I'll Go Myself
Yeouido, Seoul. Nestled among the glittering high-rises that caught the shimmer of the Han River, a massive silver building rose in a perfect circle.
The Hero Association Headquarters.
A soft electronic chime sounded as the automatic doors parted, bowing a distinguished guest inside.
Jang Taegwon, president of the association, adjusted a pair of square, professorial glasses and offered a faint smile.
"Thank you all for arriving on time. I appreciate you carving out a moment from your busy schedules."
"First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to SS-Class Hero Sinnyeo for swiftly suppressing the recent Celestial Tower incident."
There was a genuine weight in his voice.
"The Republic of Korea will not forget your dedication."
Eleven holograms hovered at intervals around the round table, each occupying its own seat. Every one of them was an S-Class hero or higher.
Sinnyeo crossed her arms and snorted.
"Hmph. If you're grateful, put some sincerity behind it."
Jang Taegwon slowly pressed his fingertips together and laced them. When he nudged his glasses up, the fluorescent lights caught on the lenses.
"A special operational bonus will be reflected in next month's salary. You need not worry about any financial burden."
He pressed a remote.
A hologram bloomed at the center of the table — the colossal tower that had invaded Gwanak District. A pale blue light washed over the conference room.
"The reason I have called an emergency assembly of this nation's backbone — every hero of S-Class and above — is this."
Jang Taegwon pointed at the tower. He took a sip of warm green tea and narrowed his eyes.
"Attacks by Mains are an everyday occurrence — every year, every day, even. But a large-scale invasion, with an entire dungeon at its back? That hasn't happened in a hundred years."
A murmur rippled around the table.
Then one of the holograms raised a hand, almost tentatively.
"I was in the field, so I only caught the news after the fact. What was the scale of the damage?"
Jang Taegwon composed his expression.
"During the Yellow Code phase, we recorded twelve civilian casualties. However."
He drew a breath.
"During the Red Code phase, remarkably…"
A brief silence. Everyone held their breath, waiting for him to finish.
"There was not a single fatality. Heroes included."
He adjusted his glasses and added one more thing.
"Most of the injuries were minor — electrical burns from overcurrent, nothing more."
A low stir spread around the round table.
Sinnyeo twirled a lock of her black hair around her index finger, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"Hmph. That perverted scientist bastard. His motives are downright filthy."
Her eyes flashed.
"He grabbed a B-Class hero and did who-knows-what to him."
She shot Jang Taegwon a look that said something about the whole affair still sat wrong with her.
"Is that guy okay? His stomach was all wriggling… he's not pregnant with some alien brat, is he?"
Jang Taegwon cleared his throat.
"Ahem. A full examination confirmed there are no health concerns. And no, there is no child to worry about."
Sinnyeo's eyebrow twitched.
"Heh… lucky bastard. A mere B-Class hero facing the Dungeon Lord of a high-tier dungeon, and he's still breathing with all four limbs attached."
Another hologram cut in.
"Then that madman's objective is heroes, is that what you're saying?"
Jang Taegwon shook his head. Hair gone gray with the years stirred faintly.
"I couldn't say. We don't have a definitive answer yet."
He snapped his fingers, and the hologram switched.
At the center of the table, a vast mecha legion came pouring out of the tower in cascading light.
A rising electronic whine filled the room. Then a crackle of discharging energy.
Mechas armed with optical weapons fired crimson lasers from their palms. Beams rained down like a scarlet downpour.
A massive werewolf vanished like dust. A harpy evaporated, leaving nothing but scattered feathers. The beast-type Mains melted away at range without ever getting the chance to act. Even to human eyes, it was a one-sided slaughter that made the stomach turn.
Silence hung for a moment.
Someone scratched their chin and cocked their head.
"A Main with that kind of military power… shouldn't every C-Class hero and below who deployed to the site have been wiped out?"
Another tapped a finger against the table, piecing it together.
"How little must he think of us…? It's a warning, plain as day. You heroes aren't even worth killing, so stay out of it, you worthless scraps. That's what he's saying. Arrogant bastard…"
Opinions began flying around the table.
"Putting the various theories together, the most likely explanation is a territorial dispute among the Seven Dungeons."
"What territorial dispute? Then what's this perverted scientist Sinnyeo saw? She said a B-Class hero was getting something done to him."
"That? A B-Class who got cocky and happened to get grabbed. Why are you so hung up on it?"
"Hrm. A fair point."
The heroes around the table nodded, unmoved.
The discussion among them was in full swing, but Sinnyeo didn't say a word. Her cheek twitched.
Jang Taegwon seemed to catch the odd atmosphere. He turned a kindly smile her way.
"Is something troubling you, Sinnyeo?"
"Troubling me?"
Her gaze slid sideways.
"…They say seeing is believing. Take a look yourself."
She tossed something onto the table without ceremony.
It was a straw doll, a nail driven through it. A scrap of white cloth pinned to the doll had been pierced clean through.
The heroes leaned in to study it.
"This is…"
"That's right. I sent a death curse at that crazy bastard."
A solemn hush settled over the entire table.
The curses of SS-Class Hero Sinnyeo were infamous for one thing: they killed their target. Hide in a bunker hundreds of meters underground. Flee to the ocean floor in a submarine. It did not matter. The curse would follow them to the ends of the earth and end them. A horrifying thing.
And yet.
"I figured he'd trip over his own feet, smash his face in, and drop dead…"
Sinnyeo clenched her teeth.
"The Lord of the Underworld must really have a soft spot for that pervert, huh?"
In one sharp motion she yanked the hairpin from her hair and drove it into the straw doll.
The point sank deep.
Silence stretched for a beat. Then Sinnyeo, her eyes gone a pale, drowning blue, drew another straw doll from her sleeve.
In an instant, blue fire roared up around it. The doll was ash before anyone could blink.
"To think she'd send a counter-curse at me just to protect that scrawny little freak."
Her fingers were trembling.
"That's the fourteenth time already. No matter how suddenly I strike — no matter how I try to catch her off guard — she parries it like clockwork."
Jang Taegwon let out a low sound.
"Hrm. A Main under the protection of the Lord of the Underworld… that is quite the headache."
Sinnyeo's eyes narrowed to slits.
"…That screw-loose bastard didn't just act on his own."
Her mouth twisted.
"He was clearly following orders from Articetia, the Lord of the Underworld."
Someone dropped a cup.
The shatter rang through the room. The voice that followed was shaking.
"You don't mean… the Mausoleum Temple, of all the Seven Dungeons… has started moving for the first time in a hundred years…?"
Jang Taegwon let out a long, deep breath. He stared into the middle distance for a moment, then took off his glasses and wiped them.
"Our peace… may have lasted too long."
When he put the glasses back on, his gaze had gone sharp.
"The time has simply come to sharpen claws that have grown dull."
The association president rose slowly from his seat. He was not a tall man, but in that moment he seemed to fill the entire room.
"I ask that each of you prepare yourselves, so that we may stand against the threat to come."
A quiet click.
"That is all."
The holograms around the table winked out as one.
Meanwhile, in the throne room of the Mausoleum Temple, where a deep chill hung in the air.
Footsteps rang heavy against a floor of black marble engraved with skull motifs.
Articetia leaned against her throne, chin propped on one hand, her face utterly expressionless.
Noir bowed his head.
"Launching a large-scale invasion without reporting to Lady Articetia is an unmistakable act of treason."
His voice dropped lower.
"…I shall have Mesath arrested at once."
Durakh Han pressed his own head to his chest and dropped to one knee. The chain clinked. At once, the knights in full plate around him lowered themselves in the same motion.
From the hollow throats of those headless figures, black smoke began to seep and coil.
"Your servant… Durakh Han."
The voice resonated like struck metal.
"Give the order, and I shall offer the traitor Mesath's soul to Lady Articetia."
Inside the mirror, only little Elise fidgeted, clutching her rabbit doll tight. Her white dress swayed on the other side of the glass.
A heavy silence settled over the hall.
After a time, Articetia finally shifted. She sat up, her back going straight. Then she slowly raised a hand and began to write in the air, strokes of blue light forming one after another.
[No.]
That single word froze everyone in place.
Noir looked up at Articetia, bewildered.
Surely she did not mean to let Mesath off?
The ghost butler cleared his throat.
"However… if we do not punish him, Beast Lord Esmera will not stand idle."
Articetia merely blinked a few times. She tilted her head, just slightly, then swept her fingers through the air once more.
[I'll go.]
Noir's eyes went wide. He adjusted his monocle.
"Forgive my impertinence, but… where do you intend to go?"
Articetia wrote the next words out in careful, proper lettering, each glowing character deliberate and clear.
[Mesath's dungeon.]