Instead of a Villain, I'm a Model Prisoner Chapter 2
"Hey! What are you doing?"
While Mu-jae was frozen in shock, a prison guard with a long baton appeared through the agitated inmates. The inmates crowding the hallway showed their annoyance but made way for the guard.
However, even the confidently appearing guard slowed his pace as soon as he confirmed Mu-jae was at the center of the commotion. It was a gesture that clearly showed he didn't want to get involved, but Mu-jae was desperate even for him.
'My hope!! Mr. Guard!!'
Whether he crawled like a turtle, tumbled, or flew, it didn't matter.
'Please save me!!'
To Mu-jae, the guard, the only civilian in a prison teeming with criminals and a guardian of the law, was simply a beacon of light.
The expectation that such a being would deliver him from this hellish moment bloomed in Mu-jae's heart.
'I may have done something wrong, but I don't think it's enough to get beaten to death?!'
Mu-jae prayed and prayed that his desperate plea would reach the guard. If it did, he swore he'd go to church and bow down in gratitude as soon as he was released.
'If I have to die for something like this, at least let me call a lawyer!'
But the more desperate Mu-jae became, the more the guard's gaze fell downwards.
***
"Ahem, ahem."
The guard awkwardly cleared his throat, stalling for time as much as possible. It was a pathetic effort, as it wouldn't get him out of the hell he was already in.
'Damn it, damn it...!'
Sweat began to bead on his smooth head. He thought it was just another inmate fight, as usual, but some idiot had bothered Si Mu-jae.
Si Mu-jae of all people.
'Why was Si Mu-jae mopping the floor here in the first place?'
Number 901.
These three digits alone were enough to explain Si Mu-jae's status within the prison. Numbers 901 to 909, to be exact, were special management targets.
The person who assigned the 900s numbers was none other than the head of the supervillain squad, the Hunter Association. Special management targets were criminals managed by the head of the Hunter Association, not the prison guards.
This wasn't specifically stipulated by law. However, it was such a widespread rumor that it was almost laughable to call it an unspoken rule.
'The head of the Hunter Association... Lee Cheong-mun...!'
Awakened as the youngest S-class at the age of 12 and never having missed a target to this day, he was the best hunter. Messing with him, the center of South Korea's power, was no different from wanting to die quickly.
'They say he can change the president with a snap of his fingers.......'
There was even a ghost story circulating in every Awakened prison about a guard who questioned a criminal managed by Lee Cheong-mun and was found dead the next day under mysterious circumstances.
Therefore, questioning why Lee Cheong-mun directly managed Si Mu-jae or why his sentence was so short was something only a suicide hopeful would do.
What guards in prisons with 900s numbers needed was indifference, not curiosity.
In reality, Si Mu-jae had the largest solitary cell here, and no one made him do chores. He had heard that his behavior had been a bit strange lately, but who knew that meant he had taken up mopping as a hobby?
"Mr. Guard?"
A soft but dry call tickled the guard's ear. The voice alone caused tension, and the guard's shoulders twitched.
The guard squeezed his eyes shut and opened them, slowly raising his head.
As soon as he made eye contact with Si Mu-jae, the faces of his wife and children, standing at his funeral and weeping, appeared vividly.
Cold sweat ran down the guard's back.
"Huk, ahem......."
His pupils, wandering aimlessly, inevitably settled on Si Mu-jae.
'Ah, shit. How am I supposed to handle this?'
Si Mu-jae, reflected in the guard's eyes, had an unnecessarily handsome face, pale skin, and a relatively slender physique. His eyes weren't particularly sharp, and his tone was very docile, even within the prison.
To put it more bluntly, Si Mu-jae had a pushover face.
Yet, every time the guard looked at Si Mu-jae, he felt an unacceptable chill.
The fact that he was a special criminal managed by Lee Cheong-mun was unsettling enough, but Si Mu-jae was also strange in other ways. No matter when, where, or in what situation, Si Mu-jae's expression was always the same.
'The more I look at him, the less I know what he's feeling or thinking.'
Between expressionless and smiling.
His snow-white skin was like a plaster mask, and his bright brown eyes, which seemed golden, were like overly polished jewels.
A human like a well-crafted doll, a quiet and bizarre human.
That was the inmate Si Mu-jae.
"Mr. Guard."
The guard, barely snapping out of it at the second call, moved his lips.
"Uh....... You......."
His lips trembled as if frozen, under the gaze that stared at him without blinking. It would be easier to act accordingly if he were angry or annoyed, but Si Mu-jae never demanded anything first.
The guard, barely checking the number of the inmate trembling at Si Mu-jae's feet, cautiously called him.
"1...231."
Fortunately, Si Mu-jae blinked normally the moment the guard started speaking. Realizing that this level wouldn't upset Si Mu-jae, the guard quickly continued.
"Explain yourself."
"I, while mopping, well........."
In fact, 1231 was just as desperate. Despite kneeling and apologizing, Si Mu-jae hadn't said a word to him.
He didn't know if he needed to beg for more forgiveness or if he had already been forgiven, so the silence was hellish.
Two months ago, the corpse of an inmate who had said the wrong thing to Si Mu-jae and was found with severed limbs flickered before 1231's eyes.
1231 would rather be dragged away by the guard and punished.
Thanks to this, 1231 and the guard, in their opposing positions as inmate and guard, felt a sense of camaraderie as soon as they saw each other.
“…...!"
“.......!”
He wouldn't live to his natural lifespan if he stayed next to Si Mu-jae like this. The eyes of 1231 and the guard intertwined, and an unspoken agreement was soon reached. "I! I started the trouble first.....!"
"Re-really? Is that so?"
"That's right!!"
It was absurd to think that all of this had happened because of a splash of water while mopping. Moreover, it was 1231, not Si Mu- jae, who had been hit by the water.
Oh, and by the way, Si Mu-jae's facial muscles were indeed paralyzed. The less vitality his body had, the more it prioritized maintaining functions.
First, the heart and brain, then the organs, and then the arms and legs. As a result, the less evil he committed, the more Si Mu-jae's body postponed emotional expression.
Even now, Si Mu-jae's expression was frozen.
***
"1231, come with me! 901... go inside and rest."
As soon as the guard finished speaking, 1231, who had been kneeling, quickly got up. Mu- jae, blankly watching the backs of the disappearing guard and 1231, was still bewildered.
He definitely felt that something had passed between the two of them. He felt it, but........
'It's like being the odd one out when pairing up, just watching and then being left alone in the end!'
That was all Mu-jae could feel right now.
'What setting am I missing?'
All the explanations in Mu-jae's head were still fragmented, like a cut film.
-Si Mu-jae's vitality and combat power values change frequently, so I can't make him muscular.
He resented himself for still only
remembering useless settings. Mu-jae sighed, looking at his thin wrist holding the mop.
'At least give me muscles...!'
It was no use thinking about it anyway. He didn't want to make his already tiring life even harder. Mu-jae decided to accept this unknown situation as positively as possible.
'I don't know why, but I didn't get beaten up, and my feet have regained their freedom, so it's a good thing.'
He had no choice but to do this, or he would burst into tears soon.
Splish, splash.
Even though the guard had told him to go inside and rest, Mu-jae quietly continued mopping. 'Even if he said that, he might scold me if I actually rest.'
It was more comfortable to finish what he was doing than to take unnecessary risks. 'It's awkward to rest alone when everyone else is working.'
That was the mindset of a recently discharged soldier.
***
For several days, Mu-jae's prison life flowed smoothly. He was slowly getting used to the dark and gloomy room, and since all the routines were set, it was bearable if he thought of it as an extension of the military.
Also, fortunately or unfortunately, Mu-jae seemed to have become an outcast in prison because of the last incident.
'I eat alone, I work alone... no one talks to me.'
Even now, when he came out to the exercise yard for free time, only ants were crawling in a line near where Mu-jae was sitting.
He welcomed this kind of ostracism.
"Five months and a week left."
Looking up at the sky, which seemed clearer than usual today, Mu-jae muttered the remaining term of his sentence. He thought he could endure about five months if he continued like this.
"If I can just get through this...."
Mu-jae lowered his gaze and checked the system window, which was still awkward. The curse that he would die if he didn't raise his evil deeds was more troublesome than the sudden prison life.
"Haa....”
A sigh naturally escaped Mu-jae's lips as he couldn't see a solution. Then, beyond the blue system window, he saw the hem of black pants and clean combat boots.
Only the guards wore such clothes, even in a prison that took care of the main villain's fashion. Just as Mu-jae was about to get up to greet him, a shocking word pierced Mu-jae's ears.
"Number 901. You have a visitor.”
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