I Became the Most Popular Character by Acting as a Villain in the Manga

Chapter 34

Bai Xuechao looked through a stack of documents; it would be a lie to say he wasn't tired.

He thought that reading a comic now to relax would also be a good choice, so he found a comfortable position on the office sofa, lay down, and asked Xiao 6 to open the comic.

As soon as the comic opened, it was a thunderclap on the splash screen.

This time, Zhou Chenhao occupied the most central position on the cover, his hands behind his head, his butt twisted to the left in an exaggerated curve. Behind him, on the left, was Xia Xiaoxi riding a Mermaid Princess, holding vines like horse reins. To his right were Bai Xuechao and Ling Feng, who was knocking on a wooden fish. In the corner, there were also two passersby holding urns.

Bai Xuechao: "..."

The bullet comments were already going crazy with laughter.

[Hahahaha what kind of weird thing is this?!]

[I thought I opened the comic incorrectly, so I exited and re-entered. (Knocking on wooden fish)]

[How is Ling Feng Maomao's expression while knocking on the wooden fish so funny?]

[Isn't Brother Hao the most outrageous one?]

[Congratulations, my wife, for being the only man who still has some image.]

The bullet comments were basically all 'hahaha,' and Bai Xuechao directly flipped to the next page.

Earlier, the protagonist group was attacked by ghost NPCs. Sensing something was wrong, they encountered Bai Xuechao, who helped them hide in the aquarium. After some conversation, the few of them learned that Bai Xuechao had been separated from his brother.

They introduced themselves to each other.

[So my wife is a Level 4 special ability user, only one level higher than the protagonist group.]

[I feel like water special ability seems a bit ordinary? (No discrimination against elemental special abilities, don't scold me)]

[Me too... In the state my wife appeared, I thought he had some amazing special ability. Elemental special abilities are indeed a bit ordinary compared to other types...]

[No matter what special ability, it won't affect my love for my wife!!]

Bai Xuechao: Thank you, but no need.

After seeing this page's bullet comments, Xiao 6 said, “Readers always have high expectations for characters they like, which is why they thought your special ability was very impressive. Actually, water special ability isn't bad; it just didn't meet their expectations. Ultimately, it's all because they like you!”

“Oh? Since they like me so much—” Bai Xuechao chuckled, his pigeon-blood ruby-like red eyes glinting with mischievous amusement. He said in a gentle tone, “Should I respond to their expectations?”

Xiao 6: I feel like my home-dog Host wants to cause trouble.

It cautiously asked, “How should I respond?”

Bai Xuechao's hand rested on the edge of the sofa, his pale green fingertips tapping the edge: “For example, revealing that I have two special abilities?”

“Oh, oh, oh, alright!” Xiao 6 clapped for him, “No appearing characters have dual special abilities yet!”

Bai Xuechao nodded: “Okay, then let's expose the fire special ability.”

Xiao 6: Greatly dismayed.jpg

Xiao 6 couldn't hide its shock: “Wouldn't that expose you as the one who ultimately stole the special ability energy crystal?!”

“At that time, I still had another face. Even if they suspected me, they wouldn't have any evidence. Elemental special abilities aren't particularly special either; it's normal for them to overlap.” Bai Xuechao's lips curled into a wicked arc. “Besides, it's better if they suspect me. Don't you think it would be very interesting if, later, when I help them again, they show guilty expressions, believing they shouldn't have doubted me?”

My villain identity constantly shifting, making their moods fluctuate with it!

Xiao 6: “What kind of devil are you?!!”

How did its home-dog Host become increasingly malicious?! No, looking back at how he used to tease it, I knew he wasn't a good child!!!

In the comic, the four failed to exploit the bug and entered the aquarium to play the mini-game "Hug Prime Numbers".

In the first round, Zhou Chenhao narrowly avoided punishment. After the second round began, when Bai Xuechao showed a look of smiling at an idiot, the bullet comments also died laughing.

[Wife: Everyone, look, there's an idiot here.]

[Damn, so 1 isn't a prime number? I've already returned my math to my teacher, hahaha.]

[One second I was smiling just like Brother Hao, the next second my wife scorned me. (Picking at hand)]

[My wife is so smart, he figured it out so quickly~]

[Ling Feng Maomao is great too!]

Readers originally thought this game would go smoothly, but unexpectedly, the tourist they needed to team up with in the third round ran off. Thanks to Zhou Chenhao, who turned the tide and brought the person back.

This could be said to be Zhou Chenhao's small highlight moment; every panel was incredibly handsome, and the bullet comments were all screaming 'so handsome, so handsome'.

Bai Xuechao flipped forward two more pages. Since these were all things he had experienced, there wasn't any information here that needed attention. He just roughly scanned it until he went to play Rock-Paper-Scissors Calculation.

In the comic, when Bai Xuechao said, “At worst, I'll get my head smashed open,” Zhou Chenhao suggested, “How about we switch to Ling Feng? He's got a hard head,” contributing a humorous moment.

[Hahahahaha Brother Hao's heart is really dark!]

[My wife is so cute when he talks nonsense with a straight face. So this is his character setting?]

[Ling Feng Maomao: I didn't provoke anyone!]

While Bai Xuechao played the game, the panels also showed the screen's content, allowing readers to try it themselves. After trying, readers commented: [I played along for a bit, died laughing, forgot the answer halfway through.]

After Bai Xuechao proposed a cheating method, Zhou Chenhao and Xia Xiaoxi went to help each other, leaving only him and Ling Feng.

Ling Feng asked Bai Xuechao how many years it had been since he awakened his special ability. Bai Xuechao replied that if they were destined to meet again, he would tell him.

The comic specifically showed a panel of Ling Feng's expression. He looked slightly stunned, his ocean-like blue eyes widened slightly.

Beside him were several strings of his inner thoughts: 'Was I a bit too wary of Bai Xuechao? He probably isn't approaching me intentionally; I don't sense any malice from him... And 'destined,' did he say that because he thinks we won't meet again in the future?'

Seeing this, Bai Xuechao "Woah"ed. He didn't expect Ling Feng was having a mental storm at the time, and thought so much.

[Ying-ying-ying, my wife is so good at 'fishing,' fish me!]

[Maomao really thought a lot in his head, haha. By the way, is Maomao finally going to let down his guard?]

[I'll ship Fengxue CP first, out of respect!]

[Do you guys feel that Ling Feng's expression is very much like Maomao's cosmic sublimation, hahaha.]

In the comic, Ling Feng asked Bai Xuechao where his home was again, but Bai Xuechao blocked him with a wary expression.

Ling Feng quickly explained. This panel still showed a close-up of his expression; he seemed very conflicted, and even through the comic, one could feel his helplessness. Next to it was his inner thought: 'Wait, why does it seem like I really want to see him again in the future?… What exactly am I doing, when clearly…'

[Clearly what?! You tell me to finish my sentence!]

[Urgent, urgent, urgent! Bai old scoundrel, if you don't show the full inner thoughts, I curse you to have instant noodles without a seasoning packet!]

[Ling Feng Maomao probably wanted to say that he clearly acted very wary of my wife, but couldn't help but curiously approach my wife?]

[Sister up there, why did your perfectly good words sound so gay? (Facepalm)]

[My wife said his home is in Y City, eh.]

[The protagonist group is from the Y City SAIDB. He's in the same city as the protagonist group, so he'll appear frequently in the future, right?]

After the few of them finished playing the game, they exchanged the obtained Sea Kingdom Pearls for Sea Kingdom Tickets to watch a performance and entered the aquarium tunnel.

The comic used one panel to transition, and the scene changed to an office.

The content Bai Xuechao most wanted to see finally arrived.

Qiao Jing's eyes were vacant, his body hunched, and there were wavy lines outside his body's outline indicating trembling.

He repeatedly watched the part of the comic where Qiao Jing madly lunged at Qiao Zhanpeng twice, focusing on observing Qiao Jing's expression and symptoms. Combining Qiao Jing's words and his final horrifyingly morbid expression, he could finally confirm—

After consuming a special ability energy crystal, it would quickly trigger a Hunger Period.

The Hunger Period typically occurred after a special ability user's special ability energy was depleted, without being able to consume food in time to replenish the expenditure.

During the Hunger Period, special ability users would feel extremely hungry, gradually lose their minds, until they were completely dominated by instinct. At that time, calling a special ability user a beast would not be an exaggeration; they could be considered half a monster.

If a special ability user remained in a Hunger Period for an extended time, they were very likely to go mad and die.

However, this problem was also easy to solve. As long as the special ability user ate, replenished the consumed special ability energy, and did not continue to use their special ability, the symptoms would quickly alleviate.

The problem was that special ability users would not not use their special abilities to expend special ability energy when hunting. For example, when Qiao Jing fought the octopus, he was eating while also using his special ability. His special ability energy would never be replenished, so his symptoms would never alleviate.

To verify his conjecture, Bai Xuechao asked Xiao 6: “Does consuming a special ability energy crystal lead to a Hunger Period?”

“Eek, Bai Guzi didn’t write about that.”

Xiao 6 said after checking the special ability energy crystal’s settings, “The special ability energy crystal’s setting is that it’s an energy crystal, a type of energy source. It can temporarily boost a special ability user’s special ability value, promote the mutation of non-human creatures, be used in special ability weapons, and serve as a battery-like existence… Bai Guzi only wrote about its uses. She created this item likely to compensate for the male protagonist’s low level, allowing him to temporarily boost his power using it.”

If the timeline of a comic wasn't long enough, and the comic protagonist didn't have enough time to improve their strength, then they would have to rely on items.

The special ability energy crystal was most likely designed based on such circumstances.

Bai Xuechao said: “So, that means Bai Guzi didn’t write that it had side effects; this was supplemented by the System’s operation?”

Xiao 6 said: “Yes.”

“Alright,” Bai Xuechao said.

Anyway, he wouldn't use it, so he wouldn't face such a problem.

But the male protagonist might use it in the future?

Bai Xuechao considered for a second whether, if the male protagonist did use it, he should instigate Zhou Chenhao to try eating it, recording the other party's demented wildman black history. Anyway, even if the other party entered a Hunger Period, he could handle it and wouldn't let anything happen to the male protagonist.

After only a second of thought, he decided he would deal with it if it actually happened in the future.

Bai Xuechao continued reading the comic.

The following content described events that occurred when he wasn't outside: the ghosts began attacking tourists. The tourists finally realized that this wasn't a Halloween month event, but actual murder.

The scene shifted, returning to the protagonist group.

The comic used several panels for detailed close-ups of the Mermaid Princess. First, its seaweed-like long hair undulated in the water, followed by the scales around its eyes. Up to this point, one could still imagine it as a beautiful mermaid.

However, what followed were scales on its forehead and cheeks, gill slits and filaments on its cheeks, and long, black fingernails.

The final blow was delivered by its brown, grass carp-like fish tail.

The next panel was a long shot, with Bai Xuechao and the protagonist group standing in an empty exhibition hall. In front of them was a giant aquarium, and they were looking at the Mermaid Princess through the glass.

The next panel after that was a Q-version illustration of the four, each with a blank expression, triangular mouths, and a row of ellipses above their heads.

The last panel on this page showed Bai Xuechao's soul-searching question: “The amusement park calls this a Mermaid Princess?”

[Hahahahaha my wife is doubting life.]

[Wife: Called the police.]

[Do you believe she's a Mermaid Princess, or do you believe I'm Qin Shi Huang?]

[Download an anti-fraud app, I'm not kidding, it's too ugly!]