How to Survive as an Extra Chapter 127 : Chapter 127

Chapter 127

The next day.

The incident was wrapped up without any major uproar.

The residents of District 10 pointed fingers at the Gong Clan’s disgrace, but when Gong Seungryong declared that he would decisively punish his own younger brother, public opinion shifted in a favorable direction.

In effect, the branch family’s influence weakened, and the head of the family’s authority grew stronger.

“Well, other people’s family affairs are none of my business.”

Because of the incident, the Martial Tournant was canceled.

Fortunately, Cheok Gyeongjun regained consciousness, but he was not in any condition to resu sparring, and Gong Seunga also withdrew.

Moreover, since the matter had occurred within the host family itself, the participants questioned the tournant’s credibility, and in the end, Gong Seungryong decided to suspend the Martial Tournant.

“If the Martial Tournant had continued, Gong Minwu and I would have t in the finals.”

I could not promise a clear victory, but I did not think I would lose, either.

Of course, if I used Demonic Eye, I would win without question.

Because at this point in ti, Gong Minwu still could not handle his realm proficiently.

“With his talent, he will be able to wield his realm soon enough.”

In the first place, it was more surprising for an awakened being not yet thirty to use a realm at all.

In any case, as compensation for solving the case, I received one item from Gong Seungryong.

Its na was Shackles of the Swamp Giant.

It was a bracelet about twice the thickness of a smart watch, and its effect was to fix the Strength stat at 14.

[Durability 13.3] [Strength 14.0( 8.7)] [Stamina 3.2]

[Agility 20.0] [Intelligence 16.6] [Magic Power 5.2]

To my pitiful Strength, it was like rain in a drought.

There were other items as well, but most were weapons, or effects suited to a mage.

Besides, Shackles of the Swamp Giant was an item known publicly by na, so it would be easy to sell later.

“I do not know when, but a day will co when my raw Strength surpasses 14.”

With Strength increased, handling weapons beca far more comfortable.

Until now, even if I reacted quickly with Agility, my Strength could not support , so my body stuttered as if lagging. But now, as long as my stamina allowed, I could carry out almost perfectly the movents I pictured in my mind.

“It feels as if I have grown wings.”

Was this how everyone had been moving around, with such a light body?

It had not even been long since I put the bracelet on, yet I already felt as if I could not live without it.

“I should hide it when I train with that old man, An Hwigom.”

If he saw that I had broken through my physical limits, he might co up with so bizarre training regin again.

I was now standing atop the tallest building in District 10.

A fireworks festival had started a little earlier, decorating Seoul’s sky in splendid fashion.

The Martial Tournant had been canceled, but they said the commorative event honoring the heroes—the original purpose—would be held more grandly than ever.

“As expected, when a rich family hosts it, this sort of thing is worth seeing.”

Below the fireworks painting the sky, I could see a massive stage.

Tens of thousands surrounded it, and at the center, Do Minyeong—wearing an old-fashioned hanbok—perford a simple dance to honor the heroes.

Traditional lodies rose with it.

The people watching her began to follow the dance.

“Sword Saint…….”

The character who had been created as a backdrop to support the novel’s plausibility was being revered so fervently that the fact I was in another world felt newly real.

It was absurd to say it only now, but at so point, it felt as if the wall separating this world from that one had collapsed.

Ever since I entered Hero Prep, I had played the role assigned to . Yet now the role was gone, and only “,” an independent character, remained.

As if I were truly living in this world.

“Can I ever go back?”

The faces of the two little children upstairs who used to cause trouble with their stomping were hazy.

I could not rember the voice of the man downstairs who ca out to the balcony at ten every night to smoke, and I had even forgotten the password to the laptop I used to write on.

The only clear mories I had left were the ones related to the original work.

“Maybe I should not buy a house, after all…….”

Sohow, I felt that if I fulfilled my dream of owning a ho in this world, my attachnt would only deepen.

And the ending of this world without the protagonist was bound to be brutally obvious.

What confidence did I have to leave myself with regrets?

“…….”

A little while later, Do Minyeong’s performance ended.

She had said that once her turn was finished, her official duties as a direct-line mber would be over, so she would probably return to the manor to change.

Then, as promised, we would enjoy the festival together.

I stood up to head back to the manor.

That was when I noticed Gong Minwu on a nearby building, watching the festival.

He sensed my gaze at once, turned around, and then, when our eyes t, he snapped his head away.

“His talent is uncanny, truly.”

I made a light leap and landed on the building where he stood.

“So you can appreciate sothing like this, too.”

“……Soday, I will have to oversee it.”

“The Martial Tournant is canceled, but we still have a winner here.”

Only then did Gong Minwu look back at .

“I believe I thanked you yesterday. What do you want?”

This ti, I answered while keeping my eyes on the festival.

“I wondered if you were disappointed the finals never happened.”

“…….”

“Honestly, I am disappointed. Facing soone I know is more comfortable than facing soone I do not. It feels as if I let victory slip right before my eyes.”

“You talk too much.”

A massive firework exploded.

Both of us, as if bewitched, had our eyes stolen by it.

When the sparks finally faded, I spoke again.

“You were the one who sent the Tournant Token, were you not?”

“……!”

Gong Minwu made an expression that was easy to read.

He was always taciturn, always unresponsive, but that also ant he was not skilled at hiding lies.

He had likely sent the Tournant Token because he wanted to defeat him and win.

Of course, the selection of the heir was on the line, but if an outsider won, the decision would be postponed.

It was confidence—confidence that he was ready to inherit the Gong Clan whenever the ti ca.

An unshakable ambition to lose to no one.

Yet ironically, that was the problem.

The mont he was chosen as heir, he would have to abandon his studies and begin a long, grueling training regin with Gong Seungryong.

In the original story, he had been desperate to beco the heir as soon as possible, but for so reason, in this tiline he was moving in the opposite direction.

“So you are enjoying life at Hero Prep.”

For Gong Minwu, who always gave everything, it made no sense to approach the Martial Tournant lightly.

That was why he sent the Tournant Token.

He wanted to lose to soone he believed he could not decisively defeat, even if he threw himself in with all his might.

So that he could enjoy this academy life just a little longer.

He must also have watched my training with An Hwigom to gauge my skill.

“…….”

I turned to return to the manor.

I did not expect his answer.

He was the kind of person who stayed silent when he was at a disadvantage.

But as if to sneer at my assumption, his words reached my back.

“Hmph. Think whatever you want.”

***

I waited about ten minutes at the entrance to the Gong Clan’s manor.

Then Do Minyeong ca running up, having changed into plain clothes.

“I am sorry! Did you wait long?”

The dazzling fairy from legend I had seen on the plaza stage monts ago was nowhere to be found.

Instead, she was the familiar Do Minyeong I knew.

If there was any difference, it was that perhaps because she had not removed her stage makeup, her features looked softer than usual.

She had the face of a classic East Asian beauty.

In Seoul, where superpowers existed and most people were mixed-race, how had a face like this remained?

Even I, who thought I had grown immune to her, lost myself for a mont.

“What is wrong?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking about sothing else.”

She seed to have changed only her outfit.

She still wore lavish accessories—bracelets, rings, earrings, necklaces—but what held my gaze was only her face as she tilted her head in puzzlent.

No, was it because her clothes were plain in this dark night, or because she had not removed her makeup……?

In the end, I continued only when Do Minyeong narrowed her eyes as if suspicious.

“Your sword?”

“Ah, I left it. I thought it would get in the way.”

“You left your sword behind?”

“Yes. There will be so many people.”

Do Minyeong, who slept with a sword even at night, left it behind?

It was not a sword with a story attached to it, so it was not all that important, but as the original author, it was still a shock.

“Have you already decided where you want to go?”

“First, the night market. Then I am going to eat grilled king octopus leg. They sell it only in District 10, and when I was little, my grandfathe— Um, anyway. Do not worry. I thought through a route that will not stand out to people.”

Would planning a route really keep her from standing out?

With no other choice, I held out my hand.

“Take it.”

“H-Huh? Why?”

“What if you get swept up in the crowd? The mont anyone recognizes you, they will surround you, and your grilled octopus will be the least of your worries.”

In truth, it was because I intended to use Stealth.

If I wanted to walk through the festival with her, there was no other way.

“Th-That…… um…….”

I thought I had offered a reasonable explanation, but Do Minyeong hesitated to take my hand.

Was she worried soone might see us holding hands?

Well, I had anticipated that, too.

I brought a cap.

A baseball cap embroidered with Hero Prep’s baseball club symbol.

I set it lightly on her head and grabbed her hand.

“W-Wait.”

“What? You said you would participate in ‘Night of Wishes.’ If we keep delaying, we will be late.”

Do Minyeong released my hand, then laced her fingers through mine again, holding on more tightly.

Then she lowered her head and murmured as if speaking to herself.

“……I-I thought this would make it harder to lose you.”

“Do as you like.”

We headed first to the night market.

I knew there would be crowds, but stepping into it myself, it was so packed that I could barely see the road.

“It was a good idea to hold hands, was it not?”

“Huh? Yes…….”

Even as we were jostled by the crowd, the festival atmosphere was at its peak.

Laughter and cheers rose from every direction.

The rich aromas of food tickled my nose, and dazzling lights cast a warm glow.

It was enough to make suspect the Martial Tournant had only been a pretext, and that the fireworks festival was the true main event.

“How is it! It is really good, is it not? Once you eat this, you think about it every sumr night!”

Do Minyeong praised the grilled king octopus leg, coated in colorful sauces, without stopping.

But only for a mont. Soon she pointed at a sign in the distance and began hunting for her next snack.

“Next is dumplings! You can only eat these in District 10, too……!”

Dumplings stuffed with a special cut from a cow monster called Taurus.

“This is also sothing you cannot skip at the fireworks festival!”

A gigantic fireworks-shaped taffy candy made with a special taffy produced only in District 10.

“Ah, should we each buy one and wear it?”

Fireworks-shaped smartphone cases that looked as if they belonged on a street stall outside the outskirts.

“Let us try that! No, I cannot, so you do it instead! They say it is one hundred thousand won if you just break the first-place record!”

A “Be the Hero” ga where, for a set ti, you possessed a hero and ran to escape animal-type monsters.

“They say if you write your na on a lantern and light it, the heroes’ blessing will reach you!”

A bizarre marketing sche about receiving the heroes’ protection so monsters would not attack.

In the end, the mont we finally caught our breath was when we reached the stage in the central plaza.

“We did not co too late, did we?”

“Uh…… yes…….”

My mouth was full of sharp, stimulating flavors mixed together, leaving a prickling scent behind.

I desperately wanted to gulp down a carbonated coffee.

When I glanced around, I saw a lonely vending machine far in the distance.

But on the way there, a beverage stand had been set up.

A strange booth selling drinks that were green, blue, and even rainbow-colored……

Sohow, I felt as if I would be kidnapped into that place if I tried to go to the vending machine, so I decided to endure the discomfort in my mouth.

Near the stage, people were already gathering.

Soon, an event called Night of Wishes would begin here.

They would turn off the lights in the plaza for about one minute, and everyone would offer simple wishes to the heroes.

Night of Wishes originated from the incident in which Sword Saint Kim Yuseong, after sealing the Great Rift, silently wept there for a ti.

It was predictable, but still a traditional event of its own.

Do Minyeong looked up at the enormous firework decoration hanging at the center of the stage and spoke.

“It still does not feel real.”

“What does not?”

“That I can blend into a crowd like this and laugh.”

“…….”

For Do Minyeong, monts of leisure like this must have been rare.

“Thank you. Without you, how could I have walked around like this?”

She lightly shook the hand interlaced with mine.

Then she turned to and smiled brightly.

“It is the sa for . If it were not for our promise, I would have already left District 10 and gone ho.”

“Pfft, what is that? That is so like you.”

“Exactly. That ans I am doing sothing unlike myself.”

“……Will we be able to play like this at the fireworks festival again?”

“Why not?”

“No, I an…… with you. Just the two of us.”

I spoke awkwardly.

“For , well, if I get the chance, again…….”

At that mont, the stage lights went out.

When even the lights around the plaza extinguished, pitch-black darkness settled over everything.

The noise of the crowd disappeared, and the sense of people nearby rippled like gentle waves.

A wish……

As the original author who had made this world, a self-mocking laugh rose in .

What wish did I want, and who, exactly, would grant it?

When the Avid Reader ca to mind, I swallowed a curse.

……As if I would ever make a wish.

“Did you make one?”

Do Minyeong’s question slipped out carefully.

“No. Did you?”

When I asked back, she nodded silently in the darkness.

“What did you wish for?”

At the sa ti as my question, a strange strength gripped the hand laced with mine.

Softly, but unmistakably, as if she were holding on.

Wondering what it was, I turned my head—and Do Minyeong pressed her lips to mine.

A brief touch.

The sharp tang vanished, and only a sweet scent seeped in, deep and lingering.

“……!”

Then the stage lights flared back on.

Her entire face had flushed red.

Her expression was helpless, as if she did not know what to do with herself after what she had done.

“……Th-That is. I an…….”

She released our interlaced hands and darted into the crowd.

“I-I left sothing at the lodgings for a mont! I am sorry!”