Jae-hee, Romeo, and Juliet stepped out onto the terrace to take in the view.

The weather was foul, so all they could see was a storm-swept horizon and the long, churning wake left behind the massive cruise ship.

Still, it was Jae-hee’s first time looking out from the ship’s stern, and he gazed around in wonder.

“Wow, it’s so wide open. Really clears your head, the view from this terrace!”

“Strange, isn’t it? That you can see a sight like this even in a prison.”

Romeo made a rectangular frame with his thumbs and index fingers, capturing the rainy landscape within it.

“But in the end, the frame caging this view never changes.”

Through the steady drumming of the rain, Romeo offered a bitter smile.

“No matter how magnificent the scenery, being trapped here… that doesn’t change.”

“…”

“If I could just remove this frame from my sight and see the world as it is… How nice would that be?”

Juliet shot him a look. “That’s a long way of saying you want to get out of prison.”

“It loses all its charm when you put it like that.”

As Romeo lowered his hands, Jae-hee asked, “So, if you two were released, where would you want to go?”

“Jeju Island,” Romeo answered instantly. “Never been, but Oberon and Titania bragged about it so much. Said it was incredible.”

Juliet snorted. “Those two old coots never shut up about their honeymoon to Jeju. You’d think they were the only ones. Every other word was ‘Jeju this, Jeju that…’”

Even faced with the deaths of two longtime comrades, Romeo and Juliet remained composed. They knew all too well that in this line of work, people dying and bodies being cleaned up were just part of the daily routine.

“Whether I’m released or I break out, I’m going to that famous Jeju Island… and I’ll get a house on a quiet beach,” Romeo murmured, his eyes fixed on the distant sea. “I’ll go fishing, grow some tangerines, walk on the sand, look at the flowers…”

Juliet added, “And have a baby!”

Romeo winced. “A baby… I’d have to think about that.”

“Oh, come on. I said let’s have one.”

“You want to bring a child into this insane world? How much do you want them to resent you for it later?”

“I’ll raise our child with love, so they’d never say something like that.”

“It’ll be incredibly hard on you, too.”

“Just seeing our baby’s pretty face, a perfect mix of you and me, would give me all the strength I need,” Juliet said with a grin. “Dreaming doesn’t cost a thing, so this much is fine. Right?”

She then jutted her chin at Jae-hee.

“What about you, Boy? When you get off this godforsaken ship, where will you go? What will you do?”

“Uh…” Jae-hee, momentarily flustered, scratched the back of his head. “To be honest, lately… I’m not really sure why I should want to leave this prison.”

Seeing their puzzled expressions, Jae-hee spoke candidly.

“I’m working hard to save up Credits for my release, but… there’s no guarantee that life outside is any better than life inside.”

Here in prison, at least, there was a warm place to sleep and food at every meal.

But in the world outside?

His outing with Ghost had been fun, but at the same time, Jae-hee remembered all too clearly the harshness of the world that had forced him to live as a petty thief.

“If you feel comfortable here, this prison can be a cozy cradle for the rest of your life,” Romeo said with a nod. “The world is surely beautiful, watched from the distance of this terrace. But… if the moment comes when you want to feel that shore under your own feet, to swim in that sea yourself…”

He spoke as if from experience.

“That’s when you’ll have to listen closely to what your soul truly desires,” Romeo advised, his tone serious.

“…”

To leave the cozy cradle for the harsh wilderness.

A reason for that.

A futile hope of his own.

“Ughhh…” Jae-hee groaned, propping his chin on his hand. “What the hell do I want to be when I grow up…?”

“Figure it out, Boy,” Juliet said with a bright laugh. “It’s a hard world to dream in, but a world without dreams is even less worth living in.”

She snuggled up to Romeo, linking her arm through his. “I’m definitely going to have our baby on Jeju Island!”

“…We really need to have a more in-depth conversation about this part.”

“Why is this man hesitating when his beautiful wife is offering to have his child?”

“It’s because you’re my beautiful wife that I’m hesitating.”

Romeo pulled Juliet’s shoulder closer and turned his head toward the mainland.

“That coastline looks familiar.”

Through a brief lull in the downpour, the faint outline of a distant island was taking shape.

Romeo let out a soft sigh. “We’ll be at Geoje Island soon.”

***

When Jae-hee and Status Window returned to their room, Razor and Patissier were waiting.

“Ditch your roomies to go eat something good, aye?”

“Did you bring back anything tasty?!”

In response, Status Window simply patted his full belly. Patissier collapsed onto his bed, sobbing.

“Shylock invited you? I was half-expecting you to get poisoned. Surprised you both came back in one piece.” Razor gestured with his chin, his expression suspicious. “What’d he call you for?”

“Ah, it’s an extension of what happened on the last mission…”

Jae-hee gave them the short version: he had essentially saved Shylock’s life, and in return, he’d been offered the position of Deck 4 Leader. The catch was that he first had to get the approval of the ruling faction on Deck 3, the Glasses Society.

After hearing the whole story, Razor let out a low “Ooooh.”

“Can’t say if Shylock can be trusted… but you’re saying if we just wreck Deck 3, we can swallow up Deck 4 automatically?”

“Hey, don’t jump straight to wrecking things…” Jae-hee said, breaking into a cold sweat. “We should try to resolve this with dialogue if possible.”

“Dialogue? With who?”

“The members of the Glasses Society?”

“You’re going to have a dialogue with them?”

Jae-hee tilted his head at Razor’s tone. “Aren’t they the type to be reasonable?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Well, they all wear glasses.”

“And?”

“It means they’re probably good at studying, which means they must be more reasonable… right?”

“I didn’t take you for the type, but you’re one prejudiced son of a bitch.” Razor clicked his tongue in reproach.

Jae-hee shrank back. “Oh, am I wrong? But for a group to be made up entirely of people who wear those expensive glasses these days…”

“Their average intelligence is probably high, sure. Their language skills, too.” 

Razor wagged his index finger. “But mark my words, kid. Just because you speak the same language doesn’t mean you can have a conversation.”

Jae-hee tilted his head again.

If you speak the same language, shouldn’t you be able to have a conversation?

“Well… seeing is believing. We’re having a meeting of all the Deck Leaders once we reach Geoje Island anyway. You can see for yourself then. The current Deck 3 Leader is definitely not someone you can talk to.”

Jae-hee’s eyes widened. “There’s a meeting for all the Deck Leaders?”

“When we dock at Geoje, the whole ship gets an overhaul. The residential wings go into full repair and maintenance mode.”

It was a rare opportunity to service the entire ship with proper facilities. Naturally, the prisoners’ quarters were also inspected and maintained during this period.

“The guards round up all the leaders, get their input on what needs fixing or checking on each deck, and pass down any announcements.”

“Huh. So when is this meeting?”

Just then, the ceiling speaker crackled to life, and a stern, middle-aged man’s voice filled the room.

«All Deck Leaders and Vice-Deck Leaders, report to the Meeting Room on Deck 10 immediately upon hearing this broadcast.»

Razor shrugged.

“Right now.”

***

The “Meeting Room,” as it turned out, was just a vacant office in the corridor that housed the Bank, the Workshop, and the Clinic.

The first thing Jae-hee saw upon entering was Ghost, standing alone in a corner of the room.

“Master!”

Jae-hee trotted over, beaming. “Right, I forgot you’re the Deck Zero Leader!”

“…Something like that. I do manage the place, after all.”

Ghost looked at Jae-hee, puzzled. “But why are you here? I thought you gave the leader position to Razor.”

“Ah, Deck 1 doesn’t have a Vice-Deck Leader right now, so as the former leader, I came along.”

Ghost grumbled, “Calling prisoners ‘Deck Leader’ and ‘Vice-Deck Leader’ is ridiculous. What is this, some school?”

“Well, ‘school’ is a common slang term for prison…” Jae-hee mumbled before adding, “And since I never got to go to school, I actually think getting picked as a leader is kind of fun!”

Speechless, Ghost just massaged the bridge of her nose.

There were quite a few other familiar faces.

Jail Mojik, the Deck 2 Leader, immediately pulled Razor into a tight hug the moment she saw him.

Razor, blushing, muttered, “People are watching…!” but allowed himself to be held.

The Deck 2 Vice-Deck Leader was the blond, tanned, muscular man from the last mission—callsign Powerbomb.

He was currently being cornered by the Deck 3 Vice-Deck Leader, a woman with glasses and pigtails known as Bookworm.

“Mr. Powerbomb!”

Bookworm, practically drooling, had rushed over to him and blurted out, “Oh, h-hello! Lovely weather we’re having today, isn’t it?!”

“…What are you talking about? You think this weather is lovely?”

A storm was raging outside the window. The ship had begun to rock violently again.

Bookworm scratched the back of her head awkwardly, trying to look elsewhere as she sidled up to him. “Hehe, anyway, I… I heard that when I lost consciousness and was falling, you threw yourself forward to catch me.”

“Oh, that? Don’t worry about it. You saved me first, so I was just repaying the debt.”

“No, no, I can’t do that! It’s on my mind! I… I-I want to get to know you better, Mr. Powerbomb!”

“You do? Well, I have no intention of getting to know you, so get lost.”

“Don’t be like that, please let me repay you! Please?”

With that, Bookworm finally succeeded in pressing herself against him, revealing her true intentions.

“I… I want to get close to you, Mr. Powerbomb! Really, really close, and then!”

“…?”

“I want to… do all sorts of this-and-that with you!”

It was, as expected, a declaration of perversion.

Her small hands began to squirm, inching their way toward Powerbomb’s body.

“W-what the hell are you on about, you crazy hoe?!”

Horrified, Powerbomb bolted from the meeting room and fled down the hall.

Bookworm’s face fell. “Aww, rejected again.”

“…”

Jae-hee’s head swam as he listened to the unhinged exchange, but Ghost didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

“A pervert on that level is practically wholesome and cute around here.”

“R-really?”

“Everyone locked up here is an Awakened criminal. There are plenty of inmates with sentences in the hundreds of years. This is a cesspool filled with the trash of society, scum who’ve committed every bizarre and disgusting crime imaginable.”

Ghost jerked her chin toward a man with long hair and glasses who had entered with Bookworm.

“Take that one, for example.”

He was a gaunt man with a faint, beatific smile. Behind thick, rimless glasses, his half-open eyes held a dark, sinister energy.

“That’s the Deck 3 Leader. The head of the current Glasses Society. Callsign: Cultist.”

For once, Ghost’s voice contained clear contempt and disgust.

“Just like his callsign, he’s a real piece of work who got caught playing cult leader and leading the masses astray.”

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