The Map and the Bear
I'd see you on the way out. "Ugh, do they seriously carry that thing everywhere?" The Ant Cave wasn't built with any real system in mind. It was just the result of digging wherever they thought magic stones might be. The orphans were simply made to sleep near areas estimated to have high magic stone density. In that sense, a map was practically essential.
'Still, you'd think they'd leave at least one behind.' They could forget it or misplace it, right? Why were these kids so lacking in basic humanity? After scouring the floor and cleaning without missing a single speck of dust, I realized after a full hour that I had nothing to show for it. Usually, some special event would trigger in situations like this, but that was never a good thing.
'My luck really is this bad.' Normally, I'd find a map that had fallen during cleaning, slip it into my underwear, and walk out. But since there wasn't one, I had no choice but to assume the worst-case scenario.
'The trigger is probably…' Accidentally breaking a bed while cleaning. If that happened, I'd call over one of the guards who came to investigate the noise and steal the map he carried. There were no advantages to this plan. The downside was that if I failed, I wouldn't die easily. They'd beat me all day as an example, turn me into a bloody pulp, and then kill me.
"But this is the only way."
The guard who showed up was random. As long as it wasn't that son of a bitch, anyone else was fine. 'The kind Parigon… or even Manis would be okay.' Please, please, just not him. I prayed to the entire world as I moved toward the most worn-out bed.
Since the Ant Cave moved to a new location once one was exhausted, the beds had very low durability. No matter how sturdy a simple folding bed designed for convenience was, how solid could it really be?
Crack!
I swung the mop with a refreshing snap and smashed the bed leg. As if on cue, a reaction came from outside immediately.
Thud!
Footsteps that matched the sound of the bed breaking. The vibration was loud enough to be heard outside. Preparations were complete. Now all I could do was pray.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
But a massive vibration that cruelly crushed those hopes echoed from outside the dorm.
'I'm screwed.'
Footsteps that produced a similar vibration to when the bed collapsed. Even without looking, I could roughly guess how enormous the owner was.
"Who's in the dorm right now!"
A rough voice and a barbaric motion that looked like it was about to rip the door off its hinges.
"Is it you?!"
The most vicious of the Ant Cave guards, the one who treated killing orphans as a hobby. It was Belbart's entrance.
Belbart didn't like Lee Seokhyun one bit. The fact that a mere orphan was popular among the guards, that he didn't suck up during work shifts. There were endless reasons, but what he hated most was that the orphan had such a good expression on his face.
That bright smile that occasionally appeared in this hopeless situation—it was the face of someone thinking about escape. He'd told his colleagues, but they didn't believe him.
'Idiots.'
The problem was that everyone except him liked Lee Seokhyun. Orphans were disposable goods that ended once they died, so why bother getting attached? In truth, the attachment was no more than fondness for a higher-quality product, but even that Belbart didn't want.
'One day I'll get my chance.'
Acting normal and then suddenly acting cute and offering massages? That was one hundred percent the behavior of someone with an ulterior motive. The other guards either didn't think much of it or spouted nonsense like "It's because we look so cool," but Belbart swore he would never fall for it.
And finally.
"This bastard finally did it!"
"Whoa!"
It was a good thing he'd left something behind in the dorm. Otherwise, he might have missed this situation entirely. Maybe even God was helping him screw over Lee Seokhyun. If it had been any other guard, the situation might have ended peacefully, but Belbart could not tolerate this.
"This bastard broke my bed!"
Bang!
Belbart grabbed Lee Seokhyun roughly and slammed him onto the floor. The boy crashed against the hard stone floor and writhed in pain.
"Why are you here? If you don't answer properly, I'll kill you!"
No matter how much he hated Lee Seokhyun, he couldn't just kill him outright when all the other guards liked the boy. If it had been any other orphan, he would have crushed their head immediately, but this one was a bit different.
'The warden recently started enjoying his massages too.'
So he needed at least some trivial reason to justify killing him.
"Manis-nim permitted me to clean the officers' quarters."
"Then why were you trying to clean it?"
Well, it would be cleaner, so that was fine. Belbart swallowed the rest of his words and glared fiercely at Lee Seokhyun. Normally, orphan brats would piss themselves and go mute if looked at like this.
"It's because I respect the guards and really wanted to clean the quarters."
Unlike ordinary orphans, Lee Seokhyun looked him straight in the eyes as he spoke. Those upright and confident eyes. Belbart really didn't like those eyes.
"But you broke the bed? What the hell kind of bullshit is this?!"
"Kek… khup… sorry… I'm sorry…"
Belbart grabbed Lee Seokhyun by the collar again and lifted him into the air with one hand. His massive frame, over two meters tall, made the malnourished Lee Seokhyun look even smaller. He was so angry that he unzipped his coat all the way down and flapped the fabric to vent his rage.
"I could kill you right here! You know that?!"
"Yessir, I know… that."
"Hah, look at this bastard."
How could the eyes of someone who claimed to know shine so brightly? In his mind, he wanted to gouge those eyes out and strangle him to death, but the fact that the warden liked this kid's massages came to mind once again.
"You broke the bed leg because you can fix it, right?"
"Yes… I c-can… fix it…"
It seemed hard to breathe every time he spoke. Lee Seokhyun kicked his legs in the air in agony. Belbart found the sight quite satisfying, so he drove a heavy fist into the boy's abdomen.
Crack.
"Khaaaaaack!"
He controlled the force so no bones broke, but the pain would still be felt. It was Belbart's personal warning that no matter how much favor the boy received, it meant nothing to him.
"Fix the bed quietly and clean the place properly. If I come back and I'm not satisfied, know that you'll really die then!"
After issuing the threat, Belbart threw Lee Seokhyun aside again, grabbed the item he'd left behind, and left. Unlike when he'd entered the dorm, Belbart didn't notice that the inside of his coat felt a little empty on the way out.
After Belbart left, I opened the first-aid kit again and wrapped my body tightly with compression bandages.
'Thanks for not breaking any bones, you son of a bitch.'
Hidden inside the tightly wrapped bandages was the map I'd stolen from Belbart. If getting thrown to the floor twice and punched in the gut was the price for obtaining a map, it was a profitable exchange no matter how many times I had to do it.
'That fucking Belbart.'
In the original story, Belbart was a mid-boss level character—an insane guard who hated Lee Seokhyun for no reason. The story needed hardship and adversity to progress, but this was way too much.
'Good thing I got on the warden's good side early.'
It was fortunate I'd given massages to more than just Manis. Otherwise, once he realized there would be no consequences, he would've smashed my skull in. Unlike the stupid Manis, Belbart was a cunning and vicious bear.
'That's why they call him a mid-boss, I guess.'
The real problem wasn't that. It was where I was supposed to look at the map now. Even if I unfolded it among the orphans, the ones who knew that sucking up to the guards was the only way to gain anything wouldn't help me. They'd probably just rat me out to another guard so they could skip their own work shift.
The idea of surviving together had long since vanished from their heads.
'What I need now is personal space and time.'
I needed a space to analyze the map and time to come up with a detailed escape plan. Even though I knew the game story, there were already far too many variables starting from the prologue. I couldn't account for every single one, but I had to avoid the worst-case scenarios. That was why I needed to be extremely cautious.
'I can't clean the officers' quarters every day…'
There was no such thing as being sent to solitary for causing a disturbance. If you created a commotion, you'd be executed on the spot. The Ant Cave didn't bother locking people up for rehabilitation. Why bother coaxing and comforting disposable goods that could be replaced anytime?
You have endured multiple instances of severe pain well.
Willpower has increased by 1.
The stat increase popped up only after the situation was over. I was so grateful I almost felt like crying.
'My top priority is escaping alone. Second priority is escaping with all the orphans.'
The rewards for escaping alone versus escaping together were on completely different levels. If I was lucky, I might even obtain a high-grade sub-skill. But to achieve that, cooperation was essential.
'Right now, my image is only good among the guards.'
By acting cute toward the guards as if paying a price, I'd lost the trust of my fellow orphans. But even that trust had been shallow to begin with. Children's minds changed with just a little kindness, didn't they?
I took as many medical supplies from the first-aid kit as I could carry and stepped out of the officers' quarters.
'Now it's time to obtain the hidden skill.'
Since I'd gotten the map, the time had come to secure the minimum amount of combat power.