A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When Su Bei walked into the bathroom, his mind was still a bit foggy, as if shrouded in a cloud. He vaguely heard sounds coming from the innermost stall but couldn’t make out what they were.

Wait? Something seemed off?

Su Bei’s mind suddenly cleared up, and he realized something important—it was almost time for the opening ceremony.

Based on his past experience, the bathroom should be crowded at this time. After all, once the speech began, there would be one or two hours when no one could use the bathroom, which was why he was here now.

But the bathroom was empty, except for the innermost stall, where there seemed to be someone. All the other stalls were unoccupied.

Su Bei turned around belatedly and noticed, to his surprise, a yellow sign standing at the entrance of the bathroom. It probably said “Do Not Enter” or something similar.

How did he not notice that earlier?

Before he had time to ponder this question, Su Bei, trained by his military father, keenly sensed an extremely faint movement behind him.

Someone was approaching!

Almost instinctively, he lightened his breathing and did not turn around. Instead, he pretended not to notice anything and continued walking forward, seemingly to check the yellow sign at the entrance.

As the person behind him got closer, Su Bei’s mind quickly simulated the movements of the person behind him based on the faint wind.

That should be someone about his height, who came out from the innermost stall after hearing his footsteps. The person was also holding a sharp weapon; Su Bei heard the sound of metal cutting through the air.

Now!

Su Bei, as if he had eyes on his back, accurately grabbed the wrist of the person behind him just before the dagger could cut his neck. Then, without any pause, he slid his right foot backward and, using his wrist and waist together, threw the person over his shoulder to the front.

“Bang!”

The man behind him was slammed to the ground, making a loud crashing sound. Just as Su Bei had simulated, the person was indeed about his height, dressed in black, with a silver mask that revealed only purplish-red eyes, nose, and mouth.

The dagger that was meant to harm him fell to the ground due to the unexpected turn of events.

Hurried footsteps came from outside; it was clear that the school staff had heard the commotion in the bathroom and were coming to check.

Probably hearing the footsteps, before Su Bei could remove the mask and see the person’s face, the man bound by him suddenly turned into a wisp of black smoke and dissipated into the air.

“A superpower.”

Su Bei’s expression darkened, knowing he probably wouldn’t be able to find the person. Just as he was about to straighten up, he suddenly groaned in pain. His brain felt like it had been hit hard, and his vision went black as he slowly collapsed to the ground.

When he opened his eyes again, Su Bei found himself in a completely white space.

Above, to the left, and to the right were all pure white, with no other traces, not even the marks of walls. It seemed as if this place had no boundaries.

Where was this?

Earlier, he had clearly fainted in the bathroom, and he had heard the footsteps of other people in the school. Normally, staff finding a student fainted in the bathroom would take him to the infirmary or a classroom.

But this place was neither.

Hesitating for a moment, Su Bei chose to get up from the ground. Since he had already opened his eyes and there was no one around, continuing to pretend to be unconscious was not a good strategy.

Rather than lying there doing nothing, it was better to get up and explore, taking the initiative.

Standing up, he looked straight ahead. In the entire white space, there was only one spot with something: a table and a chair, with two books stacked on the table.

After confirming that there was indeed nothing else around, Su Bei naturally walked to the table, pulled out the chair, and sat down, then looked at the books on the table.

To his surprise, the first book was a comic book. The cover featured several colorful characters, with a black-haired, black-eyed boy in the center, his expression resolute and determined.

On either side were a boy and a girl. The girl on the right had long, water-blue hair and calm, brown-yellow eyes. Her mouth was taped shut, forming a cross, as if she couldn’t speak.

The boy on the other side was smiling, with brown hair and orange eyes, looking more like the protagonist of a hot-blooded shonen manga than the boy in the center.

Behind them were various characters, young and old, gathered together to form this colorful comic cover.

At the top was the large title of the comic—”The King of Superpower”

The only keyword in this name that he could grasp was “superpower.” Superpowers are special abilities that only a very few people can awaken. These abilities are diverse and vary in strength.

After being discovered, all superpowered individuals are sent to the “Infinite Abilities Academy.” Only after graduation can they become officially recognized superpowered individuals who can use their abilities in society.

Coincidentally, Su Bei had just awakened his superpower, and today was the first day of school for first-year students at the “Infinite Abilities Academy.” He was a freshman in Class F.

Shifting his attention back to the book, Su Bei did not open it but first glanced at the book underneath. The second book was very thin, only four or five pages long. The cover was plain white without any illustrations.

He flipped it open and saw it was also a black-and-white comic.

Frowning, he put down the second book and started focusing on the first one.

Although he didn’t know the purpose of these two books being here, it was evident that someone wanted him to read them.

Right now, he was at the mercy of others. Only by meeting their expectations could he proceed further.

As the cover suggested, this was a typical shonen manga. The protagonist was the black-haired, black-eyed boy named Jiang Tianming.

The protagonist, Jiang Tianming, and the brown-haired boy, Wu Mingbai, were both orphans, while the blue-haired girl, Lan Subing, was the eldest daughter of the “Lan Group.” The first volume of the comic depicted the three of them uncovering the truth behind their orphanage headmistress’s “suicide” and thwarting an evil group’s human modification experiments.

Like all shonen manga, the three developed deep bonds through their funny and touching daily interactions and each awakened their own superpowers.

Wu Mingbai’s superpower, 【Earth Element】, was something he had from the start. Despite his sunny disposition, he managed to keep his superpower a secret. Anyone who read the first volume would know he was a classic example of a seemingly innocent character who was actually quite cunning.

Lan Subing awakened the 【Word Spirit】 power, which was quite ironic for someone who was almost mute and socially anxious. It was indeed a cruel twist of fate.

As for Jiang Tianming, he awakened the power of 【Death Summon】, which allowed him to summon an adult woman who resembled him in his time of need, ultimately defeating the final boss.

In the last scene of the comic, Jiang Tianming woke up in a hospital bed, looked at his palm, and muttered with a complicated expression: “The third one.”

Ignoring the foreshadowing in the comic’s ending, Su Bei genuinely enjoyed it. The main trio had interesting, non-clichéd personalities, and the story was full of twists and turns.

Their superpowers were unique and exciting, making Su Bei, who had only awakened a trashy superpower and was assigned to Class F at “Infinite Abilities Academy,” quite happy.

Su Bei himself, at sixteen, had the superpower 【Gears】: the ability to create patterned, size-controllable gears based on his mental strength.

A typical useless Class F superpower.

Fortunately, he never intended to rely on his superpower for a living. His mother had died in childbirth, and his father, though he had died in the line of duty two years ago, had left enough inheritance for Su Bei to live a comfortable life.

Su Bei planned to get a diploma from Class F, then open a hardware store and enjoy an early retirement. It was a fitting use of his superpower.

But the problem was that he hadn’t even attended the opening ceremony yet and had been inexplicably brought to this space to read comics. Even if the comic was good, why did he have to read it?

Frowning at the final scene, Su Bei suddenly realized something. Since these three people had awakened their superpowers during this period, they would soon receive their acceptance letters from the “Infinite Abilities Academy”

Thinking about this, he raised an eyebrow and showed a subtle expression before decisively opening the second comic.

As expected, the second comic began with the three receiving their acceptance letters from the “Infinite Abilities Academy.”

A few days later, special examiners would come to assess their superpower levels for class placement, just as Su Bei had experienced.

The class placements at “Infinite Abilities Academy” were not permanent, and students could advance at any time. As their mental strength and combat experience grew, even seemingly useless superpowers could become very powerful, allowing them to enter better classes.

Lan Subing was originally placed in Class A, but her inability to speak, despite having the 【Word Spirit】 power, was a significant drawback. Coupled with her request, she ended up in Class F. However, once she could speak, she could easily move up.

Wu Mingbai was placed in Class D due to the limited extent of his superpower.

Jiang Tianming was placed in Class F. Although his ability should have placed him in at least Class C, his mental strength was exhausted after fighting the final boss in the previous volume, making him seem no different from an ordinary person during the assessment, thus landing him in Class F.

They attended the same “Infinite Abilities Academy” and were also in Class F. Seeing this, Su Bei’s expression grew even stranger, and he murmured, “Am I also in this comic?”

Turning the page, the story continued with a murder in the school bathroom right after the term started. A male student was found lying in a pool of blood, surrounded by scattered small gears.

Seeing this scene, Su Bei’s expression vanished completely.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the boy lying on the ground was probably himself.