How to Survive as an Extra

Chapter 12

Early Tuesday morning.

Yesterday, after the duel with Gong Minwu, I had skipped my meal and crawled back to the dorm.

I collapsed onto the bed immediately, lost consciousness, and woke up a little after 5 in the morning.

The system message I hadn’t had a chance to check before falling asleep informed me of a stat increase.

[Stamina has increased by 0.1.]

It meant that a duel of less than 10 minutes had pushed me to the limits of my stamina.

“I should really start working on my strength and stamina in earnest…….”

That was not my only gain from yesterday.

I had dodged one of Gong Minwu’s attacks and even attempted a counterattack with an agile movement.

The result ended inconclusively, but I had reaped a harvest of sorts—the possibility of close-quarters combat.

“It felt like facing a bear.”

Gong Minwu had ended the duel without taking my bell.

The reason was that his pride had been wounded.

He would not touch the bell until he had achieved a more complete victory.

He would probably be the one to challenge me to a duel next week.

“Haa……. My whole body feels like it’s going to break.”

After some simple stretching, I left the dormitory early.

There was plenty of time to be lazy before classes, but today was the day an important episode in the narrative would unfold.

The episode where Park Oseok’s accomplice enacts a scheme against Lee Eunho.

In the process, Do Minyeong gets involved, and in a predictable crisis, she becomes interested in Lee Eunho, who saves her.

It was a very typical developmental pattern, but the problem was that I also had to personally get caught up in their crisis.

If I just let the plot unfold, the protagonist might just depart from this world.

“This is fucking ridiculous.”

So this is how helpless it felt to know about future crises.

I laughed at myself and arrived in front of the female cadets’ dormitory.

After waiting at the entrance for three or four minutes, I finally encountered Do Minyeong heading out for her morning exercise.

I encountered her, but…….

With the hood of her tracksuit pulled up, she ignored me standing right in front of the dormitory entrance and walked past.

“Hey.”

She ignored my words too.

Do Minyeong’s attitude was displeasing, but she probably did not dislike me in particular.

Probably.

Since she was young, she had been born under the absurd halo of being a descendant of the Sword Saint.

As far as was known, her parents had passed away early, making Do Minyeong the only descendant of Kim Yuseong.

Because of this, she was raised with great care in the world of awakeners, but when she finally awakened, the shocking result was that she was a non-awakened, and naturally, all the attention she had received turned to criticism.

A failed gene.

A cursed child.

A stain on the name of the Sword Saint…….

Do Minyeong had to bear the criticism all by herself.

The only relative she had was no different from a stranger, and everyone around her just wanted to use the Sword Saint’s name.

But as if to prove that she was not destined to be unhappy forever, Do Minyeong met a guardian through a chance encounter and fled overseas at the age of 14.

And so, several years passed.

Do Minyeong ended her reclusive life abroad and returned to Seoul.

The reason was, of course, to prove her worth at the Hero Preparatory School, known as the cradle of talent.

To overcome the criticisms that had been poured on her head-on.

Therefore, she was not ignoring me; she simply had no intention of forming friendships with the cadets.

Her thinking was that she would rather train than spend time on socializing.

“I’ll give you points.”

As I spoke to her one more time, she took off her hood and quickly turned around.

“……What’s your scheme?”

“Nothing. I just want you to team up with me in the tactical training today. If you do, I’ll give you 1 point right now.”

It was preparation for the episode.

I absolutely had to be on a team with Do Minyeong in the tactical training.

She showed some suspicion for a moment, then opened her mouth slightly.

“5 points.”

“1 point.”

“4 points. You have a lot of points. Think of it as compensation for dumping the head student position on me.”

“Then 2 points. I think that’s a very reasonable outcome.”

“Reasonable, my ass.”

“If you don’t like it, then forget it. What’s so great about being on that team anyway.”

As I turned to walk away without any lingering attachment, she quickly ran over and grabbed my sleeve.

“……3 points.”

“2 points.”

“You really……!”

I operated my smartwatch and held it out to her.

“Tag it. The opportunity is now or never.”

“…….”

─Points have been exchanged.

Do Minyeong tried hard to hide her satisfied expression and pulled her hood back up.

Then, as if she had just remembered something, she asked.

“But did you wait for me at this hour just for that?”

“No, not because of you, it was for a couple of things at once. ……There’s someone who’s hard to meet separately if not at this time.”

“……?”

At that moment, Cha Yeri opened the dormitory door and came out.

I left Do Minyeong behind and approached Cha Yeri, who was just starting to make puffs of breath in the air.

Her morning routine was to go to the Hall of Endurance, where the physical training facilities were located, with dark circles under her eyes.

There, she would run up a modified StepMill machine.

To build the strength needed to occupy high ground as a ranger.

As I approached, Cha Yeri tilted her head and asked first.

“Is there…… something you need?”

“Hello. It’s not anything important. I was just passing by and happened to run into you…….”

Ah, I was rambling.

I calmly continued.

“Since we ran into each other by chance, I wanted to apologize for what happened last time.”

“Pardon?”

“I unintentionally caused a misunderstanding. I mean, on the main building’s staircase. I wasn’t trying to refuse you then.”

“Hmm……. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Cha Yeri showed a look of confusion on her face.

Very nonchalantly.

As soon as I saw that expression, I realized I had been played by her.

I thought simply asking for forgiveness first would be enough, but it seemed I had properly gotten on Cha Yeri’s bad side.

“I don’t know why Cadet Ji Seokhyeon is apologizing to me. You didn’t do anything, nothing at all.”

“…….”

“And it’s a bit uncomfortable for you to be doing this in the morning. It’s not like we’re on terms to talk separately.”

Did she have to be so cruel to a cadet who was a non-awakened Social Care Beneficiary…….

It seemed too late to turn back.

At that gut feeling, a bleak academy life unfolded before my eyes.

In the original work, what did Lee Eunho do when Cha Yeri was angry…….

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

Cha Yeri didn’t even glance at me and moved towards the Hall of Endurance.

On the way, she gave a slight nod to Do Minyeong, as if their relationship was still awkward.

“…….”

I was screwed.

This was a really serious situation.

Being unable to restore my relationship with the main character Cha Yeri meant that there would be setbacks in future episodes.

If worst comes to worst, I would have to become a shareholder of the Hyeonseong Group and at least forge a business relationship.

Though I did not know if that would be truly effective…….

Damn it, if only I hadn’t laughed at the boutique back then, this wouldn’t have happened.

I knew better than anyone that Cha Yeri had a difficult personality…….

Feeling dejected, I messed up my hair.

At the same time, Do Minyeong’s scoff came from behind me.

“Pfft, thanks. I got to see something interesting because of you.”

***

Tuesday afternoon.

The 5th Underground Tactical Training Ground.

The anti-terrorism tactical training for the Support Division and the Investigation Division had been underway since the morning.

─Team 21, all members survived and terrorist suspect apprehended. Time elapsed: 9 minutes 57.43 seconds.

“Alright, next, Team 22, prepare to enter.”

The instructor conducting the training was Support Division Tactical Instructor Lee Gangju.

The teams were composed of three members each.

This was partly because the ratio of Investigation Division to Support Division personnel was 2:1, and also because in the field, they often moved in three-person cells.

The top priority in this class was to test the abilities of the support cadets, who served as healers, buffers, or commanders.

As for the investigation cadets, since their skills in field suppression were practically inferior to the Combat Division’s, rather than deduction or crime analysis, the evaluation criterion was how perfectly they could execute the support cadet’s orders.

Additionally, it was the combat cadets who played the role of terrorist suspects in exchange for points.

Not everyone participated; about 20 of them took turns.

“This is taking forever.”

I grumbled as I spent my time in a corner of the waiting room.

And for good reason—our team was 40th in line.

The snacks I brought were already gone, and my teammate, Do Minyeong, was engrossed in studying theory next to me without a word.

Of course, the support cadet assigned with us, Hong Dahee, had tried to make small talk from time to time, but…….

“Cadet Ji Seokhyeon, you seem to be quite talkative.”

The conversation had been cut off 30 minutes ago with those words.

If the average time for one team to finish the training was 10 minutes, I would have to spend at least another three hours just sitting around blankly.

It would have been nice to get some fresh air during the waiting time, but Lee Gangju had quelled the cadets’ complaints by pointing to a giant screen and saying that there was no study more important than observing the movements of other teams.

“Want me to give you a textbook to read?”

Perhaps conscious of my continuous sighs, Do Minyeong asked while her eyes remained fixed on her textbook.

Of course, the hidden meaning was for me to please shut up.

I tucked my tail.

“No, it’s fine, I’ll be quiet.”

“Good.”

“…….”

Of course, I was not the only one grumbling.

All the cadets were gathered in groups in the waiting room, chattering as if they were on a school trip.

If anything, Do Minyeong, with her nose in a book, was the odd one out.

Usually, the kids who made a show of studying at school did not get good grades…….

Half out of curiosity, I stole a glance at her textbook.

The course subject was ‘Monster Analysis’.

The page she was currently poring over was one that summarized information about Demonic Beings.

Demonic Beings were not a difficult concept.

Just like in any novel, they were a race that had crossed over from the world beyond the rift to conquer this world.

They preyed on intelligent interdimensional species.

To be precise, the mana of higher species tainted with desire.

In the original setting, the world beyond the rift had already been mostly wiped out of its higher species by the Demonic Beings.

Races like dwarves, elves, and orcs.

With the interdimensional species annihilated, the Demonic Beings found it difficult to subsist on the mana of monsters, which were no different from animals.

Because of this, the leader of the Demonic Beings, the ‘Witch,’ naturally became interested in this world and ended up opening a great rift.

This was the superficial world-building of my novel so far.

A stale and predictable story.

I pointed to the text on the page with my finger and spoke.

“Write one more thing down.”

“What?”

“The weakness of Demonic Beings and their subordinate monsters, the ‘Ghouls’. Healing-related potions, light-attribute magic, troll’s blood, the metal platium……. and in addition to that, sunlight.”

“……I know that even if it’s not written down.”

“It doesn’t seem like you do. If you knew, why is that part underlined?”

“Doesn’t it occur to you that I would know it because I underlined it?”

Do Minyeong turned to look at me, her brow deeply furrowed.

I nonchalantly broke into a grin.

“Well, if that’s the case, then that’s a relief.”

***

─Team 39, all members dead and terrorist suspect apprehension failed. Time elapsed: 9 minutes 11.91 seconds.

“Alright, the last team, Team 40.”

With Lee Gangju’s call, I was greeted by the emerging episode.

Title: Ghoul

Characters: Lee Eunho, Do Minyeong, Hong Dahee

Reward: Remake Coins

As expected, it was a main episode.

The subtitle also matched.

Following the call, we headed to the training ground entrance, and after a brief explanation from Lee Gangju, Hong Dahee began her briefing.

“The suspect has occupied a building in Area 3 of the training ground, the urban district, and is staging a violent protest in defiance of the disposition of the guild they were a part of.”

The suspect was, of course, Lee Eunho.

Hong Dahee’s briefing was merely laying out the established scenario.

“……So, first, Cadet Ji Seokhyeon, who is holding the shield, will charge at the suspect.”

“What?”

“What, are you dissatisfied with the tactical command? Since both of you use close-range weapons, it’s a strategy to sacrifice the slower one, isn’t it? At the same time, Cadet Do Minyeong’s raid will subdue the suspect.”

Had she forgotten that a team member’s death was a demerit?

Or was she blatantly ignoring me?

I looked at Do Minyeong as if seeking her agreement, but it seemed she had already decided to follow Hong Dahee’s instructions as best as she could.

Since they were going to be last anyway, she was trying to show that ‘I did my best.’

In short, it meant she was going to use me as a stepping stone.

“That concludes the briefing.”

As soon as Hong Dahee finished the briefing, she took out two bottles of a potion the color of lime juice.

“Here, these are stamina potions. The amount is small, so the effect is minimal, but…… please drink them.”

Stamina potions restored vitality.

For example, they helped with the recovery of stamina and mana, or they could forcibly boost one’s condition.

Simply put, they were energy drinks for awakeners.

Do Minyeong drank the potion as soon as she received it, and I only brought it to my lips after checking its item information.

And then…….

“…….”

Poison infiltrated my body.

It was not instantaneous, so Do Minyeong would not know, but I could feel the poison’s infiltration due to my Demonic Veins ability.

Of course, I also felt the poison being neutralized as soon as I drank it.

The stamina potion was normal.

It was just that poison had been applied to the part where one’s lips would touch.

Hong Dahee watched as Do Minyeong and I emptied the potions and quietly swallowed her saliva.

Yes, she must be anxious.

It probably had not been long since she had joined Park Oseok’s accomplice’s side.

I inwardly swallowed a laugh, relieved that things were proceeding according to the original story.

Soon, Lee Gangju’s urging followed.

“Alright, Team 40, let’s get moving.”