How to Survive as an Extra Chapter 105 : Chapter 105

Chapter 105

Dawn, Seoul’s outskirts.

The grand house that served as the base of the Psychic Mafia Callia.

And within that grand house, the most lavish space of all: Ooyama Jiro’s bedroom.

Ooyama, asleep in his bedroom, sensed a strange presence and lifted his eyelids.

As expected, a shadowy figure was standing by the window, watching him from a distance.

‘An assassin….’

Ooyama moved to subdue the intruder at once.

But although he could blink, he could not move even a single toe properly.

It was as if his entire body had been paralyzed.

‘What is this supposed to be!’

Soone like him, with skill comparable to the top active Hunters, was being afflicted by a re status ailnt like this?

Ooyama struggled and even released mana, but the force that held his body continued to sneer at him.

With no other choice, he steadied his breathing and stared at the figure by the window.

He felt the silhouette was not unfamiliar.

And as expected, the figure was dressed like the Phantom Thief.

Not so imitator, but the Phantom Thief who had been a hot topic among people until recently.

Why would the Phantom Thief enter his bedroom?

Before that, how had the Phantom Thief managed to get this far without being seen by the other mafia?

While Ooyama was still reeling, soone approached from the bedroom door.

This ti, he recognized the person instantly.

‘A-Allie?’

It was Allie, the one reported to have been killed by the Special Affairs Division.

Until he saw Dispel’s announcent that she was a Demonic Being, Ooyama had not suspected Allie at all.

No, to be precise, he had thought it did not matter even if she was a Demonic Being.

No matter how much Demonic Beings were called humanity’s traitors, he himself was also rotting this society from within while enjoying its spoils, so if their intentions aligned, he wanted to keep her close.

That was why seeing Allie alive before his eyes was both shocking and joyful.

The mont she climbed onto the bed and straddled his chest, he beca incapable of rational thought.

Allie looked down at Ooyama and gave a wry smile.

“Vulgar desire. It is not welco, but if it is for a finer feast, I will gladly accept it.”

What did those words even an?

As Ooyama tried to think, Allie’s mouth opened like that of a gigantic beast and swallowed him whole in an instant.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

He was not even granted a dying scream, and not a single drop of blood was spilled.

What was striking was that Allie’s appearance abruptly changed into Ooyama’s.

Perfectly, down to a single strand of hair.

The Phantom Thief, who had been watching, spoke in a tone of contempt.

“I cannot understand.”

Allie—no, Ooyama—looked at the Phantom Thief and smiled with aning.

“You do not need to understand. I never wanted you to. Did we not settle it from the start? This body takes what it desires, and you make your enemy pay the price.”

“…….”

“So wait a little longer. Soon, an appropriate opportunity will co.”

***

Monica and I boarded a train.

We got off at Pyeongtaek Station in southern Gyeonggi-do, then walked to the location we had been tipped off about.

For three full hours.

It was called walking, but we were practically running along a mountain path far from paved roads, and thankfully, we reached our destination—Geumgorae Village—before the sun set.

“No, why is your stamina so terrible? We barely moved.”

All the way there, Monica kept picking at my miserable stamina.

With no room to argue, I could only give an awkward smile and scratch my head.

Still, was it not admirable that I had kept up without falling behind with stamina at 3.0?

Geumgorae Village, where we were to investigate, was relatively small.

About thirty households actually lived there.

A theory had spread widely that traces of the Great Rift affected awakening, and a rapid back-to-the-countryside movent had surged across regions. Geumgorae Village was one of those places.

And because it bordered Gangwon-do, the damage from monsters had been severe before the barrier was erected.

Of course, after the barrier was built, Hunters trying to pass through began stopping by for the night, and the village managed to scrape by through lodging.

But in recent years, monster appearances had noticeably decreased, so business catering to Hunters had also beco sluggish.

That was the information I had been told in advance about Geumgorae Village.

Historically and geographically, it all sounded perfectly plausible, yet for so reason, the village entrance before us had been decorated in a dazzling way.

The gaudy neon signs made it feel like visiting a “petite Las Vegas.”

Even Monica stared at the entrance for a long mont, openly suspicious.

“It reeks of sothing fishy.”

“I do not know whether the tip is true, but it seems certain that several upheavals have hit this village.”

The reason we had co was because of multiple reports that had filtered in through Dispel.

Most informants were wandering Hunters, the so-called freelance rcenaries.

They claid that things kept disappearing in Geumgorae Village.

Comrades who had gone hunting with them, mana stones obtained from hunting, and so on.

Because freelance rcenaries were often drunk even in their ordinary lives when they had no commissions, Dispel had dismissed the reports as nonsense.

Until that nonsense accumulated, swelled, and finally reached the Special Affairs Division.

“Let us go in first. The sun is about to set, so let us shake off the travel fatigue at a decent lodging place.”

“That is the best thing I have heard today.”

We entered the village.

But the entire village, like the entrance, was coated in flashy splendor.

As though it were a city of debauchery.

Where in the world had they obtained this kind of wealth?

We headed to the largest building in the village center.

It was a restaurant that also provided lodging, and just like its gaudy exterior, the interior was refined, but on one side, there were “ga” tables you would normally only see in a casino.

“Are they rolling dice right now?”

I stared at the tables with suspicion as I spoke, but Monica’s eyes were already half gone.

“Um… sorry, but.”

“Yes?”

“Do you want to handle the case alone?”

“…….”

“I will tell the chief you were quite excellent for a probationary investigator.”

Before I could stop her, Monica ran straight into the “ga” area.

Was it really acceptable for a senior investigator to act like this?

Even if the Special Affairs Division pursued autonomous investigations, abandoning a probationary investigator alone was absurd.

“Haa….”

Resigned, I walked up to the front desk in the center.

An employee who looked like a village resident greeted with a practiced smile and naturally handed a lodging card.

“Will the two of you be staying together?”

“Yes. …Ah, please give us two rooms.”

“Understood.”

Using the forged identity I had prepared, I filled out the lodging card and paid for three days in advance.

Normally, places like this, which made money off Hunters passing through the barrier, were notorious for gouging, but surprisingly, it was quite cheap.

“Yes, it is confird. Here are the keys. Both of you will use the fourth floor.”

“Do we pay separately for als?”

“Yes. However, please observe the dining hours. This is a mountainous area, so food supply distribution is not smooth. Instead, if you order food, alcohol is provided free of charge.”

“Free?”

“Yes, as much as you want.”

“…….”

They claid ingredients were scarce, yet they offered unlimited alcohol?

For soone like Monica, who loved drinking and gas, it was an attractive city.

For , it was a place that reeked of suspicion.

I shoved the room key into Monica’s hand while she was already absorbed in gambling, went up to the fourth floor only long enough to mark the rooms, then ca back outside.

By then, the sun had set beyond the village.

Perhaps because of that, the neon signs shone even brighter, and already I could see people stumbling around, drunk.

For a village ant to host Hunters for a single night while they passed through the barrier, the atmosphere was truly alien.

Monica said we would begin the investigation tomorrow, but personally, I did not want to stay here long.

“They are rolling dice from early evening. As if they will start investigating tomorrow.”

For now, I wandered the streets to observe the village’s mood.

It took about an hour to circle the whole place.

The guests staying here—mostly freelance rcenaries—looked five tis more nurous than the residents, and over half the buildings were involved in lodging.

As expected, every lodging facility offered free alcohol, but only the building I was staying in had gambling tables.

“No matter how I look at it, none of this adds up.”

That was not the only strange thing about Geumgorae Village, but what bothered most was that there was no dispatched blacksmith anywhere.

In villages close to the barrier like this, where Hunters ca and went constantly, a blacksmith inevitably stayed to repair equipnt.

A village that could not repair gear naturally lost competitiveness.

Yet here, no matter how hard I looked, I could not find a blacksmith.

Even in an isolated village, it would be normal to use village operating funds to keep a dispatched blacksmith on hand….

“Given how many wandering Hunters gathered in a village without even a blacksmith, the free alcohol must be incredible.”

After wandering for a long ti, I stopped in front of a structure in the village center.

It was a whale statue, the symbol of the village.

What made it different from ordinary statues was that it was as large as a five-ton truck, and it was made of pure gold rather than re plating.

In other words, an ultimate display of wasteful extravagance.

Even Hyeonseong’s estate grounds would not have a statue like this.

“Where did they get the money for this kind of luxury…?”

Of course, it could not compare to the jewels that had crossed over from the rift, but in human history, there was no more certain currency than gold.

Considering that most of the world’s population were non-awakened who could not equip items, the weight of gold used in that statue was absurd.

Just as I was about to click my tongue at the whale, a middle-aged man approached and spoke.

“Is it not beautiful?”

A man who looked up at the whale with an expression I could not read.

He then turned his gaze to and introduced himself.

“I am the village head. Are you a Hunter? You seem a bit different from those who usually visit.”

“Ah, I am new. I have been touring the barrier alongside a veteran Hunter.”

I pulled the hood I was wearing even deeper.

Because my na as a probationary investigator of the Special Affairs Division had already spread, I needed a disguise, but wearing a human skin mask was suffocating, so I had simply thrown on an old cloak.

In my old world, it would have looked suspicious, but in this world, people often covered themselves deliberately to hide talgrid.

Even in sumr, like now.

“Hm. You are doing sothing aningful. There was once a ti when it was tradition for Hunters to tour the barrier. Though it faded away as combat guilds all beca ritocratic in their operations, rcenaries still tour the barrier from ti to ti.”

“I see.”

Each year, a combat guild contracted by Suwon’s administrative governnt was assigned to guard the Gangwon-do barrier protecting the country from monsters.

Naturally, it was a contract unrelated to any thriving guild.

“In any case, I hope your tour ends without incident.”

The village head handed a red candy wrapped in transparent plastic and continued.

“This is our village’s specialty. A candy made by drying wild raspberries and hardening them with sugar.”

It was the sa kind of candy that had been placed at the front desk earlier.

I had thought it was simply set out for visitors, but it was a specialty.

I accepted it and was about to put it in my pocket.

But the village head stared at as if he wanted to put it in my mouth.

Was he that confident in his specialty?

Without much suspicion, I tore the plastic and tossed the candy into my mouth.

And the mont I rolled it across my tongue once—

“…….”

A faint toxicity seeped into my body.

More precisely, a poison akin to a drug.

It had no imdiate effect, but it clearly induced a sustained feeling of intoxication.

An item with an intent that was hard to miss.

“How is it? It tastes quite fine, does it not?”

The village head asked with a deeply satisfied smile.

I curled my lips into a polite smile and answered.

“Yes. The taste is truly incredible.”