The Genius’s Escape Plan Strategy – Chapter 4

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒: 𝐓𝐎𝐏-𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐃 (1)

Purgatory, Floor 1: Hwalryongdo.

This place was like a visualization of the lowest level of hell.

An island where jagged rocks jutted out from a sea of molten lava. The sweltering hell of the underworld that was always included in action games.

Chaka and I were dropped here, shackled in chains. Not knowing what kind of welcome ceremony awaited us.

“It’s hot.”

My body felt like dough that would bake into a cookie in ten minutes if it were placed in an oven. However, unlike me, Chaka didn’t seem to mind.

“That rat of a warden is gone too. Shall I try you out?”

Damn. Come to think of it, this was not the time to worry about the heat. I had fallen into a frying pan over flames, and a hobgoblin that wanted to chew me up and spit me out came with it as a 1+1 package deal.

“Are you doing this because I called you a pig?”

“That makes it three. You’ve said a word you shouldn’t have three times now.”

“Well. Pigs are sacred animals on my home planet. We even bow to a pig’s head to pray for prosperity and fortune. Believe me.”

“Keuheuheu. Don’t make me laugh. Your flattery won’t work on me.”

As he approached to grab my neck,

A rock the size of a house fell from the sky.

KWAANG!

“Are you the new arrivals?”

On closer inspection, it wasn’t a rock but a monster of tremendous size.

A humanoid monster with grayish skin. His face closely resembled that of a rhinoceros.

“I am Daimon, cell 2 Chief. I’m explaining the rules of prison life to the newcomers. First of all, your filthy prattle is damaging public decency.”

Daimon was wearing a prison uniform with gray as its base color and dark blue stripes. His muscles were so well-developed that the prison uniform was stretched taut like a tightrope.

Sensing his energy, Chaka seemed to decide to observe the situation.

“Warden! Are you just going to leave them like this, stark naked?”

『The warden of the 1st floor, ‘The Civet That Dips Its Tail in Flames’, activates his power.』

After a flash of light covered Chaka and me and disappeared, we were wearing prison uniforms. Daimon let out a satisfied snort.

“Now, you won’t faint from the heat.”

His words were true. Fortunately, the suffocating heat had subsided considerably. Did it have a heat-dissipating function?

“Human prisoner. What is your name? I need to add it to the prisoner list.”

“My name is Park Sang━. . . no, Schwein Stringer.”

Since the warden called me by this name, I had to quickly adapt to these seven syllables. Of course, it was quite an embarrassing name to say out loud.

At that moment, Chaka puffed out his upper body, as if he was conscious of Daimon, and took a step forward.

“Chaka Dokginov. You’re the Chief? How many Chiefs are there here?”

“There are 16 cells in total. Naturally, there are that many Chiefs.”

“R-Really?”

Chaka was carefully examining Daimon’s shoulders and biceps. He was probably gauging the strength of his opponent, and he seemed a little surprised that there were fifteen more monsters like this one.

『Name: Daimon Kiris』

『Race: Tricerian』, 『Class: Warden』

『Title: Hwalryongdo cell 2 Chief』

『HP: 1,290』, 『MP: 210』, 『Strength: 164』, 『Agility: 47』

『Sentence: 360 years』

『He is a demon who ruled over a floor in the Labyrinth of the Abyss. He is a neat freak who follows his own set of rules. Therefore, he serves as the security officer of Hwalryongdo, Floor 1. You will regret it if you offend this security officer. 』

He’s strong. At this level, wouldn’t he be the boss mob of the early stages in a normal game? That guy, Chaka Dokginov, would be like a mid-level boss.

“Oooooh, we have newcomers!”

At that moment, the surroundings suddenly became noisy.

It wasn’t just the cell chiefs who came out to greet me. A huge number of devils revealed themselves from the rocky hills all around.

“There are two of them, too. Look here!”

“Hey, shorty! Shake that butt!”

“That fat goblin would be too cramped if he came to our cell.”

Without exception, the faces of the devils looked fierce enough to make your stomach churn if you saw them in your dreams. They were whistling like hooligans harassing a woman.

Although I couldn’t see the warrior’s Insight up close because they were so far away, there were definitely some guys who looked as strong as Daimon mixed in among them.

“Hold on a minute. Why are there two?”

Daimon scratched the large horn on his nose, as if something was strange. He blinked his big eyes and peered into the register carefully before saying,

“The only cell that has a vacancy right now is cell 13. Why did two of you get admitted? Those warden b*stards did something stupid again.”

Daimon looked at Chaka and me in turn, as if he was troubled.

“What are you going to do. There’s only one vacancy.”

Just as I was about to ask what was going on, Daimon started walking briskly toward me.

“I’m sorry, human prisoner.”

“Hey, what are you doing?”

The rhinoceros giant pointed a finger at the rocky cliff. Below the cliff, boiling magma was showing off its grandeur.

“One should have come, but two came. I absolutely hate unexpected situations.”

“So?”

“I have to reduce it to one.”

It must be because I was much lighter than Chaka, so it would be easier to throw me off the cliff. This guy, is his brain on the same level as a rhinoceros too?

“Huh? What? It looks like they’re getting rid of one.”

The prisoners who came to watch the newcomers clicked their tongues.

“Is he going to die as soon as he gets here? Just hand him over to me. It would be great if I could skin him and make a rug. I’ll attach the blonde hair to the end of the rug as a tassel.”

“That’s just like the uptight Daimon. That punk has no sense of humor, no sense of humor at all.”

“I’d rather be that human. It might be happier to die quickly since you’re going to rot in prison anyway.”

What are these crazy prisoners blabbering about? This is a matter of life and death for me.

What do I do? At this rate, I’ll end up dying in the first round, let alone clearing the game!

“Wait a minute. Isn’t there a rule that the sentence increases if a prisoner kills another prisoner?”

Daimon hesitated, as if he was caught off guard.

“That’s true if a regular prisoner kills a regular prisoner. However. . . . . . .”

It was the announcement voice that continued his words.

『The warden of the 1st floor, ‘The Civet That Dips Its Tail in Flames’, informs that the two of them are not officially assigned prisoners yet, so they are not subject to judgment. Even if they kill or are killed, the warden will not intervene with prisoners who have not been assigned. 』

“I see. That’s why that rat in the waiting room could easily eliminate us. Because we’re not regular prisoners yet, right?”

Daimon nodded.

“That’s why there are sometimes cases where prisoners hunt newcomers for fun on days like today, before they receive their official assignments. I came out to see you off in order to prevent that.”

However, the fact that two people were admitted complicated things for this rhinoceros who was a stickler for rules.

“Okay, okay.”

I muttered to myself like this and took a deep breath.

I finished analyzing the situation. I can’t just die according to the flow of fate.

It just came to me.

The perfect way to ‘clear’ this situation.

However, in order to do that, one thing had to be certain.

“Then Daimon. Is it okay if unassigned prisoners fight each other and one of them dies?”

“What? As far as I know, that’s true, but. . . . . . why are you asking that?”

I pointed a finger at Chaka Dokginov, my fellow newcomer.

“Then let that pig bastard and me fight each other. Until one of us dies.”

🔶🔶🔶🔶🔶🔶

“Fight! Kill him!”

“Don’t end it too quickly, you cowards!”

“Yeah! The original deathmatch is the most fun. It’s the best when morons like you beat each other up.”

The prisoners drew closer at the thought of ‘seeing blood’. When the excited spectators gathered, a stage was naturally created.

In the middle of it, Chaka and I stood facing each other like gladiators in a colosseum.

“You’ve got quite the guts. When you should be begging for your life, you want me to fight you.”

“What can I do? There’s only one ticket. I’ll never forget you. That terrible breath of yours, too.”

“Yeah, it’s a waste to let your disgusting snout just melt in the lava. The liquid that should melt you is the stomach acid in my stomach.”

Daimon, who was perched on a rock, clicked his tongue as if he was dissatisfied with how things were going.

“The floor chief will be annoyed if he finds out. He doesn’t like prisoners beating each other to death.”

Next to him, a prisoner spoke to Daimon in a cheerful tone.

“Don’t worry. The floor chief is hunting right now. He won’t be back for three days, right?”

Even after eavesdropping on their conversation, I couldn’t understand what they were talking about. What is a floor chief, and what is hunting?

Chaka Dokginov lifted his shackled handcuffs and shouted.

“Hey! Warden! Can you uncuff this? How can I fight while I’m tied up?”

The audience agreed, saying that he was right.

A moment later, a voice echoed throughout Hwalryongdo like an announcement.

『The warden of the 1st floor, ‘The Civet That Dips Its Tail in Flames’, accepts the request of prisoner Chaka Dokginov.』

Swish.

The shackles on Chaka and me disappeared like magic.

“Keuahahaha! The warden of the 1st floor is pretty reasonable!”

Chaka burst into loud laughter, but my heart sank a little. The difference in ability between Chaka, as perceived by the warrior’s Insight, and me was vast. In a situation where I had to fight with my bare hands, I should have made the most of factors that restricted my freedom of movement, such as the shackles. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Tring!

『A sudden quest has occurred.』

『Sudden Quest #1. ‘Battle for a Spot’』

『The warrior fell to Hwalryongdo, the territory of the warden of the 1st floor, as a result of the lottery. However, guess what? There is only one vacancy left on the 1st floor. The warrior must defend his life against the attacks of Chaka Dokginov, who is after his life, and obtain a spot as a prisoner on the 1st floor. 』

『Time Limit: 30 minutes』

『Reward: Strength +1』

『Failure: Death』

The quest notification appeared again.

This appeared when I came into contact with the remains of Lfaltarkus Sion in the waiting room. Lfaltarkus’ will was felt. Could it be that, in order to follow his path, I have to overcome at least this much?

“Kuaaaaaaaagh!”

The head of a roaring pig broke through the quest window. Thinking that I was spacing out, Chaka launched a preemptive attack.

“Die!”

A deadly flying knee kick aimed for my abdomen. I was hit directly in the knee by Chaka and flew back 30 meters, rolling on the ground.

“Keuheuk!”

My head was throbbing, and I couldn’t breathe.

“Hey, newcomer. You didn’t die in one hit, did you?”

“Get up, you punk. You picked a fight with me even though you’re a weakling! Let’s hit the jackpot.”

My internal organs were about to burst before the jackpot could hit.

I staggered to my feet and checked my body condition. My joints were screaming all over the place, but it seemed like none of my bones were broken.

However, the most concerning thing was. . . . . . .

『HP: 64/100』

My HP had been reduced to a fraction in one hit. By simple calculation, if I took two more direct hits from Chaka’s attacks, I would be dead.

Chaka was closing the distance again.

“Why did you suddenly become quiet? Want to pick a fight again, huh?”

“I heard that you mostly eat young elves. Wouldn’t you get an upset stomach if you ate me? Huh?”

“Don’t worry. I’m not the type to complain about side dishes.”

Let me recall the situation from a little while ago.

When Chaka landed his flying knee kick, I instinctively jumped back to cushion the impact. That kind of reaction was impossible for Park Sang-sik, a man who had spent half his life in a wheelchair.

So, I guess this is the reflex of the warrior Schwein Stringer.

‘𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙝, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙧. 𝙄𝙛 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚. . . . . . .’

『S-Grade Attack Skill ‘Rising Dragon Strike’ ━Execution impossible due to insufficient Strength』

『B-Grade Attack Skill ‘Thunderclap Whirlwind Kick’ ━Execution impossible due to insufficient Strength』

It still won’t activate.

What do I do? I have to come up with a technique to overcome this crisis.

When I gritted my teeth, the system’s guide chimed in.

『When in need of help, call out the names of your friends. Your friends will respond and lend you their strength.』

Call out the names of my friends.

Where would I find friends in this unfamiliar prison?

Then, Lfaltarkus’ last words suddenly came to mind.

‘𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙧?’

Chaka kicked off the ground and charged at me again.

No guts, no glory. I shouted a name, just as instructed.

“Lfaltarkus, help me!”

At that moment, a burst of light exploded from the lion tattoo engraved on my right arm.

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