A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

11:

But he didn’t go in immediately, instead, he quickly walked to the window. There are cameras in the restaurant, and although he doesn’t know how the murderer avoids surveillance to commit the crime, he can’t just walk in brazenly.

Peering through the window, the entire restaurant was deserted, save for a boy in a school uniform, face down on the dining table, appearing as though he was asleep.

But Su Bei knew he wasn’t asleep; he was dead. From this angle, one could clearly see a small pool of blood gathered under his feet, with droplets steadily falling from above.

This must be the substitute for the deceased, and if not mistaken, also a student from Class F.

Oh, the calamity-stricken Class F…

Closing his eyes briefly, Su Bei took out his phone to capture the scene, then without lingering, he swiftly retraced his steps to the restroom he had come from.

After entering a stall, he finally looked at the photo he had taken, zooming in to search for details.

To ensure the protagonists could successfully find the murderer, the new victim must have left some clues, just like the original him. And it’s highly likely that they were left in the same manner. After all, plotting a comic’s storyline is quite a brain-draining task.

Sure enough, the photo revealed several blank cards scattered around the body.

This was the work of a card-producing esper.

Once Su Bei confirmed the cards’ placement matched that of the original comic, he deleted the photo, switched his phone to the comic interface, and left the restroom. He then found an inconspicuous spot along the dormitory’s path to the cafeteria to lean against the wall and play on his phone.

It was now past five in the afternoon, and students were gradually leaving their dorms for dinner.

Before long, Su Bei saw Jiang Tianming and his two companions emerge. He turned off his phone and decisively followed them.

He had learned professional tracking skills, but there was no need for them now. He didn’t need to hide the fact that he was following them; in fact, Su Bei rather hoped they would notice.

The trio in this rare comic were all smart, none of them the fool archetype.

Smart people are the best at filling in the blanks, and after the words he had said upon their first meeting, it was natural for them to harbor some suspicions about him.

Seeing the dead body later and recalling his current pursuit would not make it difficult to provoke their misunderstanding.

And that was precisely what Su Bei wanted.

“The blond guy from this morning is following us,” Jiang Tianming said softly, glancing back subtly.

Upon hearing this, Wu Ming’s interest was piqued: “The one who called you a jinx?”

Jiang Tianming had told him about the incident after they had regrouped.

Jiang Tianming nodded, “It’s him, Su Bei. Ah Bing, have you found anything?”

With the lower half of her face obscured by a scarf, Lan Subing shook her head and whispered, “Tomorrow.”

Jiang Tianming, already accustomed to her reticence, quickly grasped her meaning: the results would be ready tomorrow. It wasn’t surprising, after all, a day hadn’t passed yet.

Wu Mingbai raised an eyebrow, suddenly breaking into a sunny, open smile.

At the sight of this smile, both Jiang Tianming and Lan Subing’s eyelids twitched in unison. They knew this was Wu Mingbai’s signature expression when he was up to something, and they instinctively sensed trouble brewing.

But before they could stop him,

Wu Mingbai had already turned on his heel and strode up to Su Bei, his brown eyes innocent and unguarded, “Excuse me, are you following us?”

Taken aback by such a direct question, Su Bei paused, then gained a deeper understanding of Wu Mingbai’s character.

Black disguised as white, indeed.

He smiled with interest, “Indeed.”

Hearing this, Wu Mingbai, like an eager golden retriever, pressed on, “Why, why?”

“Because interesting things always happen around unlucky people,” Su Bei said with a smile, the very picture of someone enjoying the show.

At that moment, Jiang Tianming approached, not angered by Su Bei’s ominous insinuation, but instead pushed up the non-existent frame of his glasses, “If you’re watching the show, shouldn’t you pay for a ticket?”

“Eh? There’s a fee?” Su Bei feigned shock.

He was indeed surprised, but not about the fee; it was Jiang Tianming’s unexpected demeanor.

In the first part, Jiang Tianming was indeed shrewd, but he kept it to himself, rarely voicing it out loud, let alone in such a lively manner.

What’s with this break in character now?

But then, Su Bei realized, in the first part, Jiang Tianming was burdened with a vendetta and faced life-threatening dangers, naturally making him more cautious and composed.

Now, in the school setting, there was no need for such caution. The orphanage he came from was relatively harmonious, and after a month’s rest between the first part and now, his personality had reverted to its natural state.

In other words, compared to the first part, the current Jiang Tianming was a livelier plus version of himself.

For Su Bei, the advantage of this change was that it made it easier for him to get closer to the protagonist group. A protagonist with a relaxed mindset is much easier to approach than one who is cautious and careful.

But the downside was that many of the experiences from the first part could not be applied anymore, and he had spent half a day studying the plot, most of which was now useless.

He sighed silently, making a compromising gesture: “Alright, alright, although this was originally a free show for everyone to watch, who made me sneak backstage ahead of time?”

Hearing this, Jiang Tianming and the other two exchanged glances. Lan Subing hid in the back, tugging at her friend’s sleeve. Because there was a stranger present, her severe social anxiety kicked in, rendering her speechless, so she could only type on her phone.

On the screen of the phone were three big characters—”I have money.”

Before Su Bei could react, Wu Mingbai innocently tugged at Jiang Tianming’s other sleeve: “Miss Lan is rich, so how about we don’t take other people’s money?”

A flicker of amusement passed through Jiang Tianming’s eyes, and with a persuaded look, he hesitated: “How about we don’t take money?”

Anyone who believed him would be a fool. Su Bei could see clearly that the three were in cahoots, telling him that if he wanted to pay the admission fee, he shouldn’t use money.

What to use if not money? Naturally, it would be clues.

This coincided with his own thoughts.

However, having the same goal did not mean he would completely indulge the three. Su Bei poked fun at their little scheme with a smile that was not quite a smile: “Stop acting, it’s a bit fake.”

Ignoring their feigned innocent expressions, he continued: “In the spirit of fun, I will give you the hints you will need in the future as the admission fee.”

At these words, both Wu Mingbai and Lan Subing couldn’t help but show a look of astonishment.

“Future hints,” did that mean what they thought it meant?

Only Jiang Tianming’s expression remained calm; he had already guessed a bit of Su Bei’s special ability based on his previous words.

“Then thank you very much, how are you going to give us this hint?” Jiang Tianming asked.

“Don’t move.”

As Su Bei spoke, he conjured a gear and hovered it over each of their heads for a while. With each person’s head the gear visited, their complexion grew paler.

After all three were done, he brought his hands together in front of his chest, then slowly pulled them apart, and an ancient bronze gear appeared suspended between his hands. It was covered in complex patterns, looking both archaic and majestic, shrouded in mystery.

Before the trio could get a closer look, they saw the gear suddenly emit a large amount of purplish-red smoke, which disappeared without a trace in an instant.

“What’s going on?” Jiang Tianming asked, slightly surprised by the scene.

Beside him, Lan Subing showed the words typed on her phone—”Failed?”

Coming from a prestigious family, she had a broader perspective than her two companions. She knew that the ability to prophesy was not so easily executed, and the likelihood of failure for a novice was high.

“On the contrary,” Su Bei shook his head in response to her words, “I have already given my hint.”

Hearing this, the three were taken aback. Jiang Tianming recalled the moment and uncertainly said, “Was that purplish-red smoke the hint from your ability?”

“Mhm,” Su Bei nodded affirmatively.

Seeing his confirmation, Jiang Tianming immediately asked, “Does this prophecy mean that we will encounter or need this kind of purplish-red smoke in the future?”

Of course not, Su Bei thought to himself.

The purplish-red smoke actually contained two clues: one was the color purple-red, and the other was the smoke itself. They represented the murderer’s eye color and ability.

The reason he could give this hint was all thanks to his seemingly useless ability.

Su Bei’s “Gear” ability allowed him to autonomously choose the metal for creating gears. However, the rarer and more precious the metal, the fewer gears he could produce.

Cesiumna (exclusive to the comic world) is a highly reactive metal that would react with the air in two to three seconds upon contact, turning into purple smoke.

This was the perfect item he had searched for and carefully selected before leaving to complete his plan.

As for his increasingly pale complexion, it was because each time he reached into his pocket, he secretly created a golden gear. The massive consumption of his ability was what caused his pallor.

Now that the task was successfully completed, Su Bei was almost struggling not to laugh out loud, maintaining the image of a sage.

However, he definitely couldn’t reveal the answer directly, so he simply shrugged, “Who knows? Just a reminder, fate rarely gives concrete hints. It could be some sort of implication, or it might represent an object, or even a mixture of various hints.”

“I have a question!” After being quiet for a while, Wu Mingbai suddenly raised his hand energetically, his eyes sparkling. If one hadn’t read the first part of the comic, they might really be deceived by his sunny appearance.

“Go ahead.”

“What were you doing above our heads just now?” he asked curiously, tilting his head adorably.

In response to the question, Su Bei didn’t answer directly. Instead, he extended a finger, flashing a business-like smile: “This has nothing to do with the price of admission. If you want to know the answer to this question, you’ll have to pay a price.”

Hearing the word “price,” Wu Ming’s eyes quickly flashed with wariness and understanding. He knew this mysterious fellow had ill intentions for approaching them out of the blue.

Yet, he didn’t show it, instead appearing eager to try: “What price?”

Su Bei looked straight at Jiang Tianming: “I want you to be in the same group as me for the next school group activity.”

“Huh?” The three of them showed confused expressions in unison.

Jiang Tianming pointed to himself: “You mean you want me to join your team for the next group activity?”

“No, to be precise, I’ll join your team,” Su Bei countered. “If it’s a pair, then it’s you and me. If it’s more people, the other teammates are up to you, just add me.”

As long as he’s paired with the protagonist, why worry about not getting screen time?

“But why do you want to…” Before he could finish, Jiang Tianming suddenly realized, “Because I’m the unluckiest person?”

Seeing his quick reaction, Su Bei wore a look of ‘a teachable child,’ while also ‘thoughtfully’ comforting the other two: “Don’t be disheartened. If one day you’re more unlucky than him, I’ll also generously join your group.”

“Who needs it!” Even with Lan Sibing’s level of social anxiety, she couldn’t help but mutter a complaint under her breath.

Because of her severe social anxiety, she used to only complain in her mind. Su Bei had made her break her own rule.

Faced with his request, Wu Ming frowned and shook his head at his friends: “No need…”

He was indeed curious about the question, but he wasn’t willing to let his friends take any risks for the answer.

However, before he could finish, Jiang Tianming decisively spoke up: “I agree.”

He then reassuringly looked at the orange-haired youth: “It’s okay, I’m curious about the answer too. If he wants to keep watching the fun, he won’t easily trick me, otherwise, what will he do without such good entertainment in the future?”

As he said the last sentence, he deliberately looked at Su Bei, with everything left unsaid.

Getting the answer he wanted, Su Bei nodded with a smile, saying meaningfully: “Don’t worry, I just touched a point on the fate compass above your heads. Everyone has a compass of fate on their head, and only gears tainted with your fate’s aura have the power of prophecy.”

Of course, he made up this speech. Who could see any fate compass? He said this for two reasons: first, to not make his prophecy seem too effortless, and second, to lay the groundwork for his seemingly pure prophetic ability to transition into an offensive one.

After all, it’s the power of prophecy. If one could craft gears without doing anything or paying any price, it would be too false, too easily arousing others’ suspicions.

If the reader believed his words, then he would truly be able to see the compass of fate, which would greatly aid his subsequent tasks.

You must know, after this, he would no longer have the ability of foresight.

() He must make good use of this one opportunity, at least to link his own special ability with fate.

Having explained, Su Bei no longer planned to delay. Although the plot would certainly wait for the protagonist to arrive before starting, it would be troublesome if someone discovered the deceased beforehand.

Knowing what kind of character setup the manga readers like, he endured the embarrassment, gracefully knelt on one knee towards the direction of the cafeteria, and extended his hand, making a “please” gesture: “The curtain has been raised, it’s time for you to take the stage.”

Jiang Tianming and the other two walked towards the cafeteria, while Su Bei followed leisurely behind, maintaining a distance of ten meters. He needed to play the role of an observer; getting too close to the protagonist could easily attract trouble.

Because the distance was quite far, Wu Mingbai didn’t pay him much attention and whispered to Jiang Tianming: “Why did you just agree to him? Who knows if he was acting before. What if the next activity requires pairs, and we can’t help you?”

Lan Subing nodded in agreement: “The decision was too hasty.”

“On the contrary, this is actually the result of my careful consideration,” Jiang Tianming glanced at Su Bei, who was following far behind, and explained to his friends, “You can tell by the timing of his request that he doesn’t place much importance on it. After all, there’s a high chance we would refuse him. If he really wanted to achieve this request, he would choose a more irresistible moment.”

No one objected, and he continued logically: “There are only two possibilities for his lack of concern for this request. Either he doesn’t have a strong attachment to teaming up with me, or regardless of whether I agree to his request, he can ensure that he’ll be teamed up with me.”

After hearing this, both understood his point. If Su Bei didn’t have a strong attachment to teaming up with him, then it’s highly likely he wouldn’t do anything to him.

And if it’s the second possibility, then whether they refuse or not, it’s all the same; it’s better to take this opportunity to gather some clues.

“Alright, with that said, we really should agree.” Accepting his reasoning, the two didn’t ask further. Lan Subing brought up another issue: “About the compass of fate he mentioned earlier, did you guys feel something was off?”

“Something off? Was what he said a lie?”

“It’s not that kind of ‘off’,” she shook her head, took out her phone, and began typing. After finishing, she sent it to their small group chat.

——”When he was explaining that action, he said, ‘Don’t worry, I just touched the compass of fate on your heads.’ If there’s nothing wrong with that action, why did he specifically say ‘don’t worry’? This phrase makes me feel like the action itself could harm us, but he just chose not to.”

Her sensitivity to language, endowed by her ability of “Word Spirit,” was very high, and she successfully discovered the subtle foreshadowing left by Su Bei.

This made Jiang Tianming fall into thought, and after a moment, he murmured to himself: “…If touching it is harmless, what about taking it away?”

As soon as these words were spoken, the three simultaneously thought of a certain possibility and showed expressions of horror.

If it can be touched, surely it can be taken. What would become of a person if the compass of fate were stolen?

Indeed, this was but a whimsical divergence of thought, yet none believed it to be a meaningless conjecture. However, speculating on such matters now seemed futile; it was more pragmatic to discuss the “grand play” mentioned by Su Bei.

“No matter what this ‘grand play’ is, it must unfold in the cafeteria,” Wu Mingbai remarked, gazing towards the distant cafeteria with a solemn expression in his eyes.

Jiang Tianming shared this sentiment, but noticing the slightly anxious looks on his two companions’ faces, he reassured them, “Don’t worry, we’ll face whatever comes our way. We’ve just defeated a powerful psychic and dismantled an international underground organization before school started. What could possibly scare us here in the safety of our school?”

Their hearts lightened considerably at these words, and Lan Subing whispered with a hint of mockery, “We were definitely fooled by Su Bei’s attitude.”

Amidst their laughter, the trio entered the cafeteria. Although they had relaxed somewhat, upon stepping inside, they promptly erased their smiles and surveyed their surroundings with caution.

The cafeteria was bustling with activity; students were getting their meals and chatting away, seemingly without a care in the world.

Exchanging glances, the three got their food from the same window and chose a relatively quiet spot to sit. The only other person there was a student asleep, presumably the least likely place for trouble to arise.

Meanwhile, Su Bei, already seated in a corner, scoffed at the “ideal spot” the protagonist trio had painstakingly chosen.

True to the inertia of the plot, they had unwittingly chosen to sit next to a corpse.

Su Bei, aware of the deceased’s situation, could easily spot a small, somewhat darkened pool of blood on the floor, but it was unlikely that other students, unaware of the death, would notice.

Perhaps it was the cover of the storyline that prevented discovery, for Su Bei found it hard to comprehend how, in such a vast cafeteria, not a single soul had noticed the death, not even those seated beside the body.

This thought brought a chill to his eyes.

Despite the abundance of human life and activity around him, such a scene made him question whether this was indeed a real world.

Were they all but puppets, subject to manipulation at will?

Pressing a hand to his forehead, Su Bei quickly adjusted his mindset. After all, even if they were mere puppets, he intended to live well. There was no point in wallowing in self-pity, especially since he still had his own life-threatening ordeal to overcome. How could he afford to ponder the meaning of life?

With this in mind, he couldn’t help but scoff once more. This time, however, the mockery was directed not at the protagonist trio, but at himself.

“Ah! What’s going on?” Suddenly, a girl’s scream pierced the air.

Without hesitation, Su Bei looked up in the predetermined direction, and as expected, saw the body on the ground, surrounded not only by the protagonist trio but also by a girl with her hand over her mouth, her face a picture of shock and dismay.

At that moment, Jiang Tianming finally noticed the pool of blood on the ground. His gaze shifted to the bloodstain over the victim’s heart, and an ominous suspicion arose in his mind.

Then, as if realizing something, he lifted his head and quickly scanned the area, probably searching for Su Bei. After all, even a fool would connect this to his earlier remark about “watching the drama.”

However, Jiang Tianming didn’t find him. After looking around, he decisively squatted next to the corpse to examine it.

He placed his finger under the nose of the deceased. After a moment, with a grave face, he announced, “No breath, this person is dead.”