"Fox River State Penitentiary, Chicago, Illinois!"
Lying on an uncomfortable top bunk, Lee Sin—who had been dazing off with his eyes wide open—repeated the sentence silently like a mantra. After a few more repetitions, a loud voice boomed from outside: "Yard time! Let's go!"
Immediately after, the buzzing sound of the electric locks echoed—Sizzle—and one after another, the heavy iron doors slid open.
"Damn it," Lee Sin muttered, cursing under his breath as he reluctantly sat up.
At that moment, Michael Scofield, who occupied the lower bunk, stepped out and tilted his head to look at Lee Sin. "Hello. I'm your new roommate. My name is Michael Scofield."
Michael had been tossed into this cell about half an hour ago. At the time, Lee Sin was staring intently at the ceiling, questioning his very existence. Although he recognized the man, his mind was such a mess that he had simply ignored him.
But now... it was undeniable. This was a transmigration. The prison was real, Michael was real, and so far, there was no sign of a "cheat code."
To survive this hellhole, Lee Sin had no choice but to nod. "Lee Sin," he replied. He was surprised by how fluently the English flowed from his lips; it seemed the knowledge had been implanted the moment he arrived.
Michael's handsome face carried a trace of melancholy. "Chinese?"
"Yeah."
In the last thirty minutes, Lee Sin had confirmed that he wasn't in Sucre's body—he was still himself. He was 28, lean, 1.78 meters tall, and exceptionally handsome. As for where Sucre was... he didn't know yet.
"Looks like we'll be spending a lot of time together. Want to head out for a walk?" Michael invited.
If he had a choice, Lee Sin would stay put. Unfortunately, yard time was mandatory. Furthermore, until his "Golden Finger" appeared, he needed to stay close to Michael. Without the protagonist's plot armor, he might be stuck here forever.
"Sure," Lee Sin responded, climbing down from the bunk.
They made their way to the exercise yard. The moment Lee Sin's shoes touched the ground, a mechanical voice echoed in his head.
[System Binding Successful. Newbie Gift Pack distributing... Success. You have obtained one 'Five Poison Gu Insect' (Juvenile). This insect is bound to your consciousness and follows your will.][Note: From this moment on, you will receive a skill reward for every person you 'release.'] The voice vanished. Lee Sin suddenly felt a tiny presence inside him—an insect the size of a fly, shimmering with five distinct colors.
'My cheat code is finally here!' Lee Sin thought. 'A Gu technique?!' A wide grin broke across his face, his previous irritation vanishing instantly. Michael noticed the sudden shift, his brow twitching. "Something good happen?"
Lee Sin suppressed his excitement and nodded. "Yeah."
He walked on, lost in thought. 'I get rewards for "releasing" people? Is "releasing" a euphemism for... killing?' As an ordinary guy from the modern world, he felt a pang of nervousness. He had never even killed a chicken, and now he was expected to "release" hardened criminals.
'Don't rush. Take it slow,' he told himself, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves.
He surveyed the yard, and familiar faces from the show Prison Break began to appear: T-Bag, John Abruzzi, "D.B. Cooper" Westmoreland, Sucre, C-Note... and Lincoln Burrows, isolated in the adjacent yard.
'This is going to be a tough start,' Lee Sin sighed.
"I'm going to walk around on my own for a bit," Michael said, heading off toward the fence.
Lee Sin didn't follow. After a moment's hesitation, he approached Charles Westmoreland. He already had a rough plan. With his "cheat code," he didn't strictly need Michael to escape. If he "released" enough people and gained the right skills, he could break out on his own terms.
Besides, escaping with Michael's entire gang would make him too big a target.
However, he needed to keep a low profile. This prison was a shark tank of gangs, and he was a foreigner with no combat skills—yet. One wrong move and he'd be knifed before the system could even level him up.
Lastly, he knew John Abruzzi was the key. Escaping the walls was only half the battle; he would need the mob's resources—planes, cars, and new identities—once they were on the outside.
'Today... let's release one and see what happens.' Lee Sin sat next to Charles and asked with a smile, "May I sit here?"
Charles looked at the Easterner and smiled faintly. "I'm just an old man. I can't help you with anything." He then gestured subtly with his eyes.
Lee Sin followed his gaze and felt a headache coming on.
T-Bag, flanked by his "boyfriend" and a group of thugs, was sauntering over with a wicked, predatory grin.
"Old man, you're right. This place is getting crowded," Lee Sin thought. He watched T-Bag approach. He actually admired T-Bag as a character, and the man's chaotic nature might be useful for his "release" missions later.
Deciding to make an example of someone else to get rid of this immediate nuisance, Lee Sin shifted his gaze to one of the henchmen behind T-Bag. He gritted his teeth and sent a telepathic command to the Five Poison Gu.
'Kill that subordinate.'[Target Acquired. Deploying.] In an instant, the Five Poison Gu slipped out from Lee Sin's ankle and blurred across the pavement toward its target.
"Hey there, Pretty," T-Bag drawled, leaning to one side. He scanned Lee Sin up and down with a predatory gaze, a wicked grin stretching across his face. "You speak English?"
Lee Sin responded with a calm smile. He knew that being low-key didn't mean being a coward. In a place like Fox River, showing extreme timidity on day one was a death sentence—or worse.
"Perfectly," Lee Sin replied.
"Very good," T-Bag said, his tongue darting out to lick his lips. "You know, we haven't had a 'beauty' like you grace these halls in a long time."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Lee Sin said smoothly.
"You should," T-Bag continued, stepping closer. "A delicate thing like you won't have an easy time in a place like this. You need protection. Without it, you might lose your life—or something else—at any moment. Do you catch my drift?"
Lee Sin remained silent, his smile never wavering.
T-Bag wasn't deterred. "I can look after you. Make sure you have a real pleasant stay."
Lee Sin finally spoke, glancing at the young inmate clutching T-Bag's turned-out pocket—the universal sign of being "owned" in Fox River. "But you already have a boyfriend."
T-Bag's expression shifted, his cold smile sharpening. He reached into his left pocket and pulled it out. "Look here... I've got another pocket."
The words had barely left his mouth when it happened.
Suddenly, one of the men standing behind T-Bag collapsed. He began convulsing violently, white foam bubbling at the corners of his mouth.
The atmosphere shifted instantly. Lee Sin, T-Bag, and the rest of the crew spun around to look at the fallen man.
"Guard! GUARD!" T-Bag shouted, realizing something was horribly wrong. He rushed toward the perimeter fence, signaling the armed officer in the tower.
The guard turned, his eyes widening. "What's going on down there?!" He immediately keyed his radio. "Medical emergency in the A-Block yard! We need a doctor, now!"
The man on the ground, Biggs, had his eyes rolled back. The light was visibly fading from his face. One second, two seconds... the convulsions stopped. So did his breathing.
At that exact moment, a voice echoed in Lee Sin's mind:
[You have successfully 'released' Norman 'Biggs' Styles. As your first release, a bonus has been applied.][Reward: Critical Hit. Reward: Wing Chun.]
A surge of heat rushed through Lee Sin's limbs. Suddenly, his body felt lighter, and his mind was flooded with the muscle memory of strikes, parries, and footwork. He now knew exactly how to fight.
However, he couldn't enjoy the power-up. Looking at the corpse on the ground, a wave of nausea hit him. He had been a law-abiding citizen for twenty-eight years; he had never even considered murder. Seeing the gap between his imagination and the cold reality of a dead body was jarring.
'Get it together,' he hissed to himself. 'Adapt or die. If I don't do this, I'll end up as someone's 'pocket' or in a body bag.'
He watched as the Five Poison Gu crawled back toward his shadow, undetected, and merged with his body. Several guards were already sprinting toward the scene. Other inmates were craning their necks, whispering in dark corners.
Lee Sin didn't wait around. He turned and walked away calmly while the guards were occupied with T-Bag and the body.
He still had time before the end of yard time. While he had Wing Chun now, he wasn't ready to approach Abruzzi yet. He needed to know his own backstory first. What did the 'Lee Sin' of this world do to get here?
He spotted a young guard named Bob—a rookie who hadn't yet been hardened by the system. Lee Sin approached the fence politely.
"Officer, may I ask a quick question?"
Bob, looking a bit shaken by the sudden death in the yard, looked at Lee Sin. "What is it, inmate?"
"I had a bit of a rough morning... hit my head, I think. My memory is a total fog. Could you tell me what I'm in for? And how long?"
Bob stared at him, incredulous. "You're kidding, right?"
"I wish I were. I just need to know where I stand."
Bob sighed, shaking his head, but answered anyway. "Five counts of first-degree murder. You're serving forty years, no parole."
Lee Sin's heart skipped a beat. Forty years? Five murders? What kind of monster's identity had he inherited? But then, a dark thought occurred to him—in a place like Fox River, a reputation as a mass murderer was better than a shield. It would keep the smaller predators at bay.
"Forty years... got it. Thanks, Officer."
As he walked away, Lee Sin began to piece his plan together. He didn't want to dig tunnels like Michael. His plan was the infirmary. If he could get into Sara Tancredi's office at night, he could escape over the walls.
'I need lockpicking skills,' he realized. 'And I need them fast.'
He scanned the yard. A riot was brewing—the "good vs. evil" war between the gangs was inevitable. He had to leave before the lockdown, or he'd be trapped. But there was a new problem.
If people kept dying of mysterious "poisoning," Warden Pope and Dr. Sara would notice.
Back in the infirmary, Sara was already on the phone with Warden Pope.
"Warden, we just had a sudden death in A-Block. I suspect poisoning. I'm requesting an immediate autopsy."
Pope's voice went grave. "Poisoning? Are you sure, Sara?"
"The symptoms point to it. It wasn't a heart attack."
Pope paused. A stabbing was routine, but poison was calculated. It was silent. It meant someone had a sophisticated way of killing, and until they found out who, no one in the prison was safe.
"Do it," Pope ordered. "I want those results on my desk the moment they're ready."