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

Chapter 334

Following the gush of blood were large teardrops. Lan Subing’s eyes were red as she asked resentfully, “Did my ability… fail? Why isn’t he coming out? Why… why won’t he come out?”

After a brief moment of sorrow, she chose to continue using [Word Spirit] one after another, trying to find me. She was unwilling to believe I was truly dead.

Just then, Wu Mingbai and Si Zhaohua suddenly landed behind her. Noticing Lan Subing’s almost frantic actions, Wu Mingbai asked in astonishment, “Ah Bing, what’s wrong with you? What are you saying? And what happened to Su Bei?”

Lan Subing didn’t answer, continuing to use her ability. Seeing her irrational state and concerned for her safety, Wu Mingbai chopped the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious. He then looked at the other two people on the phone screen and asked with a frown, “What happened?”

“…Su Bei, Su Bei seems to have…” Qi Huang couldn’t bring herself to say it. Her eyes had turned red at some point. A look of collapse appeared in her usually generous and confident red eyes.

In the end, it was Jiang Tianming who explained what happened. “Just now, to save us, Su Bei exhausted his life force and disappeared. We can’t find where he went.”

“Save… us?” Wu Mingbai and Si Zhaohua looked at each other blankly, both seeing the disbelief in the other’s eyes.

They thought of the anomaly that had just occurred.

Si Zhaohua’s sky-blue eyes narrowed as he muttered to himself, “Just now, two Nightmare Beasts that were chasing us suddenly fell. Those two Nightmare Beasts gave me a very strong sense of crisis, as if we would die at their hands.”

“I had that feeling too…” Wu Mingbai clutched his chest, his eyes full of disbelief. “Su Bei did it to save us?”

Beside them, Si Zhaohua gave an ugly smile. “You’re joking, right? How could Su Bei die to save us? He must have escaped in the chaos like every other time, right?”

No one answered. The air was dead silent.

“This isn’t funny,” Wu Mingbai emphasized with a tight frown, his hands gripping his phone tightly. He asked Jiang Tianming on the other end of the screen almost pleadingly, “You must be joking!”

“…”

Although they knew it was impossible for everyone to joke about such a thing, the two of them were still unwilling to believe it. Without witnessing the scene of my death with their own eyes, they couldn’t believe that the omnipotent Su Bei would die, and die to save them at that.

Ha! What a joke!

Si Zhaohua’s hand gripped the feather on his chest that could resurrect a person, his grip tightening. It was as if he was trying to comfort the others, and also trying to convince himself, “Su Bei is a member of the ‘Destiny’ organization, he has so many items. I have a resurrection item, how could he not have one? He must have quietly revived somewhere we don’t know.”

That’s right! A resurrection item! A glimmer of hope was instantly rekindled in everyone.

Although Jiang Tianming’s sensor hadn’t detected my presence earlier, my hair would naturally lose its effect after death. Even if I was resurrected afterwards, it wouldn’t be able to sense it.

“Su Bei will definitely be fine!” Jiang Tianming seemed to have found a lifeline and quickly pulled himself together. Although he had just witnessed me turn to dust, his tone was extremely certain as he said, “He told us to apologize to him afterwards, so he must still be alive!”

Qi Huang still retained a sliver of common sense. “But dying in the Nightmare Beast world isn’t…”

—Isn’t it impossible to resurrect?

“He definitely can!” Wu Mingbai and Si Zhaohua said in unison, then clenched their jaws and fell silent.

Qi Huang didn’t say anything more either. She also hoped I could survive. Let’s just throw all that common sense out the window. That was Su Bei, after all! He could always find a way, right?

Of course, I was still alive.

I wasn’t a fool, to trade my own life for two other people’s lives. It was true that I had developed feelings for the people in Class S and hoped they would live well, but that didn’t mean I was willing to truly give up my own life for them.

You have to know, the ultimate goal I had been striving for so long was actually just to keep myself alive. To give it all up at the final moment, wouldn’t that be putting the cart before the horse?

If it weren’t for the life-saving item, I wouldn’t have made the decision so readily. Or rather, if I wasn’t 90% sure that I could survive, I really might not have stepped in to save them.

Feeling the long-lost emptiness in my chest, I lay on my back on the bed and sighed silently.

My resurrection this time was thanks to two items: one was the “Life-Saving Puppet,” and the other was the Life Stone Necklace.

The former’s effect was to swap places with the “Life-Saving Puppet” upon death. I would come back to life where the “Life-Saving Puppet” originally was, and the puppet would go to the place where I died to die in my stead.

Of course, I didn’t actually die. I used the “Substitute Doll” a second before my mental energy was depleted, which allowed me to successfully “resurrect” and return to the real world under the restrictions of the Nightmare Beast world.

I hoped Jiang Tianming and the others would see that doll. With their intelligence, they should be able to guess that I didn’t actually die. Otherwise, these guys would probably be sad for nothing.

However, the drawback of the “Life-Saving Puppet” was also very obvious. I was now lying in bed, unable to move at all. Besides being able to breathe and blink, I had almost no room for maneuver.

My ability and mental energy were completely sealed, no different from an ordinary person. Anyone who didn’t know would think I was a quadriplegic patient.

But an ability user’s physical fitness was still there, after all. Not eating or drinking for three days wouldn’t have much of an effect on me. It was just a bit hard to endure.

As for the Life Stone, it was an item that reduced the price I had to pay.

The “Life-Saving Puppet” could only restore life; it didn’t have the effect of rejuvenation. If it were a normal accidental death, the “Life-Saving Puppet” could have restored me to my original state.

But the problem was that I died from exhausting my life force, which was equivalent to dying at the age of one hundred. So even if I was resurrected smoothly, I would still be one hundred years old and would have to die again after a few minutes.

But with the Life Stone, I had nothing to fear. The effect of the Life Stone was to replenish a person’s entire life force. With the two working together, my resurrection had no drawbacks. I was still a fifteen-year-old boy with full life force. As long as I endured this half-year, I would be able to jump around again.

That night, I heard the voice of the “Manga Consciousness.” “《King of Abilities》 has been updated, please check.”

After saying this official notification, the voice of the “Manga Consciousness” carried a rare hint of joy. “The author has completely given up on targeting you this time! From now on, you are a completely free man. As long as you don’t deliberately destroy the plot, you will no longer be subject to any restrictions from the manga!”

Hearing this, the first thought that came to my mind was—I bet right!

Just as I had thought, the author really didn’t want the characters he created to die. It was just that, perhaps for some reason, he had to let them go offline at that time.

And my act of saving them satisfied the author’s needs, thus making the author give up on targeting me.

At this point, I knew I was completely liberated. I didn’t have to worry about the author secretly doing something to me if I didn’t participate in the plot, I didn’t have to worry about the occasional plot kill, and I didn’t have to constantly think about how to participate in the plot.

I tried to lift the corners of my mouth to move the smiling muscles on my face and make myself smile, but unfortunately, I failed. But that didn’t stop the triumphant smile from appearing in my eyes.

After being busy for so long, it was only at this moment that I finally tasted the fruits of victory. Just by paying the price of two items and half a year’s time, I had completely broken free from the constraints of the plot. It was worth it!

The voice of the “Manga Consciousness” carried a hint of sadness, but more than that, it was happy for me. “Then I’ll go offline. I hope your life will get better and better, and you will never face danger again.”

“Can I not call you anymore in the future?” Hearing its words, I was first stunned, then hurriedly asked in my mind.

“You can still call, but because you are now separated from the manga and have no direct connection with me, I may not be able to reply in time,” the “Manga Consciousness” replied.

Hearing this, I said softly in my heart, “Then please pay more attention to me.”

The “Manga Consciousness” paused for a moment, and finally promised, “Okay.”