How to Survive as an Extra

Chapter 85

Seoul’s Outskirts District 26, near midnight.

Gwon Seongjun was waiting for someone on a footbridge built over the railway tracks.

The footbridge saw little traffic, only one or two people passing now and then, and whenever a train went by, the noise grew so loud that you could not even hear the person standing beside you.

Waiting for someone here was a form of torment that even local residents would not dare attempt, but interestingly, the night view of District 26 beyond the tracks was fairly worth seeing.

District 26 was a major transit hub connecting Seoul and Gyeonggi-do.

Perhaps because of that, even near midnight, neon signs and streetlights shone as brightly as day, and all kinds of transportation kept the streets lively without regard for night or day.

“For an outskirts district, it is quite a view, is it not?”

While Gwon Seongjun was distracted by the scenery, a man approached.

Gwon Seongjun turned to confirm the owner of the voice.

It was the person he had been waiting for, the Superpowered Detective Baek Dojun.

Gwon Seongjun looked back at the night view and spoke.

“Well, except for the noise.”

The relationship between him and the man seemed rather stiff.

This was their first meeting, but it also did not help that the man was a Superpowered Detective.

In the world of investigations, Dispel investigators and superpowered detectives generally mixed like oil and water.

Originally, detectives were little more than information brokers who provided limited assistance to clients. But long ago, after Dispel repeatedly failed to catch the Phantom Thief, the concept of the private investigator—meaning, the detective—had taken root.

Since their emergence, detectives had gained status day by day, and now, if a client wished it, they even held the authority to conduct joint investigations with official investigators.

It sounded ideal to say they worked together to solve cases, but in reality, the very fact that detectives were preferred meant public trust in Dispel had declined.

More than anything, as a member of the Gwon Clan with deep ties to Dispel, holding a clandestine meeting with a detective was not a pleasant circumstance.

“The noise… I find it rather harmonious.”

“Why?”

“Is it called a masking effect? When the tracks grow loud, the lively sounds of the street vanish. It is like watching a silent film. I rather enjoy those moments. Whether there are screams in the street, laughter, or even a monster’s howl… that peculiar interval is an opportunity to observe things objectively.”

“So I understand that you suffer from something severe.”

“Heh. That is enough for me.”

“More importantly, I would like to hear why a renowned superpowered detective contacted me.”

“Ah, that.”

Baek Dojun leaned against the railing, turning his back to the night view.

“I came to offer you a proposal.”

“A proposal?”

“Yes. More precisely, cooperation.”

“Haa… I am sorry, but I am not so idle that I can play along with a detective.”

“Hmm? I was under the impression that you were rather idle. The case you were handling was closed, was it not?”

“……”

Gwon Seongjun’s eyes narrowed.

The fact that the kidnapping case had been closed was something only the branch chief, Yun Jeongseop, and Gwon Seongjun himself knew.

So where had Baek Dojun obtained that information?

Had Yun Jeongseop made a mistake while pursuing the case covertly?

As if he had anticipated that reaction, Baek Dojun spoke quickly.

“I did not get it from any particular source. The circumstances told me everything.”

“The circumstances?”

“Yes. For days, the media had been loudly chattering about this case, and then overnight, they published no follow-up articles at all. So I expected outside pressure. Pressure from someone capable of exerting enormous influence over Dispel.”

“What if the articles simply stopped getting views? The media chasing what is sensational is hardly unusual.”

“No. In this case, it was because Dispel made no statement. That prevented related articles from being written. And more importantly, your reaction is the clearest proof.”

At Baek Dojun’s words, Gwon Seongjun snorted in displeasure.

“Hmph. For someone with your reputation, your tricks are rather crude.”

“May I take that as a compliment?”

“Either way, I have no intention of cooperating with a detective.”

“I am not here to demand an immediate answer. I simply want to know whether you feel this is unreasonable.”

“Unreasonable? I am sorry, but unlike some, I hold a public post. Obedience to orders is absolute.”

“Hmm, is that so? Then why are you still chasing a case that has been closed?”

“…What?”

This time, Baek Dojun’s eyes narrowed.

Gwon Seongjun swallowed reflexively.

“Probationary Investigator Yun Jeongseop. For someone supposedly on leave, he has been traveling quite noisily. According to my informant, he has been making inquiries at various locations. Unless he has lost his mind entirely, a probationary investigator would not be investigating a closed case alone.”

“……”

“Do not be so wary. As I said earlier, I am pursuing the one behind this case.”

The one behind it.

The person ‘above’ who had buried the case.

Gwon Seongjun asked urgently.

“When you say you are pursuing him, you mean this is not the only matter he is involved in?”

“Yes. I have been following his shadow for a long time. To secure more definitive evidence, and to find a clearer motive.”

“…Do you know who he is? His identity.”

“Of course. Are you curious?”

“……”

Gwon Seongjun could not answer rashly.

The moment he learned that identity, he sensed he would be placed in a position from which he could never turn back.

And yet he could not deny it either.

Just as Baek Dojun said, he had felt the unreasonable nature of this situation more closely than anyone.

“There is no reason I cannot tell you. You know him as well.”

“What?”

“It is still only a deduction, but the person I believe to be behind this case is…”

A train suddenly passed beneath the footbridge.

The ground shook, and noise slammed into the space.

Gwon Seongjun watched Baek Dojun’s lips so he would not miss the words.

But Baek Dojun’s voice did not come until after the train had passed.

“The Bureau’s Minister of Finance. More specifically, a leading candidate in this Bureau Director-General election.”

The Minister of Finance of the Bureau of Superpowers.

And a leading candidate in the election for Director-General…

Gwon Seongjun immediately thought of the person who held that post.

Because…

“Minister of Finance Baek Dojin. He is the one behind this.”

The man’s younger brother was standing right in front of him.

***

After sneaking into the bunker and encountering Park Seopmin and the other children, Yun Jeongseop tried to escape with them at once, but Park Seopmin quickly stopped him, saying the alchemists would return soon.

“They observe us by time slots. Soon the children who were taken will come back, and then they will record our condition again and take other children away.”

“Then when do the experiments stop? They cannot take children all day.”

“I do not know the time because we have been locked up for so long, but from now, they will probably go back and forth at least two more times.”

“And after that?”

“When the last children come back, they distribute food. It is not real food, but pills. Once they confirm we have all swallowed them, they will not interfere with us for at least twenty minutes.”

Twenty minutes, as measured by sensation.

For Park Seopmin, who had already lost his sense of time, that could have meant ten minutes, or thirty.

Yun Jeongseop fell into brief contemplation, then removed his watch and handed it to Park Seopmin.

“Then when the moment is right, use this watch to send me a message. Like I said earlier, the escape route is the room at the ten o’clock direction after you leave the door. I will be waiting there, and the moment I see your message, I will come open this door.”

“Okay. I understand.”

Park Seopmin answered with forced brightness.

Yun Jeongseop realized that he was dressing up his voice so as not to show fear.

No one could stand before a life-or-death plan without tension.

Yun Jeongseop patted Park Seopmin’s head and stepped out beyond the iron door.

He locked it again with the lockpick, and the moment he entered the room he had first come through, he heard the sound of the alchemists in the corridor.

“That was close.”

Yun Jeongseop hid behind the pile of monster corpses and sent a situation report message to Gwon Seongjun with his smartphone.

But the signal was too weak, and the message failed to send.

“Is there signal interference around the bunker?”

He could not reach Gwon Seongjun, but fortunately, there was no issue communicating with Park Seopmin.

It was only the transmission going in and out of the bunker that was problematic.

While Yun Jeongseop was checking various things, the iron door creaked open.

The alchemists had returned.

Adrenaline surged.

But they had only opened the door to move the monster corpses.

More precisely, the remains already used in the experiments and ground into pieces.

“……”

Yun Jeongseop held his breath and watched the alchemists leave through the doorway.

They all wore masks, so it was difficult to distinguish their faces.

However, alchemists skilled enough to participate in human experimentation would all be formidable individuals, so with even a little investigation later, it should be possible to infer their identities.

Assuming the evidence supported it.

After they left, silence returned to the room.

Yun Jeongseop endured the children’s screams echoing from far away as he waited.

How much time passed like that?

He had thought two hours would be enough, but even after four hours, Park Seopmin still had not sent any message.

Driven by anxiety, Yun Jeongseop considered sending one first, but he could not decide rashly.

He had no way to predict what was happening on the other side.

“Did something go wrong…? Are the experiments taking longer than planned?”

No—if experiments were continuing, he should have been hearing screams now and then.

But he heard none.

It was as though the sound outside the door had been forcibly erased.

“…Damn it.”

In the end, Yun Jeongseop carefully opened the door.

As expected, the corridor was empty.

Yet near his skin, he felt a strange pressure in the air.

As though bewitched, Yun Jeongseop approached the iron door where the children were.

The padlock was still in place.

He unlocked it easily with the lockpick and carefully pushed the door open.

He stepped inside, quietly closed the iron door behind him, and scanned the room—

“……”

Strangely, there was no one inside.

Not a single person, except for the child who had introduced himself as Gen.

“……”

Under the dim lantern, Gen looked grotesque.

His mouth kept working as though chewing something, his clothes were stained red as if dyed, and the whites of his eyes had turned black.

It resembled the traits of a Demonic Being and a Ghoul.

“You are late. I thought you would come sooner.”

Gen’s voice was filthy in tone now, unlike before.

Yun Jeongseop instinctively reached for the pistol at his waist, on guard.

“…Seopmin—no, the children. Where are they?”

“Where, you ask. What a troublesome question. They are not here. As it happens, I ate them all.”

“…!”

Ate them.

With those words, Yun Jeongseop aimed his pistol at Gen.

“So you were a Demonic Being!”

“Heh, foolish creature. Do you believe that little gun threatens me?”

“Stop your nonsense! Seopmin! The children—where are they right now!”

Gen approached the agitated Yun Jeongseop.

Then, with the barrel pointed at him, he suddenly changed his appearance into someone else.

Precisely into the face of Park Seopmin—exactly as Yun Jeongseop had seen him only hours ago.

“Brother… are you really going to shoot me?”

“…!”

“You promised you would take me to my dad.”

A voice, an expression, even habits that were indistinguishable.

Yun Jeongseop knew the child before him was not Park Seopmin, yet he still could not pull the trigger.

No—it was as though his finger had become paralyzed by a lie.

With Park Seopmin’s face, Gen continued.

“You are not shooting? Disappointing. If you had not appeared, they might have lived longer. Though their experimental value had already dropped, so at best, perhaps three or four days.”

“…I will kill you.”

“Khhkht! Hahahaha! A good face. The face of someone held captive by guilt, pushing himself into despair. …I wonder what flavor your despair will have?”

In an instant, Gen’s form returned to normal.

Yun Jeongseop tried to force his finger to pull the trigger, but his body was already dominated by some unknown power Gen had released.

“W-What have you done…?!”

Gen’s mana swallowed Yun Jeongseop’s vision in an instant.

The feeling of the gun in his hand disappeared. The stench of blood vanished. He even lost the awareness that he was breathing.

The only thing he could sense was a voice, sounding as though it came from a far, distant place.

“Fall deeper. Struggle in despair. The joy of harvest belongs to the one who waits…”

The sound did not finish.

Yun Jeongseop lost consciousness.