Raymond was cursing in his mind when the words were quickly replaced by a message panel.
[Sinner: Lorraine]
[Race: Succubus]
[Power: Black Iron Stage, Level 15]
[Status: Serving Sentence]
[Crime: Unknown - requires 100 Guard Contribution Points to unlock]
[Guard Contribution Points: 20 (The higher the value, the better the rewards you can draw)]
[Available Draws: 0 (23:59:15 remaining until +1 draw)]
...
Next to the panel was a full-body image of Lorraine.
Compared to the Lorraine lying on the prison floor, swollen and bruised, the image on the panel looked much more beautiful and attractive.
It seemed that ruining a pretty face was indeed a cruel thing.
Raymond snapped back to reality and focused on his thoughts again.
This time, he easily entered the empty space he had been in before.
Lorraine’s panel floated in front of him like a card. The countdown for the next available draw read [23:58:25] and kept ticking down.
"It’s not a hallucination! I really did activate a cheat power!" Raymond opened his eyes, his face full of surprise.
Based on the information on the panel, he had roughly figured out some rules about the cheat power.
First: Any prisoner he personally locked in a cell or punished could be recorded by the Sin Lottery System into the empty space and turned into a sinner card.
Second: Lorraine’s 20 Guard Contribution Points were probably related to what he had done to her. Just now, he had dragged Lorraine into the cell and taken her blood - both actions might have increased his contribution points.
Third: As long as Lorraine was still serving her sentence, Raymond could keep earning draw chances from her. Once the 24-hour countdown was over, he could make his first draw. It seemed like the draw chances could be saved up.
Fourth: The rewards from the draw would be related to the sinner on the card. He had no idea what kind of rewards there were yet - he would have to wait until the first draw to find out.
"If I save up my draw chances and slowly raise the Guard Contribution Points to 100, the rewards I get from one big draw will probably be way more valuable," Raymond thought to himself.
Still, Raymond wasn’t greedy.
"For him, the most important thing was to do a few single draws first and figure out the exact rules of the cheat power."
Besides, he needed to get stronger in the short term.
He had already sensed the hostility from the other guards. From now on, life in Abyss Prison wasn’t going to be easy.
Even though Raymond had never worked in a prison before, as a transmigrator, he knew the unspoken rule of prison life: strength is everything.
"Right now, I’m way too weak!" Raymond glanced at Lorraine, a Level 15 Black Iron Stage succubus.
"To be honest, if Lorraine hadn’t been drugged, Raymond - who was only Level 5 - would have been killed in a single encounter by Lorraine, who was Level 15."
"In this world, every race and class measures strength by level."
Levels 1 to 20: Black Iron Stage.
Levels 21 to 40: Bronze Stage.
After that, every 20 levels was a new stage: Silver Stage, Gold Stage, Platinum Stage, Diamond Stage...
"Good thing I now have a way to get stronger fast! Brando! Serena! I’ll get my revenge on you soon!" Raymond locked the iron door and turned to leave.
Guard Hall.
"Here are the blood sample and the memory stone from that succubus." Raymond placed both items on Hal’s desk.
"Good work. You’re done here. Go get some rest. You’re on night shift tomorrow." Hal patted Raymond on the shoulder and watched him leave.
After sending Raymond off, Hal picked up the memory stone.
Click!
The stone lit up.
A hologram of the succubus Lorraine appeared in front of Hal.
She was lying on the ground, eyes closed. Her dress had several holes, like they had been worn through.
But what really caught his attention were the dark purple bruises all over her body.
Pfft!
Hal spat out the coffee he had just drunk, his eyes frozen wide open. "That little bastard... he’s a lot more twisted than I thought!"
Rest Room.
Raymond sat on the edge of his bed, studying the Sin Lottery System in his mind.
This time, across from Lorraine’s card, he found his own info panel.
[Host: Raymond·Lucian (Unhealthy)]
[Race: Human]
[Strength: Black Iron Stage, Level 5 (EXP: 0.07%)]
[Talent: None]
[Skills: None]
[Prisoners Guarded: Black Iron Stage (1)]
...
"So I’m actually unhealthy. No wonder I had trouble carrying that woman earlier." Raymond clicked his tongue.
To be honest, his info panel was pretty pathetic.
He couldn’t figure out why the eldest son of a Baron had no battle talent or skills at all.
Luckily, Raymond’s father, Baron Lucian, was known as the [Silver Sword] of the Holy Sword Empire - a Level 51 Silver Stage swordsman.
He had never given up on Raymond and often taught him swordsmanship in private.
He once said that if Raymond was willing to practice seriously, he could master the basics of [Basic Swordplay] in less than half a month.
Raymond carefully searched through his memories and soon recalled fragments of those experiences.
These memories were like modern video lessons. Baron Lucian had clearly demonstrated every move and every bit of power behind [Basic Swordplay].
"As a swordsman, there are only four core techniques in combat: thrust, slash, block, and footwork."
"Every advanced sword technique - even the high-level sword skills - is built on these four."
"It’s okay if you don’t want to practice right now. I’ll keep demonstrating until you become a real swordsman."
...
Raymond finished watching those memory fragments and let out a deep breath.
These memories made him feel like he really was Raymond. They stirred up a sense of father-son bond and respect for Baron Lucian.
"Don’t worry. I won’t let you down." Raymond clenched his fist and dove back into Baron Lucian’s lessons.
Time slipped by without him noticing. Only after he was sure he had fully understood all the practice methods of [Basic Swordplay] did he pull himself out of the memories.
He glanced at Lorraine’s card in his mind. There were still 16 hours left until the first card draw cooldown ended.
"I don’t know what reward I’ll get yet, so I need to have a backup plan." Raymond slowly stood up and picked up the sword beside his bed.
Clang!
He drew the sword and started practicing, following the methods from his memories.
The guard’s regulation longsword felt a bit heavy to Raymond.
Just going through the moves Baron Lucian had taught him once left him drenched in sweat, unable to lift his arms.
But his strong desire to get stronger made him forget the physical exhaustion.
He took out the bread he had packed from the cafeteria and started eating.
After he finished eating, he went back to practicing.
He kept practicing until his eyes were too heavy to stay open. Only then did he drop the longsword and collapse onto the bed.
The next afternoon.
Raymond opened his eyes groggily. "When did I fall asleep?"
He turned his head and saw the longsword lying on the floor. That’s when he remembered - he had pushed himself too hard last night and completely ran out of strength.
He struggled to sit up in bed. His thighs, arms, and shoulders all ached terribly.
Then, Raymond noticed something. His experience bar on the info panel had changed.
[Black Iron Stage Level 5 (Experience: 0.07% → 2.94%)]
In one night, his experience had gone up by 2.87%.
That meant, if he kept practicing with the sword every night, he could reach Black Iron Stage Level 6 in at most 35 days.
And this was just from practicing [Basic Swordplay].
"If I could learn advanced sword techniques - or even high-level sword skills - my leveling speed would probably be much faster!" Raymond thought to himself.
He checked the time. Lorraine’s cooldown should be over.
Raymond entered the empty space in his mind and saw that, sure enough, the number of draws on Lorraine’s card had turned into 1.
Also, a new countdown had already started ticking.
"Just like I guessed yesterday." Raymond noticed a new button under Lorraine’s card that said [Draw / Don’t Draw]. Without hesitation, he pressed it.
- Ding! Detected that the host is drawing from a sinner for the first time. The prize quality is increased by 10 times. Drawing now...]
- [Congratulations, host! You have successfully drawn a prize from the sinner "Lorraine": Experience Card (Black Iron Stage 100 Days).]
[Prize Name: Experience Card (Black Iron Stage 100 Days)]
[Prize Type: One-time consumable item. Can only be used by the host.]
[Prize Description: It contains the experience of a Black Iron Stage expert who trained hard for 100 days. Once activated, the host can directly gain this experience to raise their strength or improve a specific skill.]
Raymond stared at the experience card floating in the empty space. His eyes lit up.
This reward was perfect for him.
It was exactly what he needed to make up for all the time he had wasted in the past.
"Getting 100 days’ worth of training experience in one go - if I use it on Basic Swordplay..." Without another thought, Raymond activated the card.