How to Survive as an Extra

Chapter 63

A tavern on the outskirts of Seoul, Leather and Bloodbath.

Hunter Bruno opened the door and stepped inside.

Every table in the establishment was empty.

A white-haired bartender, without offering so much as a greeting to a customer, was absorbed in mixing drinks, and at the bar counter, the superpowered detective Im Seonjae sat alone, swirling a glass.

“You are late.”

“The appointed time has not arrived yet.”

“It was only a greeting. It is not as if we are the sort to ask whether the other is well.”

“That is fair.”

When Bruno sat at the counter, the bartender promptly set a glass in front of him.

In the meantime, Im Seonjae raised his wrist to check his watch, and, as if he had something pressing to attend to, he went straight to the point.

“Results?”

“I secured what I could.”

“So you failed.”

“…It is a reasonable suspicion.”

“Hm. Then who do you think the Phantom Thief really is?”

Only after tipping his glass once did Bruno answer.

“Ji Seokhyeon, a first-year in the Investigation Division.”

“…So in the end, you only tapped the stone bridge.”

“Is verification not what you detectives value most?”

This time, Im Seonjae took a sip and sighed.

“I did not think you would merely tap it and come back, when it was such a good opportunity. If you are Catalina’s second-in-command, I expected you would at least bring back a piece of the Phantom Thief’s clothing.”

“…Hmph. There was interference.”

“Interference?”

“Yes. The bastard had a hero attached to him.”

Eighty years had passed since the Great Rift.

The heroes of that era were all elderly now, but they were still not the sort Bruno could treat lightly.

The same went for the A-rank Hunters who ruled Seoul.

And for good reason: the heroes, without the systematic education of the present day, fought a slapdash war and led humanity to victory. They awakened to survival and slaughter in battles against Demonic Beings, accumulated the weight of experience over long years, and if you touched them wrongly, you might end up making enemies of the supporters who rallied behind their honor.

Living landmines.

Im Seonjae, who understood that as well, only swallowed his drink and offered a bitter smile.

“Well, fine. Let us approach this with a little more patience. I have obtained some interesting information, in fact.”

“Information?”

“MA6, the one traded at Mammoth Market not long ago. By coincidence, I was able to get information about the seller.”

“Who was it?”

At Bruno’s question, Im Seonjae spread his mouth into a grin and replied.

“Ji Seokhyeon, a first-year in the Investigation Division.”

***

Three days after the Spring Scholastic War ended, on Tuesday.

While the cadets enjoyed their academy life as usual, I was tasting hell every dawn.

“Tsk, tsk. Pathetic wretch. You are collapsing from only that much?”

“Only that much? If it had been the blade, not the flat of the sword, I would have been minced into pulp with no shape left.”

“To think a cadet of Hero Prep would whine like this…! Now that I look, not only your skill but your mindset is rotten as well.”

“…Ha.”

An Hwigom, who said he would gift hell to his foolish disciple, kept his promise without fail, and a higher-intensity sparring session was held every dawn.

At this point, I even began to wonder whether he was trying to force me to say I was giving up on training.

To make matters worse, the training sword Hyeonseong had custom-made for me could barely be used before most of its edge was ground away.

By that black sword of his…

The materials used to forge such a pitch-black blade were limited.

A few candidates came to mind, but for now, there was only one thing I could be sure of.

It had not been made by human hands.

“Hmph. By tomorrow, I expect you to have improved by at least a fingernail’s worth. If you do not, I will personally slice you into pieces smaller than chaff.”

When training ended, An Hwigom left the training ground as always, spitting curses.

Left behind, I lay spread-eagled on the floor, catching my breath that reeked of blood.

“This is insane… Do not tell me I have to live like this even during vacation.”

I slowly pushed myself up and, beneath the training platform, downed the healing potion An Hwigom had left behind without hesitation.

Two of them, at that.

Even so, I had no strength, so I perched at the edge of the platform and, without any real purpose, lifted a fingernail and tapped the blade beside me.

Tap, tap-tap—.

Doubt crept in about this endless swordsmanship.

If I were to write a character bible for myself as the original author, I would not have put a sword in my hands.

My progress was simply too slow.

Of course, considering the ceiling of my potential, it was a better choice than firearms…

“Who would have thought I would end up stepping onto the stage and facing the line between life and death, when all I ever planned was to hide backstage and exploit episodes?”

If I had known death would come knocking this often, I would have quietly taken up a gun.

Well, even now, it was not impossible to reverse my choice.

“If only it were not for the Mist-Clearing Sword….”

A troublesome burden I could neither dispose of nor reveal.

A sword with a shabby ability, usable only against Demonic Beings.

“Still, the design is elegant. I guess it is what people call pretty trash.”

With that lament behind me, I rose.

Instead of returning to the dormitory, I used a coin on the spot.

[You will consume 1 Remake Coin.]

In an instant, the surroundings halted as if broken, and the colors vanished as if evaporating.

An alien atmosphere I had faced many times, yet could never grow accustomed to.

I stared at the system window before my eyes.

Among everything, what irritated me most was the number of coins.

[Remake Coins in possession: 9,998]

Just before completing the last episode, I had 4,614 coins.

The reward granted upon completion had been 5,777 coins.

Which meant I should have had 10,391 coins, but the coins did not exceed the existing cap of 9,999.

I did not know why the cap existed, but one thing was certain.

“…This is insane.”

The devoted reader had succeeded in ruining my mood.

Spitting a curse, I shifted my gaze.

What came into view were my stats.

[Durability 10.3] [Strength 3.7] [Stamina 4.8]

[Agility 18.2] [Intelligence 11.1] [Magic Power 8.1]

Since the last time my stats increased, my durability rose by 0.3, my stamina by 0.2, and my strength and intelligence by 0.1.

Durability, in particular, had improved noticeably.

But considering what I had suffered at the hands of Park Oseok and that old man An Hwigom, it was still a little disappointing.

I checked my attributes next, but there were no major changes…

[Fire 0%] [Water 0%] [Wind -10%]

[Earth 40%] [Lightning 0%] [Light 0%]

[Darkness 90%] [Nothingness 15%]

The same was true for my abilities.

[Stow]

Stores objects in contact with the user, up to the user’s own weight.

[Night Eye]

For a set time, opens the Demonic Eye.

When opened, sees through the target’s mana and its movement.

When opened, sees through visual obstructions such as darkness, fog, and smoke.

When opened, gains immunity to mental status effects such as confusion, intimidation, provocation, temptation, and the like.

[Stealth]

For a set time, conceals the user’s presence.

Conceals the presence together with a specified target connected to the user’s shadow.

[Bind]

For a set time, restrains a specified target connected to the user’s shadow, in tandem with the user’s movements.

Overlays the bound target with shadow to apply physical pressure, or restricts the flow of mana.

[Demonic Veins]

Grants immunity to status effects classified as poison.

[Assimilation]

For a set time, assimilates the user’s mana with the ambient mana of the environment.

I minimized the system window.

I had checked everything I needed to check.

Now it was time for the real “work.”

As if sensing my intent, color returned within a circular space of two meters around me.

[‘Simulated Training’ is activated.]

[Proficiency increase multiplier: 20.0]

The other ability of the coin that had manifested during the battle with the Dokkaebi.

-This space is maintained by continuously consuming coins.

-In this space, an awakened being’s proficiency increases twentyfold.

-If you consume all coins within this space, you cannot return to the original time.

The conditions of training had not changed from before.

Considering the devoted reader’s temperament, I had expected them to tamper with the proficiency multiplier, but it remained at twentyfold.

“At least you have a minimum of conscience.”

I took out my smartphone and played the videos I had saved.

The footage, projected in light, showed the exploits of Hunters who used swordsmanship.

Next, I spread out the swordsmanship manual I had brought into my inventory, and I took the stances from the manual that I had read until I nearly memorized it.

“Even holding the stance is hard…”

I was going to train in swordsmanship now.

It sounded ridiculous to train while watching videos, but a child learns language by blindly imitating a parent’s speech.

More than anything, now that Bruno’s threat had surfaced, he would soon identify me and attack again.

This was not a situation that would end merely because I returned MA13.

I had openly handed him a humiliating defeat at that exhibition, and I had also meddled with the Core of the Earth, which had been Catalina’s objective.

There was one fortunate point, at least…

“That I do not have any friends or family who would be harmed because of me.”

How bitter.

I did not know how effective this method would be, but if I used the Demonic Eye and followed the Hunters’ movements in detail, I could at least learn proper form.

“Whether it turns to porridge or rice, I will do it first…!”

In the video, a swordsman adjusted his grip and faced a monster.

I corrected my grip to match, held my breath with the resolve not to miss a single thing—

[You will consume 1 Remake Coin.]

A system message rose as if urging me on, and the swordsman leapt.

***

There were two Psychic Mafia organizations that wielded the greatest influence in Seoul.

Catalina, composed of those from the American continent, with contract work as its main business.

And Camellia, composed of those from East Asia, with entertainment and illegal trade as its main business.

Unlike other criminal organizations, which tried not to reveal their bases, Camellia occupied several outer districts and openly displayed its power.

Perhaps because of that, Camellia had grown into a larger force than Catalina.

Even if each individual was weaker than Catalina’s members, sheer numbers alone made them difficult for even Dispel to handle.

“The bouquet of this wine you brought this time is exquisite. It is like… you, Allie.”

Their boss, Ooyama Jiro, savored wine and luxuriated in its fragrance within his palace-like residence.

On his thick thigh, like the girth of a zither, sat a woman named Allie. Supporting her waist with one hand, Ooyama clinked glasses with her.

“If I had known you would be waiting like this, I would have returned sooner.”

Allie’s voice was as alluring as her face.

Whether stained by wine or by blood was hard to tell, but her lips continuously drew Ooyama’s gaze. In the corner of the room, the Camellia mafiosi who watched the two swallowed, throats moving, doing their best to hold their breath.

“So, did it go well? That friend called Gen, or whatever he was.”

“Went well… I suppose you could say it did, and you could also say it did not.”

“For you, Allie?”

“I suppose I am left with a little regret. A man I had always been watching died.”

“…What?”

A man she had been watching.

Ooyama narrowed his eyes, as if the words displeased him.

Regardless of the man’s life or death, the fact that there was a man who caught Allie’s attention had pricked at his temper.

Quick-witted, Allie set her glass on the table and caressed Ooyama’s cheeks with both hands, but as he flinched his hippopotamus-like massive body, the wine bottle on the table lost its balance.

Ooyama reached out too late.

The bottle rolled off the table, and with a sharp crash, richly scented wine spread across the floor.

“Damn it!”

“It is all right. We can bring another.”

“Allie, I ruined your goodwill.”

“It is fine wine, but we cannot ruin the time we share over something like this, can we?”

“That is true… Nothing is more precious than this time. Right?”

“Wonderful.”

As the two indulged in their gag-inducing romance, a young mafioso hurried forward with a dirty rag in hand, approached the table, and began wiping up the spilled wine in silence, as if he were barely there.

Watching him sidelong, Allie asked Ooyama casually.

“That is a face I have not seen before.”

“Ah, he joined a few days ago. Did I tell you? He is from Hero Prep, no less.”

“…Hero Prep?”

“Yes. Now our Camellia has talent from Hero Prep as well. Heh, those Catalina bastards always called themselves the elite mafia, and it annoyed me. This is perfect.”

“Hm….”

As Allie let out a small snort while looking at the young mafioso, Ooyama spoke in a voice opposite to his earlier softness.

“Runt, lift your head. Allie is curious.”

“Ah, yes!”

The young mafioso straightened as if springing upward.

Allie curled her charming smile and asked,

“If it is not too much trouble, may I ask your name?”

The man nodded first, unable to properly meet her eyes.

“Ah! I… My name is Choi Jaejin.”