NOVEL NEXT chapter 03
Chapter 3
Recovery?
Food?
Pausing suddenly at the message that popped into my mind, I began to think, and this time, a figure appeared before my eyes like a mirage.
It was the shape of a man.
Or could I even call it a man?
The extremely emaciated appearance reminded me of a skeleton.
Both arms and legs were worn, and the ribs were starkly visible.
‘Could it be?’
The original owner of this power?
As I speculated, an intense thirst suddenly surged over me.
It felt like running a marathon without drinking a sip of water.
I dashed to the refrigerator, flung the door open, and grabbed a bottle of water, gulping it down.
“Haah… Haah….”
Only after emptying one bottle of water did I feel a bit of relief from my thirst.
Then, a terrible hunger hit me.
I scooped a large bowl of rice from the rice cooker, packed it tightly, and mixed it with some gochujang and side dishes, hastily starting to eat.
After emptying the bowl without leaving a single grain of rice, my hunger subsided a little. Normally, I would feel stuffed after that amount, but I felt no sense of fullness at all.
“What is this? This must be some kind of mutual influence, right?”
I couldn’t think of anything else.
As the man over there was starving, I was suffering from hunger.
And the sudden message to eat food.
That must mean that if I eat, it will affect him too.
To prove that thought, a new notification popped up.
You have slightly ignited the weak flame of Poahim’s life. However, consistent meals will still be necessary.
[Strength +1, stamina +1 recovered]
‘Recovery?’
I quickly checked my stats to see if there had been any changes.
‘It went up.’
Both strength and stamina had indeed increased.
Of course, it was still a very minimal increase.
But.
‘The fact that it’s going up is important.’
In the despairing display of statistics, there was no hope at all.
But now there was hope.
I could reasonably speculate that those stats stemmed from the original owner of the power being in such a sickly state.
If only his body could recover properly.
Surely, they wouldn’t give me a quest like this if I could recover my abilities and still be E-rank.
Then D? No, C?
If I could just reach B, that would be great.
Then what would the salary even be? Ugh…
Though I felt a twinge of greed, I allowed myself to indulge in such pleasant fantasies. For the first time, I felt like I was becoming awake.
Lost in thought for a while, I suddenly had an idea and turned on my computer, logging into the community Empark’s “Burning Board.”
My fingers flew over the keyboard.
**Title:** I think I’ve awakened.
– **Content:** I drank three bottles of soju last night and just woke up, and suddenly I felt it. A huge feeling. If I can turn my life around and escape being a dirt spoon, I’ll treat ten people from the line to chicken.
I wanted to try something like this.
Bragging.
Bragging about girls, education, jobs, and all the disgusting ways I had been hurt by such boasting.
As expected from a large community site, comments began to flood in at a rapid pace.
I’ll line up first.
Yes, next is a middle school syndrome.
Yes, next is a fantasy writer.
I’ll line up.
Line up.
Grumble grumble.
Next, please come out with the aggro.
View past posts.
– Huh? Isn’t this person not an aggro user? Don’t they sometimes post “Today’s Drinking Snack”?
Are you awakened?
Seeing the comments on my post made me chuckle.
From the typical aggro accusations to comments lining up, it was all quite amusing.
Normally, I might have been upset by the aggro accusations, but to me, in my current state, they felt cute.
My hands quickly began typing the next post.
– **Title:** Whoa… I can see the status window.
– **Content:** I haven’t checked the details yet, but I’m shaking. I don’t even hope for a huge success; I’d be happy with just a moderate one.
Comments came in even faster than before.
– Wow!
Seriously awakened? Amazing!
Damn, I’m so jealous. Is there no awakening in my life?
Sounds like a lie?
Beep, I’m a clumsy wizard.
A novice knight.
It’s aggro, I tell you.
I’m jealous, so let’s refrain from hate comments.
– Congratulations.
Isn’t there a chance for a sword master to emerge on our Burning Board? If a sword master appears, I’ll treat 1,000 pizzas.
First of all, congratulations on your awakening. I’m sure your days as an awakened one will be very happy. When we spoke with newly awakened ones at our 00 Bank, most of them were planning to create a minus account to gift their parents, prepare for overseas travel for themselves, or solve housing issues. Our 00 Bank Awakened Special Team’s contact number is 010-xxx.
The jealousy-laden comments I received on the board made me feel good.
“What? Clumsy wizard? Novice knight? They’re all wishing for E-rank.”
Indeed, the age-old truth is that when a cousin buys land, it makes you sick.
Laughing, I started typing the next post.
**Title:** I scratched it.
– **Content:** I’ve been assigned a gloomy guard. Honestly, I don’t know if it’s good or bad.
Sharp comments began to roll in quickly.
Ugh, I got hit with aggro first thing in the morning.
– Guard? Where’s the guard for awakened ones?
I’m the aggro.
Bugs are active early in the morning.
I reported it.
Needs treatment.
If you’re going to draw aggro, at least know what you’re talking about. What guard?
Yeah, I am a guard.
Sometimes, the truth feels more like a lie. So I wrote it as it was, and the reaction was as expected.
Shi-Hyun made a face as if to say, “Of course,” when suddenly his stomach growled.
How long had it been since I ate? Considering how much I had eaten earlier, I shouldn’t have been hungry. But then again, I hadn’t felt much of a fullness.
This made me think about the man over there and his eating habits.
While it might not be 100%, it seemed we were significantly influencing each other.
If it were 100%, I would already be in the emergency room, in intensive care.
As Shi-hyun was about to head back to the kitchen for more food, he suddenly felt a chill.
Just then, a new notification popped up as if waiting for the cold.
[Poahim’s body temperature has dropped too low.] Find a way to raise it.
[Emergency Quest: Raise his body temperature as quickly as possible.]
“Huh, a new quest.”
Now that I thought about it, I seemed to have seen snow falling heavily outside the window where Poahim was sitting earlier. And there was no firewood in the room.
In any case, it couldn’t be bad.
No, it was good.
The more quests that popped up, the faster I would recover my strength.
“By the way, it’s really cold.”
It felt like I had dropped right in the middle of winter.
Shi-hyun opened his closet and changed into a thick t-shirt and pants. Over that, he wore a sweater and winter jacket. Then he cranked up the electric heating pad.
He grabbed a thick blanket, placed it on the heating pad, and snuggled inside.
“Ahh… Now it’s a bit warm.”
As he warmed himself for a while, another notification appeared.
[Poahim feels a little warmth.]
[Agility +1, stamina +1 recovered]
Poahim’s body has regained some vitality, but his heart remains frozen. You must somehow warm his heart.
[Quest: Give him a little comfort with the familiar smell of the prison he has known all his life.]
<0x18> <0xCD> ◈
“Shi-hyun, is something wrong?”
The next day, before entering the dormitory, I was lost in thought in the break room when a tall man with glasses approached me. He was my colleague and five years older, Jung Jun-cheol.
“Oh, Jun-cheol? Is today the day shift for the third unit?”
The majority of correctional officers work in the security department, which operates on a four-shift system.
Day, night, off, rotation.
That is, day, night, off, and rest continuously.
In contrast, the shift I worked was a regular day shift like other civil servants, working only Monday through Friday during the day.
Of course, that was just on paper; the night shift didn’t get proper rest, and the day shift often had to work weekends.
This was all due to chronic manpower shortages.
“Yeah.”
“I see. Is everything okay? You look spaced out.”
“Really? My face is just like this, you know.”
“Is that so? Then it’s fine.”
Jun-cheol sat next to me.
He continued speaking.
“But have you heard? There was a commotion yesterday.”
“What kind of commotion?”
“That guy harmed himself last night. Man-deok.”
“Oh, that guy harmed himself again? What a troublesome person.”
Kim Man-deok.
A fraudster and habitual self-harmer, he was one of the people to watch out for.
Self-harm isn’t as serious as suicide, but it’s still a headache for correctional officers.
If not handled properly, it could lead to disciplinary action.
If he were to die, the family could even sue.
“So what happened?”
“He went straight to the emergency room. They said he would be hospitalized for about 2 to 3 weeks.”
“Oh dear, looks like weekend shifts are coming back quickly.”
Just because an inmate is hospitalized doesn’t mean the job is over. The officers have to take turns overseeing him. That means if someone leaves, someone else has to cover their weekend shift.
“That’s not all; it seems that Man-deok’s turn for the ‘bomb game’ is likely to be your dormitory. You’re on the 5th floor, 2nd unit, right?”
The correctional facility where Shi-hyun works houses over 1,200 convicted inmates and 800 awaiting trial, all in a building structure.
It’s a fifteen-story building with two units on each floor.
The place where Shi-hyun works as the day shift officer is the 5th floor, 2nd unit.
“…Huh? When did that happen?”
The “bomb game” refers to the practice of rotating problematic inmates among the officers. It’s an unavoidable situation. Only those who haven’t experienced the stress of working with problematic inmates can understand how stressful it is.
But they can’t just kick them out, so it’s a way to share the burden.
“I hope nothing happens while you’re on duty.”
<0x18> <0xCD> ◈
At the entrance of the dormitory, Shi-hyun paused for a moment.
[Quest: Give him a little comfort with the familiar smell of the prison he has known all his life.]
As expected, the quest notification still lingered.
Prison.
Even the word “guard” felt archaic.
Considering the swords and magic and the term “knight,” it could be inferred that this world lacked a concept of rehabilitation, making “guard” and “prison” more fitting terms.
Smirking, Shi-hyun used his card key to unlock the dormitory door.
The unique, unpleasant smell that only those who have entered the dormitory can feel greeted him warmly. No matter how dull one’s sense of smell is, they would recognize this scent.
[Poahim smells the prison and feels a little better.]
“Oh!”
As soon as he opened the dormitory door, a notification popped up saying the quest was completed.
The alert about his stats recovery followed.
Moreover, a new notification appeared.
Feeling a little better, Poahim wants to see his passionate junior working hard. Show him your passionate work ethic.
[Quest: Give proper instructions to ten inmates who have committed rule violations. 0/10]
A new quest!
Just as one was completed, the next quest appeared immediately.
Getting stronger while working? Could it be any better than this?
Shi-hyun’s expression brightened.