How to Survive as an Extra

Chapter 98

The starting point was located on the western side of the island.

This zone had been outfitted with various facilities for overall island management.

A runway for flights, a pier where a cruise ship was docked, and lodging that would not have shamed a famous hotel.

Of course, while a tactical evaluation like this was underway, all the instructors had to gather inside a cramped control room and stare at hundreds of monitors around the clock.

It was still an easier position than the cadets who were tumbling through the field with their bodies on the line, but every job had its own hardships.

For instance, Investigation Instructor Yun Jeongseop sat before the monitors with eyes that looked as though he might fall asleep at any moment.

“If you are tired, you should go take a nap. I will watch things alone.”

“No. If I leave my seat for no reason, that man Oh Hyeokmin will torment me for the entire evaluation.”

“Is that so? He seems so passionate. It is nice to see.”

“It looks nice. Only in appearance.”

Beside Yun Jeongseop sat magic instructor Kim Seulhee.

Unlike Yun Jeongseop, who looked as though he might start snoring at any second, she had clear, bright eyes. Because this was her first tactical evaluation since being hired as an instructor at Hero Prep, she was pestering Yun Jeongseop with unending curiosity.

“Which team do you think will survive to the end?”

“Anyone could.”

“Then it will be Cadet Lee Eunho’s team, right?”

“Probably not.”

“Why not?”

“It is just a hunch.”

“Then what about the team that finds the treasure first?”

“That is…”

Yun Jeongseop had been about to give a vague answer, but he suddenly straightened and turned toward her.

“Ah. So that is why that man put you and me together.”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“You do not need to know.”

With resignation, Yun Jeongseop turned back to the monitors.

For a moment, it seemed silence might fall, but it did not last long before another question followed.

“Then why is the Training Instructor not here?”

“Because she is not in charge of first-years.”

“But neither am I.”

“…”

“You are not, either, Instructor. You are strictly in charge of the Investigation Division.”

“Haa… I have heard she does not leave the 4th Scholastic District unless it is something major.”

“I see.”

“Yes.”

“…”

“…”

“Still, if fifty cadets have already been eliminated in a single day, that means the pace is faster than last year, right?”

“Probably.”

“Why do you think that is? Is it because they are more talented this year?”

Kim Seulhee’s curiosity did not dry up for even a moment, just as one would expect from a magic instructor.

Yun Jeongseop found himself thinking that perhaps that curiosity was what had made her the youngest instructor.

And that there was no escaping her barrage of questions.

Just as Yun Jeongseop was praying for his shift to arrive as quickly as possible, he noticed something—one particular monitor’s feed seemed to twitch slightly.

It was natural for drone footage to move, but that location was a place no cadet had approached, according to the GPS.

By default, a drone that did not detect movement kept its camera fixed in its assigned initial position.

And considering that even animals did not live there, it was a rather strange phenomenon.

Yun Jeongseop watched the monitor for a moment.

Contrary to his expectations, nothing unusual appeared.

Even when he rewound the footage, it was the same.

The image had merely trembled once, very slightly, and nothing suspicious was captured.

Above all, Kim Seulhee’s chatter beside him quickly broke his concentration.

‘Well, it was probably just a gust of wind.’

***

A crisp morning dawned.

Yesterday, we had targeted Choi Minsang’s group and seized the various resources and clues they had gathered.

Because Choi Minsang’s group had completely dominated the area, there had been no attacks during the night, and it had been so dull that even taking turns standing watch as three people felt pointless.

The biggest reason I could even call today a crisp morning was, of course, the sight of Gwon Chihun still sprawled out and snoring even as dawn broke.

“Are awakened beings not supposed to be fine with just four hours of sleep?”

“While I was standing watch at night, it looked like he kept waking up. He was muttering things to himself, like ‘That was insane,’ ‘My shots were unbelievable,’ and so on.”

“Ah…”

Once I heard Do Minyeong, Gwon Chihun suddenly looked even more pathetic.

Clearly, his adrenaline had exploded because he had sniped two of Choi Minsang’s teammates in one swift move yesterday.

Since he had eliminated combat cadets who usually looked down on the Investigation Division and on him, the thrill must have been tremendous.

I could understand that much.

But was the afterglow really so strong that he could forget he was in the middle of a tactical evaluation?

Even as Do Minyeong and I finished a simple breakfast, his sleep-talking continued.

Every line was a reverent self-praise.

There was a vulgar phrase for this sort of thing…

No.

Never mind.

Yesterday’s operation—using Do Minyeong as bait—had been made possible largely by Gwon Chihun’s performance.

Of course, if he had failed the snipe, I had planned to secretly bind and break only their clothing equipment with shadows.

It had been after sunset, after all.

“If he stays lying down until we finish breakfast, let us just leave him behind.”

“Good idea.”

Gwon Chihun finally opened his eyes while we were done eating and packing up camp.

Then he started bringing up his heroic tale from yesterday, and even when Do Minyeong and I openly ignored him, he ignored our indifference and began exaggerating the story.

“At the time, I could have hit both of them with one shot, you know? But if I struck too quickly, the clothing equipment might not register the hit, so I had no choice but to pull the trigger twice. If it had not been training ammunition but real live rounds, I could have sent three of them with one shot, including that bastard Choi Minsang.”

Gwon Chihun’s chattering came at us in surround sound.

Because as we walked, he circled around us, spewing words nonstop.

How could I describe the sky-high confidence he carried?

If this island were a ‘park of dinosaurs,’ would he not be the first to become a raptor’s meal?

In any case, leaving that crisp morning behind, we began diligently combining the clues for the treasure hunt.

“I am telling you, it means SEA, the ocean.”

“It could also be EAST.”

“We only have AES. Why are you forcing a T into it?”

“I am only inferring the closest word. Is it not narrow-minded to think only about the clues we already have?”

The moment they began inferring the clue, Do Minyeong and Gwon Chihun immediately started arguing.

Neither of them was talking nonsense.

To me, who already knew the answer, it was all useless, but still.

I mediated between them.

“Then we will go east.”

I thought it was a reasonable decision, but for some reason, both of them protested.

“What? What if it is a trick? What if they lure us east and the real direction is something else?”

“Gwon Chihun is right. Other teams are definitely heading for the eastern coast, too. If we get pushed onto the defensive, it will get difficult.”

I looked at Do Minyeong and asked, “Wait. You were the one saying EAST a moment ago. Then whether it is the coast or inland, we just have to go east, do we not?”

“The east I mentioned was an indirect meaning. For example, something hidden might be revealed at sunrise, or there might be a strange rock shaped as though it is staring toward the east.”

“…”

“In the first place, do you think an academy as prestigious as Hero Prep would give direct clues in an end-of-semester tactical evaluation? They are not fools.”

Do Minyeong spoke while looking at me the entire time, and then, with the word fools, she turned her gaze to Gwon Chihun.

Sure enough, Gwon Chihun let out a loud scoff.

“Hah! Did you just call me a fool?”

“Consider the context. Do you really think I meant you?”

“You were clearly looking at me when you said it.”

“You were simply standing in that position.”

“This is unbelievable…!”

Do Minyeong burned with the passion to take first place, while Gwon Chihun was savoring his run of good fortune since yesterday.

Where had it all gone wrong?

If there was a mistake, it was entirely mine.

Because if things went wrong no matter whether we went east or went to the sea, all responsibility would fall on me, the leader.

I spoke again.

“Enough. We are going east. If we can, we will reach the coast.”

And once again, they protested.

“What? Why are you deciding that on your own?”

“Yes, is that not far too arbitrary?”

Exasperated, I raised my voice.

“Then one of you be the leader!”

***

We moved toward the eastern side of the island.

As expected, many teams were heading for the coast.

Just from what we witnessed directly while moving, there were at least four teams.

Because of that, before leaving the forest and reaching the coast, we found a place we could use for cover, and we hid there for the moment.

“Everyone’s clues seem similar.”

“Maybe the clues are being limited.”

“Then more teams are going to come here…”

“Let us wait for Gwon Chihun first. He might discover something new.”

A moment earlier, Gwon Chihun had volunteered to scout the coast.

Not to step onto the sand, but to get as close as possible and spy on other teams.

Originally, I had planned to go.

Because I had the Demonic Eye.

But Do Minyeong did not like me using it, and Gwon Chihun had conveniently volunteered with confidence.

He even pushed the pretense of being a “gunner.”

In truth, that groundless feeling that he could do anything was what had driven him.

In other words, he still could not control the adrenaline surging through his body.

As an aside, using a gun did not automatically make someone a ranger.

For investigation cadets, a gun carried more of a defensive meaning.

Still, since he had knowledge of ambush and reconnaissance, I had been hoping he would at least bring back something useful…

“!”

Just as I was feeling optimistic, a cadet’s scream suddenly rang out.

It came from the direction Gwon Chihun had gone.

Had a fight broken out?

If so, Gwon Chihun would be at a disadvantage alone.

I spoke as if about to dash out immediately.

“Let us go.”

“Yes.”

The place the scream came from was relatively close.

By the time we arrived, several cadets had already gathered there, and at the center of them lay a cadet collapsed on the ground, bleeding.

He had not lost consciousness yet.

He was writhing in pain, letting out endless groans.

I hurried to the injured cadet and asked, “What happened?”

A cadet who looked like a teammate shouted in response.

“He was sniped! It was live ammunition!”

“What? We need to stop the bleeding first! Does anyone have a healing potion?”

“Damn it! We already used a potion! It did nothing!”

“What did you say?”

For an awakened being—someone whose injuries were usually healed with a single potion—an external wound that did not heal meant…

In other words, he had taken damage that ran counter to his attribute.

It was an assassination attempt using an attribute round, deliberately and with intent.

Among the gathered cadets, there was fortunately a support cadet, but unfortunately, it was not to a level that could be treated through an ability.

“Call the medical instructor—no, we need to get him to the starting point as fast as possible!”

As soon as that judgment was made, a combat cadet carried the injured cadet on his back and sprinted west.

The cadets clustered around the bloodstains all wore anxious expressions.

In an evaluation that used training ammunition, it was difficult to accept the fact that live rounds had been used for malicious purposes.

In the midst of the confusion, I activated my Demonic Eye and found the bullet’s projectile.

Judging by its shape and size, it was a .43 caliber made by the guild Mystic Arrow.

A widely used live round, common among everyone from Guards to Hunters…

This was not described in the original work.

Meaning it was the result of the intervention rate taking effect.

Holding up the bullet I had recovered, I spoke.

“First, we need to find the sniper. The projectile used was a .43 caliber. Given the timing, they cannot have gone far.”

But at that moment, a cadet who seemed to be on the injured party’s team pointed somewhere and shouted.

“You did it! That gun of yours is from Mystic Arrow!”

The guild Mystic Arrow was known for using inches in its caliber standards.

Where the cadet pointed stood Gwon Chihun, who must have arrived at some point.

“…What?”

As many eyes turned toward him all at once, Gwon Chihun stiffened in surprise.

His face quickly twisted into a scowl.

“T-that is ridiculous!”

The surrounding cadets also seemed to think it was a stretch.

There was not enough proof.

But the next words flipped the mood instantly.

“You used to bully us all the time!”

Us.

It did not take long to grasp what that word meant.

Because all of those teammates were social care beneficiaries.

It was a well-known fact among investigation cadets that Gwon Chihun had harassed social care beneficiaries behind the scenes.

It had not been severe enough to become a major issue, so the semester had progressed without trouble until now, but…

The atmosphere began to flare beyond control.

“There is a limit to how much nonsense you can spew! You think I am insane enough to snipe someone with live rounds?!”

“Then what caliber is that gun of yours? Tell us! What is it?!”

“…”

Gwon Chihun could not name the caliber. Instead, he unconsciously hid the gun behind his back.

“I-I do not know. I am telling you, I am innocent!”