He’s the Legendary Guard, Isn’t He?

What Kind of Prison is This?

It hasn’t even been two days and Si Hyun was popular among the film crew.

Whenever a prisoner caused trouble, he would resolve the situation in an instant and became known as the troubleshooter of the CRPT team.

Whenever an angry prisoner suddenly becomes calm and gentle, people would question whether it was all scripted.

The filming crew thought this would entertain the viewers, so the senior Producer instructed the new Produce, Han Lee Sul, to stay with Si Hyun at all times.

Lee Sul prepared a camera and recorded Si Hyun from early in the morning.

And even asked questions in-between.

“Why did you choose to become a ward?”

“I just picked it based on the college and the major and it just happened to be the Department of Correctional Protection at Kyonggi University. While attending school, I decided to put my studies to good use and chose to be a ward.”

“I noticed that many wards wear a mask while on duty. Is there a special reason for that?”

“Oh, since it’s a building-like prison with not many windows, the ventilation system isn’t that great, so there’s a lot of dust. You may not notice with your bare eyes. That’s why, the wards that have worked here for a long time have some sort of illness in their respiratory system. It comes with the territory. That’s why the wards wear a mask in order to somewhat prevent the dust.”

“You seem to be able to discipline the prisoners so easily. Do you have some sort of special skill?”

“Ha ha, I’m sorry, but that’s confidential information. No comment.”

“It’s lunch time. Let’s take a break.”

The Production Assistant suggested.

***

“Hey, Han Lee Sul, did you hear? The group that’s interviewing the prisoners are a hot mess.”

While eating at the prison’s cafeteria, the senior Director approached them and spoke.

Han Lee Sul placed the spoon down and look at the senior Director.

“How come? Are the prisoners not cooperating?”

“No, it’s not that. They’re all crying.”

“What? Is that a problem?”

Before filming, Lee Sul saw several documentaries where they filmed at a correctional institute.

It was common for prisoners to suddenly start crying during an interview because they get so emotional.

Of course there were cases where they felt that way because of the crime they committed against the victim, but Lee Sul didn’t understand why they would mistake that kind of mistake and waste their youth in prison.

Anyways, it wasn’t really that big of a deal just because the prisoners were crying. So why was he saying that it was a hot mess?

“I know. They said I’ll understand why once I watched the recording, but I haven’t watched it yet. Anyways, it seemed like the main Producer was contemplating regarding this. He feels that he got some great material, but is worried that others might say that they scripted it because all of their reactions were the same.”

“Really? I’m curious as to how they recorded it.”

Lee Sul had an extremely look on her face.

It’s not like the prisoners were clones, so how could they all have the same reaction? Their lives were different, personalities were different and they were all different people.

“Yeah. Let’s watch it after we’re done for the day.”

***

“Wow…”

After watching the interview, Lee Sul’s eyes widened as she pushed her glasses up.

She has never seen something like this in all the documentaries that she watched before.

“-What’s prison life like for you?”

All they did was ask a simple question.

But their face would scrunch up and would start reflecting back to the crimes they committed. Their eyes would start to water and then tears would start dropping. Maybe it was because of the tears, but they started stuttering.

“-Compared to the crime that I’ve committed, I’m living too comfortably…sniff, sniff…I-I’m sorry. I’m really to all the victims…I’ll make sure reflect during the remaining time that I’m here…Wahhh….”

The prisoner looked pretty tough, but unlike his physical appearance, he started crying.

They weren’t sure whether he was being honest or not, but just from the video alone, he looked like he was really reflecting on his crimes. If the prisoner was acting, then he would be good enough to become an actor right now.

He wasn’t the only one.

“-When you’re released, is there anything in particular you would like to do?”

This was also an ordinary question.

“-Sigh…I want to meet with all the victims one by one and ask for their forgiveness, but I’m afraid that it’ll only bring them bad memories, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do that. But…but…the money…sob…”

Using the back of their hand, the prisoner started wiping away the tears. They also looked like they were honestly regretting their crimes.

“-I-I’m sorry…sob…I’ll work hard and pay them back for the trouble I caused, even if it’s a small amount…”

The other prisoners were the same.

Lee Sul suddenly stood up from her seat.

“Wh-what is this? Does this prison brainwash them or something?”

…It wasn’t just two or three. All of them were like that.

It just didn’t make any sense.

“I’m sure the prisoners wouldn’t act this way even if they beat them up.”

The senior Director shook his head in disbelief.

“Right? It doesn’t make sense. Is this possible? That’s what you’re thinking, right? But it’s real. It’s real.”

The main Producer was excited.

“I guarantee that once we edit the preview, upload it online and promote it to the media, the rating will be 8%, 9%, no, it might go over 10%.”

The average viewer rating of Documentary 72 Hours is usually 5, 6%, but when there’s some exciting parts, it usually goes over 10%.

“But, this looks too scripted.”

The senior Producer said.

Lee Sul nodded her head in agreement.

“I also thought a lot because of that. But, technically speaking, does it make sense for us to make something up with the prisoners? I’m sure the viewers know what kind of people these prisoners are. They’re not the type to just cooperate easily. When we filmed at City Hall, we were shocked by how many rude citizens there were. But people that are similar to those citizens are all here.”

Because of this, the main Producer seemed to have made up their mind about just going at it like this.

“But.”

Lee Sul raised her hand.

“I think it’ll fine with just this. But, if we added the recording of Lee Si Hyun disciplining the prisoners…But, none of those seem real at all.”

“Whatever! I’m going ahead with this. Did our program ever script anything? I’m sure the viewers trust us after watching all the previous episodes, so let’s just go with hit. This will be a big hit. We won’t be able to get recordings like this. I even watch foreign documentaries and there wasn’t one that was like this. It’ll become a hot topic once it airs.”

Thinking about how high the viewer rating will be, the main Producer had a smile on his face.

“Oh, and Han Lee Sul, I want you to edit the preview for this episode instead of the assistant.” 

***

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Han Lee Sul said to Si Hyun.

It was a short time, but since she stayed with him the entire time and made small talk, she felt some sort of attachment.

She didn’t know him for long, but he seemed like a good person.

She thought he was made for this job because of how perfectly he handled the situations and did his job.

“Thank you as well.”

Si Hyun extended his hand out for a handshake.

She was the same age as him, but working as a Producer after passing the press examination made him think that she was pretty amazing.

Lee Sul smiled and shook his hand.

“If you don’t mind, would it be okay if we exchanged numbers?”

Her intuition was saying something to her.

This man, his rank was nine, but it’s possible that he may become a great figure in this field.

“Wow, thank you. It’s been a while since I’ve heard a woman ask to exchange phone numbers.”

Si Hyun was getting nervous as he exchanged numbers with her.

“Please watch the show. You’ll be appearing a lot.”

“When will it air?”

“Three weeks from now.”

<What Kind of Prison is This?> End.