Chapter 1: Shadows of Confinement
“I-I … I didn’t mean to do it … Brother J, please forgive me….”
Tyler knelt until his head hit the cold floor. He was so nervous that he accidentally dropped a glass of wine and spilled it on the man called Brother J.
His hands trembled, and his entire body was weak, but he still begged for forgiveness.
“Tsk, this coward,” someone scolded him. “Who cares if it was an accident or not? You still dirtied Brother J’s clothes!”
After hearing those words, others shouted in agreement, making the atmosphere even denser and hotter.
Although he had no particular background in the outside world, Brother J was the strongest in Prison No. 73. He was greatly feared because of his bad temper, his case, and there were many inmates who loyally served him.
Tyler was no exception, he was very afraid of that big man. During his two years of life in prison, Tyler had experienced so much bullying, which had gotten worse after Brother J came in a year ago.
“Brother J, let us handle this coward,” the same person said obsequiously.
“Whatever,” Brother J’s harsh voice echoed as he glanced at Tyler with a furrowed, annoyed brow, rose from his exclusive chair in that hidden room, and walked away.
Tyler tried to grab the man’s leg and plead, “No, no, Brother J, I … ah!”
Someone stomped on his hand hard, mocking him, and grabbed his collar.
They laughed at the sight of Tyler’s terrified expression, his red eyes, and his trembling body.
"Hey, seeing how cowardly you are, I suspect you didn't end up in prison for attempted murder on a human, but on a sewer rat."
Laughter erupted from the group, followed by a discussion.
“Hey, what should we do to him this time?”
“Why don't we just hang him upside down?”
“Tsk, that's not interesting at all! Think of something else.”
At this moment, Tyler's mind was no longer on what they were talking about. His body was tense and felt cold, a feeling of dread gnawing at him. Flashbacks of days when he endured various kinds of bullying replayed in his head.
Every feeling of pain, shortness of breath, helplessness, all seemed to hit him one by one.
The screeching sound of a chair being dragged was deafening, snapping Tyler back to reality. The chair was placed right under a noose.
A voice filled with malicious intent echoed in his ears, “Stand on the backrest of the chair and hang your head in the noose.”
Tyler’s eyes widened, he tried to say something, “Forgive-”
“Yo, no forgiveness! Just do it, don’t be scared, we won’t actually let you die!”
Tyler felt a pain in his cheek, someone had slapped him hard enough to hurt but not to knock him over.
“Come on, help him!”
After the order from that person, who was Brother J’s right-hand man, two people came and grabbed Tyler’s arms.
Tyler was forced to stand on the edge of the chair’s backrest while his neck hung in the noose.
“... please, please help me ….” His voice was hoarse and full of desperate pleading, but the people there laughed and talked to each other, mocking and insulting him.
Tyler tried to tiptoe, stabilizing his body so the tilted chair wouldn't fall, forcing him to hang fully by the noose.
Even if those people didn’t let him die, it didn’t mean they would save him immediately. He didn't want to feel the suffocation.
After some time, those people grew tired and left, leaving two inmates to keep watch and help Tyler down before morning.
One of the inmates asked his companion to rest and let him watch Tyler alone.
Now it was just the two of them. The inmate stepped closer, a mocking smile on his lips.
“You are the youngest son of the De Leon family, aren’t you?” the inmate asked.
Without waiting for Tyler’s answer, he continued with a sigh of pity, “It’s a shame you couldn’t use your family’s wealth to live a decent life here.”
Tyler looked at the man, struggling. For some reason, he didn’t want to beg this inmate to release him. The other’s expression was strange, his eyes unlike those of an ordinary prisoner.
Seeing him struggle so hard, the inmate instead kicked the chair that was Tyler’s last support. The inmate’s gleeful laughter was terrifying.
“I’m helping you escape this torment,” the inmate said again, as if he were truly offering assistance.
The pain in his neck made his eyes bulge, his breath caught, and his dangling legs kicked. His hands frantically tried to loosen the rope around his neck.
In his fading consciousness, he heard the man’s final words, “If you manage to survive again this time… Big Boss.”
Big Boss...
Tyler felt pain all over his body, as if he were being skinned alive. He knew this was the end of everything, but he felt dissatisfied.
Even in the most desperate moment of his life, he still hoped to die in a dignified manner, in glory instead of disgrace.
He whispered silently, “... please, one more chance.”
His red eyes welled with tears, and in an instant, a bright light enveloped his entire body.
[Host found! System activated from now on...]