Reader of the Novel’s Extra

Back in Cube, 1 AM. Saturday morning.

Kim Hajin was at the range, using the surplus of SP to modify his Gift.

Because at this rate, he wasn't sure what would occur in the future, so he wanted proper contingencies just in case. And so...

===

[Master Sharpshooter]

[Low-intermediate rank]

[Spirit attribute]

[Evolving — Grade 10]

[Proficiency EXP 50%]

—Master Sharpshooter’s Training

*Familiarity with all long ranged weapons

—Thousand-Mile Eyes

*Can see far away and somewhat predict target’s movement

path.

—Bullet Time

*In combat only and once every 24 hours, you can spend 3

seconds in 'Bullet Time.'

(New!)

—Quick Draw

*You can immediately swap to any long ranged weapon within

reach

(New!)

—Sleight of Hand

*Reloading is instantaneous

(New!)

—Ricochet

*Projectiles can curve and bounce, striking multiple targets

===

Hajin let out a nervous laugh when he saw the changes go through without completely bankrupting him of SP. "Should I be worried about this?"

They were additions that he thought would break the setting, so they should have cost a ridiculous amount of SP.

Initially, his Gift cost 10,000 SP to make. But the additions only cost 1,000 SP. Not only that, since the Gift as a whole was evolving, it meant that what he added would only increase in efficacy as the Gift improved.

But...

"I'm assuming the co-author is vetting these changes, so if he's letting them go through..."

Although Hajin wasn't a great author, he was decent. And the fact that he was getting these changes with low cost felt a LOT like in a game when players got upgrades right before a boss fight.

And as if to confirm his thoughts...

> Modified setting - Chae Nayun and Rachel Elizabeth Louise have become close confidants and true friends due to shared pain of loss.

> Luck activates! Chae Nayun and Rachel Elizabeth Louise have suggested multiple ways to strengthen you to Yoo Yeonha!

> Luck activates! Your status in Yoo Yeonha's eyes has risen from 'worthwhile investment' to 'something that must be acquired.'

> Modified setting - The world has become wary of Djinn associations! The Evil Society has begun to move more cautiously and thoroughly!

...Hajin got a flurry of worrisome messages.

He let out a helpless laugh and flicked his wrists, instantly grabbing a pair of training pistols that Yeonha had bought him before firing a flurry of shots at the targets.

"...Either the co-author is a fan of complete escalation, or something has gone completely wrong in his plans..."

For some reason, Hajin couldn't help but think about that Lee Shin.

And the fact that the system messages never seemed to mention him at all...

Hajin flicked his wrists again, instantly reloading his pistols before testing out curving his shots. As he did, he murmured, "That Book of Truth update can't come sooner..."

He wanted- No. He NEEDED to know.

Was Lee Shin just a normal extra?

...Or was he someone that Hajin had to keep an eye on?

Hajin pursed his lips as he finished emptying his pistols again and then murmured, "I should look into gun-fu and gun-kata. It should be a reasonable Art to make, right?"

As much as Hajin was terrified of fighting at close range...

Well. At this point, he was more terrified of being caught off-guard and having no options...

===

Early the next morning, Saturday.

Lee wanted to head off by himself to browse around the marketplace, but the moment after he woke up and got dressed to head out he was surrounded by Rachel and Nayun.

Rachel tentatively poked Lee's back and said, "Are you really fine to walk?"

Nayun eyed him up and down and said, "You aren't wincing or tense, so you SEEM fine... but if you're just pretending..."

Lee chuckled and said, "I'm fine. Really." He stretched and said, "Just a little sore."

Rachel furrowed her brow. "A little sore? How sore?"

"Like... heading to the kitchen and banging your hip against the corner sore? But on my back?"

Nayun blinked and said, "That's an oddly specific description."

Rachel tried to stay stern. But she couldn't help but smile, clearly amused at the thought. "...Why do I feel like you have done that a lot in your life, Lee?"

"Well, when you train so much and go to cook, sometimes you forget how close you are to things."

Nayun rolled her eyes. "Sure, sure... Now. We never did do that shopping trip. And it's... 8 AM? Wow, we slept in."

Lee looked amused and said, "You call 8 AM sleeping in?"

Rachel nodded. "I am usually up at 4:30 AM to study or train magic."

Nayun nodded too and said, "Yeah. I'm up at 5 AM to exercise and train."

Lee stared at Rachel, then Nayun. After that, he said, "Wow. You're a lot more diligent than I am. I just get up at 6 AM."

"What?" Nayun pointed at Lee and said, "You're telling me you get that physique without training all the time?!"

Lee shrugged and said, "Well, I do an every day training split and train my baseline instead of my limits. My workouts never end with me being exhausted." He paused. "Except for when I'm testing new things."

Rachel gave Lee a blank stare and said, "Why do you even test new things when you can't use potions or have healing magic cast on you?"

Lee chuckled and grabbed his wallet and spear. "It's not like I test CRAZY things-"

Nayun stuck up two fingers and said, "Two words. Gravity training."

Lee paused and said, "...It was within an acceptable margin of error."

Rachel massaged her temples. "You..."

Lee laughed and said, "Anyway... let's go shopping. I just remembered that the mountains around here are known for magical ginseng, right? It's probably going to be hectic due to yesterday, so we should go relax a bit and check out some nature."

Nayun's eyes lit up and she said, "Ooh! That's a good point! I can test my eyesight too!"

Rachel paused and said, "...Fine. I suppose that will be safer... and the lord knows that you might try something ridiculous like eating a mana crystal if we go hunting again."

"...No comment?"

Rachel groaned. "Lee... Mana crystals are NOT candy. And how are you even using them to fuel your Gift? Are you seriously fine?"

As the three started heading out of the room, Nayun looked at Lee and said, "Actually, Rachel's right. How ARE you doing that? Is it a part of your Gift?"

"Nah." Lee locked the door to their room behind them after they left, then he said, "I'm just that good at manipulating mana."

It wasn't a lie. <Mana Manipulation> was an Art, after all, and not a Gift. That meant it could, theoretically, be taught and be learned by other people.

You just had to, you know, almost die to force your body to desperately awaken a sense for mana. Also be subjected to enough crushing force to flatten an untrained man.

Rachel gave Lee a side-eye, clearly not believing him.

Nayun gave Lee a blank stare. Then she said, "You know what? I'll just believe you. It'll make my head hurt less."

Lee nodded. "That would make things simpler, yeah."

"And you aren't even going to bother explaining, huh?" Nayun chuckled. "Fine, fine. Let's just go shopping then. I wanna see if they have any good bows."

Rachel looked over at Lee and said, "If you want anything, let me know."

Lee raised an eyebrow and said, "Is this compensation for that guy attacking me, or do you just wanna spoil me already, Rachel?"

Rachel's cheeks reddened and she lightly kicked Alex's leg. "I'm being serious! You need proper defensive equipment!"

Nayun nodded and said, "Yeah! Rachel and I can protect ourselves with our mana, but since you have trash magic power, you need to wear some accessories!"

Lee was pretty sure he would be fine either way. After all, he got shot in the back and didn't end up with more than a bruise.

...Which was incredible in itself, actually.

Just how much training did Lee Shin do before now?

It had slipped Lee's mind, but the 'average' of Cube Cadets was already superhuman.

And Lee Shin had reached it without even having mana to reinforce his body...

'Just what kind of crazy-'

For a split second, Lee caught flashes of memories.

Sitting under the crushing force of a waterfall and practicing spear techniques until they were firm and unmoving.

Working on a fishing rig and hauling in nets over the summer.

Random wilderness training and fighting boars barehanded.

And spending money like water to buy elixirs to refine his body and physique...

'...Ah. He was that kind of crazy.'

Honestly, fair.

In a world where people had mana to become superhuman, since Lee Shin had lacked it, the guy simply trained to superhuman levels instead.

Nayun grabbed Lee's right arm and said, "Come on. First thing we're getting you is proper armor. Honestly, you're sooo lucky that guy didn't use any armor piercing rounds..."

Rachel grabbed Lee's left hand, lacing it with her right hand and said, "No thinking of training until you have proper equipment. Okay?"

"Fine, fine..." Lee chuckled. "But I'm going to be buying a lot of weird things probably. No questions allowed."

"Denied." Nayun shook her head. "Since we're buying, we reserve the right to reject any suspicious purchases."

Rachel nodded. "Yes. If you want to buy something strange, then you have to do it by yourself next time. AFTER we are sure you will not run off and do something ridiculous like explode your left arm attempting to create an artificial mana circuit."

"...I wasn't thinking about that."

"Oh my GOD Lee." Nayun groaned. "Do we really have to sick Yeonha on you too?"

Lee laughed and said, "Just kidding. I wouldn't do something as ridiculous as make an artificial mana circuit... Probably."

Rachel let out a deep sigh.

===

A few hours later, Lee, Rachel, and Nayun were out in the mountains of Gangwondo.

Lee fidgeted with the enchanted black chest plate that Rachel had bought for him. It was supposed to stop projectiles... though Lee didn't know if it actually would stop something that would break through his muscles anyway.

Still, it seemed to give Rachel peace of mind, so he went along with it.

Nayun raised her hand over her brow to block out the sun and said, "So this is where those ginseng hunters look for the spirit ginseng, huh?"

Rachel rested her one hand on her rapier hilt while fanning her face with the other. "...It's hot."

Nayun laughed and said, "This is hot? Weren't you fine in the Field?"

Rachel frowned and said, "That was different. The sun is stronger up here..."

Lee nodded. "It's probably the increased mana density making things more intense. That's why the spirit ginseng grow up here in the first place. Speaking of which..." He knelt to the ground and tugged on a seemingly inconspicuous root. When he did, a ginseng shimmering with magic power emerged. "Ginseng. Neat, right?"

"...What the hell?" Nayun blinked and did a double take. "How the heck did you see that?"

"Well..." Lee swept his gaze across the terrain. As he did, faint flickers of light appeared. Similar to when he used his small thread of mana... which meant it was probably invisible to other people. "...I just have a feeling. You brought that spatial pouch, right, Rachel?"

"A-Ah. Yes?" Rachel blinked and then held out a small pouch. "...Are we hunting for ginseng today then?"

Nayun's eyes lit up and she quickly grabbed Lee's arm. "Lee. Teach me. How did you see them?"

Lee chuckled and said, "Wow. You're even clingier than Rachel is."

Rachel blushed and said, "I'm not clingy!"

Nayun laughed and said, "If it means I can show off in front of Yeonha, I'll be even clingier! Do you know how much she's been complaining about money? If we can stock up on these..." She giggled and pumped a fist in the air. "I can afford sooo many cool things...!"

Lee looked amused and said, "Aren't you already rich?"

Nayun pointed at Lee and said, "You wouldn't get it! It's not about how much money we can use, it's how much money we made! And this would be money I made personally, not money I got from using our parent's money!"

Rachel raised an eyebrow and said, "...But aren't you using Lee?"

"So? Yeonha's definitely using Kim Hajin!"

"I think the phrasing of using people in general is wrong there..." Lee laughed. "But sure, Nayun. Hm..." Lee swept his gaze across the surroundings and said, "Can you see Magic Power or mana, Nayun?"

"Huh? I mean, theoretically? Wait, are you saying YOU can?" Nayun's eyes glittered.

Rachel blinked and tilted her head. Then her blue eyes widened and she pouted. "Lee! Does that mean you saw Lancaster the whole time last night?!"

"Well..." Lee coughed, his ears turning red. "...I wasn't sure?"

"Leeeeee!"

Nayun laughed. "Okay, okay. Enough side tracking! How do we see mana? Or magic power?"

"Hm..." Lee hummed and said, "How about I just point out places where the ginseng are? Then you try and see what the difference is? It's hard to teach someone how to see a color, you know?"

"See a color- Oh! Is this like that thing where people say that we might not be seeing the same red?" Nayun's eyes lit up and she said, "Yeonha talked about that one time when she was complaining about how she asked some interior designers for eggshell white and then they brought in offwhite and said it was eggshell when the lights were on but-" Nayun realized she was ranting and then blushed, clearing her throat. "...I mean. Show me?"

Lee chuckled. "Well, at least we're having fun... but over here." He walked over to a faintly flickering light. "This is another ginseng."

Nayun stared at it and narrowed her eyes. But she clicked her tongue and said, "...I just see grass."

Rachel tilted her head and then walked off to the side. Pointing at a green stem, she said, "Is this one, Lee?"

Lee blinked. "Huh. Yeah, that's a ginseng. Can you see it, Rachel?"

Rachel tugged at the stem, pulling out a ginseng. "No. But I can... feel it? A bit? Like... if the room is too hot?"

Nayun huffed. "Of course the princess would be able to find ginseng just by feeling... Wait." Nayun paused and looked at the surroundings. Then she said, "Lee. You said that it's like seeing a color, right?"

"...Yeah? Why?"

Nayun grinned. "Then... if I paint everything my color, everywhere that ISN'T my color is something else, isn't it?"

Lee paused. Then his eyes widened. "Wait, Nayun. Don't tell me you're going to-"

A pulse of emerald mana erupted from Nayun.

Rachel flinched and reflexively roused her own mana, glowing gold for a second.

Lee tensed and then watched as the mana slid over him like he wasn't there.

But then the surroundings were dyed with a glowing emerald light.

And then, barely visible within that emerald light, there were twinkling lights.

Nayun immediately ran to the closest one and dug before pulling out a ginseng. "Hah! It worked!"

Lee slowly blinked. "...I guess that... is possible?"

It was basically what he did with <No Second Strike (Rederived)> but...

Was Nayun always this smart?

...No, she was second place apparently, so-

"Wait." Lee paused. "Hey, Nayun. What rank are you again?"

"Huh? Second, why?"

Lee tilted his head and looked at Rachel. "What about you, Rachel?"

"I'm first." Rachel looked amused. "Did you forget?"

"No. Just..." Lee paused, wracking his memories. "...I thought Suho was first and Jonghak was second?"

It had been a while now since Lee read the book, but it was something like that, wasn't it?

Nayun laughed. "In combat, maybe. But those guys aren't good at studying at all."

Rachel nodded, looking smug. "I might not be the best in pure combat, but overall, I win."

Nayun rolled her eyes. "You keep thinking that, Rachel. I'll catch up soon enough."

Lee chuckled. "You two keep bragging. I'll reach you both before the year's up."

Rachel looked amused and said, "You had better. I have a lot resting on you, Lee."

Nayun nudged Rachel's arm and said, "Was that a proposal~?"

"What? No!" Rachel blushed. "Stop misconstruing things!"

"It sure sounded like one..."

"A-Anyway!" Rachel huffed and said, "Th-This is a good chance to train our magic power. It's rare to find a place with such dense ambient mana, right? So let's have another competition!"

Lee cracked his neck. "Another competition, huh?" He stared at the practical constellation of flickering mana signatures in his field of view. "...I think I'll sit this one out. It wouldn't be fair."

Nayun paused and said, "...Wait. Can you really see them all?"

"Mmhm." Lee nodded. "I'm like, super tempted to just dig all of this up. But I kind of feel like I might actually be hunted if I start doing that. Not to mention that I'd get a bunch of weird questions if I show back up to Cube suddenly much stronger."

It was veeery tempting to just munch on all the ginseng that Lee could see and pull a murim protagonist power up timeskip session...

But that would be paperwork. And drug testing. And a lot of very thorough questioning by the Cube professors as well as potential background checks to confirm whether or not he was a Djinn.

And while Lee was sure he could pass... the fact that he was basically one step away from the bottom of the barrel meant that he was already on thin ice.

'DEFINITELY coming back here when the semester's over though.'

It was common for Cube Cadets to end the semester and come back stronger due to personal training or technically illegal but unofficially sanctioned Guild support as a potential prospect.

Nayun paused and said, "That's a good point... Although at this point, couldn't you just drop out and become a Mercenary?"

Lee looked amused and said, "Within the first week of Cube? Do you WANT them to arrest me under suspicion of being a Djinn?"

Rachel teased and said, "You could always come to England to seek asylum."

"And get lynched off the plane or through the Portal by your fanclub? Hard pass."

Rachel and Nayun laughed.

Lee smiled and said, "But anyway... Since we're here, we might as well pick up some money, right? I'll keep score and take care of any monsters. You two go ginseng digging."

Nayun immediately sprinted off.

"Nayun!" Rachel laughed and ran after her. "You cheater!"

"No cheating in war, Rachel!" Nayun laughed too and started pulsing her mana again.

Rachel huffed and tilted her head, as if listening to the flow of magic power.

Seeing that, Lee remembered something.

'Oh yeah, wasn't Rachel supposed to be an elementalist?'

That was the whole reason why Hajin stole her blood to feed Evandel-

Wait.

Ginseng.

Mountains...

Lee's eyes widened and he swept his gaze around the area.

'...Is this where he finds her?'

The child witch who was the entire reason why Hajin got involved with Rachel in the first place. Also the child that he practically neglected and obtained as just a tool instead of raising properly...

Lee wasn't sure if it was 'exactly' this area. But he did remember that it was a hidden cave somewhere in the mountains.

'...Man. I really should have reread that story at some point.'

His memories of the Novel's Extra were already vague at best, and it didn't help that he never finished it.

'Was it the Tower arc that I stopped?'

Lee vaguely remembered something about Hajin joining the Chameleon Troupe after killing Nayun's brother-

Wait.

'...Ugh. I really SHOULD write this stuff down at some point...'

While the events were DEFINITELY not set in stone, the motivations behind them wouldn't change, and Lee could probably figure out the rest...

But for now.

"Hah!" Nayun waved around a fistful of tiny ginseng. "I found three!"

Rachel held up an arm-length ginseng root and said, "I found a big one~"

"What?! How?!"

Rachel gave Nayun a deadpan look and said, "I listened to the wind."

"Okay, now you're just messing with me!"

Rachel giggled.

Lee watched them and then focused.

'I'll just keep an eye out.'

If it WAS a hidden dungeon, it should be pretty clear considering how he could see the ginseng.

A hulking boar radiating magic power rushed towards Rachel, jumping from the brush.

Rachel's eyes widened in surprise and she reached for her rapier.

But Lee was already on it.

> Mana Manipulation activates, drawing in the ambient mana!

> Lightning Thrust activates!

> No Second Strike (Rederived) activates!

> The target is wreathed in Magic Power!

> The stun effect from No Second Strike (Rederived) is raised to Magic Power Backlash!

A flurry of messages appeared in Lee's field of view.

The instant after that, the boar was pinned in place, its entire body and momentum forced to a complete stop as Lee's spear punched through the air like a sniper rifle round.

Rachel watched as the boar slowly bled out, its entire body stiff as roiling magic power practically cooked it where it stood. Then she slowly turned her head towards Lee.

Lee walked over and pulled his spear out from the boar. "What? I got us lunch."

Rachel sighed.

Nayun laughed. "Really, Lee?"

"Hey, I'm sure that a boar that's been feeding off spirit ginseng is probably filled with nutrients, right? And we're practically camping out here anyway."

Rachel looked amused and said, "I suppose..."

Lee propped the boar up with his spear to drain properly and said, "I'll go set up a campfire. Take like five minutes before you go- WHY ARE YOU EATING YOUR GINSENG, NAYUN?!"

Nayun paused after munching on two ginseng roots already. After she swallowed, she said, "What? These are too small to sell anyway."

"I mean, fair, but are you sure that's okay?!"

Nayun rolled her eyes. "I've been eating ginseng since I was a kid, Lee. Relax. I'd be more worried about you munching on ginseng."

Lee blinked. Then he shook his head and walked away. "Chaebol heiresses... I swear..."

Life really was different when you were born into money, huh?