A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

15:

Zhao Xiaoyu’s superpower sounded intriguing. As the first to introduce himself, he didn’t clarify the effects of his power, clearly hiding something, and he seemed to set a precedent for the following classmates.

Mu Tie Ren was hearty and willing to help his classmates, like a loyal big brother. Su Bei felt his interactions with the main group wouldn’t be few, and thus, naturally, his appearances would increase.

The last one, Wu Jin, might seem unremarkable, but his character was quite unique—a gloomy, silent type, starkly contrasting with the ordinary students.

Such a character, from Su Bei’s experience with comics, should have his own exclusive storyline.

After most of the classmates had found their seats, Su Bei took a deep breath. He knew that if nothing unexpected happened, his moment should be coming.

Although he was certain in his heart, Su Bei couldn’t help feeling a bit anxious before his own close-up appeared. If the author didn’t give him a moment, all his previous efforts would have been in vain. He didn’t know when the next issue of the manga would be released, and without the ability to change his power, it would be difficult to continue the pretense.

Fortunately, the author didn’t disappoint him, and the specially designed scene was indeed presented on the page.

The scene unfolded from Jiang Tianming’s perspective. Feeling a gaze, he looked towards the door and immediately saw the handsome boy who had just appeared.

Whether it was due to the filter or the shadows outside, the combination of golden hair and purple eyes, which should have been vibrant, appeared somewhat darkened in this frame, like a prowler in the shadows. But it didn’t detract from his attractiveness; instead, it added a sense of mystery.

Yet, as the boy entered the classroom, the gloom vanished, replaced by a brilliance akin to the storm’s awe before. Sunlight struck his golden hair, seemingly illuminating the entire room.

Next is a god’s-eye view, watching Su Bei stride directly towards Jiang Tianming, standing before him, followed by a close-up shot of his face.

Golden hair, like crafted from gold itself, dazzlingly brilliant under the sun, that sharply contoured handsome face brimming with interest, a smile bold and unrestrained, deep purple eyes adorned with starlight.

“To fate, I salute you, the most unfortunate soul of this batch~”

Simultaneously, the live comments exploded.

“My wife! The wife destined for me!”

“The old thief has a knack for drawing men”

“To fate, I salute you, the most unfortunate soul of this batch!”

“So chuunibyou, I love it!”

As the scene concluded, Su Bei finally exhaled a long breath, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

He knew he had secured it; not to mention anything else, just based on his own looks in the comic, this plot point was bound to stir discussions.

It must be said, the manga artist is quite skilled; though it’s a two-dimensional comic, it feels even more vivid than himself. His impromptu acting might not have been so good at the time. But the comic’s portrayal was a full score in acting, perfectly presenting the content he wanted to express.

Anyone who saw it would be convinced that this is a mysterious playboy.

Continuing on, it’s Jiang Tianming’s inner thoughts, doubting the purpose behind Su Bei’s words, and also guessing at Su Bei’s identity.

Seeing that he could even guess a connection between himself and his parents,

Su Bei nearly choked on his saliva.

What kind of thought process is this?

After their confrontation, it’s Meng Huai’s entrance. His physique is laid bare with just a few strokes, his body full of explosive muscles, broad shoulders and narrow waist, very imposing, like a tiger descending the mountain to survey its territory.

The comic’s pace is fast, the class’s self-introductions are briskly covered in a six-panel grid, and the next scene is Meng Huai calling everyone trash, ordering them to run ten laps.

Students trickle out of the classroom, and the camera then deliberately gives a grand close-up of the teaching building and the sports field.

The teaching building of the Supernatural Academy is of that European castle style, looking very grand and filled with a mysterious beauty. Unfortunately, the school currently does not allow freshmen to go upstairs, so what lies above remains a secret, only known that the first floor is not much different from an ordinary school.

The playground, however, is “vastly” too large, just hearing that one lap is 1600 meters, I can imagine how big the playground is, when overlooking from above, people standing on it are like ants.

What Su Bei did not expect was that this plot of running on the playground actually revealed a very important piece of information—Jiang Tianming’s supernatural ability has a problem!

[Because of her social anxiety, Lan Subing, who can hardly use her supernatural powers, whispered a “Word Spirit” to herself before running: “Tianming and I can easily complete ten laps.”

However, her ability, which has not been much exercised, currently cannot support her controlling two people. With no other choice, under Jiang Tianming’s persuasion, Lan Subing could only enhance herself. Jiang Tianming had to rely on his own efforts to run the laps.

His stamina was not that good, and he already felt very tired after completing the fourth lap.

At this time, a shadow appeared behind him, the same female character who looked very much like him and helped him defeat the big boss in the first comic. The appearance of this character seemed to provide Jiang Tianming with strength, allowing him to continue running for another two laps.

After two more laps, Jiang Tianming was completely exhausted, staggering forward, but stubbornly unwilling to fall behind. The character began to half-push and half-carry Jiang Tianming forward, while becoming more and more ethereal.

After two more laps, the shadow completely disappeared.]

Curious about how Jiang Tianming managed to persevere in the last two laps, Su Bei suddenly widened his eyes and saw a new shadow appear behind Jiang Tianming.

And this shadow was none other than the final boss he defeated in the first comic!

This was undoubtedly a shocking piece of news.

“Death Call, Death Call… So that’s what it means?” Muttering Jiang Tianming’s ability, Su Bei’s eyes became increasingly clear.

It was only now that he fully understood the true function of the “Death Call” ability; it allowed the protagonist to collect the souls of those he killed and summon them for his own use.

No wonder Jiang Tianming is the protagonist, this ability is indeed extraordinary, at least worthy of Class A. It’s just unknown whether the abilities of those he summoned can still be used, if they can, that would be too strong.

Suddenly, as if thinking of something, Su Bei could not continue reading the comic, hurriedly exited and clicked into the first comic, flipping to the end.

[At the end of the first season of the comic, the protagonist sits on the hospital bed, looking at his palm and murmuring to himself: “The third one.”]

At that time, he did not understand the meaning of “the third one,” but now it seems, could it be that he has already been able to perform “Death Call” three times?

The first female figure that appeared, Su Bei tentatively guessed was Jiang Tianming’s mother or another relative, the second figure goes without saying, was the big boss of the first part.

So, who is the third?

Frowning, Su Bei reopened the second comic book, patiently continuing to read.

[After the male lead finished running, the scene switched to the classroom. Meng Huai was standing in front of the window with a stranger, watching them run. Then, he very calmly commented on each character currently in the frame.]

Through this plot, Su Bei learned of his own evaluation.

Quite good, this was exactly the result he wanted. If the readers could also guess along with this plot, it wouldn’t be long before he could change his own superpower.

The feedback in the bullet comments section was also very positive.

“I knew the handsome class teacher was no simple character!”

“What exactly is Feng Lan’s identity?”

“Hahaha, does Bingbing know she’s been picked up by someone else?”

“Meng Huai: Jiang Tianming seems to be playing me.”

“The one slacking off is Su Bei, right? Very good, it fits the persona of some jokers.”

“Orphaned parents? Sympathy granted. Joker? Retracting that sympathy.”

“Lightly shipping the Bei Feng CP.”

“Goodness, Su Bei’s superpower is [Gears]? Not even pretending a bit.”

The lunchtime plot was quickly passed over, interspersed with the main trio’s evaluation and thoughts about Su Bei.

Along the way, they also encountered Sizhao Hua’s trio, and a bit of conflict arose.

Completely different from when Su Bei encountered them, facing the main trio, Sizhao Hua was not so calm, instead allowing Baozhu to mock them, and after Wuming Bai retorted, arrogantly threatened them to be careful of the end-of-month grade-wide exam.

Just seeing this plot, Su Bei was a bit puzzled. Did Sizhao Hua and his group become less intelligent upon meeting the main trio? Otherwise, why would they suddenly abandon all manners.

You should know, when Baozhu mocked them, Sizhao Hua even specifically brought her to apologize.

No, that’s not right.

Su Bei suddenly realized that Sizhao Hua wasn’t apologizing to him, but to Feng Lan. Knowing Feng Lan’s noble status, he would naturally show more respect when facing him.

Yet he, along with the protagonist group of commoners, did not receive this respect. It was only because he was with Feng Lan at the time that he didn’t particularly feel Sizhao Hua’s arrogance.

Dinner time arrived quickly, and Su Bei reappeared in this segment of the story. It was uncertain whether the author intentionally drew it this way, but when the protagonist group discovered Su Bei’s tracking, the shadow covering half of his face made him look somewhat villainous.

However, this portrayal wasn’t bad. After deciding to make contact with Mo Xiaotian, Su Bei had set his character to be a mix of good and evil.

Next was the scene where he displayed his special ability, drawn exactly to his liking.

[The gears were created with special effects, the exquisite gears at the center of a deep purple gradient black hole, giving off a very mysterious vibe.

The part where the gears turned into purplish-red smoke even had a star effect added, making it look like a direct transformation, not one formed through scientific oxidation.]

Unable to help himself, Su Bei cried out in his heart, “Comic consciousness”: “Why would the author draw it like this?

I remember my performance wasn’t that natural, right?”

Insiders know their own affairs. His ability wasn’t real, but a display of chemical knowledge, so upon close inspection, there were many flaws, certainly not as depicted in the comic.

“The author always beautifies and processes the images. Haven’t you noticed that the acne marks and blemishes on the classmates’ faces aren’t drawn either? Just like how a comic artist wouldn’t draw a magician’s performance traces, the same principle applies here.”

Hearing this, Su Bei finally understood. The comic artist didn’t care what he was doing; he just needed to draw interesting and beautiful plots. He wasn’t deliberately helping Su Bei; it was a natural course of action.

The comic had reached its climax, with the protagonist trio entering the cafeteria, sitting next to the deceased. Wu Mingbai casually pushed the person, and the bright red blood on the chest and ground was drawn exceptionally clear.

The final scene was the deceased lying on the ground with a pale face, bystanders screaming in horror, and the protagonist trio frowning in surprise.

The first chapter ended.

A hand of good plot.

Su Bei closed the comic with a relaxed mood and opened the forum.

As expected, due to the new season of the comic just being updated, the forum was very active. On the homepage, two of the eight hot posts bore his name, and another was definitely related to him.

“Feng Lan, Su Bei, Sizhao Hua, three new handsome faces in the pool! Old thief, you really harm us deeply, I’m falling into the pit again! (Biting handkerchief) [hot]”

“Li Tao, are Su Bei and Feng Lan both prophetic-type abilities? [hot]”

“Salute to fate, you who are the unluckiest of the unlucky in this round! [hot]”

These three posts currently seem to be in favor of Su Bei, but compared to the first flattering post, the latter two analytical ones are more attractive to him.

Ignoring the flattery, Su Bei directly clicks into the second post.!