat.

Uh-uh-uh?!

But contrary to every alarm screaming in my skull, her touch was gentle. She simply straightened my collar.

Whew......

"Lord Messat is always perfection itself. However..."

"However?"

My voice jumped a full octave.

"For what reason did you spare their lives?"

The "they" Hongryeon meant...

"Kyshishishi! You wouldn't happen to mean the female heroes, would you?"

"Indeed. They are all heroes... and moreover, humans repeat the same mistakes. This maiden fears those ungrateful wretches shall commit their atrocities once more."

Uh......

Her words left my brain ringing like a struck bell.

Shit.... She's completely right?

From a Main's point of view, I just patched up the enemy and sent them on their way!

Cold sweat beaded along my spine.

Think, Lee Dogwang. The most natural answer. Something Hongryeon will buy.... Why would a mad scientist of all people save those women?!

......

Augh! No matter how hard I think, nothing comes. Of course it doesn't! I'm just an ordinary civilian! Helping people in danger is the obvious thing to do, isn't it? That's basic ethical common sense!

But dragging this out any longer is dangerous.

"Kyshishishishi! Why do you suppose I spared them, Hongryeon?"

Good. That bought me ten seconds, maybe?

Hongryeon's emotionless gaze was terrifying. She was waiting for an answer.

Damn it!

I was a heartbeat from unleashing a torrent of complete nonsense when Hongryeon spoke first.

"...Perchance, did you intend to cultivate them as spies?"

...Excuse me?

What on earth are you talking about?

My pupils trembled. If I hadn't been wearing the gas mask, my poker face would have shattered and I'd have been completely screwed.

The automatic door to the central control room slid open.

Whiiir—

Clank!

Hongryeon gazed across the ranks of monitors and continued.

"This maiden was taught that every war begins not at the tip of a blade, but with information. To them, Lord Messat is the savior of their lives. And even should the attempt at persuasion fail, it would pose no difficulty whatsoever."

She turned her head slowly to look at me. The lenses of her eyes adjusted with a sharp, precise whir.

Whiiir—

"They will not even comprehend that they have become both test subjects and eyes of the Super-science Dungeon."

Goosebumps raced across my entire body.

How does someone even think something that vicious......

Remodel the heroes and infiltrate them into the Association?

Oh-ho! That's not just cunning — that's terrifying. Genuinely terrifying!

Hongryeon bowed her head ever so slightly.

"...Forgive this foolish maiden, who failed to fathom the depths of Lord Messat's design. Or... was this girl's reasoning in error?"

How am I supposed to deny that?! Damn it!

Better to just roll with it.

I spun on my heel, lab coat flaring, and jabbed a finger into Hongryeon's chest.

"Oh-ho, yes! As expected of this body's most trusted right hand! If our brainwave signals overlap to this degree, then you and I have been alike in the very architecture of our neurons from the start! Any other explanation simply wouldn't add up!!"

Hands clasped behind my back, I cackled like a lunatic and strode into the central control room.

Change the subject. Now.

"Kyshishishishishi! There's a phrase for this sort of thing, you know! Alas, I haven't the slightest gift for the humanities! A tragedy, truly!"

Behind me, Hongryeon murmured under her breath.

"...A match made in heaven."

Hm? What was that just now.... Did I hear that wrong?

"This maiden was taught that discerning her sovereign's will is the duty of a retainer. To have followed even the merest edge of Lord Messat's profound insight... this girl is overwhelmed with awe."

Whew... yeah, that's what I thought. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I must have misheard.

"Hiyohohot! I'm delighted by your growth as well, Hongryeon!"

Lab coat billowing, I threw myself into the chair.

"Ahem, ahem! And right on cue — the heroes have entered Defense Zone B1!"

The heroes appeared across the split screens, each one sealed inside a cube-shaped solitary cell.

Good, good! Separated exactly as designed. They must have been pretty startled when the walls started moving and the sleeping gas hit the moment they stepped inside.

"Bam-pa-ba-bam! A custom-built classroom for heroes of modest IQ!!!"

Solitary confinement is a bit much no matter how you look at it, right? But if I don't go this far, they won't listen to a word I say. As far as I'm concerned, this is force majeure. I had no other choice.

"Once your education is complete, all of you will come to love this Messat! Kyshishishishishishi!!"

Especially Baekho.

I zoomed in on her screen and licked my lips.

"I made you a promise, didn't I? Pass every trial, and there will be a reward..."

I wonder how well Baekho will keep up with the training...... I'm looking forward to this.

"Kihihihihihihihihihit!"

A studio apartment barely the size of a closet.

No.

A solitary cell forged entirely of steel alloy.

"You insane bastard! Open it! Open the damn door!!"

Bang! Bang!

One of the more abrasive heroes, a surly man, hammered the walls with everything he had. They didn't so much as tremble. The other heroes fared no better. Each of them had been sealed in a cell of their own.

They'd expected Messat wouldn't fight fair. Nobody had expected sleeping gas.

Their heads were still swimming.

"Nngh..."

Baek Seoha forced herself upright.

"Messat......"

When the gas had taken her, she'd honestly prepared to die. And yet... her hands, her feet, her entire body — all of it was perfectly intact.

Just what is that man.... What does he even want?

Ding-dong!

"...Huh?"

She looked up at the cheerful chime. A monitor had materialized at the top of the cell. But more grating than the text on the screen was Messat's high-pitched voice, needling into her ears like a taunt.

"Ha?!"

Baek Seoha's brow furrowed on instinct. A miniature Messat in a gas mask was doing some utterly unhinged dance on the screen. In a squat that looked exactly like he was taking a dump....

"Don't make me laugh! I don't have time to play your games!!"

Baek Seoha sprang up and drove her heel into the monitor.

Wham!

The flicker of satisfaction lasted less than a heartbeat. The ceiling split left and right, and a brand-new monitor descended.

Baek Seoha bit down hard on her lip.

"Persistent little..."

She planted her hands, kicked up into a handstand, and launched herself. Her snow-white boot struck the ceiling monitor dead center.

KRAANG!

Shrapnel sprayed in every direction. She thought that would finally silence Messat's voice for good. Then another monitor popped out of the opposite wall.

"What?!"

She had smashed two monitors. The first jump had taken it from three hours to six. The next, from six to twelve......

It doubles every time I refuse?!

Fortunately, Baekho stopped there. The problem was everyone else.

In the neighboring cell, Twin Blades clamped both hands over his ears and bellowed.

"Augh! Turn the damn speakers off already!!"

Beeeep. Beep. Beeeep. Beep.

A shrill, punishing signal tone filled the cramped cell.

Beeeep. Beeeep. Beep. Beeeep.

Beeeep. Beep. Beeeep. Beeeep.

"Ghh! I ain't never studied nothin' in my life! I'm a real man's man, y'hear!!"

Twin Blades spun his whole body and raked the steel wall with the edges of his hands like a blender.

Screeeeeeeech!

"Real Man Tornado!!"

Cracks spidered across the wall. For a fleeting instant, hope flickered into view.

"Hell yeah!"

But then......

Plasma flared, and the wall restored itself in the blink of an eye.

"The hell?!"

Twin Blades clapped his hands over his ears and thrashed across the floor ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like a man having a seizure.

"GYAAAAAAAAH!!"

Beeeep. Beeeep. Beep. Beep.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Beep. Beeeep. Beeeep.

While every last hero sat trapped in solitary, subjected to a forced indoctrination they could not escape, only one among them was smiling. Shadow Assassin slipped her body beneath the shadows with a sly little grin.

"Sorry, Baekho... but a tactical retreat is the only play I've got......"

Better to survive alone and call the Association for backup. That was the smart move.

A world drained of color. Black and white. Shadow Assassin swept her gaze across the shadow realm.

Heh heh heh. I'll just pass through the shadow-wall and—

Snap!

"...Huh?"

Something had seized her ankle. A chill crawled, slow and slick, up her spine.

What? There's nobody in the shadow realm but me...

An impossible situation. She lowered her eyes, slowly.

In that instant, her heart nearly stopped.

A corpse whose face had melted away yawned its pitch-black mouth impossibly wide and moaned.

"Guaaaaaaaaaaah......"

Shadow Assassin's eyes flew open.

"Eek!"

She ripped a dagger free and drove it down. The rotting wrist sheared off with a wet snap, and she stumbled a step back.

"What... what is this? What the hell is this?!"

She kept backing up — and then she stopped. By now she should have hit a wall.

She swallowed hard and looked behind her.

"...?!"

The wall was gone. In its place stretched a long, long corridor. And from the far end of it, the click of high heels drew steadily closer.

Click. Click. Click—

Crimson irises housed mechanical lenses that dilated and contracted in a ceaseless rhythm. With every step, long reddish-brown hair swayed and whispered against itself.

"...A maid?"

An expressionless maid. Hongryeon folded her hands with impeccable courtesy and came to a halt.

Click.

"For the living to cross Gwimun of their own accord......"

The floor heaved in mottled reds and darks, and rotting hands burst upward through it.

"What an intriguing guest we have."

In a single surge they clamped around the assassin's legs.

"What the—?! Get off me!"

The assassin slashed wildly with her dagger, but it was useless.

"Guaaah..."

"Uwaaah......"

The dead kept crawling out of the walls, out of the ceiling, an endless tide no single blade could hold back.

"Disgusting! Don't touch me! This is vile... ugh!"

In moments the corpses had buried Shadow Assassin completely. A rotting finger even forced its way into her mouth, sealing it shut.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

Worse still — the maid who had been standing directly in front of her a second ago was gone.

The assassin's pupils shivered. She turned her head, slowly.

Hongryeon was already at her side, head tilted, staring straight at her.

"This maiden apologizes, but our dungeon strictly forbids cheating."

Tears welled in Shadow Assassin's eyes. A rotting hand, slick with the blood smeared across her cheek, slipped quietly free of her mouth. Only then could she force out a trembling voice.

"Please... spare me......"

Every last shred of her cool composure had vanished. She shook from head to toe like a frightened girl.

Hongryeon tilted her head with a slowness that raised the hair on the back of the neck.

"Ah, yes. Our merciful Lord Messat does not wish for the deaths of his test subjects."

"Then—!!"

Hope flared in the assassin's eyes. And then her face locked rigid, and her pupils filled with nothing but despair.

"Instead... this maiden shall personally instruct the honored guest in the common sense of the dungeon."

At Hongryeon's words, the assassin shook her head in a frenzy.

"No! I can do it! I'll take the lecture properly! I'll follow every single thing that crazy scientist says! So please, just let me... like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the other heroes... hic......"

She was still sniffling when she saw Hongryeon's expression go cold as frost. The color drained from her face.

"Crazy... scientist...?"

The assassin's eyes went wide. She shook her head violently.

"No! I misspoke! That's not what I— mmph!!"

The dead clapped their palms over the assassin's face.

"Mmmmmmph!!"

And in an instant, she vanished somewhere beneath the floor.