Chapter 1

⚔ IT'S GOOD TO BE AN EXTRA ⚔

Chapter 1 — The Extra

“Ugh…”

I sat in my usual seat, staring blankly at the classroom.

School was back.

It wasn't the first day, though. It had already been a month since my first year started.

It was Monday, and honestly, weekends were precious to me.

Why?

Because weekends gave me time to do the things I loved—reading novels, web novels, webtoons, and basically anything related to them.

I always arrived at school early, giving myself enough time to do my thing before everyone else arrived.

As I looked around, I noticed that there were still no other students in the classroom.

“Good.”

Perfect timing.

I took out my phone and started browsing the internet. I checked my Webnovel reading list first, looking for updates and anything interesting to read.

Scroll.

Scroll.

Scroll.

Then, while scrolling, I came across an article.

The Other World

“Hmmm…”

The article had apparently become a hot topic.

It didn't have many readers, but it had a lot of arguments surrounding it. Curious, I opened it.

Before reading the article itself, I checked the comments.

The comment section looked more like a battlefield.

[Unknown15]: What the!... It's all just nonsense, haha. Well, it is interesting, but an article should at least contain some truth.

[Unknown78]: Yeah, right. Haha. It's just some random dude making up his fantasies.

[Unknown54]: The content is actually good... but the information is like some webnovel stuff, haha.

[Unknown23]: Did this dude mistake Webnovel for an article? Lame.

“Hmmm…”

There was a lot of criticism.

I stopped reading the comments and decided to see what the article was actually about.

The Other World

Do you know the world you are living in?

Do you sometimes ask yourself how things came to be? How everything started? How the world itself began?

Are we the only ones living in this world? Or are there others?

And is the world we live in really the real one?

I read some of the content and skipped the rest.

The world is vast.

It consists of many parallel worlds, but among those parallel worlds, there is a main world—the starting line, where it all began.

I continued reading.

“Lendel.”

This is the name of the world that serves as the origin of all parallel worlds, including our own world, Earth.

My eyes widened slightly.

Interesting.

In this world, people possess powers, magic, and otherworldly abilities.

There are also different creatures, such as elves, dwarves, giants, humans, and many others that will be described later in this article.

I scrolled down.

Lendel is the main world line. All parallel worlds are connected to it and to one another.

The further I read, the stranger it became.

According to the article, everything in Lendel was balanced.

Good and evil.

Life and destruction.

Everything had to remain in equilibrium.

But eventually, the balance began to break.

If evil became greater, the world would become corrupted.

If good became greater, the population would continue increasing because the creatures of Lendel lived ten times longer than humans in our world.

To solve this imbalance, they created parallel worlds.

They took populations from Lendel and placed them into separate worlds.

In those parallel worlds, the different races were separated.

Unlike Lendel, where all kinds of creatures lived together, each parallel world had its own inhabitants.

As I continued reading, the article explained that Lendel had eventually become a world where the strongest individuals and creatures existed.

The strongest powers.

The strongest abilities.

The best of the best.

To maintain the balance, they observed the parallel worlds and selected individuals who were worthy of being brought to Lendel.

As for the parallel worlds where magic, powers, and abilities didn't exist...

Apparently, that was intentional.

They had been creating and maintaining those worlds for a very long time.

I finally stopped reading.

The article was... actually pretty interesting.

According to the writer, all of this was based on his own experience.

He claimed that he had been transported to Lendel and had lived there.

“Wow…”

It was crazy.

But still...

I felt bad for the guy.

The comments were brutal.

I went back and continued looking through them, hoping to find something positive.

[Unknown9]: I don't know, but after reading too many webnovels, this dude probably thinks we're living in a fantasy world, haha.

[Unknown34]: Don't worry, dude. I feel you. I hope someday we'll get transported to a fantasy world where we possess abilities. Hell yeah.

I chuckled.

Actually...

I understood him.

I've always imagined myself living in a world like the ones in webnovels.

Maybe it was because I read too many webnovels and webtoons.

Fantasy stories had become a hobby of mine.

The article was going to be taken down in an hour because of all the criticism and the toxic comment section.

Poor guy.

I decided to download the article.

I wanted to read the rest of it later.

Besides, I figured it would be a good way to compensate the writer for his hard work.

There were ten chapters.

Ten.

That's a lot.

“Woo…”

I smiled.

Honestly, I really did dream about experiencing a fantasy story like the ones I read.

Sometimes, I even imagined the people and places around me as if they were part of a novel.

But I didn't want to be the main character.

No.

I wanted something else.

If I were ever inside a webnovel, I wouldn't want to be the hero.

I wouldn't want to be the villain.

I wouldn't even want to be an important side character.

I just wanted to watch.

I wanted to experience the story from up close while it unfolded.

To sum it up...

I wanted to be a mob.

An extra.

A character who existed in the background while the real story happened around me.

That would be the perfect experience for someone who loved reading novels and webtoons.

I turned off my phone.

By then, all of my classmates had arrived.

I looked around the classroom.

If our classroom were a webnovel, I'd say the genre would probably be...

Comedy romance.

“Hmmm…”

Yeah.

That should be it.

The main character was obviously the guy sitting in the back near the window.

The classic main-character seat.

Swoosh.

Okay, time for a random character introduction.

Eren Waltz

Age: 17

Gender: Male

A charming and handsome guy with dark blue hair. Friendly, sociable, and always positive.

He came from an average family.

And his friend...

Swoosh.

Glen Adam

Age: 17

Gender: Male

A good person and the kind of friend you could trust.

He was useful in almost every situation.

He was also handsome, had dark brown hair, and came from a wealthy family with a good background.

Then there were the female leads.

The first one was the girl sitting beside Eren.

His childhood friend.

Actually...

She was my childhood friend too.

The three of us had known each other for a long time.

But let's stop there.

I'm just an extra in this imaginary story.

I don't want to involve myself in it.

Cough, cough.

I cleared my throat and returned to my narrator-like voice.

Swoosh.

Anna Lavel

Age: 16

Gender: Female

A pretty girl with brown, shoulder-length hair and a boyish personality.

She came from an average family, though her family was somewhat better off than Eren's.

Then I looked toward the front seats.

Swoosh.

Elaine Ford

Age: 16

Gender: Female

She had elegant, princess-like features.

Formal.

Graceful.

Her long red hair reached down to her waist.

She had lived a privileged life since birth, and her family had strong political connections.

Then I looked to my right.

Two seats in front of Eren.

Swoosh.

Yoona Finley

Age: 17

Gender: Female

A mysterious girl.

Very pretty.

Pale skin.

A serious, cold expression.

Straight black hair that reached her chest.

She was also born into a wealthy family.

There were even rumors that she was the daughter of a mafia boss.

Based on my analysis...

Those were probably the possible female leads of our classroom.

“Hey, nerd. What are you staring at? Quit dreaming.”

“Hahaha, yeah. Nerd, she's never going to be interested in you.”

“Yeah, right. You're just lame, dude. Just accept reality. That's as far as you'll ever get.”

“…”

Those voices startled me.

I recognized them immediately.

Ah.

Here they were.

The antagonists.

And their leader...

Swoosh.

Kevin Vlad

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Prideful.

Arrogant.

And, unfortunately, handsome.

He had short silver hair and came from a wealthy family.

His family was also connected to the Finley family.

The way he acted made me think he had feelings for Yoona.

And, of course, he had his two lackeys standing behind him.

Swoosh.

Hyden & Blake

Age: 16

Gender: Male

Typical villain lackeys.

They always followed their boss.

Average looks.

Average families.

Basically...

Lackeys.

“Hey, what's your problem, Kevin? Picking on someone this early in the morning?”

Anna stepped in.

Kevin clicked his tongue.

“Tsk.”

He looked annoyed by Anna's interruption.

But he didn't argue back.

He knew better.

Anna could be extremely annoying when it came to verbal fights.

She had beaten him in arguments before.

Chuckle.

I couldn't help laughing.

Kevin chickening out from a girl. Pfft.

Well...

I understood why.

Anna could be pretty wild if you pissed her off.

Even I found it frightening sometimes.

I looked at Anna and quietly mumbled to myself.

Don't involve yourself with me.

I'm just an extra here.

Stick to your character.

“What?”

Anna looked at me.

I realized I had been staring at her for too long.

She became slightly flustered.

“Ugh... mmm... thanks.”

She looked away.

“It's not like I helped you because I care,” I said. “I just don't like that arrogant guy talking down to people.”

Anna walked back to her seat with a slight smile on her face.

“Okay…”

In reality, I wasn't really an extra.

The way I described those students was just how I saw them.

As for me...

I was actually very close to Anna and Eren.

We had been classmates since elementary and middle school.

But during the last year of middle school, I was transferred to another school because of my family's circumstances.

That sudden transfer was a huge shock.

It was the beginning of the darkest period of my school life.

When I arrived at the new school, I didn't know anyone.

I felt like an outcast.

Because of that, I developed a fear of socializing.

I became introverted.

And I was often targeted by bullies.

After graduating from middle school, I returned to my hometown and continued my studies there.

And now...

Here I was.

Back in my hometown.

Back in school.

I recognized some familiar faces, and I was happy.

Especially because I had finally met Anna and Eren again.

I was still introverted, though.

But I believed that personality would gradually disappear as I spent more time around everyone.

After all, I already knew some of the students.

And having Anna and Eren around made me feel more comfortable.

I had started talking to them again, although I wasn't as friendly with them as I used to be.

But I knew I'd eventually get back to how things were.

I looked around the classroom again.

The students in our class were on another level.

Not just in appearance.

Almost everyone came from an influential family.

Some were children of celebrities.

Some were from foreign royal families.

Others were sons and daughters of wealthy or powerful people.

It made sense.

This was a very prestigious school.

As for how I was able to enroll here...

Well, I'm not bragging.

I'm confident in my intelligence.

And my family could afford it.

I adjusted my glasses with my index finger.

Oh.

I haven't actually introduced myself yet.

Swoosh.

I know.

It's lame.

But I like it.

So bear with me.

Emi Crowley

Age: 17

Gender: Male

I have a decent personality and black hair.

I come from an average family.

And my looks?

Average.

Well...

Not exactly average.

If I removed my glasses and actually fixed myself up, I don't think my appearance would be that far from Eren's.

As for my glasses...

I only wear them because they fit the role I've created for myself.

The role of an extra.

“Quiet down, everyone. The teacher will be arriving any minute now.”

Elaine spoke calmly to the students.

Her elegant voice was strangely convincing.

Everyone listened.

She was, after all, our class president.

The classroom became quiet.

Everyone waited for the teacher to arrive.

...

Then suddenly—

Shing.

Shing.

Shing.

A strange blue line of light appeared on the floor.

It began drawing something.

“What?”

Shing.

Shing.

The blue light continued spreading across the floor.

“What's this?”

“What the hell is happening?”

“What are these lights?”

Everyone became startled.

The blue lines finally stopped.

I stared at what they had drawn.

It looked like...

A magic circle.

And it covered almost the entire classroom.

I wasn't imagining it.

That was exactly what it looked like.

“If this is a magic circle...”

My heart started beating faster.

“If this is real...”

I swallowed.

“Is it... what I think it is?”

“…”

Nobody answered.

Nobody even had time to.

The entire classroom suddenly began glowing.

The light became brighter.

Brighter.

And brighter.

Until the only thing we could see was white.

SHHHINNNGGG!

Swoooosh!!

And then—

Everyone in the classroom disappeared.

All of us.

Gone.

To be continued...