He is a legendary prison guard

Episode 23 
An Unexpected Gift

Shi-hyun woke up completely after receiving a call from Sang kyu.

He wasn’t the type to joke about things like this, so it must be true.

He had occasionally seen videos that became popular online, but he never imagined he would be one of them.

Feeling dazed, he got up from his seat and turned on his computer.

“Ugh… what is this…?”

Haying, disturbed by the sudden noise and light, frowned and buried her face in the blanket, turning away.

“Ah… don’t you have any sleep left? Even though it’s Sunday, can’t you sleep in a bit? Ugh…”

“I’m sorry. I’ll be quiet, so don’t mind me and keep sleeping. I won’t wake you.”

Shi-hyun said apologetically.

Since the documentary had ended late last night, his sister had decided to stay over at his apartment for the night.

Being careful not to make any noise, he sat in his chair and opened the internet.

When the portal site ‘Naver’ loaded as his homepage, he immediately clicked on the news section, thinking there might be an article about the prison documentary.

“There it is.”

It was there.

But it was among the most-viewed news articles.

He quickly clicked on the article titled, “72 Hours Inside the Korean Prison: A Sea of Tears.”

The content described the overall theme of the documentary, how the filming location was filled with the remorseful tears of the inmates, and comments from the filming team.

It seemed like the article had been written in advance of the broadcast, as it was just a standard article.

However, the number of comments was astonishing.

It was not an article about a popular entertainment program, yet it had hundreds of comments.

“Holy…”

Shi-hyun clicked to view the comments, eyes wide in surprise.

There were many comments about him.

“This episode of 72 Hours was super entertaining! I loved how the inmates who used to act tough were so scared of the guards and looked down. So satisfying!
LOL”

“But that guard seems like a total slave, right? He gets summoned every time something happens. Haha.”

“Does this even make sense? Those criminals look like they would do anything, yet they’re scared of a single guard.”

“Don’t believe it. Everything on TV is staged.”

“My brother works on the 72 Hours documentary, and they don’t stage anything. Don’t spread weird rumors.”

“Come on, would they stage a documentary?”

“Is he blackmailing them or something? LOL Like, does he have some naked video or something? Otherwise, they wouldn’t act like that.”

“Like a voice phishing naked video? LOL Do they threaten to spread it to people they know if they don’t listen?”

“The Dignity of the Guard; this video is addictive. Click the link and go watch.”

“But are those criminals crying and repenting? I can’t believe it. I don’t trust those criminals.”

“If that’s acting, shouldn’t they be heading to Hollywood?”

“What the…?”

Shi-hyun blinked and rubbed his eyes.

Even though it was a public broadcast, he never imagined the audience’s reaction to the documentary would be this explosive.

It seemed that the shocking way he subdued the inmates had caught people’s attention.

He thought it would be somewhat of a topic, but he never expected it to be to this extent.

He was just glad he wore a mask.

Next, Shi-hyun browsed through various communities to see the reactions.

In every community, posts about the documentary exploded after it aired. There were quite a few popular posts featuring him.

Shi-hyun wore a complex expression, unsure whether he should be happy or not.

If he were an aspiring entertainer, he might have been thrilled, but as an ordinary person, the sudden attention online felt burdensome.

Of course, he knew that internet interest tends to fade quickly.

As his head spun with thoughts, Shi-hyun stood up to get a glass of cold water.

At that moment, a notification popped up.

As your fame increases, Poahim is very pleased. He wishes to present you with one of his treasures as a congratulatory gift.

[You received Poahim’s restraint rope.]

[Active Skill: Restraint Technique has appeared.]

“…Huh? Huh?
What is this?”

“Ah, come on… you said you’d be quiet!”

“Ah, sorry, sorry.”

He must have raised his voice unintentionally because the notification was too surprising.

But it was indeed shocking.

Wait, he gave me an item?

And a skill appeared?

And my fame increased?

Shi-hyun quickly opened his status window to check his current status in the upper right corner.

Fame: Slightly Known Position: 9th Grade Guard

“Wow… it went up.”

Shi-hyun murmured, covering his mouth.

His fame had risen from ‘completely unknown’ to’slightly ‘known.’

It seemed that because of the documentary, he had become known to more people than he expected. Even now, the video is probably circulating among many.

The power of media… incredible.

Next, Shi-hyun looked at the skill window.

Passive: Veteran Guard’s Insight
Active: Restraint Technique,???
(Inactive),??? (Inactive)

“Huh?”

Shi-hyun was surprised again.

He thought the inactive skills had been activated, but some skills did not exist before.

What on earth is this?

It wasn’t just three skills.

Is this guy hiding his abilities too much?

While it was a good thing, he felt a bit like he was being teased.

With a strange expression, Shi-hyun examined the Restraint Technique skill closely.

Shi-hyun knew well what a restraint technique was, so the description was just as he expected.

Although he had few opportunities to use the restraint technique as a security guard, in the dispatch department, he had to tie up inmates like they were fish.

Thus, the restraint technique was an essential skill for guards.

So it was even more unusual that Poahim didn’t know this technique.

But three seconds?

He had heard that fast guards could do it in about ten seconds, so this was three times faster.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he was a god of restraint techniques.

‘This could be useful.’

This skill seemed to have some practical applications.

First, it would be very useful when he had to go on dispatch duty, and if there was a need to capture someone, he could just bind them with the restraint technique.

However, to use the restraint technique, he needed the restraint rope.

The message about receiving Poahim’s Restraint Rope earlier must have been for this reason.

Shi-hyun checked his inventory.

Sure enough, there was an unfamiliar item.

[Poahim’s Restraint Rope] (Rare) A restraint rope made from the tendons of a royal griffin. Extremely tough and durable, making it hard to cut with sharp objects.

“Oh, rare.”

Shi-hyun was delighted.

He still remembered the nightmare of the ‘Poahim’s Guard Staff,’ which was a common item, so just having ‘Poahim’ in the name made him anxious.

The Guard Staff of Poahim was hardly useful for hunting and was only used occasionally for shaking out blankets.

But thankfully, it seemed there was at least one rare item that Poahim had used.

Shi-hyun poured himself a glass of cold water and organized his thoughts.

‘If my fame increases, the rewards are no joke. Then?’

He received a skill and an item.

It wouldn’t be easy to increase his fame further.

But what about promotion?

He could probably achieve at least 8th grade soon.

The promotion exam date was coming up soon.

The evaluation would surely be good, so as long as he didn’t mess up the exam, promotion was practically guaranteed.

Then maybe he would receive another skill or an item.

He could become stronger.

‘What about 7th grade?’

Shi-hyun looked further ahead.

These days, the minimum period for promotion has decreased significantly, but it still felt like a long time to him.

So there were two ways.

One way was to pass the 7th grade public exam.

This was impossible.

Studying for 7 subjects while working?

Knowing his studying abilities, Shi-hyun ruled this option out.

The other way was the special recruitment exam for awakened correctional officers.

During his time as a civil service exam candidate, he had been curious about whether such a special recruitment existed and had remembered it until now.

Awakened individuals of D grade or higher could be directly recruited as 7th-grade officers by passing just two subjects: Introduction to Correctional Studies and Introduction to Criminal Procedure Law.

It seemed that those who wanted stable jobs rather than risking their lives in raid operations applied for this.

Of course, from grade C onward, the income was so substantial that unless they were exceptional, they wouldn’t apply for this.

Moreover, from grade B onward, there was even special recruitment for grade 5.

Correctional officers recruited through this special process primarily worked in special facilities where awakened individuals were incarcerated.

Naturally, awakened individuals could still commit crimes.

So, it was extremely difficult for regular correctional officers to manage such awakened individuals.

That’s why awakened individuals worked as correctional officers to manage other awakened inmates.

In any case, this was a possibility.

If he increased his mana by 10,000, he would reach a D grade, and only two subjects needed to be studied.

‘Alright, let’s do this.’

Shi-hyun ‘s eyes sparkled.

Not only would he achieve success, but he would also become stronger.

It sounds great, right?