Prison School was nothing like Light had imagined. It looked neither like a prison nor a school.
It resembled a small locked-down city.
Light lay on the lower bunk of a two-storey bed, staring at the wooden slats above him.
Sunlight slipped through the window in thin rays, forcing him to squint. The squint was only instinct. He could stare straight at the bright light outside without blinking.
His Light Eater attribute was stronger than he had anticipated.
In bright environments, his shadow devoured surrounding light, while in darkness it simply merged with the shadows around him.
His first attempt to use Smooth Talker had failed.
He had forgotten that his Ether was suppressed. It was the first time something like that had been used on him.
But the failure didn't discourage him. When he tried the skill again later, the result was… satisfying.
Smooth Talker was an incredibly useful ability, especially for the kind of environment he had just entered.
The skill didn't distinguish between the sentient and the insentient.
It simply worked on anything tangible.
The annoying sound of munching came from the bunk above him, along with the smell of snacks that made it hard for him to concentrate.
Light sighed as he finally decided to start acting.
The earlier, the better.
"How many inmates are in this place?"
The voice above sounded carefree as he spoke with snacks in his mouth.
"Last count? Around nine thousand. Hard to keep track. New trash gets dumped here every day."
"Nine thousand?" Light asked in disbelief.
"Welcome to the country's garbage bin."
'How am I supposed to cause enough chaos in such a vast place… especially with limited time?'
"You should watch your step here," the voice continued lazily. "Prisoners die every day. I've killed a few myself. My former roommate died because he was too soft."
Light wanted to respond but swallowed the words.
Instead, he asked,
"Can you at least tell me how the place operates?"
"In sectors," the man replied. "That's the interesting part."
He paused to swallow another handful of snacks.
"Outcast Sector. That's where we are. Over sixty-five hundred inmates live here. We occupy about half the prison, and the whole place stretches several kilometres."
He continued.
"The Harbinger Sector has over two thousand inmates. It's restricted though, so the numbers are always inaccurate. Anyone who wanders there never comes back."
Another crunch echoed from the bunk above.
"And finally the Architect Sector."
His voice lowered slightly.
"That place houses monsters under extreme containment. Not even a bird is allowed to fly there."
He chuckled.
"Scary, right?"
"It only holds the lower-level Architects though. If someone reaches mid-level Architect, they're transferred to GAA headquarters abroad."
"How safe is it patrolling outside?" Light asked after processing the information.
"You're a curious one, aren't you?" the man replied.
"It's about as safe as walking through a gang zone unarmed."
"You're bound to get confronted if you look weak. They use the weak to show their strength."
He tore open another snack and started munching again.
"Make them believe you're tough and they'll treat you like competition instead of prey."
"There's constant violence outside too. As villains, we have to commit a few crimes every now and then just to survive the quest failure penalties."
He paused before adding casually,
"You must be hungry. Sorry though… I ate your snacks."
"It's payment for the information."
Light stood up and straightened his clothes before walking out.
He was wearing loose ash-grey pants and a matching top, the same uniform as the man above him.
A sudden mechanical voice made him stop in his tracks, forcing him to look up.
The speakers mounted above the wall's edge crackled before relaying a message in a low mechanical tone.
"Attention Prison-Schoolers. Alias Lightless and Bodoo are to report to Counselling Block 009, Building 050 Room 105 for today's class session. Failure to attend will result in two days without food. I repeat…"
Bodoo raised a brow in surprise before jumping down from the top bunk.
He landed lightly on the floor.
He stood few inches taller than Light, standing around six feet in height. His head was completely bald, with a short bow-shaped moustache hanging beneath his nose.
"What an ominous alias," he whistled as he stuffed the empty snack wrappers into his pocket.
"You must've been important to receive a private class on the same day you arrived. What's your class?"
"S," Light replied casually.
"The fuck? And you're here?" His expression shifted instantly from carefree amusement to frustrated disbelief.
"I mean…
Would you have suggested I go to the Architect Sector instead?" Light replied calmly.
To him, there was no need to hide it.
The more people who knew and feared him, the higher his Dread Index would rise.
'That reminds me… being S-class is practically an automatic Index farmer on its own.
No wonder they treated me like some kind of world-ending weapon.'
A faint smirk formed on his face as they headed toward the counselling block.
Many gazes followed them along the corridor. Some inmates didn't bother hiding their hostility.
But none dared to approach.
Light walked with lazy strides, his usual posture unchanged. His hands rested inside his pockets while his shoulders leaned slightly forward.
The bandage around his head and the scar across his left eye made him look even more unsettling.
He had intentionally hidden his rank, just like every inmate he had seen, ensuring that others of similar rank wouldn't see his status through their systems.
The flaw, however, was obvious.
With his rank concealed, he couldn't use Ether.
Not with his current strength at least.
He figured it was the smarter choice. In a place like this, no one would risk provoking something they couldn't measure. The unknown was always the most frightening opponent… Even his roommate was clueless.
Bodoo fell a step behind, unable to pinpoint the source of the abnormality surrounding Light, who strolled casually beneath the harsh "sun," his presence unnervingly subdued. It wasn't just him— even the daylight seemed to bend to the same effect.
Light's inky eyes seemed unfocused, his thoughts raced as he made silent calculations.
'My Dread Index has been increasing on its own…
I guess the rumours of an S-Class villain awakening in the country have already spread.'
He summoned the system panel displaying his Dread Index progress.
The translucent interface appeared before his eyes.
Light stared at the numbers with a mildly stunned expression.