A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

8:

“I want to start off slow to conserve energy. After all, this is only the first lap,” Su Bei said righteously, as if his real intention wasn’t to slack off.

The explanation made some sense, but Feng Lan was still puzzled: “Even if you want to conserve energy, you don’t need to run this slowly, do you?”

The students in the current first group weren’t going all out either; this was the normal pace for the early stages of a ten-lap run.

With that, he slowed down to match Su Bei’s pace and took a closer look at his exposed, muscular forearms. After a moment, he asked uncertainly: “Could it be that you built all these muscles with protein powder?”

With his keen eye, he could tell that Su Bei’s muscles were among the strongest in the class. If they weren’t built with protein powder, why would his speed be so slow?

Su Bei was furious: “You can insult me, but you can’t insult the muscles I’ve worked so hard to build!”

Realizing he might have broken character, he coughed and said: “You go ahead and run. Don’t worry about me; I can finish.”

Hearing this, Feng Lan hesitated for a moment, then decided not to speed up to catch the first group but continued to run alongside Su Bei.

This move surprised Su Bei, but he didn’t say much. Even for him, ten laps were challenging; it was better to speak less.

When they were halfway through the first lap, the class teacher, Meng Huai, came down. His imposing figure stood there, and the few students who had been hesitating hurried onto the track.

But after watching them complete a lap, the teacher left, and the running team immediately reverted to its previous lax state.

Several students switched from running to walking, and the fifty-four students of Class F naturally split into five groups, sparsely occupying the track.

By the ninth lap in Northern Su, the runners had coalesced into three echelons. The first echelon, including the protagonist group, was down to four people, half a lap ahead of the students behind. The second echelon consisted of eleven people, with Northern Su and Feng Lan blending in inconspicuously. The third echelon had twenty-one people, who had run out of steam but were still persisting by walking.

As for the remaining eighteen, they had already left the track; some decided not to continue with the task and went straight to eat, while others stood by the side, planning to join in the last lap to muddle through.

Northern Su was panting heavily, sweat sliding down his cheeks and dripping onto the ground. The weather wasn’t actually hot, but the volume of exercise was somewhat overwhelming.

However, if someone familiar with running had been observing all along, they would have noticed that, up to this point, his breathing, though heavy, was even. And the pace of his run had been steady from start to finish, clearly indicating he still had reserves of strength.

Feng Lan beside him seemed even more at ease, not even panting. This made Northern Su glance sideways, thinking to himself that this pretty boy was indeed not to be judged by his appearance.

He looked up at the first echelon running in a vertical line ahead, where Jiang Tianming was the most pitiable, lagging behind.

No joke, even from such a distance, he could faintly hear the other’s panting. Drenched in sweat, staggering, he looked so weak that he might collapse at any moment.

Yet, miraculously, he was still maintaining his position at the end of the first echelon.

Was it the effect of a special ability? Northern Su wondered uncertainly. Otherwise, sheer willpower alone couldn’t have sustained such a run.

But according to the first part of the comic, the other was clearly of the summoning type.

However, it wasn’t necessarily so. It was quite obvious from the comic that there were hints about the male lead’s special abilities. Perhaps there really was a function to enhance physical strength.

In the corridor, the A-class homeroom teacher, who had just arranged the students, strolled out leisurely. Passing by F-class, he suddenly saw Meng Huai standing in front of the window. With a swift turn, he entered: “What are you looking at?”

As he spoke, he somewhat schadenfreudely patted the other’s shoulder: “You’ve chosen to teach F-class this year to avoid work, and the principal holds quite a grudge against you.”

Hearing this, Meng Huai said indifferently: “I’ve taught several terms of S-class, am I not allowed to rest? But this term’s F-class seems to have quite a few interesting people.”

“Oh?” At these words, the A-class homeroom teacher raised an eyebrow, stood shoulder to shoulder with him at the window, and after observing for a few seconds finally saw the point, “Are you talking about that Feng family boy? He’s so far behind?”

“Not just him,” Meng Huai shook his head, “That blue-haired girl up front, her ability is enough for A-class ‘Word Spirit’. If it weren’t for her social anxiety preventing her from speaking, she wouldn’t have been assigned to F-class.”

The A-class homeroom teacher knew of this girl and laughed: “That’s indeed a bargain for you, anyone else?”

Meng Huai pointed backwards: “That black-haired one behind her, don’t be fooled by his appearance as if he’s about to collapse any moment. He’s maintained that dead look for four laps now, still damn in the first echelon, isn’t that interesting?”

That was indeed interesting. If it hadn’t been for Meng Huai’s words, even with the A-class homeroom teacher’s discernment, he would have thought Jiang Tianming had just run out of strength and would soon fall behind.

But he has already completed four laps like this, so the likelihood of him falling behind afterwards is not great.

If he were to continue trailing at the end of the pack in this state, one might attribute it to his strong willpower, sustaining him. But to maintain this pace at the forefront, it’s hard not to speculate about his special ability.

At this thought, the Class A teacher couldn’t help but ask, “What is his special ability?”

If it were a physical enhancement ability, he wouldn’t have been placed in Class F, no matter what.

Meng Huai wasn’t surprised by the question and answered with profound implication, “I don’t know.”

“Don’t know?”

“When the academy tested him, no special abilities were triggered. But the detector confirmed he indeed has a special ability.” Meng Huai had clearly looked into this unusual case.

This answer made the Class A teacher’s mouth twitch, “The kid is a bit unlucky, huh? Did you find out the reason?”

“Not yet, we’ll talk about it tomorrow. After all, he can’t hide it forever.”

After saying this, Meng Huai continued, “Who knows what got into the Feng family boy to insist on joining Class F. You know their situation, it’s hard not to associate it with…”

“Predictive ability, right?” The Class A teacher was obviously well-acquainted with the Feng family, or rather, with this special ability lineage known to all teachers at the special ability academy.

His gaze swept over each student, murmuring to himself, “Sending over the next head of the family, it’s unclear for whom.”

“I have my suspicions it’s the one next to him,” Meng Huai said, watching the students on the track, speaking indifferently.

Hearing this, the Class A teacher’s gaze immediately fell on Su Bei, “That blond kid?”

As the Class A teacher, his eyesight was excellent. He hadn’t noticed before, but now, upon closer inspection, he immediately saw something amiss, “This kid isn’t giving his all, slacking off under your watch?”

Detecting the mocking tone, Meng Huai snorted without amusement, “Not just that, he’s also got the Feng family boy slacking off with him.”

Before the man beside him could burst into laughter, he continued, “Su Bei, orphaned, with no close relatives or good friends, yet he managed to befriend the young master of the Feng family on the first day of school.”

The Fengs are notoriously aloof, perhaps due to their abilities. Even newly awakened ability users exude a strong presence, and ordinary people dare not approach.

To become friends with Feng Lan at first sight, either Su Bei has some real skill, or Feng Lan did it intentionally.

“But that shouldn’t be enough to support your earlier conjecture? Maybe they just hit it off?” The Class A teacher knew Meng Huai well enough to know that despite his burly appearance, he was a very meticulous and precise person.

Indeed, Meng Huai took out his phone and played a surveillance clip, tweaking the settings as he spoke: “I casually glanced at the surveillance from before I arrived while they were running. Look what interesting thing I found?”

The footage showed Su Bei just as he entered the class, bamboozling Jiang Tianming.

“…The unluckiest person of this batch? What is this? A prophecy? Does his ability also relate to prophecy?” After watching the video, the Class A teacher fired off several questions, thoughtfully adding, “No wonder the Feng family got involved.”

After all, the Feng family is known for producing a line of prophetic abilities. Many who awaken such talents choose to join the Feng family to gain greater opportunities for development.

However, prophetic abilities are extremely rare. Even the Feng family, known as a major prophetic house, along with those who have joined them, have no more than twenty individuals.

If they had foreseen the emergence of a new prophet, it would be only natural for them to make contact.

“No, his ability is ‘Gears’, with the sole function of producing gears,” Meng Huai finished, leisurely preparing to enjoy the man’s reaction.

As expected, he wasn’t disappointed. The Class A teacher’s eyes widened in surprise, asking, “How is that possible? Then how could he utter such words?”

A glint flashed in Meng Huai’s eyes: “That’s why I said it’s interesting, isn’t it?”

Knowing Meng Huai wouldn’t lie about such matters, the Class A teacher pushed up his glasses: “Is he just bluffing? Impossible, there’s no point in that. Are you suggesting… his registered ability is fake?”

This coincided with Meng Huai’s speculation: “Very likely.”

“But if that’s the case, then his fabricated ability is quite uninspired,” the Class A teacher couldn’t help but criticize, just considering the possibility.

‘Gears’ as an ability seemed too hasty, perhaps only a cannon fodder character in a comic book would possess such a lackluster power.

“He’s not exactly putting his heart into his performance either,” Meng Huai pointed towards the person slacking off on the field, “Besides, to say such things at the start of school, he clearly wasn’t planning to hide, was he?”

“You’re right,” the Class A teacher nodded in agreement, “So how do you plan to handle this?”

Meng Huai crossed his arms, his posture carefree: “Let nature take its course.”

The long ten laps ended, and as Jiang Tianming crossed the finish line, he fainted on the spot. Lan Subing wanted to help him but lacked the strength. Despite her powerful abilities, she hadn’t exercised much before, and completing ten laps at high speed was her limit.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before an energetic young man with orange hair came over. After understanding the situation, he hoisted Jiang Tianming onto his shoulder and carried him away like a sack of potatoes.

Su Bei couldn’t help but smile at the scene, knowing that the person should be the last member of the protagonist group—Wu Mingbai.

You should know, despite his sunny demeanor just now, he’s not an easy one to deal with. The main storyline of the first part was initiated by him.

However, after truly acknowledging Jiang Tianming and Lan Subing, he became very loyal, which is why he could become part of the protagonist group.

His character setting is quite interesting too. Despite having life-and-death ties with the other two members of the protagonist group, he often uses his sunny and cheerful appearance to trick people in daily life.

He’s like a sesame-filled sweet dumpling.

Speaking of which, there was a red-haired boy in the promotional image who also seemed quite enthusiastic and cheerful. Everyone appearing in the image is an important character, but I wonder what’s the deal with that guy.

After slowly walking a full circle, which should have been enough, no one spoke up. Su Bei thoughtfully glanced at Feng Lan, then lifted his foot, preparing to walk a second round.

As he expected, Feng Lan stopped him: “…Shall we go eat?”

Su Bei nodded agreeably, standing still, waiting for the other to lead the way.

However, the handsome white-haired boy stood there just as dumbfounded, and after a moment, as if suddenly realizing something, he said: “Could you go first? I don’t know where the cafeteria is.”

This “don’t know,” is it because he didn’t look at the school’s floor plan at the entrance of the teaching building, or although he knows where the cafeteria is, he doesn’t know how to get there, in other words, a directionally challenged person?

With the answer already in his mind, Su Bei didn’t probe further and took the lead.

Although it was their first day of school, the school had already sent out the “Supernatural Academy” student handbook a week before the start of school.

One of the points emphasized was the academy’s point system. Besides automatically receiving 1 point for attending all classes each day, good grades or completing academy tasks could accumulate extra points.

The points had many uses, such as finding a specialized teacher for lessons, securing a good spot in the library or public classes, exchanging for supernatural tools, or having a good meal in the academy…

The academy’s cafeteria was divided into two types. One was free for everyone, though the taste was very average, all set meals. The other could be accessed with points and offered a variety of delicacies.

Arriving at the cafeteria, Su Bei was about to take Feng Lan to the free cafeteria since it was the first day of school and they basically had no points.

But at the crossroads between the two cafeterias, Feng Lan suddenly stopped him: “Let’s go to the points cafeteria.”

With those words, Su Bei’s eyebrows raised. He didn’t foolishly ask if the other had points but asked straightforwardly without any pretense: “Are you treating me?”

Being treated to a meal is always a good thing, and it’s not like he couldn’t afford the points, so of course, he chose…

() “I accept!” Su Bei chuckled, deliberately pinching his voice in a flattering tone: “After you, young master! ()”

Feng Lan: “…?

Feng Lan nodded, seeing that Su Bei agreed, his expression softened. He was actually a bit worried that Su Bei would think his gesture was condescending, which would be troublesome.

The cafeteria was tiled with white porcelain, looking neat and aesthetically pleasing. Inside, there were many windows, and different dishes required different points to obtain.

Currently, there were no other students eating in the cafeteria, and it was easy to guess that because there were no points today, most students didn’t even consider coming here to eat.

After discussing, the two unanimously decided to eat the 5-point basic psychic enhancement set meal.

This set meal consisted of fragrant rice, shadow pheasant chicken stewed with mushrooms, and specially cultivated vegetables. Each item could slightly improve the physical condition and psychic powers of psychics, and the nutritional combination made the effects even better.

The fragrant rice and specially cultivated vegetables were grown by plant-based psychics, while the shadow pheasant was a relatively mild and harmless shadow beast, often raised by humans.

Shadow beasts, a specialty born alongside psychics in this world. In addition to the native shadow beasts of this world, some more powerful ones would appear from the spatial wormholes.

Like psychics, they possessed psychic powers, mostly harboring natural malice towards psychics, and they wouldn’t go easy on ordinary humans either. To them, the difference between psychics and ordinary humans was like that between gourmet food and regular food.

Ordinary weapons were hardly effective against shadow beasts, especially those stronger ones emerging from the wormholes, where only psychic powers could inflict significant damage. Thus, entering the wormholes to eliminate shadow beasts was the main job for most psychics.

However, the few psychics who could be trained and the large number of shadow beasts were obviously not enough to maintain balance. The current equilibrium was only because a few top figures were holding the fort. But if something happened to these top figures, it would cause unpredictable damage to the world. Perhaps this was also the main reason why the “comic consciousness” spoke of the imbalance in power between heroes and villains.

Shaking his head, Su Bei put away the complex thoughts in his mind and focused on watching Feng Lan order.

5 points could be saved up in five days. With Feng Lan treating, he didn’t mind taking a little advantage, as long as it was something he could repay. 5 points were just right. And seeing Feng Lan’s relaxed demeanor, it was clear that 10 points were nothing but a trifle to him.

Sure enough, when he swiped his student card on the card machine, it showed a whopping 1000 points.

Su Bei was astounded. Was this the privilege of sitting in the back row? Indeed, an extraordinary status.

After deducting 10 points, Feng Lan turned to look at him, seemingly hesitant, unsure whether to explain.

But Su Bei didn’t want to listen, at least not now. He casually slung his arm around the other’s shoulder, threw a coquettish wink at him in a rascally manner, and asked, “Sugar daddy, are you in need of a pretty face?”

Feng Lan breathed a sigh of relief internally, expressionless, and although he disapproved, he still asked seriously, “I don’t need one, do you want me to recommend a few who do?”

Although he disdained the idea of maintaining a kept pretty face, such things were common in the upper circles, and Feng Lan knew a few people who had such needs.

“……No need.” Su Bei said dryly, looking at his earnest expression.

After a brief interlude, the two began to eat. These ingredients were ones Su Bei had never tasted before, and for those without special abilities, consuming such food could be dangerously explosive.

It must be said, the taste was quite good. The rice cooked from fragrant rice was soft and sticky, with a clear aroma; even eating it dry, one could easily have half a bowl. The Yan Zhi chicken was tender and fresh, more elastic and flavorful compared to ordinary chicken. The specially cultivated vegetables didn’t make much of a difference to Su Bei, a staunch carnivore; even the tastiest vegetables were just so-so to him.

After only a few bites, he felt a warm glow throughout his body, especially around his lower abdomen, as if he had swallowed a little furnace.

At that moment, footsteps sounded at the door. Turning their heads, they saw three people walk in—two boys and a girl. Leading them was a boy with silver hair tied in a ponytail, so beautiful that his gender was ambiguous.

Honestly, if it weren’t for his tall stature, Su Bei might not have recognized him as male. He seemed more like a silver-haired, aloof beauty with a ponytail.

The moment he saw them, Su Bei keenly noticed a slight delay in Feng Lan’s movements, clearly familiar with the newcomers.

Sure enough, the silver-haired boy, after scanning the cafeteria, frowned slightly in dissatisfaction and walked straight towards Feng Lan. “Which class did you join? S class?”

This was an interesting question. The silver-haired boy obviously knew about Feng Lan’s special ability, at least in part. His guess at S class showed that he believed Feng Lan’s ability had the potential for it.

So why did Feng Lan end up in F class?

“F class.” Feng Lan glanced at Su Bei subtly, unable to read his reaction, and answered the silver-haired boy with a cold face.

Hearing this, the silver-haired boy paused, then tactfully refrained from asking further, turning his gaze naturally towards Su Bei and raising an eyebrow: “So, is this your new friend in F class?”

Feng Lan nodded: “This is Su Bei.”

He then introduced to Su Bei: “This is Si Zhao Hua.”

The name suited his face very well.

Si Zhao Hua, already familiar with his old acquaintance’s manner of speaking, nodded at Su Bei after the introduction and then turned to leave.

Clearly, he had no intention of getting to know Su Bei.

The chubby boy following him conscientiously went to get food, while the pretty girl, fully made up with manicured nails and colored contacts, asked softly, “Young Master Si, why would you bother with two guys from F class?”

Her voice was low, but in the nearly empty cafeteria, even a pin drop would make a sound, let alone a person speaking.

For a moment, the already quiet cafeteria became even quieter. The girl’s face flushed red in an instant, stubbornly not turning her head to look at Su Bei and his companion, her body stiff and silent.

Although what she said wasn’t entirely bad, it was just curiosity. But after all, it was gossiping behind someone’s back. It would have been fine if it went unnoticed, but she was caught red-handed.

She felt rather foolish about herself.

In the end, it was Si Zhaohua who took the initiative to break the ice: “Sorry, Baozhu isn’t very smart, but she means no harm.”

After saying that, he glanced at the girl.

Baozhu, enduring the shame, stood up and walked over to Su Bei and his friend, apologizing sincerely: “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken ill of you.”

Their reaction took Su Bei by surprise; this wasn’t quite like a comic. He had thought what would follow would be a cliché scene where a rich young master mocks them, only to be humiliated in the end. But it all passed so subtly and quietly.

Could it be because he wasn’t the protagonist?

But avoiding this trouble was clearly a good thing for him. Su Bei wasn’t suited to making enemies with powerful people. If they investigated his identity and exposed him, it would be difficult for him to continue deceiving the readers with an unknown identity.

However, it was worth noting that following the man and woman was a chubby fellow, whose demeanor was different from the other two. This chubby guy clearly had an issue with Su Bei.

When he saw Baozhu apologizing, his small eyes were filled with anger, as if they had insulted Baozhu.

Su Bei ate quickly, and when he finished, Feng Lan still had a bit left. After pondering for a while, when Feng Lan finished the last bite, he asked straightforwardly: “So, your ability is really ‘Prophecy’? What can it predict?”

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