A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

3:

—

In the infirmary.

Leaning against the pillow on the sickbed, Su Bei’s school uniform hung loosely on his body as he quietly watched out the window, an image of concentration.

But if someone were to meet his gaze, they would find his eyes unfocused, clearly lost in thought.

For he was pondering.

Since waking up, he had come to understand all that had transpired.

A teacher had found him passed out in the restroom and had urgently brought him to the infirmary. The diagnosis from the infirmary’s staff was low blood sugar; a little rest, and he would be fine.

So there Su Bei lay, resting in the infirmary, waiting for the opening ceremony speeches to end before returning to class.

During this time, he needed to quickly sort through the wealth of information he had just received and plan out his best course of action.

When he returned to class, it would be his time to make an official entrance. The first impression he left on the public was crucial, as it would significantly influence his early popularity.

But what he needed to plan was not just how to catch everyone’s attention at first glance; more importantly, he needed to establish a persona for himself, one that would facilitate his actions later on.

What kind of persona should that be?

For Su Bei, this wasn’t hard to conceive. He believed his persona should be that of a “powerful enigma with special abilities.”

Strong abilities would enhance his strength, and being an enigma would allow him to add more layers to his persona as he saw fit.

The enigma part was easy to handle; he had accompanied his father and met many criminals, many of whom loved to play the enigma, speaking words that seemed profound but were incomprehensible.

Su Bei was well-versed in this art.

Yet, another problem was not so easily solved, for he had not yet decided what kind of special ability to give himself.

Powerful abilities were easy to imagine, like being able to [summon meteorites], [create black holes], [stop time]… but these were obviously not things he could reveal at first glance.

If he were to walk in and say to the protagonist, “Hey, did you know? My special ability is to stop time,” he would probably be out of the game immediately.

After all, the protagonist, Jiang Tianming, was clearly no fool. Why would someone with the ability to [stop time] come to Class F? A simple inquiry to the homeroom teacher, and his lie would be exposed, leaving no room for maneuver.

Moreover, Su Bei was actually quite worried. He was just an ordinary civilian, with limited understanding of those with special abilities. He was unclear about the upper limits of their powers.

What if the formidable abilities he could think of were actually quite ordinary in the eyes of a truly powerful being? Then revealing his hand now would mean losing further opportunities.

Thus, he must remain an enigma…

Additionally, Su Bei had just thought of something else; his ability must be related to gears. He couldn’t immediately convince the readers of his power, so his “Gear” ability probably wouldn’t change much initially.

To avoid giving himself away, the fabricated ability had to be related to gears, to better confuse and mislead.

An ability that would allow him to reasonably remain a riddle, with enough potential for growth, and related to gears, what should it be?

Suddenly, Su Bei’s eyes lit up!

“Fate’s Gear,” wasn’t this exactly what he needed? Being able to see the protagonist’s storyline, he indeed had an inseparable connection with fate.

With a concrete idea in mind, what he needed to do next was to consider his role positioning and how to leave a profound first impression on the readers.

The “comic consciousness” had already informed Su Bei that although he had escaped the fate of an opening kill, the identity of a cannon fodder hung over his head like the Sword of Damocles.

In other words, there was still a high chance he would die. It could even be said that if someone had to die in a scene, it would likely be him.

Therefore, he must quickly find his role, preferably one where the comic couldn’t kill him—a place of invincibility.

As everyone knows, becoming friends with the protagonist doesn’t necessarily mean escaping plot-driven deaths. Haven’t you seen in the first part how a righteous character who helped the protagonist a lot died after just a few pages? Not to mention, in today’s youth comics, the favorite plot is where all the protagonists have a tragic ending.

If being righteous doesn’t work, then be the villain.

Villains are always defeated by the protagonist, not dying senselessly to plot kills. As long as he could control the degree of his villainy, endear himself to the readers, and the protagonist didn’t have to kill him, with a chance for redemption, then he had a high probability of surviving!

With this thought, Su Bei didn’t hesitate to pull out the needle stuck in the back of his hand, ignoring the blood that followed, jumped off the hospital bed, and walked straight into the bathroom.

Since he wanted to be a popular character, he naturally had to make good use of his face.

“Su Bei, are you still there?”

After a while, a gentle female voice sounded outside the door. It was the school nurse’s voice. She had gone out to do her own thing after explaining the circumstances of Su Bei’s fainting and had only now returned.

“I’m here!” Su Bei quickly emerged from the restroom, his face dotted with water droplets. The broken strands of hair on his forehead, dampened by water, were swept upwards, revealing a smooth and clean forehead, making him look refreshingly handsome.

A water droplet slid down his nose, as tall and straight as a mountain peak, and hung at the tip, only to be carelessly wiped away by the boy’s hand: “What’s wrong, teacher?”

The school doctor’s gaze snapped back at his words, internally exclaiming that the “Endless Abilities Academy” indeed never lacked handsome men. At 30, she chided herself for still being swayed by a pretty face, missing the fleeting cunning in the boy’s eyes.

“It’s nothing serious, just saw the syringe was pulled out, worried something might happen to you,” the school doctor said, her eyes falling on his still-bleeding hand, she exclaimed in shock and anger, “What happened here?”

Seeing her reaction, a hint of surprise flickered in Su Bei’s eyes, but it was gone in an instant, and he chuckled without a change in expression: “I was in a hurry to use the restroom, so…”

Hearing this, the school doctor glared at him irritably, instructing him to sit back on the bed, reinserting the needle with less than gentle care.

Su Bei obediently let her proceed, his eyes downcast on his hand, his long eyelashes veiling the thoughts in his eyes.

The school doctor’s behavior just now had revealed some very interesting things to him.

The “Endless Abilities Academy” was extremely safe, a fact acknowledged by everyone. After all, as the sole institution nurturing the new generation of ability users for the nation, the academy was home to countless experts, arguably the safest place in the country.

So, faced with his own recent disappearance, including the injury on the back of his hand, the normal line of thought would be to assume he had done something himself.

But the school doctor’s reactions seemed to suggest she thought he had encountered some misfortune, a subconscious response worth pondering.

Could it be she knew of some danger within the school?

With that thought, the role of the school doctor indeed warranted attention.

Suddenly, Su Bei lifted his gaze, his purple phoenix eyes gleaming with mirth, engaging in idle chatter with her: “How long have you been at our school, teacher?”

“A little over a year? Definitely less than two,” the school doctor replied, not looking up as she secured the bandage and needle.

“Such a short time, then you probably don’t know any of the academy’s secrets,” Su Bei feigned disappointment with a sigh.

At that, the school doctor looked up, her eyes narrowing slightly as she watched him: “What kind of academy secrets do you want to know? Tell me.”

Su Bei flashed a pleasing smile: “I want to know what kind of person our homeroom teacher is, any quirks or taboos?”

Hearing it was about this, the school doctor chuckled and shook her head: “Is that all? Who is your homeroom teacher? Although I haven’t been here long, I still know a thing or two about these matters.”

“I remember it was Teacher Wang Jianguo, he should be teaching Class 1F, right?” Su Bei appeared uncertain.

But in reality, he remembered very clearly. The notice board at the school gate had announced that the teacher for Class F was named Meng Huai.

The reason he deliberately got it wrong was simply to reinforce the school doctor’s impression of his class.

Sure enough, the school doctor shook his head, somewhat helplessly saying, “You’re mistaken, Class F is taught by Teacher Meng Huai. Don’t get it mixed up again. This Teacher Meng Huai, he has a very gentle temperament…”

Su Bei listened intently to the school doctor’s introduction of Teacher Meng Huai, while “unintentionally” shifting a bit towards the edge of the bed, knocking his backpack, which was already on the edge, to the ground.

He also didn’t forget to catch it in time with his hand, allowing the backpack to land quietly and lightly.

Before long, a clamor came from outside the window. The school doctor came over to help him tear off the bandage and remove the needle, while handing him a cotton swab: “The speech has ended, it’s just the right time for you to return to class.”

Su Bei pressed the cotton swab hard against the puncture site without a care, then casually threw it into the trash can, waving goodbye: “Teacher, see you!”

The school doctor smiled and said, “Well, I hope we don’t see each other again.”

After all, seeing her meant getting hurt.

“That’s uncertain,” the boy seemed to say casually, then quickly dashed away.

The school doctor shook his head with a smile, not taking it too seriously.

**

Leisurely arriving at the first floor corridor of the teaching building, Su Bei first peeked through the classroom’s back door window to observe the situation inside.

The back door window almost allowed a view of everyone in the class. In almost an instant, Su Bei’s gaze landed on the black-haired boy.

Jiang Tianming had black hair and eyes, a rarity in this world of colorful hair. Moreover, there was a certain calm aura about him. Just by looking at his silhouette, one could distinguish him from the rest. Even though he sat in an inconspicuous position, the fourth row by the door, third seat, he was immediately noticeable.

To his right was a girl with long blue hair, her waist-length blue hair hinting at a slender figure. One could tell at a glance that she must be very beautiful, just as there is a divide between the protagonist and the extras, there is also one between beauties and the ordinary. This must be Lan Subing from the protagonist’s group.

In the last chapter, this young lady, because the protagonist was assigned to Class F, used the excuse that she, despite being a language spirit ability user, could not speak, and took the initiative to come to Class F.

His eyes searching for a suitable spot, Su Bei’s gaze filled with a determined smile. Adjusting his expression, he walked towards the main door.

Reaching the main door, he pretended to look around, his gaze falling straight on Jiang Tianming. Then he strode over, lifting the smile he had practiced dozens of times in the medical room mirror. Fingers together, he tapped his temple and swung outwards with flair, while delivering the line he had prepared long ago.

In the eyes of Jiang Tianming and others, it was such a stunning scene—

The sunlight outside the window was brilliant and passionate, spilling through the glass onto the boy’s golden hair, dazzling almost to the point where it seemed he was glowing.

The boy laughed with reckless abandon, yet his deep purple eyes held a solemn weight. Words that should have been flippant were spoken with a hint of sincerity—

“To the most unfortunate soul of this generation, I salute you on behalf of fate—!”