diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 5ecce60..1c93e53 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -65,7 +65,9 @@ jobs:
               'arc_close','build_handoff','ralph_gate_check','arc_prereg','verify_gate',
               'status','arc_list')]
           assert len(tools) == 12, tools
-          print("yeoul-mcp OK — 12 tools")
+          # ASCII only: the em-dash renders as "?" on the Windows console, which reads like
+          # a mojibake defect in the log when nothing is actually wrong.
+          print("yeoul-mcp OK - 12 tools")
           PY
       - name: _run subprocess contract (stdin never inherited, UTF-8 pinned)
         run: python mcp/tests/test_run_contract.py
diff --git a/mcp/tests/test_run_contract.py b/mcp/tests/test_run_contract.py
index 6ab56cf..bca76b2 100644
--- a/mcp/tests/test_run_contract.py
+++ b/mcp/tests/test_run_contract.py
@@ -29,9 +29,11 @@
 from yeoul_mcp import server  # noqa: E402
 
 FAIL = []
+RAN = []
 
 
 def check(desc, cond, detail=""):
+    RAN.append(desc)
     print(("  ok   " if cond else "  FAIL ") + desc + (("  -- " + detail) if detail and not cond else ""))
     if not cond:
         FAIL.append(desc)
@@ -122,7 +124,18 @@ def main():
         test_stdin_not_inherited(tmp)
         test_utf8_pinned_under_hostile_locale(tmp)
         test_missing_script_is_not_a_pass(tmp)
-    print("\n%s (%d failed)" % ("all _run contract tests passed" if not FAIL else "CONTRACT TESTS FAILED", len(FAIL)))
+    # 🔴 Print WHAT WAS COUNTED, not just the failure count. A run that collected zero checks
+    #    prints "0 failed" too, so that summary cannot tell "everything passed" apart from
+    #    "nothing ran" — and the summary line is what a human quotes later, not the ok lines.
+    #    (substance_check.py already reports `n/n (...)`; these two summaries now match.)
+    if not RAN:
+        # Decide BEFORE printing: a summary that says "passed" above a failure line is the
+        # same trap one line lower down.
+        print("\nCONTRACT TESTS FAILED: no checks ran at all — an empty run is not a pass")
+        return 1
+    print("\n%s: %d/%d checks passed"
+          % ("all _run contract tests passed" if not FAIL else "CONTRACT TESTS FAILED",
+             len(RAN) - len(FAIL), len(RAN)))
     return 1 if FAIL else 0