How to Survive as an Extra

Chapter 66

The new abilities held value beyond my expectations.

Shadow Severance, which allowed one to completely evade physical attacks.

And Prodigy, which adjusted one’s aptitude to handle items with exceptional proficiency.

In a world without a status window, the value of Shadow Severance, which was effectively invincibility, was so great that there was little need to elaborate.

However, the ability I was fixated on was not Shadow Severance, but Prodigy.

More precisely, the line stating that it was not subject to the inherent restrictions imposed on items.

“If I take it at face value, it sounds like being free from item penalties.”

For example, if one overused mana potions, there was a considerable chance of falling into a status ailment called mana addiction.

But now that I had acquired the Prodigy ability, it meant that no matter how recklessly I poured down mana potions, I would not fall into mana addiction.

Likewise, I could use doping drugs with significant penalties without issue.

Of course, it would still be a problem if they were detected later.

“But what kind of effect does it have on attributes?”

A thought occurred to me, and I took out the Cloak of the Alluring Hermit and put it on.

Then I poured a healing potion onto the ground and carefully touched the still-wet liquid with my bare hand.

And then…

“…The penalty of the healing potion is gone.”

My bare hand, which should have melted away while producing steam, was completely fine.

When one with a reduced light attribute came into contact with a healing potion, that area was supposed to suffer fatal damage.

But the fact that nothing happened meant…

“It means that the greatest weakness of being a Phantom Thief is gone.”

I could say with certainty that, for me, this ability was more useful than invincibility itself.

I took my eyes off the abilities and moved around, feeling the changes in my body.

It felt as though massive steel beams that had been shackled to my hands and ankles had been removed.

A different kind of confidence wrapped itself around my entire body.

Soon, I ended the simulated training.

Then I regripped my sword and deactivated the coin’s effect.

The surrounding colors returned accordingly.

As expected, the killing intent of An Hwigom resumed, or rather, that nameless ability of his.

There was no time to stand around blankly.

I observed An Hwigom’s movements, and unlike just moments ago, his actions now stood out clearly to me.

I was not using the Demonic Eye, so I could not pierce through his perception-inhibiting ability, but I could fully feel the way he kicked off the ground, regulated his breathing, and the vibration of the black sword resonating with the wind.

In other words, instinctive perception.

I instantly grasped the direction in which he was moving and, as if guided by something, took a single step back.

A black sword from An Hwigom grazed past my abdomen by a hair’s breadth, slicing through empty air.

“…!”

I had evaded his fierce attack with nothing more than a single step.

This movement had not been entirely intentional.

My body had simply reacted instinctively and avoided it.

If this had been before increasing my agility, I would have already been rolling on the ground, unable to read the attack’s trajectory.

Even if I had used the Demonic Eye, I would not have been able to evade the attack so cleanly.

Perhaps An Hwigom also felt that this movement had been fairly refined, because he wore a rather interesting smile.

“Well, they say even a maggot knows how to roll.”

“At this point, that is more like a maggot jumping, is it not?”

“Well, we will soon find out whether that was a jump or being pushed off a cliff.”

“……”

An Hwigom vanished once more.

But now, his movements were densely visible to me.

Because agility affected dynamic visual acuity as well.

Even with the naked eye it was this clear, so how much more densely would it appear if I used the Demonic Eye…

Even if an ability itself was not updated, increasing one’s stats increased the efficiency of abilities as well.

As I had said before, abilities were merely the result of stats and attributes.

Soon, the surrounding mana began to flow at high speed.

An Hwigom must have decided the direction of his next assault.

Papababat!

The hand gripping my sword felt unusually smooth.

I could not perform graceful swordsmanship, but I felt a confidence that could not be measured through knowledge alone—a certainty of exactly which angle to set my blade at to cut my opponent deeply.

Soon, for reasons I could not fully explain myself, I reversed my grip on the sword and faced the onrushing An Hwigom.

The black sword came in a diagonal slash with a trajectory that made even rolling to evade impossible.

In that instant, I thought I might clash blades with the black sword, but instead, it was my opposite hand that moved to meet it.

At that moment, An Hwigom slightly twisted the trajectory to avoid my hand.

I seized that opening, deftly slipping past the black blade, and at the same time passed by his side, raising the blade I held in reverse grip and carving a long gash across his flank.

“…Hrk!”

A brief groan from An Hwigom that I had never heard even once before.

It was a perfect counterattack.

Maintaining the posture from cutting his side, I turned only my head to look back at An Hwigom.

I half expected to see a flustered expression, but instead, An Hwigom was curling the corner of his lips as if he were satisfied.

“Now, at last…”

As if he had been waiting for my counterattack.

“You finally seem usable.”

***

Thursday night.

A luxury sedan bearing the symbol of Hyeonseong Group was leaving Seoul’s District 2.

The driver was Kim Songi, a bodyguard employed by the Hyeonseong family.

In the back seat, Cha Yeri was deeply frowning, occasionally muttering curses along with her sighs.

“This is seriously pissing me off.”

Her diction was remarkably vivid.

Each time she spat out a curse, Kim Songi glanced at her through the rearview mirror.

That was all, however, as Kim Songi maintained her silence.

More precisely, she half ignored her.

It was a decision born of experience, knowing that there was nothing to gain from speaking to Cha Yeri when she was in a foul mood.

Just as they were about to leave District 2, Cha Yeri spat out another sharp remark.

“You are in on it too, right? You knew that Grandpa was coming back a day early.”

“I was not aware of that.”

“Oh…! So you did not know that I have been avoiding Grandpa. Even though you have been taking care of me for years.”

“That matter has nothing to do with me, Miss.”

“Of course. That must have been what you were told to say.”

“I merely drove the vehicle to the main house as you requested, Miss.”

“Are you going to keep that up? Then should I understand that a direct employee of the executive family does not even know the schedule of the Chairman, the highest-ranking executive? Does that not count as negligence of duty?”

“I am assigned exclusively to you, Miss, so matters of the main house are unrelated to my duties…”

Cha Yeri cut her off.

“Is the place where you rest your head every night not the main house building? What I am talking about is flexibility, flexibility!”

“I only…”

“You are saying you followed the words of the person with real authority who deposits your pay on time. That is a very ideal form of loyalty in a capitalist world. Admirable. But you should not have made it so obvious.”

“Obvious… you say?”

The car paused briefly, waiting for the crosswalk signal.

Without thinking, Kim Songi reached into her pocket for her smartphone, but what Cha Yeri was pointing out was actually the clothes she was wearing.

“That suit, I gave it to you as a gift when I graduated from high school last year, did I not? To thank you for helping me commute every day.”

“That was the case, yes…”

“You even said back then that it would be a waste to wear clothes chosen by my tiny hands, did you not? But you are wearing it quite well now. Shall I guess? The reason you suddenly had to wear clothes you had kept stored away in your wardrobe.”

“……”

“It is because of that bodyguard guy, right? The big oaf who assists Grandpa. Whenever your schedules overlap with his, you always wear new clothes. You probably thought you should wear it once before summer came, since it is winter clothing. No matter how new it is, you cannot just leave it unused for a whole year.”

The pedestrian signal went dark.

The wheels bearing Hyeonseong’s emblem began to move again.

“Am I wrong?”

“…I apologize, Miss.”

“Haa…”

When the apology finally came, Cha Yeri tossed her gaze out the window, looking exhausted.

But only briefly, before she spoke again.

“So then, did anything progress with him? Was it worth handing me over to Grandpa just to see him?”

The question was asked half lightly.

However, Kim Songi’s answer came somewhat late.

“No. He said that being single is more comfortable for now…”

“……”

“I apologize, Miss.”

“…Well, connections are not something you can force.”

The words meant to comfort Kim Songi instead chilled the atmosphere inside the car.

Because they applied just as much to Cha Yeri herself.

In truth, the reason her grandfather, Cha Myeonghan, the Chairman of Hyeonseong Group, had chosen to meet his granddaughter, whom he barely saw once a month, was because of Cha Yeri’s marriage prospects.

It was not that she had a lover at present.

It was simply Cha Myeonghan’s one-sided pressure, worrying over a granddaughter who had no romantic ties whatsoever.

In the world of awakened beings, finding a spouse with good genes was extremely important.

Especially for a prestigious family like the Hyeonseong clan.

As was well known, what greatly influenced human awakening was genetics.

After the Great Rift, awakened beings formed bonds with other awakened individuals who possessed excellent genes for the sake of their next generation, and those bonds continued in the form of family lines.

Cha Myeonghan had done so, her parents had done so, and Cha Yeri herself was in a position where she had to do the same.

To put it bluntly, if one married without considering a partner’s abilities and ended up with a child who failed to awaken or became incompetent, there could be no greater misfortune for a family.

In the awakened world, power was not money, status, or fame, but supernatural ability itself.

Until now, Cha Yeri’s parents had been blocking Cha Myeonghan’s pressure.

Because they themselves had met through an arranged match, they wanted to give their daughter at least the freedom of choice.

Cha Myeonghan, for his part, thought that since his granddaughter had enrolled in Hero Prep, a cradle of talent, she would soon bring home a decently built young man.

However, already half a semester had passed without any news, and instead, only word of her getting caught up in unnecessary incidents reached him.

Her exploits were not unwelcome, but to lead a corporate-style guild like Hyeonseong, it was more important to prove that the family bloodline continued solidly.

Cha Yeri understood that situation as well.

However…

‘Everyone around me is half-baked trash.’

Whether at Hero Prep or in the 4th Scholastic District, there was not a single man who appealed to her.

If there were one exception…

‘…Ji Seokhyeon, perhaps.’

A fleeting thought that if she absolutely had to meet someone, it would be better to choose someone with whom she could at least speak frankly.

But as if she immediately decided against it, Cha Yeri quickly shook her head.

‘As if I would invite a Phantom Thief into the family and ask for trouble.’

In any case, amid that tug-of-war, Cha Yeri had heard an ultimatum from Cha Myeonghan today that she could not ignore.

If she did not bring a man within this semester, he would personally take charge of finding her a marriage match.

Given Cha Myeonghan’s bulldozer-like personality and execution, it was difficult to see that as a mere threat.

The moment rumors spread that the Hyeonseong family was looking for a son-in-law, inquiries would pour in from everywhere.

Leaving aside Cha Yeri’s captivating appearance, no guild would refuse the chance to become in-laws with Hyeonseong.

‘This is seriously pissing me off…’

Cha Yeri grew tired of staring out the window.

The gray city, shaded without a single ray of sunlight, was not a particularly pleasant sight.

Even more so for people like her, who had lived their entire lives that way.

Soon, the vehicle entered the 4th Scholastic District.

As if she had been waiting for it, Cha Yeri spoke.

“Unni.”

“Yes, Miss.”

“You apologized to me earlier, did you not?”

“…Yes.”

“Then, as an apology, let us play a game before we go back. The usual arcade. Right now, I really want to beat something to a pulp.”