A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

Chapter 290

“But my Destiny says I’ll likely compete,” Su Bei replied, unsoothed, probing half-truthfully.

He wasn’t certain he’d join the final match. With six in the protagonist group, including him, Team Battles usually needed five, so with luck, he could sit out.

But he had to plan for the worst. If possible, he wanted to join—main storyline events were better experienced than read, even with manga.

The Gourd paused, skeptical: “Certain to compete? As an alternate, you can sit out, right?”

It had studied the competition rules. Each academy had fifteen competitors—main and alternates. Even if the main team fell, alternates were plentiful, so not everyone would be forced in.

It had researched Su Bei, as Endless Ability Academy was a major threat to Nightmare Beasts, requiring thorough study of their competitors.

“Who says alternates can’t compete?” Su Bei said casually. Seeing the Gourd’s willingness to negotiate, he knew it couldn’t harm him. This was a prime chance to gather intel.

Unaware of human cunning or its paper-tiger status being exposed, the Gourd thought Su Bei just wanted to avoid trouble, trying to help: “If you must compete, win.”

It didn’t dare lie, unsure if Su Bei could detect falsehoods. If caught, he might go all-out against them.

Su Bei’s brow furrowed imperceptibly—a bad sign. Did winning the second round exempt them from danger?

So the protagonist group had a high chance of winning, but it’d be tough. Su Bei worried whether “winning” meant team victory or surviving to the end.

If the former, he wasn’t concerned. Though opponents were elite, two years older, the protagonist aura wasn’t for show—Su Bei was 80% sure Jiang Tianming’s team would win, letting him coast.

But if it meant surviving to the end, it was trickier. Without a protagonist aura, and with many protagonists eliminated mid-competition, he wasn’t confident he’d last.

Rather than risk that, he preferred not competing. He feigned disbelief: “Win in the match? The outside will be a mess. I don’t believe you’ve no plans for those outside.”

“Relax, outsiders aren’t our target. Even if there’s danger, it’s minor,” the Gourd replied. “We’re Control Track Nightmare Beasts. We’ll control them at key moments to prevent interference.”

The present Nightmare Beasts traded attack power for control. They gathered to ensure humans couldn’t save the competing students if trouble arose.

Though reasonable, Su Bei knew the Gourd was lying. If their target was just the students, why were so many Nightmare Beasts gathered in the Nightmare Beast world?

The hotel’s Nightmare Beasts, like the Gourd, were for controlling people here. Some in the Nightmare Beast world would control Jiram and cause trouble in the second phase’s Illusion.

So the masses of Low- and Mid-Level Nightmare Beasts were for hunting students in the Illusion?

Unlikely. World competition students wouldn’t lose to Mid- or Low-Level Nightmare Beasts. Even a zerg rush wouldn’t work—many competitors had group-attack Abilities. With timely teamwork, wiping them out was easy.

Nightmare Beasts were cunning, mixing seven parts truth with three parts lies. Without his prior trip to their world, Su Bei might’ve been fooled.

Nowhere was safe—hotel, venue, Sesbia’s capital, all had dangers. The venue, with the protagonist group, was safer, less likely to be wiped out.

Su Bei nodded thoughtfully: “Got it. I’m leaving.”

“Wait!” The Gourd called urgently. It hadn’t talked so much to let Su Bei leave with intel.

When he turned, it asked, displeased: “You got all this info. Shouldn’t you do something?”

“Like what?” Su Bei feigned confusion.

He knew they wanted a promise not to spill their plan. He could give it but couldn’t offer it first.

Offering first risked them pushing further. Showing reluctance lowered their expectations.

As expected, the Gourd panicked: “Promise you won’t reveal our plan! You’re not backing out, are you?”

Not understanding him, it threatened: “We don’t like killing, but trapping you here’s easy.”

Still gilding itself, claiming it “didn’t like killing.” Su Bei’s lips twitched. What Nightmare Beast didn’t kill? Even to hide its lack of attack power, such blatant lies were absurd.

But its threat held—Control Track Nightmare Beasts could trap him easily. They hadn’t acted, fearing his disappearance would draw attention.

If he vanished, others would notice. A sweep would reveal these Nightmare Beasts, exploiting a hotel security loophole, as the Gourd’s words implied.

Even Su Bei could “see” them with [Destiny Gear]. Search Ability Users would find them easily.

One move could unravel their plan, so they didn’t dare risk it, needing his silence.

But if he refused, they’d trap him. Being found later was better than immediate exposure, giving them reaction time.

Su Bei knew this, so after lowering their expectations, he promised readily: “I won’t tell. Good enough?”

“Sign a contract,” the Gourd said, distrusting verbal promises. As humans saw Nightmare Beasts as cunning, they saw humans, especially Su Bei, as untrustworthy.

Su Bei had no issue—he couldn’t reveal the truth; the author wouldn’t allow it. Getting intel for free, he was satisfied.

Signing and leaving the rooftop, his phone was flooded with notifications. Scanning them, he was speechless.

The author struck, huh? In half an hour, he missed two plot points. First, Jiang Tianming’s group versus Elvis, which he skipped.

Surprisingly, except for Jiang Tianming, everyone lost. Jiang Tianming revealed a new Ability, catching Elvis off-guard for the win.

His new Ability, also time-based, was quirky: [Time Sponge], based on “time’s like water in a sponge—squeeze, and it’s there.”

A pure Buff Ability, it released five seconds of time, usable on himself or others, adding five seconds.

It didn’t pause others—just gave him extra time to think, recover Mental Energy, or cast Abilities, without affecting others.

Weak alone, it countered time Abilities. It disrupted Elvis’ time flow, letting Jiang Tianming seize a brief chaos to win.

Su Bei hadn’t expected Elvis to grow this strong—like Lan Subing said, what steroids did he take?

If Elvis’ change shocked Su Bei, the second event made him sigh. Endless Ability Academy’s last match was against Saint Dante Ability Academy.

Like Endless, Saint Dante was a top contender, last competition’s champion.

The result stunned all—five individual battles, Endless lost only one! And that was Zhang Sheng, a Support Track with lower attack power, losing to an Attack Track—normal. They nearly crushed Saint Dante.

Su Bei wasn’t too surprised. Mu Yunfan’s Abilities were protagonist-level. If many were stronger, the manga’s power balance would be off.

What made him sigh was that winning four of five against a top contender nearly locked Endless’ victory. Could they lose in Team Battles?

Alone, it meant little. But combined with Mu Yunfan’s group missing the second phase, the issue was clear.

To win, other academies would target this thorn—Endless.

Saint Dante’s reputation was iffy, often intentionally injuring opponents in past competitions to knock them out of later rounds.

Su Bei didn’t doubt they’d pull off-field stunts.

From reading manga and novels, he knew these tropes and had sharp instincts. He felt Saint Dante would cause trouble.

Sighing again, he closed his phone. Thanks to his enthusiastic classmates, he learned what happened during his rooftop trip, deducing the plot.

But knowing was useless—he wouldn’t warn Mu Yunfan’s group. Saint Dante’s actions might just bench them temporarily. If he foiled their plan, the author’s new scheme could be worse.

Suddenly, Manga Consciousness’ notification sounded—the manga updated!

Su Bei was briefly surprised, then understood. The past days had plenty of events—his false accusation, Elvis’ fights, Saint Dante’s loss with potential follow-up. Enough for an update.

As expected, the update covered these.

It opened with the main team’s crushing battles, setting the competition’s atmosphere with vivid arenas, powerful Abilities, and dazzling effects.

Su Bei’s match drew laughs for being set up.

“Hahahahahahaha”

“Can’t please everyone? Make everyone unhappy!”

“Su Bei: You got a problem?”

“Zhang Sheng, the drama-loving guy”

“Others: ?”

“Truly, everyone’s unhappy hahahahaha”

Su Bei gave a fake smile. As he’d said, post-competition, Zhang Sheng would face bad luck.

Next, his cheating accusation showed Wilder’s thought process. Su Bei had to admit—no hate was baseless. As he thought, their outrage was a calculated, low-risk choice.

Profit-driven, though not morally ideal, was understandable. Readers went from angry to understanding after the explanation.

“Why suspect Su Bei of cheating? My North Bro’s just that strong!”

“Questioning Destiny’s value?”

“Can’t wait to see them eliminated for a failed report”

“Wait? That’s how it works?”

“I thought it was dumb, but it’s strategic”

“Saves time, huh.”

“Win, advance; lose, save time. Smart move! Just a bit unethical”

After resolving this, the plot hit Elvis’ matches. Except for Jiang Tianming, all five lost, shocking readers.

Though they knew Elvis was strong, his growth was unreal, making readers curious about his journey and aware the protagonist group’s progress lagged. Outpaced by a side character—that’s slow.

Only Jiang Tianming improved recently, not others. But with the issue highlighted, their growth should soon follow.

Mu Yunfan’s battles were detailed, about a page each. After, Saint Dante got focus.

Crushed so decisively, their faces were grim. Even their teacher scolded them, ending with a dark glare at Mu Yunfan’s group. Even novice readers could tell they’d turn villain.

Checking the forum, besides Elvis, Saint Dante’s final scene was the hot topic. They were sure the academy would cause trouble, just not how.

Posts about Elvis were uninteresting, and Saint Dante’s offered no new insights. With clear causes and no plot details, Su Bei wasn’t interested.

“You missed epic battles by going back early!” Qi Huang said regretfully at the hotel restaurant, shaking her head. “The seniors were amazing!”

“There’s replays,” Su Bei said, showing his phone with Sesbia’s competition website, featuring Mu Yunfan’s group’s videos as the “face” of the event.

Though he disliked fighting, he enjoyed watching. If not for knowing this was a manga world, he’d be a hot-blooded youth, training in martial arts.

He’d once fantasized about saving someone in a dark alley.

Now, those desires were gone. He just wanted the manga plot to end—world peace or destruction, fast-forward.

Showing the videos, he studied their expressions curiously: “How’d you feel fighting Elvis?”

He expected disappointment, but except for Wu Mingbai and Si Zhaohua, they were calm, even Qi Huang.

Feeling his stare, Qi Huang, aware of her competitive persona, huffed: “I’ll fight again next time. My Ability was countered, but I won’t lose so easily again.”

She’d let go of the loss. Though competitive, with everyone losing, it wasn’t a big deal.

As she said, she’d improve next time. Her bold personality ensured a single loss wouldn’t linger.

Si Zhaohua pursed his lips, admitting: “I’ve been slacking. Elvis improved so much in half a year—why can’t I?”

That was his disappointment—peers’ rapid growth sparked anxiety.

Wu Mingbai felt similarly, especially with Jiang Tianming’s win as contrast, highlighting his progress.

Lan Subing, initially unconcerned, grew anxious: “You’re right… we just went to Vixi Island.”

“We got sidelined there, missing many activities,” Jiang Tianming reminded calmly.

Without Su Bei’s perspective, they didn’t know what’d happen next, picking activities casually, missing useful ones.

He looked at Su Bei: “Elvis asked when you’ll fight him. Scared?”

“When will he drop the lame taunts?” Su Bei shook his head, ignoring the challenge.

Lan Subing giggled. If Elvis heard that, she’d take ten more losses: “Cut the tsundere some slack.”

In their brief month together, they all knew Elvis was a tsundere. Coughs and love couldn’t be hidden—nor could tsundere-ness.

After the banter, Su Bei recalled: “How many days left for individual battles?”

Focused on the second phase’s main event, he hadn’t paid attention.

“One more day,” Si Zhaohua, who tracked this, replied. “Huangfu Mingzhe’s team hasn’t been eliminated. We might face them tomorrow.”