LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 29
Chapter 29: This is 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 exceptionally well.”
Since it was Jun-cheol, I replied confidently, as if it were a given.
“Oh, congratulations.”
“Haha, it’s nothing. Just a piece of cake.”
“If your scores and writing are that good, does that mean you’ll be choosing where to go next? You’re not planning to just drift off to Southern Prison, are you?”
Jun-cheol threw the question casually, but he wasn’t without concern.
Southern Correctional Facility was the most popular spot in Seoul, rumored to be the number one paradise for correctional officers.
Most officers with good scores would choose it if given the chance. It was that popular.
Of course, if Si-hyun selected that place, I would genuinely congratulate him, but the disappointment of not being able to work together anymore weighed heavier.
“Southern Prison? I don’t really have a reason to go there. I should stay here. Adapting to a new place is a hassle… This place is just more comfortable for me.”
For Jun-cheol, it was a relief that Si-hyun wasn’t planning to move elsewhere for this promotion.
Before passing the 7th level special recruitment exam, he just wanted to stay here, solve quests, and build a useful network.
Jun-cheol smiled brightly.
“Really? That’s music to my ears. I’ll have to treat you to a meal.”
“Let’s go for samgyeopsal. Not the unlimited refill kind, but a fancier place. Let’s skip the soju and have some bokbunja instead.”
“Huh, you’re really going all out, huh? Alright, alright.”
“This isn’t a joke. I’m serious.”
As Si-hyun chuckled and returned to staring at the work assignment chart, Jun-cheol looked at him with confusion.
“Why are you staring so hard at the assignment chart when you’re locked in place?”
Si-hyun was fixed as the day shift assistant duty officer.
He didn’t need to apply to work in other departments.
Occasionally, he might rotate into the ward or hospital on weekends, but that was about it.
“I just want to get out for deployment. Ah, I really need to get out for deployment. Can we switch assignments just temporarily?”
Si-hyun replied, looking a bit troubled.
To restrain a hundred humans, there was no other answer but a deployment.
Unless he had a hundred close friends he could restrain.
Even if they were close, restraining them was a delicate matter.
Anyone who has been tied up would know that even if it’s just practice, being restrained feels a bit dirty. It’s as if one has turned into a criminal, and there’s pain as well.
In any case, deployment was the answer.
Throughout the morning and afternoon, quite a number of inmates were deployed, so it was entirely possible to finish in a day if things went well.
But the problem was that it required changing assignments.
That was a cumbersome task that needed approval from the higher-ups.
“You want deployment? If you want to go to deployment, you know your position will change once you get promoted, right? Just wait until then.”
It was mid-November now, and the official promotion notice wouldn’t come until early January.
That meant waiting for more than a month.
Moreover, he had no intention of going to deployment.
Staying stuck in the day shift was important to utilize the Iron-Blooded Guard’s abilities to build his network.
“No, hyung. I don’t want to go to deployment. I’m just cooped up all the time in here, so I’d like to get some fresh air. Anyway, I need to talk to the assignment chief.”
You can’t just go direct with the Security Department Head just because you’ve built some rapport.
There’s a reason for a direct supervisor, and there’s a reason for a reporting system.
Ignoring that would mean failing at social life.
You’d get labeled as an inconsiderate person.
“Really? Talk to the assignment chief properly. And if you want to eat, contact me on my off day.”
“Yes, hyung. I’ll reach out.”
◈ ◈ ◈
I happened to run into the assignment chief during lunch breaks.
It was in front of the washroom.
Actually, I had planned to visit the Security Department office during my break, but seeing as I ran into him, I decided to bring it up.
“Hello, Chief.”
“Oh, hey.”
As the assignment chief just greeted and tried to walk past, Si-hyun said.
“I have something to discuss, if you have a moment?”
“Oh, sure. Go ahead.”
I had expected a response asking me to come back later, but fortunately, the chief agreed readily.
“I’m hoping to swap assignments for just a while.”
“Huh? Saturday? Or Sunday?”
Usually, when correctional officers swap assignments, it meant working on the weekend.
If a correctional officer had a wedding or unmissable event on a weekend, they would ask another officer to cover for them, and the one who filled in would take over the weekend shift in the same manner.
That kind of exchange happened commonly.
So the assignment chief understood it as swapping for the weekend.
“It’s not for the weekend. I want to go out for deployment.”
“Deployment?”
“Yes, I’d like to switch positions for just one day with a deployment officer while I’m in the ward.”
The assignment chief pondered for a moment but then spoke.
“Ugh, this is complicated.”
“Come on, our smart chief could manage this without breaking a sweat. If you just give me the O.K., I can find someone to trade positions with right away.”
Si-hyun replied with a grin.
“This isn’t something that just ends with my say-so… Even if it’s just for a day, if I take you out of the ward, I’m going to get in trouble. I need to report this up.”
“Yes, yes, that has to be done. Just please convey to them that I really feel cooped up in the ward and need some fresh air.”
Si-hyun made a face suggesting he was extremely troubled and emphasized that point.
It seemed likely that the higher-ups would give their approval.
Even after being abruptly transferred to CRPT, hadn’t he performed better than expected? It was said that left a great impression on the higher-ups.
Considering that, it would have been reasonable for them to indulge this request once.
“Okay. I’ll talk to them.”
“Thank you, Chief.”
Si-hyun beamed and saluted.
◈ ◈ ◈
In the end, as Si-hyun wanted, the request for deployment support was granted.
The ward Si-hyun worked in was known to have a nearly perfect order among the inmates, which made finding a substitute easy.
Si-hyun went to work at the deployment division more leisurely than usual because deployment division hours were a bit later than the day shift.
“Wow, the ace of Security.”
“What brings the ace of Security to the deployment division?”
Sitting in the deployment division’s lounge, the staff playfully tossed jokes at him every time they saw him.
After the documentary aired and became a hit, Si-hyun had become a famous figure across Daehan Correctional Facility, regardless of the department.
It was no small feat to stand out among over 500 staff members, but he managed that difficult task.
“Just relax, take it easy.”
As the chief of the deployment division came to the lounge to grab coffee, he said to Si-hyun.
While the deployment staff busily prepared for deployment, they did not give Si-hyun any hints to work.
In truth, the expectations for deployment support personnel were very low.
Since he mainly worked in the Security Department and only occasionally came to lend a hand, it was natural that he wouldn’t know how the deployment division operated, and the deployment staff knew that well.
Especially with restraint techniques, there were zero expectations.
Even if you put it down for two weeks, your skills would deteriorate.
If he came in occasionally and tried to use restraint techniques, it was only natural to be clumsy.
Thus, when the deployment support was slowly working with restraints, they simply let it slide.
If a deployment staff member did that, they’d get an earful.
“Shouldn’t I be taking charge too?”
Not wanting to just sit still, Si-hyun asked.
Taking charge meant bringing inmates going on deployment from the ward to the deployment division.
“No, it’s fine. There are people in charge. Later, just go into room three and help restrain a few.”
Room three referred to the waiting area where inmates would gather before deployment.
There were up to five waiting rooms, so the chief meant to ask him to go in room three later and help with the restraints.
“Okay, understood.”
Si-hyun sat back down.
If he was asked not to, there was no need to move.
As he was resting for a while, he heard the sound of inmates coming in.
Going out, he found the dispatched inmates entering the waiting room in droves.
Si-hyun also stepped into waiting room three.
Inmates were seated on long benches in a single line.
On the opposite side, a spacious table was set with handcuffs and restraint ropes.
The restraint ropes were neatly arranged according to their organizing method.
With a single pull of a rope, it could be easily unwrapped and tied.
The chiefs approached the handcuffs.
Putting on the cuffs was much easier, so that was taken care of by the chief.
The usual process was to handcuff and then use the assisting technique for restraint.
As the deployment officers started to grab the restraint ropes one by one, Si-hyun also picked one up.
“Hey chief, take your time, but just make sure to do it precisely. No one’s going to complain about you.”
The deployment officer next to him said.
“Can I do it super fast?”
“What? Haha.”
Whether he took Si-hyun’s words as a joke, the guy chuckled.
“Alright, come over here and line up.”
The inmates stood in front of the correctional officers holding the restraint ropes.
One inmate stood in front of Si-hyun.
“I’m going to bind you.”
Si-hyun declared as he activated Po-ahim’s skill: Restraint Technique.
In an instant, his hands began to move on their own.
They moved with lightning speed.
It looked like it was filmed in high speed.
With breathtaking swiftness, his hands tied the inmate, twisted them around, and then began binding them at light speed again.
One, two, three.
In the exact time it took to count three, the inmate was completely bound in the restraint ropes.
‘Huh…’
Si-hyun’s eyes widened in shock.
The skill might say three seconds, but experiencing it firsthand felt completely different from just seeing it.
The inmate also wore an expression of sheer astonishment.
Normally, they’d complain if they were bound too tightly, but even that was forgotten as their mouth hung open in disbelief.
“Um… um… if you’re done, just take a seat.”
Si-hyun said, calming his astonished heart.
Grabbing a new restraint rope, he glanced around and saw correctional officers and inmates wearing dazed expressions.
They wore expressions that indicated disbelief, questioning if they really saw what they thought they did, an amalgamation of surprise and skepticism.
“Is there no one next?”
“…I’ll go.”
One inmate, handcuffed, gazed at Si-hyun with a peculiar look as they slowly approached.
This time, as Si-hyun readied to use the Restraint Technique again, even the surrounding officers paused their tasks and stared.
They looked as if they were intent on verifying whether what they’d seen earlier was indeed real.
“I’m going to tie you up.”
With that, Si-hyun activated the Restraint Technique again.
“Wow… I can’t even speak.”
“Huh, is this for real?”
“…Does that even make sense?”
“Totally like a machine, a machine….”
As Si-hyun bound yet another inmate in the blink of an eye, the officers muttered with expressions of utter disbelief.
Even the best officers in the deployment division couldn’t match such speed.
But it was from a staff member who usually worked in the Security Division?
It felt like even if one practiced Restraint Technique from birth, they still couldn’t perform at that level.
The chief handling the handcuffs shook his head in disbelief as he spoke.
“Wait, did you really bind them properly? Didn’t you go too lax on that?”
In reality, if you bound many inmates strictly, it would often become a struggle to keep up with timing, leading deployment staff to take shortcuts in binding.
For example, needing to stitch both sides of the nose but only stitching one.
Deployment staff had some know-how about cutting corners like that.
But even then, one couldn’t be too careless with the bindings.
That was something that had to be upheld.
The chief asked this in concern.
“It’s not cutting corners… it’s not overly tight either… it seems to have been bound correctly.”
Si-hyun hesitated slightly in replying, sensing some difference between Po-ahim’s restraint technique and the current method with handcuffs.
In truth, the manner of binding wasn’t critically important.
As long as it wouldn’t come undone easily later and wasn’t easy to untie.
“This isn’t loose. It’s tied snugly, and it’s hurting like crazy. Hey, can we tone it down a bit? Are we trying to murder someone here?”
The bound inmate grumbled.
Normally, if someone complained like that, most officers would loosen the ropes, finding constant complaints to be a huge annoyance.
However, Si-hyun was no ordinary officer.
With a smile, he used the abilities of the Iron-Blooded Guard.
“Just stay quiet. Don’t you know this is a place of silence?”
“…Yeah, hehe, I know. We need to keep quiet.”
The inmate suddenly flashed a bright smile.
It was a face of a convict with the innocence of a herbivore, exuding a sense of pure, naive joy.
The correctional officers felt goosebumps at the sight of that painfully innocent smile.
“Chief, should I keep going with the restraints?”
Si-hyun looked up at the chief with a grin.
“Huh? Uh… keep going, keep going.”