How to Survive as an Extra

Chapter 129

Yun Jeongseop let out a low groan.

Then he began rubbing his face over and over with dry hands.

Scrub, scrub.

“Haa…… damn it.”

As curses slipped out in fragments, Park Chaeshin started piling up excuses like a thief whose conscience had been pricked.

“There was no other intention. None at all.”

“It was obviously the Special Affairs Division’s policy. But if we are chasing forced awakened ones anyway, you could have told me in advance.”

“That is true, but this is also a matter of trust……”

“Trust? You know how long I have been chasing that case, do you not?”

Seoul’s District 2, White Bottle’s lounge.

When I contacted Yun Jeongseop to say that Park Chaeshin was alive, he came running in a single dash.

Until now I had not interfered between the two of them, but because the Saintess Society case was tangled up in it, I had no choice but to take a drastic measure.

“And Cadet Ji Seokhyeon.”

Instead of simply calling my name, Investigation Instructor Yun Jeongseop deliberately added cadet.

I rattled off the excuse I had prepared in advance.

“I did not know about the relationship between the two of you. I only recently learned that you were connected to forced awakening at all. In the first place, does it make any sense to reveal, at my discretion, the secret of someone who has already been officially reported dead? Therefore, I did my best. Until an opportunity like this arrived.”

“So you are saying that if this had not happened, you would have pretended not to know forever?”

“That is not it. We are pursuing the same case, so there would have been a point of contact eventually.”

“You have a smooth tongue. Tsk.”

There had been several steps involved before we could call Yun Jeongseop here.

First, to enter the Saintess Society, we needed the bracelet.

So recruiting Yun Jeongseop was the wisest choice, and naturally it led to revealing Park Chaeshin’s survival.

Park Chaeshin had doubted it to the very end, but unexpectedly, Baek Dojun approved it without hesitation.

Since no one knew Park Chaeshin was alive except a few in the Special Affairs Division, it was a truly radical approval.

Baek Dojun must have been watching Yun Jeongseop’s movements closely for some time.

“Haa. Fine. We will talk details later. First, tell me exactly what you want from me.”

“That is.”

Park Chaeshin turned the laptop and showed the monitor.

On the screen was an abandoned building assumed to be their gathering place.

A site that had been run as a hospital until a few years ago.

“It is an infiltration. Into the Saintess Society’s gathering.”

“There are hundreds of people who attend those gatherings. I will just lend you the bracelet, so would it not be better for you to infiltrate directly, Ji Seokhyeon?”

I shook my head.

“If all we wanted was to take a quick look and leave, that would work. But what we need is for you to be recognized as an official believer.”

“So you are telling me to become one of those lunatics.”

“According to the rumors, you cannot meet the Saintess Society’s leader unless you are an official believer.”

“I do not know. I only participated once.”

“Then how do you become recognized as an official believer?”

“How would I know?”

“When is the next gathering?”

“I left in the middle, so I did not hear.”

“……Is there anyone whose face you recognized there?”

“Of course not.”

“…….”

Instinctively, Park Chaeshin and I met each other’s eyes.

Could we really trust this to him?

He had worked at Dispel before, so it probably would not be a major problem, but still……

Park Chaeshin laughed awkwardly.

“Haha. You will be wearing a camera device going in anyway, so do not feel too pressured.”

“We will learn the gathering time soon enough. They invited me knowing from the start that I have mana insensitivity. They will keep probing until I show interest.”

“Ah, when was the last gathering?”

“Four days ago. At 11 p.m.”

“Then we have room to dig up more information. All right. That is enough business for now.”

Park Chaeshin snapped the laptop shut with unnecessary force.

Then he smiled brightly.

“Since we have met again like this, should we not catch up?”

Although he spoke politely toward Yun Jeongseop, his eyes were on me.

It was aimed at me, since I always refused to join drinking sessions.

Yun Jeongseop seemed to be thinking the same, nodding and shifting his gaze to me.

But did I really need to wedge myself between the two of them?

I answered without any hesitation.

“The two of you go. I have something else to do.”

***

A few days later, the Saintess Society’s gathering began.

The location was District 22 in Seoul.

An abandoned hospital near Gyeonggi-do.

─I am not in my twenties. Why do I have to get this bizarre ear piercing?

─It is not a bizarre piercing, Investigator. They call it a smart wearable device. It is expensive. It is Hyeonseong-made.

─I am begging you, do not say that so loudly. Park Chaeshin, your voice is too sharp. A man who drinks like a whale, yet his vocal cords are that sturdy.

─Seokhyeon, is your instructor always this grumbly?

─I can hear you.

─I said it so you would.

Yun Jeongseop entered the abandoned hospital wearing a cutting-edge—no, too expensive to buy with my own money, but perfect to buy with public funds—camera device.

Meanwhile, Park Chaeshin took charge of directing the situation from a lodging facility in District 22, and I lay hidden on the grounds near the abandoned hospital, waiting.

“You two should refrain from pointless chatter. The moment you are discovered, we are finished.”

─Did you hear that? Seokhyeon told you to stop grumbling.

─Shut up.

When had the two of them grown this close?

If I had known they would chatter even during an operation, I would have just used Stealth and infiltrated alone.

“Did you forget who the investigator is? If you do not want to get fired, close your mouths.”

─Ha. To think something like that is my junior.

─The moment the semester begins, I will dock your points.

“Enough. Shorten your stride. The camera is shaking too much.”

A faint barrier had been laid over the abandoned hospital.

It must have been a spell designed so that only those wearing the bracelet could pass.

And since the barrier appeared to be made with a dark attribute, there was a high chance that a Demonic Being was involved.

“Which one is it…….”

A few candidates came to mind, but because Gen’s reach was so wide, I had to be cautious about naming anyone.

─We are almost at the gathering hall.

Soon Yun Jeongseop reached a wide space.

Many people had already gathered there, forming a circle around the central platform.

“There are official believers mixed in among them, right?”

When I asked, the feed simply panned from top to bottom without a word.

“If their rank rises, there ought to be treatment to match it. Giving them another bracelet, or something.”

─That just means their function as a religion is flimsy.

“Then what reward is keeping them united?”

─Who knows. For now, let us watch.

After a while, someone who introduced himself as the vice leader stepped onto the platform.

Then he began spewing things that were not even worth calling words.

Roughly speaking, the “Saintess” they spoke of was Do Minyeong, the direct descendant of Sword Saint Kim Yuseong. Demonic Beings envied her beauty and cast a curse, sealing her true power. If the believers gathered here held sincere faith toward her, she could resist the curse……

And as a reward for that faith, the Saintess would bestow the power of eternal life.

“Ridiculous.”

─Agreed.

To me, it was not even funny, but those gathered listened with solemn faces and serious eyes.

The sight was so alien that it raised goosebumps.

After finishing his sermon, the vice leader set a straw scarecrow on the platform.

But a far too familiar face was printed on cheap paper and stuck onto the scarecrow’s head.

─What is that now?

“That cannot be……”

It was my face.

And it had been maliciously made to look strange.

Soon the vice leader’s voice rang out.

─The Saintess wishes to test your faith! Be enraged, all of you!

As he spoke, the scarecrow began to burn.

The believers picked up kindling that must have been lying on the floor for who knew how long, and hurled it at the scarecrow without restraint.

“Those bastards……”

According to the vice leader, I was an evil existence corrupting the Saintess Do Minyeong.

I knew Demonic Beings were wary of me, but I never imagined they would use it this childishly.

And setting all that aside, that man—Yun Jeongseop—was throwing kindling with fervent enthusiasm.

“I am going to get motion sickness, so stop throwing!”

Even at my protest, Yun Jeongseop moved even more violently.

The gathering ended only after they had burned the scarecrow completely.

Unfortunately, we failed to record the scene of forced awakening potion usage today, but……

─Heh heh heh! Puhah! Hahahaha! Keh! Puhahaha!

I yanked out the in-ear device, shaken by Park Chaeshin’s deranged laughter.

How many more times did I have to watch gatherings like this?

“Hah…… damn it.”

***

Seoul’s District 30 was the most recently annexed region.

It had been forcibly torn away from Gyeonggi-do due to the Great Rift’s expansion.

Perhaps for that reason, it had noticeably fewer awakened beings, and among Seoul’s outskirts, it was considered relatively pleasant to live in.

Of course, since it lay to the east where Gangwon-do was, the threat of monsters lurked nearby, but that also meant Hunters traveled through frequently.

“The air is certainly good.”

District 30’s greatest advantage was that roughly half of it was normally exposed to sunlight.

That was because the Bureau had generously defined the district boundaries with extra room, extending them even to the Great Rift’s potential expansion range.

Because of that, many retired awakened beings gathered to live here, and sometimes the wealthy of District 5 built villas here to enjoy a quiet retreat outside Seoul.

For Seoul’s citizens who craved sunlight, it was an ideal region.

In any case, the reason I set foot in this neighborhood steeped in a resort-like atmosphere was to keep a promise.

The promise I made on the closing ceremony day, that I would meet Do Minyeong and Aileen.

“……H-Hello?”

“Uh…….”

Following the address to a quiet residential area, I found Do Minyeong already waiting outside.

She wore the same baseball cap from the fireworks festival in District 10, along with a pastel short-sleeved shirt suited for summer and denim shorts with suspenders.

Even with the sunlight behind her, her face was red enough that I could recognize it instantly.

She seemed to be thinking about Night of Wishes.

“This way. Follow me. It is close. We will be there soon.”

I followed her awkward guidance.

We did not walk side by side, but about two steps apart.

“So, have you been well?”

“Yes. And you?”

“For me, well, aside from paparazzi secretly taking pictures and leaving……”

Of course, I was also thinking about what happened that night.

Not merely the physical contact, but the matter of where our relationship went from there—I had thought about it at length.

I did not know when Do Minyeong began to feel that way, but I had decided to refuse her.

It was not because I was conscious of the original story.

This timeline had already diverged too far for that.

Rather, no matter what I did with anyone, I still needed to settle Lee Eunho’s matter.

Bring him in, or sever ties entirely.

Or…… kill him.

If I did not resolve Lee Eunho—the eye of the storm—as soon as possible, I would reach a point where I could not spare thought for romance, or anything else.

That was why I came today to keep the promise.

To refuse her politely.

The one problem was Do Minyeong’s dependent nature.

On the surface, she acted strong and handled everything alone, but those who had watched her closely knew it.

She was fragile, like a flame inside a lantern.

“That house. She is already outside.”

Where Do Minyeong pointed stood a cheerful-looking two-story home.

And in the small yard, an elderly woman was waving.

That woman was Do Minyeong’s guardian and spiritual parent, Aileen, and for some reason she looked familiar.

When I approached and greeted her, a forgotten memory snapped into sharp focus.

She was the grandmother who had been taken hostage during the bank robbery.

As if she already knew my face, she smiled kindly and said,

“Welcome. That was a long trip, was it not? I have heard so much about you from Minyeong. She said the two of you kissed?”

“…….”

“…….”