The heavy oak doors of the mansion stood wide open. Wind poured inside, sending the expensive silk curtains in the hallway fluttering like restless ghosts.
Even the scent of rain drifting in from outside could not overpower the weight inside that house. A metallic, rusty smell of blood and the sickly, nauseating aroma of rotting flowers had seeped into the air.
Hope took the stairs two at a time. The echo of that collapsing sound was still ringing in his mind. I have to make it, he thought. If I get there now… If I stop the collapse… This time I won't just be a dungeon master. I'll be a hero.People would applaud him. Lypin would look at him with admiration.
With those thoughts, he reached the bedroom door. Deniz and Lypin followed close behind, breathing hard. Bianca and Kai had already slipped inside through the windows.
Hope burst into the room."Hold on, I'm here!"
The words hung in the air.
There was nothing left to save. The scene had already ended.
The bedroom looked like a battlefield. A toppled vanity table, shattered perfume bottles, pale flowers scattered across the floor… And on the bed lay Mina. The porcelain doll that once glittered under stage lights was gone. What remained was… a broken toy. Her eyes were fixed on the ceiling, empty and lifeless.
On the floor, right beside the bed, lay the attacker. A thin, obsessive man. He had slit his own throat. The dagger had slipped from his loosened fingers. A sick, twisted "we'll be together forever" ritual.
But there was one more living person in the room.
A tall man in a gray trench coat. The shadow beneath the streetlamp.
Inspector Conan.
Conan stood over the bodies. He took a deep drag from the cigarette that never seemed to burn out. His eyes were not on Mina; they were fixed on nothing.Yet he was not looking at nothing.
A red glimmer flickered in his pupils.
[Skill: Crime Scene Reconstruction]
Time rewound in the inspector's mind. Drops of blood lifted from the floor and flowed back into veins. Screams were born from silence. Ghostly red silhouettes filled the room, replaying the murder again and again before his eyes. The man's entrance… Mina's escape… her pleading… and the end.
Conan exhaled smoke, and the red silhouettes dissolved. He slowly turned his head toward the door. His tired, gray eyes locked onto Hope.
"The new kid," Conan said. His voice sounded like stones grinding together. "You're late."
"Who are you?" Deniz asked, his hand reflexively moving to his sword. "And what are you doing here?"
The man pulled a rusty metal badge from his pocket. An all-seeing eye, the symbol of the Kingdom's Special Investigation Unit, was etched onto it."Inspector Conan," he said. "And this is a crime scene. Get out."
Hope didn't move. He walked toward the body instead. He looked at Mina's face. That beautiful, flawless face, now frozen in fear and pain.
Hope's shoulders sagged. His expression held not deep sorrow, but the disappointment of a missed opportunity."Tch," Hope muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "What a waste. She really had potential."
The room fell silent.
"What?" Lypin whispered, her voice trembling.
Hope continued, as if talking to himself."I mean, her structure was solid. Her voice was good. If I'd been a little faster… I could've saved her. The townspeople would've carried me on their shoulders. Maybe she'd have sung a special song just for me. It was the perfect stage to become a hero."
He turned away, hands in his pockets."Let's go. There's nothing left to fix here. The building's collapsed. Clearing rubble isn't my job. This was a very inefficient death."
The room went cold.
Deniz stared at Hope, mouth hanging open. Kai growled beneath his mask.
But the strongest reaction came from Lypin.
She stepped out from behind Deniz. Tears filled her eyes, but behind them burned a pure, searing rage. Trembling, she stood in front of Hope.
SLAP!
The sound cut through the rain. Hope's head snapped to the side. A red mark bloomed on his cheek. He raised a hand to it in shock, blinking.
For the first time in his life…
Lypin had hit him.
Lypin. The gentle healer who wouldn't even hurt an ant.
"You…" Lypin said. Her voice was barely a whisper, yet more powerful than a scream."How can you be so… disgusting?"
Hope was stunned."What did I do? It's over, Lypin. The analysis is clear. Mission failed. The girl is dead. I can't save her anymore, so I can't be a hero. The logical thing is to leave and conserve our energy. We still have a long road ahead."
"That wasn't a mission!" Lypin screamed. She began pounding her fists against Hope's chest. They were weak blows, but each one struck straight at his conscience, if he even had one."She was a person, Hope! She was breathing! She was scared! She had dreams! She wasn't your 'hero fantasy'! Just because she won't applaud you… just because your ego won't be satisfied… we can't just turn our backs and walk away! Is this all people are worth to you? Just mathematical equations?!"
Hope froze. He had never seen Lypin like this."But… the outcome doesn't change," he said defensively, his voice faltering. "Mathematically—"
"To hell with mathematics!"
The voice came from Bianca.
She stepped out of the shadows. Gently, she placed a hand on Lypin's shoulder and pulled her back, then stood directly in front of Hope. The flirtatious, mocking assassin was gone. In her place stood a woman who had seen the darkest corners of the world.
"Listen, kid," Bianca said, pointing at Mina's body. "Here's what your brilliant brain doesn't understand. This isn't just a murder."
Hope frowned."Her heart has stopped. Vital functions have ceased. That's murder."
"No," Bianca said sharply. She grabbed Hope by the collar and pulled him close, staring straight into his eyes."This is an invasion."
"An invasion?"
"You're an Architect, right? You build dungeons. You raise walls. You set traps. Why? To protect what's inside. The Dungeon Core. The essence."
"Yes," Hope said. "The core is the heart of the dungeon. It must be protected."
"Then imagine this," Bianca whispered, each word cutting into Hope's mind like a blade."Someone enters your dungeon without permission. Smashes your walls with a hammer. Tramples your traps. And reaches down to the very core… without your consent. Without your approval. Just because they wanted to. Just because they could."
Hope hesitated. He pictured that safe place in his mind, his perfect constructions. Dirty, muddy hands tearing everything apart, destroying that flawless order. Something twisted inside him. His stomach churned.
"That…" Hope said."That's a structural violation. That's… disrespect. That's unacceptable."
"That's rape, Hope," Bianca said, spitting the word with disgust."That man didn't just stop her heart. He took her self. Her right to say no. Her privacy. If you kill someone, their body dies. But if you do this… what's left behind is just an empty, tainted shell. Those walls can never be rebuilt. The mortar won't hold."
Hope looked at Mina's body again.
He no longer saw a "broken building" or a "missed opportunity."
He saw a temple that had been invaded, looted, and desecrated.
The flirty hero fantasy burned away. The sting of Lypin's slap faded, but a new, heavier weight settled in his chest.
"The door," Hope said suddenly. His voice had changed. It was cold, but no longer mechanical. This was a sharp, focused cold.
He turned to Inspector Conan."The door wasn't forced."
Conan had watched the entire scene silently from the corner. He stubbed out his cigarette."Finally looking in the right place, Architect," he said.
The inspector knelt beside the body. With a gloved hand, he opened Mina's stiffened palm. Inside lay a brass key."This key," Conan said, "doesn't belong to Mina. It's a spare key used by the servants. And it came out of the killer's pocket."
Deniz's face twisted."So… someone gave him the key? Her boss? He sold his own employee… to a freak like that?" He clutched his stomach. "That's disgusting. I'm going to throw up."
Conan looked at him. His face held no emotion. No anger. No sorrow. Just endless exhaustion."Yes," Conan said. "It's disgusting."
He stepped into the center of the room."But you know what the really disgusting part is, big guy?"
Conan removed his gloves and slipped them into his pocket."The really disgusting part… is that my stomach doesn't turn anymore."
Everyone stared at him.
"I've seen this so many times," Conan said, lighting another cigarette."It doesn't feel like a tragedy anymore. Just 'Case File No. 402.' We've lost our humanity. We've lost our sense of revulsion. When a monster eats someone in the forest, we're afraid. We call it a monster. But when a human does this to another human… we just call it 'normal.' We get used to it."
He exhaled smoke."My stomach doesn't turn anymore. And that's what truly terrifies me."
Conan turned to Hope, narrowing his eyes."Your eyes look different, kid. You were emotionless earlier, yes. But now… now you're analyzing. Emotional blindness can sometimes make the evidence clearer. Anger clouds judgment."
Hope touched the spot on his cheek where Lypin had struck him. Then, gently, he pulled a blanket over Mina's body. It wasn't a grand heroic gesture. It was a simple act of respect from one human to another.
"Let's go," Hope said. He looked at Lypin."You were right. I'm sorry."
Then he turned to Conan."I'll find who gave him that key. And I won't just tear down their 'house.' I'll rip out every stone in its foundation."
Conan walked toward the door."If you want to do that, don't rush, Architect," he said, gesturing toward the rainy night outside."Because this isn't just about Mina. This entire town is part of the same machine. Those bright lights you see… they're only there to illuminate gravestones."
The inspector stepped outside.
"Welcome," his voice echoed down the corridor,"to Greenhollow… the graveyard of the living."