PMEVBO 60

Clack, clack—

The only sound echoing through the vast space was the heavy, measured clatter of the training instructor’s boots. The shoulders of the new guards were all stiff as boards.

Palet, now 25, had applied for the notoriously demanding prison guard position with the single-minded goal of securing stable retirement funds. Yet, the moment the instructor stopped in front of him, he wanted to give up everything and go home.

“Palet.”

“Yes, yes, sir…!”

The instructor fired off a few simple questions at Palet, who was frozen like stone. He already knew it was all just a formal check to verify personal details. But facing his grim face, he felt like his heart would explode.

‘Please spare me…’

When that seemingly endless questioning finally ended, Palet was overcome with self-loathing. He couldn’t remember a single thing the other person had asked, nor could he recall a single word he’d uttered himself.

‘I hope I didn’t get flagged for spouting nonsense…?’

Meanwhile, the instructor had already moved on to the next person.

“Eve.”

“Yes.”

Eve was a name usually given to girls. Yet the voice that answered the instructor’s call was so deep it was hard to believe it belonged to a woman.

‘Oh, what a beautiful voice.’

Palet glanced sideways absentmindedly and nearly fell over in shock. The man possessed a radiant beauty incongruous with the underground dungeon known as ‘Hell’. An irreverent thought sneaked into his mind: even the famously beautiful Lady Hayut probably wasn’t this stunning.

The instructor’s thick eyebrows twitched as he scanned the documents, deepening the furrow between his brows.

“This is a first. The paperwork lists you as female… but you certainly don’t look like one.”

The instructor’s gaze, scanning him up and down, was obvious. Even Palet, observing the situation out of the corner of his eye, felt a wave of discomfort and grimaced. Yet Eve, the subject himself, showed no particular reaction. The instructor asked coldly.

“Did you take the exam through a proxy?”

At that moment, Palet found himself swallowing dryly. Simultaneously, a collective gasp of breath could be heard around them.

And rightly so, taking an exam by proxy was a crime. If one was unlucky enough to have their actions reported to the Pope, they could end up imprisoned.

‘Instead of becoming a guard, you could become a prisoner, rotting away in prison for life…’

Even Palet’s heart, not belonging to the accused, pounded with terror. Yet, once again, the accused himself remained unperturbed. Eve answered in a calm tone.

“No, I did take the exam.”

The instructor scrutinized Eve’s face for a moment, then resumed the interrogation.

“So you’re a woman?”

“No, I’m a man.”

“Then why are you recorded as female?”

“Well… Perhaps there was some kind of mistake?”

The instructor frowned and tapped the documents with his finger.

“But your physical exam records are also strange. Height 160cm, weight 44kg. What do you have to say about that?”

It was definitely odd. Eve, standing beside Palet in perfect posture, looked easily over 180cm tall at a glance. The 44kg weight was also nonsensical. While he seemed generally slim, his bone weight alone would easily exceed 44kg.

“Um, actually, I recently hit a growth spurt and grew a bit.”

“Growth spurt? But you’re… 25 years old?”

The instructor, having checked the age recorded on the documents, looked at Eve with a flustered expression. Equally baffled was Palet, who had been listening nearby.

‘Not fifteen, but twenty-five… what kind of recent growth spurt is that…?’

Despite the many eyes expecting an answer, Eve gave none. He simply smiled once.

Only then did Palet realize how insincere Eve’s expressions had been toward the instructor all this time. His face was so unrealistically beautiful that a lack of expression went unnoticed. But when sincerity finally appeared on that face, Palet’s mind went blank.

The frozen instructor nodded and spoke.

“…Well, men do take longer to mature. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

…Palet had no idea what the instructor was congratulating him on or what Eve was thanking him for.

After the personal details were verified, the new guards orientation officially began.

“The underground dungeob ‘Hell’ consists of nine floors, from B1 to B9. Furthermore, prisoners with more severe crimes are incarcerated on the lower floors.”

The instructor slowly walked among the newcomers, explaining the structure of each floor and the characteristics of the prisoners held there. By the end of the explanation, he reached the very back row where Palet stood.

“…Finally, the lowest level, the ninth basement floor. The ninth floor primarily houses prisoners who were formerly clergy. Currently, only one prisoner is incarcerated there: Prisoner Number 1004.”

The instructor, passing in front of Palet, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“Eve.”

“Yes.”

Despite the abrupt call, Eve didn’t bat an eye.

“Do you know the crime of prisoner number 1004?”

“I don’t know.”

Eve answered without hesitation.

‘……He doesn’t know?’

The Hayut Massacre that occurred six years ago. Surely everyone knows the main perpetrator of that horrific event was a clergyman…? It was also the only known crime involving clergy in recent years.

Palet glanced around. As expected, everyone else looked flustered. Yet Eve, who alone answered that he didn’t know about an event everyone else knew, didn’t look embarrassed or ashamed. Perhaps impressed by his overly confident demeanor, the instructor chuckled and continued his explanation.

“Prisoner Number 1004… That bastard is the mastermind behind the infamous Hayut Massacre. Despite his status as a priest, he’s incarcerated on the ninth floor for the crime of slaughtering countless lives.”

So Prisoner Number 1004 really was the mastermind behind the Hayut Massacre.

Prisoner Number 1004 must undoubtedly be a horrific monster approaching three meters tall. Only something that size could tear so many people to death. It’s truly terrifying.

Then, a thunderclap of a voice rang out.

“Two of the new recruits will be assigned to the ninth basement level effective today.”

……Huh?

‘What the hell?! Why the hell…?!’

It seemed Palet wasn’t the only one shocked, as the room erupted in commotion. The instructor then clapped once with his thick hand, drawing the newcomers’ attention.

“Quiet! Don’t worry too much. That bastard is locked in his cell, trapped by restraints. He can’t do anything but wait for death.”

Honestly, it didn’t make him feel any better. Palet clasped his hands together, closed his eyes tightly, and prayed fervently to Debiamas.

‘Please, don’t let me be assigned to the 9th floor… please…’

When he finished praying and opened his eyes, the instructor had already moved toward the podium. Then, catching Eve’s gaze, Palet flinched in surprise. The look Eve gave the instructor was too cold.

Just as the instructor, now on the podium, was about to speak while scanning the new recruits, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door. Immediately, the rear door burst open and a guard rushed in.

“Instructor, it’s an emergency!”

“What is it?”

The Instructor’s face stiffened.

“Prisoner Number 1004 has escaped his cell without authorization! The guards assigned to the 9th floor are currently pursuing him!”

“……What? I’ll join the search immediately.”

The instructor descended from the podium and commanded the new recruits.

“All new recruits remain here on standby until the situation is resolved!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the instructor ran out the door with the junior guard. As the door closed, suppressed anxiety erupted like a pent-up explosion, and low sighs sounded from all around.

‘No, if things keep going like this, it won’t be 1004 waiting for death, it’ll be me…’

Terrified, his legs trembled and sweat drenched his soles. Palet struggled desperately not to collapse in a pathetic heap. In that moment, he couldn’t help but see it. …The expression on the person beside him.

‘…He’s smiling?’

Indeed, Eve was smiling. Smiling while a ruthless mass murderer was on the loose? He was clearly insane. Goosebumps erupted all over his body.

Just then, another colleague beside him spoke up.

“…What if that lunatic makes it up to our floor?”

“Exactly. It’s terrifying… “

”Guess I shouldn’t have volunteered for guard duty…”

…Exactly.

After the small talk ended, Palet turned his head back toward Eve.

But… there was no one there.

He looked around, but Eve was nowhere to be seen.