Unknown subterranean location.

A steel-reinforced zone, dark and cold, like a bunker tunnel.

“……”

“This way, Agent-nim.”

The agent from Hyunmu Team 1 followed the escort.

The glass prison of the Paranormal Disaster Response Agency had no human guards.

An unseen, soundless, shapeless supernatural force served as its warden. And to monitor that “warden,” a designated staffer was rotated on a strict schedule.

That staffer now asked, cautiously:

“…Are you here for the interrogation of Agent Podo—no, 37-999?”

“……”

“I see. Right this way.”

The agent passed through a thick metal door, moving carefully to avoid disturbing the ‘warden.’ On the other side was—

A crystal cave.

“…!”

Quartz clusters refracted light across the cavern, casting countless shadows and figures that flickered and morphed on every surface.

And yet, no source of that light could be seen.

A cascade of illumination and distortion with no origin.

Click.

“This is the holding cell.”

The staffer opened a rusted door near the far wall.

But there was no figure inside.

Instead…

The walls were filled with orbs.

Glass spheres, stacked in a tapering spiral, reflected the shimmering light.

To an uninformed eye, it may have looked ornamental.

But inside each orb—movement.

“Aaaah…”
“Let me out let me out let me out please—”
“You betrayed me.”
“Is this where I die?”

Isolated detainees.

Standing before them, one felt like a giant, able to observe each orb and its captive up close.

A twisted panopticon—and the true nature of the glass prison.

Each orb, a solitary confinement cell.

No known map led to this crystalline maze. Without the escort of the gatekeeper, no detainee could be moved.

Even if a prisoner managed to shatter their own orb and escape—they would only find themselves inside another.

A closed loop. An endless sequence of rooms made of glass.

“This is the topmost cell. I was told it was a special request. Something about hoping it’d be a little more comfortable… Since they were an agent, once.”

The agent’s eyes stopped.

Exactly 37 levels up.

At the very summit, there was only one orb.

Its designation:

37-999

“……”

A dark silhouette could be seen inside, lying still on the floor.

Not moving.

“I’ve gone on too long. Apologies. Here’s the last interrogation report for 37-999.”

The agent took the file with a stiff hand and began reading.

Inmate Number: 37-999
Detainee: Kim ■■ (Agent Codename: Podo)
Affiliation: Emergency Rescue Squad, Hyunmu Team 1 (Suspended)

Initially transferred for a 24-hour routine psychological evaluation. However, due to abnormal developments during the first interview, their release has been delayed.

Formal detainment under discussion.

The agent’s grip tightened slightly on that last line, but then they turned the page.

Day 1.

Transferred to the glass prison for post-curse evaluation. The prior curse—confirmed to have been dispelled (origin: Daechongbong Tiger-General).

Basic interview and physical check proceeded.

※ During interview, anomaly discovered.

Subject refused to answer any questions regarding the identity, time, or nature of the supernatural entity that had cursed them.

Evaluation halted. Interrogation initiated.

At first, the questioning had been gentle.

Why the refusal to answer? Any injury? Any guesses on when the curse was laid? What kind of curse it might have been?

Assuming trauma from the incident, the staff tried a slow, empathetic approach.

But to every question, the response was the same:

Detainee refused to answer any and all questions.

That’s when the staff began to suspect the worst.

Behavior interpreted as an attempt to deliberately avoid the glass prison’s interrogation effects.

And so, from the evening of Day 2, the true interrogation began.

Interrogation Intensity: 3.
Professional interrogator assigned.

Persistent, layered questioning. Trick questions. Subtle cues hidden in casual conversation. Even silence was treated as an answer.

As the days went by, the intensity rose.

By the end of Day 3, even a detainee skilled at resisting every probe was beginning to show signs of fracture.

Interrogation Intensity: 7.

Subject’s body restrained. Head and eyes fixed in place to prevent averted gaze.

Silence treated as affirmation.

To stop attempts at avoidance through meaningless vocalizations, subject was gagged during questioning.

Eventually, interrogators could discern basic yes/no answers.

Thankfully, the prison had not yet used environmental pressure—such as altering light, temperature, or comfort—to escalate the interrogation.

This was a compassionate call, considering the detainee’s health.

But also, ineffective.

Day 5.
Subject Condition: Poor.

Refused all sleep and meals.

The goblin fire assigned to the subject requested release on the detainee’s behalf, saying they were “pitiful.”

Denied—out of concern for escape or incident.

Instead, to preserve emotional stability, a few items favored by the goblin were permitted into the cell.

Subject expressed thanks.

Special Note – Interrogator’s Personal Opinion:

At this point, I believe they may be under a second curse.
I recommend immediate transfer to a specialized facility for full ritual exorcism.

But when directly asked, the subject responded clearly: “No.”

The prison’s mechanisms confirmed this as truth.

“Could be they’ve been suggested to believe they’re not cursed.”

Despite that theory, the transfer was put on hold.

The agent turned the page.

More dates. More declines in condition.

Day 6.
Subject Condition: Poor.

Provided with comfort meal (mung bean ginseng chicken soup). Left untouched overnight.

No answers in interview.

A proposal was made to transfer subject to the Nightmare Labyrinth for deeper interrogation.

Strongly opposed by field agents. Rejected.

 

“……”

“That’s the record up to yesterday.”

And from the next page on, the content shifted from documentation to inference.

Speculations about the detainee’s true identity.

Stamped with “For Authorized Personnel Only – Strictly Prohibited from External Reproduction.”
Accessible only by the current case officer and the interrogator.

Signs indicating possible spy activity confirmed.

The agent clenched his fist tightly.

Though the subject has maintained silence throughout all questioning, based on the truths extracted in extreme conditions, we are able to deduce several “questions the subject is most desperate to avoid.”

As follows:

And thus, a conclusion was drawn.

But the file didn’t end there.

However, given that the subject shows no known moral deficiencies, has performed all assigned paranormal disaster response duties with integrity, and displays verified ethical behavior, we believe this may be a case of coercion or supernatural manipulation.

Due to the limitations of yes/no-style interrogation, a new approach will be introduced to elicit more cooperative behavior.

The agent flipped the page.

It was the final one.

A temporary appendix document—the very reason he was here now.

Special Note:
An agent from Hyunmu Team 1 who transported the subject initially volunteered to act as interrogator over the past few days.
Request denied due to violation of protocol.

However, a different Hyunmu Team 1 agent who was also on-site during the incident has now volunteered.

Approval: Pending.

“……”

“Preparations are complete, Agent-nim.”

Ryu Jaegwan let the file drop from his hand.

And stepped toward the front of the glass orb—

To begin the interrogation.

***

I blinked.

A transparent ceiling came into view.

Surrounding me in this tight, hemispherical cell were a bed, desk, chair, a few books, and a set of meals placed with mechanical precision.

Beyond that, the air was fogged like a dream, but I could tell—this cell’s walls were clear.

“…So this is it.”

The Glass Prison.

Long ago, a goblin beat a man named Mr. Kim in a game of yut, winning a grand tiled mansion.

But unwilling to give up his home, Mr. Kim accused the goblin of cheating with trickery, slandering him and throwing him out.

Enraged, the goblin created a place where trickery was impossible—a space the size of a fingernail, # Nоvеlight # inside a single glass bead.

He invited Mr. Kim back for a rematch.

And this time, the goblin won again.

Again and again, until he took everything.

House, wealth, family, appearance, name—even his lifespan.

And when the goblin, now having become “Mr. Kim,” stood triumphant in his mansion, he tossed his old cave and the glass bead behind as a gift.

Mr. Kim—no, the one who was now nothing—remained in that cave.

And even now, it is said that the “nothing” guards the Crystal Cave, making sure that no one cheats again.

The Paranormal Disaster Response Agency had weaponized that story—
Constructing the Glass Prison.

Where supernatural tricks don’t work.
Where illusions, deceit, or anomalous power all become inert.
A place patrolled by the mysterious gatekeeper.

“They even mixed in some other death-related anomaly, didn’t they…”

Whatever. It didn’t matter.

The point was:

In here, only what is clean and true remains.

Within this space, supernatural entities can exist,
but they cannot act.

No impossible feats. No miracles.

Like reality outside the Wiki.

Items were useless. Tattoos just ink.

They even confiscated my glass hand cannon during the search—
Not that it mattered. My inventory tattoos didn’t activate here anyway.

It meant, in a way… this was the safest place to be.

“At least I won’t suddenly fall into a ghost story here.”

Physically, as Choi Agent had said, this place was secure.

Some even volunteered to be locked up here to escape curses or misfortune.

But—

“……”

I couldn’t sleep.

My whole body pulsed with tension and surrender, in equal parts.

Just like the past few days.

The Glass Prison’s interrogation never stops.

Even as I clung to silence, more and more had already been extracted.

“They’ve probably figured it out by now.”

That I’m suspicious. Maybe even a spy.

And if so…

They might soon resort to even harsher methods.

The Disaster Response Agency—
was nothing if not ruthless toward confirmed threats.

I remembered the interrogation techniques I’d read about.

Cold sweat beaded at my temples.

“Damn it.”

Maybe Agent Choi had hoped I’d confess everything once the curse was lifted.

Maybe he expected me to give up—knowing I couldn’t return to Director Ho.

But… my secrets don’t end there.

There are things I know that can’t be explained away as simple espionage.

Secrets like:

“If I were going to talk, I should’ve done it at the start—kept it limited to the spy angle.”

But if I had…

What about Yeong-eun or Heo-un?

What about my wish ticket?

“Back then… it was the right choice.”

…Still.

Even I knew I wouldn’t last much longer.

“……”

I sank into exhaustion but forced myself to stay alert.

Soon, the next interrogation session would begin.

The questions. The traps. The bait.

I forced my nerves to settle.
Went over the list in my mind of things I must never reveal.

And then—

Crrrrrkkkkk.

The sound of glass shifting.

Someone was approaching from beyond the transparent wall.

The interrogator.

But it wasn’t the same handler from yesterday.

“…Detainee 37-999.”

“…!!”

Agent Ryu Jaegwan.

Cheongdong Agent.

Stood beyond the glass, his expression unreadable.

“Wait.”

Cheongdong is today’s interrogator?

The method had changed.

I tensed, trying to recalibrate my expectations.

Cheongdong Agent didn’t look away.

Slowly, deliberately, he spoke:

“…Before we begin, you are hereby informed: You may lie—but all falsehoods will be revealed.”

I knew that.

In the Glass Prison, all lies are reflected as their opposite truths.

Only silence can protect you.

— Excerpt from a detainee from Baekilmong.

That was why I hadn’t spoken.

Lying here was the same as confessing.

But… my refusal to speak was suspicious too.

They’d likely already guessed I knew how the prison works.

And they’d be right.

Even I would’ve suspected me by now.

I looked at Cheongdong Agent and clenched my jaw.

“They’re using someone I know. A familiar face, to get a reaction.”

A more humane method, sure—but…

Also effective.

“I will now begin the interrogation.”

I swallowed hard.

And then—

He asked a question I had never expected.

“Where is your home?”

“…!”