How to Survive as an Extra

Chapter 96

After a hectic weekend passed, Monday dawned with the start of the tactical evaluation.

We—meaning the first-year students of Hero Prep—boarded a chartered aircraft before dawn on Monday and headed for an island in the southern sea.

The island was roughly three times the size of Yeouido in the old world. Because it was managed through magitech, it possessed fairly abundant resources.

The soil was fertile, the fruit plentiful, and materials suitable for use as construction resources were scattered everywhere—an ideal island.

This island belonged to Hero Prep and was used whenever there was a tactical evaluation or other large-scale training.

Additionally, it was also the location where this main episode would take place.

Title: Treasure Hunt

Character: Lee Eunho

Reward: Remake Coins

[The difficulty of the main episode is adjusted in proportion to the amount of Remake Coins used.]

[Remake Coins used up to this episode: 2,405]

[Applied setting intervention rate: 9.936%]

An intervention rate close to ten percent.

Roughly seven percent had increased a few days ago through an extra episode, and another 2.4 percent had accumulated through simulated training.

Considering that I had previously experienced an intervention rate of fifty percent, it was a manageable figure. But now, I could no longer think only in terms of intervention rate variables.

The snowball of character relationships—something that could not be expressed numerically—had already rolled far beyond control.

For example, Lee Eunho, who had always ruled among the cadets like sunlight itself, had not spoken a single word since leaving Hero Prep.

“All right! This is the starting point! It is also the place where the cadets who are eliminated in this evaluation will stay throughout the evaluation period! The instructors will remain stationed here and evaluate you through drones deployed across the entire island!”

The shout came from shooting instructor Oh Hyeokmin.

In truth, even without shouting like that, the cadets could hear him perfectly well.

Anyone without that level of agility would not have been admitted to Hero Prep in the first place.

Oh Hyeokmin was simply the type of person who felt satisfied only after pouring out his enthusiasm like that.

Thanks to him, the atmosphere did come alive, so it was not a bad kind of energy.

“The treasure you have to find is this!”

Oh Hyeokmin pulled a golden compass from the inner pocket of his jacket and held it up.

“As announced in advance, the team that survives until the very end, or the team that finds the treasure first, will take first place in this evaluation! And first place can scan the barcode printed inside this compass to receive ten thousand points! Of course, you can divide that share among all your teammates—or monopolize it for yourself!”

It was a nasty set of game rules that mixed in psychological pressure, forcing not only competition between teams but also competition among teammates.

“All right! Thirty minutes from now, at 6:00 a.m., the evaluation will begin! Until then, organize the items you brought and put your heads together with your teammates to come up with a plan!”

At Oh Hyeokmin’s words, the cadets began moving in perfect unison.

Everyone looked resolute.

For cadets who usually hovered near the bottom during end-of-month evaluations, the tactical evaluation was a chance to turn everything around in a single stroke.

Setting aside the ten thousand points, simply placing in the upper ranks would yield plenty of points, so as long as you met good teammates, you were set.

Of course, that did not apply to me.

Trying to remain competitive while dragging along someone who was all talk and someone who was outright incompetent was no easy task.

“Well? Why are you staring at me like that? Are you picking a fight, Ji Seokhyeon?”

“N-no. It is nothing.”

Our team—me, Do Minyeong, and Gwon Chihun—checked our equipment and then left the starting point without any particular plan.

The other cadets were steeped in professionalism, speculating about where clues might be hidden, selecting food supplies or potential bases. In contrast, we simply wandered aimlessly through the forest.

If there was one point that distinguished us from the other teams, it was that Gwon Chihun was walking with his fingers interlaced, his hands resting behind his head.

“So, what are you planning to do now?” Do Minyeong suddenly stepped in front of Gwon Chihun and me.

Unlike us, her eyes were burning.

With the stubborn fire of someone determined to take first place in this evaluation no matter what.

Gwon Chihun replied with a smug look.

“First, we should secure a place to safely spend the night.”

“Why?”

“The core strategy of this tactical evaluation is survival. No matter how well you search for clues, it all goes to waste if you get ambushed by combat cadets.”

In this evaluation, eliminating another cadet meant physically destroying the clothing-type equipment worn on the chest or abdomen, or inflicting mana shock above a certain threshold.

It was a method that clearly favored combat cadets, but what could one do?

Most of the protagonists in the original work were from the Combat Division, after all.

“But is it not too early to decide on a base already? Would it not be better to secure food first? You have to deal with meals before worrying about sleep.”

“I ate plenty yesterday. I can go three days without food and be just fine.”

Do Minyeong pressed her temple lightly.

“That would be true if we were just sitting around. But we are in the middle of an evaluation. If we end up fighting other teams, your stamina will run out quickly.”

“Heh. That is why I secretly brought chocolate.”

“What? Do you not know that you get penalized if you are caught with that?”

“Then do not get caught.”

“Do not get caught? With hundreds of drones flying over our heads?”

A meaningless argument broke out.

One person was overly passionate, and the other overly optimistic.

I withdrew my gaze from the two of them and casually scanned our surroundings. That was when I spotted a wooden box about the size of a baseball, half-hidden beneath the roots of a tree, radiating an oddly out-of-place presence.

Judging by its appearance, it was unmistakably a clue box described in the original work.

I approached it and opened the lid. Inside was a barcode, which I immediately scanned with my smartwatch.

Beep—.

Along with a mechanical sound, a string of meaningless letters was projected above the smartwatch.

First discovered clue: E

When the mechanical sound rang out, Do Minyeong and Gwon Chihun stared at me as if possessed.

“What is it? What did you find?”

“Ji Seokhyeon, did you… find a clue?”

Just like their expressions, I was also taken aback.

It was completely unexpected luck.

Scratching my head awkwardly, I held out the smartwatch.

“Instead of worrying about bases or food, should we not focus on finding clues first?”

***

Cha Yeri climbed a large tree and observed her surroundings with lofty composure.

The coastline and hills, the shapes of the trees and the breadth of the forest.

The flow of the river cutting across the island, and the direction of the wind that fluttered her hair.

Among all the gunners participating in this evaluation, Cha Yeri looked the most like a true ranger.

That was only on the surface, however.

Ironically, her mind was being consumed by thoughts of someone else.

‘Where is that man, Ji Seokhyeon?’

Ji Seokhyeon.

If asked whether worrying about another cadet was appropriate in this situation, the answer would be a firm shake of the head. Still, Cha Yeri was not thinking of Ji Seokhyeon out of mere personal feeling.

It was closer to vigilance.

At least in her judgment, he was the most threatening individual in this tactical evaluation.

In particular, Ji Seokhyeon’s Demonic Eye possessed abilities that surpassed her own.

There was no need for him to seize high ground to secure visibility. With those eyes, he could surely find every single clue.

After all, the clue boxes were items.

In fact, until just a few days ago, opinions had poured into the main building of Hero Prep insisting that Ji Seokhyeon’s Demonic Eye should be restricted during the tactical evaluation.

It would have been nice if the cadets’ opinions had been accepted, but unfortunately, Principal Kim Shinwoo had firmly rejected them.

No matter how irregular its abilities were, the Demonic Eye was still part of one’s talent—that was Kim Shinwoo’s official stance.

‘The moment I find him, I need to put a hole in his head.’

Engaging in close combat with Ji Seokhyeon, who possessed extraordinary swordsmanship, would be an extremely wasteful choice.

Therefore, he had to be sniped from as far away as possible.

That was precisely why Cha Yeri carried an anti-materiel sniper rifle on her back.

And aside from everything else, eliminating him early would also shorten the time he spent with his teammate, the cadet Do Minyeong.

“…Tsk.”

After thoroughly taking in the surrounding terrain, Cha Yeri climbed down from the tree.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, the voice of her teammate Gong Minwu drifted over.

“Any anomalies?”

“None in particular.”

“So we should wait a bit longer for other teams.”

She could hear Gong Minwu’s voice, but she could not see where he was.

That was because he was maintaining perfect concealment and cover while keeping watch for other teams.

A stark contrast to certain other teams.

“Did you discover any new combinations of words?”

“Yes. AREA, indicating a location. For now, this seems optimal.”

Their team had acquired four clues.

Among them, they had obtained the letter A twice, so until just recently they had been speculating on EAR.

“Was not A a duplicate?”

“That is what I thought at first, but after reviewing the clue messages again, it seems each one should be treated as a different clue.”

Cha Yeri tilted her smartwatch and checked the most recently acquired clue once more.

First discovered clue: A

Just as Gong Minwu said, the phrase “first discovered clue” was written there.

Since they had already obtained A before, it meant that each one was distinct.

They had overlooked that fact because they were too focused on the alphabet itself.

“Hmm. In that case, AREA does seem correct.”

“Well, rather than jumping to conclusions, it would be better to find more clues first.”

“Of course, but I am a bit skeptical.”

“Why?”

“There is a cadet openly using a cheat in this evaluation.”

“Ji Seokhyeon….”

Gong Minwu’s voice sank low.

It seemed he, like Cha Yeri, was wary of Ji Seokhyeon.

“With that ability, he could obtain the treasure in a single day just by finding clues. It is an extreme assumption, but still.”

“You think the instructors might have prepared countermeasures?”

“Yes. They are almost certainly limiting the clues. Since the clues are barcodes, they could swap them out at the starting point at any time.”

“That makes sense. And if we add one more possibility, they might have made obtaining clues even harder.”

“For example?”

“By eliminating other cadets. Methods like granting a clue only after eliminating a certain number of opponents.”

A line of reasoning completely different from that of other teams.

At this point, Cha Yeri’s team possessed the greatest number of clues.

Naturally, they also had the strongest combat power and overwhelming problem-solving ability.

Among the cadets participating in this tactical evaluation, it was tacitly expected that this team would take first place.

In fact, it would have been strange not to expect it—the balance was completely broken.

“By the way, why has he not said a single word since earlier? I want to hear his thoughts.”

Gong Minwu directed his voice toward the back of a large rock.

Toward the place where Lee Eunho, the leader of the team, was concealed.

“Ah! I think… it is fine.”

“What is?”

“Those opinions.”

“……”

From the moment the tactical evaluation began, Lee Eunho had been deeply lost in thought.

Every member of this team possessed more than enough ability to handle the evaluation alone, but Gong Minwu found it displeasing that Lee Eunho, the leader in name, was showing such an absent reaction.

So much so that he was secretly considering eliminating Lee Eunho and taking over as team leader himself, if necessary.

“You decide, since you are the leader. Whether we move to find clues or hunt down other teams to eliminate them. Anything is fine.”

“Oh, right. I am the leader. Sorry. Then for now……”

As expected, a completely ridiculous response.

What followed from Lee Eunho was even more absurd.

“Would it not be better to try combining the letters we have gathered from the clues first?”

“……”

“……”