How to Survive as an Extra

Chapter 22

Cha Yeri and I moved to find the explosives.

We were currently in Exhibition Hall E.

All the visitors had been dragged to Hall A, and the mafia members were wandering around the exhibition hall in search of the Core of the Earth.

We encountered a few mafia members during our search, but there were no mafia who could stand against Cha Yeri, who did not have the weakness of hostages.

After commandeering their firearms, Cha Yeri fired magic bullets at a level that would not kill them.

Even a rather skilled-looking mafia member, and a mafia member of considerable bulk, all fainted as soon as they were grazed by the magic bullets.

We found the first explosive easily.

It was exactly as it had been described, cleverly hidden in a trash can.

“We just need to remove the detonator that receives the wireless signal. But…… to think it was really in the trash can.”

“Bringing it in must have been the most important thing.”

Usually, disarming a detonator was the job of an investigation cadet, but Cha Yeri took the initiative and removed it herself.

And she did it very skillfully.

“They’ll get suspicious if the signal is cut, so it’s better to hide it far away. We can just inform Dispel of the location later.”

Watching her, I felt that she indeed possessed considerable leadership.

It meant that her chaebol background was not just for show.

No, was it an ability polished as a clan master in a game…….

I, who had been standing idly by, belatedly opened my mouth.

“Then let’s move separately from now on.”

“……?”

At that, Cha Yeri tilted her head as if to ask what I meant.

Her expression seemed tinged with concern for my ineptitude.

A question of whether I could really move on my own.

I avoided her gaze and said.

“We don’t even know how many explosives are hidden, so isn’t it more efficient to split up and move? Above all, time is the most important thing.”

Cha Yeri stared at me intently and then nodded her head.

“Alright, I’ll go counter-clockwise. So, from Hall B to Hall C. Cadet Ji Seokhyeon, you check Hall E here and Hall D.”

“Yes, then let’s hurry.”

Cha Yeri left first, leaving behind a distrustful gaze.

I waited until she was far enough away, then took out the ‘Cloak of the Alluring Hermit’ from the inventory.

The overcoat that had been in the Phantom Thief’s wooden box.

I immediately draped it over my shoulders and pulled up the hood.

The stat effects were a 10% increase in dark attribute and a 10% decrease in light attribute.

On top of that, it had the ability to conceal the body parts that were not covered.

It roughly concealed the face, ankles, hands, etc., with darkness, making it seem as if only the cloak was floating.

The cloak also modulated the wearer’s voice.

No fingerprints were left on things I touched, and it left no sounds or footprints.

It was truly a very effective item for stealing something.

The reason I wore the cloak was none other than this.

I was planning to steal the Core of the Earth from now on.

Using the Phantom Thief’s item, for which records remained, bothered me a little, but on the premise that I would not be caught by others, there was no item as useful as the cloak.

“The fact that it makes no sound says it all.”

Moreover, with the cloak’s attribute correction, my dark attribute would become 100%, strengthening the perception-impairing ability of Stealth.

It meant that as long as I was careful of Cha Yeri in this building, there was no worry of being caught at all.

I consciously dragged my cadet shoes on the floor to confirm that no sound was made, then started to run.

The location was the basement floor of Hall C.

The Core of the Earth should be there.

I suddenly felt like I had become the protagonist of a video game.

Something like running through a dark ruin.

“……”

Ha, what bullshit.

***

Cha Yeri moved towards Hall B.

Unlike a certain someone, her movements were efficient, minimizing noise.

Thanks to her ability, she would also quickly find the explosives that were revealing a special kind of mana.

If one ignored the seriousness of the situation, it was a rather leisurely mission for Cha Yeri, who enjoyed the FPS genre.

Perhaps because of that, she was currently preoccupied with another thought.

‘What on earth is his attribute?’

The perception-impairing ability that Ji Seokhyeon had used on her.

She had observed its mana.

‘No matter how many Awakeners have the same color of mana……’

The color of that mana was too heterogeneous.

‘Could it be the dark attribute?’

When that thought occurred to her, Cha Yeri briefly stopped moving and shook her head alone.

It was too early to prejudge his attribute.

There were many cases where Awakeners with multiple attributes often showed unusual colors.

Moreover, there was no way a dark-attribute Awakener could use a healing potion.

‘Still, there must be a reason he had to pretend to be a non-ability user.’

Either he had an ability that must not be revealed, or he had a secret of birth…….

“……But what does it have to do with me what that bastard is hiding.”

Cha Yeri readjusted her grip on the gun irritably.

She was just a little interested because he had a rare mana color.

Nothing more, nothing less.

She quickened her pace again.

Soon, the color of the mana she was looking for came into view.

‘The second one.’

An explosive with magic engineering applied to it.

This time too, it was inside a trash can.

***

I approached the basement floor of Hall C.

A floor like a maze.

Overall, the facilities were crude, and there seemed to be more emergency lights than necessary.

The closed circuits were powered down by the mafia who had occupied the control room, but detection and sensor devices based on magic engineering were placed here and there.

“……”

However, they were all meaningless to me.

If I used Bind on the devices of each facility and restricted the flow of their mana…….

FZZT-.

ZZZRT─.

They all became useless.

The principle was simple.

Machines that rely on mana all have a high risk of explosion, so if there is an anomaly in the mana flow, they structurally enter a self-shutdown state. If Bind is maintained at that time, it is recognized as a complete defect and severs the connection with its own power source.

“The only flaw is that it takes some time because I have to bind them one by one.”

A little later, I entered the storage room I was aiming for.

A structure that seemed like a mix between a library’s reading room and a warehouse-style mart.

“They all look expensive.”

If I had my way, I would like to grab a share, but stolen goods like these are difficult to handle not only in Mammoth Market but even in the underworld.

Unless it was to steal for personal use.

As I was wandering around looking for the item, my smartwatch suddenly vibrated.

-Combat Division Cha Yeri: It’s the 3rd one. 2 in Hall B, 1 in Hall C.

It was a report message from Cha Yeri, who was moving faster than I thought.

“The number of explosives seems to be the same as in the original story.”

I moved in a hurry.

And soon, I discovered the globe-sized sphere that had been described in the original story.

“The Core of the Earth……”

[Core of the Earth: The mana power source of the Ancient Golem, the master of the land and guardian of all things. It contains a powerful force capable of causing a cataclysm on the earth.]

For a core that moved the Ancient Golem, which was grander than a building, it was a flimsy and extremely small size.

After removing the surrounding attachments and holding it myself, it weighed about 20kg.

There was no need to be disappointed by its size.

The fact that it contained a vast amount of mana despite its small size meant that it was that much more efficient.

“If the core had been activated, it would have been impossible to even touch it directly.”

As is known, the Ancient Golem was subjugated by the Sword Saint.

The basic method of attacking golem-type monsters is to attack their core.

Nevertheless, the reason the Ancient Golem’s core was intact before my eyes was that he had hunted the golem itself without attacking the core.

A result that would be impossible without overwhelming skill.

It was my crude setting in the story to create a villain who aimed for the core.

“Then, without any more hesitation……”

I put the Core of the Earth into my inventory.

It would not be too late to put it back after removing all the explosives.

The suppression operation was scheduled to take place in Hall A.

Thus, I turned to leave the storage room.

But at that moment.

“……!”

A somewhat familiar voice came from the entrance.

“Interesting, to think there would be such a coincidence.”

At the same time, a short gunshot was heard.

FWOOSH─.

The bullet, which should have been invisible due to Stealth, pierced my shoulder.

“Ugh……!”

Following that, Stealth was released, and I revealed myself and rolled on the floor once.

“Hmm?”

Soon, my eyes met with the owner of the voice.

“Are you…… imitating the Phantom Thief? Hmph, the joy of the hunt will be enhanced.”

It was the mafia member who had looked back at us in the passage earlier.

I clutched my pierced shoulder and used Stealth again.

As soon as I quickly hid behind a storage shelf, a gunshot followed.

TING-.

However, this time it hit the storage shelf and ricocheted.

“……A quick one, aren’t you.”

“……”

How on earth did he find this place?

In the original story, the situation ends before they even discover the Core of the Earth.

Thanks to the absolute performance of Lee Eunho, who knows the future.

Moreover, the first bullet that pierced my shoulder…… had curved.

A curved shot.

It had to be, since it was not a position where he could shoot directly.

What was more frightening was that he had accurately seen through my position while I was in Stealth.

The appearance of a skilled person that I had not described in this episode…….

It was clearly the result of setting intervention.

“It’s no use hiding. I can’t easily forget your stimulating scent.”

Scent?

Could he possibly smell the scent of specific mana…….

“It’s been a long time since I’ve smelled such an alluring scent. It’s similar to the scent of a Demonic Being.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled the trigger once more.

I, who was already using Demonic Eye, watched the bullet curve in an unbelievable trajectory and threw myself in the opposite direction.

FWOOSH-.

TATAT!

It missed.

“Not bad.”

He secured his position under the emergency light, that is, in the very center of the storage room, and constantly sniffed the air.

I remembered the description of that action accurately.

He was one of the tricky villains that Lee Eunho would have a hard time with later.

Because it was the habit of Bruno the Hunter, the next boss of the Psychic Mafia Catalina.

His ability, simply put, was an evolution of Cha Yeri’s ability into a sense of smell.

Therefore, he had smelled the mana I released while using Stealth and had followed me here.

I had moved with the 50% intervention rate in mind, but I had never imagined that a high-ranking member of Catalina, and the second-in-command at that, would have participated.

BANG!

Once again, his cylinder rotated.

This time, without any time to dodge, it pierced my thigh.

If I hadn’t raised my durability, I would have been dead already.

“Hnngh……”

I used Stealth with all my might and hid myself again.

I had to find a way to deal with him quickly.

Of all places, he was standing right under an emergency light, so it was a difficult situation to see any effect with shadows.

It would be perfect if he would move, but the possibility of that was remarkably low.

After all, there was no place where he could use his sense of smell as uniformly as his current position.

If I tried to lure him even a little, the trigger would be pulled immediately.

“Are you just going to keep hiding? ……The fun is wearing off.”

Do I have to use coins in the end?

Can I even face a skilled person of that level with the coins I have now?

Having been hit twice already, the bleeding was also considerable.

It was a great relief that the blood was being absorbed by the cloak and not falling to the ground.

“Don’t tell me your energy is already depleted? Your mana is scattering pathetically.”

He sure has a way with words.

I calmly looked around.

Then I found a toolbox nearby equipped with facility repair items.

The first thing that caught my eye inside was a power strip with a 50m extension cord.

It was what is commonly called a cable reel.

……It looks very useful.

I carefully picked up the pile of cables and waited for the right moment.

The gun he was using was a revolver.

He had fired 4 shots so far, so there were only 2 bullets left.

Therefore, I planned to dodge one more bullet and then move.

Soon, as expected, a gunshot rang out.

This time, I ducked my head at the same time as the sound, and the bullet narrowly cut through my hair as it passed.

I did not flinch, but rolled the pile of cables with all my might to one side.

THUD-.

R-R-RUMBLE─.

Just as it was about to stop after getting caught on something, I grabbed the plug at its end and ran in the opposite direction.

“Hmm, are you finally starting to struggle?”

The storage room had a rectangular shape.

I ran without catching my breath to form two sides, and just as I turned a corner to connect the third side, Bruno’s cylinder moved.

BANG!

Unlike before, it was a bullet with a precise trajectory.

The bullet pierced my ankle as if to block the prey’s movement, and I fell flat on my face.

“Ugh!”

Although I could not connect all the sides to make a square, this was enough.

The important thing was to disturb his sense of smell.

I grabbed the cable that was wrapped around the length of the storage room and used Bind.

Then, following the line, my mana spread throughout the storage room.

“Sniff……. What is this?”

He must be flustered.

I was also annoyed that you had appeared.

Since I used Stealth at the same time as Bind, it was difficult for him, whose sense of smell was disturbed, to find me.

It was not impossible due to his experience, but that process would be accompanied by movement.

As expected, Bruno moved in the direction I was last hit.

Just as he was about to turn the corner and step into my territory…….

“Hmm……”

He stopped his steps just a foot away, outside the shadow.

“……!”

The distance between him and me was a straight line with no obstacles.

It was so close that it was frustrating that our shadows were not touching.

Bruno remained motionless and gauged my position with just his head.

“Not a bad wit. I was almost had for a moment. ……But I believe I told you, it’s been a long time since I’ve smelled that alluring mana.”

A light seeped into the muzzle of his gun.

Soon, a magic bullet formed in the cylinder…….

The muzzle, holding the magic bullet, was aimed precisely at me.

In addition, his cruel smile was vividly drawn.

“Shadow ability, the scent of a troublesome mana is not easily forgotten.”