I Became a Leader in a Wretched Prison - Chapter 26

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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 26

By his will, the memory that had been causing his head to ache slowly faded away.

“Wow, you were so spirited earlier. Is this the end already?”

Helios turned his gaze while gasping for breath. The moment he lowered his head, something heavy swept past where his head had been.

It was a fist.

“Hah, hah. What’s this, you’re pretty decent for a low-level punk?”

“Decent my ass, you crazy bastards. It’s embarrassing being on the same floor as you! Can’t you beat that one thing with 3 against 1!”

“Graaah! Right! This is boring!”

Helios felt that the spear he had summoned in his hand would soon disappear.

On the other hand, the blazing fireball in the man’s hand before him had maintained the same firepower from when it hit Ged until now.

‘They’re different from the bugs.’

They were different from the mutant bugs he had faced on the 21st and 22nd Floors. They were also different from the mutant dogs he had faced on the 20th Floor.

Nevertheless, the reason he could endure was because the only person Helios had ever fought against was ‘Mint.’

These guys were slower than Mint and weaker than Mint.

“Tsk, if you’re weak, you should target weaknesses. Disciple.”

“Where do you even have weaknesses!”

“That’s why you need to create them. You’re weak, aren’t you.”

“….”

Mint was truly merciless.

“Create them by getting hit.”

Mint said that perfectly dodging everything would be too much for his level anyway.

As always, with an expressionless face, she would pour out harsh words bordering on personal insults and then teach him. Ah, of course she taught with her body.

In other words, he learned while getting beaten.

“Do I have to be called a lackey because of a XX like you! XX!!”

He dodged the fist of the charging man.

And he didn’t dodge the unlit fist that came flying toward his face as he ducked down.

The moment he got hit, he saw it.

‘An opening!’

Crack! The sound of a thick-skinned fruit splitting rang out.

Helios’s spear was strangely bent in a way unbefitting of a spear.

He had learned under Mint, who handled all types of Kia.

This allowed him to break away from the standardized and fixed forms that others followed when using Kia, and to learn usage methods that broke conventional thinking.

Just like now.

‘One down.’

The problem was the other one. He had barely taken down one guy, and his spear seemed like it would disappear soon.

“Wow, he beat someone from the lowest tier of intermediate level.”

“Ah, what the hell. That bastard. It’s just embarrassing. Damn. Hey! Someone just kill him!”

From the murmuring sounds, he seemed to be quite a high-level guy.

The remaining two couldn’t hold back and rushed in. It was the moment when one man’s weapon grazed Helios’s hair.

Crack!

With a tremendous sound, the guys who had rushed at Helios collapsed in his direction.

Thud.

What could be seen behind the fallen men was light brown hair. The small-framed Master waved her hands lightly.

“Wow. It’s been a while since I used bare fists.”

His Master soon frowned slightly.

“The punch didn’t feel very satisfying.”

Mint’s gentle eyes turned toward him. Helios swallowed his breath.

Because she happened to be standing with the window behind her.

It looked exactly like light was radiating from Mint.

“…You said you wouldn’t step in.”

“Why the formal speech?”

Mint tilted her head. Her face showed she didn’t care at all about everyone watching in shock or observing.

“Because right now you’re worthy of respect.”

Mint looked at Helios who was smiling slightly, and something didn’t quite sit right with her.

A scab had formed on his pretty face.

Mint quickly turned her head and stared at someone. It happened to be Seth from Ged’s group, who was just catching his breath.

Hiccup. Seth, who received that expressionless gaze, was suddenly startled and quickly swallowed his breath, causing him to hiccup.

Mint’s face was forcibly turned away.

Mint didn’t get angry at Helios for forcibly turning her face away.

“Who are you looking at?”

“Nothing.”

“So why did you step in? You said the punch didn’t feel satisfying.”

Soon returning to informal speech and continuing his complaints, Mint raised her hand at Helios’s appearance.

“Even if it’s not satisfying, I had to step in.”

Her hand was soon placed on the soft silver-white hair. Everyone uses the same cleaning agent in prison, so why is only the Male Lead’s hair texture good?

She chuckled softly.

“My disciple was getting beaten up.”

Helios lowered his head slightly.

Whether it was from getting hit in the face, his head felt dizzy and numb.

It was funny. Was he only feeling the pain now?

Moreover, heat suddenly rose.

This too, the heat only rose now.

Even though he got hurt a while ago.

“Huh, why did you turn red?”

“I don’t know!”

“…?”

Helios hung his head low. The sudden heat flowing through him was surely from the rough fight.

Just like this suddenly racing heart.

While suffering from these inexplicable symptoms, Helios hesitantly got up at Mint’s urging and looked somewhere, only then realizing.

Ged and Seth from Ged’s Group, supporting each other as they walked.

And Haira following behind them.

…In the end, Mint had helped those three.

* * *

“Well, Newcomer. You really aren’t just any ordinary crazy bastard, are you?”

After every incident, there’s always cleanup needed. The person who appeared to handle the aftermath of this fight was none other than my Mentor, Sergeant Steven.

Since the opponents were intermediate prisoners, the sergeants in charge of the Intermediate Prison had come down together.

“So how do you want to handle the cleanup?”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no, I found it quite entertaining.”

Sergeant Steven nodded enthusiastically.

“This is some kind of strategy to make Upper Management not forget about you, right? Since they’ll take you back if you’re useful anyway? Guards are always short-staffed.”

The more I think about it, this person is really convenient—he misunderstands things on his own. Since that works in my favor, I stayed quietly silent.

“So what do you want to do? Ah, I’m not scolding you, so just tell me. You caused the incident, so you handle the cleanup.”

“…Wouldn’t it be fine to follow the rules?”

“What. What rules.”

“Manual Article 7 ‘Attitude Toward Violence Against Guards’ Section 1. When a prisoner commits violence first, punishment is left to the discretion of the relevant guard.”

“But what. You weren’t attacked, were you.”

“Article 7 Special Provision Section 1. When hearing mockery, insults, obscenity, and dirty jokes above a certain level, guards may punish at their discretion.”

“….”

After the fight ended, guards appeared shortly after.

Helios and I, as well as Ged’s Group who had been getting beaten up initially, were all taken in together.

However, Brett who had been knocked out early was moved away by someone beforehand, so only Ged, Seth, and Haira came along.

Actually, violence between prisoners isn’t usually treated this seriously, but Helios and I were clearly marked as persons of interest by the lower-ranking guards.

Anyway, while being taken in together with the perpetrators, I heard a bit from Haira.

“Ged and I first got on their bad side because of you and that New Prisoner over there.”

“Why because of us?”

“Some bastards were saying things about you and your colleague Helios that I can’t even repeat. They’ll live long lives. Getting full on curses alone.”

Haira muttered quietly enough that only I could hear.

Well, to interpret it, they were saying stuff about a man and a man getting together and whatnot.

Even by the standards here, it was quite filthy.

Anyway, since I wasn’t really a man, I didn’t particularly feel bad about it.

Helios would be different.

‘To someone who’s going to go out and have a sweet romance with the pretty Female Lead.’

If the future Helios had heard this, he would have been furious beyond just feeling wronged.

“But why did you step in? It had nothing to do with you guys.”

“I didn’t step in from the beginning either. Ged stepped in first. Then when the fight escalated, I got dragged into it.”

“….”

“Then I just thought it wasn’t right. Either way, I owed them my life.”

Perhaps because of me, the story has become jumbled, so even if Helios doesn’t meet the Female Lead.

There’s no reason to endure such insults. But I can’t pay attention to and check every single thing that happens behind the scenes either.

“I thought you had a cunning personality, but this is unexpected.”

“You’re strong, so you can say whatever comes to mind, right? Well. I may be a cunning criminal like you said, but I do feel gratitude. Though I regret it.”

“….”

“But I might owe them my life again in the future, you know?”

Whenever I was on the same Floor and in the same Zone as Ged’s Group, I never specifically saved them.

But thinking about it, both Helios and I had killed an enormous amount of bugs, so it could certainly be seen as help to them.

Moreover, I had memories of directly cutting down the Scarecrows on the 21st Floor and 22nd Floor.

‘I eliminated them because they might be a threat to Helios.’

Anyway, afterwards we were taken away by the guards one by one, and when my turn came, I met Sergeant Steven. That’s what happened.

I briefly told Sergeant Steven what I had heard from Haira.

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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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