A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

25:

Su Bei was amazed by a forum post, filled with spectators, partisans, bickerers, and even those shipping couples. True to its nature as a quarrel post, it was a jumble of all sorts.

What shocked him even more was the “comic consciousness” devoid of human nature: “You’re right…”

It murmured to itself: “I really don’t understand you humans.”

Hearing this, Su Bei closed the forum with a smile: “After all, you’re not human. We humans are such ’emotionally rich’ creatures.”

Having achieved his goal, he went to wash up cheerfully. There was more drama to watch tomorrow; he needed to sleep early to be in good spirits.

The next day was Saturday, with no classes. Su Bei, not one to sleep in, got up early for his morning run.

This month, only the first-year students were in school, and few of them had the habit of running in the morning, leaving the track sparsely populated.

As usual, Su Bei walked over to Feng Lan, ready to run together. However, Feng Lan didn’t respond as usual but instead asked, “Have you guys found the murderer?”

He was always so direct.

“How so?” Su Bei didn’t answer directly but asked in return. Feng Lan hadn’t been involved in the search for the murderer at all, so how did he know they had found them?

Feng Lan didn’t hide it from him: “The school asked me to make a prediction.”

“For the murderer?” Su Bei raised an eyebrow in surprise. He wasn’t surprised that the school would study the murderer, as the black lightning tattoo on the back of the neck couldn’t be hidden, and once discovered by the school authorities, they would immediately link it to the organization behind him. It was normal to want to study him.

What truly surprised him was that the school would ask Feng Lan to make a prediction.

He was now curious about what exactly Feng Lan’s prophecy could predict.

From the very beginning, when creating his own superpower, Su Bei deliberately chose two different paths from Feng Lan to avoid affecting each other’s popularity. The phrase “something will happen at the start of school” spoken by Feng Lan made Su Bei feel that it wasn’t a prophecy about any specific person, but rather a broader aspect.

Therefore, he tailored his superpower’s ability in prophecy specifically towards individuals. This way, he could effectively differentiate himself from Feng Lan without appearing too overpowered. After all, his ambition was great, and what he desired was more than just the power of prophecy.

Feng Lan nodded, “The school only mentioned a murderer on campus, but I think it must be the one you’re investigating.”

The school’s request for a prophecy was undoubtedly to understand the organization behind the killer. Su Bei was equally curious about this organization, so he needed to know the content of Feng Lan’s prophecy.

After some thought, while running forward, he casually asked, “Will the results of this prophecy be told to the victim’s parents?”

If the victim’s parents could be informed, then the other participants might also know.

Unfortunately, he negated the idea, “My services aren’t cheap, and I don’t think the school would reveal the content of my prophecy to others.”

Hearing this, Su Bei said no more and focused on running. Although he was a bit disappointed, he wasn’t discouraged. After all, it was a prophecy about that organization, and it might just be shown in the comics.

If the comics didn’t cover it, he would find a way to extract the information later.

After running and having breakfast, Su Bei spent his time in the library. The superpower altered by the comics finally gave him a specific investigation target, the compass.

The compass was a complex thing. Although he had understood a part of the content of the Destiny Compass through yesterday’s experiment and the superpower owner’s own understanding of their power.

But without even thinking, he knew that such a complex compass must contain many secrets. If he could fully understand these secrets, let alone Class A, he might leap straight to the mysterious Class S.

The library of the Superpower Academy recorded a vast array of superpowers. Since the establishment of the academy, the majority of superpower users in the Dragon Country have entered the academy to study, and the records of superpower types have naturally accumulated more and more.

Previously, Su Bei had been researching destiny-related superpowers, but this category was vast and complex, and he hadn’t found anything useful yet, at most some new ideas for deception.

But the compass was different, a very standard tool-type superpower. Tool-type superpowers were numerous as well, but they were clearly categorized. Excluding weapon-type tool superpowers, he quickly found the compass superpower.

In the 200 years since the founding of the Superpower Academy, there have been ten cases of compass superpowers. And among them, only one was related to destiny and prophecy.

This superpower is called the “Destiny Compass”!

Upon discovering this ability, Su Bei’s eyes lit up, reading it as if he had found a treasure.

“The Compass of Fate” is a prophetic ability, with its power manifested on the pointer. When the user stimulates their mental energy to inquire about something they wish to know, the pointer provides the answer.

In the Dragon Nation, compasses are inherently used for Feng Shui detection, composed of the infinite combinations of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.

The principle of the “Compass of Fate” wielded by that ability user is similar to divination; one must fully understand the symbols to accurately interpret the prophecies.

However, this is clearly not something easily learned. At least, the original owner of the “Compass of Fate” never mastered it. Thus, he wasted his ability, only using the compass to help others find things upon graduation.

It was truly a waste of a heavenly gift.

But Su Bei understood him. If he himself possessed the “Compass of Fate,” he probably would have wasted it too. How easy is it to learn the mysteries of Feng Shui? Without a teacher or textbooks, and only if one has interest, otherwise, it’s as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Fortunately, his ability was not the “Compass of Fate,” but the “Gears of Fate.” Perhaps through comics, he could go further, transforming directly into the ultimate version of “Fate.”

Returning to the “Compass of Fate,” after carefully reading the information, Su Bei indeed found something useful. He keenly noticed the differences between the compass of fate he could see and the compass used by the ability user.

The “Compass of Fate” points in the direction the user needs, while Su Bei’s compass pointer can only point to a fixed place, indicating the direction of significant events in the person’s near future.

“Can I actively adjust the direction of the pointer?” Su Bei murmured to himself. He had always thought about adjusting the rotation of the compass, but never the direction of the pointer.

If he could adjust it, perhaps he could change the fate of others!

But all this presupposes understanding the significance of each direction on the compass. Only with this knowledge can he change things according to his will. Until then, it’s best not to meddle rashly.

With a plan in mind, Su Bei closed the book and left the library. Just as he stepped out, his phone rang with the same alert tone as yesterday.

() He froze on the spot, almost thinking the culprit had escaped. But then he thought the school couldn’t be that incompetent, so he hurriedly took out his phone.

Fortunately, he was right; there was no incident of a fleeing criminal. It was just Meng Huai notifying him to come to his office at five in the afternoon to close the case.

Thinking there might be a quarrel then, Su Bei raised an eyebrow, planning to give the protagonist group a little gift.

Su Bei spent the afternoon browsing forums, mainly looking at posts about himself. Forums are the true reflection of reader psychology; by grasping the reader’s heart, one can control their own future.

He quickly concluded that readers liked his mysterious and powerful traits, and a considerable number believed he would be the antagonist.

Being mysterious and powerful were also the directions he was heading in. Perfectly capturing the readers’ preferences made Su Bei feel that his years of reading comics were not in vain.

As for the villain they hoped for, let that be a forgotten thought. He had no intention of truly becoming such a tiresome villain, entangled and weary, doomed to fail in the end. Most importantly, if he chose the path of the villain, a significant part of the action in the comics would never be drawn.

But Su Bei’s goal was to gain more screen time, to let the readers understand the powerful abilities he had concocted. What difference was there between having no screen time and thankless toil?

However, since so many readers enjoyed him as the villain, the role of a pure hero clearly wasn’t suitable for him.

Fortunately, Su Bei’s initial setting for himself wasn’t that of a pure good guy. These days, it’s tough to be a good person. If one must play a role, let it be that of a villain who walks the gray area, both righteous and evil!

Time flew, and before he knew it, it was nearly five o’clock. Su Bei took his phone and headed out to Meng Huai’s office.

By the time he arrived at the office, several students were already there. Compared to him, an observer, the parties involved were naturally more anxious.

Upon seeing Su Bei enter, everyone nodded slightly, but in the somewhat heavy atmosphere, no one spoke. No matter how unreasonable Sun’s parents were, this was a matter involving a human life.

Although everyone was happy when the murderer was caught, the brief passion faded, and the thought of a classmate’s death, now having to hand over the murderer to his parents, made it impossible for anyone to smile.

Su Bei, however, could manage a smile, though it was one of irony. In his heart, he said to the “comic consciousness,” “It seems it would be best if I were the one to die, after all, I have no relatives left, and no one would grieve for me.”

The “comic consciousness” remained silent.

Before long, Meng Huai and Sun’s parents walked into the office together. Knowing that the murderer had been caught, Sun’s parents’ expressions were not too bad, aside from looking extremely haggard, no different from ordinary people.

Seeing them like this, Jiang Tianming and the others’ eyes flickered, feeling a slight softening of their hearts. After all, these parents had lost their child. Was their way of handling things a bit too rough?

Before they could clear their thoughts, the parents approached Wu Mingbai with a demeanor completely different from that day, all amiable: “Oh, we’re really sorry, we just couldn’t control our emotions that day. Actually, we were just joking, we didn’t really expect you to help us find the murderer, who would have thought you’d take it seriously?”

After hearing this insincere speech, any faint sympathy the three had vanished completely.

“Joking,” who would believe that? If they hadn’t found the murderer within the given time, this couple’s attitude would surely not be the same.

A hint of scorn flashed in Wu Mingbai’s eyes, and he smiled sunnily: “No worries, I actually enjoy a good joke myself.”

Since the couple’s “joke” was to force someone almost unrelated to the case to find the murderer, Wu Mingbai’s “joke” would be to ensure that when the couple left the campus, they would find their company had vanished into nothingness!