I Became a Leader in a Wretched Prison - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 19

I chuckled softly with my eyes closed again.

“From the 20th Floor onwards, prisoners can enter the Tower whenever they want.”

“….”

“It’s not like before where you only go in once a week.”

From the 20th Floor onwards is where those who’ve risen from the lowest grade to ‘Lower Grade 3’ ascend.

“We’re entering the Tower tomorrow, so rest up.”

I expected Helios to say something like ‘what kind of nonsense is this?’

He must have had a rough day getting beaten up today too.

“…You know a lot about the Tower.”

“Of course, I’m a guard.”

No complaints earns him 100 points.

Being pretty gets him an additional 100 bonus points.

“Since you’re being good, should I tell you something?”

“What’s so good about me?”

“The fact that you glare at me like that but don’t voice a single complaint?”

“….”

“Do you know what prisoners who first enter this place need most?”

Helios fell silent for a moment.

As I asked the question, a memory flashed before my eyes.

It was a very old memory.

‘When I first entered the 1st Floor, I really thought I was going to die.’

The 1st Floor is hard to endure even with an adult body like Helios’s.

I was twelve years old at the time.

When I somehow survived and came out.

I remembered someone I first saw in the Cell I returned to. A woman with a kind smile.

“Mama….”

I lifted my head up.

“The answer is ‘backing’.”

“Huh?”

“Since you’re weak, you quickly latch onto the strong.”

“….”

“This isn’t being servile. It’s necessary for survival.”

I turned my body around to face Helios’s direction and propped up my temple.

“In that sense, you really met a great mentor, didn’t you?”

“…So it was self-praise in the end.”

Helios clicked his tongue as if drained of energy and lay down on the remaining right bed.

‘The fire isn’t out.’

I quietly stared at the ceiling before turning my gaze.

“Helios! We’re in big trouble.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I’m telling you it’s really serious. Come over here quickly.”

Helios frowned but got up and approached me. Despite everything, he really does listen well.

Just looking at his appearance, you’d think he could charm anyone into doing anything for him, but surprisingly he never made any requests.

He’s an upright young man at heart. To think someone like this would later turn dark.

I smiled mischievously.

“Turn off the fire.”

“…What?”

“Turn it off.”

“…”

“Please turn it off, my disciple?”

I received curses from Helios. It wasn’t even surprising anymore.

And when Helios approached to turn off the fire while spewing curses.

I used Kia to extinguish the fire.

“How’s that for your master’s ability?”

The night fell with curses.

* * *

“Mmm, refreshing.”

The next morning. Helios got up from his spot with a haggard face.

Mint’s sweet voice could be heard from the next bed, but he wasn’t in the mood to listen.

‘I couldn’t sleep a wink.’

It was because he couldn’t get even a moment’s sleep. It couldn’t be helped.

Unpleasant events from the past had appeared in his dreams.

It was a nightmare.

His father, who had framed him and thrown him into prison, had also appeared.

Helios’s fist clenched tightly.

Helios could have died in this place. No, he would have definitely died.

If not for that self-proclaimed master over there stretching with a refreshed face.

He would have died on the 1st Floor.

The more he reflected on it, the more he couldn’t forgive his father.

‘…No matter what happens, I will survive.’

And he resolved to escape from this damned prison and definitely return.

He would return to the Ducal House and take revenge on his father for everything.

Helios clenched his fist tightly.

“Good morning.”

Before he knew it, Mint was standing in front of Helios. Helios stared at his mentor with an annoyed look.

It was because the resentment from last night hadn’t been resolved.

“…Not really.”

Mint tilted her head.

Huh, did his handsome face become half of what it was in just one night?

“Did I snore or something?”

“You know well.”

“No way. I sleep like the dead.”

“…”

“Someone said they thought I was a rotting corpse and got startled. Said they almost put me in a coffin.”

“…”

“Just kidding.”

“…Who the hell says stuff like that?”

“A colleague.”

Do guards exchange crude remarks with each other? Helios frowned again today.

Actually, Mint’s words weren’t wrong.

Last night, while tossing and turning unable to sleep properly, he was so startled by not hearing any breathing sounds from beside him.

Helios had unconsciously gotten up to check if there was actually someone in the bed next to him.

She was someone who became even more undetectable when asleep.

“It’s a beautiful morning, so snap out of it.”

“How do you know if it’s a nice day in a room without windows?”

“Intuition, intuition.”

A beat later, the wake-up alarm echoed throughout the entire prison.

“The day has dawned, the day~”

She was a strange person.

‘She definitely wasn’t like this when she was a guard.’

When she was a guard, she had neat attire and tried to imitate a proper guard, even if she was strange in some ways.

Of course, she seemed to feel that she was an excellent guard.

But now she had wrinkled clothes from sleeping and a completely disheveled appearance.

Even though she had just woken up, she showed no concern about her appearance at all.

Moreover, hadn’t her way of speaking changed too?

The more he looked…

“Bragging about yourself again?”

“Hey now. Don’t talk back when your master is speaking.”

“….”

Helios didn’t answer. No, he couldn’t.

The moment Mint spoke, Kia flowed from her hands and suddenly grabbed Helios’s ankle, tripping him.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Master.”

“…What are you doing, you damn master.”

“Hey now, just adding ‘master’ doesn’t make it everything, does it?”

The Kia that had become a Golden Rope from Mint’s hand oxidized into an elegant light and spread smoothly.

“Surprise attack.”

Mint was smiling brightly amidst the light.

“From now on, I’ll attack at any time, regardless of the moment.”

There are no rules in the fights here.

Rules? Where would such things exist?

Poison and violence. Assassination, discord, isolation. Any despicable method was used as a tool of selfishness where winning was all that mattered.

“Try defending yourself.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Do you think only pretty attacks that announce ‘I’m attacking now’ will come in the Tower?”

“….”

“What about outside the Tower?”

Helios, left speechless, grumbled as he got up from his position.

“What’s wrong with giving advance warning?”

“I don’t know what precious world you came from, but would it be a surprise attack if I warned you in advance?”

“Hah….”

“More than that, there’s one more thing prisoners here need. What do you think it is?”

Helios was in a fully guarded stance. It was obvious he was preparing for an attack that could come at any moment.

It seemed I should meet his expectations.

Crash!

“….”

“The answer is ‘Colleague’. Oh, and if you make it obvious that you’re preparing for my attack like that, your openings become more visible.”

“…I’m going to kill you.”

“Yeah, that fighting spirit is very good.”

Mint casually brushed off Helios’s anger and helped him up with Kia.

Only Helios was dumbfounded by her attitude of causing harm then offering help.

“You need colleagues with similar abilities, or outstanding talent. You can’t survive here alone.”

“Absolutely not?”

Mint nodded lightly.

Everyone here needed solidarity. Even Mint herself had survived here that way and became the Boss.

“It’s like a school of herring. Forming groups to drive away predators. You know?”

“Not getting devoured by a pack?”

Mint shrugged her shoulders.

“Anyway, I told you, didn’t I?”

Her questionable attitude only deepened Helios’s suspicions.

She had acted the same way when giving him hints before entering the 1st Floor.

“Come on, let’s go eat.”

Bang bang! sounds could be heard from afar. It was the sound of guards knocking on the prisoners’ doors.

After roll call ended, they would head to the cafeteria.

“But…”

Helios flinched.

He felt a slightly cool, refreshing sensation on his forehead.

The source of the touch was Mint’s hand.

Mint had bent down at some point and was touching his fallen forehead.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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