Role-Playing a Dual Personality as a Background Character in a Manga Chapter 3 : Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ji Qing did not dwell on the matter any further.

The protagonist’s troubles belonged to the protagonist. What he needed to solve were his own problems. At the mont, Ji Qing’s most urgent task was to determine his identity through the manga, the forum, and the people around him.

Ji Qing opened Volu Two of the manga.

The cover of the second volu featured the gate of the Third Ability Academy as its background. Xie Chang’an and Gu Lingxue stood before it, one in front of the other, leaving two side silhouettes.

Gu Lingxue’s black hair fluttered in the wind. She had a pair of deep blue eyes, and the ribbon tying her hair—as well as the accessories she wore—were mostly colored in shades of deep blue.

Xie Chang’an’s clothing was very simple. But as the protagonist, the attention he received was already more than enough.

The manga’s comnt feed:

[Baby Lingxue is so cute.]

[Finally getting on track. They finally get to go to school!]

[This is the first ti I have seen a series with “Academy” in the title where the entire first volu does not even take place at the academy (facepalm).]

[I am finally going to et the companions the author ntioned, sob sob sob!]

[Woohoo, here we go!]

“This manga seems quite popular.”

Ji Qing smiled with interest.

He paid special attention to the author’s na. The creator of 《Ability Hunter Academy》 was Yuexia Cao, and the publishing platform was the Kuman website.

The story of Volu Two began with “the police officer in charge of the case suggesting that the two transfer schools.”

Gu Lingxue’s talent was extrely high. The ability she awakened was enough for her to attend any academy of abilities.

But Xie Chang’an’s ability was sowhat unimpressive.

So far, the only thing known about it was that it was related to physical strength.

Among the five ability academies, only the Third Ability Academy explicitly offered to accept him.

After learning this, Gu Lingxue decisively chose to enroll in the Third Ability Academy.

She calmly explained:

“I believe the most important quality of a school is educating students, not selecting them. The Third Ability Academy follows the principle of ‘teach according to aptitude and place people first.’ That is the kind of school I recognize.”

The readers were deeply moved by her words:

[Wow… Lingxue baby.]

[Xuexue is really gentle.]

[Rejecting a student just because their ability is weak… No matter how you think about it, that is not sothing a school should do!]

[How are the schools ranked anyway? I am really curious.]

The subsequent plot was sothing Ji Qing already knew.

Because the two had boarded the rear carriages, they ended up encountering insect-type Aberrants head-on.

After a tense and thrilling battle, Xie Chang’an carried Gu Lingxue on his back and ran toward the front carriages.

They encountered a mysterious youth from the sa academy in Carriage No. 6.

The youth treated the Aberrants with remarkable indifference.

His attitude was calm and detached, and his movents were relaxed and effortless.

With just a single appearance, he conquered both the manga’s protagonist and its readers.

The comnt feed imdiately erupted with screams:

[So handso.]

[Handso to the point of explosion!!!]

[Author, you have one minute. I want ALL the information about this character!!!]

[How can soone have such a cool entrance?!]

“Hmm…” Ji Qing frowned slightly in confusion. “Are the readers being a little too enthusiastic?”

In the previous tiline, Ji Qing had never made a direct appearance.

Yet in reality, the three of them had boarded the sa train that ended up in an accident.

Ji Qing wondered: Could it be that the train did not encounter any problems in the previous tiline?

He continued reading.

The manga presented a close-up at the mont he stepped off the train.

The white-haired, green-eyed youth raised both hands above his head in a carefree and flamboyant gesture, his hair flowing in the wind.

Security personnel aid their guns at him, but he paid them no mind.

Instead, he casually whistled and said, “See you at school~”

The comnt feed instantly exploded:

[AAAAAAAH this is beyond handso!!!]

[White hair, green eyes, cold personality, powerful strength, and a hint of cunning. Damn, damn, this hits all my preferences. I am completely hooked, sob sob sob.]

[Author, you know perfectly well—Chinese readers LOVE white-haired characters!!!]

[You pull this stunt right before they enroll in school?!]

[Finally eting people their own age! The “Academy” in Ability Hunter Academy has finally appeared! I am so excited. How many new characters are waiting for ?!]

Ji Qing could not help smiling.

Earning Popularity Value was even easier than he had expected. He would probably obtain a considerable amount very soon.

Ji Qing glanced at the Popularity Value displayed in the upper-left corner of the screen:

[Current Popularity Value: 2344]

[Popularity Shop Unlock Requirent: Above 5000 Popularity Value]

“I feel like I have been tricked,” Ji Qing muttered with a frown.

He comforted himself: Forget it. What he truly needed was the system’s intelligence network, not anything else.

As for the forum posts, there was not much worth reading.

Ji Qing skimd through them briefly and found that readers were mostly speculating about the new characters and the academy.

However, due to the limited content available in the manga, the scope of their guesses was also extrely restricted.

***

Early the next morning, Ji Qing woke up.

He bought two at buns and a cup of soybean milk at the cafeteria for breakfast, then followed the instructions in the freshman guide toward his classroom.

On the way out of the cafeteria, Ji Qing spotted Xie Chang’an and Gu Lingxue—the two he had t on the train.

They were sitting face-to-face eating breakfast.

Yesterday’s accident had not affected their enrollnt.

From the naplates on their chests, Ji Qing concluded:

Xie Chang’an had been assigned to Class F, while Gu Lingxue was in Class A.

Xie Chang’an looked sowhat dejected, while Gu Lingxue was comforting him.

“Relax your mindset. The classes will be reassigned at the end of the sester. Just focus on improving your ability for now.”

“The problem is that I do not even know what my ability is…” Xie Chang’an sighed while covering his face.

Ji Qing smiled when he heard this.

As the protagonist of the manga, Xie Chang’an would certainly enter Class S.

But compared to Xie Chang’an’s ability, Ji Qing was more curious about his identity as an Infected.

Why could Xie Chang’an confidently declare that he had been infected?

And if he truly was infected, why did his appearance show absolutely no abnormalities?

The matter sounded quite strange.

Ji Qing continued walking toward the classroom of Class S.

He arrived quite early.

When he reached the classroom, only two students were already seated.

One was a green-haired, green-eyed boy with a calm expression sitting in the last row by the wall. A potted plant rested on his desk, and he was trimming its branches.

The other sat diagonally opposite him.

He had flamboyant red hair, several tal earrings on his earlobes, and an impatient expression.

When Ji Qing appeared at the door, the red-haired boy gave him a surprised look.

His expression seed to say: “How can soone I do not recognize still appear here?”

Apparently soone he did recognize would appear later, Ji Qing thought.

Ji Qing chose a seat in the second-to-last row by the window.

In ani, protagonists often sat in this position.

The view was excellent, allowing him to observe everything happening in the classroom.

There were not many mbers in Class S.

Surely no one would be foolish enough to sit behind him.

The sunlight was bright today, and a gentle breeze drifted through the window.

Ji Qing could not help feeling sleepy.

Perhaps it was simply the aftereffect of attending school for too long—every ti he had a morning class, he inevitably felt the urge to sleep.

“Hehe, may I sit beside you?”

A voice—both unfamiliar and strangely familiar—appeared beside Ji Qing’s ear.

Ji Qing looked up.

It was You Xingluo, whom he had t briefly on the train.

You Xingluo bent slightly, smiling as he examined Ji Qing.

“Did you not sleep well yesterday?”

“You did that on purpose, did you not?” Ji Qing frowned.

Their first eting had been on the train yesterday, and now they were eting again in the classroom.

Ji Qing did not even need to think to know the other person had co specifically for him.

No one could stumble into coincidences like this.

You Xingluo sat down at the neighboring desk with a helpless expression and spread his hands.

“Who knows? Let us just call it luck.”

He explained, “Before boarding the train, I did not know I would et you. But today I did intentionally co to greet you. That much is true.”

Luck?

Ji Qing half believed him and half doubted him.

While the two spoke, other students gradually arrived.

At the exact mont the class bell rang, their horoom teacher finally entered the classroom.

The horoom teacher of Class S was a woman in her early thirties.

She wore her hair in a neat ponytail and had black-frad glasses. In her hand was the teacher’s attendance register.

She first glanced around at the students present before smiling.

“Thank you for choosing to enroll in the Third Ability Academy. I am your horoom teacher, Li Xuehua. You may call Teacher Li or Teacher Xuehua.”

“This year, six students have enrolled in Class S.”

Li Xuehua said with satisfaction,

“Compared to previous years, this is an extrely significant breakthrough. I believe none of you expected to see so many classmates.”

Hmm…

Ji Qing felt puzzled when he heard this.

So were there simply very few S-level students?

Or did S-level students usually choose other schools?

Judging from the earlier reaction of the red-haired boy, Ji Qing suspected it was the forr.

At the podium, the horoom teacher continued speaking:

“The teaching philosophy of the Third Ability Academy is to teach according to each student’s aptitude. Before enrollnt, we conduct research through the admission materials submitted by students, their previous schools, and their teachers to place students into Classes F through S.”

“Of course, the current class assignnts are not final. At the end of the first sester, there will be ability tests, individual competitions, and team competitions for freshn in order to accurately assess each student’s overall ability and potential.”

“So of you may wonder why the academy does this.”

Li Xuehua smiled as she answered her own question.

“Because the academy gives students with strong overall abilities more room to develop independently. While students in Class F are still attending theoretical classes on campus, those of you in Class S will already be conducting practical work outside the academy.”

“Class S will have a winter practical training opportunity during this year’s winter break.”

“After the training ends, based on your performance, the academy will issue you Hunter Guild accounts. This will allow you to accept commissions from the guild and complete off-campus practical assignnts.”

The red-haired boy suddenly interrupted:

“Teacher, are you not worried about the Federation causing trouble?”

“Why… is it even more dangerous than I imagined…” a dark-purple-haired girl sitting in the middle of the last row murmured nervously. “I thought the Third Ability Academy would be easier…”

Another white-haired boy raised his hand calmly.

“As far as I rember, the Hunter Guild only allows adults to register. How does your academy bypass that rule?”

Li Xuehua did not appear angry.

She smiled and explained:

“If we are able to conduct these activities, it ans we have obtained permission from the Federation. However, unlike the personal accounts you are familiar with, the hunter accounts issued by the academy belong to the academy itself. After graduation, they cannot be converted into personal accounts and will eventually all be canceled.”

“As for Ling’s question…”

Li Xuehua pointed toward the dark-purple-haired girl sitting in the middle of the last row and spread her hands helplessly.

“Well, that is precisely why our academy is ranked as the Third Ability Academy.”

The students of Class S: “…”

“So it is because the academy does not follow the rules, which prevents it from ranking higher?” the white-haired boy laughed softly to himself, as though he had discovered a new continent.

The red-haired boy who had spoken earlier suddenly beca much more lively.

He already seed to be imagining a bright future and could not help turning to chat with the white-haired boy behind him.

anwhile, the dark-purple-haired girl wore a bitter expression.

“All right, all right—”

Li Xuehua clapped her hands to draw everyone’s attention back to the podium.

“I believe everyone is very interested in practical training. But compared to that, the most important thing right now is getting to know each other.”

“The initial mbers of Class S rarely change, though new students may be promoted here at the end of the sester.”

“However, that does not an we can avoid interacting with one another.”

She smiled.

“Let us begin with the student ranked first in the admission list. Let us have a round of self-introductions.”

She lowered her head and opened the attendance register.

“The first student—Ji Qing.”

As soon as the horoom teacher spoke those words, everyone in the classroom instantly turned their gaze toward Ji Qing.

Even the green-haired boy who had been trimming his potted plant looked up.

How did they know that “Ji Qing” referred to him?

Ji Qing grew instantly vigilant.