LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 2: Escape (2)
Kang-hoo did not take the guard’s clothes; they were merely third-grade guard uniforms.
To execute his escape plan, he required at least a second-grade guard uniform. The one before him wouldn’t suffice.
Firstly, Kang-hoo picked up the long sword that the deceased guard had carried.
It was a weapon item rated at the eighth grade in the classification system for hunter items, which comprised nine grades.
[Goblin Warrior's Long Sword]
[Grade: 8th]
[Strength +10]
‘Simple enough,’ he thought.
There were no special effects.Nevertheless, an increase in strength by 10 was significant.
Especially for Kang-hoo, whose physique was only slightly above average.
At present, Kang-hoo’s strength was a mere 5.
With an additional 10 points, he would at least match the strength level of someone after several months of weight training.
[Would you like to register the Goblin Warrior's Long Sword in the 'weapon' tab?]
He didn’t hesitate to complete the registration.
Within the structure of the hunter system, stat effects from an item were not applied unless registered in this manner.
Since a hunter could register only one weapon, owning multiple weapons did not mean benefiting from all their effects.
‘I have to get to the main gate,’ he thought.
Kang-hoo’s gaze shifted towards the heavily fortified main gate.
Taking this route was the most direct path to a swift escape.
It was also the escape route that Shin Kang-hoo had chosen in the original story.
The tried-and-true solution.
Given that Cheongmyeong Detention Center didn’t have many permanent guards, this was a logical choice.
Hunters with combat skills typically were out participating in dungeon raids, rather than overseeing detention centers.
‘That way lies a trap,’ he mused.
His eyes then moved to the northwest, towards Cheongmyeong Mountain.
At first glance, it looked dark, complex, and deficient in guard facilities, seemingly a safe escape route.
However, it was fraught with danger, laden with snares and traps, including caves prone to deep collapse.
It was a trap strategically set by Eclipse. Choosing that path would mean certain death.
‘I need to draw some attention.’
Kang-hoo, holding the long sword, strode past cell block 18 of the detention center and began walking in a different direction.
It led to a nearby dormitory for senior officers.
The straight-line distance from cell block 18 was about 50 meters, quite close.
Considering the time, except for one guard on watch, everyone else should have been asleep.
In any emergency, a siren would sound, rendering it inefficient to have many guards on duty.
As he neared the dozing guard, he tried to be as quiet as possible.
“Hmm…?”
The guard, sensing a faint presence, opened his eyes wide.
Since all guards were hunters, their keen senses were not to be underestimated.
Kang-hoo had anticipated this.
Having acquired the ability of the Dimension Plunderer permanently, he felt confident in handling the situation.
Whoosh!
Though it was a distance of over 10 meters, Kang-hoo instantly closed the gap using his leap skill.
It resembled less a flight through the air and more a sudden movement through space.
Kang-hoo’s position shifted in an instant, as if he had disappeared and reappeared from sight.
Swish!
With the long sword he had taken from the previously dispatched guard, he cleanly severed the head of the watchful guard.
Regardless of the high-quality reinforced equipment the guard wore, it was difficult to protect the most vulnerable part—the neck.
Whoosh!
The head fell, powerless to the ground.
Though the eyes stared at Kang-hoo with a look of bewilderment, he did not return the gaze and kicked the head aside.
He then quickly stripped the guard of his clothes.
Now, he was ready to start the actual escape. To buy even a little time, a disguise was crucial.
He couldn’t possibly escape through the main gate in prisoner-specific attire like a prison uniform, could he?
He changed into the guard’s clothes in the blink of an eye.
Despite bloodstains on various parts of the uniform, it was not a significant issue.
He claimed it was blood that had splattered while dealing with a dazed prisoner.
Incidents like this were commonplace in Cheongmyeong Detention Center.
He also quickly changed into conveniently stripped shoes.
They were 9th grade item shoes.
These shoes increased the agility stat by 5, which resulted in an expected increase in main power by about 10%.
Given that Kang-hoo’s unique talent was ‘quite excellent main power’, the synergy seemed promising.
Drip! Drip!
Kang-hoo fetched an oil drum near the guard station and began to pour its contents all around, making sure not to leave any spot untouched.
Since it was early spring and still cold, the oil had been prepared along with firewood for making fires.
Having emptied the oil drum, he lit a fire with a lighter he had taken from the inner pocket of the dead guard.
Whoosh!
Flames rose fiercely along the oil trail he had laid around the outskirts of the guard station.
This marked the beginning of his escape plan.
Time passed.
As the flames grew, their distinctive burning smell wafted through the air, and guards who were either on watch in other blocks or had been awoken by the commotion began to understand what was happening.
“What’s this? A fire?”
“It’s in front of block 18! Who did this? Aren’t bodies supposed to be incinerated at the incineration block, not here at the guard block?”
“Call the fire suppression team!”
Since fires were a frequent occurrence, none of the guards panicked.
This was, after all, a crime scene where the labor of hunter-origin prisoners was exploited, so the guards were prepared not just for emergencies but also for combat if necessary.
Suppressing the prisoners quickly was crucial for maximizing their labor in the magic stone mines.
Around that same time,
Kang-hoo walked boldly towards the main gate.
His steps were unmistakable; he walked just like a guard.
Seeing Shin Kang-hoo approach the main gate with confidence, the guards never suspected him to be a prisoner attempting to escape.
The gaze and bright lights pressed down on him, but the more intense they became, the bolder Shin Kang-hoo walked.
His steps remained true to the original intent.
Kang-hoo neither hurried nor scanned his surroundings with an anxious expression.
Just then—
“Stop!”
Click!
As lights flickered on in the guardhouses flanking the gate, spotlights bathed Kang-hoo in their glow.
Since guards worked in shifts, they did not all recognize one another.
Unless they took a close look, distinguishing a fellow guard from a prisoner was challenging.
Kang-hoo called out calmly.
“Hey, it’s me! From block 18! There’s a fire in our block, and it’s raging fiercer than we thought; we might need backup!”
Amidst the crisis, he behaved even more nonchalantly.
At the same time, he raised his arms and gestured behind him with his thumbs, redirecting the focused attention away from himself.
“Damn, a fire?”
“Who the hell smoked here?”
The diversion was successful.
Soon, the lights dimmed, and the interest in Kang-hoo dwindled.
Meanwhile, Kang-hoo quickened his pace toward a vehicle that was now in sight.
It was ready for departure.
Two guards were seated in the front, in the driver’s and passenger’s seats.
The vehicle was an open-type military jeep, making it easy to see which guards were inside.
They bore three skull insignias—third-grade guards.
The uniform Kang-hoo had donned belonged to a second-grade guard, a rank above theirs.
As Kang-hoo approached and nonchalantly opened the door to sit in the back seat, the driver glanced over and inquired,
“What’s the matter?”
“There’s an escapee. They slipped out between the barbed wires northwest of block 18. I’m heading there to cut off their escape route.”
Kang-hoo replied smoothly.
These details were familiar to him, as he was the creator of this world.
His answer was calculated, free of hesitation or faltering.
“You should have an assigned vehicle…”
The guard in the passenger seat glanced at Kang-hoo, but being of a lower rank, refrained from further questioning.
“Are we going to waste time talking here? Or would you prefer I get out and walk?”
“No, sir. Sorry. I’ll take you to your destination immediately.”
Chastened by Kang-hoo, the driver scratched the back of his head and pressed the accelerator.
Kang-hoo, with his arms crossed, maintained as relaxed a posture as possible, waiting for time to pass.
Soon, the two in front would notice something suspicious. It was clear he didn’t look like the guard he was impersonating.
Moreover, if they examined the bloodstains closely, they might notice something odd.
Any attempt to hide or cover up might arouse more suspicion.
Of course, the later they realized, the farther he would be from the main gate.
Kang-hoo decided to buy more time.
“Those prisoners. The ones who don’t listen should be killed outright, not just put in solitary.”
The driver chimed in.
“Honestly, they’re only hunters in name, losers who can’t even fend for themselves. We’re rehabilitating them.”
That was Eclipse’s slogan.
[Turning useless human trash into useful laborers.]
Kang-hoo had been kidnapped to Cheongmyeong Detention Center under such absurd pretexts.
The government and public authorities were confined to operating in Seoul.
Outside of that, it was a state of complete anarchy.
Pass!
Meanwhile, the final checkpoint outside the main gate was cleared, and the jeep entered the road leading out of the detention center.
After a period of silence, when they were more than 300 meters away from the checkpoint, the guard in the passenger seat, who had been looking uneasy and continuously checking behind, asked with narrowed eyes.
“Second-grade guard, sir.”
“Yes?”
“When did you arrive at block 18?”
“Two days ago.”
“You must have been on the ninth shift.”
“That’s right.”
Up to that point, Kang-hoo could answer easily because he knew the information.
He also knew whom he had killed.
But the problem lay in the question that came next.
“What was today’s password?”
A password known only to the guards.
It was never mentioned in the original story, so remembering it was impossible, even if he returned from the dead.
Kang-hoo didn’t try to think of a different answer.
He had foreseen this outcome from the beginning.
There was only one answer.
Swoosh! Thud!
Like lightning, he swiftly picked up the long sword beside him and struck the heads of the two guards in succession.
He made sure to imbue the sword with as much mana as possible.
While it didn’t manifest as a buff or skill, infusing the sword with mana increased its lethality.
“Urgh…”
“Gurk…”
Their reactions were so swift that if Kang-hoo had hesitated even for 0.5 seconds, let alone a whole second, he might have been overpowered.
The dying driver, eyes flipped inside out, already had a magic skill cast in his left hand.
And the guard in the passenger seat extended his right arm, aiming a dagger at Kang-hoo’s shoulder.
Boom!
“Ugh.”
The jeep, now driverless, crashed into the dirt wall along the mountain road and stopped.
If Kang-hoo hadn’t been holding onto the handle, he might have been ejected from the vehicle due to the impact.
Ping!
At that moment, Kang-hoo’s vision spun as if the world rotated 360 degrees.
“Damn mana hypersensitivity.”
He bit his lip hard.
Using all his mana for that strike seemed to have immediately overloaded his body.
Vroom!
From the direction of the checkpoint, the sound of an accelerator being pressed echoed.
Seeing the approaching headlights, there was no doubt that they were heading his way.
‘This is the final hurdle.’
Kang-hoo shook his head repeatedly to regain his senses.
The escape was not yet over.
He needed to put an end to it.