How to Survive as an Extra Chapter 23 : Chapter 23

Chapter 23

A mont of desperation, would that be an appropriate way to put it?

The muzzle was aid at from within 5 ters, and Bruno was sneering at , who was not even visible to the naked eye.

“Now then, fake Phantom Thief, any last words?”

Looking at his cruel expression, I curled up one corner of my mouth.

“Did you say you don’t easily forget the scent of a troubleso mana?”

“……So what?”

“For soone who hasn’t forgotten, you don’t seem to have learned anything at all.”

“What?”

As soon as I finished speaking, I changed the target of my Bind.

The object was a pressurized dry chemical fire extinguisher, closer to Bruno than to .

There were two abilities that could be linked after binding a target.

One was to restrict the flow of mana.

The other was to overlay it with a shadow and apply physical pressure.

I created a physical crack in the fire extinguisher with a shadow, causing the powder inside to explode.

PSSSHHH-.

POOF!

Then, white powder scattered enough to cover the entire space.

Naturally, it blocked the surrounding light, and the magic bullet also lost its light as Bruno’s concentration was dispersed.

“Kugh! Petty tricks!”

Bruno tried to get out of the powder, but my shadow binding him was faster.

“M-my body!”

“Sniff so more, you son of a bitch.”

Simultaneously with the Bind, my mana drained away without restraint.

At a faster rate than when I bound Yun Jeongseop.

Next, I restricted Bruno’s mana, and he made a pained expression as if he were being deprived of oxygen.

“Heup……”

His suffering did not last long.

His groans soon stopped, and he lost consciousness while his body was bound.

When the organic flow with mana is cut off, an Awakener will invariably lose consciousness.

This was similar to a kind of mana depletion, but since the mana was not completely depleted, they would regain consciousness relatively quickly.

When I released the Bind, he collapsed ssily.

He was gradually covered in the white chemical agent, looking like a corpse frozen to death in a snowfield.

I leaned against the wall with my uninjured arm and barely managed to stand up.

It was impossible to walk on two feet as my ankle had been pierced.

“My shoulder’s like this too, so it’s hard to even keep my balance.”

There was a healing potion in my inventory, but I could not heal the wound here.

Due to the 10% decrease in the light attribute from the cloak’s effect, the healing potion would act as a debuff.

If I were to take off the cloak while I was still bleeding, my bloodstains would be left in the storage room.

“Leaving this place cos before healing.”

I did not know when Bruno would regain consciousness, and if a group of mafia mbers ca, I would be cornered imdiately.

Unfortunately, the option of finishing off Bruno here and now was not available.

Considering the influence he would have in the future, letting him live was more beneficial in many ways.

“He’s detestable, but he was a character who was quite helpful in the conflict with the Demonic Beings.”

His nickna, the Hunter, also originated from hunting demonic beasts.

Moreover, there were more than a few monts when he indirectly helped the main characters.

Though on the other hand, he would also put them in danger.

“There’s no need to twist the already twisted causality any further.”

I approached him, took his revolver, and put it in my inventory.

A Mystic Arrow MA13 that used a .43 caliber.

The model with the longest barrel among revolvers.

“For a gunman, there’s nothing more fatal than losing a beloved firearm.”

A petty revenge.

I relied on the wall again and hopped on one foot.

It was a ridiculous sight, but I had to leave the place before he woke up.

But had I gone even ten steps using Stealth, my body staggered from a sudden dizziness.

I was short on mana, but it was not because I had none at all.

It was just that my concentration had dropped as I was approaching my physical limits, and as a result, it beca difficult to maintain my abilities.

I forced myself to swallow a mana potion, but the situation did not change.

There was no other way but to take even one step faster and find a place to hide.

“……This is fucking ridiculous, really.”

***

A little while later, after a desperate effort, I arrived on the first floor of Hall C.

The place I headed to imdiately was the nearest restroom.

As soon as I entered and took off the cloak, a handful of blood that had been absorbed by the cloak spilled onto the floor tiles.

“Haa……”

I took out a healing potion and poured it on the bleeding area, then took out another one and tilted it into my mouth.

If I had drunk it while wearing the cloak, my esophagus would have burned and I would have died.

Because in exchange for a 10% increase in the dark attribute, the light attribute was in a state of being decreased by 10%.

Thus, the dark attribute and light attribute were opposing attributes.

I did not receive a penalty because I had increased the attribute through coins, but according to the world’s setting, every ti a specific attribute increases by 1%, the opposite attribute must decrease by 1%.

Fire attribute and water attribute.

Wind attribute and earth attribute.

Light attribute and dark attribute…….

Only the lightning attribute did not have a penalty.

That was because it was a protagonist buff.

Of course, the neutral attribute also had no compatibility issues, but a high neutral attribute mostly ant being a non-ability user, so it was out of the question.

VMMMM─.

Around the ti the bleeding stopped, my smartwatch vibrated.

The content was a ssage from Lee Eunho saying that he had persuaded Dispel based on our plan.

All that was left was for and Cha Yeri to disarm all the explosives in the building.

“I need to get moving……”

Because of the unexpected event, I had no ti to catch my breath.

I washed the blood down the drain with water.

Next, I took out a spare cadet uniform and changed into it, swallowed a mana potion, and left the restroom.

But…….

“……Ah.”

I encountered an unexpected person at the entrance.

“What are you doing here?”

It was Cha Yeri.

As soon as she saw , she lowered her gun. It seed she had approached after sensing a presence inside.

To put it bluntly, the only people wandering around Hall C would be the mafia, so it would not have been strange if I had been hit by a stray bullet.

More importantly, did she see enter the restroom while wearing the cloak…….

It was difficult to read her thoughts just from her expression on the surface.

As she was a person who had a knack for hiding her expressions…….

First, I answered the question calmly.

“I suddenly had urgent business.”

“This is the won’s restroom, you know?”

“……”

An answer I had not even considered at all.

For a mont, I almost turned my head to check the sign.

In a situation where I did not know what Cha Yeri had seen, it was forbidden to arouse unnecessary suspicion.

“Not that kind of business. I was bleeding from the earlier fight. I needed to wash the wound.”

“Hmm……. Is that so?”

Narrowing her eyes, Cha Yeri scanned my appearance.

However, perhaps because my clothes were too neat, she soon narrowed her brow as well.

I quickly pulled my ear.

“My face, my face. A bullet grazed and tore my ear.”

A crude excuse.

Cha Yeri still spoke as if she was not convinced.

“But why are you here? What about Halls D and E? Besides, you haven’t been answering my ssages for a while now.”

“Ah, I was so busy running away from Hall D. I just ran forward, and when I shook them off, I was here. I really thought I was going to die.”

“……You’re amazing in many ways. To think there’s soone who openly says they ran away.”

“Well, there’s no need to lie in an ergency situation.”

From the atmosphere she exuded, it seed she harbored so suspicion.

I did not know whether it was because she had seen the Phantom Thief’s cloak, or because she could not accept my actions themselves.

I changed the subject.

“By the way, have you finished searching this area? Hall C.”

“Yes, just need to check this restroom. There’s a trash can here too. ……But seeing as you ca out empty-handed, I guess there was no detonator.”

“Ah……! Yes, there wasn’t, there wasn’t.”

“Then that’s a relief. By the way, you don’t deviate from my expectations at all. To be honest, I didn’t expect anything from you, since you’re so unreliable.”

“……”

“No, since you failed to et my expectations, can I say you t my expectations.”

Now she’s openly mocking .

Did she decide that there was no need to look good to anymore?

I just laughed awkwardly.

A ti like this was an opportunity to use the excuse of being last in practical skills.

Cha Yeri turned her body towards Hall D.

At the sa ti, she hurried my steps.

“What are you doing? Didn’t you say just now that ti was the most important thing?”

“What? Are we moving together? If only D and E are left, it would be better to go one by one……”

“Excuse , didn’t I tell you?”

“What……?”

As I retorted, she muttered, just loud enough to be heard, ‘Ah, so annoying,’ and irritably pulled the bolt.

“That I don’t trust you?”

***

Searching Halls D and E did not take that long.

About a little over 10 minutes.

As in the original story, there were no explosives installed in Hall A, where the hostages and mafia mbers were gathered.

Nevertheless, we conducted a search for any possible unforeseen circumstances, and as soon as we confird that there were no anomalies, we sent a ssage to Lee Eunho that the explosive disarming was complete.

After that, the plan proceeded smoothly.

A small elite team composed of Dispel’s investigators and active-duty hunters entered the building without anyone noticing and subdued over a hundred mafia mbers in an instant.

There were injuries during the operation, but no fatalities.

The injured were only Awakeners who were trying to protect the civilians.

Dispel arrested every mafia mber they saw, but they could not capture the executives, including Bruno the Hunter.

They were probably wandering the exhibition hall disguised as Dispel officers, just like in the original story.

Perhaps they had already left District 8 under the pretext of escorting criminals.

“Yes! This is the exhibition site in Seoul’s District 8 where the terror attack has been suppressed. The Psychic Mafia that caused the terror, under the na Catalina, has been notorious in the outskirts of Seoul……”

Nurous people and reporters flocked to the scene of the incident.

Interviews with each of the involved parties followed one after another, and naturally, countless interview requests poured in for the two Hero Prep cadets who had made distinguished contributions.

“Mr. Lee Eunho! Is it true that you incapacitated more mafia mbers than the active-duty hunters during the operation?”

“Excuse , Ms. Cha Yeri! According to news that just ca in, your grandfather, Chairman Cha of Hyeonseong Group, has announced that he will provide consolation money to all the victims related to this terror attack! Could you please say a word about this!”

This interview now would be the occasion for Lee Eunho to reveal his face to the public.

The scale of the incident was large, his performance was clear, and above all, because he was entangled with Cha Yeri with that handso face, it was perfect for reporters to spin gossip.

In the original story too, Cha Yeri’s family becos interested in Lee Eunho through this incident.

Therefore, looking at the result alone, I had safely overco the 50% intervention rate, but…….

“……”

How should I explain this?

I was only a few steps away from the two of them, but I was feeling an indescribable emptiness.

It was not regret.

Should I say that I had once again realized the fact that I was an extra?

“Should I just go back first……”

Standing there awkwardly, not knowing what to do, I indifferently watched Cha Yeri’s interview.

“Lastly, was there a decisive clue that helped in resolving the incident, or anything else?”

“A clue?”

Cha Yeri showed a feigned eye smile and suddenly cast her gaze at .

“Investigation Division Cadet Ji Seokhyeon, he was the one who ca up with the entire plan for the operation. Both the clues and the deductions. If it weren’t for Cadet Ji Seokhyeon, there would have been many more casualties.”

“……”

In an instant, the caras that were filming the two of them turned their heads towards .

The reporters holding microphones closed the distance, and the crowd watching the interview from the side stirred greatly.

“Excuse …… Mr. Ji Seokhyeon?”

“How did you figure out the mafia’s plan?”

“Is what Ms. Cha Yeri just said true?”

Without a mont to respond to the questions, I stared at Cha Yeri.

What on earth was she thinking?

Just a few days ago, no, until just now when we were caught up in the episode, she should not have welcod .

Did she notice my disposition and is trying to ss with …….

There was nothing I could say for certain right now.

It was just clear that for so reason, Cha Yeri was showing interest in again.

Just like when she recomnded as the president of the Mystery Club.

Forgetting the topic of the pouring questions, I opened my mouth to answer sothing.

But at that mont…….

[You have completed the episode.]

[590 Remake Coins will be awarded.]

[Additional rewards for episode variation will be added.]

[5,000 Remake Coins will be awarded.]

The curtain fell on the episode.