Morning Roll Call
The firmly sealed iron door swung open.
— Clang. Creak.
After the lock unfastened, the door scraped open on its hinges, and a fierce light flooded into the cell.
“…Ugh!”
It was so blinding I could see nothing at all. The sting brought tears to my eyes and forced my face into a grimace.
“Cell 3. Come out.”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“…Yes!”
Leviathan’s voice carried from beyond the doorway. At once A522 and A711, who had been beside me, answered in hoarse shouts and scrambled out on all fours. Determined not to lag behind, I answered a beat late and crawled after them. Outside I took my place by instinct, standing next to A522 and A711.
Leviathan stood before the cell in full uniform; a basket holding several items rested at his side.
“Numbers.”
“A522!”
“A711!”
“…A713!”
Lined up side by side in front of the cell, we faced Leviathan’s demand. I tensed, not understanding what he wanted, but when the other two inmates called out their numbers I simply echoed them and slipped past the danger. Had I never heard their numbers during the night, or had I been first in line, I would have been lost. Realizing that, I finally understood why A522 and A711 had bolted out ahead of me even though I had been closest to the entrance. It was their quiet way of telling me to watch and copy them—a small act of care.
“A522. A newcomer’s here, so set an example. Prisoner’s Oath. Begin.”
That help, however, had its limits. At the next order A522 hesitated only a moment, then dropped to her knees, fixed her eyes on Leviathan, and began to shout.
“Prisoner’s Oath!”
“We are prisoners defeated by lust!”
“We are trash without even human worth!”
“We are crazy bitches!”
“We learn the value of being human under the care and education of the guards!”
“We will obey the guards without limit. Please take good care of us today!”
She delivered every line crisply the instant the words left her mouth. My vision had cleared enough for me to glance over; A522 was thrusting her chest forward, staring straight at Leviathan. The mature impression she had given at dawn was gone—she looked no older than I was. Short black hair, a puppy-like face still carrying the softness of her early twenties, and a clear undercurrent of tension.
“Good. Just like a proper cell senior. Next. A711. Begin.”
“…Yes!”
It was A711’s turn. A quick glance told me she was not Korean—tall, blonde, blue-eyed. Her Korean, though, was quite fluent. Mixed blood, perhaps?
“Prisoner’s Oath!”
“We are prisoners defeated by lust!…”
“We…!”
She knelt the same way A522 had and began the oath. This time it was not smooth. Halfway through the second sentence A711 clamped her mouth shut. She bit her lip and could not continue.
“…Relax.”
“Yes!”
Punishment followed at once for the incomplete oath. Leviathan unbuckled his belt exactly as he had done in front of me the day before, gripped it, and swung it like a whip.
— Whoosh—Slap!
“Ugh…!!”
The leather left a vivid red welt across A711’s thigh. He had struck so hard the flesh began to swell almost immediately.
“A whole month and you’ve already forgotten?”
“No, sir. It was a mistake! I can do it!”
“Then start again.”
Punishment alone would not be enough. Whether this was always his method or not, Leviathan clearly meant to make her repeat the oath until she got it right. So A711 began once more.
“Prisoner’s Oath!”
“We are prisoners defeated by lust!”
“We are trash without even human worth!”
“We… We… We….”
Again she failed to finish. She managed one extra sentence, then stalled on the next, only repeating empty words. Leviathan sighed, said nothing this time, and simply brought the belt down on her thigh.
— Whoosh. Slap!!
“Kyaah…! Ugh… Ugh.”
The sound alone made me flinch as if the blow had landed on my own flesh. The crack was louder. A711’s mouth worked soundlessly around the pain; her cuffed hands flailed helplessly behind her back.
“Again.”
“…Yes!”
The atmosphere of dread stretched on. Fortunately the Prisoner’s Oath was only a handful of short lines—easy enough that I could have memorized them in a few minutes if I simply heard them repeated… Ah!
“….”
Something clicked. While Leviathan’s attention stayed locked on A711 I risked a look at A522. She was already watching me. I read the silent plea behind her blank expression and understood at last: A711 was deliberately flubbing the oath, feeding it to me one sentence at a time. I silently recited every line she had already spoken. I had to finish learning it before her sacrifice became useless.
“Prisoner’s Oath!”
“We are prisoners defeated by lust!”
“We are trash without even human worth!”
“We are crazy bitches!”
“We…! …!”
In that interval A711 managed one more line and then fell silent again—an intentional “mistake.”
“Hoo. Just take the hit for now.”
“….”
— Whoosh—! Slap!
“Ugh…!! Uuu….”
The belt cracked across her thigh a third time like a real whip. The flesh already swollen from two heavy blows now bore a dark bruise where the welts crossed.
“Alright. I see what you’re doing. Tch… Fine. You wait. A713.”
“…Ah! Yes! A713!”
“Can’t you answer properly? A713!”
“Yes! A713!”
Right after the lash Leviathan turned and called my number.
“Looks like your cellmates decided to sacrifice themselves for you. Tch… Cheeky little stunt. A522 demonstrates, A711 deliberately messes up so you can memorize… Heh heh.”
“….”
“So—did the help work? We start the Prisoner’s Oath now. Every time you get it wrong, these two get lashed with you. Begin.”
“…Yes!”
A long tail always gets stepped on. The repeated “mistakes” had followed too regular a pattern; of course he had noticed. Leviathan ordered me to recite at once. I dropped to my knees like the others and fixed my eyes on him. Honestly I was not confident. I had heard the final two lines only once, and the crushing pressure of the moment was already blanking my mind. Still, I had to do it. Even if I stumbled, I had to prove their help had not been wasted.
“…Hoo. Prisoner’s Oath!”
I exhaled hard and began. My throat, locked shut all night, protested the volume, yet I forced every word out clear and loud enough that no fault could be found.
“We are prisoners defeated by lust!”
“We are trash without even human worth!”
With the help of good comrades as my shield, so that I could live alongside them—
“We are crazy bitches!”
“We learn the value of being human under the care and education of the guards!”
—and so that I would not have to feel guilty about it. I concentrated harder than I ever had and shouted each phrase, each sentence.
“We will obey the guards without limit. Please take good care of us today!”
And finished. The clean ending seemed to please Leviathan; he gave a short snicker.
“Looks like the help paid off after all. From now on, no more of these little games. This once I’ll let it go with one lash each. Understood?”
“Yes! Thank you!”
“Before that—711, Prisoner’s Oath. Start again.”
“Yes!”
A711’s second recitation was flawless. That alone proved she had been sacrificing herself, and that Leviathan’s accusation had been correct. In the end each of us still received one extra lash across the thigh.
— Whoosh—Slap!
“Ugh…!”
The blow hurt fiercely. Taken while kneeling, it felt as if the muscle itself had been torn. Still, without their help my thighs would probably have been shredded by now. I was genuinely grateful it had ended at this.
“Breakfast begins now. Open your mouths.”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“…Yes!”
After the oath came breakfast. We did not move. Still kneeling, we opened our mouths on command. Leviathan pulled three plastic-wrapped lumps from the basket—brown masses roughly the size of ping-pong balls.
“You have three minutes. Swallow them.”
“Hap. Eup… Mm.”
“Ahap. Mm. Chew. Eup…!”
“Hap. Eup…!”
I had to chew the unidentified lump that had been shoved into my mouth. It had no taste whatsoever—not good, not bad, simply nothing. No sweet, no salt, not even spice or bitterness. The texture was worse: neither rice cake nor gum, it stuck between the teeth and clung, almost impossible to swallow. Food that had stripped away every pleasure of eating—that was breakfast.
“Eup… Eup…!”
I chewed with everything I had, yet it refused to go down. After vomiting the day before my stomach had been empty; I had thought I could eat anything. I never imagined something this foul would be given to us, and that made it harder still.
“A522. Finished.”
“Inspection. Open.”
“Ah—”
“Good. Pass.”
In the meantime A522 had swallowed her entire lump and submitted to inspection. Satisfied her mouth was empty, Leviathan turned a cold stare on A711 and me, still chewing.
“One minute left.”
What happened if you failed to finish in time? Having already been lashed on the thighs first thing in the morning, fear crawled up my spine. I chewed faster, trying to shear the mass with my teeth and force it down my throat. No matter how hard I worked it would not break apart. In desperation I tried to swallow whole; only a fraction made it past. Even that triggered a gag that nearly brought it back up.
“Uuk… U….”
“Uup! Gulp…! Haa. Haa. Haa. Haa. Haa—”
“Time’s up. A711. Almost a full month and you still can’t finish breakfast on schedule. Five Demeanor Penalty Points.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Straighten your back. Put some strength into it.”
“Yes….”
Neither of us had finished in time. From where I knelt it looked as though A711 had swallowed right at the buzzer, but she must have been a few seconds over.
“Count properly.”
“Yes!”
— Slap!
“Ugh! One!”
The punishment was open-handed slaps. Leviathan rolled up his sleeve, stood over the kneeling A711, and swung hard across her cheek. The force spun her head and made her whole body rock. She made no sound of complaint, only counted and straightened again.
— Slap!
“Eup! Two!!”
The opposite cheek this time, equally vicious. Watching from the side I flinched involuntarily at the relentless violence.
— Slap!
“Uuugh…! Three!”
— Slap!
“Ugh! Four!!”
— Slap!
“Five!”
Five blows, then it stopped. I guessed the number of strikes matched the penalty points.
“Next.”
Leviathan left A711’s reddened face and stepped in front of me.
“A713.”
“…Yes.”
“Finished?”
“…No.”
My turn. The lump I had failed to swallow still sat in my mouth. Even while watching A711 suffer I had chewed and forced as hard as I could, yet I had not managed to get it all down.
“A guard gave an order and you disobeyed.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Ten Demeanor Penalty Points. Since it’s your first day I’ll spare the corporal punishment.”
At least the beating was waived—newcomer’s privilege, perhaps. What followed, however, had nothing to do with privilege.
“But the meal still has to be finished. I’ll help.”
“…Yes? Th—euup! Eup!!”
“If you want to breathe, swallow.”
“Geuup! Eup!!”
Leviathan moved behind me, locked an arm around my throat like a chokehold, and clamped his free hand over both my mouth and nose. The grip was brutal. Even opening my jaws and shoving with my tongue did nothing. How was I supposed to eat like this? My jaw joint was crushed shut; chewing was impossible. Yet I had to somehow. Panic made me thrash, but the cuffs held my wrists fast and a body that had barely rested was powerless. Even at full strength I could never have overpowered this man.
Air vanished. With nose and mouth sealed there was nowhere for breath to go.
“Geuup!! Eup! Heuup!!”
The only escape was to swallow every last bit of the lump still in my mouth. It would not be easy—impossible to chew, impossible to dissolve—yet if I wanted air I had to force it down my esophagus.
“Geup! Euuup!”
Within the tiny range of movement left to me I tilted my head back and opened my throat as wide as I could. I had to swallow. Leviathan would keep the seal until I blacked out. Why wouldn’t it go down? Go in! Go in!! Tears of pure agony spilled over. The lump was still far too large.
“Guuk!… Eup! Euuup!!”
“Swallow. Or I’ll keep you from breathing until the end.”
“Euuup!!!”
The warning was ice-cold. I had no choice. Surely my throat would not tear. Swallow. Endure and swallow. Swallow it—please, body, please…!
— Gulp.
There was no technique, only raw survival instinct driving every muscle in my mouth to shove the mass inward. The effort worked. A wet sound loud enough to ring in my ears marked the moment the lump finally slid down.
“…Puhah. Haa. Haa. Haa. Haa. Haa.”
The instant I swallowed, Leviathan released me. Oxygen rushed back through mouth and nose and stabbed into my lungs with a sharp little pain. I wanted nothing more than to collapse onto the concrete and simply lie there.
“Breakfast over. We move. Everyone stand.”
No rest was granted. Leviathan declared the meal finished and hauled us to our feet. The three of us fell into line and followed. After a long walk we arrived at a place that was—
“Kyaaaaah!! Ah… Aah…!!! Ugh… Heuuugh!”
“Pl-please stop…! Please…! Uuugh! Haugh…!”
“…It hurts! It hurts…! Stop… Please… Ah… Uuugh…! Kkeup…!”
—hell.