I Was Transmigrated As An Extraordinary Extra-Chapter 302

Kairos really hadn’t changed at all since the last time I saw him. Same calm expression, same irritatingly composed aura—although this time, he was dirty.

I had the overwhelming urge to run up and hug him out of pure relief. Unfortunately, reality intervened. We were both filthy, sunburned, probably smelled like dried fish and bad decisions, and I wasn’t about to make physical contact under those conditions.

"It’s been a while," Kairos said, giving me a small, familiar smile.

I squinted at him, circling slightly like I was inspecting a suspicious artifact. "Don’t tell me you were stuck on this island the whole time." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

He nodded once.

...Of course he was.

I glanced toward the sea instinctively, half-expecting a giant fish to leap out and swallow him mid-conversation. Good. At least the Nautilith didn’t decide to make this place its dining table.

My stomach chose that moment to betray me with a loud, pitiful growl.

"Let’s eat something first," I said quickly, opening my inventory and pulling out the sad remains of the fish I’d risked my life to hunt. It looked... edible. If one squinted. And lowered their standards.

Before I could hand it over, Kairos suddenly grabbed my wrist.

"Follow me," he said, already turning around and heading deeper into the forest.

"...Where are we going?" I asked, slightly alarmed. This Vision had taught me that following people into forests usually led to trauma.

"I thought this might happen," he said casually. "So I prepared emergency food."

I blinked. "...You what?"

"Emergency. Food."

"Right," I muttered. "Of course you did."

We walked for a few minutes until we reached the middle of the forest, where Kairos stopped in front of a massive palm tree. He looked up, reached out, and untied a rope I hadn’t even noticed.

Something dropped.

I yelped and jumped back, fully prepared to dodge for my life, but the falling object stopped just inches from my face.

A bag.

Not just any bag—the familiar, system-issued inventory bag. The kind that preserved food indefinitely.

Kairos caught it calmly. "Here."

He opened the bag with a faintly proud expression, like a man revealing his greatest achievement.

I peeked inside.

...And my soul left my body.

There were crabs. Fish. Shellfish. Dried strips of meat. Smoked seafood. Fresh seafood. Probably seafood I didn’t even have a name for. It was like the ocean personally apologized to him for existing.

My eyes bulged. "You— You’ve been eating this?"

"Yes."

"Every day?"

"More or less."

I slowly looked down at my own inventory—the sad, tragic pile of survival scraps I’d hoarded like a raccoon on the brink of death.

Then I looked back at him.

"...I almost got eaten in my sleep," I said flatly. "Twice."

Kairos paused. "That sounds... unfortunate."

"Unfortunate?" I echoed. "I’ve been fighting for my life whether I was awake, asleep, or breathing. Killer birds, flying fish, venomous serpents—at one point, I considered the ocean my mortal enemy."

He tilted his head slightly. "You could have stayed on one island."

"I tried," I snapped. "The island exploded."

"...Exploded."

"Volcano," I added.

He nodded like that explained everything. "I see."

I stared at the bag again, then at him. "You were living like this while I was reenacting a survival documentary?"

"Yes."

I sighed, collapsed onto a nearby log, and held out my hand dramatically. "Give me food. Before I start gnawing on this tree."

"You must really be that hungry," Kairos said, a faint, knowing smile tugging at his lips.

"Yes," I replied instantly. No pride. No hesitation. Survival had beaten humility out of me days ago.

I stared.

"...You’re telling me," I said slowly, "that while I was fighting for my life with raw fish and regret, you were out here running a seaside restaurant?"

He ignored me and started cooking.

The moment the pan heated up, the smell hit me.

Oil sizzling. Seafood crackling. The unmistakable, sinful aroma of properly cooked food.

My body betrayed me immediately. Without realizing it, I scooted closer and sat beside him, staring intently as if my gaze alone could make the food cook faster. The seafood gradually turned a beautiful orange, glistening under the firelight like it belonged in a food commercial.

I swallowed.

Hard.

Kairos flipped the seafood with ease, completely unfazed by the feral look in my eyes. When he was done, he snapped a large banana leaf off a nearby plant, folded it neatly, and used it as a plate like this was the most natural thing in the world.

He placed the food carefully on top and handed it to me. "Here."

I took it with trembling hands. "You’re my savior," I said solemnly—and then took a bite.

The moment the food touched my tongue, my eyes went wide.

Then watery.

Then full-on tears.

I cried.

Actual tears.

"This— this is what seafood tastes like?!" I sobbed between bites. "Seasoned! Cooked! Warm! I’ve been eating raw fish like a desperate caveman doing bad sashimi for days!"

Kairos blinked. "You didn’t cook them?"

"I didn’t even have salt," I wailed. "Do you know what unsalted raw fish does to a person’s soul?"

I shoveled food into my mouth like someone afraid it might vanish if I stopped. Tears streamed down my face, crumbs stuck to my cheeks, dignity nowhere to be found.

"I’m never leaving your side again!" I declared through a mouthful of seafood. "You can’t get rid of me. I’m your responsibility now."

"That’s a bold declaration," Kairos said mildly.

"I will follow you everywhere," I continued. "Forest. Cave. Volcano. If you jump into the sea, I’m clinging to your leg."

He paused, then sighed softly. "At least finish chewing before making lifelong vows."

I was done after a solid half hour of eating. Not because I was full—no, my stomach would’ve gladly accepted another round—but because Kairos finally stared at me like a disappointed parent watching their child eat the entire buffet alone.

If I hadn’t forcibly shoved food into his hands, he would’ve ended up standing there like a doting parent, watching me inhale his emergency rations.

I stood up, groaning as my body protested the sudden movement, and stretched my arms high. My joints cracked loudly, sounding like they were filing complaints.

"Alright," I said, clapping my hands together. "Let’s start moving."

"...Moving?" Kairos echoed, blinking at me.

"Uh-huh," I nodded, already turning as if this conversation had ended.

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said you were going to follow me?"

"...."

I pretended not to hear him and started inspecting the trees instead, as if bark textures were suddenly fascinating.

"Hey," he said flatly. "Answer me."

"Uhm—I—You know—that thing?" I gestured vaguely at the air.

"What thing?"

"The... thing," I said, nodding like that explained everything. "You know. Big. Dangerous. Murdery."

He crossed his arms. "You’re doing that thing where you lie."

"I do not lie," I protested. "I creatively rearrange facts."

He waited for my answer as sweat started forming on my forehead.

"Okay, fine," I blurted. "Before I met you, I met another person. I was about to save him—heroically, by the way—when a monster twice as large as the island he was staying on suddenly appeared and swallowed the entire island."

Kairos blinked once.

Twice.

"So," I continued quickly, words tumbling out faster than my conscience could stop them, "I figured we should move. Immediately. Before that monster decides we look like a light snack."

I let out a smile although it felt awkward.

"Hm," he said slowly. "And what’s the name of this... monster?"

’Why did he ask for a name?’

My brain scrambled, flipping through every dramatic-sounding monster title I could think of.

[Terra Maw]

"...Terra Maw!" I repeated loudly.

Silence.

He stared so hard I could feel my soul sweating.

Seconds passed.

Long, terrifying seconds.

’Please believe me. Please believe me. Please let me get away with this one lie. I’ve been through enough. I swear on cooked seafood.’

In truth, the moment I saw him on this island, a massive weight had lifted off my shoulders. With Kairos here, I wouldn’t have to sleep with one eye open and a dagger clutched to my chest like a paranoid gremlin. Someone competent had my back now and also, very importantly, he can cook. That alone was worth committing a small crime against honesty.

After what felt like an eternity, Kairos sighed. "...Fine."

I internally screamed in relief.

"Yes!" I coughed, correcting myself instantly. "I mean—good. Sensible. Very logical."

We headed back to the beach to upgrade the raft. The thing barely qualified as transportation before—it was more like a floating suggestion—but with Kairos’ help, it actually started looking... respectable.

We reinforced the base, tightened the bindings, added extra planks for balance. Kairos handled food storage like a seasoned survivalist while I contributed tools, rope, and whatever questionable materials I had hoarded along the way.

In less than an hour, our raft had transformed from death trap to slightly less insulting death trap.

I stepped back and admired our work.

"...You know," I said, nodding proudly, "this is already better than my last raft."

"How many rafts have you lost?" Kairos asked.

"...Let’s not dwell on the past."

And as long as Kairos didn’t ask too many follow-up questions about Terra Maw, I figured things might actually turn out okay.