How to Survive as an Extra

Chapter 70

In the indoor First Shooting Range, where the cadets’ gunfire never ceased as the end-of-month evaluation approached, shots rang out without pause.

The targets were already like beehives, toppling backward as fast as they could, and the casings scattered across the floor were so countless they resembled a sandy beach.

“If you are out of ammo, get out already, you selfish bastards!”

A shout came from a cadet waiting for his turn in front of a lane.

But the cadets on the firing line paid no heed to seniority or junior status, pouring out bullets like rain and heating their barrels.

“Holy shit! Why are the Investigation Division bastards even here!”

“Why do you think? Stop strutting around just because you are Combat Division and get your ass to the outdoor range!”

“Are you done talking, you bastard?”

It was an extreme atmosphere born from Principal Kim Shinwoo’s declaration that the lowest-ranked cadets in the end-of-month evaluation would be expelled.

Even amid that chaos, one cadet held the central lane without anyone daring to interfere.

Cha Yeri, backed by the name of Hyeonseong.

“Look at that. That is a real revolver. Is the finish not gorgeous?”

“Of course. You would need to be Hyeonseong to use a limited classic…”

“Cha Yeri is not impressive because of Hyeonseong. She has insane talent in shooting.”

“With skill like that, the production guilds would line up begging to sponsor her equipment. Though there are not many guilds as good as Hyeonseong’s smiths.”

A righteous senior might have scolded her for hogging a lane for so long, but no one stepped in front of her lane.

It was not only because Cha Yeri was Hyeonseong Group’s heir.

More than that, they wanted to watch her shoot.

A clean stance without wasted motion.

The delicate control with which she freely adjusted a bullet’s trajectory.

And a grouping so tight that measuring error was meaningless.

Whenever she used magic bullets, the shooting range’s gunfire would momentarily fall silent.

There were cadets in this range who used magic bullets as well, but piercing the target while adjusting mana output the way she did was another matter entirely.

Most people who wielded magic bullets could not regulate the amount they released and often fell into mana depletion.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Cha Yeri radiated an untouchable presence at the lane.

Yet ironically, her focus was not on the target board, but on Cadet Ji Seokhyeon.

‘As if nothing happened…’

The incident in the Art Department that morning.

And the secret talk Ji Seokhyeon had shared with Jeong Harin after deceiving her.

Gong Minwu and Jeong Harin alike behaved in ways she could not understand, but what she found most impossible to accept was Ji Seokhyeon’s intent.

She had always known he was odd.

She assumed his perpetually slanted attitude was simply a measure to prevent others from learning he was a Phantom Thief.

But after witnessing his private conversation with Jeong Harin, she began to suspect he was hiding a different intent.

‘Now that I think about it, it was not only this time.’

Even in the previous incidents, Ji Seokhyeon had produced the best results from places no one could see.

Disguising himself as a Phantom Thief and defeating the Poisonous Golem in District 27, where he became entangled with Park Chaeshin.

Predicting a bombing attack at the exhibition hall in District 8.

Guiding Lee Eunho to the Hall of Heroes, where Park Oseok had been, during the entrance ceremony at the start of the semester.

And even the recent rumor that he had secretly contributed to Catch the Thief during the Spring Scholastic War.

What all these processes had in common was that Lee Eunho was present, and that if no one had testified, Ji Seokhyeon’s contribution would have gone unnoticed.

‘He is not some kind of housewife spirit.’

As Hyeonseong’s heir, she had met countless people and faced their lies and inner selves. Ji Seokhyeon was a type she had never encountered.

Especially in awakened society, where showing off one’s ability was survival itself, it displeased her that he kept hiding his strength.

That he remained the weakest at Hero Prep despite possessing the ability to face a Poisonous Golem.

That he had the clarity to pierce human psychology yet did not react to the cadets’ contempt.

‘It is not as if being noticed for his ability would automatically expose him as a Phantom Thief, so why on earth?’

And she also found his relationship with Lee Eunho suspicious.

They looked like close friends on the surface, yet once he turned away, he looked like an enemy.

As that thought formed, a single hypothesis flashed through her mind.

What Ji Seokhyeon was hiding might not be the fact that he was a Phantom Thief, but perhaps his own past.

‘That man’s hidden past… I should investigate him once more.’

BANG—.

***

The next day, Saturday.

After eating dinner at an unmanned convenience store, I received contact from the Special Affairs Division.

I had been thinking it was strange how quiet they had been lately, without even minor messages.

Even if I was only a trainee investigator, it was surprising they left me this unattended.

“Well, I did not meet expectations in the last Spring Scholastic War.”

As I feared, the person who contacted me through the Special Affairs Division’s information lines was neither Baek Dojun nor Kim Seyeon, but Park Chaeshin.

The message content was brief: visit White Bottle, a cafe in Seoul’s District 2.

Why was he trying to meet me on his own authority?

I thought about it briefly, but it was most likely because of the Dokkaebi’s Mystical Beard from last time.

In other words, he had completed the potion.

The moment that thought occurred to me, I went out. I took the tram and headed to Seoul’s District 2.

“There are still so many people at this hour…”

White Bottle in District 2 was far larger than the branch in Hero Prep.

To say it was simply “big” was not enough.

It also had an appearance that did not fall short even compared to District 2’s buildings, which reeked of affluent neighborhoods.

And the crowds from the entrance were an added burden.

I moved to find the back door.

By the time I reached the rear of the building, I spotted a man standing in front of it.

His face was clearly unfamiliar, but when he saw me, he lifted his brows as though pleased.

“Over here, Ji Seokhyeon.”

Judging by the man’s voice, it was definitely Park Chaeshin.

When he saw that I remained wary, he tugged at the skin beneath his chin and said,

“It is a human skin mask made from orc leather.”

Beneath the skin at his chin, the bridge of his nose and the corners of his eyes were revealed.

It was undeniably Park Chaeshin.

When I nodded, he pulled the skin back down and wore it again.

“Do people not usually use goblin leather? Orc is expensive, whether it is the blood droplets or the fur.”

“Goblin leather is disposable. In a situation like mine, where I need to go undercover for real, orc is more suitable because the leather damage is far smaller. Besides, it is not as if it was my money used to make it.”

“So you charged it to the Special Affairs Division.”

“Ahem. Anyway, it has been a while. Shall we move somewhere first? This is not a place to speak, in the center of superpowers.”

“Yes, well.”

Park Chaeshin led me down into the basement of the White Bottle building.

The basement served as the employees’ changing room and lounge area. Only after checking repeatedly that no one was inside did he speak.

“First, why I am here… you do not need me to explain that, right?”

Of course.

I did not answer, only nodded.

That someone officially registered as deceased was working at a cafe in Seoul’s District 2.

It was ironic, but from the perspective of Special Affairs Division personnel, it was entirely normal.

Because White Bottle was used by the Special Affairs Division to intercept information.

Through White Bottle, which had hundreds of branches worldwide, the Special Affairs Division collected information related to superpowers.

Normally, support personnel rotated between branches to gather and filter information, but at times, someone like Park Chaeshin stayed stationed at a specific branch.

And the fact that he was stationed not just anywhere, but in District 2, meant he was trusted by Baek Dojun.

“Good. Personally, there is a lot I want to talk to you about, but today we will only discuss the main point. Did you see the information about the strange corpse that came through the information lines the other day?”

“Ah… do you mean the corpse that died covered in blood, as if the blood vessels inside its body exploded?”

“Yes. Even if a monster attacked, that kind of death has not been reported up to now. In this case, it is highly likely to be ‘mana rampage.’”

“Is that so…”

We had exchanged only a few words, yet I immediately understood what he was trying to say.

A corpse drenched in blood.

Mana rampage.

And Park Chaeshin’s research…

They were certainly keywords from an episode that was not supposed to begin until the second semester.

“The place the body was found was near Gyeongsu-daero on National Route 1, that is, a commercial building near the road toward Suwon. I checked personally, and there were no testimonies that a rift opened nearby or that the mafia was involved. In the first place, it is close to the administrative district. If there had been a superpower incident, we would have been informed in more detail.”

“So you are saying there was no external factor?”

“Yes. There is a good chance they died alone, convulsing. Because the symptoms of that corpse were…”

“…”

“One of the side effects of the forced awakening I had been researching. …You saw the data too, so I do not need to explain further.”

“Ah, well, yes.”

The research data Park Chaeshin had shared through Baek Dojun.

Naturally, I had not even checked it.

I had not needed to.

“After investigating the victim’s identity, I found a record that they registered as an awakened being within the last month. The Dispel investigator in charge seems to be treating it as a simple variant of mana rampage, but that is a clear misjudgment. I have seen corpses with those symptoms many times.”

If Park Chaeshin asserted it so firmly, his claim was likely correct.

It meant the forced awakening ‘potion’ that the mafia Camellia had been researching had begun circulating on the market.

But still…

Why tell me this at all?

And why tell it to a trainee investigator on indefinite standby?

“Did you report this to the Chief?”

“No. As you know, the Special Affairs Division is busy cleaning up after the Spring Scholastic War.”

“It seems important enough, this incident.”

“The danger may be real, but you already know who is behind it.”

“…The Psychic Mafia, Camellia.”

“Yes. And my research data can be crucial evidence. In other words, we already hold the weapon we need.”

As Park Chaeshin said, if the Special Affairs Division wished, they could corner Camellia.

If they used force alone, they could likely purge Camellia outright.

The problem was that the Bureau maintained a stance opposing large-scale combat among awakened beings.

Because they feared it could plant an aggressive image toward humanity.

Even if it was a war between awakened beings, they were still human.

“But you did not even report it to the Chief. Why are you telling me?”

“Because I think we need firmer verification.”

“Verification meaning…”

“The Demonic Eye. You can distinguish mana, right? Then you should be able to find the test subjects wandering Seoul with time-bomb-like superpowers inside their bodies.”

That was Park Chaeshin’s real point.

Assistance in an investigation.

Of course, I hesitated.

Digging into an episode meant to properly begin in the second semester already…

But I nodded without hesitation.

Because I needed to plant in him the idea that I was on his side, since he already knew about my Demonic Eye.

“All right. I will contact you as soon as I find them.”

The Main Episode related to this case had not been announced yet.

So I could take my time investigating, as much as necessary.

“That is a relief. Thank you. I was worried you might refuse. Ah, and this.”

Park Chaeshin took out a green potion from inside his clothing and handed it to me.

Calling it green was generous. It was more like the color of algae.

[Potion of Patina: A potion brewed by a seasoned alchemist. Just looking at it, you can feel a bitterness strong enough to numb the tongue.]

“Is this… that?”

“Yes. The potion made from the fur you gave me back then. It seems like the beard of some rare monster. Usually, a beard signifies the authority of a pack’s leader, or patina. So I thought it might help you use your abilities more efficiently.”

The word efficient.

He likely meant the status of intelligence.

“If it does not feel right, you do not have to drink it. Even alchemists hesitate to consume potions whose effects are unknown…”

Park Chaeshin trailed off, sounding uncertain.

He seemed worried I might drink it and end up in the afterlife, but unfortunately for him, I was free from item penalties.

Because of the Prodigy ability.

I answered his worry by opening the potion’s cap.

Then, pinching my nose, I poured the algae-colored liquid down my throat, and several System Messages appeared before my eyes.

[The years of a mystical being seep into you.]

[You have acquired the ability, ‘Erosion.’]

[Intelligence increases by 4.0.]

A flurry of messages.

But as I stared at the empty potion bottle, what came out first was a mutter.

“…What is this? It tastes good.”