He is a legendary prison guard

Episode 29
Is this a restraint technique?

“Did you do well on the exam?”

I was looking at the work assignment chart in the break room when someone asked that.

Turning around, I saw my colleague, Jun-cheol.

“I did well.”

Since it was Jun-cheol, I answered without being modest, showing that it was only natural.

“Oh, congratulations.”

“Haha, it was nothing special.”

“If your performance and written exam were that good, are you thinking of going to a place like Nambu Prison?”

Jun-cheol asked with a hint of concern.

Nambu Prison, rumored to be the number one popular place in Seoul, was known as a paradise.

Most correctional officers would choose it if they had the opportunity due to its popularity.

If Shi-hyun chose that place, I would genuinely congratulate him, but the feeling of regret at not being able to work together anymore was greater.

“Nambu? I don’t have any particular reason to go there. I should stay here. Adapting to a new place is a hassle… This place is just comfortable for me.”

It was a relief for Jun-cheol that Shi-hyun wasn’t planning to transfer somewhere else for this promotion.

Before passing the 7th-grade special recruitment exam, he had thought about staying here to solve quests and build a useful network.

Jun-cheol brightened up.

“Really? That’s good to hear. I have to treat you to a meal then.”

“Let’s go for pork belly. Not an all-you-can-eat place, but somewhere nice. And not soju, but bokbunja.”

“Wow, you’re trying to take advantage of me. Okay, okay.”

“I’m serious. I’m not joking.”

Shi-Hyun chuckled and returned to looking at the work assignment chart.

Jun-cheol looked at him curiously.

“Why are you staring so hard at the assignment chart when you’re fixed in your position anyway?”

Shi-Hyun was fixed as the weekly duty officer.

There was no chance of applying for shifts in other departments.

He occasionally worked in the ward or hospital only on weekends.

“I want to go out on a mission. Ah, I need to go out on a mission. Is there any way to temporarily change my assignment?”

Shi-hyun answered with a slightly troubled expression.

To tie up a hundred people, going out on a mission was the only answer.

Unless he had a hundred close friends to tie up, it was awkward.

Anyone who has been tied up knows that even if it’s just practice, being restrained feels unpleasant. It gives off the feeling of being a criminal along with the pain.

In any case, the answer was to go out on a mission.

In the morning and afternoon, many inmates went out on missions, so if things went well, it could be finished in a day.

But the problem was that he had to change his assignment.

That was a bothersome task requiring permission from upper management.

“You want to go out on a mission? Then when you get promoted, your position will change anyway, so why not apply to the mission team then?”

It was mid-November, and the official promotion announcement would come in early January.

That meant he had to wait for over a month.

Moreover, he had no intention of going to the mission team.

Staying in the weekly duty position was necessary to use the power of the iron-fisted guard to build his network.

“No, Hyung. I don’t want to go to the mission team. I just want to get out a bit for a change of scenery since I’ve been stuck in the same place. Anyway, I should probably talk to the assignment manager.”

He couldn’t just directly talk to the security chief just because he had a good relationship with him.

There was a reason for having a direct supervisor, and there was a reason for the reporting system.

Ignoring that would mean he couldn’t navigate social life properly.

He would be labeled as someone without common sense.

“Okay? Talk to the assignment manager well. And if you want to eat, contact me on my day off.”

“Yes, hyung. I’ll contact you.”

—

**<0x07> <0x07> <0x07>**

During lunchtime, I happened to run into the assignment manager.

It was in front of the washroom.

I had planned to visit the security office during my break, but since I ran into him, I decided to bring it up.

“Hello, Manager.”

“Oh, hey.”

As the manager greeted me and was about to pass by, I spoke up.

“I have something to discuss. Is this a good time?”

“Uh, sure. Go ahead.”

I had expected him to ask me to come back later, but fortunately, the manager answered positively.

“I’d like to temporarily swap my assignment.”

“Swap? Saturday? Or Sunday?”

Usually, when correctional officers swap assignments, it means weekend shifts.

If a weekend shift was scheduled but there was an unavoidable event like a wedding, they would ask another officer for understanding and request to cover for them.

Then, the officer who covered would take the weekend shift of the one who asked for the favor.

Such cases were common.

So, the assignment manager understood it as a weekend shift swap.

“No, not the weekend. I want to go out on a mission.”

“Out on a mission?”

“Yes, I want to swap with someone going out on a mission for just one day with my duty in the ward.”

The assignment manager thought for a moment and then spoke again.

“Hey, this is complicated.”

“Come on, our smart assignment manager, what are you talking about? If you just say okay, I can find someone to cover right away.”

I said with a smile, trying to be charming.

“This isn’t something I can just say okay to… Even if it’s just for a day, if I pull you out of the ward, I’m going to get in trouble. I have to report it up.”

“Yes, yes, you should. Please let them know that I’m feeling stifled just being in the ward and want to get some fresh air.”

I made a slight expression of desperation, hoping the higher-ups would approve.

Since I had just changed to this position with CRPT and had exceeded expectations, it seemed likely they would approve such a request.

“I got it. I’ll talk to them.”

“Thank you, Manager.”

I smiled and saluted.

—

**<0x07> <0x07> <0x07>**

In the end, my request to go out on a mission was approved.

The ward where I worked was known for having a near-perfect order among inmates, making it easy to find a substitute.

I headed to the mission team with a more relaxed pace than usual.

The mission team started work a little later than the weekly ward.

“Wow, the ace of the security team.”

“What brings the ace of the security team to the mission team?”

As I sat in the mission team break room, the staff there threw playful remarks my way every time they saw me.

After the documentary aired, I became a famous figure in the correctional facility, known across various departments.

It was no small feat among over 500 employees.

“Just relax; take it easy.”

The mission team manager, who came to get coffee, told me.

The staff were busy preparing for the mission, but they didn’t give me any signals to work.

There were almost no expectations for support personnel in the mission team.

Since I usually worked in security and occasionally came to help out, it was natural that I didn’t know how the mission team operated.

Especially with restraint techniques, expectations were nonexistent.

If you didn’t practice for about two weeks, your skills would deteriorate.

But if I came occasionally to do restraints, it was only natural that I would be clumsy.

Because of that, even if I was slow in doing the restraints, the mission team staff understood.

If a regular mission team member did that, they would be heavily criticized.

“Don’t I have to do some directing too?”

Not wanting to just sit idly, I asked.

Directing meant escorting the inmates going out on a mission from the ward to the mission team.

“No, it’s fine. We have our people for that. Just go into Room 3 later and help tie up a few.”

Room 3 referred to the waiting room where inmates waited before going out on a mission.

There were five waiting rooms, and I was told to go into Room 3 later to help with the restraints.

“Okay, understood.”

I sat back down.

If they said not to, there was no need to move.

As I was resting, I heard the sound of inmates arriving.

I went out and saw the inmates being escorted into the waiting room.

I also entered Room 3.

Inmates were seated on a long bench.

On the opposite side, a large table held handcuffs and restraint ropes.

The restraint ropes were neatly organized according to their arrangement.

With just a pull on one, it could be unraveled and tied immediately.

The managers approached the handcuffs.

Since putting on handcuffs was much easier than restraint techniques, that was the responsibility of the managers.

Restraints were usually done by correctional officers and teachers.

Once the handcuffs were on, they used the handcuff-and-restrain technique to tie them up.

As the mission team staff began to grab the restraint ropes, I also picked one up.

“Take your time, but just be accurate. No one will complain.”

A nearby mission team member said.

“Can I do it fast?”

“Eh? Haha.”

He seemed to take my question as a joke and laughed.

“Alright, come over here and stand.”

The inmates stood in front of the officers, holding the restraint ropes.

One inmate stood in front of me.

“I’m going to tie you up.”

I said and used the skill of restraint technique.

Suddenly, my hands began to move on their own.

They moved at an incredible speed.

It felt as if it was being played back in slow motion.

I swiftly tied the inmate’s hands and turned them around. Then I began to tie them up at lightning speed.

One,
Two,
Three.

In the time it took to count to three, the inmate was completely bound by the restraint ropes.

‘Huh….’

I was taken aback.

While I had seen the description of the skill taking three seconds, experiencing it firsthand was on a whole different level.

The inmate also looked extremely surprised.

Normally, they would grumble about being tied too tightly, but they seemed to forget that and stared in awe.

“Um… uh… Once you’re done, please go back and sit down.”

I calmed my surprised heart and said,.

As I grabbed a new restraint rope and glanced around, correctional officers and inmates alike wore expressions of disbelief.

They seemed to be questioning whether they had truly seen what they thought they had.

“Is no one coming next?”

“I’m coming.”

An inmate with handcuffs approached me with a strange look.

This time, as I prepared to use the restraint technique again, even the nearby officers paused to watch.

They were wide-eyed, as if they wanted to confirm whether what they had seen was real.

“I’m going to tie you up.”

I said and used the restraint technique again.

“Wow, this is unreal.”

“Is this for real?”

“Does this even make sense?”

“He’s like a machine, a machine.”

As I tied up another inmate in the blink of an eye, the correctional officers muttered in disbelief.

Even the top officers in the mission team couldn’t move that fast.

And yet, here was a security officer doing it?

It seemed impossible that anyone could achieve that speed, even if they had practiced restraint techniques since birth.

The manager, who was in charge of the handcuffs, shook his head and spoke.

“Wait, did you tie them up properly? Did you perhaps tie them too loosely?”

When tying up many inmates according to the standard procedures, it was often tight on time, and mission team members would sometimes tie them loosely based on the situation.

For example, they might only tie one side when both sides need to be secured.

The mission team staff had their techniques for tying loosely.

But even so, it was crucial not to tie them too loosely.

That was the one thing that had to be maintained.

The manager asked that question out of concern.

“It’s not loose. It’s not too tight either. It seems like I tied them up properly.”

I hesitated a bit in my response, noting that there seemed to be a difference between the restraint technique of Poahim and the current handcuff technique.

Ultimately, the method wasn’t that important.

As long as it wouldn’t come undone and was difficult to untie later.

“That wasn’t loose at all. You tied me up so tight it hurts like hell. Are you trying to kill me?”

The inmate I had tied up grumbled.

Usually, if someone complained like this, most correctional officers would loosen the ropes.

Continuously grumbling was a huge annoyance.

However, I wasn’t just any correctional officer.

I smiled and used the power of the iron-fisted guard.

“Just stay quiet. Don’t you know this is a quiet zone?”

“Sure, haha, I know. It has to be quiet.”

The inmate suddenly broke into a bright smile.

It was a naive smile, as innocent as a herbivore.

The correctional officers felt goosebumps at the sight of the robber with such a pure and innocent expression.

“Manager, should I continue with the restraints?”

I looked at the manager with a big smile.

“Uh? Uh, yeah… Keep going, keep going.”