A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

Chapter 59

[The purple-haired woman's attacks were quite aggressive, but Jiang Tianming and Si Zhaohua were no pushovers either. Both of their abilities could function independently of their bodies, allowing them to dodge while still attacking.

The two of them attacked while bickering, resembling a pair of quarrelsome lovebirds.

However, how could the enemy allow them to continue so easily? The purple-haired woman skillfully wielded her whip, blocking their attacks effortlessly while still having the energy to counterattack.

Realizing they couldn’t directly strike their opponent, the two exchanged a glance, their minds aligning. They began attacking the whip instead. After all, as a weapon, the whip was much harder to protect than its wielder. Targeting it made things much easier.

They focused on one spot on the whip. If they succeeded in breaking it, the purple-haired woman would undoubtedly suffer significant damage.

Noticing the change in their strategy, the battle-hardened purple-haired woman immediately understood their intent and became somewhat annoyed. This was indeed one of her weaknesses—she couldn’t adequately protect her weaponized ability.

She couldn’t afford to drag things out any longer! The purple-haired woman used her mental power, enlarging her whip, and swung it with full force—so much so that she managed to slash off half the canopy of a nearby tree!

What no one expected was that a handsome blond boy was standing on one of the branches.

The atmosphere froze. Recognizing the blond boy as Su Bei, Jiang Tianming and Si Zhaohua were utterly stunned.

Why was Su Bei here?

The purple-haired woman, unfamiliar with Su Bei, merely stared at this sudden variable warily.

The blond boy’s lips curled into a smirk, but there wasn’t a trace of warmth in his violet eyes. He fixed his gaze on her. “Oh dear, I’ve been discovered.”

The way he said this was so eerie that, despite his youthful appearance, the purple-haired woman dared not let her guard down. She stared at him intently, fully alert.

The blond boy raised his hand and casually snapped his fingers.

The purple-haired woman was bewildered for a moment, but in the next second, a sharp, stabbing pain suddenly shot through her brain.

Horrified, the woman clutched her head and stared at her now-broken whip in disbelief. How had her whip snapped?

Just before losing consciousness, the purple-haired woman had only one thought: What kind of ability is this?]

Watching this scene unfold, Su Bei nodded in satisfaction. The manga portrayed him with a high level of sophistication, and it didn’t reveal the exact reason why the whip broke, adding to the mystery of his ability.

If readers knew he had merely amplified the efforts of Jiang Tianming and Si Zhaohua to cause the whip to break, his coolness wouldn’t necessarily diminish, but the impression of his power wouldn’t be as impactful.

From this perspective, regardless of what the manga author thought of him, at least until Su Bei actively sabotaged himself, the author wouldn’t ruin the carefully crafted image of his character.

It was clear that as his character’s image became more established and his popularity rose, the author was deliberately omitting unnecessary details within reason to keep his fans engaged. This was a promising sign—having the author on his side could save Su Bei a lot of careful maneuvering.

Unsurprisingly, such a highlight moment was bound to make the readers scream.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

“He’s so handsome I’m tired of saying it.”

“Help! Help! Su Bei is so freaking cool!”

“I’m dying from how amazing he is!”

“What kind of ability is this? It’s destiny!”

“This ability is so strong! He didn’t even use it during his previous solo battles?”

“Su Bei is literally ticking every one of my boxes!”

“What the heck? How is he THIS cool?!”

“I’ve been following the story since the beginning, but even I’m asking the same question as the purple-haired woman…”

*****

In the real world, someone else was also reading the latest chapter of the manga alongside Su Bei.

Xiao Zhao was a reader who had been hooked by volume two of the manga The King of Superpowers and had quickly become a fan of the protagonist group. Online forums were abuzz with speculation that the team battle would focus on strengthening the bonds of friendship, and Xiao Zhao was eagerly anticipating it.

When the chapter opened with everyone laughing and joking together, Xiao Zhao held her face in delight. “This is so nice. Slice-of-life moments are the best!”

Just then, her friend came over with two cups of bubble tea, saw her odd expression, and leaned in curiously. “What are you looking at?”

“The King of Superpowers!“ Xiao Zhao shot her a dramatic wink. “Babe, are you really not going to accept my recommendation? I swear every character is super charming!”

“No thanks.” Her friend put down the bubble tea and made an X with her arms. “I’ve been really busy lately, you know that. I’m going back to work—you keep enjoying your manga.”

Seeing her friend open her laptop and start typing furiously, Xiao Zhao pouted but didn’t disturb her further.

After seeing the stone tablet mission, the group split up. Initially, Xiao Zhao was disappointed that there wouldn’t be a large group dynamic anymore, but she quickly discovered that the interactions between the pairs were just as fascinating and full of sparks.

Not long after, the group reunited, and the first hints of a conspiracy appeared. Xiao Zhao gasped sharply, “Hiss!”

“What’s wrong?” her friend looked up and asked.

Xiao Zhao pulled a distressed face. “The villains are starting to stir up trouble. As a group fan, this is the part I dread the most. Who knows who will get hurt? No matter which one of my babies gets injured, I’ll feel terrible.”

Hearing this, her friend lost interest and lowered her head to continue working, casually offering some empty comfort: “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it after being sad a few more times.”

Xiao Zhao: “...”

She raised a middle finger at her friend and continued reading. In the story, Jiang Tianming and Si Zhaohua were fighting against the purple-haired woman. Xiao Zhao, torn between worrying about them and secretly shipping the two, suddenly widened her eyes. Why is Su Bei here?!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In the manga, the handsome blond boy exuded arrogance and mystery, displaying unmatched strength as he effortlessly defeated the purple-haired woman.

When Xiao Zhao saw the panel where the purple-haired woman collapsed unconscious, she covered her mouth and let out an uncontrollable scream, “Ah!”

“What now?” her friend asked helplessly.

Xiao Zhao slowly raised her head, her eyes sparkling with awe. “...I think I might be turning into a solo fan.”

*****

Su Bei, of course, had no idea he had just gained a large number of new fans. He was still reading the manga. In the next panel, chibi versions of Jiang Tianming and Si Zhaohua were depicted with wide-eyed shock, which looked quite amusing.

The story continued with Jiang Tianming and Si Zhaohua questioning Su Bei about why he was there. Back then, Su Bei hadn’t thought much of it, but now, viewing it from the perspective of the manga, he realized that while everything he said was technically the truth, his responses came across as extremely vague.

If he didn’t already know the real story, even he might have thought he was making stuff up.

The plot moved on to the part where Si Zhaohua and Su Bei started arguing—or rather, Si Zhaohua argued one-sidedly with Su Bei, only to be pacified in just two sentences.

The pacification happened so quickly that, even though Su Bei knew Si Zhaohua had genuinely been angry at the time—so much so that a small mistake could have led to them severing ties—within the manga, it merely looked like a boy throwing a childish tantrum.

Finally, Su Bei’s statement, “Sometimes, victory isn’t always a good thing,” sparked a wave of speculation among readers.

“Is it okay to ship Su Bei and Si Zhaohua? Because I kind of want to.”

“Isn’t Si Zhaohua’s official ship Jiang Tianming?”

“Isn’t Jiang Tianming’s official ship Wu Mingbai?”

“Isn’t Si Zhaohua’s official ship Ai Baozhu?”

“Isn’t Ai Baozhu’s official ship Lan Subing?”

“Is Zhou Renjie absent because he’s not worthy of a ship?”

“Wait, I just realized all these characters have three-character names!”

“The comment section has been hijacked by shipping maniacs.”

“What does Su Bei mean by that line?”

“ ‘Sometimes, victory isn’t always a good thing’—does this mean that Jiang Tianming and Si Zhaohua might not have a good outcome because of this victory?”

“Ahhh, no! Is this the start of a tragedy arc already?”

Scrolling further, Su Bei reached the part of the story after his character left.

*****

Shortly after Su Bei departed, the purple-haired woman regained consciousness. Jiang Tianming and Si Zhaohua tried to extract information from her about “Black Lightning” and the mission.

However, the purple-haired woman had no intention of betraying her organization. She didn’t even bother threatening them to release her; she simply sneered coldly. “Don’t waste your time on me. Kill me or torture me—do whatever you want!”

As protagonists in a shonen manga, Jiang Tianming and Si Zhaohua obviously wouldn’t resort to overly cruel methods. However, they weren’t pushovers either. Jiang Tianming told Si Zhaohua that he would be back shortly, then left.

Facing the purple-haired woman alone, Si Zhaohua’s expression turned indifferent. He rubbed his wrist, which had been struck by the whip earlier, and said, “We can’t do much to you, but what about the authorities? If you talk now, you might suffer less when we hand you over.”

Hearing this, the purple-haired woman burst into a smug laugh. “The authorities? Did you really think we’d let so many of you come in here without any precautions?”

Realizing what she meant, Si Zhaohua also sensed a problem. “Black Lightning” was known for its secrecy. If so many members were captured, it would spell disaster for the entire organization.

Relying on the fact that they couldn’t harm her, the purple-haired woman didn’t mind revealing the truth. “All of us here are using avatars. If we die or leave this alternate space, we’ll return to our real bodies.”

She smirked mockingly. “Otherwise, how do you think you two rookies managed to last so long against me?”

As a seasoned ability user, even if her physical skills weren’t exceptional, her powers alone would have easily overwhelmed the two rookies if her real body were present.

Upon hearing this, Si Zhaohua understood. No wonder the enemies didn’t seem all that strong. For all the effort “Black Lightning” had put into creating this situation, why would they send weaklings? The reason was now clear.

*****

Reading up to this point, Su Bei also had a moment of realization. He and Si Zhaohua had shared the same doubts. Using his mental power to sense his surroundings, Su Bei had already noticed that the black-cloth enemies weren’t particularly strong.

Of course, they were far stronger than first-year students but not so strong as to be undefeatable. Unless “Black Lightning” was truly running out of people, it made no sense for them to deploy such weak individuals.

Now it was clear: aside from underestimating the first-year students, the organization had also prepared a backup plan.

Sending members to complete missions through avatars was indeed an effective way to ensure their safety. Su Bei had to admit—the organization was cautious.

However, the man in the baseball cap was genuinely strong, far stronger than the others. Su Bei suspected that he might have entered in person and was likely a death squad member who would self-destruct if the mission failed.

This was actually good news for him. With the man in the baseball cap dead, it meant that before he voluntarily revealed himself, no one could possibly know that he had impersonated his superior to create a fake identity for himself at that time.

Soon, Jiang Tianming returned, bringing along a pink-haired boy named Li Shu.

Li Shu?

Su Bei seemed to have heard this name before. After thinking carefully, he remembered that this was Jiang Tianming’s opponent in one of the rounds of the individual battles. His ability was unknown, but it always made others voluntarily surrender.

So it’s him? Su Bei’s interest was piqued. He was also curious about this person’s ability. Since the individual battles had already ended, although the results of the final day’s matches couldn’t yet be revealed, there was no need to hide anyone’s abilities anymore.

Li Shu didn’t directly state what his ability was. Instead, with a gentle smile on his face, he suddenly placed his hand on the purple-haired woman’s head.

From the manga’s perspective, a steady stream of pink energy flowed from his palm into the purple-haired woman’s head.

Before long, the purple-haired woman’s initially wary and startled expression turned dazed, and she muttered incoherently: “Yes, I know my mission. I need to capture…”

But just as she said this, her expression twisted into one of extreme pain. She suddenly opened her eyes wide, and her tied hands spread her fingers to their limits before clenching them tightly. Finally, her entire body melted into a puddle of blood, as if she were an ice cream that had just melted.

*****

“Wow, no wonder it’s the villain organization,” Su Bei muttered, suddenly feeling a sense of vigilance. The earlier plot had been so peaceful, like a typical lighthearted shounen manga, that Su Bei had let his guard down. It wasn’t until this scene that he realized the villain organization here was no joke.

Even though the purple-haired woman who melted into blood was just a projection, her agony was evident. The organization 'Black Lightning' had such ruthless security measures; their treatment of enemies would undoubtedly be even more brutal.

He needed to reevaluate the hidden storyline, Su Bei thought. If he really intended to interact with Black Lightning, he needed to be thoroughly prepared and have enough trump cards. Otherwise, one mistake could lead to utter doom.

*****

That aside, Li Shu’s ability was quite intriguing. It seemed to involve creating illusions or fantasies that influenced cognition, which explained why the purple-haired woman unknowingly revealed the truth.

This also clarified why, during the individual battles, his opponents would voluntarily surrender—likely because he made them believe he was incredibly strong.

A terrifying ability indeed. Su Bei thought it bore some similarity to Wu Jin’s split-personality ability.

Before leaving, Li Shu told Jiang Tianming not to forget their agreement. While Su Bei didn’t know what the agreement was, he thought Li Shu’s personality was rather peculiar.

*****

After Jiang Tianming’s scene ended, the manga shifted focus to Lan Subing and Wu Mingbai for a while.

They were lucky—not only did they avoid getting hunted down, but they also managed to help a few classmates. Additionally, they overheard a conversation between two enemies.

From this, they learned that Feng Lan had been captured by the enemy early in the team battle. However, due to his natural defenses, they couldn’t do anything to him.

When one of the enemies said, “Feng Lan has been in that building for so long—who knows how much he’s overheard? We absolutely must take him away,” Wu Mingbai got the idea to fake being captured and infiltrate the enemy’s ranks.

*****

Wu Mingbai and Lan Subing regrouped with Jiang Tianming and the others, and by the next day, they saw the new special mission. Wu Mingbai then shared his idea from the previous day, and the group quickly agreed, beginning to plan the details of their operation.

*****

The focus then shifted to Mu Tieren’s perspective. He had initially been with Mo Xiaotian, but the two were separated during a chase.

When Mu Tieren saw Zhao Xiaoyu and the others, he approached, intending to join them, but he stumbled upon two enemies trying to capture them.

Wu Jin, with his ability [Silent if silent] left without a care, ignoring the chaos around him. Mu Tieren, on the other hand, fought fiercely against the enemies. Thanks to everyone’s combined efforts, they managed to defeat one enemy, but Mu Tieren, exhausted, was ultimately captured by the other.

As the strongest in terms of physical endurance among the group, Mu Tieren could have escaped. However, because the others were captured and the enemy used them as leverage, he had no choice but to surrender.

Initially, the enemies treated the captives poorly, especially Mu Tieren, who was already injured. However, Zhao Xiaoyu who had a high emotional inteligence managed to lighten the situation by chatting and cracking jokes, gradually easing the hostility toward them.

No wonder, Su Bei thought, recalling the group’s reactions toward Mu Tieren and Zhao Xiaoyu when they were rescued.

Next came Su Bei’s rescue mission. The manga didn’t depict his deal with Wu Jin, instead showing the rescue from Zhao Xiaoyu and Mu Tieren’s perspective.

Several gears flying toward the enemies were given a full-page panel, making it obvious that Su Bei was the rescuer. After all, in the current manga, Su Bei was the only one with a gear-related ability.

Later, Wu Jin returned and confirmed that it was indeed Su Bei who saved them, though he didn’t mention their deal.

Seeing this, Su Bei’s eyes gleamed with intrigue. It seemed the manga’s author had no intention of letting Wu Jin take the spotlight just yet. That worked perfectly for Su Bei, giving him time to figure out how best to use this situation.

Of course, he didn’t plan to expose Wu Jin’s secret. If the author didn’t want to reveal it now, Su Bei wouldn’t go against that.

He just wanted to ensure he had the perfect response for when Wu Jin’s secret inevitably came to light.

The subsequent plot had little to do with Su Bei. Jiang Tianming, Lan Subing, and Wu Mingbai intentionally got captured to regroup with Feng Lan. Over the two days they spent together, Feng Lan, who had indeed overheard many secrets, revealed the specific locations that needed to be destroyed, saving them a lot of time.

Aside from him, Ai Baozhu had also been captured. The young lady showed absolutely no awareness of being a prisoner—she kept demanding water and cushions. Because of her status, the enemies didn’t dare to treat her too harshly.

Earlier, Si Zhaohua had been worried that Ai Baozhu might meet with disaster. Seeing this, Su Bei could only think that Si Zhaohua underestimated Ai Baozhu. Forget being harmed—she hadn’t even suffered a bit.

The young lady was clearly skilled at leveraging her privileged background, navigating the edge of her captors' anger with remarkable agility to secure the best possible treatment for herself and her friends.

Following this, the group carried out their plan: Jiang Tianming provoked the man with the baseball cap to draw his attention, Wu Mingbai planted the bomb, Lan Subing rescued the captives, and Si Zhaohua distracted the patrolling guards.

Once the bomb was planted and the explosion imminent, everyone escaped under the cover of invisibility.

The scene shifted to the baseball cap man, whose face was filled with despair after the explosion. He realized that the mission had failed. Because he used his main body to do the mission, he had no choice but to die to protect the secrets of the organization.

The next scene was a flashback, showing Su Bei disguised as a superior, giving the baseball cap man instructions.

The baseball cap man then returned to the area where he had previously confronted Jiang Tianming. He conjured a blank piece of paper, inserted a silver ball into it, and hid the paper in the grass.

Once his tasks were completed, teachers from the academy arrived and started attacking him. Although the baseball cap man had already ingested poison, he refused to surrender without a fight, leading the confrontation far away.

[The final scene showed a pair of white sneakers stepping onto the open field, accompanied by a voice from above saying, “Where did the item go?”]

Upon seeing this ending, Su Bei raised an eyebrow. Clearly, this person was not him. When Su Bei was present, he had been using an invisibility charm, and he hadn’t uttered that line either.

Su Bei suspected that this person might be Mo Xiaotian. After all, Mo Xiaotian had been conspicuously absent in the final stages of the plot, likely busy working on some hidden subplot.

Previously, he hadn’t sought out the baseball cap man and his group, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t made a move in the final moments. Otherwise, how would Mo Xiaotian know the meaning behind the signal flare?

By now, readers would likely have been convinced that the "Black Lightning" organization had collaborators within the academy. Mo Xiaotian, as the "Holy Son," would probably also believe in the existence of such a collaborator after seeing the item disappear.

In the next manga update, Jiang Tianming’s discovery would likely come to light. By then, many readers would suspect that Su Bei was the owner of the sneakers in the final scene.

That wouldn’t do. Su Bei frowned deeply. True, a villainous identity might be exciting to readers, but this was still a shounen manga at its core.

Readers tended to empathize with the righteous side. After a brief thrill from his villainous role, they would likely start worrying about the protagonist group, since Su Bei was an undercover villain within their ranks.

At that point, apart from a minority of villain fans, most readers would likely develop a dislike for him. Su Bei didn’t need a massive fan base, but he couldn’t afford to have too many haters. After all, people who disliked him would hope to see him weaker, and if the number of people rooting against him grew, it would become difficult for him to continue getting stronger.

He needed more decoys to cover for him. A classic manga trope was setting up a villain/spy/criminal trio to keep readers guessing. Only when readers were engrossed in speculating who the villain was would popularity stay high.

The protagonist trio couldn’t be part of the decoys, but Mo Xiaotian and Mu Tieren were excellent candidates. Apart from them, Zhou Renjie was also a suitable choice for this role.

Su Bei speculated that the manga author probably had a similar idea. During the final group mission, Zhou Renjie, Mo Xiaotian, and Su Bei were all absent.

If he guessed correctly, the author likely intended to position the three of them as candidates for the sneakers’ owner.

After sorting out his thoughts, Su Bei summarized the secrets he had uncovered during this group battle: Si Zhaohua’s ability to attract nightmares, Wu Jin’s split personality and stunning face, Mo Xiaotian’s status as the “Holy Son” of “Black Lightning,” and the fact that people could contact "Black Lightning" by going to Mushroom Road 26…

This group battle had been incredibly rewarding. The secrets Su Bei thought he had exhausted were now replenished.

Aside from connecting with “Black Lightning,” his other short-term goals had already been achieved. Su Bei decided to see the forums if they could provide him with new ideas.

Note: Happy New Year! 🎉✨ Wishing you joy, health, and success in the year ahead! 🥳

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