Chapter 334 - A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

## Chapter 334 As large teardrops mingled with the flow of fresh blood, Lan Subing, her eyes rimmed in red, asked unwillingly, "My powers... failed? Why aren't they working? Why... why won't they come out?" After a brief moment of sorrow, she chose to keep using her [Word Magic] one after another, in an effort to find Su Bei. She couldn't bring herself to believe that Su Bei was truly gone. At that moment, Wu Mingbai and Si Zhaohua suddenly landed behind her and noticed Lan Subing's near-crazed actions. Wu Mingbai, taken aback, asked, "Bing, what's wrong? What are you saying? What happened to Su Bei?" Lan Subing didn't respond, continuing to exert her power. Seeing her current irrational state, out of concern for her safety, Wu Mingbai knocked her unconscious with a karate chop. Then, looking at the others through his phone screen, he frowned and asked, "What happened?" "It's... Su Bei, he seems...," Qi Huang couldn't bring herself to say the words, her red eyes, usually so confident and assertive, filled with a rare look of despair. Finally, it was Jiang Tianming who explained the situation: "Su Bei exhausted his life force to save us and vanished. We can't find where he went." "Saved... us?" Wu Mingbai exchanged a blank look with Si Zhaohua, seeing disbelief mirrored in each other's eyes. They thought of the strange occurrences that had just happened. Si Zhaohua's sky-blue eyes narrowed, and he muttered to himself, "Just now, two Nightmare Beasts pursuing us suddenly collapsed, and those beasts gave me an intense sense of impending doom, as if we might die at their hands." "I felt that too..." Wu Mingbai clutched his chest, eyes wide with disbelief, "Su Bei saved us?" Beside him, Si Zhaohua let out a strained smile, "You're kidding, right? Su Bei couldn't have died saving us, right? He must have escaped amid the chaos, like he always does." Nobody replied; the silence was deafening. "This isn't funny." Wu Mingbai, his brow furrowed deeply, insisted, clutching his phone tightly, nearly pleading with Jiang Tianming on the other side of the screen, "You must be joking, right?" "......" Despite knowing no one would joke about this, neither of them could bring themselves to believe it. Without having seen Su Bei's death with their own eyes, they couldn't accept that the seemingly invincible Su Bei could be gone, especially sacrificing himself to save them. What a ridiculous thought! Si Zhaohua gripped the feather that could resurrect someone tightly to his chest, as if trying to reassure others or convince himself, saying, "Su Bei is part of the 'Fate' organization with so many tools on hand. If I have a resurrection tool, how could he not? He must have revived somewhere we don't know about." Of course! The resurrection tool! Hope reignited in everyone. Although Jiang Tianming's sensor hadn't detected Su Bei's presence moments ago, a person's hair would lose its function upon death, making them undetectable even after revival. "Su Bei will be alright!" Jiang Tianming clung to the lifeline, surging with renewed vigor. Though he had witnessed Su Bei's obliteration with his own eyes, he spoke with resolute certainty, "He told us to apologize to him later, so he must be alive!" Qi Huang held onto a shred of common sense: "But dying in the Nightmare Beast realm means... doesn't it mean they can't be revived?" "He definitely can!" Wu Mingbai and Si Zhaohua said in unison, biting their lips tightly, refusing to say more. Qi Huang fell silent too; she also hoped Su Bei could survive. Forget about those common 'facts', this is Su Bei they're talking about! He'll surely find a way, right? Su Bei was indeed still alive. He's no fool who'd use his life to trade for two others' lives. Truly, he cared for the people in Class S and hoped they would live well, but that didn't mean he was willing to give up his life for them. After all, his ultimate goal after so many struggles was simply to survive. Sacrificing everything at the final moment would be putting the cart before the horse, wouldn't it? Without life-saving items, he wouldn't have made such a decisive move. Or rather, if he weren't 90% sure he could survive, he might not have saved them at all. Feeling the unfamiliar emptiness in his chest, Su Bei lay back on the bed, sighing silently. His revival relied on two items: a "Life-Saving Doll" and a Life Stone necklace. The former allowed him to swap places with it upon death, surviving where the doll previously was, while the doll took his place and died in his stead. He hadn't truly died initially; he used the "Life-Saving Doll" a second before depleting his mental power, successfully "resurrecting" in the real world despite the alternate space's restrictions. Hopefully, Jiang Tianming and the rest saw that doll. With their intelligence, they should deduce he's not actually dead. Otherwise, they'd be grieving over nothing. The "Life-Saving Doll" had a drawback. Now, lying on the bed, he's completely paralyzed, unable to move at all except for breathing and blinking. His superpower and mental power were completely sealed, rendering him no different from an ordinary, fully paralyzed individual. Regardless, an individual's physical resilience as a superpower user remained. Going without food or drink for three days wouldn't harm Su Bei much, though it might be a little tough. The Life Stone, however, mitigated the cost of his revival. The "Life-Saving Doll" only restored life, without reversing aging. Dying from overextending his life force is equivalent to dying at a hundred years old, so even if he resurrected, he'd only have moments to live before dying again. But the Life Stone quelled the concern, its role being to replenish someone's entire life force. Combining the two items nullified all downsides to Su Bei's revival. He's restored to a spirited fifteen-year-old, needing only to endure the half-year recovery before springing back fully. That night, Su Bei heard the "Manga Awareness" sound: "The 'King of Superpowers' has been updated, please review accordingly." After delivering the official prompt, "Manga Awareness" spoke with rare joy: "The author has finally given up targeting you! From now on, you are completely free—so long as you don't intentionally disrupt the plot, you'll no longer be bound by the manga." Hearing this, Su Bei's first cerebral response was—he'd gambled correctly! As he suspected, the author did not want the characters to truly die. Some reason must have necessitated writing them off at that moment. His act of rescue satisfied the author's needs, causing the author to relent. Finally, Su Bei was truly liberated. No longer fearing the author's interference when he wasn't involved in the plot; no sudden narrative kills; no perpetual participation anxiety. Su Bei tried in vain to smile, failing to successfully move his facial muscles. But this didn't affect the gleam of ease and joy in his eyes. After all the struggle, it was at that moment he could finally savor victory's taste. Merely sacrificing two items and spending half a year of his time, and he had completely shed his plot-bound shackles. It was worth it! "Manga Awareness" spoke with a slight melancholy, yet mostly joy for him: "So I'll be logging off. May your life grow increasingly better, never facing danger again." "Can't I call you anymore?" Su Bei was momentarily stunned and then quickly asked mentally. "You can still call upon me, but with you now detached from the manga, I'm not directly connected to you, thus I might not respond immediately." "Manga Awareness" replied. Hearing these words, Su Bei spoke softly in his heart: "Then please watch over me a bit." "Manga Awareness" paused, finally promising, "Alright."