A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

Chapter 37

Although Zhao Xiaoyu was willing to agree for her own benefit, she was not a fool. Since Su Bei wanted some information from her, he naturally couldn't get it for free: "I'll tell you their abilities if you tell me Jiang Tianming and Mo Xiaotian's abilities. Or, you can replace either of them with yourself."

"How about a different condition?" Su Bei said calmly. "I can tell you my ability, and after the monthly exam, you can ask me to demonstrate it once. Trust me, once you know my ability, you'll definitely want to."

Hearing his confident words, Zhao Xiaoyu was a bit surprised. She had many guesses about Su Bei's ability, suspecting it might be similar to Feng Lan's, a prophecy type. To be honest, if his ability was indeed a prophecy type, Zhao Xiaoyu would definitely agree to this condition.

Having a prophecy ability user predict something for her would be a huge gain, something many would pay dearly for!

But since Su Bei had never explicitly stated his ability before, Zhao Xiaoyu thought he wanted to keep it a secret. That's why she included Su Bei's ability as an alternative in her initial request. In fact, out of the three abilities, she was most curious about Su Bei's.

"I agree, but I'm still confused," Zhao Xiaoyu said, looking at him inquisitively. "Why are you willing to reveal your ability but not tell me about the other two?"

"Because we're teammates right now," Su Bei replied.

He was telling the truth. Since he and the protagonist group were teammates, he wouldn't betray them by leaking internal information. It was a matter of principle, but it was also a practical consideration.

Their team was already weaker compared to others. If he started doing such things, it would further decrease their chances of winning.

Although this was a manga world where the protagonist's victory was almost certain, it could still make things more difficult. Su Bei didn't want others' hardships to stem from his actions.

Besides, there was the possibility that the author might include this part in the manga. If it were shown that he directly leaked the protagonist group's information, he would be labeled a traitor, and that wouldn't do.

Once the monthly exam was over and they were no longer teammates, he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

"You're making me sound a bit despicable," Zhao Xiaoyu said with a wry smile, her eyes showing a hint of dissatisfaction. "If you're so righteous, why come to me in the first place? Entrapment is illegal too."

It was Su Bei who approached her for a deal, yet he made her look like the despicable one. Zhao Xiaoyu didn't see herself as a good person, but she felt annoyed by his detached behavior.

"So I'm not righteous either," Su Bei shrugged, looking indifferent. "We're just acting according to our own principles."

Hearing this, Zhao Xiaoyu's expression softened a bit. After Feng Lan left them, she straightforwardly revealed the abilities of the two people: "Zhou Renjie never explicitly stated his ability, but according to those who have fought him, they were all sent into a black space once they entered the arena. So far, no one has been able to get out until he let them out, and no one has been able to hurt him."

He can send people to a different space? Su Bei was still very curious about Zhou Renjie's ability: "Didn't you investigate what happened to those who were sent in?"

Zhao Xiaoyu, wanting to establish herself in the team, must have looked into her teammates' abilities. Su Bei didn't believe she hadn't asked Zhou Renjie's opponents.

Sure enough, Zhao Xiaoyu nodded helplessly: "Of course I did. But they said once they entered, they saw nothing but darkness. They didn't dare move around, and the next thing they knew, they saw light when Zhou Renjie let them out."

Darkness? If there was light, maybe they could see what was inside. But unless it was a special ability, where would the light come from?

Based on typical manga settings, it would likely be Wu Mingbai facing Zhou Renjie. Wu Mingbai's ability was [Earth Element]; could he handle this ability?

Why worry about the protagonist? As long as he could deal with Zhou Renjie, it didn't matter who faced him in the team battle.

Su Bei continued to ask: "What about Ai Baozhu?"

"Ai Baozhu has a domain ability called [Elegant Domain]. Everyone within the domain must act elegantly. If they don't, they'll be expelled."

What a rich person's ability. Su Bei couldn't help but twitch his mouth: "Isn't this ability easy to counter?"

If it was just about being elegant, does elegant fighting count? Even if they couldn't fight, neither could the opponent, so they could just stall each other on stage.

"It's not that simple. Within the domain, no fighting or cursing is allowed; those are considered inelegant. Once you act inelegantly, you'll be expelled from the domain. Her domain currently covers the entire arena."

So, in a sense, it's a defensive domain. No fighting within the domain ensures the safety of its members.

Zhao Xiaoyu sighed: "She's a young lady, so acting elegantly is easy for her. But for us common folk..."

No need to say more; common people, not knowing the rules, would easily be expelled from the domain.

"Something doesn't add up..." Su Bei frowned, muttering to himself.

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"What doesn't add up?" Zhao Xiaoyu asked, puzzled.

The problem was that two out of three people in Si Zhaohua's main group had defensive abilities, which didn't seem to fit the manga's balance setting.

But this was an answer he couldn't give. Su Bei shook his head: "Nothing. My ability is [Fate Gear], which allows me to predict parts of the future."

A hint of understanding flashed in Zhao Xiaoyu's eyes: “So, what you said to Jiang Tianming on the first day of school?”

“It was predicted by the school,” he laughed, “a very interesting prediction.”

In fact, ever since the first update of the manga, Su Bei had noticed some small bugs in his character setting. His current setting required using gears to contact the fate of the other person's head for the compass to make predictions. So, how did he predict things like "the unluckiest person of this year"?

So, from very early on, he had been thinking about how to fix this loophole. Finally, a while ago, he came up with a reason—who said only people could have fate compasses?

But this explanation wasn't easy to say outright; he needed a reasonable cause to explain it. Now was a good opportunity to subtly plant a potential plot point that might or might not be useful later. It would be great if it came into play, but if not, it was just a line.

Knowing Su Bei's ability, Zhao Xiaoyu was indeed very willing to let him predict her fate. Although Su Bei said his predictions were unstable, knowing a bit about the future was always attractive to ordinary people. Since she had nothing to lose, Zhao Xiaoyu had no objections.

After gathering the information, Su Bei didn’t leave. In a while, there would be a match between Zhou Renjie and Si Zhaohua, and staying to watch wouldn’t be bad.

Soon, Zhou Renjie went on stage. His match was very simple: as soon as his ability activated, his mouth opened, and his opponent was immediately shrunk and sucked into his mouth.

After waiting for ten minutes without any change in Zhou Renjie's expression, the referee skillfully announced the result: "Zhou Renjie wins, release the person."

Zhou Renjie opened his mouth, and the dazed opponent was spat out. Miraculously, there were no traces of saliva on him. Otherwise, Su Bei would be really scared to face Zhou Renjie.

Next was Si Zhaohua's match. His match was also simple: he spread his wings and blocked attacks while a few feathers flew like hidden weapons, fiercely attacking the opponent. Knowing he couldn't win against the top student from Class A, the opponent, whose combat power wasn’t high, admitted defeat and left the stage when he couldn’t hold on.

Seeing their invincible appearances, Su Bei couldn't help but sigh, “It’s really like hell mode to deal with these people. Feng Lan, would you surrender if you faced them?”

The first half of the sentence was a genuine sigh, but the second half was probing for information.

Feng Lan, being an honest person, didn’t mind Su Bei’s probing: “If Si Zhaohua doesn’t use ‘Judgement’, I should be able to win.”

This statement surprised even Su Bei. He knew very well that if Feng Lan said this, he must have confidence.

Could his confidence be from the ability that seemed to predict the opponent's next move like yesterday? But if it was only that ability, he probably wouldn’t even escape from Zhou's belly.

This meant he had other abilities.

Is this [Prophecy]? Even stronger than he initially understood.

Seeing his ability, he knew it must be developed to be both offensive and defensive. If he couldn’t achieve that, he’d be at a disadvantage. But how could he make himself both offensive and defensive with the power of fate?

After lunch and a short break, his match was the first in the afternoon. As expected, the opponent, as per the information from the "School Forum," directly released a thick fog covering the entire field. The milky-white fog obscured almost everything, making visibility on the stage extremely low.

Most people might panic in such a situation, but Su Bei stood still, unperturbed. After a while, his opponent started to get anxious.

His mental strength was limited, and his ability couldn’t last long. If he continued like this, once his ability faded, he would lose his advantage and might end up losing. So, he planned to launch a sneak attack while the fog lasted.

This move played right into Su Bei's hands. As soon as his well-trained senses detected his opponent's footsteps approaching, he easily caught him with a reverse grip.

Su Bei’s grip was strong, and no matter how much his opponent struggled, he couldn’t break free. In fact, due to excessive struggling, he ended up pinned to the ground by Su Bei’s single hand. Once the fog dissipated, Su Bei mercilessly tossed his opponent off the stage.

Winning on the second day brought a great sense of relief. With the baseline secured, all that remained was to wait for the manga update tomorrow to see if it would bring any new changes for him.

Finally, Su Bei went to watch Ai Baozhu’s match. On stage, she stomped her right foot lightly, and the entire stage was instantly enveloped in a pink layer, like a barrier.

Pink truly suited this young lady’s personality. Ai Baozhu had pink hair and blue eyes, and it was evident from her everyday attire and accessories that she loved pink.

Now, it seemed even her mental power was pink.

Ai Baozhu pulled out a pink feather fan from somewhere, elegantly fanned herself, and looked disdainfully at the boy from Class B across from her: "Are you my opponent?"

The boy frowned and looked around: Pink everywhere, what kind of place is this? Your ability?

"So rude." Although Ai Baozhu's words were disdainful, her lips curled up in a smile.

In the next moment, the boy felt an overwhelming repulsion force; he couldn’t resist it and was instantly thrown out of the stage.

It turned out that verbal rudeness would also be repelled by Ai Baozhu's domain. Su Bei couldn’t help but sigh, realizing how difficult it was to deal with this ability.

If it were simply a matter of insults being considered verbal rudeness, it would be straightforward. But what if it included some default phrases expected in high society?

For example, if Ai Baozhu said "how are you?" and the opponent didn’t respond with "I'm fine, thank you"?

In such a scenario, winning in her domain would be extremely difficult. Unless... he made the first move.

That night, the official website posted the schedule for the third day of the competition. Since the number of participants had been halved over the past two days, the original three hundred or so participants had now become just over sixty. So, instead of one match per day, there would now be three matches a day.

Tomorrow, there would be three matches, and based on the numbers, there should be one lucky person who would get a bye in one match. However, it was obvious that this lucky person would not be him.

Sighing, Su Bei looked at his opponent for tomorrow. Unsurprisingly, it was from Class A. His luck was really bad. Sometimes he suspected that the teachers at the school were deliberately messing with him rather than it being a matter of pure luck.

This guess might actually be true. Both Jiang Tianming, who didn’t know what his ability was, and himself, who lied about his apparent ability, were up against Class A opponents tomorrow. It was hard to say if this was the school's way of testing their abilities by arranging these matches.

While Su Bei was pondering if this was a deliberate arrangement by the school, the notification sound for the manga update of "Manga Awareness" suddenly rang out: " 'The King of Superpower' has been updated, please watch."

The moment the notification sounded, Su Bei's brain suddenly felt a wave of coolness. This coolness wasn’t like the biting cold of ice and snow, but more like the peculiar sensation of having ten mint candies in your mouth and then drinking a sip of cold water.

“Hiss!”

Su Bei couldn't help but take a sharp breath, his eyes tightly closed from the stimulation. Only when his brain gradually recovered did he slowly open his eyes: “This is really something!”

At this moment, his mind felt completely clear. When he opened his eyes, he could clearly feel that his vision and hearing had significantly improved. The slightest movements in the room were easily noticeable to him.

Moreover, it seemed like there was something more in his brain. It was an indescribable substance, vaguely resembling "gas." However, Su Bei knew this was the manifestation of his mental power solidifying.

He tried to control this mental power, but it was like the softest tofu, crumbling into pieces with a single squeeze, making it impossible to control.

It was due to lack of proficiency, Su Bei realized. Since his mental strength didn't come from his own training but suddenly appeared, he couldn't master it proficiently in a short time.

It was like consuming a powerful elixir that could enhance one's cultivation, but to truly increase one's level, one needed to refine the elixir.

However, mastering mental power thoroughly wasn't something that could be achieved in a day. Even though he would need it tomorrow, Su Bei didn’t panic. Instead, he picked up his phone to check the latest manga update.

Given the timing of the update, the end of this chapter should include the match schedule for tomorrow.

[The first page of the latest manga chapter starts from the first day of the monthly exam on the playground. The playground is packed with people, with ten one-meter-high stages neatly scattered across it, looking imposing.

Including Su Bei, the six members of the main group step onto the playground, just like all the other students, looking full of spirit, perfectly embodying the prime of youth.]

As Su Bei had predicted, the manga author did not skimp on the panels, giving each member of the main group a chance to appear in the personal battles on the first day of the monthly exam.

The first one to go on stage was him, facing his first-day opponent—the green-haired classmate.

The green-haired classmate in the manga was just as ridiculous as in real life, twisting his body like clay and loudly trying to persuade him to surrender.

To be honest, such behavior in real life was quite intimidating. After all, seeing a person twisted into such a shape would naturally evoke fear in most people.

But it was different in the manga. The exaggerated expression of the manga diminished any fear, leaving only a strong sense of absurdity.

[“Is this your ability?”

“Amazing!”

“You can change into so many shapes!”]

A few flattering words from Su Bei in the manga looked like he was teasing a dog, giving the impression of a dog showing off some special skill and the owner praising, "Good dog! Well done!"

The manga made him seem like a playful sadist, but heaven knew he didn’t mean it that way at the time. He just wanted to make his opponent waste more mental energy.

Next, Su Bei's exaggerated complaints perfectly demonstrated what it meant to lie through one's teeth, to the extent that Meng Huai would call the police. However, his opponent completely believed him and continued to show off his skills.

Only after the big move was performed did the manga version of Su Bei seem to finally get bored, mercifully sending his opponent off the stage easily.

“Is this the manga filter?” Su Bei couldn’t help but marvel at the figure in the manga, standing tall and looking down at the defeated opponent, every strand of hair glistening like gold in the sunlight.

Those words were indeed spoken by him, and he intentionally said them. But his purpose was entirely to exhaust his opponent's mental energy, not to enjoy a performance!

However, on the flip side, this filter isn't bad. The manga depicts him as a genuine strongman, so it's only natural that he wouldn't rack his brains just to defeat someone from Class C. The manga turns all his actions into him just enjoying the show, making it incredibly fitting.

Although it made sense, Su Bei couldn't help but sigh, "Isn't this defamation? I'm an honest person!"

Unexpectedly, even the short scene of him stepping off the stage was illustrated. Su Bei's handsome full-body kick, followed by his sarcastic remarks, was full of mockery.

Then the green-haired opponent knelt down and howled in anger at the sky. In the manga, this scene didn't feel out of place at all and wasn't awkward in the least.

Next, Jiang Tianming asked what if the green-haired guy never got up. Su Bei repeated the green-haired guy's initial persuasion as "comfort," successfully making him jump in rage.

Finally, Su Bei completely ignored him and innocently replied to Jiang Tianming, "Didn't he just get up?"

As he flipped to this page, "Manga Awareness" couldn't help but comment, "Do you really think you're an honest person?"

What kind of honest person would treat a poor loser like this?

Su Bei coughed and quickly turned the page.

Lastly, the conversation between Feng Lan and Su Bei was also included in the manga.

The readers were successfully led by the manga, with no one feeling anything was off. Instead, they all felt it fit the character perfectly.

[Hahahaha, is this green-haired guy a clown? Acting tough one moment and weak the next.]

[Feels like my mom teasing our cat.]

[Is this teasing a dog? It looks like teasing a dog.]

[Su Bei, you have such a bad sense of humor!]

[Stop teasing the green-haired guy, tease me instead!]

[Seems like some strange comments have mixed in.]

[It's a complete stomp...]

[Didn't you win too quickly after watching the show? Did Su Bei use his ability?]

[That scene of him standing alone on the stage is so cool! Awesome!]

[Other people's kicks are charming and handsome, mine are twisted and ugly.]

[He's so good at mocking, hahaha.]

Feng Lan's match was depicted well, with his nearly prophetic combat abilities being shown through the thoughts of a few people in the audience.

But since he wasn't part of the protagonist group, the manga didn't give him much screen time, focusing instead on the confrontation between Jiang Tianming and Si Zhaohua in the audience. However, since no conflict occurred, it was just a few simple strokes showing their faces.

Next was Mu Tieren's match, which was also a straightforward win, so there wasn't much plot.

But when Mu Tieren easily sent a sizable opponent off the stage, a thought from Jiang Tianming caught Su Bei's attention. He said, "The class monitor's strength seems to have increased a bit."

This sentence itself wasn't problematic. After all, it had been almost a month since school started, so it was normal for abilities to become slightly stronger.

But seeing this sentence in the manga felt off. If it was normal, why spend a small frame writing this sentence?

Su Bei felt that the class monitor's ability might not be as simple as it appeared. However, with too few clues, he didn't waste time here and turned the page.

Next was Wu Jin's storyline. As this part approached, Su Bei became more attentive. He had acted quite a bit in this segment, hoping it would achieve the desired effect.