Chapter 5

Gimcheon Juvenile Prison (4)

In movies and dramas, there are plenty of scenes where people die inside prisons without anyone being the wiser. But real prisons were a little different. This was a place where privacy simply did not exist.

The sharp gazes of correctional officers watching from every direction, from the moment you opened your eyes until you closed them.

CCTV cameras rotating at regular intervals along every corridor, their red lights flashing.

And even the unpleasant sounds of breathing from nine inmates crammed into a tiny room measuring barely five pyeong.

In a place where other people's eyes seemed to cut into every inch of your body twenty-four hours a day, secretly disposing of someone seemed almost impossible.

“Hey, fuck. Move away from me unless you want to die.”

Like most correctional facilities in the Republic of Korea, Gimcheon Juvenile Prison was also filled far beyond capacity. Cell Number 7, originally designed for five inmates, currently housed nine. In the summer heat, the space was so cramped that even the slightest movement brought someone's skin into contact with another's.

In other words, it was an environment where carrying out something in secret was nearly impossible.

'But an opportunity will definitely come.'

Touching the collar of my blue prison uniform, I quietly stared at the ceiling.

I already knew that bastard hadn't abandoned his old habits even inside this prison.

He was picking out weaker inmates and forcing them to engage in sexual acts somewhere. And there was no way he could openly commit such filthy acts under the correctional officers' watchful eyes.

No matter how thorough the surveillance system or how strict the regulations, there would inevitably be gaps in any system of rules enforced by humans. The moment Bae Do-hyeon moved to satisfy his filthy desires and flaunt his dominance, the moment his demonic nature emerged, there would have to be an opening.

And that opportunity arrived much sooner than I had expected.

It was the afternoon maintenance period. The entire cellblock was in disarray as the inmates prepared to move en masse toward the exercise yard and auditorium. At some point, Bae Do-hyeon quietly approached me and casually draped his thick arm over my shoulder.

“Hey, Sniper. You're ready, right?”

“R-ready?”

“I warned you, didn't I? I said I'd make you kill yourself. What, did you forget because life was too comfortable?”

As I remained silent, pretending to be frightened, he pressed down hard on my shoulder and continued speaking.

“Hey, hey, don't get too scared, though. You know what they say. Even when the sky falls, there's always a way out. If you want to live, there's always a way.”

“Th-thank you!!”

“That's right. Good attitude. You should've acted like that from the start, you little shit. Then we wouldn't have needed to have such an unpleasant conversation. It's nothing complicated. Just do whatever your big brother tells you. Then your life will become just as comfortable as it is now. No, much more comfortable. You don't want to spend the rest of your time sleeping next to that shitty toilet, smelling everyone else's piss and shit, do you? Am I wrong?”

“······Yes, I understand.”

Did he think he had finally broken me?

A triumphant smile spread across his face.

“See? Aren't you adorable when you listen? When the maintenance period starts, just follow me quietly. If you do anything stupid, I don't need to explain what'll happen to you afterward, right?”

“Yes.”

Bae Do-hyeon patted my shoulder at my obedient response. And at that moment, the correctional officer's voice rang out from a speaker mounted on the cellblock wall, accompanied by a piercing burst of feedback.

—Crackle. Attention. We will now begin the cellblock's afternoon maintenance period and movement to the auditorium. All inmates must thoroughly organize their personal belongings and wait inside their cells. Talking or leaving formation during movement will result in immediate disciplinary action. Ensure your uniforms are properly worn. That is all.

—RUMBLE!! CLICK!!

With a heavy mechanical noise, the iron doors of dozens of cells, including Cell Number 7, opened simultaneously, and the juvenile offenders confined inside began pouring out.

The air quickly filled with the correctional officers' shouting and the footsteps of inmates. Near the back of the long line heading toward the auditorium, Bae Do-hyeon discreetly jabbed me in the side and gestured with his chin toward the tightly shut equipment storage room door behind the auditorium stage.

A creaking iron door.

The acrid smell of dust and the rotting stench of old, unused mattresses scattered about assaulted my nose.

—BANG!!

The iron door closed, and the two lackeys who had followed Bae Do-hyeon remained outside.

In other words, only Bae Do-hyeon and I were left inside the equipment storage room.

“Now then, I suppose we should first check just how well you can perform, right?”

The dark storage room.

Bae Do-hyeon grinned, baring his teeth.

He reached toward his waist and began undoing his belt buckle. The metallic clinking echoed grotesquely through the dust-covered storage room.

“It's not like your big brother is into that sort of thing. But what can I do? If I'm going to manage things, I've got no choice but to experience it firsthand. These are the hardships of being in charge, you know.”

Bae Do-hyeon reached his hand toward my chin.

—Tap.

“That's far enough.”

My hand seized Bae Do-hyeon's wrist.

Bae Do-hyeon stared at me as though he couldn't believe that prey he had already cornered would fight back at this moment.

“What the hell are you doing?”

He began exerting force with his wrist, looking utterly dumbfounded.

Of course, it didn't move.

I had already confirmed the power of Strength 50 in the courtroom. It was enough to remain completely unmoved even when two well-trained, muscular adult men strained with all their might. No matter how much muscle he'd built, there was nothing a mere delinquent could do against that kind of strength.

“You fucking bastard! Hey, aren't you going to let go?”

Eventually, his face flushed red, and he shouted at me.

Then he raised his other fist and swung it toward my face.

Of course, it was a futile attempt.

—CRUNCH!!!

“AAAGH!!!”

The moment I applied a little pressure with my grip, he screamed and dropped to his knees.

“You, Sniper, you fucking piece of shit. I'll kill you. I swear I'll fucking kill you. Crying and begging won't do you any good.”

“Do-hyeon. Do you still not understand the situation?”

“What? Do-hyeon? You bastard, you're really asking to di—AAAAH!!! AAAAAH!!!”

A place where only the two of us were present.

An opponent possessing overwhelming strength.

And yet Bae Do-hyeon showed no sign of backing down.

Just how stupid did someone have to be to act like this?

No, perhaps this wasn't a matter of intelligence but rather one of experience and conditioning. I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him straight into the air.

It was an utterly surreal sight: someone like me, standing 172 centimeters tall and weighing only 64 kilograms, lifting a hulking man who appeared to be at least 185 centimeters tall and 100 kilograms.

“Do-hyeon, have you ever actually killed someone? No, have you even watched someone die?”

“Wh-what the fuck are you talking about, you bastard?”

“You know, when someone dies, it happens in an instant. Someone who was laughing and talking just moments earlier suddenly goes limp. Even a villain who shamelessly begs for leniency collapses like a puppet with its strings cut. Do you think you'll be any different?”

At last, an emotion called 'fear' appeared on his face.

“Y-you bastard. You think you can kill someone in here and get away with it? If I die, do you think the correctional officers here will just leave you alone?! They'll check the CCTV immediately!! Huh?!”

Terrified, Bae Do-hyeon shouted desperately, his teeth chattering.

“That's the problem with bad guys. When they're committing crimes, they don't give a damn about the law. But the moment they're the ones in danger, they always come running to it for protection.”

I tightened my grip slightly on Bae Do-hyeon's collar.

“Ghh······ Fuck. Let's negotiate. Let's make a deal. I'm getting out soon. The cell boss. I'll give you my position as cell boss. I'll hand over everything I've built up in here. I promise.”

—CRUNCH.

“······Y-you won't gain anything from causing trouble either.”

I loosened my grip slightly.

Did he think his threat had worked?

A clearly recognizable glimmer of hope appeared on Bae Do-hyeon's face.

“Do-hyeon. I'll give you back the exact words you said to Eunji.”

“······What?”

“Too late.”

!?

I picked up an old nylon cord from the floor, the kind that looked as though it had been used to tie up boxes of supplies. Then I wrapped the cord around Bae Do-hyeon's neck. He tried to resist by flailing his arms, but his movements were utterly feeble after so much of his strength had already drained away.

“And don't get the wrong idea. Just as the Republic of Korea's judiciary showed no concern for the victims who suffered at your hands, it doesn't give a damn about bastards like you either. Whether you hang yourself here or bite off your tongue and die, to those people, it'll just mean another bothersome piece of paperwork. 'Juvenile offender guilty of heinous crimes takes his own life after succumbing to psychological distress.' Got it?”

Holding the cord wrapped around his neck upward, I stepped onto a sturdy box. Then, when I looped the cord over an iron pipe on the equipment storage room ceiling, his feet lifted slightly off the floor.

“Ghk, urgh······ Ghhk······!!”

Pitiful struggling.

Bae Do-hyeon's face began turning black as his eyes rolled back.

“You said it yourself, didn't you? When you want to kill someone, the best way is to make them commit suicide without getting your own hands dirty.”

Froth began spilling from the mouth of the struggling bastard.

“No right of prosecution. Yeah, just like you said, it's really the most cost-effective method.”

—Twitch.

Finally, all the strength left his body, and a foul stench assaulted my nose.

He was completely dead.

And at that moment, messages burst across my vision like an explosion.

[Judgment has been completed. Karma will now be calculated.]

[Weight of the sins punished (Murder, habitual extortion, and assault): +1,000 Karma]

[Resonance of Sin Bonus (x1.1) applied ➔ 1,100 Karma]

[Multiplier for Perfectly Returning an Evildoer's Own Evil Deeds Upon Them (x1.5) applied ➔ 1,650 Karma]

[Final Calculation: 1,650 Karma acquired]

[Current Status]

Strength: 50 (First Limit)

Durability: 6

Stamina: 4

Karma Held: 2,650

The first word that came to mind was 'Only?'

The evil deeds of a man who had tormented someone so terribly that she ultimately took her own life were worth just 1,000 Karma. In terms of stats, that amounted to a mere ten points. Yes, 'only' ten points.

To think that even an evildoer who had enraged me so deeply was nothing more than a ten-point trash mob before this system.

'Then this world must be overflowing with evil for me to judge.'

And when my thoughts reached that point, I realized I was smiling.

I kicked over the box I had stood on while hanging Bae Do-hyeon.

The fallen box lay beneath Bae Do-hyeon's dangling feet. The scene of his suicide by hanging was now set.

I slowly walked toward the iron door.

And once again, I whispered to myself.

'I shall become the iron hammer that judges the evildoers forgiven by the laws of the Republic of Korea.'

There was a trace of excitement in the hand I placed on the iron door's handle.

—Click.

The door opened.

It was time for growth.

© Myoyeop#12ipk

Author's Note

A reader left a comment two chapters ago saying they weren't sure what kind of story this was.

As you can probably guess from the revised title,

this is roughly the kind of story it will be.

I sincerely hope you'll continue to support it.

Thank you!!