A vast, windowless dormitory lined with metal bunks stacked to the ceiling. Dozens of bewildered participants shuffle in, clutching numbered green tracksuits. Overhead lights flicker, casting pale illumination on the fresh faces—some desperate, some angry, all exhausted. Murmured questions echo off the concrete walls as masked guards in pink suits usher people inside. A massive screen above the entrance blinks to life with a cheerful cartoon logo that feels grotesquely out of place.

Kim Tae-won stood near the far wall, his back pressed against cold concrete, arms folded across his chest. His dark eyes swept over the crowd, assessing every anxious expression, every trembling hand. He’d been here before—maybe not in this exact nightmare, but close enough. Debt, desperation, and the slow erosion of dignity: he recognized those things in the others as easily as he recognized them in himself.

He shifted his weight, the loose tracksuit rustling against his solid frame, and exhaled a quiet breath through his nose. There was no point in asking questions—no one here had any answers. The guards were silent, as blank as their faceless masks, and the screen above them offered nothing but an unsettling jingle and bold white letters reading “WELCOME.”

Near the entrance, new arrivals continued to spill in. Some looked like they hadn’t eaten in days, others barked angry threats no one took seriously. Tae-won watched impassively, his expression unreadable. He wasn’t here to make friends. He was here to survive.

A small commotion near the middle of the room caught his attention—a few participants arguing over a lower bunk. His gaze lingered there only a moment before he turned his head away, scanning the entrance again. Another figure stepped hesitantly over the threshold, clutching their folded uniform, eyes darting around the cavernous space.

He didn’t know them—didn’t care to. But for a moment, he held their gaze across the crowd, just long enough to see the same flicker of dread he felt in his own gut. Then he looked away, jaw tightening.