Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 73
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Director Hong was well aware of the guards’ worries, concerns, and quiet fear regarding inmates with superpowers, so he took the unusual step of disclosing a related incident to the media. In an interview, he said that while other prisons had resorted to firearms and suffered casualties, ○○ Prison alone had resolved the situation without a single casualty thanks to the presence of an Untouchable named Lee Kyung-wan.
Releasing the CCTV footage from that time was the extra bonus.
Of course, he obtained permission from the Minister of Justice in advance. The minister didn’t look particularly pleased, but in the end, persuaded by Director Hong’s insistence that Kyung-wan’s presence needed to be emphasized in order to manage superpowered inmates, he granted approval.
And so, news about Kyung-wan was shown in advance as part of an educational video to inmates being transferred to Director Hong’s prison.
They watched the video the way one watches an ideological indoctrination film, but it was better than nothing. Having even one person take it to heart was better than no one doing so at all.
With that kind of education(?) in place, it wasn’t unreasonable to hope that inmates would feel at least a bit of caution when Kyung-wan was present during investigations and questioning.
Of course, the biggest reason was to reassure the guards, who were anxious about this unfamiliar duty. If it was Kyung-wan, who had even subdued a brute-force powerhouse, then wouldn’t he serve as a decent meat shield if something happened?
Even though he wore an inmate uniform, the amount of trust Kyung-wan had built up with the guards was that significant.
But Kyung-wan shook his head.
“I don’t want to. If I just sit around, I’ll get bored.”
At that, Director Hong grumbled inwardly. Since when were you ever not bored?
“Manager Lee.”
“Yes, sir!”
At Director Hong’s call, Manager Lee, who had been supervising preparations for counseling superpowered inmates, came over.
“You’re basically done with your tasks, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
All necessary orders had already been given, and with Director Hong himself on-site, there was essentially nothing left for Manager Lee to do except cater to the director’s mood.
“Lend your smartphone to that kid for a bit.”
“Pardon?”
“He says he’s bored.”
Manager Lee, who ended up handing over his smartphone just for being nearby, internally badmouthed Kyung-wan the same way Director Hong had. If you’re bored, bring a book, why someone else’s phone…
He unlocked the phone and handed it over to Kyung-wan, adding a precaution just in case.
“Uh… don’t look at my search history. You know?”
Basic privacy.
But isn’t it human nature to do exactly what you’re told not to do(?)?
As Kyung-wan immediately started fiddling with the phone and staring at the screen, Manager Lee squirmed like a dog that desperately needed to poop.
Kyung-wan hadn’t even been thinking about the search history, but at Manager Lee’s comment, he checked it right away and let out an exclamation of admiration.
A guilty conscience giving itself away, wasn’t this exactly that kind of situation?
“Wow..”
“D-don’t tell me… you saw it?”
“I’ll respect your preferences.”
Do you know what a furry is? Further explanation is omitted.
Kyung-wan returned the phone to the flustered administrative manager and asked Director Hong,
“Give me someone else’s phone. I can’t use it comfortably when he’s squirming like that.”
At Kyung-wan’s words, Director Hong eventually called over the youngest guard and confiscated(?) his smartphone. He himself had nothing to hide even if he handed over his own phone, but as the director, what if an important call came in?
“What on earth did you see to make Manager Lee act like that?”
Director Hong asked, noticing how the administrative manager was watching Kyung-wan nervously. Manager Lee flinched and played dumb. Still, even Director Hong could tell that every nerve in his body was focused on their conversation.
Kyung-wan answered,
“Privacy.”
“And you say that after immediately skimming his search history?”
“Did you think it was something like that? If I’d known, I wouldn’t have looked.”
Director Hong was curious about what it could be, but Kyung-wan, head lowered toward the phone, radiated an aura that said, Don’t bother me anymore. And it wasn’t as if he could ask the administrative manager directly, either.
“Ahem! Anyway, good work.”
After finishing his final check, Director Hong returned to the safety of his office. Hanging around here and getting taken hostage by a superpowered inmate who suddenly snapped would be a huge nuisance.
It wasn’t because he was a coward. If a commander steps to the front on the battlefield and gets captured by the enemy, isn’t that already defeat?
With Director Hong gone, the full-scale superpower registration process for inmates began. While they already had a general grasp of things, today’s task was to gather evidence and complete paperwork strictly according to procedures specified by law.
Even if someone pointed fingers and called it empty formality, in a civil service system run on bureaucracy, it was unavoidable. And no better system than bureaucracy existed to replace it.
By coincidence, the very first guy to come in was a face Kyung-wan knew all too well.
“Heeey~.”
“Eeeek!”
He was that troublesome inmate from before, the one who hadn’t listened, got “educated(?)” by Kyung-wan, then came back for revenge after awakening his powers, only to get beaten senseless again.
If Kyung-wan had forgotten a face like that, it would be time to seriously suspect dementia.
Watching the guy quietly sit in front of the guard, filling out paperwork, Kyung-wan fell into brief thought. Then, in a careful, low voice, he made a suggestion to the guard watching him.
The guard listened and soon gave in to Kyung-wan’s persuasion. He relayed the proposal to the senior next to him, who then passed it up the chain. Before long, approval came down from Director Hong.
The first inmate, whose name no one remembered, stood up to leave. Kyung-wan called out to him.
“Hey, 3535.”
Hearing his inmate number, the man looked at Kyung-wan with tense eyes.
Kyung-wan tapped the empty seat on the bench beside him.
“Sit here.”
What the hell?
Inmate number 3535 unconsciously looked at the guard who had brought him.
It was a plea for help, Are you really just going to watch this?, but the guard clearly took it another way, because he nodded.
In the end, 3535 had no choice but to speak directly to Kyung-wan.
“W-why?”
“Are the arms and legs I snapped back then okay? No aftereffects?”
Spoken in a gentle, friendly tone, like talking to a buddy, the words sent chills down 3535’s spine. What the hell is this crazy bastard thinking?!
As if reading that expression, Kyung-wan continued,
“We’re not just some passing acquaintances, are we? This is the third time we’ve met, right? They say even brushing sleeves is fate, at this point, maybe we weren’t on ordinary terms in a past life.”
Creeped out, 3535 unconsciously clenched his sphincter. Is this guy some kind of butt freak?
Seeing the look of instinctive disgust on his face, Kyung-wan’s own expression cooled sharply. He could guess what the guy was thinking.
Unless your brain is filled with nothing but filthy thoughts, wasn’t it hard to associate what he’d just said with being gay?
“Do you want to sit without getting hit, or sit after getting beaten?”
3535 glanced at the guards, but they were just watching with interest, showing no sign of helping at all.
Inside, 3535 cursed everyone.
You punk bastards! Butt-freak punks sucking up to an inmate!
But the law was far away, and fists were close. Realizing why Kyung-wan was called Untouchable, 3535 tightened his anus and carefully sat down beside him.
“W-why?”
“Not why. You were a brute-force type, right?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Then while you’re watching the guys who come in here, can you make sure to smack any bastards who start acting up?”
“M-me?”
“Yeah.”
“W-why?”
“I’m good at beating people up, but not so good at protecting them. Like you know, inmates with superpowers are basically walking weapons, same as knives, right? That means this superpower registration work is way more dangerous than it looks. It’s safer if two people help instead of one, yeah?”
At that, 3535 replied reflexively,
“W-why me?”
The words popped out before he could stop them, and he startled himself. How could I say that to this lunatic?! But if he hadn’t had that rebellious streak, he wouldn’t be rotting in a cell now, either.
Fortunately, the lunatic didn’t fly into a rage at the refusal. Instead, he calmly coaxed him.
“Aren’t you family too, eating from the same pot under this prison roof? You should think about easing the guards’ burden.”
Yeah, right, what a load of crap!
The thought flashed through 3535’s mind, but the memory of that crazed violence, of laughing as he shattered limbs, blocked his central nervous system tight, never making it to his mouth.
Unable to speak, frozen by trauma, he felt Kyung-wan casually sling an arm around his shoulder and continue,
“That’s how the world works. If you help the guards, do you think they’ll just coldly ignore your situation? If you do well, you could become a model inmate. And if you’re a model inmate, you can get leave. Legally go outside the prison and have some fun~ That’s what I’m saying.”
At the carrot he dangled, 3535’s ears perked up, and Kyung-wan went on,
“And see that? Superpower inmate registration. They’re not doing this for no reason. It’s all to quickly identify national superpower resources. If it weren’t urgent, would they even bother registering criminals like us? This is the only chance you’ll get. You need to cooperate now to get a sentence reduction or a pardon. Later, when they can recruit enough superpowered people from civilians, do you really think guys like you will get a chance?”
The phrase “guys like you” rubbed him the wrong way, but Kyung-wan’s logic had an appealing edge.
Kyung-wan’s smooth tongue kept moving.
“So now’s your opportunity. When the country later says it needs the strength of superpowered inmates, who do you think the warden will choose to report to his superiors, an inmate who cooperated well, or one who didn’t? Won’t he pick the one who’s been helpful all along?”
At Kyung-wan’s words, 3535 nodded.
“So you can sit here and keep an eye on things, and beat down any bastards who cause trouble, right? It’s not like you’ve got anything to do when you go back to your cell anyway.”
3535 nodded again. Then he sat beside Kyung-wan and began watching the superpowered inmates as they came in one by one.
Watching this, the guards clicked their tongues in amazement at Kyung-wan’s silver tongue. At the same time, they thought how fortunate it was that a guy like that hadn’t gone down the path of a con artist.
Meanwhile, all of this was immediately reported to Director Hong. At first, he hesitated over whether to scold Kyung-wan for his plan to recruit a useful superpowered inmate as a precaution. But just as he was starting to change his mind, he heard that the recruitment had succeeded and immediately pulled up the live CCTV feed.
Sure enough, just as reported, one guy was sitting beside Kyung-wan, watching the inmates undergoing registration as if standing guard.
The Security Chief, watching the footage alongside Director Hong, clicked his tongue.
“Wow. That’s impressive. Isn’t that the guy who went on a rampage, wrecking the prison after awakening his powers last time?”
“What? The guy Kyung-wan beat down is acting that docile?”
Director Hong exclaimed in surprise, and the Security Chief replied,
“He might be docile because he got beaten that badly. Director Hong, you didn’t see the state he was in when they carried him out back then, did you?”
“I heard his limbs were broken.”