The heavy metal doors slammed behind him.The sound echoed like a gunshot through the empty hallways.Seok-Hyun stepped forward, handcuffs clinking, the stench of sweat and disinfectant filling his nose.
"This is it," he thought. "No teachers. No parents. No one to protect me. Just me, my fists… and the world I'm going to conquer."
The prison was alive in its own way.Inmates moved like predators, eyes scanning for weakness.Gangs of various sizes claimed territory—some laughed, some spat, some quietly sized up the new kid.
A tall man with a shaved head and a scar running down his cheek approached, cracking his knuckles.
"You new?" he sneered, eyes narrowing. "You look weak. First rule here—don't be weak."
Seok-Hyun didn't flinch. His fingers itched, ready to test this world with the only thing he had left: raw, coiled anger.
"Then I guess I'll learn fast," he said softly.
The man laughed, a deep, cruel sound. "You don't get to learn. You survive—or you die."
A fight broke out almost immediately.Two inmates decided to test him by shoving him against a wall. Seok-Hyun fell, felt the sting of punches, the scrape of concrete. Pain shot through his ribs, but he didn't scream.
He remembered his parents. He remembered his sister. Every bruise, every humiliation—they were fuel.
He twisted his body, dodged a swing, and landed a precise strike to one attacker's stomach. The man doubled over, coughing.
The cell erupted in shocked whispers. He wasn't the usual scared kid. He wasn't going to break.
Over the next hours, he observed:
Who feared the guards.
Who ruled the yard.
Who got away with intimidation.
Seok-Hyun noticed the prison hierarchy wasn't about who was strongest—at least not just strength.It was about strategy, alliances, and fear.
That night, as he lay on the narrow bunk, staring at the peeling ceiling, he whispered to himself:
"Tomorrow… I start climbing. Every weak link, every bully, every corrupt guard… they'll all learn the price of crossing me."
And for the first time since his family's death, a cold satisfaction settled over him.
"I will not be broken again. I will be king."
—End of Chapter Four—