A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

Chapter 23

After posting, he didn’t refresh immediately. Instead, he thought to let the bullet fly for a while and logged out to study his Ability.

He used his Ability [Gear] again, summoning an ordinary gear. But this time, the gear was clearly different from every previous summoning—it was “empty.”

The “empty” here didn’t mean hollowed out but rather that this gear could have something added to it.

Su Bei suddenly realized something, opened the dorm door, and walked out. It was evening, and there were quite a few students in the corridor.

Upon seeing them, Su Bei instinctively closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he finally confirmed the situation—he could see the Destiny Compass above everyone’s head!

Immediately, he returned to his room, put on a pair of sunglasses, and went back out to the corridor window. Pretending to admire the scenery, he secretly glanced at the compasses above others’ heads.

These compasses looked extremely complex, layered with many symbols, resembling those used for feng shui.

Yet, they weren’t entirely Chinese in style but a fusion of Eastern and Western elements, appearing like mechanically crafted compasses.

At the center of each compass was a pointer. Su Bei could vaguely sense that the direction it pointed to was where that person’s life would soon change.

Suddenly, Su Bei almost lost control of his expression. Was he about to become a fortune-teller?

In his career plans, there was no such thing as setting up a stall under a bridge!

Suppressing his scattered thoughts, he continued observing. He could tell that the outer edge of the compass was tightly enveloped by a kind of “aura,” likely the breath of destiny he had casually made up before.

A gear that absorbed this aura could make a Prophecy, while a gear without it was “empty,” no different from an ordinary gear.

However, Su Bei could faintly sense that he wasn’t entirely unable to control the direction of the Prophecy.

The compass was divided into many segments, and the Prophecy obtained from a gear tainted by different segments should vary.

To maximize the Prophecy’s effect, it was best to choose segments in the direction the pointer was pointing.

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

To find the answer, he would definitely need to experiment. And he’d need to do it with someone who knew about his Ability, meaning the protagonist group. Otherwise, touching random people’s heads would be hard to justify.

Plus, experimenting with the protagonist group had another benefit: it might let the readers see, helping them “understand” his Ability better.

With this in mind, Su Bei took off his sunglasses, pocketed them, and knocked on Jiang Tianming’s door.

Since the victory banquet was rescheduled for tomorrow, Jiang Tianming had already returned to his room.

Hearing the knock, he initially thought it was Wu Mingbai. But when he opened the door, he showed a surprised expression: “Su Bei? Why are you here?”

With that, he let Su Bei into the room.

If it were another classmate, Jiang Tianming would only talk at the door. Though his room held no secrets, a sense of territoriality made it hard for him to let unfamiliar people in.

But the visitor was Su Bei. Though Su Bei wasn’t truly a friend, they had collaborated before, and Su Bei had provided significant help. Subconsciously, Jiang Tianming felt that Su Bei’s visit must involve something important.

Sure enough, once inside, Su Bei got straight to the point: “I want to study my Ability. Are you willing to help? The reward is one Prophecy opportunity.”

Hearing this request, Jiang Tianming paused, meeting Su Bei’s deep purple eyes. Unable to read any emotion in those profound eyes, he smiled tentatively and asked: “You still need to study your Ability? I thought you’d figured it out already.”

Su Bei knew he was likely worried about the study affecting him. Honestly, that was possible, but Su Bei wasn’t too concerned.

The protagonist’s fate was rock-solid, not something he could easily change. Besides, though Manga Consciousness hadn’t spoken, it was surely watching. If anything uncontrollable happened, it would immediately warn him.

But he couldn’t say this outright, so he found an excuse, subtly reassuring: “I’m worried that using my Ability on myself might differ from using it on others.”

This revealed one thing: he had been experimenting on himself all along.

But it carried two layers of hidden meaning. First, his experiments on himself had never caused issues. Second, he wasn’t the type to recklessly experiment on others, or he wouldn’t have limited it to himself before.

Though said subtly, Su Bei believed Jiang Tianming’s sharp mind would pick up on it.

As expected, after hearing him, Jiang Tianming quickly agreed: “Alright, when do you plan to study?”

“Right now,” Su Bei said, not wanting to waste time.

As he spoke, he looked up, focusing on Jiang Tianming’s head.

The Destiny Compass didn’t appear above others’ heads all the time—only when he wanted to see it and his gaze landed there could he see it.

The compass’s color matched the color of one’s mental energy. Jiang Tianming’s black compass gave off an ominous vibe. If Su Bei didn’t know better, he might’ve thought he was the destined big villain.

He stepped closer, trying to touch the compass with his hand, but found he couldn’t, as if the compass was just an illusion.

It seemed he couldn’t touch it barehanded. Su Bei took out the gear he’d just summoned and, sure enough, successfully touched the Destiny Compass with it.

The moment it touched a segment, he felt his mental energy being slowly drained by something, and the gear began to change. The drained mental energy was about a quarter of his current total.

His control over the Ability let him vaguely sense that once the gear made a Prophecy, it would consume another significant chunk of mental energy.

In other words, based on his last performance, the manga had set a limit for his Ability. He could predict the destinies of up to three people at once. And after predicting for three, he’d be almost incapacitated.

This annoyed Su Bei. If he’d known, he wouldn’t have acted so weak last time. Had he played it off casually, his limit might’ve been higher. Sighing, Su Bei switched to another segment. As expected, the gear transformed again, forming a new pattern.

This time, it didn’t absorb more mental energy but maintained a subtle connection with his mind. Su Bei could clearly feel that if he severed this connection, the gear would fully form into a Destiny Gear carrying a prophecy.

As long as he didn’t cut the connection, he could continue using it to absorb the aura from other people’s compasses, creating a Prophecy tied to those people.

It was a profoundly mysterious sensation. The school wouldn’t start introducing mental energy basics until next week, so he still knew little about it.

One thing to note was that, from his senses, he could only access one segment per compass. Touching two segments on the same compass in succession would only yield the Prophecy of the latter segment.

Su Bei moved the gear, now filled with aura, away from Jiang Tianming’s head and felt it again. The gear was clearly in an unstable, ready-to-activate state, held back only by a thread of his mental energy.

But his mental energy couldn’t sustain it for long. If he held the gear, it could stay stable for about ten minutes. If it left his hand, it would likely activate immediately.

This wasn’t a big deal, but it pointed Su Bei toward a direction for improvement. He needed to train his mental energy usage and precision.

For a gear that had absorbed destiny aura, the stronger his mental energy, the longer it could remain stable. If he could separate part of his mental energy and leave it in the gear, it might stay stable even after leaving his hand.

Jiang Tianming looked curiously at the intricately patterned gear in his hand. During the last Prophecy, it had activated too quickly for him to observe closely.

Now, seeing it, Jiang Tianming felt an indescribable aura on it, as if it was deeply connected to him.

Hesitating, he asked: “Can this gear make a Prophecy for me now?”

Su Bei nodded: “As soon as I let go, the Ability will activate. If you want to see it now, it’ll count as the Prophecy I promised you. Want to see?”

Jiang Tianming immediately shook his head. Nothing major was happening now, and the monthly exam in two weeks was the priority. He wanted to leave Class F then, so saving the Prophecy for that time was the best choice.

“No need. Save it for when I really need it. But if this gear doesn’t activate, will you destroy it?” he asked uncertainly.

Su Bei gave a hearty smile: “Of course not. That’d be a waste. If you don’t want to see, I’ll just check it myself.”

Jiang Tianming: “…”

He nearly broke, almost shouting, You’re going to look anyway, so why not include me!

As if reading his exasperation, Su Bei grinned and patted Jiang Tianming’s head: “Knowing your own destiny isn’t always a good thing.”

Without waiting for questions, he headed to the door. Just before leaving, Su Bei turned back: “By the way, please don’t tell anyone about the experiment I did with you today.”

“Not even Wu Mingbai or Lan Subing?” Jiang Tianming asked, surprised. Compared to others, those two were much closer to him.

Su Bei nodded without further explanation and left for real this time. He wasn’t worried Jiang Tianming would blab. That guy was the protagonist, endowed with all the fine qualities protagonists have.

Back in his dorm, Manga Consciousness asked puzzledly: ‘Why not let him tell others?’

Su Bei lay on his bed, gazing at the night sky outside, and said meaningfully: “The fewer people who know, the better. Mo Xiaotian has already infiltrated the protagonist group.”