A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

23:

After posting, he didn’t refresh immediately but decided to let the bullet fly for a while and logged out to study his own ability.

Su Bei used his ability [Gear] again, summoning an ordinary gear. But this summoned gear was clearly different from every previous one; it was “empty.”

Here, “empty” does not mean hollow, but that something could be added inside the gear.

—

Su Bei suddenly realized something and walked out of the dormitory door. It was now evening, and the corridor was filled with students.

Upon seeing them, Su Bei instinctively closed his eyes, then reopened them, finally confirming the situation—he could see the destiny compass above everyone’s head!

Immediately, he went back to his room to put on a pair of sunglasses, then went out again to the corridor window, pretending to admire the scenery while secretly observing the compasses above others’ heads.

These compasses looked very complex, containing many symbols inside and out, resembling those used for feng shui. Yet, they were not entirely Chinese in style but a fusion of East and West, a mechanically crafted compass.

In the center of the compass was a pointer, and Su Bei could vaguely sense the direction it pointed to—the direction in which this person’s life would soon change.

A vision flashed through his mind, and Su Bei almost couldn’t control his expression. He wasn’t going to become a fortune-teller, was he?

Fortune-telling on the overpass was certainly not in his career plan!

Pushing aside his scattered thoughts, he continued to observe. It was evident that a kind of “qi” tightly enveloped the periphery of the compass, presumably the aura of destiny he had fabricated on the spot.

Gears that absorbed this aura could prophesize, while those without it were “empty,” no different from ordinary gears.

However, Su Bei had a faint feeling that he wasn’t completely unable to control the direction of the prophecy. The compass was divided into many sections, and the gears that touched different sections would receive different prophecies.

To maximize the effect of the prophecy, it was best to choose from the sections where the pointer directed.

But this led Su Bei to a new thought—if he adjusted the pointer or the direction of the compass, could he directly change a person’s destiny?

To know the answer to this question, one would definitely need to practice it personally. And it had to be with someone who knew of his special ability; otherwise, it would be hard to find a reasonable explanation.

Experimenting with the compass on his own head was possible, but it was risky.

It would be best to experiment with the protagonist group. Their destinies wouldn’t face major issues, and if he made a mistake, the “comic consciousness” would not stand idly by.

Moreover, practicing with them had another benefit—it might allow the readers to see and thus “understand” his special ability better.

Thinking this, Su Bei took off his sunglasses, put them in his pocket, and knocked on Jiang Tianming’s room door.

He had carefully considered choosing Jiang Tianming for the experiment. Indeed, practicing with any member of the protagonist group was possible, but Jiang Tianming was undoubtedly the best choice.

He had previously said that Jiang Tianming was the most unfortunate person, so testing Jiang Tianming’s destiny could be very reasonably explained by “curiosity.” Even if the comic depicted this plot, readers could imagine he might have other intentions.

Since the celebration banquet was rescheduled for tomorrow, Jiang Tianming at this time…

He had returned to his room. Hearing a knock, he thought it was Wu Mingbai at the door. But upon opening it, he was taken aback, “Su Bei? What brings you here?”

With that, he ushered Su Bei into the room.

If it were any other classmate, Jiang Tianming would have just talked at the door. His room held no secrets, but a sense of territoriality made it difficult for him to let unfamiliar people in.

But the visitor was Su Bei. Although they weren’t exactly friends, they had collaborated before, and Su Bei had been of considerable help to him. Subconsciously, Jiang Tianming felt that Su Bei must have something important to discuss if he came all this way.

True to his intuition, Su Bei got straight to the point after entering, “I want to study my own special ability. Would you be willing to help? The reward is a chance at a prophecy.”

Hearing this request, Jiang Tianming paused, then turned to meet Su Bei’s deep purple eyes. He couldn’t read any emotion in those profound eyes, and after a moment’s thought, he asked with a tentative smile, “You still need to study your own ability? I thought you had it pretty much figured out.”

Su Bei knew he was probably worried that the research might affect him, but he was clear that he would never come to him if there was a chance of altering his fate.

However, such things couldn’t be said outright, so Su Bei found an excuse, soothingly saying, “I’m concerned that the effects of using my ability on myself might differ from using it on others.”

This statement revealed something – that he had been experimenting on himself all along.

But there were two underlying messages: one, that the experiments on himself had never gone awry, and two, that he wasn’t the type of experimenter who disregarded the lives of others, otherwise, he wouldn’t have experimented solely on himself before.

Although he spoke cryptically, Su Bei trusted that Jiang Tianming’s intelligence would grasp the full meaning.

And just as he expected, after hearing him out, Jiang Tianming quickly agreed, “Okay, when do you plan to conduct this research?”

“Right now,” Su Bei didn’t want to waste any time.

As they spoke, he looked up intently at the top of Jiang Tianming’s head.

The Destiny Compass didn’t appear above someone’s head at all times; it only materialized when he wanted to see it, and his gaze fell upon their crown.

The color of the compass and the color of one’s spiritual force were the same. Jiang Tianming’s black compass had an ominous air about it. If not for knowing the context, Su Bei might have really thought he was destined to be a great villain.

He walked over, attempting to touch the compass with his hand, only to find that he couldn’t make contact at all, as if the compass was merely an illusion.

It seemed that it couldn’t be touched by hand, so Su Bei took out the gear he had conjured earlier, and with the gear, he successfully made contact with the Destiny Compass.

The moment he touched the grid, he felt his spiritual force being slowly siphoned away, and the gear began to transform. About a quarter of his current spiritual force was drained.

And with his control over his ability, he could vaguely sense that once the gear made a true prophecy, he would have to expend another significant amount of spiritual force.

In essence, it seems the manga has set a limit on his current abilities based on his last performance; he can predict the fate of at most three people simultaneously. And after making predictions for three, he nearly loses the ability to act.

This left Su Bei somewhat frustrated—

had he known, he wouldn’t have acted so weak last time. If he had acted a bit more effortlessly, perhaps his limit could have been raised.

He sighed, Su Bei switched to another square. As expected, the gear changed, forming a new pattern.

This time, it didn’t absorb his mental strength, but it still maintained a certain connection with his psyche. Su Bei could clearly feel that as long as he severed this connection, the gear would fully materialize, becoming a Fate Gear laden with destiny.

And as long as he didn’t sever the connection, he could continue to use it to contaminate the compasses of others with their aura, forming a prophecy related to these individuals.

It was an arcane sensation. The school wouldn’t start introducing the basics of mental strength until next week, and he had little understanding of it for now.

However, one point worth noting was that, from his feelings, he should only be able to access one piece of information from the same compass. Touching two squares of the same compass in succession, the prophecy obtained would only pertain to the latter square.

Su Bei removed the gear he had collected from Jiang Tianming’s head and felt it again. The gear was clearly in an unstable state, ready to activate at any moment. It was only because of a sliver of his mental strength supporting it that it didn’t immediately engage to make a prophecy.

But his mental strength couldn’t last much longer. If the gear was in his hands, it could probably maintain its form for about ten minutes without activating. But if it left his hands, it would likely activate immediately.

This wasn’t a big deal, but it gave Su Bei a clear direction for improvement. He needed to train himself in the use and precision of his mental strength.

For a gear that had absorbed the aura of fate, the stronger the mental strength, the longer the gear could maintain stability. And if he could successfully separate his mental strength from himself, leaving a part on the gear, then even if the gear left his hands, it could maintain its form for a while.

Jiang Tianming curiously observed the intricately patterned gear in his hands. The gear had activated too quickly when making the prophecy that day, and he hadn’t observed it closely.

Now, looking at it, Jiang Tianming felt an indescribable aura emanating from it, as if it were closely connected to him.

Hesitating, he asked, “Can this gear make a prophecy about me now?”

Su Bei nodded, “As soon as I let go, the ability will activate. If you want to see it now, it would negate the prophecy I promised you earlier. Do you want to see it?”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Tianming immediately shook his head. Nothing urgent was happening now, and he knew that the biweekly exam was of utmost importance. He still wanted to leave Class F after the exam; that would be the best time to fulfill the promise.

“No need, give me the prophecy when I need it more. But if this gear doesn’t activate, will you destroy it?” he asked uncertainly.

Hearing this, Su Bei revealed a hearty laugh, “Of course not, that would be a waste, wouldn’t it? If you don’t look, I’ll just sneak a peek myself.”

Jiang Tianming: “……”

He nearly lost his composure, almost wanting to voice out in protest, “You’re going to look anyway, what’s the harm in bringing me along?”

As if seeing through his silent frustration, Su Bei patted Jiang Tianming’s head with a smile, “Knowing one’s fate isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

Without waiting for a response, he walked straight to the door. Just before leaving, Su Bei suddenly turned back, “Oh, and the experiment I asked you for help with today—don’t tell anyone else.”

“Not even Wu Mingbai and Lan Subing?” Jiang Tianming asked, surprised. Compared to others, he was much closer to these two.

Su Bei nodded, offering no further explanation, and truly left this time. He wasn’t worried about Jiang Tianming blabbing; that guy was the protagonist, after all, endowed with all the fine qualities one should have.

As soon as he returned to the dormitory, the “Comic Consciousness” asked in confusion, ‘Why can’t he tell anyone about this?’

Lying on his bed, Su Bei looked up at the night sky through the window and said meaningfully, “The fewer people know about this matter, the better. Mo Xiaotian has already infiltrated the protagonist’s group, after all.”