A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga - Chapter 94



Su Bei understood the need for patience, nodding obediently: “Then I’ll trouble you, sister.”

That night, the girl in yellow indeed approached her superior, the one they called Scorpion Braid.

“You want that kid named Yan Nan to go to the resource room?” Scorpion Braid frowned, “I had no idea you were so soft-hearted.”

Faced with her questioning, the girl in yellow remained calm, merely sighing: “I have a younger brother at home who doesn’t like studying at all. We’ve argued about it several times. It’s rare to see a child so eager to learn; I just thought to lend a hand.”

Seeing that her superior still seemed unconvinced, she continued to persuade: “What schemes could an eight-year-old possibly have? How could he know I would help? Even if he did, how could he know that only the resource room has books? Besides, even if he saw those data materials, he probably wouldn’t understand them, right? Adults struggle to make sense of them.”

This was the very reason she dared to make such a request; even if Su Bei truly had an interest in those crucial materials, he would be utterly powerless. A pile of numbers could leave anyone dizzy, and a child in the third grade of elementary school would be even less likely to comprehend.

With them watching from the surveillance room, there was no fear of him taking any clandestine photos; there would be no issue at all.

Scorpion Braid was swayed by her words, hesitating for a moment: “Wait, let me check first.”

With that, she opened the surveillance feed to review Su Bei’s actions over the past two days. At least from the footage, it appeared he had no intention of gathering intelligence. In fact, due to their status as kidnappers, he hardly dared to speak, playing alone in the morning and obediently reading in the afternoon.

Rarely encountering such a well-behaved child, Scorpion Braid finally nodded: “Alright, but during his time in the resource room, you must arrange for someone to accompany him or monitor him with surveillance, to prevent any actions that could be detrimental to us.”

One must always be cautious; many had suffered losses at the hands of children.

With permission granted, the girl in yellow excitedly returned to find Su Bei, sharing the good news and agreeing that he could go to the resource room the next day.

Hearing that the destination was the archive room, Su Bei smiled with satisfaction. Though she hadn’t spoken to anyone in the past few days, she could tell from their words and actions that the members of this base were not particularly educated. They were likely those who had graduated from ability academies, never attended university, and hadn’t read a book in years.

Without the habit of reading, there was no demand for it, and thus no library or collection of books. The most likely place to find any books would be the archive room.

As expected, her guess was not wrong.

When the girl in the yellow dress said this, it was dinner time, and Si Zhao Hua and Zhao Xiao Yu were naturally present. They merely showed expressions of surprise, but did not foolishly insist on joining her.

However, once the girl in the yellow dress left, the two surrounded Su Bei. Zhao Xiao Yu exclaimed, “Impressive! You managed to sneak into the archive room, how did you pull that off?”

Si Zhao Hua wore a face of disbelief: “They actually agreed? Is it just because you’re a child?”

Su Bei propped her chin up, feigning innocence: “Perhaps it’s because I’m so well-behaved and adorable.”

The dining table fell into a heavy silence.

Only Zhao Xiao Yu and Si Zhao Hua were grateful for this visit; otherwise, the atmosphere would have been filled with retching sounds.

The next morning at eight, the girl in the yellow dress came to fetch Su Bei, but only brought her to the door of the archive room. After telling her she could only read and not do anything else, she made an excuse to leave for the monitoring room.

She was a bit afraid of misjudging the situation, so she naturally had to supervise personally.

Once the girl in the yellow dress left, Su Bei stepped into the archive room, which resembled a small library, and boldly browsed around. Just from this quick tour, she could already tell where the important documents were stored.

Unlike the other mundane books, here were stacks of file bags and a few loose sheets of paper; it was undoubtedly where the information was kept.

However, Su Bei merely glanced at it hastily, feigning disinterest as she moved on. After she had meandered through the entire archive room, she returned to pick a travelogue, settling down on the sofa to read it with great interest.

The girl in the yellow dress watched from behind the scenes for a full hour. During this time, Su Bei showed no signs of getting up, quietly engrossed in her reading, not even changing her posture. If it weren’t for the occasional page turn, she would have thought the feed had frozen.

Such behavior naturally pleased the girl in the yellow dress, who felt she hadn’t misjudged the person. She casually found someone else to watch and went off to attend to her own matters.

Su Bei was unaware that the person monitoring her had changed, but even if she knew, she would never act rashly. After all, how long had it been? Some matters could not be rushed.

On the other side, the crowd in the reception room, under Zhao Xiao Yu’s subtle hints, managed to hold their ground. It wasn’t that their resolve was particularly strong; they simply understood that once they compromised, unless everyone except the one who compromised was dead, their futures would be utterly ruined. Who among them had not harbored a bit of ambition to reach this point? Under the threat to their futures, no one dared to act recklessly.

—

Fortunately, Zhao Xiaoyu’s speculation was not wrong at all; the next day, the kidnappers brought them food. Though the dishes were unappetizing, as long as one didn’t pick at it, they could at least fill their bellies.

The kidnappers even claimed it was out of pity for them, but those who had long received Zhao Xiaoyu’s hints felt a sense of calm settle in their hearts, not believing a word of the kidnappers’ nonsense.

With this meal delivery, the hostages’ emotions were immediately stabilized. They realized that Zhao Xiaoyu’s earlier hints were correct; the kidnappers would never allow them to starve to death, nor would they easily let them die.

Before the rescue team arrived, they would at most endure some hardship, but their lives were not in danger.

With this understanding, anyone who cared even slightly about their future would never surrender.

With the rear stabilized, progress was also being made at the front. During the two days that Su Bei was peacefully reading travelogues, Si Zhaohua and Zhao Xiaoyu had successfully completed their respective tasks.

Si Zhaohua had found a way to escape; in fact, the entire island was surrounded by the sea, and with a little research, it became clear that there was only one route for escape—the dock.

Naturally, the kidnappers were aware of this, so the guards at the dock were numerous, making escape nearly impossible.

But since it was the only route, they still had to ask the necessary questions. Every Friday at two in the afternoon, a supply ship would arrive at the island, docking for an hour before leaving. This hour was their best chance to escape.

The ship was manned by ordinary people, easily subdued. As long as they could find a way to distract the others, they could seize the opportunity to board the ship and leave.

On this side, while Si Zhaohua was barely managing, Zhao Xiaoyu had also found the one person who could touch the crystal ball, but bad news followed. This person was currently in a coma, and it was said that only the Scorpion Braid could wake him.

But it was easy to guess that the only time the Scorpion Braid could wake him would be when the academy’s people arrived. However, if they waited until then, the Scorpion Braid would surely be well-prepared, making it even harder for the two of them to succeed.

Once the crystal ball was taken away, those of them who hadn’t taken the medicine would die on the spot. Did they really have to risk their lives to test whether touching the crystal ball would cause them to explode?

With no other options, Zhao Xiaoyu appeared somewhat dejected, huddled in her room, refusing to come out.

She truly did not want to die; all her efforts had been for the sake of living better, hadn’t they? If this matter didn’t concern her, but only she could try to save the others, Zhao Xiaoyu would definitely refuse; she wasn’t that selfless.

This was a life-and-death gamble! The Scorpion Braid had said it herself; theoretically, only those with weaker abilities could touch the “Loyalty Crystal,” but in the end, wasn’t there only one success? The rest had all died!

Yet, it was about her own life. If she didn’t go, not only would the others die, but she would too, which made Zhao Xiaoyu feel quite miserable.

Rationally, she knew she had to try, but emotionally, she couldn’t help but think, what if there was a way once the academy arrived? That would be better than her going to her death, wouldn’t it?

In short—Zhao Xiaoyu did not want to go.

From noble mtl dot com

After understanding what had happened, Si Zhaohua did not urge her. Who could boldly persuade another to go to their death? That would be too shameless, anyway, Si…

—

Zhao Zhaohua could never manage this.

He strained to seek other means, hoping to resolve the issue without relying on Zhao Xiaoyu. But how meticulous and clever was she? This was a matter of life and death for her; if she believed there were no alternatives, then Zhaohua could hardly expect to find any.

Just as everything fell into a stalemate, Su Bei suddenly approached Zhaohua, asking to borrow a disruptor.

“What do you intend to do?” Zhaohua, still doggedly pursuing new solutions, asked with a hint of confusion at Su Bei’s request.

Su Bei wore an expression of a sage from another realm: “You will know soon enough.”

It was rather amusing to see an eight-year-old adopt such a demeanor, yet Zhaohua found no humor in the moment. Still, he did not refuse. After instructing Su Bei on the use of the device, he warned, “Do not use this carelessly. If they discover it, we’ll be locked away again.”

Su Bei nodded. How could he use it recklessly? He was seeking a way to break the deadlock.

Unlike Zhao Xiaoyu, who was ensnared in the situation, Su Bei, with his godlike perspective, understood that Zhao Xiaoyu could indeed safely touch the “Crystal of Loyalty.” Otherwise, how could they hope to break free?

After all, she was a member of the protagonist group; there had to be something special about her.

But how could he convey this to her?

A very simple method would be to reveal his identity and tell Zhao Xiaoyu that he had foreseen her ability to touch the “Crystal of Loyalty.”

That was indeed a method, but it would shatter his carefully crafted persona. He had played the role of a jester, concealing his identity while watching the drama unfold. To suddenly emerge and inform Zhao Xiaoyu that she could destroy the crystal would be tantamount to confessing his cowardice.

The persona of a coward could certainly be well-established; someone like Zhao Xiaoyu could pull it off without issue. A coward who ultimately sacrifices themselves would surely earn the readers’ strong affection.

But he could not; he was not that character.

Only someone who cared not for anyone’s life, including their own, could truly embody the role of a jester. If one wished to enjoy the spectacle while also fearing for their life, they would merely be a petty coward.

Thus, he could not simply appear and provide the answer. He had to find a way through himself, to uncover the clues that would lead directly to the truth.

That afternoon, he returned to the archive room as usual, with those orchestrating events watching him through the surveillance cameras, just as before.

Yet, the watchers had been unusually calm over the past three days, showing no signs of interference. The guards had long since relaxed their vigilance; as soon as they sat down, they dozed off, occasionally waking to glance at the monitor, confirming Su Bei remained still before closing their eyes once more.

For three days, he had maintained this state, reading without much movement aside from the occasional page turn, and the guards had grown accustomed to it.

What they did not know was that today, the images he saw were no longer animated but a still frame. Su Bei struck a pose and activated the disruptor, freezing the surveillance feed in place.

As for him, he was now frantically rummaging through the materials.

One file bag after another was opened, revealing contents that included written records and data logs. The written records were easy to distinguish, but unfortunately, none were of any use.

There were also a few sheets of numerical records. After discarding those with headers and a few that were clearly irrelevant, Su Bei sifted through until he finally found a sheet that contained only data, devoid of any other information.

The leftmost column of this sheet numbered from 1 to 10, which should, without a doubt, represent the sequence. The top row, from left to right, displayed 6-0, the meaning of which Su Bei could not yet decipher.

The numbers in the middle were chaotic and disordered; the only semblance of consistency was in the rightmost column, where, aside from the first and fifth numbers, all the others were 0.

What did these numbers signify?

To clarify a table, the most crucial step is to understand what the horizontal and vertical columns represent. If this indeed pertains to the experimental data regarding the “Crystal of Loyalty,” then the leftmost vertical column should represent the sequence of the test subjects, numbers 1 through 10.

But what did 6-0 represent?

After some thought, Su Bei decided to gather insights from others. He was not the only one present; why should he bear the burden alone? His two teammates were both sharper than he.

As time approached his usual break, Su Bei quickly committed the data to memory, reconstructing everything before returning to the sofa, disabling the interference device.

He did not possess a photographic memory; it was impossible to retain those chaotic numbers in such a short time. But that was fine; he only needed to remember what was truly necessary. And what was truly necessary to remember? Aside from the parts he didn’t understand, there were naturally special items to consider.

As usual, he read until half-past seven. Su Bei turned and left. After dinner, he glanced at Zhao Xiaoyu, whose pale face bore a cold expression: “Sister, could you come to my room? I need to discuss something with you.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiaoyu raised her gaze slightly, her interest waning: “What is it? I’m a bit tired; if it’s nothing important…”

“It’s very important.” Su Bei interrupted her, emphasizing, “There are some study materials I haven’t grasped, and I’d like to consult you.”

What could be so important about study matters? Just as Zhao Xiaoyu was about to refuse, a sudden spark of realization flashed in her mind. Study? Hadn’t this child been holed up in the materials room for some time?

Her eyes brightened: “Alright, let’s go now.”

Si Zhaohua naturally followed them back to the room. Su Bei wrote down the data he had memorized on paper, justifying the few he hadn’t retained: “I’m still a child; how could I possibly remember so much? Besides, those numbers seemed random to me; whether I had them or not wouldn’t make much difference.”

The other two wouldn’t blame him; it was already impressive that he had managed to uncover such crucial intelligence on his own.

The three of them studied the table for a while, and it was certain that the numbers in the middle indeed exhibited no discernible pattern, whether from top to bottom or left to right, fluctuating erratically, with data ranging between 100 and 0.

Among these middle numbers, the only discernible patterns were two points: the first was what Su Bei had mentioned earlier, that in the rightmost column, all numbers were 0 except for the last one.

Another pattern emerged: the leftmost column (excluding the one with the numbers) held data consistently between 99 and 95.

In a sea of confusion, the only set of data that stood apart demanded special attention.

Among the many arrays that ended in zero, only this one concluded with a twenty.

What was even more striking was that, unlike the other chaotic figures, this set followed a clear pattern, decreasing steadily from 95 to 20, without any erratic spikes or drops.

If nothing went awry, this group was likely the sole successful experimenter. And the final zero—everyone had a vague inkling of what it signified—“These zeros must indicate death, right?”

Thus, the most pressing question now was to decipher what the header’s 6-0 truly represented! ↑Return to Top↑

“Wait, let me clarify something. If this zero indeed signifies the experimenter’s death, then the preceding numbers should reflect the experimenter’s state, correct?” Zhao Xiaoyu spoke up to confirm.

Su Bei and Si Zhaohua nodded; they shared the same thought.

With consensus reached, Zhao Xiaoyu continued, “So, that means at zero, the experimenter dies. The kidnappers mentioned that whether ordinary people or those with abilities, anyone who touches the crystal ball will die. Therefore, the zero at the end of the first row represents the act of touching. At the moment of contact, the experimenter’s state is death.”

She was still attempting to analyze, but Si Zhaohua suddenly grasped the crux of the issue from her deductions: “It’s the distance! The 6-0 represents distance!”

It was only after forming this hypothesis that he recalled, “The door to the room containing the ‘Loyalty Crystal’ is about five or six meters from the ‘Loyalty Crystal’ chamber.”

The three of them suddenly understood, and Su Bei hadn’t anticipated it would be this way. Si Zhaohua concluded, “So as one approaches the crystal, if their own functions steadily decline, it indicates they can touch the crystal. But if their functions fluctuate erratically, it means touching the crystal would lead to explosive death.”

If that were the case, it was indeed a rather effective method of testing. One could ascertain whether they were the chosen one without touching the crystal, thus avoiding meaningless death.

Zhao Xiaoyu let out a long breath, about to speak, when she heard Su Bei chuckling, “But it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way.”

“What do you mean?” she asked quickly.

Su Bei replied with a calm demeanor, “The kidnappers only needed someone who could touch the crystal, so once the tenth experimenter successfully made contact, the experiment ended, leaving only one successful case.”

The two understood what he meant; having only one example implied that the pattern wasn’t entirely certain. Drawing conclusions based on this single instance was rather hasty and could easily lead to errors.

And the cost of error was death.

“…But isn’t there no other way?” After a moment of silence, Zhao Xiaoyu smiled and replied, “If I truly meet this condition, I will touch it. If I die because of it… though I would be unwilling, I could accept it.”

Better than going in blind and gambling on that one-in-a-million chance, at least this time she understood a certain pattern, could preliminarily judge whether she could touch the crystal. If she fell victim to this pattern, she could only say that fate had turned against her. But at least she had made every effort for her life, and her conscience was clear.

Su Bei smirked and nodded. The reason he pointed out this loophole, knowing Zhao Xiaoyu was fine, was to let the readers know she didn’t agree out of ignorance of the risks. Even with the patterns displayed on the chart, the death risk Zhao Xiaoyu faced was still considerable.

This time, Zhao Xiaoyu had saved his life; it wouldn’t be too much to boost her popularity a little, right? For true comic characters, the higher the popularity, the greater the chance of opportunity. Zhao Xiaoyu had always wanted to stay in Class S; perhaps she could seize this chance to achieve her goal.

Having made up their minds, the three began to discuss the plan for their action on Friday.

If they decided to destroy the crystal, then they had a condition to lure the kidnappers away from the port. It was obvious that when the crystal was destroyed, all the kidnappers on the island would come to capture them, and there wouldn’t be many left with the mood to pay attention to the dock.

This was the best time for others to escape.

But the problem was that this approach had a drawback: they wouldn’t find a way to flee. The dock would be empty, and those political hostages could take the opportunity to run away. But as the main targets of the kidnappers, they absolutely couldn’t leave from that side; otherwise, the final result would be that no one could escape.

Fortunately, Zhao Xiaoyu had inadvertently thought of a method: “We can fly away from the cliff.”

While inquiring about the person who could touch the “Loyalty Crystal,” she had also gathered information about the other kidnappers’ abilities. There weren’t many flying abilities to begin with, and since this was an island, most of the ability users were related to the ocean; only one was related to flight.

“There’s only one flying ability user on this island, and their ability is ‘Bamboo Dragonfly.’ If we destroy it, they won’t be able to fly.” As Zhao Xiaoyu spoke, she merged this with her previous plan, “After we destroy the crystal, we can run directly to the opposite side of the dock, that is, the cliff, and once we reach the cliff, you can fly us away. By the way, can you carry both of us?”

“Of course!” Si Zhaohua answered without hesitation, “Don’t mention just the two of you; even if you add Zhou Renjie, I can easily carry him too.”

If it had been at the beginning of school, he really wouldn’t have been able to support too much weight; last time, just carrying Jiang Tianming had been a bit of a struggle. But after so much training in Class S, he was no longer the same! Just two people? A piece of cake!

Zhao Xiaoyu looked at him with amusement, then suddenly said, “I’ll go in first, and you two come in later. If I die from touching the crystal ball, you pretend to discover that I was only feigning surrender and come to capture me, got it?”

As soon as these words left her mouth, Si Zhaohua’s brows furrowed deeply. Wasn’t this asking them to betray their teammate? How could he agree? However, before he could say anything, Su Bei gave a thumbs up: “We got it!”

Seeing him so enthusiastic, Zhao Xiaoyu couldn’t help but feel both exasperated and amused, ruffling his hair playfully: “You little ungrateful thing.”

Beside them, Si Zhaohua seemed to let out a soft sigh, moving around his low ponytail to take off a silver necklace from his neck, the pendant a silver feather, embedded with a blue gemstone.

He handed the necklace to Zhao Xiaoyu, saying earnestly, “You won’t die.”

Looking at this trinket, both of them stared at the necklace in surprise, and Si Zhaohua explained, “I originally planned to give this to you that day. The stone embedded in it is a ‘Revival Stone’; if you really die on the spot, you can be revived immediately.”

He wasn’t lying; he had indeed intended to give it to Zhao Xiaoyu that day. The reason he hadn’t mentioned it before was that he wanted to see if there were any other methods.

But since Zhao Xiaoyu had already made up her mind to go, it was no problem to leave it to her now.

“Ah? ‘Revival Stone’? There’s such an outrageous item?” Zhao Xiaoyu was stunned; even in a world filled with supernatural powers, a thing like the “Revival Stone” felt a bit too overpowered.

Su Bei was equally dumbfounded. He knew that Si Zhaohua, as the eldest son of the Si family, must have plenty of life-saving tools, but he never expected he would possess something of this caliber! Revival? That was just absurd!

Si Zhaohua explained with a hint of helplessness, “It’s not quite like that. This item called the ‘Revival Stone’ is really just a marketing gimmick. Its true function is to withstand a single lethal attack. So it must be on you at the moment of injury to work; afterward, it’s useless.”

So that’s how it is. So this is actually a defensive tool. Though its function is still quite extraordinary, it’s definitely more acceptable than something that could bring a person back to life.

“However…” Si Zhaohua pressed his lips together, “after using this item, the supernatural user will lose their powers.”

This was also why he hadn’t immediately brought out this item; the drawbacks were too significant for a supernatural user. If given a choice, no one would likely want to use it.

Zhao Xiaoyu hesitated, but it was only for a brief moment. The next second, she decisively took the necklace: “Thanks, I hope I can return it to you in one piece.”

Supernatural powers are precious, but life is worth more. Although she longed to carve out a place for herself as a supernatural user, if the situation demanded otherwise, she wouldn’t dwell on it.

It was Tuesday, and for the next two days, Zhao Xiaoyu and Si Zhaohua worked hard to refine their plan. They couldn’t just jump into action; they needed to carefully plan the specific timing, escape routes, and contingency measures in case of mission failure.

Meanwhile, they were also trying to find ways to relay the message to the hostages about escaping on Friday. When the time came, their emergence would surely cause quite a stir; they just hoped that the politicians would take heed of the commotion and leave in time, not wasting their efforts.

As for Su Bei?

Su Bei was slacking off.

He was just an eight-year-old child who had already made a significant contribution; what more could he want? He hadn’t forced himself to suffer for the sake of causing trouble; the travelogue he had painstakingly chosen was genuinely fascinating, and he was just taking this time to finish it.