Chapter 8
The tense situation earlier calmed down quickly, just like Sergeant Steven said.
Well, it was time for the most important event in this place.
The prisoners, as if it were normal, quietly or lazily followed their assigned guards in an orderly fashion.
Only the new inmates looked confused and nervous.
“Hey newbie, no need to follow us. Just stay by your assigned prisoner.”
Sergeant Steven grinned as he waved me off. So I walked next to the male lead—Helios.
The Tower.
This must be the most confusing process for prisoners.
Newcomers probably don’t understand why they’re even sent into the Tower.
Why they have to suffer there.
Even I, who had read the novel, found it hard to accept at first.
The Tower helps crush the pride of rowdy inmates and also works as a way to divide them into manageable ranks.
And also…
It helps control the number of prisoners.
The Tower has 100 floors, each with different trials.
And now that the leadership has changed, the trials must have changed too.
Each rank has a different entrance and guards, so the prisoners get split up.
“Hey.”
I turned to look. Helios was at the very back of the line.
The guys shaking in front of him must be the new inmates who came right before him.
Their bodies were bruised and swollen—proof they’d gone through a rough initiation.
Looks like they got the usual welcome treatment.
But despite seeing them in that condition, Helios looked completely calm.
“Hey.”
Impressive. As expected of the main character.
“Earlier… how did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“That huge shield you made.”
Ah.
“Wait… don’t tell me you don’t know what Kia is?”
“…Of course I do.”
Well, yeah. Half the population uses Kia. It’d be weird if he didn’t know.
“I’ve seen my knights and others use it, but I’ve never seen anyone make something like that shield so fast. How did you do it?”
I was about to explain, then paused.
“You should worry more about surviving than about being curious.”
“So you can’t tell me?”
“No—it’s just that we’ve arrived.”
Helios looked up.
A giant door stood before us.
The entrance for the lowest-ranked prisoners.
“Just focus on staying alive.”
“……”
Of course, the male lead won’t die on the first floor.
But the manual says guards should scare the prisoners a little.
I know what trial happens on the first floor.
Even if the details change weekly, the general theme stays the same—so knowing helps.
But I couldn’t explain it out loud with so many eyes watching.
After some thought, I said:
“Be careful you don’t get eaten. Especially your legs.”
“……”
After all the prisoners enter, the guards go to a separate room to monitor the trial.
“Well then, see you—”
Before I could finish, Helios suddenly grabbed my arm. I could’ve dodged, but I didn’t.
I was curious what he was going to say with that urgent look on his face.
“…If I survive?”
His purple eyes sparkled strangely in the dark.
I took a moment, then slowly replied:
“If you survive, I’ll tell you how I made that shield.”
“……”
You can let go now, right?
But his long, pretty fingers didn’t release me.
“…Where will you be?”
“I’m a guard. I’ll be watching over my assigned prisoner—so I’ll be watching you.”
“…Watching, huh.”
I thought about correcting him for calling a guard “you” so casually.
But then I remembered—not a single inmate ever addressed guards properly in this place.
Can’t expect from others what I couldn’t even do myself.
I shrugged and pulled my hand away.
Creak—
The massive door swallowed the prisoners.
“Hey rookie! First time in the Tower?”
When prisoners go into the Tower, the guards head to the monitoring room.
This was Mint’s first time in the guard monitoring room.
Though she’d seen the Tower from the outside plenty of times.
Mint glanced out the window—she could see the prisoners below, inside the Tower.
She spotted Helios and turned away.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Cain Dust. I’m in charge of the lowest-ranking prisoners.”
A huge, muscular guard stood before her.
“You can call me Sergeant Cain.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Sergeant.”
He had a scruffy beard. Mint had never seen him before—meaning he wasn’t around when she went through the Tower herself.
“For your first year, you’ll mostly handle low-rank inmates. So we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”
“Yes, sir.”
She guessed he used physical enhancement-type Kia.
He was way too large.
Cain stroked his beard and grinned.
“I like to be friendly with rookies. Next time, call me ‘hyung’ (big bro).”
“…Sorry, what was that?”
Mint recalled Guard Manual Rule 3, Article 4: When you don’t understand your superior, ask again.
“Ah, no worries. Steven said you were a weird one. Let’s use this as practice. Go ahead, call me ‘hyung.’”
Mint hesitated.
Sadly, 10 years of prison life had wrecked her basic social skills.
Everything she’d learned back in Korea—manners, language, etiquette—had faded.
But she had survived in this lawless place, so it was a fair trade.
So… should I say it or not?
She had no one to ask—Steven had gone to a different floor with other prisoners.
Only Cain and unfamiliar guards were with her now.
Cain smiled wider.
“Go ahead, call me. Practice makes perfect.”
He walked right up to her with a kind smile and said:
“Yes. Hyung.”
“That’s informal, you brat. Say ‘Hyungnim’ (respected big brother).”
“Hyungnim.”
“Good. Again.”
“Hyungnim.”
“Louder!”
“HYUNGNIM!”
Cain’s smiling face twisted into a scowl.
“You little—”
He sneered.
“You really said it, huh?”
Mint saw his foot coming.
He was about to kick her shin—“joint cracking” as it was called.
If it hit, her bone might fracture.
She dodged it easily.
“…Did you just dodge?”
A cold silence filled the room.
Cain looked shocked.
He kicked with all his strength…
Cain used physical-type Kia and was proud of his strength even among guards.
While he stood stunned, Mint blinked slowly.
“Why’d you dodge, brat?!”
“Because pain sucks?”
The nerve of this rookie—Cain was dumbfounded.
“You little—! You’re just a rookie! When your senior tells you to do something, you do it!”
The other guards had been trying not to laugh, expecting a beating.
But the situation got awkward.
Who even is this rookie…?
“Stand straight! Say ‘yes’ or ‘no’—nothing else!”
“Yessir~”
Cain ground his teeth so hard his jaw looked like a walnut.
“Think you’re hot stuff just because you can use some Kia? This place is nothing like the outside world.”
“……”
“If you dodge again, I’ll have you kicked out. I’ve got the authority.”
Didn’t matter who recommended this rookie—Cain had to teach him reality.
That was his duty as a senior!
…Or so Cain thought.
Meanwhile, Mint was thinking:
The warden told me not to cause trouble…
Getting kicked out would be bad.
So Mint decided not to dodge the next kick.
But he didn’t say not to use Kia, right?*
Instead, she wrapped her leg in solid Kia.
How does muscle enhancement work again… like this?
Clang!
The sound was like metal striking metal.
“AAARGHHH!”
The result was clear.
Cain fell to the floor, holding his leg, rolling in pain.
What the—his leg’s like steel!
It felt exactly like kicking steel!
But how?!
Among those with physical Kia, only royal knights could do this.
There’s no way… Only top elite knights outside the prison can do this!
Cain stared up at her, clutching his leg—and swallowed hard.
