From that point on, Su-ho's group interviews began.
After Kim Goong-won inford the block leaders, he brought them to Su-ho, following the order of the room numbers.
The leader of the first room, Room 1-1, Oh Yun-ho, imdiately bowed his head and greeted Su-ho as soon as he stood before him.
"I am Oh Yun-ho, the leader of Room 1-1. Allow to introduce the others in order..."
The cells at Cheongok Prison usually housed a minimum of six and up to eight inmates.
Following Kim Goong-won’s instructions, Oh Yun-ho began introducing the nas, cris, and remaining sentences of the inmates in the room, starting with himself. When the last introduction was made, Su-ho narrowed his eyes and said,
"...There are no decent people here."
It wasn’t an exaggeration.
Room 1-1 had eight inmates, and apart from the leader, Oh Yun-ho, almost all of them were violent offenders — murderers, rapists, robbers, arsonists — the worst kinds of criminals.
The only one who wasn’t a violent offender was the youngest, who was in prison for theft.
At Su-ho's words, none of the inmates spoke up. Of course, they all grumbled inwardly.
‘He’s...’
‘How many people did he kill to end up here...’
‘Why is he suddenly making a fuss...?’
Su-ho observed their faces for a while, then pulled a small pill bottle from his pocket.
The bottle, which looked like an ordinary dicine bottle, was filled with small white pellets that resembled BB gun pellets. Su-ho took out the correct number to match the number of people in the room and handed them out to the inmates of Room 1-1.
He then asked the youngest inmate.
"You’re in for theft, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"What did you steal?"
"A car..."
"A car? Whose car?"
"I don’t know the person..."
"Why did you steal it?"
"Because I wanted to drive it..."
"Tch, figures."
He had asked just in case, but it seed obvious from the start.
There could be no exceptions for soone like him.
After handing out the pellets, Su-ho spoke.
"Eat it."
"...Excuse ?"
"What... What is this?"
The inmates were flustered and confused.
It was understandable.
It wasn’t like Su-ho was soone they knew, and suddenly he had them swallow sothing of unknown origin. How could they not be fearful?
However, Su-ho had no intention of answering their questions kindly.
"Don’t want to eat it?"
"You... You have to tell us what this is..."
At that mont.
BAM!!
In response to Oh Yun-ho’s question, Su-ho punched him square in the face.
Oh Yun-ho flew back, crashing to the floor. In the process, several of his teeth were knocked out.
As Oh Yun-ho writhed on the floor, Su-ho shifted his gaze to the other inmates and asked,
"Not going to eat it?"
"Y-Yes! I’ll eat it!"
"We’ll eat it!"
"Ugh!"
One inmate didn’t even respond and swallowed it right away.
As all seven inmates swallowed the pellets, Su-ho gestured for Oh Yun-ho to co closer.
Su-ho handed him another pellet. Oh Yun-ho, shaking with fear, took it and ate it.
"Next."
That was the entire explanation.
At Su-ho’s command, the inmates of Room 1-1 quickly left, with Oh Yun-ho collecting his fallen teeth.
Kim Goong-won gulped down a dry swallow and then returned with the inmates from Room 1-2.
The process was the sa.
Anyone who questioned the situation was treated just like Oh Yun-ho, and when two or three more inmates were added to the mix, the others, watching from the sidelines, stopped being curious and simply swallowed the pellets.
The guards, watching from a distance, pretended not to see anything.
In fact, they snickered as they watched the inmates drop.
It was only natural.
Before Yoon Hyun-chul took control of Cheongok, the prison guards, led by Jo Gwang-ho, had tornted the inmates of Cheongok rcilessly.
This was simply karma.
***
Su-ho had finally succeeded in making most of the inmates at Cheongok swallow the pellets.
It was thanks to Kim Goong-won's busy efforts.
Of course, not all inmates were forced to take them.
Even amidst the hustle, Su-ho made sure to differentiate. Those with a history like Yoon Hyun-chul, who had personal stories, were excluded from taking the pellets after verification.
Kim Goong-won was also one of those excluded.
Once the pellet distribution was complete, Kim Goong-won cautiously looked at Su-ho and spoke up.
"U-Um... Big Brother?"
"Yes?"
"Well... I have a question."
"Don't."
"I haven’t even asked yet?"
"You were going to ask about what I gave to the inmates, right?"
At Su-ho's words, Kim Goong-won awkwardly responded.
"Haha... Yeah... How did you know?"
"Don’t worry about it. If you find out what it is, you’ll have to eat it too."
Kim Goong-won swallowed a dry gulp and, avoiding Su-ho’s gaze, said,
"...I won’t ask, and I won’t eat it."
"Good choice."
Su-ho had no intention of feeding Kim Goong-won the pellets.
Because what he had given to the inmates wasn’t just so toy bullets, but insect eggs.
The na of the creature was "Seong-go" (吸星蠱), a parasitic insect known for absorbing life force.
In his past life, it was a favorite tool of a famous Insect Mage player known as "Chungma".
Su-ho knew well that the Seong-go absorbed vital energy (진기) rather than simple vitality or energy.
Vital energy was the innate energy one is born with—essentially life force—different from regular energy, which could be restored with food and rest.
Seong-go would grow by absorbing this innate energy, but its primary function was much darker. If it absorbed vital energy without a proper purification skill, it would cause severe side effects.
And so, Su-ho did not want to risk using the powerful Seong-go. Instead, he had used a lesser version of it—one that absorbed experience points and vitality, rather than vital energy.
Indeed, Su-ho had planned to use the inmates as an experience factory from the start.
"Once they get out, they’ll just cause more trouble. It's better for them to donate experience points to the world," he thought.
The Seong-go would not cause the inmates to lose levels. However, in order to level up again, they would have to recover the experience points they lost.
"Now, I just need to wait."
For the Seong-go to fully hatch and grow to its adult form would take at least four days.
So, Su-ho had planned to stay for five days in Cheongok.
Five days would be more than enough for them to grow.
After checking the ti, Su-ho turned to Kim Goong-won.
"Goong-won."
"Yes, Big Brother?"
"I’m going out for a bit. Make sure to take care of things here."
"Huh? Oh, yes, understood."
Although Kim Goong-won didn’t understand exactly what Su-ho ant, he agreed to take care of things since they were in the sa room.
Su-ho entered the bathroom, then stepped into the Pocket Space House.
Once inside, he used Military Strategy to create a clone, transford it into Yoon Hyun-chul, and gave it a ntal command. He then sent the clone into the prison block.
Su-ho’s clone erged from the bathroom.
As it quietly leaned against the wall, Kim Goong-won, who was observant, approached the clone and closely examined it.
And, as a sharp-eyed man, Kim Goong-won quickly realized sothing.
The clone standing before him was not the Big Brother he knew.
At that mont, Kim Goong-won couldn’t help but think.
‘Is this guy completely insane...? How can he do this, like it’s his own room?’
Still, it only reinforced Kim Goong-won's resolve.
The more he saw, the more he was convinced that he should never ss with Su-ho.
***
"I thought I was going to suffocate."
After entering the Pocket Space House, Su-ho imdiately removed the disguise as soon as the clone was sent out.
In the end, there’s nothing better than comfortable clothing in your own space.
Once the disguise was removed, Su-ho set an alarm on his phone to track the ti for the clone’s shift and changed into a simple tracksuit.
Then, he walked into one of the buildings he had set up in his Pocket Space House.
This place was quite a distance away from the café where the Yoon siblings had been, and Su-ho had no intention of sitting idly while the Seong-go matured.
As he opened the building’s door, a dark, dimly lit room unfolded.
Flinch!
At that mont, a noise from inside startled him.
Su-ho fumbled for the light switch on the wall.
As he flicked it on, magical energy-powered lights ca to life, casting light across the room, and the source of the noise revealed itself.
"Eek!"
A person squirming under the bright light.
It was none other than Im Chang-sik, the forr leader of the Chang-sik Gang.
He was a shell of a person now.
It was no surprise.
Since the disbandnt of the Chang-sik Gang, he had been trapped in the Pocket Space House, suffering punishnt at Su-ho's hands.
Su-ho looked down at him with dry eyes.
Surprisingly, his physical health was in better condition than ever.
Of course, that was expected.
Su-ho, a healer, had been personally taking care of him.
But his mind, on the other hand, was nearly shattered.
There was nothing that could be done about that.
Su-ho's healing skills hadn’t yet progressed to the point where they could restore ntal health.
Why was Su-ho doing this to Im Chang-sik?
It was simple.
It was just a matter of reaping what he had sown.
In his previous life, Im Chang-sik had extorted Nam Hae-won for two years in exactly this manner.
If Nam Hae-won hadn’t been a Synthesis Master, he probably would have been unable to fight back, weakened by drugs, and would have t his end without ever getting a chance to retaliate.
Of course, Nam Hae-won didn’t know any of this.
This punishnt was Su-ho's personal vendetta, not sothing done on behalf of Nam Hae-won.
Moreover, Im Chang-sik wasn’t just involved with Nam Hae-won. He had done terrible things to many people.
‘That’s why he deserves this treatnt.’
There were many victims, but only one perpetrator.
Thus, the amount of pain he could suffer was only what one person deserved.
Su-ho was simply concentrating all that pain for him.
Looking at the trembling Im Chang-sik, Su-ho spoke.
"Chang-sik."
"I-I’m sorry! I-I’m truly sorry! I’ve committed an unforgivable sin! Please, I beg you!"
All Su-ho did was call his na, but Im Chang-sik went into a seizure-like panic.
Hmm.
It seed like normal conversation was impossible.
Well, even so, there was still a way.
Su-ho knew how to have a proper conversation with soone ntally broken.
Raising his hand, Su-ho activated a skill.
[ Ring of Joy and Sorrow responds to the target's strongest emotion. ]
[ The emotion that can be absorbed is Black. ]
[ Absorbing emotion from the target. ]
As the power of the ring activated, all of Im Chang-sik's negative emotions were absorbed.
Temporarily, Im Chang-sik’s mind cleared.
But even with his mind back, Im Chang-sik was still too afraid to speak up.
In fact, with his mind intact, he was even more terrified, his lips sealed tightly as he glanced fearfully at Su-ho.
He was terrified.
He had no idea what the demon before him would do.
Su-ho smiled and asked,
"How about it, is this place to your liking?"
To his liking?
At that question, Im Chang-sik felt a surge of anger.
But there was nothing he could do.
So, with a calm deanor, he asked,
"…So, how do I get out of here? Or rather, do you even plan to let out?"
"Of course, I do. Why wouldn’t I? Do you think I would keep you here forever? Taking care of you is more of a hassle than it’s worth."
At that, a glimr of hope flashed on Im Chang-sik’s face. Seeing this, Su-ho smiled and asked,
"So, I have a proposition. Let’s make a deal."
"A... deal?"
"Yes, a deal. If you accept my offer, I’ll give you your freedom."
Freedom.
At that one word, Im Chang-sik swallowed dryly and asked,
"…What are the terms of the deal?"
Su-ho grinned, the corner of his mouth rising.
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