I Became a Prison Officer of the First-Class Prisoners

[ Chapter 1 ]

 

“I would’ve said it over and over.”

The low-pitched muttering was mixed with anger and contempt.

“You must die by my hand.”

When I opened my eyes, a pair of bloody red eyes shone through the pouring black hair and stared at me. His huge back, which had trapped me, twitched slowly as if the pain still lingered. His slightly loosened gaze and masculine features felt strangely unsettling.

“…..”

However, the embarrassed and shameful emotion disappeared when I met the cold crimson eyes.

I couldn’t breathe. The surrounding air was frozen in an instant. I barely turned my head after as my lower lip shook, like an animal caught in a trap at that terrifying gaze. There’s no paradise where you can escape. In the place where I tried to avoid his gaze, a clump of reddish-brown fur was haphazardly stuck and collapsed.

It was a dead werewolf.

I wonder how many of them died to make these mountains of werewolves. At that moment, I was reminded once again that Deon was a shinsu.

“Where are you looking? Look at me.”

The violent grip jerked my face forward.

“Look at me, officer. Before I really kill you.”

Is he annoyed that I’m not responding? With a commanding tone, the rough hand grabbed my jaw.

It definitely should have hurt. I should have felt pain from the insensitive touch that didn’t care about my well-being.

But…

“….kill me then.”

His disgust towards me, as if I were a bug, made me feel a surge of hope. I could really die this time.

“Kill me as you wish, Deon.”

“Then beg for it.”

His face, with a deepening frown, as if dissatisfied with something, came closer as he gave his command.

“Please kill me, Deon. Say it.”

As he lowered his upper body to the point where the tip of his nose touched mine, he let out a hot breath as if he was about to snatch my ear at any moment.

“Come on.”

The low tone, which tried to calm the excitement, cracked like a metal sound. The terrifying yet tickling breath made my body flinch. So, I spat out what he wanted me to say.

“…Please kill me, Deon.”

It didn’t matter if it wasn’t a werewolf. The only advantage of my numb body became crystal clear in the face of death, where I couldn’t feel any pain. 

Perhaps suffering was the only means of escaping death. However, I still wanted to escape from this hellish prison where human dignity disappeared, and I was still suffering without feeling any pain.

It didn’t matter if the one trying to kill me was Deon or a werewolf.

I just need to die.

“Please kill me, Deon.”

It seemed like one plea was not enough, so I submitted to his command once again.

“…no, I don’t want to kill you.”

I raised my eyes which had dropped in surprise at the low voice that was crueler than a death sentence.

“That look was pretty good just now, officer.”

My eyes, which were full of conviction, began to tremble at the unexpected answer. As if he liked it, he observed my face one by one, then raised the corner of his mouth terribly.

“Your leash and your life are both mine. They belong to me, who cannot be swayed by the likes of a mere werewolf or someone like you.”

You are crazy.

“I won’t kill you until I see your face, begging for mercy with tears and suffering, saying that you want to live, officer.”

My heart, which had been silent with a sense of relief that I could die, began to pump fiercely. There was a hint of fear in my expression reflected in his gruesome, blood-red eyes.

I have to get out of here right now. The emergency alarm was ringing and shouting in my head. I had to escape from this man to die peacefully.

“…crazy bastard.”

Before I knew it, I was muttering and struggling to break free from him, but suddenly his large hands grabbed my wrists tightly.

“You created it, this crazy bastard.”

A hot yet cold breath brushed against my ear.

“So now it’s my turn to tame you, officer.”

Screech.

He climbed over me and lifted his upper body to close the cell window with his other arm. The relationship had been reversed. Now, as a prisoner, he was trying to tame me, the prison officer.

◆

“Professor, I applied for the wild department, not the snake department.”

“Wild part?”

I showed the text on my cell phone to the professor.

 

Kim Eun-ji, Department of Animal Welfare, Daeji University
A successful candidate for the snake department
Congratulations.

 

“Yes. It has sensibility, and the skin is shiny.”

The reason I entered here was not that I loved animals.

I wanted to live alone.

Independence was the only answer to get out of the nauseating house, and Daeji University in the valley could fully explain to my relatives the cause I had left.

Furthermore, what if you get a job at the zoo and extend your dormitory life?

‘It’s the best.’

I wasn’t interested in this department in the first place, I hated slippery and sticky snakes or lizards that only fanatics like.

Mammals that were fairly safe might be okay.

If I can communicate with them to some extent, maybe I can even pet their fluffy fur if we become friends.

“……Hmmm, that’s right. Looking at Kim Eun-ji’s student records, she applied for a wild part, but I think the delivery was wrong.”

While checking the papers, the professor took off his glasses.

“Anyway, it’s going to be pretty hard with the wild, will it be okay? It’s a department that everyone is reluctant to do.”

I’d rather have a tiger than a snake or a lizard.

As I quickly nodded my head with the hope that he would just change it, the professor who was sniffling his nose over the application form looked at another document.

“If that’s what you mean, I see. So the child you’re going to be in charge of is… “

Huh.

It was a moment when I blinked while holding back the coming yawn.

At first, I thought I hadn’t opened my eyes.

When my focus became clear, feeling strange belatedly, I saw my hand swaying in my field of vision.

In front of me, there was no professor fumbling with papers, nor any worn-out ochre-colored wallpaper in the office.

“…so where am I?”

At the end of the corridor was a grim shadow. I had no idea how long it was or what was on the other side.

Just the moment I look at the long corridor, I feel a strange anxiety reminiscent of deep-sea phobia.

In the midst of all sorts of thoughts, a terrible scream was heard around me. Someone’s scream echoed ominously through the thick walls.

Something was strange.

The rough stone walls, flickering torches that swayed uneasily between them, and even the strange creaking of the prison bars all added to the unease.

Meanwhile, stone debris was falling from the ceiling. I stood up, blocking the debris with my palms, fearing that it might collapse at any moment.

First, I needed to figure out where I was.

“…prison?”

The shaking interior was so strange that even with both eyes open, it was hard to believe. Behind the thick vertical iron bars covered in moss between the bricks, a small space was visible. It looked like a single-person prison cell. The problem was that broken shackles were scattered around like trash.

I didn’t know what was going on, but one thing was for sure, it was a dangerous situation. After seeing the broken shackles, I felt uneasy and tried to turn my head away from the situation.

Yes, it could be a dream.

It would be better to have a dream than to become known as the first freshman to pass out during a meeting with the professor.

“….person…?”

As I was walking down the corridor with a restless mind, a black shadow appeared between the red lights flickering from the torches.

“Are you also trapped here?”

The reason I was able to shout without fear was that I hadn’t lost hope that this place was a dream.

If I had met someone, it might have shocked me awake. Then I would have become the first freshman who fainted during a meeting with the professor.

“Excuse me?”

I decided to call out once more just in case, and the black shadow that seemed about to disappear stopped its steps. It seemed to have finally discovered me after wandering around for a while. After a moment, the black figure approached me. While my steps were cautious, its footsteps were firm and deliberate, yet without hesitation.

But I was frozen with fear as I watched the growing shadow.

Normally, a person walks on two legs. However, the black figure not only walked on all fours, but it also seemed a bit too large to be human.

Like a beast. Then, it might not be a human but a bear?

I had to correct my assumption that it could be a human. It seemed like a real bear.

As if to answer my conviction, a sound that a beast could make was heard from the darkness of the hallway. I was both terrified and awed, and chills ran down my spine.

“….run away…..”

I gasped as I habitually muttered to myself, and my breath caught in my throat when I met the blood-red pupils staring back at me. The surrounding air became as sharp as broken glass in an instant. Within the shadow covering half of the corridor, a red light was gleaming distinctly.

It wasn’t human eyes.

They were the eyes of a predator.

I didn’t sense any presence, so when the hell did it come?

As I stood there, feeling my brain freeze up like a block of ice, it walked out from within the thick smoke.

It was a black panther.

Its sleek, black fur glistened in the light of the torches. Despite its massive size, towering over me, its thick forelegs moved with the grace of a river.

Is this what they mean when they say a statue has come to life?

The mere presence of it transformed the once dreary hallway into a realm of the divine.

 

“Anyway, it’s going to be pretty hard with the wild, will it be okay? It’s a department that everyone is reluctant to do.”

 

But it was too late for me to realize that the being in front of me was a fierce predator, as the professor’s words came to my mind.

Warning bells were ringing like crazy in my head.

I had to move my legs and run. I had to turn my head and body at the same time and run. My legs wouldn’t move, as if caught in a trap, but maybe it was for the better.

Yes. This must be a dream.

“Ah, ah…. fuck… a dream…”

“It’s a dream.”

As I opened my eyes, desperately trying to remember the spell from the cliché, the man’s chest suddenly appeared through the loosened tunic.

Startled, my plan to step back failed, as an incredible force grabbed my wrist.

“If this situation is a dream, wouldn’t it be so unfair, Lemony?”

“…Lemony?”

At that moment, I realized that the being in front of me was a human.

“Yes, you. Officer Lemony.”

As the low-pitched sound penetrated my ears, I realized something and opened my mouth slightly.

Officer Lemony.

The extra character of 『The Shackles on My Hands』 I read a month ago. For reference, Lemony was killed by that man within a minute of the novel’s start.

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Thank you for reading!