How to Survive as an Extra

Chapter 128

Camellia’s base, the large house.

Lee Eunho stood on the roof of one of the buildings in the large house, with the wind at his back.

It was a time when, under ordinary circumstances, he should have been roaming far out on the outskirts, but instead he idly killed time while gazing up at a moon he could not even see.

How was Ji Seokhyeon doing?

Many thoughts brushed past his mind.

Some were memories he did not want to recall, and others were faintly nostalgic.

Yet no matter which memory it was, it always led back to the incident thirteen years ago, doing nothing but stirring the anger buried inside him.

I will not go back until I have ended everything.

When he lowered his gaze, he saw the mafia members standing watch along the outer wall.

Unlike the past, when they had kept watch with slack postures, their rigid tension now stood out clearly.

It was one of the many changes that had come after Ooyama—no, Gen—had swallowed Camellia whole.

What in the world is that man thinking?

After Gen took Camellia, the first thing he did was shrink the business.

Rather than expanding their finances, he earned only enough to run the organization with minimal funds.

He also dismantled their relatively egalitarian hierarchy, establishing clear ranks, and then issued sweeping orders for military training across the entire mafia.

As if preparing for a large-scale battle.

Is he trying to strike their rival, Catalina? Or is he preparing for an all-out war with Dispel…?

Because he rarely spoke with him, Lee Eunho could not know his exact intentions, but there was one word he had happened to overhear.

Manyeong, the secret society that traded information in the underworld and carried out contract killings.

Manyeong was an organization about which nothing concrete was known, with only rumors running rampant.

That it stood opposed to the Special Affairs Division, that Demonic Beings had formed it, that it was merely a lie born from absurd conspiracy theories.

But Gen had clearly spoken the word Manyeong.

And in this day and age, it had been while talking to someone on a feature phone rather than a smartphone.

What are Manyeong, anyway?

Whatever their true nature, if Gen and Manyeong had a point of connection, then they, too, would become targets for Lee Eunho.

The targets of judgment, devoid of even a shred of mercy.

After a while, Lee Eunho checked the time.

Judging that the moment was right, he slipped into the building beneath the roof.

Avoiding the mafia’s surveillance, he entered Ooyama’s bedroom, and as expected, Gen was asleep.

Suppressing the tension surging up inside him, he approached Gen.

Then he brought the Ring of Illusions to Gen’s forehead.

……

As always, his vision was swallowed by darkness.

But nothing came into view.

Just like the last time, when he had tried to dig into Ji Seokhyeon’s past.

In the end, he emerged from the illusion with nothing to show for it.

And then—

“Did you see what you wanted?”

Gen was staring up at him with his eyes open.

……!

Startled, Lee Eunho hurriedly stepped back.

“Do not be on guard. If I were you, I would have used the ring as well. Of course, it would put cracks in trust.”

Gen lifted his thick torso and sat up on the bed.

“In fact, I was going to summon you the moment I woke.”

“Why?”

“Because the time has come. You will have the revenge you planned, and I will grasp what I desire.”

……

Gen let out an unpleasant chuckle.

“Heh heh. I will grant you a revenge as sweet as the one you have waited for.”

***

Hot steam leaked through the gap in the cup ramen’s plastic lid.

The smartphone set on top of it fogged over as if it were screaming.

“My goodness. How can you put your phone on that?”

“It is my choice.”

“It must be that a Hero Prep instructor’s salary is quite something. Or do you keep swapping it for used ones on Oi Market?”

“That is right. I lose it so often.”

Yun Jeongseop’s home in Seoul’s District 5.

He and I were eating dinner.

If it could even be called that, since I had a convenience store lunchbox and he had cup ramen.

“You are not eating kimchi?”

“No. I do not eat it unless it is cubed radish kimchi.”

“You are a strange one.”

“That does not sound like something I should hear from you, Instructor. But you eat kimchi yourself?”

“Yes. It is salty.”

Yun Jeongseop split the wooden chopsticks cleanly and evenly, then lifted a large mouthful of ramen that was not even fully cooked yet.

“I heard about what happened in District 10.”

“What happened?”

“What happened with Do Minyeong.”

……What?

Slurp.

He neatly picked up the napa kimchi from my lunchbox and continued.

“I heard you nearly ate poison.”

“Oh, that.”

“You should have just eaten it and died.”

“I considered it, but I am actually good at eating poison.”

“A man who even discriminates against kimchi says that.”

We traded pointless remarks.

It was a little unfamiliar to sit face-to-face and eat together, but since he snapped back at everything I said, it was oddly entertaining to keep the conversation going.

Slurp!

That man really did eat ramen like it was an art.

I thought there might be ramen in the cabinet. Should I take one out…?

Yun Jeongseop held the ramen cup with one hand and tilted it toward his mouth.

He drank the broth down with satisfaction.

And then I noticed a bracelet on the hand holding the cup, one I had never seen before.

Its odd shape drew my curiosity, like an item that demanded questions.

“What is that?”

“A bracelet.”

……

Yun Jeongseop let out a sigh.

“I got it as a keepsake.”

“A keepsake for what? And it looks like an item.”

“I got invited to some strange religious gathering, and they put one on everyone. What did they call it… the Saintess Society, I think.”

The Saintess Society?

I had never heard of it.

“What kind of religion is that? No, before that, do you even believe in anything?”

“Do you think I would?”

“Then why—”

Before I could finish, I changed the question.

“Do they give out Elixir or something?”

“From what I have heard, those recognized as official believers gain the power of eternal life.”

The power of eternal life.

I forced my lips to settle and asked.

“……You do not actually believe that, do you?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why are you wearing the bracelet?”

“There is nothing to lose. If it feels too strange, I can just leave.”

True enough. In the original story, Yun Jeongseop tried anything and everything to lift his curse.

Still, the fact that a religion I did not know existed at all…

So many people gathered in Seoul’s outskirts that all sorts of things happened.

Religions that worshiped heroes to an excessive degree, groups that treated Gangwon-do’s barrier as a god.

There were even those who revered a Witch.

So even if something like the Saintess Society existed, it would not be strange, but what bothered me was that, unlike the original story, Yun Jeongseop had set foot in that place.

“Anyway, what about information on Lee Eunho?”

“It is a dead end. This is not the kind of thing you find just because you look.”

“How is it not? You just beat him up and drag him back.”

“Who is going to beat him up? Maybe Gong Minwu, but not me.”

Yun Jeongseop stopped moving his chopsticks as he spoke.

“You. Who else is there?”

Honestly, it felt like I would be electrocuted to death the moment I laid a hand on him.

“Enough. Wipe your mouth.”

“I will wipe it after I finish eating.”

“Do as you please.”

I picked at the side dishes in my lunchbox and stood up.

A little earlier, Park Chaeshin had contacted me.

He had found evidence of Phantom Thief—Lee Eunho’s—crime.

Yun Jeongseop watched me rise and spoke casually.

“Do not wander around too much. They say the Phantom Thief has been active lately.”

Then he looked at me with his distinctive, sunken eyes.

It was the same look he had shown me at the convenience store during the entrance ceremony incident.

More precisely, the look of someone trying to read another person’s intentions.

I shrugged.

“Focus on your religious activities. Who knows? If you become a cult leader, you might actually gain some special power.”

***

When I arrived at White Bottle’s lounge in District 2, Park Chaeshin was locked in a staring contest with his laptop.

Since he was alone, it seemed Maxi had other business.

I sat beside Park Chaeshin and opened the carbonated coffee I had picked up on the way.

Tsssk-.

“Do not make that flat-soda sound.”

“I did not make it.”

“It happened because of you.”

At that, I took a large gulp of the carbonated coffee and spoke.

“So, is something not going well?”

“Yes. I think I found information about the Phantom Thief, but there is a part that is hard to accept with common sense.”

He found information about the Phantom Thief?

About Lee Eunho?

I leaned my face toward the monitor.

Then I saw the location of the large house, the base of the Psychic Mafia Camellia.

……Hmm.

Lee Eunho and Camellia.

At first it did not quite fit, and yet it also felt plausible.

If it was Gen, he could belong anywhere.

“It is on the outskirts of District 12. Testimonies have been pouring in about sightings of the Phantom Thief there.”

“If the Psychic Mafia is involved, it is going to get complicated. And Camellia is…”

“Yes. They are the ones distributing forced awakening potions. The problem is why the Phantom Thief is mixing with them. Based on his actions so far, it is hard not to think he is on the opposite side.”

Park Chaeshin muttered again, sinking into thought.

I shifted the topic.

“More importantly, tell me about the Phantom Thief’s crime.”

“Oh, that. Early this morning, there was another incident that looks like the Phantom Thief’s work.”

“The information lines said it was murder.”

“That is right. Just like last time, it was death by electrocution. The target was someone who had worked in the Bureau’s Finance Department until a few years ago, and then retired. The key point is that, unlike the previous appearances, this one happened in the inner city of Seoul. And the other thing is…”

Park Chaeshin pointed to one side of the monitor.

“They burned an inexplicable number in black onto the victim’s forehead and vanished.”

“210703…… What does it mean?”

“I am looking into it. The problem is that there are too many possible related numbers.”

“Was there anything else found at the scene?”

“There is no clue, but there is something strange. It is as if he wanted to reveal that he is the Phantom Thief, because he appeared on every closed-circuit camera. And he did not steal anything. Even though it happened at the victim’s estate.”

……It is murder, but it feels as if he is trying to send a message.

“Yes. In this case, it would be a signal of revenge. The first murder in Seoul’s Outskirts District 26 was impulsive, but this one is extremely planned. As if he has found the perfect target for revenge.”

“And we could also say that the revenge is not finished.”

Silence settled in the lounge.

Neither of us spoke, only glaring at the monitor.

Park Chaeshin in search of clues.

Me, trying to understand Lee Eunho’s mind even a little.

“Did you find any common ground between the two victims?”

“That is the thing…… that is the problem.”

“What?”

Park Chaeshin manipulated the laptop, and a new window opened.

A straightforward document comparing the two victims’ identities.

“I cannot find any common point between them.”

What?

“More precisely, their records are so perfectly airtight that it is hard to infer any connection. At this level, it seems like organized erasure of records… No, it would be more accurate to say they are unrelated.”

Wait, then that meant he did not use the Ring of Illusions on the first victim?

Then why commit an impulsive murder at all?

……No. If both were connected to Gangneung thirteen years ago, then it made more sense that there would be no obvious connection.

Because Director-General Baek Dojin was that meticulous a man.

“Either way, for now the best course is to chase the number 210703 and the forced awakened ones.”

“Ah, there was a recent incident involving a forced awakened one.”

“The bank robbery, yes? I already looked into the culprit’s background.”

“So? Did you find the potion’s import route?”

“No. He killed him before we could even interrogate him, so how could we learn anything?”

“Ah….”

When Park Chaeshin looked at me as if scolding me, I blurted out an excuse.

“It was a very urgent situation, so subduing him came first.”

“It must have been. It is practically a potion I made, so why would I not know its side effects? But if it were that old man Fredo, he would have frozen him before his body exploded and presented him to the Section Chief.”

“Rapid freezing…… I wish I had been an ice-type ability user.”

“What are you saying? You could have used Demonic Eye. The one that controls mana.”

……Ah.

I had nothing to say.

With my Intelligence at 16.6, I could have restricted his mana well enough to make him collapse.

At the time I was distracted by the surroundings and let it slide, but it really had been an important case.

I assumed Dispel would handle it on their own since forced awakening was also one of their pursuits, but…

“Regretting it now will not change anything. Focus on what you can do immediately.”

“You mean it is still possible to track them?”

“It is only a simple inference. The bank robber usually appeared in District 22. And there is a rather interesting rumor going around there.”

Park Chaeshin tapped at the laptop again.

This time, I saw letters that felt strangely familiar.

“Have you ever heard of the Saintess Society?”