“I’ve wasted my life… There’s no one to help me…”

I complained out loud deliberately as if I wanted others to hear. Seon Woo Jin said in disbelief,

“You have wasted it. What on earth did you do to Ban Ha Min? He doesn’t usually get upset easily.”

He keeps making me speechless.

As Seon Woo Jin said, Ban Ha Min has a steel mentality that is hardly affected by most things. It’s just that when he does get upset, it lasts a long time.

I mumbled timidly,

“I didn’t say much…”

Even as I said that, I felt guilty. I should apologize to Ban Ha Min soon.

As I continued to be depressed, Seon Woo Jin laughed.

“This is the first time I’ve seen Lee Ju Eun like this.”

Is that so? Is it the first time? Come to think of it, have I never… crumbled in front of them even when I was angry? I don’t think I have.

“Since it’s the first time seeing such a rare sight, don’t you want to protect me?”

“Nope.”

As expected, he didn’t take the bait.

“What are you two talking about so amusingly?”

That’s when Yoo Hee Na chimed in. Does this look amusing to you…? I’m going crazy worrying about my extra life that’s worse than a fly’s.

“Just worrying about my future.”

“Future? University?”

No, a bit nearer future than that.

I let out a deep sigh.

As I experienced last time, even if Yoo Hee Na gets kidnapped, Sung Ji Chan or someone else will voluntarily come to save her, but not me. So in this harsh world, I need a bodyguard to protect me… The three boys don’t seem right for that. What should I do?

Muttering to myself and pondering, I finally came to a conclusion.

‘Yeah, they say life is meant to be lived alone anyway.’

The only one who can save me is myself. It doesn’t seem like the right situation to use this saying but… it was a piercing famous quote. I clenched my fist.

‘Let’s survive on my own!’

Seeing me like that, Sung Ji Chan said,

“She’s having weird thoughts again.”

“Just leave her be. She’ll stop soon.”

“…”

Well, I didn’t expect those main character jerks to understand the sad circumstances of an extra anyway. Be strong, Lee Ju Eun. Fighting.

I thought about ways to get self-defense items. Cou*on probably doesn’t exist in this era… Should I get them offline? Where do they sell things like stun guns?

‘Next… should I learn something like self-defense techniques?’

I want to be world rank 0 too. Seol Yu Hwa probably doesn’t have these worries, right?

I envied the female lead more than ever. I covet it. That force… Power…

“Lee Ju Eun, let’s go.”

While I was having all sorts of thoughts alone, quite some time must have passed. Seon Woo Jin poked me.

“Sung Ji Chan isn’t coming?”

“He has something to do here.”

I don’t know what it is, but it’s probably related to Yoo Hee Na. Looking at the clock, it was really time to head back.

“Guys, we’ll get going then. Bye.”

After saying goodbye to Yoo Hee Na and Sung Ji Chan, I left the hospital with Seon Woo Jin.

I was debating whether to walk home or take public transport when Seon Woo Jin spoke to me.

“Lee Ju Eun.”

“Yeah?”

“Where do you live?”

“Me? My house is…”

When I told him the address, Seon Woo Jin slightly frowned.

“What, that’s where Ban Ha Min lives?”

Yeah, that’s right…

It feels like Ban Ha Min is coming up a lot today, but is it just my imagination? I felt even more guilty for my sins. I should live kindly from now on.

Seon Woo Jin did something on his phone for a bit, then said to me,

“Let’s go.”

Huh?

“I’ll take you home.”

It was a completely unexpected statement. I asked back in surprise,

“You will?”

“What, you don’t want me to?”

“No!”

What’s gotten into him? It was a kindness I never expected from Seon Woo Jin. I happily followed behind him.

Even though he said he’d take me, it wasn’t anything grand. Seon Woo Jin was a bourgeois jerk who practiced the ‘minimum 3-step taxi’ in person, and my house was quite far from the hospital, so we took a taxi to travel.

Still, I was very grateful, so I thanked Seon Woo Jin profusely.

Finally, the taxi arrived in my neighborhood. It stopped in front of my house, and I got out and said to Seon Woo Jin,

“Thank you so much. I want to invite you in for tea, but I’m so poor I have no food at home. So goodbye. See you tomorrow.”

“I wasn’t planning to go in anyway, but I got rejected.”

Seon Woo Jin said in disbelief.

I waved goodbye to him. Seon Woo Jin smiled and the taxi took off.

‘Still, thanks to him, I got home comfortably.’

I hummed to myself and went into my house.

After washing up, there was a text message on my phone. It was from Seon Woo Jin.

As expected of a male lead’s friend.

I chuckled and put away my phone.

That night.

After returning from the hospital and resting at home, I went out briefly to go to the convenience store.

‘Well… it’ll be fine since it’s a short trip.’

It was a naive thought that since nothing had happened so far, it would be okay today too.

Until just now, I was making a fuss about how dangerous it was, but honestly, it didn’t feel real. People can’t feel it unless it really hits them. Is this a kind of safety ignorance?

‘Would someone really come to harm me at this hour?’

No matter what, I’m just an extra. Even though I did draw some aggro, they wouldn’t put in that much effort for an extra, right?

Just in case, I took out my phone.

Seon Woo Jin

His number feels reassuring for the first time.

Of course, even if I call, it’s uncertain whether he’ll really come or not.

Anyway, having it is better than not having it for peace of mind.

‘If I see the guys from Haeseong High School, I should contact Seon Woo Jin right away.’

But their house and school are far from here. So even if I call, won’t he be late?

Come to think of it, that’s true.

‘…But he’ll still come to save me if I get kidnapped, right?’

I could imagine Seon Woo Jin grumbling that it’s bothersome after receiving my call, but I tried hard to shake that thought out of my head.

Before I knew it, I had arrived at the convenience store.

A short while later, I bought what I needed from the convenience store and came back out. Now it was time to head home. I was going to take the same route back, but decided to take a shortcut.

‘What could possibly happen in that short time?’

I really must have safety ignorance.

‘But this path always gives me a bad feeling whenever I pass by.’

I frowned looking at the deserted alleyway.

The current time was 9 PM. It wasn’t very late, but it had been dark outside for a while.

‘Even the color of the street lamps is scary…’

Dark night. A narrow alley with no people. The yellow light of the street lamps.

‘I should have just taken the same way back.’

I suddenly regretted it.

Fortunately, the shortcut I take is a fairly large road, so I don’t need to actually go into that alleyway.

Plus, the busy street is right next to it, so there are actually quite a few people passing by if you go a little further.

‘So I don’t need to worry… but it’s true that it’s scary just thinking about passing by next to it.’

It felt eerie how the atmosphere changed drastically with just one road in between.

‘Let’s pass by quickly.’

I hastened my steps.

That’s when it happened.

Bang!

“Ugh!”

I heard an unknown scream.

Having been possessed in this novel world for quite some time now, I could tell right away.

‘Oh no, someone’s fighting again.’

That’s right. It was the sound of violence.

I could hear the screams of men and heavy thuds. The sound of fists or clubs hitting people.

‘…Let’s avoid it.’

I didn’t want to get involved in a fight happening outside of school.

Judging from the sounds, it seemed to be happening in the alley right next to me.

I have to pass by there to get home… but I have no choice. I’ll have to go around today.

I carefully moved my feet.

Right then, something flew out from inside the alley.

Bang!

“Aaah!”

Startled, I screamed and curled up.

The thing that flew was a person. An unidentified man crashed into the wall and went limp.

‘What the…’

I cautiously looked back.

It was too dark to see clearly, but one thing was certain.

The man was wearing a Haeseong High School uniform.

‘No way, Haeseong High again?’

At this point, it should be called Ttoseong High School. (T/N: Tto means again/also)

I approached the man and checked his condition. Just in case, I even waved my hand in front of his face. Judging by his completely unresponsive state, the man seemed to have lost consciousness entirely.

‘Should I report it to the police?’

Still, since I saw someone get hurt, it doesn’t feel right to just pass by… I carefully took out my phone.

That’s when I heard someone’s footsteps.

I instinctively turned my head.

On this night with a bright full moon.

Under the dark night sky, a long-haired woman slowly walked out of the alley.

In an instant, all my senses focused on her.

Large eyes with upturned tails like a cat’s.

Even with a black mask covering half her face, her beauty was palpable.

I stared at the woman in a daze. Her presence was overwhelming, as if there was a halo behind her.

The yellow street lamp illuminated the woman. Noticing me, she took off the mask covering her face and stopped walking.

Our eyes met.

I stood there blankly, unable to move. It felt like time had stopped.

The silence was broken in an instant.

“Ugh, where… are you trying to…”

A man crawled out from the alleyway.

The man, shaking all over, grabbed the woman’s ankle.

Without hesitation, the woman kicked the man away.

“Aaargh!”

Having dealt with the man effortlessly, the woman flipped her hair with an arrogant expression.

Swish.

Her silky hair flowed softly, following her fingertips.

And at that very moment, the woman turned her head and looked at me.

I held my breath for a moment.

Only then did I realize who the woman was.

‘Damn. I’m really screwed.’

The woman who single-handedly took down dozens of men.

It was none other than Seol Yu Hwa, world rank 0.