A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

Chapter 36

After learning that Si Zhaohua’s Ability was [Angel], Mu Tieren didn’t feel fear. Instead, he laughed heartily like a big fool: “What’s the big deal? His Ability sounds famous just by hearing it. Famous Abilities must have their weaknesses recorded in books. Just use the weakness to deal with him.”

Hearing his words, everyone couldn’t help but pause. This was an approach they hadn’t considered—defeating Si Zhaohua by exploiting his Ability’s weakness? It might actually be feasible!

Jiang Tianming immediately stood up: “Then I’ll go to the librar…”

Before he could finish, Mu Tieren forcibly pressed him back into his seat by the shoulders: “Finish your meal first, then rest well. There’s a day’s break between the individual and team battles. It’s not too late to check then.”

Watching their conversation, Su Bei finally understood the necessity of Mu Tieren’s presence in this team. Previously, because he hadn’t participated in the investigation process, Su Bei had seen Mu Tieren as rather ordinary compared to the other distinctive members of the protagonist group.

So ordinary that he couldn’t help but wonder if such a seemingly useless Mu Tieren could really stay with the protagonists until the end or if he’d drop out midway.

Now he understood. Mu Tieren wasn’t useless. On the contrary, he was the safety anchor the author had tied to the group when they were feeling down.

Jiang Tianming and Wu Mingbai, despite their seemingly opposite personalities, were actually quite similar. Both were the clever, cunning, and prideful type, and the things that could make them feel defeated were also much alike. Basically, if one fell into despair, the other would likely follow for the same reason.

Then there was Lan Subing, a severe social phobic. Although she had improved a lot around familiar people, expecting her to comfort others was clearly a bit far-fetched. Moreover, having been well-protected by her family, she carried a certain naivety and was easily affected by setbacks.

As for Mo Xiaotian, no need to mention—he wouldn’t be affected by setbacks, but at most, he could only provide emotional support and physical help.

Only Mu Tieren had an unwavering will, as if nothing could bring him down. Normally, Jiang Tianming was the smarter one, but when facing tough enemies or harsh blows, the one who could think most calmly was Mu Tieren.

This was exactly what the current protagonist group lacked!

As for Su Bei?

With his current character setup, he was definitely the type to suddenly disappear just before the protagonist group faced danger.

No, he still had one use.

Seeing everyone still somewhat distracted by Mu Tieren’s earlier words, Su Bei swallowed his last bite of food and lazily said: “While you’re losing your appetite over Si Zhaohua, who’s expected to rank first, have you considered that there are still plenty of people ahead of you?”

—As someone who knew their fates, his role was to kick the protagonist group back onto the right path when they strayed.

He didn’t know what these people were thinking. They had only just finished the first round of the arena matches today! Except for Mo Xiaotian, the others hadn’t even faced anyone from Class B, yet they were already thinking about how to deal with the top student in Class A.

Although Su Bei knew they would definitely make it to the final day, the people in the story didn’t know that. They had no confidence in defeating the opponents ahead, yet they were already worrying about how to beat the grade’s top student. Wasn’t that absurd?

Without him, they’d probably realize their mistake tomorrow after a small setback from other classmates. After all, none of them were prone to getting carried away; they had just gone off track for now.

But since he was here, he might as well play his role lightly and save them the trouble.

After speaking, Su Bei picked up his tray and left the cafeteria.

After he left, the others exchanged glances. Jiang Tianming was the first to react. He wasn’t the least bit upset by Su Bei’s near-mocking words; instead, he nodded seriously: “The words may be harsh, but they’re true.”

“Let’s do our best tomorrow and at least make it to face Si Zhaohua.” Lan Subing clenched her fist to cheer everyone on. She also needed to think about how to use her Ability tomorrow.

As the eldest daughter of the Lan Family, Lan Subing had her own pride. She absolutely didn’t want to fall in the first three days!

Mo Xiaotian, who had barely been affected, shouted excitedly: “Hooray! Let’s all go to Class A after the monthly exam!”

“Shut up, you.” Wu Mingbai scolded softly from the side, quickly rushing over to cover his mouth, then glaring at the classmates looking at them strangely.

Mu Tieren didn’t mind. With a long arm, he pulled everyone along to leave: “Hahaha, let’s go. Class A is a bit tough, but we’ll work hard.”

Meanwhile, back at the dorm, Su Bei didn’t rest to recover his energy. Instead, after a quick tidy-up, he headed straight to the library.

The protagonist group didn’t need to think about Si Zhaohua so soon, but he did. He needed to understand the other’s Ability as soon as possible and see if there was anything about his own Ability that needed adjustments.

The fact that Class S hadn’t been established yet was a good opportunity for Su Bei. The moment he heard Si Zhaohua’s words, he realized that his earlier response to Jiang Tianming had, by a stroke of luck, been spot-on—it really was “no need to rush.”

He didn’t know if the protagonists would enter Class S, but he had to be able to. Yes, “able,” not “must.” He only needed the qualification to enter Class S, not necessarily to join it. Whether he entered Class S depended on where the protagonists ended up. Wherever they were, he would be.

An Ability like [Angel] was likely in the professional Ability category. Such Abilities weren’t rare and were usually very practical. For example, someone who awakened the [Programmer] Ability could become an actual programmer if they didn’t want to be an Ability user.

These Abilities were useful not only in combat aspects like attack and defense but could also genuinely enhance the user’s ability to write code.

Sure enough, in the special category of a book introducing professional Abilities, Su Bei found the [Angel] Ability.

Although this Ability was rare, it wasn’t obscure because every Ability user with [Angel] who grew up would inevitably become a prominent figure.

The book didn’t describe much, only mentioning that the [Angel] Ability had no evolution path, like unchangeable faith. It could only progress from one pair of wings to two or three pairs.

This brought up a knowledge point that hadn’t been mentioned before: “Ability evolution.”

“What? Abilities can evolve?” Su Bei’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected that checking information on [Angel] would yield such an unexpected bonus.

Originally, he was just an ordinary person, and so were his parents, so he naturally knew nothing about many things regarding Ability users.

With new things he wanted to know, he couldn’t bother continuing to look for [Angel] information. He set the book aside and immediately started searching for books introducing Ability evolution.

Ability evolution wasn’t exactly a secret. Su Bei quickly found related books. From the preface, he learned that when an Ability developed to a certain level, it would evolve.

The book gave a few simple examples, such as [Fireball] evolving into [Fire Element], or [Singing] evolving into [Sound]…

Yes, this was merely Ability development, not some truly new knowledge. It was just that when developed deeply enough, a quantitative change triggered a qualitative one, resulting in significant changes, even altering the Ability’s name.

At this point, Su Bei lost interest in this so-called “Ability evolution.”

He turned back to the book introducing [Angel]. [Angel] was an Ability balanced in offense and defense. Its wings were virtually impervious to weapons, and every feather was razor-sharp.

But using feathers to attack was just a normal attack for the [Angel] Ability, termed “basic attack” in gaming lingo. This uniquely gifted Ability came with an ultimate move, “Judgment.” The more wings an [Angel] had, the stronger the Judgment’s effect.

Historically, the most powerful six-winged [Angel] Ability user used the “Judgment” skill on a city of Nightmare Beasts, reducing them to ashes.

Because of this, whenever this Ability appeared, it would immediately be hunted by high-level Nightmare Beasts. Only top-tier forces like the Endless Ability Academy could protect these rare Ability users, which was why Si Zhaohua came to the academy and didn’t mind revealing his Ability.

After flipping through and finding no information on the weaknesses of the [Angel] Ability, Su Bei couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

Although the book didn’t mention it, that didn’t mean there were no weaknesses, but clearly, the weaknesses of [Angel] weren’t easy to find. The protagonist group was probably in for a tough time.

Leaving the library, Su Bei had a plan in mind. Si Zhaohua was likely to enter Class S. Using [Angel] as a benchmark, to enter Class S, one needed an Ability strong enough, ideally balanced in offense and defense with no weaknesses.

He couldn’t help but sigh. If only he could know a few more Abilities guaranteed to enter Class S. Having just one Ability as a reference was practically useless.

Sighing, he opened his phone. It was now 8 p.m., and tomorrow’s arena information should be out. As expected, the official website had updated.

Seeing his opponent, Su Bei finally breathed a sigh of relief. This time’s opponent was from Class C again, but if he remembered correctly, her Ability was [Mist Rising]. This Ability currently had little offensive power, only able to create thick fog around.

Although the information didn’t specify, if nothing unexpected happened, the opponent likely wouldn’t be affected by the fog’s visibility, only the enemy would.

For ordinary people, facing such an Ability in the arena would be tough. One misstep, and they’d be lured to the arena’s edge and pushed off. In thick fog, they couldn’t see not only their opponent but also their own position in the arena.

But for Su Bei, there was no need to worry. His combat skills were enough to easily handle untrained ordinary people even if blinded. Looking at his opponent, he glanced at the opponents of the rest of the protagonist group.

After checking, Su Bei raised an eyebrow and whistled happily: “Looks like tomorrow will be a relaxing day of watching the show.”

The match order for the second day was Lan Subing, Wu Mingbai, Jiang Tianming, Mu Tieren, Mo Xiaotian, Su Bei.

Getting this order from their messages, Su Bei couldn’t help but ask: “Isn’t our match order deliberately set by the author?”

Seeing yesterday’s order, Su Bei was certain their match order was intentionally set by the author. Otherwise, there was no explaining why the core protagonist group was last.

But today’s order made him less sure of this guess. Why were the protagonists moved to the front? Could he have been wrong?

However, Manga Consciousness confirmed his guess: “It’s set by the author.”

“Then why…”

Before Su Bei could finish, Manga Consciousness guessed what he was about to ask: “Putting Jiang Tianming and the others at the front today is to let them face strong opponents and adjust their mindset.”

So that’s it, Su Bei realized. As early as noon, he had noticed this issue—the protagonist group was too focused on Si Zhaohua, ignoring their current situation.

But after his mockery then, they should have returned to normal. Unfortunately, being normal didn’t help; they still had to face strong opponents.

Suddenly, he thought of something: “Then it seems the rest of our battles tomorrow will be glossed over?”

Manga pages were limited. Even if the author wanted to drag things out, they couldn’t draw 12 arena matches for all six of them. The first day’s matches might all be shown, but the second day would be tough. Now that Jiang Tianming and the others had secured their spots, the rest probably wouldn’t get any plot.

No response was needed; Su Bei already knew the answer. He certainly wouldn’t be upset about it. His match tomorrow was meaningless anyway since the opponent was too weak.

He was just thinking, since he had no plot in the morning tomorrow, what could he do with that time?

There were two options: one, go watch Baozhu and Fatty Zhou’s arena matches to learn about their Abilities. Two, make contact with Zhao Xiaoyu and Wu Jin. He hadn’t approached them before because there was no opportunity. In class, Wu Jin was obscure, and Zhao Xiaoyu usually only hung out with girls. He couldn’t just go up and strike up a conversation, could he?

But the monthly exam was a good opportunity. Having seen both of their performances in the exam and given them an evaluation, it was perfectly reasonable for Su Bei to approach them.

After hesitating, he decided to do both. Zhao Xiaoyu and Baozhu were teammates, so they likely wouldn’t miss their teammate’s arena match. He could strike up a conversation while watching the matches.

Checking the official website, he confirmed that all four, except Baozhu, were competing in the morning.

The next morning, Su Bei pushed open the door and saw Feng Lan. Only then did he remember that Feng Lan also had a morning match.

“Morning. Going together?” Su Bei asked proactively. They hadn’t spent much time together these past two days, each busy with their own teams and matches.

Feng Lan nodded, thought for a moment, and asked: “You’re also in the morning match?”

“No, I’m in the afternoon. Jiang Tianming and the others are in the morning.” Su Bei answered ambiguously, making it sound like he was going to the field to watch their matches. But who would know that last night, he had rejected their invitation to act together, saying he’d be on his own all day?

Hearing this, Feng Lan didn’t ask further and went with Su Bei to the field. Scanning around, it was Wu Mingbai’s turn now, meaning Lan Subing had finished.

Lan Subing’s face was pale, but her mouth wasn’t sealed behind that thick scarf. For once, she had pulled the scarf down, letting her whole face see the light of day.

What happened? Su Bei raised an eyebrow in surprise. But thinking he’d see the manga tomorrow, he shifted his gaze back.

Scanning the field again, moments later, Su Bei found his target—Zhao Xiaoyu. She was the first in Si Zhaohua’s team to compete today.

The second was Feng Lan.

If not for this, he wouldn’t have come now. Watching a teammate’s match, such a heartwarming act, was completely unlike Feng Lan.

Seeing Su Bei actually come with him to Zhao Xiaoyu’s arena, Feng Lan was visibly surprised, his eyes questioning what Su Bei was doing following him.

“Her performance is quite interesting,” Su Bei said casually, arms crossed. His tone carried not a hint of flirtation, only the vibe of watching a good show.

Only then did Feng Lan, for the first time, look properly at his teammate on the stage, as if to remember this person Su Bei called “quite interesting.”

On the stage, Zhao Xiaoyu had already started fighting her opponent, a Class D student whose Ability wasn’t very strong, at least not useful in the arena.

So Zhao Xiaoyu directly used yesterday’s method—fighting while retreating, pretending to resist desperately but helplessly. This tactic worked wonders against most untrained ordinary people. Once they fell for it, the situation would flip instantly, and they’d become the loser.

Her acting was indeed impressive. Even someone like Su Bei, who had been in plenty of fights before, wouldn’t have noticed she was deliberately showing weakness if he didn’t look closely.

The result was no surprise, just like the first day. Her opponent, provoked into laughing and speaking, burst into uncontrollable laughter, then was easily sent off the arena by Zhao Xiaoyu.

Winning, Zhao Xiaoyu was in a great mood. She knew her own strength. Passing the first two days’ assessments with a pure Class F Ability was already a success. As long as she scored well in the team battle, she wouldn’t worry about not advancing to a higher class.

In fact, except for Class F, the classes at Endless Ability Academy were mostly equal. The gap was mainly between students, not teachers.

Zhao Xiaoyu didn’t think Meng Huai’s teaching methods were bad. In fact, she thought physical training was the best approach for Class F students. But the problem was she wanted to improve her Ability!

If she ended up slinking back to the ordinary world, what would her hard-earned awakened Ability and these three wasted years amount to?

Stepping off the arena, she froze for a moment upon seeing Su Bei. She couldn’t figure out why he’d come to watch her match.

After nearly a month in Class F, Zhao Xiaoyu thought she had seen through many things. First, without a doubt, Su Bei, Feng Lan, and Lan Subing would definitely not stay in Class F.

Next were Mu Tieren and Jiang Tianming. They seemed likely to leave Class F too, but because she wasn’t sure about their Abilities, she couldn’t be certain.

For these Class F students who might rise, Zhao Xiaoyu naturally wanted to blend in. Especially the top three—with their Abilities, they were clearly too big for Class F. Connecting with them would be far more useful than with the unknown Si Zhaohua.

But she was smart. After sensing the difficulty, she stopped wasting time.

Yet, unexpectedly, the person she couldn’t even approach before was now主动ly watching her arena match. Zhao Xiaoyu had some guesses—it definitely wasn’t Feng Lan who brought him. So why did he come?

Thinking this, she walked over, somewhat puzzled: “Su Bei, Feng Lan, why are you here?”

“Nice match just now,” Su Bei said politely first, then got to the point, “Do you know what Baozhu and Zhou Renjie’s Abilities are?”

So he was here to scout opponents. Although Zhao Xiaoyu didn’t think Jiang Tianming’s team could compare to Si Zhaohua’s, she still asked: “Why not ask the guy next to you?”

Compared to her, who joined the team last, Feng Lan, who was pulled in by Si Zhaohua from the start, was more likely to know their Abilities.

Su Bei glanced at the indifferent-looking Feng Lan, who seemed completely unbothered: “Do you think he’d proactively ask?”

At that, Zhao Xiaoyu understood.

Feng Lan, finally drawn by a topic related to him, showed a bit of attention: “I can ask.”

“No need,” Su Bei shut him down decisively.

If Feng Lan asked, with Si Zhaohua’s smarts, he’d definitely sense something off. If he countered with who told him to ask, Feng Lan wouldn’t cover for Su Bei.

At least for now, Su Bei absolutely didn’t want his scouting to be exposed in public—meaning in front of the masses, especially the protagonist group, not just one or two people. So it was fine for Feng Lan and Zhao Xiaoyu to know.

Feng Lan wasn’t one for gossip. If someone asked, he’d probably tell the truth, but who would ask him, “Did someone use you to scout our info?”

As for Zhao Xiaoyu, if she refused to answer, she might turn around and spill the beans. But she would definitely answer.

Seeing their interaction, Zhao Xiaoyu first smiled: “You two have a great relationship.”

Then, with a slightly odd expression, she asked: “But I still don’t get why you’d come to me. You know I’m in their team, right?”

Su Bei smiled too, his smile carrying a deeper meaning: “Even if you tell me, your team will still win, won’t it?”

—And most importantly, while Zhao Xiaoyu wanted her team to win, she probably didn’t want too many people stealing the spotlight, especially those from Class A.

This was easy to understand. She wanted a good score to leave Class F, the higher the better. But anyone could see that during team battles, teachers would be watching the whole time. If she just coasted and got carried by Class A members, what kind of evaluation could she get?

But if those three Class A students were successfully targeted by others, leaving her some room to shine, the problem would be solved.

Of course, the premise was that even if they were targeted, the team would still win. Otherwise, it’d be a failed gamble. And clearly, Zhao Xiaoyu was confident in this.

At her core, she was a refined egoist.

So after hearing Su Bei’s words and thinking for a moment, she nodded with a complicated expression: “I agree.”