He’s the Legendary Guard, Isn’t He?

Chapter 3




Chapter 3: Recovery?

Food?

As the unexpected message flashed in my mind, I paused, only to see a figure materialize like a mirage in my field of vision.

It’s the shape of a man.

No, can I even call it a man?

His emaciated appearance resembled that of a skeleton.

His arms and legs were gaunt to the extreme, and his ribs were starkly visible.

‘No way?’

The original owner of this power?

As I pondered this, an overwhelming thirst suddenly surged through me.

It felt as if I had run a marathon without taking a sip of water.

I flung open the fridge door and pulled out a bottle of water, gulping it down wildly.

“Gah… Gah…”

After emptying the bottle in a frenzy, I felt a slight reprieve from the thirst.

Just then, a pitiful hunger gnawed at me.

I scooped a generous serving of rice from the rice cooker into a bowl, tightly packing it, and began to inhale it with some gochujang and side dishes.

When I finished every last grain, my hunger lessened a bit. Normally, I’d be stuffed with that amount, but right now, I felt no sense of fullness whatsoever.

“Ugh… What the hell? This has to be a mutual influence, right?”

There was no other way to think about it.

When that guy over there starved, I suffered from hunger as well.

And the message urging me to eat food quickly?

It must mean that eating would impact him too.

Just as if to prove that thought, a new notification appeared.

[You slightly kindled the feeble light of Po-ahim’s life. However, consistent meals are still necessary going forward.]

[Strength +1, Stamina +1 Recovery]

‘Recovery?’

I quickly checked if there were any changes to my stat window.

[Stats] Strength 2 (E) Agility 1 (E) Wisdom 1 (E) Stamina 2 (E) Mental Strength 1 (E) Magic Power 1 (E)

‘It really went up.’

My strength and stamina had genuinely increased.

Of course, it was still an extremely negligible amount.

But.

‘The fact that it’s going up is important.’

The list of stats at the desperate level of 1 had offered no hope before.

But now, hope existed.

It was reasonable to assume that those stats originated from the weak state of the original owner of the power.

What if my body fully recovered?

Surely if I regained my abilities, I wouldn’t just remain at E-rank; they wouldn’t throw quests like this at me, right?

Then D? No, maybe C?

How great would it be to reach B?

Then what would the salary be? Ugh…

I felt a greedy thought welling up inside, but I indulged in that cheerful imagination. Finally, I felt a sense of being an Awakened Being.

Lost in thought for a while, I suddenly had a spark and turned on my computer, accessing the community MPark’s “Burning Bulletin Board” where I usually hung out.

My fingers flew over the keyboard.

-Title: I think I’ve awakened.

-Content: I drank three bottles of soju last night, just woke up, and suddenly feel something. A legendary feeling. If I can turn my life around and escape being a dirt spoon, I’ll treat ten of you to chicken.

I’ve always wanted to do something like this.

Bragging.

How much emotional damage have I suffered from the nauseating bragging about women, education, jobs, etc.?

As expected of a community site with many people, comments started pouring in at an astonishing speed.

-I’ll just line up for now.

-Yes, next Middle Schooler Syndrome.

-Yes, next Fantasy Writer.

-Just lining up.

-Line up.

-Aggro, aggro.

-Next, please, Aggro User.

-Look at the previous post.

-Huh? Isn’t this person not an aggro user? Aren’t they the one who occasionally posts ‘Today’s Solo Drinking Side Dish’?

-Aren’t they really awakened?

Seeing the comments on my post made me chuckle.

From the typical accusations of being an aggro to those simply lining up.

Normally, I’d be annoyed by the aggro accusations, but they only felt endearing to me now.

My hands quickly began typing another post.

-Title: Woah… I can see the stat window.

-Content: I haven’t checked the details yet, but it’s freaking me out. I’d be happy with a middle hit, not even asking for a jackpot.

The comments came flying in even faster than before.

-Whoa!

-Wow, really awakened? Epic!

-Damn, I’m so jealous. Will my life ever awaken?

-Sounds like a lie?

-Bing, I’m an awkward Wizard.

-You’re definitely an inexperienced Knight.

-That’s aggro for sure.

-Let’s refrain from responding with hate if we’re jealous.

-Congrats.

-What if we also have a Sword Master on our Burning Bulletin Board? If a Sword Master appears, I’ll treat 1,000 pizzas.

-First of all, congratulations on your awakening. Your days as an Awakened Being will surely bring you immense joy. After talking with some new Awakened members at our 00 Bank, most of them were preparing to gift their parents with a minus balance account, planning travels abroad for themselves, or looking to solve housing problems. Our contact number for the Awakened Special Task Force at 00 Bank is 010-xxx…

The envious comments I was receiving on the board filled me with joy.

“What? Awkward Wizard? Inexperienced Knight? Everyone’s wishing for E-rank, huh.”

It’s a universal truth that one feels jealous when a cousin buys land.

With a smile, I typed my next post.

-Title: I scratched it.

-Content: It’s a depressing guard I guess. I honestly don’t know whether it’s good or bad.

Soon, sharp comments began to flood in.

-Aww man, I got trolled properly before lunch.

-Guard? Where’s the Guard for an Awakened Being?

-I’m the aggro, for sure.

-The bugs are active from the early hour, huh.

-I’ve reported you.

-You need treatment.

-If you’re pulling aggro, do it smart. Why a guard?

Yeah, I’m the guard, no doubt about it.

Sometimes what isn’t a lie feels more like a lie. So I tried writing the truth, and the response was as expected.

I made an expression that said, “See, I knew it,” when my stomach growled.

It hadn’t been long since I ate, yet my stomach was growling. Well, considering how I ate earlier, I shouldn’t have felt even a hint of fullness.

My usual meal portion was never close to that amount.

So, what about that guy’s meal portion over there?

It seemed like we were mutually affecting each other significantly, even if it wasn’t 100%.

If it were 100%, I’d already be rushed to the ER, lying in critical condition.

Just as I was about to head back to the kitchen to grab more food, I suddenly felt an intense chill wash over me.

As if waiting for the cold, a new notification popped up.

[Po-ahim’s body temperature has dropped too low. Raise the temperature by any means necessary.]

[Emergency Quest: Raise the body temperature as quickly as possible.]

“Huh, a new quest.”

Now that I think about it, I think I saw Po-ahim sitting beyond the window, flurries of white snow coming down. And there were no logs in the room either.

Anyway, there was nothing bad about this.

In fact, it was good.

The more quests arose, the faster we’d recover our strength.

“…But really, it’s cold.”

I felt like I had suddenly dropped into the middle of winter.

I opened my closet and changed into thick shirts and pants. I threw on a sweater and a winter jacket on top. Then I cranked up the electric mattress.

I fetched a thick blanket, laid it over the electric mattress, and slipped inside.

“Ahhh… now it’s warm.”

After warming myself for a bit, another notification popped up.

[Po-ahim feels a little warmth.]

[Agility +1, Stamina +1 Recovery]

[Po-ahim’s body has regained a bit of vitality, but his heart remains frozen. You need to somehow thaw his heart.]

[Quest: Give him a little comfort with the familiar scent of the prison he’s spent his life in.]

◈ ◈ ◈

“Si-hyun, is something bad happening?”

The next day, before entering the ward, I was lost in thought with a blank expression in the lounge when a tall man with glasses approached me. He was Jeong Jun-cheol, my colleague and five years older than me.

“Oh, Jun-cheol hyung? Is it the 3rd part of the weekly today?”

The overnight shift of the Security Department, where the majority of correctional officers worked, ran on a 4-shift basis.

Day, Night, Off, Rotation.

In other words, Day, Night, Off, Rest, and it just kept cycling.

In contrast, I worked in a regular shift that only operated during the day from Monday to Friday.

Of course, that was just the official story; the night shifts never got proper off days, and the day shifts often had to work weekends too.

All this due to chronic staff shortages.

“Yeah.”

“I see. So, anything going on? Anything at all?”

“Really? You looked completely out of it.”

“No, no. I just have a naturally blank expression, you know.”

“Is that so? Then all’s well.”

Jun-cheol sat next to me.

He continued speaking.

“By the way, did you hear? There was chaos yesterday.”

“What kind of chaos?”

“That guy attempted self-harm last night. Man-deok.”

“Oh, that guy did it again? What a troublesome fellow.”

Kim Man-deok.

A swindler and habitual self-harmer, he was one of the inmates to keep an eye on.

While self-harm didn’t compare to suicide, it was still a frustrating issue for correctional officers.

If mishandled, it could lead to disciplinary action.

If he were to die, the family could sue us.

“So, what happened?”

“He was immediately taken to the emergency room. They say he’ll be hospitalized for about 2 or 3 weeks.”

“Oh no, I guess I’ll be back on weekend duty soon.”

When an inmate is admitted to the hospital, it doesn’t just end there. Correctional officers must keep watch in turns. The more personnel are taken away, the more substitutes from other shifts have to cover that absence on weekend duty.

“That’s not all; it seems Man-deok’s rotation might fall right on your ward. You are in Unit 2 of the 5th floor, after all.”

The Daehan Correctional Facility where I worked housed over 1,200 sentenced inmates and 800 pretrial detainees in a building-like structure.

It was a 15-floor building with 2 units on each floor.

And the place I worked as a day assistant was exactly Unit 2 on the 5th floor.

“…Huh, when did that rotation come up?”

Rotation means alternating custody of problematic inmates that are too stressful to handle. It was unavoidable. Only those who haven’t worked in this field would know how much stress comes from having problematic inmates in their units.

Yet, they can’t just be thrown out, so it was one way to share the burden.

“I hope nothing happens while you’re on duty.”

◈ ◈ ◈

As I approached the entrance of the ward, I paused for a moment.

[Quest: Give him a little comfort with the familiar scent of the prison he’s spent his life in.]

The quest notification was still lingering.

Prison.

Even the term ‘guard’ felt historical.

Considering the words like sword, magic, and knight, it was likely that this realm had no established concept of rehabilitation, making the terms ‘guard’ and ‘prison’ fit better than ‘correctional officer’ and ‘correctional facility’.

Chuckling softly, I unlocked the ward door with my card key.

The unique, musty smell that only someone entering this ward could recognize greeted me warmly. No matter how dulled one’s sense of smell might be, anyone could detect this scent.

[Po-ahim sniffed the scent of the prison and felt slightly better.]

[Intelligence +1, Mental Strength +2, Magic Power +1 Recovery]

“Oh!”

As soon as I unlocked the ward door and stepped in, a notification appeared indicating that the quest had been completed.

Not only did I receive recovery alerts for my stats.

Moreover, a new notification popped up.

[Po-ahim, whose heart has slightly thawed, wants to see a passionate junior working hard. Show him your diligent work ethic.]

[Quest: Give lawful commands to inmates who have violated regulations. 0/10]

A new quest!

Right after resolving one quest, the next one popped up immediately.

Working while getting stronger—could it get any better?

A bright smile spread across my face.



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