Weapon seller in the world of magic

As he activated the skill, a faint glow surrounded him, and his body slowly became translucent before disappearing completely.

Carefully, he crept toward the door, slipping past the holding cell through it, like a ghost. Everything seemed perfect in his mind, but suddenly, alarms were triggered all of a sudden.

”Damn it!” he cursed under his breath, rushing back into his cell. ”Dismiss the skill.”

In a hurry, Sungjun returned to his normal form after returning to his bed, lying down as if nothing had happened. Thirty seconds later, a robotic guard glided silently to his cell, sensors scanning in meticulous patterns.

It paused for a moment while activating its night vision. ”False alarm. Need a software update to remove any bugs,” the monotone voice reported, then retreated, leaving the room quiet once more.

After it was gone, Sungjun opened his eyes and clenched his fists tightly. ”Why? I even tested it before. This invisibility should have evaded those motion sensors. I guess the alarms will trigger if there is no presence in the cell for more than five seconds or something? Fortunately, they aren’t humans to have that instinct and get suspicious. They won’t investigate and check the footage to see if they can see I turned invisible or something like that... The robots are disciplined, but their thinking is also quite straightforward and direct,” he thought in his head. ”Anyway, since I can’t walk out, I’ll have to make them open the door.”

He let the thought settle. Simple logic: create an emergency they can’t ignore. The best thing is fire. Smoke would trigger the opening of the cells, and then he could use Miniature ability to turn small and hurriedly leave. And while the robots were looking for him, he could roam around to check out the entire level 6 and return to his cell. Unlike humans, the robots with AI have high, if not overconfidence, in their deductive abilities. It is easier to fool them than 13-year-olds.

And creating fire is as easy as long as he has enough paper. He just needs to use his mana to ignite the papers. Luckily for him, there are enough books around to cause flames. But unfortunately, Robots are beings that follow patterns. In order to be random, he cannot use mana to burn books all the time. So, he has to use other ways.

As he was thinking about various ways to create flames, such as burning books, or causing fire through electronic supplies like an Air conditioner, vending machine, geyser in the shower, etc., something softer slipped into his mind.

”Sofi...” The image of his wife, Alexander’s late wife, appeared in his mind. A sigh escaped his mouth as small, ordinary things came to him, like hair caught at the nape of her neck, the way she tucked a loose thread into the hem of his jacket, the soft indignation when he left dishes in the sink when he lived with her in her house. He could see her smile—easy, bright—and hear the way she said his name when she wanted him to listen.

”You’ll burn the toast if you leave it too long,” she’d scold, nudging him with the spoon.

”And you’ll nag until I remember,” he’d answer, and she’d laugh.

He let his eyes close as he lay down.

Ten years ago, the time when Alex had an accident and lived as a prisoner in Sophie’s household.

Sophie—her hair a dark cascade, her eyes a storm—stood in the center of her modest apartment, her expression a mix of determination and disappointment. She had been 21 then, older than him by two years. Smoke curled from the small fire she’d set in the kitchen, enough to trigger the alarm and cover his escape.

Alex, only 19, had been quick but cautious. He dodged through the hallways and made his way to escape. The alarm blared behind him, but he moved as if the world had slowed. Step by step, he reached the exit. In the end, he got away.

But his tracks halted as the image of Sophie lingered.

Then, the realization hit him as surely as the cold night air: he loved her. And he wasn’t simply escaping the prison. He was leaving the person whom he fell in love with. And if he would go then, by his status, Alex knew that his dad would not agree to be with her, the daughter of a small-time mob boss.

Turning back, he raced back, ignoring the burning scent behind him, ignoring the possibility of being caught.

Her eyes widened when he returned. ”Sungjun... what are you—”

”I can’t go, Sophie,” he interrupted, closing the distance. ”I like you. I’ve... I’ve fallen for you.”

Sophie’s breath hitched, and for a moment, the world seemed like it narrowed to the two of them. She reached out, her hands finding his, and hugged him tightly.

”I love you too,” she whispered, a tremor of emotion breaking through her usual composure.

And then, as if the fire had forged the truth between them, they kissed.

All of a sudden, the scenery shifted to the same woman, a year later, as his pregnant wife, now in his arms, in a dead state. Her body is filled with holes. And around them, there were several bodies... the house was in flames. Alex was crying aloud, continuing to grab her.

Back to the Present, Sungjun let out a gasp as he got up from the bed. Tears were automatically seen falling down the cheek. Wiping the off, he murmured, clutching his heart, ”It’s been ten years, Alex. You slept with so many girls in the past decade, and have relationships with some of the most beautiful girls on the planet. You became the Pakhan of the Siberian underworld. Yet... you couldn’t move on...”

The next night, the control room of the prison, located on the Level-5 floor, glowed in cold blue light. Rows of robotic operators glided silently across the polished floor with tablets and scanning devices flickering in their metallic hands, checking the situations on every level. Everything was calm and usual until a sharp, electronic siren split the air.

”Alert! Cell Twelve breached. Smoke detected. Inmate 73812—status: missing. CCTV connection lost.”

Instantly, the robots that are tasked with monitoring the level-6 floor started scrambling.

Meanwhile, Sungjun, cloaked in invisibility skill, was already sprinting soundlessly through the floor at his fastest speed. His body shimmered faintly as mana coursed beneath his skin. Within seconds, he reached the elevator bay.

He drew out the access card he’d stolen from Russel Andre. With a soft beep, the scanner flashed green.

”Welcome, Mr. Andre.”

”Perfect,” he murmured, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.

Entering the elevator, he pressed button 7.

The elevator hummed and began its descent. But just as the numbers on the screen flicked from 6 to 7, the alarms below roared alive.

”Unauthorized access detected!”

”Unauthorized access detected!”

”Unauthorized access detected!”

” Lockdown in effect!”

”Shit,” Sungjun hissed, instantly pulling the card again and slamming Level-6. The elevator halted and began to ascend.

When the doors slid open again, he found Robots were already patrolling around.. Meanwhile, a couple of robots swarmed into his now-empty cell. He watched from a shadowed corner of the hall in his invisible state, narrowing his eyes.

”Damn, they’re fast,” he muttered under his breath.

But there was something else—something he could use. Even amid the lockdown, the lights were still off. Had it been the human officers, the lights would be switched on already, waking up other inmates. But as they were robots, they followed protocol, according to the instructions put into their database.

A grin curved his lips. ”Still disciplined, huh? Then this works in my favor.”

Instead of going with his earlier plan, pretending he had escaped during the smoke alert, he shifted course. He slipped back toward his own cell in his invisibility state, where even there, the lights inside had been switched off but were currently being scanned by the robots with infrared scanners.

He moved to the corner and crouched low with his hands above his head before dismissing the invisibility skill. As soon as his body materialized in the dim glow, the scanner fell on his body.

The silence inside the cell broke with a mechanical voice that echoed through the corridor, indicating that the Anti-sound spell inside the room.

”Inmate 73812 located. Confirmed presence inside Cell Twelve.”

Sungjun’s eyes snapped open. His heartbeat was slightly elevated from nervousness. This is his first prison break after all. While his preparations were impeccable, filled with B, C, D, and even up to Z plans in case something goes wrong, Sungjun still has little information on Level-6, much less Level-7. He needed to confirm his speculations.

As three robotic sentries glided in upon confirming his presence, Sungjun squinted, feigning confusion. ”What the hell? What’s going on?” he said in a drowsy, irritated, but panicky tone, ”Who are you? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”