He is a legendary prison guard

Episode 7: 
Cannot Delay

“Did you hear? I worked overtime on the 5th floor, Room 2, yesterday, and it was completely quiet in the hall. Am I lucky or what?”

“You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

“Manager Lee Shi-hyun caught Man-deok like a rat.”

“What? Man-deok caught that idiot?”

“Yeah, Man-deok was scared and was groveling.”

“No way, that must be a rumor.”

“No, Manager Park Young-hwan saw it himself and spread the word.”

“Wow, how could he catch someone who can’t even catch CRPT? I can’t believe it. Did he hit him?”

“Hey, in this day and age, how can you hit a detainee? That would be a big deal. Manager Young-hwan was outside, so he didn’t hear it all, but apparently, he got verbally schooled.”

“How can you verbally school that guy? I didn’t think Manager Lee Shi-hyun had that kind of personality.”

Rumors spread quickly in the prison.

At first, everyone reacted in disbelief.

But seeing how quiet Man-deok had become, they couldn’t help but believe it.

The chief of the correctional facility was worried he might file a complaint for abuse, but after seeing Man-deok leaning against the solitary confinement wall with a pale face, staring blankly at the ceiling, he clicked his tongue and left.

It was a complete transformation of Shi-hyun’s image.

<0x18> <0xCD> ◈

The Korean Correctional Facility conducted outdoor exercise sessions for detainees once a week, rotating three blocks by day.

The method was simple.

The first, second, and third duty guards gathered and led the detainees in order.

The first guard led the detainees from the front, the second was in the middle, and the third was at the back, guiding them down the stairs.

After checking the numbers in the large exercise yard, they would conduct the exercise.

Today was the turn of Room 2 on the 5th floor, which Si-hyun was in charge of. It was the first session.

As usual, Shi-Hyun stood at the front, leading the detainees down the stairs.

However, there was something different.

It was so unnatural that it sent chills down his spine.

It was the detainees.

“….”

The third guard, Choi Sang-sik, who was leading from the back, looked completely shocked, as if he had seen a ghost.

The detainees were walking down the stairs on the right side.

And they were doing it perfectly.

Is this even possible?

What kind of model citizens are they?

Normally, they would be loud and chaotic, chatting as they descended the stairs.

But now, it was as if they had glue on their mouths; they were silent.

It was so quiet it felt eerie.

Even a study room before an exam wouldn’t be this quiet.

“Wow….”

When they reached the large exercise yard, it was even more astonishing.

Normally, they would have to shout for everyone to line up, but now they were perfectly lined up in eight rows without a word.

Not a single mouth opened.

Even the strictest military wouldn’t achieve this level of discipline.

“What’s going on? Is this a military base? Are we in the army?”

Choi Sang-sik, unable to comprehend the situation, muttered in a daze.

Though he was still a rookie, he had been working in the prison for a year, and he had never seen such a scene.

He couldn’t even imagine it.

“Alright, let’s check the numbers. Sit down by number.”

As Shi-hyun said this, the detainees shouted out the numbers and sat down. If you closed your eyes and listened, you would think they were disciplined soldiers.

“One!”

“Two!”

“Three!”

“Ten!”

Shi-hyun confirmed the numbers and contacted Chief Park Young-hwan in the block via TRS.

“We have a total of 80 detainees for outdoor exercise in Room 2 on the 5th floor. We will start the exercise now.”

Beep.

He blew the whistle as per the protocol.

Normally, he wouldn’t bother using it, but this month, the security director had issued a directive to use the whistle during outdoor exercises.

“Okay, let’s start exercising. Until 10:10. No loud noises, no kicking the shuttlecock, and don’t go near the door. Let’s begin.”

As Shi-hyun finished speaking, the detainees started their exercise.

Walking, running.

What was unusual was that not a single detainee removed their uniform. Usually, it was common to see detainees taking off their uniforms during outdoor exercise, and the guards wouldn’t interfere.

But in this block, not a single detainee removed their uniform.

Choi Sang-sik could only show a look of disbelief.

“Senior, what the heck is going on? How did you establish this order among the detainees?”

“I just thought we had been too lenient, so I tightened things up a bit.”

“Wow… It’s not just about tightening things up to establish order among the detainees. I can only say it’s impressive.”

“Haha, it’s nothing. By the way, you should be on alert today. The security director is visiting during exercise time.”

“Whoa? I almost didn’t know! I’ll head over there, senior.”

Choi Sang-sik looked surprised and headed toward the entrance. Another guard was already standing at the opposite door, seemingly aware of the security director’s visit.

Shi-hyun stood in the center of the large exercise yard.

The detainees’ behavior was perfect, and there was no chance of being reprimanded.

‘By the way.’

Something was weighing on his mind.

It wasn’t about work.

Work was going smoothly, and he couldn’t ask for more.

What was bothering him was related to his awakening.

Shi-hyun opened his stat window.

Strength 101 (D)
Agility 101 (D)
Wisdom 110 (D)
Stamina 101 (D)
Mental Strength 210 (D)
Magic 99 (E)

He had diligently completed quests whenever they appeared, so his stats had recovered quite a bit. Now there were more D’s than E’s.

But there were two problems.

The first problem was that no matter how many quests he completed, his magic stat wouldn’t increase anymore.

At first, he didn’t think much of it.

But as time passed, while wisdom and mental strength increased, magic remained stagnant.

It was supposed to move together with the other two stats, yet it hadn’t increased at all. He even began to wonder if this was a limit.

The problem was that if this continued, his stat window would inevitably show an E rating.

And Shi-Hyun had no intention of revealing his stat window to the Hunter Association.

He had a feeling that he was quite a unique awakened individual. That was like a hidden weapon for him. Revealing such information would be ridiculous.

It was a dilemma.

The second problem was related to strength, agility, and stamina.

Until now, he had been able to increase his abilities just by eating well without doing much.

But the moment he surpassed 100 and reached D rank, the quests changed completely.

And in a ridiculous way.

As his health improved, Poahim felt the blood of the executioner boiling again. To calm his boiling blood, he must act.

[Quest: Kill humans or humanoid monsters. 0/10]

Damn.

This guy seems to be unaware that this is essentially a death penalty-free country. But then again, isn’t it more unusual if he knows?

Fortunately, the target wasn’t death row inmates but humans or humanoid monsters.

He thought that the system had adjusted to fit the environment here.

Anyway, killing humans was out of the question, and it seemed the only option left was to enter a gate.

He could not delay.

To do that, he needed to obtain a license, and that would mean being E rank.

‘…Well, it can’t be helped.’

Shi-Hyun scratched his cheek.

With these abilities, soloing was impossible.

If he wanted to join a party for hunting, he would need to join a guild.

He didn’t particularly care which guild it was, but he wanted to avoid the one where his ex-girlfriend Su-jin was.

Creak.

The sound of the entrance door opening broke Shi-hyun’s thoughts.

The entrance door to the large exercise yard was old, making a metallic sound every time it opened.

The security director was coming this way with the correctional officer and the deputy chief.

Security Director Kim Sang-han.

To put it nicely, he was strict about rules; to put it badly, he was overly meticulous about small things, making him unpopular with the staff.

A glance showed that the security director seemed to be in a good mood.

Given his personality, he would likely feel pleased seeing the orderly state of the large exercise yard.

“During duty, continue working!”

As the security director approached, Shi-hyun saluted.

“Thanks for your hard work.”

He smiled and patted Shi-hyun on the shoulder.

“Your name is Lee Shi-hyun, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“I’ve heard rumors that this correctional officer has been doing a great job lately.”

“Oh? I wasn’t aware.”

“Haha, it’s normal to find out about your rumors late. Keep up the good work.”

“Thank you. I will continue to work hard.”

“Alright, then take care.”

The security director and his party disappeared through the opposite door.

From the expression on the security director’s face, Shi-hyun felt certain that his performance review would be excellent this time.

‘At this rate, I might get an S for my performance bonus!’

An S grade is 172.5% of the base salary, over 3.5 million won. For Shi-Hyun, who had always received C and B grades, it was something he had only envied.

If he got an S, he thought he would treat himself to a feast of beef after a long time.

‘Oh, by the way, I need to take annual leave next Monday.’

Shi-hyun decided to visit the Hunter Association on a less crowded weekday rather than a busy weekend.