A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

30:

On Monday, classes began with a lesson on enhancing mental strength. Mental strength is the medium through which psychics channel their abilities, playing a crucial role for all psychics.

“Generally speaking, the more powerful the psychic ability, the more mental strength it consumes,” the teacher, holding a piece of chalk, lectured from the podium, “but this doesn’t mean that abilities with lower mental strength consumption are useless.”

At this point, he paused his writing on the blackboard, turned around, and said earnestly, “Regarding this, your psychic ability introduction teacher must have emphasized to you. No matter how useless an ability may seem, as long as the psychic uses it properly, it can play a vital role at certain times. And no matter how powerful an ability is, there is always something that can counter it.”

As the teacher began to give examples, Su Bei became somewhat distracted.

The elusive “Comic Consciousness” suddenly spoke up, “You’re usually so focused in class. This is the mental enhancement class you’ve been looking forward to, why are you daydreaming?”

Su Bei gathered his thoughts, shook his head slightly, his expression pensive, “It’s not daydreaming, I just suddenly realized something interesting.”

“What is it?” “Comic Consciousness” asked curiously.

If someone else had asked him, perhaps he wouldn’t have answered. But “Comic Consciousness,” towering above all and privy to the world’s secrets, was different.

It knew many things Su Bei did not, and if he could coax even a little information out of it, he could understand this world a bit more.

So, he replied inwardly, “I’ve noticed that these teachers seem to be deliberately… how should I put it? They seem to be deliberately pacifying us. More precisely, they’re balancing our mindset.”

Not hearing “Comic Consciousness” press further, Su Bei immediately understood. It seemed he was right; there was indeed a big secret here.

If “Comic Consciousness” didn’t respond, he continued, “On one hand, they tell us that people with weaker psychic abilities can still have a significant impact. On the other hand, they tell those with strong abilities that even powerful abilities can be countered. Isn’t this just balancing our mindset?”

Finally, “Comic Consciousness” replied, “But isn’t that normal? Teachers don’t want you to become too difficult to manage due to an unbalanced mindset, so they say these things. Isn’t it quite common in regular schools?”

“No, no, no,” Su Bei shook his head, earnestly countering, “That’s like equating it to a talent in a particular subject. Regular school teachers wouldn’t tell students, ‘Those of you with poor learning talent shouldn’t get discouraged, and those with good learning talent shouldn’t be proud; each of you has your own use.'”

With this example, “Comic Consciousness” suddenly stopped claiming it was normal. Indeed, regular schools wouldn’t specifically say these things to students. At most, they would speak to a student whose mindset was unbalanced and call them to the office for a talk.

“So, does our mindset becoming unbalanced have some serious consequences?” Su Bei asked, seemingly offhand.

The air fell silent again. “Comic Consciousness” didn’t speak; it hesitated whether to give a hint or not. It was a bit against the rules, but indeed very important.

After a long time, just as Su Bei had refocused and no longer expected an answer, returning to listening to the class attentively, the voice of “Comic Consciousness” suddenly rang out, “Don’t forget your mission.”

With that, it disappeared, leaving Su Bei with no further response, no matter how much he inquired.

After asking twice without a response, Su Bei stopped pursuing further and began to ponder the “comic consciousness” words he had just heard.

“Don’t forget your mission”?

This sentence sounded disjointed, as if it made no sense. Su Bei, of course, remembered his mission—to save the world.

But why would “comic consciousness” suddenly say this? Was it a rebuke for his negligence?

That couldn’t be. Su Bei had been diligently enhancing his superpowers, a necessary prerequisite for saving the world. Was he expected to save the world with just a “gear” superpower? Besides, even if he had done nothing during this time, there was no reason for such reproach, as it was clearly a daily routine, not a plotline. His inaction wouldn’t affect anything.

Since his actions were not at fault, then the words of “comic consciousness” were not a rebuke but an answer to his previous question—”So, will our mental imbalance have any serious consequences?”

The serious consequence would be the failure of his mission.

His mission was to save the world, but the world needed saving because the balance of power between good and evil was off, with the forces of evil outweighing those of good.

So, to put it further, the students—no, the superpowered individuals—if mentally unbalanced, would cause the gap between good and evil to widen.

Ah?

Even Su Bei was momentarily stunned by this conclusion. Had he analyzed it wrong? Could their mental imbalance have such severe consequences?

With this thought, Su Bei calmed down and reviewed his thought process. After going through it, he nodded in satisfaction. True to himself, his reasoning was spot on.

No, wait! Now was not the time to be proud!

He rubbed his temples with a headache, forcing himself to continue down the path he had just taken. Their mental imbalance must have a reason for affecting the world.

Having read many comics, Su Bei quickly thought of a trope: once, the superpower academy was strictly hierarchical, with those possessing strong powers far outranking those with weak ones. At that time, a pitiable individual with weak powers was bullied and eventually turned dark, determined to create a world without superpowered beings.

It was precisely because of such a bitter lesson that the school now paid extra attention to the students’ mental health.

Perhaps the Black Lightning organization was created by this darkened individual, contributing significantly to the world’s destruction.

Wow! This line of thought makes so much sense!

Su Bei’s eyes widened, his pupils shook, and the emotion of “You’re such a clichéd world!” almost spilled out of his purple irises.

Throughout this passage, his inner voice was open to the “Comic Consciousness,” allowing it to hear.

The comic was so slandered, and the slanderer seemed so earnest, believing it to be true, that the “Comic Consciousness” was impressed. It couldn’t fathom how someone could arrive at a completely wrong answer from the correct process. Finally, it couldn’t hold back any longer: “If you can’t guess, don’t guess!”

And then it disappeared again.

Su Bei, however, reined in his exaggerated expression from before. He never truly believed his own guess was correct, but since it was indeed a reasonable one, he had deliberately put on such a performance.

Now, receiving a direct negation from the “Comic Consciousness,” he also breathed a sigh of relief. If it had really been the former, it would have been truly annoying. Such a plot, by the end, it seems, would require the protagonist’s verbal firepower

() to reform the villainous boss.

But then again, if it’s not the trope of the pitiful becoming the great demon king, what could it be?

“Ring ring ring ring ring ring!”

The end-of-class bell rang, interrupting Su Bei’s train of thought, and he no longer troubled himself. He was clear about one thing: whatever the truth was, it was not something he could touch now.

When he became strong enough, when he learned enough secrets, reflecting on today’s events, the answer would probably be clear as day.

He still needed to become stronger.

Alright, so now the question is—Su Bei turned around and leaned on Feng Lan’s desk: “Feng Lan, what did the teacher just talk about?”

Feng Lan looked down, his handsome brows slightly furrowed, his golden eyes full of disapproval: “Didn’t you listen just now? The class on enhancing mental strength is very important.”

Hearing this, Su Bei showed a dead-fish eye: “If I remember correctly, you were asleep on the desk just now, weren’t you?”

This guy, who knows what he does every night, has become a regular sleeper in class. Most teachers are aware of his special situation and don’t bother him.

Yet Feng Lan didn’t feel guilty at all, saying righteously: “But I’ve already studied all this at home, have you studied it at home too?”

Su Bei: “…”

Damn it, why are there so many naturals around him?

If he didn’t understand Feng Lan’s character, he might have thought the guy was showing off on purpose. But Feng Lan definitely wasn’t; he was simply stating a fact.

And what he said wasn’t wrong; those who have already mastered the knowledge can choose to listen or not. But for someone like him, who hadn’t grasped the knowledge points yet, it was necessary to quickly catch up on what he hadn’t heard.

It’s all because of the “comic consciousness” affecting his attention in class!

Although he had already justified it to himself, this reason was clearly not one to voice aloud. Su Bei coughed and said righteously, “But you were asleep, how would you know if the teacher covered something you don’t know?”

“I was just lightly dozing, I still have some impression of what the teacher was saying,” Feng Lan defended himself.

Seeing him take the bait, a glint of pleasure flashed in Su Bei’s eyes, and he immediately asked, “Then let me test you, what did the teacher talk about last class?”

Feng Lan: “…”

Now it was his turn to be speechless, and despite his frustration, he couldn’t help but say, “Su Bei, I’m not an idiot.”

Even though he said this, he still earnestly recounted the gist of the last class’s content.

After listening, Su Bei was reassured. The first class indeed didn’t cover anything particularly important; it was all theoretical knowledge that could be found in the textbooks.

The only method discussed in this class to enhance mental strength was through physical exercise. A good physical condition naturally leads to improved mental strength.

During the break, Su Bei heard many people dismiss this method, thinking the teacher was just brushing off their F-class students.

But Su Bei, who exercised regularly, deeply agreed with this approach.

When his abilities were altered by comics, he also gained a bit of mental strength. Without this enhancement, his existing mental strength wouldn’t support him in prophesying for three people at once.

Logically, prophesying for three people should require a significant amount of mental strength, but he was only slightly enhanced, proving his original mental strength was already formidable.

And this strength, Su Bei attributed to his lifelong habit of exercising.

For those short-sighted people who thought exercise was useless, Su Bei had nothing to say. What he really cared about was, since comics could also enhance his mental strength, could he utilize this?

If he couldn’t change his abilities for the time being, then enhancing his mental strength might also be a good choice. If he remembered correctly, there was a significant difference between advanced mental strength and ordinary mental strength, and this difference was his best method for deception!