Chapter 329 - A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

Chapter 329 Even Su Bei found himself full of doubts. Si Zhaohua was undoubtedly formidable, but this was the Nightmare Beast World. To voluntarily train here and be selected for the official patrol team, one naturally had to be a strong superpower user, right? Yet witnessing such an easy defeat gave everyone the feeling that the good guys were doomed. “You’ve misunderstood,” a teammate, observing the scene, rushed to clarify to avoid any misconceptions about the Three Schools Base. “Our squad only patrols within the camp during the day, making ours the safest out of all the patrol teams. Naturally, we are also the... uh, weakest. You could say we’re the connections people he mentioned.” Everyone else: “......” So that’s how it was. It turned out to be a case of the thief crying "stop thief." Being a connections person himself, he was irked by the arrival of new connections, wanting to exercise the limited power he possessed on them. But to his surprise, the new connections were not as pliable as a soft persimmon; they were like a rose with thorns, pricking fiercely and drawing blood. With the red-haired captain’s facade stripped away, he was livid, shouting in outrage, “How can you attack a teammate? I’ll report this to the higher-ups and have you sent back to the academy!” “Did you think these people around us are just bystanders?” Zhao Xiaoyu responded pointedly, “You were the one who provoked us first. We cannot be at fault.” Even if they couldn’t testify, the bystanders could. “What could they testify to? What did they see?” The red-haired captain exclaimed arrogantly, “They only came over after we started fighting, and you impulsively attacked the captain.” Under the weight of authority, if they were to get into a fight without understanding the reason, the fault would inevitably fall upon the team members since the captain does have some authority to manage his team. Judging by the captain’s demeanor, he was confident those who witnessed the incident wouldn’t contradict his story. Without evidence, they very well might have suffered a loss in silence. But unfortunately for him, they had evidence. Under Si Zhaohua's trusting gaze, Su Bei took out a voice recorder, smiling slightly, “What if I have evidence proving you provoked us first?” The next moment, the recorder played the captain’s voice: “I know you’re here for the shiny badge…” The recording indisputably proved the captain had initiated the confrontation deliberately. What?! Who even records conversations at a moment like this? Now, the red-haired captain could no longer be arrogant. Keen not to lose his job, he was quick to plead, “I’m sorry, I let greed cloud my judgment. If you’re willing to forgive me, I can offer you…” His sudden change in demeanor was impressively adept. If he faced someone kind-hearted or greedy, perhaps they would have considered accepting his plea. Alas, he was facing someone who lacked for nothing. Before the captain could finish his offer, Si Zhaohua promptly cut him off: “No need.” With Su Bei and the others, Si Zhaohua turned his back and started to leave. Other team members threw helpless looks at the captain, offering no help. Although they had some minor dealings with him, it wasn’t worth taking a risk for him. Si Zhaohua quickly made his way to the seventh-floor office, soon locating Jiang Yan and handing over the recording. After listening to it, Jiang Yan’s expression turned stern, “Rest assured, the base will handle this matter.” “What about our mission for today?” Zhao Xiaoyu was naturally most concerned about this. Since the red-haired captain was a mistake on the base’s part, Jiang Yan relaxed the mission requirements: “You may continue with the patrol this afternoon. I’ll assign you a new captain.” Gratified to have gained a free morning off, Su Bei and Zhao Xiaoyu were thoroughly pleased. Wu Jin appeared in good spirits as well, curiously asking Su Bei, “Was your recorder always on? Or did you foresee something?” Every time, Su Bei seemed to have a useful recording at hand, even when disappearing briefly. Following the team the entire time yet somehow anticipating the need to record was remarkable. “It was a prediction,” Su Bei answered without hesitation, “When dealing with unfamiliar people, being a bit cautious isn’t unusual, is it?” Being cautious is relatively normal, but having the foresight to constantly record conversations is quite extraordinary. Wu Jin's face showed a complex expression: “As long as it makes you happy.” The morning was relaxed, and their afternoon patrol was in a safe zone. Su Bei found being away from the main protagonist group surprisingly enjoyable, a rare chance to experience an event comfortably. However, he was well aware that the event would progress due to its extended duration, a full month long. No need to rush into actions on the first or second day. In the evening, the group gathered to discuss their assignments and share their experiences. Su Bei's team had little to report, with the exception of the red-haired captain incident. Meanwhile, Jiang Tianming and Wu Mingbai’s group had an encounter with a Nightmare Beast, a type of rodent Nightmare Beast. Familiar with these creatures, they knew they served two primary purposes: tunneling and spreading diseases. This would only pose a threat if they appeared in large numbers; a single appearance indicated no major concern. Despite not breeding as regular rodents, their numbers were still plentiful, frequent sightings not unusual. On the other hand, Lan Subing’s group clashed with students from the "Virtue Superpower Academy," a dispute arising from task allocation. “I can’t fathom their thinking,” Ai Baozhu remarked incredulously, “Instead of addressing their grievances with the decision-makers, they trouble us. They've clearly mastered the art of bullying the perceived weaker side.” Patting her shoulder, Lan Subing calmly reassured her, “In their eyes, we're the beneficiaries. Although not particularly clever, it's understandable.” While one’s treasure is another’s poison, they required no special treatment. Miscommunication led to their actions appearing advantageous to outsiders, so retaliation was somewhat expected. Confounded, Ai Baozhu asked, “That doesn’t sound like you.” Despite her kind nature, Lan Subing wasn’t one to indulge in self-imposed moral obligations. Nearby, Wu Mingbai snorted, “Did you win?” “Of course,” Ai Baozhu haughtily lifted her chin; failure wasn’t an option with them. “That explains it,” Wu Mingbai spread his hands in revelation. Knowing Lan Subing equally well, Jiang Tianming nodded, “If they’d lost, her words would’ve been quite different.” With her intentions entirely seen through, Lan Subing blushed, seeing nothing wrong with her thoughts. They gained advantageous appearances, secured victory, resulting in significant gains at the opponent’s expense, softening her approach. Yet if they had lost, leniency wouldn’t be an option. She would directly report the opponent’s bullying, disrespect of orders, and misconduct in the Nightmare Beast World to their teacher for resolution. Naturally, in writing. Verbally expressing this to a stranger like Teacher Jiang would be unbearable. In the outside world, something like this might have brought amusement. However, in the Nightmare Beast World, where joy is subdued, laughter isn't forthcoming, though spirits were lifted noticeably. Over the following days, they steadily adapted to life there, as their presence already leaned towards overt acceleration. Jiang Yan wouldn’t impose high-difficulty tasks on them. With the storyline yet to unfold, Su Bei remained patient. An author behind the scenes controlled the pacing; crises were an inevitable development. Upon completion of the first week, Su Bei and the others faced their first independent mission. Excluding Feng Lan, their class was split into two groups: one of six, the other seven, each tasked with exploration. Both tasks involved map exploration, albeit in different directions—one east, one west. For security, Jiang Yan provided each of them with a teleportation orb, shattering it would return them to the base along with one instance of healing magic. According to Jiang Yan, the orbs were gifted by Lei Ze'en, the magic within purportedly stemming from Ye Lin’s superpower. Judging from Jiang Yan’s natural manner when mentioning this name, everyone could tell she was unaware of Ye Lin’s defection. Yet they didn’t spoil the mood by broaching the topic, instead, asking curiously, “Teacher, are you well-acquainted with Teacher Lei?” The question came from Lan Subing. After a week of interaction, she was now comfortable speaking candidly around them. “Didn’t your teachers mention it?” Jiang Yan, a bit surprised, responded candidly after seeing their collective head-shake, “We graduated together; I was the class president.” An intriguing revelation, one that indeed explained her nurturing attitude, addressing them with the same familiarity she used to care for their teachers, her transition seamless and intuitive. Su Bei mused playfully to himself that the position of a class monitor indeed best suits someone with a motherly character. After the gossip session, the focus returned to the mission. Su Bei, along with Jiang Tianming, Wu Mingbai, Ling You, Zhao Xiaoyu, and Si Zhaohua, were tasked with heading to a coordinate east of the base and continuing their exploration eastward. The rest of the group had a similar task, but their coordinate was to the west. The areas surrounding the base were marked with several such coordinates. In the vast, endless Nightmare Beast World, the people from the Three Schools Base relied on these coordinates to ascertain their locations and map the area. After accepting the mission, Su Bei and his team immediately headed to the person who had mentioned that they could help draw maps in exchange for points. Since none of them had studied cartography, they needed professional assistance. Once they handed over the points, the person provided them with a blank parchment. “This is my superpower, [World Map]. If you carry this and unfold it every hour, it will automatically draw the map of the routes you traverse.” An effortless transaction indeed, seemingly an insignificant ability proved itself invaluable at times. As the saying goes, there are no useless superpowers, only superpower users who fail to utilize them. Admiring this, the group handed over their points without hesitation and took the tool with them. Exploring the Nightmare Beast World involved locating effective natural coordinates or creating a man-made one. Then, the task was to survey or clear out the nightmare beasts nearby. Surveying was the basic task, while clearing out fetched extra points and bonuses. If they couldn't handle the clearance, the Three Schools Base would dispatch the task to other superpower users after gathering detailed reports. Given that this expedition included two members of the main protagonist group, Su Bei sensed that this mission might involve some complications. Their team formation had Jiang Tianming leading, followed by Si Zhaohua and Wu Mingbai flanking him. The two girls, whose self-defense capabilities were weaker, walked in the middle, while Su Bei brought up the rear, cautiously extending his mental power to survey the surroundings. With his current level of mental power, Su Bei was capable of conducting scans without others detecting. Of course, he had to retract his mental power immediately upon sensing others to avoid being noticed. Letting it linger too long would risk detection. That was sufficient, at least ensuring he wouldn’t inadvertently alert others to his actions. Throughout the morning, everything went smoothly as they dutifully mapped and cleared beasts. Possibly due to being near a human base, the nightmare beasts didn’t congregate to target them directly. After all, as long as they held out briefly, reinforcements would arrive. This was why Jiang Yan felt confident assigning them this mission. “Perhaps it's time I use my superpower,” suggested Si Zhaohua, frowning at the grey, barren wilderness devoid of any nightmare beasts. The [Angel] ability had a hidden characteristic of drastically attracting nightmare beasts. Once activated, a multitude of beasts would swiftly converge on their location, alleviating the need for tedious searching. “You’re serious, sir?” Zhao Xiaoyu asked, tilting her head in resigned amusement. Annoyed by the title “sir,” Si Zhaohua rubbed his nose sheepishly. “There's a flaw in this plan?” Still unaware of the issue, Zhao Xiaoyu adopted a sardonic tone, “I vaguely recall our mission is to explore, not confront... or rather provoke nightmare beasts?” While exceeding their mission was ideal, actively seeking trouble wasn’t wise. Having not fully enjoyed her tranquil mission, Zhao Xiaoyu had no desire to elevate it to a difficult mode. In support of her sentiment, Su Bei humorously remarked, “Exactly, please don't court trouble. Trouble already has a knack for finding you two; there's no need for mutual pursuit, is there?” “Pfft!” Zhao Xiaoyu couldn’t stifle her laughter, while the nearby Ling You smiled warmly. However, the remaining three found themselves unable to share in the laughter, sensing they were being subtly referenced. Come lunchtime, Zhao Xiaoyu brought out a picnic blanket, grill, nightmare beast meat, and more, for a DIY barbecue in the Nightmare Beast World. Among the S-Class, the best cook was Mo Xiaotian, who had become the saint of the "Black Lightning" organization, with Si Zhaohua surprisingly ranking second. The rest, showing no camaraderie, yielded the grilling duty to him without hesitation. Now acting as an involuntary grill chef, Si Zhaohua first tied his ponytail higher, then diligently flipped the meat slices on the grill, glaring at Su Bei, who had slyly added some green peppers to the grill when he wasn’t looking. Yet Su Bei continued unabashedly, placing a skewer of enoki mushrooms onto the grill. “Are you serious?” Si Zhaohua asked, chuckling in exasperation. “Why do you even have these things in your storage ring? And just so you know, you exerted the least effort earlier, yet have no qualms about the eating part?” With four questions escalating in intensity, it was unfortunate that such intensity had no effect on Su Bei. He answered patiently, question by question: “Yes, I am. Having extra stuff sometimes comes in handy. I didn’t exert little effort; using mental power to scout is a contribution too. Just because you can’t see it and we ran into no danger doesn’t mean I didn't contribute. Eating’s a priority; you can’t mess around with that. Seriously, why so many questions?” With clarity and unerring logic, had it not been for the retorts aimed at him, Si Zhaohua might have applauded. “Is he doing this to annoy?” Even the usually aloof Ling You noticed something unusual, observing that Su Bei generally wouldn’t snap back while eating someone else’s meal. The thought of him criticizing after eating seemed unlikely. Zhao Xiaoyu gave her a knowing look. “Did you forget? Earlier, Si Zhaohua asked Su Bei if he couldn't keep up.” A faint trace of confusion passed over Ling You's face. She remembered the trivial moment, yet saw no real issue. Seeing her puzzlement, Zhao Xiaoyu elaborated, “You know, it’s sensitive to imply a man can’t do something.” Ling You maintained her bemusement, glancing at Jiang Tianming and Wu Mingbai. They nodded sagely, affirming Zhao Xiaoyu's statement. Assimilating without full comprehension, Ling You accepted their explanation. After consulting the Gears of Fate earlier in the morning, Su Bei revisited it again post-lunch. After a mere glance, his brows furrowed, realizing that something was bound to happen in the afternoon. At present, the large pointer above everyone's heads indicated the "leave" position. In a place devoid of doors, the implication was either they would depart the Nightmare Beast World, or discover new ground. Undeniably, Su Bei found the "leave" position quite beneficial, appearing far more frequently than positions like "injured," "meal," "study." After quickly finishing their lunch at the spot, they resumed their exploration. “Hold on, something’s amiss.” Reaching an open area, Jiang Tianming, at the front, abruptly raised a hand, stopping the others, his brow creased, “We've gone a while without encountering any nightmare beasts.” The presence of the Three Schools Base nearby meant that for nightmare beasts, confronting them resulted in near-certain death. While high-level nightmare beasts and some mid-level ones understood this, many were drawn instinctively by the human presence, oblivious to the danger. Hence, they had encountered several nightmare beasts along the way, mainly low-level ones, easily dispatched due to being the most common yet weakest. However, despite their vast numbers, they hadn’t spotted a single one for quite some time, indicating something was off. Following Jiang Tianming’s observation, the rest quickly noticed the abnormality. Earlier, their boredom had them engrossed in gossip shared by Zhao Xiaoyu about their class teacher’s student days, distracted from recognizing the peculiar silence. Jiang Tianming, multitasking effortlessly, entertained the gossip while remaining vigilant. “Let’s split up and search for irregularities. Ling You, pair with Si Zhaohua, and Xiaoyu, stay with Su Bei,” Jiang Tianming promptly decided. A collective search was inefficient; division was more prudent. As Su Bei extended his mental power in exploration, he too realized his oversight amidst the juicy anecdotes. Now attuned, he detected an anomaly—something was underground. His probes into the earth yielded nothing, initially explaining his earlier oblivion. Upon focusing, he discerned the void’s unusual nature. How could there be nothing underground? No soil, rocks... nothing but an easily overlooked void by mental scanning. Undoubtedly, something below prevented any mental detection. Most likely, whatever lay beneath accounted for the “leave” fate projected overhead. It was then Wu Mingbai voiced his discovery, “Take a look here! Doesn’t this seem to bear traces of human interference?” Everyone turned to look, and indeed, there was a clear set of tire tracks where Wu Mingbai had pointed, suggesting a vehicle had parked there for some time to leave such impressions. “It could also be that the vehicle was exceptionally heavy, hence the noticeable tracks,” Si Zhaohua offered a different perspective. “The wheel size supports that theory.” Indeed, the wheels appeared even larger than those on off-road vehicles or trucks. The only vehicles large enough for such wheels, Jiang Tianming realized, were typically found on construction sites. But this was the Nightmare Beast World! Why would such vehicles exist here? “Could it be a site chosen and then abandoned by the Three Schools Base?” Zhao Xiaoyu speculated. Tired of their roundabout speculations, Su Bei directly provided the answer: “There’s something beneath this ground.” At his words, everyone immediately shifted their attention to him. Jiang Tianming glanced at the seemingly flawless earth underfoot, showing no doubt in Su Bei's statement, yet asked with caution, “What’s down there?” “I don’t know,” admitted Su Bei, shaking his head honestly, “but it’s probably something not meant to see the light of day.” In the Nightmare Beast World, hidden beneath layers of earth and shielded from mental probing—certainly, it was something that couldn’t be exposed. Now everyone was intrigued. As was previously stated, how could the main protagonist group not get involved in mischief? A glaring secret in front of them begged to be explored. Reporting it to the base was logical and correct, yet went against the spirit of their group. Clearly, none of the protagonist group present had any intention of following protocol. Even Zhao Xiaoyu only suggested, “Let’s set up a delayed distress signal. If we’re not out in two hours, it’ll automatically alert Teacher Jiang for help.” Having reassurance with the teleportation orbs crafted by Lei Ze'en allowed them to return to the base anytime, which assuaged their fears. With safety moderately assured, Zhao Xiaoyu's natural curiosity for exploration brimmed to the surface. Su Bei naturally offered no objection, since this was a predictable narrative development. If he indeed persuaded everyone to report the matter to the base first, the next second might see a swarm of nightmare beasts appear, forcing them to pry open the underground space for shelter.