A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

Chapter 285

Who knew how strong Sesbia’s two teams were? Su Bei worried that if they were weak and got eliminated early, there’d be no one to watch.

Following Wu Jin’s gaze, Su Bei spotted Principal Wu Di and their homeroom teacher Meng Huai in the stands—they’d come for the opening ceremony!

As a world competition, the opening wasn’t as simple as the Tri-School Competition. Though called the first day, there were no formal matches, just a welcome performance.

A massive Illusion cast by Illusion Ability Users appeared above the venue, depicting a clash between two powerful Ability Users. After a visual feast, various acrobatic performances began.

“Why are we watching this?” During a break, Zhang Sheng asked, bored. “Can we leave early?”

“Yeah, we’re not competing,” Mu Yunfan nodded firmly. “What’s an opening without my unmatched charm?”

Everyone: “…”

They regretted it. Rather than let him boast, they’d prefer watching the opening. It was just boring, but Mu Yunfan was infuriating!

“Amitabha, this too is practice,” He Shang clasped his hands, closed his eyes, and silently recited the Clear Mind Mantra.

Wei Yuexi fake-gagged, then grabbed Feng Manman’s arm: “Manman, look at him!”

Feng Manman didn’t disappoint, glancing calmly at their unreliable president, half-threatening, half-serious: “Should I ask the organizers to broadcast your ‘charm’?”

“No, no need!” Mu Yunfan, knowing Feng Manman would do it shamelessly, shook his head frantically. He didn’t want to be so thoroughly owned, but who made Feng Manman sometimes even bolder?

Amid Wei Yuexi’s snickers, Teacher Li finally refused: “No. You represent Endless Ability Academy now. Anyone who embarrasses the academy outside will face consequences inside.”

Her threat worked—everyone stopped complaining. No one wanted to find out how she’d make them lose face.

“Brother Prince Wu Mingbai, is that you?” As they mocked a performer juggling his detachable head, a group navigated the crowd toward them.

The leading brown-haired boy asked Wu Mingbai in broken Mandarin.

Those who knew Wu Mingbai’s background instantly guessed who he was—likely one of Yafei Kingdom’s princes.

“You are?” Wu Mingbai stood, guessing the identity but unsure of the name.

The tall brown-haired boy smiled, extending a hand: “I’m Andrew, Yafei Kingdom’s first prince. Oh, second prince now—you’re a year older.”

At first glance, his words seemed fine, but they held hidden hostility upon closer thought.

Andrew didn’t approach Wu Mingbai on a whim. It must’ve been planned, investigated in advance. As a prince, he’d have known Wu Mingbai was competing.

If planned, how could he misspeak?

He likely deliberately emphasized his first-prince status to intimidate Wu Mingbai.

Having survived as an orphan, Wu Mingbai was no fool. How could he miss the hidden malice? His initial surprise faded, replaced by a bright smile: “So it’s you, little brother. Father’s so good to you, putting you on the team.”

Andrew’s face darkened. Wu Mingbai’s short sentence mocked two points: his “little brother” status and his “nepotism” implication.

Though both were true, as a prince, it’d been ages since anyone dared say such things to Andrew. He gritted his teeth but kept his expression steady, defending himself: “Father treats us all well but doesn’t interfere with school arrangements.”

Implying he earned his spot, not through connections. But only they knew the truth.

Wu Mingbai feigned agreement: “Sure, sure, I believe you.”

Chinese culture was profound—saying he believed, but the sarcasm was palpable. Andrew frowned, sensing something off. Wu Mingbai said he believed, but why did it feel so wrong?

He didn’t dwell on it. His goal was to intimidate Wu Mingbai, warning him not to compete for the throne back home.

Seeing Wu Mingbai act like a naive kid, yielding easily, Andrew felt he wasn’t a threat, softening his tone: “We’re all looking forward to your return. I’ll host a grand banquet with Father to announce your identity. If you have questions, ask me—I’ll tell you everything.”

With Wu Mingbai posing no threat, Andrew was willing to befriend him. A guilt-ridden, non-threatening older brother could aid his succession.

His advisors had stressed before coming: if Wu Mingbai wasn’t a threat, build ties.

But Andrew didn’t notice his “kindness” carried a condescending air, exuding superiority in power and knowledge.

Wu Mingbai couldn’t be swayed. A cold glint flashed in his eyes, but he kept the naive act, nodding eagerly: “Got it, you’re so nice, little brother! Since you know everything, why not tell me about Yafei Kingdom’s etiquette now?”

Andrew’s face showed difficulty: “But the next performance…”

“You don’t want to?” Wu Mingbai cut him off, looking disappointed. “I thought you wanted to spend more time with me.”

“Of course I do!” Andrew couldn’t admit the truth. With eyes on him, showing disinterest would reach his father and “good” brothers within an hour.

Reluctantly, he started explaining Yafei Kingdom’s basic social rules.

Only when the performance began did Wu Mingbai reluctantly let him go. Prideful Andrew kept a smiling face, awkwardly apologizing in a low voice as he squeezed through the crowd back to his group.

After they left, Wu Mingbai’s smile didn’t fade, looking like a normal reunion with long-lost family.

But Jiang Tianming and the others, knowing the context, and even Feng Manman, who only heard the exchange, didn’t think they were truly close. They might not have caught all the verbal sparring, but Wu Mingbai’s outmaneuvering was clear.

Jiang Tianming comforted softly: “Don’t be mad. Worst case, skip Yafei Kingdom. He doesn’t welcome you—so what? Your parents surely do, or he wouldn’t be so wary.”

Lan Subing leaned in, indignant: “What a jerk. Mingbai, just say the word, and Ah-Jiang and I will sneak a sack over his head!”

“I’m in!” Jiang Tianming nodded in support.

Their antics made Wu Mingbai laugh, his eyes showing genuine warmth as he teased: “If you sack him, I’ll have to bail you out of Yafei Kingdom’s jail.”

Qi Huang, ever enthusiastic, joined: “If we’re sacking, count me in! I hate arrogant jerks!”

“Actually, you’re…” Su Bei trailed off deliberately.

Caught out, Qi Huang snapped: “Su Bei, what’s that mean? Wanna fight? And Si Zhaohua, what’re you laughing at?”

Following her words, Su Bei looked at Si Zhaohua, saying earnestly: “Actually, you’re…”

Qi Huang snickered, and Si Zhaohua was the one to crack.

Laughing and joking through the opening ceremony, next was the announcement of the competition format.

The world competition had two phases. The first was one-on-one battles between academies, with a win earning 2 points, a draw 1 point, and a loss 0 points.

Unlike the Tri-School Competition’s individual battles, this didn’t allow one person to sweep multiple opponents. Each Ability User could only compete once, win or lose, then the next took the stage.

This prevented academies from training only one individual-battle specialist. The world competition aimed to encourage well-rounded growth, not extremes.

Three losses meant temporary elimination. If the final round was a tie, the team with higher points won.

After individual battles, teams with points below half were eliminated—a brutal cut in the first phase.

It was a massive undertaking, taking three to four days even rushed. The remaining format wasn’t revealed immediately, kept as a suspense until the first phase ended.

Next was the draw for tomorrow’s first match. Endless Ability Academy got lucky, facing an obscure academy from a small country, likely an easy win.

Strong teams and those to watch were on a pre-investigated list. If the opponent wasn’t listed, they were negligible.

This was already cautious—last competition, Endless Ability Academy took second. If less diligent, they might’ve only studied the top three academies.

Back at the hotel, Teacher Li gathered everyone in her room, sharing basic competition info: “This world competition has 126 countries, 189 teams. Among the 126 main teams, only a few are noteworthy—I’ve emailed you the list. As for secondary teams, they face eliminations, so we’ll start studying them now and get you data by tomorrow.”

Her “you” meant the five main team members, the ones competing. After instructing them, she didn’t neglect the alternates, looking at Su Bei and the others: “Don’t be discouraged. If I judge the opponent isn’t too dangerous early on, you’ll get chances to compete.”

That night, Su Bei heard the “Manga Consciousness” notification—the manga updated.

No need to guess—this chapter likely had little to do with him, or even the protagonist group.

Though not all new characters, the world competition featured those with limited prior appearances, so this chapter introduced them. Given his judgment of recent events, Mu Yunfan and the others would get more focus.

As expected, most of the chapter showed the seniors’ interactions. To keep suspense, their Abilities’ effects weren’t detailed, just presented like character cards, which was interesting.

The only useful parts for Su Bei were two scenes. One was Prince Andrew’s talk with his advisor. Andrew’s visit was indeed to intimidate Wu Mingbai, but Wu Mingbai deftly turned the tables. Whether he succeeded was unclear, but he certainly lost face.

That night, discussing with his advisor, Andrew saw Wu Mingbai as a brainless fool, oblivious to subtle cues and tact, not worth worrying about.

Little did he know, “brainless fool” suited him best. He genuinely believed Wu Mingbai’s actions were unintentional, without a shred of suspicion.

Su Bei felt if Wu Mingbai saw this, he wouldn’t be pleased but frustrated. Outsmarting someone without them noticing—what kind of outsmarting was that?

[The advisor, not as naive as Andrew, raised doubts: “I don’t think Prince Wu Mingbai was unintentional.”

Glancing cautiously at Andrew, he asked: “Did he catch your probing?”

“Impossible, absolutely impossible!” Andrew waved dismissively, confident. “My probing was subtle. Even if he noticed, so what? Would he dare retaliate?”

He’d already retaliated slightly… the advisor thought, holding back. He knew Andrew wasn’t patient. If he said this, Andrew would confront Wu Mingbai, giving other princes leverage.

Telling the truth wasn’t an option. The advisor advised tactfully: “Since Prince Wu Mingbai isn’t a threat, you should befriend him. The king and queen would be pleased.”

He saw clearly—Wu Mingbai likely wouldn’t inherit the throne and wasn’t a pushover, so befriending him was best to avoid hindering Andrew’s succession.

“Got it.” Though not the sharpest, Andrew was persuadable, agreeing readily.]

Su Bei’s take on this was mixed. He thought Andrew would be the next arc’s villain, but now he seemed more like a clown, propped up by his advisor.

The other notable scene was the Nightmare Beasts’ gathering. The author gave no detailed plot, just three suggestive panels: a venue panorama, a cut to the Nightmare Beast world beneath, and countless Nightmare Beasts converging there.

Seeing this, Su Bei’s expression grew grave. The world competition would be disrupted by Nightmare Beasts, as expected. With nearly all the Ability world’s future gathered here, a massacre would be a devastating blow to humans. For that goal, any cost was worth it—Nightmare Beasts regenerated far faster than Ability Users.

So many Nightmare Beasts meant a tough fight. Even with many Ability powerhouses guarding, Su Bei wasn’t reassured. With protagonists here, the Nightmare Beasts’ plot would partly succeed.

Predicting when they’d strike was crucial. Only then could he decide whether to join the upcoming events.

The next day, the competition officially began. As an alternate not needed on day one, Su Bei didn’t care about the results. They’d surely win—losing would be absurd, demoting their protagonists to side characters.

That’d be plausible in a third season, but not mid-second season. What author would swap protagonists now?

He didn’t want to leave his room, but Teacher Li dragged him out, citing all students must attend. She had reasons—first matches showed off academy strength, even if not revealing trump cards, with main teams aiming for a 5-0 sweep.

Though not competing, they should observe. Teachers, seniors, and they themselves knew—barring accidents, they’d be next year’s competitors.

As Teacher Li said, most matches were exciting—either crushing victories or evenly matched battles, with no academy slipping up.

Su Bei had to admit, compared to yesterday’s acrobatics, today’s matches were far more interesting. The trip wasn’t a waste.

“Teacher, can we compete tomorrow?” Qi Huang, itching to fight, asked eagerly.

Not just her—Si Zhaohua and the others were excited too. Only Su Bei genuinely didn’t want to compete. Maybe that’s why he wasn’t in the protagonist group.

“Depends. If the opponent’s weak,” Teacher Li replied, not a direct yes but close enough.

Everyone was thrilled, quietly discussing who’d go first tomorrow.

Su Bei looked at Teacher Li, saying seriously: “Teacher, I think my Ability shouldn’t be exposed early. Though I want to compete, for the bigger picture, don’t send me unless necessary.”

His words painted him as a big-picture, self-sacrificing kid. But coming from Su Bei, it was obvious—he just didn’t want to fight.

Even Teacher Li, less familiar with him, wasn’t fooled: “Good thinking, but unnecessary. You won’t be main competitors for two years—no need to hide now.”

Wu Mingbai, eager to thwart him, chimed in: “Teacher’s right. No need to sacrifice for the big picture. We know you want to compete, and I’m sure Teacher will grant your wish.”

Facing his pleading brown eyes, Teacher Li pushed her glasses, smiling: “Don’t worry.”

A world where only Su Bei was hurt was born. Clutching his chest, he gritted his teeth: “Thanks so much.”

“No problem!” Wu Mingbai said cheerfully.

Su Bei felt he’d mastered Mo Xiaotian’s essence—Mo Xiaotian was frustrating, but this guy made you want to fight.

Matches weren’t one-by-one—that’d be too slow. The arena was divided by Barrier Abilities into sections, allowing up to six matches simultaneously. Sesbia wanted grand, exciting battles, so the arenas were spacious.

Skydome Ability Academy got lucky, competing early. As teams from the same country, despite past rivalries, they rooted for each other abroad, hoping for their win.

Notably, to avoid early same-country matchups, Sesbia promised no such pairings in the first six rounds.

Watching Huangfu Mingzhe in the lineup, Si Zhaohua dropped a bombshell: “Huangfu Mingzhe is a main team member for Skydome Ability Academy.”

Skydome selected purely on strength, with no rule against first-years as main members. From a second- or third-year perspective, Su Bei found Endless Ability Academy’s rules more humane, but as a first-year, Skydome’s seemed fairer.

Still, Endless Ability Academy’s rules were more approachable—fitting for the protagonist group’s shonen manga vibe.