Memoirs of the Returnee-Novel

Recordark (2)

“—Woooooooooooo.”

The deafening sound of jeers filled the entire place, intermixed with the coarse curses of the prisoners. They gripped the bars and shook them violently.

Most of the still young seniors seemed overwhelmed, but I was used to it.

These excess humans are trying to act tough – it’s easier to think of it that way. Like how Maltese or Chihuahuas bark loudly.

“Just ignore those excess humans.”

The deputy warden said something similar.

“You will be here for 8 hours.”

8 hours.

That’s a long time.

“Your activity radius will be limited to the first floor, the living space. Don’t worry, the really vicious ones aren’t here. We are Recordark Ⅰ after all.”

Clap clap – Gaejin clapped his hands.

“Now, let me tell you about your bonus assignment.”

Assignment.

Elise’s eyes sparkled. Gerkhen Kal Doon also lifted his gaze to look at the deputy warden.

“It’s a treasure hunt.”

“…?”

Isn’t that too childish a game to play in a prison?

The other seniors also widened their eyes. At their stunned reaction, Gaejin chuckled.

“There’s a treasure hidden in this prison. The prisoners know its location. Interview the prisoners, gather information, and find the treasure.”

At the mention of interviewing prisoners, everyone’s faces soured.

“Don’t trust the prisoners too much. They are full of pure malice and lowly jealousy. Their daily lives consist of lying whenever they open their mouths.”

—Woooooooooooo.

Just then, a wave of jeers rang out. Gaejin raised his arms as if conducting in the midst of it.

“Feel their malice. In your lives, there will be villains worse than these. Whenever that happens, remember today’s experience. It will be of great help.”

…Well, it might be a useful assignment in terms of life lessons.

“Don’t worry, as long as you interview at least three prisoners properly, you’ll pass. If you find the treasure, a recommendation letter in the name of Recordark will be added as a bonus.”

The seniors stiffened at the mention of the recommendation letter.

While Gaejin’s recommendation letter is of course trash, a recommendation letter from the institution of Recordark is at least worth including as a ‘spec’ on their resume.

“Shall we start?”

Gerkhen Kal Doon shut his mouth tightly, and Elise ran her hand through her hair, tossing it over her shoulder. The platinum strands fluttered unnecessarily.

Did she not wash her hair today?

“Hey, guards!”

Gaejin called out to the guards lined up on both sides of the corridor.

“Escort them!”

“…Playing favorites from the start, huh.”

The special activity was unfair from the start.

The guards casually led the commoners like me to the corridor-style cells, the bars of the prisoners, while the noble ones like Elise were taken to quiet visiting rooms.

They probably will comfortably interview one prisoner at a time brought by the guards.

Well, I had already anticipated this.

“Who should I choose.”

I surveyed the corridor-style prison cells.

There were many prisoners, some with grim expressions, others with deliberately smug smiles, watching us.

For me, even interviewing them is a hassle. I just want to kill time and meet the man I came to meet.

The problem is that he’s currently in a ‘solitary confinement’ cell in the isolation area.

The isolation area is completely separated from the living space. When you go out of the first floor, there’s a playground, and you have to cross it to get there.

So, I need to find an excuse to go to the playground, and get a key from the guard…

“Ah.”

A good idea came to me.

I approached a certain cell. Inside was a man covered in scars all over his body. He was quite big, and his eyes were sharp.

A typical thug.

No doubt about it.

Actually, it doesn’t matter who it is.

“Excuse me~”

“You, what are you doing? That guy’s face is too scary.”

Someone stopped me. I glanced in their direction. It was a group of three men and two women. They weren’t wearing Endex uniforms.

I ignored them and spoke to the prisoner.

“Excuse me. Can’t you hear me?”

“…What?”

The prisoner, who had been sitting on the bed, furrowed his brow.

“Excuse me—?”

He raised his body, catching the end of my sentence.

I nodded my head.

“It seems you can hear me.”

“Ha….”

He let out a hollow laugh, then slowly approached the bars, glaring at my face. I said to him,

“I have something to ask.”

“…You have something to ask—?”

The prisoner’s arrogance distorted. His attempt to look as vicious and tough as possible was somewhat pitiful.

I calmly asked,

“Can I interview you?”

“What the fuck is this guy talking about—!”

Bang! The guy grabbed the bars and thrust his face towards me.

“Hey, kid. Do you know who I am?”

“….”

I just looked at him. He bared his teeth and ranted.

“What are you looking at, I’ll gouge your eyes out… No, listen to me, kid. You’re from Endex, right? Then go learn how to deposit money from the guards over there and deposit it for ‘Jerome’. Or, do you have any cigarettes now?”

“…Sigh.”

Honestly, it’s a bit pathetic. Is the method of extorting money the same now as it was then?

Oh right, now is then, isn’t it? Since I’ve regressed.

The prisoner narrowed his eyes sharply.

“Hey. Answer.”

I didn’t answer. I just looked him in the eye. Then, his expression cooled down.

He glared at me, and I didn’t avoid his gaze.

“…Look at this guy? Ha.”

He chuckled. I also twisted the corners of my mouth.

“You really want to die-

“This guy’s a small fry.”

I casually tossed out those words.

At that moment, his complexion hardened like wax, and the other guys in the next cell suddenly held their breath.

“…What?”

The guy grinded his teeth. His eyes turned a murderous blue.

As such, prisoners have a stupid thought process. The insult they hate the most is a ‘belittling comment about their crime’.

“…What did you just say?”

The guy asked again, trembling between his eyebrows and the corners of his eyes.

I took a step towards the bars.

“Your eyes are lacking. They’re not the eyes of a killer.”

I willingly gave an additional explanation, even offering a friendly smile.

“You’re just a petty thief, right? Or maybe you got caught pickpocketing.”

“Hey, hey you… you fucking brat…”

The guy hung his head low. He silently chewed his words. I watched him leisurely.

But then,

“Ptui—!”

The guy suddenly spat phlegm. The thick, dirty liquid landed between my nose and eyes.

…This was unexpected.

I gently closed my eyes. A sigh naturally escaped. I wiped it off before the yellow phlegm reached my lips.

I almost indirectly kissed this crazy bastard.

“Haah… you son of a bitch.”

“What, son of a bitch? Hey, kid. I’ve memorized your face. When I get out, you’ll see-”

“You fucking bastard——!”

Bang! I kicked the guy’s bars. The sound of the metal shaking was loud.

“What, what the hell is this-”

The startled guy tried to step back a few steps.

I didn’t let him.

“You fucking son of a bitch. Hey, you fucking, shit, hey————!”

I reached through the bars and grabbed the guy’s hair. I pulled it hard and slammed it into the bars.

Bang——!

The sound of metal echoed from his thick skull.

“Ah! What, let go!”

“You fucking son of a bitch——shit!”

Bang——! I slammed the guy’s head into the bars. Eyes, nose, mouth, ears, all equally.

“Ugh! Let go, don’t let go, you crazy, ugh!”

Bang——!

Rhythmically, like playing a xylophone.

“Shit, I’ll hang you upside down and chop your fucking head off first, use it as a washboard, you fucking piece of shit……”

Bang——! Bang——!

“Ugh! Ah! Guard, guard!”

The guy flailed and called for the guard. Blood splattered from his forehead, and his hair had been ripped out long ago.

“Help, help! Ah! Guard!”

Bang——!

The prisoners, who had been so noisy, became quiet as I beat the guy, and the guards, who had been quietly watching, rushed in shouting urgently.

“Student, what are you doing! Student!”

Bang——! I kept hitting.

“Student! You can’t do that! Let go!”

“Guard! Help! This bastard is crazy! Ah! My head is being ripped off, ah—!”

“No, hey! Everyone come and stop him! What are you doing! Come and stop him!”

Several guards rushed in and grabbed me. I roared and shook them off.

“Let go—fucking—bastard—!”

“Ugh!”

“Ah, ugh!”

Then, they really all got shaken off. I was slightly surprised. I should have controlled my strength a bit.

“Uh……. This fucking——bastard!”

I grabbed the prisoner’s hair again.

“I’m going to kill you—!”

“Stop! We understand, so stop!”

“Student, we understand, but you can’t do this!”

Quite a few guards clung to me, and finally, a guard who had mastered Magic Body appeared. Only then did I pretend to be exhausted and fall away from the bars, rummaging through the guard’s key pocket.

I didn’t really need to steal the actual item.

I just had to ‘Memory’ while holding the bunch of keys……

[101 / 103 (-1)]

■ Diary

■ Memory

……

└Untitled

■ Notes

Done.

A file has been added.

I calmly spoke while beating the prisoner’s face.

“I’ve memorized your face. I’ll kill you when you get out. Try to stay there as long as you can.”

By the way, I’m serious about this.