A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

31:

With a plan in mind, Su Bei began to act. He first went to the library to look for books on mental strength. Since there was a class on enhancing mental strength, the school naturally provided them with corresponding textbooks. But the textbooks for teaching basic mental strength probably didn’t contain what Su Bei wanted to know, which was the situation with advanced mental strength.

However, information on advanced mental strength was secretive, and ability users who possessed it were rare. After a long search, it wasn’t until the moon was high in the sky that he finally found a suitable book.

This was also the only book in the entire library on advanced mental strength, which showed how rare such books were. If it weren’t for the profound heritage of the ability academy, established specifically to cultivate students, Su Bei wouldn’t have seen this book.

He was overjoyed and began to read immediately. Su Bei’s reading speed was always fast; in just two days, he had read most of the book and successfully found the content he was looking for.

The book stated that unlike low-level psychic power, which can only amplify abilities, high-level psychic power can serve as an ability in itself. When the value of psychic power reaches a certain level, it can become tangible.

The book specifically cited an example: a possessor of high-level psychic power could use their psychic force to directly lift objects in front of them.

Moreover, high-level psychic power also has a detection function. Even a gaze from a great distance can be perceived by them. The book included an experimental test where an ability user with the power to “find people” activated their ability to search for a high-level psychic power possessor. The moment the ability was activated, the latter could clearly sense someone watching them.

These were the two main overt characteristics; the rest were not so easily noticed, such as being able to more distinctly feel the flow of one’s own abilities.

And for Su Bei, these two were enough.

He placed the book in a spot that was not too obvious, yet impossible to miss, and then left the library.

“What have you been doing these days?” the voice of “Comic Consciousness” suddenly rang out as he returned to his dormitory to wash up.

Although it wasn’t always online, it occasionally paid attention to its chosen savior. Su Bei had spent the past few days in the library, not interacting with the protagonist group or researching the plot.

If it weren’t for the fact that Su Bei had been worrying about the upcoming monthly exam a few days ago, “Comic Consciousness” would have thought he was slacking off.

Su Bei knew what “Comic Consciousness” was asking. While fiddling with some small crafts, he replied with a smile, “You’ll know tomorrow.”

Hearing this, “Comic Consciousness” was considerably reassured. So far, most of Su Bei’s actions had been effective, and since he already had a plan, “Comic Consciousness” naturally wouldn’t say much more.

The next morning at six o’clock, when the sky was still dim, Su Bei arrived at the classroom. The Ability Academy started classes at eight o’clock, and he usually woke up around seven, ran for half an hour, had breakfast for half an hour, and then went to class. His arrival this early was unprecedented.

At this time, the classroom was extremely quiet, not a single student in sight. Su Bei began his preparatory work; whether his plan would succeed or not hinged on this moment.

After a while, having completed the preparations, Su Bei returned to his seat to patiently wait for the right moment.

A slightly attentive person could observe that in Class F, it was always Jiang Tianming who arrived first, followed by the class president, Mu Tie Ren. Perhaps due to his background, he always got up very early, and naturally, he arrived at the classroom early.

Hearing footsteps, Su Bei realized Jiang Tianming might have arrived. He quickly went to the door and extended his phone’s camera slightly out. After confirming that the person was indeed who he needed, he hurried back to his seat.

The footsteps grew closer, and Su Bei’s ears twitched. Having trained, he was always sensitive to footsteps. He judged that Jiang Tianming was probably one step away from the door, where he could see the podium.

He immediately spoke, “This is a good chance to test the distance.”

After saying that, he swiftly retracted his hand, the chalk tied with the transparent elastic thread he had prepared in advance flew from the lectern, where it was pressed under the chalk box, straight into his hand.

The footsteps outside the door came to an abrupt halt.

Su Bei subtly curled the corner of his mouth, realizing that half of his plan had succeeded.

Pretending to be oblivious, he continued, “Indeed, having just become advanced, this is still somewhat strenuous.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than he adopted a vigilant look and shouted towards the door, “Who’s there?”

No sound came from outside.

To put on a convincing act, Su Bei maintained his alert demeanor, peeked outside the door to ensure no one was there, and then returned to the classroom, leisurely lying down at his desk to catch up on sleep.

Waking up, it was already eight o’clock. After one class, Su Bei noticed Jiang Tianming and Lan Subing stealing glances at him before leaving together.

At that moment, Su Bei knew it was a sure thing.

To expedite their investigation, he had feigned lethargy all day. After the class on enhancing mental strength, he even deliberately asked the teacher a few trivial questions.

Alright, he had done what needed to be done; now it was up to the protagonists’ group to perform.

By Friday, Su Bei made a point to check the library and saw that the advanced mental strength book he had placed in the corner had disappeared. As expected, it was probably taken by the protagonists’ group.

“Do you know what I’m doing now?” Su Bei suddenly asked.

The long-absent “comic consciousness” appeared: “Aren’t you afraid that all this effort will go unnoticed in the comic, completely wasted?”

“I am afraid,” Su Bei honestly replied.

If the comic really didn’t depict the protagonists’ group investigating his anomaly, it would be a big problem. He had already shown himself to be an advanced mental strength user in front of them. If this part wasn’t illustrated, and his mental strength hadn’t truly improved, the likelihood of exposing his act would increase significantly.

“But there’s no helping it,” he chuckled lightly, his tone carrying a hint of nonchalance, “Isn’t life just a grand gamble?”

If he succeeded, it would be a meteoric rise. Even if he failed, as long as the price wasn’t death, he didn’t mind placing himself on one end of the scale.

Observing his demeanor, the “comic consciousness” seemed to suddenly understand why, compared to others, Su Bei had that 3% chance of winning.

Because he was mad enough.

Su Bei always carried himself with a languid and detached air, whether he was acting or just being himself, as if nothing really mattered to him.

Though he did harbor thoughts of becoming stronger, the “Comic Consciousness” could feel that if it weren’t for saving the world, his desire to become stronger wasn’t that intense.

With this in mind, he couldn’t help but ask, “Have you ever thought about what you would do if you managed to reverse the balance between good and evil?”

Su Bei hadn’t really given it much thought, as up until now, he had no confidence in successfully completing the mission. A 3% chance of success indicated that it was almost impossible for him, let alone what comes after.

But since the “Comic Consciousness” asked, Su Bei didn’t mind pondering over it. After all, it was okay to fantasize.

“Maybe open a hardware store,” he said half-jokingly. “To see things through, right?”

Indeed. The “Comic Consciousness” understood. Su Bei truly had no obsession with supernatural powers, money, or influence; otherwise, he wouldn’t think of opening an ordinary hardware store after saving the world.

It sighed without saying more.

Su Bei didn’t know what the “Comic Consciousness” was thinking, but if he did, he would surely say it thought too highly of him. He wasn’t a saint without desires; at the very least, he wouldn’t let go of the benefits that rightfully belonged to him.

It was just that Su Bei didn’t know if he could still exist after everything ended smoothly, when the forces of good and evil balanced out and no longer needed him, whether the supernatural abilities he gained from the comics would still be there.

Su Bei always prepared for the worst. If he couldn’t exist, then he would revert to his original plan. After all, he had earned a life, and that was enough.

Time flew by, and it was the third week before school started, during the last self-study period on Monday, when Meng Huai suddenly walked in.

He rarely appeared in the classroom outside of class hours, and his presence now led many to speculate.

As expected, Meng Huai got straight to the point: “You all know about the monthly test at the end of the month, right? Now, let me introduce the process of this month’s test.”

After hearing him, the classmates became excited. They had been curious about this for a long time, and now they were finally getting answers. For a moment, many excitedly whispered to their classmates, creating a buzz of noise.

Meng Huai’s forehead vein throbbed as he picked up a piece of chalk with a smile.

Almost instantly, the classroom fell silent. No one wanted to test Meng Huai’s accuracy with throwing chalk; passing out and missing the test information would be too great a loss.

Seeing everyone’s understanding, Meng Huai nodded in satisfaction: “This month’s test will be divided into two parts: individual and team battles.”

Let’s start with the individual battles. This is quite straightforward: a tournament match where the first to leave the ring or be deemed defeated by the referee loses. The victor continues to the next round. The individual battles will likely last three to four days. If you lose, you can take a break until the team battles begin.

Individual battles… Su Bei forcefully suppressed the frown forming on his brow. His special ability offered no advantage in one-on-one combat; he had to rely solely on himself. He might manage against students from Class D and C, as he was skilled in martial arts, and could likely win against those whose abilities were weak or unrefined.

But if he were to face a student from Class A and lose early, he risked crumbling his carefully constructed persona.

Clearly, he wasn’t the only one concerned about luck. Immediately, a classmate raised a hand: “Teacher, are the individual battles matched randomly? If we encounter someone from Class A, wouldn’t we have to concede defeat right away?”

Meng Huai shook his head: “While I think losing early and starting your holiday isn’t too bad, the school has considered this issue. For the first two days of the competition, each class will face opponents at most two levels apart. That means you’ll only encounter students from Class C at most. It’s only on the third day that the matchups will be completely open.”

Hearing this, Su Bei breathed a sigh of relief. Although Class C’s abilities were significant, he wasn’t worried about facing those inexperienced in using their powers.