Chapter 356

Hearing this, the corner of Su Bei’s mouth twitched.

What could he say? As expected of a reader, that question was so… classic.

Su Bei read comics himself, so he knew that in every series, there would always be readers discussing related questions. Who was friends with whom, who was the strongest… He often pondered these questions himself.

But he never thought there would come a day when someone would ask him to his face, and such a delicate question at that.

For a moment, Su Bei couldn’t help but feel fortunate that he had listened to the short-haired girl’s advice and not let her ask this in front of their classmates. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to handle.

Now, with just the two of them, he could naturally say whatever he wanted: “They’re all about the same. I’ve always treated my classmates equally.”

Obviously, he wasn’t telling the truth. Treating everyone equally was impossible; he wasn’t a saint. He couldn’t pick who he was closest to, but he could definitely name a few he wasn’t particularly close with.

This answer clearly didn’t satisfy the short-haired girl. She pouted, and although she couldn’t tell if Su Bei’s reply was sincere, she could see that he wouldn’t change his answer.

So, she wisely didn’t waste any more time on that question and moved on to the next one: “That day… that day when you sacrificed yourself to save everyone else, what was going through your mind?”

She quickly added, “If you find this offensive, you don’t have to answer.”

“Actually, I found the last question more offensive,” Su Bei replied with a light laugh, then said nonchalantly, “Nothing much. I just sacrificed an item, that’s all.”

Even if the item had unexpectedly failed, he could have used the forum to guide reader opinion and revive himself. Even if that didn’t work, he could still accept the Manga Consciousness’s previous suggestion and be reborn with a new identity.

Although Su Bei didn’t particularly like that method, it was indeed a fallback plan. And it was a fallback that, given his various safety measures, had almost no chance of ever being needed.

So, for Su Bei, he really hadn’t sacrificed anything. At most, it was just one item. Exchanging a single item for the survival of others and his own freedom was an incredible bargain.

The short-haired girl was dazed for a moment before she heard Su Bei ask, “Any more questions? If not, I’m heading back.”

“Yes, yes!” She immediately perked up, raising a finger. “Last question. If you were a…”

Her words were cut short as her expression suddenly changed.

Su Bei could hear the Manga Consciousness’s warning: “Beep beep, please do not reveal the comic world to the character. First warning. A second warning will result in the reader’s direct removal from this world.”

The short-haired girl didn’t want to waste the opportunity she had fought so hard for to enter the comic world, only to be kicked out for such a reason. She quickly nodded and changed her question: “If you were transmigrated into a novel, what kind of character do you think you would be?”

As soon as she said this, Su Bei instantly guessed what her original question was. It was probably something like, “If the world you’re in was a comic, what kind of role do you think you’d play?”

“Since I’ve already transmigrated…” Su Bei’s response would have been the same for either question, “Of course I’m the protagonist!”

Unfortunately, the short-haired girl didn’t catch his hidden meaning. She thought Su Bei hadn’t understood her and only considered himself the protagonist because he was a transmigrator.

She quickly shook her head, thought for a moment, and rephrased it again: “If the story of your… your class was turned into a novel, what role do you think you would play in it?”

As she spoke, she thought smugly to herself that this surely didn’t count as a violation. She really was a master at finding loopholes.

Su Bei found it a bit amusing but still answered the question seriously: “The protagonist. I can only be the protagonist.”

Everyone is the protagonist of their own story. He had always firmly believed that.

Seeing her favorite character declare with such conviction that he would be the protagonist, the short-haired girl felt a little dazed.

Some people say that when a person likes a character, it’s often because that character is who they most want to become.

What was Su Bei like in her mind? Powerful, mysterious, walking the line between good and evil… all these things combined to form his unparalleled confidence.

Initially, she had dismissed this idea, thinking she liked Su Bei simply because she was drawn to the strong. It was only at this moment that she truly accepted it. It seemed she really did like Su Bei because she wanted to be like him—so confident and powerful, so certain that he was the protagonist, even without a great family background.

Although she usually appeared boisterous, optimistic, and cheerful, only she knew that she was actually a little insecure. If only she could become like Su Bei, someone powerful and confident without needing a prominent family.

Arriving at the meeting room, Si Zhaohua immediately asked upon seeing Su Bei, “What did she ask you?”

“Some interesting little questions.” Su Bei, of course, couldn’t tell him and decisively changed the subject. “When does the meeting start?”

Si Zhaohua could obviously see he was changing the subject, but he could only sigh and answer honestly, “Soon. Qi Huang is getting ready.”

“She’s hosting the meeting?” Su Bei was a bit surprised. When the short-haired girl and her friends had come to notify them earlier, it was clear that Qi Huang hadn’t been informed in advance.

Knowing what he was wondering, Si Zhaohua explained, “Because she’s the current student council president. She has to give an opening speech or something.”

Su Bei understood and didn’t ask any more questions.

Before long, he heard the voices of the short-haired girl and her friends nearby. They probably didn’t understand the abilities of Ability users yet, thinking they were speaking quietly, but in reality, everyone could hear them.

“There should be an easter egg soon, right?” the fatty asked with an excited expression. “I heard a rumor that it’s related to the third season.”

The girl with glasses pushed up her glasses and nodded. “The author is quite sincere, not letting us spend our money for nothing. If we can get a sneak peek at the third season’s plot, it’ll be more than worth it.”

The others in the meeting room didn’t react to their words, assuming they were just talking about some comic or game. Only Su Bei raised an eyebrow and began to look forward to the content of the meeting.

He hadn’t expected that less than two weeks into the new semester, the author was already starting to lay the groundwork for the third season’s plot. This made Su Bei realize something—the start of the third season probably wasn’t too far off, otherwise there would be no need to reveal hints so early.

Thinking of this, he sighed softly. His peaceful days hadn’t even officially begun, and they were already being declared over. This was truly distressing news.

They didn’t have to wait long; the meeting soon began. After Qi Huang gave a string of opening remarks, the homeroom teacher of Class A walked in from outside and began to explain the meeting’s agenda.

The beginning covered the upcoming work arrangements for the student council, including but not limited to organizing academic competitions, participating in the planning of the first-year monthly exams, choosing locations for study tours, and so on.

An hour had passed by the time these trivial matters were discussed. The Class A homeroom teacher announced the end of the meeting but asked the third-year students to stay behind for the next one.

“Recently, some spatial-type Ability users have discovered a strange phenomenon. The space on our planet seems to be in a constant state of fluctuation, very unstable, like flowing water.” After all the irrelevant personnel had left, the Class A homeroom teacher got straight to the point. “Out of concern for this phenomenon, we asked student Feng Lan to perform a Prophecy.”

At these words, everyone immediately turned their gazes to Feng Lan.

The Class A homeroom teacher had no intention of letting Feng Lan speak. He cleared his throat to draw everyone’s attention back and continued, “His prophecy’s result is not optimistic. The future will once again descend into chaos.”

Everyone subconsciously frowned.

Su Bei looked at Feng Lan, asking with his eyes if there was a more specific prophecy. A prophecy about the future falling into chaos was too broad; it was impossible to tell what they would face.

Usually, Feng Lan’s Prophecy wasn’t this vague; it would at least reveal some concrete information.

However, Feng Lan just shook his head, then looked down and sent him a message on his phone: “The future is shrouded in fog. I can’t see clearly either.”

For a moment, Su Bei couldn’t tell if this fog was a natural part of the comic or if some character had created it with an ability. But either way, it was now impossible for him to get information in advance.

The only thing he knew for sure was the spatial fluctuations.

Suddenly, Jiang Tianming raised his hand. “Teacher, isn’t it a bit too early to start increasing the number of academic classes? If there really is another long-term crisis, students who lack training will definitely not be able to handle it.”

His point was valid, but his worry was a bit excessive. The academy had naturally considered this issue. “The biggest increase in academic classes is actually only for you third-years. The first and second years are just using academic classes to fill the gap left by the reduced Nightmare Beast classes. The specific cause of the spatial fluctuations is not yet clear. Once the cause is found, if there’s a major problem, the curriculum will be adjusted again.”

Hearing him say this, everyone instantly had no objections…

No objections my ass! Why were they the only unlucky ones!

“Wait, on what grounds?” Others might not have said anything, but Zhao Xiaoyu was the first to lose it. First of all, her grades were average. Although she was once an ordinary person, she had no intention of going to university like Su Bei.

For most ordinary people, university was just a means to find a better job. Her job was already secured, so there was no need to make things difficult for herself.

Perhaps only an Ability user like Su Bei, who had a heart set on returning to the ordinary world, felt zero pressure in his studies, and was confident he could get into a good university even if he had to repeat a year, would choose to take the university entrance exams.

Therefore, Zhao Xiaoyu, who had no plans to attend university, had a complete meltdown over the fact that they had to take so many academic classes. If it had been the whole school, fine, but it turned out to be only the third-years. What had they done to deserve this!

Su Bei couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, then, suppressing his laughter, he said seriously, “Can’t you tell? It’s pushing you to return to the ordinary world.”

The teacher on the podium quickly refuted the rumor, glaring at Su Bei. “Su Bei, you brat, don’t talk nonsense. We just want to provide more options for our graduating students.”

Su Bei blinked, gave a meaningful glance at the short-haired girl and her friends, then turned back and said with a smile, “Then at least cancel the academic classes for the S-Class, right? They don’t have that many options.”

As the main character group, they definitely had to stay in the Ability World. Unless ‘King of Abilities’ was going to end the moment they graduated, there was simply no other possibility.

As for himself, who wasn’t part of the main group, he had fewer constraints and could go wherever he wanted. This was also why Su Bei insisted on getting into a university. He was free anyway.