In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 167

“Inha! Park Inha!!”

“Hey, snap out of it??”

“Fire call came in! Grab your gear!”

Someone shook me awake with urgent hands, and I opened my eyes.

This time, I found myself on a small cot.

Large-framed men I’d never seen before rushed past me, frantically grabbing equipment.

I bolted upright in shock.

The man who’d woken me pressed his hand worriedly against my forehead.

“You okay? That dream again?”

He had brown hair and gentle features.

A familiar air flowed between us, as if we’d known each other for ages.

“Ugh, look at that cold sweat.”

Looking around, I realized I was inside a fire station office.

“Hey!! Wake up already will you?! Grab your gear!!!”

A young guy glared at us and barked out orders.

The man beside me jumped and pulled me to my feet.

That’s when I caught sight of my reflection in a mirror hanging in one corner of the office.

There I stood—an adult again, my face deathly pale.

‘Park Inha, he called me.’

I repeated the name in my mind.

I’d entered the world of the script once more.

Experiencing the protagonist’s childhood was a first for me.

The screams of family members burning alive in those flames still echoed vividly in my ears.

Without realizing it, a tear slipped from one eye.

The moment I’d thrown myself out the window, abandoning that family, flashed through my mind.

My hands trembled.

This was how Park Inha had lost her family.

She’d lived her entire life buried in this guilt.

I stared down at these hands—hands that had abandoned my family.

My mom and dad back in the real world came to mind.

If I’d survived alone like Park Inha, leaving Mom and Dad behind, could I have stayed sane?

Even after years, decades, could I ever forget?

Did Park Inha dive into rescues risking her own life to endure this guilt, to keep living somehow?

The guy who’d been shouting earlier stalked toward me with heavy steps.

“Hey, what’s your problem? Didn’t hear me?”

He approached with an angry expression, then faltered when he saw my deathly pale face.

“Hey, you…! Are you sick?”

Our eyes met.

I instantly knew this explosive man’s name.

Tae Sunwoo.

Squad leader of Mapo Fire Station Team 3, known for his literally fiery temper and hot-blooded personality.

Tae Sunwoo was a character who constantly hovered around Park Inha, who acted independently and obsessed over rescues to an excessive degree.

Tae Sunwoo’s interest in and anger toward Park Inha gradually transformed into compassion, then slowly into love.

He looked just like I’d imagined while reading the script.

Tall frame, thick eyebrows, sharp eyes and jawline, low voice.

Tae Sunwoo frowned at me.

“Don’t come. Stay here and rest.”

“No, sir. I’m coming as well.”

“Team Leader, let’s just go ourselves. She’s not up to it.”

“I’m fine! I’ll grab my gear right away!”

“This little…”

I quickly slipped past the angry Tae Sunwoo.

* * *

“Focus. There are three problems.”

In front of the massive fire scene, the team leader began a brief briefing.

“First, this building has an underground labyrinth that was used as a bunker and escape route in the past. The layout’s extremely complex. And there are rescue targets inside.”

Cold sweat started pouring the moment the building description began.

Being near the fire scene made my whole body tense up.

Maybe it was my imagination, but the heat radiating from the building already made my skin feel scorching.

Not just my skin—even inside my airways felt like they were burning.

The building’s underground held a labyrinth that independence fighters had used as a bunker and escape route during Japanese colonial rule.

Feeling agonized, I kept gulping down water.

The man who’d woken me earlier patted my shoulder with worried eyes.

I immediately recognized this person’s name too.

Kim Youngwoo, Park Inha’s childhood friend.

Kim Youngwoo had been friends with Park Inha since before she experienced the fire.

He understood Park Inha’s suffering better than anyone, and always carried a corner of guilt in his heart for not being able to share that pain.

“You gonna be okay?”

I forced myself to stay calm and nodded.

“I can do it.”

The team leader continued speaking.

“Second. After suppressing the fire, if even the tiniest ember remains, a backdraft could occur when we reopen the doors.”

That meant we absolutely had to extinguish every last spark without exception.

“Finally, there may be other unsealed exits in the underground labyrinth. If so, oxygen will keep feeding in, which could escalate into a much larger fire if left unchecked.”

The team leader quickly divided us into groups.

“Move in pairs.”

“Tae Sunwoo, take Park Inha with you.”

“Yes, sir.”

Tae Sunwoo answered curtly and shot me a suspicious look.

I deliberately avoided his gaze.

* * *

The moment we entered the building, the overwhelming wave of heat made my head swim.

Despite wearing fire gear, my entire body felt scorching hot.

The smoke obscured my vision.

I moved forward following Tae Sunwoo when golden text appeared before my eyes.

[Turn Crisis to Opportunity, Pain to Power (1/3)]

“What…?”

Only then did I remember the text I’d seen while falling.

I had three missions to complete.

But wait…

‘However, the reward will not be given to you.’

The reward wouldn’t be mine?

How was I supposed to interpret that?

Amid the confusion, I recalled the mission.

‘Pain to power.’

I guessed this was the point where I needed to learn how to use Park Inha’s ability.

But Tae Sunwoo, who’d been walking ahead, grabbed me as I kept coughing.

“You’re out. Leave.”

“…I’m fine.”

“Didn’t you hear me?!”

Tae Sunwoo raised his voice despite the urgency.

I tried to keep walking as if I hadn’t heard, but Tae Sunwoo grabbed my arm.

The pressure on my burning arm brought intense pain.

An agonized groan escaped involuntarily.

Tae Sunwoo dragged me toward the building entrance.

“Let go! I’m going to rescue them!”

I yanked my hand free, and Tae Sunwoo spoke again.

“Do you really have a death wish? I told you—quit being a firefighter.”

“…”

I was at a loss for words.

“Every single time you come to a scene, you can’t handle it several times worse than anyone else, yet you keep risking your life. Do you actually want to die?”

I could feel Tae Sunwoo’s genuine concern beneath his anger.

“I’m fine.”

“Please. Just leave.”

Finally, Tae Sunwoo’s voice dropped as he started pleading.

I looked straight at him.

“No.”

I hurried forward.

There was no time to argue with Tae Sunwoo.

Eventually, too impatient himself, Tae Sunwoo couldn’t break my resolve and followed behind me.

The deeper we went into the building, the harder it became to breathe.

I quickly watched what Tae Sunwoo was doing and started helping suppress the flames.

Even through the agony, I could faintly sense the heat’s movement.

Was this Park Inha’s ability?

The nearby heat, the heat approaching from afar, the density of smoke—I could feel them all changing moment by moment.

After suppressing one section, I hurried to open the door.

But right then, the fire and heat inside the room rushed at me in an instant.

I let out a brief scream and fell backward.

“Park Inha!!!”

Tae Sunwoo, who’d been checking another area, came running toward me.

“Park Inha!!”

I writhed in agony as I heard Tae Sunwoo’s voice.

The heat was unbearable.

I lost consciousness.

* * *

<You have failed the mission>

When I opened my eyes again, I saw golden text.

And the earlier situation repeated—Tae Sunwoo blocking my way.

“You’re out. Leave.”

There’s no time for this.

Anxiety gripped me.

“I’m really fine. I can do this well.”

Tae Sunwoo’s grip on my arm tightened.

“I know. I know you have that strange ability. That you can smell smoke others can’t, sense heat others can’t.”

“…”

“And that’s exactly why you’re suffering.”

Tae Sunwoo had already guessed at my ability.

“That kind of ability is useless. It only makes you suffer.”

His words sparked a bit of anger in me.

“Why would you say that?”

“There are plenty of people to rescue besides you. The way you obsess over rescues is abnormal.”

“Don’t interfere with that too.”

I shook off Tae Sunwoo’s arm.

And walked quickly forward.

Something felt off—I couldn’t act as rationally as usual.

After experiencing Park Inha’s past, emotions kept overwhelming me.

While extinguishing flames, I arrived at that problematic door.

I was gradually growing accustomed to the agonizing sensations.

As I hesitated in front of the door, Tae Sunwoo placed his hand on the handle.

“Don’t.”

“…?”

“The fire will rush at us instantly. We need to break through a different way.”

Tae Sunwoo stared down at me silently.

Then removed his hand from the handle.

“How do you know?”

“Thanks to my useless ability.”

“…”

I snapped back and turned to head a different direction.

Far off, I could see team members extinguishing fires and heading this way.

But the team members turned back around and hurried toward the building entrance.

Tae Sunwoo shouted toward them.

“What’s going on!”

“Gear, gear!!”

I looked at Tae Sunwoo with a confused expression.

Tae Sunwoo sighed.

“When the hell are they going to replace this damn equipment.”

Hearing that made me understand immediately.

The old, inadequate equipment couldn’t protect the firefighters who risked their lives diving into fire scenes.

One after another, the other two teams also left the scene to replace their equipment.

Only Tae Sunwoo and I remained nearby, completely alone.

Tae Sunwoo wore an expression mixing fury and despair as he struggled internally.

After a brief silence, I started moving forward again.

I needed to find the rescue targets quickly.

I approached the area near where I’d collapsed unconscious earlier.

An especially intense heat radiated from inside the wall blocking our path.

It seemed like oxygen was being continuously supplied from somewhere.

My stamina was also approaching its limit.

Relying on Park Inha’s ability, I guessed there must be a section where the fire had died down inside this space.

Maybe that’s where the undiscovered rescue targets were.

“We need to go in here.”

I told Tae Sunwoo.

“It’s too much for just the two of us.”

“We can’t waste time. I think there are rescue targets inside.”

Tae Sunwoo’s face twisted.

But he too seemed to believe in my ability to some extent, because he immediately picked up the hammer.

Tae Sunwoo began smashing through the wall.