How to Survive as an Extra Chapter 89 : Chapter 89

Chapter 89

Tuesday.

In the storage lockers on the first-floor lobby, which I checked before leaving the dormitory, the Phantom Thief’s cloak had been placed inside.

Of course, Cha Yeri must have put it there, but I still had no way of knowing what she was thinking.

If she were acting like her original character, she should have been showing hostility and trying to get revenge sohow……

Why was she suddenly doing sothing like this?

Had she voluntarily paid up before I found it myself?

“She is not the type to feel pressured by sothing like that.”

Inside the locker, there was also a pile of letters.

Every single one of them was either asking to interview or trying to recruit for so kind of dia appearance.

Considering that a probationary investigator of the Special Affairs Division and a Hero Prep cadet with the Demonic Eye kept making incidents wherever he went, it made sense that I had beco a spectacle.

For once, I felt grateful for the shelter called Hero Prep.

“Interest in this world tends to be poison most of the ti.”

In any case, I dragged my disheveled body—made a ss by training with An Hwigom—to lectures.

Tuesday was the day of tactical training class.

Normally, it was the lecture I dreaded the most, but today would be the last ti I had to suffer through it.

Because the sester would end next week.

“As I announced last ti, the schedule for next week’s end-of-sester tactical evaluation has been finalized.”

After class ended, Shooting Instructor Oh Hyeokmin gathered the cadets and made the announcent.

As usual, he was raising his voice with earnest enthusiasm.

As an aside, if there was anyone in this setting who seed utterly unbothered by the world, it might have been Oh Hyeokmin.

“We leave on Monday, and due to the itinerary, it will end on Thursday. As you all know, the end-of-sester tactical evaluation is a substitute assignnt for the end-of-sester evaluation. It is also a stage where you prove in practice what you have honed throughout the sester. Therefore, the team that achieves the best results in training will receive an enormous number of points. And the opposite, of course, will be the worst outco.”

At the phrase “an enormous number of points,” my head turned toward Do Minyeong, who was sitting far away.

Sure enough, she looked quite serious.

It was not as though earning points would matter with her record blocked, but in the original work, Do Minyeong took first place in this tactical evaluation and, for so reason, secured her record.

Well, strictly speaking, she ended up in the sa team as Lee Eunho and essentially “had the victory taken” by him.

“The day after training ends, on Friday, the closing ceremony is scheduled. If you do not have enough points to register for next sester by then, you will be expelled according to regulations. So treat this tactical evaluation as your last chance and throw yourselves into it.”

I had more than enough points.

I had collected a tidy sum early in the sester through the Mystery Club.

“Lastly, I will announce the randomly assigned team composition. Everyone, check your smartwatches.”

At Oh Hyeokmin’s words, my wrist buzzed.

Along with the other cadets, I lowered my head and checked the ssage that appeared.

Team 78: Ji Seokhyeon (Team Leader), Do Minyeong, Gwon Chihun

A combination that promised a brutal journey.

The problem was that Do Minyeong was here, even though she should have been on the sa team as Lee Eunho, and the team leader who had to keep those two in line was .

“I am screwed.”

***

Dispel Headquarters in Seoul's District 2.

Today, a comndation ceremony was scheduled for the students who had distinguished themselves in last weekend’s expedition incident.

Representative students from each academy that had participated in the expedition gathered at headquarters, and as expected, Hero Prep was represented by Lee Eunho.

“There is still so ti before the ceremony begins, so please wait here for the mont.”

By the consideration of a headquarters staff mber, Lee Eunho was given a waiting room to himself.

Part of him thought it might not be bad to mingle with students from other academies, but it was not as though he disliked this consideration either.

It was simply burdenso, because it was obvious that everyone was putting on a performance just to leave an impression on him.

‘Did I co a bit early?’

Rather than sitting on the sofa, Lee Eunho paced around the waiting room, sinking into thought.

When he was alone, he tended to spend long stretches lost in idle contemplation.

Hero Preparatory School, the incident in Gangneung thirteen years ago, the Demonic Being Gen he had recently made contact with, and Ji Seokhyeon…….

Among those, the one who plagued him the most was, as always, Ji Seokhyeon.

He had known Ji Seokhyeon possessed the Demonic Eye, but he had never imagined that he had beco a probationary investigator of the Special Affairs Division.

It did make Ji Seokhyeon’s suspicious behavior up to now easier to accept, yet Lee Eunho still could not understand what he was truly after.

‘What on earth is he hiding?’

While Lee Eunho was absorbed in thought, soone knocked lightly on the waiting room door.

“May I co in?”

The person who opened the door and entered was the sa headquarters staff mber who had guided him to the room earlier.

In the staff mber’s hands was a tray holding drinks.

It seed they were distributing beverages to the students who were waiting.

As expected, the staff mber asked Lee Eunho what he wanted to drink, and Lee Eunho answered flatly.

“Anything.”

The staff mber set a can down on the table and did not move.

As if there was sothing he wanted to say.

Lee Eunho looked at the staff mber, then his gaze dropped to the can on the table.

It was carbonated coffee—so unpopular that it was not even sold for business use.

“…….”

Even more surprising was that the can’s ring pull had already been twisted open.

Lee Eunho turned his eyes back to the staff mber, half on guard.

But the staff mber was gone, and in his place stood soone with a face identical to Lee Eunho’s.

“Anything, you say…… What this body demanded was not just anything. It was the mana of Investigation Cadet Ji Seokhyeon.”

Not only the appearance, but even the voice was identical.

Lee Eunho instinctively stepped back and clenched a dagger-sized mass of electricity in his hand.

“Gen……!”

Only then did he understand what the empty can of carbonated coffee ant.

Last weekend, instead of Ji Seokhyeon’s mana, he had handed Gen’s Ghoul a can filled with his own mana.

Lee Eunho had always viewed Demonic Beings negatively, so he had never intended to engage in a real deal.

From the start, he had planned to take the information and then cut ties.

He had simply needed to hand over soone’s mana to deceive the other party, and in keeping with his nature, he had offered his own.

If he had known Gen could change forms, he would not have attempted it at all, but it was too late for regret.

“Since you ca to Dispel Headquarters on your own feet, you will not complain even if you die like this.”

“You greet soone who ca to report a defect in the delivered goods with such an attitude.”

“As if I would care about business ethics in a deal with a Demonic Being.”

“Well, I have not been dealing with humans for just a day or two. I expected this much. Still, you are the milder kind. Thanks to this, I now know exactly what sort of person you are, so it is not as though I lost everything.”

“What……?”

“Besides, if I ant to punish you, I did not need to co all the way here. I already have that body in my hands.”

“…….”

Gen’s imitation of Lee Eunho’s appearance was nearly perfect.

If he caused trouble while wearing Lee Eunho’s face, Lee Eunho might have ended up staying in Muspel rather than standing in Dispel Headquarters.

“I ca here to make you a proposal. If you handle one task properly, I will tell you everything about what happened in Gangneung, without leaving out a single detail.”

“I said I have no interest in dealing with a Demonic Being.”

“It is not a deal. It is a one-sided request. It will not be bad for you either.”

Lee Eunho hesitated.

Not because he was wavering about Gen’s condition, but because he was debating how to deal with Gen.

Would it be better to paralyze him with electricity and hand him over to the Special Affairs Division?

Or should he burn the body away right here?

Either way, stripping that face off and revealing the true form ca first.

Lee Eunho began releasing the electricity he held in a violent surge.

A voltage that would leave most awakened beings unable to recover even their bones the mont it touched the skin……

As Lee Eunho asured the distance with his eyes, Gen spoke a sentence he had never expected.

“I want you to kill a Demonic Being.”

***

Callia, the Psychic Mafia composed of mbers from East Asia.

And the “big house,” the base where Callia’s boss, Ooyama Jiro, stayed.

The mansion-like building of Callia, located on the outskirts of Seoul, was commonly called the big house.

There was no special aning. It was simply because it was a big building, and because Boss Ooyama referred to himself as a “big brother,” so the na stuck.

All the mafia under Big Brother Ooyama were his “little brothers,” and there was no strict hierarchy like a set of formal ranks.

Rather, influence within the organization was determined by how long one had been in the group, how great one’s achievents were, or how devoted one was to supporting Ooyama.

Thus, a rolling stone like the Demonic Being Allie could beco Ooyama’s right hand, and an elder mafia who had dedicated his entire life to the organization could lose his head over a single mistake.

One might expect the mafia within the organization to resent such a flexible hierarchy, but instead, blinded by the hope that they could seize power in a short ti, they often displayed remarkable loyalty.

That, too, was only possible because of Big Brother Ooyama’s overwhelming strength and because there were no factions within the organization……

“Hmm, so Hero Prep is leaving for the tactical evaluation?”

The Demonic Being Allie’s honeyed words were gradually creating cracks within Callia.

“Yes. It will be a perfect opportunity to pay them back for what we suffered in District 27.”

“That is right, Allie. Even if we cannot catch the Phantom Thief, we can deal with the little rats from Hero Prep who ruined things back then.”

The operation to capture the alchemist Park Chaeshin in District 27.

At the ti, because the Phantom Thief had appeared out of nowhere and brought down the Poisonous Golem, they had been forced to swallow massive losses.

“Their nas were probably…….”

“Yu Hyeonjeong, Lee Eunho, Cha Yeri, and Ji Seokhyeon.”

“Ah, yes. That flashy one was the most troubleso. If we leave him alone, he will surely grow into sothing big later. It would not be bad to cut him down while we have the chance.”

The place where Ooyama and Allie were speaking was a large conference room.

Today was the day of the organization’s regular eting, where important decisions were made, and the mafia mbers already holding key roles were kneeling around Ooyama, listening.

Because only those two were speaking unilaterally, no one could cut in, but one mafia mber who found Allie’s insistence displeasing cautiously raised his voice.

“Big Brother…….”

“Hm.”

“No matter what, would it not be too much to attack Hero Prep directly?”

“What?”

“Revenge is fine, but I thought we should also read the room. Among those cadets, there is Hyeonseong Group's heir, and even if he is only a probationary investigator, there is a Special Affairs Division investigator as well. And since the garage incident beca such a topic, even the businesses that were barely running have closed their doors…….”

The mafia mber hurriedly stopped speaking when Ooyama’s expression turned sour.

If one followed the political situation of awakened society, the mafia mber was correct, but it was advice unworthy of Ooyama’s pride.

“So you are saying I should cower and watch those bastards’ faces!”

“I-I am sorry! I spoke out of turn!”

The conference room’s mood turned vicious in an instant.

Ever since Allie had appeared within Callia, etings had proceeded like this every ti.

The mafia added comntary, Ooyama exploded, and in the end, everything was decided according to Allie’s will—etings rendered aningless.

Most of the mafia mbers resented it, but they could not express it properly.

Not only because they feared Ooyama, but because they had realized that Allie was a more cunning figure than he was.

“Do not get so angry. It is not entirely wrong.”

“What? Allie, even you…….”

“It is true that now is a ti to catch our breath. But I do not think we need to shrink back completely. If we act too ek, will not Dispel and the other mafias look down on us?”

“Yes! That is exactly what I an!”

“And besides, all we have to do is make sure no one finds out it was us, do we not?”

Allie looked toward the mafia mber who had spoken and continued.

“The incident at the garage happened only because the black box was found, right? If it were not for such a basic mistake, who would have expected that we were the ones behind it?”

“Yes. If not for so idiots making a mistake like that.”

“Leave this to . I will produce results worthy of Callia’s reputation.”

To Ooyama’s ears, it was a deeply satisfying proposal.

Instead of nodding, he answered by threatening the mafia mbers looking up at him.

“Now you understand, so back off! If anyone dares to interfere with Allie over sothing ridiculous, you will pay the price!”

A threat like the roar of a massive beast.

Ooyama rose from his seat and turned his back on the mafia.

Allie followed imdiately, and the mafia mbers filled with resentnt stared at Allie’s back.

In that razor-edged atmosphere of biting and being bitten, a young mafia mber suddenly spoke.

“E-excuse !”

A voice that held not even a fistful of the grit one expected from a mafia mber.

Ooyama turned his head sharply in irritation.

Then he saw the owner of the voice.

“I want to…… participate in this plan.”

It was Choi Jaejin, the mafia mber from Hero Prep.