A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

Chapter 67

“We can help you butcher it,” the man with the dragon-coiled staff said, patting his chest. “We’re pros at this. It’ll save you a lot of space.”

They had no intention of competing with Jiang Tianming’s group for the profit. For one, though they spotted the snake first, it was Jiang Tianming’s team that defeated it. Without these students, they might’ve perished.

Secondly, they couldn’t beat these students—a critical factor. Facing opponents they couldn’t defeat, they naturally complied.

Logically and emotionally, they had no grounds to refuse. Since they weren’t refusing, they might as well help fully.

Honestly, the fact that their rescuers were students greatly relieved the four. Students meant what? Naive and easy to deal with. Seasoned ability users doing missions in Different Spaces would’ve started extorting them. Would they be as bashful as these students?

Hearing the offer to butcher, Jiang Tianming nodded in agreement. A snake this large needed proper cutting. They’d learned Nightmare Beast processing in school, but their skills were rusty. Practicing on small beasts was fine, but wasting materials on a beast this big was unwise.

Seeing their consent, Brother Staff patted the buzz-cut man’s shoulder. “Your time to shine.”

But the buzz-cut man ignored him, stubbornly staring at Qingqing. The team seemed used to this. Qingqing directly ordered, “Go process the Nightmare Snake’s corpse.”

At her command, the buzz-cut man sprang to life like a powered-on robot, skillfully dissecting the snake with his ability knife.

The others took the chance to chat.

Zhao Xiaoyu curiously asked Qingqing, “Sister, how did your bow change color earlier?”

“You mean this?” Qingqing summoned her stylish green bow, which flashed pink and turned into a cute, mini pink bow.

Zhao Xiaoyu nodded, and the other girls gathered around. Ling You glanced over, unable to resist her curiosity, and joined them with a cool expression.

“The green bow and pink bow are two forms of my ability [Cupid’s Arrow],” Qingqing said, unbothered by sharing since they weren’t enemies. “Green is normal mode for attacking enemies. Pink is love god mode for healing.”

“What a cool ability!” Mo Xiaotian, seamlessly blending into the girls’ group, widened his eyes in awe, then asked, puzzled, “But what’s it got to do with Cupid?”

Qingqing grew awkward. She hadn’t mentioned that those hit by her love god mode arrow, besides healing, temporarily felt increased affection toward her. That was the unique aspect of [Cupid’s Arrow].

But such an ability was best kept as a trump card, so she wouldn’t reveal it. Who’d have thought this innocent-looking kid would hit the nail on the head?

Seeing her discomfort, Zhao Xiaoyu’s eyes flickered, and she stepped in. “Isn’t pink Cupid enough?”

She changed the topic. “By the way, all four of you have weapon-based abilities. Did you form the team on purpose?”

“Yeah,” Qingqing said, giving her a grateful glance. “We’re classmates, close friends, with weapon abilities covering melee, ranged, healing, and defense. Naturally, we teamed up. It’s been, what, four or five years since graduation?”

Ability users often formed teams with classmates, knowing each other well. Many became lifelong teammates.

Hearing this, Ai Baozhu sighed, “That’s nice. I hope I can stay teamed with my classmates and not split up.”

The others nodded in agreement. Who’d want strangers over familiar teammates? Going solo was an option, but for ability users, dying alone in the wild meant no one would know.

Nearby, Wu Jin stood alone silently. His gloomy demeanor, coupled with rumors he got in through connections, kept people at bay.

Even being a relative of the principal, the strongest ability user, didn’t matter. Who didn’t have some pride?

Zhou Renjie had considered approaching him to build ties for his family, but Wu Jin was unapproachable, dodging whenever Zhou Renjie got close. Eventually, Zhou Renjie stopped trying.

A month into Class S, only Zhao Xiaoyu and Su Bei could talk to Wu Jin.

Noticing him staring at the group, Su Bei, sucking on a lollipop from Mo Xiaotian, walked over. “What’re you looking at?”

Wu Jin’s voice was soft, rare for a full sentence. “I smell the scent of love.”

“Scent of love?” Su Bei followed his gaze to Qingqing’s pink bow.

He’d heard Qingqing’s explanation, and her ability was [Cupid’s Arrow]. Now, with Wu Jin’s comment and Mo Xiaotian’s earlier question, Su Bei roughly guessed what Qingqing hid.

Those hit by the pink arrow fell in love with her?

Interesting ability. He glanced at the buzz-cut man. His earlier odd behavior was likely due to the pink arrow.

He thought of Wu Jin, recalling a comic scene where Wu Jin made an opponent’s pupils turn heart-shaped, also tied to love.

But when he later asked that defeated opponent, they claimed to feel nothing. The trail went cold, untraceable.

Best not to dig into a teammate’s secrets. Su Bei withdrew his gaze thoughtfully. “Is love an emotion you can sense too?”

He recalled Wu Jin saying he was sensitive to emotions.

After a pause, Wu Jin nodded. “Yeah.”

“Is that buzz-cut guy in love with the [Cupid’s Arrow] user?” Though phrased as a question, Su Bei used a statement’s tone.

“Yeah,” Wu Jin replied quickly.

Su Bei smiled, handing him an orange lollipop as payment. “Let me know if his love fades. Also, if anyone else develops that kind of love, don’t forget to tell me.”

Finally, the snake was processed. Large chunks of dark snake meat were stacked, packed into several large bags the four-person team brought. The skin was perfectly peeled and set aside, with the blood in a separate bag.

The buzz-cut man was clearly skilled, rivaling a veteran skinner.

“The snake blood has medicinal value. Sell the meat and skin separately. Here’s our compiled market price list for Nightmare Beasts. Check it when selling to avoid getting scammed,” Qingqing said, thorough in her gratitude, saving them much hassle.

“Thanks so much, Qingqing. We really need this,” Zhao Xiaoyu said warmly, now handling social duties.

Through their chat, they learned the green-haired woman’s name was Qingqing—an obvious alias, but caution was normal out here.

Qingqing ducked her head, embarrassed, then hesitated before asking, “I know it’s shameless to ask, but could we travel with you for a bit?”

Feeling awkward about relying on younger students, her face reddened. “This Different Space is tougher than we expected, but we’ve paid the fee. If we don’t kill a couple of Nightmare Beasts, we’ll lose money. We need funds, so we’re hoping to hire you for help.”

Seeing Zhao Xiaoyu not respond immediately, she added, “We’ll handle processing the Nightmare Beasts. You just step in if we can’t handle them. Also, I noticed you don’t have much storage space. We can carry the materials. We split the profits 30-70, us three, you seven. What do you think?”

“Let’s discuss it,” Zhao Xiaoyu said, not deciding for the group.

Discussion was promising. Qingqing brightened, nodding eagerly. “Great, thank you!”

She tactfully led her team a distance away, giving them space to talk.

“What do you think?” Zhao Xiaoyu asked directly, knowing everyone heard the conversation.

She wanted to agree. As Qingqing said, they lacked storage. The biggest storage ring in the Campus Store was fifty square meters and exorbitantly priced. Su Bei likely bought the twenty-square-meter one.

This snake alone took up significant space. Another, and they’d have no room for more.

Zhao Xiaoyu’s family wasn’t poor but far from rich—just ordinary. They owned one house, and her parents were salaried workers. They’d paid a hefty sum for her to attend Endless Ability Academy, straining their finances.

After seeing Qingqing’s price list, she couldn’t bear to abandon such profit. The next Different Space trip was uncertain, so she wanted to seize this chance.

Selling that snake was a year’s living expenses for Jiang Tianming, but for her, it was half a year’s. A few more, and she could buy a house back home.

But she knew many here didn’t need money. From her observations, only Jiang Tianming and Wu Mingbai were truly strapped.

Si Zhaohua, Ai Baozhu, and others seemed indifferent and disliked strangers, likely to refuse.

If Zhao Xiaoyu begged them to let the four join, it’d probably work—classmates would give her that face. But it’d burn too much goodwill, not worth it.

She needed to convince them. With that, her eyes gleamed, and she added, “They’ve been in Different Spaces for four or five years. They must know something about ‘Closed Points.’”

At this, Si Zhaohua and others, previously uninterested and ready to refuse, perked up.

Though driven by personal motives, Zhao Xiaoyu was right. Even if the four hadn’t seen a “Closed Point,” their experience far surpassed that of high school freshmen.

The money didn’t matter to them, but the intel did.

“I think we can agree,” Si Zhaohua said immediately. Ai Baozhu and Zhou Renjie followed his lead, having no objections. Others wanted money, intel, or, in Su Bei’s case, a good show.

Yes, Su Bei was here for the drama.

Coincidences made stories, but in a comic world, Su Bei didn’t believe in so many accidents.

All coincidences were scripted plot.

No matter. Plots had to unfold, and injuries were standard in shonen manga. As long as it went smoothly and he wasn’t the unlucky one, Su Bei wouldn’t interfere.

So, everyone agreed.

Getting her desired outcome, Zhao Xiaoyu’s lips curved slightly.

Suddenly, Li Shu sidled up, feigning curiosity. “Why’s Sister Laughter so keen on working with them? Did you and Sister Qingqing plan this?”

He was implying Zhao Xiaoyu made a deal with Qingqing to push for their inclusion.

The scheming Li Shu saw through Zhao Xiaoyu’s motives. She wasn’t advocating for “Closed Point” intel.

Normally, even if noticed, no one would call it out—her points were valid, and it was beneficial. No need to expose her.

But Li Shu wasn’t normal. Somehow, Zhao Xiaoyu had provoked him, inviting retaliation.

Zhao Xiaoyu gritted her teeth. Just because she interrupted his chat with Jiang Tianming? Did he have to pick now to get back at her? Li Shu, stirring trouble for nothing! Calling her sister—if she had a brother like him, she’d have beaten him senseless!

Notably, Li Shu calling her sister was logically sound. During birthday talks, Li Shu was the youngest, born in December, not even fifteen yet.

Thinking of his age, Zhao Xiaoyu mentally chanted not to stoop to a kid’s level, suppressing her anger. She exhaled and half-joked, “Yeah, we planned it. She offered me a million to trick you into teaming up.”

Everyone laughed, diffusing a potential trust crisis.

Li Shu pouted, saying no more.

After a month together, he’d gauged his classmates’ personalities. His usual manipulative charm failed on them, male or female.

Pointing out Zhao Xiaoyu’s slip was fine, but if he pressed after her explanation, others would ignore him.

So annoying! Why was the class full of sharp or silent types? The one idiot was thoroughly clueless. For the mischief-loving Li Shu, it was boring!

His gaze shifted to Jiang Tianming, eyes lighting up. At least one interesting person was in the class. Li Shu licked his lips, eager to uncover Jiang Tianming’s secrets…

Learning their request was approved, Qingqing beamed. Her two teammates were thrilled too, except the buzz-cut man, fixated on Qingqing, oblivious to else.

After deciding to join, they introduced themselves, all using aliases. The buzz-cut man was Brother Knife, the shield-wielding woman Sister Shield, and the staff user Brother Staff.

Hearing their names, the group: “…”

Though obviously fake, the sheer laziness was eye-opening. Compared to these, “Qingqing,” which they’d thought fake, was the most sincere!

“We’re heading north,” Jiang Tianming said, setting ground rules. “We’re not focused on hunting Nightmare Beasts. If you want to change paths midway, we’ll settle then.”

He’d seen Qingqing’s price list, which matched market rates he’d checked, so it seemed legit.

“North?” Sister Shield glanced at the sun, puzzled. “What’s up north?”

Jiang Tianming wouldn’t reveal the “Closed Point” was likely there. He didn’t know these people and wouldn’t expose their goal.

Finding a “Closed Point” could earn a lot, and greed could lead to betrayal. He didn’t want a careless word to capsize them.

So, he replied calmly, “Nothing. We just want to cross the Different Space, see what happens going one direction.”

Sister Shield chuckled. “You haven’t been to Different Spaces much, huh? Newbies always have all sorts of curiosities.”

She turned to Brother Staff. “What dumb stuff did we do our first few times?”

Not wanting to lose face, Brother Staff played dumb. “Huh? Weren’t we always this wise and mighty? When did we do dumb stuff?”

Such shamelessness! Sister Shield glared, then said, “Ignore him. We were newbies too. Since you’re curious, we won’t spoil it. Let’s go!”

By noon, they stopped in the shade of a large rock to eat. After a morning in the blazing sun, slaying several Nightmare Beasts, everyone’s stomachs growled.

Mo Xiaotian, Brother Knife, and Sister Shield prepared grilled snake meat, while the rest sat to rest.

“No sign of an end,” Ai Baozhu said, wiping sweat with a handkerchief and reapplying sunscreen to her exposed skin.

“To reach the Different Space’s edge, you’ll need to walk a lot longer,” Qingqing said, smiling. “This one seems pretty big.”

Si Zhaohua was discussing distance with Su Bei and Jiang Tianming. “The teachers said we’re returning to the hotel tonight, so the ‘Closed Point’ can’t be too far.”

That made sense. Jiang Tianming nodded. “And since we only need to find it, it’s probably testing our observation?”

They both looked at Su Bei. “Why’re you so quiet?”

Su Bei said thoughtfully, “I’m thinking, this Different Space has existed for a year. In all that time, no one found the ‘Closed Point.’ The teachers, here for a month at most, found it and think we can too. There must be something special about this ‘Closed Point.’”

He was right. The ability world had no tools or abilities to precisely locate “Closed Points,” so it was pure manpower.

Unfound for a year, this “Closed Point” was well-hidden. The teachers finding it in a month likely spotted an obvious marker.

His reasoning was sound, but—“How do you know this Different Space has been open for a year?”

Before coming, they didn’t know which Different Space they’d visit, and such info wasn’t online. Everyone was clueless, unaware even of the terrain, let alone its establishment.

Su Bei shrugged nonchalantly. “Who knows what channel I got it from?”

Hearing this, they dropped it. If he didn’t want to say, pressing wouldn’t help.

But Jiang Tianming kept pondering. Normally, Su Bei would’ve learned it through his ability, answering with a casual “guess.”

But saying “some channel” implied an unusual source, not his ability.

If not his ability, how did he know?

Watching them rejoin their groups, Su Bei lowered his eyes, rubbing the silver ring on his finger. After a moment, his lips curved into a sly smile.

In the ring’s storage space, alongside the snake meat and some charms, lay a magazine.

If Jiang Tianming saw its title, they’d be dumbfounded.

It was called Sand Sea Different Space Guide.

While they discussed, the other side wasn’t idle, chatting with Qingqing’s team about Different Space trivia.

Zhao Xiaoyu, ever shrewd, steered the talk to “Closed Points.” Though not her main goal for teaming up, since she’d mentioned it, she had to play the part.

“To be honest, in four or five years, we’ve only seen a ‘Closed Point’ once,” Qingqing said, smiling wryly. “That was in school, with a teacher.”

Sister Shield chimed in, “Yeah, so I say don’t be too curious. Your teachers will find chances to show you things, like ‘Closed Points.’ From what I know, most schools ensure students observe one within three years.”

Zhao Xiaoyu and Wu Mingbai exchanged looks, their eyes bitter. Curious? They were forced into this.

Now they understood why today’s task was this—likely to let them see a “Closed Point” for experience. But other schools had teachers guide students. Why did they have to find it themselves?

They knew the teachers meant well, so they had to do their best.

Zhao Xiaoyu playfully whined, “But who knows how long till our teachers take us? I want to know now! Sister, what was the ‘Closed Point’ you saw like?”