A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga - Chapter 342 : Chapter 342

Chapter 342

After understanding their purpose, Su Bei answered bluntly, “I’m not an Ability user. I’m on a temporary leave from school due to health reasons. Fortunately, I have some money on hand, so I came out to travel.”

Anyway, my Ability and Mental Energy were currently sealed. Even a professional machine couldn’t detect that I was an Ability user; only Nightmare Beasts could sense my identity as one. As for the second half of my statement, it was the complete truth, without a drop of fabrication.

Hearing him say he wasn’t an Ability user, a hint of surprise appeared on Ian’s face. Because of his own Ability, he was very sensitive to people’s auras. In his eyes, someone like Su Bei was clearly an Ability user. Had he actually been mistaken?

“Ah, sorry, I guess I was wrong. If you’re not an Ability user, don’t go east these few days, okay?” Ian scratched his head, apologizing to Su Bei and giving him a heads-up.

The east was precisely where the High-Level Nightmare Beast was located. If a non-Ability user went there to sightsee during their battle, they would likely be caught in the crossfire.

Su Bei smiled and accepted his kind intention. “Got it. I’ll probably just wander around the hotel.”

At this moment, Elvis suddenly gave him a suspicious glance.

Su Bei didn’t think he could recognize my identity from a single sentence. After all, I had deliberately changed my voice. My appearance and voice were different, and I had even concealed my personality. It would be a ghost if he could recognize me.

So I looked at him calmly, my gaze not wavering in the slightest.

And Elvis indeed did not recognize Su Bei. He just vaguely felt that something was off. Ordinary people in this society had always yearned to be Ability users. Although it sounded a bit narcissistic, Su Bei’s calm reaction after learning they were Ability users with a mission here made him deeply suspicious.

After exchanging glances with him for a moment, Su Bei calmly took the noodles from the waiter and lowered his head to eat. My conscience was clear, so of course, I didn’t care what the other person thought.

As the most cheerful person present, Ian didn’t let the table fall silent. He started talking about high school, first sharing some interesting stories from “Alpha Ability Academy” before asking Su Bei, “The three of us have never been to a regular high school. What’s life like in a regular high school?”

“It’s just the usual stuff—classes, exams, classes, exams. It can’t compare to your exciting campus life.” Su Bei answered casually. I had never been a high school student in a regular school, but it wasn’t like I had never been a regular student. How could I not know what regular students were like?

The three exchanged a glance, and it was Ian who spoke again, but this time about their mission. From their conversation, Su Bei heard that this mission wasn’t so simple. The High-Level Nightmare Beast had the ability to control snow and might trigger an avalanche during the mission.

Then came the question. As far as I knew, there were no hotels near the mountain where the High-Level Nightmare Beast was located, which meant it was sparsely populated. An area-of-effect ability like an avalanche was most effective when there were many people.

How could a Nightmare Beast with such an ability deliberately choose to settle in a place with few people? It couldn’t possibly be afraid of harming ordinary people, right?

So there were only two possibilities. Either the Nightmare Beast had no intention of making the distant mountain its main battlefield; it was just temporarily residing there and would immediately come to a human residential area to use its skill once an Ability user approached or attacked.

Or its ability was powerful enough that it was confident it could attack the residential area even from a distance. This broke down into two more possibilities. The first was that it could make the avalanche spread over a wide area. The second was that it could cause avalanches on many mountains, thus inflicting AOE damage.

But regardless of which one it was, Su Bei was 100% certain that the hotel I was currently in would absolutely not be spared.

So much for it having nothing to do with me?

“When are you making your move?” After listening in silence for a while, Su Bei suddenly asked.

Knowing that asking so suddenly was a bit abrupt, I quickly added, “I want to leave the North Pole before you make your move, so I definitely won’t run into any danger.”

This was just a verbal reason; in reality, Su Bei knew clearly in his heart that he would absolutely not leave.

On the surface, leaving now seemed like the optimal solution, but in reality, that wasn’t the case. If even the North Pole was going to have trouble, could other places be safe?

And even though this was a pre-plot, it was still within the plot. The Author had promised me that I wouldn’t die within the plot, so the seemingly most dangerous snow mountain was, conversely, the safest place for Su Bei.

It was just that trouble was still trouble. Not dying didn’t mean not getting injured. Being buried under the snow and rescued in a sorry state was something Su Bei had no desire to experience at all.

This question was a bit sensitive. Although my explanation was reasonable, it could still easily lead people to think of some bad possibilities. Seeing Ian hesitate without speaking, unexpectedly, it was Tiffany who took the initiative to speak. “We will act in three days.”

Su Bei raised an eyebrow, nodded his thanks to show he understood, then quickly finished the last two mouthfuls of his noodles while they were chatting, got up, and left the restaurant.

As soon as he left, Ian looked at Tiffany in confusion. “Why did you tell him the time of our mission?”

“He could follow us even if I didn’t tell him.” Tiffany lowered her blood-red eyes. “Besides, there’s no scent of ‘sin’ in his blood.”

Elvis and Ian both understood what she meant. The scent of “sin” in blood indicated recent, frequent contact with Nightmare Beasts. Tiffany, who possessed the [Vampire] Ability, was very sensitive to the scent of Nightmare Beasts.

The two immediately felt relieved. Although not having contact with Nightmare Beasts didn’t necessarily mean he was a good person, given the current situation in the Ability world, where people collaborating with Nightmare Beasts were suddenly popping up one after another like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, those who didn’t collaborate with Nightmare Beasts had instead formed a group.

As long as this boy wasn’t collaborating with Nightmare Beasts, what he was doing here had nothing to do with them.

On the other side. Back in his room, seeing Su Bei’s slightly gloomy expression, the “Manga Consciousness” asked nervously, “What do you plan to do next?”

Regarding this matter, it was actually an undeserved disaster for it too. After all, even if the Author designed the plot, it was impossible to specify which hotel would have an accident. The “Manga Consciousness” also didn’t know that this matter would affect Su Bei.

However, just like Su Bei, it could clearly realize through past manga tropes that the hotel they were currently in would definitely have an accident. That’s why it asked this question.

Su Bei stated the countermeasure he had already thought of. “I’m going to the snow mountain where that Nightmare Beast is.”

Of course, the purpose of this trip wasn’t to eliminate the Nightmare Beast in advance, but to play a game of hiding in plain sight. Since the Nightmare Beast’s attack range couldn’t possibly be the uninhabited snow mountain, I just needed to find a spot on the mountain that wouldn’t be affected by the avalanche and stay there when they took action.

No sooner said than done. That very afternoon, Su Bei found a driver to take him all the way to the vicinity of the snow mountain.

Because a High-Level Nightmare Beast could sense my identity as an Ability user, Su Bei used an Invisibility Charm right from the moment I entered the snow mountain. I currently had no ability to fight a High-Level Nightmare Beast; the items that could deal with them all required Mental Energy to activate, which I couldn’t use at all.

After a simple survey of the area, Su Bei quickly rejected his initial plan. Originally, I had thought of digging a snow cave, but with this amount of snow, what if the avalanche lasted too long and the oxygen in the snow cave ran out? I didn’t have any oxygen-supplying items on hand.

A vast expanse of white, with no cover, and even pitifully few rocks. This scene on the snow mountain made Su Bei deeply realize that hiding anywhere was not very safe.

If that Nightmare Beast truly possessed superb snow control abilities, then I was afraid that even if I walked on the snow, the other party would be able to sense it.

If the ground wouldn’t work, then the only option was to fly in the sky. I didn’t have any oxygen-supplying items, but I had plenty of flying-type items.

After figuring it out, Su Bei didn’t waste any more time there. I directly returned and started sightseeing. The North Pole was cold, but the scenery was truly picturesque. Staying here for two days gave a feeling of having one’s body and mind purified.

Early on the third day, Su Bei used an Invisibility Charm and waited for Elvis’ trio in the lobby. After they went out, I leisurely followed behind them. Once Tiffany flew up with the other two in an uninhabited area and headed towards the snow mountain, I directly used the teleportation array I had set up the day before yesterday to arrive at the snow mountain one step ahead of them.

Flying on a magic carpet in mid-air, Su Bei was sitting cross-legged. Next to me was a cup of milk tea and a plate of small kumquats, which Su Bei had specially prepared for watching the show.

Actually, normally I should have prepared sunflower seeds, but the sound of cracking seeds was too loud, so Su Bei had to reluctantly give up the idea.

Just as I finished peeling the first orange, Tiffany’s trio arrived. Ian first used his Ability to set up a Barrier around the entire snow mountain.

Seeing this, Su Bei couldn’t help but be a little surprised. I didn’t expect Ian’s [World in a Painting] to have evolved to such an extent that it could even contain a snow mountain. The range of his Ability was truly vast.

The High-Level Nightmare Beast was no pushover. Faced with the provocation of three students, it certainly couldn’t swallow its anger. It immediately stood up on the peak of the snow mountain, right in front of Su Bei.

It was a Nightmare Beast that looked like a snow woman, its entire body made of black snow. Its appearance alone was very beautiful. The reason one could tell the black substance was snow was naturally because the texture of snow is very different from anything else. A black snow woman, a very magical combination.

Neither side had any intention of exchanging pleasantries. After a brief encounter, they started fighting directly.

This was how it was when you weren’t the main character group; normal people’s fights were always so clean and decisive. If it were the main character group, this part would definitely have more dialogue; it’s impossible they would start fighting so cleanly.

As a powerful general capable of guarding a region, the Snow Woman Nightmare Beast was certainly not easy to deal with, especially in an environment like a snow mountain that was perfectly suited for it. Even with the three of them against it, they seemed very strained.

After watching the scene of the three of them being suppressed for a long time, Su Bei felt a bit tired. “Can they win?”

“Of course.“ the “Manga Consciousness” answered affirmatively. Although they weren’t the main characters, they were important supporting characters who had fought alongside the main character group. They had to have some level of presence; it was impossible for them to be defeated easily.

“Then can I help a little?” Su Bei asked. I really couldn’t be bothered to stay in this freezing place any longer. The top of the snow mountain was much colder than the base, and even with warming items, it was uncomfortable.